The Illuminator

June Meeting

The next regular meeting of the Carbon Amateur Radio Club will be held on Thursday, June 21, at the Boulevard Diner on Route 443 in Lehighton. Club members are invited to eat in either dining room at 6:30 p.m. and then move to the dining room at the west end of the restaurant (next to the dairy bar ice cream stand) for our meeting.

This is only two days before Field Day – guess what we’ll be talking about!

President’s Corner

By Larry, N3CR

Greetings everyone! Here we are June 1st. Field Day just around the corner. Everyone talking about what they are going to be doing that weekend. Have we got something for you! Our next meeting, Thursday June 21, 2001 will be at the BOULEVARD DRIVE-IN RESTAURANT on Route 443 in Lehighton Pa. at 7:30 PM. This will be a SUPPER MEETING. Bring your XYL out for supper and leisure socializing at the Boulevard dining room around 6:30 pm. They have good food and reasonable prices. And if the deserts aren't enough for you, they have the best ice cream in the area! Afterward, at 7:30 pm, we will all gather in the dining room next to the dairy bar for our June Special Meeting and finalize Field Day arrangements with Goody, K3NG, our FD chairman. Come join us for an evening of casual socializing and meeting activities. Bring the XYL! And, if you think that is great, wait until next month! Pizza anyone?

Wow, that is hard to follow up but here goes. We need your input on future meetings. We would like to hear your ideas. The members at the last meetings had some interesting ideas we need to kick around. So far, we have had wet and cool weather but I can guarantee you that will change. Hanging out at Beltzville Lake sounds better all the time. That may be my home away from home (sorry for any QRM, Goody!). We need to hear from you. We have missed you at our meetings. There is so much we can do.

The Wednesday evening nets have featured Goody, K3NG, and N3CR as net controls. The summer months leave us a little thin but with the addition of Swap and Shop, Technical Help, and the usual propagation /DX reports there is a lot of good information available. What better time to make sure your radio is working properly? You don't need surprises when you need to use your radio and get low audio reports. Time to tweak those antennas and make that radio sing. If you need help, the Wednesday evening net is a good place to start. Wednesday evening, 9 PM, 147.255 repeater (131.8 PL) or 224.260 MHz Northeast PA VHF Society repeater. You know the club has the talent to keep your station a happy station. Your comments are appreciated.

Being involved in highway maintenance and tunnel maintenance, please adhere to signs and flagpersons along the roadways. We really don't want to read your name in the paper that way! When entering a work area, I would ask you to slow down and safely move thru the area. We all want to come home after a day at work in the sun. Our job is to make your ride smoother and safer. Enjoy your summer and remember that not everything grows orange along roadways. Monitor 146.52 MHz simplex and our 147.255 MHz W3HA repeater for visitors to our area. They may be coming to visit your town. 73s de Larry N3CR

Local Frequencies of Interest

By Goody, K3NG

Most 2 meter HTs these days can tune the VHF high band. There's a lot to hear in this band. It's exciting to know what's going on before other people and as radio amateurs, it's our duty to be prepared for adverse conditions or situations and lend assistance. Here's a list of some local and statewide frequencies that you may find interesting to monitor this summer.

Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR)

Frequency 1 151.175

Frequency 2 151.295

Frequency 3 151.385

Frequency 4 151.400

Frequency 5 151.160

Frequency 6 151.445

Frequency 7 159.285

Frequency 8 159.330

Frequency 6 is used by Beltzville State Park using the callsign KYY964. Most of the action is from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Park rangers identify as "Beltzville" and a number, such as "Beltzville Five," with "Beltzville Base" as the ranger station. The Fish Commission also uses this frequency and identifies as 78 and a letter, such as "Seven Eight E." Occasionally you'll hear a far off repeater on this frequency, which appears to be French Creek State Park. State parks across the state reuse frequencies, so many times you'll hear multiple parks on one frequency.

Fire towers can be heard on frequency 3 and identify with a tower name such as "Pohopoco." You'll often hear them talking to each other when spotting flare-ups. Flare-ups are reported by the bearing in degrees and towers often triangulate to determine the exact location of a fire. Sometimes you'll hear fire fighting in progress on frequency 3, but frequency 6 appears to be very active, especially in the spring before Beltzville picks up. Frequency 6 was quite active recently with airplanes doing water drops on fires. Hickory Run State Park and rangers patrolling Glen Onokyo in Jim Thorpe also use this frequency.

Another good frequency to monitor in the Beltzville area is 156.800, Marine Channel 16. At sea this is considered an emergency channel, but inland it's a calling frequency with more casual use. The Fish Commission and boaters use the frequency for help or chitchat. The Coast Guard Auxiliary, which lends assistance to boaters, but does not do any law enforcement, uses this channel as well. Beltzville Base appears to monitor the frequency on a secondary basis.

A frequency that we should all have programmed is 162.40 MHz, NOAA weather radio out of Allentown. If you travel, you should have the other weather frequencies programmed as NOAA stations use different frequencies in each area.

Weather 1 162.550

Weather 2 162.400

Weather 3 162.475

Weather 4 162.425

Weather 5 162.450

Weather 6 162.500

Weather 7 162.525

Unfortunately, humans announcing the weather on NOAA radio have been replaced by a synthesized voice. You eventually get used to Mr. Roboto, but it's not quite the same as a real person.

Enjoy monitoring these frequencies in the coming summer months. Next month I'll cover some public safety and state police frequencies. Until then, happy monitoring!

Goody K3NG

Propagation

By Larry, N3CR

Where were these sunspots when we could have used them? Here we are again, the A Index is above 10 more than it is below 10. With the A Index above 10 and the solar flux down to the current 160 level, ten meters all but disappears. The normal summer noise levels have arrived making any propagation a real project. On the other hand, six meters has been opening up for short periods to Europe with half scale signals. That is a pleasant surprise. Even some of the Arab nations are appearing on 6m even though their military channels are nearby. Nations such as Egypt have never been heard on 6m. Northern Ireland, Greece, Bosnia, and Herzegovina calls have made the DX Cluster lists. Many DXers are using 6m and this is a welcome addition on many of the new radios being produced. A year ago, the solar flux and sunspots were regularly above 200 but propagation was going nowhere. Recent numbers have been reaching around 130 on both scales with the A Index rising to 26 and many days above 10. On a good note, seasonal changes will improve conditions again beginning in September. They say the solar cycle is on a slow decent with the peak having occurred in October 2000.

Recently, 228 different DXCC countries were logged onto the clusters along with all 40 CQ zones and 24 ITU zones. The stations are out there and you have to be ready for them. 15 meters has been showing a lot of activity, especially on 15 meters. More stations are coming back to 20m and the whole band is beginning to get crowded again. There is a lot of DX activity on 40m and 160m. The DX Clusters are busy until the early hours of the morning. I am hearing fewer beacons on the bands. Summer is here! I am still working many good stations. One island station really enjoyed my PSK QSO, he even returned my IRCs! Maybe he had nowhere to cash them in! The lighthouses are coming again in August. Look for them. They have some nice QSLs and tend to be good operators on both SSB and CW. The Lighthouse Contest is a fun contest, coming soon. More stations from Bolivia, Chile, and Brazil are showing up on both PSK31 and SSTV. Japan and the Pacific are still making their presence known. I would not expect to hear from Hong Kong or China anytime soon! Good DXing and keep those reports coming in. Look for N3CR DX Cluster reports coming your way soon! 73s de Larry N3CR

Carbon Amateur Radio Club

Regular Meeting Minutes

May 17, 2001

President, Larry Lilly, N3CR, called a regular meeting of the Carbon Amateur Radio Club to order at 7:38 p.m. on Thursday, May 17, 2001. Seven people attended.

The minutes were read by Bob, K3PH, and approved by the members in attendance.

John, W3MF, read the treasurer’s report. At the last meeting, we had a balance of $944.56. We had no receipts and disbursements of $4.42 for mailing the newsletter, leaving a total of $940.14. The members in attendance approved the Treasurer’s report.

Larry, N3CR, mentioned that we have no price quotes on buses for our proposed trip to the American Radio Relay League, as they want a firm date and the number of people first. Bob, K3PH, noted that the League only does tours on Monday through Friday, with no exceptions.

It was reported that the March of Dimes thanks us for our participation in WalkAmerica, especially for the generators. They raised $11,170 during this event. It was also noted that were not mentioned in any of the local newspapers, however, WMGH did give us a spot to talk about what we do.

It was noted that the 24th Race for Cancer is set for July 8, beginning at 7 a.m., starting from Pocono Whitewater Rafting. So far, they haven’t notified us that they need us for communications.

Regarding the Wednesday night net, Larry, N3CR, noted that Bill, KC2DLR, is attending classes and can’t run the net. Goody, K3NG, ran the net on May 16. It sounds very much like we might need a new net control station. In the meantime, Larry, N3CR, talked about getting a blurb into other club’s newsletters, advertising our net, so we could get more activity.

Goody, K3NG, reported on our Field Day plans. We have obtained the Blue Mountain site, plus we have K3II’s FT-1000, K3NG’s TS-850, and K3PH’s IC-735, plus two PCs. K3NG volunteered to get a porta potty. He also noted that Bill, KA3UKL, would do the cooking.

A discussion of meeting attendance followed. The members in attendance decided that we should try a dinner meeting. K3NG will look into getting either Caruso’s or 443, while N3CR will look into getting the Boulevard, which is our first choice. Plans are that we would eat about 6:30, with the meeting to follow. We also agreed to try a pizza party at Caruso’s for the July meeting.

Larry, N3CR, noted that he has worked several hikers on the Blue Mountain by monitoring 146.52, so he suggested that club members might monitor this frequency. Bert, W3OWP, mentioned that we might put a sign advertising our repeater at the KOA campsite, as well as at trailheads on the Appalachian Trail.

The meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m.

ARRL DX Bulletin

DX Bulletin 22 ARLD022

From ARRL Headquarters

Newington CT May 31, 2001

To all radio amateurs

This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by Tedd, KB8NW, the OPDX Bulletin, QRZ DX, 425DXnews, The Daily DX and Contest Corral from QST. Thanks to all.

MONACO, 3A. IK5GQK, IK5YOJ, IW5BZQ and IW5EDQ will be QRV as 3A/homecalls from June 1 to 3. Look for some activity on all HF bands using SSB, RTTY, SSTV and PSK31. They will concentrate their activity on 6 meters, but will also be QRV on 2 meters. QSL via operator's instructions.

TUNISIA, 3V. 3V8SM has been QRV on 21240 kHz around 1345z. He has also been active on 14270 kHz around 1800z. QSL via DL1BDF.

MADAGASCAR, 5R. Bert, PA3GIO, is QRV as 5R8GY from Ile Sainte-Marie, IOTA AF-090, until June 9. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using SSB. QSL to home call.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, 9Q. Pierre, 9Q5BQ, has been QRV on 17 meters between 2130 and 2230z. QSL via HB9AMO.

JUAN FERNANDEZ ISLAND, CE0. Eliazar, CE0ZIS, has been QRV on 15 meters around 0100z.

CANARY ISLANDS, EA8. Brian, GM4XQJ, will be QRV as EA8/GM4XQJ from Fuerteventura from June 2 to 20. All his activity will be QRP CW around 14060 kHz. QSL to home call.

IRELAND, EI. Sean, EI4GK and Declan, EI9HQ plan to operate from the Blasket Islands, IOTA EU-007, as EJ4GK and EJ9HQ, respectively, from June 1 to 3. Activity will be mainly SSB on 80 to 10 meters. QSL to home calls.

ITALY, I. IT9HLN, IT9FCC, IT9UHF and IT9NGN plan to be QRV as homecalls/ID9 from Salina Island, IOTA EU-017, from June 1 to 3. They hope also to be active from Faraglione Pollara, IOTA EU- 017. QSL via operator's instructions.

SVALBARD, JW. Look for JW0PK to be QRV from Prins Karls Forland Island, IOTA EU-063, from June 1 to 9. Activity will be on 160 to 2 meters, including the newer bands, using CW, SSB, RTTY, FM and PSK31. QSL via SP5DRH.

LIECHTENSTEIN, LX. Look for DF5UL, DL1GGT, DL5EBT and DL6SAQ to be active as HB0/homecalls from June 1 to 4. They will participate in the IARU Region 1 Field Day and will also be QRV on 6 meters and 10 GHz looking for Sporadic E and Rainscatter openings. QSL to home calls.

DENMARK, OZ. Helmut, DL7VOX, is QRV as OZ/DL7VOX/p from North Jylland, IOTA EU-171, using mostly CW on all bands, including the newer ones. He is active until June 8. QSL to home call.

TURKEY, TA. Club station TA2KI will be QRV on all bands using CW and SSTV from new Kefken Island during the first week of June.

TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS, VP5. Dick, W3RM and Mike, N3MT are QRV as VP5/homecalls until June 14 from Providenciales Island, IOTA NA-002. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using mainly CW. QSL to home calls.

LAOS, XW. Hiro, JA2EZD, will be QRV as XW0X for about a month. Activity is on all bands using CW and SSB. QSL via XW2A.

THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The QRP TAC Contest is scheduled for this weekend. Please see June QST, page 108 for details.

Check out http://incolor.inetnebr.com/n0ujr for other cartoons and to purchase N0UJR’s book, “N0UJR and His Friends.”

Heard Through the Grapevine…

The club needs an EC/RO for the ARES and RACES activities. Contact Larry, N3CR, for details.

June 2001