Trackside Mobile (The Basics)

 

    Good Evening fellow Hams and Railfans, 

    Today I would like to introduce to you the lovely world of operating trackside mobile. What is trackside mobile you ask? Operating trackside mobile is operating your radio from trackside while rail-fanning. Now this can be done in a variety of ways and in this blog I would like to show you Some of the basics. 

    Operating trackside has it's benefits, you can have someone to talk to, test equipment and meet like minded hams who share the same passion for trains as you. I got my start in operating trackside mobile when I got my tech license. Most mornings I would tune into the Barometer Net and check in when there were no trains around and for a good reason and that reason is also one of the major drawbacks operating trackside.

    That reason is the fact you can cause unintentional harmful interference and knock out communications on poorly maintained receivers. (The Railroad always maintains their equipment right?)  Take for example the railroad operates in the 160-161 Mhz Band and the 2 meter band is 144-148 Mhz   just 26 Mhz apart. Frequency wise  this may seem like a good enough separation however there have been reports of train crews that have complained about  amateur club repeaters that has interfered with the train crews radio. Some sites like Bellevue Ohio have only a 440 Mhz repeater and this is a much better choice than cranking 50 or 100 watts of 2 meter power near a major rail hub. If you can  operating  on 440 Mhz and HF are the best options but, if you don't have that option or you want to operate on the 2 meter band here are some tips. 

  The first thing thing is to monitor radio traffic traffic and listen for trains in the nearby area as a railfan most of us do this anyhow. The reason is you don't want to knock out the radios with possible work like this in the picture below being done. Besides causing harmful interference and creating a nuisance you could possibly get someone killed. If the train crew can't communicate or hear an important track or train information then there could be serious consequences and YOU!!!! would be responsible.

A CSX Train passes a track inspector truck 

 

Next would be to operate like you are supposed to and use the minimal amount of power. Most 2 meter repeaters in urban areas or towns only require about 5 watts max to hit. For example I was able to check into the Barometer net on the Silver Creek Amateur Radio Club Repeater from downtown Akron on my HT and not bother my scanner 15 feet from me. That repeater according to repeater book was about 15 miles from my morning trackside location and to boot I was DOWN IN A HOLE!!!!!! I know that that was less than ideal conditions but it just goes to show you that even with just a HT you can do some great things. 

In the picture above is the prime example of an minimal operation. This picture was taken was before before I had my radio license, I used to use that HT as a monitor and as luck would have it I would wind up using the same HT to begin my ham radio journey operating trackside mobile. This shows you that it doesn't take much to get stated trackside mobile. 

    Many eons ago and I am showing my age as a railfan but in the back of the Altamont Press timetables there was a few ham frequencies published for railfans who had their license and wanted to operate trackside here are a few of them listed below.  

147.540 Simplex (PL 162.2)

146.490 Simplex (The unofficial national railfan frequency) 

146.520 Simplex (National calling frequency) 

446.000 Simplex (PL 162.2) (National Calling Frequency) 

443.800 Simplex (PL 100.0) Nor-Cal talk around Unknown if this still is in band 

Now you don't have to be on a repeater to enjoy ham radio either you could pick from one of the choices above or a clear frequency and use less than 1 watt talking car to car or making QSO's trackside with other rail-hams. 

I Hope you enjoyed this little journey into my world of being trackside and having QSO's always remember to be courteous and kind. If you are told that you are causing interference or hear it on the scanner stop!!! Even if you don't think that you are it might be true you will never know. Until next time my friends, stay safe and remember God is Still in control ~73 

The Go-Box Chronicles (The Incident Command)

 

“All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.” -Benjamin Franklin

   Recently I was over by a friend of our families house and the apartment up the street had a kitchen fire.  I was milling around  the scene taking pictures  of the firetrucks and the scene when I noticed the back of the battalion chiefs SUV had a mobile incident command center.  The center was small enough to fit into the back of the SUV and contained a small desk, a base type radio along with other stationary items needed to provide a safe command station to the responding fire companies. Unfortunately I was unable to get close to get pictures as it was a very busy scene.

A box similar to Akron's (Image from the internet for reference) 

To say I was intrigued would be an understatement, not only did it have the radios but also storage areas, and a marker board  with a integrated desk. The idea for one when I go trackside, or when I do a public service events came to mind, however I just couldn't find something that  I liked and that would work with my new go box so I decided to set out on my own and build it myself. 

I had a general idea of what I wanted but there were several features that I felt could be incorporated into my design and some items that could be eliminated. One of the things that was not needed was all of that storage,  so I narrowed it down to a single deep divided drawer and a tuck under shelf for my clip boards and other paper work.  This allowed me to make the one half of the unit to fit my Go-Box in which from my previous blog allows it to be modular to be taken from the shack to the car quickly and efficiently. So lets take a tour of my Ham Command Center. 

A perfect fit  

   

     The dimensions are 15" Deep by 48" Wide by 15" high at the radio bay and is a custom fit for my go box. From left to right there is a nook to store my headphones and any other small cases between the wheel well and tailgate area. Next is the Go-Box bay, it is open in the back to allow venting and power cable routing along with a battery tray to make the whole setup independent of the vehicles power system. Next is the desk and drawer that keeps small items such as charts, papers, forms, spare antennas, HT's, and other miscellaneous items needed at bay. Finally on the top of the drawer is the small desk for writing, it is angled about 5 degrees and has a strip across the bottom to keep items from sliding off. 

    I feel I accomplished what I wanted, and once I get a chance later this coming year to  fully test my setup and see how it operates I will either be tweaking things or will be going full ham (Pun intended). This concludes part 2 of my Go-Box chronicles and hopefully I have inspired you to build something for your vehicle. Until Next time my friends, take care, be blessed and remember God is still in control. ~73 

    

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Prying Eyes Part 1 (a primer on ham shack security)

 

Good evening fellow hams and railfans,

In tonight's blog I want to touch on ham shack security. As amateur radio operators we go to great lengths to try to make our shacks safe from hazards such as lightning, stray voltages, and bad RF, however one thing I have noticed is the lack of security in our ham shacks. Now I want to make the disclaimer that this is not a full nuts and bolts out of the box security system, but a few simple tips and tricks to make your ham shack more secure.

Target hardening:  You can't always prevent someone from breaking in, however one of the most simple things you can do is slow the rate one can either gain access to, or remove equipment. This is especially true if you have a stand alone shack. Here are 7 things you can do begin target hardening  

1. Install a double deadbolt lock on your door,  this is one of the simplest things you can do, they require a key in and a key out and another benefit is that they prevent smash and turn entry by requiring the key to open the door and since the shack is not  considered a livable structure they get around most building codes. 

2.  Screw it down..... Most radios come with a mobile bracket or one is available, by screwing it down this slows up the removal process allowing more time for law enforcement to arrive and catch the suspect in the act. 

3.  Light it up!!!!!  Most shacks have some source of power, by installing lights you deter crime because of the easiness of getting caught. Adding lights weather solar, battery or utility adds to the overall safety  and security of the shack.

4. Install cameras.... By installing a camera system with a DVR you not only highly discourage theft and trespassing but you have a set of digital eyes watching 24 hours a day ( make sure the DVR is not visible or place it in another location) 

5.  Keep a low profile... This is a essential thing if you live in a moderate to high crime area (just about anywhere now) adding antennas is easy but it also makes a obvious sign that you have expensive radio equipment. If you can, use the smallest antenna needed. 

6. Add shutters with locks, while this maybe an old fashioned way of doing things it still slows one down without the unattractive bars on the outside of the windows and requires a pair of bolt cutters or making noise to access the window. 

7. Limit how far windows can be opened, installing a bolt drilled into the side of the window can significantly slow one down but allow you to remove the bolt and the window to be fully opened when you are in your shack 

After you do all this what else can you do to make your ham shack more secure? Here are 4 more tips that don't require any money and can make the difference in how easy you are targeted. 

1.  Know your neighbors!!!! You don't have to be the social butterfly, but simply by casually observing your neighbors you can learn a lot about what they really are up to and assign a threat level to them based upon whether or not you observe criminal activity. 

2. Practice light discipline, by knowing where to place monitors and TV Screens you can prevent wandering eyes from knowing what you have, also consider light blocking blinds or curtains to keep light from spilling out at night. 

3. Keep quiet, while it is one of our favorite things to do is to show off our ham shack it could be one move that invites trouble. This also includes family members as we all have a few that are always up to no good. Just be wise to who you show your toy room too is all that I am saying.

4. Finally the most important thing to do is to be vigilant, do a quarterly review of your shack. Ask yourself if I was a criminal how would I get in and what could I easily remove? By asking these things you can help keep yourself, your family and toys safe from the perils of life's ruthlessness. 

I hope you enjoyed my blog and have found a lot of this useful, as a ham and a  security professional these are things I have learned to implement at home and in my vehicles in which I will cover in another blog in the future. Until next time remember God is still in control and stay safe and happy ~73 

Broken Rail

 

" you have to embrace the pain in order for it to have the desired effect"

~Drew Brees 

   

The Westbound coal drag 

        

    In 2019 I had to make a hard choice and leave my employer of over 5 years that afforded me the wonderful mornings of trains and ham radio, it wasn't a easy choice and it put a serious dent in my trackside mobile operation. For 3 out of 5 years I was a staple on the barometer net and trackside in Akron. Soon afterward I began spiraling away from trains, ham radio and rail-fanning altogether and went only on a handful of excursions with my lady with little to no excitement. In December 2019 I chose to change careers again only to find myself still unable to get the desire to go back trackside or even fully enjoy ham radio. 

Coal Cars roll by 

     The pandemic of 2020 put another big damper and it didn't help my feeling  of being uninterested in my hobbies. What caused my dismal feeling? Was it I was growing out of the hobby? Did I lose my passion? Was I bullied out? and the answer was I had been bullied out of my passion. For the most of 2018-2019 I helped a fellow ham (The one who introduced me to ham radio) at his shop and at ham-fests. While I was there helping him it seemed I was not smart enough or good enough and I gave up even trying to  even show any interests in my hobbies as I was punished for trying to do anything that wouldn't benefit him, after leaving him and taking on a new job, I just didn't have the time  or the desire to divulge myself into my hobbies. My lady tried to encourage me to get back to what I loved however the only thing I seemed interested in was storm spotting, not realizing I was in the middle of my own storm and was losing direction. 

The Eastbound auto carrier 

What changed to get me back on track? (Pun intended) Well over the course of the summer my lady and I would go and sit trackside along with a few snacks and try to enjoy the day, however it just still didn't work.  Beginning this fall I decided to begin to start remodeling the shack and building a Go Box and as fate would have it my small propane heater ran out of fuel during one of the coldest weeks of this month. So  instead of trying to heat and work in my shack before I go to work I decided to go trackside mobile at a spot I normally  would go on the weekends. It had just freshly snowed the night before and I went trackside similar to what I had at my old job. It was cold out, I had my coffee, a great sunrise, the barometer net on the radio and a fresh snowfall and it seemed like a already beautiful morning, could it get any better?  Yes it did!!! On my scanner the Q216 cracked the silence and called a signal two signals away from me while the other railroad was giving out track warrants a westbound coal drag snuck up on me I looked up and saw the westbound coal drag with a UP leader. Two trains at once? It was!!! It almost was instant my feeling of  being uninterested left and my passion began to come back flooding in. Now I still have a long way to go to get back to where I was but now I am back on track and slowly rolling toward my destiny once again. Sometimes all it takes is a moment  And God  to change your circumstances, so if you are feeling like I was take the time to reflect on why you feel that way, and then embrace the pain and the rest will fall into place. Until Next time my friends, remember God id still in control, Take care and Be Blessed  ~73

The Go Box Chronicles (part 1 an introduction)

   

                    "Good evening fellow hams and railfans" 

     I want to thank you for visiting my blog. Today is the first in a 5 part series how I built my Go Box .   Being a ham radio operator who is a railfan has it's perks but has it's share of problems as well.  One problem that has plagued me for years is always wanting to be a gear-head, always wanting gear and not always having a place for it. Another problem is a lot of times I am on the go, whether it is watching trains, storm spotting, being over at my lady's house or taking a family member fishing I always wanted to have a radio. Now the easy solution in which I already have is a mobile rig in the van and an HT, but there was something lacking.  I wanted something that could be modular and still perform in a manor of a fixed station, but also could be moved easily if I wanted to take a day trip or even a week long trip trackside. With this years events and of course the dreaded pandemic going on I had to add a self- isolation factor in as well. In this blog we are going to cover how I made my Go Box.

    The biggest challenge I faced was, do I build it myself?  Do I buy a pre-made module such as the Pod Runner?  Or do I go hybrid and do a mixture of both? I chose the latter and decided to go hybrid, and since I am a woodworker by trade this would not only allow me to  have  an excuse to make something custom that I can enjoy but also something that is durable and practical as well. The first step was to find something I could put the radios in,  close and lock them up when I am not using them, I saw one of these things at a ham fest a couple of years ago and instantly I found the prefect candidate for the radio storage area of my inter-modular station setup. 

My Go Box currently with one radio and SWR meter 

Pictured above is the I-portable 2 IP-6-U Available from DX engineering, it boasts a hard plastic case, built in speakers and light. along with 2 circuits for radios and plenty of room for other items. One of the features I like the most is it's almost linear size the cases rough dimensions  are 24x24x18 inches making ideal for my purpose. The first of two boxes I am building is going to be the most used one with my VHF/UHF setup in it (this will be covered in another blog) The only two qualms I have with this box are the first is the power cord (input) is not long enough for my taste as I prefer to have a little extra wire should the need to arise to put a connector on and the second is on 2 meters there is a slight whine from the dimmer switch that dims the LED light, however this usually is solvable with a ground wire. 

My Go-Box with the UHF 90 Degree connector 

If you are looking to get one or two of these I would like to suggest a few parts to get as well. the First part is pick up the DX Engineering bulkhead kits part #  DXE-UHF-FDFB-KIT along with a UHF 90 Degree connector part # Amphenol RF 83-1AP UHF Right Angle Coax Adapters 83-1AP-2   to act as a strain relief and prevent the bulkhead from unnecessary wear and damage. This concludes part 1 of the Go Box build. I know that the way I am going is not the cheapest but it is what is going to work for me and hopefully you can find some inspiration out of it as well. Until next time ~73 and Remember God is still in control