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June, 2004 |
| The Prez Sez….
One of the fun things in Amateur Radio is "contesting." The challenges and skills are best put to use, and at times teamwork makes for success. Most of us have fond memories of past exercises that produced great numbers and it was fun too! Our next meeting this coming Wednesday at 7:30PM at Viking Park Clubhouse will center on a video of the World Radiosport-Team Championship. It's a pleasure to see the real pros in action. We'll also have a short video on Ten-Tec Factory Tour and Jupiter Demo. Field Day is just about upon us, and Bill Frazier, W7ARC, will chair our activities, and I hope all our Club members will participate and bring credit to our Club. I wasn't present for last years' event, but I understand it was very successful and a fun time was had by all. Hopefully, we'll better it this year, as Bill is really doing a bang-up job of getting everything ready. Let's all help him and participate in whatever capacity we are able. It's good PR for our Club, and by inviting your ham friends and those who might be interesting in seeing what Field Day is all about, we might just gain some new members--especially those younger than most of us. I know, we are all "young in spirit." Let's make it a fun success. Also special thanks should go out to Eric Smith for his well received and informative program last month. Can't wait to see his new bus and all his neat equipment. We also welcome Ed Saftich, AK7H as our newly elected V/P. Tnx to Jeff Hasz KS7H for his past work in helping our Club, and look forward to his help in other areas of club activity. 73 Jerry Turner, K9CCZ --- Jerome Turner, K9CCZ =========== 000 =========== Coming Up……Field Day: The significant amateur radio event of the year is rapidly coming upon us – Field Day 2004. The objective is to work as many stations as possible on any and all amateur bands (excluding the 30, 17, and 12-meter bands) and in doing so to learn to operate in abnormal
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situations in less than optimal conditions. A premium is placed on developing skills to meet the challenges of emergency preparedness as well as to acquaint the general public with the capabilities of Amateur Radio. Field Day is always the fourth full weekend of June, beginning at 1800 UTC Saturday and ending at 2100 UTC Sunday. Field Day 2004 will be held June 26-27, 2004. NKARC will operate at Vinland Elementary School located off of Finn Hill Road north of Poulsbo. Setup will start on Friday afternoon, June 25. The club will operate 2 regular stations and a new designation of GOTA station on HF. VHF operations will be conducted if operators are available. All club members are invited to participate. Field Day Coordinator is Bill Frazier, W7ARC. He is looking for volunteers to setup and for operators during the event—especially the night hours (2300 local on Saturday night to 0800 local on Sunday morning.). Step up and let him know you’re available. The ARRL has set up a number of special categories to earn 100 more points each for the overall count. Among these are A. Five contacts using power from an extraordinary source such as solar power. B. An elected official’s visit to the operating site. C. One contact via satelliteD. Origination or handling of ten NTS messages; If you are interested in any of the special categories and want to help, please come to the club meeting on Wednesday, June 23rd. Everybody has the talent or skill to do something for the Field Day. Every one who has participated learns something to benefit them in their amateur radio operations. If your license class limits operations on the HF frequencies, you can still come and help by operating with a control operator of higher classification or to log the contacts as they come in. If you are an experienced CW operator or if you know of one, let him know so that we can schedule for the operation. CW contacts are worth double points and are valuable. Bring the youngsters along and Let them make contacts on the GOTA station.
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Lighthouse Ops: The Association of Lighthouse Keepers was formed in 1988 by a group of serving and retired keepers, with the aim of maintaining contact between its members and enthusiasts throughout the world who share an interest in lighthouses and other coastal and inland aids to navigation. Their aims are to forge links with other lighthouse associations, to act as an information exchange, to expand the growing archive on lighthouse-related material, and to establish a museum/study center to promote the growing interest in pharology. The Association is sponsoring International Lighthouse Day on August 22nd. On this day, amateur radio operators are encouraged to set up and operate from lighthouses all over the world.NKARC has applied for permission to operate at the Point No Point lighthouse in Hansville during the Lighthouse Day. Plans are to have the club trailer on site to operate from 9:00 AM until 3:00 PM. Mark you calendars to come and have some fun working other lighthouses that will be on the air on that day.. ===========00000=========== Change of Vice President Vice President Jeff Hasz resigned his position as NKARC Vice-President due to conflicts presented by his job. Jeff will retain the job of webmaster for the NKARC Web page. The resignation was read at the May business meeting and accepted. Ed Saftich, AK7H, was nominated and voted to fill the office for the remainder of the year. Ed said that his one concern is finding people for the presentation meetings and is asking for suggestions from the club members. We will be there to help the man who found himself in a chair he did not expect to be in. Congratulations Ed – we know you can do a good job. ===========00000=========== Early Newsletter delivery? Want your newsletter as soon as it comes out of the word processor? Send your e-mail address to : and it will be mailed out right after the proof reading. It costs approximately 60 cents per copy to print a newsletter and the postage to mail it. Receiving your newsletter electronically helps keep publishing costs down allowing the funds to be used for other club projects Notify Bob if you need to receive your electronic copy in an ASCII or pdf format. Calendar of Events: |
========00000============ NKARC on the Internet… |
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Visit the NKARC Web Page at the URL http://nkarc.home.donobi.netand get the latest copy of the club newsletter -- "SOLID COPY. Click on the handi-talkie graphic and get a list of links to other web pages to connect including ARRL, FCC, Packet Radio Home Page, AMSAT and many others. Have something to sell? Classifieds is a new addition to the page. The QRZ call sign look-up form is available. Submit your comments to Page master, Jeff at Ks7h@jhasz.comand let him know what you think. If you know of any interesting links, let him know and he will look into it. ===========00000=========== VHF/UHF Dxing One of the most challenging phases of amateur radio is communications on the VHF/UHF frequencies – 50 MHz and above. The presentation meeting on May 12th featured a demonstration and talk by Eric Smith, KB7DQH. He brought his VHF/UHF "Green Machine" for inspection by the club members. This is the ultimate mobile installation for communications in those mysterious bands with many complex innovations and installations engineered by Eric. The retractable six meter beam with rotator is a masterpiece of innovation. He also shared some of his experiences with us and gave advice on what can be done to improve performance in the bands where few dare to tread. He described some of his treks to mountain tops to exchange signals over long distances. He also told of 0 studying weather forecasts and WWV broadcasts for information about sunspot activity and solar storms to find the "opening". He reported that he had just acquired a bus for his equipment and was planning the new configuration. Eric, we will miss the "Green Machine". ========00000============ Low Capacity Hard Drive Wanted: Looking for a "low" capacity hard drive – from 4 to 40 gigabytes. If you upgrade to a new hard drive, it can have a new home in a computer that will be used in the shack. Will consider drives of a larger capacity. Call Bob Tomas at 360-638-1659 or e-mail at bobtomas@sprinmail.comChange Address or Call Sign? |
Please notify the club secretary to update the roster if you changed your address, call sign or e-mail address. Include your phone number so that you can be contacted in case of emergency or for assistance. This will insure that you will get the latest news via the club newsletter. Either notify Horace at the meeting or drop a card to NKARC at PO Box 2268, Silverdale, WA 98383-2268. You can also send the changes via e-mail to Horace or Bob Tomas at the addresses listed in the club officers list on the mailing page. ==========00000========== Keep Kitsap Green: Help the environment by properly disposing of discharged household batteries. This includes alkaline, regular zinc carbide batteries, and batteries with heavy metals such as ni-cads and lithium ion. The Solid Waste Facility on Hansville Road accepts the batteries as past of the county-wide recycling program. Otherwise, bring them to the meeting for transfer to the disposal site. Do not bring lead-acid batteries to the meeting for disposal. It is your responsibility to take them to the Solid Waste Facility. ===========00000=========== Club Jackets If you missed the opportunity to buy one of those spiffy yellow club jackets worn by the club members at the club meetings, you will be able to get one soon. The NKARC board voted to purchase some jackets especially in the large, XL, and 2XL sizes. A notice will be posted as to cost and availability when they arrive. Some members indicated that the jackets could be very warm if worn during a sunny summer day here in the Pacific Northwest. Yes it can get hot here once in a while. A quantity of vests that are readily visible in emergency situations are on order and will be made available as soon as they arrive. Price information will be posted at that time. ========00000============ HELP!!! Kingston Fourth of July Parade The Kingston Chamber of Commerce requested communications assistance from the North Kitsap Amateur Radio Club for their annual Fourth of July Parade. NKARC has been there in previous years and will be there again. Contact Bob Tomas, N7KTP, at 638-1659 or at bobtomas@sprintmail.com. It’s a great event and a wonderful way to start the holiday. ===========00000=========== Field Day 2004 – June 26th—y’all be there…… Early Amateur Radio License Classes: Last week, I found my Dad’s license (W9NXP- |
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SK) issued in 1940. The license stated he had Class B privileges and this aroused my curiosity as to what were the privileges he had. An Internet search yielded interesting information that is shared in this article. I wonder how many current day amateur radio operators would like to go back to the "good old days" when CW and AM phone were the only modes available unless you were and experimenter. Dad’s station consisted of a crystal controlled home brew transmitter putting out 50 watts into a dipole antenna located in the attic above a second floor apartment. He started with a National SW-3 super regenerative receiver but upgraded to a 16 tube McMurdo-Silver superhet which was considered the "Cadillac" of ham receivers at the time. (I got my first taste of short wave listening with that receiver.) He paid $75 for it in 1940 and sold it for $150 in 1963. With the crystal control, he would patiently sit and pound CQ for about 2 minutes and then tune across the band to see if anybody responded to his call. He was really fascinated operating his friend’s Heathkit transmitter with VFO. Unfortunately, he only operated for a short time after World War II and let his license expire in the 1960s. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Communications Act of 1934 created the Federal Communications Commission. Amateur Licenses are reorganized into Class A, Class B, and Class C. In 1936 there about 46,000 licensed Amateurs.
Class A- 13-wpm code test, sending and receiving. Basic and advanced written tests on theory and regulations. At least one year of experience as a Class B or C licensee. Exam given at FCC examination points only. All amateur privileges. Class B- 13 wpm code test, sending and receiving. Basic written test on theory and regulations. Exam given at FCC examination points only. All amateur privileges except 75 and 20 meter phone were granted with a Class B license. Class C - Same as Class B, except tests given by mail.
Licenses terms were 5 years, and renewable. Renewal required that the operator certify that he/she could meet all of the current requirements. The license requirements were tough and getting one was a difficult process especially if you did not live near an FCC examination point. The purpose was *not* to limit the growth! Instead, the concept was that hams should have a significant set of radio-specific skills and knowledge before they were turned loose on the airwaves. Amateur radio was viewed as a lot more than |
"just a hobby". When WWII occurred radio amateurs in the military were considered a very valuable asset......young radio amateurs stepped up to take over training and teaching duties as well as functioning in the communication field. At the outset of WWII a group of young radio amateurs were hired to function as high speed operators at WAR in Washington DC......they moved in to work side by side with the worlds finest radio operators. This system lasted until the restructuring of 1951 that created the Novice, Technician and Amateur Extra clas licenses. Class A became Advanced, Class B became General and Class C became Conditional. In the "ABC" days, the HF/MF ham bands were 160, 80/75, 40, 20, and 10 meters. 11 meters was added after WW2, and 160 was all but lost to LORAN for several years. 40 had no phone subband until 1953, and 15 was not established until 1954. So a ham without a Class A could only work 'phone on 160, 10-11 and VHF/UHF. Class C licenses were only issued if your residence was more than 125 miles "airline" (meaning straight distance on a map, not actual travel distance) from an FCC quarterly exam point. If you had a Class C license and you moved to within 125 miles of an FCC quarterly exam point, you had 90 days to be retested and get a Class B or Class A, or give up your license. Not only were Class A tests given only by FCC, but if you had a Class C and went for a Class A, you had to retake and pass the 13 wpm code (sending and receiving) and the Class B/C written before they'd even let you try the Class A. The restructuring of 1951 kept all of this in place, simply renaming the Class C as Conditional. The new Novice and Technician licenses were available by mail only if you met the distance requirement. Then in 1954, FCC made Novice and Technician all by-mail, and reduced the Conditional distance requirement to 75 miles. In 1963 the distance requirement was raised to 175 miles. Somewhere in there the "retest if you move" requirement was dropped.
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