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IONOSPHERE PROPAGATION |
| HFPACK MEMBER STORE |
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| HFPACK HAMFEST FREQS |
| HFpack daytime 18157.5kHz USB or 14342.5kHz USB |
| HFpack Mobile In Route, Motel, and evenings 5371.5kHz USB or 5403.5kHz USB |
| HFpack VHF FM Simplex Intercom Freqs: 144.300MHz or 51.000MHz PL tone=151.4 |
Official HFpack Member Store As an HFpack Member, you can support HFpack by wearing an HFpack T-shirt or hat at hamfests or when operating portable. Show your HF spirit! For members, there are HFpack bumper stickers, HFpack radio gear bags, and all the HFpack stuff you've seen HFpackers with in the field, at hamfests, and club meetings. These are now available online to HFpack members. Just a click of your mouse at the Official HFpack Member Store. Over 100 cool items, including clocks, mugs, field notebooks, camo/green stuff, accessory bags, buttons, stickers, mousepads, frequency list stickers, license plate frames, and many other things for your shack or portable operation. Great for gifts... Immediate delivery... fast shipping. |
Dayton Hamvention 2008 HFpack Events and Info
| HFpack
Dayton Annual Eyeball QSO Rally "Largest gathering of HF backpack operators in the world" 12:30pm to 2pm Saturday May 17 Location: Hara Arena main entrance (awning) |
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| HFpack Dayton Portable Pedestrian Mobile Net "Huge Net of HF Portable Ops" 1:00pm Saturday May 17 (1700 UTC) 18157.5 kHz USB --- Net Control: Mark KI0PF/PM |
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| HFpack Dayton 60 Meter Net Friday and Saturday Night 9:30PM (1330UTC) Net Control: Oliver KB6BA/PM 5371.5 kHz USB alternate 5403.5 kHz USB |
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Planning for HFpack Pacificon 18-19 October 2008 By Ken WB6MLC HFpack Events Director |
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Howdy gang, planning for the next HFpack
Forum at Pacificon 2008 has already begun. One of the main forum topics will be
HFpack Mobileering. The others include... "The Elecraft K3..One Year Later",
and "Lithium Nanophosphate Batteries...Part II" (A Joint presentation
with Virgil, K5OOR at HFprojects). We have also been asked by a ham who builds
Solar controllers to speak at our forum. What would be great is to receive digital pix, videos, and
anecdotes from HFpackers who enjoy operating from their cars. What kind of antenna
do you use? How did you perform noise abatement? What rigs and accessories do
you recommend for HFpack newbies? As much as some of us love pedestrian mobile,
and picnic table portable, there is something about HFpack Mobileering that is
equally hard to resist. Many of us must watch out for Rotten TVI and RFI, or must
endure antenna restrictions and covenants. Getting out of the House on the open
road may be the only way for some to enjoy HFpack Operating. When out on the trail, or at the picnic
table, we could always count on the HFpack Mobile stations to give us many
enjoyable contacts. The HFpack Forum at Pacificon 2008 will pay tribute to those unsung heroes on wheels who kept the HFpack nets hopping. We hope to show YouTube videos submitted by our members, and still pix with descriptions of their setups. Local HFpackers will be encouraged to bring their HF Mobile setups to Pacificon 2008 for Show N' Tell. Will there be field measurements? At this time it depends on the response we get. So during the summer, please shoot video of your HFpack mobile setup, and refine it. Shoot lots of pictures,and save the best for presentation at Pacificon 2008, and on a HFpack YouTube montage. I still need to figure out how we HFpack Forum planners will download all of your info. Once we do, a general call will go out for material. If you can upload your video to YouTube, we can capture it for viewing at Pacificon 2008. If you send me your favorite pix, I will include them in a video montage. Each pix should include descriptions of what we are seeing. Also, during the summer we expect to announce another "Get Out of the House" HFpack Operating event. This time the theme will be HF Mobile in addition to the usual Picnic table portable ops. IMHO, it will be interesting to see how many HFpackers we can get out on the open road. So grab your hamsticks, polish up your motorized antennas, and drag that DC cable through the firewall grommets. Please let me know if you are interested in participating. It could be tons of HFpack Mobileering fun! 73 - Ken WB6MLC "Get Out of the House"! |
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| HFpack Video Group on YouTube |  |
| The HFpack Video Group is open for HFpack Members. Already, there are many HF Portable, Mobile, and Emergency Communication videos to see! The HFpack Video Group runs on YouTube, with free membership and open viewing. It is both informative and entertaining, so all HFpack members are encouraged to join and watch. You can see the videos on your computer, and upload your own videos to the HFpack Video Group. Please feel free to make text comments and post video replies of your own on the group. | |
WA6UBE Comm Van, an Emergency Communications Vehicle
BS7H DXpedition set up on rocks in the pacific ocean
G0SBW Pedestrian Mobile operation at Spanish Beach
VR2/KQ6XA DXpedestrian on mountaintop near Hong Kong
VA3SIE/PM in FYBO Pedestrian HF in the snow
KI4KQQ HF Backpack operating at Matlacha Isles Florida
EA8/DL1KVN Portable QRP mountain top on Island La Palma
Homebuilt DC Gas Generator
Setting up portable antennas really fast
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 Will they gawk at your backpack? Did you know there are several great nets every portable operator can check into on Saturday afternoon at the Dayton Hamvention? Ever worked a bunch of ancient 80meter AM phone HTs? How about classic mil FM 6meter packsets? Enjoy the fun, with the rest of the HFpack group while walking around the flea market on Saturday... Mark KI0PF gives you the inside scoop, in this next article. |
| Operating the Dayton Saturday Afternoon FM, AM, SSB Pedestrian/Portable Nets |
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| by Mark Francis KI0PF HFpack Net Control and author of the book: "MIL SPEC RADIO GEAR" |
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| 12:00 Noon is the AM Net on 3885kc AM... Any radio is okay, as long as the mode is good olde Amplitude Modulation. Vintage military gear (any country of
origin) is especially appreciated. Joe WA4VAG will be Net Control, operating
from his space (usually 3415). After the QSO, gather at his space for pix and
ratchet-jawing. Those of you who are /PM (pedestrian mobile) during any of
these nets, please try not to converge on the net control gathering spot until after the
net check-ins are done [spread out... try walking around the flea
market during the net] Mass de-sensing is not the object here :) At 1:00PM of course, the HFpack Net is on 18157.5kc USB with Net Out-Of-Control yours truly for this one! If we happen to get hammered by QRM (you never know -- the bands are getting better), we'll use the alternate of 18117.5 USB. At 2:00PM the Cold War Net is on 51.0Mc/s FM. Wideband or narrowband, we'll figure it out. Net control will be John K9WT. This net is primarily for military FM sets (any country of origin) from the Cold War period. Any radio that can hit 51.000MHz on 6 meters with an understandable sig is welcome [such as FT-817, IC-703, or HTs], and the older FM mil stuff is always appreciated. Meet back at Joe's spot (around 3415) afterwards for yet more pix and swapping of lies if yer batteries (camera, radio, and tall-tale) haven't gone kaput by this time. 73 - Mark KI0PF |
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| HFpack Welcomes All New HF Operators We are now witnessing one of the largest increases in HF operators in ham radio history in the past 50 years. The number of hams trying out portable HF is growing rapidly. This is the start of a huge boost to a new generation of HF amateur radio operators... breathing new life into amateur radio for 2008! Many operators and new hams have expressed their joy in finally being able to join the ranks of HFpack on HF, and are planning to take the tests for higher licenses. In the longstanding Amateur Radio and HFpack tradition, experienced HF ops will help and encourage our new wave of HF operators. Let's all show a wholehearted HFpack welcome... on the HF bands, on QRS CW, and with Elmer help on the group forums. Let's make 2008 a great year of growth for HFpack and ham radio! |
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| HFpack Antenna Shootouts The HFpack HF Portable Antenna Shootouts compare a variety of HF antennas for maximum gain and performance in the typical HF Portable Antenna environment, applicable to QRP and QRO power levels. The HFpack Antenna Shootouts have become a standard benchmark for HF portable and QRP operators. HFpack is dedicated to furthering the state of the art for portable HF antennas and communications. For the QRP antenna ham operator, it is important to get the maximum signal radiated. Also, for QRO emergency portable operations, the antenna efficiency for a small antenna that can be set up on site is crucial to dependable HF and NVIS (Near Vertical Incidence Skywave) regional communications. A pedestrian antenna is an antenna that may be carried easily and set up quickly by the operator. The HFpack Pedestrian Shootouts measured pedestrian HF antenna systems to a fraction of a decibel, and the reports are presented as a service to radio operators around the world. Read more... |
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| Meet the
Moderators of HFpack Group |
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| HFpack
has become one of the largest fully-moderated groups of
this kind in the world. It remains a high quality group because a team
of skilled moderators makes it run smoothly and efficiently. Every day,
the volunteer moderators read every message posted by members. They
approve it, reject it, or clean it up before it goes out to the 6000+
members via email or the web. Moderators process new membership
applications, and help members who are having problems with their
messages or membership. Such a spammer-free and flame-free group would
not be possible on the internet without the watchful eyes of these
talented people. All of the moderators on the HFpack team possess a
unique combination of technical expertise, HF portable radio knowledge,
talent for writing/editing, and even-handed patience for interacting
with people. Every
moderator is also an active HF portable operator and radio enthusiast. We
hope the new Meet
the Moderators
section of the HFpack website gives you a little insight behind the
scenes, into the human beings that make HFpack Group an enjoyable
experience. |
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| Bonnie KQ6XA Founder/Webmaster/Moderator "I founded HFpack wondering if 25 operators in the world might be interested in lightweight HF Portable. 65 joined the first day and..." read more |
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Virgil
K5OOR -Moderator “I am happy to donate my time to help lift the quality of the HFpack forum high. My passion is the creation of home construction projects for the radio...” read more |
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| Ken
N0VZ -Moderator "I first became interested in amateur radio as a means of emergency communications while hiking and four wheeling in the back country of..." read more |
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Bob
AB7ST
-Moderator "I became a DXer as KA7RF while stationed in Fukuoka, Japan. Now in Utah, USA, my portable activity even includes HF Snowshoe Mobile and..." read more |
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| Sasi
VK5SN -Moderator “Starting out as VU3SNM in India, my work as a marine biologist has since taken me all over the world for remote HF portable on islands and..."read more |
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John
K6ERO-Moderator “My first DX was Venezuela on 6 meters Pedestrian Mobile with an old FT-690RII at 2 Watts! From that point, I was hooked. I got into HF military packsets as...” read more |
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| Budd
W3FF -Backup Moderator "My main interest is modular portable antennas. I've been operating HF walking portable for many years, and joined HFpack when..." read more |
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Oliver KB6BA -Hall of Fame Curator “As an avid trail hiker, I began taking radio gear to hilltops, my Portable HF activity increased when I had HFpack friends to talk with while...” read more |
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