Kevin Sanders, K0KDS » 70cm

Video: MotoTRBO and NASCAR

Kevin Sanders, K0KDS — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 16:48:48 +0000

I’m becoming increasingly interested in learning about the MotoTRBO platform, particularly its use in the amateur radio band (although the nearest amateur MotoTRBO system for me is located about two hours away in Mount Pleasant, Iowa). While searching for YouTube videos demonstrating its capabilities versus other digital platforms, I came across a video about Racing Radios, a company that specializes in supplying radios to track personnel, media, vendors, security, track fire/rescue, and several race teams.

Certainly, I’m no NASCAR fan — but it was pretty neat to hear about MotoTRBO’s success in such an RF-intense environment at a large-scale event like the Talladega 500. Seeing that bank of MotoTRBO radios in the trailer is enough to make my eyes water!

Officer considers cell phones and radios one in the same, issues citation

Kevin Sanders, K0KDS — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 19:47:58 +0000

The Troy, NY amateur radio community is up in arms about a traffic citation that was issued to amateur radio operator Steve Bozak, WB2IQU, for talking on a cell phone while driving, which is against New York state law.

Bozak, who was first licensed in 1976, was on his way to breakfast with fellow amateur radio operators when he was stopped. When the officer explained the charges, Bozak explained that it was an amateur radio, but the officer dismissed the notion and said that cell phones and amateur radios are all the same, the Troy Record reports:

Bozak, who owns an antenna company and has been using so-called “ham” radios for 34 years, was pulled over at the intersection of 15th and Hoosick streets while on his way to breakfast with fellow enthusiasts of the technology. He was slapped with a ticket for talking on a cell phone while driving, and he said Officer Mark Millington dismissed his claims that the radio was not in fact a telephone.

“He assured me that I could not be speaking on that cell phone while I was driving,” said Bozak, who lives in Clifton Park. “I mentioned to him politely that it wasn’t a cell phone but an amateur radio. He assured me that it was all the same.”
Bozak, scheduled to appear on June 23, faces a $100 fine if the judge decides the citation was acceptable under the state code. He will have the support of many of his fellow local amateur radio operators, who plans on being in the courtroom for his appearance.

‘Getting real’

Kevin Sanders, K0KDS — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 01:05:49 +0000

Things have been pretty crazy around these parts lately. I’m still alive, and posting should return back to normal levels hopefully at the end of this week.

I came across a piece by Jeff, KE9V, that really sums up my thoughts about the curmudgeons that argue Echolink/IRLP/WinLink/AOR/PSK31/D-STAR/P-25/insert_variable_here isn’t “real “radio”. As usual, Jeff puts it in a very eloquent way, in such a way that I just can’t make my own thoughts any more clearer than he does:

That I can be driving my car in Atlanta, Georgia and with a UHF mobile radio punch a few buttons on its keypad and be connected to my son’s handheld VHF radio in the middle of Illinois while we chat for fifteen minutes still amazes me. That the long-distance link is provided by an Internet connection is of absolutely no consequence whatsoever to me. We communicate via ham radio. Get over it.

He goes on to say:

First of all, the not real radio meme is a conflicting and destructive message for newcomers who might well have been attracted to the hobby because of these newer forms of communication. Perhaps they witnessed a demonstration of IRLP or D-STAR and because of it, decided to obtain a license. And after going through that process they attend their first club meeting only to hear someone make derogatory comments about what attracted them in the first place!

Which is entirely true!

When I went and took my test at Iowa State, there was another person there testing to get his tech license as well. He had been studying, listening to repeaters, and reading about amateur radio on the internet. Before testing started, he was making small talk with the VE’s about how things like D-STAR wasn’t “real radio.” The VE’s played it safe (understandably) and didn’t agree or disagree. While it wasn’t anything or any mode in particular that prompted me to take the test, I couldn’t help but to get a little worked up inside about those comments. But I bit my lip and stayed silent. Think about it: that guy’s comment about D-STAR — something that I am now heavily involved in — was my first exposure to amateur radio.

Video: Skywarn training, circa 1969

Kevin Sanders, K0KDS — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 16:30:34 +0000

I found this gem on YouTube while searching for other Skywarn videos late one night. While the premise and goals of the Skywarn program have remained unchanged, this video from nearly 40 years ago emphasizes how far the science of weather and personal computing has brought the activity.

Instead of chalkboards, meteorologists now use PowerPoint, videos, pictures, and diagrams on a projection screen to teach the general public (read: not meteorology students). Spotters in the field now have laptops, netbooks, aircards, APRS/GPS, and a whole array of wireless technology to assist them in the field and communicate back to the NWS, EOC, or to other spotters.

Since then, scientists have improved the understanding and reliability of weather forecasting. While weather is a science, humans don’t have it “down to a science” quite yet. But I wonder where we’ll be 40 more years from now?

Storm spotting: A call to service

Kevin Sanders, K0KDS — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 16:00:59 +0000

Eerie magenta-tinted clouds cover the community of Parkersburg, Iowa, after a tornado demolished the southern third of the town on Sunday, May 25, 2008. (Kevin Sanders/AP)

It was Sunday, May 25, 2008 — the day before Memorial Day — when I was on my way back home from the campus of Iowa State University when I got the call.

“There’s been a tornado in northeast Iowa. A pretty big one,” the Associated Press staffer told me on the telephone. As a photo stringer for the AP Des Moines bureau, I had become accustomed to being sent into areas around the state that had just been hit by a tornado. It wasn’t uncommon to do two or three of these assignments each year.

I hung up the phone and started getting my gear together immediately. I got my cameras and lenses together and packed an extra change of clothes. I hopped on the computer and googled where the town of Parkersburg was and how long it would take to get there.

Thinking this would be a routine tornado assignment, I went out the door in about 15 minutes and jumped on Interstate 35 and headed north towards US Highway 20. Once on US Highway 20 near Steamboat Rock, I saw towering stormclouds due east. As I got closer and closer to Parkersburg, I was encountering entire convoys of electric utility contractor trucks and trucks hauling heavy equipment.

As the sun went down and twilight set in, I left Highway 20 and got on Iowa Highway 14, the final leg to Parkersburg. Already, the road and ditches were lined with debris and downed electric poles. Another line of storms had moved in and began dumping heavy rain and nickel-sized hail. The conditions were so poor that it forced me to stop and pull over onto the shoulder halfway down the road from Parkersburg.

After the rain let up, I continued further north on Highway 14. I approached the state trooper blocking the road into Parkersburg, identified myself, and he let me pass. I took a left onto Iowa Highway 57, the main southernmost road in Parkersburg. I stopped a few blocks down and parked the car, gathered up my equipment out of the backseat and continued on foot.

As I stopped to take a look around me and size up the situation, I couldn’t help but be a little spooked by the silhouettes of splintered, barren trees and collapsed buildings against the magenta-tinted sky. It was truly an unforgettable feeling that still puts pits in my stomach to this day.

A firefighter searches what's left of homes and businesses for victims. (Kevin Sanders/AP)

The entire southern half of Parkersburg had been evacuated, and only first responders were in the area. Police and firefighters were still searching the collapsed structures for any survivors or victims. Heavy machinery and generators were the only things that could be heard in the background. As the daylight quickly gave way to darkness, I had only seen one section of the destruction before I determined it was too dark to work safely. I left Parkersburg that night to crash at Matthew’s house, a friend that worked at the Waterloo Courier as a photographer, who was also covering the disaster.

What I saw that night in Parkersburg — trees stripped bare, pieces of lumber that were lodged in anything and everything after being projectiles in the storm, houses wiped clean off their foundations — was only a small part of the picture and I underestimated the magnitude of the destruction as darkness obscured the disaster area.

The next day — Memorial Day — Matthew and I woke up early and headed out. Matthew went to a neighboring town of Parkersburg, New Hartford, and I went straight to Parkersburg. When I arrived, Iowa Homeland Security was keeping the media out of the area while residents return to their homes to salvage items. Iowa HSEMD’s handling of the media that day is not routine for disaster areas, and it was frustrating for all of us.

Not wasting any time, I began calling around to private aviation contractors in the area to go up and do aerial photos of the town in mourning. Everyone in the area was closed for Memorial Day. Finally, I got lucky with a company I had worked with out of the Ankeny airport near Des Moines when a pilot answered the phone and said he could be in the air in 20 minutes. I arranged for him to meet me at the Waterloo Airport, about a half hour drive for me from Parkersburg.

When I arrived at the Waterloo Airport, I discovered that they were actually clipped by the very same tornado. The airport had minimal damage but no electricity, and no fuel pumps. Thankfully, my plane was able to land and pick me up. We received permission to fly above the no-fly zone that was established around Parkersburg. Less than 5 minutes after landing, we were back in the air and heading west towards Parkersburg.

When we got into the air, the big picture finally became visible. It was impossible to see the magnitude of destruction from the ground. From the air you could certainly see the path that the tornado took. Homes, businesses, trees, and everything else that was upright before the storm was spread out for miles.

A day after the tornado hit, the tornado's path could clearly be seen from the air, looking from the southeast of Parkersburg, Iowa on Monday, May 26, 2008. (Kevin Sanders/AP)

We spent about 20 minutes in the air, shooting at various focal lengths and angles, before returning to the Waterloo Airport. I sat in the lobby of the hangar and edited then filed the pictures before heading back to Parkersburg.

When I arrived back in Parkersburg, the HSEMD lackeys went home and let the media have some elbow room to work on their reports. When I got back in town, people wanted to tell their stories to anyone that wanted to listen.

They told stories about their experience when the tornado passed over the house they have lived in the entire lives, they talked about their faith in God, talked about what they called a near-death experience, told me about how their houses collapsed inwards and fell into the basements and told me what they were praying for as they were in their basements.

But every single resident told me how fortunate they felt that they had early warning for the storm. While still a significant number, only six people died immediately from the EF-5 Parkersburg-New Hartford-Dunkerton tornado and left 70 injuries in its path of destruction.

A resident surveys tornado damage in Parkersburg, Iowa on Monday, May 26, 2008. (Kevin Sanders/AP)

Thanks to Doppler technology and ground-truth spotting, the lead time on the warning was substantial. What would have been the number of fatalities if the National Weather Service couldn’t use these tools to their advantage?

At 4:22 p.m., the first tornado warning went out for the storm. The warning included the cities of Aplington and Parkersburg. The next statement came at 4:46 p.m., warning that the tornado will be near Parkersburg at 5 p.m.

At 4:59 p.m., the tornado started cutting a swath of destruction through the southern half of Parkersburg. Residents had 37 minutes of warning. The tornado continued until just before the Buchanan County line at 5:58 p.m.

Amateur radio was one of the first outside entities to enter Parkersburg. A tornado was first reported as it developed east of Ackley by amateur radio at 4:47 p.m. and the first reports of damage in Parkersburg came into the National Weather Service via amateur radio at 5:01 p.m.

These are the points that I like to tout when I get asked “is amateur radio still relevant?” and if we really need storm spotters out there with modern technology and more high-tech forms of communication.

That fall in 2008, I went and tested for my amateur radio license at Iowa State University on a whim. And I passed. When I was a kid playing with scanners listening to the storm spotters, this was something I wanted to do. In a sense, I think this is something that I felt I had to do for others.

My experience in Parkersburg and other disaster zones I have worked in as a photojournalist has given me a call to serve. I’ve been back to Parkersburg a few times since the tornado hit, and every time I enter the town from the south on Highway 14, when I get to the top of the hill I just get this pit in my stomach, my palms begin to sweat, and everything just comes back to me. My mind replays the image of pulling up into the town in the heavy rain with barren trees and building rubble silhouetted against an oddly pink-colored sky. It’s a feeling like none other.

Not only have I bolstered my emergency preparedness at home, but I now proactively use amateur radio and the latest technology to spot storms, and as cliche as it may sound, but to also keep others safe through the benefit of advance warning. The Parkersburg disaster emphasized the importance of amateur radio’s role in the process of issuing severe weather warnings.

After being elected last month as the president of the Mid-Iowa Skywarn Association, I’ve been working on enhancing the organization to be more connected with spotters and the general public. It’s not a position for me to take lightly, and I take great pride in what I’ve been tasked with. This is only the beginning.

What’s in the air? Find out with the FCC’s Spectrum Dashboard

Kevin Sanders, K0KDS — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:53:53 +0000

The FCC has unveiled a neat new web-based tool called the Spectrum Dashboard, which is currently in a public beta. Ever wondered what all the bands were allocated for? Wondering what’s outside of the amateur radio or public safety bands? This can tell you. You can also plot licensees in any given area in the United States on an interactive map. This tool could be potentially useful especially for scanner hobbyists that want to find something new.

From the website:

The Spectrum Dashboard provides a public means of reviewing how spectrum bands are allocated and for what uses, and who holds licenses and in what areas. The beta version provides basic, plain language information about frequencies generally deemed appropriate for mobile broadband (225 MHz to 3700 MHz.) In addition, the beta version of the Spectrum Dashboard contains more detailed information, mapping, and research capabilities for the bands where broadband service is either already available, or potentially could be provided.

Texas VHF-FM Society: Use analog simplex to coordinate D-STAR repeaters?

Kevin Sanders, K0KDS — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:00:50 +0000

The Texas VHF-FM Society has been polling Texas amateur radio operators for the past few years regarding to coordination of D-STAR repeaters due to overcrowding on the 2-meter band, and in turn, a shortage of traditional 6 KHz-split repeater pairs.

Their solution? Use 10 frequencies that are on the generally accepted band plan for analog simplex frequencies to coordinate new D-STAR repeaters. These new proposed repeater pairs would use a 1 MHz split with 10 KHz channel spacing, with a result of the following repeater pairs: 146.450/147.450, 146.460/147.460, 146.470/147.470, 146.480/147.480, and 146.490/147.490 MHz.

As much as I enjoy working with D-STAR and P-25, I would have to oppose this plan. It does nothing to fix the actual problem. The real problem is that there really are too many under-utilized repeaters on the air, or even “paper repeaters” — repeaters that are coordinated and listed in directories, but not actually on the air. Many repeaters have been on the air since the start of the 2m FM repeater craze, but have seen only a handful of keydowns in recent history.

It’s hard to define what repeaters are “active” and “inactive” repeaters, even though some repeater coordinating bodies (Texas being one of them) that have provisions for pulling the “coordinated” status of “inactive repeaters.” While coordination and band plans are strictly by gentlemen’s agreement, there is no real enforcement or motivation to rotate the repeater pairs of inactive repeaters.

I don’t necessarily think this is a bad system though. Repeater owners know when it’s time to let the pairs go (maybe even when politely asked?), and amateur radio really is a self-policing bunch. If I am told correctly, there wasn’t a problem getting a VHF repeater pair for the D-STAR system. We have inactive repeaters in our area, but we probably don’t have repeater coordination congestion like other areas.

Additionally, I don’t think it’s fair to take away analog simplex frequencies in favor of D-STAR. I am guessing they are making this exception for digital voice because it’s the new and awesome thing on 2m. It’s not fair to favor one operating mode over another by making exceptions such as this.

To be honest, I really don’t even use the VHF module for the local D-STAR system. Our UHF module performs just as well, if not better, than the VHF module, and VHF is more susceptible to intermod. Depending on the region, there is space in the UHF amateur band. One of the coordinators for the D-STAR system commented that if we had to do it all over again, we’d probably go without the VHF module and invest in the 1.2 GHz digital voice module (we currently have the VHF/UHF/1.2 digital data modules and a 1.2 GHz analog voice repeater). After all, D-STAR has unique digital abilities due to bandwidth allowances on 1.2 GHz.

Another reason to use the 1.2 GHz band is the motto “use it or lose it.” 1.2 GHz is definitely one of the under-utilized bands amateurs have at their disposal, and I’m sure that the FCC’s mouths water when looking at the 1.2 GHz band when a wireless company comes shopping for spectrum. The spectrum allocated to amateurs are worth millions, if not billions of dollars to the FCC through an auction process.

You think it won’t happen? It happened in 1988 when amateurs lost 2 MHz of spectrum in the 1.25-meter band to UPS, who was planning to use the spectrum to develop a narrowband voice and data network. However, by the time the FCC completed the reallocation, the UPS had moved on to the cellular bands and scrapped their ideas for 220 MHz, but still leaving amateurs without that spectrum.

D-STAR basically works the same on VHF as it would on UHF or 1.2 GHz. In my experience, there’s not many reasons to have all four modules installed other than for redundancy or experimentation. We all need to be working with each other to solve the problem, not making exceptions for one bunch and, in turn, stepping on toes and creating more problems.

2010 annual MISA meeting and training

Kevin Sanders, K0KDS — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 06:28:24 +0000

We had our annual Mid-Iowa Skywarn Association business meeting this evening prior to the annual Polk County storm spotter session. Jim NA0R, who had been working with Skywarn and ARES for some 30 years, officially retired from MISA as president and net control this evening. He had previously served in ARES in several leadership positions and also worked at the state emergency operations center at the STARC-Iowa National Guard Armory, serving as a liaison between amateur radio, ARES, and the National Guard and all other agencies in the EOC. He was a man that took great pride in public service and was always ready to go when called upon.

This, of course, meant that there would be new blood coming into those various leadership positions. I am pleased to announce that I was elected through a close write-in vote to serve as the next president of Mid-Iowa Skywarn, which is effective immediately. I am grateful to be elected to this position, and I do indeed have some big shoes to fill and expectations to exceed. I learned this evening that Jim and I have very similar reasons for joining Skywarn, which I will likely write about later down the road. I plan on hitting the ground running, and I have plans to act on. Tom N0VPR was also elected to the role of secretary/treasurer — Tom has been working with Skywarn and ARES for quite a while as well, and we have worked with each other as president/vice president for the local club.

The Mid-Iowa Skywarn Association is the organization that mans the amateur radio station in the Des Moines National Weather Service office, using call sign K0DMX. It takes storm reports from all corners of the NWS Des Moines’ 51-county warning area through an extensive VHF/UHF linked repeater network. We’re lucky to have a great relationship with the Des Moines meteorologist-in-charge and warning coordinator.

After the brief meeting, we moved on to our annual two-hour spotter training class presented by the NWS. It was a great presentation, I thought. It included some new pictures and videos. It was certainly a good crowd, probably more than last year. If maybe a half-dozen more people showed up, we would have run out of seats. A lot of new faces I haven’t seen around — either they are hams that don’t usually come to our “normal” club meetings or this was their first time attending a storm spotter course.

Tom set out some amateur radio information brochures and fliers, along with business cards that listed information about the DMRAA and its meetings. After the presentation, non-hams were mingling with the hams asking how to get involved in amateur radio, and most of those business cards were gone, so I’d say the training session also sparked some interest in amateur radio. It turned out pretty well.

New toy on the shelves at the candy store: DV Access Point

Kevin Sanders, K0KDS — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:20:58 +0000

A new toy for D-STAR aficionados has hit the shelves and is generating a lot of buzz. The DV-AP, produced by INet Labs who brought you the DV Dongle, is similar to the homebrew D-STAR Hotspot. The device is used for simplex operations, but it does connect to the gateway. The DV-AP plugs into your Windows or OS X computer via USB and uses the computer’s internet connection to communicate with the D-STAR gateway. The DV-AP broadcasts a very low-power signal. It’s similar to the functionality of a simplex Echolink link node. The device’s 10-milliwatt signal on the 2-meter band is intended to reach only a few hundred feet, but it allows you to use your D-STAR HT away from the computer around your house or around your neighborhood at low power.

You can learn more at the under-construction website for the DV-AP at http://dvapdongle.com/, and there’s already a Yahoo Group for the product that can be viewed by clicking here.

It looks like a rather robust toy with many configuration options. Mac users will be glad to hear that this device works on OS X, and Linux users will also be delighted to know that the required drivers are already included into the kernel.

The DV-AP is currently being sold at Ham Radio Outlet for $249.95. You can find it on their website by searching for “DV-AP”. However, HRO shows it as “out of stock.”

Do you have a DV-AP in your hands? What do you think of it so far? Let us know by posting in the comments!

Vancouver D-STAR reflector active for 2010 Winter Games

Kevin Sanders, K0KDS — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 03:51:13 +0000

D-STAR reflector 16 (all three ports — A, B, and C) based in British Columbia is active with people in the area checking into the local repeaters while visiting the 2010 Winter Games, so hop on and check out the activity.

Port B seems to be the module of choice to connect to. For the status of Reflector 16, click here.

Additionally, there is a reflector based in Vancouver, Reflector 26 (ports A and B), but it doesn’t look like anyone is hooked up to it. Reflector 26 can handle more bandwidth than other reflectors, as it is hooked up to a gigabit connection. Port C on the reflector is reserved for Provincial Emergency Radio Communications. You can check the status of Reflector 26 as well by clicking here.

More information on Canadian D-STAR systems can be found at dstar.ca.