This coming weekend (May 4-5) will be the Philippine National Hamfest, where amateurs from across the country converge for technical discussions, a bit of operating and the ability to eye-ball-QSO with long-time and new friends. This will be my first time at this event, which is being held at Olongapo City, near the old Subic Bay Naval Base which was maintained by the US Navy for over 25 years. I’ll arrive a day early to escape the heat of the Metro area (the venue is about 3 hours by bus from Manila) – and be taking my Elecraft K2 along with the BuddiStick Deluxe and the AlexLoop antenna for some casual operating.

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While the Philippines is generally a less economically developed country than the US or the EU, it is not without it’s share of honorable mentions – in this country of almost 92-million (most below the poverty line), Philippine hams are one of the most active in emergency services – primarily due to significant weather events that regularly visit this country. Philippine hams are also very active in DX’ing, with a solid hand-full who are currently on the Honor Role. The more affluent hams have antenna farms that would rival any multi-multi stations in the states.

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I was blown away yesterday morning when I joined the DU-Traffic Net (at 07:00 and again at 19:00 on 7.095 LSB) – sitting and listening while Net Control (Ali – 4F1AR) called the net with a broadcaster’s voice, greeting each person by name in English and Tagalog – by my count, there were over 30 check-ins on the net. My small-signal (QRP on a EFHW) was heard, but just barely, but even so – Ali spent the time to inquire about my name, location and greeted me with very typical Filipino warmth.

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There has been talk of a DSTAR repeater here in the Philippines – probably on one of the mountain tops that overlooks the city of Manila and surrounds – typically with about 75-miles radius coverage. In light of that, I will be giving an impromptu DSTAR demo at the Hamfest, using my DVAP and IC-92AD. Assuming the internet connection holds-up, I’ll try to do it from either the meeting room, or one of the recreation venues.

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Tentative schedule for the demo will be on Friday evening and Saturday morning locally (in Manila) – which would translate to FRIDAY morning and evening Eastern  - targeting for 08:00-10:00 and 20:00-22:00 EASTERN TIME on Friday, 4-May.

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If all goes as planned – and the internet connection is sufficient – I will connect to REF034C for both demo sessions. It would be greatly appreciated (and most helpful) if a number of you could be available during the above timeslots to join in the demo. It’s always more impactful when we use familiar voices to participate – giving a sense of “connecting with friends half way around the world”.

His character on the show Mike Baxter ( a sporting goods store director of marketing)  is a licensed ham and a D-Star user as well. Mike holds the call sign KA0XTT an experimental call issued by the FCC. As a note of trivia the XTT is in reference to ex Tim Taylor.

Also of note Mike’s “shack” consists of an ICOM 9100 and an ICOM 92 AD and several antennas are installed around the set. Numerous staff members including the producer John Amodeo are licensed hams and are able to make contacts between shooting scenes.

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That said, each of the 5 (soon to be six) repeaters in the network was INTENDED to be linked via REF034C on a full-time basis, enabling the entire I-95 corridor in Northern Florida to be connected at the same time. We encourage local users to disconnect from the reflector, if they want to connect, as an example, to the Georgia crew on REF030C, or to the international reflector on REF001C – HOWEVER, we simply ask that you UNLINK when you’re finished, then LINK back to REF034C so that the system is reconnected.

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There have also been folks who have been linking to REF001C (which is quite busy), then leaving it on that reflector for hours at a time (obviously, the user is no longer listening) – in a word, DO NOT do this..!! If you are actively listening to REF001C, then no problems – but when you’ve had your fill of the chatter, please UNLINK and LINK to REF034C to restore the local repeater to the system.

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I know that all of the past incidents have been unintentional – no worries at all, but let’s all remember to restore the system, in case someone needs to communicate across the entire length of I-95 and into the Georgia area (since we routinely have repeaters in south and middle Georgia on REF034C.

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Thanks for your cooperation. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact any of your local NEFL-DSTAR coordinators (Scott K2LSF in JAX, Steve W1SGC in Daytona, Charlie WB2CIC in Palm Coast).

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Phil did most of the work on this install earlier this week, with the final touches being completed this afternoon. For those of you living on the south side, this will probably become your primary machine when it is connected to REF034C (or other reflector, as you might choose).

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We have already prepared the back-up duplexer, so the effort only requires a swapping of the duplexer, along with reprogramming of the VHF module at the repeater site. We expect that this should be complete in less than 1 hour and will make an announcement before the effort starts (on the old frequency), as well as after it is complete (on the new frequency).

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We don’t know where this system will be installed yet, but there is consideration for St. Johns County, if a suitable site can be acquired. Our partners from St. Johns ARES are scouring the landscape, looking for a good structure – we prefer buildings, over tall towers. As soon as we have selected a site and arranged for frequency coordination, we’ll pass the word.

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In case a St. Johns site falls through, we will consider other alternatives, so if you have something in mind, let us know and we can certainly discuss it.

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This is NOT the new system that was just generously donated to the group – instead, this is a spare system that we had acquired when we purchased all the repeater equipment. Controller, RF module and duplexer are already in-hand – so all that’s required is for us to connected it to the antenna system.

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We will not disclose the exact location of the system, since there are elements in the Flagler County area who are hostile to the proliferation of D-STAR – suffice to say that  users who are in southern Flalger county, including Bunnell – should gain excellent mobile coverage, as well as significant hand-held coverage. Since I live in the Southern Flagler area, I’m looking forward to having the enhanced hand-held coverage on my IC-92AD.

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More as we progress on the project.

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new frequency will be 145.320 MINUS offset (-600Khz)

all call-signs remain the same

This change will take place on SUNDAY, 19-Feb-2011 in order to move to our coordinate frequency.

All users in Palm Coast should already have their radios programmed for the new frequency.

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We already have the new duplexer tuned, so all that is needed is to re-program the RP-2000V module for the new frequency, then swap the duplexer. The old duplexer (on 147.320) will become a spare, in case it is needed in the future.

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If you have any problems with connecting on the new frequency, please contact any of the DSTAR gurus, such as Phil (K5BBC), Dave (KA4TXY), Tim (WA3QCV) or any of your D-Star friends (or me, as a last resort only because I’m always traveling).

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While at the inside booths, a well known ham made a most generous gift to us – due to our leadership in creating the DSTAR network in north-east Florida, this individual will be donating a full UHF DStar repeater system to our group for installation in the network with the anticipation of enhancing and augmenting coverage.

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We don’t have timeframes yet, nor locations identified – but we are thrilled to have the support of this generous gift.

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More as we get further details.