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January Kerchunk
Tue, 01/12/2010 - 14:15
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KerChunk
Official publication of the Sooland Amateur Radio Association
January 2010
Studio B Continued
Inside this issue: • Studio B Cont. • Special Events • Contests • ARES • How’s DX • MARS • Trivia • Centenarian • Code • Swap Shop* • Calendar • Columns • Officers • Testing • Meetings • Contests • Nets • Repeaters Following a year of remodeling on our business building, I had started to clean up and organize the shop area in the lower level and re-discovered an old office space that had been collecting junk for several years. I determined that space should become the new “studio.” After cleaning out all the junk and assessing the condition of the concrete walls, floor, and ceiling, I first discovered that the room had a terrible echo. I located some real acoustical tile, which I installed on the ceiling and walls. Voila! No more echo. Daughter Jill located a great carpet remnant, and we had it down in jig time. By this time, a color scheme had emerged, something that would complement the colors of the old radios that would live there, as well as go with the color of a nice rack that I had acquired years earlier. It was blue. The carpet was a blue/gray/cream tweed. Then the desks and shelving were built using steel frames and 5/8” particleboard with a blue laminate on top. The spacing was designed to fit the old radios. I was ready to install the gear. The anchor station is the Johnson Desk KW, complete with the Johnson Ranger exciter and the National HRO-60 receiver, just the way they were advertised in 1957. On the opposite wall, on the lower shelf at the left, you see a Collins R-388 receiver, coupled to
a real nice 32V-3 AM transmitter. To the right, you see my first HF rig, a Tempo One with VF-1 external VFO and speaker/ power supply. This rig is all original and plays like new. To the right of that is the Kenwood Station, a TS-830S, TL-922 amp, SM-220 scope, and matching speaker.
power” part – a Henry 3K that is hooked up to the KWM-2A.
Moving to the top shelf, lower level, left to right, a Collins S-Line appears, starting with a 30L-1 amplifier, the 516-F2 power supply, 32S-3 transmitter, 75S-3 receiver, and 312B-4 station console. Above the S-Line is another Collins station 516F-2 power supply, round emblem KWM-2A transceiver, a winged 312B-5 console/ VFO, and the matching round emblem 312B-4 console. The 51S-1 round emblem receiver that goes with this set-up is at home on another KWM2-A. Next is a Central Electronics scope, a Swan WM-2000 peak reading wattmeter, and the NYE-Viking MB-V A match box. And, sitting to the right of all this is the “more
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Moving back to the front left corner, you see a Hallicrafters SX-28 A Skyraider receiver with speaker on top. To its left reside two Swan rigs, a 400 with 410 VFO and on top a rare 350A transceiver. The rack contains a variety of test gear, frequency counters, multimeters, an HP spectrum analyzer and a couple of HF rigs -- a Yaesu FTONE and an Icom 706 MK-II. At the top is 2meter equipment, a scanning Motorola and an Icom all mode rig. On the bottom is a Hammarlund SP-600 XJ receiver. Still to be installed is a pair of Collins “Gold Dust Twins,” the 75A-4 and KWS-1. Well that’s about it for now in “Studio B,” a lot of old stuff, vintage gear, and lots of memories for our visitors. When “Hams,”
young and old, visit, it’s fun to watch their reactions. It’s also lots of fun to slide up a chair, flip on a switch and put one of these stations on the air. The coffee is always on; drop by for a visit sometime.
Special Events
Jan 30, 1400Z-2100Z, Punxsutawney, PA. Punxsutawney Area Amateur Radio Club, K3HWJ. Commemorating Groundhog Day 2010. 14.240 7.240 146.715 147.390. Certificate. Mike Miller, N3HBH, 1097 Wishaw Rd, Reynoldsville, PA 15851. www.qsl.net/k3hwj Jan 30-Feb 4, 1500Z-0400Z, Lubbock, TX. Buddy Holly Memorial, W5B. 51st anniversary of the death of Buddy Holly. 18.150 14.260 7.260 3.860. QSL. Bryan Edwards, 3801 68th St, Lubbock, TX 79413. www.amcrc.com/w5b See: http://www.arrl.org/contests/spev.html for a complete listing
Tom - WBØYNX
"I am often asked how radio works. Well, you see, wire telegraphy is like a very long cat. You yank his tail in ew York and he meows in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? ow, radio is exactly the same, except that there is no cat." Attributed to Albert Einstein
Contest
North American QSO Party SSB: 1800Z January 16 to 0600Z January 17, 2010 (Third full weekend in January). Check http://www.ncjweb.com/naqprules.pdf for rules.
See more at: http://www.arrl.org/contests/
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ARES
The FCC raised a few eyebrows by including the following sentence in its Public Notice DA 09-2259 "While the value of the amateur service to the public as a voluntary noncommercial communications service, particularly with respect to providing emergency communications, is one of the underlying principles of the amateur service, the amateur service is not an emergency radio service [emphasis added]." Editor’s note. Read full article at: http://www.arrl.org/news/ features/2010/01/01/11218/ or in QST. See the related article in the next column. ARES meeting at 7:00 1/19/10.
Public Service: MARS Gets New Name As It Fine Tunes Mission
On Wednesday, December 23, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued an Instruction concerning MARS, effective immediately. This Instruction gives the three MARS services -- Army, Air Force and Navy/Marine Corps -- a new focus on homeland security and a new name: Military Auxiliary Radio System. The Instruction is the first major revision to MARS since January 26,
How’s DX
SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS. Operators Luis, XQ5CIE, Carlos, CE6UFF, Didier, F6DXE and Dagoberto, CE5COX will be QRV as XR9JA from Chilean naval base "Arturo Prat" on Greenwich Island, IOTA AN010, from January 10 to 24. Activity will be on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB and PSK31 and on satellite AO-51. QSL via CE5JA. THAILAND, HS. Eddy, ON4AFU will be QRV as HS0ZJF from January 12 to March 8. Activity is on the HF bands using CW only. This includes activity from several IOTAs. QSL to home call. MOUNT ATHOS, SV/A. Monk Apollo, SV2ASP/A has been QRV using RTTY on 20 meters around 1130z. QSL direct. For more DX check: http://www.arrl.org/ search/index.html?q=dx+bulletin
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1988 -- as such, the first revision since the 9/11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina, two major events that changed the way Amateur Radio dealt with emergency communications. In the past, MARS had focused primarily on emergency communications and health and welfare support. The DoD's Instruction now directs the three MARS services to provide "contingency radio communications" to support US government operations, DoD components and "civil authorities at all levels," providing for national security and emergency preparedness events. MARS units will still continue to provide health and welfare communications support "to military members, civilian employees and contractors of DoD Components, and civil agency employees and contractors, when in remote or isolated areas, in contingencies or whenever appropriate."
MARS must also be capable of operation in "radio only" modes -- without landlines or the Internet -- and sustainable on emergency power (when public utility power has failed); some MARS stations must be transportable for timely deployment. Read more at: http://www.arrl.org/ news/stories/2009/12/24/11267/?nc=1
Trivia
What was Hiram Percy's callsign? What is the purpose of a Smith Chart ? What was the callsign of the Titanic? What does the term "cans" mean in ham radio slang of long ago? What was the Viking 122?
Centenarian returns to the airwaves
By PETER DOWNS , THE STANDARD The crackle emanating from the little black box transported Ethel Williamson back in time a few decades and whisked her halfway around the world at the same time. The former lighthouse keeper, who turns 103 in March, clapped her hands in delight as the voice of a stranger in Melbourne, Australia, broke the static on the little ham radio that sits by the window in her room at a St. Catharine's long-term- care home. "Can you imagine what it is?" she said Monday afternoon, shortly after chatting to the man through the radio's hand-held microphone. "To be able to talk to Australia -- it's a miracle, it really is." It had been at least 20 years since Williamson had spoken to anyone via radio,
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but the Welland branch of the Handy Ham Amateur Radio Club of Canada set up a radio for her at Niagara Ina Grafton Gage Village so she could get back on the airwaves. "I can't believe that. It's wonderful, it's just wonderful," she said after testing it out the first time. Williamson learned how to operate ham radios after the Second World War when she and her late husband, Cyril, raised their sons, Doug and Bruce, while running the Port Weller lighthouse. The couple lived at the landmark overlooking the lake for 25 years. Williamson learned Morse code and earned her radio operator's license nearly 60 years ago, taking the call letters she still has today -- VE3DTW. Decades before the advent of personal computers, e-mail and Facebook, ham radios made the world a smaller place. "I love meeting new people more than anything else," Williamson said. "It was lonely out there (at the lighthouse) sometimes and the radio allowed me to meet people from all over the world." But radio wasn't Williamson's only way to speak out. She wrote about her family's life in the lighthouse in a 1972 book, A Light on the Seaway, and penned numerous articles for newspapers and magazines. "It was the most wonderful life you can ever imagine," she said. Williamson's husband died in 1988 after the couple had been married for 61 years and son Bruce, a printer at The Standard for 43 years, died three weeks ago. An energetic and healthy centenarian, Williamson keeps her hands busy most days knitting wool hats to keep the needy warm in winter. She has made more than 1,500 of them over the years and donated them to various charities around Niagara. "I love to make them. I give them to anyone who needs one."
Williamson expects her newly installed ham radio may prompt her to put down her knitting needles and once again strike up conversations with other radio enthusiasts around the globe. "Once I get over the excitement, I think I'll use it," she said. For radio buffs, Williamson's repeater can be found at frequency 147300, tone of 107.2 and an IRLP of 2248. Reprinted from The Standard.
Getting Back on HF with Code
from KE7WAV on January 2, 2010 I learned code as a boy but left it for years. Then before I got my general this year (2009), out of pride more than anything else, I picked it up again. I even managed to slowly work my way up to about 13wpm. It felt good for the few months I was on the air. Then my wife and I had our fourth child; which was wonderful! A new baby, for me, means a lot of time at home with the radio off. That little baby is worth every minute away from the radio. After a month and a half I ventured back to SSB but just for a few brief QSOs. There I sat holding a baby in one arm and bouncing up and down (trying to keep her asleep) while holding the microphone and a pen in the other hand. Not the most ideal situation for a QSO let alone tapping out a QSO in Code. Bouncing up and down didn't help my fist on the old straight key! Well to make a long story short after about four months I tuned up my old boat anchor and decided to break out my key. I had an hour with both hands free and I intended to enjoy it on 40 meters CW. I found a QSO coming in strong and I sat down to copy and maybe tail end for a QSO. Instead what I found was that I had forgotten a lot. I could copy the characters but they were coming way too fast, when only four or five months before I could copy that same speed with
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ease. It shouldn't have been a surprise but it was intimidating and frustrating. I decided to try and find a slower QSO. No luck. I tried another QSO and still my copy was horrible. I turned the radio off and just look at it. How had I forgotten so much? For a couple of weeks I just kept to SSB (I was frustrated and embarrassed). Then a neighbor who has been bitten by the Morse code bug called me and asked if I could practice with him. I wanted to help but now I felt a bit of uncertainty. “Sure,” I told him, “you pick the day.” A SKED was set for 7.120 that Sunday night. I went home and got out my ARRL code practice CDs and went to work. I pulled up an old code program for the computer, and put in a little more practice. Sunday night came and I called my Dad, N3DVI, to join in; that way if I totally lost it my Dad could help my friend. I copied as best I could and it turned out okay. But still my copy was strained and hit or miss. We agreed to meet on air again and for the first few minutes of the next QSO I was wondering if I should just tell my friend I couldn't help. Each character was grudgingly recognized and recorded, but it was a painful experience. Yet by the middle of the QSO something clicked in my brain. Now I wasn't grasping at individual characters but the sweet music of the code was just pouring itself out on to the paper. It felt fantastic! The point is I learned a few things along the way I thought I might share. I am not some Code expert or authority, but maybe my words will help someone else out there when they are sitting looking at the radio and tempted to hide their key and never go back to Morse Code. It takes work Just like most things worthwhile it does take work to learn code. (Or relearn code) A friend of mine once wrote, “Happiness is cleverly nested in the pursuit of predetermined worthwhile goals.” Work hard and
have fun, sure it will be hard but keep trying it will be worth it. A friend goes a long way If you can work with a friend it makes learning the code easier. Try joining FISTS or SKCC or some other group and work with some of their Elmers. Just talk to somebody both off of and on the air. Just do it No matter how many computer programs or CDs you use nothing equals getting on the air. Nothing will increase your speed or your enjoyment more than getting on the air and meeting new people. If you know the characters you have enough to try copying other people. Once you can do at least 5wpm than just get on the air and do it! If you don't use it, you'll lose it You have to stay in shape with your brain just like with any other muscle. Use the code and often and it will stick with you. This is what I learned and I hope it helps someone else. If you are feeling a bit nervous about that first CW contact, or the first one in a long time, remember you're not the first person; I've been there before, and so have countless others no doubt. I hope to hear you on the bands and maybe see your QSL card on my wall with the memory of another great CW contact!
WANTED ???
SARA Calendar
January 19 ARES meeting 19 SARA meeting February 16 SARA meeting March 16 SARA meeting 7:00 7:30 7:30 7:30
FLEA MARKETS, ETC For Flea Markets, etc, please check the following link: http://www.arrl.org/ hamfests.html#listing
Swap Shop
FOR SALE MFJ-993
I have a MFJ “IntelliATuner” automatic antenna tuner model MFJ-993. It is a new unit never been connected up. I bought a MFJ 993 before I had the transceiver and decided I wanted the 1500 watt (MFJ-998) unit. Asking $200.00 for the unit. Comes with manual. The 993 is a 300 watt unit. Contact Guy Moberg W0GHM.
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President’s Podium ??? Treasurer’s Tidbits ??? Secretary’s Script ??? Board’s Babble
Officers
President Bill Tilton KC0DXE 712-277-3628 wrtilton@evertek.net Vice President Luke Comeau KC0SSU 712-490-2716 lukecomeau@yahoo.com Treasurer Harv Bomgaars KA0KUA 712-277-8850 harvdawn@cableone.net Secretary Deb Clark KC0KET 712-943-3680 ketgkd@longlines.com Board Members John Bylin K0AAR Tim Hynds N0RHH Paul Patterson KB0FVT Tom Brosamle WB0YNX 712-239-8680 712-258-0746 712-276-4493 712-252-4107
VE TESTING
1st Friday every month at 6:30 PM at the American Red Cross 4200 War Eagle Drive
SARA Meetings
Sara meetings are the 3rd Tuesday of the month, 7:30 PM at the American Red Cross, 4200 War Eagle Drive, Sioux City. If the meeting time or place are changed, please listen to the local nets for details.
The following info submitted by Don KA0KUC
I'm Joe Rollings KD0HQG, with MidWest Search & Rescue. We are having a new HamFest in the KC area. Hamfest 2010 Febr. 6, 2010 9am to 5pm Superior Response Solutions Inc. 10015 North Ambassador Dr. Suite 200 K.C.M.O. 64153 Pre Registration ticket's $5 plus 3 free raffle tickets Vendor Tables $20 each $7 at the door, $1 per raffle ticket. $25 per vendor table Vendor setup at 6:30am. Please call Superior Response Solutions Inc. at 816-431-6277 (9am to 5pm) to pre register. E-mail me for a flyer Joseph B. Rollings jbsmobiledj@yahoo.com
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ARES Emergency Coordinator Mike Clayton K0XH 712-266-1677 k0xh@arrl.net KerChunk Editor Mike Clayton K0XH 712-266-1677 k0xh@arrl.net 3600 Transit Ave Sioux City, IA 51106 Deadline for articles is the 5th of the month. WEB SITE k0tft.org
Local Nets Siouxland A.R.E.S et
146.910 Monday’s 8:30 P.M.
S.A.R.A. ets
146.970 Monday’s 9:00 P.M. 144.230 USB Sunday’s & Thursday’s 8:00 P.M.
HF ETS
3.597 3.902 3.896 3.70 3.860 3.970 3.982 3.970 3.860 3.982 3.860 3.560 Sunday Nets AM CW Net, 3900 Club AM Traders Net, 3900 Club AM 3900 Club Meeting PM SD CW Net Weekday Nets 12:15 PM SD Daily Net 12:30 PM Iowa 75m Net 12:30 PM NE Daily Net 6:30 PM 6:00 PM Iowa 75m Evening Net 5:30 PM Winter CST 6:00 PM SD Evening Net 6:30 PM NE Evening Net 5:30 PM MN Evening Net 6:30 PM TCN 7:30 8:00 8:45 7:00
Iowa Emergency Frequency
3.990.5 This net is held on the first Monday of every month at approximately 6:45 PM after the Iowa Evening Net.
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