September 1998
President’s Message
Now that our last two "summer" activities are behind us (see below), what is a WARC member to do between now and when the leaves start falling? Here are some suggestions:
• Connect a Ham wannabe to our FALL CLASSES that begin again on September 8th. George Altemus (KA3WXV) and his fellow instructors can almost guarantee that anyone who participates will get their ticket. Just look at all the people in the club that took WARC sponsored classes and earned their license. With the new air conditioned location (Senior Center) and the same Tuesday evening sessions that run for about 10 weeks,they end just in time for our November 25th VE testing session, there's no reason for an interested friend, co-worker or significant
other to put off getting their license.
• Start doing some HF WORK at your station in anticipation of the PA QSO Party being held the weekend of October 10 / 11. From the completed surveys we recently received from club members, there seems to be a lot of interest in HF- equipment, mobile/portable operation, commercial and home-brew antenna options, propagation, QSL’ing, certificate chasing, DX’ing, operating procedures- just to mention a few. Club Vice President Rocky Pistilli (N3FKR) will be putting a program together for our October meeting (and possibly some future meetings, as well) to respond to your requests. If you've got some experience with HF, get in touch with Rocky so he can give you a chance to share your knowledge with the rest of us!
• Plan on bringing a non-club member to our November 5th MEETING to ask our Eastern PA Section and Atlantic Division ARRL leadership questions. There's lots of talk (both pro and con) since the League's "simplified license class structure" proposal was released. What better opportunity is there than WARC’s Annual ARRL night to make your voice known to those who were elected to represent ALL Hams, regardless of whether they are ARRL members or not.
• Circle Thursday December 3rd on your calendar so you and your family can make plans to attend WARC’s ANNUAL HOLIDAY DINNER. Enjoy a great social evening (minimal "ham speak") with terrific food at very reasonable (read "club subsidized") prices. It's a long-standing tradition of WARC that is always well attended.
• Get your game plan together for the January VHF SWEEPSTAKES CONTEST. Finally build that 6 meter transverter, put up a new antenna, line up a ham related holiday gift (like a 2 meter all mode to give you SSB
capabilities or even a 440 HT to get you another band and on the club's "other repeater" after the contest), or make plans to multi op. Each year, club participation increases and everyone who operates says they have loads of fun. If you haven't tried it yet, here's you're last chance before the new millennium begins!
A special WARC thank you goes out to Dick Comely (N3A0G), Brian Taylor (N3EXA), Bud Bechtel (N3TPM) and anyone else I inadvertently forgot for bringing in their equipment and sharing their expertise at our August 6 General Meeting. The workshop session gave WARC members a chance to safely check out their own equipment (under supervision) and provided some helpful suggestions on how we can better diagnose problems if our equipment isn't operating optimally.
Member participation in the 1998 Middletown Grange Fair (50th annual) was slightly down this year, but enough to staff the 5-day event adequately. In addition to club members coming out to take messages at our booth, there were those who picked up message traffic on ‘09 and delivered them by telephone to local recipients. Things change with
time, technology and options; the attractiveness of sending "free" messages to those near and far has been greatly diminished by universal access to the Internet. However, the time we don't spend handling traffic is well spent explaining and demonstrating amateur radio to the many who stop by the booth to ask questions or reminisce about a
relative or friend who is or was a ham. Also, based on unsolicited comments, the word is apparently getting out to the general public about our role in providing communications during disasters as a result of media stories giving credit to the amateur radio community as the facilitators of initial communication. Thanks to the efforts of
chairperson Frank O’Neal (N3UQP), his day captains and everyone who participated, this very visible five day public service event was member time and club resources well spent! Watch for our efforts to result in participants for our Fall classes and some new club members, lots of people asked for club and class information sheets.
The WARC family picnic was an opportunity for members and their families to socialize and have some great food and fun. A WARC thank you goes out to Chairperson Mark Kempisty (N3GNW) for again organizing this event. Because of the lateness of Labor Day this year, we scheduled the picnic in mid August. This may have conflicted with family vacations and Core Creek Park may be a little too remote for many of our members. What do you think we should do differently next year to boost attendance of this heavily subsidized club activity?
de Bill , K3MFI
General Meeting Rescheduled to September 10
Because of a scheduling conflict (invited guests will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Benjamin Wilson Senior Center), our September meeting will be held on the SECOND Thursday of the
month.
WARC "For Sale Table" Returns
Members are encouraged to bring in their ham, computer and electronic treasures and place them on the For Sale Table at our general membership meetings. Items will be available for sale between 7:00 and 7:30 PM (when the meeting starts) and during our refreshment break (usually about 8:15 PM). It’s a great opportunity for club members to recycle unneeded items and a welcomed return of a "WARC tradition" (from the "good old days").
HELP WANTED- Membership Chairperson
Membership Chairperson (for the past three years) Don McCunney (N3VHU) has decided to step down from his present club duties in the next few months in order to participate more fully in our meetings (he’s always "working" on club business in the back of the room!). The membership job includes processing new member applications (including WARC badges), maintaining the club database, insuring renewal of WARC and ARRL membership dues, providing labels for the monthly mailing of Feedback and responding to requests for WARC information. We already have a number of people working on the membership committee, but we need someone to be chairperson and coordinate. Please contact a Board member if interested in this very important club position.
1998 MID-ATLANTIC STATES VHF CONFERENCE
On Saturday October 3, from 9:00 AM until 9:00 PM, THE MT. AIRY VHF RADIO CLUB ("PACKRATS") will present THE 1998 MID-ATLANTIC STATES VHF CONFERENCE at the Hampton Inn (for room reservation call (215) 659-3535), 1500 Easton Road (Rt. 611 one quarter mile below the Willow Grove Exit #27 of the Pennsylvania Turnpike). Registration is $24 per person at the door, which includes an admission ticket for HAMARAMA being held the following day. For additional information contact: John Sortor, KB3XG, 1214 N Trooper Road, Norristown, PA 19403 or e-mail at Error! Reference source not found. or call (610) 878-5674.
WARC Alumni Round-up
Hi All,
Well thanks for the invite. In fact, I did check in last week on the Wednesday evening net while I was mobile in N.E. Philly. Yes, the 09 machine, as well as the 440 machine are right at the "end of my string" so to speak. I can raise them, but my signal is spotty. I’ve included the basic details below for your alumni guide. I’m in the process of pursuing a vanity call sign, and if successful, I’ll have a new one by the fall. It belonged to an old friend who is a Silent Key. But until then, I’ll sign as:
NW2C
Tom Hybiske
218 Glenwood Ave.
Merchantville, NJ 08109
Occupation: Sr. Electronics Designer, General Atronics Corp.
I’m back on the air following about 10 years of inactivity. I’m presently active only on 2m, and 70cm, but the HF gear is ready to go with a little work.
Thanks for your interest in the older members, and I hope to visit a meeting in the fall. Bye for now,
Tom Hybiske, NW2C
Hi All,
I Was at NASWG from Feb 83 till Feb 86. Was transferred to MCAS Tustin, CA. Promoted to Gunnery Sergeant and went back overseas for a year. Was medically retired in 92 due to injuries from service...(no Purple Heart stuff..sorry, no war story for these!!). Re married before I did, though. Moved to Arkansas for short while (her home QTH) Had two children, Samantha (12/91) and Taelor (5/93). Our hold on Taelor is a precious one....seems Mother Nature played some bad tricks on her in the factory, but she is a joy in my life!
Am now an emergency department nurse in Ft Oglethorpe, GA. Am also the ARRL EC for 2 small SE TN counties (Grundy and Sequatchie) Am active on HF and 6 meters. Trying to put pennies away for the TenTec transverter for 2M. Hope to get on 2SSB someday. XYL is KD6IJB. Trying to get her to get rid of the "6" call!
73 and all my best to everyone in Warminster. All of my memories are warm and loving ones, and I often start to pull up stakes and return! I miss it!
Steve, K4YZ (ex-KC8M)
For sale: Complete HF station: Kenwood TS-520SE, 160 –10 meters, built-in power supply, recently aligned; desk mike; MFJ 941 antenna tuner; portable 40 – 10 meter antenna. All manuals, everything mint. $450. Contact: Rich, N3VPG, 215-672-1524, evenings.
Sun watcher Tad Cook, K7VVV, Seattle, Washington, reports: Solar activity was down slightly this past week, but conditions are still very good and activity is still up. The average solar flux for the previous 90 days rose from 112 to 114 this week, and flux values were about 20 points higher on every day, indicating a strong upward trend. The solar cycle is definitely out of the doldrums. For dramatic graphic evidence of the strong upward trend, check out Error! Reference source not found..
Activity should remain strong, with flux rising over the next few days to 142, 146 and 150 predicted for August 21-23. The planetary A index for the same period is predicted at 20, 18 and 10. Currently the A and K indices are rising as this is being written on Thursday evening, probably due to a major solar flare on August 18 as well as a northern polar coronal hole that extends somewhat down the solar surface. Additional flare activity could come from solar region 8307 before it departs around the end of August.
Solar flux should continue rising to around 160 for August 25-30, down to 150 around September 1-7, then up again around September 8 and 9 to 155. Watch for unsettled conditions around September 5-7.
Look for good 10, 12 and 15 meter conditions as we move toward the fall equinox in about a month. With higher solar flux, ten meters is opening up, particularly for those who live more toward the equator. Using a popular propagation prediction program, when I run a path projection for 10 meters to Ohio from my home in Seattle, the solar flux must be higher for good signals than if the path is from Los Angeles to Ohio. Los Angeles is nearly 1000 miles and 14 degrees latitude south of Seattle.
There were some interesting VHF propagation reports this week, with N0HJZ in Minnesota experiencing E-layer openings on both 6 and 2 meters to New Jersey and Connecticut, and 2 meter meteor propagation from Ontario. N5JHV in New Mexico worked several Europeans on 6 meters, and N9LR in Illinois worked WA2FGK in Pennsylvania on 222 and 1296 MHz via a tropospheric opening.
MORSE MAGAZINE GETS NEW LEASE ON LIFE
The Morse magazine Morsum Magnificat, which had been on the verge of ceasing publication, has a new editor and publisher. Zyg Nilski, G3OKD, will take over the reins of the magazine following the publication of the December 1998 issue. The magazine's banner proclaims "Still flying the flag for Morse."
The magazine's current Consultant Editor, Tony Smith, G4FAI, said that subscriptions will be transferred to the new publisher. Nilski, 55, lives in England and has been a ham since 1960. His almost life-long interest in CW encompasses line telegraphy as well as the history of telegraphy and Morse technology.
Morsum Magnificat was first published in Dutch in 1983 by the late Rinus Hellemons, PA0BFN. A special English edition was put out in 1985. The following year, Smith--a writer specializing in Morse topics (and later chair of the European CW Association) joined the magazine as its English language editor. When Hellemons died in 1987, the Dutch edition ceased publication, and the magazine moved to England. Since 1990, Smith and Editor Geoff Arnold, G3GSR, have jointly produced the magazine.
The Million QSL March: It must be sunspots. ARRL Outgoing QSL Service Manager Martin Cook, N1FOC, reports the service topped the 1,000,000-QSL mark in August. As of August 14, the service had mailed 1,009,150 cards to QSL bureaus around the world. That represents an increase of more than 204,000 cards from the same date last year--up about 25%.
Vanity update: Despite the fact that the vanity call sign fee does not drop to $13 until after September 14, there's little indication that anyone is waiting for that to happen before filing. The FCC in Gettysburg reports vanity applications through July 31 were processed this past week. In two processing runs, there were 188 grants and 245 applications ended up in the work-in-process (WIPs) stack. Among the more interesting call signs among the last two batches: KC2NYC, N4FUN, WR4USA, K3SEX, K7BEE, and K2FLY.
NEW SATELLITES GET OSCAR DESIGNATIONS
Amateurs radio's two newest satellites, TMSAT-1 and TechSat-1B, are reported doing very well after a month in space. The two birds were launched jointly in late July from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome. At this point, neither satellite is ready for general use. The two spacecraft continue to undergo initial loading of flight software.
Both satellites also have received OSCAR designations from AMSAT. TMSAT has been dubbed TMSAT-OSCAR-31 (TO-31), while the Gurwin TechSat 1B will be known as Gurwin-OSCAR-32 (GO-32). The assignment of consecutive OSCAR numbers to new Amateur Radio spacecraft is a tradition that dates from the launch of the very first Amateur Radio Satellite--OSCAR 1. In order for an OSCAR number to be assigned, the satellite must successfully achieve orbit and one or more transmitters must be successfully activated in the Amateur Radio bands. Then, the builders/owners of the satellite must formally request that a consecutive OSCAR number be assigned to their satellite.
TMSAT, the first Thai microsat, was constructed by Thai engineers in cooperation with engineers at the University of Surrey in the UK. It's primarily designed along the lines of a low-earth-orbiting communications satellite, similar to those in the Iridium constellation. The TMSAT control station in Bangkok is HS0AM.
Chris Jackson, G7UPN/ZL2TPO, reports that TMSAT commissioning has proceeded slowly for a variety of reasons. Jackson says ground control stations have been operating the downlink transmitter mainly over Bangkok and Surrey. The satellite is also performing a number of new tasks that have not previously been used before, and this is taking some time to get fully operational in orbit.
Shlomo Menuhin, 4X1AS reports TechSat-1B is also responding well to ground control commands. Menuhin said the satellite recently took its first picture from space, centered over the French Riviera near San Tropez. The satellite contains an ultraviolet spectro-radiometer, a charged particles detector, and a superconductivity experiment, among other experiments.
Images from both satellites and access to additional information are available via the AMSAT Web site, Error! Reference source not found.. Both satellites are expected to be available for general amateur use shortly. --thanks to AMSAT News Service
DLARC marks 50 years: Congratulations on the Delaware-Lehigh Amateur Radio Club for reaching the half-century mark as an ARRL-affiliated club. Clarence Snyder reports he was looking through some old papers and came across the ARRL Charter of Affiliation for DLARC dated July 13, 1948. --Clarence Snyder, W3PYF
