Teen Radio Journey
Amateur Radio In The Eyes of a Teenager
Teen Radio Journey v24.2
Aug 19th
It has been a while since the last episode of Teen Radio Journey. Our one and only microphone cable did go bad which put the studio offline for just a little bit but now we are back up and I hop even with school starting back up on August 23rd that I can still release episodes on a regular basis of every other week or so.
In this episode I gave you some Amateur Radio related updates. I still do not have my General class license but I do hope to have it by September at the soonest. Until then you will hear more interview episodes and I also hope to study and talk about various Amateur Radio related topics. If you have a topic that you would like to hear discussed on a future episode of Teen Radio Journey please contact me via the Contact Us page.
In this episode I interview Ricky Simble KJ4ILK. If you would like to contact Ricky you can do so through this link. You can also visit his website through this link.
I hope you enjoy this episode and as always feel free to send me feedback via the Contact Us page.
1000 Free QSL Cards for 1 Lucky Ham
Jul 27th
If you spend a lot of time on HF and like to exchange QSL cards, then you know how expensive they can get even if you print them on your own. Anyone who loves to exchange QSL cards would drool over a box of 1000 Full-Color Photo QSL Cards. The only problem is, you would need around $100 to purchase that wonderful box of QSL cards. Well, thanks to AmateurRadio.com you have a chance to win a box of these fully customizable QSL Cards. All information about the contest can be found by going to AmateurRadio.com and locating the post from July 26, 2010 titled Win 1,000 Full-Color Photo QSL Cards.
73s and Good Luck,
Paul Shirey – KC9QYB
Teen Radio Journey v23.2
Jul 21st
I’m sure you have all been waiting for me to release the next episode of Teen Radio Journey. After many re recordings and even developing a new system that I use to record episodes now, I am pleased to bring to you Teen Radio Journey episode 23. In this episode of Teen Radio Journey the first thing I did was read feedback emails, and boy did we have a lot of them in this episode. I am proud of everyone who has sent in a feedback email. You all know how much I appreciate feedback. We do have some featured links from the feedback.
- Brandon Harvey would like you to visit his QRZ page, do so by clicking here
- Please visit Low SWR, produced by Rich and Brady by clicking here
I also talked about my experiences at Field Day 2010. My first Field Day was not all of what I expected. I hope that next year I will be able to spend even more time at Field Day. If you would like more information about Field Day please click here
I hope you enjoy this episode and as always feel free to send me feedback via the Contact Us page.
New Amateur Radio Website
Jul 2nd
QST QST QST: Attention all Amateur Radio operators… A new Amateur Radio youth website is now available by going to www.radioforteens.com
You heard it right, yet another Amateur Radio youth website has hit the World Wide Web and I am proud to be the co host of the website. After interviewing William Haydon, KI4WXL for a future episode of Teen Radio Journey (www.teenradiojourney.com) we got talking and he told me that he was interested in starting his own Amateur Radio related website. I told him I would love to help him get it up and going and with the help of Jerry Taylor, KD0BIK of the www.myamateurradio.com and the Practical Amateur Radio Podcast (the person providing hosting for Teen Radio Journey and now Radio for Teens) www.radioforteens.com was born.
What is Radio for Teens you may ask. Well, Radio for Teens is a new Amateur Radio youth website with the same purpose of Teen Radio Journey, to take Amateur Radio and show not only youth, but also adults what Amateur Radio is like in the eyes of a teenager. Radio for Teens will have occasional podcast episodes, videos, and blog posts. I hope that you all will keep in checking in on Radio for Teens. If you have an RSS reader please add the blogs rss feed (http://radioforteens.com/?feed=rss) to your reader so you can be updated when a new post is available. I am very excited to see what Radio for Teens is going to turn in to and I hope you are too.
73s,
Paul Shirey – KC9QYB
Teen Radio Journey v22.2
Jun 23rd
It’s been late but another episode of Teen Radio Journey is finally available. In this very special interview episode I interviewed both Jim Pearson K8SO and Ed Engleman KG8CX of the Young Amateur Contest Ham Team. This very unique interview was done over the air while I was visiting family in Ohio. Jim and Ed are the founders of the Young Amateur Contest Ham Team. The purpose of the “is to expand their horizons in the field of contesting along with general and advanced ham radio techniques, and to foster a greater appreciation of the role they play in the overall hobby of amateur radio, as well as giving them a challenge and enjoyment.”
I am very fond of the Young Amateur Contest Ham Team. This is honestly something I have been trying to find for a long time. They have nearly 80 kid members and growing and I plan to become very active with them in participating in their nets more often. They defiantly are doing something very neat by not only getting kids interested in Amateur Radio but also getting kids interested in contesting.
I hope you enjoy this episode and as always feel free to send me feedback via the Contact Us page.
Teen Radio Journey v21.2
May 29th
Another episode of the Teen Radio Journey Podcast is now available! You may be wondering why this episode was released so early. The reason for this is because this was in interview episode. I know I haven’t done any interviews in a long time but with the new studio I can do it with no issue so you will be seeing a lot more interviews. If you would like to be interviewed on this podcast please go to the “Contact Us” page at http://www.teenradiojourney.com/ and make the subject “Interview Request”. I would love to interview you, and you don’t even need a computer mic for me to do this.
In this episode, I interview Phil Mayer – KC2TPY. Phil is 16t years old and lives in Buffalo, New York. Phil is a Technician Class Amateur Radio operator. If you would like to get in touch with Phil. You can
follow him on Twitter by searching for “KC2TPY.”
As I said in the episode more information about my extended mobile operating will be available in Teen Radio Journey v22.2. I would once again like to welcome all the new listeners and especially the ones that discovered this podcast from CQ Magazine. Tell me what you like about the podcast and even maybe what I need to change. Feedback is always appreciated.
73,
Paul – KC9QYB
Teen Radio Journey v20.2
May 25th
Yet another episode of the Teen Radio Journey podcast has been released. As you may have noticed, I haven’t had too many on the air related Amateur Radio experiences to talk about on the more recent podcast episodes and that is because I have been busy with school. Earlier this evening however, I graduated from Peoria Christian Middle School and that means that summer is hear. During these summer months I will be studying for my General Class Amateur Radio license and upgrading to KC9QYB/AG soon this summer. I hope to them operate HF on the weekends such as special even stations mentioned in The Practical Amateur Radio Podcast QRP Edition and then reporting back on these experiences in each episode of Teen Radio Journey.
A reminder to be sure to check out the kids corner in the June edition of CQ magazine. The Teen Radio Journey by Brittany Decker, KB1OGL will be in this month’s issue and I hope all you will read it. If you are just getting started listening to this podcast and found out about it from CQ magazine I want to thank you for taking the time to read that article and deciding to come and check out the podcast. Please feel free to send me feedback of what you think via the Contact Us page.
Coming up this Saturday I will be leaving for a 7 hour trip to Mentor on the Lake, Ohio. If you are on this route that I will be taking and would like to try a contact on a repeater or want me to connect up to a node on Echolink using an Echolink enabled repeater than feel free to send me an email via the Contact Us page and we can set up when to make a contact. Arrangements can also be made for on the way back.
Im sure that this will provide for some great content for the podcast and some great QSL cards that I will receive. I plan to start an online QSL card collection when I get started heavily in HF and especially DX. I certainly have lots of plans in Amateur Radio including Field Day which is coming up very soon. I plan on working the GOTA station at this year’s Field Day. I also have plans for Volunteer communcations.
In this episode, I read an excerpt from the blog post The Right way, The Wrong way and does it really matter? written by Jerry Taylor, KD0BIK. I also reflected what I thought about what I read. I encourage you to read the entire post written by Jerry. You can do this by clicking here. He includes in this post The Radio Amateur’s Code by Paul M. Segal, W9EEA which should in every ham’s shack.
Other topics discussed in this episode included:
- WCIL Echolink Net
- General class studying update
- D-Star Listening
Teen Radio Journey Special Episode v1
May 11th
This is the first Special Episode of Teen Radio Journey. A special episode is an episode regarding something that needs to be released in between a normal epsiode such as an upcoming event. In this episode I discussed the 2010 Dayton Hamvention. I am asking anyone who is attending the Hamvention this year to send me feedback on what you are experiencing so people like me can get a preview of Dayton before we attend. You can do this either by the audio feedback line or via the contact us page. If you are at Dayton and see something really interesting and want to tell me on the spot, contact (443)-424-TEEN and leave me a voicemail message. I hope anyone attending Dayton has a great, safe, and fun experience.
73 de KC9QYB,
Paul
Teen Radio Journey v19.2
May 8th
Another exciting episode of Teen Radio Journey is finally available. We ran a little bit late in the release date but that is alright. Listener feedback was not read in this episode and I am hoping that I will get some more in time for episode 20 and possibly even some audio feedback. Just a reminder that you can now submit audio feedback to the podcast using the Google call me button at the top right hand side of the website. Simply enter in your name and phone number, which can be kept private, and Google will call you. Please note that audio feedback messages must remain 3 minutes or less.
I have mentioned the mailing list in several different episode of Teen Radio Journey. If you are currently subscribed to the mailing list and have been receiving all the emails alright, then you have probably noticed that I have been using different email addresses to send out the emails on the mailing list. After consideration, I have decided which address I will stick with for good. If you aren’t receiving emails from Teen Radio Journey and you are subscribed to the mailing list, please make sure you have kc9qyb@teenradiojourney.com added to your address book. If you still aren’t receiving emails after you have done this then please contact me via the contact us form.
There is a new Amateur Radio podcast in town. Jerry Taylor, the producer of the Practical Amateur Radio Podcast is now also producing the Practical Amateur Radio Podcast QRP. The QRP edition includes current events such as contest coming up or special event stations that you can work. Both of these fine shows can be found by going to www.myamateurradio.com.
You can visit the Call by Txt SMS callsign lookup service by going to www.callbytxt.org
Other topics discussed in this episode included:
- Embedded player issue
- CQ Magazine
- Listener Feedback
- General Class Studying update
- Summer Amateur Radio plans
- Safety
- eBook
All this and more in Teen Radio Journey v19.2
73s,
Paul
Teen Radio Journey v18.2
Apr 16th
In this episode of Teen Radio Journey, I continued to talk about lightning protection and how you can stay protected against a direct lightning strike. As we all know, you can’t prevent a direct lightning strike, but you can take measures to make sure you are going to be safe if lightning gets into your house. In the beginning of this episode I talked about the new audio feedback line. This is a new way that you can submit feedback to me, any and all forms of feedback is appreciated as it helps run the show. I look forward to reading feedback in each episode and am asking you guys as the listeners of this podcast to make this possible for me. I also mentioned the South Coast Amateur Radio Service VOIP. You can find information about Echolink on their website.
I mentioned that I would include pictures of my new bicycle mobile setup in the show notes for this episode. Here is a slideshow:
I read an email from Jerry Taylor, KD0BIK on lightning protection and he included some links in his email. Here they are:
Alpha Delta Lightning Arrestor
Less expensive lightning arrestor
Coax switch with ground position
HRIA Ham Radio Insurance
I also said I would provide a picture of my coax feedthrough panel:
Other topics discussed in this episode included:
- General Studying Progress
- Field Day
- Elmering
- Antenna Repair
- ARRL Rookie Roundup
All this and more in Episode 18 of the Teen Radio Journey Podcast
73,
Paul
Time to turn up the power!
Apr 12th
Teen Radio Journey v17.2 was by far the best episode of Teen Radio Journey according to our listeners. However, no one is perfect and there is always room for improvement. In most of the episodes there has been some popping in my audio when I say a word that begins with a “P” or a “T”. When Jerry Taylor of The Practical Amateur Radio Podcast donated a Plantronics USB headset this because less of an issue, but then when Ken Harthun, KC4IWT donated a Realistic Condenser Microphone and I began building a new studio I had to learn a new microphone. I am still getting the hang of this microphone and have decided that I am going to purchase a pop filter. A pop filter is a device that filters this out for me, so as long as I am talking into the pop filter this noise is gone. If you noticed the computer noises in the background on episode 17.2, these will also be removed.
Removing the computer noises simply requires muting them on the mixer when I record an episode, but I made the decision to purchase the pop filter nearly a half hour before I wrote this post, and the money from PayPal that I will use to purchase this pop filter has not made it to my bank account yet, so this means that the release of Teen Radio Journey v18.2 will be a few days delayed but once episode 18 is released from then forward you will get to enjoy audio even better than what you heard in episode 17.
If you have any questions about the podcast feel free to ask, feedback is also appreciated. You can do this via the contact us page. More information about audio feedback coming soon.
Help Wanted: Apply Within
Apr 11th
If you are an active listener of this podcast, then you are most likely familiar with the Echolink net I do every Sunday afternoon at 3:00PM CDT. Unfortunately, from time to time I miss the net due to family or friend commitments. I am looking to see if anyone would be interested in being a co net control for the WCIL Echolink net, and would be interested in taking the net if I am not around. I will not know if I want to make this a rotation thing or not until I start getting applications. Once I start getting applications and begin my reviewing process, I will then begin deciding what I want to do with this.
If you have any interest at all, even the smallest bit of interest in doing something like this I am asking you to please fill out an application. Filling out an application is not hard at all, it only has 9 questions, and is done via a secure contact form. If you can type, you can fill out this form, it is really that simple. To access the application, please click here. Even if you just want to look at the application and think about it that is fine, but again I am asking you to fill out an application no matter what level of interest you have, even if it is just a tiny bit, because I cannot move further in my decisions until I have received applications.
And you do not need to have experience with Echolink to be able to do this. If you send in an application saying you are interested but not even the slightest bit of experience with Echolink, or maybe don’t even know what it is, I can help you with learning about it and learning how it works. Your interest will help me tremendously. So again, I am urging you to fill out an application no matter what level of interest you have, big or small, it would be a huge help.
73,
Paul
Teen Radio Journey v17.2
Apr 3rd
First of all, I would like to welcome any new listeners of the podcast, we are always seeing growth in the podcast month by month. This episode had a lot of feedback. I want to thank everyone who has sent feedback to me. Feedback really does help to drive the episodes along. Don’t be scared to send feedback, all you have to do is click here and fill out the form.
A huge thanks should go out to Ken Harthun, KC4IWT, for the donation of a vintage Realistic brand Condenser Microphone. This microphone is a stereo condenser, and gave me a big help when it came to finishing up the recording studio, if you notice any change in audio in this episode, it is the new recording studio, It is defiantly going to sound a lot clearer
Many congratulations to Craig Magrum who was mentioned back in episode 16 that he was studying for his Technician Class Amateur Radio license. Well, on March 19th, he took his test and passed with a 100%. Then they asked him if he wanted to take the General (which most VE’s do) and he decided to give it a try, passing that also with his new Amateur Radio callsign of KD8NJZ.
Other things mentioned in this episode included:
- Storm preparedness
- Lightning protection
- Feedback
- Study update
- WCIL Net
- New book coming soon
Also, I would like to thank Matt, W1MST, for adding me to the podcast database at AmateurRadio.com. I can be found in the database by clicking here. If you would be interested in linking my website to yours contact me and I would be more than happy to link back.
All this and more in Teen Radio Journey v17.2
73,
Paul
Teen Radio Journey v16.2
Mar 15th
Yet another episode of the Teen Radio Journey Podcast has been released. This episode is the start of volume 2. I am starting a new volume every 15 episodes. March is Emergency Preparedness Month and the first week in March is Tornado Preparedness Week. March is a month to start preparing for severe weather. Most areas of the United States, if not all, experience some sort of severe weather during the Spring and Summer months and you should be prepared. We mentioned a list of items recommended to be put into an Emergency Go Kit and also talked about how we can fit Amateur Radio into our go kit. This entire list of items that should be put in your go kit can be found by clicking here. The Government has also put together some videos which you can visit by clicking here. Jerry Taylor of the Practical Amateur Radio Podcast also has an episode on Emergency Go Kits which you can listen to by going here.
We also talked about the 2010 ARRL Rookie Roundup. I do plan on operating in at least one of the Rookie Roundup events and will give you guys updates as they become available. All the information about the ARRL Rookie Roundup can be found by clicking here. Next I talked about lightning protection in the shack. The last major thing I talked about was my storm spotting class. If you would like to attend a storm spotting class, please visit the NOAA’s website. Last, I talked about some issues I was having with my radio battery.
I might be able to get another episode of Teen Radio Journey out by the end of the month. I am building a new recording studio, and once this new recording studio is built I will be able to properly do interviews. Thanks for listening.
All this and more in Teen Radio Journey v16.2
Teen Radio Journey v15.1
Feb 28th
Another episode of Teen Radio Journey has been released. This is the last episode of Volume 1 of Teen Radio Journey. The first thing I mentioned in this episode was the Dayton Hamvention. I am not going to be able to make it to the Dayton Hamvention this year. When I was planning to go to the event and speak at the Youth Forum, It was summer. School came along and I have dug a big hole in school that I am still trying to get out of. I am hoping to make it to the hamvention next year and speak at the Youth Forum.
I also had a story written about me getting my gently used HF rig in our clubs newsletter. To view this story, click here and go to Page 6. I included a story from the ARRL Letter, you can view that story by clicking here. If you would like more information about tornadoes please click here. Also, please visit the Practical Amateur Radio Podcast by clicking here.
I also said I would include a picture of my new desk:
All of this and more in Teen Radio Journey Episode 15
Chile Earthquake Frequencies
Feb 27th
A devastating 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck Chile early Saturday February 27th. The IARU Region 2, and the Red Chilena Nor Austral de Servicio (RECNA) suggests that any and all Amateur Radio operators with the capability to do so monitor these frequencies for earthquake and tsunami information:
SSB frequencies:
10 meters – 28.300, 28.500 MHz
15 meters – 21.200, 21.350 MHz
20 meters – 14.200, 14.350 MHz
40 meters – 7.050, 7.095 MHz
80 meters – 3.738, 3.750 MHz
Paul,
Teen Radio Journey v14.1
Feb 13th
We kicked off this episode with a little bit of housekeeping.
Mailing List:
Back in episode 13 I said that the Teen Radio Journey Yahoo Group was going to replace the Teen Radio Journey Mailing List. The Teen Radio Journey Yahoo Group is still going to be around, but it is not going to replace the Teen Radio Journey Mailing List. If you are not receiving emails from Teen Radio Journey and you are subscribed, please go to the Subscribe to Mailing List page and re subscribe, then add both kc9qyb@teenradiojourney.com and official@teenradiojourney.com to your address book.
Merle, KB9QYH
I mentioned Merle, KB9QYB who was kind enough to decide that the Kenwood TS-930S that was donated to the club should go to me.
Echolink Net
I did secure admin privileges of the WCIL conference server on Echolink. I will be starting a weekly net on this conference server, stay tuned for more information.
Elmering
I talked about elmering, by breaking it down into 3 topics
- Promoting the hobby
- Elmering
- Study Help
All of this in Teen Radio Journey v14.1
Echolink Net
Feb 10th
Attention all Amateur Radio Operators! I am proud to announce that I have secured access of an Echolink Conference Server, thanks to WB9OTW, and will be holding a weekly net. I feel that Echolink is an easy way to get a good strong net going. The net will occur at 2100 UTC time on Sunday afternoon (3:00PM CST).
The net will be held on the WCIL conference node on Echolink (node#348514). If you would like me to connect up your repeater or link please send me a message through the “Contact Us” page. I will connect up your link or repeater 10 minutes before the start of the net.
I encourage you to all check in, if you have young ones in the house, have them check in too and maybe they can give some traffic. I would love to see a bunch of activity on this net, once again, I feel that Echolink is an easy way to get an active net started.
73 de KC9QYB
A Special Thanks
Feb 3rd
I forgot to mention something very important in Episode 13. You all heard me talk about getting the HF rig, but I did not mention the name of the very kind person who decided that the donated HF rig should be loaned to me. His name is Merle, and his call sign is KB9QYH. I was very honored to be picked to have the HF rig go to me. I have created a guest book and I would like you to all drop by and sign it. To sign it click here.
Thanks!
73 de KC9QYB
Paul,
Teen Radio Journey v13.1
Feb 2nd
We kicked of 2010 with a brand new episode of Teen Radio Journey. This has been an exciting Amateur Radio year already for me. I can’t believe how many things have already ha penned in one short month. I gave my first presentation at the club meeting, and then we build j-pole. I did however experience some issues with the J-pole and talked about what I did to fix those.
I also am in HF now. I have been provided an HF rig from the club to borrow for a while, and now I have another radio I am working on restoring to operating conditions. I am working to get my General by summer time.
I also talked about the new Teen Radio Journey Yahoo Group which you can visit and join by clicking here.
73 de KC9QYB
HF Fun
Jan 24th
So, It has been 1 week and 1 day since I have had the new HF rig in the shack. While we all know that I can only talk on 10 with my technician, that doesn’t mean that I can’t listen to the other bands. On Saturday, January 16th, two men from our radio club came over to my house to help me put up a 10 meter dipole and then install the Kenwood TS-930S that someone had donated to the club’s loaner pool. I learned how to string up a dipole, and got some good ideas on where I can put other dipoles in the future when I get my general.
Once we got the dipole up it was time to tune it. I am lucky that this radio had a built in tuner. Within 5 minutes while the other member was finding a place to ground the radio too, the antenna was tuned at 28.450, the frequency that we made the dipole for.
When they left I really didn’t spend much time with the radio. It was about noon or so when they left. But the next day was very exciting for me. I had my first 10 meter rag chew with some people from the club. After the regular Sunday Night Net we got a group of people to get on 28.450 and we talked for a few hours until everyone was ready to go to bed.
That gave me a good exciting experience of what HF will be like once I get my general. After I made those contacts, I had one more Monday morning, we did not have school this day. After that contact though, I didn’t really do much with the HF rig for the next few days.
Then, something came to my mind that I should of thought of a long time ago, why don’t I listen to the lower bands. So on Thursday or last week at around 6:00PM I just happened to flip on the HF rig and tune around on 40 CW. I heard W1AW and listened until 40 meters was done for the night.
More exciting stories including this one will be included in Teen Radio Journey Episode 13, coming soon. If you are not a subscriber of the Teen Radio Journey Podcast, I encourage you to become one, it does not cost anything, and you will easily be notified of new episodes. There are plenty of easy ways to do this.
Under every New Episode post on the website, you will see that there are two buttons that looks like this
Those are two of the ways you can subscribe to the podcast, from this post, by clicking on the iTunes button it will ask you to open up iTunes (assuming you have it) and it will subscribe you to the podcast via iTunes. If you subscribe via iTunes, whenever you open up iTunes it will automatically check to see if a new episode of Teen Radio Journey is available. If it is, then it will download it so you can listen to it.
Then there is the RSS Subscribe button, all that does it takes you to the Podcast’s RSS feed. You can then subscribe to this feed using any other podcast client, or your favorite RSS feed reader (Most email clients even have one.)
The last option you have is to subscribe to the mailing list. By subscribing to the mailing list you will receive an email every time a new post is available or a new podcast episode is released. You can also follow@TRPodcast on Twitter to see a Tweet every time a new episode or post is available.
73 de KC9QYB
Paul,
The History of the Tagline
Jan 14th
Once again we have changed the tag line for Teen Radio Journey. There is a long history of Teen Radio Journey’s tag line. Back when the show started off, I was only 13 years of age. The tag line when I first started the show was A 13 Year Old Boy Describes His Adventures With Amateur Radio and Other Technologies. I know what you’re all thinking, kinda long.
With the new design of the website, only a few weeks ago, I decided to change it to something that would fit better. I decided to change it to A Young Man Describes His Adventures in Amateur Radio. Still kind of long, but defiantly not as long as the original tag line.
But then I was trying to design business cards for the podcast. I needed something catchy that could fit on a business card. So the most current tag line is Amateur Radio from the Eyes of a Teenager. Short, sweet, and too the point. Hopefully this will be the one to stay for a long long time.
To find out more information about the history of the show’s tag line, stay tuned for our next podcast episode. There are many ways you can always be known of a new post or episode.
- Subscribe to the Podcast via the iTunes store (you will only get notification of new episodes)
- Follow Teen Radio Journey on Twitter @TRPodcast
- Subscribe to the Mailing List
All of these methods work very well, but don’t just stick to listening to the podcast episodes via iTunes and totally forgetting about the podcast website, there is a lot of good information in the posts too.
73 de KC9QyB
HF Coming Soon!
Jan 11th
It has been a very exciting week here in the shack. I received 3 international QSL cards along with a new HT antenna for when I am portable, but probably one of the most exciting things was my way home from school on Tuesday. I got on the radio right when I got in the car and someone came on to tell me that someone else had tried to contact me 10 minutes earlier. So I called out for this fellow and it was another member of our local club.
He told me that he wanted to make a deal with me, and a deal that he thought I would probably like. He asked me if I still had his phone number and I said yes. He told me to call him when I got home, and that’s exactly what I did. I ran upstairs as fast as I could and called him up to see what this deal what.
This was probably one of the most exciting phone calls I have ever made during my 2 months of being a ham. I could not believe my ears what he was getting ready to tell me. He told me that someone had donated a Kenwood TS-930 to the club and they had tested it. He told me that they would like to loan it out to me until I have an HF rig of my own. My jaw about dropped to the floor.
He then asked if he could speak to my Mom or Dad. So I quickly ran downstairs and gave the phone to dad. After what seemed like hours, Dad handed the phone back to me and the deal was set. This weekend I will be building a 10 meter dipole and getting this radio in my room so I can start listening. I will make another post once I have the HF rig, and probably produce another episode. Many things have happened since the last episode for sure.
73 de KC9QYB
My J-Pole Experience
Jan 10th
If you are not familiar with J-Pole antennas, they are very simple and inexpensive antennas to build, but yet they can outperform more expensive antennas. The J-Pole antenna is omnidirectional (which means it radiates in all directions) and consists of 2 copper poles, one of smaller length, and one of longer length. The smaller length is the transmission pole (sometimes referred to as the radiator) and the longer line receives. They are then joined together at the bottom with a small piece of copper.
Once this main section of the antenna is built, there are two ways you can get it wired to coax. You can either do what I did and fasten the braid to the radiator and the center conductor to the long end, or you can take a small piece of 12 gauge copper wire and solder it onto a so-239 connector and then solder the wire onto the two poles near the bottom and then connect coax later.
Whichever method you chose you will notice that there is still an extra piece of copper tube. This piece of copper can be used as a mast, or can just be kept for future use. It often assists in mounting the antenna outside. I notice that when I first got this antenna, it seemed to work just as well inside as it would outside, with a full quieting signal.
I did experience some problems with my antenna when it came time to mount it. I got a ton of static when it was outside, but for some reason it worked fine inside. I later found out that this was not only the extreme cold that was making the antenna brittle because I had not yet fully weatherized it, but it was the location too. It was near too much metal.
So I took the antenna down one last time and re connected the coax to the j-pole and then put liquid tape on it to seal it. I let it dry overnight and I will hopefully be putting it back up sometime soon. I plan on trying to get the j-pole (or at least the radiator) in the same area as my mobile antenna used to be.
Overall, building antennas with the club was very fun. I got to learn a lot of stuff, and now I could make another j-pole sometime if I wanted to. I also learned a lot from the problems I was having, and will know how a person could correct them if another ham ever gets faced with the problems I have had.
If you don’t have a j-pole. You should consider building one. They are very simple to build, it is basically one ten foot length of half inch diameter copper pipe, coax, and however you want to connect the coax to the antenna. I have included a special diagram that you can use to build your very one two meter VHF j-pole.
Happy New Year from Teen Radio Journey
Jan 1st
It’s another year, another decade for that matter. Another year to make up for things that maybe didn’t go so well last year. A year to improve upon things you once never even thought were capable of you. Another decade in the world. As this world grows 1 year older, we all begin to think of what we can do to make this year better. I hope you can succeed at your New Year’s resolutions. May this be a prosperous and successful year for you
Paul,
Teen Radio Journey v12.1
Dec 30th
In this episode we wrapped up the 2009 year with a summary of all the things I did during my first 2 months in the hobby. We discussed everything from logging programs to a very special QSL card I received. If you are just getting started in the hobby, or know someone that is, I highly recommend this episode to this people.
I told you guys that I would provide links to the two logging programs that I have used. Here they are…
Have a very happy New Year’s
73 de KC9QYB,
Merry Christmas from Teen Radio Journey
Dec 24th
Hope you have a wonderful Christmas tomorrow. Power off the radios and take time to spend time with your family, and leave the HT in the shack too 
Merry Christmas,
Paul Shirey – KC9QYB
Teen Radio Journey v11.1
Dec 19th
In this episode I talked about a few things. I read some listener email from Jim, N9HXH. I also introduced you to a package I got from a listener with some magazines and a few other things in it. Along with those 2 things I talked about j-poles, my upcoming presentation at the club meeting, the HF receiver I’m going to be building, and my progress with learning with CW.
I am feedback hungry, if you have any feedback, send it to me. It provides content to the show. If for some reason you don’t want it read on the show please tell me that in the feedback, but otherwise I will read it on the show. Who knows, your email might turn into a whole entire episode.
I would like to thank The Practical Amateur Radio Podcast for their helpful and generous support to Teen Radio Journey. Teen Radio Journey would not be possible without the support of The Practical Amateur Radio Podcast. You can learn more about The Practical Amateur Radio Podcast by going to www.myamateurradio.com.
73 de KC9QYB
Teen Radio Journey v10.1
Dec 18th
In this episode I was very privileged to be able to interview Tomas Mesta, K6THM. He and I have been very good friends for a long time, and met on Twitter. We talk all the time and I decided that it would be fun to do an interview with him. In this episode, Tomas and I talked about how he got into the hobby, his first contact, modes he operates, and other things he would like to do.
Twitter has a lot of hams on it. Be sure to follow Tomas by searching his call sign, K6THM, or clicking here. You can also follow me on Twitter by searching my call sign, Kc9QYB, or clicking here.
I would like to thank Jerry Taylor from The Practical Amateur Radio podcast for his continued generous and helpful support to Teen Radio Journey. He has made Teen Radio Journey possible and will continue to make it possible. You can learn more about The Practical Amateur Radio Podcast by visiting http://myamateurradio.com/.
73 de KC9QYB
Mailing List
Dec 16th
I have been experiencing some troubles with the mailing list ever since Episode 9 was released, and noticed that the contacts list was corrupt from something. I don’t know how this happened but I do know that some of you may not have received the email about episode 9. I am sorry about this problem and I am not doing a daily backup of the contacts file. If you did not receive an email about episode 9 and you are on the mailing list please click here to re subscribe to the mailing list. Even if you weren’t on the mailing list before, I encourage you to subscribe to it now. It is simply a mailing list that alerts you of new episodes, and may from time to time provide you additional important information about the podcast.
73,
Paul
Teen Radio Journey v9.1
Dec 15th
In this episode I talked more about how I got started in Amateur Radio. There are many different things that got me interested in Amateur Radio and I know that you have probably been waiting for an episode like this.
I would like to thank Jerry Taylor from The Practical Amateur Radio podcast for his continued generous and helpful support to Teen Radio Journey. He has made Teen Radio Journey possible and will continue to make it possible. You can learn more about The Practical Amateur Radio Podcast by visiting http://myamateurradio.com/.
73 de KC9QYB
Teen Radio Journey v8.1
Dec 15th
You can now listen to Teen Radio Journey via a Flash Player at the bottom of any new episode posts. Scroll down to the bottom of this post to listen to this episode of you do not use iTunes.
Over this long time you’ve probably been wondering what ever happened to Teen Radio Journey. Well, I’m still alive as you can see, and I’m also still producing episodes of Teen Radio Journey. Since about October, life has been very busy with school. I have had lots of work to do and I am almost not used to this heavy work load. This sure isn’t something I had last year. But no worries, this time of the year is always busy for me, and come Christmas Break it will wind down and I will hopefully be able to start releasing episodes of Teen Radio Journey on a regular basis of atleast once a month, I’m hoping sooner.
I would like to thank both Jerry Taylor and Ken Harthun for their generous and helpful support to Teen Radio Journey. These two men have made some key parts of Teen Radio Journey possible. Go to their link and send them a nice little email thanking them for all the nice things they have done for Teen Radio Journey.
In this episode I talked about a lot of things. I received my new call sign so I talked about my experiences with taking the test, I talked about CW and elmering, and I also talked about supporting your local repeater. I also promised to post pictures of the Pixie 2 that I have been building, so here you go.
73 de KC9QYB
W9UVI Sunday Night Net
Nov 22nd
Amateur Radio Nets are great ways for hams to have meetings over the radio without having to go anywhere. Nets often include information on the club, and sometimes even include the Amateur Radio Newsline. Nets can be anything from just a casual meeting where club information and news is discussed, to Traffic or Emergency Nets. During a natural disaster repeaters often open up an Emergency Net and take check-ins for reports on the status of the disaster.
I checked into my first net this night, and gave traffic about my new Amateur Radio License, KC9QYB. Once checked into the net I gave some traffic on my experiences with Amateur Radio so far. I told everyone that I had made 45 QSO’s. As as type this post, I have made 50 QSO’s.
If you know of any nets that are on repeaters with Echolink, I would love to hear about them. If the net does not conflict with any nets I regularly attend, I will make sure I can find a time to check in. If you would like to inform me of any nets please either contact me via the Contact Us page or by clicking this direct link.
73 de KC9QYB
de kc9qyb
Nov 22nd
Figuring out what that new Amateur Radio call sign is a very exciting experience. I figured out what my call sign is with the help of WB8CXO. If it wasn’t for Mike WB8CXO, I would of had to wait until I got my paper license to figure out what my call sign is. Mike found my call sign by searching the FCC ULS License Search and misspelling my last name. When I originally heard that WB8CXO had found my call sign, I went to the FCC ULS License Search and typed “Shirey, Paul M” into the text box.
My last name tends to get misspelled a lot, so I was suspecting that maybe the group that tested me could of spelled my last name wrong. After thinking about this, I searched my call sign KC9QYB and it came back with a result. I clicked on the call sign and sure enough my last name had been misspelled. It didn’t bother me, I knew I was still legal.
After thinking, I did want to have my last name changed, I decided to go through the process of having an update to my name. The process was easy and electronic, but it is going to take 8 days or more for the update to take place and it cost me $8 to make the change. I am fine with this, because I know that it supports with the group that tested me.
Once I found out what my call sign was I went on the area repeater and said my call sign. No one replied, and considering the time it was on a Friday, I didn’t expect anyone to reply. After contacting some hams on Twitter I set up some QSO’s and had them connect to another repeater here via echolink.
When I first started making contacts, I always had to go outside on the front porch to make the contact. After giving my radio a full charge on Friday night I was able to make all the radio contacts from my room and have a perfect signal. Friday I had purchased a mag mount antenna to use with the HT, and on Saturday when I was making perfect contacts I wasn’t thinking that I was going to need it, but after thinking, I will need it to use on the cars.
After having a successful day on Saturday, I am up to 40 QSO’s! Thats after only knowing my callsign for 2 days! I was pretty surprised at how easy it was for me to make contacts. Only about 6 of the contacts on Saturday were Echolink assisted, so that means that the rest of those 40 QSO’s were all radio.
I will be posting my logbook to the ARRL’s Logbook of the World once I recieve my postcard from the ARRL to complete registration of my Logbook of the World account. Once my logbook is posted I will be sure to provide a link to my logbook so you can see all the progess I have made in Amateur Radio so far.
I hope that you have enjoyed Amateur Radio as much as I have over the weeks, months, or maybe even years. Amateur Radio is a great hobby to have, and we should be very thankful for it. There are many different things you can do with Amateur Radio, and VHF is just one of the modes available. Keep talking on the radios, and always be looking for someone you can get into the hobby. Remember, youth is what is going to keep this wonderful hobby alive many years down the road.
73 de KC9QYB
kc8dne’s Ham Radio Blog
Nov 19th
As we all know, there are many ham radio blogs out there. Almost every ham I have met has some sort of website or blog. Reading the information on these blogs is very fun, and all of these blogs are unique in their own special way. It is always an honor to have an author of a ham radio blog come to me and ask if they can feature my website on their blog.
Bob (kc8dne) is the author of this blog that I am writing about. For many years Bob worked in the field of commercial broadcasting where he worked as an announcer, on-air personality, program director and consultant. During a thirty year career he worked for seven different radio stations.
Bob was first licensed as a ham radio operator in 1967 with a Novice class license and his original call sign, WN8YHT. Bob has held the ARRL appointments of ARES Assistant Emergency Coordinator, Official Emergency Station, and Public Information Officer. As you can see Bob is very involved in emergency communications. Bob served a seven year term Chairperson of the Genesee County Amateur Radio Emergency Service where his mission was to “provide emergency communications for public assistance in time of need, or, distress.”
Bob’s blog is everything you would expect from a ham radio blog. Bob posts about anything from ham radio and computers to weather. Bob’s blog also has a very neat pages on his blog that tells people about what ham radio is. I am very happy to see pages like this, because it is pages like that that get people interested in this wonderful hobby.
If you are reading this post, and you’re not familiar with ham radio, I encourage you to take some time to learn about it. Ham radio has been a wonderful experience for me, and if you like the idea of talking to people all over the world, or just talking to people 50 or 60 miles away using a repeater, you need to get into ham radio. If you are just diving into ham radio, please visit Bob’s page about ham radio by clicking here.
Please take some time to visit Bob’s blog. Bob has a wonderful blog and you can learn a lot from it. The link to Bob’s blog will be added to the links, but for now click here to visit his blog. There is a lot to learn. You can also view what he wrote about my website by clicking here.
73
Paul,
Let the Blogging Begin!
Nov 17th
Well, if you haven’t heard yet, I passed my Element 2 Technician Class Amateur Radio Exam on Saturday, November 14th. The test was nowhere near hard, and I passed it within a half hour, only missing 3 questions. Hopefully in a few weeks I will begin studying for my General class license so I can eventually start exploring the many wonders of HF.
I am going to start blogging about my experiences with ham radio, and because this website is named Teen Radio Journey, I don’t need to do this on another blog. All of the blog posts will be made right on this site, and they will keep you updated with experiences that I have had in Amateur Radio.
One experience I have already had was when I attended my first club meeting, though I am not a member of my local club yet, they invited me to come to one of their meetings and see what they are all about. We had a demonstration on a program that lets you build your own schematic for a kit. I thought that this was pretty neat to see.
I have already received a neat little QRP kit called the Pixie II. This kit was sent to me by a very generous listener. The Pixie II QRP kit is a low power CW transceiver with 160-10 meter capabilities. The neat thing about this kit is it operates off of a 9 volt battery! This thing is so tiny you can put it in an Altoids container and take it with you wherever you go.
Since this is a CW kit, you are probably wondering how I am going to use it. I do plan on learning CW, CW is not that present on the popular 2 meter and 440 bands, but it seen more on HF. This also means I will need to get my General class license, which I am already studying for as you read earlier.
If you would like to be up to date on when new posts are made you can follow me on twitter. My twitter ID in P_Shirey. Eventually more features will come to better alert you of new posts.
Teen Radio Journey v7.1
Oct 4th
Another episode of Teen Radio Journey down. In this episode I gave another update on my current progress with amateur radio. I talked about the QRZ’s amateur radio testing review. I also talked about what I would like to do when I become a ham, including emergency communications, other volunteer communications, and license classes. Finally I read some listener email.
Teen Radio Journey v6.1
Sep 21st
In this episode I was interviewed on Linux in the Ham Shack. Linux in the Ham Shack is a podcast by Richard (kb5jbv) and Russ (k5tux). To find out more information about Linux in the Ham Shack you can go to http://blacksparrowmedia.com/lhs/.
Right Click to Download this Episode
Teen Radio Journey v5.1
Sep 7th
Hope you are having a great Labor Day!
Teen Radio Journey is already 1 month old! Can you believe it? A lot of information was discussed in this episode of the podcast. We did have some technical issues with this podcast, so this is a re recording.
Hamfeed:
My Website:
The Gordon West Radio School:
Now, we talked about the book that I am using which is written by Gordon West. You can purchase the book for whatever class you are studying by going to either of these 2 links.
Amazon:
Jerry Taylor’s Amazon store:
http://astore.amazon.com/thepracpodcne-20
May I mention that if you purchase from Jerry Taylor’s Amazon store
- You will be saving money
- A small part of the proceeds will help out his podcast
You can purchase from whichever place you want. Let me talk about Jerry’s podcast.
Jerry’s podcast, the Practical Amateur Radio Podcast, is a favorite of mine. He has spent a lot of time elmering me and helping me with my podcast, and we have exchanged a lot of emails. You can visit his website by going to www.myamateurradio.com. You should listen to his podcast for sure, and subscribe to it with whatever method you wish.
Teen Radio Journey v2.1
Aug 21st
Teen Radio Journey Episode 2 Volume 1 with special guest Phil Mayer (KC2TPY). My first interview episode.
Right Click Here to Download this Episode
Teen Radio Journey v1.1
Aug 21st
Teen Radio Journey Episode 1 Volume 1. The very first episode of Teen Radio Journey.
