MESSAGE FROM JACK HAMMETT, K4VV, PRESIDENT OF PVRC
Congratulations to the energetic
contesters of PVRC for the
continuing creativity and hard work to build our individual and
team and club competitiveness. Many members are dedicated to
achievement and continuing improvements.
Many of our members are relatively
new to contesting and need the
coaching and example of others to build the skills. Recent
discussions in several of our meetings focus on ideas for PVRC
initiatives to enhance contesting skills. There seem to be some
good ideas to consider. Watch for more discussion on the
reflector and in our meetings. I am one of those who needs work
to be more competitive.
As a personal update, many of you
know that Carol, my wife of 40
years, died in 2000. I had a medical challenge of my own in
2001, which ended well. I became engaged after 9/11 to Sharon
Long, a wonderful Lady who is ham radio friendly and is happy to
live in the country. We bought a new home in Loudoun County,
west of Leesburg, VA with some land and room for antennas.
Sharon and I married in May 2002 with N3OC, N3RR, W3YOZ, and
W8JVP participating in the festivities. My job at SAIC and
finishing the house have detracted from building the new station.
With some good advice, I have a plan working and some materials
assembled for two towers and a feedline system to get started
this spring and summer.
TREASURERS REPORT
by Dave Baugher, WR3L
PVRC would like to thank the following
for the donations and
please keep them coming: W3YD, WA8WV, W4RW, W8BOZ, K3RON, K3ZO,
K4ZA, W4YZT, AK3Z, W6ANN, W7YS, and W3RR.
AMATEUR RADIO SPECTRUM PROTECTION
ACT NOW IN BOTH HOUSE AND
SENATE
The Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection
Act of 2003 now has been
introduced in both chambers of Congress. Idaho Sen Michael Crapo
introduced the Senate version of the bill, S 537, on March 6.
Florida Rep Michael Bilirakis put the latest House version of the
bill, HR 713, into the legislative hopper on February 12. HR 713
and S 537 are aimed at ensuring the availability of spectrum to
Amateur Radio operators. The legislation would protect existing
Amateur Radio spectrum against reallocations to or sharing with
other services unless the FCC provides "equivalent replacement
spectrum" elsewhere.
The ARRL encourages members of the
Amateur Radio community to
contact their senators and representatives to urge their
cosponsorship. A sample letter is available on the ARRL Web site
<http://www.arrl.org/govrelations/arspa.html>. Those writing
their lawmakers are asked to copy their correspondence to the
League via e-mail <[email protected]>.
The text of HR 713 and S 537 is available
(or will soon be
available) via the Thomas Web site <http://thomas.loc.gov/>.
(Material for this article came from ARRL LETTER.)
ANOMOALOUS PROPAGATION PATHS ON 10 METERS
During the ARRL 'phone contest, Fred
Matos, W3ICM (operating at
K3DI) observed that on both Saturday and Sunday, the strengths of
the Europeans on 10 meters peaked with the 7 element Yagi pointed
at around 110 degrees instead of 40 degrees. Fred discussed this
with Dr. William Kissick at NTIA/ITS at Boulder. He messaged
Fred with the folowing.
"This is unusual; but possible.
It seems that you have the main
beam aimed about 70 degrees or so off the great circle path
towards the equator. That is a lot, but there are two phenomena
that could conspire to make this happen.
1. If the propagation path through
the ionosphere is complicated
(and at times it is), for example: xmtr to the upper F-region,
then refracted down to the upper edge of the E-region (assuming
some strong sporadic E development usually only after a solar
flare and during daytime), then back up to the lower F-region...,
then down to the E-region, maybe right through it this time. The
point is one can get a "secondary" reflection within the
ionosphere upward. And, as you can imagine, there will be some
lateral structure of electron density thus one can get an
"off-the-great-circle" reflection here. This stuff is more
likely at the higher frequencies like you were using.
2. If the above is happening, there
are some other effects that
may occur. Maybe the phase front (electric field vector or
magnetic field vector) of the wave is not perpendicular to the
direction of propagation. This can only occur if two components
of the same wave are reaching you at "almost" the same time. The
composite is not a plane wave therefore the gain pattern of the
antenna is not the same as for a plane wave (it could develop a
notch in the middle of the main beam and max gain would off
boresight).
This phenomena would probably only
occur if there is some rather
complicated reflection mechanisms as described above and the
ordinary and extraordinary (circularly polarized but opposite)
components of the original (linearly polarized) signal arrive at
the receiver at "almost" the same time. Note that these are
likely coming from near the great circle path, but the antenna is
behaving funny due to the non-perpendicular phase front.
Thanks for describing your experience
to me. This is very
interesting and I feel like I am stretching things a bit with the
above explanation but these things can happen. Assuming your
gain pattern is not distorted by other conductors near the
antenna, which would always be there, it must be that enigmatic
ionosphere. Finally, you report that the Europeans were asking
about antenna pointing. That seems to imply that this was really
the ionosphere doing something. I think it is quite rare.
Please tell me if it happens again.
As a footnote, about two weeks ago
I turned on the old HF
receiver and was amazed. It has been many decades since I heard
such amazing propagation. Signals from all directions were very
stable and very strong...from 80 meters all the way up to 20
meters. And, for whatever reason, the 'spherics were very quiet.
I think that was Feb. 15."
AREA HAMFESTS from contributions sent by Glenn Kurzenknabe, K3SWZ
The York springfest will in York,
PA at 8am on April 13, 2003 at
the Adam $-H Center off Route 30. Indoor ($5) and outdoor ($3)
tailgating. VE testing. Food service. Talk in 147.33 + 600.
Info at [email protected].
A few of other hamfests:
5/3 Wrightstown PA
6/1 Manassas VA (ARRL convention)
6/14 Bloomsburg PA
7/4 Harrisburg PA
7/13 Kimberton PA
7/19 Jonestown PA
9/6-7 W. Friendship MD
JANUARY CENTRAL REGION MEETING MINUTES by Brian McGinness, N3OC
The January Central Region meeting
was held on 1/13/03 in Temple
Hills at the Church of the Nativity, after dinner at Topolino's.
The following were in attendance: WR3L, K3ZO, KE3Q, K3PN, K3IRV,
W4EE (guest), W3YOZ and N3OC.
K4VV was on travel, so N3OC gave
the vice-president's report.
Jack, K4VV has taken over as president. We are working on a
number of issues as we try to make PVRC more value-added, to the
outlying regions in particular. Another high priority is
re-vamping the central region.
We need input and suggestions for
future meeting programs,
topics, speakers and activities for the central region meetings.
This is a difficult task to keep up with over the years, and we
could some fresh ideas and suggestions.
A discussion was then held about
the future format and even
location of the central meetings. It was noted most other
regions meet where they have dinner, and it was felt we kind of
spin our wheels unneccessarily having half the meeting over
dinner, then changing locations and continuing the discussion at
the official meeting place. There was some positive feeling
among the MD group that we should look into finding a place where
we could have dinner that had an area where we could stay and
have the meeting. More input on the meeting format will be
obtained from the Northern Virginia group next month. There are
a couple possible places in Vienna that would fit the bill.
As for topics and speakers, it was
noted that we will be having
the IH9P group in to speak on their way travelling to Dayton,
sometime in May. Other ideas were thrown around, including a
presentation on the MK-V, new antennas, the Step IR yagi (hi),
charachteristics of successful contest stations, a writelog demo,
a TR demo, and asking KC3VO to speak on amplifiers and/or mobile
rigs. Anyone interested in taking on one of those topics?
WR3L gave a brief treasurer's report.
As always the donations
are appreciated in lieu of dues.
Jim, W4EE was voted into membership. He is also VK8TX.
There was no new or old business.
The presentation for the evening
was a video about the
construction of the W7RM station. Although several years old, it
was still a very interesting design, using tower bases as guy
anchor points for other towers, and AB-105 tower from the same
source as some of the W3LPL towers which were tractor-trailered
to the west coast. The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 PM.
FEBRUARY CENTRAL MEETING MINUTES by Brian McGinness, N3OC
The meeting was called to order on
Monday Feb. 10, 2003 7:30PM at
the Vienna elementary school by PVRC President K4VV. Several
members were at dinner beforehand at the Outback steakhouse in
Vienna.
The following members were in attendance:
N3OC, K3PN, K3ZO, W4RW,
K3TW, N3JT, K4ZA, K3IRV, N4MO, AA4KD and K4VV. Guests were Danny
Jamison AH6FX/4, and Bob Finger W9GE.
K4VV gave the president's report.
A conference call was held
between K4VV (President), N3OC (VP-North) and K2AV (VP-South) to
discuss leadership issues, including revamping the central
region, the club circle, how to encourage growth in our
membership and competitiveness, and how to assist our members
develop their contesting skills. A number of ideas were
discussed that we will explore in the coming months.
There was one application for membership.
Bob Finger, W9GE has
bought 4.5 acres on the eastern shore (Talbot County) and has
attended his second meeting. He has been active in the past as a
dxer, is interested in contesting, and will be moving and
retiring this summer. He has a 30x60 barn slated to become the
ham shack. Bob was then voted into membership. Welcome to PVRC!
There was no old business.
There was no new business, although
the discussion on revamping
the central region filled the gap. Most of the Virginia central
region group seemed in favor of finding a location to meet where
we could eat dinner and have the meeting in the same place.
We inquired as to what topics, activities
or speakers the group
would be interested in. Several topics were suggested, such as a
presentation on emergency preparedness, KC3VO on generators,
amplifiers and all things power, field trips to broadcast
facilities, a contest cookbook operating manual, mentoring of new
members, DXpedition tapes or DVDs, and more internal PVRC awards
that would cater to the smaller members, and an occasional pileup
simulator competition. That is quite a list, and gives us some
good places to start.
The remaining time was used for war
stories. K4VV is still
assembling components to build his new station, on his Catoctin
ridgeline site in Loudoun County, VA.
K3PN reports that he just bought
a FT1000MP to replace his
Kenwood. He also reports KL7RA is retiring and was flown out
here to celebrate this achievement with K3PN. KL7RA is moving
south to Anchorage and will be transplanting his towers this
summer.
K3ZO operated the complete 160m contest
since he has put up a EWE
to receive with, and conditions were very good. Fred usually
operates the 160 contest part time, so he reports his best 160m
score ever as a result of the receive antenna and the good
conditions.
Floyd W4RW has not been on much,
due to the antenna problems at
W4RX's mountain QTH.
K3JT spoke in favor of self-supporting
towers. He says they are
much less noticible to the neighbors.
K4ZA is still living out of his suitcase.
Don operated the 10m
contest as a single-op from W3LPL.
K3IRV will be going to K3DI's to
get familiar withg his station,
and plans to operate there at times in the future.
N4MO reports his doctor prevented
his usual trip to TI7 for the
contest, right before he was supposed to leave. Ron operated the
10m contest from Charlottesville instead.
AA4KD, Clair reported his station
has been disassembled, but he
is setting it back up again and plans to get back on the air from
time to time.
N3OC reported that he has obtained
all 200' of Rohn 45G he needs,
has permits in hand for two 100' towers, and hopes to begin
putting them up when the weather breaks. He noted that
Montgomery County (MD) appears to be extremely ham radio tower
friendly. It is important to use the words NON-COMMERCIAL when
discussing any ham radio tower installation with zoning and
permit authorities when doing this. As a result, the county
lowered his permit fees to $55, the same as an outdoor shed.
The meeting was adjourned at 9pm.
CVCC MEETING MINUTES 2/11/03,
by John Youell, W4TNX
Sorry I missed this meeting, especially
since based on the
feedback I have received the program was excellent, (see below).
I had the age-old problem of my work getting in the way of my
hobby! Anyone have a solution for this problem (buy lottery
tickets?)?
I understand there were about a dozen
present at Shoney's for the
pre-meeting supper and that a few others joined at the meeting
site. Following are the highlights that I have gleaned:
Those in attendance (from aging memories)
included:
WK4Y, KG4SNK, K4JA, W3BP, K4WMA, W4MYA, AD4YM, W4TJ, W4DR, NK4H,
WB4QQY, K4WI, K8YFM, KC4AUG, KC4AUF, KS4RX, N4DWK, W4NM, N4DEN.
The program for the evening was "Radio
Astronomy" by Bill (W4TJ)
and Jim (AD4YM). Bill described in detail the receiving
amplifiers which he manufactures for radio telescopes. Jim gave
an overview of the history of radio astronomy up to the present.
He also described the antennas used for the space probes. I
understand that the stuff that is being done in the field of
radio astronomy is really awesome!
Ed (KG4SNK) has attended three meetings
and was elected to
membership. Welcome aboard, Ed.
The May meeting will be a club picnic,
location to be determined.
(Hopefully, we can get AC's (W4HJ) brother's river place again).
Paul (K4JA) is hosting an open house
July 26. If you haven't
seen a super station, this is it! Put the date on your calendar!
Bruce (W3BP) won both of the club
plaques for 2002. The plaques
were for the most new band entities (sponsored by K4WMA and Bruce
had an incredible 1006!) and for the highest percentage of needed
band entities needed (sponsored by W4MYA, Bruce with 30.9%). Way
to go Bruce!
W4MYA is gearing up for the ARRL CW contest this weekend.
Elections will take place next month,
with the candidates being
Roy (WK4Y) for president, Tom (N4ZJ) for treasurer and A.J.
(W4NM) for Treasurer. Thanks to Bob (NK4H) for heading up the
nominating committee. The terms of office will begin at the
close of the April meeting.
The CVCC will be sponsoring the Va.
QSO Party Club plaque again
this year.
MINUTES OF THE CVCC CHAPTER MEETING,
MARCH 3, 2003, by Bob
Eshleman, W4DR, Chapter President
A dozen guys and gals met for dinner
at Nick's Roman Terrace
prior to the meeting. Those in attendance were: W4DR, N4CFL,
W4PFM, W4HJ, KE4PRL, W4MYA, KB4NXR, KS4RX, K4WMA, N4DWK, KC4AUF,
AC4OB, NK4H, N4DEN, WK4Y, N4KFT, K4PUF and Steve.
Our meeting was held on this date
rather than the second Tuesday
to take advantage of the opportunity to have Paul Wyse, W4PFM as
a guest speaker. Paul came up from Waxhaw, NC to operate in the
DX contest at W4MYA's. Prior to Paul's presentation, W4DR
presented him with a Plaque according him honorary membership in
the CVCC and acknowledging his 40 plus years of DX and Contest
activity from OA, CP, CE, KP4, 5Z4, 5X4, T5 and ET3. Paul took
us on an African Safari covering his operations from East Africa.
Bob reminded the operators at W4MYA's in last years WPX phone
contest that they could get a duplicate plaque for $50 as we were
the USA MM winners of that event.
The next events upcoming are the
VA QSO Party (we will use W4ML)
and WPX phone. Bob is looking for operators for both of these
events both from the local area and out of town as well. Contact
W4MYA if you would like to participate. Next month we will
install new officers. The program will be on Echolink.
NORTHWEST MEETING NOTES FOR JAN 2003
by Ed Steeble, K3IXD,
chairman
The NW region met at City Buffet
in Frederick, MD on 21 January
2003. In attendance were: K3IXD, W8ZA,N3HBX, N3UM, K2PLF, W3KHZ,
K4VV, W3NRS, N3OK, NE3H, K3WC, W2YE, W3LL, N3VOP, W3IDT, W3ZZ,
K3MM, K3TM, and W2CDO.
The business part of the meeting:
1) K3IXD reported that Dan, K3SKE
has had family problems thus
the delay in processing the PVRC Store orders. Dan said he
hasn't cashed the checks.
2) W3ZZ reported that ARRL is talking about increasing the number
of club competition contests.
3) K4VV, PVRC President, reported that:
a) he and N3OC, PVRC Vice President, have received emails about
the future directions for the club;
b) he reported that the 5M award program has had a positive
impact;
c) they recognize that the Newsletter could be in color, etc.,
but the editor isn't equipped to make changes; and
d) the bylaws don't reflect the current composition of the club,
i.e., the regions. Jack requested those with comments send him
an email ([email protected]).
4) There was a discussion about PVRC QSL cards, namely whether or
not Tony, LZ1JZ did them in color or just B&W. The next day,
Bud, W3LL, forwarded an email that he had just received from
LZ1JZ. The QSL cards are in color. If you want to see W3LL's
card (a jpg file) send him a request ([email protected]). Tony,
LZ1JZ, web site is (http://kulinar.GBG.bg) and his email address
is ([email protected]).
Around the table:
Ed, K3IXD, announced he retired on
3 January. The W3SO station's
antennas were destroyed in the ice and wind that has plagued the
mountain top site since Thanksgiving. Ed operated the VHF
contest from home, using his ICOM 706MkiiiG, no antenna tuner,
the HF beam for a 6m antenna, and the 160m inv L on 2m and
432MHz.
Bob, W8ZA, said due to health problems
he will not have his
multi-op station on for some up coming contests. He operated in
the ARRL VHF contest.
John, N3HBX, announced that he made
DXCC Honor Roll. We
congratulated him. He worked the ARRL VHF contest. His 80m beam
is still not working.
Ben, N3UM, operated both SS CW and
SSB contests, as well as the
ARRL VHF contest.
Marty, K2PLF, operated the ARRL VHF
contest from home since the
W3SO LM station wasn't on for the contest. He said N4RV is
looking for operators for the ARRL CW and SSB contests.
Art, W3KHZ, operated the ARRL VHF contest.
Jack, K4VV, is planning the towers and antennas at his new QTH.
Norm, W3NRS, operated the ARRL VHF
contest. He had audio
problems on Sunday which turned out to be a "cockpit problem".
Someone said that he should be in the multi-two category (you and
Murphy).
Scott, N3OK, plans to put up a 160m antenna for CQ 160 contest.
Peter, W2CDO, ? square is down due
to a neighbor cutting a tree
limb. He will have it back up soon and is planning an 80m
antenna. He is planning on SO Low 20m in ARRL DX CW.
Ty, K3MM, won his BMW club's series
races. He has bought an '82
Camero. Regarding radio activities he was on a PVRC NAQP team.
Roger, K3TM, thanked PVRC for the
SS participation pin. His
novice card (circa 1960) was for sale on ebay.
Joe, NE3H, said he retired but is
back as a consultant several
days a week. His amp is fixed and he was in three contests.
Dusty, K3WC, told us K3SX, Sid, wants
to buy back the 6m rig he
had borrowed from Dusty. When using his 80m delta loop, his CW
signal is picked up by his sub woofer. He sent for his VP6DI
cards but was told, "Not in log". It turned out he worked them
under his old call but sent them the QSL card with his new call
on it.
Mike, N3VOP, assembled the Carroll
County Club, K3PZN, multi-op
effort in the ARRL VHF contest.
Dick, W2YE, operated the ARRL VHF
contest. He bought an SB200
which was converted for 6m. He has 5 el at 70 feet. He took the
low band wires down since a "tree guy" was coming to remove some
dead trees that needed to come down before they fell down or were
blown down by the winds. Dick mentioned that ICOM, in their
repair notice, recommended Sultrantronics Relay Saver. The
website (www.Sultantronics.com ) provides info. He bought two -
one for the SB200 and one for his 91b.
Bud, W3LL, operated the NAQP and
also the ARRL VHF contest with a
low band dipole on 6m.
Bob, W3IDT, is teaching on Wednesday
nights this semester so he
hopes to make many NW meetings now. He made a clean sweep in SS.
Gene, W3ZZ, operated the ARRL VHF
contest and was in the CQWW CW
and SSB contests.
Discussions:
Mike, N3VOP, started a discussion
saying he Joined PVRC to add to
the clubs scores, to learn to be a better operator, and to
improve his station.
That sparked these comments: work
parties can be arranged to
assist with tower and antenna installations, pick the right hours
to operate to maximize your score, keep sitting in the chair, set
a goal of improving upon last years score, know when to run and
when to S&P, train your ears, use software packages for practice,
and know (learn) the bands.
There were divided opinions on the
benefit of Packet. (I think
it is a big help for the part time operator-K3IXD).
Many, small, multi-op stations can
greatly increase the clubs
overall score. For SS, personal contact to all PVRC members can
get a good turn out thus improving PVRC overall score.
Bob, W3IDT, said that George Washington
University is no longer
willing to host an amateur radio station. He said that it is
impossible now for non VOA employees to get access to the K3VOA
site. The Smithsonian Station is for demonstration only, not for
contesting. He is looking for leads where a multi-op effort can
be activated from DC. ARRL has made DC a multiplier. CQ had had
DC as a multiplier. Anyone that knows of a potential place and
can give Bob a name of someone to contact should talk with Bob
and he will pursue it.
The next meeting is February 18th,
and it is at the City Buffet,
1306 W. Patrick Street, Frederick, MD. (301) 682-6066. It is in
a small shopping center.
From W. Patrick Street, turn up McCain
Dr. (the Mountain View
Diner is on the corner), then turn right into the shopping
center, then turn left and search for a parking place. The City
Buffet is tucked back in the left corner of the shopping center
behind Mountain View Diner; you can't see it from the street.
The NW Region meetings are on the
third Tuesday of the month.
Most arrive about 6PM for dinner and informal discussions; the
meeting begins at 7:15 PM.
RAPPAHANNOCK CHAPTER MEETING, 1 February 2003 by Mike Sims, K4GMH
The meeting was held at Steve's,
NR4M, ham shack/garage - better
know throughout the Rappahannock Chapter as the Goat Farm. After
introductions, each was asked to tell what was happening with
station improvements, operating experiences or other
"interesting" information.
Starting off was Steve, NR4M, who
is getting ready for some
spring planting of six AB105 towers; three @ 190', one @ 160',
and two @ 120'. The 39 guy anchors are already in the ground and
ready to sprout guy wires. Tower foundation holes are dug for
the bases, but the recent wet weather has turned them into frog
ponds.
Mike, K4GMH, reported his new three
element 80 meter vertical
dipole array is working as expected. He is learning how to
operate (read compete) against the guys in New England on 80
meters to Europe. Tough to beat location.
Joe, WA4JUK, got his Ten Tec amp.
fixed on the second try. Since
then his station has been performing the way it should. Joe did
have a problem with Writelog and had to turn in a written log for
the 10 Meter Contest. This prompted a lengthy discussion of
merits and problems with Writelog.
Frank, K4EC, is recovering from back surgery. Although under
doctor's orders to take it easy, he was able to make use of his
40 meter dipole with its long feed line to get in the ARRL 160
Meter Contest. Running 500 Watts to this arrangement he said he
was able to work about anything he heard along with a couple of
GFCI circuits in the house.
Larry, K7SV, is getting started running
SO2R low power using a
couple of tribanders. His best result has been running on the
higher band, and search and pounce on the lower band. Keeping
focused on SO2R operation is something he is starting to
understand. If he doesn't, he finds he is concentrating on one
radio and forgetting the other radio.
Paul, K4JA,is making improvements
to his 80 and 160 meter
antennas. Paul's has been collecting the parts for turning the
80 meter four square into a "nine round". The nine round he is
building is based on the design in ON4UN's latest edition of Low
Band DXing book.
Ken, K4ZW, said his station has been
working fine and looking
forward to the upcoming contests.
Michael, N4KZO, has just moved into
the area. He is getting
ready to put up a stealth antenna for 40 meters to get on from
his apartment.
John, W4IM, is just getting started
in contesting. He and
Michael, N4KZO, were given a tour of the holes in the ground at
NR4M to get a feel for the eventual tower/antenna arrangement.
Jim, KB9CR, is having fun getting
back into DX chasing. He has
started to get his station organized for a move to Arkansas in
about a year following his retirement.
Gary, W0QDP, hasn't lately made any
improvements to his station.
However, he's kept busy helping Steve, NR4M, getting the Goat
Farm ready for the spring tower planting.
Steve, K4EU, is rebuilding his quad
that was destroyed in a
recent Culpeper area ice storm. The new one will be bigger,
stronger, better, etc. and may be able to withstand the next ice
storm. Until the new and improved quad is tempting Mother Nature
on top of the tower, he is using a 300 foot long Windom. He had
fun working the CQ WW CW contest from K4JA and the 10 Meter
Contest from K4ZW.
Bruce, W3BP, has been getting on
the bands every day working
whatever DX he can hear. The station has been working well and
an improved 160 meter antenna is the next project. Bruce has
been helping Paul, K4JA, get stuff ready for the "nine round".
Bill, K1SE, is still in the townhouse.
He hasn't been able to
figure out how to rotate it to get the attic antenna broad side
to the DX. Fortunately he has been enjoying contesting as part
of the team at K4JA and at K4ZW. He's looking forward to the
ARRL DX CW Contest from K4JA.
After the round of info., copious
amounts of hamburgers and hot
dogs were consumed along with one on one discussions on the
merits of various operating techniques, antennas, amplifiers,
etc.
SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA CHAPTER PVRC FEBRUARY
MEETING MINUTES
by David R. Jones, Jr, N4JED
This marks our second dinner meeting
in a row to follow a
significant snow and we diehards braved the white cold and
gathered at the Roanoker Restaurant Friday the 7th of February
for the regular meeting of the Southwestern Virginia Chapter
PVRC. Good food, camaraderie, and company were enjoyed by all.
Present for the meeting were Chapter
coordinator Mike-N4GU, Bill-
WA4BKW, Buddy-W4YE and his wife Sarah, and David-N4JED and his
son Robert. Several members sent their regrets due to weather
and illness and we wish them all better.
Our before-dinner conversations ranged
in topics from QCWA and
OTC membership to war surplus receivers and balloon hoisted wire
antennas. Pre-license experiments were claimed by several but no
elaboration followed. N4JED was the only member present still
short a few years to qualify for QCWA.
Our antenna specialist N4GU described
the problems he was having
trying to tune his new 80 meter dipole. Mike likes all his
antennas to work without a tuner and this one just has not been
behaving.
WA4BKW pointed out his 80 meter dipole
up thirteen feet at the
high point was repeatedly working well into Hawaii. He is
tempted to leave it as is till completing WAS. Many suggestions
were given N4GU including lowering the antenna like Bill.
Hopefully he will have it cleared up for the next test. Which
led to our discussion of matching networks and the best tuners.
Johnson KW Matchbox won hands down.
Contest scores were reviewed. N4JED
worked the VHF test and he
and W4YE had at the 160 test. W4YE came in with several hundred
contacts and N4JED 61 on an antenna lower than Bills 80 dipole.
Buddy kept David from claiming the top position in the SWVA
Chapter 5-mil contest for the time being. Hopefully we will hear
more scores at the next meeting and our traveling members will be
home for the upcoming contests. The official meeting was
continued until Sunday and the after meeting meeting went on for
another hour with much fun had by all.
Sunday meeting picked up KF4YLM-Josh,
W4JAM-John and
W0MAN-Susanne along with W4DF-Fred at the Richmond Frostfest.
John & Susanne picked up some anchors and connectors, Fred a
Windom and a tuner (before Mike could talk to him). Everyone was
encouraged to get on the next upcoming series of contests and
turn in scores. Next meeting will be Friday, March 7th, at the
Roanoker Restaurant at 6pm. April's meeting will be in
Lynchburg.
NC CHAPTER MEETING MINUTES, MARCH 6, 2003 by Jim Price, WW4M
The March 6, 2003 meeting was held
at Ryan's Family Steakhouse,
Cary, NC. Members in attendance: Brian K3KO, Bert N4CW, Tom
N4TL, Alan KO7X, Jeff NX9T, Gary W2CS, Chuck K4NYS, Bob K4HA,
Paul K4JA, David W4IDX, Nate N4YDU, Bill K4CIA, Wes K4WES, Jim
WW4M, ang guest Matt KC1XX. Regrets: Guy K2AV, caring for his
father in Kentucky, and Jim K4QPL and Pete AD4L, recovering from
the flu.
Official Business:
We will again have 2 tables at RARSfest,
which will be held April
13 at the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh. Anyone signing the log
or attending the 11am meeting will receive credit for attending a
PVRC meeting. There will be room for members to sell gear. If
you anticipate having a lot of gear, please contact WW4M ASAP so
we can reserve an extra table.
Also, N1ND and K4CIA will be checking
cards at RARSfest. He and
Dan will be having dinner the night before at Mama Dip's in
Chapel Hill, and anyone interested is invited to join them.
Member News:
K4NYS made his first real attempt
at the ARRL DX contest last
week. He said he didn't have a lot of time for it but had a lot
of fun.
K4HA has been busy redecorating and
reports he hasn't done much
contesting this season.
K4JA says he has been "playing in some contest." (group chuckles)
W4IDX says one of the recent ice
storms took out his 80m wire so
he's been putting more effort into 40m CW and phone.
N4YDU said he hasn't done a full
effort since CQWW CW, but he was
happy that his wires held up in the ice.
K4CIA had fun putting in 12 hours in the ARRL DX CW contest.
K3KO reported that he operated in
every contest this year, If it
weren't for his voice keyer he would never operate phone
(besides, his 80m dipole doesn't operate well on 75m).
K4WES is looking forward to working in WPX SSB.
N4CW says his MP is still at the
doctor, so he's been using a 706
and says the outboard filter really helps and the preamp helps to
pull out weak signals on the low bands. He has no plans for WPX
phone and in the meantime will dabble in various contests.
KC1XX is down in the area on business.
He operates mostly
multi-multi and always tries to beat the hell out of W3LPL, yet
they are good friends. During ARRL DX he found it hard to work
VR2 from W1 while he heard 8s and 4s having no problem.
Matt wondered whether the record
of no multi-multi having ever
won 4 in a row is for a calendar year or contest season. He says
each year he flies in some JAs and european ops to help fill in
the chairs at his station. K4JA says he also flies in guest ops
and finds it difficult to fill chairs using part-timers.
N4TL has been plugging away and says
he's happy when he can
contribute 100 Qs per contest.
KO7X will be moving to Wyoming in
three months. He has had a
good time working DX contests from KI7WX's station in north
Raleigh.
NX9T tries to get in as many contests
as possible and have fun --
he reported that 10 was golden last Sunday, although the signals
were down in the mud.
W2CS has been doing most of his operating
from N4AF down in
Chocowinity. He got on for ARRL DX CW on the first day one but
had to go home on day 2 to help deal with the ice. Gary said 10m
seemed to be open around the world, and 20m was unbelievable,
being open at 3:45 am). He didn't get on for the phone portion
because he's been fighting pneumonia.
WW4M had fun in the recent NC QSO
Party, operating rover with
N3NPQ and activating Carteret and Pamlico counties.
After going around the table, K4JA
answered questions from the
group.
W2CS asked what Paul thought of Writelog.
Paul is sold on it.
He found it is now very stable, and the only time he brought it
to its knees was when 3 ops tried to simultaneously send gab
messages. He's never had a problem with recovering files,
although it does take some amount of setup to make it that stable
and he would be happy to help out by providing ini files. He
found that when Writelog prompts you to save every X Qs it's
because you haven't saved a config for that contest, and after
you do so it should autosave. He has always liked CT but found
problems were increasing as computer technology progressed.
Paul says everthing in his shack
is networked via ethernet, and
he telnets into the cluster over a 56k dialup connection. He
reports W4ML and K4MD offer good clusters and are within tenths
of a second of one another. He finds speed to be very important,
so you can get a jump on a pileup when new stations are spotted.
K4JA prefers Windows 2000 and uses
identical installations on
identical hardware. Having consistent hardware and software
helps with networking (all of which he does himself to ensure
consistency).
He noted that installation of 80m
and 160m dipoles really killed
his 40m station. Another problem he encountered was with
home-built rotator indicators, which caused him to place 2nd in
CQWW.
He finds that maintenance on his
multi-2 station keeps him busy
full-time. He has plans for a new 80m antenna for the coming
season. He purchased 50,000-feet of wire on a 400-lb spool,
which he'll put on a trailer with a caddy. For convenience he
has heavy freight deliveries shipped to his plumber.
He's also working on a fully automated
#2 station using Top Ten
gear because of their superior quality.
Nothing ever stays the same for very
long at hist station, and
guest ops are always wondering what changes they'll find when
they arrive. He'll be getting an Acom SO2R box soon. KC1XX
observed that Acom's Q/C is pretty bad, but once you get a good
unit it works great - let's you use the same amp for 2 rigs.
KC1XX lamented the posting of busted
spots that are worked and
logged by many people without corrections. He wondered if those
stations would get credit because the same busted call appeared
in so many other logs. He said he works hard to have the best
UBN possible.
This prompted K3KO to wonder what
kind of post-contest log
massaging Paul and Matt might do, and it was noted that there are
reports of some stations that record all of their Qs and later go
back to correct their logs. The answer was that they do no
massaging at all, and that others set a bad precedent. Matt said
even when he realizes during a contest that he probably busted a
call on an earlier Q he won't go back and change it. He also
found it stupid that some stations would post their entire logs
to the internet for other stations to review.
What about steps taken to ensure
compliance with rules regarding
multiple transmitters on the same band simultaneously? KC1XX
thought that probably only the top 5 stations have interlocks for
SO2R.
Everyone agreed that the answer to
stations that CQ without
giving a callsign is to keep working them again until they get
tired of the dupes and start giving their call more often. If
they won't give a call -- work 'em.
There was then discussion about suspicions
that a 9-land station
was running 8 kw out of amps that had face-plates proclaiming
much lower output.
The next meeting will be Thursday
April 3, same time and place as
usual (followed by the special RARSfest meeting on April 13).
SHORT NOTES by the editor
The Foundation for Amateur Radio
will award 58 scholarships for
the 03/04 academic year. For an application and information,
send a letter or QSL card to FAR Scholarships, PO Box 831,
Riverdale, MD 20783.
Paul Hellenbert, K4JA, has informed
us that his open house in
Callao, VA will be July 26, 2003. We'll have detailed
information and direction in a future issue.
Tom Viselli, K2UOP, found a convenient
switch at Radio Shack for
use with his beverages. It's an A-B-C 75 ohm TV push button
switch with F-type connectors which can be adaped to BNC with
adaptors also sold at the Shack. It is enclosed and come with
two long screws for mounting under a shelf.
Ed Steeble, K3IXD lets us know that
the February Northwest
meeting was cancelled because of snow.
Bill Leavitt, W3AZ said the Over-the-hill
lunch group cancelled
their February meeting due to weather. Also, we have decided to
discontinue the Over the Hill Luncheons at Topolinos in Camp
Springs MD and alternate between the Marriott in VA at Route 50
and the Beltway and the Holiday Inn in MD at Route 1 and the
Beltway. We have been meeting at these 2 locations. The next
meeting will be at the College Park Holiday Inn at Route 1 and
the Beltway at 12:00 Noon on March 26.
The Raleigh chapter will host a table
at the Sunday, April 13
RARSfest. Club members can sign in at the PVRC/NC table and
receive credit for attending a meeting. There will be an
informal meeting at the table at 11am.
Please notice that the deadline date
and Email submittal address
is given in the heading for each contest listed below. A
Cabrillo file sent as an attachment is preferred and may be
required.
S C O R E S by Bob Dannals, W2GG
Please send corrections & additions
to [email protected]
### = missing data
ARRL Jan VHF FINAL 05-Mar-03
Call Band Pwr QSO Mult Score
Single Operator
K1RZ 9 H 800 173 240,470
K3DNE 7 H 604 134 135,072
N3HBX # H 552 117 83,772
K2UOP 7 H 240 86 35,958
W3ZZ 4 H 273 61 22,570
K3ZO 2 H 216 48 10,368
K2PLF 3 L 181 46 8,924
N3UM 2 L 211 35 7,385
W3IKE 4 L 138 47 6,486
K4FTO 4 L 147 29 5,597
N8II 1 L 112 35 3,920
W4XP 5 L 129 24 3,528
N3AM 3 L 89 28 2,688
K3DSP 2 L 80 32 2,624
N3II 1 L 124 18 2,232
K3DI 3 L 92 21 1,974
N4MM # L 75 26 1,950
N3VOP 4 L 87 17 1,904
W2YE 1 L 80 23 1,840
W6AXX 1 L 114 16 1,824
K3IXD 3 L 83 15 1,395
W3ARS 3 L 71 16 1,184
W3CB 2 L 51 11 561
W3KHZ 2 L 43 12 516
K3KO # L ## ## 308
W3LL 1 L 30 6 180
N3FNE 1 L 12 5 60
N4JED 1 L 6 2 12
Rover
W3IY/ 8 # 134 48 12,192
Multi-Op
W4RX 9 H 124 32 7,584
Logs: 30 Club Score: 605,078
Operators (non-PVRC):
W3IY/R: W3IY (ON1CFX)
W4RX: W3IY (ON1CFX) at W4RX QTH
CQWW 160 CW FINAL 05-Mar-03
Call QSOs Sts DX Score
Single Op High Power:
K4JA 1125 55 56 491,064
W4ZV 1011 56 60 401,940
W4MYA 889 57 48 311,248
N4AF 882 52 47 257,000
K3ZO 652 51 48 240,372
N4CW 860 55 30 188,870
K2UOP 868 53 28 173,664
N4XD 596 50 43 159,252
N3UM 659 50 31 140,454
N8II 699 52 26 134,472
K4CIA 505 54 37 131,586
WF3J 508 50 16 79,860
W4YE 445 50 20 77,980
K4ZW 357 47 22 65,274
N4MM 316 51 16 55,074
W2YE 271 46 11 37,677
K1KO 260 41 8 29,694
N3AM 238 41 10 29,070
W3AZ 227 45 5 26,600
K2AV 221 44 7 26,214
W3BP 259 34 3 24,375
K8OQL 164 44 8 21,632
NX9T 177 44 4 19,248
W4HJ 148 38 7 16,875
K2PLF 152 32 4 13,104
K4EC 159 35 # 12,880
N4ZR 109 36 7 12,169
N4TL 115 31 1 8,032
Single Op Low Power:
K7SV 783 53 25 146,952
WJ9B 641 52 14 95,370
W3EF 429 49 13 65,038
AI3M 503 48 9 63,783
K3SWZ 408 50 12 60,078
N2NFG 391 48 15 59,913
K4TX 380 42 10 45,760
WK4Y 320 47 5 37,232
WB4MSG 325 50 # 35,200
W3CP 231 50 # 28,150
K3DSP 256 36 1 21,053
N3FX 157 45 6 18,666
K4EU 212 32 0 15,008
W4RIM 121 30 2 8,512
WK3H 69 24 # 3,960
N4JED 61 26 0 3,328
Multi-Op (SOA unless below):
N4RV 1097 55 47 315,180
W2XL 830 55 42 232,315
K3DI 653 ## # 138,170
N3OC 633 54 24 120,588
W3HVQ 636 51 30 113,706
K3KO 531 50 27 108,339
W4DR 174 40 41 63,747
N3II 335 46 6 40,092
W2GG 192 44 # 21,032
Logs: 53 Club Score 5,046,852
Operators (non-PVRC):
K4JA: K4MA at K4JA QTH
N4RV: N4GG N4RV
W2XL: K4HA (W2XL at W2XL QTH)
ARRL CW DX #5 05-Mar-03
Deadline Mar 18 to [email protected]
Call Band Q's Mults Score
Single Op High Power:
K3ZO 3363 433 4,368,537
N4ZR 2561 372 2,858,076
K4EU 2087 380 2,379,180
NR3X 1573 328 1,547,832
WF3J 1404 321 1,348,200
N4CW 1400 311 1,306,200
N3UM 1384 300 1,245,600
W3HVQ 1308 301 1,181,124
N4AF 1527 240 1,090,000
W0YR 1325 269 1,066,854
W4YE 1026 310 954,180
KO7X 1085 284 922,716
W3AZ 686 245 503,475
NE3H 690 246 500,384
WB4MSG 724 231 498,267
K1KO 661 234 460,512
W4ZV 10 1324 114 452,808
K8OQL 573 254 436,626
W3DAD 661 211 418,413
W4ZYT 550 238 392,700
N8II 20 1213 107 388,573
W3GN 517 220 341,220
K4EC 427 194 248,514
N4MM 393 210 248,220
K4CIA 353 207 219,213
K2UOP 40 543 81 131,949
K4TX 40 501 78 117,234
N4TL 251 153 115,209
N3JT 177 101 53,328
Single Op Low Power:
N1WR 1057 285 903,735
K4FPF 770 290 669,900
W2CDO 669 262 525,834
K4UVT 591 239 423,747
W3CP 459 228 313,956
WK3H 380 185 210,900
K3DSP 326 161 156,975
N4JED 273 151 123,669
W4RIM 253 135 102,465
W4HM 10 308 87 80,388
W4IDX 40 215 67 43,215
W3CB 26 24 1,800
Single Op Assisted
K4MA 2327 463 3,232,203
W4NF 2211 431 2,858,823
N3AM 2007 409 2,460,135
W4RM 2080 392 2,442,552
W3GG 1262 351 1,327,833
K3KO 1001 4004 1,213,212
K3JT 648 263 510,483
K3WA 400 188 225,600
W4JVN 228 140 95,760
NX9T 110 104 34,008
Multi-Two
K4JA 5730 569 9,753,798
N4RV 4308 504 6,512,184
K3DI 2110 446 2,815,152
Multi-Multi
W4MYA 5359 564 9,006,516
NY4A 3742 481 5,379,504
Dxpeditions
VP5LP 7701 346 7,993,638
(Multi-two)
Logs: 57 Club Score70,827,109
Operators (non-PVRC):
K3DI: W4EE K3FT K3DI
K4EU at W3BP QTH
K4JA: K4JA K4FJ K9GY K9JY K7SV KE9I W3BP
N4RV: K2PLF WR3Z N4GG N4RV
NR3X: N4YDU
NY4A: N4AF W2CS K2AV at N4AF QTH
VP5LP: K3LP N3SB WX3B (N7DD)
W4MYA: K4GAU K4WMA KC8FS NW4V W4HZ W4MYA W4TNX WA4PGM WK4Y WA8WV
CQWW 160 SSB #3 05-Mar-03
Deadline: March 31 to [email protected]
Call QSOs Sts DX Score
Single Op High Power:
W4MYA 1087 59 48 325,280
N3HBX 807 59 23 162,770
K4JA 462 53 25 106,175
NX9T 375 44 5 40,229
N3UM 333 45 8 39,750
K3ZO 279 44 1 27,765
K4YT 220 ## # 21,344
K1KO 136 28 5 10,989
K4MA 100 23 1 5,304
K2UOP 68 24 5 5,191
Single Op Low Power:
W3ARS 309 48 9 40,641
W3LL 329 43 3 30,487
K3DSP 182 35 1 14,184
WK4Y 178 30 2 12,544
KG4NEP 131 36 3 10,647
N4MM 80 36 4 8,240
KR4LO 70 28 2 4,920
WK3H 88 25 # 4,850
WB4MSG 74 26 0 4,082
N4JED 22 10 0 440
W4ZYT 15 9 0 297
Multi-Op (SOA unless below):
W4DR 200 43 37 70,800
K3DI 406 55 16 69,651
K8OQL 252 46 5 30,141
K3KO 200 52 7 27,612
N4GG 230 40 3 22,317
W2GG 142 37 0 11,507
K3IXD 89 32 3 7,455
SSB Logs: 28 Score: 1,115,612
CW Logs: 53 Score: 5,046,852
Totals: 81 6,162,464
ARRL PH DX #3 05-Mar-03
Deadline: April 1st to [email protected]
Call Bnd QSOs Mults Score
Single Op High Power:
K3ZO 2888 438 3,794,832
N4ZR 1168 327 1,145,808
NX9T 1028 299 922,116
KO7X 795 277 660,645
N4CW 625 292 545,748
N4MM 606 270 490,860
N3HBX 15 1168 93 325,035
N3JT 500 213 319,500
W4ZYT 383 183 210,267
K1KO 358 163 175,062
K3GV 266 142 113,316
K2UOP 40 165 64 31,680
W4RIM 116 78 27,144
Single Op Low Power:
N8II 1068 296 947,496
W3LL 626 275 513,975
K4FPF 550 206 339,900
W4IDX 423 184 233,496
N4JED 425 176 224,400
W3ARS ### ### 219,600
K4UVT 305 165 150,975
N4MO 261 128 100,224
N3FNE 256 126 96,768
W0YR 20 318 88 83,160
K4NYS 223 121 80,949
N3XL ### ### 43,992
K3YDX 137 82 33,702
WK3H 15 173 63 32,697
W3CP 10 135 44 17,820
Single Op Assisted
K8OQL 10 141 49 20,727
W4NF 1915 451 2,590,995
K3KO 727 344 750,264
K3DNE 946 257 728,595
W3HVQ 652 355 693,315
N4GG 725 283 615,525
K3IXD 549 233 383,052
NE3H 426 231 300,330
WX3B 377 175 197,400
W3UJ 192 90 51,840
N4TL 139 96 40,032
Multi-Single
W3LJ 750 300 675,000
K3DSP 631 209 395,637
W4WS 587 198 348,084
Multi-Two
K4JA 4841 594 8,574,984
K3DI 1420 412 1,753,884
Multi-Multi
W4MYA 4255 575 7,272,600
Dxpeditions
VK4UH 151 60 27,180
Ph Logs: 44 Score: 37,300,611
CW Logs: 57 Score: 70,827,109
Total: 101 108,127,720
Operators (non-PVRC):
K3DI: W3ICM W3OQ K3DI
K3DSP: K3DSP WR3Z
K4JA: K4JA AJ9C K4MA K9JY KE9I W3BP
KO7X: at KI7WX QTH
VK4UH: W3UL
W3LJ: W3IDT W3LJ (K3NCO)
W4MYA: K4WMA KF4QQY KC8FS N4DEN NW4V W4DR W4MYA W4PFM W4TNX
WA4PGM WK4Y
W4WS: W2DZO KG4NEP (KG4CZU)