POTOMAC VALLEY RADIO CLUB NEWSLETTER - JUNE 1998
From [email protected] Fri May 29 18:10:21 1998
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 16:53:26 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Dick Wilder (K3DI)"
To: [email protected], [email protected], NCJ ,
[email protected], W0CN , [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Subject: PVRC Newsletter, June 1998
POTOMAC VALLEY RADIO CLUB NEWSLETTER - JUNE 1998
PVRC CALENDAR
weekly Wed BWI Regional weekly breakfast. Wednesdays 7:30 am,
Basil's Deli, Elkridge Landing Rd near BWI
Jun 4 Thu PVRC/NC June 4th or June 18th. See June 18th
Jun 12 Fri South West Virginia (PVRC/SWVA), Western Sizzler,
Orange Ave, Roanoke, VA at 6:00 pm.
Jun 16 Tue Northwest meeting, Legends Restr, Frederick, MD at 8:00 pm
Jun 16 Tue Tidewater Colony meeting with VA-DXCC, D&M Seafood,
Newton & Va Beach Rds.
Jun 18 Sat PVRC alternate date. A cook out at
Jun 20 Sat Open house at W3LPL, Glenwood, MD. See article below.
Summer Central meetings are not held during Jun, Jul, & Aug.
Aug 15 Sat Fowlfest at W3YOZ Park starting at noon.
Details in August Newsletter.
REUNION ON-THE-AIR - JUNE 6th & 7th
The complete rules were in the May issue of the Newsletter but are briefly
repeated here for those who read this electronically. All PVRC members are
eligible (one a member; always a member). Action mostly CW on 3547, 7047,
14047, 21047, and 28047 kHz plus SSB on 14247 and 28447 kHz. The three
contest periods are: 6th 1400-1800z, 7th 0000-0500z and 2200Z-0300Z the
8th. The exchange is serial number, your call, state, call when first
joined, and year joined such as: "NR73 W6XYZ CA W4XYZ 60." Two points for
each QSO on any of the seven bands multiplied by sum of all states, DC,
provinces, and DXCC countries. The multiplier is counted once; not for
each band. Please send your score in the format of
YourCall #QSO #Mult Score
to the editor, K3DI. Address/route is on the reference page.
W3LPL OPEN HOUSE JUNE 20TH AT NOON
ALL contesters and DXers are invited to the Annual W3LPL Open House at
Frank and Phyllis Donovan, 3055 Hobbs Road, Glenwood, MD on Saturday the
20th. (301-854-6619) This is a unique opportunity to see the antenna
farm, operating room and also meet the local Baltimore and Washington,
D.C. area Contesters and DXers. This is one of the premier contest
stations in the US. This will be a joint meeting of the PVRC and NCDXA.
Arrive anytime after noon; rain or shine. A modestly priced BBQ lunch
(beef, port, beans, and salad) will be prepared on site from Noon to 3 PM
by CJ's BBQ. N1IS will be there with his ice cream truck. Soft drinks,
beer, and snacks will be provided.
Directions from I-95:
Take Rt 32 West (Exit 38B) west towards Columbia and Clarksville. Follow
Rt 32 for 13 miles and turn left at the 1st traffic signal, Burntwoods Rd.
Follow Burntwoods Rd for 1.7 miles and turn right on Hobbs Rd. Park on
the grass in front of the towers.
Directions from Montgomery Co:
Take Rt 97 (Georgia Av) north through Olney and Sunshine and cross the
Patuxent River into Howard county. Five miles into Howard Co, turn right
onto Burntwoods Rd. Follow Burntwoods for one mile and turn left on Hobbs
Road.
Directions from I-70:
Take I-70 West to Route 32 (Exit 80). At the bottom of the exit ramp,
turn left onto Rt 32 South towards Clarksville. After 1/2 mile, turn
right at the first traffic signal onto Rt 144. Follow Rt 144 for three
miles and turn left onto McKendree Rd (church on left). Follow McKendree
for 1.5 miles and take the second left onto Hobbs Rd. W3LPL is one mile
ahead on top of the hill.
PVRC WINS BOTH THE JANUARY VHF SS AND NOVEMBER SWEEPSTAKES by Rich Boyd,
KE3Q
First the HF SS. A big score improvement from '96 and a turnout and score
that's hard for Northern California or anyone else to match. As I recall,
it was in the early 80's that PVRC last had back-to-back SS wins. Let's
go for a threepeat now! I personally think we can get 200 logs this year
if we work at it. 154 logs was great...200 will be even better! And why
stop there!?
Probably the #1 key to winning in club competition is unity within a
region. Staying unified, from NC to PA is what it takes for our region to
win over such as PA-NJ, New England, Northern California, Southern
California, Texas, the Midwest, and Great Lakes
In addition to HF SS, we won the medium category in the January VHF SS
contest! Who said PVRC can't do VHF!? And...we have a lot of head room
above our 21 logs before we surpass 50 logs. By then we should have a big
enough score to beat the likes of the Mt. Airy VHF Radio Club that was the
only unlimited club in this one, and won that category with 2.8M from 56
logs. So, we have a lot of room to grow in VHF contesting.
In the VHF SS, K3MQH set the new Multioperator record at 695,372 points
and ND3F was the top rover with 191,840 points. PVRC had 1.8M point from
21 logs. Second place NE Weak Signal Group had 1.6M from 49 logs.
WPX CW is coming up. At the end of WPX phone we are on an all-time club
competition record pace, well positioned to win WPX. So, it's not just
domestic contests that we're competing in now, but DX contests too. If we
keep working at it, get the guys opping from home and at multis to get on,
and get more DXpeditions out there, we can keep closing the gap with FRC
and YCCC in the DX contests too. When we do, we will be winning not just
domestic contests or not just DX contests, like they do, but we'll have
raised the standard across the board, domestic, VHF, and DX contests
alike. Get on in WPX CW and run up a big score for the club!
vvvvvvvvvvv WE WELCOME A NEW CHAPTER vvvvvvvvvvvvv
RAPPAHANNOCK CHAPTER MEETING, 5/9/98
by Steve Bookout, KJ4F ([email protected])
The inaugural meeting of the Rappahannock Chapter of the Potomac Valley
Radio Club was held at the QTH of NJ4F on Saturday 9 May. In attendance
were NJ4F, N4GJW, K4RET, WA4JUK, K1SE, K4ZW, KK4GZ, K4EU, K4EC, WB4LNT,
K7SV and Daisy the DX Dog.
A month earlier a get together was held at the local IHOP to assess
interest in establishing a local chapter. We hereby declare formation of
the Rappahannock Chapter of the PVRC!
Considering the season, the first order of business was to notify
prospective club members of the summer meeting schedule. That was
followed by some discussion of the correct procedure to vote new members
into the club and of what constitutes a quorum. We then discussed the
objectives of the chapter. The objectives are to have fun while
contributing big scores to PVRC! Next we discussed the upcoming CW WPX
contest and who was doing what from where. That led to discussion and
some conjecture on what we might expect propagation-wise, especially
considering recent flares and where 27 days from the weekend would put us!
Plans for the FUN M/M entry from NJ4F were firmed up. Operators planning
to play include K1SE, K4RET, WB4LNT, K4ZW, WA4JUK, K4GMH, K4EC, K7SV, and
old dead ear himself - NJ4F -and Daisy. The meeting adjourned and the
station was toured by newcomers.
CLUB DONATION REPORT
by Dave Baugher, WR3L, Treasurer
I would like to thank the following for the donation to PVRC in May: K4FJ,
W4RX, W9LT, K3MM, N1WR.
CENTRAL MEETING MINUTES, MAY 11TH
by Rich Boyd, KE3Q, Secretary
PVRC held its regular central meeting Monday, 5/11/98, in Temple Hills,
Maryland. Dayton week is a tough time to hold a meeting! When WR3L and I
were the only ones at Topolino's after 6 PM we were concerned we'd be the
only ones for the meeting, but K3MM, W3HVQ, and W3ECU did eventually join
us for dinner. The 5 of us went over to the church where the regular
meeting is held and WK3I and N1WR joined us there. The seven of us had a
nice discussion of club affairs in general and W3HVQ gave an ad hoc
presentation on his innovative 7-band (40-10 including WARC) rotating wire
yagi. We watched a video of VS6WO's contest station, as presented by W9QA
(ex-KW9KW, ex-WX3N, ex-WO0G and ex-countless other calls) at Dayton in
'96. N1WR presented his membership application, it being his second
meeting and, though we lacked a voting quorum, we voted for him. K3MM
will be confirming the vote, making it official, when he gets a voting
quorum of 10 together.
Wayne Rogers, N1WR, is another one of our new southern Maryland members, a
growing area with the expansions associated with the Patuxent River Naval
Air Station (and relocation of some civilian employees from Crystal City,
northern Virginia), and a user of the KE3QZ packetcluster node. He is
formerly WA1RFI, N1WR/YV5, WA2VFV, and N1WR/KP4. He's lived in Maryland
now for two years.
In the '98 ARRL DX CW Wayne made 747 QSOs for 515K SOLP. In ARRL SS CW,
low power he took first place in the New Hampshire section in '74, '75,
'76, and '78 and first place in Kentucky low power in the ARRL DX CW in
'87 and '93.
Wayne has DXCC, 310/306 mixed, 5BWAS, 5BDXCC, WAJA, WAVKCA, WAE CW-I, WAZ
CW, WAX Phone, etc.
He's using a TS-440SAT, TH7 @ 90', a vee for 40 at 70', and half square
for 80M. He also likes bluegrass music, woodworking, ship model building,
and boating.
Thank you, Wayne, for joining us and helping PVRC win some contests in
'98, '99, and beyond! We hope you'll put in a big score in SS phone as
well as in CW this fall...and...if you use an amplifier you can not only
make a bigger score but can give K3ZO and K3MM some competition too! hi.
Maryland needs some more tough SS competition, don't you think?
PVRC/NC MEETING MINUTES, 5/7/98
by Pete Soper, KS4XG
Site. The meeting was held at Lunas Pizza in Raleigh from 18:00-19:30.
Attendees: AA4NC Will, K2AV Guy, K4MA Jim, KF4ARS Kemp, KO4PY Brent, KS4XG
Pete (secretary), N3NPQ Jeff, N3QYE Jim, N4CW Bert (chairman), N4TL Tom,
NT4D Jay, and NX9T Jeff
Membership. This was the first meeting of Jeff Johnson, N3NPQ, sponsored
by N3QYE. Jeff is an active VHF contester and DXer moving to the Triangle
area from Bethesda, MD to work for Red Hat Linux. Welcome Jeff! Chapter
membership remains at 25.
Club business and announcements. CONGRATULATIONS, PVRC! Unlimited class
winners of ARRL Sweepstakes for the second year in a row! Chapter member
scores are available at
http://www.pagesz.net/~pvrcnc
K4QPL, K7GM and K4TMC sent their regrets. N4CW announced that the July
meeting will be a cookout at his home, details and directions to follow.
The debate is 7/18 Saturday instead of 7/2 Thursday, stay tuned.
There was discussion of a trip to the W3LPL open house this June (Sat
before Field Day). KS4XG will be going taking three. K2AV will be taking
his van and NT4D, K4MA and N4CW expressed interest in the trip.
N4AF Howie has put pictures of his new QTH at this URL:
http://www.pagesz.net/~hhoyt/
Member activities. KO4PY is preparing to put up a house-bracketed tower
with a Pro-57 he's buying from K4HA.
K2AV is planning to erect 140' of AB105 with a Force 12 C3XR on it
initially. The manufacturer's photo of the C3XR Guy passed around was
very impressive.
AA4NC is getting a new 2 radio box from WX0B
N3NPQ passed around the over the top complaint he received about his
satellite dish at his old residence and everybody present hopes they don't
encounter such a rabid owner's association! Jeff hopes to take part in
the upcoming VHF contest from the W4ATC station.
NX9T (formerly K3CV) announced that he got his old call sign back from the
FCC.
KS4XG is experimenting with a DL1VU inverted ground plane for 80 meters,
using his tower as a reflector. He brought his homebrew station control
box in to show off the amazing six pole 19 position "hamfest special"
switch that turned out to be defective, forcing a redesign.
KF4ARS will be in Raleigh and using the W4ATC NC State club station for
WPX/CW. N3QYE pointed out that Kemp is now the club president over at
State. Congratulations Kemp!
K4MA related progress with his tower: the TH6 and 402-CD are up. Jim and
AA4NC will attend Dayton. Jim will be at K4VX in July as part of the
W1AW/0 multi-multi-multi team effort going head to head with the Europeans
this year.
N4TL bagged multiband contacts with the H40 and FO0 DXpeditions and
circulated a signup sheet for folks to indicate their DX interest. Tom is
compiling an overall list of DXers and contesters in this region.
N3QYE described past VHF contest efforts. Jim also invited interested
parties to contact him about the planned W4ATC Field Day effort. K4HA may
also be able to steer interested parties to operating positions at the
Cary (CARC) FD effort. Jim presented a very entertaining proposal for a
future FD effort borrowing from the Hooters restaurant chain's staffing
and fun activity themes.
NT4D is lining up a contractor to prepare a 10 cubic yard base hole as he
waits for delivery of a heavy-duty crank-up tower. He expects to put an
M2 4-element beam for 40 meters at 104' as well as a KT34XA, hopefully in
time for the fall season. Jay will also be attending Dayton.
N4CW has had no spare time since WPX/phone. But, Bert's threatening to
part company from IBM for good, which may help this situation.
Next Meeting. The next PVRC/NC meeting will be 6pm Thursday June 4th at
Luna's Pizza in Raleigh.
NW REGIONAL MEETING MINUTES, MAY 19TH by Greg Altig, N5OKR ([email protected])
In attendance were members N5OKR, W3EKT, K3IXD, W3ZZ, W3XE, WD3A, K1DQV,
W8ZA, K8OQL, W8BOZ, N3RR, and guests K3AN, W3KIT, VU2WAP, and KE3VG.
Business: There was no regular business conducted. K3AN has now attended
his first meeting for membership.
>From the introductions: W3EKT, Ed, traveled to Dayton with K3BRS (who now
calls Israel home) and reported winning an amp. Ed also op'd in the 2m,
1.25m, and 70cm VHF Sprints and noted a drastic drop in activity as the
frequency went up.
K3IXD, Ed, op'd 2 bands in the VHF Sprint from W3LPL and reports actually
hearing a 1296MHz signal, but wasn't fast enough to make the Q. Ed also
tells us he has received the green light from CINCHOUSE
(Commander-in-Chief of the House) to put up a new VHF tower that will
eventually hold antennas for 50/144/432/1296MHz.
W3ZZ, Gene, reports 28 Qs on 2m in the Sprint, but none on any other band
due to his FT-736 having an unexplained "seizure" in which his frequency
display showed a big, bright "4". Could this have been the CB channel you
were on, Gene? On a positive note, Gene is now the proud owner of a
FT-1000MP with another planned soon.
W3XE, Andy, reported going to Dayton for the flea market and County
Hunters forum. He notes he sold a bunch of "first class junque" and got
to visit with long-time PVRC member W4JAT.
W8BOZ, Russ, reported finding another Vibroplex for his collection at
Dayton. K1DQV, Roger, purposely stays away from Dayton, but reported
attending the Visalia (Fresno) DX Convention (where there is no flea
market, so his money doesn't fly out of his pants). Roger semi-hosted the
informal "80m Dinner" and met many faces that had previously only been
signals.
W8ZA, Robert, is working to improve his station for next contest season
with a second 40m Yagi and an additional 20m beam.
N3RR, Bill, can now be known as N3 "Ring Rotor" since he is now on the
payroll of the makers of one of our favorite things with teeth.
Previously, not one employee at the company was an amateur. Discussion
centered on how Norm, W3NRS, used the vanity call system to make his call
match his business, whereas Bill had to search for a business to match the
call! Bill also reporting seeing absolutely nothing at Dayton, since he
was a one man show at the booth.
ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE SWVA CHAPTER, by John Mitchell, K4IQ, Regional
Coordinator.
The next meeting of the SWVA PVRC Chapter will be held on June 12, from
6-8pm, at the Western Sizzlin' restaurant on Orange Ave., across from the
Roanoke Civic Center parking area. This is a reschedule from last
meeting's minutes.
DAYTON MEETING MINUTES by Jack Hammett, K4VV
An informal meeting was held at the Alpha booth at noon on Saturday 16
May. This the third year of the meeting among friends who connect on 160
and 75 meters. Attendees were PVRC members Marty W3YOZ, John K4IQ, and
Jack K4VV. This was the first meeting for Jim Nitzberg, WX3B of Timonium,
MD who is interested in PVRC member-ship. Others included Denny WT8Y,
Barry N9BS, Lance W3LG, Tom W8JI, and Tinsley K3RUQ.
A VHF planning meeting was held at 3 PM on Friday 15 May to prepare for
the June contest operation at the W3YOZ site on Wopsy Mountain near
Altoona, PA in FN00. Attending were Marty W3YOZ, Maurice KA3EJJ, Roger
KC4ATS, Phil N3CDY, and Jack K4VV
NEED OPS FOR JUNE VHF CONTEST AT W3YOZ SITE NEAR ALTOONA PA by Jack
Hammett, K4VV
Operators interested in joining the W3YOZ crew for the 1400 Saturday (13
June ) to 2300 Sunday VHF Contest are welcome to come up for some or all
of the Contest. Participants committed now are Marty W3YOZ, Maurice
KA3EJJ, Roger KC4ATS, and Jack K4VV. The site is on top of Wopsononock
("Wopsy") Mountain at el 2585' near Altoona, PA in FN00.
The emerging VHF Contest station is being developed by Marty W3YOZ. The
site was used during the last two June Contests. The station includes a
one year new 10'x12' shack with four operating positions, a 75' Rohn 25
guyed tower, and multiple utility poles at 52'. Over the Memorial Day
weekend Marty and I installed 3 sections of Rohn 25 to extend above one of
the poles, which Marty will extend to about 86' before the June Contest.
We have antennas and rigs committed to operate 6m, 2m, 220 MHz, and 432
MHz with 100+ watt positions. Marty and Maurice will complete the tower
and antenna installations.
The site is about a 3.5-hour drive from either the Washington or Baltimore
beltway. We will stay in a local hotel (about 20 minutes away in Altoona)
and pull shifts on the (3 or) 4 bands.
Call Jack at (H) 703-281-1308 or [email protected] or packet for further
information and to coordinate transportation or lodging.
OVER THE HILL LUNCH BUNCH, 5/27/58, by Bill Leavitt, W3AZ
The Over the Hill group met at the Oxon Hill Ramada at noon on May 27,
1998. Those attending were K3ZO, W3DM, W6AXX, W3ABC, K3WX, W3XE, AA4XU,
W3AZ AND W3GN. Many topics were discussed including the lack of
enforcement of the rules by the FCC. W3GN claimed that we had a budding
writer in our midst. To prove the point he brought in the July 1947 CQ
which had an article on "A Simple Frequency Standard" written by Richard
Talpey, W2PUD and our own Howard Leake, W6AXX. This little gem used
active devices that were referred to as valves in some quarters.
NOTES FROM THE EDITOR
If you send your ARRL membership to Dave, WR3L, PVRC receives $2.00 for
the renewal. Similarly, PVRC gets $5.00 for a new membership if sent
through PVRC.
Another note from Dave, WR3L, is that he has inquired as to the cost of
PVRC 3" logo embroidery. The new logo has some 10,000+ stitches, which
will cost us more than the old one. There will be more information via
packet and the reflector with details in the next issue of the Newsletter.
Norm, W3NRS, had a message on packet on May 11th listing Rohn-25
accessories for sale. He may still have some remaining so, if interested,
you can call him evenings at 301-698-8168. Items listed were: 25G,
BPC25G, SB25G, BPH25G, SDB25G, GA25GD, TB25D, HB25AG, HB25BG, HBU, TB-3,
TB-4, GAS-604, & 25TG.
I wish to than Bob Dannals, W2GG for the work he has done on the
Newsletter each month. His task was to take care of reproduction,
assembly, addressing, affixing postage, and mailing. Now, much of that
task has been replaced by automation. I have an arrangement with a local
'mom and pop" printer to do most of that so now I need only drop off the
master (including addressed cover sheets) and pick up the final work a few
days later and carry it directly to the ARNOLD post office. We now have a
bulk rate imprint that eliminates affixing postage stamps plus the added
benefit of up to 3.3 ounces for the basic rate. The savings from
preprinting the cover sheets and the reduced postage rate is more than
enough to cover the extra cost "farming out" the stapling.
Bob is not out of the picture. First, Bob and the Treasurer (Dave, WR3L)
communicate to determine which out-of-area members or inactive local
members should be added to the mailing list based on receiving a donation.
Bob maintains the database and emails an updated dBase-III PVRC.DBF file
to me from which software prepared by N3OC will spit out the appropriate
updated addresses that then get mail merged onto the cover sheets.
Please send articles and changes for the reference page to K3DI and
address changes and other database changes (such as email changes) to
W2GG.
By-the-way, any PVRC'er (active or not) may receive the monthly Newsletter
by direct email. Just send a request to me at [email protected] and
please include your email address in the text. The paper edition will
continue to be sent as stated above.
LMCC DEMANDS 70 CM HAM BAND FOR COMMERCIAL USE
(Extracted from an ARRL bulletin. - editor)
The Land Mobile Communications Council has requested rule making (RM 9267)
immediately reallocate 420 to 430 MHz and 440 to 450 MHz away from the
federal government (we're secondary in that band) to the Private Mobile
Radio Service on a primary basis.
Experts say that the best way to kill RM 9267 is though a massive letter
writing campaign to the FCC. A campaign should outline the specific uses
and need of the whole band. The commentary cutoff date (June 1st) will
have passed as you read this. Watch W1AW bulletins for an extension and
for additioal information.