Status Update : 20100513

We had our monthly meeting on the 13th (2nd Tuesday), and Tom – KI4VFV was taking pictures for the new badges. I got there a little early to work on some things in the radio room. The flat panel monitor had gone kaput, so the old CRT is back in place for the APRS system, at least for now. The APRS is currently running on a very old Windows98 system, but improvement is on the way. The Airmail program on the networked city PC has been upgraded to the current Ver_3.3.081, and has the USB connection to the SCS Pactor modem for HF. The internet/telnet check-in to the winlink.org email servers was verified, and should be active when the program starts.

Today (May 23rd) I’ve also started a Twitter Feed for w4hmc, and it already has several followers. I’m also updating this site – it is a slow process getting several things up and running, but it is coming together. I’ve also been busy re-activating the MSFC club and station – WA4NZD. They also have a Twitter Feed, and the public website is http://wa4nzd.wordpress.com. This will hopefully become a valuable link in our local/regional emergency response capability.

APRS station update

WB5RMG managed to spend a few hours in the ham radio room at the HMCEMA‘s EOC Friday afternoon. The antique Kenwood radio we are using for the APRS station was in need of some adjustments to the setup, so I took the opportunity to clean up a bit and re-arrange some of the station components. There are still a few things to fix up, and possibly a ‘newer’ used computer to replace the old Windows98 system that is currently providing the APRS software (we are using UI-View32). Look for W4HMC-1 on a map near you. See all APRS stations in the area via http://aprs.fi.

Ham station at the HMC EOC