Ethan J. A. Schoonover
My son and I made a quick run to the Puget Sound seaside to take advantage of the 20 meter band this morning. Sitting here in Seattle we made a contact in the Czech Republic using less power than you'd use to light a lightbulb. #hamradio #amateurradio #ft8
Aug 22, 2023 at 6:22pmWeb
Show threadEthan J. A. SchoonoverAug 22, 2023

One of the great things about doing ham radio in a park like this is the endless stream of kids that come up to ask you what you are doing.

"ARE YOU MAKING A TIKTOK?"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO INTERNET"

"HOW IS THIS TALKING TO JAPAN"

Invariably the parents are as interested, but it's always the kids that are uninhibited enough to ask.

#hamradio #amateurradio #ft8

Show threadRey Aug 22, 2023
@ethanschoonover fair, I'd be super curious, your circle-antenna looks fascinating! :)
Show threadJames WellsAug 23, 2023
@nothe @ethanschoonover
That looks like an AL-705 (https://www.alphaantenna.com/product-category/accessories/icom-ic-905-ic-705-options-for-the-al-705-magloop-antenna/) with the EK-705 enhancement (https://www.alphaantenna.com/product/icom-ic-705-al-705-enhancement-kit-for-the-magnetic-loop/) and the radio to his son's right looks like an Icom IC-705 (https://www.icomamerica.com/lineup/products/IC-705/) which makes sense given then antenna.
ICOM AL-705 ACCS

Alpha Antenna - ICOM AL-705 ACCS

Alpha Antenna
Show threadRey Aug 23, 2023
@nikatjef @ethanschoonover …gezheunteit ;)
Show threadRey Aug 23, 2023
@nikatjef @ethanschoonover I've got a nice local crew of radio-fans here, so if I ever get to when i'm ready to learn, I've got the resources ;)
Show threadJames WellsAug 23, 2023
@nothe @ethanschoonover
If you get interested, you should check out Ethan's radio slack workspace (cascadiaradio.org). A lot of really cool people on there and a great wealth of knowledge available.
Show threadEthan J. A. SchoonoverAug 23, 2023
@nikatjef @nothe Actually a Chameleon F-Loop, but similar to the AL-705
Show threadRethinkJeffAug 22, 2023
@ethanschoonover radio stuff is so cool! Unfortunately I live in Oregon, so all the clubs are crazy, even for me.
Show threadEthan J. A. SchoonoverAug 22, 2023
@RethinkJeff When I got my license I did a "club tour" where I went to every club in the greater seattle area and I found all of them to be "not for me". My buddy and I started Cascadia Radio as a result. Not really a club, but if you are in the PNW it's worth joining: https://www.cascadiaradio.org
Cascadia Radio

Cascadia Radio is a free, online community of Pacific Northwest amateur radio operators. Cascadia Radio was created out of a desire to help organize regional amateur radio events and stay in touch with people in a modern way. Cascadia Radio does not intend to be a traditional Amateur Radio Club, nor replace the many excellent and established clubs in the area.

Show threadRethinkJeffAug 22, 2023
@ethanschoonover I'll take a look! My apartment is too tiny to hold anymore hobby stuff in it right now, but if there's a mailing list I'll sign up for it!
Show threadEthan J. A. SchoonoverAug 22, 2023
@RethinkJeff it's just a slack for now (though we've considered migrating to another platform)
Show threadRethinkJeffAug 22, 2023
@ethanschoonover Slack is one of those things I definitely prefer, but understand the shift to discord, just from an admin standpoint lol.
Show threadPaul PalinkasAug 22, 2023
@ethanschoonover How are you running FT8 on the iPad?
Show threadEthan J. A. SchoonoverAug 22, 2023

@K7PJP It's the best: https://roskosch.de/sdr-control-ios/

Same dev has a bunch of other mac ham stuff for SDR ham radios. That software availability was a major factor in my selection of the 705.

SDR-Control for iOS - Marcus Roskosch

Show threadPaul PalinkasAug 22, 2023
@ethanschoonover Oh, wow. That's great! Yeah, it's yet another point for the IC-705!
Show threadFredKiesche 🇺🇦Aug 23, 2023
@ethanschoonover And ARE YOU TALKING TO MARS? no doubt.
Show threadBenjamin Leis ✅Aug 23, 2023
@ethanschoonover Which park are you in?
Show threadEthan J. A. SchoonoverAug 23, 2023
@benleis carkeek… the upper area just overlooking the tracks
Show threadCavyherdAug 23, 2023

@ethanschoonover

Is one still required to learn Morse to get a ham license?

Show threadAlexander KnochelAug 23, 2023
@cavyherd @ethanschoonover no, it was removed 16 years ago
Show threadCavyherdAug 23, 2023

@quantensalat @ethanschoonover

Oh, boo!

(I contend that knowing Morse constitutes a basic survival skill, since it is simple and entirely medium agnostic.)

(I do not, personally, know Morse. On my list of Things To Learn Someday Real Soon Now When I Have Time.)

Show threadAlexander KnochelAug 23, 2023
@cavyherd @ethanschoonover I am glad I could get my license without a morse test, but it is now the first thing I'm up to after getting on the air. I agree, it is a basic survival skill, but more importantly, I find the beautiful simplicity of cw communication irresistible. The fact that I could build something that works the world with the random spare parts I have in my bottom drawer is just cool.
Show threadCavyherdAug 23, 2023

@quantensalat @ethanschoonover

Not unrelated: are building crystal radios still a thing? That seems like that would be a good stone-knives-&-bearskins skill to have, too.

Show threadAlexander KnochelAug 23, 2023
@cavyherd @ethanschoonover In principle, yes. It was popular for medium and longwave over here as an educational thing, but there are fewer and fewer strong local AM stations. This is why I decided to build transmitters as student projects now, sadly a much more involved task that requires more knowledge.
Show threadAlexander KnochelAug 23, 2023
@cavyherd @ethanschoonover p.s. have you seen my post on using an actual pyrite crystal as a rectifier? I'd like to try radio reception with that one day.
Show threadCavyherdAug 23, 2023

@quantensalat @ethanschoonover

‼️ ⁉️

No, I have not! This ventures into actual literal "stone knives" territory, & would be Very Cool.

Show threadAlexander KnochelAug 23, 2023

@cavyherd @ethanschoonover

Here:

https://astrodon.social/@quantensalat/109927753589919536

Alexander Knochel (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image Things to do with a block of pyrite you bought at the museum shop #physics #electronics

Astrodon - The Astro Community
Show threadCavyherdAug 23, 2023

@quantensalat @ethanschoonover

Cool!!

Show threadPaul PalinkasAug 24, 2023
@cavyherd @quantensalat @ethanschoonover What does "basic survival skills" have to do with ham radio? There's enough gatekeeping by those who are licensed.
Show threadCavyherdAug 24, 2023

@K7PJP @quantensalat @ethanschoonover

Isn't ham radio a standard fall-back communication channel when the more elaborate/highly technical communications infrastructures (telephone, television, internet) go down? (In disaster stories, at least?)

As to gatekeeping, I can certainly see where that could be the case. I've only encountered ham in third-hand, annecdotal form, so I'm not familiar with the culture.

Show threadPaul PalinkasAug 24, 2023
@cavyherd @quantensalat @ethanschoonover Encomm tends towards digital modes and voice far more than CW nowadays.
Emcomm is one potential aspect of a wide-ranging hobby, not the sole reason for it, and not why everyone gets involved. There’s also tinkering, learning about electronics & propagation, contesting, and just the joy of communicating. Why keep people out because of a skill no longer used *anywhere else?* There's no longer a government agency or company that uses CW.
Show threadCavyherdAug 24, 2023

@K7PJP

::sigh:: My initial point was "Morse is cool, and I'm sad it's not being taught anymore."

Not engaging with this any further, because I'm not in a mood to be scolded by someone I wasn't even talking to about a topic entirely tangential to my original question.

Show threadPaul PalinkasAug 24, 2023

@cavyherd Plenty of hams are learning it, voluntarily and after they get licensed! I'd like to myself one of these days. I hope you consider getting licensed and we can make a contact someday!

https://longislandcwclub.org/morse-code-training/

Morse Code training via internet video conference classes

The Long Island CW Club promotes Morse Code trraining via internet video conference classes and has a variety of 'brick and mortar' CW related actitivies.

Long Island CW Club
Show threadCavyherdAug 24, 2023

@K7PJP

I would love to get licensed someday. But that ambition is going to have to get in line behind thirty-eleven other ambitions ::sigh::

Show threadEthan J. A. SchoonoverAug 23, 2023
@cavyherd No longer. That’s actually what convinced me to get my license. When I was younger the CW (Morse) requirement was a showstopper, just due to time. I’d like to become proficient in it but it’s now just a “nice to have” rather than a mandatory requirement.
Show threadCavyherdAug 23, 2023

@ethanschoonover

Which I guess makes a certain amount of sense: better to have a robust Ham network than be fussy about comparatively arcane skills.

But it offends my boyscout nature. (Not that I've cleaved to that principle myself personally, of course 😂)

Show threadKris Gainsforth - KB0STGSep 10, 2023
@ethanschoonover This is fantastic. I just got my General, so I'm looking for ways to get going in public areas. What's the antenna setup?
Show threadEthan J. A. SchoonoverSep 10, 2023
@krisguy I'm using a Chameleon F-Loop magloop antenna here, running at 10 watts. Especially for FT8 it's been excellent. I've done a little bit of SSB on it as well. Next on my list is building a wire antenna from scratch
Show threadEthan J. A. SchoonoverSep 10, 2023
@krisguy And congrats on general!
Show thread~stern Aug 22, 2023
@ethanschoonover Congratulations! The only interesting thing I’ve done today is remember that tigers sometimes make things smell like popcorn.
Show thread12 Freya it/its𒀭𒈹𒍠𒊩Aug 22, 2023
@ethanschoonover we're thinking of getting our ham license in the US instead of NZ, despite not being a citizen of te US... the NZ ones are like "go, in person, to a ham club. Talk, in person, to a bunch of scary old men. Then, asa blind girl, take a printed only test". Fuck that
Show threadEthan J. A. SchoonoverAug 22, 2023
@12 my least favorite part of the hobby is the "old guys acting like jerks"... I do feel like there are very progressive segments of the hobby in the US though (and for sure they have accommodations available)
Show thread12 Freya it/its𒀭𒈹𒍠𒊩Aug 22, 2023
@ethanschoonover can't *wait* to get back to Seattle...
Show threadApple Annie Aug 22, 2023
@ethanschoonover so you could have used a potato to power this, curious how long you could power it off a potato (or a bag of potatoes)
Show threadEthan J. A. SchoonoverAug 22, 2023
@anniegreens normal ham radios require 13.8v nominal so I think we'd need the whole bag of potatoes! I was running this on 5 watts.
Show threadMark Ingalls Aug 22, 2023
@anniegreens @ethanschoonover Can we see the battery setup? I’m incredibly novice with this sort of stuff.
Show threadEthan J. A. SchoonoverAug 23, 2023
@ingalls @anniegreens I use these bioenno LiFeP04 batteries (I have a huge one in addition to these little guys). 54 watt hours and 36 watt hours in this shot.
Show threadSamir ParikhAug 24, 2023
@ethanschoonover Was pretty stoked to come across your post. I’m currently studying to take my Technicians Exam in mid-September. While that doesn’t come with all of the HF privileges that the General and Extra do, I am pretty excited to try out SSB on 10 meter, assuming I can figure out the equipment required 😜
Show threadAnthony BakerAug 28, 2023
@ethanschoonover That is amazing.
Show threadEthan J. A. SchoonoverAug 28, 2023
@AnthonyBaker honestly, it’s super fun