We have the Viking Cup Soccer Tournament coming up during the Memorial Day Holiday. We will be supporting the event by providing communications from three sites: Kingston, Bainbridge Island and Poulsbo. As it now appears, we will need to be in operation Saturday morning in time to report the results of the first games. The games start at 8:00 o’clock so we should be ready between 9:00 and 9:30. The game for Sunday and Monday will have the same time frames. The last game of the day starts about 6:00 o’clock PM. The results of these games will be reported by the Field Marshals along with their summaries of the day’s games. We will have more details later.

The DXers have done well during April and May in establishing contact with two new countries added to the country list, Chesterfield Island (TX0DX) and East Timor (4W6MM et.al.), as well as several countries on the most wanted list: Yemen (7O1YGF) and Bhutan (A52JS. A52A).

Field Day will be coming up in June so there will be plenty of activity during the next six weeks. The trailer will be getting a good workout. Thanks to Malcolm for repairing the trailer window broken by vandals.

For now, 73 Burt (W7IIT)

At the April 1999 business meeting, NKARC agreed to provide communications support to the Viking Cup Soccer Tournament for the next 3 years (2000 to 2002). The Viking Cup is an annual event at the end of May (Memorial Day Weekend) attracting teams from the western part of the United States as well as Canada. The president’s comments at the start of the newsletter describe what is expected from the club.

Last year, the club experienced some difficulty in establishing VHF communications between some of the sites. Some club members are examining the possibility of establishing a HF network to overcome this difficulty. If you are interested, contact Burt, W7IIT, at 692-9865 or John, KK7SV, at 697-2797. This event is a great drill for practicing emergency communications and all are encouraged to participate and hone their skills.

The NKARC Hamfest comes in October. This is the major fund-raiser for the club and has gotten the reputation of being a well run Hamfest and Swap Meet. Many of the vendors and people who rented tables indicated they will return in 2000 because the club takes extra measures to make them welcome.

The various phases that make up the Hamfest have been defined and coordinators Susan (AB7MD) and Marcie (KC7DAT) are keeping track of things. Work has already been done on the long-range items. The club has a number of members who are willing workers and that is a great asset. It also needs leaders who are willing to manage this important project.

The club is enjoying many benefits from the proceeds of the previous Hamfests. The portable station, DX node, ant the trailer station are projects resulting from these funds. Think about where you can participate. Talk to the board members and they will describe the mini-projects for the event. The involvement of each and every member is required if this year’s Hamfest is going to continue its run of successes from previous years.

The presentation at the meeting on May 10, 2000 will be presented by Past President Marcie Stilwell, KC7DAT. Her talk will cover the technical details of her bicycle mobile set-up including some lessons learned. I am also going to talk about some of her experiences doing public service events as well as doing fun events like the Seattle to Portland bike ride. She will bring her bicycle for people to check out. This presentation is a prelude to Marcie’s talk at the YL convention later in the summer. We are privileged to have the first chance to hear about a novel and interesting aspect of amateur radio.

After 5 months of troubleshooting and frustration, the NKARC sponsored packet radio station, KC7Z is back on the air. This has been verified by one week of continuous operation without a shutdown due to a station malfunction. The station experienced a number of problems when it shut down due to a power failure in November. It took methodical troubleshooting and contacts with packet station operators in Canada and Montana to resolve the problems and get the station to operate.

Connect to KC7Z on 147.55 simplex and get the latest information related to DX and HF operations. You can get the latest sunspot information from WWV; the 10 latest DX spots; maximum usable frequency between your QTH and any call area in the world; the country for that dx station you just heard and many other services.

Now is the time for all good Ham’s to come to the aid of their avocation—Field Day is here.

You ask "What is Field Day?." It is the time when loyal dedicated amateur radio operators leave the comfort and security(?) of their home-based facility called the "shack" and head out to various locations in the countryside. Here they set up stations of many configurations in conditions from the most primitive with or without the proverbial "one-holer" to "luxurious" operating facilities in "Bluebird" motor homes. At the prescribed time of 1800Z (11:AM local to the newly initiated), some turn on the transmitters and start yelling "CQ Field Day CQ Field Day KC7Z KC7Z." Others out there, hearing this call will answer "KC7Z KC7Z W9AA 5Alpha Illinois." The first operator responds with "W9AA KC7Z 2A Western Washington 73". This exchange of information goes on for 24 hours. There can be from one to as many as five operating stations at each Field Day site doing the calling and answering. Each contact counts towards a point total that is tabulated and sent to the ARRL for comparison to other stations. The scores are published in December or January and then the various clubs start practicing their bragging rites.

Why Field Day? Amateur radio operators have always been a source for communications support in times of emergency. Field Day is the one national activity in the United States and Canada that allows various amateur radio clubs and individuals to practice and hone their skills for emergency communications. The Field Day rules are designed to foster emergency communications operating conditions.

In a well-organized field day, the ham operators will operate in many different modes including the Single Side Band (SSB) described above. There will be stations operating CW or Morse Code, FM, and satellite. Others will be practicing in various digital modes of communications such as Radio Telegraph Telephony (RTTY), Packet, and even the newest mode of PSK31. Operating in these modes add "bonus" points to the total submitted to the ARRL.

Last year, NKARC placed in the upper one-third of all the stations in its category. This was achieved because of the planning and cooperation of a number of the club members. The club took advantage of every bonus category made available and accumulated an extra 1000 points for this effort.

This year, Field Day is on June 24^th to 25^th. NKARC will operate at Vinland Elementary School off of Finn Hill Road northwest of Poulsbo. This is the same site used last year and is well suited for the activity. The same group that coordinated the operation last year has volunteered to do the same this year. They need help and suggestions. With the number of club members who now have upgraded from technician to higher license grades, can we expect more participation? Some facets of amateur radio operations new to the club will be tried during this field day. One is the networking of computers at all operating stations to log the QSOs at the time of contact.

The planning for Field Day 2000 at NKARC has been divided among some of the club members to insure a successful and enjoyable event. These members and their responsibilities are:

There is room for all to participate. People will be needed to set up operations prior to the start of Field Day. They will be on site early on Saturday morning to place the operating stations in position; raise the antennas; set up the power distribution and the computer network between the stations. Don’t worry about your license class and whether you can operate. Control operator provisions allow legal operation by amateurs of all classes to operate during field day. Some of you may be contacted to participate. We hope you will answer the call and help in this vital club activity. If you are not called, think about where you can fit in the operation and contact one of the people above. One benefit in participating is the chance to taste some of the delicious stew put together by the club chef, Bob Burback.

Don’t forget that somebody will have to be on site to tear down and clean up the area. We want to leave it in the same condition we found it when we arrived. This will help our chances to get it again next year.

73 es cu at Field Day. -- Bob Tomas , N7KTP

April 15, 2000 has come and gone. U.S. citizens have paid their income tax in order to avoid penalties from the ever-watchful IRS. The long awaited restructuring of amateur radio went into effect and now the world will watch, as the "gentleman" nature of amateur radio will deteriorate to the same level as the ragtag babble we hear on CB. For many months, we have heard dire predictions that lowering the CW test requirements to 5 wpm across the board will reduce the technical competence of those participating and crowd the HF ham bands with more traffic than they can handle.

The new license requirements have been in effect for at least 2 weeks now. Have you listened to the HF bands and heard how much chatter has come up? There seems to be about the same amount of traffic on phone now as there was before the restructuring. Those on the air using the temporary AG and AE suffixes on their calls are practicing the proper protocol in using the frequency. An interesting note is that the code speed on the bands has slowed down a little to accommodate the newcomers.

On April 15^th, NKARC sponsored a special VE session where over 20 hams that qualified for upgrades in the theory elements and have previously qualified for the 5wpm code test presented their certificates of qualification and were presented new certificates with the upgrade to the higher-grade license. Many were tech plus amateurs who now qualified for extra grade. One of those advanced at this session has taken advantage of the privileges afforded and got involved in the newest mode of digital communications available to amateur radio – PSK31. The operator was Malcolm, KA6DXS, the club vice-president, and the following are his comments about the event:

"I had my first QSO on PSK31 this past weekend. What a thrill to make it all come together and on my first CQ at that. I did it on 14.070 at 11 PM Saturday nite, and talked to KC5REG. The funny thing is, he had been trying all day to make his first contact. So we both had a first that day. We talked until almost midnight. The beauty of it is that it is just like talking one on one with no delay. You type a letter and he sees it. You backspace to correct something and he sees it."

"I used the LOGGER program and the Clubs IC-751A putting out 25 W into a vertical on the ground in the back yard."

"Sunday, I told John Wilson KC4LZN, about it and he set his stuff up for some tests with me. Today, Monday, he had his first QSO with a Calif. station."

Malcolm’s comments help to prove that the "keep things as they are to preserve the hobby" supporters may be wrong . We needed to make room for those who were qualified to participate in all respects but did not meet the requirement of mastering an old but venerable form of communications. CW is not eliminated and will still be used by those who enjoy it.

Bob Tomas, N7KTP

The FCC says newly upgraded General class licensees may not operate in the current Advanced class subbands under the new amateur rules. Bill Cross, W3TN, of the FCC's Public Safety and Private Wireless Division notes that no privileges changed for any license class.

The Advanced class license continues to exist under restructuring, which became effective April 15, although the FCC no longer accepts applications for Novice or Advanced class licenses. Current Generals do not earn Advanced class pivileges until they upgrade to Amateur Extra class, when they earn both Advanced and Extra privileges.

The FCC also says General class operators may hold only Group C (1x3) or Group D (2x3) call signs, as it was under the old rules. Generals remain ineligible to apply for or hold Group B (2x2) call signs.

For those who use GPS mapping, the GPS satellites were commanded to set Selective Availability (SA) to zero at midnight GMT at the end of May 1, 2000. The civilian GPS service is not as accurate as the military's Precise Positioning Service (PPS). PPS uses two frequencies, enabling military receivers to cancel out errors caused by disturbances in the Earth's ionosphere, such as those caused by solar flares. With only one signal, civilian users must still deal with these minor ionospheric errors. A second civilian signal will be added to future GPS satellites starting in 2003. This should make the civilian service equivalent to PPS in terms of accuracy. A third civilian signal will also be fielded starting in 2005.

This will enhance those using GPS in their APRS operations. Previously, a GPS-based car navigation could give the location of the vehicle to within a hundred meters. This was a problem, for example in areas where multiple highways run in parallel, because the degraded signal made it difficult to determine which one the car was on. Terminating SA will eliminate such problems. It will simplify the design of many systems (e.g., eliminate certain map matching software), thereby lowering their retail cost.

Visit http://www.igeb.gov  for the full details of the removal of Selective Availability.

In February, 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 for review and comment. The comments are solicited in order to change the club constitution and by-laws to reflect the desires of the current membership.

Some of the members have submitted recommended changes to the Board of Directors who are still open for recommendations. The changes are being compiled into a final draft to be forwarded to the current members on record as of the date of mailing. They will 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. 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. The date of the meeting for discussion will be published at a later date.

May 10th – Presentation meeting at 7:30 PM – Viking Park Clubhouse – Two Wheeling on 2 Meters – Marcie Stilwell, KC7DAT

May 24th – Regular meeting at 7:30 PM – Viking Park Clubhouse, Poulsbo

May 27th – VE testing – VE testing - Olympic College, Room T-114, Lincoln Avenue, Bremerton, WA at 9:30 AM. All exams, Technician through Extra, are given. Contact Sue,AB7MD, at 360-697-9379.

May 27th to May 29th – Viking Soccer Cup – Multiple locations in North Kitsap.

June 14th – Presentation meeting at 7:30 PM –Viking Park Clubhouse – Field Day Preparations – Bob Tomas, N7KTP

June 24th -- VE testing – VE testing - Olympic College, Room T-114, Lincoln Avenue, Bremerton, WA at 9:30 AM. All exams, Technician through Extra, are given. Contact Sue,AB7MD, at 360-697-9379.

June 24th to June 25th – Field Day – Vinland Elementary School, Poulsbo

June 28th – Business meeting at 7:30 PM – Viking Park Clubhouse, Poulsbo Major agenda item: Constitution and By-Laws changes.

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.

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"..( The last copy posted is January 2000 but there is promise that the page will be updated with this issue as soon as it is received.)

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. Submit your comments to Page master, John at stilwell@web-o.net 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. John promises to have updated the page by the time this newsletter reaches you. Check him on this.

Don’t forget to dispose of those discharged household batteries in a way that helps our environment. This includes alkaline, ni-cad, and regular zinc carbide batteries. Bring them to the meeting., and provisions will be made to transport them to the proper disposal site in Kitsap County.

Lead acid batteries are excluded from this collection. The disposal site on Hansville Road will accept lead acid batteries without a charge

When the word of this successful transmission got out, more amateurs got into the act and set up their own little broadcast stations. By the end of 1921, it was estimated that about 1200 amateurs had made at least one broadcast. Some had a regular schedule of programs and would evolve into commercial stations, others did it just out of curiosity. But there were listeners. Over 400,000 people heard the Dempsey-Carpentier fight on July 2, 1921. Radio sales were approaching 100,000 per year, not counting crystal sets which were selling at the rate of 20,000 per month. However, with this explosive growth came two problems for the amateur.

The first was an identity crisis; what should the role of the amateur be in broadcasting? Some thought we should stay out of it and just stick to traffic handling on C.W. Others envisioned the amateur as a jack of all trades, expert C.W. operator and relay station, as well as community broadcaster. In fact, a new name evolved to describe this amateur/broadcast hybrid, "Citizen" radio or wireless. Even QST was confused; for a period of time in 1921, the word "Citizen" replaced "Amateur" on the front cover.

The other problem was frequencies. Everyone -- amateur, broadcaster and hybrid -- was on 200 meters. Tuning across the dial in 1921, one would mostly hear C.W., a few spark holdouts and the new broadcasters. While the amateurs were used to the interference, the general listening public was not. They had purchased their radios to hear music, not C.W. Complaints started to pour into the Secretary of Commerce. Legally he was powerless, as the Radio Act of 1912 offered no solutions. A conference was called for all interested parties, held in Washington in February 1922 to try to resolve the impending crisis.

Even though he was exceeding his authority under the Radio Act, Secretary Hoover was able to get the following proposals accepted at the conference:

1) Henceforth, special broadcast licenses would be issued. Two frequencies would be available for broadcasters immediately, 360 meters 833 kc.) for regular transmissions, and 485 meters (619 kc.) for crop reports and weather forecasts.

2) After the marine interests had abandoned the 220 to 545 meter range (363 to 550 kc.), it would be turned over to broadcasting.

3) Broadcasting was forbidden by amateurs, who were defined for the first time by name as stations operating "without pay or commercial gain, merely for personal interest."

4) "Quiet Hours" were imposed on all amateur stations effective from 8:00 to 10:30 PM daily, and on Sunday morning.

 

The fact that the number of broadcast stations dropped from 1200 to 30 immediately after these regulations went into effect shows just how many amateurs were, in fact, pioneer broadcasters. This agreement, however, was a house of cards. Secretary Hoover has stretched his authority under the Radio Act of 1912 well past the breaking point. In 1926, the cards came tumbling down, and the "Summer of Anarchy" was ushered in.

The Radio Act of 1912 was hopelessly obsolete by the early 1920's. Conceived in an era of long and medium wave spark telegraphy, the Act was totally inadequate when it came to broadcasting and the shortwaves. The Department of Commerce gamely tried to stretch the Act to meet new requirements; the 1922 and 1924 "regulations" that banned broadcasting by amateurs, set up the broadcast band, and carved out the 160, 80, 40, 20, and 5 meter bands, were really nothing more than "gentlemen's agreements", valid as long as they weren't challenged.

For a time, they worked. Amateurs enthusiastically settled in on their new bands and began working the world, while the number of broadcasters in the new 550 to 1500 kc. region jumped from 30 to almost 600 in just 3 years. Technical advances had not kept up with this growth, however, and there were problems. Crystal control of transmitters was still a couple of years away, and the unstable broadcasting stations drifted from their assigned frequencies, sometimes to the point of interfering with adjacent channels. Even stations off frequency by 400-600 cycles could cause ear splitting heterodynes. Most receivers of the 1920's were either regenerative or TRF (Tuned Radio Frequency), good on sensitivity, poor on selectivity. As a result, the 1920's broadcast band was saturated with only 600 stations. (Compare that to today's medium wave where tight frequency control of 20 Hz, coupled with directional antennas and selective superheterodyne receivers, allows over 4000 stations to occupy the AM broadcast band without undue interference).

The Department of Commerce, therefore, issued regulations mandating such solutions as time-sharing (where two or more stations occupied the same frequency at different times of the day), and daytime only operations. Stations were constantly moved to another frequency, or told to decrease power, in order to minimize interference. The Department also went after stations whose transmitters drifted onto adjacent channels. An interesting example of this was the Los Angeles station of "Sister" Aimee Semple McPherson, an evangelist who was the leader of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. Her station was notorious for drifting up and down the broadcast band. When the Federal Radio Inspectors tried to keep her on frequency, she imperiously wrote to Secretary Hoover, demanding that his "Minions of Satan" stay away from her transmitter. The Almighty would choose her Wavelength, she wrote, not the Department of Commerce.

Many of the stations that had been moved, told to reduce power, or share their frequency, did what any patriotic American would do -- hire a lawyer. Once the legal bloodhounds began digging, certain things came to light.

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

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