RADIOACTIVITIES Newsletter of the Argonne Amateur Radio Club
Volume XLI, Number 7	July, 2000

“It was repeated three times, really quickly,” Folsom recalled. “We raced out the door and saw the cloud of smoke.” Only minutes earlier, he’d been commenting to a Navy doctor on how smoothly things had gone at this year’s event.

The crash of the Navy F-14 Tomcat had claimed the lives of the pilot and radar intercept officer aboard the plane. No one on the ground was seriously hurt. The plane went down into a wooded area near Willow Grove Naval Air Station near Philadelphia.

The initial shock wore off quickly, and the two or three dozen hams on hand Sunday, June 18, didn’t miss a beat in their assigned duties. “We had discussed what to do in such a situation,” Folsom said, “and I was extremely proud of how well the hams responded.”

The WARC has been handling medical communications needs at the annual US Navy air show in Willow Grove for more than a decade, but this was the first time there had been a crash. For the most part, he said, the hams stayed at their original posts to handle any medical concerns among the 50,000 or more spectators on hand for the two-day event. In a normal year, Folsom said, the hams deal with nothing more serious than an occasional fainting spell, dehydration, heat cramps, and sunburn.

Two hams — Bill Strunk, K3ZMA, and Mark Kempisty, N3GNW — were dispatched promptly to the crash site. Hugh Hart, N3SOQ, manned a supply van traveling around the base and back and forth to the crash site. George Brechmann, N3HBT, was net control. Al Konshak, WI3Z, was in the tower monitoring the crowd when the plane went down. Another amateur was sent to the operations center to assist with communications needs.

It turned out to be a good thing the hams were there. “The Navy had rented a large number of Motorola radios for communications, but the accident occurred at the end of the second day, and they all rapidly lost their charge and became useless,” Folsom explained. As a result, many of the requests for materials and personnel needed to respond to the crash were relayed via Amateur Radio.

Folsom said he was especially pleased and proud at the way his 16-year-old son, Tom, KB3CRZ, handled the flow of traffic in and out of the base clinic as requests were relayed from there to the crash site and back.

Folsom said all WARC members performed well and a few “really went above and beyond” after the crash occurred. Other participants included Bob Phillips, KA3VKU, Steve Larsen, KA3ZLY, and Don Schwarzkopf, N3OZO, who remained at the site for the entire operation.

It turned out to be a long day for the amateurs, many of whom had arrived that morning around 7:30. “At the end, five of us stayed at the base until about 11 PM,” Folsom said. “Navy medical personnel were extremely grateful for our assistance.”

Just the other day I received my new license from the FCC. I went ahead and upgraded all the way to Extra. I have been a ham for about two decades and have often wondered when I would make it to Extra. I thought it a bit ironic that on the same day that I received my new ticket I also got the July issue of QST. I must admit that the QST went ignored for at least a few minutes while I opened the envelope from the FCC. I must also admit that a broad grin took over my face when I saw my callsign and name on the same license that said “Amateur Extra”.

Now I just have to remember that I can go below 7025 and 14025 to chase that rare DX that I have so long heard. I wonder if my antennas will tune there? It will be fun to find out.

Included with this newsletter should be three lists of the membership. List one is a full membership list sorted by call suffix and includes call, phone, name, address, city, state, and zip code. The second list is a full membership list sorted by last name and includes name and call. The third list a list of the people that have given Gary or me their e-mail addresses is sorted by call suffix and includes call and e-mail address.

While there was severe tree damage in the neighborhood, W1AW and its antennas came through it all unscathed. The storm did result in a power outage, however. A number of branches ended up resting right against the windows, however, and Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q, promptly removed them in the interests of safety.

He then enlisted the help of Building Manager Greg Kwasowski to cut down the badly damaged trees. Although hindered by the inclement weather, Brennan Price, N4QX — on hand over the weekend to put W1AW on the air for the ARRL June VHF sweepstakes — made 129 QSOs (with 37 grids) total on the 50, 144, 222 and 432 MHz bands combined, using CW, SSB and FM.

As I looked around the screen tent every surface was wet with rain. Eventually we had to put the tarps that I brought along over the sidewalls to keep the wind and rain off of us and the rigs. Otherwise they would just mosey on in and make themselves at home. Somehow that doesn’t seem to mix with the 120VAC and RF that we are using. I guess we are just testing the windload and waterproofing capabilities of the screen tent under actual “Field Day” conditions.

After all we have to be able to do this in any weather and at any time. All that participated took comfort in the fact that it could have been worse. The lightning and thunder were close enough to be noticed and the winds high enough to raise many an eyebrow.

We ran 2 Alpha this year. We put up the 80-meter loop for the HF rig and put the Isopole up for the two-meter station. Deni, W9DS and Chuck, KA9BIO got right to work making those important first contacts.

With the HF station all set up and tuned we went to 15 meters and I ran the band from bottom to top. Then it was over to 10 meters for some more contacts on a deliciously less crowded band.

It was nice to listen to a station running a pileup without having to strain to hear him through the QRM. Later the switch went over to the 20-meter position because now we were warmed up and tuned up ourselves into the contesting mode.

We faced the “WALL OF RF” that 20 meters turns into on FD. As usual the going was tough but we being the tough we get going. Contacts were gotten from the obscurity one at a time as Whiskey Nine Alpha November Lima is repeated over and over again. Or as an East Coast station gave us the phonetics of “Whiskey Niner Automatic Noise Limiter”.

The autotuner in the rig strained to keep up with the changing weather conditions (mainly rain either increasing or decreasing) to keep the match as close to perfect as possible.

With 20 meter conditions dying off it brought about another band change and this time it was over to 75 meters. After a few easy contacts at the top of the band it was over to the Country Cousins net to make a few contacts with some friends. Then the band got run as much as possible with quite a few contacts going into the log long into the night and early morning hours. The static crashes from the weather systems giving us all the rain were a constant cause for concern.

Just remember that we were set up under a 50 foot tall oak tree, had two 30 foot tall metal masts holding up 260 feet of heavy wire connected by coax to the hf rig, and another mast/antenna combination of about 25 feet hooked up to another rig 5 feet down the picnic table. And to top it all off we were sitting with our feet in the rain puddles on the ground inside the tent all the while holding onto the microphone. Several times the order to “ABANDON TENT” was almost given but the weather held off just far enough. Phew!

Sunday dawned bright and clear with only the puddles and humidity to remind us of the previous days’ rain. 75 meters faded away to 20, 15, and 10. 2 meters was going again well and many contacts were made there including one from visitors from Joliet.

I just wish that the coyotes wouldn’t wake me up when I am trying to catch a few winks. I guess that you might say that the coyotes were having their own version of Field Day. Or maybe I should say Field Night.

Number 10: Catch up on your microphone keying techniques — 20 contacts with left hand keying, 20 contacts with your right, and repeat. Feel the (RF) burn! After 100 contacts, take a break by barbecue grill for the rest of the hour.

Number 9: Two words: barbecued brisket.

Number 8: Practice your untangling techniques with coax that has been boxed up since 1999 Field Day.

Number7: Go by the ham using the Collins tube rig and say, “I wonder if this is this how bug lights were invented”.

Number 6: Remember just how much fun you can have on 80 meters at 3 AM with no sleep.

Number 5: Remind your teenager that your laptop computer he borrowed to do “homework” still has that working logging program on it.

Number 4: Rotate old cans of insect repellent spray with the cans you’d left in the deer camp trailer last season.

Number 3: Stop by the CW position and nod your head with the operator as if you can also copy his traffic at 30 words per minute.

Number 2: Debate with other hams on the Field Day antenna setup crew just what formula to use to calculate thunder vs lighting distance.

And the Number 1 reason to go to Field Day: With all that time you spent studying for your ticket, you’ve earned itr!! — Bill McEntire, KC5ECB

The League said its understanding of SDRs is that they are “in essence, digital computers connected to an antenna, controlled by software.” True SDR functions, other than baseband DSP, are yet to be incorporated into commercial or even into sophisticated homemade amateur equipment, the ARRL noted.

The League said that because of its flexibility, utilization of multiple modes, and shared allocations, the Amateur Service provides the proper environment to develop, test and deploy SDR technology. Amateur Radio is not constrained by limitations imposed on other services and “serves as a reasonable paradigm for a regulatory structure that might be adapted to other services,” the ARRL told the FCC. The League said it intends to give a “high profile” to SDR developments in the Amateur Service through its technical/experimental publication, QEX.

The ARRL said that SDR affords a level of flexibility and interoperability that could enhance Amateur Radio’s performance in emergency communications and disaster relief efforts with respect to served agencies. “Amateur SDR equipment could be rapidly reprogrammed to be interoperable with that of served agencies such as the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, local civil defense offices, state OES offices, and public safety agencies,” the League said. The result would be “an even more immediate and adaptable source of restored communications for disaster relief coordination” than previously available.

The ARRL told the FCC that SDRs would obviate the need for differing transmission standards in the future. SDRs automatically could shift transmission standards to overcome common communication roadblocks such as noise levels, propagation characteristics, QRM, and other factors.

The League cautioned the FCC against imposing equipment authorization requirements on SDR hardware or software designed for amateur use that could inhibit experimentation.

A copy of the League’s comment in response to FCC Notice of Inquiry ET Docket No 00-47 is available at http://www.arrl.org/fcc/arrldocs/et-0047.pdf.

Bumper stickers that I have seen recently:

A clear conscience is usually a sign of a bad memory.

I Work Hard Because Millions On Welfare Depend on Me!

It IS as BAD as you think, and they ARE out to get you.

God must love stupid people. He made so many.

I have found, at my age, going bra-less pulls all the wrinkles out of my face.

If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you’ve never tried.

New Club Member: John Maniatis, W9BVC, Naperville, IL.

The Club Breakfast (always the 2nd Sat. of the month) July 8^th 8:30 AM at the Ol’ Country Buffet 75^th St. and Lemont Road.

Three Club Nets: Monday Nights, #1 Skywarn Net 7:30 PM - Denny, W9DS #2 Clubs 9 PM Net Roger, WA9PUE #3 Net Control, every night 10:30 PM, with Paul, W9FNM The Night Patrol.

AND July 22^nd — — “ An Evening Under the STARS” With Chuck Vesely, KA9BIO. (see other Page) AND

Please Note: Due to circumstances beyond our control we will have our July 22 “An Evening Under The Stars” at another location, nearby (see map). It’s at the “Hinsdale Lake Terrace” housing complex at about 92^nd and Route 83. Turn R. go 2 blocks west on Honeysuckle Rose Ln. to the Rec. Hall — 16W610, posted in large letters and numbers  X  Sorry to make these changes.

A VERY SPECIAL EVENT: FEATURING A SLIDE PRESENTATION AND FINE FELLOWSHIP   BY   BY ANNE & CHUCK VESELY 630-964-5768

Come and enjoy our 16^th annual “Evening Under the Stars” with us. It will be an evening of fellowship, good eating, and our newest slide program. Please bring a favorite dish to pass, such as a salad, casserole, or desert. The potluck dinner AND program will be held in the clubhouse again to avoid the mosquitoes feasting on us.

Look for Bldg.   16W610  X   Also see “Please Note”   on the “Last Page”