Meridian Area Echolink Gateway
The Meridian area Echolink gateway is 100% complete. It is currently on the NO5C (146.970 100 pl) repeater with Dennis Carpenters permission. At the time being the repeater will not always pass the DTMF codes to access the Echolink gateway. Dennis has promised to correct this at the repeater site. Just requires a simple parameter change.
I understand Echolink is a new mode to us in the Meridian area but if you have ever traveled much, like I have then you will see how it can help you stay in touch no matter where you are. Understand, on your hand held 2-meter radio you can contact people all over the world and people all over the world can contact you here in Meridian. It is not uncommon to hear someone from a far away place calling CQ on the local repeater. Don't panic just answer them, it just may be fun.
The following information is needed to use the system.
1st: You need to know how to use the DTMF feature of your radio!
2nd: To connect to anyplace where there is an Echolink node you will need to know the node number. All you need to connect is to dial the node number into the system. Then wait until you hear the connected message. There will be several different type tones before it connects. Talk as you would here in Meridian, there IS NO difference. There is a time lag between the time you transmit and when your contact transmits. The key is to WAIT.
3rd: MOST IMPORTANT, IF YOU START THE LINK, THEN YOU HAVE TO DISCONNECT THE LINK! YOU HAVE TO DIAL THE "#" KEY AFTER YOUR QSO IS FINISHED! MAKE SURE YOU HEAR THE MESSAGE THAT IT HAS BEEN DISCONNECTED BEFORE YOU LEAVE! IF YOU DID NOT START THE LINK YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DO ANYTHING!
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions on using Echolink. Echolink can also be used on your computer. The Echolink program is free; all you have to have is a valid ham license and will need a copy to send to Echolink. More information (node numbers, how to start, etc) can be found on their web site listed below:
www.echolink.org
I would also be open to do a training class on the operation if anyone is interested.
73s, Eldon, W4IOS
Pearl River County Amateur Radio Club Hamfest
The Pearl River County Amateur Radio Club Hamfest is scheduled for Saturday, December 12 at the old National Guard Armory in Poplarville, MS - located at the intersection of Highway 26 and Highway 11 in Poplarville.
The doors will open at 8 a.m. and the fest runs until 2 p.m.
We will have several vendors present, including:
Remember our fest is just two weeks before Christmas!
We have tables for $10 each, as well as a trunk sales area available. We will have VE testing starting at 8:30 a. m. for all license classes. (Please bring photo ID, $14 in U. S. Currency and proof of any license you currently hold if you wish to upgrade.
We will have an ARES Forum and an ARRL Forum, as well as a meeting of local ARRL ECs. We will also have door prizes and drawings!
DIRECTIONS:
Coming from the north, come down I-59 to exit #29 (north Poplarville). Exit to the right, and proceed down Highway 26 to the red light. Straight ahead about one mile to the intersection with Highway 11. Look to the left.
Coming from the South - take I-59 to exit #27 (south Poplarville). Exit left, proceed to the red light at the intersection of Highway 53 and Highway 26. Turn left at the intersection, and proceed about one mile to the intersection with Highway 11. Look to the left.
Coming from Bogalusa area-Take Louisiana Highway 10 to the Pearl River. Cross the river = and Highway 10 becomes Mississippi Highway 26. Proceed about 18 miles to the intersection with Highway 11. Look to the right.
Anyone needing further information - please call Larry Wagoner at (601) 590-0553 OR Sgt. Albert McDonald (601) 283-0738. We look forward to seeing you there!
Larry Wagoner - N5WLW
VP - PRCARC
PIC - MS SECT ARRL
Give Your Generator Some Space
By Dan Romanchik, KB6NU
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the same folks that bring you WWV, publish a monthly newsletter called NIST Tech Beat. Here's an item from the 10/6/09 issue of NIST Tech Beat that will be of interest to radio amateurs:
To subdue the steaming heat of hurricanes or to thaw out during a blizzard, gasoline-powered, portable generators are a lifeline during weather emergencies when homes are cut off without electricity. But these generators emit poisonous carbon monoxide—a single generator can produce a hundred times more of the colorless, odorless gas than a modern car’s exhaust. New research from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) shows that to prevent potentially dangerous levels of carbon monoxide, users may need to keep generators farther from the house than previously believed—perhaps as much as 25 feet.
Up to half of the incidents of non-fatal carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning reported in the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons involved generators run within 7 feet of the home, according to the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Carbon monoxide can enter a house through a number of airflow paths, such as a door or window left open to accommodate the extension cord that brings power from the generator into the house. While some guidance recommends 10 feet from open windows as a safe operating distance, NIST researcher Steven Emmerich says the “safe” operating distance depends on the house, the weather conditions and the unit. A generator’s carbon monoxide output is usually higher than an automobile’s, he says, because most generators do not have the sophisticated emission controls that cars do.
“People need to be aware that generators are potentially deadly and they need to educate themselves on proper use,” Emmerich says. With funding from CDC, NIST researchers are gathering reliable data to support future CDC guidance.
NIST building researchers simulated multiple scenarios of a portable generator operating outside of a one-story house, using both a test structure and two different computer models—the NIST-developed CONTAM indoor air quality model and a computational fluid dynamics model.
The simulations included factors that could be controlled by humans, such as generator location, exhaust direction and window-opening size, and environmental factors such as wind, temperature and house dimensions. In the simulations the generator was placed at various distances from the house and tested under different weather conditions.
“We found that for the house modeled in this study,” researcher Leon Wang says, “a generator position 15 feet away from open windows was not far enough to prevent carbon monoxide entry into the house.”
Winds perpendicular to the open window resulted in more carbon monoxide entry than winds at an angle, and lower wind speeds generally allowed more carbon monoxide in the house. “Slow, stagnant wind seems to be the worst case because it leads to the carbon monoxide lingering by the windows,” Wang explains. Researchers determined that placing the generator outside of the airflow re-circulation regions near the open windows reduced carbon monoxide entry.
In the next phase of the study NIST will model a two-story house that researchers believe will interact with the wind differently. NIST researchers also have worked with the Consumer Product Safety Commission on related work. (See: “NIST to Study Hazards of Portable Gasoline-Powered Generators,” NIST Tech Beat, March 5, 2008.)
The generator study can be downloaded at http://fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs/build09/PDF/b09009.pdf.
* L. Wang and S. J. Emmerich. Modeling the Effects of Outdoor Gasoline Powered Generator Use on Indoor Carbon Monoxide Exposures. (NIST Technical Note 1637,) 2009.
How radio equipment helped to win World War II
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