FARA to Participate in CQ World Wide SSB Contest
Oct. 25 - 26

Come on sunspots.  Watching the solar flux index (SFI) trying to creep into the three digits is a lot like trying to watch coal being made.  Anyway, if your looking for a little excitement and an occasional something to munch on, come on down to the club and participate in the CQ WW SSB Contest.  We'll keep the club open for as long as there is interest in the contest from club members.  Of course guests (licensed and unlicensed alike) are not only welcome but encouraged to come on down.  It's a 48 hour contest that starts at 0000 GMT Saturday (Friday night) and ends 2400 GMT Sunday.  See September CQ, page 110 for contest rules.  If you plan on coming to the club late Friday or Saturday night, it would be good to call the club first to make sure someone is there.  If the bands shut down, we will also.

From the Editor:

Over the summer I was blessed with many new and informative articles from FARA members.  Unfortunately now that I am back in school I have not received any new articles.  So keep those original articles coming!

and more...
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS THE 10 METER AND UP DX?

From Society of Broadcast Engineers, Portland, OR newsletter

The 10-X International internet reflector has almost daily and sometimes even hourly reports of intra- and intercontinental DX on 10m.  Send a message with "subscribe tenten-l <your name>" in the body to: "[email protected]" to get on the mailing list.  For VHF+ enthusiasts, the VHF reflector at Stanford University offers equipment and propagation topics as well as spots and skeds from Tropo to EME to Meteor Scatter. Send a message with "subscribe" in the body to:
"[email protected]" for this list.

DIHYDROGEN MONOXIDE

From CGC Communicator

A freshman at Eagle Rock Junior High

won first prize at the Greater Idaho Falls Science Fair, April 26.  As part of his project he urged people to sign a petition demanding strict control or total elimination of the chemical dihydrogen monoxide (DH).  And for plenty of good reasons, since DH:
1. Can cause excessive sweating and vomiting,
2. Is a major component in acid rain,
3. Can cause severe burns in its gaseous state,
4. May kill you if accidentally inhaled,
5. Contributes to erosion,
6. Decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes and
7. Has been found in tumors of terminal cancer patients.
He asked 50 people if they supported a ban of the chemical dihydrogen monoxide.  Forty-three said yes, six were undecided and only one realized that the chemical was water.
The title of his prize winning project was, "How Gullible Are We?"

GATE 3 VANITY CALL SIGNS BEING ISSUED

Extract from ARRL Letter

Judging from the vanity call signs just now coming out of the FCC, some Advanced class hams took advantage of Gate 3 to obtain Group C call signs where the suffix comprised either a first name (we spotted a Joe, a Don, a Ken and a Bob, for example) or a set of initials. Perhaps apropos of his QTH, Gene Uliasz of Gun Barrel City, Texas, used Gate 3 to turn KC4WA into K5TNT.  Formerly KF6CG, Georgia A. Lawrence of Manhattan Beach, California, obtained K6GAL.
Other applicants obtained new Group B call signs, sometimes trading one 2x2 in for another.  For example, Karl Mortensen of Wakefield, RI, swapped

KE1FK for KA1RL.  Still others went for the snappy suffix.  Charles Pharis of Kagel Cyn, California, turned in KK6NE for KA6USA. Michael Amaral of Walpole, Massachusetts, gave up W1IDP to obtain WA1AW.  Along the same lines, Michael Esposito of Germantown, Tennessee, swapped WA2VXV for WA2AW. Yvonne Lane of Kingwood, Texas, gave up KF5MY for W5XYL.