The monthly newsletter of the Carbon Amateur Radio Club

March 1999

It is hard to believe that we are in March already. The first day of spring is Sunday, March 21. There will be many fun activities coming up in the nice weather that we can enjoy our great hobby with. So make sure all of your batteries are in good shape and fully charged.

Congratulations to Wayne of EMA in winning February's 50-50 drawing and his generosity of donating the winnings back to the club.

It was good to see the large attendance (25) at the February meeting. To date we now have 27 paid member on record. As a reminder to those who haven't paid as of yet, please send or bring your dues in so we can keep your membership active and keep your name on the mailing list for The Illuminator.

Work is still going on slowly with the by-laws committee and hopefully that will be brought to a successfully conclusion soon so that we may direct our energy to more fun things.

With the nice weather around the corner, and if you are looking for something fun to do, why not contact A.J., WB2VBR, and see about joining in the fox hunts that are starting in March. I will guarantee that once you start it you will be hooked on the fun. Many trophies will be awarded this year.

Also, last but not least, welcome to our newest member, Gloria Moyer, from Palmerton. Now we can all get after her to pass the second part of her test and get that ticket. Welcome Gloria.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the next meeting on March 18.

Robert Fulton, Jr., N3NOP

President

SKYWARN Spotters are needed to assist the National Weather Service. Serving as a spotter in your spare time can be fun, and also help to get out early warnings to possibly save a life.

I have recently stepped into the position of SKYWARN County Coordinator for Carbon County following AJ, WB2VBR. AJ has done a Wonderful Job in the past and has also offered his assistance in the future when he can. This is great to know as It may be difficult for me to cover any severe weather events during working hours. Thanks AJ. Bill, N3VAE who lives on the Monroe/Carbon line has been classified as assistant Counties Coordinator. Bill, is also in a good position, as well as myself, to relay between the TRI- County area. We all hope to work closely with Monroe and Northampton Counties.

The following information is included in hopes that you can attend one of the two SKYWARN Spotter training sessions.

Date: March 9, 1999 Tuesday, at 7:30 PM. Location: Lehigh Valley Red Cross Building, Room 104, Avenue "A", Bethlehem, PA

Contact: John Holmes, WX3TAZ mailto:[email protected] 610-837-7487 Talk-in: 146.940 repeater or .52 simplex.

Directions: Rt 22 to Airport Road North. Airport Road to Avenue "A". Right on Avenue "A". Red Cross building will be on the left side at the intersection of Avenues "A" & "B". This is a combined class for Lehigh & Northampton counties...

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Date: March 13, 1999 Time: 09:00 to 13:00 (approx.)

Location: Tunhannock Twp Fire House Long Pond Road, Monroe County, PA

Contact: Rob Hill, WX3ROB mailto:[email protected] 570-643-3900 ~ days = evenings ~ 643-3935.

Note 570 is the new area code for NEPA. Talk-in: 146.865 r pl 100.0

Directions: Rt 209 to Rt 115 North /or/ Rt 903 /or/ Rt 940 to Rt 115 South to Pocono International Raceway. Turn onto Long Pond Rd. (by sign for PIR) You can only turn one way onto LP Road. The other way is all trees Firehouse is on the left about 2 miles in. This is a combined class for Monroe and Carbon counties.....

Please attend if you can. Joe Miketta from the NWS does an excellent job.

Also, there will be a Special Event Station for Severe Weather Awareness Week in PA. A declaration commemorating the week of March 21-March 26 as Severe Weather Awareness Week in Pennsylvania will be signed by Governor Ridge through a cooperative effort by the National Weather Service and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA).

The week will be punctuated with test messages and warnings from the five National Weather Service Forecast offices that serve the Commonwealth. Local and state governments, law enforcement officials, schools, hospitals and SKYWARN groups will conduct drills to test weather disaster emergency preparedness.

Carbon County will conduct this drill on Thursday, March 25th starting at approximately 09:00 hrs.

There will be a Special Event Station operating from the NWSFO, Mt Holly, NJ, which is one of the five forecast offices that cover part of Pennsylvania. The station will be operational on March 21 from 10 am to 3 pm eastern time to promote the beginning of Pennsylvania's Severe Weather Awareness Week. The station, sponsored by the Mount Holly SKYWARN Technical Committee, WX2PHI, will operate on 146.55 and 446.00 simplex, 7.273 on 40 meters and 14.273 on the 20 meters.

Handsome certificates will be issued directly from the Mount Holly Forecast Office if a self addressed stamped envelope is sent to: (with a confirmed QSO)

NWSFO ~ WX2PHI Special Event Station

Attn.: Joe Miketta-Meteorologist

732 Woodlane Road

Mt. Holly, NJ 08060

For more information on the special event station, contact John Holmes, WX3TAZ, Vice-Chairman-NEPA and Secretary of SKYWARN Technical Committee at [email protected].

The Mount Holly Technical Committee and the Mount Holly Forecast Office serve a 34 county area spanning the states of Delaware and Maryland with portions of New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania. The Mount Holly TC is made up of amateur radio operators from the forecast coverage area who are interested in working together with Joe Miketta, Mount Holly meteorologist and SKYWARN Advisor to enhance the SKYWARN program through organization and education.

Bettering the service that amateurs provide to the Mount Holly Forecast Office promotes public safety and is the mission of the Mount Holly TC. By working closely with one another, functional networking has been established using a variety of amateur radio technologies. By working with the New Jersey State Office of Emergency Management, county coordinators and SKYWARN spotters throughout the 34 county, 4 state forecast area an already successful APRS network continues to grow and improve. A 440 repeater system has been developed to enhance communication throughout the entire forecast area. Additionally, a number of training sessions have recruited many new participants and have refreshed some of the seasoned ones.

The chairman of the Mount Holly SKYWARN Technical Committee, Rob Hill, WX3ROB has been instrumental in enhancing the growth, organization and success of the committee. Rob indicates, "All members of the committee contribute a large amount which equals out to a very high percentage of participation, which is very unusual in voluntary organization such as the Technical Committee. The people who belong to this group have a dedicated interest in making our SKWARN program the best it can be." Rob also indicates that the group has an excellent relationship with several strategic groups within its jurisdiction one of which include the New Jersey State Office of Emergency Management. The group and the vast network of spotters and weather enthusiasts who are kept apprised of happenings thorough the WX2PHI website and the "The Quarterly Mount Holly Newsletter, The Weather Report" which features articles contributed by meteorologists, amateur radio operators, spotters and various other resources. This publication is posted at the website and contributions are always encourages. The website is located at: <http://wx2phi.skywarn.net>. Please feel free to visit and give us your comments.

On behalf of the Mount Holly Technical Committee, we hope to hear you on the air while we are operating our special event station at the forecast office in Mount Holly. Till then, Happy Weather Watching

Excerpts and credits to Deb McKay, N2TTP, Rob Hill, WX3ROB, John Holmes, WX3TAZ

Greetings All !! Prepare for quite a roller coaster ride ! In the future we can expect both disturbed conditions for several days and some of the best DX days we have seen in recent months. This will be the new pattern after February's activity. It is the new, unexpected activity that will create the surprises, especially for VHF people.

February started off at he bottom with the solar flux at 98 and sunspot numbers (SSN) at 15!! (The first week of January did not have such a low dip.) The "A" Indexes were running 5 to 12 and activity was mainly stateside. ON February 9th sunspots started

rising and the solar flux followed to 205 on February 14th (SSN 211). This was enough to create some aurora activity.

As always, a major geomagnetic storm followed on February 18th just in time to disturb the ARRL CW DX Contest. The A Index hit 89 with an average A54 for the day. Where were the usual auroras? So here we go again. Around March 12th to 15th we can expect disturbed conditions as these areas of the sun come back into view only closer to the solar equator. This activity is expected to repeat around April 10th-12th as well.

Currently, we are headed for a solar flux null around March 14th. The best days should be March 10th and March 23rd. The best DX band continues to be 20 meters with good 10 meter openings between 1400z and 1700z daily. If we can manage low A Index numbers, we should see some strong signals appear bringing out the barefoot stations to fill the bands. Look for things to change as the daylight gets longer. The roller coaster ride has begun and average conditions will be higher as a result. Keep your ears on Vhf and you may be able to get to experience Aurora E's during the disturbed conditions on HF. Good Hunting and Good DX !! Send me your reports !!

73s de Larry N3CR

February 20, 1999 Foxhunt

The ranks were mighty thin but the hunt was a good one. The sly ole fox had one team chasing their tails all over the place. Eventually all the hounds found the fox.

Congratulations to AMY (KD3TI) and ANDREW (KB3CWH) for coming in first with a good time and very low mileage. Gene(N3WMA) came in second and of course yours truly ended up third. Oh, by the way MIKE(N3XYU) was also involved in our missing the fox. We went in all directions. For some unknown reason we never could get consistent readings.

Thanks to ROB(KB3BYT) for a great hunt.

Our 1999 season begins in March and the hunt is on the 20th. From what the grapevine is saying there maybe several new

devices to track down the elusive fox. Of course there is no guarantee that they will work but necessity is the mother of invention and we sure do need something to pin the fox down when in the general area.

The March hunt will have GENE(N3WMA) as the fox and he promises to really give us a run for our money. It will be a hunt using a beam and reflections off the hills. This will require our best tracking abilities as well as patience since beams signals are narrow and the reflections tend to distort the direction. This is one time where staying in one location for several readings before putting the car in gear and proceeding down the road maybe the best approach.

Again the hunt is on MARCH 20, 1999. We will meet at the 443 diner at 7:45 for breakfast. The hunt will begin at 9:00am sharp and end at 11:00am.

de AJ WB2VBR

Pet hams are so intelligent they often seem human, but they can be difficult to raise. Only someone with great patience should attempt it. In case you do, here is a guide to the basics.

Living Area -- A pet ham needs a private nest area, an entire room where it will not be disturbed. Your pet ham will spend many happy hours alone there with its treasures. -- boxes, wires, bits of metal, glass, paper, etc. that it will bring home whenever it ventures out. You will want to encourage your pet ham to confine its activity to this room to prevent the entire house from being subjected to noise, clutter and the boring of holes in the walls.

Expenses -- Keeping a pet ham is expensive, but, unlike most common pets, a pet ham can be trained to work outside the home for a few hours each day. It may even bring in enough money to offset its expenses.

Feeding -- A well behaved pet ham will eat with the family occasionally, but it will feed more comfortable and secure taking its meals in the nest room. You must be sure your pet ham is well supplied with food and drink during the long periods it spends alone in there, even if it does not beg or whine.

Obedience Training -- A pet ham can be trained to perform simple tricks, the easiest and most common being "sit" and "speak". Do not be alarmed if it practices them for hours at a time in the nest room.

Health Problems -- The pet ham typically suffers lower back pain and minor throat irritations from too much sitting and speaking, but health maintenance costs tend to be minimal.

Travel -- Your ham pet will gladly travel with your family by car or even by air, if allowed to bring along certain familiar items from the nest room. Most pet hams enjoy trips to places where they can meet pet hams from other families.

Breeding -- If you plan to breed your pet ham, you should do so as soon as possible after you get it. As a pet ham matures, it becomes increasingly reluctant to engage in activities not associated with its nest room collection.

thanks Ft. Herkimer Amateur Radio Club

(submitted by Lamar N3AT)

I would like to report that the Northern California QRP club has now shipped out the 500 NC 20 kits to those who ordered them. There were only 500 for sale, and they were snapped up in only 18 days. I am one of the fortunate ones who got in on the deal, and am now in the process of constructing mine. The club has also put together another 500 kits which will be distributed to hams in 3rd world countries who could not afford to buy them. Those will begin shipping out in a few weeks when hams in the US have completed theirs, and have had a chance to report any "glitches" they may find. From reports I have heard, I doubt very much if there will be many, if any, glitches that show up. The rig has been through at least five sessions of re-design. I'm really looking forward to getting mine on the air.

72 de Lamar

I can't tell you just how exciting the presentation topics for Atlanticon QRP Forum are shaping up to be. The presenter/authors have prepared *great* material and there is a great mix of topics to satisfy everyone's hunger ... antennas, PIC-microcontrolled projects, electronic theory, construction practices, propagation, new kit design, 6-meter design issues ... as we say, "man, it don't get much better than this!" (And there's yet another little surprise we're holding in our pockets for now ;-)

The first presentation topic to get some preview air time is that of LB Cebik, W4RNL. The title of LB's paper is "Ho-Ho-HOHPLs: Horizontally Oriented, Horizontally Polarized Loop Antennas (Large!)" ... you're gonna love this one! Here's a brief abstract of the paper's contents:

"Large (longer than 1 wl) wire loop antennas are often popular choices for the big yard QRPer. The question is: how well will they likely work? We shall look at several of the issues involved in putting up a large loop and see the potential performance differences. Here is a starter list of issues:

And here's a little background on LB ... we are so lucky to have this kind of experience and talent amongst our ranks:

"L. B. Cebik, W4RNL, just passed the 45 year mark on his ham license. He has taught, lectured, and written on various aspects of radio electronics, although in recent years he is perhaps best known for his work on antenna modeling, antennas, and antenna tuners. He writes regularly for QRP Quarterly, maintains an antenna column in Low Down (Colorado QRP Club) called "Antennas from the Ground Up," does a monthly antenna modeling column for AntenneX, and has written "An-Ten-Ten-nas" for nearly 6 years. Other articles have appeared in all of the US Ham Magazines, including QST, QEX, NCJ, CQ, and Communications Quarterly. His book on antenna modeling, printed by Nittany-Scientific, will be available late Spring of this year. His web site (http://web.utk.edu/~cebik/radio.html) recorded its 50,000^th visitor in January, 1999, less than a year and a half since the counter was added. Since ham radio does not pay the bills, he continues to work as professor of Philosophy at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville."

Okay, that's it for now. More advance information on the other papers will be coming shortly. Just a reminder ... if you haven't yet made your hotel reservations to attend Atlanticon, you better do so quickly. We're just about at the full-capacity (110) mark and we'll be starting a "waiting list" very soon.

And remember that admission to the Atlanticon QRP Forum is *FREE* (sponsored and organized by the NJ-QRP Club) and all those attending will get a copy of all papers presented (and more) in a bound publication called the "Atlanticon 99 Proceedings". This book will *not* be sold afterwards ... the only way to get it is to attend Atlanticon. See, this

is quite the special QRP event.

We hope to see you there next month!

PS: You can see all current Atlanticon details at http://www.njqrp.org/atlanticon/ or send for your email info kit by putting SEND ATLANTICON in the body of an e-mail and send to [email protected] . Your info package will be automatically sent to you by return e-mail within minutes.)

The 1999 CARC Membership cards have a misprint. The club name on the card is "Carbon Amateur Repeater Association". The club name is still "Carbon Amateur Radio Club". N3NOP is working on getting new cards printed.

If you're in the shack or on the road at 21:00 on Wednesday, join in on the Skwarn net. The details can be found at the end of this newsletter.

The 1999 dues are due NOW. If you have not paid your dues then this will be the last issue of the Illuminator that you will get. So PLEASE send in your dues and this way you will keep up with the latest happenings in the club.

The dues remains the same for this year:

REGULAR MEMBERSHIP is $15.00

REGULAR AND AUTOPATCH is $20.00

You can mail your checks to AJ and you will receive your membership cards in the mail.

AJ SPITZER WB2VBR

308 BIRCHWOOD DRIVE

LEHIGHTON, PA 18235

Y2K

As we discussed in our last meeting, Y2K is a real problem with an immovable deadline. What was an obscure problem for computer programmers years ago is now a front-page issue with the potential for affecting communities, companies, countries, and even global economies.

As hams, we may once again be called upon to provide emergency communications services in the wake of numerous infrastructure outages, mainly power and telecommunications.

Now is the time to prepare. Not only should you be "blowing the dust" out of your rigs, but you should also be considering the following for you and your family :

• Alternate water sources
• Food supplies (canned goods)
• Alternate heating for your home (wood, kerosene)
• Alternate electricity source (generator)
• Ham radio power source (12V Batteries)
• Monetary Instruments (cash)
• Medicine / First Aid Supplies

While some of the worry over Y2K and its consequences is hype, it is better to be prepared for the worst and hope for the best.

Once again, we've had excellent participation from members in the newsletter this month. The Illuminator is beginning to resemble a journal more than a newsletter ! Needless to say, the time required to prepare the newsletter and mail it has increased proportionally, but it's well worth the time. I'd also like to thank Andrew and Robert for working on the printing, folding, and mailing of the newsletter.

This month instead of sending the newsletter files to everyone, I'm putting everything on the website. Those who wish to have the actual Word file can download it at their convenience, others can view the web version.

I often do the big contests as part of the K3II multi-operator team, but I chose to do the CQWW DX CW Contest as a single-op from home this time. I have no amplifier, so I struggled with my choice of entry class. I could either enter the low power category, and make an attempt for a good finish in that class, or I could enter the "assisted" category and lock horns with the big boys.

I finally decided on the assisted class for two main reasons. First, I am not good enough at CW yet to be competitive at that mode. Second, I thought I could get a higher score using packet assistance. Basically, the decision came down to a choice between individual accomplishment or a better contribution towards my contest club, the Frankford Radio Club. My allegiance to the FRC drove my decision. I normally don't use packet assistance, but I chose to go assisted this time so I could score more points for FRC. It turned out to be a good move.

Although my Icom IC-775DSP can transmit 200W+, I kept it around 150W for most of the contest. I'd rather not beat the daylights out of the thing if I don't need to. I had my IC-736 standing by in case I could use a second radio. I never used it. I still need some work before I can be effective in a single-op/two-radio effort. I need to work on the cabling and antenna switching and I also need to train my brain to work two radios. I'm sure the latter will be the most difficult part.

Conditions were excellent! I started by bouncing around on 15, 20 and 40 and picked up some good multipliers pretty early (BY, VR2, JT, EL, 5N, etc.) I obviously had to slug it out a lot with the big boys, but I was pleased with my ability to punch through, especially on the high bands. This QTH is magic! If I ever move, I can probably get a premium price if I sell it to a contester.

Thanks to Dallas Carter and his monster W3PP operation, I had a fair number of "W3PP QSO B4" replies and had to correct a few other times, but they usually did a good job getting my call right. I had more problems getting copied as K3WP or K3PG.

I'm really starting to understand why people prefer CW with such religious fervor. While I'm still not even worthy to be in the presence of guys like K3PH and K3TEJ, I'm improving as a CW op. As I get better, I'm starting to develop a similar disdain for phone. Chasing spots kept me so busy that I had little opportunity to attempt any S&P or runs. Running on CW in something like CQWW is still an adventure that makes me shake in my boots. I did it in this past PA QSO Party with good success and in FD, but CQWW is a different beast. It's full of speed demons and I often need a few listens before I get the call right. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, though, and I decided to try running JAs on 15m the second night. Most were good about returning at my QRS speed. I had some tough times, but it was a valuable education. JAs were booming in on 15 and 20 and even 10 with signals 20 or more dB over S9.

Being the engineer geek that I am, I have been analyzing this contest in excruciating detail. I do know some things now though. I picked up two new countries (VK9L & D6) and a whole pile of new band-countries. My best hour was only 48 QSOs. If I had the courage to run, or if I had more power, this would have been much higher. I'm going to practice like crazy and hopefully get an amp before the ARRL DX. I'm dying to see how I can do with a combination of better power and skill at my QTH.

I want to improve my low band antennas. I beat many high power guys on the high bands, but I really had to struggle on 40, 80, and especially 160m. I re-strung my 40m dipole before the contest. I aligned it better for Europe and got a bit more altitude to it. It seemed to pay off in better 40m performance than I had before. After playing with K3II's antennas, I got an appreciation for the diversity of multiple beams. I'd like to do that at home, but time and money will moderate that effort for now. I can do 10m for relatively little cost and effort so I'll start there. On many occasions, it would have been valuable to have one yagi fixed on SA, one on EU, and the top one to spin to where it's needed (like AS or OC). I've done some terrain analysis to optimize this design. Now I just need to buy everything and put it on my existing tower.

- 1.5 million points with low power!

- Beating so many high power guys on the high bands!

- KH7R on SIX bands, including 160m!

- 5 Bands: 4U1VIC, 8P9Z, EA9EA, GI0KOW, HB9FAP, OT8P, P3A, RW2F

- 6 Bands: 6Y2A, J6DX, KH7R, TI1C, VP5GN

- JA on 40m!

- Many new band-countries (48 new countries on 10m alone!)!

- Working JAs like crazy!

- DXCC on 20, 15, and 10m each!

- All but one zone worked!

- High solar flux; low A and K indices

- Operating 38 hours (keeping your butt in the chair is SO important)!

The Fall 1998 contest season has been such a memorable one so far!

Some of the better upcoming contests are:

ARRL DX (Phone) 0000z Mar 6 - 2400z Mar 7

BARTG WW RTTY 0200z Mar 20 - 0200z Mar 22

CQWW WPX (Phone) 0000z Mar 27 - 2400z Mar 28

If you have RTTY capabilities, the RTTY contests are a unique and enjoyable experience. The BARTG contest is one of the more popular RTTY contests.

In any case, give contesting a try. It's a real blast!

73 ES QRZ TEST DE Glenn, K3PP

One of the biggest contests is now behind us. The annual running of the ARRL DX CW Contest took place during the weekend of Feb 20 and 21. This contest puts thousands of stations on the air all over the world. Lots of rare DX is available and the pace is fast and furious.

Several Carbon ARC members participated and did very well. The stations where our members operated are:

K3PH SOA 2084 378 2,363,256

K3CT SOA 1268 384 1,460,736

K3PP SOA 1056 378 1,197,505

M/M = Multi-Op/Multi-Transmitter

SOA = Single-Op Assisted (PacketCluster assistance)

If I missed anyone, please let me know and I will correct it in the next issue of The Illuminator.

The operators at K3II were K3II (of course!), K3VA, and K3CT. Jim's superb station and talented operators put in another great performance! This was a fairly limited M/M operation with two transmitters and 2.1 operators (I'll explain later!). Most M/M efforts use three or more transmitters and a small army of operators. Nice job boys! Jim, Ed and John are three of the best CW operators I know. Another is the subject of my next comment.

Once again, K3PH proves that he is not human! Bob netted more QSOs than even the K3II team. The category is single-op ASSISTED, but Bob did this all on his own! Wow! What more can I say about this guy? According to the preliminary results, Bob will not win (K3WW had 5 million!), but he has a good shot at the top-ten box. That is quite an achievement, since the SOA category is, by far, the most competitive category of them all. K3WW and many of the other top scoring stations use two, sometimes three, radios at once! The contest sponsors may want to split the SOA category into two; freaks and mortals. K3PH should be right up there with K3WW in the "freak" category!

K3CT put in a few hours at K3II (thus the tongue-in-cheek reference to the .1 operator!) and did what he does best, fix things! The team had some problems, John came to their rescue, and he added a bunch of QSOs to the total while he was there. These hours came during one of the most productive periods in the contest. John would likely have landed a few hundred more

QSOs at home had he stayed there. In the spirit of contesting together as a team, John sacrificed his own score to help the K3II operation. That, my friends, is what this hobby is all about! Still, without those QSOs, John put in a terrific performance from home.

I was the only entry of the four listed without an amplifier, so I'm very pleased with the results! I am also a miserable CW operator compared to these guys. I followed a similar strategy to the one I used in CQWW and it paid off. My two initial goals were 1000 QSOs and 1 million points. I was thrilled to break both of those marks. The strategy was:

- Stay in the chair. You can't make QSOs any other way. Sleep, food, and potty breaks are necessary, but you need to limit them if you want to do well. - Exploit my station's strengths, the high bands. My monobanders continue to surprise me. I was a real force on 10, 15, and 20m. I'm dying to put some real power into these! My low band antennas are improving, but still far from competition grade.

Don't duke it out in huge pileups. A low power guy is wasting his time in a pileup with the big boys. Move away, make a bunch of less attractive QSOs, and come back later when the big boys have all filtered through.

Run as much as possible. If you can do it, your QSO total will rise dramatically! Obviously, K3PH was able to do this successfully.

All but the last worked very well. Running is difficult for a low power entry. It is downright terrifying for a CW operator of my caliber. Since I am unable to run stations at 35 WPM like these other guys, I was reluctant to try it. When I did try, the response was weak. The big guns were just clobbering me. I did have some limited success to Japan late Sunday when things tend to slow down a bit. Give me more power and more talent, and I'll be there.

You don't like CW? You don't know CW? How about SSB? The SSB version of this contest is coming up. Mark your calendar for

the weekend of March 6 and 7. The contest starts at 0000 UTC Saturday (that's 7:00 PM FRIDAY EST) and runs 48 hours. It's a wonderful event and a bonanza for DXers.

73 de Glenn, K3PP QRZ CONTEST!

Upcoming DX. There will be many more DXpeditions over the next several months. Now that the solar activity has improved to a high of 202 contacts to exotic places in the Pacific are attainable. So keep the HF rigs on and the antennas pointing to the south Pacific. de WB2VBR

3D2, FIJI. Karl, K0KL, will be active next month as 3D2KE bewteen March 20-27th. Activity will be mostly on 40 and 15 meters CW. QSL via homecall.

5T, MAURITANIA. The International Amateur Radio Volunteers (IARV) will go to Mauritania to establish an emergency radio communication system in North Mauritania area. This time Tada, JA1CPS, is the leader and will head up a team of 5 operators. Yoshi, JA1UT, is NOT going to Mauritania this time due to the Palestine operation. The IARV will stay in Mauritania from March 11-17th. Activity will be on 80-10 meters, including the WARC bands on CW/SSB/RTTY mode. They have not specified which frequencies they will operate but will seek popular DX frequencies. They will operate during their spare time. QSL via JA1UT.

CE0, EASTER ISLAND. Roberto "Bob", CE3CDV, reports a group of 10 friends will depart on February 27th to activate Easter Island as CE0AA. They will be active until March 20th. Activity will be on CW/SSB on 160-6 meters. The QSL Manager is Sergio Del Gaudio, CE3WDH, P.O.Box 240-3, Santiago, CHILE. QSLs via Bureau are also OK.

VK9L, LORD HOWE ISLAND. Ed, K8VIR, will be active again March 6-18th as VK9EHH. Look for his SSB activity on 14162, 14260 and 21300 kHz. QSL via W8WC.

XF4, REVILLAGIGEDO. A group from XE1 operators will activate Socoro Island (NA-030) belonging to the Archipelago of Revillagigedo, March 1-15th. Their callsign will be XF4MX. Activity will be on 160-10 meters, Satellites, RTTY, CW and SSB. THe

XF4MX DXpedition is formed by the following Operators: XE1FSK Danny, operator in digital modes and phone. XE1FRF Fabo operator CW XE1ITJ Louis Pilot Station and Spokesman XE1MX Mark team manager and responsible for the operation, QSL Manager, and phone operator They will also be in the ARRL DX SSB Contest as a Multi-Single entry.

XU7, KAMPUCHEA (Cambodia). OPDX has been informed by Chung, HL2KAT, that Mr. Song Hyung Sub, HL2AQN, will be active here as XU7AAC from March 11-15th. He will leave Seoul, Korea, March 10th at 0000z to fly to BangKok and from here to Pnompenh. He will depart from Pnompenh on March

17th. Activity will be on 40/15/10 meters CW/SSB. QSL via HL2AQN: Song Hyung Sub, Buwon Apt. 9-101, 340, Wonjeong-dong, Bucheon, Kyunggi-do, 421-200 Korea. Chung states that a relative Website can be found at: http://www.qsl.net/hl2kat/ Also, Song's E-mail address is: [email protected]

3B9, RODRIGUES ISLAND. The Midway-Kure DX Foundation (WH7M) announces details for its 1999 Rodrigues Island 3B9 (AF-017) DXpedition scheduled for the 1st through 10th of April, 1999. A team of nine operators representing five countries will conduct the DXpedition on all modes from 160 through 6 meters. Plans are for up to nine fully equipped HF stations to operate from a number of locations throughout the island. One station will be dedicated to RTTY only. The DXpeditioners are Bruce Butler (W6OSP), Kimo Chun (KH7U), Jari Jussila (OH2BU), Victor Keller (XE1VIC), Jacky Mandary (3B8CF), Garry Shapiro (NI6T), Yuuji Yoshitani (JA3IG/K1NT), Ned Stearns (AA7A) and Frank Smith (AH0W/OH2LVG), team-leader. Chief pilot stations will be Andy Chesnokov (UA3AB) and Gary McClellan (K7ZD). QSL Manager is Joyce Johnson (N7LVD).

Callsign TBA later. For inquiries, send E-mail to: [email protected]

This article was taken from "The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette" editorial

A venerable signaling system is overtaken by high tech

Morse code apparently died out before the International Marine Organization announced its passing recently. The six dots interrupted midway by three dashes that spelled out the Titanic's SOS signals, and recorded the end of two world wars, have been replaced by satellite technology.

But if the new electronic Mayday system to replace it is as reliable as the computers in most business offices, or the satellite whose malfunction cut off most of the pagers in North America, we'd best keep teaching and testing Morse code as a backup. The code was invented by Massachusetts portrait painter Samuel Morse as he made a trans-Atlantic crossing. It substituted sets of dots and dashes that could be more readily transmitted by radio or wire signals for letters of the alphabet.

During both wars spies sent coded messages home with an added layer of Morse, and so did journalists. And learning the dots and dashes or combinations thereof was expected of every Boy and Girl Scout for many years. People hailed the code as "the instantaneous highway of thought." Wireless communications invented by Marconi brought Morse code a fresh lease on life, and in 1899 the first shipwreck was reported by Morse code in the English Channel.

From the Titanic in 1912 came the fateful three dots, three dashes and three dots. "SOS," it began. "Come at once. We have struck berg." Because the radio operator aboard the nearby liner California wasn't on duty, the message never reached the one potential source of quick and meaningful help. And from that fateful night came the decree for 24-hour radio watches.

The code's time seems to have passed. Still, it is not clear that smaller vessels will have or will be required to have the electronics that are now standard on large vessels. And it is not clear that satellite systems are immune from injury, sabotage or wear and tear.

For those reasons, while Morse may fall into disuse, we forget it at our peril.

Come to the next meeting and help yourself to parts, circuit boards, and other stuff that I'm giving away. Conditions: no complaints or returns allowed!

John Bednar, K3CT

February 26 – CQ 160 Meter Contest – Phone

February 27 – North Carolina QSO Party

February 28 – High Speed Club CW Contest, CQC Winter QRP QSO Party

March 6 – ARRL International DX Contest - Phone

March 9 - Skywarn Spotter Training 7:30 PM Lehigh Valley Red Cross Building, Bethlehem, PA

March 13 - Skywarn Spotter Training 09:00 to 13:00 Tunhannock Twp Fire House Long Pond Road, Monroe County, PA

March 14 - Wisconsin QSO Party

March 18 - *** CARC Meeting - 7:30 EMA Center - Route 93 ***

March 20 - *** Foxhunt - Season Opener*** Alaska QSO Party, Ohio QSO Party, Bermuda Contest, Russian DX Contest, Virginia QSO Party

March 27 - CQWW WPX Contest - Phone

** denotes CARC supported or sponsored events

bold indicates items of local interest

President - Robert Fulton N3NOP [email protected]

Vice Pres/Treasurer - A J Spitzer WB2VBR [email protected]

Secretary - Andrew Roomberg KB3CWH

Callsign Trustee – Bill Dale WY3K

Public Information Officer – Bill Kelley KA3UKL

Editor – Goody KA3NGH [email protected]

Contesting – Glenn K3PP [email protected]

DX – AJ WB2VBR [email protected]

Foxhunting – AJ WB2VBR [email protected]

Propagation and Commentary – Larry N3CR [email protected]

QRP – Lamar N3AT [email protected]

Skywarn – Mike N3XYU [email protected]

CARC Website : http://www.cpals.com/~elitehom/carc/

Webmaster – Robert KB3BYT [email protected]