Ria's shack

Yesterday, I noticed a lot more people began viewing my videos. And I figured I got linked somewhere in the ham blogosphere, as my friend Dick Norton likes to call it. I checked the usual suspects, including QRZ, Southgate (who has linked me before, thanks!), Twitter and other places. Then someone commented that hackaday led them here. A-ha! Mystery solved! Anyway, here is the post from hackaday, linking to my video: https://hackaday.com/2020/11/23/coaxial-connectors-starting-with-the-pl259/ My sincere thanks to Jenny List for writing the article. If you're new to the party, come and join the fun over on YouTube: https://youtube.com/RiaJairam Be sure to like and subscribe, and tell your friends. But more importantly, watch the videos. You may learn something! 73 Ria, N2RJ

Well, it's been awhile, but life got in the way.  But I'm back!  What am I up to these days? To begin with, I'm creating videos on YouTube, with the purpose of educating hams and non-hams alike about amateur radio and other technical topics. My goal with these videos is to encourage more people to become radio amateurs but also to encourage people to learn technology. Stay tuned...

On August 19, at the invitation of John, W2HCB, President of The Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club (GSBARC) and EC/RO for the town of Babylon, NY , I visited the Fire Island Lighthouse to help them activate the lighthouse for International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend (ILLW). They have been an amazing and active club for many, many years and I was all too happy to visit. The lighthouse itself is an amazingly pretty sight to see with some of the most beautiful and absolutely pristine seashore in this area. I took a tour of the lighthouse, and climbed all the way to the top. I also met up with two of my YL friends - Caryn, KD2GUT and Salli, K2RYD. I operated SSB and CW and many were happy to work me. GSBARC absolutely rolled out the red carpet. They met me, shuttled me to the light from Robert Moses Field, and even gave me a personal tour of the lighthouse. The drive from NNJ wasn't too bad at all. I used to actually go out to Long Island quite a lot when I was a contract p

One of the things I'd like to touch on here is that my opponent and his friends seem to think that the message that "contesters and DXers are elitists" is a winning strategy with the ham radio public. For the record, I am a very avid and active DXer and contester. I have 324 countries confirmed (326 including deleted), 9 bands DXCC including 160 meters and DXCC challenge at the 1500 level. I also have numerous contest wins, both on my own and on VHF with Andrea, K2EZ who owns and operates a Ford Explorer rover. Interestingly enough, my opponent is also a DXer and contester. In fact, he is even on the DXCC honor roll. This means that he is in the top 10% of DXers worldwide in terms of new countries worked. Wow. It takes a lot of dedication to do that. He's also a member of the Order of Boiled Owls of New York, a well known, but small contest club. So as it turns out, he's one of us, and in some respects more elite than I am. I sincerely don't get why he g

Less than 2 months from now, a group of dedicated women amateur radio operators (YLs) will convene in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma for the YLRL convention 2018. This year the convention was organized by YLRL district 5. Thanks especially to the hard work of Michelle Carey, W5MQC and Leah Ohse, W3LEO. I will be a speaker and talking about digital modes in amateur radio. I'll be talking about both HF modes and VHF/UHF modes. It will be a fun presentation, and it is something I enjoy doing. Andrea Slack, K2EZ will be talking about her rover operation. Should be fascinating. Carol Milazzo, KP4MD will also be talking about DXpeditions and her amateur radio adventures. NASA research scientist Nancy Hall, KC4IYD will also be in attendance and speaking at the banquet. This will be very exciting! Nancy is a true role model to women, especially girls looking to get into STEM fields. Many amazing women will be here and if you are a YL, it's a great way for you to network as well. O

It's been a busy week! The outpouring of support has been truly immense. More importantly, the locals in Hudson division have been throwing their support behind my campaign. This is a very good sign. I do especially appreciate the financial support, but even if you can't contribute financially, please do spread the word. However, there is still much work to do. First of all, the website is in full swing at https://hudson.n2rj.com Look there for details of my platform and how you can help. Yesterday (06/19) I made an appearance on HamRadioNow, which is a video web talk show. Here it is:  https://youtu.be/JUPbsYEkpzc I got some great feedback. I do truly want to be a director who engages her division. You, the division member will be my first duty. Yes, I will have a duty to the league, but the league is you and not some faceless corporation handing down edicts without regard for your opinion. I want to be a director for every radio amateur. Gary made a comment ab