From bmarx at bellsouth.net Tue Nov 1 13:56:03 2016 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2016 13:56:03 -0400 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] SFDXA Meeting TOMORROW!, this Wednesday November 3rd at 7:33 PM (Dinners and Ragchew starts at 6:00 to 6:30) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <0abd0b30-2488-79f2-ca7c-01cf3cff2c3e@bellsouth.net> South Florida DX Association Meeting is this Wednesday November 3rd at 7:33 PM We have a fun and informative meeting planned so please Join us. Kai KE4PT worked on an article for the March 2017 issue of QST with Richard Quick W4RQ on the need for a balun, and on target for us DXers. Kai says it is informative and fun and we're looking forward to it. Other things on the agenda so plan to be there. Sorry for the shorter notice. Join us at 6:00 to 6:45, and have dinner in the cafeteria for a $7.00 Donation to the Club. Remember, only one entr?e. Walk across the hall with your tray to the auditorium and meet friends, and discuss and brag about your activities, new contacts, recent QSLs you've received and and any other rag chewing. Formal Meeting begins at 7:33 PM. Come and being a friend. Everyone is Welcome. The SFDXA Meeting is held at the Florida Medical Center on Oakland Park Blvd and the Fl Turnpike. There is no exit on the Turnpike at Oakland Park, So come west from I-95 on Oakland Park Blvd. past 441 to the Hospital, about 4 traffic lights west after 441 on the left before the Turnpike Bridge. Come through the front door and tell the Guard you are there for the Radio Club Meeting. For those using a GPS the hospital address is Florida Medical Center, 5000 Oakland Park Blvd. From bmarx at bellsouth.net Tue Nov 1 14:12:16 2016 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2016 14:12:16 -0400 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] SFDXA Meeting TOMORROW!, this Wednesday November 3rd at 7:33 PM (Dinners and Ragchew starts at 6:00 to 6:30) In-Reply-To: <0abd0b30-2488-79f2-ca7c-01cf3cff2c3e@bellsouth.net> References: <0abd0b30-2488-79f2-ca7c-01cf3cff2c3e@bellsouth.net> Message-ID: The Presentation is entitled: *"To Balun or not to Balun" "You need an RF Choke / Current Balun to turn your ?Tripole? into a ?Dipole?,** **authors are Rich Quick, W4RQ, and Kai Siwiak, KE4PT.* South Florida DX Association Meeting is this Wednesday November 3rd at 7:33 PM We have a fun and informative meeting planned so please Join us. Kai KE4PT worked on an article for the March 2017 issue of QST with Richard Quick W4RQ on the need for a balun, and on target for us DXers. Kai says it is informative and fun and we're looking forward to it. Other things on the agenda so plan to be there. Sorry for the shorter notice. Join us at 6:00 to 6:45, and have dinner in the cafeteria for a $7.00 Donation to the Club. Remember, only one entr?e. Walk across the hall with your tray to the auditorium and meet friends, and discuss and brag about your activities, new contacts, recent QSLs you've received and and any other rag chewing. Formal Meeting begins at 7:33 PM. Come and being a friend. Everyone is Welcome. The SFDXA Meeting is held at the Florida Medical Center on Oakland Park Blvd and the Fl Turnpike. There is no exit on the Turnpike at Oakland Park, So come west from I-95 on Oakland Park Blvd. past 441 to the Hospital, about 4 traffic lights west after 441 on the left before the Turnpike Bridge. Come through the front door and tell the Guard you are there for the Radio Club Meeting. For those using a GPS the hospital address is Florida Medical Center, 5000 Oakland Park Blvd. ______________________________________________________________ South Florida DX Assoc. "SINCE 1974" SFDXA WebSite: http://www.SFDXA.com SFDXA Repeater 147.33+ 103.5 Tone To Post: mailto:SFDXA at mailman.qth.net To UNSUBSCRIBE/EDIT: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/sfdxa This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net From bmarx at bellsouth.net Wed Nov 2 12:07:34 2016 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2016 12:07:34 -0400 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] From QRZ: Do you have a plan to become Silent Key? Message-ID: Do you have a plan to become Silent Key? Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News ' started by KH6OWL , Sunday at 6:40 AM . No one wants to think about death but it will happen to all of us and most want know it?s coming until it?s at the door. You should make it as easy on your family and loved ones as you can by being ready for it. In the HAM community we call that going Silent Key. All that HAM gear you have, does your spouse or family know anything about it? How do they get rid of it? How much is it worth and who to sale it to? Who will disconnect all that gear and who will take down your antennas? Maybe you have a mobile set up in your vehicle(s), if so, who can safely remove it without damaging the vehicle? Help them answer those questions now. If your family is anything like my family, they don?t even know how to turn the equipment on or off. I?ve attempted to get my family interested but they currently have no interest in learning or getting licensed. You might be surprised at how much radio gear you have. From cables, to connectors to the big items like radios, amplifiers, turners, SWR meters, antennas, keys and on and on. My stuff is scattered in two closest and two chest. What to do? If you are lucky and have a good friend that is a HAM then I would recommend you make a deal with that HAM. Whomever goes last will help the friend?s family with the with the HAM gear. Now that doesn?t mean to just let them handle it. Help you friend and write down all the equipment with model numbers, serial numbers, and what a fair value is. Update that list Annually and share it with your friend and your family. Your family should now that your friend has promised to take care of it and they should contact him/her when they are ready to move forward with the sale or disposal. On that list put the name and phone number of the person that will help with the HAM gear so your family knows whom to call when the time comes. Also give your friend the name and number of the person in the family to contact. If you don?t have that friend then maybe ask at a local club if someone handles Silent Key equipment for the club members. I have handled two and one was planned and the other was not. The one that planned wasn?t easy but at least the wife knew who I was and was expecting me to handle it. We found stuff for 4 or 5 months from the time she called me after the funeral and she was ready to go through it all to when we finally got it all organized. He had an antenna in his attic attached to the beams, antennas on his roof and in the back yard. Stuff in boxes hidden behind other boxes. We ended up cleaning most of the garage to find those items. I would get a phone call thinking she had found more HAM gear but it was either camera gear or boating gear. She had no idea what was what. In this case I was able to bring the gear to my house and sale it out of my garage as people wanted it. The other spouse would not let me take it out of her home so if someone wanted to see it I would make the appointment and drive by to be there to show the items and if they purchased it she got the money on the spot. This was harder on me but it was how the spouse wanted to do it even after I explained all that was involved. I guess it was trust issue. I had not meet this Hams spouse before but I had meet the other Hams spouse. If you are a member of a HAM Club, ARRL Member, QST Magazine, or other magazines, you should make sure either your family or that friend knows to cancel your memberships, magazine subscriptions and reporting yo SK. You don?t want your family getting that renewal notice in the mail or that monthly magazine. Every time they get those it will remind them of you. That may be good or bad. What about Social media accounts. In my example above, I still get LinkedIn notices of his birthday. She has no idea how to deactivate and it doesn?t bother her because she doesn?t use a computer. All of this can result in a significant amount of money to your family or loved ones at a time where they may need that extra income. Luckily in my example above the spouse was well taken care of and was not in need of that money but we made more than $3000 dollars on his items. Your family will be dealing with a lot during this time and you should make the process of disposing of your ham gear as easy as possible. KH6OWL, Honolulu Hawaii http://www.hamradiohawaii.com KH6OWL , Sunday at 6:40 AM Report From QRZ: (including replies and comments) http://forums.qrz.com/index.php?threads/do-you-have-a-plan-to-become-silent-key.542669/ From bmarx at bellsouth.net Thu Nov 10 20:31:08 2016 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2016 20:31:08 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] The ARRL Letter for November 10, 2016 In-Reply-To: <20161110224733.33F102016B7E@bmail.arrl.org> References: <20161110224733.33F102016B7E@bmail.arrl.org> Message-ID: <4d30828b-aaa9-6e4c-e48c-e934f7996e23@bellsouth.net> Preview If you are having trouble reading this message, you can see the original at: http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/?issue=2016-11-10 The ARRL Letter November 10, 2016 Editor: Rick Lindquist, WW1ME ARRL Home Page /ARRL Letter/ Archive Audio News Ad * Amateur Radio "Uniquely Situated" to be at Leading Edge Again, Conferees Told <#toc01> * Naval Academy Students Planning CubeSat with HF Uplink <#toc02> * The Doctor Will See You Now! <#toc03> * National Parks on the Air Update <#toc04> * US JOTA 2016 "Flash Numbers" Show Participation was Up <#toc05> * Austrian Moonbounce Enthusiast Demonstrates Success with Small-Scale Setup <#toc06> * Quest Continues for 1 kW Power Privileges in Australia <#toc07> * /Reminder:/ // NASA CubeSat Launch Initiative Application Deadline is November 22 <#toc08> * Free Cubes in Space^? Program Offers Opportunity for Youth to Put Experiments into Space <#toc09> * Latest Edition of the ITU Radio Regulations is Available Online <#toc10> * DX Notes from All Over <#toc11> * Hurricane Watch Net Honors Bermuda Radio Amateur <#toc12> * Getting it Right! <#toc13> * In Brief... <#toc14> * The K7RA Solar Update <#toc15> * Just Ahead in Radiosport <#toc16> * Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions <#toc17> Amateur Radio "Uniquely Situated" to be at Leading Edge Again, Conferees Told The dawn of so-called "smart" -- or cognitive -- radio has presented Amateur Radio with an opportunity to regain the leading edge in radio technology in the near future. It will also alter our view of spectrum as a limited resource. Those points and others were part of a forward-looking, tag-team Sunday Seminar presentation, "Spectrum (It's the frequency crunch for real)," by Michelle Thompson, W5NYV, and Bob McGwier, N4HY, at the 2016 ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC ), September 16-18 in St. Petersburg, Florida. Thompson heads the AMSAT Ground Terminal Team, a component of the Phase 4B geosynchronous satellite project. McGwier is chief scientist at the Hume Center for National Security and Technology at Virginia Tech. This week,/HamRadioNow/ made the entire 3-hour presentation available as part of its conference coverage: HamRadioNow Episode 276 Parts 1, 2, and 3 . "If you put the smarts in the radio, what can possibly go wrong?" quipped Thompson, pointing to an example that demonstrated how sufficiently complicated technology is also more likely to fail. *Michelle Thompson, W5NYV, at the ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference. [Photo courtesy of /HamRadioNew/]* Thompson said cognitive radio technology will alter the paradigm of treating spectrum as if it were land. "Spectrum is immediately reusable," she said, "and land is not." Regulation and spectrum allocation have been necessary to manage interference among services, but smart radios can avoid collisions among users, she said. "[I]t hasn't been until fairly recently that we've been able to inexpensively and quickly reconfigure a radio," she said. Thompson's Phase 4B project will take maximum advantage of cognitive radio technology, which can -- among other things -- determine an optimal clear frequency, mode, and path on the fly, transparently, and without human intervention. McGwier called the computer "the tidal wave that has swept over Amateur Radio." And, he predicted, "It is going to bring us back to becoming technical innovators." He said radio amateurs "are uniquely situated to be the leading edge in radio again." McGwier said the innovation needed in Amateur Radio will come about through what he called "Amateur Radio freedom," that encourages experimentation and thinking outside the box. "It's the ultimate democratic assignment of frequencies in the world," he said. *Bob McGwier, N4HY, at the ARRL and TAPR DCC. [Courtesy of /HamRadioNow/]* He painted a picture of intelligent radio technology that will operate like the human brain. "It's going to design the radio on the fly, from scratch, without a subject-matter expert involved," he said. "The radio will be done by artificial intelligence, from beginning to end. The object becomes not the radio, but the activity it allows." Responding to a question, McGwier conceded that today's hams may balk at this sort of paradigm shift, since it's far removed from how most Amateur Radio communication takes place today. But he said embracing smart radio technology is what will attract a younger generation of new hams. "We need to not limit what these kids can do with Amateur Radio," he maintained. "They are going to outdo us, if we only allow them. We can't limit them, because this is a fundamental paradigm shift." Predicted McGwier: "You will not recognize your world in 10 years." The /HamRadioNow/ presentation also is available in audio format, and a highly condensed 11-minute synopsis is available on YouTube. /-- Thanks to Gary Pearce, KN4AQ//HamRadioNow Naval Academy Students Planning CubeSat with HF Uplink Students at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, are planning an Amateur Radio CubeSat -- dubbed /HFSAT/ -- that would carry an HF transponder as a primary payload as well as 2-meter APRS as a secondary mission when power is available. The 1.5 U CubeSat will have a linear uplink at 21.4 MHz and a downlink at 29.42 MHz. "/HFSAT/ is a small 1.5 U CubeSat that**will demonstrate the viability of HF satellite communications as a back-up communication system using existing ubiquitous HF radios that are often a part of every amateur station," said USNA Instructor Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, who developed APRS. Bruninga said /HFSAT/ would be similar to the 1990s-era RS-12/13 Russian Amateur Radio satellite. "/HFSAT/ will continue the long tradition of small amateur satellites designed by students and hams at the US Naval Academy," Bruninga told ARRL. The uplink will be at 21.4 MHz and downlink at 29.42 MHz, similar to [earlier] Mode K HF satellites. No launch has yet been identified." Bruninga said /HFSAT/ would be gravity gradient-stabilized by its full-sized, 10-meter, thin-wire, half-wave dipole. Other unique features of /HFSAT/ include its APRS telemetry command-and-control capability. "For VHF the students have modified a popular Byonics.com MTT4B all-in-one APRS Tiny-Track4 module for telemetry, command, and control to fit on a single 3.4-inch square card inside the CubeSat, that they will use for this and for future CubeSats," Bruninga said. The students are working with Bill Ress, N6GHZ, on the HF transponder card, which will provide a bandwidth of 30 kHz, employing an inverting transponder to minimize Doppler. Todd Bruner, WB1HAI, will be the /HFSAT/ control operator. *Bob Bruninga, WB4APR.* Bruninga said the HF transponder is a follow-on from the USNA's existing /PSAT/ 10-meter PSK31 transponder, still operational. /HFSAT/'s telemetry downlink will be captured via stations in the worldwide ground-station network. The packet link is a secondary mission compared to the HF transponder on this spacecraft. Once /HFSAT/ is in space, Bruninga recommended using a vertical HF antenna, because it would match well with the antenna patterns and geometry of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. "When low on the horizon, both the satellite and the user antennas are in their main lobes, providing maximum gain at the distant horizons," Bruninga said. "At the higher elevations, the satellite is 6 dB to 10 dB closer, significantly making up for the reduced antenna pattern geometry." He said hams would be able to use "simple, manual" pass-prediction tools, much as they used the old Oscar Locator in the early years of Amateur Radio satellites. The Doctor Will See You Now! "Anderson Powerpole Connectors, and Antenna Polarization" are the topics of the latest (November 3) episode of the "ARRL The Doctor is In " podcast. Listen...and learn! Sponsored by DX Engineering , "ARRL The Doctor is In" is an informative discussion of all things technical. Listen on your computer, tablet, or smartphone -- whenever and wherever you like! Every 2 weeks, your host, /QST/ Editor-in-Chief Steve Ford, WB8IMY, and the Doctor himself, Joel Hallas, W1ZR, will discuss a broad range of technical topics. You can also e-mail your questions to doctor at arrl.org , and the Doctor may answer them in a future podcast. Enjoy "ARRL The Doctor is In" on Apple iTunes , or by using your iPhone or iPad podcast app (just search for "ARRL The Doctor is In"). You can also listen online at Blubrry , or at Stitcher (free registration required, or browse the site as a guest) and through the free Stitcher app for iOS, Kindle, or Android devices. If you've never listened to a podcast before, download our beginner's guide . National Parks on the Air Update A couple of milestones were reached in the ARRL National Parks on the Air (NPOTA ) program last week. Washington, DC-based Activator Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, became the first amateur to activate from all 28 NPOTA units in DC, completing that feat on November 7. Pete Kobak, K0BAK, also deserves credit for activating all of the NPS units in the Eastern Pennsylvania Section. These include some difficult urban units in Philadelphia. These are two examples of the efforts that Activators are putting forth to achieve 1 million total NPOTA contacts by year's end. Activity remains strong, with more than 25,000 contacts uploaded to Logbook of The World every week. Fifty-four activations are scheduled for November 10-16, including Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site in New York, and Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida. Details about these and other upcoming activations can be found on the NPOTA Activations calendar. Keep up with the latest NPOTA news on Facebook . Follow NPOTA on Twitter (@ARRL_NPOTA). Ad US JOTA 2016 "Flash Numbers" Show Participation was Up According to the US Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) 2016 "flash numbers ," participation swelled in the annual Scouting event this fall. JOTA Coordinator Jim Wilson, K5ND, released the preliminary report last weekend. "After sifting through the reports and eliminating a few duplicates along with reports from countries outside the US, we've compiled the early flash numbers," Wilson said. "The great news is that there have been some excellent increases in participation." The total number of Scouts taking part was up by 51% to 10,761, while the visitor total was up by 30% to 6,668. Perhaps the best news was an increase in the number of stations reporting -- up by 28% to 267 this year, just short of the record 271 in 2013. After station reports slumped last year, the Boy Scouts made a big push that included prize drawings to encourage participants to file post-JOTA reports. Station registrations dropped by 15% this fall to 295. Jamboree on the Internet (JOTI) registrations were up from 100 last year, to 505 this time around. The stats showed that the number of Amateur Radio operators was up by 14% to 1,120, but they used fewer radios -- down 25% in 2016 to 631. "The next steps are to do further analysis and finalize the report for full publication," Wilson said. "We'll be sifting through the written reports and suggestions, finding memorable quotes, and photos/videos, as well as searching for other insight. We know for starters that there was far more interest this year in JOTA-JOTI from Scout leaders and parents, based on the new 2016 Arrow of Light award requirement." Wilson said he expects to have the final report out by month's end. The grand prize winner of the drawing for an Icom ID-51A Plus, donated by Icom America , was Leroy Wignot, WA4OTD. Austrian Moonbounce Enthusiast Demonstrates Success with Small-Scale Setup Hannes Fasching, OE5JFL, of Braunau am Inn, Austria, has demonstrated that you don't need a huge antenna system to operate EME (moonbounce) successfully. Fasching fired up for the October 22-23 weekend of the ARRL EME Contest , using a small horn antenna on 1.2 GHz. *The small-scale moonbounce setup at OE5JFL in Austria.* "Because of other commitments I had only a few hours to be QRV in the first part of the ARRL EME Contest," he said in a Moon-Net post on October 26. "As tests with my recently built 23-centimeter horn antenna were promising, I decided to give it a try to work some stations." Fasching placed the horn on his balcony with an 80 W solid-state amplifier. Operating /WSJT/, he logged contacts with Switzerland, Russia, Germany, and the Czech Republic. He also heard stations in the Netherlands, Finland, Denmark, and Italy on digital modes and in the UK, Czech Republic, Denmark, and Italy on CW. Fasching, who also has a 7.3-meter homemade dish, has uploaded recordings of some EME signals to his website, along with the results of tests with his small system. Quest Continues for 1 kW Power Privileges in Australia On the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA ) VK1WIA National News , WIA Director Roger Harrison, VK2ZRH, recently remarked on efforts to raise the Amateur Radio power limit to 1 kW there. A 1 kW limit was trialed in 2012-2013, but Harrison said he does not expect the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to repeat that test. The central issue comes down to that of compliance with electromagnetic radiation standards in Australia," Harrison said, not what other countries may allow. He noted that radiocommunication regulation in Australia is embodied both in license conditions and in compliance with electromagnetic radiation standards, and ACMA has a responsibility to ensure that emissions from /all/ radio transmitting systems do not expose the public to harm. "In fulfilling that responsibility, the ACMA needs to know where possibly harmful transmitter systems are located and that such locations are recorded on a license," Harrison continued. "With that understanding, the [WIA] Spectrum Strategy Committee is working with ACMA to develop suitable procedures under which amateurs interested in running high power can make an application that meets the ACMA's technical and regulatory requirements. Talks are continuing."/-- Thanks to Southgate Amateur Radio News; WIA/ /Reminder:///NASA CubeSat Launch Initiative Application Deadline is November 22 The application deadline to take part in NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI ) is Tuesday, November 22. NASA has invited accredited education institutions, nonprofit organizations, and NASA centers to join the adventure and challenge of space, while helping the agency to achieve its exploration goals. Many research CubeSats launched as part of the CSLI have carried Amateur Radio payloads. CSLI provides CubeSat developers with a low-cost pathway to space, in order to conduct research that advances NASA's strategic goals in science, exploration, technology development, education, and operations. The initiative provides students, teachers, and faculty members with a chance to gain hands-on flight hardware development experience by designing, building, and operating small research satellites. NASA will announce its selections by February 17, 2017; selection does not guarantee a launch opportunity. Selected experiments are considered auxiliary payloads on NASA launches or for International Space Station deployment starting next year and continuing through 2020. More information on CSLI is on the NASA website./-- Thanks to NASA/ Ad Free Cubes in Space^? Program Offers Opportunity for Youth to Put Experiments into Space The free Cubes in Space ^? program provides students ages 11 to 18 an opportunity to design and compete to launch an experiment into space at no cost. Cubes in Space is offered by idoodledu inc, in partnership with the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops Flight Facility, the Colorado Space Grant Consortium, and the NASA Langley Research Center. Based on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics), the global education initiative enables students to learn about space exploration using innovative problem-solving and inquiry-based learning methods. Participants have access to resources that help prepare them to design and develop an experiment to be integrated into a small cube. There are two launch opportunities in 2017 -- into space via sounding rocket from Wallops Island or via high-altitude balloon, launched from NASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in New Mexico. The registration deadline is January 6, 2017. E-mail or visit the Cubes in Space website for more information, or call (888) 735-4565. /-- Thanks to AMSAT News Service via NASA/ Latest Edition of the ITU Radio Regulations is Available Online What the International Telecommunication Union (ITU ) calls "The global treaty behind your mobile communications" -- the ITU Radio Regulations (2016 edition) -- now is available online and at no cost via the ITU website. Published in ITU's six official languages, the new edition of the Radio Regulations is also available for purchase in hard copy format and as a multilingual DVD. "Following the successful completion of World Radiocommunication Conference 2015, I am pleased to announce the issue of the ITU Radio Regulations, edition of 2016, which will come into force for all the signatory parties on 1 January 2017," said Fran?ois Rancy, Director of the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau. Calling the treaty "an incredible success story," ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao noted that the global treaty upon which mobile communication and other uses of wireless technology internationally depend, will celebrate its 110th anniversary this year. Delegates to the World Radiocommunication Seminar (WRS-16 ) in Geneva this December will mark the occasion./-- Thanks to ITU (//media release/ /)/ DX Notes from All Over The ZL7G DXpedition to Chatham Island wrapped up on November 9 after logging more than 42,000 contacts, including nearly 3,000 of them on RTTY. The DXpedition team has dismantled stations and antennas and plans to depart the island on November 19. Chatham Island was number 95 on the ClubLog DXCC Most Wanted List . *A ZL7G vertical is silhouetted against a sunrise on Chatham Island.* "We continued with RTTY (2,900 QSOs now) and had hoped for one last grey line on 160," a team news release said. "However, thunderstorms over New Zealand and Australia meant that 160-meter QSOs on the morning of [November 9] were hard to come by." Earlier, the team had complained of "dire HF conditions," although things did improve. ZL7G recorded nearly 10,400 contacts with North American stations, more than 16,400 with stations in Europe, and nearly 14,000 with Asian stations. The contact count with stations in Africa and Asia were only in the triple digits. Complete results of the DXpedition are available on the ClubLog website. Rebounding from his aborted "Cows Over the World" DXpedition, Tom Callas, KC0W, commenced a CW-only operation from the Philippines on November 8, as 4I7COW. This marks the first time the 4I7 prefix has been used. The Minnesota DXer plans to focus on 160 meters. He will operate from 4I7COW until November 22. Callas was forced to abruptly cancel the rest of his "Cows Over the World" Pacific DXpeditions earlier this fall, after his belongings were stolen in Kiribati. *Tom Callas, KC0W, and friends on Kiribati. * After he returns to the US, Callas plans to travel to Equatorial Guinea, where he will apply in person for 3C and 3C0 call signs. Given the complexity of the Equatorial Guinea licensing process, Callas has said he believes it's best to make the preliminary trip to submit all 20 documents required for each call sign and increase his chances of getting the ones he wants. He plans to activate Annobon (3C0) and Equatorial Guinea (3C) in January for at least 25 days from each entity. He may do some SSB operation too, but no digital modes. Annobon is number 35 on the ClubLog DXCC Most Wanted List , while Equatorial Guinea is number 43. Peripatetic DXer Zorro Miyazawa, JH1AJT, will be part of a team that will activate Myanmar (XZ), November 15-22. Joining him will be Champ Muangamphun, E21EIC; Franz Langner, DJ9ZB, and Madison Jones, W5MJ. The primary purpose of the trip is to support the Olympic and Paralympic Committee in Myanmar. Activity will be on 80 through 10 meters on CW, SSB, and RTTY, with two stations. The call sign has not yet been announced. Myanmar is number 49 on the ClubLog DXCC Most Wanted List. Ken Opskar, LA7GIA, is heading to the Central African Republic, hoping to get on the air as TL8AO on November 11. He'll be there until November 22, running 400 W to a variety of antennas, mostly on CW, on 80 through 10 meters. He will upload his log to Logbook of The World. *JG2MLI's QSL card from his 8J1RL operation in Antarctica.* Yath Yoshikawa, JG2MLI, will head back to the Japanese Polar Research Syowa Station on East Ongul Island to operate with the commemorative call sign 8J60JARE , marking the 60th anniversary of the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE) from January 2017 until January 2018. He will operate SSB, CW, RTTY, and digital modes on 40 through 10 meters and will post his logs to Club Log. CW operator Tony Wanschura, KM0O, will be on the air November 19-28 -- including the CQ World Wide DX CW Contest -- from Vientiane, Laos, as XW0YO. He'll be on CW and SSB (but not RTTY) on 160 through 10 meters. "Fortunately, in this time of low solar activity and weak signals, this particular QTH has virtually zero noise," he said. -- /Thanks to KC0W, /The Daily DX /, /DX-World /, and the ZL7G team/ Hurricane Watch Net Honors Bermuda Radio Amateur The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN ) has recognized one of its longtime members, Antony "Tony" Siese, VP9HK. HWN Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, announced on October 20 that the net would confer upon Siese the title of "Honorary Member," in recognition of his 31 years of service. Graves said Siese is the first non-manager to be named an Honorary Member. *Tony Siese, VP9HK.* VP9HK joined the HWN in 1985, although, he said, he took a "sabbatical" last year. In 2003, his reports during Hurricane Fabian gave forecasters at the National Hurricane Center valuable ground-truth information and insight as to what the storm was doing in Bermuda, Graves said, earning Siese the Message in a Bottle Award from W4EHW (now WX4NHC) for the 2003 Hurricane Season. "It is very rare for any individual to be so dedicated to an organization, especially as a volunteer," Graves said. "Tony, on behalf of the Hurricane Watch Net, thank you for all you have done and continue to do." Siese was first licensed in the UK as G4CIL in the 1970s. He's lived in Bermuda for more than 52 years./-- Thanks to the Hurricane Watch Net/ Ad Getting it Right! In the story "Rule Making Petition to FCC Calls for Vanity Call Sign Rule Changes" in /The ARRL Letter/ for November 3, 2016, the correct number of the /Petition for Rule Making/ is RM-11775 . Interested parties may comment using the FCC Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS ). Comments are due within 30 days of the October 26 posting date. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In Brief... *The American Legion Amateur Radio Club Sponsoring Veterans Day Special Event:***American Legion members will honor fellow veterans with a special event on Veterans Day, Friday, November 11. The American Legion Amateur Radio Club (TALARC ) will sponsor the activity, which will begin on the HF bands at 1400 UTC and conclude at 2130 UTC, using the call sign K9TAL. Operators who contact the station are eligible to receive a full-color commemorative certificate by sending a 9?12 self-addressed, stamped envelope to The American Legion Amateur Radio Club, 700 N Pennsylvania St., Indianapolis, IN 46204. /-- Thanks to Ed Brown, AA3EB/ *ARISS Packet System on Board the ISS Switched to UHF* Due to the recent failure of the Ericsson VHF radio in the ISS /Columbus/ module, the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS ) APRS packet system that normally operates 145.825 MHz has not been available. Crew member Shane Kimbrough, KE5HOD, has activated an ARISS UHF radio that had been in storage on the ISS, and it is now operational on 437.550 MHz. The packet system uses the same protocol as the VHF system. Operators using the system should adjust for increased Doppler shift at UHF. The ARISS team is currently working on Kenwood TM-D710GA models to replace all Amateur Radio transceivers on board the ISS. The target date for delivery is late 2017. /-- Thanks to ARISS/ *Papers Solicited for 2017 Eastern VHF/UHF/Microwave Conference* Organizers for the 2017 Eastern VHF/UHF Microwave Conference have issued a first call for papers. The event will take place April 21-23, 2017, at Baymont Inn in Manchester, Connecticut. Papers on all VHF-and-up activities are invited, from operating, contesting, and propagation to antennas, amplifiers, low-noise preamps, homebrewing, microwaves, moonbounce, Arduinos, and more. Photos of projects are especially welcome. For more information, contact Paul Wade, W1GHZ. /-- Thanks to AMSAT News Service via the Microwave List/ *Video of Forum Explaining How Ham Radio Clubs Can Obtain Tax-Exempt Status Now Available:* A video of the presentation by Certified Public Accountant Lynn Baxter, W0LTB, at the New England Amateur Radio Festival (NEAR-Fest ) in October is now available online. Most radio clubs are set up as nonprofit corporations, but this does not mean that they are tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax code. Some changes that took place in 2014 simplified the process for smaller organizations with less than $50,000 in annual gross revenues and reduced the amount of red tape. In the presentation, Baxter explains how clubs and nonprofits can attain 501(c)(3) status under the new rules and how to file a simple online annual report to maintain that status, which, under some circumstances, would allow Amateur Radio clubs to accept donations and issue receipts for tax purposes, as well as enjoy other benefits. /-- Thanks to Mike Crestohl, W1RC / *Changes Made to 60-Meter Allocations in Portugal and Finland:* Jos? E. Ribeiro S?, CT1EEB, has reported on changes to Portugal's 60-meter allocation, which includes some of the existing discrete channels plus a new contiguous band. He said his just-renewed, 60-meter band license authorizes him to operate CW and SSB on 5,371.5 kHz and 5,403.5 kHz, as well as on 5,351.5 kHz to 5,366.5 kHz. He said his license specifies no power limit. In Finland, Jari Jussila, OH2BU (aka OH2P on 60 meters), reported that radio amateurs there should gain access to 5,351.5-5,366.5 kHz,//starting on January 1, with 15 W EIRP. The 60-meter band in Finland is divided into sub-bands by mode bandwidth. Amateur Radio is secondary on all 60-meter allocations./-- Thanks to Southgate Amateur Radio News/ The K7RA Solar Update Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: At 0002 UTC on November 9, this geomagnetic warning was distributed by Australia's Space Forecast Centre: Increased geomagnetic activity expected due to coronal hole high-speed wind stream and possible glancing blow from CME [coronal mass ejection] associated with November 5 filament on November 9-10 2016. The Centre said the forecast for November 10 is "Active." But the USAF Ap forecast predicts the disturbance will occur perhaps a few days later. The USAF forecast was issued about 21 hours later than the Australian forecast. Predicted planetary A index is 8, 14, 26, 20, 12, and 8 on November 10-15; 5 on November 16-18; 8, 15, 54, 42, and 24 on November 19-23; 18, 22, 18, 12, and 10 on November 24-28; 8 on November 29-30; 5 on December 1-3; 8, 20, and 8 on December 4-6; 10, 12, and 20 on December 7-9; 18, 10, and 8 on December 10-12; 5 on December 13-15; 8, 15, 54, 42, and 24 on December 16-20. Predicted solar flux is 80 on November 10-12; 85 on November 13-14; 90 on November 15-16; 78 on November 17-18; 77 and 75 on November 19-20; 78 on November 21-22; 79 on November 23-25; 78 on November 26; 77 on November 27-28; 76 on November 29-30; 77 on December 1-3; 75 on December 4-5, and 78 on December 6-15. Sunspot numbers for November 3 through 9 were 23, 25, 24, 23, 24, 0, and 12, with a mean of 18.7. The 10.7 centimeter flux was 75.6, 76.7, 76.7, 76.2, 76.5, 76.9, and 79.9, with a mean of 76.9. Estimated planetary A indices were 18, 5, 3, 5, 4, 3, and 7, with a mean of 6.4. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 12, 3, 2, 4, 2, 2, and 5, with a mean of 4.3. Were you active in the ARRL November Sweepstakes (CW) last weekend? Send me a report of your observations. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ . . . . . . . ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Just Ahead in Radiosport * November 12-13 -- WAE DX Contest (RTTY) * November 12-13 -- 10-10 International Fall Contest (Digital) * November 12-13 -- JIDX Phone Contest * November 12-13 -- OK/OM DX Contest (CW) * November 12-13 -- SKCC Weekend Sprintathon (CW) * November 12-13 -- Kentucky QSO Party (CW, phone, digital) * November 12-14 -- CQ-WE Contest (CW, phone, digital) * November 17 -- NAQCC CW Sprint See the ARRL Contest Calendar for more information. For in-depth reporting on Amateur Radio contesting, subscribe to /The ARRL Contest Update/ via your ARRL member profile e-mail preferences. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions * November 12-13 -- Indiana State Convention , Fort Wayne, Indiana * November 19 -- Alabama State Convention , Montgomery, Alabama * December 9-10 -- West Central Florida Section Convention , Plant City, Florida * January 8 -- New York City/Long Island Section Convention , Bethpage, New York * January 14 -- TechFest 2017 Convention , Lawrenceville, Georgia * January 20-21 -- North Texas Section Convention , Forest Hill, Texas * January 21 -- Georgia ARES Convention , Forsyth, Georgia * January 22-28 -- QuartzFest Convention , Quartzsite, Arizona * January 27-28 -- Mississippi State Convention , Jackson, Mississippi * January 27-29 -- Puerto Rico State Convention , Hatillo, Puerto Rico * February 3-4 -- Southern Florida Section Convention , Ft. Lauderdale, Florida February 4 - South Carolina State Convention , North Charleston, South Carolina * February 4 -- Virginia State Convention , Richmond, Virginia * February 10-12 -- Southeastern Division Convention (HamCation), Orlando, Florida * February 17-18 -- Arizona Section Convention , Yuma, Arizona * February 25 -- West Central Florida Section Technical Conference , Sarasota, Florida Find conventions and hamfests in your area . ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *ARRL *-- *Your One-Stop Resource for * *Amateur Radio News and Information*. . . * Join or Renew Today! ARRL membership includes /QST/ , Amateur Radio's most popular and informative journal, delivered to your mailbox each month. * Listen to /ARRL Audio News/ , available every Friday. Subscribe to... * /NCJ //-- National Contest Journal/ . Published bimonthly, features articles by top contesters, letters, hints, statistics, scores, NA Sprint, and QSO Parties. * /QEX/ *//*--/A Forum for Communications Experimenters/ . Published bi-monthly, features technical articles, construction projects, columns, and other items of interest to radio amateurs and communications professionals. Free of charge to ARRL members... * Subscribe to the /ARES E-Letter/ (monthly public service and emergency communications news), the /ARRL Contest Update /(bi-weekly contest newsletter), Division and Section news alerts -- and much more! Find ARRL on Facebook ! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram ! Ad Ad Ad Ad Ad ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The ARRL Letter is published Thursdays, 48 times each year. ARRL members may subscribe at no cost or unsubscribe by editing their Member Data Page as described at http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/. Copyright ? 2016 American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved www.arrl.org From bmarx at bellsouth.net Wed Nov 16 09:35:44 2016 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2016 09:35:44 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] The ARRL Contest Update for November 16, 2016 In-Reply-To: <20161116110202.9090D21AE7BE@bmail.arrl.org> References: <20161116110202.9090D21AE7BE@bmail.arrl.org> Message-ID: <551a94bc-6080-d11e-bc2d-ff5e996aceee@bellsouth.net> Preview If you are having trouble reading this message, you can see the original at: http://www.arrl.org/contests/update/?issue=2016-11-16 The ARRL Contest Update November 16, 2016 Editor: Brian Moran, N9ADG /Contest Update/ Archive Contest Calendar ARRL Home Page Ad IN THIS ISSUE * New HF Operators: ARRL Phone Sweepstakes, CQWW DX CW <#_660058590079509-NewHF> * Contest Summary <#_660058590079509-ContestSummary> * News: ARRL Phone Sweepstakes, NCDXF Beacon Renovations, and more <#_660058590079509-News> * Word to the Wise: Soapbox <#_660058590079509-Word> * Sights and Sounds: QSOToday.com, EF8U SO2R, and more <#_660058590079509-Sights> * Results: ARRL VHF, CQWW raw scores, and more <#_660058590079509-Results> * Operating Tip: Winning QSOs and Influencing the Casual Operator <#_660058590079509-OperatingTip> * Technical Topics and Information: Use a TDR on your Beverage, BNCs, PCBs, and more <#_660058590079509-Tech> * Conversation: Why do Sweepstakes? <#_660058590079509-Conversation> * Contests <#_660058590079509-LogsDue> * Log Due Dates <#_660058590079509-LogsDue> NEW HF OPERATORS - THINGS TO DO Two weekends, two major contests: ARRL Phone Sweepstakes, and CQ World Wide DX, CW! Larry, K5OT, ARRL Sweepstakes Contest Manager, has some tips for Sweepstakes: "New contest ops frequently ask what they can do to improve their Sweepstakes scores. First, make sure you know the required exchange in the correct sequence. Write the exchange down on a card in front of the rig if necessary. There is no need to repeat it all twice ... say it clearly one time, and the other station will let you know if they need any 'fills' of information they missed. If you come across a station and there is a big pileup, try to work them but don't invest too much time fighting the masses. Put that frequency in your rig's memory (or 2nd VFO, or your logger's bandmap) and pop back later when things slow down a bit. You can use that waiting time productively to look for other stations to work. While it is natural to tune for stations, that is, 'search-and-pounce', don't be afraid to occasionally stop on a clear spot and spend some time CQing. A louder station might eventually push you off the frequency, but you will have made a nice string of QSOs in the meantime. Have fun!" For the CQ WW DX CW contest, check out the "tips" page on the CQWW DX blog . Remember to be on the bands a few days BEFORE the contest as operators travel to distant locales and test antennas and gear. It's an opportunity to work some DX, and verify your station's operation. The Homebrew and Oldtime Equipment party is coming up on November 20; for an example of what some rigs used to sound like, check out this YouTube video of a chirpy QRP transmitter operating into a dummy load . BULLETINS None this time BUSTED QSOS QRU CONTEST SUMMARY Complete information <#_660058590079509-Contests> for all contests follows the Conversation <#_660058590079509-Conversation> section *November 17* * CWops Mini-CWT Test * NAQCC CW Sprint *November 18* * NCCC RTTY Sprint * QRP Fox Hunt * NCCC Sprint * YO International PSK31 Contest *November 19* * *ARRL EME Contest* * SARL Field Day Contest * LZ DX Contest * All Austrian 160-Meter Contest * Feld Hell Sprint * RSGB 2nd 1.8 MHz Contest, CW * *ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, SSB* *November 20* * Homebrew and Oldtime Equipment Party *November 21* * Run for the Bacon QRP Contest *November 23* * SKCC Sprint * Phone Fray * CWops Mini-CWT Test *November 24* * CWops Mini-CWT Test * RSGB 80m Club Sprint, CW *November 25* * NCCC RTTY Sprint * NCCC Sprint *November 26* * CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW *November 30* * QRP Fox Hunt * Phone Fray * CWops Mini-CWT Test * UKEICC 80m Contest Ad NEWS, PRESS RELEASES, AND GENERAL INTEREST Larry, K5OT, ARRL Sweepstakes Contest Manager, writes: "Don't forget - the Phone portion of the annual ARRL November Sweepstakes begins this Saturday, November 19th at 2100Z. Check out the Sweepstakes information package (PDF) for complete rules, operating tips, and log submission details. And while you are thinking about your operating plans, take a moment to look over the recently updated Sweepstakes Phone records. There might be a category record in your ARRL Section that you could attack this year!" The Northern California DX Foundation is renewing the design of its well-utilized beacon network. As detailed in the Winter 2016 NCDXF Newsletter , if everything goes to plan, most users will not notice any difference. One popular way to use the network is in conjunction with the Reverse Beacon Network . By checking the historical data of reception reports from a monitoring station near you, it can help to identify the right time and frequency to be on a particular band to maximize your chances of working a particular multiplier. It pays to check the "Using the RBN " web page. The official rules for WRTC 2018 have been published. Continuing the two operator, two transmitter format of the preceding WRTC 2014, "Both stations will be permitted to transmit at any time to maximize their scoring and the fun of the world wide WRTC community" according to Uwe Koenneker, DL8OBF, Director of the WRTC 2018 Rules Committee. Notable among the WRTC 2018 rules is the allowance of the use of Panadapter or waterfall band displays, and *dis*allowance of the use of a second or sub-receivers. Also, only one computer is permitted to be attached to each radio, and PCs used in the effort must connect via wired Ethernet. There will be requirements for signal quality, which are TBD. The QRP Fox Hunt folks announce the second annual 160 meter QRP Fox Hunt, to take place 0200Z-0330Z Wednesday November 23, which is Tuesday evening in the U.S.Activity will be centered around 1.810 MHz.Look for stations calling "CQ FE" - the exchange should follow the usual Foxhunt format: RST, SPC, name, power. Note that this is NOT a contest where anyone can call CQ - please see the contest rules . QRP-ARCI Contests are back! Jeff, VA3JFF/VE3CW, QRP-ARCI Contest Manager, announces the following eight QRP-ARCI sponsored contests for 2017: New Years Day Sprint January 1, 2017 Spring Thaw Sprint March 11, 2017 Spring QSO Party April 1-2, 2017 Hootowl Sprint May 28, 2017 Summer Homebrew Sprint July 9, 2017 Fall QSO Party October 21-22, 2017 Top Band Sprint November 30, 2017 Holiday Spirits Homebrew Sprint December 17, 2017 Full details will be available on the QRP-ARCI website shortly. ?ngel, WP3GW, writes: "I am an avid Contest Update reader, and read about the split operations in a contest, which is common on 40 meters. I did it once with some results, but calling in the 7.075 - 7.100 MHz portion and listening up in the 7.200 plus segment. Why? As per FCC rules, licensed stations West of 130? and South of 20? from the Equator can call in that portion of the band on phone and image. That means stations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands can be in that segment of 40 meters, as can stations on Desecheo (KP5) and on Navassa (KP1), which the K1N operation took advantage of in 2015. For those of us in KP4 it is an extra privilege as we can make ragchew nets locally, but also be of great help if any emergency occurs in any other country, make an emergency traffic net and be part of the same translating in Spanish as well as be a link to the USA." Members of the Sierra Nevada Amateur Radio Club hear about propogation at the "Introduction to Contesting" workshop at W7RN. [Photo by Barry, K6ST] On Saturday, October 29th, during the 2016 CQ WW DX Contest, the Comstock Memorial Station (W7RN) sponsored "Introduction to Contesting" to members of the Sierra Nevada Amateur Radio Club (SNARS). In all, there were 14 participants. The average tenure as a ham of the visitors was one year. Each was given a chance to make at least one contest contact. The enthusiasm level was over the top and the session lasted more than 9 hours, including extensive introduction to HF antennas and how they work. The Elmers were Tom, K5RC, and Barry, K6ST. Participants included W1RK, N7SAX, KI7FNR, W7CDN, K7HMR, AG7BY, K7ASE, KA7EKU, AE7JW, KG7PG, KF7EGU, and KI7GVU. Tom, K5RC, working with Michael, KF7EGU on 10 meters during the "Introduction to Contesting" workshop at W7RN [Photo by Barry, K6ST] What can young hams do? In 1966, the California QSO Party was started by a group of teenagers from the Claremont Ham Club. You can revisit the results of the first CQP in the Northern California Contest Club's October 2016 /Jug/ Newsletter . In the same NCCC newsletter , there's also a review of sorts of the CW Academy run by the CW Ops club. WORD TO THE WISE *Soapbox* - Commentary that can be added to a log submission, intended to potentially be included in the contest results. Comments can be added to Cabrillo-format log files using the *SOAPBOX:* tag, with a maximum line length of 75 characters. Soapbox comments can also be included when score rumors are submitted to 3830scores.com . Reading soapbox comments is a good way to pick up new contesting tips or techniques. Writing pithy, incisive soapbox comments can be good therapy for poor band conditions . SIGHTS AND SOUNDS NP3U, at the Mi Casita Contest Club site, operated M/M in the recent CQWW Contest . The Saturday afternoon operators are pictured left to right: Edgar, NP4EG, Angel, WP3GW and Rafael, NP3RE. [Photo courtesy of Angel, WP3GW] Eric, 4Z1UG / WA6IGR, hosts QSOToday.com , a podcasting site featuring thirty-minute interviews with Amateurs from all corners of our hobby. Perusing his list of past guests , you'll see some well-known calls, as well as some that you'll likely remember after you've listened to their interview. The content is well indexed, so you can quickly find podcasts that pertain to the particular aspects of Amateur Radio that you like, for example, "Contesting." Dan, N6MJ, operated EF8U in the SO2R category during the recent CQ WW SSB Contest. You can watch over nine minutes of his operation where 'smooth' and 'calm' come to mind as he piles in the contacts on one band, while looking for contacts on another. This installation of an 18 element Optibeam Yagi antenna is featured in a new YouTube video. Amir, 4X6TT, used a crane to install the antenna and rotator cage onto a monopole. Ad RESULTS AND RECORDS The 2016 ARRL June VHF Contest Full Results Article (PDF) was updated on the website on October 20 with updates to the plaques table. Preliminary results for the October 2016 ARRL School Club Roundup are available . In the schools categories, KM4RE, the Russell Elementary Amateur Radio Club (Georgia) is currently in the top spot for Elementary/Primary Schools, while N4SMS, Schofield Middle School (South Carolina) has potentially captured the number one spot for middle schools. KF5CRF, the Tiger Radio Club (Oklahoma), is the top contender for Senior High, while Texas A&M is the likely winner in the college/university category. The raw scores for CQ WW SSB 2016 are now available . These are the scores as calculated by the log checking software before any cross-log checking has occurred. Please send any feedback or comments to questions at cqww.com . Results for the 2015 JIDX Phone Contest are now available. You can graphically interact with the results of CQWW Logs from 2007 through 2015 on EI6DX's Contest Activity Analyzer . Using the tools, you can see which bands were useful for making contacts between your zone and other parts of the world by time of day, using real data from a past year. OPERATING TIP Winning QSOs and Influencing the Casual Operator Always be enthusiastic when calling CQ. Make people want to work you. The most important time to be your most solicitous is just about the time you just want to be done, the slow times, or on the second day of the contest. When the rate is low or decreasing, you want to get non-serious or non-contesters to answer your CQ. Those Qs can really make a difference in your score. If you sound bored, your CQ will be less appealing. Try this: Smile while calling CQ, and when making the contact. People will hear it in your voice . TECHNICAL TOPICS AND INFORMATION Think your Beverage antenna not performing like it should? You can use a time domain reflectometer (TDR), or the TDR feature of your antenna analyzer, to locate anomalies in your antenna. In a message to the Topband reflector , Eddie, LU2DKT, describes how he used an Array Solutions AIM 4170 analyzer to "look down" his antenna, and the device found a number of areas to inspect. The problems included water in his coax, vegetation touching the antenna, and a support post failure. They were easier to locate as the TDR indicates distance to the fault. His reflector post links to "broken" and "fixed" TDR scans, where you can see the line condition. This technique could be really useful if you need to check your antenna in the middle of the night, and don't want to walk hundreds of feet in the dark to visually inspect it. All BNC connectors are NOT the same. There are differences between 50 ohm and 75 ohm BNC connectors, including center pin size, and the dielectric material used to insulate the pin from the outer connector. A crimp tool meant to be used on a center pin of one type may not be compatible with another. Intermixing connectors may not matter so much for lower frequencies, but over 10 MHz could lead to increased VSWR. Back in August, EDN did a survey of printed circuit board fabrication houses for making prototype boards. In addition to the vendors mentioned in the article, the comments also provide some additional possibilities to get your small projects done. Vacuum tube testers are still in demand from those that use tubes in audio applications, and personal computers can be used to perform a number of tests faster than any human can turn rotary switches, press the test button, and read meters. Here's a review of some of the digital tube testers that are available , including some that are DIY. Anyone using these to test transmitter or amplifier tubes? Ad CONVERSATION Why Sweepstakes? You're either into it, or you're not. Some Amateurs of a certain age talk about Sweepstakes wistfully, as if they are recalling their last one, or maybe all of them together, at once. At one time I was a Sweepstakes denier. "Boy, that's a weird exchange." "Seems like it's just a domestic contest." "No per band mults, how fun can that be?" "Doesn't count for our Pacific Northwest inter-club competition." All of those statements may be true. And yet I now look forward to Sweepstakes. It started a few years ago when I was invited to participate in a phone multi-op. Somehow, the perceived awkwardness of the exchange, the slowness of the second day, and a dozen other things transformed from annoyances into a positive shared experience. I was one of the team. We made many, many Qs, talked about radio a lot, broke things and fixed things, and had a good time. Over time, the event has turned into a ritual. Looking at the 2015 top scorers in the various operating categories, I wondered how they viewed the Phone contest. Randy, ND0C, earned the top US spot last year in the QRP Phone category. Yes, QRP, Phone. Have you heard the bands during Phone Sweepstakes? He had made 424 contacts from Minnesota, including a clean sweep. Why do this? According to Randy: 'Well, it's natural to ask a sane person why they would run QRP in a phone contest, but of course that's assuming.... Aside from the pathological masochism that must be present, for me it simply boils down to the challenge. Years ago, when I was explaining what QRP DXing and contesting was all about to a non-ham, he quickly asked if I fished with ultra-light weight tackle. I think that is a pretty good analogy. I interpret QRP very literally, meaning it is 5 watts or less to the antenna. For some folks it seems to imply minimalist everything, including antennas, like you have to also use only dipoles, or better yet, underground antennas to be a "real QRPer". But I don't subscribe to that philosophy. I will use the most effective antenna I can (limited by my normal residential lot). And I make sure the antennas are tuned precisely and I use open-line feed to my dipole to minimize feed line loss. For me, the challenge is to do as much with those 5 watts as possible, which means I need to optimize efficiency. And I need to be as good as I can be when it comes to timing my calls, finding the mults before the packet hordes descend, etc. To get a clean sweep in SS as a QRP unassisted op is a real blast. Things have be to working well ... and I have to be lucky. And with QRP I can't depend on brute force to break a pile-up for a tough section. I have to be "on the hunt" all of the time. And I have to be smart in choosing my battles. Really it is as much about the listening as anything, and knowing the bands and the propagation. Running is fun, but I can only do that when a band is really open and I'm feeling "loud". If I can't get at least one contact every minute or so by CQing, I'll go back to search and pounce, my normal approach to most contests. I thrive on the competition. Can I win the division? Can I get in to the top 10 QRP? But it's not just competing against other stations and operators; it's really against myself. Can I beat last year's score? Can I beat my best score ever? Can I get a sweep? How soon? How good can I be and what can I accomplish with five watts? It can be really tough when I'm battling Kilowatts to get QSOs and mults, but there is an incredible satisfaction every time I have success in doing so. So to sum it up, I guess it is, again the challenge. And I am frequently amazed at what can be done with QRP, even on SSB. And there is nothing better than having an operator recognize my call and ask me if I'm running QRP. When I give them the inevitable answer "yes, five watts", they respond with something like "wow - you are loud!" Now that's cool! One last thought: You don't have to be crazy to run QRP in a phone contest... But it helps. ' Also in 2015, Bob, W0BH, shepherded a team from the Hesston College Amateur Radio Club to a first place win in the School category. With 1334 contacts and a clean sweep, Bob effectively shares the Sweepstakes spirit: "Sweepstakes is my way of introducing college students to ham radio. As trustee of K0HC, the Hesston College Amateur Radio Club call, I enjoy the process of meeting with students outside of class to put together and train a SSB Sweepstakes team. Most students come from our aviation, air traffic control and computer science programs, and they are usually unlicensed. Seeing them working together to talk and log, hunt for multipliers, chat with other School teams, and just have fun makes it worthwhile year after year. We hope to work you all again this coming weekend!" W4AQL, the Georgia Tech Amateur Radio Club, sends a check of 12, though they started in 1910. In 2015, they were awarded second place in the 'S' category, phone. Phil, KJ7IQA, President, commented: "Sweepstakes is the biggest contest of the year for us in terms of participation and effort, but we don't really do a lot of recruiting for it. We simply make an announcement about the contest at the last club meeting before Sweepstakes weekend, and we may exchange a few planning E-Mails among club members to make sure that people will be able to come to operate. Saturday evening is the time when we can expect the most turnout. A small crowd, mostly consisting of club members, congregates in our shack. Operators will rotate throughout the evening, allowing for everyone to have a chance to get on the air while preventing anyone from getting burned out. Everyone else who isn't operating just hangs out together, whether they're chatting or working on homework or whatever else. ... I think we also usually end up getting pizza and having dinner together, making sure to save some for the operators! Gradually, people will start trickling out to go home, although usually one or two people end up staying later than everyone else to operate for as long as they can stand. Sunday usually sees a smaller turnout, with only two or three people in the shack at once. Personally, I've only worked sweepstakes with the GTARC in this kind of group setting, and I really think that it's the way to go. Having a group of operators rather than going it alone allows us to stay on the air longer while keeping any one person from sitting alone at the radio for hours on end, and it also becomes a sort of social gathering rather than just a contest. I always look forward to Sweepstakes because it's a lot of fun both to keep up with the fast pace of contacts on the air, but also to get to hang out with friends in the shack in between operating stints. It's also very satisfying, of course, to be able to look at the contest results once all is said and done, to see the club's callsign high in the rankings, and to know that I contributed a valuable part to earning that prize." Randy, K0EU, entered the Unlimited category in 2015, earning first place with 2064 contacts, and was candid: "It isn't my favorite contest, due to the fact that the rate slows down so much as the contest progresses. The first 4-6 hours are great, though. The main reason I enter is because I have a chance to place #1 nationally if I choose any category except 'B'." Steve, N2IC, who achieved second place in the 'B' category, commented that the reason he enjoyed Sweepstakes was for 'The challenge of hunting the last remaining contesters on Sunday, before either I or they go extinct at 0300Z!' This jibes with Jeff, VY2ZM: 'I do it because it is a LONG EXCHANGE and a challenge - plus the competition is really unreal.' See you in Sweepstakes! That's all for this time. Remember to send contesting related stories, Sweepstakes anecdotes, book reviews, tips, techniques, press releases, errata, schematics, club information, pictures, stories, blog links, and predictions to contest-update at arrl.org 73, Brian N9ADG CONTESTS *17 Nov - 30 Nov 2016* An expanded, downloadable version of QST's Contest Corral in PDF format is available. Check the sponsor's Web site for information on operating time restrictions and other instructions. *HF CONTESTS* CWops Mini-CWT Test , Nov 16, 1300z to Nov 16, 1400z, Nov 16, 1900z to Nov 16, 2000z, Nov 17, 0300z to Nov 17, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10m; Member: Name + Member No., non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: November 19. NAQCC CW Sprint , Nov 17, 0130z to Nov 17, 0330z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20m; RST + (state/province/country) + (NAQCC No./power); Logs due: November 21. NCCC RTTY Sprint , Nov 18, 0145z to Nov 18, 0215z; RTTY; Bands: (see rules); Serial No. + Name + QTH; Logs due: November 20. QRP Fox Hunt , Nov 18, 0200z to Nov 18, 0330z; CW; Bands: 80m Only; RST + (state/province/country) + name + power output; Logs due: November 24. NCCC Sprint , Nov 18, 0230z to Nov 18, 0300z; CW; Bands: (see rules); Serial No. + Name + QTH; Logs due: November 20. YO International PSK31 Contest , Nov 18, 1600z to Nov 18, 2200z; PSK31; Bands: 80m Only; YO: RST + Serial No. + County, non-YO: RST + Serial No. + Country; Logs due: December 3. SARL Field Day Contest , Nov 19, 1000z to Nov 20, 1000z; CW, SSB, Digital; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10m; RS(T) + Number of transmitters + Category (see rules) + Province (or "DX"); Logs due: see rules. LZ DX Contest , Nov 19, 1200z to Nov 20, 1200z; CW, SSB; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10m; LZ: RS(T) + 2-letter district, non-LZ: RS(T) + ITU Zone No.; Logs due: December 20. All Austrian 160-Meter Contest , Nov 19, 1600z to Nov 20, 0700z; CW; Bands: 160m Only; OE: RST + Serial No. + District Code, non-OE: RST + Serial No.; Logs due: December 31. Feld Hell Sprint , Nov 19, 1700z to Nov 19, 1859z; Feld Hell; Bands: 160, 80, 40m; (see rules); Logs due: November 23. RSGB 2nd 1.8 MHz Contest, CW , Nov 19, 1900z to Nov 19, 2300z; CW; Bands: 160m Only; UK: RST + Serial No. + District Code, non-UK: RST + Serial No.; Logs due: November 26. *ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, SSB* *, Nov 19, 2100z to Nov 21, 0300z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10m; Serial No. + Precedence (Q/A/B/U/M/S) + [your call sign] + Check + ARRL/RAC Section; Logs due: December 6.* Homebrew and Oldtime Equipment Party , Nov 20, 1300z to Nov 20, 1500z (40m), Nov 20, 1500z to Nov 20, 1700z (80m); CW; Bands: 80, 40m; RST + Serial No. + "/" + class; Logs due: December 21. Run for the Bacon QRP Contest , Nov 21, 0200z to Nov 21, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10m; RST + (state/province/country) + (Member No./power); Logs due: November 27. SKCC Sprint , Nov 23, 0000z to Nov 23, 0200z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10m; RST + (state/province/country) + Name + (SKCC No./power); Logs due: November 25. Phone Fray , Nov 23, 0230z to Nov 23, 0300z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15m; NA: Name + (state/province/country), non-NA: Name; Logs due: November 25. CWops Mini-CWT Test , Nov 23, 1300z to Nov 23, 1400z, Nov 23, 1900z to Nov 23, 2000z, Nov 24, 0300z to Nov 24, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10m; Member: Name + Member No., non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: November 26. RSGB 80m Club Sprint, CW , Nov 24, 2000z to Nov 24, 2100z; CW; Bands: 80m Only; [other station's call] + [your call] + [serial no.] + [your name]; Logs due: December 1. NCCC RTTY Sprint , Nov 25, 0145z to Nov 25, 0215z; RTTY; Bands: (see rules); Serial No. + Name + QTH; Logs due: November 27. NCCC Sprint , Nov 25, 0230z to Nov 25, 0300z; CW; Bands: (see rules); Serial No. + Name + QTH; Logs due: November 27. CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW , Nov 26, 0000z to Nov 28, 0000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10m; RST + CQ Zone No.; Logs due: December 2. QRP Fox Hunt , Nov 30, 0200z to Nov 30, 0330z; CW; Bands: 80m Only; RST + (state/province/country) + name + power output; Logs due: December 1. Phone Fray , Nov 30, 0230z to Nov 30, 0300z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15m; NA: Name + (state/province/country), non-NA: Name; Logs due: December 2. CWops Mini-CWT Test , Nov 30, 1300z to Nov 30, 1400z, Nov 30, 1900z to Nov 30, 2000z, Dec 1, 0300z to Dec 1, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10m; Member: Name + Member No., non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: December 3. UKEICC 80m Contest , Nov 30, 2000z to Nov 30, 2100z; CW; Bands: 80m Only; 4-Character grid square; Logs due: November 30. *VHF+ CONTESTS* *ARRL EME Contest* *, Nov 19, 0000z to Nov 20, 2359z; CW, Phone, Digital; Bands: 50-1296 MHz; Signal report; Logs due: December 21.* LOG DUE DATES *November 17, 2016* * NRAU 10m Activity Contest * Illinois QSO Party * QRP Fox Hunt *November 18, 2016* * Phone Fray *November 19, 2016* * QRP Fox Hunt * CWops Mini-CWT Test *November 20, 2016* * NCCC RTTY Sprint * NCCC Sprint * EANET Sprint * OK/OM DX Contest, CW * SKCC Weekend Sprintathon *November 21, 2016* * DARC 10-Meter Digital Contest * NAQCC CW Sprint *November 27, 2016* * High Speed Club CW Contest *November 28, 2016* * 10-10 Int. Fall Contest, Digital * WAE DX Contest, RTTY *November 30, 2016* * Classic Exchange, Phone ARRL Information Click here to advertise in this newsletter, space subject to availability. 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All Rights Reserved www.arrl.org From bmarx at bellsouth.net Thu Nov 17 05:32:35 2016 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2016 05:32:35 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] SUNSPOT CYCLE AT LOWEST LEVEL IN 5 YEARS: Message-ID: *Space Weather News for Nov. 17, 2016* http://spaceweather.com https://www.facebook.com/spaceweatherdotcom *SUNSPOT CYCLE AT LOWEST LEVEL IN 5 YEARS:* Sunspot counts have reached their lowest level in 5 years, a clear sign that Solar Minimum is approaching. Contrary to popular belief, Solar Minimum is neither dull nor uneventful. Instead, space weather changes in interesting ways. Today's edition of Spaceweather.com lists some of the changes we can expect, including one that is happening right now: a measurable increase in atmospheric cosmic rays. Check it out . From bmarx at bellsouth.net Thu Nov 17 05:40:58 2016 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2016 05:40:58 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] W6SFM Bug Roundup Event Reminder In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <049a4acb-7850-bc69-1e55-41b1f5ad3b4b@bellsouth.net> From the VINTAGE RADIO REFLECTOR: This is a simple reminder that Next Weekend is the "CQ BR" W6SFM Bug Roundup Event! W6SFM On-Air BUG ROUNDUP - Starts Saturday November 19th 1500 - 1500 November 20th 2016 Objective: This 24-hour event is not a contest; rather it is a time dedicated to celebrating our CW and Bug key heritage. Participants are encouraged to get on the air and simply make enjoyable, conversational CW QSOs using a Bug style key as the sending instrument. There are no points scored in this event, and all who participate are winners. An on-line spotting page and Operator Chat window will be active during the event and can be found by visiting the Bug Roundup Event page or by clicking HERE. Once the event has concluded, logs can be submitted to the W6SFM by way of the link provided on the clubs Bug Roundup web page. Thank you for your participation and we hope you enjoy the event. 73 For more information on this exciting event please visit the W6SFM Bug Roundup website page by clicking HERE (http://www.w6sfm.com/Bug_Roundup.html) From bmarx at bellsouth.net Thu Nov 17 16:26:45 2016 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2016 16:26:45 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] Hamvention(R) Countdown: With 6 Months to Go, Plans Proceeding Apace at New Venue In-Reply-To: <36ebe652-6494-6b11-573d-8c4a363e76ce@bellsouth.net> References: <36ebe652-6494-6b11-573d-8c4a363e76ce@bellsouth.net> Message-ID: <22574ecd-7386-5e85-509f-bad6811b21e4@bellsouth.net> From Tony N2MFT: Hamvention? Countdown: With 6 Months to Go, Plans Proceeding Apace at New Venue 11/16/2016 With just 6 months to go until *Hamvention* ? debuts at its new *Greene County Fairgrounds and Event Center* venue in Xenia, Ohio, May 19-21, General Chair Ron Cramer, KD8ENJ, and Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) Board Member Mike Kalter, W8CI, assure that all is progressing smoothly. Cramer and Kalter made another appearance this week (November 16) on */Amateur Radio Roundtable/* , hosted by Tom Medlin, W5KUB, to update progress on preparations for the all-new Hamvention. Cramer and Kalter said they continue to be bombarded with questions, concerns, and rumors regarding how the event will be staged. ?You have to remember, we?re starting from the ground up,? Cramer said. ?So it?s taken a while to get things going.? He asked for patience from prospective visitors, but he and Kalter told Medlin that the vast all-volunteer team has everything well in hand and that plans are coming together. Both maintained that those attending Hamvention 2017 ?will be very impressed.? Cramer predicted parking would not be an issue, and that there would be plenty of room for the anticipated number of vehicles, with overflow parking available and transportation to the buildings housing the vendors and events from the parking areas, as needed. Traffic and transportation logistics are being addressed, Cramer said, and Hamvention is working with four police departments as well as a professional traffic planner to ensure that all goes smoothly. Cramer said Hamvention 2017 tickets will become available starting in December ? a bit earlier than in past years. The cost of admission will rise by $2 from the 2016 price of $20 for advanced tickets and $25 for those purchased at the gate. But, he pointed out, there will be no parking charges on site. The Hamvention website is yet to be updated to reflect the 2017 event, but Cramer and Kalter said that both indoor and outdoor layout maps will be made available online in advance of the show, and these will be included in the Hamvention program as well. Kalter said he and Cramer continue to hear concerns about the outdoor flea market, which will be sited within the racing oval. Kalter said some prospective attendees worry that the grassy area will become muddy if it rains. ?That is not true,? he assured viewers of the program. ?They have a very nice drainage system there.? He said parking areas also are equipped with adequate drainage. Hamvention also expects to provide Internet connectivity throughout the new venue, which encompasses more than 100 acres. Hamvention sponsor DARA has a 3-year commitment at the new venue, which has served primarily as home to agricultural fairs and events in the past. Hamvention announced in August that it would be relocating to Xenia, following the closure of Hara Arena, where the show took place for more than 50 years. The /Amateur Radio Roundtable/ show included a DX Engineering-produced *video* shot from a drone operated by Greg Ordy, W8WWV, and narrated by DX Engineering?s Tim Duffy, K3LR. http://www.arrl.org/news/hamvention-countdown-with-6-months-to-go-plans-proceeding-apace-at-new-venue From bmarx at bellsouth.net Fri Nov 18 06:46:04 2016 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2016 06:46:04 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] ARLB042 ARRL Calls on Members to Press for US Senate Passage of Amateur Radio Parity Act In-Reply-To: <20161117234740.C311A21BE15B@bmail.arrl.org> References: <20161117234740.C311A21BE15B@bmail.arrl.org> Message-ID: <85369cb9-3175-9b8a-9fef-022fb062dba9@bellsouth.net> We can't send this out too much. Have you contacted yours? SB QST @ ARL $ARLB042 ARLB042 ARRL Calls on Members to Press for US Senate Passage of Amateur Radio Parity Act ZCZC AG42 QST de W1AW ARRL Bulletin 42 ARLB042 >From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT November 17, 2016 To all radio amateurs SB QST ARL ARLB042 ARLB042 ARRL Calls on Members to Press for US Senate Passage of Amateur Radio Parity Act ARRL once again is calling on its members to urge their US Senators to support the Amateur Radio Parity Act (H.R. 1301) when it comes up in the Senate during the "lame duck" session of Congress that adjourns in mid-December. The House of Representatives approved the bill in September, but if the Senate does not follow suit, the bill will die, and the entire process will have to be repeated. ARRL Hudson Division Director Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, who chairs the ARRL Board's Legislative Advocacy Committee and has been heavily involved in efforts to move H.R. 1301 forward, said today, "The clock is ticking." "We begin the e-mail campaign once again, as the US Senate returns to work this week after a month-long hiatus," Lisenco said. "We were just beginning to build momentum in the Senate following the unanimous passage of the Parity Act in the House when Congress shut down for the 4 weeks prior to Election Day." The task is simple: Go to our Rally Congress page, enter your ZIP code, fill in your name and address, press enter, and e-mails will go directly to your Senators. Members may do this, even if they have already contacted their US Senators for support. Our Rally Congress page is at, https://arrl.rallycongress.net/ . "We have to remind our legislators that we are still here and that we need the Amateur Radio Parity Act to become law," Lisenco stressed. "We must to do this now as we have, at most, only 4 weeks left in the session to get the bill passed this year. Otherwise, we will have to begin the entire process in 2017 with a new 115th Congress." There are no guarantees, Lisenco said, and we are subject to the political bickering that goes on daily between the parties, despite the fact that the bill is truly a bipartisan effort. "In order to have a chance at overcoming political obstacles that have little or nothing to do with the legislation, we need our voices to be heard," he said. "And we need that input today." September's victory in the US House was the culmination of many years of effort on ARRL's part to gain legislation that would enable radio amateurs living in deed-restricted communities to erect efficient outdoor antennas that support Amateur Radio communication. The measure calls on the FCC to amend its Part 97 rules "to prohibit the application to amateur stations of certain private land-use restrictions, and for other purposes." While similar bills in past years gained some traction on Capitol Hill, it was not until the overwhelming grassroots support from the Amateur Radio community for H.R. 1301, and ARRL's relentless and strident efforts on Capitol Hill that this bill made it this far. As the amended bill provides, "Community associations should fairly administer private land-use regulations in the interest of their communities, while nevertheless permitting the installation and maintenance of effective outdoor Amateur Radio antennas. There exist antenna designs and installations that can be consistent with the aesthetics and physical characteristics of land and structures in community associations while accommodating communications in the Amateur Radio services." NNNN /EX From bmarx at bellsouth.net Fri Nov 18 06:53:30 2016 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2016 06:53:30 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] Microphones... Message-ID: OK you found this odd microphone in a garage sale or a the hamfest, and want to know what it is... Try here: http://www.coutant.org/contents.html From bmarx at bellsouth.net Fri Nov 18 14:29:21 2016 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2016 14:29:21 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] Mike's Electronics - Closed Thanksgiving Message-ID: Closed for Thanksgiving November 21st - 26th * *Mike's Electronics - * 1069 NW 53RD STREET FT LAUDERDALE, FL 33309 PH 954-491-7110 FX 954-491-7011 800-427-3066 mspivak at bellsouth.net*** From bmarx at bellsouth.net Mon Nov 21 12:23:54 2016 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2016 12:23:54 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] ARRL Needs You To Telephone Senator Nelson Immediately In-Reply-To: <20161121153739.0424121BBF6A@bmail.arrl.org> References: <20161121153739.0424121BBF6A@bmail.arrl.org> Message-ID: <89a61316-fabc-22dc-d154-d163f85dd00a@bellsouth.net> To All Our ARRL Members in Florida ? Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL), is still not supporting H.R. 1301 / S.253 the Amateur Radio Parity Act. In fact, Senator Nelson has placed a ?hold? on the legislation, effectively barring consideration of the Bill despite its widespread bipartisan support. If this hold isn?t removed, the bill will die in the Senate and require the process to completely start over when the new Congress begins on January 1, 2017. You are one of well over 40,000 licensed Amateur Radio operators living in Florida. Many of you already live in deed-restricted communities, and that number grows daily. We need you to reach out to Senator Nelson TODAY! Right away. We know that thousands of you have written to the Senator. NOW IS THE TIME TO CALL HIM ON THE PHONE, tell him you?re a constituent, that you support H.R. 1301 and S.253, demand that he stop blocking the Bill, and to support the legislation to its passage. Here are his phone numbers. Please call your local office AND the Washington D.C. office. Office Phone Washington D.C.: 202-224-5274 Broward 954-693-4851 Fort Myers 239-334-7760 Jacksonville 904-346-4500 Miami-Dade 305-536-5999 Orlando 407-872-7161 or toll free in Florida: 1-888-671-4091 Tallahassee 850-942-8415 Tampa 813-225-7040 West Palm Beach 561-514-0189 Thank you. Very 73, Rick - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Rick Roderick, K5UR President ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio? From bmarx at bellsouth.net Wed Nov 23 08:36:35 2016 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2016 08:36:35 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] Ten-Tec Message-ID: From Tony N2MFT: Interesting & long read from new owner of Ten-Tec --------------------- Greetings Friends and Fellow Ten Tec Enthusiasts, I wanted to update you on what is happening in Sevierville. The Smokey Mountains are literally fogged in with smoke in some places as Tennessee has many wild fires burning. I was there two weeks ago and have never experienced anything like it. Driving down Jellico Mountain on I75 it became literally IFR conditions with near zero visibility from the smoke. As some of you know Ten Tec has been occupying office condominium space behind the site of the former factory where now a Wal-Mart Express is sitting. This site is not appropriate for our needs. Starting last week, we are moving out of this location into a more industrial friendly space. Unfortunately this location is not zoned for commercial walk in traffic, so the days of someone showing up at the factory door unfortunately have come to an end. After an entire year of searching for any possible opportunity to move, this is all we have been able to come up with. Commercial real estate is completely out of control in Sevierville county because of the tourist industry, and unless we have about a half million dollars to invest in the factory location you can just forget about it. Ten Tec is "too small" to receive any incentive, tax breaks or help from the local so called "Economic Development" office. My opinion is that the State and local government of Tennessee is about as economically unfriendly to a small business or start up business as is possible. For example, in other counties in TN the standard is to create 10 new jobs to get any incentive. Sevier County arbitrarily requires 25 jobs. By my calculations, 25 jobs would be around a million dollar pay roll if the jobs averaged 15 dollars an hour to the employee with a 25% more overhead to the employer. Any business having that kind of payroll better have about 10 million in gross receipts which would put it at DOUBLE the IRS definition of a small business and QUADRUPLE the IRS definition of a micro business, so it is obvious that the economic development offices do not have any mandate whatsoever to support or help ANY small business reason the scale of an individual person's finances. The fact that Ten Tec must have contributed millions of tax dollars to the local economy over the last 50 years means nothing. In many states, these economic development offices are partially funded by the local Chamber of Commerce. It is my opinion these offices function as intelligence gathering units to forewarn their members of any possible competitor entering their area. If small business is truly the economic growth engine of the United States it is apparent to me why we have growth problems if we depend on these organizations to help us as individuals. It seems ironic that the company named TEN TEC for Tennessee Technologies can't get any assistance at all in Tennessee considering the state's advertising of their "Tennessee Technology Initiative". If you are wondering why I wrote all this above it is to head off the endless string of expert recommendation that I contact TVA and the local economic development. I've done it and nobody is going to help Ten Tec in the State of Tennessee. To get back on track, I stated above we are moving the remainder of this month. You all know what that means. Service will be slow this month. Robert decided not to have you send in radios this month so we wouldn't have to move them. There is no cause for alarm or speculation. Service will continue just as soon as we are moved. I hear and read all kinds of gossip and complaints and this and that about our service, and none of it even close to accurate. We have serviced hundreds of radios this year and have a bunch of happy customers. You will see in the reflector some guy complaining or saying he is worried and then five people saying everything was fine. I'm so sick of it. Really it is so frustrating, especially when some of you call or write me up in Ohio about your twenty year old radio. I can't help you. I'm not in Tennessee. The people there run things and do their job essentially under Boyd's supervision. I don't want to sound condescending or aloof or unreasonable or unfriendly but please see this from my perspective. There are thousands of you and one of me. I am responsible to run this company and pay the people who work here whose families depend on me. I am an electrical engineer and my time needs to be spent getting the new products developed and out the door, not with a dial string for your old thing that I neither sold you or received any benefit of selling to you. Can you directly call the president of Icom? Does Eric answer the telephone when you call Elecraft? It is just not possible for me to answer every email and every telephone call about service issues. If you call me at Dishtronix and leave a message asking me to call you about your Ten Tec I'm not returning your call. If I answer I'm going to tell you we have put up the procedure that you email service at tentec.com . Yes, I have a telephone at Ten Tec and no, you can't have it. We are short staffed because we do not have sales volume at this time to support a large overhead. This way, Robert can go through all of the email and respond at one time in the morning, then spend the rest of the day shipping radios and parts orders without being interrupted. He is there three days a week, so you don't get answers on Monday or Friday. Sure, I know some of you don't like it. There is no need to tell me about it. I don't like it either, but until we start having a lot more cash flow that is the way it is going to have to be. For those that complain about how long it is taking, please understand this is a million dollar endeavor and money like that just doesn't grow on trees, at least for me. Of course any of you wealthy gentlemen looking for a good cause to donate some money to - I would love to have the cash on hand to turn things around tomorrow. Until then I'll be working 16 hours a day seven days a week with no days off and scrimp and save and spend carefully and build up slowly just like every other hard working guy has to do. What I am going to try to do next is set up sort of an email hotline for critical cases with Bob if he will do it. I just thought of this and have to talk to him about this. OK, enough about that. Let's get on to some better stuff. Many of you know that under RFC and RKR Ten Tec quit doing their PCB assembly in house. Those of you who have known me over the decades at Dishtronix know my shop suffered heating issues that made it tough for the machinery to run in the end of January to February arctic blasts. Well, I have a new and very nice double insulated, heated and cooled free span metal building where I've moved my PCB assembly operation and this is something I'm very excited about. The building has a metal skin totally covering the inside with good overhead fluorescent lighting and conduit encased electrical outlets every 12 feet around the perimeter. I have retired the older Contact Systems placement machines in favor of newer MYDATA (Micronics Sweden) placement machines. I installed the first MY9 machine this last June and have been using it to build boards for the RX340 commercial orders we have been fulfilling. Ten Tec did have a MY9 when they were building boards in house. The MYDATA machines are the choice for high mix medium volume production, especially when equipped with the Agilis quick change feeder system. Feeders usually cost more than the machines in this business, and I've been growing my collection all year. I am about a third of the way to having the collection of feeders I would like to have. Earlier this month I got lucky and was able to purchase the bar code software which will allow me to load and unload components from the machine by just scanning with the barcode reader, and it is done off line. It will help with inventory control and component management which is a real nightmare considering Ten Tec has over 7000 different line items. TheMY9 machine has a capability to hold up to 96 different components and has a single mounting head. As I write this, an air ride big rig is getting closer and closer to Ohio, hauling a MY19 machine in from San Francisco which can hold an additional 160 different components (total 256 8 mm tapes) and has 8 mounting heads! Hopefully this machine will be brought online successfully and not be damaged or in bad shape as I've bought it sight unseen. I've also moved the 8 zone, lead free capable, pin chain conveyor equipped Electrovert Bravo 8105 oven to the new building last weekend. This gives us the capability to process double sided surface mount and the ability to reliably process BGA chips. I've also purchased this summer but not yet installed an X ray machine to do 100% inspection of the BGA reflow soldering process. With the existing equipment (stencil printers, board washers, etc.) this will give us what I believe is the most well equipped and modern PCB manufacturing of any amateur radio manufacturer in North America. I believe the other guys outsource their board assembly. It may be the smart thing to do, but I personally prefer to buy and house my own components in house and to have total control over my assembly process. I find it requires more time to outsource and get constant bids for things like this than to just own the equipment and do it myself. I think you get a better product at less cost. Of course the best reason in my opinion for doing it all in house is I can do as small of a production run as I want, IF I am willing to spend the time to set up and do it. Hence the decision for the quick change capability of the MYDATA system. So, all in all what this means is the Phoenix is rising. I am rebuilding Ten Tec and preparing to do some serious manufacturing, which brings me to my next point. Most of you know we have been bogged down and overwhelmed with the commercial side of our business this last year since I officially assumed the helm in January. With trying to replenish the hard to get / long lead time / last time buy / obsolete parts, rebuild the PCB assembly operations, moving, and so on we just haven't had the horsepower to build any amateur transceivers. Well, the good news is we have caught up on our commercial contracts. Be glad we did this. You know all the stuff I wrote about above? The commercial contracts paid for that. Without this TEN TEC would not exist right now. We are at a very important cross roads right now. What do we do next? Some of you know we are developing new products. Those are still off on the horizon. What I need to know is how many of you would purchase Eagles if they were available? I'd like to do a run of 100 of them next. It is a great radio. I like mine every bit as well as my Orion II. The DSP function is superb. We have to talk a little bit about price. When the Eagle was launched it was a $2100 radio with no accessories. You all know the story of the blow out sales and the liquidation as the previous owners sold everything that wasn't nailed down on their way out. Some of you got fully loaded radios for $1299 or whatever. You know they didn't even cover their assembly cost on that, right? Some of you got real bargains. Of course only the last 35 radios or something were sold at that price but you get the point. You will never see a price like that again. If I have to sell an Eagle at that I will close and lock the doors and be done with it. A strip model needs to sell at 1699 at least. The more you are willing to pay for a radio the faster the new radios can come out. We want to build radios and sell them so we can keep the production team in place so we can meet the demand when the new radios come out. Everything we do tomorrow depends on how much you support us today. I'm certain some of you have heard that I and two partners acquired Alpha and that I've been officially at the Helm since August. It is a separate company from Dishtronix / TEN TEC. Of course I will be building the circuit boards for those products as well. I'm after something business people call economy of scale, essentially having enough product flow through the doors to totally occupy the machines and infrastructure. I'll be making a post on that reflector as well to update those customers also. By the way, we do have RX340s available to build on short notice now. Let me close by wishing you all a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving holiday, one of my favorites and of course the reason I see my dentist in November for my pre-feast tune up. The Sevierville team and I appreciate your support for TenTec, where we believe we are once again Making America Great - One Radio at a Time. VY73 DE MIKE N8WFF From bmarx at bellsouth.net Fri Nov 25 18:50:11 2016 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2016 18:50:11 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] Hara Arena Items Going on the Auction Block Message-ID: <726d5f79-d56d-660a-9d60-cd8ec11f9bfd@bellsouth.net> Hara Arena Items Going on the Auction Block 11/21/2016 It?s time to get your piece of an Amateur Radio landmark ? Hara Arena! Starting on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, and continuing until November 30, online auctioneer*Everything But the House* will be taking bids on a variety of items from the former home of Dayton Hamvention?, which took place in the Trotwood, Ohio, facility for more than 50 years. Hara?s owners, the Wampler family, had attempted for years to put Hara on a profitable plane but were unsuccessful. ?We were overwhelmed by the number, and variety, of requests we received from people hoping to get a Hara keepsake,? Hara Marketing Director Karen Wampler said in a /Dayton Daily News/ *article* . ?We were approached by brides who wanted a chandelier from their reception hall, concert goers who wanted a picture or backstage pass from their favorite show, [and] life-long hockey fans who wanted a Hara seat or banner.? Hara held an ?Odds and Ends Sale? in mid-October to shed what it called ?an odd and eclectic assortment that includes glassware, seasonal decorations, candles, vases, tables, chairs, lockers, food service displays, office supplies, pretzel warmers, hot chocolate machines, sporting, refrigeration and catering equipment, and much more.? In late August, Hara offered all comers a chance to visit the landmark facility one last time. The arena announced its closing in late July. Hamvention, which has relocated to the Greene County Fairgrounds in Xenia, has attracted more than 25,000 visitors each spring and was worth millions of dollars in terms of annual economic impact for the Greater Dayton area. All items start at a $1 bid. According to the /Dayton Daily News/, the auction will include ?a limited number of Hara Arena and Cincinnati?s Crosley Field seats, Hara signage, photos, posters, sports and event memorabilia, sports equipment, chandeliers, catering items, tables and chairs.? An estate sale for Ralph and Edna Wampler will run concurrently on the same auction website. The Wampler family has owned and operated Hara Arena since its humble origins in the 1950s, when Wampler Ballarena ? then a dance hall and now an exhibit hall familiar to Hamvention visitors ? was built in what had been a family-owned orchard. Over its 6-decade history, Hara Arena hosted concerts by performers that included the Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead; it also was where hockey great Wayne Gretzky played his first professional hockey game. http://www.arrl.org/news/hara-arena-items-going-on-the-auction-block From bmarx at bellsouth.net Wed Nov 30 07:39:52 2016 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2016 07:39:52 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] Cycles per second: A historical perspective Message-ID: From ARRL Contest Update - Full Article with photos: http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/all-things-measured/4443043/Cycles-per-second--a-historical-perspective Cycles per second: A historical perspective chris grachanen -November 18, 2016 Having spent the last 30 years in the metrology/measurement profession, I?ve developed a fascination with some of the giants in the field, the Electrical Heroes whose shoulders we stand on every day to perform even the simplest of measurements such as verifying AC line voltage or determining the frequency of a signal. Because of my electrical-measurement background, I reply on the work of such notable persons as Alessandro Volta (1745?1827), Italian inventor of the voltaic pile whose namesake defines the unit for electric potential (volt) and Andr?-Marie Amp?re (1775?1836), French mathematician and physicist whose namesake defines the unit for the flow rate of electric charge (ampere). Recently, I had reason to read about another giant in the electrical field, Heinrich Rudolf Hertz, a German physicist who was the first person to irrefutably prove the existence of electromagnetic waves, the foundation for understanding all things wireless as well as understanding the behaviors of light. Hertz was born in 1857 in Hamburg, Germany. He's well known for his many contributions to the field of electrodynamics, but by far his greatest accomplishment was in proving Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism. Maxwell's theory and associated equations, published in 1865, predicted 1. The existence of electromagnetic waves, 2. Electromagnetic waves move at the speed of light, and 3. Light itself was just such a wave. This remarkable achievement started with a simple experiment involving two coils (Riess spirals: spirally wound conductors with metal balls connected at each end) suspended in two jars located in close proximity to each other (Leyden Jar: stores static electricity between two electrodes on the inside and outside of the glass). Hertz noticed that upon electrically discharging one of the coils, it would produce a spark in the other coil. This phantom phenomenon by which electrical potential could pass through the ether intrigued Hertz, who went on to design an apparatus in order to better examine and reproduce this phenomenon within a controllable laboratory setting. Hertz's apparatus consisted of an inductorium (Ruhmkorff coil: spark gap generator using an electrical transformer to produce high-voltage pulses from a low-voltage DC current. Flux changes in the secondary coil are produced by cycling on and off current in the primary coil through a vibrating mechanical contact (called an interrupter) and 1-m wire pair with capacity spheres (used for adjusting circuit resonance) attached at the ends of the wires to create a rudimentary dipole antenna. Dipole antennas are resonance dependent such that their elements serve as resonators, with the current of standing waves flowing back and forth between their ends. Dipole elements determine electromagnetic wavelength reception (bandwidth). With this apparatus, Hertz produced and received high-frequency "Maxwell waves" (electromagnetic radio waves). He went on to measure the electric field intensity, polarity and reflection of these waves. In doing so, Hertz confirmed that the velocity of these waves was equal to the velocity of light. Hertz's experiments showed that light and "Maxwell waves" are both forms of electromagnetic radiation obeying Maxwell's equations. Hertz realized the need to numerically describe the different "Maxwell waves" created by his apparatus in terms of cyclicality. To this end, Hertz normalized the repetitive occurrence of "Maxwell waves" to an interval of one second (cycles per second) thereby uniquely discerning these waves by frequency. In honor of Hertz's many contributions to the field of electrodynamics the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) in 1960 replaced the designation of cycles-per-second with hertz. Below is an ad for a Hewlett-Packard 150A, a 10 MC (megacycle) oscilloscope that appeared on page 26 of /EDN/'s first issue (May 1956). *This Hewlett-Packard 150A oscilloscope ad appeared in EDN's first issue.* From n8pr at bellsouth.net Thu Nov 10 20:13:33 2016 From: n8pr at bellsouth.net (Pete Rimmel N8PR) Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2016 01:13:33 -0000 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] Hamfest Information... It is official on their web site Message-ID: <204A3A441971495E923A1EB95FC5D327@PeteRGateway> 2107 Tropical Hamboree at the WAR MEMORIAL Auditorium in FTL> https://hamboree.org/ 73, PeteR N8PR