1

July 2013

Vol. 38, # 7

WACOM President’s Message—2

WACOM General Information—3

WACOM Meeting Minutes - 4

WACOM BOD Minutes - 5

Upcoming Events—6

WACOM DX Corner—7

FIELD DAY!!! 8-13

Kevin Smith (N3HKQ) - SK & AA3GM at W1AW—14

Article: Comparing a Good Vertical and Good Dipole—15-16

ARRL News—17-18

WACOM Hamfest Flyer - 19

WACOM Renewal Form - 20

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Cranking up the refurbished tower! The Presky Plaque Field Day Photos!

THE

WACOM HAM

Washington Amateur Communications Inc.

WACOM FIELD DAY ISSUE!

2

WACOM President’s Message

July 2013

did you know you ca call sign on a regular vehicle plate

without the ham radio written on it . Watch f

Technician Licensing Class starts next week,,,, go to Download Flyer

We all survived Field Day.. and we were successful at keeping transmitters up all night..and some op-

erators. After the smoke cleared ( actually no rigs were smoked during the exercise), we did discover

items which will much enhance FD 2014, but that is why we have the exercise, to improve our emer-

gency capabilities.

If you look below at the Field Day results, it is evident WACOM is going in the right direction. Thanks

to Commander Ken AA3GM and his sidekick Joe Wa3WMB. Ken promises a FD debriefing meeting

soon.! Stay Tuned.

The WACOM RadioRoom kitchen and bathroom have been painted, including the floors. So we only

need to hook up some fat wires to the distribution panel and the air conditioner and we are ready for

COAX AND TOWERS.

At the board meeting, which takes place at the RadioRoom, discussions included switching our FD

category to 4F for operating from an EOC. (under which our room will qualify by next FD) .

Our next WACOM endeavor traditionally is the West Alex Fair. Bud is taking names of volunteers so

that the Special Event Station can happen.

Perhaps we should evaluate checking out the Washington Whisky Rebellion Festival....as a potential

special event station. The WWR

receives much print and radio promotion and publicity. They have logos and banners all over .... I won-

der of the committee would want to tell the world about the Whisky Rebellion ??? with a nice com-

memorative QSL card. We could show them what noise & posters are made by the 13 colonies event.

Maybe even a station at the event.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ?

Would you be willing to schedule some time to operate a Special Event Station ? W3R Whisky Three

Rebellion ????

Comments are accepted at the wacom reflector...for us all to share ..'

- Signup for the WA3COM e-mail reflector

Your President, and am proud to be so. ( at least till 2014)

73....

bill ny9h / 3

Bill—NY9H

http://www.wacomarc.org/documents/Tech_Flyer_2013.pdfhttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/wa3com/

3

Officers President: Bill Steffey, NY9H

ny9h@arrl.net

Vice President: Donald Smith, KB3YLR

kb3ylr@arrl.net

Secretary: John Quigg, N3GHR

jjquigg@comcast.net

Treasurer: Norma Plants, N3YJJ

njplants@yahoo.com

Board of Directors Director: Adam Quigg, NZ3S

kb3omh@comcast.net

Director: Jim Burtoft, KC3HW

jburtoft@verizon.net

Director: Bud Plants, N3TIR

bud@bnelectronics.com

Webmaster:

Joe Caldwell, N3XE

joecaldwell.jc@gmail.com

The WACOM Ham Editor:

Ken Frankenbery, AA3GM

ktfrank2@verizon.net

Repeaters W3CYO - 145.490 MHz, 443.300 MHz

K3PSP - 146.790 MHz

WACOM Digital Net Mondays at 8PM with MT-63 format 146.790 K3PSP Repeater

2 Meter Net - Tuesdays at 8:30PM on K3PSP Repeater

10-meter net - Tuesdays at 9PM on 28.340 MHz

YL Net - Wednesdays at 7:30PM on K3PSP Repeater

Elmer Net - Wednesdays at 8PM on K3PSP Repeater (immediately following the WA-COM YL Net)

LOCAL TRAFFIC NETS

SWPA 2-Meter Daily Net 146.880 8:00 p.m.

* * * * * * * * * * *

HF WPA Phone Daily Net 3.983 6:00

p.m.

WACOM OFFICERS, BOARD OF DIRECTORS,

STAFF, REPEATERS, AND NETS!

mailto:ny9h@arrl.netmailto:kb3ylr@arrl.netmailto:jjquigg@comcast.netmailto:njplants@yahoo.commailto:kb3omh@comcast.netmailto:jburtoft@verizon.netmailto:bud@bnelectronics.commailto:joecaldwell.jc@gmail.commailto:ny9h@arrl.net

4

WACOM General Meeting Minutes

6 June 2013, 7:30 PM

Next WACOM meeting 11 July 2013, 7:30 PM!

Present: Bill (NY9H), Bud (N3TIR), Norma (N3YJJ), Sam (W3CYO), Dave D (N3IDH), Paul (W3PLP), Patty

(N3XAR), Frank (KB3AAG), Jim B (KC3HW), Kevin (KN4AA), Sally (KK4YL), Fay (KA3VOM), Bob Ke (KB3IN),

Tom (K3PLM), Joe F (WA3WMB), Don (KB3YLR), Ken (AA3GM), Dave (W3TD), Gene (KB3JHR), Robert

(KB3ZUS), Marcy (KB3ZNY), Joe C (N3XE), and Bob (KC3AJM)

WACOM Meeting started at 19:30 by Bill NY9H

Old Business

Minutes from the last meeting were published in the June issue of The WACOM Ham Newsletter, Joe F, WA3WMB mo-

tioned they be approved, second by another

Norma gave the financial report: Don motioned that they be approved, K3PUP second

Bud, N3TIR brought up WACOM Hamfest scheduled for 3 Nov 13. So far there are six vendors signed up – expect many

more to follow.

The Boy Scouts are possibly interested in a Tech license training class during July & August

Four new hams passed the tech class exam at the Breezeshooters VE session. Rich, KB3VGW passed his general class

exam

KI4BHB asked about a possible future general class session

Field Day:

Don sent an e-mail to the Boy Scouts for Field Day. We plan to have a YL station this year.

Bill, NY9H reminded all to bring food for Field Day which will also act as the annual picnic

Don motioned that $300.00 of Club funds be used for food & incidentals. Plan to have breakfast for Sunday morning for

operators. Jim (KC3HW) seconds, motion passes.

Rob asked about the press for FD – could advertize in Canon-MacMillan Patch. Bill will call The Observer-Reporter for press

for FD

Currently have 10 SSB, 4 CW, 5 digital, 1 SAT, 1 GOTA, and 1 YL operator signed up for FD so far

Bud (N3TIR) is in contact with the Washington County Commissioner’s Office and in touch with a state senator for FD

(worth 100 bonus points)

There was a question about the status on computers authorized to purchase from last meeting – nothing yet. We may be

able to refurbish the IBM laptops.

New Business

Sarris Candies – the price has doubled to $2.00 a bar. Patty motioned that many are not happy at the cost. May be able to

sell a competitor at a lower price – Andy’s Candies a possibility

It was brought up that the WACOM Newsletter should advertize the VE testing session at the Pancake Fire Hall on 28 Au-

gust @ 1800. KI4DHB Bob is the POC.

Jim (KC3HW) motioned that the meeting be adjourned at 20:22, seconded and passed.

After the meeting members of the WACOM Club did the final Field Day planning for 22-23 Jun 13 at the South Strabane Fire

Hall pavilion. Ken (AA3GM) gathered all of the information the participants submitted and helped put the plan together.

The current plan is to have five stations (5A) - 2 SSB, 1-2 CW, 1 DIG, 1 YL, 1 SAT/VHF. Set up will begin Friday after-

noon. We should have a good turnout.

5

WACOM Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

27 June 2013, 7:30 PM

In attendance were: Bill (NY9H), Don (KB3YLR), Norma (N3YJJ), Bud (N3TIR), Adam (N3ZS), Jim (KC3HW), Paul (W3PLP), Sam (W3CYO), Bob (KB3IN), Frank (KB3AAG),

Dave (N3IDH)

Meeting called to order at 18:59 pm Thursday, June 27, 2013 at Club Room at South Strabane Fire House, Pancake

Minutes – no minutes were available

Treasurer’s report – Norma gave Treasure’s report; Bill moved to accept, Don seconded

Old Business

Field day – good job by everyone, happy with results

Radio room – Don finishing wiring; hot water being finished; glass block being installed; fire depart-ment fixed 2 inch main

Classes – one person coming to class; Bill had trouble e-mailing scouts

Ham fest – on top of the issue list; Bud is getting stickers for mailers from ARRL

New Business

West Alex fair – Labor day weekend

Christmas party – catering possible

Adam moved to adjourn, Don seconded, meeting adjourned at 19:40

6

2013 WACOM Upcoming Events Calendar Meetings, Contests & Other Significant Club Events (Subject to Change)

____________________________________________________

1-6 July 2013, 13 Colonies Special Event Stations http://13colonies.info

6 July 13, North Hills ARC Hamfest http://www.nharc.org

7 July 13, Somerset County ARC Hamfest http://k3smt.org

11 July 2013, WACOM Meeting at 7:30PM, Washington County Building

13-14 July 2013, IARU World Championship http://www.iaru.org

3-4 Aug 13, ARRL UHF Contest, http://www.arrl.org

1 Aug 13, WACOM Meeting at 7:30PM, Washington County Building

25 Aug 13, Skyview RS Hamfest http://www.skyviewradio.net

31 Aug 13, Uniontown ARC Hamfest http://www.w3pie.org/gabfest.htm

5 Sep 13, WACOM Meeting at 7:30PM, Washington County Building

8 Sep 13 - Butler Co ARA Swapfest http://www.w3udx.org

14-16 Sep 13—ARRL September VHF Contest, http://www.arrl.org

12-13 Oct 13 - Pennsylvania QSO Party http://www.nittany-arc.net/PAQSO.html

3 Nov 13 - WACOM Hamfest, Washington Co Fairgrounds, http://www.wacomarc.org

_______________________________________________________

7

WACOM HAM DX Corner—JuLY 2013 COURTESY: http://www.ng3k.com/Misc/adxo.html

2013 Jul01 2013 Jul16 Senegal 6V7S

RK4FF Direct DXW.Net 20130124

By RK4FF; HF

2013 Jul01 2013 Jul19 Nicaragua YN2RP

NN3RP Di-rect

NN3RP 20130613

By NN3RP; 40-10m; CW PSK31 RTTY SSB;

2013 Jul02 2013 Jul09 Jamaica 6Y5

LotW

DXW.Net 20130625

By G3SWH as 6Y5/G3SWH; 80-10m; CW;

2013 Jul05 2013 Jul09 Sint Maarten PJ7

AF6WU

DXW.Net 20130521

By AF6KJ as PJ7/ AF6KJ & AF6WU as PJ7/AF6WU NA-105

2013 Jul05 2013 Jul26 Angola D2CT CT2HPM OPDX

20130708 By CT2HPM fm Luanda; 20-10m; PSK31 RTTY

2013 Jul06 2013 Jul13 Sint Maarten PJ7FF KC9FFV KC9FFV 20130621

By KC9FFV fm NA-105; 40-10m; SSB; holiday style operation

2013 Jul06 2013 Jul16 Cyprus 5B4ALB RT9T Direct RT9T

20130625 By RT9T

2013 Jul06 2013 Jul16 St Pierre & Mi-

quelon FP

LotW

KV1J 20130221

By KV1J as FP/KV1J fm Miquelon I (NA-032); 160-6m; SSB CW RTTY PSK31; QRV for IARU HF

2013 Jul06 2013 Jul25 Haiti HH5

KC0W Direct

KC0W 20130511

By KC0W as HH5/KC0W; 160-6m; CW; verticals over salt water

2013 Jul07 2013 Jul13 Marquesas FO

UT6UD

DXW.Net 20130518

By UT6UD as FO/UT6UD fm Hiva Oa I (OC-027); 30-10m; CW SSB RTTY; verticals

2013 Jul07 2013 Jul19 Solomon Is H44IND NR6M 425DXN 20130706

By H44RK fm Nggela Sule (OC-158); exact end date unclear

2013 Jul08 2013 Jul15 San Felix CE0X

WU2D 20130617

By WU2D as CE0X/WU2D; 20 17 15m; SSB, CW

2013 Jul08 2013 Jul16 Anguilla VP2EAF

LotW OPDX

20130708 By W5SQK fm Meads Bay (NA-022); Buddipole;

QSL also OK via W5SQK

2013 Jul09 2013 Jul09 South Sudan Z80ID OM3JW OPDX

20130708 By Z81B Z81D; HF; SSB

2013 Jul09 2013 Aug10 St Kitts & Nevis V47JA

LotW W5JON

20130328 By W5JON; 160-6m, incl 60m; SSB + digital; dipoles,

vertical, 6m yagi; QRV for RSGB IOTA Contest

2013 Jul10 2013 Jul14 St Martin FS DXW.Net 20130521

By AF6KJ as FS/AF6KJ and AF6WU as FS/AF6WU; HF; multi mode

2013 Jul10 2013 Jul14 Senegal 6V7S RK4FF Direct OPDX

20130708 By RK4FF; 80-10m; CW SSB RTTY

2013 Jul11 2013 Jul15 Greenland OX2DX

LotW

WW2DX 20130703

By WW2DX W2RE N2IEN fm nr Narsarsuaq (NA-018, GP70dx); QRV for IARU Contest; 2 K3s possi-bly w/ 1KW; verticals; QSL also OK via WW2DX

2013 Jul12 2013 Jul19 Ethiopia ET3AA

N2OO

425DXN 20130706

By K4ZW; CW; QRV as EARS HQ station for IARU Contest (Jul 12-13);

2013 Jul13 2013 Jul20 Cayman Is ZF2WN

LotW

425DXN 20130706

By AA2WN fm NA-016; mainly 20 17m; CW SSB, some digital; QSL also OK via AA2WN

2013 Jul14 2013 Jul22 Austral Is FO UT6UD DXW.Net 20130518

By UT6UD as FO/UT6UD fm Rurutu I (OC-050); 30-10m; CW SSB RTTY; verticals

2013 Jul16 2013 Jul30 Madagascar 5R8NE IK2DUW IZ2DPX 20130606

By IZ2DPX fm Nosty Be I (AF-057); 40-10m; SSB; QRV for RSGB IOTA Contest

2013 Jul19 2013 Jul23 Mozambique C91GR ZS6AYU ZS6AYU 20130613

By ZS6AYU; 40-10m; CW; 200-400w; vertical; holi-day style operation

2013 Jul20 2013 Aug01 Greenland OX3LX OZ1PIF 425DXN 20130525

By OZ1DJJ fm Tasillaq I (NA-151, HP15eo); HF + 6m and 4m

RSGB IOTA Contest (Jul 27-28, 2013) Check here for pericontest activity too.

2013 Jul27 2013 Aug03 Antigua V29SH LotW OPDX

20130624

By VE6SH fm Jumby Bay I (NA-100); HF; KX3 + amp; Buddipole; holiday style operation; QSL a

2013 Jul29 2013 Aug09 Faroe Is OY DL3UB DL3UB

20130624

By DL3UB as OY/DL3UB; focus on WARC bands; CW; holiday style operation

http://dx-world.net/http://www.g3swh.org.uk/6y5-g3swh.htmlhttp://dx-world.net/http://dx-world.net/http://www.papays.com/opdx.htmlhttp://www.kv1j.com/fp/July13.htmlhttp://dx-world.net/http://www.425DXN.orghttp://www.papays.com/opdx.htmlhttp://www.papays.com/opdx.htmlhttp://dx-world.net/http://www.papays.com/opdx.htmlhttp://www.425DXN.orghttp://www.425DXN.orghttp://dx-world.net/http://geronne.dk/index.php/ox3lx/ox3lx-dxpedhttp://www.425DXN.orghttp://www.ng3k.com/Misc/iota2013.htmlhttp://www.papays.com/opdx.htmlhttp://www.qrz.com/db/DL3UB

8

Wow! It is amazing what an amateur radio club

can accomplish when they have a lot of dedication, deter-

mination and stamina! Field Day 2013 for WACOM was a

raving success overall and my sincere thanks to all of you

who made it happen! Truly a job well done!

This year brought new challenges to our club

which the introduction of a new site by the pavilion of the

South Strabane Fire Hall in Pancake. Though it is located

only a hundred yards from our new clubhouse shack and

we’ve been to it for a number of years for our annual pic-

nic, we have never used (or even contemplated until re-

cently) that site to be used for Field Day!

The members of WACOM met the challenge and

were quick in setting up an area for emergency communi-

cations - the goal of what Field Day is all about! On Fri-

day afternoon a few members (Bill-NY9H, Ken-AA3GM,

Joe-N3XE, Bob-KC3AJM, Dave-N3IDH, Bud-N3TIR

Loren—WA3WZG, and a couple others) met to start set-

ting up the dipoles and Carolina Windom antennas. Bill

brought a wire launcher that appeared more suited for EME

contact (literally) than launching to the trees. Ken also

brought a wire launcher and managed to get the wire way

up high in a tall tree to pull a homemade 80-meter dipole

up—an antenna that performed superbly during Field Day.

Saturday morning brought a flurry of activity with

many club members setting up or supporting Field Day in

some way. Joe-WA3WMB brought in the most critical

piece of equipment—a big and beautifully quiet generator.

The yagi was quickly put together with the much smaller 6-

meter antenna and both were installed atop the newly over-

hauled tower trailer which performed without a hitch

(unlike last year!). Soon a small American flag waved at

the peak of the tower as it was hoisted to its maximum

height! The rest got the tents, tables, radio, cables, dipole

antennas, and a various assortment of equipment ready for

the big day. Nearly all was completed by 1300 where we

had lunch and a quick meeting. At 1400, the race was on

as WA3COM, 5A WPA!

Kevin-KN4AA was the first out the gate with the

first CW QSO on 40-meters a minute later. Dave-N3IDH

bagged his first 6-meter QSO on the VHF station while Joe

F- WA3WMB did CW on 15-meters using the yagi. Joe C

–N3XE bagged his first digital contact soon after on 20-

meters. All four ham operators cranked out the Q’s and

within the first hour had 33 contacts—they were just get-

ting warmed up! At 1515, Sally –KK4YL bagged her first

20-meter SSB contact at the YL station while Jim-KC3HW

manned the GOTA station. By the second hour, the five

were up to 88 contacts. Ken-AA3GM finally got the fifth

station on the air at 1603 and made a few contacts He then

sat down with a couple of visiting hams who made four

contacts on 15-meters phone using a Perth Outbacker an-

tenna on a metal tripod. Fay-KA3VOM then worked four

QSOs with Ken on 80-meters.

We then had a quick break for dinner (the Club

picnic) and the food was delicious as usual! There was an

assortment of burgers, hot dog, potatoes, Cole slaw, and

lovely desserts and pies. One never starves at Field Day!

Ken finally got serious and began working that high 80-

meter dipole. After calling CQ on SSB, a pileup actually

ensued which cranked the overall QSO-per-hour (adding

the other hams) up over 100!

The five stations were now in full mode, operating

like a well oil machine by Saturday evening. Kevin, Joe C,

Joe F, Sally and Ken had 582 QSOs by 2100! Bill-NY9H

then switch with Kevin to take over the station from CW to

SSB. Ken continued to be swamped with an 80-meter

phone pile up (something he is not used to being a primar-

ily CW operator!).

WACOM Field Day 2013!! by Ken Frankenbery—AA3GM

9

By 2200 the contact tally was at 665! Bill cranked away at

40-meter SSB, Joe F at 20-meter phone & CW, Ken at 80-

meter phone, digital & CW, and Joe C at 40-meter digital.

Frank—KB3AAG came in to do the CW night shift

and manned his 40-meter station beginning at 2245

while Bill, Joe F, Joe C and Ken also manned their

stations.

By midnight the five operators were up to 887

QSOs—Bill continued at 40-meters SSB, Joe C at 80-

meters digital, Frank at 40-meters CW, and Ken at 80-

meters CW (with a few 160-meter QSOs). The con-

tacts kept cranking out even during the wee hours of

the night—something that had never really been fully

successful before. Bob-KC3AJM relieved Bill-NY9H

at midnight and kept at the QSOs for two hours until

Bill came back after a rest.. Joe F. and Joe C finally

went to get some rest at 0100 and 0215 respectively.

Bill, Frank, and Ken kept at it on 40-meter SSB, 40-

meter CW, and 80-meters CW & Digital. At 0311,

Bud-N3TIR finally caught that elusive bird (a satel-

lite) on 2-m/70cm bagging the club a 100-point bo-

nus! Then Bob –KC3AJM, Norma—N3YJJ, Wiley—

WD8W, Frank-KB3AAG, and Ken –AA3GM kept at

it and 20-meters, 40-meters, and 80-meters from

0300-0430. Ken finally got about 90-minutes of sleep

at 0430. At that point WACOM had bagged 1119

contacts!

By dawn’s early light, Wiley, Frank, and Bob

were still cranking away on 40-meters phone & CW.

Ken got back on the air after a short nap and contin-

ued on 80-meters CW and phone. Norma cooked up a

nice breakfast for the operators—it was good! Joe

(N3XE) and Joe (WA3WMB) were back on the air as

well. Frank continued to operate 40-meter CW while

Ken stayed on 80-meters. Kevin (KN4AA) returned

and operated 40-meter CW while Frank switched to

20-meters CW. Ken then worked 15-meter CW and

later 10-meter CW on his Outbacker antenna. Four

stations were now cranking out CW—two points a

piece with the fifth on SSB with Jim (KC3HW). By

10:00 WACOM had accumulated 1437 contacts! Joe

C-N3XE got back on digital, Bill-NY9H on SSB

while Dave—N3IDH discovered a 6-meter opening

and started cranking the Q’s on the Magic Band. All

five stations (plus VHF) were in full swing and

cranked out the last few hours and nabbed all the mul-

tipliers within the United States. By 1400 the last

contact was made on 20-meters CW—the tally was a

record breaking 1774 QSOs with all but three multi-

pliers (Canadian NL, SK, and NT) for 2735 points!

Before we wrapped it up, Bill Steffey (NY9H) pre-

sented Dennis Presky (K3PSP) with an appreciation

plaque for all his has done to help the club over the

years. We had a final lunch and then started tearing

down. The site was clean by 1530 in the afternoon

and everyone returned home. What a great showing!

Those who participated (forgive me if I forgot

you!): Loren-WA3WZR, Dennis-K3PSP, Norma-

N3YJJ, Bill NY9H, Kevin KN4AA, Sally-KK4YL,

Jim KC3HW, Dave-N3IDH, Frank-KB3AAG, Bob

J.- NY3I, Joe C. N3XE, Ken-AA3GM, Rob-

KB3ZUS, Bob-KB3IN, Bob KC3AJM, Bud—

N3TIR, Melani—N9SOJ, Sam W3CYO, Mike-

K3AIR, Joe WA3WMB, Jim-AA3JK, Wiley–

WD8W, Paul-W3PLP, Fay-KA3VOM, Patty-

N3XAR, and others. THANK YOU!!!!

HERE ARE THE RESULTS!

__________________________________________

160-meters: 3 CW 1 phone 0 digital

80-meters: 73 CW 178 phone 40 digital.

40-meters: 471 CW 382 phone 60 digital

20-meters: 127 CW 127 phone 72 digital

15-meters: 44 CW 67 phone 35 digital

10-meters: 23 CW 23 phone 2 digital

6-meters: 4 CW 41 phone 0 digital

Total Phone QSOs 820 (1-point a piece)

Total CW QSOs 745 (2-points a piece)

Total digital QSOs 209 (2-points a piece)

Total QSOs overall 1774

Total QSO points 2735 x 2 (less than 150W)

Total Initial Score 5470

Total Bonus Points 1470

TOTAL SCORE FOR WACOM FIELD DAY 2013

6940 POINTS!

WACOM Field Day 2013!! by Ken Frankenbery—AA3GM

10

Bill trying a new method of Earth-

Moon-Earth contact Starting setup on Friday night

WACOM Field Day Photos!

Setting up the tower!

The mighty Yagi is up!

11

Field Day! Picnic and operating!

The main pavilion

Fay, KA3VOM—the master

pie maker is back!

Yum! The master pies!

Enjoying food & fellowship Bud starts hunting for that elusive bird!

12

Field Day! The Operators!

Kevin (KN4AA) cranks away on CW while Joe C

(N3XE) rakes in the QSOs on digital

Rich (KB3VGW) updates the laptops for Field Day

Joe F (WA3WMB) works contacts on phone & CW on 20-

meters while Bill (NY9H) cranks Q’s out on 40-SSB Ken (AA3GM) works contacts on CW, phone and digital at

his station—the high 80-meter dipole works wonders!

Sally (KK4YL) works contacts on 20-meters phone at the

YL station while Jim (KC3HW) works the GOTA station

The master 6-meter operator at work—Dave (N3IDH)

works a nice 6-meter opening to the south!

13

Field Day! The Night Owls!

Ken, AA3GM works 20, 80 & 160-meters on CW,

phone & digital

Bill, NY9H cranks out the phone contacts on 40-

meters

Bill NY9H (left) works the phone on 40-meters while

Frank (KB3AAG) works CW on the same band

After much determination, Bud (N3TIR) finally cap-

tures a bird—a 100-point satellite contact!

Frank works his magic as a sole CW operator on

40-meters

Thanks to all who participated! Ken, AA3GM

14

The members of the

Washington Ama-

teur Communica-

tions Club

(WACOM) would

like to offer their sin-

cere condolences to

the family of Kevin

Smith (N3HKQ)

and to the members

of our sister club,

The Wireless Asso-

ciation of South

Hills (WASH).

Kevin was a true as-

set to amateur radio

and will be greatly

missed by all! [Ed] Courtesy from the WASHRAG

AA3GM visits the ARRL

Upon return from a business trip,

Ken Frankenbery, AA3GM got

an opportunity to stop by the

American Radio Relay League on

28 June 13 for a visit. He had a

few minutes to make a few con-

tacts at the W1AW station right

across from the ARRL.

It was fun!

15

16

17

ARRL NEWS Canada Seeks New 472-479 kHz Ham Band

(Courtesy ARRL.org)

07/08/2013

Canada has proposed creating a new MF Ama-teur Radio band at 472-479 kHz. The 7 kilo-hertz sliver of spectrum would be available to hams on a secondary basis. The new 630 meter band was proposed in a Consultation released in June by Industry Canada, the nation’s radiocom-munication regulator. It proposed numerous re-visions to Canada’s table of allocations war-ranted in the wake of World Radiocommunica-tion Conference 2012 (WRC-12). Last year the ARRL asked the FCC in 2012 to carve out the same band for US hams.

“It is good to see the progress that our neighbors to the north are making in imple-menting the new 472-479 kHz amateur alloca-tion,” said ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ. “We hope the FCC will act soon on the petition that the ARRL filed on November 29, 2012, to achieve this goal for amateurs in the United States.”

As the ARRL noted in its Petition for Rule Making, the issue of a domestic LF or low MF Amateur Service allocation first arose in 1979 as the FCC prepared for that year’s World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC), which resulted in the creation of the 30, 17 and 12 meter bands. Last November the FCC released a Notice of Pro-posed Rule Making and Order (ET Docket 12-338) proposing the creation of a new LF ham band at 135.7 to 137.8 kHz. Canadian hams already have such an allocation.

As Industry Canada observed, “The main inter-est of the amateur service in the 500 kHz (600-metre) band lies in its unique propagation prop-erties, which are different from those in the 135 kHz and 1800 kHz bands.” The regulator

pointed out, for example, that the band allows for ground-wave propagation that’s unaffected by ionospheric disturbances and sunspot-cycle variations. “This characteristic would prove in-valuable in the continuing development by radio amateurs of communications in disaster and emergency situations,” Industry Canada contin-ued. “Moreover, new means of reliable radio-communications using digital signal processing represent opportunities to make use of these frequencies.”

Assuming the new band is approved north of the border, the maximum allowable equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) of Amateur Radio stations could not exceed 1 W. Amateur Radio stations “shall not cause harmful interfer-ence to, or claim protection from, stations of the aeronautical radionavigation service [ARNS],” Industry Canada noted.

The regulator said studies have shown that the proposed secondary allocation “would not ad-versely impact the maritime mobile, aeronautical radionavigation or aeronautical mobile services.” According to Industry Canada, “mitigation measures such as frequency and geographic separation would ensure that amateur service operations would not interfere with incumbent services in the band under study.”

Some countries at WRC-12 opposed the secon-dary allocation, arguing that the ARNS — a “safety-of-life service” — requires protection from amateur operations. “Ultimately, a world-wide secondary allocation of 7 kHz in the band 472–479 kHz was made to the amateur service,” Industry Canada said.

http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf10592.htmlhttp://www.ic.gc.ca/Intro.htmlhttp://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view?id=7022073018http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2012/db1119/FCC-12-140A1.pdfhttp://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2012/db1119/FCC-12-140A1.pdf

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ARRL Announces Colvin Awards to DXpeditions (Courtesy ARRL.org)

07/10/2013

The ARRL has made Colvin Award grants to help support three upcoming DXpeditions. Recipi-ents are the K9W Wake Atoll, T33A Banaba Island, and FT5ZM Amsterdam Island DXpeditions. The K9W DXpedition is scheduled for September-October 2013, the T33A DXpedition for No-vember 2013 and the FT5ZM DXpedition for January-February 2014. The Colvin Award is funded by an endowment established by Lloyd Colvin, W6KG (SK), who, with his wife Iris, W6QL (SK), logged more than 1 million contacts during their world travels, and assembling one of the largest QSL collections in the world. Approximately $6000 in annual investment income is available. The Colvin Award is conferred in the form of grants in support of Amateur Radio pro-jects that promote international goodwill in the field of DX. Applicants must be groups with a favorable track record in the field of DX and with experience that is directly related to the project

being proposed. Proposed projects must have as a goal a significant achievement in the field of DX.

Huge Tracking Dish to Become Available for EME (Courtesy ARRL.org)

07/09/2013

The InfoAge Science History Museum in Wall Township, New Jersey, plans to make a 60 foot tracking dish antenna available to hams for moonbounce, secondary to its function as a ra-diotelescope. It was on the InfoAge site, then part of Fort Monmouth, that the US Army’s “Project Diana” team in 1946 first received ra-dio signals bounced from the moon. According to InfoAge’s Martin Flynn, W2RWJ, Daniel Marlow, K2QM, an InfoAge board member who teaches physics at Princeton, wants to use the dish, currently under rehabilitation after be-ing dormant since the 1970s, to pursue radio astronomy for instructional purposes. Marlow’s primary goal is to restore the TLM-18 dish an-tenna to working order and use it to see the 21 centimeter radiation from the Milky Way. But he also wants to observe radio pulsars, and since that activity can be performed at 70 centi

meters, the TLM-18 will be made available to the Amateur Radio community for EME at 432 MHz on a secondary basis. The dish, adjacent to the Ocean Monmouth Amateur Radio Club’s (OMARC) N2MO at InfoAge, offers a gain of 35 dBi at 465 MHz. Project Diana occupied the building housing N2MO, Flynn noted. The af-ter-effects of Hurricane Sandy continue to hin-der the dish rehab project; power on the Info-Age campus remains out since the storm last year, and the facility is running on generator power. “It has slowed down the efforts at put-ting the TLM-18 back into service but has not stopped them,” Flynn said, noting that OMARC members have been behind the pro-ject from Day One. It’s hoped the dish will be ready for service next year. — Thanks to InfoAge and Martin Flynn, W2RWJ

ARRL News

http://www.arrl.org/colvin-award-grantshttp://wake2013.org/http://www.t33a.com/http://www.mdxc.org/04/ft5zm-80%93-amsterdam-island-dxpedition-2014/http://www.infoage.org/mailto:martin@infoage.orghttp://infoage.org/exhibits/ocean-monmouth-amateur-radio-club/space-sentry-tlm-18http://www.n2mo.org/

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