TREASURER’S REPORT

by Dave Baugher, WR3L

Thanks to all that have donated monetarily to PVRC in the past. I am enclosing an envelope for your convenience if you wish to make a donation at this time.

I also take your order for the club badges. Look on www.thesignman.com/clubs/pvrcreg.html to see samples and ho to order. ARRL renewals now go directly to the League. New membeship still comes to me for club credit.

Rembmber your most important donation is your scores. Let’s make our club number one in as many contests as possible.

PVRC NEWSLETTER SCHEDULE by the editor

The PVRC NEWWSLETTER will now be published only 10 times each year. The summer will be covered with June/July and August/September issues. The deadline for the October through May issue continues to be the 25th of the prior month. However, the deadlines for the two summer issues will float depending on material and your editors vacation schedule. The deadline for the June/July issue is June 16th, the day after the W3LPL open.

JOINT PVRC/NCDXA MEETING AT W3LPL

The joint PVRC/NCDXA meeting will be held on

Saturday, June 1 5th, at Phyllis and Frank

Donovan’s, 3055 Hobbs Road, Glenwood, MD.

Festivities begin at noon. A local caterer will

serve several varieties of BBQ for a modest fee.

There will be lots of liquid refreshments as well.

The event goes on rain-or-shine.

The directions below should allow you to find the W3LPL QTH from wherever you might be wandering. You can pick up a Maryland state highway map at the rest area on 1-95, just south of Rt 32 (Exit 38). The MD state map shows Hobbs Rd very clearly.

Directions to W3LPL QTH from 1-95:

Exit 1-95 at Route 32 West (Exit 38B). After 8 miles Rt 32 becomes a two lane road. Two miles later, pass through a pair of traffic signals at Linden Church Rd. Three miles beyond Linden Church Rd you will encounter another pair of traffic signals. Turn left at the second of these signals onto Burntwoods Rd. Follow Burntwoods Rd for 1 .7 miles and turn right on Hobbs Rd. Park in front of the towers.

Directions to W3LPL from 1-70:

Exit I-70 at Route 97 South (Exit 76) towards Olney. Follow Rt 97 for 2 miles and turn left at the traffic signal onto McKendree Rd. (small shopping center at this intersection) Follow McKendree Rd for 1/2 mile and turn right on Hobbs Rd. Follow Hobbs Rd for one mile and park in front of the towers.

Directions to W3LPL from Georgia Avenue (Rt

97} in Montgomery County:

Follow Georgia Av north through Olney,

Brookville and Sunshine into Howard County.

Five miles north of the traffic signal in

Sunshine, turn right onto Burntwoods Rd. Follow Burntwoods Rd for one mile and turn left onto Hobbs Rd. Park in front of the towers.

JUNE VHF CONTEST by Bill Seabreeze, W3IY and Chuck Watts, W4XP

As the warm weather approaches, many hams

start thinking about antenna projects, higher noise levels, and field day. There is another major subculture among us, however, that blooms large in the month of June. The June ARRL VHF contest is a major event for those equipped for frequencies above 50 MHz.

The winter always seems to provide a wonderful gestation period for VHF, UHF, and microwave operators to plan an all-out assault on the bands for this great operating event. Many VHF es above hams have been carefully combing flea markets, building, swapping, and latching on to gear that will propel them to higher performance for the mountain-topping fun which seems to peak during this VHF event.

Many radio clubs pool their resources, and mount a huge effort to gather operators, radios, amplifiers, antennas, and towers, and plant it all at a great location with a good take-off angIe. June is always filled with excitement as the summer sporadic-E (Es) season is usually lit-off by contest time.

After an exciting year with record setting totals working F2 propagation, many operators will warmly embrace the 500-2000 mile QSOs that are characterized by LOUD signals from even modest stations on the 6-meter band. Maidenhead-Grid [Grid] totals will probably soar, as even QRP stations can accumulate large numbers of Grid multipliers during the June VHF contest.

The warm weather also brings along even more excitement in regard to tropospheric-scatter communication. The higher temperatures generally allow the atmosphere to hold more water vapor, and the weather patterns frequently cooperate to produce fantastic beyond-the-horizon communications on the 144-MHz through 1 0-GHz amateur bands. It’s a different world from HF contesting, but the activity levels are quite good, and the enthusiasm for operating during this event

This year is an especially interesting one, falling in the shadow of unbelievable scoring records set last year by our very own Grid Pirates Contest Group, K8GP operating from the highest mountaintop in West Virginia, Spruce Knob at 4863 feet, Grid Square locator FMO8fq.

K8GP has done an incredible job over the past several years assembling a top-notch operator roster, custom outfitting 3 school busses filled with state-of-the-art equipment, erecting thousands of antenna elements, and filling our listening area with phenomenal VHF, UHF, and microwave activity between 50 MHz and 47 GHz (including lasers!).

In 2001, the Pirates with an amazing 1,917,480 points established the Roanoke division multi-op/unlimited category record! While falling short of the mark set by the W2SZ group operating from Mt. Greylock in western Massachusetts, the Grid Pirates have targeted the New England group again for an exciting competition with much fewer resources.

One of the critically lacking ingredients for K8GP, compared to the northern boys, is a contingent of rover stations. All PVRCers with VHF, UHF, and microwave gear are needed to add to the K8GP point totals, and show W2SZ what we can do down here in the south. This long-standing rivalry has been very advantageous to continued activity in this much-sought-after part of the radio spectrum. Use it or lose it!

The K8GP group’s buses are headquartered at the home of Terry Price, K8ISK and weekly work parties have been going on all year, getting ready for another all-out effort. Founders of the Grid Pirates [January 1 9941 are Ken Ramirez, N4UK, Gene Zimmerman, W3ZZ, Terry Price, K8ISK, Chuck Watts, W4XP, and as a Rover and all around roustabout, Brian Skutt, ND3F.

Over the past several years operators have come and gone, but some have made the standard and have become significant contributors to the growth and success of the group; Rich Zwirko, K1HTV, Andy Zwirko, K1RA, and Owen Wormser, K6LEW were next to receive Commissions as Grid Pirate Captains. New members have found their way to the group, Dave Petke, K1RZ/3, Bernie McClenny, W3UR [inactive] Sid Shusterman, K3SX, Ed Parsons, K1TR, John D’ Ausilio, KA1TB, Chris Patterson, W3CMP, and Tyler Stewart, K3MM. . .and the group’s REAL heroes of this motley crew, the Rovers; Jim Buongiovanni, K9SP (soon to be joined by son Rich, K9SP, Russ Thomason, W3RST, Matt Butcher, KC3WD, Rich Biby, KD4DSX, Brian, ND3F, and Yours Truly, W3IY. There have also been many, many guest operators whose efforts directly contributed to Grid-Pirate contest operations.

If you can possibly get a few signals on the bands, please do. The point totals become especially attractive at 432 and above. you have an unused 432 “spigot” coming out of an lC706 or an FT-i 00, please connect it to something, and give out some points to your PVRC brothers. If you are interested in Roving, please contact the group via their website at www.k8gp.net. If you are limited to FM only, check the simplex frequencies 52.525, 144.55, 144.58, 223.5, and 446.0 for activity.

There is a great wealth of experience within our local VHF es above community, and we are willing to teach and learn along with you. You’ll be amazed at what you can do with a few Watts on 432 [or microwatts on 47 GHz!]. It’s a lot more fun for all, if we can generate some activity.

Roving is a great way to prepare for emergency

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