On the Web : February 2005

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.		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.
		Solar X-rays  Geomagnetic Field  N 3 K L

The 2005 Field Day Rules
The SJRA Field Day Site entrance is on Lower Main Street, Marlton, opposite the Indian Springs Golf Course.
GPS (Global Positioning System) coordinates are N 39° 53.162', W 74° 53.486', or if no GPS, use this map.

Area Repeater Updates

Oops! It seems that one of the 440 MHz repeaters in the expansive WA3BXW Bristol Emergency Amateur Radio System network was accidentally overlooked this past year and was not listed on the Web page at w2xq.com/bears. That's been corrected now. Apologies to Mike, N3DZM, of Long Pond (in the Poconos, near the race track) whose 445.375 MHz (PL 131.8) system has been a full-time partner of BEARS. The repeater carries the N3DZM callsign.

The wide-area repeater listing free for the downloading at w2xq.com has taken on a new format. I've given up trying to use a spreadsheet as a database — a wrong move at the outset — and rolled the data over into a database program. The data file is much easier to maintain. I'm on a learning curve at the moment, so the reports are a work in progress. The output is a PDF file, suitable for printing. You'll need the Adobe Reader (or Acrobat) version 7 program. Acrobat Reader is free for downloading. If you are still running Windows 98, you'll have to look for an alternative PDF reader program from one of the many other software companies. Adobe has followed Microsoft's lead and discontinued all support for Windows 98.

Amateur Radio Audio on the Web

ARNewsline™, edited by Bill Pasternak WA6ITF and a huge support crowd, has been on the air for almost three decades. It is a non-profit corporation; your contributions are tax deductible. ARNewsline™ has appeared on local repeaters, but yours truly for one always has trouble remembering who broadcasts what when. Now it isn't necessary to do so. I found a Web source that broadcasts four weeks worth of shows continuously, and the audio is great. Jason Clarke, VA3TK, has created a Web site at newsline.techstud.com that explains all and provides links to the current and past print editions of the news line editions. The audio is also available via SHOUTcast at 24.36.6.77:8000 but I find it easy to just launch an MP3 player of choice and put http://24.36.6.77:8000/listen.pls into the player's favorites. Why is it better (in my humble opinion) to listen to the news via VA3TK? The "official" ARNewsline™ Web site at www.arnewsline.org only carries the audio for the current show. However, the "official" site has many links to related news sites and support groups, and Pasternak's pages are definitely worth a read.

Do you remember?

Once upon a time there was a computer magazine called Byte. Later on there was a amateur radio magazine called 73. Never Say Die, Wayne Green, Publisher, was a prolific editorial writer wrote on just about anything and everything that came to mind. Byte and 73 are no more, but W2NSD/1 is going strong. Read an interview at The Hippo at www.hippopress.com/041209/waynegreen041209.html. The article concludes with the information that Wayne is now publishing New Hampshire To Do (www.nhtodo.com), but the content apparently does not include anything radio-related.

Computer "stuff"

Newer software and upgrades are not always better, and sometimes the install tosses the older version. Now what? Well, there is a solution, and the Web site "Old Versions" works well. Look at oldversions.com to get the display, audio, or printer driver that you should have kept. Keep in mind, however, the reinstallation of an older driver or application may not be a straight-forward process. Be sure to read help files and perhaps inquire of others found in the newsgroups or the Yahoo Groups areas if you are not sure of what you are doing.

Spam - junk - e-mail continues to clutter our several in-boxes. The weekly counts climb toward 2000 pieces per week in some accounts, and it is just plain silly. In the past month, I tried a new approach. It seems to be working for me. Perhaps this or a variant may work for you:

Most training literature suggests writing a series of rules to (a) redirect spam into one or more spam folders and (b) move company or organization newsletters into their own subscription folders. The literature suggests that if this is done correctly, your main folder will be clear of clutter. At your leisure, you can clear out the spam folders and to ensure that legitimate mail was not tossed. Nice try, but it doesn't work for me.

I flipped the logic around by creating a new e-mail folder and named it "All Other". I find it virtually impossible to keep up the spam variants, all the misspellings and the spam broadcasting. After running through all the incoming mail with the rules for my company and organizations, there is one LAST rule at the bottom of the stack to be processed. The rule checks the "To:" of the e-mail and, if the address is legitimate, moves the mail to the "All Other" folder. What's left in the main mail folder? Just the spam... and I've not wasted any time trying to write filters. While some spam e-mail is moved to the new folder, the quantity is small and easily disposed of by sorting on sender.

Questions on this idea? Just ask.

Club Bulletin Exchange

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!

And if you recently wrote Ted about exchanging bulletins and did not get an answer, please write again. A snafu in an XP2 Service Pack upgrade unexpectedly mangled some mail files.

Last call for the 18th annual Winter SWL Festival to be held in March. If you have an interest in listening to the entire radio spectrum and meeting people from around the world, see the details at swlfest.com.

Do you want to ask a question or comment on something in these columns? I'm easy enough to find as mentioned in past months' columns. And. before I forget, check out the Web version of this column posted at w2xq.com for a SJRA Field Day Countdown Timer; it is coming soon.

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