27 October 2009

Countries/DXCC Entities Confirmed

I was just looking at the countries/DXCC entities I have confirmed on the ARRL's Logbook of the World. In just about a year of operating on HF I've have 51 countries/entities confirmed on LOTW. I don't think that's too bad for someone who is not a hardcore DXer or HF operator. Here is a list of the countries that I have confirmed:

ALASKAAL1G
ANGUILLAVP2E
ANTIGUA & BARBUDAV26F
ARUBAP40ZB
AUSTRALIAVK4KW
BAHAMASC6APR
BARBADOS8P5A
BONAIRE,CURACAO (NETH ANTILLES)PJ4E
BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDVP2V/SP7VC
CANADAVA3DX
CANARY ISLANDEF8R
CAYMAN ISLANDSZF2AM
COLOMBIAHK3O
COSTA RICATI5N
CRETESV9CVY
CUBAT42T
DOMINICAN REPUBLICHI3TEJ
ENGLANDM6T
FERNANDO DE NORONHAPS0F
FINLANDOH8L
FRANCEF5RQQ
GALAPAGOS ISLANDSHC8A
HAITI4V4JR
HAWAIINH7C
HONDURASHQ3Z
HUNGARYHA5BSW
IRELANDEI3IO
ITALYIU8ANT
LITHUANIALY8O
LUXEMBOURGLX1AX
MARTINIQUETO8Z
MEXICOXE3N
MONTENEGRO4O3A
NETHERLANDSPA9JO
NORTHERN IRELANDGI5K
NORWAYLN9Z
POLANDSP5KP
PORTUGALCT1ILT
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICAZS3Y
SAINT MARTINFS5KA
SCOTLANDGA2MP
SLOVENIAS53F
SPAINEA1EEY
SVALBARDJW8DW
SWITZERLANDHB9FAX
TURKS & CAICOS ISLANDSVP5/WB2REM
UKRAINEUT7UV
UNITED STATES OF AMERICAN1API
US VIRGIN ISLANDSKP2M
VENEZUELAYV4A
WALESGW4B


Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

25 October 2009

CQWW DX Contest

This weekend, I used the CQWW DX Contest to add some DX stations to my logbook and pick up a few new countries in the process. Overall, I had 83 contacts most of which were on 20 and 15 Meters. 15 Meters seemed to work the best for me this time; 20 Meters was just so jam packed and busy that it was hard for me to get through the big gun stations with 100 Watts and a G5RV. I found the easier going on 15 Meters both Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

The highlights were working New Zealand and the United Nations Headquarters, both early Sunday morning on 40 Meters.

The new countries/DX entities I picked up this weekend were:

Montserrat
Chile
French Guiana
Norway
Moldavia
Scotland
Cape Verde
New Zealand
United Nations Headquarters


Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

19 October 2009

Monitoring In Brunswick

I'm just about settled in Brunswick and I've had the chance to break out the scanners and do a bit of listening. I've been able to monitor some Fire/EMS traffic on the Glynn County TRS and some MilCom.

Listening to the Glynn County and Brunswick Fire Departments has been an adjustment. They use different terminology than I'm used to listening to from Chatham County and Savannah and they dispatch somewhat differently. I'd describe it, but I'm still in the process of getting a grip on it.

In the realm of MilCom, I've been able to catch some F/A-18s from Beaufort over the weekend and some JSTARS activity today. Monday is typically a slow day for Beaufort, so I haven't been able to ascertain how well I can hear the W-157 traffic (but it shouldn't be much of a problem). It is also worth noting that I heard some MARAUDER AH-64s from the SC ARNG working Townsend Range from I-95 at Exit 38 last week. Given the the AH-64s typically fly relatively low level, this could be a sign that there will be good listening to Townsend Range from here in Brunswick.

Stay Tuned, More to Come (Albeit it may be slowly...)

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

14 October 2009

Boy Scouts Jamboree on the Air

This Saturday, 17 October 2009, is the Boy Scouts Jamboree on the Air. Savannah area scouts will be participating with a JOTA event at the 8th Air Force Museum in Pooler on US 80 just off of I-95. The plan is to be on the air beginning at 10:00 AM Saturday morning and will be operated like a mini-Field Day. If you are an amateur radio operator, please come out and help the Boy Scouts out. This event is a great way to encourage prospective hams, get experience in setting up and operating a station in the field (good ARES type training) and just enjoy camaraderie with other hams. If you aren't a ham and are interested in amateur radios, feel free to drop by and learn about the hobby. Philip, KA4KOE is organizing the event and has announced that an Army communications Humvee is scheduled to be on display at the JOTA event.

Unfortunately I won't be at the JOTA this year due to my work schedule. Despite that, I encourage folks to get out and support this great event. I'll truly miss not being able to help out.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

13 October 2009

First Few Days in Brunswick

I am back from my first few days in Brunswick. I was pretty busy with work, so I don't have much to report quite yet. There wasn't much military to report on because one day was a holiday. The Glynn County TRS is very active, but I haven't had much time to search for TGs that aren't listed on the Radio Reference page. Here is what have found:
  • The 442.700 repeater covers the area south of Savannah better than the 2-meter repeaters. I was able to start carrying on a conversation with Mark, KA4CID from milemarker 49 while on my way back to town this evening.
  • The 444.625 repeater in Kingsland has good coverage in Brunswick. This is an interesting repeater; it is dual mode with both analog and P25 voice. I had a good QSO with Pete, K4QHR on the 444.625 last night while out getting something to eat.
  • My programming files need some serious work! The portions for Glynn and Camden have not been used much and extended monitoring and attempted use has exposed some problems.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

07 October 2009

Chatham Emergency Management Agency Digital Talkgroups Revisited

This afternoon I'm revisiting a blog post from last month about CEMA talkgroups. Last month's post was about CEMA talkgroups being referred to as number/letter combinations such as 1A.

Today's monitoring has shed some more light on the designators for CEMA's talkgroups. As mentioned in the previous post, CEMA activity has been noted on TG 12496. It was in use today as CEMA and the Port Wentworth FD tested warning sirens. During that activity, the TG was referred to as "channel 1D." This would indicate that CEMA now has two groups of talkgroups for their use: a set of analog channels using A or ALPHA designators and a set of digital talkgroup using D or DELTA designators.

If TG 12496 is, as referred to, CEMA 1D and the D/DELTA talkgroups parallel the known analog talkgroups, we can extrapolate the following:

12496 - CEMA 1D
12512 - CEMA 2D
12528 - CEMA 3D
12544 - CEMA 4D
12560 - CEMA 5D

Future monitoring should indicate if those are the actual talkgroup assignments. I do have one note from December 2007 with radio testing on TG 12560. If anyone hears any activity on these talkgroups, please send me an email at kf4lmt @ comcast.net or post to the Scan Savannah Google Group.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

01 October 2009

Mil Air Frequency List Updates

As promised, I have uploaded some updates. The Savannah IAP/CRTC list, MCAS Beaufort list, and the Shaw AFB list have all been updated and uploaded tonight. Next I'll be turning my attention to updating some of the public safety files (no guarantees on when the updates will be ready for upload though!)

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

September MilCom Recap and Admin Notes

  • There won't be a monthly MilCom recap for September. It was a busy month and I didn't have much time for radio so I didn't have time to make very many notes with which to assemble the recap.
  • October could shape up to be very similar as I'll be making a move to the Brunswick area mid-month. After that I hope to get things back to normal. I'll be in the Brunswick area for roughly 5 days a week, so the postings will reflect some different monitoring. I hope to get a little bit more out of the Jacksonville area and the amount of info on Shaw AFB and McEntire ANGB will probably be reduced.
  • I will be taking some time very soon to update some of the frequency lists linked on the side bar to this blog. I'll make some admin posts as I do to let you know when they are updated.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT