The success of a club depends a great deal on its leaders and their ability to develop programs and keep the membership interested in participating. Most of the club officers from last year had been in their position for at least two years or more. There is a danger in having a group stay in office too long and the club recognizes this. The club by-laws specifically state that no member can stay in office for more than three consecutive terms.

This may sound like a broken record but the North Kitsap Amateur Radio Club is in serious trouble!!! The nomination and election of club officers took place at the December dinner meeting. The meeting ended without a single person not being nominated for the offices of president, vice president or board member. When nominations were solicited from the floor, nobody was willing to accept a nomination for any of these offices. Two subsequent business meeting were held and the club still needs to elect a president, vice-president, and a director.

These offices must be filled by members who will lead the club into the new millennium. Planning has begun on the ARRL Field Day in June. Work has started on the Hamfest scheduled in October for which we are committed to the county and to the vendors and others who participate. The amateur radio world here in the United States will be undergoing major changes starting next year and new ideas are needed to keep up with these changes. License advancements for techs and tech plus with lower Morse Code requirements will be available after April 15^th. The club has built a communications trailer available for events and public displays. If you want to recommend somebody for one of the offices, talk it over with the individual. Urge him or her to consider the post and offer your support and assistance. Come to the meeting on March 22nd and participate. Come forward and submit your name or nominate somebody you feel will fill the office and then vote.

Need help to upgrade? Come to the club meeting and meet someone who may be able to help. A characteristic of a good amateur radio operator is his/her willingness to share the knowledge they possess with others. There is plenty of talent available—Come in and make use of it.

The club officers present at the January 2000 meeting decided that the North Kitsap Amateur Radio Club constitution and by-laws needed review and revision. The revision procedure is involved. It requires that all proposed revisions be submitted to the membership for review and approval. At the same time, the club membership has changed a great deal including many that are not familiar with the current documents. A copy of the NKARC Constitution and By-Laws was mailed to every member on the roster on December 31, 1999 and any new members who joined after January 1, 2000. The documents were sent by mail to insure that everybody has a hard copy. Please notify Bob Tomas, N7KTP, by e-mail or call him at 360-638-1659 if you did not receive the constitution and by-laws. Bob’s e-mail address is bobtomas@sprintmail.com.

Please review the documents and submit recommended changes to the Board of Directors. The recommended procedure is to submit the proposed changes in writing, but the club will consider any changes brought from the floor at a regular meeting. First discussions will be held at the meeting on 22 March 2000.

Why have Constitution and By-laws? The operations and procedures of the North Kitsap Amateur Radio are set down in the Constitution and By-Laws. As a non-profit organization, state statutes require that the club have these documents and that they be on file in the state capitol. The state office monitoring non-profit organizations recommends that these documents be reviewed and revised periodically to reflect the organization’s changing requirements and operating procedures. The club’s constitution and by-laws were last revised and took effect on 1 November 1991.

Once the revised documents are made final, the by-laws require that they be submitted to the membership at least thirty days before the vote is taken at a regular meeting of the organization. Absentee ballots will be available, but the member’s presence at the meeting is preferred. Please review the documents; think of the changes you would like to see; submit them to the Board for consideration; attend the meetings for discussion; and vote on the final documents.

– VE testing – Mar. 25^th - Olympic College, Room T-114, Lincoln Avenue, Bremerton, WA at 9:30 AM. All exams, Novice through Extra, are given. Contact Sue,AB7MD, at 360-697-9379.

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The following information taken from the ARRL Newsletter of 25 February, 2000 is presented here to answer questions regarding Technician to General upgrades based on the license restructuring going into effect on April 15:

Pre-March 21, 1987, Technician redux: To qualify for a General class license starting April 15, 2000, applicants must present valid credit for Elements 1, 2, and 3 at a volunteer examiner session. Those who held a Technician license, now expired or otherwise, prior to March 21, 1987, may claim Element 1 (5 WPM Morse code) and new Element 3 (current Element 3B, General exam) credit. Those who held a Technician license, now expired or otherwise, prior to February 14, 1991, may claim only Element 1 credit, as may anyone who has ever held a Novice ticket. The FCC rules provide Element 2 credit only for individuals who are currently licensed (or within the two-year grace period for renewal) at least at the Technician level. This means that before applying for a General license, a former amateur licensed as a Technician prior to March 21, 1987, and no longer licensed or within the two-year grace period for renewal, also must obtain Element 2 credit. To currently qualify for the Technician license (which conveys Element 2 credit) requires passing a 65-question two part exam (Novice and Technician). Starting April 15, Element 2 will be a single 35-question exam.

Early newsletter delivery?

Want your newsletter as soon as it comes out of the word processor? Send your e-mail address to: bobtomas@sprintmail.com, and it will be mailed out right after the proof reading. Be sure to tell if you are using an Internet browser or an e-mail only account in order to get the right format. Most e-mail only accounts only accept ASCII text format and we oblige with a text only format for them.

As an incentive to come to the next meeting (Feb. 9th) the club is offering free coax. Some local cable TV workers were replacing coax (probably with fiber optics) and thought it would be a great idea if the scrap 50 to 100 ft. cable lengths they had laying around, would just go away. The cable is about the size of RG-8 and is probably low loss 75ohm. Foam dielectric. It has a 1/8 inch steel support wire molded adjacent to the actual coax. (Free guy wire?) The stuff has a very tough jacket and this makes it rather stiff. But given the price, an enterprising ham should be able to put this to good use. About 5 lengths available.

Ron, N7EM

If you attended the presentation meeting on February 9, you found out where Silverdale is located. Burt, W7IIT, showed us some of the slides from his collection showing the development of Silverdale. He started his collection when Silverdale was a crossroads junction on the road from Bremerton to Poulsbo. He took us through the history showing scenes that were hard to imagine considering what the area is today. Some of the old timers present shared information you couldn’t find in a library or in the county records. Thanks, Burt, for sharing the history with us and letting us get a feel for how the area is developing from farms to a major commercial area of Kitsap County.

Mar. 8th – Presentation meeting at 7:30 PM – Viking Park Clubhouse – The Thingamagob Mystery – Show and tell of unique items from the Ham Shack – Club Members

Mar. 22nd – Regular meeting at 7:30 PM – Viking Park Clubhouse, Poulsbo Major agenda item: Constitution and By-Laws changes.

Mar. 25th – VE testing – VE testing - Olympic College, Room T-114, Lincoln Avenue, Bremerton, WA at 9:30 AM. All exams, Novice through Extra, are given. Contact Sue,AB7MD, at 360-697-9379. Last VE session before amateur license restructuring goes into effect.

Apr 12th – Presentation meeting at 7:30 PM –Viking Park Clubhouse – To be announced.

Apr 22nd -- VE testing – VE testing - Olympic College, Room T-114, Lincoln Avenue, Bremerton, WA at 9:30 AM. All exams, Novice through Extra, are given. Contact Sue,AB7MD, at 360-697-9379.

Apr 26th – Business meeting at 7:30 PM – Viking Park Clubhouse, Poulsbo Major agenda item: Constitution and By-Laws changes.

Visit the NKARC Web Page at the URL : http://www.silverlink.net/nkarc .

There is a wealth of information and capabilities to anybody that checks in. After you get connected, you can get the latest copy of the club newsletter -- "SOLID COPY"..

Click on the handi-talkie graphic and you’ll get a list of links to other web pages giving you an opportunity to connect to the ARRL, FCC, Packet Radio Home Page, AMSAT and many others. Need the QTH of the station you just had a contact with? The QRZ call sign look-up form is available. The links also give the link to the information on the Evergreen Intertie.

The page master is John Stilwell, KK7SV

and let him know what you think. If you know of any interesting links, let him know and he’ll look into them. Give it a try. We are now available world-wide.

The Kitsap County ARES/ACS is prepared to provide emergency communications when required by the county government. The group conducts networks on Sunday night to allow members to check in and be brought up to date on topics related to the system. The HF net meets on Sunday nights at 1900 local on 28.330 Mhz. The VHF net meets the same night on the AB7Y repeater at 1930 local. The repeater is on 145.43 Mhz with a negative offset.

Everyone with packet capabilities is welcome to check in to the Kitsap County ARES Packet Net every Sunday at 1900 PST (7PM). Just connect to the SEA node on 145.010 MHz, and then type in "TALK", followed of course by <Enter>. The node announces you to everyone in the talk mode as soon as you enter. Everyone in the TALK mode can read what everyone else says. Each transmission is preceded by the call sign of the person saying it. Come and join in the conversation.

Mike Sinnett N7IPJ

Kitsap County ARES Packet Coordinator

Any married man should forget his mistakes. There is no use in two people remembering the same thing.

A woman has the last word in any argument. Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband. A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.

OLD SATELLITE RETOOLED FOR NEW USE

UO-14 is proving that you can teach an old bird new tricks. The venerable British satellite recently was switched to FM repeater mode, and reports already are coming in from hams who've worked it using pretty modest equipment.

The satellite's controller Chris Jackson, 7UPN/ZL2TPO, says UO-14 was launched in January 1990 and spent its first 18 months in orbit operating as an amateur store-and-forward satellite, prior to the launch of UO-22. It was then switched for use by Volunteers In Technical Assistance, who used it for messaging into Africa.

"Since the computer which is used for store-and-forward communications is no longer able to perform that task, UO-14 is no longer usable in this mode," Jackson says. "It is, however, possible to use the satellite as a single-channel FM voice repeater, and I have just configured the satellite to do this." The satellite works as an "FM bent pipe repeater satellite" in full duplex. Operators with full-duplex transceivers will be able to hear their downlink signal as they transmit. Half-duplex operation also will work satisfactorily.

The uplink is 145.975 MHz, and the downlink is 435.070 MHz. Jackson says he plans to leave the satellite in FM mode for the next few weeks. "If it is useful, then I will probably leave it running," he said. "If it isn't used, it will be switched to transmitting telemetry."

Houston AMSAT Coordinator Bruce Paige, KK5DO, says no more than 5 W is required to make a contact with UO-14, and some have made it with as little as 1.5 W. "It should be a very suitable bird for those with an H-T and a rubber duck," he said.

"Cool satellite!" was the reaction of W1AW Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q, who worked 11 stations during a "very short" near-horizon pass this week. "Some of the stations sounded like they were next door!"

ARRL Newsletter—02/25/00

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Back at the ARRL, things looked bleak. All memberships had lapsed (along with all amateur licenses), 80% of the amateurs were still overseas, "QST" had ceased publication, the unpaid printing bill was $4700, and there was $33 in the treasury. However, action was needed immediately to defeat these bills. Hiram Percy Maxim and the other board members dug into their own personal funds and sent out a "blue card appeal" to all known amateurs or their families asking them to write their Congressman and urge defeat of these bills. It worked. Thousands of letters poured into Washington from amateurs or (more often than not) their family members asking that amateur radio be saved. Congressmen who opposed a military monopoly of the airwaves also joined in, lending their support to amateur radio. Overwhelmed by this grassroots opposition to Naval control of the radio spectrum, Congress killed the bills in committee. This 1919 letter writing campaign had a profound historical impact on all of radio, for, had these bills passed, not only would amateur radio have disappeared forever, but all private communication activities (such as broadcasting, business radio, CB, GMRS, Cellular, etc.) either would never have evolved or would have been delayed by years or even decades.

With the bills defeated, Maxim and the ARRL Board of Directors issued $7500 worth of bonds to League members to get "QST" going again. At the same time, pressure was brought on Washington to lift the radio ban and allow amateurs back on the air. Partial success was achieved on April 12, 1919, when the Navy removed the ban on receiving, but not transmitting. Thousands of amateurs and other listeners removed the seals from their receivers (which had been placed there by Government Radio Inspectors), strung up their antennas, and warmed their filaments with the sounds of the government stations. But they wanted more. Their fingers fondled their telegraph keys as they waited for the lifting of the transmitting ban. Finally, in November 1919, after a Joint Resolution had been introduced in Congress demanding that the Secretary of the Navy remove the restrictions on amateur radio, the transmitting ban was lifted, licenses were reissued, and amateurs were back on the air.

Now began the "second war," Spark vs. C.W. Remember that amateurs were allowed, in effect, just tne frequency - 200 Meters. A spark station on 200 meters actually generated a signal from 150 to 250 meters. With the sensitive regenerative receivers now in use, the practical range was several hundred miles. Transcontinental relays now took less than five minutes. The number of licensed amateur operators stood at 5719 in 1920, 10,809 in 1921, and 14,179 in 1922. And all were operating on 200 meters! To quote Arthur Lyle Budlong in "The Story of the American Radio Relay League," it was "Interference, Lord, what interference! Bedlam!" Something had to be done.

And it was. Various transatlantic tests were conducted from 1921 to 1923. The results overwhelmingly showed C.W. was far superior to spark. Postwar vacuum tube production was at its peak. In 1921, an RCA 5 watt tube cost $8, and, as a single tube C.W. transmitter, could outperform a 500 watt spark station. A 50 watt tube cost $30, and was five times more effective than the best 1 kW spark station. Since C.W. took only a fraction of the bandwidth that spark did, over 50 C.W. stations in the same area could occupy the 150 to 250 meter range, vs. one spark station.

The transatlantic tests also revealed some other interesting facts. Due to the excessive interference on 200 meters, some stations had dropped down to 100 meters where, to their surprise, they found conditions much better. Throughout the 1922-24 period, hundreds of tests and casual contacts were made on the 100 meter wavelength which conclusively showed not only C.W.'s superiority over spark, but increased range on the shorter wavelengths. Once again, the scientists came forward and said that long distances on 100 meters were mathematically impossible, and once again, the amateurs proved them wrong. During 1924, several C.W. contacts were made at distances exceeding 6000 miles. On October 19, 1924, a station in England worked New Zealand, a distance of almost 12,000 miles. Amateur communications had now reached halfway around the world. Although it would take a few years to discover the role that the ionosphere played in shortwave communications, there is no doubt that amateurs pioneered the practical uses of shortwave.

The phenomenal success of C.W. convinced the vast majority of amateurs to buy that vacuum tube. A few still clung to their spark sets, screaming "spark forever," but by 1924, spark was almost extinct. The 150 to 250 meter region was now orderly, filled with thousands of C.W. stations living in peaceful coexistence with each other (and the occasional spark renegade). Legally, however, amateurs could not go below 150 meters. True, many were already on 100 meters without a problem, but amateurs wanted a slice of the shortwave spectrum allocated to them. After all, it was amateurs who discovered the short waves. Now, with world wide interest being shown here, they wanted protection. Negotiations were ongoing with the Department of Commerce to give the amateurs specific frequencies.

On July 24, 1924, the Department of Commerce authorized new amateur frequency bands. They were 150 to 200 meters (1500 to 2000 kc), 75 to 80 meters (3500 to 4000 kc), 40 to 43 meters (7000 to 7500 kc), 20 to 22 meters (13,600 to 15,000 kc), and 4 to 5 meters (60,000 to 75,000 kc). Except for a portion of the 150 to 200 meter band, spark was prohibited. Spark would survive in the hands of a few rebels until 1927 when it was banned altogether. C.W. was here to stay. By January, 1925, the 80, 40, and 20 meter bands were filling up with amateurs, drawn by the promise of transcontinental, daylight DX.

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This article may not be reprinted without the express permission of the author -- Bill Continelli, W2XOY