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de N4BCD
June 2012
VOX
VOX Monthly Newsletter of the Huntsville Amateur Radio Club
I usually start thinking about this article a few days after you’ve read the last one. Don’t actually write it until the newsletter content for this issue is on the desktop and sets a sort of tone for the page. This might appear a little disjointed and it is. It is my last is-sue as club president (but not as publisher). With our move to a new QTH there are many projects demanding attention and I’ve decided to step aside. Running a club that meets every week is a challenge. Most clubs meet monthly. Never would I have imagined the personal growth I’ve experi-enced leading this fine organiza-tion. Public speaking gets a lot easier after one gets over the
outright panic of doing it the first dozen times. I feel like kicking Dave KN4OK and at the same time shake his hand for nominating me two years ago. Thanks Dave. In the meeting minutes you’ll find the recap of the last few meetings including nominees and election results. I want to congratulate and welcome Paul Paelian WB4UEE as your new President, and Tim Williams K4AEE as your new Vice-President. I’m sure they’ll both make excellent officers and successfully lead this club. And thank you too the other fine officers & directors continuing in their positions. This issue also chronicles a small part of the Dayton Hamvention, whetting your appetite for Huntsville’s own Hamfest in August. It would be difficult to fully capture the entire three day event in a dozen page newsletter so here in these pages are your publisher’s photo highlights. There are other photos at the ARRL website for further browsing. Don’t spend too long dreaming about those new radios yet—Field Day is right around the corner. Be sure to come out and enjoy this year’s event as K4BFT takes to this air starting with tower assembly, trailer hauling, generator hook-up, and more on Friday, June 22 at 1PM to dusk at the Marriott Space & Rocket Center. Then after final preparations on Saturday morning, the radios will come alive at 1PM for a 24hr marathon to get as many calls as possible in the log. Peggy K4EGB is organizing a great picnic around 5PM Saturday. 73, Mark Brown, N4BCD President
Inside this issue:
Meeting Minutes 2-4,6
License / Exam Info 5
Program / Project Mgr’s 5
ARES / RACES Meeting
minutes
6-7
Dayton Hamvention
Photos
8-9,
11, 13
Club Calendar 10
Letters to the Editor 12
Meeting Minutes by Tom Duncan KG4CUY
The Huntsville Amateur Radio Club
Page 2 VOX
Summary of May 4 meeting by Mark N4BCD with 27 members present. The following announcements were made and discussed:
7O6T – who worked ‘em?
Weekend QSO parties by
• New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachu-setts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont)
• Indiana
• The 7th call area (Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Ne-vada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Utah)
Cotton Row Run – Monday, May 30, 7AM
The members bid good luck to those taking the Gen-eral exam tomorrow.
Peggy Bell K4EGB reported on the Field Day picnic preparations – bring a chair & covered dish and a $2 donation for grilled burgers & hot dogs.
There was no old or new business discussed.
Tonight’s program: Stan NX3P on Youth in Ham Ra-dio & Rolf K4RGG – “a few words about my distin-guished service award I received Tuesday at the Madi-son County Emergency Planning committee as well about Cotton Row Run.”
__________________________________________
Summary of May 11 meeting by Mark N4BCD with 25 members present. The following announcements were made and discussed.
Cotton Row Run – Monday, May 30, 7AM.
Peggy – FD Picnic
Weekend contests include:
• Nevada QSO Party, 1700Z, May 12 to 1700Z, May 13 (Noon Sat to Noon Sun)
• The Union of Radioamateurs of Russia has the honor to invite all radio amateurs from around the world to par-ticipate in the 56th annual CQ-M ("CQ-Mir", "Peace to the World") International DX Contest – in May, 2012. The primary goals of the CQ-M Contest are to unite peo-ple in peaceful coexistence, foster mutual understanding, and engage in sportsmanship and cooperation through amateur radio. CW & Phone, May 12 1200 UTC to May 13 1159 UTC. (7AM Sat to 7AM Sun)
Mike KD7OQC was named AEC – Training Coordinator at last night’s ARES/RACES meeting.
Old Business:
The membership voted to award a free shirt to the member submitting the winning design.
New Business:
Per the constitution, a nominating committee consisting of
Paul Paelian WB4UEE President [email protected]
Tim Williams K4AEE Vice President [email protected]
Tom Duncan KG4CUY Secretary [email protected]
Heath Thorson KC4HRX Treasurer [email protected]
Johnny Winter KR4F Officer at-large [email protected]
Jack Hemby W5WQQ Officer at-large [email protected]
Bill Bathgate KD8IGK Officer at-large [email protected]
Visitors welcome at all meetings.
Club callsign: K4BFT (http://www.qrz.com/db/K4BFT)
Website: www.harc.net
Mail reflector signup: follow the link below the HARC logo on the home page
Club Officers & Info
Meeting location: Red Cross Building, 1101 Washington St. Huntsville, AL 35801
Meeting time: Every Friday, 7:30 PM (except on major holidays)
Mailing address: HARC, PO Box 423, Huntsville, AL 35801
Page 3 VOX
Gerald KJ4SVL &Woodie K8GNM was named for the upcoming election. An audit committee consisting of Bill KD8IGK & David KJ4OKJ was also named.
Tonight’s program: Hand’s On with N1MM Logger
___________________________________________
The May 18 meeting was conducted by Bill KD8IGK due to officers being absent due to Dayton Hamvention, work travel, etc. There were 20 members present.
The upcoming Cotton Row Run was discussed along with the need for communications support for a Multiple Sclero-sis bike ride in Limestone County on June 9.
The program this evening was news about the Alabama QSO Party by Tim Wininger KY5R, President of the Ala-bama Contest Group.
-------------------------------------------------------
The May 25th, 2012 meeting of HARC was called to order at 7:34 pm by President Mark Brown, N4BCD, with 27 in
Meeting Minutes (continued)
attendance.
Announcements:
Mark reported having run into over a dozen HARC members at Dayton, including: N4OKL, KR4F, N4HIX, AG4W, NX3P, KS3P, K8KI, KJ4RAQ, KJ4ZAL, KJ4IZU, KL0ET, KK5H, AI4QR, and N4BCD.
Kenwood showed their TS-990, Flex had the 6K, and Yaesu the FTDX3000.
The Cotton Row Run will be held Monday, 5/30. Rolf Goedhart, K4RGG will be handing the HARC volunteer effort for his last time. Volunteer please meet at the Clinton St. post office at 5:55 am before heading for your posts.
Note that male runners will have bibb numbers 1-2499 with black letters on white, and female will be 2500 and up, with red letters on white.
Tim Williams, K4AEE says he needs field day station managers for 80/20 and 40/15 phone.
Mark will be out of town next week, so Tom Duncan, KG4CUY will handle the meeting.
Old Business:
The nominating committee con-sisting of Gerald Moore, KJ4SVL and Woodie Ziegler, K8GNM re-ported the following slate of offi-cers for 2012/2013:
President Paul Paelian, WB4UEE
Vice President Tim Williams, K4AEE
Hamfest President Charlie Emerson N4OKL was in Dayton inviting
select vendors including Mastrant—a new Czech antenna hardware
supplier to attend Huntsville in August. (www.mastrant.com/en)
Secretary Tom Duncan, KG4CUY
Treasurer Heath Thorson, KC4HRX
Director Johnny Winter, KR4F
Director Jack Hemby, W5WQQ
Director Bill Bathgate, KD8IGK
Elections will be held next week, and which time nominations may be received from the floor.
There was no new business discussed.
The meeting adjourned at 8:45 pm. While a program on a club shirt design had been planned, it was de-cided to postpone this until later.
__________________________________________
The June 1st HARC meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm by secretary Tom Duncan, KG4CUY with 33 in attendance. One member was Charlie Tedder, W1CST, whom all were glad to see.
Announcements:
This is Alabama QSO Party weekend. The contest runs from 11:00 am to 11:00 pm CDT tomorrow, Saturday June 2nd.
It’s also Museum Ships weekend. Several of our members are now in Mobilie manning stations W6Z. Google “museum ships” and check out the web site for suggested frequencies, and get in the log.
Next week we will install our 2012/2013 HARC offi-cers based on the results of the election to be held tonight.
Old Business:
The Cotton Row Run was held last weekend. Rolf Goedhart, K4RGG was present to report on it. The club volunteer effort was a success, and so was Rolf’s 10k. We wish Rolf the best as he moves to
Page 4 VOX
Meeting Minutes (continued)
Florida.
Tim Williams, K4UEE reported on Field Day. In particu-lar, the station managers are
20/80 CW Johnny Winter
20/80 SSB John Lewis
40/15 CW Jim Spikes
40/15 SSB Chris Reed
The Multiple Sclerosis bike ride will be held next Satur-day, June 9th. Chris Reno, K6CAR is looking for volun-teers, from roughly 7:00 am to 3:00 pm at various loca-tions. Contact Chris at [email protected] if you’re able to help.
Peggy Bell, K4EGB made a plea for covered dishes and donations for the Field Day picnic.
New Business:
Election of officers. Woody Ziegler, K8GNM officiated for the election. The slate announced last week by the nominating committee was:
President Paul Paelian, WB4UEE
Vice President Tim Williams, K4AEE
Secretary Tom Duncan, KG4CUY
Treasurer Heath Thorson, KC4HRX
Director Johnny Winter, KR4F
Director Jack Hemby, W5WQQ
Director Bill Bathgate, KD8IGK
A nomination for Jim Spikes, N4KH as president was re-ceived from Tom, KG4CUY, and a nomination for Warren Alford, KJ4RAQ as a director was received from John Lewis, WB4PRC.
License & Exam Info by Rick Earl AA4II
Madison County Emergency Coordinator
Rolf Goedhart,, K4RGG
Field Day Chairman
Tim Williams, K4AEE
Public Information Officer
Warren Alford, KJ4RAQ
Fundraising Coordinator
Tim Williams, K4AEE
K4BFT Club Station Trustee
Tom Duncan, KG4CUY
Picnic/Food Coordinator
Peggy Bell, K4EGB
Training/Education Coordinator
Jack Hemby, W5WQQ
VOX Publisher
Mark Brown, N4BCD
Website Designer
Jason Henriksen, KE4ROR
Program and
Project Managers Area Weekly Nets Northeast Alabama 6m Net (ragchewing)
Weeknights 9:00 pm 50.150
MTEARS
Monday 8:00 pm 443.625
Lincoln, TN County Emergency Training
Monday 6:30 pm 147.03
Madison County Emergency Training
Thursday 7:30 pm 146.94
Morgan County Training Net (new listing)
Tuesday 8:00 PM 147.000 (no PL)
Lauderdale County Emergency Training
146.68 pl 100
unknown
Lawrence County Emergency Training
145.27 pl 107.2
Thursday 7:45 pm
Limestone County Emergency Training
Thursday 7:00 pm 145.15
North AL/Southern Middle TN Training
Thursday 8:00 pm 147.24
Page 5 VOX
If you’re interested in becoming a licensed amateur radio operator, study guides are available online or in
bookstores. You’re welcome to come to any Friday club meeting to ask questions. You don’t need to know
Morse Code to attain a license!
License exams are at 9AM the first Saturday of every month at the Red Cross Building,
1101 Washington St, Huntsville, AL 35802. The fee is $15 (cash) and you must bring some
form of picture ID.
73 Rick DE AA4II
Voting was by paper ballot, with 33 voting members submitting ballots. These were tabulated by Woody with the following result:
President Paul Paelian, WB4UEE
Vice President Tim Williams, K4AEE
Secretary Tom Duncan, KG4CUY
Treasurer Heath Thorson, KC4HRX
Director Johnny Winter, KR4F
Director Jack Hemby, W5WQQ
Director Bill Bathgate, KD8IGK
These officers will be installed at next week’s meeting.
An application for membership was received from Steve Duncheskie, KK4IBB. Steve is from Huntsville, and has been a ham for about a month. Members in attendance voted by acclamation to receive Steve into membership. Welcome, Steve!
The meeting adjourned at 8:30 pm.
Meeting Minutes (continued)
Page 6 VOX
The May 10, 2012 meeting was conducted in the Hunts-
ville-Madison County EMA’s EOC.
The sign-in log indicated 24 in attendance, with this count
was carried to the weekly training net. The meeting
started with consumption of pizza, and a round of self-
introduction.
Rolf- K4RGG is leaving 1 June, this is his last meeting :
• Completed the Nashville Marathon (26.2 miles =
6hr:44min:01sec) !!
• Has a buyer for house, and has picked out one in Flor-
ida (we can all come visit)
• Received an award from Madison County Emergency
Planning Committee
• Acknowledged Ken Magnet's decades of service.
• Charlie is here tonite…..!.... and is looking good. Glad
to have him here.
• Official hand off to Tim - KK5H as the new Emergency
Coordinator.
Chuck - N4NM
• Says no VOAD update until the next meeting, next
month.
• Huntsville Hamfest will bid to host 2014 ARRL Centen-
nial.
Scott - K4SWW
• Says EOC renovation budget (including radio room)
• Will come after tornado siren update.
• They are still planning the upgrades for the 147.22
repeater system.
• Reminds us of the offer for portable repeater pros-
pect, but we need to act.
• Brief discussion of utilizing the HARC tower/trailer for
emergency deployment for such a portable repeater
if/when necessary
• CERT has graduated 638 volunteers. 36th class is in
progress, more in planning.
• Teaching new teachers in Madison City, so they can
offer CERT classes.
Chris - KF4MMF
• Commends Doug -N4CZ for his work on the W4HMC
Winlink system.
• Report from the Madison County Emergency Planning
Committee: major agenda to recognize service by re-
tiring members
ARES/RACES Meeting Minutes
- Alan Sieg WB5RMG
Page 7 VOX
Mike - KF4BOG
• Arranged for ARRL to donate 3 License Manuals to the Public Library
Tim - KK5H
• Will not be here for his first official meeting, Doug - N4CZ will conduct June mtg.
• Tim & Rolf tapped KD7OQC as a new Asst EC. Focus on training.
Mike - KD7OQC
• Reviewed his training and organization effort at his church in Harvest.
• Took 16 folk to a ham-cram in Birmingham, 12 passed the test.
• They now have a well-connected support group, with emergency plans
• Developed a contact tree, to more easily check on the other families
• Looking forward to helping as an AEC.
Alan - WB5RMG
• Offered a quick training review, comparing the ARES and RACES programs.
ARES/RACES Meeting Minutes (continued)
Madison Co EC Tim Holland KK5H
checking out the Yaesu booth.
Yaesu’s new FTdx3000 down conversion Tranceiver
promises a banscope, USB interface, and RX
performance on par with their flagship FTdx5000 ,
albeit with only one receiver.
Dayton Hamvention Photos—by Mark N4BCD
Page 8 VOX
Here’s Warren KJ4RAQ with ARRL
President Kay Craigie, N3KN. Bob Allison, WB1GCM. Product Review
Engineer on hand to answer technical questions
What really goes on in the ARRL Youth
Lounge—pump the kids full of sugary
snacks and let them attack the caretaker.
Like Yaesu & FlexRadio, Kenwood’s new TS-
990 was displayed under Plexiglass. The rear
panel was obscured by a mask, giving no hint
at I/O capabilities. (left:) Yes, that’s Eric
Schwartz of Elecraft in the Kenwood booth.
HARC Member
John N5DF asks the
question, “When
does a rubber duck
antenna become
rubber goose?”
Page 9 VOX
Dayton Hamvention Photos—by Mark N4BCD
Alpha amplifiers are referred to as pile-up
busters. In Dayton first looks at their new legal
limit autotuner was generating pile-ups. Shown
above: one of the utility screens
Roy Lewallen, author of the popular EZNEC
antenna modeling software. Roy had several
versions available for sales & consultations. HARC Member Marvin KL0ET enjoying the show.
Hamvention visitors needing assistance getting to or
from parking areas were shuttled on golf carts driven
by volunteers.
Page 10 VOX
HARC Calender
27-May 28-May 29-May 30-May 31-May 1-Jun 2-Jun
CQ WW WPX
Contest, CW
Memorial Day &
Cotton Row Run Officer Elections
Alabama QSO
Party 11AM to
11PM
3-Jun 4-Jun 5-Jun 6-Jun 7-Jun 8-Jun 9-Jun
New Officer
Installation
10-Jun 11-Jun 12-Jun 13-Jun 14-Jun 15-Jun 16-Jun
DX Club Meeting ARES / RACES
Meeting 6PM
17-Jun 18-Jun 19-Jun 20-Jun 21-Jun 22-Jun 23-Jun
Field Day Setup Field Day
24-Jun 25-Jun 26-Jun 27-Jun 28-Jun 29-Jun 30-Jun
Field Day Auction Night
1-Jul 2-Jul 3-Jul 4-Jul 5-Jul 6-Jul 7-Jul
8-Jul 9-Jul 10-Jul 11-Jul 12-Jul 13-Jul 14-Jul
DX Club Meeting ARES / RACES
Meeting 6PM
15-Jul 16-Jul 17-Jul 18-Jul 19-Jul 20-Jul 21-Jul
22-Jul 23-Jul 24-Jul 25-Jul 26-Jul 27-Jul 28-Jul
Page 11
Dayton Hamvention Photos—by Mark N4BCD
HARC Member Steve AI4QR,
part of the Flex-6000 software
development team was in
Dayton to answer customer
questions.
Top & Bottom photos of what many are calling a game changer—FlexRadio’s Flex-6000. The Direct Digital
Conversion Tranceiver has 8 concurrent independent spectrum receivers.
Instead of monitoring a frequency, imagine monitoring 8 entire BANDS.
Page 12 VOX
Letters to the Editor
Wednesday, April 27, 2011 11:43 AM
FROM: [email protected]
Hello! I have an unusual request. Many years ago (over 45 years) my family would come to Huntsville to visit my grandparents who
lived at Randalph and Mccurg. (spelling)
Anyway, during visits I befreinded a boy named Hornsby who lived up the road. He had walkie talkies!!! He knew of my interest in radio and brought me to a house not very far from my g-parents. Going downstairs he proceeded to finish a "short wave reciever', home brew of course, for me to take home with me. I recall it was simple, wood chassis with a sheet metal front. Had a main and bandspread dial and a toggle switch, on/ff. It was powered by a single 3A4 tube, 671/2 v and 3volt drycell. After getting back home to
Elgin, IL I saved my paper route money and got the needed batteries.
Hung a wire outside and hooked up headphones...but alas the rig didn't work. :( I thought it was a bad tube, searched months for one but nobody had one. Not having any technical skills at the time I couldn't trouble shoot. I think I had a schematic..can't quite remem-
ber.
Anyway, I don't remember what became of that radio. My request is : Does anyone in the club remember the guy or the radio? I think he was either a church or scout leader. (not hornsby). I never met the guy but he may have been a ham I might remember a tower at this house. I certainly would like to build another one and this time hear the sound from the headphones. I would even be prepared to
buy one of those rigs if someone has one.
Since those days I became an extra class op (love CW) and a repair tech for electronics. That little "first radio" has always been on the back of my
mind.
Thanks in advance and 73,
de WI9S Rick dit dit
——————————————————–————-
Sunday, May 20, 2012 7:47 PM
FROM: Stanley Cole III
TO: Mark Brown
Kaitlyn was one of 10 speakers at the 2012 Dayton Hamvention Youth Forum. Her presentation was titled; "Youth and YL's, No Lim-its". Kaitlyn's presentation demonstrated that youth in Amateur Radio can achieve things in Amateur Radio that would surprise many adults. Her presentation included areas where Amateur Radio can help with skills that have been proven to be weak topics for Ameri-can students, such as mathematics, science, and geography. She also showed that there are many opportunities for youth hams to take advantage of. This forum was the 25th that Carole Perry WB2MGP has arranged and has proven to be very popular at the Hamven-
tion. All of the youth presenters were given prizes from ICOM, MFJ, as well as a monetary award from the Radio Club of America.
73 Stan NX3P
Page 13 VOX
Dayton Hamvention Photos—by Mark N4BCD
Closing comments:
Dayton is a unique hamvention. While not the prettiest of venues it is still the biggest. The networking opportunities
are incredible and there’s nothing like putting your hands on the hardware from competing vendors all in one place.
At the DX Banquet I was seated by chance at a table with 3 other Americans, SM0T & SM0W (shown in the above
photo) another SM0, a VK, and a JL for some very lively dinner conversation.
It was noted by several that vendors did not bring as much inventory as in years past. Digging deeper for hard to find
items, 300 ohm ladderline for example, reveal that vendors are holding the line on their carrying costs. Back-order
was the refrain from many.
Radio organizations form around the world attend Dayton—shown above the Radio Societies of Great Britain,
Germany, Qatar, & Japan.
Seen in the Flea market but not for sale: home brew amplifier built with two 3CX5000’s !!! 14kw out.
Page 14 VOX
Huntsville Hamfest
Aug 18 & 19, 2012
Huntsville Hamfest Activities/Details
Admission: is $7, under 12 free.
Hamfest Hours:
The hamfest will be open to the public Sat, 9:00–4:30 PM and Sun, 9:00–3:00 PM.
Grand prize drawing will be Saturday at 4:00 PM and Sunday at 2:00 PM.
Move-in hours for dealers and flea market are Fri, 10:00 AM–9:00 PM and Sat, 7:00–9:00 AM.
DX Card Checking: Representatives will be available to field check your DX cards for DXCC credit.
Visit the NADXC booth for information.
Hospitality Suites: Huntsville Hamfest will host Hospitality Rooms at the Holiday Inn across the
street from the VBC on Friday and Saturday nights. Come by and talk to the great, the near great, and
those who just think they are great!
Contest Hospitality Suite: The SECC and ACG will host the "Sunny South Contest Hospitality Suite"
on Friday from 7 to 11PM at the Holiday Inn (Milltown Room), across the street from the VBC. Come on
by for Pileup Competitions (8-9 PM), prizes and demonstrations.
License Exams: Exams will begin at 10:00 sharp Saturday and Sunday in the curtained area outside
the South Hall. Bring your original license, copy of same, any CSCE's you want to present, some means of
personal identification and the $15 test fee.
Talk-in station: Our always welcoming and always helpful (they've never lost a visitor yet) talk-in
crew will be operating as K4BFT on the 146.94 repeater for complete talk-in information. Back-up
frequency is 147.30. No PL required during the hamfest weekend.
HAYLARC YL Breakfast: The Huntsville Area Young Ladies Amateur Radio Club (HAYLARC) invites
all YLs attending the Huntsville Hamfest to join them for a Dutch breakfast Sunday, 7:00 AM at Shoney's.
Parking: The parking garage across the street from the VBC will be open with a parking fee of $5. The
South Hall where the Hamfest is located has a 500 space ground level garage with a parking fee of $5.
Elevators carry you up to the hamfest.
For more Info, visit www.hamfest.org