My local club will be participating in Ride the Ridges like every year and from what I was told we use a KML overlay (generated from Google Earth) on top of the aprs.fi web interface which displays all paths and icons created on the map as overlays along with all the APRS overlay information. This provides flexibility as we can track the callsigns that are relevant to this event and efficiently monitor resources out in the routes.

Today on our usual Sunday night net (0130 UTC on 146.835Mhz PL 131.8 around EN44eb) we experienced a brief power outage in several parts of town and some surrounding areas. While not a long event or of any notable relevance on its own, it highlighted the importance of emergnecy power for our equipment – especially the equipment we depend on in an emergency.

The Trinona event came and went, and with that my first public service event. I was stationed at one of the corners taking pictures of the riders and my son in the back of my car saying “hi!” to anyone that passed by.

Today is Christmas for those of us that celebrate it, and the face of my child this morning was a beacon of light. To those of you that celebrate it, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!

Foreword

I would like to start with the fact that I haven’t been a ham for awfully long, since May 2020. I am employed by a multi-national electronics company and work in the repair department with enough boards to make my brain numb. I’ve seen a LOT of things.