Just noticed this today when I was trying to contact the lads on the Iowa. The Iowa received a special waiver from the FCC to allow them to contact Amateur Radio stations on December 6th and 7th this year for Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day using their NEPM callsign, and transmitting on military frequencies.
Normally, Amateur and "Federal" radio stations are not allowed to contact each other. The one exception is for the Armed Forces Day Military/Amateur Radio Communications Test, which I've mentioned here before.
I couldn't hear them today on 14 MHz, so I went up to 18 Mhz. They were there, but very weak, so try as we might, we just couldn't cut it.
In the process, I noticed that transmitting on 18 MHz caused my PC keyboard to lock-up, and the RaspberryPI I have for ADSB would also lock-up. This is *most* annoying, so I'll have to look into it. That means digging out my collection of snap-on ferrite cores to put in a few places, rechecking all my outdoor connections, verifying all my ground connections, and sweeping the coax for the frequencies I use. No big deal, but it "didn't used to" act up like this. I'll probably add some cores under the heading of "Good Amateur Practice", but I prefer not to do that. Some consider ferrite cores "band-aids", and I'm on the fence about that. If they work, and I don't see anything else abnormal, then it'll be one of those times when "They Really Do Work".
We shall see.....
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Sounds to me like it falls under Ya Gotta Do What Ya Gotta Do.
ReplyDeletePretty much, Phil. It's going to be sunny and in the 40's the next few days, so I'll get out there and check all my connections.
DeleteWhen I use my 5 watt 2-meter HT here in the office I get a 120hz hum in the audio, but nothing else. It is nothing worth fixing since I seldom use the rig here in the office.
ReplyDeleteYep, I've got some things like that, too. More an annoyance than a hinderance. If the keyboard locks-up, I can't log the QSO!
DeleteInteresting problem. Maybe a high order 300ish harmonic off 60Hz or a suborder harmonic off the bluetooth 2.4GHz?
ReplyDeleteMore likely the 200 Watts of RF @18 MHz hammering things in the shack. I'm only about 15' from the antenna, an artifact of when I was using my BuddiStick antenna right outside the back door.
DeleteOuch, I missed that part...
DeleteYeah, it was a "Non Optimal" placement, and I haven't improved it....yet! ;-)
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