[OKDXA] Ham Com Arlington Information

Sun, 23 Jun 2002 06:01:00 -0500

Wanted to insure all members are reminded of this function.

The list of speakers is growing. Last year we heard Martii Laine OH2BH
speak of some of his experiences
at the banquet. This year is looking better yet with the slate of speak=
ers.
Attendance at the banquet was on
a par with Dayton DX Banquet and served 320 or so attendees. The forums=

were great. The speakers were
approachable. The information flowed easily and constantly.  I can hear=
tily
recommend this fest as being
worth the trip.  Dallas (Arlington) isn't that far away from Oklahoma. =
(a
pleasant 4 hour drive from Tulsa)
The flea market was superb last year. Even bought a Nye Viking matchbox=

from Craig Boyer AH9B. First
time I've seen Craig in years.  Hope to see you there this year the wee=
kend
of June 8. More details on
Ham Com & LSDXA websites.

Ross K5RH

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VP6TC, KK6EK, ON4UN, W5GAI, K4UEE
Ham-Com DXtravaganza II Program Speakers

Noted Dxpeditioner Dr. Bob Schmieder, KK6EK, a team member and leader o=
n the
recent XR0X San Felix Dxpedition is the most recent speaker to join a
distinguished panel of DXpeditioners at Ham Com's DXtravaganza II progr=
am
and DX luncheon June 7-8 in Arlington, Texas at the Arlington Conventio=
n
Center, hosted by the Lone Star DX Association.

Tom Christian, VP6TC and member of the recent Ducie Island Dxpedition i=
n
March, will be the DX luncheon speaker at noon June 8.

Numerous dealers and manufacturers have donated door prizes for the lun=
cheon
as they did last year.  Luncheon attendance last year was in excess of =
350
and another quick sellout of luncheon tickets is expected this year.

Noted Low band DXer Jon Devoldere, ON4UN, an expert on 160 meter Dxing
will make a repeat visit on June 8 during a special low band dxing prog=
ram.

Bob Allphin, K4UEE, will describe the recent South Sandwich DXpedition.=

Louis Cameron, W5GAI, will present the "Getting Started in DXing" progr=
am.

                                               Tom Christian VP6TC

Christian, great-great-great-grandson of Fletcher Christian leader he f=
amous
"Mutiny on the Bounty" in 1789, is known as the voice of Pitcairn as th=
e
island's most active ham radio operator.  He is also president of the
Pitcairn Island Amateur Radio Association (PIARA). Tom will also have c=
olor
slides and video from the Ducie Island DXpedition which made more than
43,000 QSOs in March 2002. With major funding from an ARRL Colvin Award=
, and
JA1BK,  PIARA conducted the DXpedition from Ducie--which became the new=
est
ARRL DXCC entity as of November 16, 2001 and its first time activation,=

making it the most-wanted DXCC entity at the time until the recent appr=
oval
of the P5/4L4FN.

> Some 2,000 articles and books, 5 major motion pictures, and numerous
> shorter documentary films have looked into virtually every aspect of
> this mutiny led by Fletcher Christian against Captain William Bligh. =
 It
> is undeniably one of the
> most famous sea stories of all time. There is much disagreement as to=

> who was to blame for the incident, and the history remains, to this d=
ay,
> an interesting topic for maritime history and South Pacific historian=
s.
>
> The people onboard the Bounty arrived on Pitcairn in late 1789 and
> Pitcairners celebrate the January 23 as the day in 1790 when the Boun=
ty
> was burnt. The community at Pitcairn, wasn't located for 18 years unt=
il
> an American ship stopped at the
> island.
> .
> In 1808 an American sealing ship called Topaz (Captained by Mayhew
> Folger) found Pitcairn; and  at that time only one of the original
> mutineers (John Adams) was still alive. It was during the time the
> Tahitians and Mutineers were on Pitcairn the Pitcairn/Norfolk (Pidgin=

> English) language was developed. It continued to be developed other
> places they went. In the 1830's the Pitcairners were invited to Tahit=
i
> by the Queen of Tahiti. They went but once they arrived they realized=

> that life there wasn't for them. They convinced an American captain,
> William Driver to return them back to Pitcairn. They sailed on his sh=
ip
> the Charles Doggett and arrived on Pitcairn on September 3 1831.
>
> Pitcairn today is one of the world's most isolated inhabited islands =
as
> ships call on the island only a few times a year.  It has a resident
> population of about 60 persons.

According to Tom's personal biographer Dr. Herbert Ford of Pacific Unio=
n
College in California, Tom left for Ham Com in mid-April for, bound for=

Auckland NZ, and the beginning of his months-long absence from Pitcairn=
.
His wife Betty is also a ham and they have four children: Jacqui, Raele=
ne,
Sheri and Darlene.  He has been an elder in the Island's Seventh Day
Adventist Church for the past 15 years and fopr many years was a member=
 of
the island's governing council.

Christian named a recipient of the  MBE (Member of British Empire) meda=
l in
1983 by Queen Elizabeth II for services rendered to the island.  This w=
as
presented tio him in Wellington NZ by the British
High Commissioner. Part of Tom's nomination included his service on the=

island as a ham and his numerous calls for emergency medical evacuation=
.  It
is safe to say that on one or two
occasions his calls actually saved lives of people who, without ham-giv=
en
medical counsel from abroad, would have died.

Ham radio also played a part in helping  Tom in 1972 when he was injure=
d in
a boat accident when one of Pitcairn's longboats was wrecked going out
through the harbor and was totally
lost.  His right leg was fractured and emergency evacuation to NZ for
treatment was arranged through ham radio and he returned to Pitcairn th=
ree
months later.

                                                Bob Schmieder, KK6EK

    Bob is the founder and Expedition Leader of Cordell Expeditions, a
nonprofit research group begun in 1977. The group is responsible for th=
e
creation of the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, which was desig=
nated
on the basis of results from Cordell Expeditions. Creator and Expeditio=
n
Leader of the Rocas Alijos expeditions 1990, 1993. Participant in the 1=
994
expedition to Peter I Island, Antarctica, 3Y=D8PI, where in addition to=
 radio
operations, he carried out a program of sampling and chemical analysis =
of
the environment. Organizer and co-Leader of the 1995 expedition to East=
er
Island/Salas y G=F3mez, XR=D8Y/Z, which included 32 participants for 3 =
weeks.
Co-Expedition Leader of the 1997 expedition to Heard Island, VK=D8IR, w=
ith 20
participants. Participant in the 2002 Dxpedition to San Felix, XR=D8X.
Licensed since 1962, he holds Extra Class radio license KK6EK. He has b=
een
active in Islands on the Air (IOTA), having activated five "New Ones":
Farallons, NA-178; Guadalupe, NA-179; Roqueta, NA-183; Northern Califor=
nia
Group, NA-184; and Central California Group, NA-187. Other calls he has=
 held
are XF1/KK6EK, VP8CPK, 4K1/KK6EK, CE=D8/KK6EK, and VK6EKK. His expediti=
ons
have been awarded DXpedition of the Year three times. He is a life memb=
er of
the Arizona DX Club. Bob is the author of 6 books derived from his
expeditions: Ecology of an Underwater Island; Edward Cordell and the
Discovery of Cordell Bank; 3Y=D8PI Peter I Island 1994 DXpedition; Roca=
s
Alijos; DX-Aku: Messages from the 1995 Easter Island DXpedition; and VK=
=D8IR
Heard Island Expedition. He is a Fellow of the Explorers Club and forme=
r
Chairman of its Northern California Chapter. He is honored by Schmieder=
 Bank
(a rocky bank in the eastern Pacific), Codium schmiederi (an algae), Er=
ylus
schmiederi (a sponge), and Pharia pyramidata schmiederi (a starfish). H=
e has
been listed in almost every Who's Who in the world. He is the owner and=

operator of a research vessel, the Cordell Explorer. Bob's web page is:=

http://www.cordell.org/CE_vitae.html

                                                       Bob Allphin, K4U=
EE

Bob Allphin, K4UEE has been licensed since 1958 (age 13) and began DXin=
g and
Contesting very early. Bob's father was stationed on Okinawa for two ye=
ars
and Bob got his first taste of being on the DX-end of the pileups as KR=
6LY
(1960-1962). Beginning in the late 70's, Bob began Dx-peditioning in ea=
rnest.
Since then he has visited 54 DXCC countries and operated from 26 countr=
ies.
He has been a participant in 3 "DX-peditions of the Year " which includ=
e AH1A,
XR0Y and VK0IR.

Bob is also an avid contester and has set the following Single band/Sin=
gle
operator World Records in the CQWW contests 80m CW, 75m Phone, 15m  CW,=
 15m
Phone, and 10m Phone. He won the ARRL DX (CW) contest in 1995 (AB/HP/Si=
ngle
op) and second place in CQ-WPX (Phone) contest the same year. Bob was a=

participant in the 1996 WRTC and along with his partner N6IG, and finis=
hed
5th (53 teams).
You may have worked Bob as VP2KAE, ZF2FX, VP2V/K4UEE, J87UEE, J87J, VP5=
FX,
J34UEE, C6A/K4UEE, P40R,3A/K4UEE, T30EE, ZP5/K4UEE, TA1/K4UEE, VR2/K4UE=
E,
KH6/K4UEE, HS1/K4UEE,TI5/K4UEE, VP2KC, VP5KMX, XF4DX, VP2V/N9GL, PJ9W, =
AH1A,
ZP0Y, XR0Y, CE0Z, TO0R, TO0R/mm, VK0IR.  e-mail: [email protected]

                                                   Skip Cameron, W5GAI

Skip Cameron, W5GAI, was first licensed in 1954 at age 14 and has been =
an
avid DXer since.  He has worked all current DXCC entities execpt VU/A. =
 He
is a memember of the Central Texas DX and Contest Club.  He has operate=
d
from QTH's in Louisiana, Indiana, Oklahoma, California, and Texas.  His=

current QTH is a small hilltop lot in northwest Austin TX.  His station=

setup are an Icom transciever and 1960s vintage Swan four element trap
tribander antenna at 70 feet and a vee antenna for 80 and 40 meters, wh=
ich
he also uses on 12, 17, and 30 meters.  His personal web page is
http://www.ctdxcc.org/w5gai.html     or e-mail: [email protected]

                                               John Devoldere ON4UN

John Devoldere, ON4UN, will need no introduction to those who are activ=
e on
the low bands or in contesting, where his station is often activated us=
ing
the call sign OTxT. John holds an engineering degree in electronics, an=
d
took early retirement in 1996 after a 30 year career with a major
telecommunications company, where he held various management positions.=
 A
ham for about 40 years, John also holds an Extra Class license in the U=
SA
(AA4OI). ON4UN is actively involved in Amateur Radio society matters, a=
nd
serves as president of the UBA, the Belgian IARU member-society. Aside =
from
being active on the DX scene on the low (as well as other) bands, John =
and
his station are very active in international DX contesting. John feels =
that
contests are the place where you can find out how good your station
(antenna) really is. John holds a range of prestigious contest awards a=
nd
plaques, including a group of "winner" plaques for CQ 160-meter DX (CW)=

contests, ARRL 80-meter contests and various other
CQWW (Phone and CW) contests. John's station is operated as a club stat=
ion
during international contests; dozens of guest operators from all over =
the
world have operated from his
station during these contests. Elected to the CQ Contest Hall of Fame i=
n
1997, John is, above all, a very keen CW and contest operator. On 160 m=
eters
John has worked more than 280 countries and has the
highest country score outside the USA. On Top Band, John also holds the=

prestigious WAZ (award #3), as well as WAS, which is certainly not easy=
 from
Europe. On 80 meters, ON4UN has 345 confirmed countries (all-time) and =
heads
the DXCC listing worldwide. He also holds 80-meter DXCC #1.
These outstanding results are certainly not the result of pure luck. Th=
ey
are brought about by a professional approach, which John shares with th=
ose
at his program. Being retired now, John had the opportunity to spend mo=
re
than 1000 hours over a one-year period rewriting ON4UN's Low-Band
DXing, known far and wide as the "low-bander's bible."   Email:
[email protected]

> Registration and DX luncheon information is available at the HamCom w=
eb
> page http://www.hamcom.org

> or Lone Star DX Association web page
> http://www.dxer.org/lsdxa
>
> JA1BK's web page which contains information on Ducie and other
> Dxpeditions is at http://www.iijnet.or.jp/JA1BK/index2.html
>
> Additional information on Christian and Pitcairn Island is available =
at:
> Pitcairn Island web page
> http://www.lareau.org/pitc.html
> (also includes Tom's normal on-air operating times and frequencies)
> http://www.janeresture.com/pitcairn/
> (includes map of the island)

The XR0X San Felix Web page is http://cordell.vwh.net/SFX/

> 2001-2002 LSDXA Officers:
> Bill Priakos, W5SJ, president, [email protected]
> Herb Blair, K5AT, Information Director, [email protected]
> Bud Walton K5HW, treasurer, [email protected]
> Bob Alexander W5AH, activities director, [email protected]
> Tom Anderson, WW5L, membership director, [email protected]

The DX headquarters hotel will be the ArlingtonWingate Hotel, also
 our Hospitality suite will be there. If you plan to stay there, please=
 say
that you are with "HAMCOM", otherwise they will tell you the hotel is f=
ull.
The hotel information is

 Wingate Inn 1024 Brookhollow Plaza Drive
 Arlington, TX 76006
 817-640-8686, 1-888-657-8688, Fax 817-640-9922
 http://www.wingateinns.com
 Amenities:
 Continental Breakfast, Handicapped Access, Health
 Club, Outdoor Pool, TV/Cable,Other Amenities:
 Rate: $89

=