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Rec.radio.amateur.misc Frequently Asked Questions
Part 2 - Amateur Radio Organizations, Services, and Information Sources
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Questions discussed in Part 2: (dates indicate last modification)
** Where can I find Ham Radio information with a computer? (11/92)
* The rec.radio.* newsgroups (2/94)
* The ARRL e-mail server (1/93)
* The KA6ETB e-mail "HAM-server" (2/94)
* The Internet File Transfer Protocol (FTP) (2/94)
* Access to FTP archives via electronic mail (1/93)
* World-Wide Web, WAIS, and Gopher (2/94)
* The Ham-Radio mail list: rec.radio.amateur.misc by mail (9/93)
* Telephone BBS's with Ham-related information (9/93)
* Callsign servers and geographical name servers (1/94)
* FTP access to FCC Part 97 and FCC Amateur Radio question pools (1/94)
* Lists of radio modifications and extensions (2/94)
** Can I send ARRL or W5YI electronic mail? (11/92)
** "Why doesn't the ARRL do...?" (11/92)
** What magazines are available for Ham Radio? (pre-4/92)
** How do I use the incoming and outgoing QSL bureau? (11/92)
** Are there any news groups for CAP? (11/92)
** What's the name of the QRP club that issues QRP numbers? (9/93)
** How do I become a 10-10 member? (9/93)
** How do I join MARS? (9/93)
** How do I join RACES? (pre-4/92)
** What organizations are available to help handicapped hams? (pre-4/92)
** I am looking for a specific ham, can anyone help me find him? (6/93)
** Can I post my neat new ham related program on rec.radio.amateur.misc?
(pre-4/92)
** Where can I get ham radio software for my computer? (9/93)
** Are there Dialup News services or BBSs for Amateur Radio? (4/92)
** Where can I find VE sessions in my local area? (9/93)
** Why isn't XXX available electronically? (1/94)
** I'd like to volunteer to help ham radio through electronic
information services like those mentioned in this FAQ list.
Where should I start? (2/94)
--Rec.radio.amateur.misc Frequently-asked Questions------------------Part 2--
** Where can I find Ham Radio information with a computer?
This question has many answers spanning several electronic media
including UseNet, electronic mail, the Internet, dialup bulletin board
systems (BBS) and others. Various electronic information sources are
summarized under the subheadings that follow.
All electronic mail addresses listed are in Internet format. If your
site is not connected to the Internet and does not support Internet-
style mail addresses, you will need to contact either your system
administrators or a local "guru" to find out how or if you can send
mail to the sites listed. Ask them, "how can I get mail to the
Internet?" and show them the address you're interested in.
* The rec.radio.* newsgroups
The primary distribution mechanism for this FAQ is UseNet. There
are several newsgroups dealing with Amateur Radio and other aspects
of radio. The full list is as follows:
rec.radio.amateur.misc (*) Ham Radio - misc/general topics
rec.radio.amateur.antenna Ham Radio - antenna construction/theory
rec.radio.amateur.equipment Ham Radio - manufactured equipment/mods
rec.radio.amateur.digital.misc Ham Radio - digital radio modes: packet/
AMTOR/RTTY/etc (formerly r.r.a.packet)
rec.radio.amateur.homebrew Ham Radio - radio experimentation, kits
rec.radio.amateur.policy Ham Radio - policy & regulation
rec.radio.amateur.space Ham Radio - satellites, EME, shuttle/MIR
rec.radio.broadcasting public broadcast radio
rec.radio.cb Citizens' Band Radio
rec.radio.info (*) periodic info from all rec.radio groups
rec.radio.noncomm misc non-commercial radio topics
rec.radio.shortwave Shortwave Radio
rec.radio.scanner Utility Radio above 30Mhz
rec.radio.swap radio equipment wanted and for sale
Country- or region-specific newsgroups include the following:
aus.radio Australia (misc radio topics)
aus.radio.amsat Australia (amateur satellites)
aus.radio.packet Australia (packet radio)
de.comm.ham Deutschland/Germany
fj.comm.ham Japan
uk.radio.amateur United Kingdom
in.ham-radio USA, Indiana
sbay.hams USA, CA, South Bay Area/Silicon Valley
triangle.radio USA, NC, Research Triangle area
This FAQ is cross-posted to the newsgroups marked with asterisks (*).
It is also cross-posted to rec.answers (the archive for FAQs in the
rec.* newsgroups) and to news.answers (UseNet's general repository for
FAQs.) These should be the first places to look for new current
copies of the FAQ.
Most of the rec.radio newsgroups have their own FAQs as well.
* The ARRL e-mail server
ARRL is the American Radio Relay League, representing and promoting
Amateur Radio in the USA. They have established an automated file
server which responds to information requests via electronic mail.
To use the server, send mail to info@arrl.org with any number of
one-line commands in your message. Valid commands are as follows:
help sends more detailed instructions about the e-mail server
index sends a list of the files currently available
send file sends a file (replace "file" with the file's name)
several files are referenced by name in parts of this FAQ
quit ends command processing - use it if a signature will be
appended to your message
The server program will respond to the commands, each in a separate
message. Among many other informative files, a current copy of the
FAQ (updated monthly) can be obtained from the ARRL e-mail server.
Other parts of this FAQ refer to specific files on the ARRL server.
* The KA6ETB e-mail "HAM-server"
Steve Harding KA6ETB has an e-mail server on his 386 PC at home with
over 40 megabytes of Ham Radio-related files (at the time of this
writing.) You can request any of those files with an e-mail message
to the HAM-server at ham-server@grafex.sbay.org. This site
has a mostly-different selection of files than the ARRL, though some
overlap is unavoidable. The HAM-server seems to have more emphasis
on MS-DOS programs and binary files though there are many plain-text
articles as well.
Use these commands to send requests to the KA6ETB HAM-server.
HELP instructions and info about the HAM-server
INDEX list of files available from the system
GET send a file (see the HELP notes for more info on
getting binary files in uuencode or xxencode format)
NEWFILES list of new files since the given date
PING used for testing your path to the HAM-server, it just
sends a simple reply so you can look at the path data
QUIT makes the HAM-server stop reading the message (so it
won't try to read your .signature)
* The Internet File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
Sites connected to the Internet can access large amounts of data
almost anywhere in the world, often at high speeds. One common way
to transfer the data you want is FTP. Some sites offer a service
called "anonymous FTP" which allows remote users to access a set of
public files without requiring a password.
Perry Rovers coordinates a fairly definitive list (formerly
maintained by Tom Czarnik) of anonymous FTP sites, their IP
IP numbers, time zones, general contents, and access policies
which he posts to several newsgroups, including comp.archives,
comp.sources.wanted and news.answers. It is itself available
via anonymous FTP (how about that?? :-) from (among other places)
rtfm.mit.edu under directory /pub/usenet/news.answers/ftp-list.
For specific information about exact locations of files by name,
the Archie database server may be of help. First check if anyone has
installed the "archie" program on your machine and use it. Archie may
also be accessed by telnetting to one of many sites. The list
of archie sites is numerous and growing fast. For a current
list of sites, telnet to archie.sura.net (login "archie"), then
please use the one closest to you to conserve network bandwidth.
For those without telnet capability, the database may be accessed non-
interactively via mail server. Send E-mail with the word "help" to
archie@host where host is one of the Archie sites above.
The above two resources (the FTP list and the Archie server) are
extremely powerful tools for finding out "what's out there" at various
FTP sites around the world. *PLEASE* exhaust their capabilities
before posting requests to the net.
The following is a brief summary of major ham-related FTP sites and
places where you can obtain a current copy of this FAQ:
ftp.cs.buffalo.edu
(submissions to this ftp site should be made to
bowen@cs.buffalo.edu) - Contains many ham radio files,
including the FAQs, Elmer list, SWL and scanner info, Packet
FAQ, examination opportunities, information on various
regulations, information on commercial radios (i.e. GE or
Motorola), SSTV (slow-scan TV), HTs (handheld transceivers).
Recently, the rec.radio.amateur Working Group (rra-wg,
see below for more information about their mailing list)
has started to encourage archivers of radio modification
instructions to mirror them at this site. In this way,
maintainers may come and go but the collection of
mods will remain continuously available (and undergo
constant positive growth). This FAQ is updated monthly
here.
grivel.une.edu.au
This site contains a mirror of ftp.cs.buffalo.edu's Ham Radio
archives. It provides a shorter distance if you're in
Australia or if Australia is a shorter net.path for you than
New York.
nic.funet.fi
This is one of the largest FTP sites in Europe and maybe the
most popular. There are many directories of Ham-related files
in /pub/ham. /pub/ham/info contains a mirror of Buffalo.
Other topics available here include amiga, antenna, HF, packet,
satellite, scanners, program sources, VHF and others.
This site is also one of the article archives for the
rec.radio.info newsgroup.
ftp.uu.net
A large FTP site in the USA - UUNET contains sources and
binaries for many different types of computers.
wuarchive.wustl.edu
A "mirror" of the files that were on the now-defunct
wsmr-simtel20.army.mil FTP site, plus a *LOT* more.
If you are on a Unix box locally, see if your system
administrator will "NFS-mount" these files for faster/
easer access.
ucsd.edu
The "home" site (with the most recent versions for the largest
number of different computer platforms) of the KA9Q TCP/IP
Network Operating System (NOS), other ham-related software,
and the archives for the Info-Hams, Packet-Radio, Ham-Policy,
Radio-Info and TCP-Group digests.
vixen.cso.uiuc.edu
cd pub/ham-radio - This site contains the HyperCard Hamstacks
written by Diana Carlson as well as ASCII readable ham radio
question pools.
ftp.apple.com
cd pub/ham-radio - Ham software and information, especially
Macintosh software
wolfen.cc.uow.edu.au
athene.uni-paderborn.de
ham radio files and software for the Amiga computer system
rtfm.mit.edu
cd pub/usenet/news.answers - all participating FAQs and
periodic informational postings are archived here, including
those from the rec.radio.* newsgroups which can be found in
pub/usenet/news.answers/radio. Participating FAQs are
automatically archived here when they are posted on UseNet.
ftp.amdahl.com
cd pub/radio/amateur - the most up-to-date copy of the FAQ
(updated nightly when changes are made)
world.std.com
This site contains many ham radio related programs and
documents. It also is the only FTP-able site containing
up-to-date copies of the files also available via e-mail
on the ARRL's information server.
See also the file FTP-INFO on the ARRL e-mail server.
If you experience difficulty connecting to the above FTP sites, some
troubleshooting hints are shown below. The unfortunate situation here
is that Netnews is far more prevalent than direct Internet hookups,
accurate name servers, smart mailers and routers, and of course,
telnet and FTP client services. What this means is that your trouble
may be caused by MANY factors.
Here's some hints to check what's wrong:
* It may very well be that your newsfeed and email are via dialup line
and UUCP (Unix-to-Unix copy) in the wee hours of the morning. If
this is the case, then you have no direct connection to the Internet
and thus cannot use real-time interactive services like FTP and
telnet.
* If you are at a college or university, your host (ie, the computer
you are logged onto) may be on the Bitnet network, which has an
email gateway to the Internet, but no direct connect capability.
* If you do have a direct connection to the Internet, does your host
have telnet and/or FTP client programs? (ie, if you type "ftp" or
"telnet" at your command prompt, do you get anything?) Many hosts,
particularly IBM mainframes not running Unix, do not support these
services!
* Can you telnet to other hosts and get a login prompt?
It may very well be that some hosts are "not recognized" due to
misconfigured connections and inaccurate host tables/name servers
(*.mil computers are *NOTORIOUS* for this!)
* If you get "host not in host table" or "host unknown" or similar
error, try telnetting via the IP number, a set of four 1-3-digit
numbers separated by periods (eg, 198.137.220.1). The exact IP
number for the site can be obtained via the nslookup utility, if
your computer supports it. (The FAQ does not print IP addresses any
more because they change so often.) Your system may not recognize
the "fully-qualified domain name" (like callsign.cs.buffalo.edu),
but it should ALWAYS recognize an IP number if their network is
reachable from yours.
* If you get "network unreachable" check with some more knowledgeable
users if your site is actually connected to the Internet. If it is,
a link in the network may be temporarily disconnected for maintenance
(or by accident.)
* In the case of telnetting to a non-default port (as in the case
with the callbook servers), if telnet doesn't work,
but you can telnet to the default login port (ie, no qualifiers),
then the manner at which the port qualifier is entered may be
system dependent. Also, at many education sites, it is common
practice to block telnet connections above TCP socket 1000 or
so in a somewhat misguided attempt to block usage of
"recreational" TCP socket applications such as Multiple User
Dungeons (MUD's) or Internet Relay Chat (IRC). In most cases,
a polite word to the system administrators, pointing out
the worthwhile services available on sockets 2000 and 3000
will get telnet service unblocked, at least for those ports.
* Syntax for telnetting from different operating systems differ.
Some common command syntaxes are: (angle brackets are for
readability, do not type these in literally)
Berkeley Unix or VMS with Wollongong TCP/IP uses syntax:
telnet
Other possibilities to try:
telnet console (for 2000 port)
telnet open :
telnet /
telnet /port= (for Multinet on VMS)
* Compression techniques are different for different operating systems.
However, these hints should help:
foo.sit needs Macintosh UnStuffit to unstuff
foo.hqx needs Macintosh BinHex to uncompress
foo.tar needs Unix or GNU tar utility to extract archived files
foo.Z needs Unix 'uncompress' to uncompress or VMS
compress_vms.exe (on gatekeeper.dec.com) will work too.
foo.z needs the GNU gzip utility (from prep.ai.mit.edu) to
uncompress it. gzip will also uncompress *.Z files.
If more than one method was used,
like for foo.hqx.Z, start at the outside and work in (so uncompress
on Unix with 'uncompress' first, transfer to MacIntosh, then
uncompress with BinHex to get uncompressed file).
* There is an excellent introduction to FTP and archiving software
regularly posted to comp.binaries.ibm.pc and news.answers.
* If all else fails, ASK your system administrator or check system
documentation.
* Access to FTP archives via electronic mail
ANY BITNET, EARN, or NorthNET site can access the Princeton mail
server. It will be most efficient if you know the complete path
and filename for anything you wish to transfer, but you can use
'cd' and 'ls -l' commands to move about and browse the remote site's
directories. The Archie database server may also be useful to search
for files and their directory locations on FTP sites around the world
(see below). Please be patient when using non-interactive mail
servers such as BITFTP as each request may take several hours (or
longer) to be fulfilled.
For access to the FTP server, send email to bitftp@pucc.bitnet (for
BITNET, EARN and NorthNET users ONLY!). Subject doesn't matter.
The text of the email is the FTP commands one after another. For
example, suppose you wanted to access the FTP site lcs.mit.edu:
FTP lcs.mit.edu
USER anonymous
PASS yourname@yoursite (not required)
ASCII
CD telecom-archives
GET filenames
BYE
A help file is available giving detailed instructions by putting
the single word HELP into the text of the email.
For nonBITNET users, there is also a FTPMAIL server at
ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com. Commands include: REPLY ,
CONNECT [HOST [user [pass]]], ASCII, BINARY, COMPRESS, COMPACT,
UUENCODE, BTOA, LS , DIR , GET , QUIT,
HELP. Get the help file for more information by sending mail with
the single line "help". The ftpmail site may complain if you try
try to get more than 1 file per email request. Here is an example of
a request:
reply your_name@your_site
connect vixen.cso.uiuc.edu
binary
uuencode
get pub/ham-radio/extra-pool.txt
quit
A note on the use of FTP mailservers: If you want to use FTP
mailservers, like FTPMAIL, please be considerate of any systems that
your mail must pass through. The quickest way to find yourself cut
off from the world is to make the admins of sites that pass your mail
pass 60Mb of X11 graphics system source. If you need large amounts
of information from a mailserver, contact your admin for help -- it
may already be available, or he may know a better way to get it.
* World-Wide Web, WAIS, and Gopher
A new generation of information retrieval tools exploded into great
popularity on the Internet in 1993. They are the gopher protocol,
wide-area information server (WAIS) and World-Wide Web (WWW). They
are indeed complete topics of discussion unto themselves which can
be found, among other places, in the following newsgroups:
comp.archives
comp.infosystems.announce
comp.infosystems.gopher
comp.infosystems.wais
comp.infosystems.www
Please read those newsgroups if you have questions about the software
or how to use it.
At the current rate of growth, we can never hope to list all the
servers. We would like cooperation from people who assemble WWW
servers to add references to other useful Ham Radio information
available at other WWW, gopher, WAIS, and FTP sites. That way the FAQ
can direct readers to servers that can reference more servers with
more information than we can include on a periodic UseNet posting.
Some useful URLs (uniform resource locators) which can be used with
WWW are as follows:
file://ftp.cs.buffalo.edu/pub/ham-radio Buffalo FTP files via WWW
file://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/radio/ham-radio Ham Radio FAQs & info
wais://rtfm.mit.edu/usenet/radio all radio FAQs & info
http://www.acs.ncsu.edu/HamRadio NC State HamRadio WWW Server
http://gluon.imsa.edu/~scott/hamradio.html Experimental WWW Page
Although still very much works-in-progress, the last two URL's
are excellent examples of WWW servers with numerous references
to other resources.
* The UCSD Ham-Radio mail list: rec.radio.amateur.misc by mail
You can use rec.radio.amateur.misc even if your site has no NetNews
feed. To subscribe to rec.radio.amateur.misc, send email to:
Ham-Radio-Request@ucsd.edu
In the body of the message, write:
subscribe Ham-Radio
If your local e-mail software does not provide a valid return address
(i.e. Bitnet, many Milnet sites, and many non-Unix e-mail packages)
you can provide your return address between the "subscribe" and the
name of the mailing list (i.e. "subscribe myname@here.org Ham-Radio".)
Similarly, to subscribe to some other rec.radio.* newsgroups, use
the following directions: (all addresses here are @ucsd.edu)
Request address List address Newsgroup
Ham-Radio-Request Ham-Radio rec.radio.amateur.misc
Ham-Digital-Request Ham-Digital rec.radio.amateur.digital.misc
Ham-Policy-Request Ham-Policy rec.radio.amateur.policy
Ham-Equip-Request Ham-Equip rec.radio.amateur.equipment
Ham-Ant-Request Ham-Ant rec.radio.amateur.antenna
Ham-Homebrew-Policy Ham-Homebrew rec.radio.amateur.homebrew
Ham-Space-Request Ham-Space rec.radio.amateur.space
Radio-Info-Request Radio-Info rec.radio.info
IMPORTANT NETIQUETTE NOTE: never ever send a request to subscribe
or unsubscribe from *any* mail list to the list itself. Always use
the REQUEST address. Otherwise you'll end up broadcasting your
request to everyone on the list and getting lots of people angry at
you. (Seriously - this is a completely avoidable mistake and it
does irritate a lot of people.)
TO UNSUBSCRIBE, follow directions above, changing the command word
"subscribe" to "unsubscribe"
DON'T POST TO THE NEWSGROUP ITSELF! USE THE REQUEST ADDRESS!
Help is available by using the command word "help". Note that command
words MUST be the first word on each line of the message.
You can post to rec.radio.amateur.* by sending your posting email to
the mail list addresses at ucsd.edu. Since rec.radio.info is a
moderated newsgroup, requests to post to it may be sent to Radio-Info
but they will be mailed to the moderator,
rec-radio-info@ve6mgs.ampr.ab.ca, for posting.
All of the Amateur radio newsgroups are archived for FTP on ucsd.edu
under subdirectory mailarchives/{mail-list-name}. However, Radio-Info
is not archived at UCSD because almost everything is either on one of
the other lists or in the news.answers archives at rtfm.mit.edu
(see also funic.funet.fi above).
To subscribe to rec.radio.shortwave, send email to
listserv@cuvma.columbia.edu, message is "subscribe swl-l (your name)"
* Telephone BBS's with Ham-related information
Among many, a large one is WB3FFV. Use 8/N/1. The phone numbers are
(410)-661-2475 1200-38400/MNP5/V32bis/V42bis
(410)-661-2598 1200-38400/MNP5/V32bis/V42bis/PEP
(410)-661-2648 1200-19200/MNP5/V42bis/PEP
Login is bbs, no password. This BBS is also available via UUCP,
login is uucpanon, no password. For a list of available files, try:
uucp wb3ffv!~/FILES /usr/spool/uucppublic
Another one is N8EMR at phone 614-895-2553, login hbbs. Data settings
are 8 bits, NO parity, 1 stop bit. N8EMR has a comprehensive list of
other ham-related BBS's on-line.
ARRL has a BBS called "HIRAM", named after the League's founder.
The number is 203-666-0578. More information can be obtained from
the file ARRL-BBS on the ARRL e-mail server.
For a more complete list of Ham Radio BBS's, see the file BBS on
the ARRL server. See also the file BBS_LIST.TXT on the KA6ETB
HAM-server. Also see many of the FTP sites listed earlier in this
section. There is now way to keep a list like this anywhere near
up-to-date so giving you a lot of sources is the next-best thing!
* Callsign servers and geographical name servers
We know of online callsign servers for the USA, Canada and UK.
If you are at an Internet site you can connect using telnet to the
following callbook server (covering the USA and Canada):
callsign.cs.buffalo.edu
There is also a general geographical name server at
martini.eecs.umich.edu
For the UK, you can use a WWW client to access the following URL:
http://www.mcc.ac.uk/htbin/callbook
The callbook server sits on port number 2000 and the geographical
name server sits on port 3000. These are different port numbers
than what telnet usually defaults to. So if you just telnet to these
machines, you will get a login prompt instead of the server. How you
tell your telnet program to connect to port 2000 or 3000 instead of
the default port is operating system dependent but it is usually done
with a line like
telnet callsign.cs.Buffalo.edu 2000
If this doesn't work, check the telnet/FTP troubleshooting hints
above or consult your local systems guru for the proper command string.
The interactive servers are designed to be somewhat self-explanatory
and they support fairly detailed help facilities. The first command
you should execute when connecting to one of these servers is "info".
This will list general info about that server and how to use it. You
should then type "help" to list the various commands available.
Typing "help" followed by a command name will give you a little more
detail about that command. Servers allow searches by call, last name,
zip code or city and also provide regular expression filters to trim
your searches so you get a reasonable amount of output.
Both these servers are built from a database distributed by Rusty
Carruth, N7IKQ. This database currently contains US and Canadian
callsigns and it does not contain club calls. A new version of the
database is sent around approximately once a year.
There is also an email callsign server at callbook@sat.datapoint.com
(The UUCP address is ...!uunet!dptspd!callbook). In the body of the
text, say "lookup" followed by callsigns you want to look up. If
your mailer appends signature files, you should put a line "quit" at
the end of your request (before the signature file). If you want
help, put the word "help" on a line by itself. Here is what a
request might look like:
help
lookup kc1sp wn4bbj
lookup n0fzd
quit
There is another email callsign server at callbook@n8emr.cmhnet.org.
The subject line is the list of callsigns to lookup. All other lines
are ignored. This same callsign server can be accessed with packet
radio via cbook@n8jyv.#cmh.oh.usa.na. The body of the message should
include "REPLY n8jyv!HOME_BBS!CALL" (where HOME_BBS is YOUR home BBS,
and CALL is YOUR callsign), carriage return, "CALL call1 call2 ..."
(where call1 call2 .... is space separated list of callsigns you want
to lookup).
If you are a packet radio station, callserver data is available from
REQQTH@WA4ONG.VA.USA.NA, subject line should be up to 5 US callsigns,
separated by spaces. For Canadian calls, use the callserver at
REQQTH@VE3JF.ON.CAN. Body of message is ignored. The server is an
OS interface to the MBL packet BBS using the Buckmaster CD-ROM
callsign database.
The FCC "call sign hotline" at 717-337-1212 is available for those
who wish to listen to the call signs allocated in each group for each
district. This requires only a touch-tone telephone to use.
* FTP access to FCC Part 97 and FCC Amateur Radio question pools
Part 97 is part of the FCC regulations and only applies to the USA.
As of 1/94, a current copy can be found at ftp.cs.buffalo.edu in
the /pub/ham-radio directory.
An ASCII copy of the question pools are available by ftp from
the ARRL e-mail server.
* Lists of radio modifications and extensions
[see also rec.radio.amateur.equipment]
The largest collection of mods data that we know about is kept at
ftp.cs.buffalo.edu in the /pub/ham-radio/mods directory. The
maintainer of this archive strongly encourages all existing
archivers of mods to mirror their collections on this site.
in this way, maintainers will come and go, but the collection
of mods will remain stable and accessible.
There is a packet radio Mods Server. To get the directories, send
a packet as follows:
SP REQFIL@N2IMC.NJ.USA.NA
Subject: MODS\Dir.1
/EX
To get the mod, send to same place, with Subject MODS\Filename.ext.
REMEMBER that any modification is likely to void your warranty and
that these mods are NOT guaranteed to work. This list is supplied
here because it is a frequently-asked question on the newsgroup.
** Can I send ARRL or W5YI electronic mail?
Several ARRL HQ staffers can be contacted via the net. Their e-mail
addresses are available from the ARRL e-mail file server in the
file called "EMAIL".
ARRL requests that you include your postal address (the slow kind) in
case they need to send you nonelectronic material in answer to your
request.
W5YI, a large VEC, can be reached at the following address:
Fred Maia, W5YI 3511297@mcimail.com
** "Why doesn't the ARRL do...?"
If you want the ARRL to do something, tell them! Direct input from a
concerned member (or, actually, any concerned Ham) carries a lot more
weight than hearsay from any source. Their e-mail addresses are
available from the ARRL e-mail file server (see above). They want
direct input - that's why those addresses are available.
** What magazines are available for Ham Radio?
Your local ham store may have some, but here's some popular ones
(this is NOT a complete list!):
QST, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111 - basic projects and
contesting
CQ The Radio Amateur's Journal, 76 North Broadway, Hicksville, NY
11801 - beginner ham radio articles
73 Amateur Radio Today, WGE Center, Forect Rd, Hancock, NH 03449,
FAX (603) 525-4423, email: COMPUSERVE 70310,775 or Internet
70310.775@compuserve.com - more technical ham radio articles
QEX, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111 - more technical projects
WorldRadio, 2120 28th St, Sacramento, CA 95818, (916) 457-3655.
Subscriptions to 201 Lathrop Way, Ste D, Sacramento, CA 95815,
(800) 365-SUBS - lots of special interest columns, like QRP,
ATV, YL, etc.
W5YI Report, PO Box 565101, Dallas, TX 75356, 1-800-669-9594 -
up-to-date information on Amateur Radio happenings, including
VE information and statistics
** How do I use the incoming and outgoing QSL bureau?
To use the outgoing QSL bureau, you must be a member of ARRL. In
general, you send a bundle of foreign (not States!) QSL cards to
the outgoing bureau in Newington, Connecticut, along with a label
off of your QST magazine (which shows ARRL membership), along with
$2 per pound of cards (approximately 150 cards) or $1 for 10 cards
or less.
To use the incoming QSL bureau, you do NOT have to be a member of
ARRL. Send one or more Self-Addressed Stamped Envelopes (size 5x7
or 6x9, NO BIGGER, NO SMALLER) with one ounce of postage attached
and with your callsign in 3/4" letters in top left hand corner where
the return address label would go. If you expect a large quantity
of foreign QSL cards, attach extra money or postage with a paper
clip; do NOT affix extra postage to envelope. Send the envelopes to
the QSL bureau for your callsign area. If your callsign is xx3xxx/5,
you would send it to the 3rd call area, NOT the 5th call area.
Addresses for QSL bureaus are listed in QST and on the ARRL e-mail
server (see below); if you don't have access to a QST magazine, ask
another ham. IMPORTANT: BE PATIENT! Turnaround time for a US QSL
bureau, not considering foreign QSL bureaus, is about 3 months.
Foreign QSL bureaus and hams can be as fast as 2 months or as slow as
TEN YEARS, while average is about 6-12 months.
Addresses for the US incoming and outgoing QSL Bureaus are available
from the ARRL e-mail server in the files called "QSL-IN" and "QSL-OUT".
See the question above
** Are there any news groups for CAP?
There is no news group just for Civil Air Patrol discussions. However,
rec.aviation.misc is appropriate for CAP aviation discussions and for
CAP radio information, these rec.radio.amateur.* groups are available.
CAP-related files are also stored on the FTP site
sunburn.cps.udayton.edu in pub/capital.
** What's the name of the QRP club that issues QRP numbers?
QRP Amateur Radio Club International, c/o Bill Harding K4AHK,
10923 Carters Oak Way, Burke, VA 22015.
See also the file QRP-ADDRESSES on the ARRL e-mail server.
** How do I become a 10-10 member?
10-10 is simply an organization to sponsor the use of the 10 meter
band. It was first conceived when propagation was poor on 10 meters,
as a method to get more hams to use 10 meters. The past few years
have been great for 10 meters worldwide. However, "the bands are
closing down" again, and 10 meters will once again be limited more
for local communications, except for sporadic band openings, until
the next sunspot cycle.
To join 10-10, work ten 10-10 members and LOG each 10-10 number, call
sign, operator's name and location. Send the list to your numeric
call sign or DX area manager (as shown below), with $5.00 U.S. new
membership registration fee ($6.00 for foreign addresses).
10-10 International Area Managers:
USA 1 - Al Kaiser N1API, 194 Glen Hills Rd, Meriden, CT 06450
USA 2 - Larry Berger WA2SUH, 9 Nancy Blvd, Merrick, NY 11566
USA 3 - Chester Gardner N3GZE, 9028 Overhill Dr, Ellicott Cty,MD 21042
USA 4 - KY, TN, FL, VA, NC, SC only
Rick Roberts N4KCC, 7106 Ridgestone Dr,Ooltewah, TN 37363
USA 4 - GA, AL, Puerto Rico only
Jim Beswick W4YHF, 112 Owl Town Farm, Ellijay, GA 30540
USA 5 - Grace Dunlap K5MRU,* Box 445, LaFeria, TX 78559
*summer addr Jun-Oct Box 13, Rand, CO 80473
USA 6 - Dick Rauschler W6ANK, 4371 Cambria St, Fremont, CA 94538
USA 7 - Willie Madison WB7VZI, 10512 W Butler Dr, Peoria, AZ 85345
USA 8 - John Hugentober N8FU, 4441 Andreas Ave, Cincinatti, OH 45211
USA 9 - Jim Williams N9HHU, 240 Park Rd, Creve Coeur, IL 61611
USA 0 - Debbie Peterson KF0NV, RR 1 Box 35, Duncombe, IA 50532
All DX- Carol Hugentober K8DHK,4441 Andreas Ave, Cincinatti, OH 45211
For more info, see the file 10-10-INFO on the ARRL e-mail server.
** How do I join MARS?
To join MARS, you have to be 14 years or older (parental consent
required under age 17), be a US citizen or resident alien, possess a
valid Amateur Radio license, possess a station capable of operating
on MARS HF frequencies, and be able to operate the minimum amount
of time for each quarter (12 hours for Army and Air Force; 18 hours
for Navy-Marines). Novices must upgrade to Technician within 6
months, else be dropped from MARS. No-Code Techs can apply, provided
they have transmit and receive HF capability for MARS frequencies
(they don't need transmit capability for Amateur HF frequencies). For
application forms contact:
Chief, Air Force MARS
HQ AFC4A/SYXR
203 W. Losey St. Room 1020
Scott AFB, IL 62225-5219
(618)256-5552 Fax: (618) 256-5126
Chief, US Army MARS
HQ USA Information Systems Command
ATTN: ASOP-HF
Ft. Huachuca, AZ 85613-5000
800-633-1128
Chief, Navy-Marine Corps MARS
Naval Communication Unit
Washington, DC 20397-5161
** How do I join RACES?
Contact your nearest Civil Defense or Emergency Management Agency.
The Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service is a part of a municipal,
county, or state government. This does not mean, however, that
every such government has a RACES program. If your government does
not have a RACES, ask them to refer you to the nearest jurisdiction
that does have a RACES program.
** What organizations are available to help handicapped hams?
Courage Center
Handihams
2915 Golden Valley Rd
Golden Valley, MN 55422
(612) 520-0515
ARRL has a Handihams information package (get it by requesting it
through 2155052@mcimail.com) and a book called "The ARRL Plan for
the Disabled", available at no charge from the ARRL Regulatory
Information Branch.
** I am looking for a specific ham, can anyone help me find him?
Rather than sending out a message on Usenet, you might first try the
"Radio Amateurs on Usenet" listings, maintained and posted by Mark
Salyzyn VE6MGS. The articles can be found monthly on rec.radio.info
and rec.radio.amateur.misc. If the copy in your news spool has
expired for some reason, you can look up an entry in the list by
sending an e-mail to reqnet@ve6mgs.ampr.ab.ca with either of the
following commands in the body of the message:
lookup keyword keyword keyword ...
return user@machine.subdomain.domain
(Fill in the proper info for the search keyword or e-mail address.)
An automated server program will reply to your message.
If you have his/her callsign or name, you should also try one of the
on-line callservers shown above. This works in most cases. (!!!)
Also try directory assistance from the phone company or the locator
service provided by the Salvation Army. A Salvation Army post in your
local area may be able to help you. Also, the Quarter-Century
Wireless Assn maintains a collection of callbooks going back to "the
beginning of time". Their address is: 1409 Cooper Drive, Irving, TX
75061. Also, the Callbook has a dial-in line for accessing new ham
callsigns. Try (1-708-234-8011) at 2400 baud.
** Can I post my neat new ham related program on rec.radio.amateur.misc?
This is really not a good idea, since many of the readers receive
these newsgroups as mail digests. Posting is also a one-shot thing.
If you post and someone missed it, it is gone. A better way would be
to announce the existence of your program here, along with
information on how to obtain a copy of your program. You can also
submit it to one of the FTP archive sites, which will allow the world
to access it without you having to mail it to each requestor. If you
just GOTTA post it somewhere, post it to more appropriate groups,
like comp.sources.unix or alt.sources or comp.binaries.ibm.pc.
** Where can I get ham radio software for my computer?
See the information about Anonymous FTP, e-mail servers, and
ham-related telephone BBS's above. For PC-clones, see the KA6ETB
HAM-server. For Macintosh computers, see the file SOFTWARE-MAC on
the ARRL e-mail server for locations to look.
** Are there Dialup News services or BBSs for Amateur Radio?
There are two major news services for ham radio. Both are run by
volunteer hams and provide bulletins of specific interest to amateurs,
hence they are perfectly legal to rebroadcast on ham bands according
to FCC Regulation 97.111B(6). To lessen the load on the dialup lines,
consider getting your local repeater operator to rebroadcast it, or
tape record it to play at your favorite HF net.
RAIN (Radio Amateur Information Network) is produced by Hap Holly,
KC9RP, located in Illinois. The news is typically updated 8am CST
Fridays. Phone numbers are 1-708-299-INFO (299-4636) and
1-708-827-RAIN (827-7246).
NEWSLINE is another, produced by Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF. Donations
for NEWSLINE are accepted at Newsline Support Fund, c/o Dr. Norm
Chalfin K6PGX, Pasadena, CA 91102. Phone numbers are:
Chicago 1-708-289-0423
N.Florida 1-407-259-4479
West Palm Beach 1-407-965-1234
Los Angeles 1-805-296-2407 (Instant Update Line)
Los Angeles 1-213-462-0008
NYC 1-718-353-2801
Ohio 1-513-275-9991
Seattle 1-206-368-3969
** Where can I find VE sessions in my local area?
VE sessions are often announced in the local newspapers, but more
often, they are announced by local radio bulletin boards. The
local packet BBS will most likely have a monthly updated schedule
for VE sessions. ARRL or W5YI can generally be called and asked for
local VE sessions as well. Don't forget that you will need the
following when you go in for an upgrade: a copy of your current
Amateur license; your original Amateur license; any CSCEs (duplicate
not required), if applicable and less than a year old; a picture ID,
preferably a driver's license, passport or visa; and the VE test
fee (approximately $5 right now).
Bart Jahnke, KB9NM, the ARRL VEC Manager (bjahnke@arrl.org) posts a
listing of VE exams indexed by state (and some overseas sites, usually
at embassies and military bases) to the net every 6 weeks or so. The
same list can be obtained from the ARRL e-mail server under the file
EXAM-SCHEDULE. Another file of interest is EXAM-INFO.
The ARRL list is the definitive list for ARRL VEC sessions. There
are other smaller VECs around the USA. ARRL includes their schedules
when the info is available. The other VECs phone numbers are listed
with the ARRL info so you may wish to give them a call to check their
schedule if they didn't provide it to ARRL.
** Why isn't XXX available electronically?
This is a theme for a lot of common questions. For the "XXX" above,
substitute any of the following:
Callbooks
DX QSL Lists
Radio station lists
various publications
and more...
Except for the Callbook (via callsign servers), these are not available
because of any of several reasons. Either there are copyright restric-
tions, royalty fees, or the source just may not have done the work.
Also, not everyone that has information has reliable UseNet access.
** I'd like to volunteer to help ham radio through electronic
information services like those mentioned in this FAQ list.
Where should I start?
This FAQ would not be complete without a reminder that useful
resources on the net do not grow on trees, they are the work of
many dedicated volunteers. The rec.radio.amateur.* newsgroups
are very fortunate to have quite a number of such volunteers
providing everything from FAQ lists to telnettable callsign
servers. This doesn't mean, however, that there isn't room for
more information and services from additional volunteers. One
such service would be more detailed FAQ lists for the recently-
-created special-interest rec.radio.amateur.* newsgroups (such
as those for antennas, homebrew electronics, equipment and
ham radio in space) to supplement this general FAQ.
Recently an electronic mailing list for amateur radio FAQ
maintainers, archive custodians, service providers, and other
volunteers was set up. It is the rec.radio.amateur.* Working
Group (rra-wg). Anyone with a sincere interest is welcome to
subscribe by sending E-mail to rra-wg-request@amdahl.com. The
readers of that forum would be more than happy to provide advice
and guidance with regard to an existing information project, or
even suggest a new one to fill a currently-unmet need.
Return to
the library file section.
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