Minutes of the July WIARC Meeting...

The Western Illinois Amateur Radio Club met in Blessing Hospital at 14^th street on July 5, 2000. Club President, Darell, N9DT, called the meeting to order at 7:41 PM. The customary motions were made, seconded, and approved to dispense with the reading of the previous meeting’s minutes. Reading of the Treasurer’s report was waived after motion and vote. Each report was approved as printed in the newsletter.

John, WB9EWM, reported that the packet cluster repeater up North is still broken. It has also been reported that the Keokuk repeater has been motor boating.

Jim, N9JF, thanked all who helped make field day a big happy success. He reported about 14,000 contacts. Also, his trunk is serving as lost and found. It was agreed to move the effort back to Johnson Park on Harrison for next year. He reminded everyone that Radio Sport, an 18 hour contest, will be July 8^th and 9^th.

The members discussed the lighting at Eagle's Alps. It was noted that in the past the lighting has not been good. John, WB9EWM, will serve as chair of the gate committee. Jim, N9JF, is in charge of flyers. Bev and Pam, KB0VJF and KB9WDC, are chairs for the concession stand. Paul, KA9KDJ, is chair of the prize committee. We were reminded that members may not win prizes. Darell, N9DT, will check with Earl to secure a PA system. Lou Ann , N9KXP, reported that she had checked out the ham books at the library to see how much usage they have had in the past. Concerning Quincy Library, Lou Ann, N9KXP, Arlyce, NB9Q, and Pam, KB9WDC, have graciously agreed to investigate and report on updating materials.

We are pleased to welcome the following accomplished individual to the WIARC: Kent Williams, N9AIQ. Motion by Darell, N9DT, and second by Cork, KC0DVX to accept.

Bob, N9KUT, noted that next year the first Wednesday of July will be the 4^th. After a general discussion it was decided that the July 2001 WIARC meeting will cancelled. A motion by Bob, N9KUT, and second by Dave, KB9FIN, and motion approved.

It was noted that we now have 94 members. Hopefully we can reach our goal of 100 members soon.

Rod Simon, N9MCX, announced that a ‘search and rescue’ class was planned for Siloam Springs State Park.

Brian, KB9PQK, won the big bucks in our 50/50 drawing.

A motion to adjourn was made by Dave, KB9FIN, with a second by Troy, KB9SWB, was approved.

Mike, NA9Q, presented a program about the equipment and procedures needed for a fox hunt.

DX Horizons…

As I type this on the weekend of July 22-23, the bands are just now recovering from a major solar storm of earlier in the week, which wreaked havoc with DX. It was a good time to have my gear in the repair shop! This weekend I put my station back together, and put the Yaesu through its paces. I received good reports from ST0P in Sudan, 9J2RA in Zambia, OE8SKQ in Austria and OA4CVT in Peru. It felt good to work some DX for a change.

Some of the activity to look for in August includes:

1A0KM Sov. Mil. Order of Malta. This weekend a group has been very active on both CW and SSB as 1A0KM. I'm not sure how long the operation will last. If you need them on 10 or 12 meters, this would be a good time to listen for them. The past two mornings they worked a number of east coast stations on these bands, although I had no copy on them here.

7Q Malawi. Harry, 7Q7HB plans to be active again for the next five weeks from Malawi. QSL direct only via G0IAS (Allan Hickman, The Conifers, Elkesley Retford DN22 8AJ Notts, UK).

C6 Bahamas. A group of experienced DX'ers will be very active July 27th through August 2nd as C6AJR and C6DX, including during the IOTA contest. With four stations, they will be active on 6m to 40m, CW, SSB, PKS and RTTY. QSL via W9GEX.

EM Ukraine. A special event station signing EM500E will be active during August celebrating the 500^th anniversary of the "Cossack's glory" in Ukraine. QSL via UR4EYN (Club station) or UR4EN (Nick Golub, P.O. Box 48, Ordzhonikidze, 53300, Ukraine).

KH5, PALMYRA. Look for Mike, KH6ND, who is on the island operating as KH6ND/KH5. His operating schedule and length of stay is unknown. He has been reported on 15 and 20 meters CW between 1100 and 1230z and around 0830z. QSL K4TSJ CBA.

ZK1, SOUTH COOK. Andy, ZK1AND, is active from Rarotonga (OC-013) for the next month. He is on 20 meters SSB around 14260 kHz, 0300 to 0500z, and again around 1030z. QSL via AB7FS. This afternoon (Sunday July 23), a station signing ZK1AXU on 12 meters SSB was also operating from ZK1.

From The President..

I imagine by now everyone has heard about the bequest to the club by John Fisher, W9OAB, in his will. I had no idea something like this would come about. I know John always thought highly of the club. Therefore, we as a club need to find a good way to express our thanks. We will have to decide how best to use this money to improve the club in a way that John would have liked.

The club swapfest date is fast approaching. I hope the weather is more cooperative this year than last. The committees are all working hard to make this year's event the best yet. With every ones help, I know we can do it.

For Sale….

Ken, K0GEI, has some equipment for sale. If you are interested you may contact Ken on the air on the .03 machine or call him at home at 573-769-2896.

Item 1. A TENTEC OMNI HF transceiver with AC power supply and microphone.

Item 2. A Heathkit SB200 HF linear amplifier for 80 - 10 meters.

Field Day left me feeling pretty good this year! While we may not have set records for total score, our QSO total was quite respectable (1446), we managed not to blow up much equipment and I don't think anyone caught pneumonia from being wet for hours on end. Thanks to all who loaned equipment, helped with setup and teardown, and spent time manning (uh..."personing"?) the operating positions. We proved that we could, indeed, set up and operate in "less than ideal" conditions. Who ever in the *world* designed those "shelters"???? The really good news is that the shelter at Johnson Park has been reserved for Field Day for the next two years!

If you haven't heard, the ham radio equivalent of the Olympic Games, the World Radio Team Championship, occurred in Slovenia the 8th and 9th of July. Fifty-three two-man teams were scattered at local hams' stations throughout that beautiful European country, competing for bragging rights among the contesters of the world. Their competition ran concurrently with the IARU Radiosport contest, a pleasant 24-hour everybody-works-everybody event.

When the smoke cleared the winning team, for the second time, was the K1TO/N5TJ duo from the good ol' U S of A! Speculation now runs to the site for the next event in 2004 (Finland? New England? Aruba?) and whether or not Dan and Jeff can manage a "three-peat".

Getting back closer to home, the VHF bands have been pretty good lately. Summer tropo has made two meters interesting, the solar flux has been high enough to add some F2 propagation to the E-skip on 6 meters, and a tremendous flare on the weekend of July 15 sent the K index soaring to 9 and provided some auroral propagation. Just about everybody nowadays has VHF and UHF privileges, and most have some equipment for these bands. The operating procedures, however, can be a bit of a mystery unless you've had some experience or instruction.

First of all, where do you look for activity? Each of the VHF/UHF bands has a "calling frequency", a congregating point from which activity spreads on the band. When the bands are wide open, you can find someone to talk to just about anywhere, but under marginal conditions it's nice to know where to look for that initial contact.

On six meters, the calling frequencies are 50.110 (DX), 50.125 and 50.200. The trend lately has been to try to move domestic activity up to 50.200 to leave more room just above 50.100 for DX stations. The segment of 50.100 to 50.125 should be left for stations calling or working DX. Below 50.100, of course phone operation is not permitted, but it's a good place to dig out the key and look for a CW contact.

Beacons operating below 50.100 are good indications of band openings. On two meters, the calling frequencies are 144.010 (EME), 144.100 (CW), 144.200 (SSB), and 146.52 (FM). If you're in the minority who have 220 gear, the place to listen is 222.1 Mhz. On 70 cm, the calling frequency is 432.1 Mhz. When the band is busy, don't stay on or near the calling frequencies after making a contact; move your QSO to another frequency and give others a chance.

Tune through the band, then park your VFO on or near the calling frequency, set the squelch so that even a weak signal will break it, and go about your business in the shack. Call an occasional CQ; if everyone is listening, nobody works anybody. Make your CQ's short and listen carefully. E-skip openings or meteor bursts can be so short that a 60-second CQ can take up the entire opening. It's very frustrating to hear a station call CQ and fade into the noise without him ever stopping to listen for a call! If you have a rotatable antenna, turn it. Openings can pop up in some unexpected directions. Multi-element yagis have enough front-to-back and front-to-side rejection that you will miss openings when you're not pointed in the right direction.

There are a variety of operational modes on VHF and UHF. Tropo, E-skip, EME, aurora and meteor scatter all require somewhat different operating techniques. While listening and working through various experiences on the air will help develop your skills, you can shorten the learning curve by studying the ARRL Operating manual, publications such as CQ and QST, and by dialoguing with experienced operators.

See you at the meeting and on the bands.

Swapfest 2000 will be here in less than two weeks. The committees have all been working hard all summer to ensure that this year's event will be bigger and better than last. They all still need the help of everyone in the club. If you are an old hand or new to all this, you can just offer your time and someone will find a spot for you or you can volunteer for a specific area. Every club member is important and needed to make this a success. Don't forget, if you are ready to upgrade or know some one who is, the VE's will be giving tests that day at the Harris training center at 12:30PM. Hopefully this year the weather will cooperate and be clear and mild.

We are getting close to our goal of 100 members this year. Hopefully we can all convince an area ham to come to a meeting and get him or her involved in our activities. That interest will lead to a new member. With just a little work we will reach 100 in the near future. It's nice to see that we now have more young people at our meetings than ever. This is a very active group of hams as you may have noticed on 2 meters. We also have more families enjoying the hobby together than in the past. It's not only a good way to keep in touch but also provides many hours of family fun.

FCC:"Kenwood 'Sky Command' not legal"

The FCC has ruled that the Kenwood 'Sky Command' system violates FCC rules governing remote control systems. Kenwood had petitioned FCC to declare the system legal or failing that issue a waiver to rules allowing them to market the product. The system uses a pair of 2M/70cm dual-banders to remotely control and monitor an HF transceiver. FCC has ruled that the rules allowing telecommand control only above 220.5 MHz do apply to the system. There has been no response from Kenwood.

Print Your Own ARRL Cerificate…

The National Council of Volunteer Coordinators has announced that beginning July 1, 2001 the use of the multiple-choice type of CW examination will no longer be allowed. VEC's may, at their discretion, cease using that form of examination before that date.

After July 1, 2001 applicants for CW credit must correctly copy 25 characters in a row or correctly answer 7 of 10 questions of a fill in the blank written CW examination based on the CW transmission.

Additionally, the new standards state that the Farnsworth method of code transmission must be used for all CW tests. The characters are to be sent at a letter speed of 13 - 15 WPM and spacing at 5 WPM. Pitch is to be between 700 and 1000 Hz.