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 Previous: FCC Poised to Act on BPL Report and Order in Mid-October |  Next: Having Fun and Being Prepared Are Lessons Learned From Her Elmer |
By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor
September 24, 2004
This week, let's check out the state QSO party schedule and read some additional comments about PCB design.
 The California QSO Party is one of the many state QSO parties upcoming this Amateur Radio contest season. |
I received an e-mail from Marc Ziegler, W6ZZZ, reminding me that the California QSO Party is coming up on the weekend of October 2-3. See the official Web site for details. Checking the ARRLWeb Contest Corral Web page, I found that other state QSO parties are coming up, too (Arkansas, Alabama, and Texas, this weekend, Pennsylvania, October 9-10, and Illinois, October 17-18).
The Contest Corral Web page lists non-ARRL contests including a brief rundown of the rules and the official Web page for the contest, if one exists. The ARRL Contest Calendar Web page lists only ARRL contests, but a link for the Contest Corral is on that page to get you to the non-ARRL contest listings.
I received some e-mail in response to the printed circuit board layout in the August 27 and September 10 editions of Surfin'. Ian Stedman, KG6IIM, was one of those writing, "I think something you neglected to mention in your review of online PCB manufacturers is that if you download free software from one vendor, and use that to design and order boards, you are eternally locked into that vendor for supply. Nobody else will ever be able to make sense of your files.
"Here's for open source. CadSoft's Eagle layout program is available free (although highly limited) and is supported by many vendors. It's as close to an open format as we're likely to get soon."
Check out the CadSoft Online: Freeware Web page for more information.
Lionel Booth, N5LB, wrote, "I enjoyed your article on PCB fabricator and software sources. Some hams are using Linux, and some are transitioning to Linux (like me) in the shack. I found a Linux PCB design program that may be of interest. It is called PCB and is found on the PCB Home Page."
Until next week, keep on surfin'
Editor's note: Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, has been
staying up late following the ups and downs of his beloved Red Sox. Before
there is another Calvin Schiraldi moment, you can e-mail Stan at wa1lou@arrl.net to discuss crimson hosiery, radios,
computers, surfing, and other important and neat stuff.
| Previous: FCC Poised to Act on BPL Report and Order in Mid-October | Next: Having Fun and Being Prepared Are Lessons Learned From Her Elmer |
