Amateur Radio Club Newsletter Articles and information for the Newsletter may be submitted up to the 25th of the month before the next meeting. Ken Blair, KC0GL, Editor 1711 West 19th Terrace Lawrence, KS 66046 Phone: 843-8826 e-mail: kc0gl@arrl.net This Newsletter is published monthly by the Douglas County Amateur Radio Club (DCARC). Reprint permission is granted to other Amateur Radio-oriented publications (expept for copyrighted material as noted) provided that credit is given to the author and source. Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the club or its officers. ================================= A couple of weeks ago Bud (N0APJ) and I were discussing the possibilities of looking in on the HAMCOM convention held each year in Arlington, TX. Since we were still recovering from our almost annual trek to Dayton this wasn't really a serious discussion at first. We had both attended it in the past, working the Kantronics booth. Of course working a booth and just being there doing whatever you like are two vastly different things. The more we talked the better it sounded and, since we both have relatives in that area we could almost justify the trip as a family visit. Soooo... On the morning of June 10 off we went. Prior arrangements had been made for lodging at a motel so as not to upset the balance of the relatives family routine while still reserving some time to make the desired (and necessary) contacts with them. Bud had a visit with his lovely grand-daughter set up and I had selected a couple from my numerous relatives in the area that I would contact. The drive down was uneventful and not particularly tiring. We did encounter the usual spring thunder-busters in Oklahoma and the roads were dicey for a bit. After a sound rest in the motel we wandered out to the Convention center on Friday morning and discovered that some changes had been made to previously published information. No exhibits or flea market until 1:00 p.m. Exact information was difficult to obtain since no one appeared to know where the person in charge was at the moment. Anyway, we wandered around the area, found some food and returned to the convention center at 12:30. We had read on the website that parking would cost $4 per day. At the gate we went around those waiting to get into the flea market and drove on through the gate to visitor parking. Seemed to be some confusion as to what was supposed to happen, there was no one at the parking gate to give the 4 bux to so we just kept it and parked. The layout includes an outdoor flea area and an indoor one. On Friday it took only about 20 minutes to cover the outdoor area, if you walked slowly. Only a half-dozen souls braving the Texas sun and heat with a limited stock of fleas for sale. Indoor flea area was a bit more well attended by sellers, but there were many empty tables. The environment was super, indoors, air conditioned, snack stands, what more could a Ham ask for? After working some of the flea market we made our way into the area set aside for commercial vendors. There we found some of the usual suspects, Kenwood, Icom, Alinco, Yaesu and HAL. CQ had a booth, not manned, but there were good stacks of their magazines there for the taking. Copies of CQ, Popular Communications, VHF and others. Word on the floor was that their plane was still on the ground in NY, apparently needing some attention before the pilot would fly it. We found out the next morning that it was American Airlines and they have become quite cautious since the Little Rock incident. Good move. Although the show was scheduled to run 'till 9 p.m. we thought that a bit long so we checked out around 5 p.m. to save something for Saturday. On Saturday we weren't as lucky, the parking lot confusion had been overcome and we got tagged for the 4 bucks. Oh well, it was a good deal at an average cost of 2 bucks a day. We had decided that Saturday would be the big day to make our purchases so we started in the outdoor flea market. Lo and behold! the place was packed! Through some strange phenomenon flea market vendors had been hatched overnight. At first we were distracted by a gang of people fishing in what looked to be a string of small farm ponds between the convention center and Texas Stadium just next door. Turned out that there was some sort of kid-day fishing program and that the ponds are actually a part of a live waterway coursing through the area. Back to the flea market. There was a rather large assortment of "stuff" to browse through today. We looked hard for something to buy but alas, there were no goodies we couldn't live without. Our next stop was the MARS forum. As usual for the MARS sites it was a combined affair for all services. Though not active in the program I did enjoy attending with Bud who, as you must know, is one of the most dedicated participants the program has in Kansas. Returning to the task at hand we returned to the indoor flea market and continued our pursuit of goodies to bring home. After much looking, touching and evaluating Bud found what he came for. Wire! And a Speaker-Mic for his handheld! And me? A new repeater directory I had forgotten to pick up at Dayton. That's my annual budget for ham related purchases. We also found that the empty tables in the indoor market on Friday had become filled on Saturday. The crowd had also enlarged greatly. I guess that Texans do things a bit different, start slowly and build up to a blazing finish? The commercial exhibits end on Saturday but the flea markets are advertised to continues on Sunday. We decided after having seen everything at least three times already that we would just check out and drive home Sunday. Besides, the primary purpose with which we had disguised our trip (visit relatives) had been accomplished. We enjoyed visiting Friday evening with Bud's daughter and her family and Saturday evening with one of my many nieces in Dallas so why hang around. Our mission had been accomplished! The return drive was as uneventful as the trip down. We made it home tired and happy. The Dallas HAMCOM is definitely not as large as we remembered it. It was still fun. Would we do it again? Who knows. ================================================ The article on the next page helps to make us realize how we take for granted all of the marvelous means of communication we have at hand and how vulnerable they are. The article relates how a critical fiber optic link was severed as a result of a construction mishap and it took out telephone service, including 911 and cellular, for two counties. Recently, in Lawrence, buried phone lines were severed during the installation of fiber optics cable and phone service was disrupted for about two days in a large section of Lawrence that included Lawrence High and several grade schools. Our local outage was not as severe as the one mentioned on the next page and nothing was mentioned about cell phone service being disrupted. Still, it does point out how easily such things can happen and gives us pause for thoughts as to how local amateurs might help if the need arises. On a national level, there have been a few critical articles saying that amateur radio traffic nets are a thing of the past and are no longer needed due mainly to cellular telephones. Try convincing those of that statement who used the services of amateur radio for communication as recently as last month when tornadoes hit Oklahoma City and Wichita. ARRL publishes a "Net Directory" that includes net frequencies for nearly every stste. If a disaster hits a particular state a lot can be learned by just "monitoring" that particular net frequency. In Kansas the frequency listed for the Kansas Sideband Net in 3.920 KHz. This net meets each evening at 6:30 p.m. local time and you are invited to check in. Just listen to the net control and follow instructions. =============================================== Friday, June 4, was not a good day in the Northern Black Hills region of South Dakota. For starters, sometime before noon a critical fiber optic link was severed as a result of a construction mishap. That took out telephone service--including 911 and cellular--for all of two counties and part of a third. The outage also prompted a call for communications assistance to area amateurs from the Red Cross. The City of Lead Emergency Operations Center, home of the Northern Hills Amateur Radio Club's KC0BXH, remained fully activated during the entire 19-hour telephone blackout. Hams handled health and welfare traffic, emergency dispatching and coordination, among other traffic. "In recent years there has been an over-reliance on hard-wired communication systems and cell phones," Lead's Certified Emergency Manager Jerome Harvey, N0ZBR, told the Black Hills Pioneer newspaper. Area hams, Harvey said, "are the 'go-to' folks when all the latest technology bites the dust." Tim Eggers of the City of Lead Fire Department said the telephone outage affected all of Lawrence and Pennington counties and part of Meade County. As if that weren't enough for one day, severe storms led to activation of a SKYWARN net that afternoon. Weather spotters provided quick information about threats to the Lead-Deadwood area. And, later that same day, a tornado struck the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation-Oglala, disrupting telephone service there for an extended period. The storm left one person dead and many injured, in addition to damaging homes. Hams, under the leadership of ARES volunteer Don Sanders, W0KTL, established a base station at Red Cross headquarters in Pine Ridge and helped to coordinate the Red Cross emergency rescue and response effort. "Basically, they didn't have much of any communication there at all," Sanders said. Hams accompanied Red Cross workers to visit homes in the sparsely populated area and report to Red Cross Headquarters on what they found. Sanders said two teams of three hams spent two days in Oglala. Some local hams continue to support the effort. The response team sent by ARES to assist in Oglala, included personnel cross-trained in Amateur Radio communication, severe weather operations, CPR, first aid, and disaster operations. Physician William Schnurr, KI0OZ, reportedly found himself in the middle of trying to provide critical medical care to those injured in Oglala and using his radio skills to attempt to coordinate ambulance response to the disaster area. Three repeaters owned by the Black Hills Amateur Radio Club, W0BLK, were among those pressed into emergency service for the occasion. All operation took place on VHF. ARES member Jamie Tollefson, N0PFS, told the Pioneer that heavy rains earlier in the week contributed to the problems for hams involved in emergency response and damage assessment activities following the tornadoes in Oglala. "They had six inches of rain in the last two days, so just getting around is very difficult as much of the damage took place in very rural areas," Tollefson told reporter Scott Randolph. "A lot of the roads are either washed out or barely passable due to the precipitation." Operating from the Lead EOC, ARES tied information together from around the Northern Hills area mitigating the lack of phone communication. In all, 15 hams participated in the emergency response. ARES personnel logged approximately 190 duty hours--an estimated contribution to the local community of just under $50,000 in equipment and manpower costs. "It all kinda came off at one time," Sanders said. "We were pretty busy." --from Northern Hills ARC reports and a Black Hills Pioneer article by Scott Randolph, used with permission. ========================================= The business meeting was convened at 7:30 with the Vice President, Jerry Vogel WA0OWH, presiding since the President was out-of-town on business. After members and guests introduced themselves, the minutes of the May 12 meeting were accepted as printed in the newsletter. The Vice President and the Secretary had no reports to give. The Treasurer, Bill Pendleton N0KRI, was not present but submitted a report of $711.73 in the General Fund and $310.90 in the Repeater Fund for a total of $1022.63 the same as last month. All other officer's reports and the Treasurer's report were then approved. The Emergency Coordinator, Will Schockley KB0WDW, had nothing to report. The Program Manager, Jim Canaday N6YR, reported that the July 14 meeting would be given by Steve Carriger, WA0VRS, of the Topeka Club. The topics are their 166.67 repeater that uses three receive sites, the function of this repeater during ARES activation, and the broadcast of amateur radio weather images. Before the meeting dinner at 5:30 in Papa Keno's Pizza, 1035 Massachusetts. Jim also reported on the Code Only Class to be held starting in mid-September. The Newsletter Editor, Ken Blair KC0GL, asked the club members for contributions including interesting QSO cards. Both the 147.03 and the 146.76 repeaters were reported to be working well, although there was some discussion about adjusting the squelch on the 76 repeater with a decision not to do so. All the manager's reports were accepted unanimously. Under old business, the only topic was Field Day on June 26 and 27. Everyone is to show up at 7:59 a.m. and the County Emergency Vehicle is to arrive at 9:00 a.m. The equipment and manning of the various stations was discussed in some detail. A motion was made and approved for food on the same basis as last year. We will eat at 6 p.m. There was no new business and the meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted by Earl Schweppe N0KYS, Secretary ========================================= In the June, 1999 issue of this newsletter, I left out some information from the "ARC and Spoke" article. I didn't list Ken, also known as "EMR" with the other twelve hams who came out to support this public service activity. EMR watched at a checkpoint, and later at the dam. We had a lot of fun with his location at the "dam site." Ken was also the link to get us involved with the ARC folks. He set a good example for us to follow, finding events which we can support with communication. Jim Canady, N6YR ====================================================== Hi Ken, Say, the following message came across one of the lists I'm on, thought it a neat idea to set up a tape recorder at meetings and have attendees "sign in". Wouldn't it have been neat if we had started doing (and continued) this 20+ years ago!! Not too sure about the singing though... * * * * * This note reminds me that I came across a casette recording taken off of home made 78 rpm records. It was part of an SK ham's stuff that was going to be thrown away!! The local ham club had gone thru the stuff & the rest was headed for the dump. Boy did they miss a lot of good stuff. Anyway, the recordings were made at the Northest Nebraska Amateur Radio Club (now defunct as far as I can determine) meetings from 1940 to 1958. Using qrz.com & other Web sources I found out that only a few of the amateurs on the recording are not SK. It feels very strange (like time travel) to listen to each of them "sign on" into the recorder at the club meets. They spoke their calls, first name, home QTH & often threw in some jokes or anecdotes. They even sang songs at their meetings, not something I've ever heard of. -John Sehring (Sun, Jun 13, 1999 Custer SD USA) UCC WB0EQ (temporarily at Midwestern Regional Medical Center, Zion IL) -- 73, Bob/WB0AUQ ex WN0AUQ mailto:brainbol@sunflower.com W0AFQ Andy Anderson WN0ARZ Allen Bush WB0AUQ Bob Rainbolt WB0AXX Kirk Baxter WB0BIY Ken Seals K0BTG Ken Noever WN0CFU Ken Lawson WB0CQI Bob Rankin WA0FEE George Penfield W0FSC Harold Drennon W0GI Dave Fayman WA2HSP Larry Eichel WA0FLU Larry Arnold W0JUV Emma Berg WA0KYM J.B. Bogner W0LUH Bill Torneden K0MGD Gary Thomas W0NSB George Berg WA0NZW Ken Gorski W0OUU Dale Bush WA0OWH Jerry Vogel K0OXN John Estes W0JUV Red Cramer W0RZF Tony Shirer WA0SEV Ken Blair W0SKF Les Barnes WA0SVO Dave Daniel K0TLQ Ken Olson WA0TVH Mike Legler WA0TUO J.B. Young WA0UVY Charlie Adams WA0ZTW Frank Parks WA0ZQZ Tom Billis Lewis Goolsby Eric Goolsby Nancy Dahl Margaret Oros Ed Wallen John Findley L.T. Cosby John Welling Dorothy Anderson Marilyn Seals Donnie Goff (Editor's comment: In 1967 Ruth Hull, N0ULD, was President of our club. She began each meeting by asking a question and as we went around the room during introductions each person was to answer her question. Examples: How do you cure hiccups; What other amateur calls have you held; During week of Veterans' Day, she asked if we served in the armed forces, when and where; Relate a memorable on-the-air contact; and many other questions. Wouldn't it be interesting to record these introductions and play them back in a few years?) **************************** From November 1970 (Pre Club Name issue) > > > RUMORS Some say "Two meter FM is where's it's at." Ask Ken-K0TLQ about reversed RTTY tape for MARS operation. Ask Ken-WA0SEV who is his favorite central MO op is. CHALLENGE FOR CLUB NAME Committee Named for Weeding Out: At its last meeting, the executive committee selected a group to weed out a select group of potential names for the club. A set of naming contest guidelines was also laid down. Dave Fayman-W0GI will be the contest committee chairman. Working with him will be Tom Billis-WA0ZQZ and Frank Parks-WA0ZTW. **************************************** From January 1971 DCARC Newsletter > > > FM NOTES By Kirk Baxter WB0AXX: As the new year begins, the 2 meter FM activity grows around Lawrence. A total of 11 opeators. They are: Tom Billis WA0ZQZ, Bob Rankin WB0ZQI, Mike Legler WA0TVH, Ken Noever K0BTG, Ken Seals WB0BIY, Frank Parks WA0ZTW, Red Cramer W0QJV, Charlie Adams WA0UVY, George Berg W0NSB, Emma Berg W0JUV, and Kirk Baxter, WB0AXX. Since nearly all 2 meter FM activity is channelized, most Lawrence area operation is on the national calling frequency 146.94 mHz. ************************** From December 1970 (Pre Club Name issue) > > > DECEMBER PROGRAM The club Program manager, Bob-WB0CQI, has announced that the program for the December meeting will be a talk by Bob Atkesson-W0AT, assistant chief engineer for the FCC in Kansas City. ************************** From February 1970 DCARC Newsletter > > > NOVICE CLASS GETS UNDERWAY So far 13 interested future hams have attended the first two Novice classes held at the home of Ken Blair WAÀ ÀSEV, club activities manager. From March 1971 DCARC Newsletter > > > FOR SALE One Hammerlund HQ145 AC receiver. It is the unit with clock and runs off 117V. AC. General coverage from .54 - 30 mc/s. Good condition. Make offer. --Bob Rainbolt ************************* From June 1972 DCARC Newsletter > > > SHORTS For those interested in Slow Scan TV W0NSB and W0JUV, George and Emma [Berg] are two Lawrence stations running this mode. Information about it may be obtained from them. Lawrence had eight people attending the salina Hamfest last Sunday. Several came home with prizes. Allen and Dale Bush are now on two-meter FM with a GE Pre-Progress transciever. Welcome to the band of Fine Modulation. The Lawrence repeater will hopefully be on the air soon. The license application has been sent to the FCC, the equipment is being built, and the phone line hook-up is in the making. The repeater will be on .28-.88 most likely on dorms. Results of 1972 Field SSB Station: FD was held at WA0OWH's location and went smoothly in nearly every aspect. Total number of contacts were 387. Operators: WB0FGV, WA0OWH, K0TLQ, WB0WDG, WB0AUQ, WA0SEV, W0GI, WA2HSP, WA0SVO, WA0ZTW, WA0KVP, WA0FEE, K0OLI, WA0FLS, and WB0BIY. ******************************************* From October 1973 DCARC Newsletter > > > W0GI Dave Fayman has received a cover plaque for his July 1973 QST Article, "A Simple Computing SWR Meter." Congratulations Dave. The Club also wishes you a speedy recovery to good health. K0OLF John Estes, WA0ZTW Frank Parks and WB0FGV Eric Hardman spent time operating at Clay Center, Kansas following the destruction caused by tornadoes. Four new members were voted in by the club. They are C. J. Conard, Wayne "Doc" Hall W0OVI [who later became W0UK and whose call we now use as our club call--Ed.], Tom Brooks, and Lester Look WA0GRM. ==================================================== JULY PROGRAM Wednesday, July 14, 7:30 p.m. Our program will be given by WA0VRS Steve Carriger. He is the trustee for the Topeka 146.67 repeater, which uniquely operates with three receive sites. Steve will discuss how this works, how this repeater is used during ARES activations for weather and other emergencies. WA0VRS will also detail the use of 430MHz Amateur Television in Topeka to broadcast live weather RADAR images. ***Dinner before the Meeting*** Since Steve is coming from out of town, our club's tradition is to have dinner with him before the meeting, at a nearby restaurant. Meet at Papa Keno's Pizza, 1035 Mass at after 5:30p.m. This is close enough so most should be able to park in one place and walk to both the dinner and the meeting. Jim Canaday N6YR, Program Manager ================================================ For many years there was almost no enforcement of the amateur regulations. Most amateurs realized that these regulations were for our common good and willingly complied; but there were always those who through carelessness, inexpertness or perversity failed to comply--and enough of them to detract seriously from the enjoyment of the rest of us. We can remember year after year when our Board of Directors, in its annual examination of amateur problems, would ponder some operating difficulty, only to decide that the situation would well take care of itself if existing regulations were enforced. We remember several occasions when the Board, impelled by these considerations, adopted resolutions calling upon the radio authorities for some adequate enforcement of amateur regulations--simply in our own welfare. Sound familiar? The previous paragraph was from an editorial written 65 years ago in the April 1934 issue of QST. The more things change, the more they stay the same! Now after many attempts by the ARRL to bring enforcement by the FCC, we have Riley Hollingsworth leading the charge to clean up the bands. However, we still have those "perverse" operators who have a total disregard for others, particularly on our local repeaters and on 75 and 20 meter SSB. But hopefully their time will come soon with the FCC canceling their operating privileges. At a committee meeting in Dallas last month, the question was brought up, "If there were no ARRL, what would Amateur Radio be like?" The answer is simple. With no national organization leading the charge for the Amateur Service to exist, there simply would be no Amateur Radio. The ARRL has petitioned the FCC to perform its role of enforcement for many years, sometimes with success and sometimes with less than total success. However, as the National leader of organized Amateur Radio in Washington, our presence on Capitol Hill has wielded influence on our lawmakers to protect our frequencies and our right to erect suitable antenna structures. Our continuing efforts through the IARU and with the ITU World Radio Conferences help insure that Amateur Radio will continue to exist worldwide in the future. The ARRL needs your support in order to continue its role of guardian of the spectrum. 73, Lew /K4VX The two big, long-term items on everyone's mind seem to be "Thank goodness FCC's Riley Hollingsworth is bringing enforcement back to our bands", and "What and when on restructuring?" We seem to have had our troubles with the FCC in more recent years but I think the recent attention to enforcement is a clear sign that FCC highly values the Amateur Radio Service. That is obviously true of hams and the ARRL as well. As we all wait to see what FCC does on restructuring, I sense a growing appreciation among hams that a number of alternatives that the FCC might choose from hold the promise of a revitalized and smoother-operating amateur service. The testing sequence can be brought back into order, underutilized Novice frequencies can be re-farmed, weaknesses in the testing system can be repaired. Change is always intimidating but when good intentions are afoot it's normally for the better. Whether FCC's ruling follows the ARRL, QCWA, any of the multitude of individual plans, or a hybrid, they probably have kept our best interests at heart. Let's see how things shake out, then work on fine-tuning as necessary, before criticizing their ruling out of hand -- when it does come. 73 Bruce ========================================================= PHD HAMFEST July 10, 1999 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. KC Market Center I-435 to Exit 57 (Front Street), West on Front Street for a few blocks to University Avenue, North to the KC Market Center + First Prize: Kenwood TS-50 + Free Test Bench by PHD & KCATVG + Large Vendor Area + Giant Flea Market + Forums and Seminars + Acres of Parking ===================================================== YOU'RE GETTING OLDER IF YOU CAN REMEMBER..... Being sent to the drugstore to test vacuum tubes for the TV or radio. When Kool-Aid was the only other drink for kids, other than milk and sodas. When boys couldn't wear anything but leather shoes to school. When it took five minutes for the TV to warm up. When all your friends got their hair cut at the kitchen table. When nearly everyone's mom was at home when the kids got there. When nobody owned a purebred dog. When a dime was a decent allowance, and a quarter a huge bonus. When you'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny. When girls neither dated nor kissed until late high school, if then. When your mom wore nylons that came in two pieces. When all your teachers wore either neckties or had their hair done, everyday. When Bible reading and prayer started every school day. When you got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped, without asking, for free, every time. And you got trading stamps to boot! When laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box. When any parent could discipline any kid, or feed him, or use him to carry groceries, and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it. When it was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents. When they threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed-and did! When women were called, "Mrs. John Smith," instead of their own name. ... And Finally ... When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home. --Via Internet, original source unknown. ==================================================== DCARC Members' e-mail Directory N0AB Gordon Fitch gfitch@bschool.wpo.ukans.edu N0APJ Bud Waugh wawa@falcon.cc.ukans.edu WB0AUQ Bob Rainbolt brainbol@lawrence.ks.us KC0BD JD Linn dorlin-jd@grapevine.net KC0DLL Jeff Langley jefflang@kanza.net KC0DLP Vince Francisco kc0dlp@compuserve.com WB0EVE Dale Heiserman dheiserman@aol.com KC0GL Ken Blair kc0gl@arrl.net W0GYS Richard Moore rmoore@lawrence.ks.us KA0JMO John Halladay 7500541@mcimail.com NEW WB0KDF Ned Link nlink@midusa.net WB5L Jerry Shirar jshirar@aol.com AA0MS Doug Heacock heacock@kanren.net KB9ODS Mike Medintz medintz@idir.net WA0OWH Jerry Vogel jmvogel@juno.com N2PRC Daniel Gravatt dgravatt@falcon.cc.ukans.edu KB0SEM Mike Sowter kb0sem4@aol.com N0TFU Bob Drake bobd@falcon.cc.ukans.edu N0TGN William Augustus augustus@idir.net K0TLQ Ken Olson k0tlq@ukans.edu N0ULD Ruth Hull hull@idir.net K0VL V. Parker Lessig plessig@bschool.wpo.ukans.edu KB0WDW Will Shockley kb0wdw@juno.com N0WU Wes Unruh elnwes@grapevine.net N6YR Jim Canaday n6yr@idir.net Send request to be added to this list to: Ken Blair