2009 BARC Field day scenes
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2009 BARC Field day scenes
QRM NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY
BRISTOL AMATEUR RADIO CLUB VIRGINIA/TENNESSEE - USA
The Next Meeting ***Thursday November 5th, 2009 at 7 PM
*** Bristol, TN
The next meeting is slated for Thursday, November 5th at 7 P.M. We hope to see everyone there for some good fellowship! Check the monitor in the hallway of BRMC to see which meeting room we will be located. We will be voting for the Gene Stitt Award (Ham of The Year). Also, Gary Maiden N4KZS will have a video presentation this month as well.
The dues are still $12.00 a year and run January 1-December 31st of the same year. You have to be a paid member for voting in meetings and being in the drawing for the prize given away at the December meeting. You may give your dues to Toni Ward, KF4BMW at the next club meeting or you can mail a check for $12.00 to BARC C/O Toni Ward 305 Honeysuckle Lane, Bristol, Tennessee, 37620.
Everyone remember to check into the Bristol two Meter Net every Tuesday night at 9:00 P.M. It is one of the oldest two-meter nets around. Charlie, K4CWA and Dale, KT4SQ are net controllers. They invite you to check in and see what is going on between club meetings.
The temporary halt the FCC asked East Tennessee VE’s to implement has been lifted. With that said, the Bristol ARC will offer testing to anyone wishing to upgrade or any new candidates. We ask if you are interested to please let Mike Otis K0TIS know so that he can have the correct # of exams and examiners. Exams will be administered after the club meetings. . If anyone is interested, you will need to bring any CSCE’s and a photocopy of your current license as well as a photo ID. The testing fee is $15.00 this year. If you are interested, please contact K0TIS-Mike Otis 423-474-3946 so he will have a better idea on what and how many testing elements to bring.
The annual December eating meeting for the club will be at Ryan’s on Euclid Avenue in Bristol, VA on Thursday, December 3rd. Plan to bring your families with you as we enjoy our final meeting of 2009. Also, we will award The Gene Stitt Award and two cash prize drawings that will go to paid club members.
Margaret Louise Roberts, BRISTOL, Va.
Margaret Louise Roberts, 98, passed away on Friday, Oct. 23, 2009,
in Johnston Memorial Hospital. She was a member of AARP and the local radio club. Her call number was W8BFQ. She had been a duplicate bridge player and was a winner of the ACBL Bronze Life Master Certificate. She was the widow of Gerald Roberts, with whom she traveled extensively and shared many interests during their 50 year marriage. She was also preceded in death by her brothers, Rolland, Raymond and Richard Bowers; and their wives. Prior to her death, she was the oldest living member of First Baptist Church. Survivors include many nieces and nephews; including Bristol residents Albert and Linda Bowers,John Bowers and Beverly Bowers. Mrs. Roberts was a member of The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) and the Northeast Tennessee Chapter 182 of the Quarter Century Wireless Association (QCWA).
146.94 is 42 YEARS YOUNG!!
Hello, everyone! It’s been a while since my last “blog.” I hope everyone is enjoying the new 146.94 antenna. Speaking of .94, I have been on a bit of a mission lately to find out exactly when .94 went on the air. For those of you who are recent additions to our great hobby, you might not know that the 146.94 repeater was the very first two meter repeater in East Tennessee . Its history is that of great and continuous service. I am VERY proud to be carrying on the tradition started by George, K4HXD, who was the creator and founder of this repeater. We lost George in 1992. He was of my mentors. Please read the article about K4HXD on my website if you haven’t already.
Lately, I have been attempting to learn more about .94’s history, which started before I received my license in 1973. Thanks to conversations with great hams like Gene (W4UVR), Charles aka “Digger” (WA4QGX), Jerry (N4SH), Lee (WA4QXC), Bill (WB4YPO), Jim (WA4HQP), Bob (W4ZTV), and others, I am starting to piece together some of the history of this great repeater that I am now proud to own and operate. As of today, I have been able to determine with some accuracy that 146.94 is 42 years young this year. The repeater started out in George’s basement in Maryville , Tennessee , before it went to its long-time home atop Chilhowee Mountain near Walland. I am told that in 1967, Ed (ex WA4GKN, now WF4H), moved to Knoxville from Nashville , and was one of the first users of .94 from his RCA tube-type dynamotor mobile as he came into the area. Note that this commercial radio, state-of-the-art in its day, was capable of only ONE channel. Look how far we have come in just a few short years!!
I hope to be finding out more about .94’s storied history, and I will be adding a few details to its service record before 1985, when I was able to take over for George as .94’s owner and caretaker. I can readily share about the post 1985 years, including a story about how my then-girlfriend, who knew very little about what she was getting into, helped me pay for the repeater. I guess that’s why I might have married her…J
If you or anyone you know can share anything about .94’s early years, PLEASE contact me. I would love to include your information about .94’s history as I share it with everyone.
What’s going on elsewhere? I’m sure you have noticed some of the problems that I have been having with 146.73. Something has been “mixing” with the repeater transmitter’s signal and appearing as a signal in the receiver input. The result is a nasty “squealing” sound similar to what happened on 145.47 when I was experiencing the problem with the high-powered UHF TV station. I hope to travel to English Mountain next week to at least install a 118.8 Hz tone board on the repeater receiver, again similar to that of 145.47. I chose 118.8 as it is an SERA- recommended tone for East Tennessee . Please note that this is NOT a permanent solution. I will be attempting to find the source of the problem and removing its capability to “mix.” This could be as easy as finding a transmitter on the mountain that has gone astray, or it could be as expensive as adding a $600 isolator to .73’s transmitter. It’s almost a two-hour trip to English Mountain , as I am a renter on a site and I must go to the office of my “landlord” and get the keys before I can access the site. I am VERY fortunate to have .73 on the site that it calls home, and these are the rules I must abide by. I am also working toward improving the antenna situation on .73, as it is low to the ground at this time. Stay tuned and please be patient as I attempt to get .73 back to the service it provided when Sam (WB4HAP, SK) and Matt (WB4IOB) placed it on the air around 1973. And if you know anything about .73’s history, I would love to hear from you as well! I do remember the great .73 picnics!
THANK YOU for reading. If you like what you see, please tell others. If you have a comment or even a complaint, please tell me. I can be reached via the email link on the website…www.wb4gbi.com.
73 de Tim WB4GBI
Next month, amateurs throughout the US and Canada will take part in the longest-running domestic contest, the 76th ARRL November Sweepstakes. Since 1930, this tradition in Amateur Radio has brought out all kinds of amateurs -- from seasoned contest veterans to neophytes, from long-time traffic handlers to operators new to HF. The CW running of Sweepstakes takes place next weekend, November 7-9, while the SSB weekend is November 21-23. Each event runs from 2100 UTC Saturday until 0300 UTC Monday. All entrants may operate 24 out of the 30 hours. According to ARRL Contest Branch Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X, there are some big changes with the 2009 ARRL Sweepstakes, specifically with log submission deadlines and the turnaround time for final results. "The contesting community has long asked for a faster turnaround with the contest results," he said. "This year, we will aim for having the results online on the ARRL Web site in a PDF only 60 days after each edition of Sweepstakes. This PDF will only be the scores; the detailed report and analysis will still be in the May and June issues of QST, as always." To make this faster turnaround possible, logs must be received at ARRL HQ within 15 days of the end of the contest, not 30 days, as it has been for years. Log submission deadlines are 0300 UTC Tuesday, November 24 for CW and 0300 UTC Tuesday, December 8 for Phone. Kutzko said that the preferred method of log submission is the Cabrillo electronic format. "We have several links on the ARRL Contest Branch Web page devoted to Sweepstakes tutorials, including how Cabrillo works and even templates for submitting an entry," Kutzko explained. "While the ARRL will never turn away a paper log, we are asking all entrants to submit their log electronically if possible; this will greatly help us to publish the scores in 60 days as many participants have requested. Contest clubs are encouraged to assist their club members with paper logs in the Cabrillo conversion process. The WA7BNM Cabrillo Web Forms site will walk you through creating a Cabrillo-formatted log. Numerous certificates and plaques will be awarded, thanks to ICOM America, the principal awards sponsor of the November Sweepstakes. Special participation pins and Clean Sweep mugs will be available for purchase as always. Pins are available for $6 to any station that submits a log with more than 100 QSOs. Clean Sweep mugs will be available to any station that submits a log with all 80 Sections worked; mugs cost $12. "Sweepstakes has been a part of Amateur Radio for nearly eight decades," Kutzko said. "Don't sit this one out. Check the ARRL Contest Branch Web site for your Sweepstakes 'how-to' package, get on the air, have fun and take part of one of Amateur Radio's finest traditions -- CQ SS! From www.arrl.org
FCC Issues First Waiver for Government-Sponsored Disaster Drill
On Tuesday October 27, the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) granted the first waiver that allows amateurs who participate in a government-sponsored emergency preparedness and disaster drill to communicate on behalf of their employers during the drill. The waiver request was made on behalf of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. That state will be conducting a full-scale exercise on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 from 8 AM-5 PM (EDT) to test their emergency response to the possible release of chemical agents at Blue Grass Army Depot, located near Richmond, Kentucky.
"The waiver request was what could almost be termed a 'textbook example' of the process," said ARRL Regulatory Information Manager Dan Henderson, N1ND. "The waiver request met all of the criteria outlined in the Commission's recent Public Notice DA 09-2259: A government-sponsored drill, the specifics of when and where the event would happen, the identification of the amateur licensees that would be providing communications on behalf of their employers, the identification of the employers and a brief description of the drill. With all of the requirements in order, the WTB was able to turn the waiver around promptly, allowing the amateurs involved to participate in the exercise." It is important to note that while this particular waiver -- the first issued under the new guidelines -- could be readily handled within the short time frame, Henderson suggests that government agencies wishing to request similar waivers in the future provide sufficient lead-time for their requests. "I wouldn't recommend that a waiver request be filed at the last minute," he said. "The Kentucky waiver had the benefit of being the first one -- meaning there was no lag time in processing. It also had the advantage of easily meeting all of the requirements, making it an easier decision. I would encourage government agencies to file the waiver request as soon as they know which amateurs will need to be included in the waiver. This will allow the FCC as much lead time as possible. I am not certain they will be in a position to expedite last-minute requests." More information on Public Notice DA 09-2259 can be found here on the ARRL Web site. From www.arrl.org
Four Radio Amateurs Killed in Plane Crash En Route to CQWW Phone Contest (Oct 21, 2009 [REVISED Oct 22, 2009 11:05 ET]) -- Just after take-off -- around 6:30 AM on Wednesday, October 21 -- a twin-engine plane carrying four Amateur Radio operators crashed into the woods, only 250 yards off the end of the runway in Jedburg, South Carolina, about 20 miles northwest of Charleston. The plane -- piloted and owned by Peter Radding, W2GJ -- carried Ed Steeble, K3IXD, Dallas Carter, W3PP, and Randy Hargenrader, K4QO. The four men were on their way to the Bahamas to operate in this weekend's CQ World Wide Phone Contest as C6APR, competing in the Multi/2 category. From www.arrl.org
ARRL DXCC Desk Approves FT5GA Operation (Oct 12, 2009) -- ARRL DXCC Manager Bill Moore, NC1L, reports that the FT5GA operation on Glorioso Island -- September 14-October 8, 2009 -- has been approved for DXCC credit. Until this operation, Glorioso sat at number 4 on DX Magazine's Most Wanted list; five operators operating for 23 days made more than 50,000 QSOs to make this rare one available. From www.arrl.org
Contests:
November 7th-8th ARRL EME Contest 2.3G+
November 7th-9th ARRL CW Sweepstakes
November 14th-15th WAE RTTY DX Contest
November 21st-23rd ARRL Phone Sweepstakes
November 21st-22nd RSGB 160 CW Contest
November 28th-29th CQWW CW Contest
Hamfests:
November 7th-8th Lawrenceville, GA
November 14th Montgomery, AL
November 15th Benson, NC
December 5th-6th Palmetto, FL
January 2nd , 2010 White Pine, TN (Morristown)
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GET READY FOR CYCLE 24 DX !!
FOR SALE
Hy-gain TH3 MK4 – Upgraded, reconditioned TH3 MK3 with all new stainless steel hardware. $150.00
Yaesu G-400RC Rotator – Won at a Hamfest many years ago, never installed. Has run to keep the grease from setting up. $150.00
100 feet 8-conductor cable - $25.00
Tower – ROHN HDBX – approximately 40 feet including top section. Most hardware. ll require some adapting of the base. Anchor bolts available. $150.00
PACKAGE PRICE - $425.00
Jim Roller, N4IR
423-239-6456
n4ir@charter.net
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