News in Amateur Radio

By ve7wnk on July 25, 2011

The last little while has been pretty large for net-casting on the subject of Ham Radio. Bob Heil of Heil Sound has started a net-cast (podcast) on called Ham Nation. The show is aired on the TWiT network, which was founded by new ham Leo Laporte.

Ham radio really first surfaced on This Week in Radio Tech (TWiRT), a show hosted by four broadcast engineers on the matters related to broadcast radio and TV stations. TWiRT is Kirk Harnack‘s project, and Harnack started his show shortly after installing an Axia Audio console when the TWiT network started growing. Ham radio proved to be a popular matter when discussed on Kirks net-cast since a large number of Leo’s followers are also current or prospective hams. Bob Heil has been a ham for many years and his company has been providing the TWiT Network with PR40 (and other) microphones since the early days.

As mentioned, Leo is now a certified amateur radio operator and has the call sign KJ6QGP assigned to him. Following with the TWiT nomenclature, he has applied for W6TWT for use at the TWiT Brick House Studio.

Heil is a few shows into the net-cast now and so far hams young and old have been finding it worth listening.

Check it out at twit.tv/hn

Cheers,
Bob – VE7WNK

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FD 2011 with VE7SCC

By ve7wnk on June 22, 2011

Again, as in past years, the Coquitlam, New Westminster and Burnaby clubs are combining for the largest field day exercise in Western Canada. Come check it out after 1400 at the location below on the map



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Why ham radio endures in a world of tweets…

By ve7wnk on February 4, 2011

Thanks to Perry VA7FC for posting this link on FaceBook

Why ham radio endures in a world of tweets…

Here is a quick snippet from the site:

Somehow it makes little sense that amateur “ham” radio continues to thrive in the age of Twitter, Facebook and iPhones. Yet the century-old communications technology — which demands such commitment that you must generally pass an exam to receive a licence — currently attracts around 350,000 practitioners in Europe, and a further 700,000 in the United States, some 60 per cent more than 30 years ago. What is it about a simple microphone, a transmitter-receiver and the seductive freedom of the open radio spectrum that’s turned a low-tech anachronism into an enduring and deeply engaging global hobby?

For a start, there is that thrill in establishing a magical person-to-person long-distance radio conversation that no commodified… click to read more

Article from wired.co.uk

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Upcoming Event: Burnaby Swap Meet

By ve7wnk on January 28, 2011

The Swap Meet will be held on Sunday, February 27th, 2011 from 10am until 2pm at the Queensborough Community Centre (920 Ewen Ave New Westminster, BC V3M 0A1). This year BARC has promised they will have two rooms giving you more space to shop for great bargains. As always, the QSL Bureau, RAC, and commercial vendors will be there.

General Admission is $6 at the door (Ages 12 and under free). Email the Burnaby ARC for more information or to book your table. Any questions can be directed to loucge@telus.net

Download the 2011 Swap Meet flyer.


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See you there!

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Lack of updates…

By ve7wnk on January 28, 2011

Hey followers,

You may have noticed a lack of updates of the last while. This is because I have been in the middle of a research project that has kept me busy. I am a BCIT student and my graduation project has me tinkering with in-car electronics systems looking for vulnerabilities. This research has lead me into looking into some really interesting RF-related systems which are used to attack the car’s internal wireless systems. Once I have more info I will make it available.

I am going to be slow with updates, so please don’t mistake this for any abandonment of this website. Thanks for following!

Cheers,
Bob, VE7WNK

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