The winds are a blowin'......

It appeared that the strong winds and weather change was causing some rather loud popcorn on the repeater tonight. None the less, there were several that stopped by. I also wanted to say thanks again to those that that send us their kind words and support. It's appreciated.

NØIRN - Gary, Springfield
WAØSAP - Dave, Nixa
KCØTQD - James, Springfield
KBØOU - John, Joplin
KB9YZE - Rich, Nixa
KØAWD - Alan, Springfield
WSØE - Joe, Nixa
KDØBDH - Richard, Clever
KCØUAX - Brandon, Highlandville

Thanks to everyone, catch you again next time!

Jeff / KCØVGC

Where everybody knows your name.....

Being new to HF after getting my upgrade in March of '07 I found the hardest thing to know is where you are welcome and where you are not especially on 80 meter phone. I also learned that this is a feeling shared by many, new and old on HF. The band (80 meters) is a bit "clickish" as I have heard it said. I'm not here to say everyone's an ogre on HF, but it is a challenge for newcomers to find a welcome place to operate.

Don't know if you remember the popular TV show "Cheers". The theme song had a line that said to the effect ... "where everyone knows your name". The point being it was a place where folks can easily fit right in just by being themselves. I found such a place on 80 meters. A while back, a group of friends, knowing that it's hard for folks to find a friendly place to chat, made one. They started gathering in the same place at the same time, and it took off! There are so many new folks joining the group of regulars that they had to add some organization to it to keep things flowing. The group meets on 3.803 starting about 10:00pm central time. The reason I mention this is that this is a great place for folks new and old to get a good dose of HF and have conversations from all over. Several of us that participate do so with just 100w and have no problems making contacts.

I've been chatting with this group mostly on weekends since last November, and recently, I've been asked to join the list of Net Control stations. I will be calling the net on 3.803 this Friday, so if you are up at 10:00pm (Central time) this Friday (2/1/08) give us a call. Your participation would be most definitely welcome.

For more information on the 3.803 Roundtable Group, you can visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/roundtable_group/.


73,

Jeff / KCØVGC

Stay warm but don't melt your coax...

What a great net we had this evening. I always say thanks for spending some time on the net, and I always mean it. Enjoyed hearing about the projects Jeff and John were working on; also enjoyed a little off-topic discussion on football. Glad to hear from John and Linda from Joplin, as well as our closer neighbors! Here's tonight's play-by-play:

Jeff, KCØVGC
Doug, KØDPS
Mike, KC5MNP
John, KBØOU
Linda, WDØFTM
David, WBØQIR
Jeanine, N5SPX
Rich, KB9YZE
Lance, KQØQ
Al, WØERE

Also, a few announcements were discussed; the Nixa Amateur Radio Club meets this Saturday; for more information please check the Nixa Hams site. Also - the Titanic Radio Special Event station WØS is approaching on April 12-13th; for more on this please check out WØS.org.

73 all,

James
KCØTQD
(and yes, the KC stands for Kansas City)

The costenstants gather, the crown roars! well, not really, but it was fun!

We post this stuff to acknowledge those that take the time to check in with us. To that end, here are the good folks that checked in with us this evening.

NØIRN - Gary, Springfield MO
KCØTQD - James, Springfield MO
KB9YZE - Rich, Nixa, MO
WBØQIR - Dave, Springfield MO
N5SPX - Jeannine, Springfield MO
KØAWD - Alan, Springfield MO
WBØRJR - Bob, Everton MO
KC5MNP - Mike, Walnut Grove MO
KE7ABH - David, Springfield MO
KQØQ - Lance, from NC via e-mail. Thanks for thinking of us!

Until next time,

Jeff / KCØVGC

I don't need HF, I can talk around the world with ____________

____________ (fill in the blank) be it D-Star, EchoLink, IRLP, eQSO... there are several VOIP / Amateur radio tied communication methods. They have been around a while and some are more popular than others. First off let me say that I believe all of these modes have their place and serve a useful purpose. I have been using VOIP technology long before I became a radio amateur. I used it to chat with my sister when she and her family moved to Peru as missionaries back in 1993. So, I've been using this stuff for a while. Would I become a radio amateur to do this communication when all I had to do was load software on my computer? Nope, probably not. Not worth the trouble and communication over the Internet to Peru was more reliable than HF would be. So, why get on HF when all you have to do is get connected?

I heard it said recently from a ham friend, "I don't need HF, I can talk around the world with D-Star though the gateway." While I respect my friend, I thought to myself, "I'm sure glad all Amateurs don't feel that way." I have different goals and objectives than my friend when it comes to Amateur Radio, and like many, I like a challenge. So, HF is not for everyone. I'm fine with that. I'm not saying one mode has to compete with the other, or should. It's a big hobby and folks should be allowed to explore, invest, and enjoy whatever aspect suites them. I just hope enough of us stick around to build the next ham radio infrastructure so that it will continue beyond the boundaries of the Internet.


Best 73,

Jeff / KCØVGC

One Crazy Monday

As most of you were witness to, we had a wild ride Monday evening into early Tuesday morning. January 7th and 8th, 2008 in Southwest Missouri will be remembered for anything but winter weather. We postponed the net until 9pm local time, but the severe weather was still going on even at that point in time, and would continue on for several more hours. With that, we had Rich KB9YZE, Justin KCØEUJ, Jeff KCØVGC, Jim KCØIYI and Dick KØGL check-in to an abbreviated Monday Night Net. Let's all hope we don't see another crazy night like that for a while. For more information on the weather on January 7-8th, take a look at www.ozarkstorms.com (courtesy of Jeff KBØWVT) and NOAA Springfield . Hope to hear you all next week.

73

James
KCØTQD