On the Web : September 2004
If you enjoy reading 'On
the Web', your ham radio
club can publish this
column on an exchange
basis with SJRA. Contact
Ted,
, for the
exchange details.
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Our contributions to the South Jersey Radio Association club bulletin "Harmonics" includes lengthy Web addresses. As the URL's can be difficult or a nuisance to type into your Web browser, the postings here should make it easier to get to the Web sites SJRA members are interested in. Look for the posting at w2xq.com at the time "Harmonics" is scheduled for delivery in the south Jersey area. Questions, suggestions or contributions are always welcome. |
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Newsfeeds - an easy way to stay up to date
If you have prowl the Internet perhaps you have noticed on some Web sites, particularly on those focusing on news, computer or tech topics, a tiny orange graphic with the initials "RSS" or "XML". RSS translates to Really Simple Syndication, XML to eXtended Markup Language. With RSS "tags" wrapped inside the XML syntax, a page somewhat akin to a Web page may be written in a text editor or generated by scripts extracting information from a standard HTML Web page. RSS newsreader software can translate the tags and format the page for the end user to read.
Some of the RSS tags denote date and time, and each entry -- called an "item" -- carries a date-and-time tag. The end user software can differentiate between items already read and those that not yet been read. But what is an "item"? Simply, it is a headline, a teaser, breaking news, a few words in a sentence or three to pique your interest in reading further. If you are interested in the subject, clicking on the embedded link opens the browser to the Web page with the full story. If you are not interested in the item, just pass it by for other items on the page.
"So what?" you say. "Why should I be interested in this?" The short answer? I've implemented an RSS newsfeed on W2XQ.com and our three other Web sites. If you like this column "On the Web", your RSS newsreader will tip you off to breaking news or special Web sites that I find as it happens, rather than waiting for the electronic and print versions of the entire column. For example, an item about WB2CWZ on 145.29 was posted to the newsfeed on 21 August. Posting of updates to our repeater list will be made known the day the file is made available.
How does it work? The typical RSS newsfeeder software package will periodically poll the Web site hosting the RSS newsfeed page. New additions since the past poll will appear differently, perhaps in bold or in a different color. Most software has user definitions to set the polling frequency (I've seen intervals ranging from a minute to a month, depending upon the software package chosen), or you can force an immediate poll by clicking a button or selecting a menu choice.
So what feeds are available? How many stars are there in the heavens? How many grains of sands are on the beach? Who knows? I surely am not going to count or make an attempt to inventory the newsfeeds on the Internet. I can tell you that within 3 or 4 days I had added feeds from the BBC, Reuters, and a few stateside newspapers; feeds from computer sources such as c|net and ZD; publications such as The Register and Wired; and a variety of odds and ends including some political sites and the excellent dpreview camera site.
To get the RSS newsfeeds, follow the directions on the RSS Newsfeeds Help page [ http://trsc.com/rss_help.html ]. There are four alternative ways to get going quickly, links to help pages with additional information, and three data files with newsfeeds that I've subscribed to. If you wish, you can use one of the data files as a jump start to add more than just the feed for W2XQ.com and our other Web sites. Mac and Windows solutions are here, and tests with a few SJRA members suggest that the installation and start-up time is about 10 minutes. Go to it! Drop me a note when you are up and running, or if you have questions.
Repeaters — they are changing...
A Newark, NJ, area repeater on 145.29 MHz is silent. Jim Smith, WB2CWZ, of Hillside, NJ, told me [W2XQ] he turned WB2CWZ/R off on Friday, 20 August 2004, as one of the last actions in the process of packing and moving from the Newark suburb. The repeater ran just 20 watts, but provided effective HT coverage in downtown Newark and mobile coverage south to NJTP exit 11. Jim is moving south to the Toms River area to be near family and surf fishing and away from the insane taxes of Essex county. Good luck, Jim!
WA3BXW's new Delmarva repeater in the BEARS system in Bethany Beach, Delaware, came on the air shortly after the August column was shipped off to W2TAG. Details of the linked network are on the Bears Web page [ w2xq.com/bears ].
Having knowledge of relatively unknown and little used repeaters off in the distance is often useful to extend the talk coverage when a friend is running out of range of the K2AA repeater. I had mentioned repeaters in Camden and Philadelphia — N2KDV on 442.150 and W3SBE on 442.550 in previous columns — but now let's turn our attention toward Trenton. N2GBK on 442.200, PL 141.3 encode only, has a very good signal in Trenton and south on US 206 to the Red Lion Circle and NJ 70. In fact, I can key the repeater from inside my house near Red Lion, using a Diamond SRH999 whip antenna on a Yaesu VX-5 ht at the medium power setting. N2GBK, Larry Metzger, responded to my inquiry for information: "The 442.200 MHz repeater is a privately owned machine (no club), but open to any licensed ham. It's located in Lawrenceville on the NJ broadcasting tower. It's a 100 watt Motorola MSF5000 repeater with split receive and transmit antennas at about 750' on the tower. No rules [ for use ] other than those mandated by the FCC (use common sense)."
New repeaters on 220 and 440 are listed to KA2JZO in Browns Mills, Burlington County, in the last update to the local repeater council database. I have not been able to key the repeater listed for 449.025, PL 203.5; I have no 220 gear. I tried some other PL's in local use to no avail. An inquiry is out.
This and that
On the Monday night SJRA net I hear several members tell of conversations with SJRA members who have moved from the area. Here's a way for the transplants to keep up with New Jersey television news. New Jersey Network (NJN) [ www.njn.net ] televises some of its original live programming on the Web. Its award-winning 30-minute NJN News airs Monday through Friday except State holidays. Special legislative sessions and other events, most recently the August 12 resignation of Governor McGreevey, are also broadcast live. The link on the NJN Web site seems to be broken, but punch this link up in your Microsoft Windows Media Player: http://www.njn.net/television/webcast/njnlive.asx — and add it to your favorites. The NJN television Webcast schedule appears to this writer to be out of date. Whereas the print suggests that all the weekday local programming between 6 and 8 p.m. Eastern is televised on the Web, only the first news airing at 6:00 p.m. is shown. The television audio can be heard on the NJN FM radio network via http://publicbroadcast.net/njn/ppr/njn.asx, and that includes a repeat of the news at 7:30 p.m. By the way, Microsoft provides a version of Windows Media Player for the Mac, and it works quite well.
Do you like toys? We like toys. Here's one by Panasonic. It is is a Swiss Army Knife of digital cameras: a 2 mp digital camera, camcorder, voice recorder, and mp3/wma player. It uses an SD card, the size of a postage stamp, and comes with a 8 MB card. It is just a bit larger than a man's hand in size, and about the thickness of a pack of cigarettes. Watch the video at http://zdnet.com.com/1606-2-741166.html. Oh yes, the price. US$400. Astounding. If there is a downside, in my opinion Panasonic's marketing leaves a lot to be desired. The ZD story is datelined 14 January 2004 and I only found this toy by chance on the last day of August. Where is the advertising?
On a sadder note, it appears the Russian government hid the magnitude of the school hostage tragedy in Beslan, southern Russia, from the public. After the September 3 assault, a Russian investigative team found video taken on September 1 or 2 by the Chechen separatists, and it was shown on Russian TV. Bombs were hung from basketball hoops. The children didn't have a chance. Bastards. The BBC, London, has more at news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3634674.stm and a link to the video at pnm://rm.bbc.net.uk/news/media/video/40046000/rm/_40046492_video22_brown07_vi.rm. If you follow world events, links to English language newspapers and press services around the world are available at trsc.com or through links at w2xq.com. Contact me if you have questions on finding sources.
Ted, W2TAG, is interested in doing a club bulletin exchange that would include "On The Web." If you have a friend in a ham radio club elsewhere in the USA, Canada or the world involved in a local radio club, please consider asking that person to read the this column on w2xq.com. Club bulletin exchange details with SJRA can be made by contacting
directly. Thanks!
TRS Consultants - Keep up to date with breaking news during the month! Newsfeed help.
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Revised 7 September 2004
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