Volume 9 Issue 2

The Official Newsletter of the Stanly County Amateur Radio Club
STANLY COUNTY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
BE IN THE KNOW!

WEDNESDAY NET 146.985 - @ 9:00PM FRIDAY NET 147.390 + @ 9:00PM

                           PRESIDENT:                               SECRETARY / TREASURER: 
                ROBIN LENTZ  - WA4NLF                     CARL STARNES -  W4EAT

Breakfast � Saturday @ Locust Restaurant, Dates: 2 16 30
Monday @ Wayside-Stanfield Dates: 11 25
Lunch Wednesday @ Locust Restaurant, Dates: 6 20
Club meeting topic: 440 Meters Radio Presenter: Derek (KC4FWC)
Brief Discussion of Field Day

Date: 6/28/01 @ Stanly Community College Special Event: Field day Morrow Mountain 6/23 & 6/24

Breakfast � Saturday @ Locust Restaurant, Dates: 14 28
Monday @ Wayside-Stanfield, Dates: 9 23
Lunch Wednesday @ Locust Restaurant, Dates: 3 18
Date: 7/26/01 @ Stanly Community College (Kelly Building)

Breakfast � Saturday @ Locust Restaurant, Dates: 11 25
Monday @ Wayside-Stanfield, Dates: 6 20
Lunch Wednesday @ Locust Restaurant, Dates: 1 15 29
Club meeting topic: Open Topic Presenter: Ed (W4KMA)
Best Of Badin discussion - Election Committee

Date: 8/23/01 @ Stanly Community College

Special thanks to our ground support crew. MIKE (KD4VKG) � front cover. BOB (KD4TRK) & JOYCE (KD4MWV) For providing copies of our newsletter.

Perhaps some of your heard me say that summer is my favorite time of the year. There are many reasons for this. One is warm weather. Antenna work as well as other outdoor activities is much more comfortable, I also enjoy keeping track of thunder storms and other summer weather phenomena. Summer also represents the height of the sporadic skip season and I spend a lot of time on twelve, ten and six meters. The biggest single radio event during the summer is Field Day. There are many reasons why we should participate in this event. The original purpose for operating Field Day was to operate under simulated emergency conditions. Many participants use generators, batteries and solar power during the twenty-four hour period. Also temporary antennas must be erected. A secondary purpose for Field Day operations is that of contesting. Most participants try to better their score. Some groups use only one transmitter while many others use several. A Field Day operation also gives everyone a chance to try new bands or modes. My first and only satellite contact was during the Field Day event several years ago and I really enjoyed it. I also recall my first ever contact on six meters was during Field Day. For some licensee, Field Day may be their first experience operating the HF bands. Perhaps the best reason for coming to Field Day is fellowship with other club members. Everyone has a good time. There is also much eating to be done, hi. I hope to see everyone at Morrow Mountain this year.

73 - WA4NLF

Here it is June and time for another article titled Dues Due. I was hoping to title this column Dues Paid but I am sorry to say (that) some 35 members haven�t renewed as of June 13. Hopefully upon receiving this newsletter many if not all of those 35 will renew. Dues are still at the 1956 level of $12 a year with the dues year running from July 1 through June 30. Check the lists below to see where you stand on dues. If your call DOES NOT appear then you have only paid through June 30, 2001. Payment can be made to Stanly County ARC, PO Box 188, Stanfield, NC 28163 or see me at a breakfast, lunch or club meeting.

AE4AH W9ZM KD4RFU K4MGA KA4CMC KD4RLH KD4ZTI W4KMA KE4KQQ KS4PG KF4PEF KA4KTU

KG4LVZ KD4OZI KG4DWT K4WC W4EAT KD4OSL KF4UAZ KC4JLX W4ALZ

KE4TGX KK4UH KF4CWZ KE4IHZ

KA4ECD WA4WSA

Jim Aderholt, KI4DH, sends the following info. All times are 10 A.M.

JULY 28 , SEPTEMBER 22 and NOVEMBER 24.
Randolph Co. Library
Asheboro

AUGUST 25 and DECEMBER 29.
Moore Co. Library
Carthage

OCTOBER 27
Good Old Boys Club House
Biscoe

For further information contact Jim on the Biscoe repeater (147.090+)

73- W4EAT

Six members accompanied me on KMA Antenna's yearly trip to the Dayton Hamvention this year. Paul and Carl were the first timer's that joined Terry, Robin, John, Mark and me. Also staying with us were Al Waller, the owner of QSL.net and Mike Imrick. Mike is a college student and web master for QSL.net. Mike is from northern Wisconsin so we had to teach him how to talk, but he caught on quickly. This was Mike's first trip to Dayton and from what I hear, he's already making plans for next year.

One of the reasons that I always ask Al to join us is to give him an opportunity to collect some donations for operating QSL.net. At his own expense, Al offers QSL.net services free of charge to any licensed

ham. This is a major financial commitment on his part. For instance, he just signed a contract for a second T-1 phone line at a cost of $36,000 over the next three years. It will take a lot of donations to cover expenses like that! Chances are that you are touched by QSL.net either by the free email service or one of the many ham related reflectors he hosts. I'd like to ask everyone reading this article to send Al a buck or two to keep things going. Just log on to www.qsl.net to see what it's all about.

As usual we had a great time in Dayton although it rained quite a bit on Friday. Robin, as usual, was the rowdy one of the bunch, but I guess we can blame it on the Lobster-rita. You'll have to ask Robin what that is. Everyone enjoyed the Air Museum and all the eating we did, especially dinner at the Grub Steak. Paul had a chance to reminisce with his old friend Gordon West. Carl attended the AMSAT Banquet, which he thoroughly enjoyed. We met the worst waiter in Ohio (maybe the world) and also one of the best. All in all it was another good adventure to the Dayton Hamvention and I plan to do it again in 2002.

73
Ed, W4KMA

About two and a half years after I was first licensed, I decided it was time for me to move beyond two meters and try out HF. The problem was that I did not have a lot of money for an all band / all mode transceiver. My problem was solved when I found the Radio Shack HTX-10 on sale for $140. It is a ten meter radio with SSB / FM / and AM. Its power output is around 25 watts on SSB. I added a high gain CB antenna cut for 28.5 MHZ, installed it in my car, and was ready to go.

After a year of chasing DX with this radio I have learned three important things that have led to 60 countries / 30 confirmed.

First I have learned patience. 10 meters is a great band, and it doesn�t take much power to work the world when the band is open. However, it is not always open. I have been patiently waiting all Spring to get a couple of weeks when the conditions are improved. Propagation was great from September through November. It started dropping off around December and January. February through April have been very disappointing. Still, I have waited, checking conditions everyday and scanning up and down the band.

This leads me two the second thing I have learned. I must push the "on" button. I can�t hear anybody when the radio is off. While conditions generally follow the solar flux numbers and EMI numbers, good openings still occur even on bad days. If I don�t have my radio on, I will not be able to take advantage of the spot openings. Every time I am in my car, I spend time scanning the band, listening for DX stations calling QRZ.

The third thing I have learned is the need for persistence. While 10 meters allows small stations like my mobile rig to talk long distances, I am still competing against kilowatt stations for the contact. There have been many days when I have sat in the parking lot for an extra thirty minutes trying to get my call recognized. And it has worked. From the parking lot of Chick-fil-a I logged a contact with Cyprus (5BA); from the parking lot of Home Depot, I logged a contact with the Ivory Coast (TU); Here is a brief list of some of the countries I have worked from my car: Jamaica (6Y); Algeria (7X); Barbados (8P); Croatia (9A); Trinidad / Tobago (9Y); Chile (CE); Bolivia (CP) Portugal (CT); Uruguay (CX); Cape Verde (D4); Germany (DL); Spain (EA); Baleric Islands (EA6); Canary Islands (EA8); Ireland (EI); Estonia (ES); France (F); Guadeloupe (FG); Martinique (FM); Galapagos Islands (HC8); Luxembourg (LX); Austria (OE);Slovenia (S5); I could go on.

My job requires a fair amount of driving. Having my 10 meter rig in the car, lets me chase DX much more frequently than if I tried it just at home. I love it and would encourage you to try it! 

73 and Good DX.

HF Rigs

A common topic for many HAM�s is wanting to get on the HF bands but are waiting for a new HF rig or when they get the tower or new antenna up. I�d like to talk about this issue and encourage operators to get on HF. There is no need to  procrastinate. It�s a lot easier than you may think. You really don�t need a lot of power or a big antenna to make contacts and even work lots of DX. I�d like to address some of the limitations I had over the years and how I, and many others make due with very modest equipment.

Having a XYL in my recent past that was not very thrilled about the hobby, sitting in front of my rig yelling into a microphone was at the very least going to get me hard looks and comments about having too much time on my hands. She was convinced there was a direct link from that radio to a brothel in Las Vegas. My mid 1970�s Kenwood TS-520S was sitting gathering dust and I didn�t have an antenna up at my QTH. I had a G5RV and a 14AVQ 10-40 meter vertical. The G5RV was my best chance because it was almost invisible. I did have to persuade the XYL that it was harmless and "those radio waves wouldn�t hurt the trees".

Well, I put up the G5RV and operated CW using head phones to minimize noise early in the morning when I had time to myself. I made tons of DX contacts with the old TS520 and wire antenna. Granted it wasn�t the newest rig on the market any longer but it still as well as it did when it was new and didn�t cost me any additional cash to get on the air.

The TS520 didn�t have WARC bands and I wanted to get on 30 meters so I borrowed a MFJ QRP rig and portable tuner. 30 meters was usually open at dusk and for a few hours after dark, just about the time I was getting off work in the winter months. There were some very tall trees in the parking lot at work and decided to put a stealth antenna. I planned to operate from my car after work. I went to work on Saturday when the parking lot was empty. I shot a line over the trees and ran about 100 feet of 24 ga. gray wire. The gray jacket on the wire was almost invisible where it ran between trees. I coiled up the excess and hung it on a low branch and would run it into my truck after work. I connected a single radial off the tuner and I was in business. With 4 watts I worked stations all over the US and into the South Pacific. I also made a quarter wave vertical out of wire. I cut the vertical element to length, attached to the trunk of a tree. I left the wire bare at the end and connected my coax and three radials with alligator clips when I wanted to operate. That antenna worked well also. The stealth antennas would work well for someone that lives in an area with antenna restrictions.

The point I�m trying to make is that you can get on the HF bands and have a lot of fun with minimal cash outlay. There are lots of easy to build QRP kits available for under $100. If you aren't up to building a rig, look the QRPL email list. You will find built rigs for sale much of the time. Most are for CW only but don�t let that deter you. You�ll find CW operators that are more than willing to help and can even get a code buddy to help you from the FISTS organization. FISTS are dedicated to furthering CW and are always looking for new operators to help. Also, rigs like my old TS520 are available for about $200-300 and will work just fine.

When you get on the air following a few simple rules will make operating for you and others much more pleasant. If you are going to use an antenna tuner write the settings for each band on a pad of paper so when you need to tune up you can do it quickly. Pick a time of day for each band that will have the least amount of activity. Low bands are more active after dark and high bands during the day. Twenty meters can be active anytime so listen first before tuning. There may be a QSO in progress and you can only hear one side of it, so listen for a few minutes to make sure the frequency is clear.

If you plan to hunt DX, the best plan is to tune very slowly and listen. If you listen to every signal you hear (especially the weak ones) you will be surprised at the number of DX stations you will hear. Also, listen and determine if they are working split or simples. If you hear the DX station working other stations but don�t hear them it�s a good bet he is working split. Listen up a one to five KC�s and you should be able to hear the other part of the QSO. A major no no , and it happens all the time is for a station to operate simplex when the DX is working split.

If you decide to cal CQ, listen for a few minutes then ask for the frequency. Example, this is KG4XYZ is the frequency in use. I like to do this twice. If no answer it�s fine to call CQ.

So get on the bands while we have advantage of this solar cycle and have fun.

Field Day - June 23 and June 24^th

No time to waste. We need your help for commitments, your commitment is I would like to see you there. We have several members that can not make it this year and my heart goes out to them.

Coordinator: Gerald - KD4OSL

Class Operating 1A

Bonus Points Who is responsible

Over night crew: KD4OZI - KD4OSL - KA4KTU - KG4DWT - AE4AH - KG4IFD
More needed.

Those that plan on attending

Saturday: W4KMA WA4NLF KD4OSL KA4KTU KF4CWZ W4EAT AE4AH KF4ZZF KS4PG KC4TDC KG4IFD WA4CFQ
More needed

Sunday: WA4NLF KD4OSL KA4KTU KF4CWZ AE4AH KS4PG KF4CWZ W4KMA
More needed

Unable to attend: W4ALZ - WB4RGS - KD4RLH - W4DEX - KC4FWC - KE4PSD - KD4ZTI

Antenna Team: W4KMA 
Start Time for stringing antennas: NOON Saturday Ed (W4KMA)

Items Committed to:
Generator: Don (AE4AH) Back Up Generator: Carl (W4EAT)
Radio: Ed (W4KMA) Back-up: Gerald (KD4OSL)
Power Supply: Ed (W4KMA) Back-up: Gerald (KD4OSL)
Fire extinguisher: Ed (W4KMA) & Don (AE4AH)
2 meter/440 antenna: Ed (W4KMA)
Coax: Gerald (KD4OSL)
Antenna 1: Dipole Ed (W4KMA) Antenna 2: R7 - Ed (W4KAM)
Coax: Ed (W4KAM) Coax: Ed (W4KAM)
Fan: Don (AE4AH)
Clock UTC 24-Hour: Paul (KD4OZI)
Logs: Paul (KD4OZI)
Lap top Computer: Bill (KE4KQQ)
Coleman lantern: Paul (KD4OZI)
Logging Program: Paul (KD4OZI)
Small Light: Paul (KD4OZI) Back Up: Gerald (KD4OSL)
Card Table: Don (AE4AH)
String for antenna: Paul (KD4OZI)
Antenna Switch: Paul (KD4OZI)
Coffee & Coffee Pot: Paul (KD4OZI)
Lean to: Lane (KS4PG)
Extension Cords: Don (AE4AH) & Gerald (KD4OSL)
Power Strip: (3) KA4KTU & KC4TDC
Maps & Push Pins: Terry (KA4KTU)
Packet Set-up: Carl (W4EAT)

Dayton Pictures

Ed (W4KMA) JOHN (KF4CWZ) CARL (W4EAT) PAUL (KD4OZI) ROBIN (WA4NLF)
TERRY (KA4KTU) --   PICTURE MAKER - MARK (KF4ZZF) 

Looks Like rain, notice the KMA banner is still flying.

QSL.NET TEAM            AL - Doug - Mike

Still Raining.

Where do the bears meet in the rain.

Old Newsletters

Newsletter 1st Quarter 2001

Newsletter 4th Quarter 2000

Please E-mail me with your comments.
73 - KD4OZI - PAUL

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