Newsletter March / April 2014, The Radiogram, page 2 - Official eNews of the Wireless Society of Southern Maine

WSSM Members Teach Intro to Ham Radio Class
Maine Air National Guard, South Portland, ME

by Tim Watson, KB1HNZ

SOUTH PORTLAND, ME - On Wednesdays in March, WSSM members Ryan Michaelson KB1YTR, Thom Watson W1WMG and Tim Watson KB1HNZ taught an Intro to Ham Radio course for members of the Maine Air National Guard.

The first class focused on a number of topics such as radio theory, the electromagnetic spectrum, and propagation, and looked more closely at how radio waves interact with different layers of the ionosphere to provide worldwide communications. We also looked at modes and introduced the various aspects of the hobby, including space communications, CW, digital modes, DXing, QRP, etc.

The second class continued this topic, before introducing electronics math, Ohm's Law, and eventually electronic components and circuit diagrams. This was probably the most intensive class out of the three, but many of our students, who were part of an RF unit in the Air Guard, had lots of practical experience in the field, and were beginning to apply their previous radio knowledge to what they were learning about ham radio.

In the last class, we focused on station components, how to setup your first station, and we took a closer look at the various antennas that can be used for HF and VHF/UHF.

The course was capped off by a VE exam on March 26th, and afterwards our VE's were treated to a tour of the South Portland facility, where we got to check out some of the state-of-the-art satellite, VHF/UHF, and HF equipment they have on hand.

Visiting the WSSM booth at the Maine State ARRL Convention

Lewiston, ME
by Tim Watson, KB1HNZ

LEWISTON, ME - On the final Saturday in March, WSSM setup a booth at the Maine State ARRL Convention. The booth featured a visual display, slideshow presentation, the Challenge Cup (2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge Trophy), and plenty of handouts to promote club membership and our sponsored events.

Although the convention didn't have nearly the turnout that we've seen in years past, we met lots of hams from across the state, signed up new members, and got the word out about this year's Maine QSO Party and Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge contests. We also had the Worked All Maine and Maine Lighthouses Awards on display, along with the appropriate submission forms.

The booth was quite a success for us, as we signed up new members and were able to show off our activities with a stand up display and slideshow presentation. During the day, members took part in the various seminars and roundtable discussions, and afterwards we all got together at the Gridiron for some good eats.

Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge
2014 Final Results
by Thom Watson, W1WMG

There was plenty of activity during the 2014 edition of the Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge, although, with a few exceptions, it'd be fair to say that most of it was confined to the I-95 corridor. Almost all the logs came in the Medium Fixed and Medium Mobile categories, and those were certainly the most competitive.

This year saw the first time that a mobile operator competed for the overall win, and in fact there were four stations battling it out for the category as well as overall, which was claimed by Tim Watson KB1HNZ. Second place, Sebastian Ames, operating as WS1SM, was only 1 QSO behind, and third place Dave Wood KB1FGF, was only 2 QSOs back of the category winner.

The competitiveness continued to the Medium Fixed category, where three stations were very close. Rick Fickett K1OT had 63 QSOs with 21 multipliers, and Mark Bilodeau N1SDH also had 63 QSOs, but with 19 multipliers. Third place Steve Curry KD1O had more multipliers at 30, but only 38 total QSOs. Their final scores were all very close. But not as close as the Mobile QRP category, which finished as a tie for first place between Charlie Shepard W1CPS, and his XYL Cindy W1CJS. In the QRP Fixed category, Dakota Dumont KB1YYC successfully defended his category win with 31 QSOs and 14 multipliers.

Click here for complete results.

Brazilian Amateur Radio League Celebrates FIFA World Cup with Special Events and Award
2014 FIFA World Cup
by Tim Watson, KB1HNZ

The Brazilian Amateur Radio League celebrates the FIFA World Cup with special event stations and the Brazil Soccer Land Award, for QSOs that take place between 1 June - 30 July. There will be 27 special event stations on the air, one in each of the 26 Brazilian States, including the Federal District.

12 key stations will begin with the prefix ZX14 and 15 with the prefix ZY14.

The Brazil Soccer Land Award will be awarded in 3 categories: Bronze, Silver, and Gold, based on the amount of QSO's made cumulatively with key stations (special prefixes) and Brazilian stations in general. More details can be found here.

DX News
March 16 - June 10
by Tim Watson, KB1HNZ

The DXpedition season is in full swing, as we've seen lots of great entities activated in recent weeks, including the FT5ZM Amsterdam Island expedition and the 3C0BYP expedition to Annobon in February. Austral Islands was represented by TX6G in late March, and late March and April also saw the likes of OX5T from Greenland, and expeditions to Dominica (J79JG and J79TA). In the coming weeks, expect to hear Cyprus, Mauritus, Easter Island, Tonga (A35V & A35X), and Micronesia on the air.

Have fun searching the bands!

Click here for the latest 425 DX News

03/16 - 04/16
04/01 - 04/15
04/04 - 04/18
04/04 - 04/18
04/04 - 04/30
04/05 - 04/17
04/05 - 04/30
04/08 - 04/15
04/13 - 04/23
04/15 - 04/25
04/19 - 04/24
04/27 - 05/05
04/27 - 05/11
05/03 - 05/11
05/09 - 05/15
05/14 - 05/17
05/18 - 06/10

ZC4MIS
J79DB
A35V
A35X
3B8MM
CE0Y
A22LL
T88QX
J88PI
S79SD
5K0M
JD1BLY
JD1BMH
SX5LA
V650XG
V63PSK
7QNL

Cyprus SBA
Dominica
Tonga
Tonga
Mauritus
Easter Island
Botswana
Palau
St. Vincent
Seychelles
San Andres
Ogaswara
Ogaswara
Dodecanese
Micronesia
Micronesia
Malawi

By AG6IP from Akrotiri; 40-10m, SSB & some digital; QSL via AG6IP
By DB4BJ from (NA-101); HF; QSL via DB4BJ
By GM3WOJ from Tongatapu (OC-049); 160-10m; CW, ssb, RTTY
By GM4YXI from Tongatapu (OC-049); 160-10m; CW, ssb, RTTY
By DL6UAA; 80-10m; mainly CW, some ssb & digital; QSL via DL6UAA
By CE1WFN; HF; QSL direct via CE1WFN
By ZL1LL from Lobaste; 20m; 14.020, 14.180-240; CW, ssb
By DF8DX from (OC-009); 40-10m; CW, some ssb, QSL via DF8DX
By GW4DVB from Palm Is (NA-050); mainly ssb
By F5JSD from Mahe (AF-024); 40-6m; mainly CW; QSL via F5JSD
By HK3LEC and others, from San Andres Is; HF
By JI5RPT from Chichijima Is (AS-031); 40-10m; CW, ssb, digital, sat
By JG7PSJ from Chichijima Is (AS-031); 40-10m; CW, ssb, RTTY
By SV1JG and others, from Levitha Islet; 160-6m; CW, ssb, RTTY
By JA1XGI from Pohnpei (OC-010); 40-10m; CW, ssb, RTTY
By JA1FMN from Moen Is (OC-011); 20-10m; JT65A, PSk31
By PA3FYM; 80-10m; CW, ssb; QRV for CQ WPX CW

QSL Corner

On page 1, we show a card received by KB1HNZ for a QSO with the special event station YO9POLIO, commemorating Rotary International's ongoing efforts to eradicate Poliomyelitis. Below, you'll find cards from OF3I (Aland Is), TM6JUN, celebrating the 69th anniversary of D-Day, and C6ASP, from the Bahamas.

If you received an interesting QSL yourself that you'd like to show off, please send a digital image to [email protected] and we'll be sure to publish it in an upcoming issue.

	OF3I - 21 MHz SSB QSO with W1WMG on 27 September 2012 at 2033 UTC - QSL celebrates 10 years of the JKR Radio Club (Aland Is).
	TM6JUN - 14 MHz SSB QSO with W1WMG on 13 July 2013 at 2139 UTC - QSL for special event station commemorating the 69th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.
	C6ASP - 21 MHz CW QSO with KB1HNZ on 16 February 2013 at 2039 UTC (Bahamas).