You never know who's listening...

Last Saturday night, before this whole brouhaha with K8JSM stirred up a hornet's nest, I did something I wasn't sure I'd ever be doing again - participate in a SKYWARN net.

My friend Jason was recently appointed the coordinator for the area and this was to be his first real test in that role. He was used to it, though, since he and I would team up with a couple of others and run the nets years ago. When a new coordinator was named, all he would do is call Jason or another friend of mine, Tom, and get them to run the nets. So they were used to the pressure. I decided to listen in and help, because that's what friends do for one another...

The weather system that moved through had already killed 10 people in Mississippi and was bearing down on East Tennessee.

The National Weather Service (NWS) had been sending out messages warning people about the severity of the system 48 hours beforehand. The last time I recall the NWS being that cautious was when a tornado tore through Mossy Grove several years before. However, by the time it arrived around midnight Saturday night/Sunday morning, it lost most of its energy and was scattered storms.

It still managed to put an E-F2 tornado in Greenback, just southeast of where I live.

As that tornado was touching down, one local TV station was on the air broadcasting the storm's approach to Knoxville.

As I tuned in to the net, several people were checking in and reporting the usual - heavy winds, lotsa lightning, nothing happening, my bunions are killing me...the typical stuff we'd normally get.

But then, one ham who was doing an overnight paper route called in to report he was in contact with another delivery person who "saw a tornado" in Greenback.

In the past, I usually shunned this type of 3rd party reporting. I recall one such net where we spent 15 minutes scrambling to get confirmation because someone heard on a police scanner that the fire department was reporting a tornado down in Anderson County near Oak Ridge, and it set off a panic. That report ended up being discounted, but it tied up our net as we struggled to get some sort of visual confirmation from those listening, many of whom ran to their police scanners to listen for the report from the fire department.

But something was different about this report. I knew the guy reporting it and he wouldn't just throw a report out like this without some sort of credible evidence (he and Jason are close friends and I'm sure Jason lectured him about it a dozen times over). Dwight (the ham reporting) made sure to preface his report and said "I'm getting this '3rd party', but another driver just told me he saw a tornado in the Greenback community."

So, I decided I was going to run upstairs into the living room and see what the meteorologists were reporting on TV.

No sooner than I step out of the radio room do I hear one of the two meteorologists on TV exclaim: "And we've just received CONFIRMATION of a tornado in Greenback, this is by AMATEUR RADIO..."

I about had a heart attack.

My first reaction was "what weather net are they listening to?" and I scrambled back to the radio to start scanning for other nets (none were taking place other than in northern Georgia and middle Tennessee) and I quickly grabbed the mic and told Jason to "call me immediately" so that I could let him know the TV station was listening, and possibly erroneously reporting a touchdown. No sooner did I un-key the mic when another ham piped in that the TV station was listening and reporting the tornado touching down.

Well now that the cat was out of the bag, we (as in all of us on the net) had to spend 5+ minutes doing damage control, stating repeatedly that the report was 3rd party, unconfirmed, and that we were working to get visual sighting of damage or of the tornado.

Suddenly other hams start reporting that they're getting reports of ambulance and fire dispatches to homes damaged by tornados and other emergencies. The hams were using specific addresses, and that was always a big no-no when I was calling the nets.

Eventually, the TV station corrected their report, but did mention reports of emergency dispatches were being sent to the same addresses we were hearing, indicating something happened out in Greenback.

Eventually, it came to pass that there was indeed a tornado in Greenback, but the rule of thumb we always employed was not to confirm what we ourselves didn't see.

Dwight didn't do anything wrong, because he did preface that he was getting the information 3rd-hand. However, the TV station was either rushing to get the story out on the air or was not entirely hearing the report by Dwight, and assumed that the tornado was confirmed.

Technically speaking, we couldn't confirm if a tornado did touchdown (that's the NWS's job when they do damage surveys after the fact) but the last thing I want to see is SKYWARN in East Tennessee getting discredited because we're hollering "TORNADO!" when in fact it's not been confirmed, or just something we hear elsewhere.

It's been a couple years since I was involved in SKYWARN. It's gonna take a little bit of time to get used to things again. Getting things back on track is going to have to be priority one, but getting the media on track with what we do is apparently another priority entirely.

Followup on K8JSM

The more I looked into the story of Joseph Sean McVey, K8JSM, the more intriguing a story this became.

Because, according to the airport police in Asheville, NC, this is the face of domestic terrorism:

That's right, folks, this mugshot represents a much bigger threat than Iran obtaining nukes, the Taliban, or even outsourcing to China...This 23-year-old amateur radio buff, civic-minded person who has no criminal background (other than run-ins with Ohio authorities) is threatening our livelihood.

I must admit at first I thought it was a case of some whacker trying to impersonate a police officer with his strobes flashing, brandishing a sidearm, wearing an earpiece and "talking into it", etc.

Then I began to read more and more about this person, and what was developing was more a case of overzealous law enforcement rather than an overzealous ham radio operator trying to impress anyone within sight, showing off that he was in emergency communications.

It also was another flagrant display by the media to quickly demonize and criminalize whomever might threaten President Obama without stepping back and fully assessing the entire situation with some form of objectivity. Even though there was nothing political about the situation, a quick rush has been made by some media to portray McVey as a right-wing extremist lunatic with fantasies of snipers and sadistic thoughts of extremist conservatism coursing through his twisted, sick, feeble mind...

Seriously, both McVey and the authorities at the airport are to blame, in my opinion, and here's why...

First, let's look at Sean. Honor student in school, bright kid, loves music, radios, and target shooting. Is this the profiling of a monster? If anything, he's a nerd. I should know, I was one. Still am.

Now, in the last few days since his arrest we've found, thanks to the monster-making media that he's had issues with law enforcement in the past. He's also been ticketed for having blue flashing lights on his car in 2006. And now we find he *gasp* was critical of President Obama on his Facebook page!!!

So NOW it begins with the media. Demonize McVey as a right-wing extremist who probably is a member of some secret militia in the bible belt. More on that later.

So back to Sean. Yes, he can be over-the-top on wanting to help when help is not asked for. As I posted previously, I've dealt with folks like him in the past, wanting to be Dudley Do-right. They have the best of intentions, and their hearts are in the right place. But sometimes, instead of helping, they hinder the situation, or in some cases escalate it because law enforcement may not know what the person's intentions truly are, other than being a nuisance and getting in the way. To some degree, that's what's happened here.

If he had his strobes flashing, sidearm brandished, and was telling people to get back or was directing traffic, yeah, that could be cause for some concern with law enforcement. But if all he did was park his car, get out and watch Air Force One taxi, minding his own business, listening to the radio traffic on his scanner with an earpiece so as not to disturb others, then, other than having the sidearm, there's no serious cause for concern?

Regarding the sidearm, although I support the right to have a gun, and believe strongly in the 2nd amendment, even if it is legal what Sean did, showing up at an area where the President of the United States was (or is) is not what I consider the smartest move to make. That alone is probably what triggered the officers at the airport into action. Bad move on Sean's part.

And speaking of the police, I'll just go on record as saying, again my opinion, the police acted appropriately...to a point.

There was a time years ago when I was the ARES emergency coordinator for Knox County here in Tennessee. Big responsibility. I dealt with overreacting hams and those just waiting ever-so-impatiently for the next big emergency. Not unlike McVey, really. I've also dealt with law enforcement and government officials who didn't care for ham operators. One official whose name I won't mention (because I don't remember his name) thought they were the scourge of communications "experts" everywhere, and despite my reminding him I was a ham and trying to inform him the positives of recent events such as a tornado taking out all other reliable communications in one remote area of East Tennessee except for ham radio, he refused to be swayed otherwise. He let one bad encounter ruin it for the whole hobby in his mind, and I had better things to do than to persuade him otherwise.

The Airport Police stopped McVey and questioned him, but even though he was legally allowed to carry the weapon (both as a sidearm and concealed) they continued to pursue the issue and find some sort of excuse to make an example out of McVey. When they finally pulled said excuse out of some book they probably had to blow the dust off in order to open, that gave them Carte Blanche to rifle through his car under the guise of "probable cause". And lo, what do they find but formulas and calculations for bullet trajectories...clearly they have a dangerous man on their hands. Look again at that mugshot above...

I tend to think the arresting officers probably knew he was a ham and had it in their mind that, just like the county official I referenced, this kid was part of a hobby they detested, and felt they needed to make an example to all hams as to what would happen if any hams got in their way. Yeah, it's probably a bit much for a conspiracy theory, but considering what craziness has come from this whole situation so far, you never know, really.

The airport police claimed they ran his driver's license number through the database and it came back invalid. I find it deliciously odd that only after he was detained, booked, photographed, and charged, that they then magically found that they entered his information into the computer incorrectly...

So this charge of "going armed to the terror of the public", has anyone ever even heard of such a charge? Then, in order to make an example out of McVey, they set bond at $100,000? For a misdemeanor? Then they say that, even if he posted bond he might still remain in jail??? Is that even legal?

The airport police chief even said he did nothing wrong "individually"...

Taken individually, none of things McVey did was against the law, including carrying the gun, Airport Police Chief Jeff Augram said. It was the combination of McVey’s behavior and the things he had that drew the charge, Augram said.

So if I understand correctly, he didn't do anything wrong, but because of his behavior and his ham radios and scanners, he got arrested?

I'm so seriously tempted to head over the mountain 90 miles away to the Asheville Regional Airport/Hair Care/Tire Change & 30-min Lube/Discount Cigarette Outlet/Fireworks Warehouse (tm) and take my handheld Yaesu FT-530, Radio Shack scanner, a listing of frequencies for the airport, a bottle of water over 16oz, and a picket sign that states:

I AM A HAM RADIO OPERATOR, SUPPORTER OF THE 2ND AMENDMENT, AND A SCANNER ENTHUSIAST. THAT MAKES ME A TERROR THREAT TO THE PUBLIC

and just stand there in front of the Airport's Police Station/Mobile Home. Wonder what will happen...hmmm...maybe individually, with the radios, the sign, and the water, I'm in the clear, but put them together...

I myself probably did more research than the media in finding out about who McVey really was. Why was he in North Carolina? His mom lives there. He even posted this fact online last year. Only now is the media catching on. Why did he have all these radios? He's a ham. Looking at his Ohio license plate would have answered that question immediately. Why did he have a gun? He was licensed to.

Almost immediately the media were trying to put this kid in the electric chair without so much as a peep of fact, just innuendo. After all, here was some lunatic from out of town with rifle formulas, police scanners, and carrying a gun wanting to see the President...

Only after the media starts doing their JOB does the truth come to light. He's just a harmless kid with a fascination for radios who wanted to see Air Force One.

Coshocton REACT reacts (video)



In the end, I think that McVey will not serve any more time other than what he served after being arrested. He'll probably get a lecture from the judge but nothing more...

If anything, McVey has a golden opportunity to sell his story to one of the news channels (probably Larry King Live) or a magazine publication. I'd love to talk to him for a TWIAR exclusive, but we can't afford what he'd probably be asking.

Still, I wonder two things: What effect it will have on McVey's civic-minded activities (will he continue to be an overzealous and anxious kid filled with piss and vinegar and wanting to save the world?) and what effect this whole incident will have on ham radio.

God forbid this incident inspires the feds into trying to micromanage ham radio more than they already do, or even worse levy restrictions on civil agencies like RACES, ARES, and SKYWARN. Hopefully the Obama administration won't launch their media dogs into a smear campaign of ham radio, either. The last thing amateur radio needs to be is a foul talking point on the news channels.

Guy arrested as Obama leaves Asheville a ham

A man was arrested on Sunday near the Asheville Regional Airport after he was stopped near the airport's car rental parking lot as President Obama was onboard Air Force One taxiing out to depart. Agents stopped Joseph Sean McVey after noticing he was wearing a sidearm and using a handheld radio and talking into a headset. Agents ran his driver's license number and it came back invalid. When asked why he was there, he stated he wanted to see the President.

Not exactly the best thing to say when you have a gun at your side.

He's detained and possibly facing an array of charges. Currently he's charged with "going armed to the terror of the public" (?) a misdemeanor, yet with a $100,000 bond. I'm pretty sure they'll find others to add.

When I heard he had a light bar, siren, and antennas on his car, I immediately looked on QRZ and found there was a name matching his, callsign K8JSM. His age matches with his description (he says he was born in 1987, and the article states he's 23) and he said he goes by Sean, the middle name in the article.

Unfortunately while it seems like his intentions were not terribly concerning (he said he was interested in seeing the President, and just seems like he was just going out as a Secret Service wannabe) he's going to be in a big boatload of trouble. It's going to make ham radio operators look bad as well, depending on how the media plays this out. The article linked earlier talks about the scanners, antennae, and radios he had. It could lead to a few articles or not-so-subtle references to how some in ham radio think they either represent the law, or worse, are above it.

The folks at Hamsexy are talking about it, (their term for these kind of hams is "whackers") and QRZ is also discussing this person. These forums have even found a YouTube video of him chasing a storm in Coshocton County, Ohio and reporting hail. He's also a member of REACT and apparently they have a strong presence as several REACT members were tending to a downed tree. He even is good enough to post the transcripts of his transmissions. What was more amusing to me was the discussion of the proper sizes of hail.

Face it, there's at least one person like Sean in your area. I can name at least two here in East Tennessee. Hell, when I got my ticket I thought about a light bar, headlight strobes, and magnets all over the truck I drove. Yes, we want to be able to have all the equipment at the ready when something does occur, but parading around the countryside with a few lightbars and magnets on your cars when you don't need them can set a bad example for others to follow.

Ask yourself if it's really necessary to have your vehicle lit up like a Christmas tree or a portable discotheque when you're on the road responding to whatever emergency you need to go to, or when you're doing a public service event (marathon, bike race, etc.).

Now several of my friends have the amber lights on their cars or trucks. The small one or two-light system is fine. Subtle, maybe. But the big ones that span the hood of your car and make people wonder if you're with the local utility or some other public service, that's over the top.

God forbid you get red, blue, and/or green ones, indicating you're government/emergency service...

EDIT: Ham radio club president discusses Sean McVey.

CQD CQD MGY...

Sorry I haven't posted in 3 months. Fact is, I haven't done much radio to talk about.

Lauren's too busy with school to get on the air, but all that may change. We're moving our bedroom back downstairs, where all the radios reside, so we may both be getting a little more airtime. Maybe even Jes will partake in some on-air activity.

I turned 40 last week. Not too happy about it, really, but you can't stop it from happening. It was uneventful, a couple of dinners, and a weekend in Pigeon Forge with the wife.

There they opened a new museum called "Titanic" on Thursday, almost 98 years to the day it set sail on its ill-fated maiden voyage, and we went to it on Sunday. We took pictures of it and naturally, the antenna is what attracted my attention. Since this is a mockup of the forward half of the ship, the entire antenna wasn't there. However, I still contemplated what the resonant frequency of that mockup was...

It's hard to see from this photo but the 4-wire antenna is suspended from the mast in the front to the 2nd funnel (on the real Titanic, there was a 2nd mast positioned behind the 4th funnel, or "dummy" funnel).

The museum did an excellent job in maintaining the historical accuracy of all parts of the Titanic. Radio buffs will be extremely pleased with the way the radio officers John Phillips and Harold Bride are portrayed. They sent distress signals right up until power went out in the radio room and the ship was moments from going under.

Sadly, John Phillips (left) died. Harold Bride survived the sinking, passing away in 1956.

There is a page dedicated to the Marconi room of Titanic I highly recommend. It includes the radio traffic messages passed between Titanic and many of the ships who were rushing to her aid. Titanic used the callsign "MGY", which it was assigned in January of 1912. You'll see the calls of "CQD MGY" (CQD was the predecessor to today's SOS distress call) and the ships that responded.

This photo is the only known photo to exist of Titanic's actual Marconi room. It's a double exposure photo taken by Father Frank Browne who disembarked Titanic at Queensland, her last stop before crossing the Atlantic towards her destiny and history. Had Father Browne remained on board, not only would he have most likely died, but the photos he took would have been destroyed by the sea, and with it, many of the unique photographs only Father Browne was able to capture, including one of Titanic's Captain Smith, and that of a child playing on one of the decks, the only photos of their kind known to exist.

If you make your way to Pigeon Forge (or Branson, MO) do stop in and pay a visit. It's well worth the time and money. We spent about 3 hours in the museum (self-guided) and there's information about Titanic even the most hardcore of enthusiasts will discover. There's even an interactive exhibit that will show you the Morse lettering and will allow you to tap out your name on a touch-screen straight key.

I may even start calling my radio room a Marconi room...if I can ever freshen up on my CW...but that's another story.

$25k in communications, in a $500 car

A few weeks ago Jalopnik posted images of a ham who had a Dodge Colt for sale...

The car itself was priced at $500, but the electronics inside are valued at $25,000!!! Just one look inside and it's impossible for me to imagine the ability to actually drive this thing, much less operate while mobile, with all the radios, scanners, GPS's, mics, and even a Game Boy.

I'm sure plenty of questions come into mind when looking at this, the first being "Why?!?!?!". Well, why do we string 5 dipoles over our homes, along with 3 omnidirectionals and a beam or 2? Why do we climb mountains with 20 lbs of radios to operate from the peak of some rock no one has heard of? Why do we build morse code transmitters inside of tuna cans? Why build J-poles when we could buy them?

Along the same lines, why do some people collect Barbie Dolls, collectible plates, baseball cards, etc. Why, why why?

I don't know if anyone would actually buy this beast, but then again, one man's junk is another's treasure. I'm sure the hydraulics on the rear push the value of the Colt to $1000.

By the way, it looks like the folks at HamSexy had a heads-up on this last April.

Being 6'3", I don't think I'd fit in the car with it empty, so I'm going to have to pass.

Still, I wonder if the stereo works. If so, does it have the original 8-track?

New Year's resolutions

As New Year's approaches, I've often shied away from any New Year's resolutions since 7th grade. In fact, the last resolution I made was in 7th grade to not make any more of these things. And up to this point, it's been a resolution well-kept.

However, with Lauren now licensed (and newly granted vanity assigned) and my other daughter Amber more interested since her big sister got her ticket, I've decided to make a few resolutions, and then check them to see if I kept them at the end of 2010 (by the way, is it pronounced "Twenty-Ten" or "Two-Thousand Ten"?).

1. I resolve to get Lauren an HT*.
2. I resolve that Amber will at least study to get her license, with Jes, Lauren and I helping. Hopefully it's before the Question Pool change on July 1.
3. I resolve to re-install a mobile in the minivan.
4. I resolve to talk with Lauren on the radio at least once/week on the way home from work*.
5. I resolve that I'll get Lauren and Jes on 10 meters (if the band will ever open up!)*.
6. I resolve to get a dipole antenna and string it up and get back on 40/80 meters.
7. I resolve to contact at least 20 countries on HF.

Now, let's see if these are attainable this year...

Oh, and I'll lose 30 pounds....

* It seems Lauren decided to see if she could fly and jumped out a window at a friends house on New Year's Eve. She's fine, but grounded for a month. So some of these will not take effect until February...

SKYWARN Recognition Day 2009

It's been a somewhat slow month for me being on the radio. After Lauren got her license things have been quiet.

I talked to her on the way home from work one evening. My friend Jason, KF4VDX jumped in and talked to her briefly, but other than that she's not had time to get on the air. She's doing homework or is at my mom's house, her friend's house, or my sister-in-law's and she's without a radio.

I'm looking to get her an HT as I promised her. I'm looking at a Yaesu or even a Chinese-made radio. I know, that whole thing with China and the economy but dammit if you can pick up a dual-bander for $95, you can't help but take it into consideration...

Another friend of mine lost his wife last month. I went to the receiving and paid my respects. I also found another friend who's been overseeing the SKYWARN activities for the NWS. His name is Ed Bradley, W4VGI. We talked (for the first time in 2+ years in person) and briefly discussed some issues that had occurred over the last 2 years. I won't go into detail, but he did invite me to the Morristown office for SKYWARN Recognition Day on December 5. I said I would look into it and asked him to let me know when he needed operators.

Fast forward to Friday, December 5.

I'm cruising my Facebook early in the evening and see someone post that they were headed to their weather service office for SKYWARN Recognition Day and I uttered a few curse words thinking (as I usually do) it was the next weekend. I got an email from him a couple of weeks before, and not surprising to me I forgot about it.

It had been 3 or 4 years since I participated (from the Morristown office, that is, although I worked a few stations from home one year) and was eager to get back up there. I called on the Morristown repeater to the ham station WX4MRX and found that Ed was there, and asked if he needed help. He eagerly accepted, and I got permission from the Mrs. and headed up to Morristown (an hour's drive from home).

When I arrived a couple of hams were on station and trying to make some contacts. It was a bit nostalgic coming back to the old place. The last time I remembered it, the actual station had 3 radios (Two 2m/440 dual-band Alincos and a 220 radio) and an APRS setup. I was pleased to see it has since been upgraded to include an HF station and additional radios on most VHF bands.

Gone are the two CRTs and in its place is one LCD with a switch to two different PCs, one for APRS, the other for internet. There are 3 Yaesu FT-8800R's for 2m/440 operation, the 220 radio (Alinco DR-235 MKIII), a Mirage B5018G amp, and Icom 718 HF rig with IT-100 Auto-tuner, and various meters and power supplies to keep the radios working. The new setup is off to the lower right, and a layout of the setup is below.

I was amazed at how much the station had changed since I last visited, but it was a pleasant surprise. Not to mention jealousy at the sophistication of the layout. The last thing I want to do is show a pic of my hamshack...

After Ed and I had a talk to catch up on the last couple of years, I got to it, trying to make contacts. I participated in the inaugural event 11 years ago and I had a very active evening, making contacts all over the US and locally. I had a great time and have worked them from Morristown off an on over the years.

Unfortunately it was not a good night on HF this time around as far as band conditions go. Everything from 10 to 20 meters was dead or dying, and 40 was noisy and polluted with the shortwave stations, and 80 was not active yet (unless you wanted to talk like a CBer on the usual outlets). I started on 20 and worked a few weather service stations, tried a few on 40, and 80 was no luck at all, even as I was wrapping up.

I only contacted about 20 stations on HF. In hindsight, I completely skipped over VHF. I could have hopped on the local repeaters and made some contacts that way (I forgot they were allowed) and completely ignored that fact.

Also, it appeared that Ed may have not submitted WX4MRX as a weather service station until it was too late, several stations were asking why we "weren't on the list".

Like Field Day, I'm thinking ahead to next year. Hopefully I'll be better prepared and I'll try to recruit some additional help for the graveyard shift. I had a couple of guys there for the first couple of hours, but they left and I was by myself until I left the weather service office at about 4am.

It's an interesting event and one I really enjoyed doing. Perhaps if I have enough time in advance I can take the family up to help participate. That would certainly bring out the hermits if they hear a female voice or even more so a kid's voice calling "CQ". Don't worry, I'll be sure to send them home before midnight.

Lauren's got a new callsign

Well less than 2 months after my daughter Lauren passed her ham test, she decided that KJ4QNH was not for her. Something about the letter "Q" she didn't care for.

So we applied for and got her a new callsign through the Vanity system.

She is now K4LRN. The suffix "LRN" is short for her name, something she liked when we looked at what callsigns were available.

I checked late Thursday evening and it was still pending, so either yesterday or today it went through.

Merry Christmas, Lauren!

EDIT: The expiration is on Christmas Day of 2019, so it did come into effect on Christmas Day.

My Christmas present to you: How to renew your ham license for FREE! *

If you've been licensed for over 10 years, chances are you've received notices from companies offering to renew your license for a "minimal fee".

Well, I'm about to save you some money, because you don't have to pay a dime if you do it yourself*.

All you need to do is to go to the FCC's Universal License System (ULS) site and renew online.

A few "quick notes":

• *If you have a vanity callsign (like I do) you will need to pay the vanity fee (currently $13.40 as of the posting of this article). This fee can also be paid online.
• You cannot renew until it is 90 days before the date of expiration and up to 2 years after the expiry. If you wait to renew after the expiration date, you CANNOT transmit on amateur radio frequencies from the date of expiration until it appears in the ULS as renewed! If you wait until after the 2-year grace period, it cannot be renewed, you will need to take the Technician Class exam to get re-licensed.
• This whole renewal process will NOT be instantaneous, it may take several days to process, so the sooner you fill out the renewal request during the 90-day window, the sooner it will get processed and you will not have to chance an interruption from using ham radio.
• If filing online is still not for you, then you can still print and fill out the Form 605 and file via snail mail. That's free as well. Also, the ARRL will do it free for members, but Vanity calls are $13.40 + $5 for processing.

Find your FRN

You will need to know your FRN (FCC Registration Number) in order to renew. Don't know it? Don't worry, all you need to do is look it up on the ULS search page.

To search for your FRN:

1. Go to the ULS main page.
2. Under the "Search" area, click "Licenses".
3. In the search page enter your callsign.
4. Locate your callsign. Under the "FRN" column (in the center) is your FRN that you will need to log in and renew your license. Write it down!

If you already know your FRN and password, go to the login page, sign on, and wait for me down below. Otherwise, continue on...

Chances are, you've never had to use ULS before, since either you've been a ham for less than 10 years, or renewed it before ULS online renewal was enacted, let someone else do it for you, or you got a new callsign (due to vanity request or license upgrade) and the 10-year term was reset upon the issuance of the new callsign. Therefore when you get back to the ULS sign-on page, click "Register".

When you get there, you will have 3 options, click "Update" in the middle.

Personal Security Question

Now, if this is your first time using ULS, you probably have not set your Personal Security Question. If you have previously set up your Personal Security Question, skip to the next paragraph. If you have NOT set up a Personal Security Question, you will need to fill out an online request form and someone with the FCC will manually set this question and email you once complete. This may take a couple of days! To get to the request page, click the link that takes you to https://esupport.fcc.gov/password.htm.

On the next page, click "Set your Personal Security Question" and the next page is where you fill out the Personal Security Question you want to set.

You will need your FRN, enter your contact info, and provide a current email address, then set whatever you want for your Personal Security Question. You can either choose a preset question from the dropdown menu, or set one up that you alone will know.

Again, someone contracted with the FCC will set the question and answer you chose so once again write it down!

Reset your password

Once you have received your email from the FCC that the Personal Security Question has been set up (or you already know it and skipped the previous paragraph) you will need to set your FRN password.

• From the ULS main page, click "Login", then go to the link to contact tech support, then click the link to reset your password.
• Enter your FRN (you did write it down, didn't you?).
• Answer the Personal Security Question you set up.
• Enter your new password (minimum 6 characters, combination of letters, numbers, and special characters (I highly recommend you do NOT use your callsign (if it was a 2X3).
• Once your password is reset you may get a notification from the FCC advising that your password was reset.

Time to Log in to the ULS

Hopefully you haven't given up hope and are not shilling out $5-10 for someone else to renew your license at this point. We're almost there, I promise!

You've gone through setting up your Personal Security Question and/or password, so now it's time to log in.

• From the ULS main page, click "Login".
• Enter your FRN (again, you did write it down somewhere?) and password.
• You should now be viewing your information (callsign, address, etc.):
• On the menu to the left, you will see a link to renew your license so click the link.
• The next page will show your callsign in a box on the left (you should have "Eligible" selected above the box with your callsign). Click you callsign to highlight it, and the select the "Add" button in between. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click "Continue".

• Follow the remaining instructions to finish the registration and submit once you are ready.

If you have a Vanity call, you will be prompted to pay the fee associated with renewing a Vanity callsign once the renewal application has been successfully received. It will be in a "pending" mode until the Vanity fee is paid. I plan cover that process in a later posting.

And that, my friends, is what they're charging you for. So now, if all has gone through successfully, you will be placed in the queue for renewal. It shouldn't take more than a couple of business days to get updated in the ULS but give it up to 10 business days before attempting to contact the FCC for an update. Check the ULS for your callsign and note the expiration date should now read 10 years from now. You should also receive an email confirmation.

I admit for some this may be too much, but if you stuck with it this far, you hopefully saved a bit of money. If not, then you're not out an incredible amount of money if you let someone else do it for you. But still, why pay someone else to do a job that you should be able to do on your own for free?

I'd love to hear from anyone who followed these directions and get some feedback one way or the other. Also, if you could proved additional screenshots (especially if you have to renew your Vanity) I would appreciate it, as I never thought to grab screen captures while renewing mine, but then again, this idea didn't occur to me until after the fact. If you have a sequential callsign that's due for renewal, I can try to help if possible. My email is gregk4hsm at gmail dot com.

Morse Code keyer manufacturer moving to Knoxville

Today I found that Scott Robbins, W4PA was buying Vibroplex and moving the company here to Knoxville.

I met Scott at a RACK meeting several years back. He was working at Ten-Tec and was notorious as a contester (before retiring last year).

He was the guest speaker and gave an example recording showing how he can use two radios simultaneously to make contacts during contests. While tuning with one radio, he's making a contact on another. I don't know what he did for writing down the contacts...

It's good to know that there's some economic boost around here. Even if it's "ancient technology". Wonder if he's hiring?

Meet my daughter, KJ4QNH!!!

Nearly a year ago, I posted that my daughter Lauren was studying to be a ham. Unfortunately, with school, life, girl scouts, and basically everything else getting in the way, we were limited to 1/2 hour Q&As once or twice a week on much of what she already studied, and a few sample tests on QRZ, most of which she missed passing by a couple of questions.

As summer approached, I was looking forward to sitting down with her and studying, but she would lose interest (or rather, she was wanting to play with her friends, watch TV, play her Nintendo DS, etc.) or I would not be able to help her due to household "honeydews" that were never-ending.

I was determined not to force her in to doing this. I didn't want to pressure her, and only wanted her to get her license because she wanted to do it, not because I (or my wife) wanted her to. I walked a fine line between encouraging her and making her. I figured if I forced her in to studying, it would only discourage and block her from wanting to get her license, but I would often remind her that she needed to study.

I would occasionally ask her "are you still interested in getting your license?", and she eagerly replied she was determined to get it.

We continued to study together whenever possible and even my wife (Jessie, K4RLJ) was occasionally helping. Her biggest stumbling blocks were the frequencies allocated to Technician class licensees, what bands belonged to what frequencies, and the questions relating to Ohm's Law.

Then I remembered that on occasion ham groups have all-day classes followed by exams that same day. I was listening to a local net and caught some guys talking about one that had just occurred the Saturday prior and decided to email some folks and ask if there was any more such groups that were going to take place anytime soon. I was met with 4 different groups conducting such classes, but none were here in town. One was 2 hours south in Chattanooga, another in Kingsport, and yet another in North Carolina.

I then got an email from a friend who was a VE for W5YI and was going to have a class in my wife's hometown of LaFollette (about an hour north of here) and checked with Lauren and we decided we would do that one.

I gathered that this would be the key to Lauren's passing her test. There wouldn't be any TV, internet, or other distractions and she could focus completely on the task at hand. Plus she had been studying off-and-on for over a year, so my wife and I were confident she would focus her efforts and possibly pass the test. We didn't expect her to pass, but we didn't expect her to fail, either.

I did this once before with my sister-in-law when she was about 13. That one was an all-day session, where one person read off all the questions, and the correct answer, and they moved on to the next question. They then took the exams the next morning. Unfortunately she failed her test.

She did eventually get her ticket after studying and my wife took her to an exam session in Lafollette scheduled just for her. She did not, however get much more involved and her license has expired. If she wanted to get her license, she'd have to re-take the test and get a new callsign.

This session was different from my sister-in-law's. We met at Paradigm Church, which was located at a small shopping center on the far end of town. There, they gave her the questions and correct answers on a study sheet and they let everyone study at their own pace, without reading the pool aloud.

There was one person who was blind, and while Lauren was studying, several of us who were sitting around with nothing to do decided to help him and went into another room and read the questions and answers to him. His father who wasn't licensed either helped out as well.

They would study for 45 minutes and then take a 15 minute break. There was a 90 minute lunch in between.

The guys there were very nice about providing pizza for everyone and a few drinks to pass around. It was small, but quiet, and Lauren was concentrating like I've never seen before.

The study session was scheduled to last until 4PM, but Lauren had already gone through the pool by 11AM. She wanted to take the test right then, but there wasn't enough VEs to administer the examination. I quizzed her on several parts and she would miss one or two, and I would have her go back and re-study those portions. Finally, as the afternoon went on, the VEs arrived and started to fill out the Form 605's for her to get her exam when they asked for her picture ID...and guess who forgot to pick up her picture ID...

I suddenly entered a panic mode. I called Jes and proceeded to freak out asking for anything with her picture on it. Her school had picture IDs produced for those times when they might (god forbid) get lost or missing and I fortunately had one in my wallet. They asked for a photocopy. And guess who didn't have a copier in his back pocket...

I then scoured the town for someone...ANYONE...with a copier handy. The local pharmacies didn't have them anymore. For once, Walmart didn't have what I needed. All the check cashing places with copiers and faxes were all closed. Fortunately there was a rental place open at the local mall and I was able to coax the person behind the counter to photocopy the ID.

By the time I got back (30 minutes later) the other two who were studying alongside Lauren were in the middle of their tests, and Lauren was waiting on me with the photocopy.

We filled out the paperwork, handed over her $14 application fee, and away she went. It was hard not to stare at her while she was taking the test, but I fought the urge as best I could.

20 minutes later, she turned everything in. And we waited.

And waited...

Aaaaaaand waited...

I couldn't get any kind of yea/nay from the VEs one way or the other. We sat there patiently while they graded the other tests and hers. I would see them mark the test and pray it wasn't hers they were bleeding red ink all over.

They told one of the others that she had passed, but hadn't told us if Lauren passed. The longer it went on, the less confident we felt that she had passed.

Finally, the VEs called her up to sign her name on the CSCE. "So she passed?" I asked. "Well heck yeah she did!" was the reply, and Lauren smiled as bright as she possibly could.

We called Jes, her grandmother, some friends, and I posted her success on Twitter and Facebook and the kudos came in from hams the world over.

She missed 7 of 9 questions she could miss and still pass the exam. It took 11 days to get her callsign as the FCC was slow to process the paperwork and Veteran's Day also had an effect on the delay.

Earlier this evening, she had her first QSO with Jim, KQ4AB, who was the man who was overseeing the test session. At first I thought I would be her first QSO, or maybe Jes, or a couple of friends of ours who have kids that are hams, but I thought that she should check in to his net and have a quick QSO with him. He got a kick out of it and I recorded it on my cell phone. Here's the video.

So now, I have a wife and daughter who are hams. Just one more daughter to go. And she's cracked open the book and begun her journey. It may be a couple of years (she just turned 8) but she's determined to be like her sister.

I couldn't be happier.