RADIOACTIVITIES Newsletter of the Argonne Amateur Radio Club
Volume XLII, Number 2	February, 2001

In addition, the video that was missed at the January ATV demonstration will be shown.

A new Skywarn Weather Training Coarse will be given by Jim Alsop, National Weather Service Warning Coordination Meteorologist.

Guests and family members are welcome to attend as well.

We hope to see YOU there!

Main events on 2 and 80 meters will feature five fox transmitters to be found in accordance with standard rules of the International Amateur Radio Union. Lodging, meals, and ARDF training will be available. For additional event information, visit the 2001 USA ARDF Championship Web site, http://www.egroups.com/files/abqardf/web/index.html. For general information on ARDF, visit Moell’s “Homing In” Web site, http://members.aol.com/homingin.

G0MRF, who was the first station to cross the Atlantic on 136 kHz, put up his antenna on an apartment block on the Sunday, but was hampered by high static levels and poor conditions that made that day’s tests a washout at both ends. On the Saturday, however, several European stations received good signals from VE1ZZ and VA3LK. MM0ALM and OK1FIG were the only Europeans received in Canada.

Extremely slow Morse was used by all stations to enable signals to be decoded well below the noise level. VE1ZZ was occasionally audible in the UK but the strength was not sufficient to read normal speed Morse. The USA team, operating from North Carolina, heard a number of LF stations, but none from Europe.

I don’t know about you but about this time of year I start to think about all the new towers and antennas that I can put up. And about repairing the damage that winter and time have done to wires, cables, and aluminum without worrying about becoming a frozen lawn ornament.

I have to admit that it has been very gratifying to see the number of applications and membership cards coming and going. Let’s make sure that we get them ALL in, OK?

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52% of the full members and 67% of the associate members have signed up for 2001. There will be an X on your mailing label if you haven’t signed up for 2001 and there should be another 2001 membership application form included with this newsletter. For those who have not signed up for 2001 by the publication time of the March newsletter, this will be your last newsletter. The March newsletter will contain a rerun of the access codes for the repeater and membership lists. The membership lists will consist of three lists: 1) full list sorted by last name, 2) e-mail list sorted by call suffix, and 3) full list sorted by call suffix with addresses and phone numbers. These lists will contain the names of the members who have signed up for 2001 at the time that I print the list, which will be about February 21.

Dale stated that for convenience the membership application form is on the web site. The form must be printed, filled out and signed — not e-mailed.

Bruce stated that the annual Skywarn meeting is tentatively scheduled for February 27. Because he was not able to show it at the January meeting, Bruce will show his video during the gathering time before the official meeting that night. Several possibilities of sites for Field Day were discussed along with their pros and cons. More information is needed before the final decision can be made.

“It’s the infighting and arguments and juvenile spats,” Hollingsworth said this week. “That’s going to come back to haunt us if we don’t just grow up. It will do the service in, if the ham community doesn’t put a stop to it.” Hollingsworth said that he’s encouraged that the FCC’s enforcement program has the support of “99.9%” of the amateur community and that the vast majority of hams follow the rules. But, he said that radio rage “can degrade the bands just as quickly as outright rule breaking.” Some amateurs take the hobby too seriously or are too quick to take offense, he said, and he suggested that they need to stop and think how they’ll sound to others before they get involved in on-air squabbles or frequency fights.

“The FCC can’t do anything about that,” he said. “It’s up to the amateur community.” Hollingsworth said he listens “a lot” on HF — and so does the FCC’s HF Direction Finding facility in Maryland. While much radio rage technically is not illegal, he said it reflects poorly on Amateur Radio — especially to newcomers and those outside of ham radio who might be listening in — and can balloon into an enforcement issue. More important, he said, rude or intemperate on-air behavior might provide just the sort of ammunition that an entity seeking additional spectrum will use against Amateur Radio.

Hollingsworth pointed to reports of a spectrum crunch in the 108-137 MHz aviation band — on the doorstep of the amateur 2-meter band — as just one example. He suggested that someone listening to some of the antics on one of the more-notorious repeaters might quickly be persuaded that Amateur Radio is not putting the spectrum to good use.

“We can get the bad actors one at a time, but the overall attitude of ’rights’ over ’responsibilities’ has got to change,” he said. “Rules are not the sole solution for on-air behavior.”

Hollingsworth predicted that the departure January 19 of FCC Chairman William Kennard and the changing of the guard the White House the next day will not alter the course of the current amateur enforcement effort. He said he sees nothing but positive changes ahead.

“I’m willing to bet my SX-115 that we won’t miss a beat,” he said, referring to one of his latest acquisitions of vintage ham gear, “as long as the amateur community lets it be known it still wants enforcement.”

Hollingsworth said it was pressure from the ARRL and individual amateurs that prompted the resumption of amateur enforcement in 1998 during Kennard’s tenure, “and it’s the type of program that needs that continual pressure to keep it going,” he added.

“I get constant e-mail that the bands sound better and that there’s more courtesy. There are fewer specific enforcement complaints,” he said. “But no one can be complacent.”

SATERN’s Pat McPherson, WW9E, cited figures from El Salvador’s National Emergency Committee.

Hundreds of aftershocks have rocked the region since the initial quake, which measured 7.6 on the Richter scale. SATERN activated a net January 14 to respond to health-and-welfare requests and emergency traffic from the affected region. McPherson reports that SATERN volunteers continue monitoring 14.265 MHz, but the formal net has been terminated for now.

McPherson says that SATERN Coordinator for Honduras Hermann Cueva, HR1HCP, reports that a net is operating on 7090 kHz to assist El Salvador. SATERN has a health-and-welfare inquiry form on its Web site, http://www.qso.com/satern.

Meanwhile, a team of 22 Turkish rescue personnel has been dispatched to the disaster scene. Turkey was hit by a devastating earthquake in the summer of 1999, and Amateur Radio played a role in providing emergency communication in the aftermath.

Heading up communications for the Turkish rescue team is Serdar Demirel, TA2NO. TRAC President Aziz Sasa, TA1E, reports that the team is equipped with an INMARSAT telephone and VHF and UHF amateur gear.

By C. Ennit Meiwiegh

The President and the President Elect were in the Capitol building’s Senate barbershop getting a trim just before the inauguration.

The presidents’ barber finished first. “Mr. President, would you like some cologne?”

“Yes I would but none of the cheap stuff. My wife will think I smell like a whorehouse.”

Then the President Elects’ barber finished.

“Mr. President Elect, would you like some cologne?”

“Yes, and you can use the cheap stuff. My wife doesn’t know what a whorehouse smells like.”

REMINDERS: CLUB BREAKFAST: Always the 2nd Sat each month, 8:30 AM (see above.) CLUB NETS: Thru our Club Repeater 145.19. SKYWARN NET: 7 PM / Denny, W9DS (Mondays in season) THE CLUB’S 9PM NET: every Monday with Roger Adams, WA9PUE. THE NIGHT PATROL: every night at 10:30PM with Paul, W9FNM.   * * * * *   Rudy Oras, W9ZEW fell on some ice during our big ice and snow storm. He is convalescing from a broken hip. He is doing okay and is able to go to the dining room and take a shower in his wheel chair. He is at: Manorcare Health Service 512 E. Ogden Ave., Room 127 Westmont, IL 60559-1228 (direct phone: 630-920-3524)

Rosemary Serola, relative of Millie and Paul, W9FNM and long time attendee of our Club Breakfasts, fell on some ice and broke several ribs. She is home now and recuperating. We all wish Rudy and Rosemary a speedy recovery! Welcome New Member: Mark Drozd, KB9WCO, from Plainfield, IL. AFB thanks to Paul, W9FNM, who we learn has been 15 years now as net control of the 10:30 Night Patrol! Thanks, Paul. Ever wonder how old the ampersand is? It dates back to ancient Rome in 63 B.C.