Solid Copy de KC7Z

Newsletter of the North Kitsap Amateur Radio Club

PO BOX 2268 -- Silverdale, WA 98383-2268

Web page: http//www.silverlink.net/nkarc

April, 2001

Thanks to Malcolm, NF7M, we have programs planned through July. April 11th Mr. Mike Schuyler from the Kitsap Regional Library will discuss the library's Internet program. In May Tom Sanders, W6QJI, will address the construction of antennas. On the 13th of June Sheriff Steve Boyer will talk about communications in law enforcement. For July, W7IIT will discuss elementary QSLing.

A committee has been appointed to review the by-laws. The objective is to bring them more in to line with changes in the organization since they were last reviewed in 1991. By having a committee recommend changes before being brought before the membership, we hope to minimize the time required for acceptance of whatever amendments are proposed. We received several inputs last year. If you have any comments please pass them along to either Susan, Malcolm, or me.

At the March business meeting there were no proposals to continue the DX node. As a result, the 30-day extension of the telephone line to the Internet server, and the server access were voted to be discontinued. In my opinion, the club made a valiant effort to establish KC7Z, primarily due to the efforts and dedication of Bob, N7KTP. There were unexpected problems and delays resolving glitches with the unsupported software, difficulties making the software and the hardware compatible, and the lack of arrangements for long range support and funding. Again, in my opinion the club made a great effort to fill a need that existed in 1998 for the DXers, and learned a lot in doing so.

If there is a “2000” on the right hand corner of your address label, you have not paid your dues for the year 2001 Those receiving their copy of Solid Copy via e-mail, will be notified in the cover letter if their dues are past due. This is the last issue of “Solid Copy” if you do not renew your membership. An application as been included as part of the newsletter. Annual dues are $15.00 Dues are reduced if your are a senior (65 yrs or older) or a student. Family members can be included at a reduced rate. The dues schedule is included on the form. Fill out the form on the back of the address page (at the bottom of the e-mail issue). Include it with your check in an envelope and send it to the address on the form. Better yet, bring it with you to the next meeting.

Field Day is a major planned event for all amateur radio operators in the United States and Canada. The club members get together on the last weekend in June to set up stations under simulated emergency conditions to conduct a contact marathon for 24 hours with other clubs and Hams.

The 2001 ARRL Field Day scheduled for the last weekend in June, the 23rd and 24th.. Now is the time to plan for this event. In fact, we are late in getting started, and the sooner we get started, the smoother the event runs. Effective operation requires preparation now for antenna construction, setups for operating without interference to other modes etc...

In the past the spirit has been to enjoy the event, practice operating under emergency conditions, and to further public relations. Last year, we strove for a higher score than the previous year and we got it. Last year, we were in the upper one-third of the category entered. We should strive to do better this year and to get more experience in working as a coordinated group and to learn better communication techniques. All club members should participate, not matter what class of license they hold. There is enough variation in tasks and operating to accommodate everybody willing to be there.

Gene, AB7LH, volunteered to call about reserving the same site we had last year at Vinland School here in Poulsbo. Malcolm, NF7M, will be the site manager making sure that the stations are set up to provide maximum usability without interference. Bruce, N7OJ, has volunteered to put together a band operating plan suggesting best times to operate on the bands available to us. We will try to have Bob, WO7B, available to cook his delicious recipes for us.

The club usually sets up two stations – a CW and SSB – as the main operating modes and to define our classification. The classification has been 2A defined as two stations operating in the HF spectrum with less than 150 watts power output. Last year, the club also operated a Novice/ Technician station in the HF spectrum without affecting the classification. There were some contacts made using PSK31 which count as digital mode. There are bonus points given for operating under certain prescribed conditions and the club qualified for all 1200 bonus points. We need the participation of as many members as are available to do the same this year.

This is a chance to learn about one of the most interesting events in Ham Radio. Participate in some way in this event.

During the business meeting held on March 28, 2001, the club members present voted to discontinue the Internet service and telephone connection to the KC7Z DX Node. The project was incurring costs of $240 per year for Internet access, and $300 per year for the telephone connection. Other incidental costs had been covered voluntarily by club members. Maintenance and node resets when required have been done by one person for the last 15 months. Operating support was not provided although often requested. Periodic checks of the online log file indicate there are very few users of the Node, so that the costs to the membership were out of proportion. The DX information provided by the Node is also available from the Internet. Another DX Packet Cluster station (K7ZS) has come on the air operating on 145.75 MHz from Seattle..

The equipment is now available for other uses. Some of the club members have started operating on APRS (Amateur Position Reporting System). APRS is a packet radio system that permits any number of stations to participate and exchange data and messages just like voice users would on a single voice net. Any station that has information to contribute simply transmits it and all the stations receive it and log it. A mobile station with a GPS receiver connected to the TNC and transceiver can be tracked by the system. This provides a significant contribution for emergency communications in the county. The KC7Z station would make an ideal digipeater for an APRS network in North Kitsap County. All that would be required would be to install the APRS software into the computer and tune the transceiver to operates on 144.39 Mhz.. The conversion would have to be approved by the club members at a business meeting.

There might be other alternatives available. All interested Hams including those who do not belong to NKARC are invited to attend the business meeting on April 25th at Viking Park Clubhouse to present their ideas. The only way to start this project or to suggest others is to come and participate.

a) The Muscular Sclerosis Walk on Saturday, May 12, at the County Fairgrounds needs 4 operators.

b) The Viking Cup on Memorial Day weekend needs 3 stations manned 12 hours/day Saturday and Sunday, and 8 hours Monday. Station locations will require innovative approaches to maintaining reliable communications. Maximum participation is required because of the length of the event. John Stilwell is coordinating the club’s participation.

On March 14th, NKARC hosted Washington Department of Emergency Management Director Phyllis Mann at its presentation meeting. She described the events of the earthquake on February 28^th including the damage incurred in her own home. It was interesting to note that damage assessments were still not complete on the night of the meeting two weeks after the earthquake. She is very friendly to amateur radio and thanked amateur radio for providing emergency communications when cell phones were down and telephone communications were crippled in critical areas. During the question and answer period, the members suggested she contact the Kitsap Newspaper Group and get an article published describing amateur radios contribution during the emergency.

Mrs. Mann also provided the latest status of emergency preparedness in the state of Washington. She described the K-PREP program which is a neighborhood disaster preparedness program preparing neighbors to group and cope with disaster. She encouraged those present to spread the word about the program among their neighbors. Call K-PREP at (360) 337-7119 to schedule a presentation in your neighborhood. Information can also be obtained at the DEM website at: www.ktisapdem.org. Some brochures will be available at the April presentation meeting.

On April 11^th, Mr. Mike Schuyler from the Kitsap Regional Library will discuss the library's Internet program at the presentation meeting. The KRL Internet program is a web browser service available at no cost to county residents. It provides availability to the library resources as well as a connection to the Internet. The “virtual library” is there to be used and now is the time for us to learn how to make maximum use of it.

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

Bill Kilbbourne, N7DZK, is on medications that keep him from driving at night. He needs someone near his home to bring him to the meetings. He lives in the Kitsap Lake area just to the west of Bremerton. Anyone interested in helping Bill could call hime at 360-479-2892. Bill has contributed much to the club and still contributes.. Let’s hope there is somebody who can help him at this time

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 Malcolm Mannan, NF7M Submit your comments to Page master, Malcolm at

and let him know what you think. If you know of any interesting links, let him know and he will look into them.

April 11th – Presentation meeting at 7:30 PM - Viking Park Clubhouse – Mr. Mike Schuyler from the Kitsap Regional Library will discuss the library's Internet program

April 21st -- 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 9th – Presentation meeting at 7:30 PM - Viking Park Clubhouse – Tom Sanders, W6QJI, will address the construction of antennas

Mar. 19th – VE Testing --Olympic College, Room T-111, Lincoln Avenue, Bremerton, WA at 9:00 AM. All exams, Technician through Extra, are given. Contact Sue, AB7MD, at 360-697-9379.

It’s the time when the weather warms up and thoughts of “cleaning” up the house start to surface. Hints are passed to get rid of some of the gear in the shack and/or the garage. A common rule is: “If you haven’t used it in two years, you don’t need it and it’s time to get rid of it.” Look around and see what’s “surplus”. If it’s usable, consider getting some extra cash towards that new piece of equipment you want to buy. One man’s junk is could fill another man’s needs.

Want your newsletter as soon as it comes out of the word processor? Want to help the club keep the cost of the bulletin at as low as we can by minimizing the costs of printing and postage? Send your e-mail address to :

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.

WASHINGTON, DC, Apr 4, 2001 (NASA)--The sun has blasted one of its largest flares in 25 years from the same region harboring the largest sunspot of the current solar cycle. Now reclassified as at least an X-20, the huge flare April 2 appears to be the biggest flare on record. The region, designated active region 9393, has continued to rotate with the Sun and is no longer in line with Earth, so most of the flare's energy was directed away from the planet. However, radiation from the flare temporarily disrupted radio communications, and flare-related events generated a storm of high-velocity particles that--in greater numbers and energies--can affect sensitive electronic equipment in space.

The flare erupted at 4:51 p.m. EDT Monday, and produced an R4 radio blackout on the sunlit side of Earth. An R4 blackout, rated by the NOAA SEC, is second to the most severe R5 classification. The classification measures the disruption in radio communications. X-ray and ultraviolet light from the flare changed the structure of the Earth's electrically charged upper atmosphere (ionosphere). This affected radio communication frequencies that either pass through the ionosphere to satellites or are reflected by it to traverse the globe. The explosion, near the sun's northwest limb, was associated with an eruption of a cloud of electrified gas--called a coronal mass ejection, or CME--into space, but apparently not directed towards Earth.

Solar ejections are often associated with flares and sometimes occur shortly after the flare explosion. CMEs are clouds of electrified, magnetic gas weighing billions of tons ejected from the Sun and hurled into space with speeds ranging from 12 to 1250 miles per second. Depending on the orientation of the magnetic fields carried by the ejection cloud, Earth-directed CMEs cause magnetic storms by interacting with Earth's magnetic field, distorting its shape and accelerating electrically charged particles (electrons and atomic nuclei) trapped within.

Mention November 22 to many people in the US, and they will immediately associate it with the date that President John F Kennedy was assassinated. But for amateur radio operators, especially those licensed for more than 30 years, it means something totally different: INCENTIVE LICENSING. In a three- stage process starting on November 22, 1967, and ending on November 22, 1969, the FCC instituted "incentive licensing," ostensibly designed to encourage amateurs to upgrade, but in reality a process under which most amateurs lost up to 50% of the frequencies they usually operated. Incentive licensing (or incentive punishment as some have called it) has been blamed for the demise of many American amateur radio equipment manufacturers such as Hammarlund and Hallicrafters, a temporary decline in the number of licensed hams, and bitter feelings against the ARRL and FCC that last to this day. As we approach the 30th anniversary of incentive Licensing, let's take a look at the events that led up to this controversial decision. In order to do so, we must go back to 1951.

Prior to 1951, a rather simple license structure existed in this country. Amateurs had a Class A, Class B or Class C license.

Class A conveyed all amateur privileges on all frequencies, including exclusive access to the 75 and 20 meter phone bands. Class A required passing a comprehensive theory exam, and a 13 WPM CW test, which included sending as well as receiving.

Class B conveyed all CW privileges on all bands, and allowed phone operation on 160, 11 and ten meters in the HF spectrum, and on all VHF/UHF frequencies. Note that 75 and 20 phone operation was limited to Class A hams. What about 40 and 15 meters? Well, 40 at that time was CW only. And as for 21 Mc, It wasn't a ham band back then! 15 meters was given to us in 1947 in exchange for the 14.35-14.40 mc segment of 20 meters, but the 15 meter band actually wasn't available to hams until 1952. In addition, 160 meter access was severely restricted at that time because of LORAN Radionavigation and 11 meters was a secondary US only allocation, with limited popularity, so the Class B ham who wanted HF phone action went to ten meters by default. Class B hams passed the same 13 WPM code test as Class A, but a less comprehensive written test.

Class C gave the exact same privileges as Class B, but the exam was given by mail, under the supervision of a Class B (or higher) license, to those who couldn't walk the 175 miles (uphill both ways through the snow to a quarterly FCC examination point.

In 1951, the FCC reorganized the entire license structure. Class A was replaced by the Advanced, Class B by the General, and Class C by the Conditional. Three new licenses were created at that time, the Extra, Technician and Novice. The Extra (actually "Amateur Extra") had a 20 WPM code requirement and a written exam more difficult than the old Class A. In order to qualify for the Extra, one needed to be licensed as a Class B or General for at least two years, in addition to passing the test. However, if you held a Class B, or General license (or higher), and you were licensed prior to April, 1917, you could get an Extra with no additional test. Technicians had to pass the General theory and a five WPM CW test. They had privileges above 220 Mc only. Novices had a basic 20 question written exam, the five WPM code test, and limited CW privileges on 80, 11 and two meters, as well as voice privileges on two meters. This was a one-year, non- renewable license. The Advanced was available until December 31, 1952, for upgrades/new licenses, at which time it was withdrawn from availability. Those holding Advanced class licenses could continue to renew, but no new licenses were issued. In 1952-53, the FCC also dropped a couple of other surprises -- phone operation was allowed for the first time on 40 meters, 15 meters was finally opened, the 14.35-14.4 Mc segment of 20 meters was removed from the amateur service, and, in the biggest bombshell of them all, Generals (former Class B) and Conditionals (former Class C) were given access to all former exclusive Class A phone frequencies. Now, Conditional, General, Advanced and Extra Class operators had the exact on-the-air privileges. During the 1950s, Novices were given 40 and 15 meter CW privileges in addition to their 80 meter segment and 11 meters was removed. Technicians got six meters in 1955 and the 145-147 Mc segment of two meters in 1959. Technicians could also hold a Novice class license simultaneously.

Many amateurs were unhappy with this structure. Extras complained that they had to go through a two year waiting period as a General or Advanced, had to pass a difficult test, and yet received no exclusive frequencies for their efforts. Advanced class amateurs were upset with the "limbo" status of their licenses, the fact that they no longer held the highest class license, and the fact that they no longer had exclusive use of 75 and 20 meter phone. General, Advanced and Extra class amateurs complained that Novices should not have been given 15 meter CW. The General, Advanced and Extra class hams were also opposed to increasing Technician class privileges, for reasons we will see in our next installment.

In summary, although the vast number of hams were satisfied, a small minority had complaints. And the ARRL listened. In 1963, acting on complaints they claim they received from members and operators in other countries, the ARRL proposed "Incentive Licensing." In an editorial, the ARRL implied that perhaps it was a mistake when the Class B and Generals were given the 75 and 20 meter phone segments. The ARRL's stand was now clear. Exclusive frequencies must be restored to the Advanced and Extra class amateurs in order to give the Generals an "incentive" to upgrade. Of course, what was left unsaid was that in order to do so, frequencies would have to be taken away from the General class hams.

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