The Q-Fiver June 2000 Volume 42 Number 6 Oh-Ky-In ARS, Cinti OH President's message CQ CQ CQ CQ CQ CQ CQ Field Day CQ Field Day CQ FIELD DAY THIS IS KILO EIGHT SIERRA CHARLIE HOTEL K8SCH FIELD DAY.......... Where's my Mett, and I want Ketchup and Mustard! That time is here again, and the echoes of years past are all a great memory with another year's contest just around the corner! Once again, Oh-Ky-In ARS will hold its annual Field Day event at Mitchell Memorial Forest on Saturday and Sunday, 2 4 and 25 June. This annual ARRL contest will begin at 2 PM local Saturday through 2 PM Sunday. Here, once again, Oh-Ky-In will demonstrate its expertise in setting up under field conditions and being totally self contained for continuous 24 hour operations. Where this training is challenging, educational and just pure fun, we will make it a priority to maintain ourselves as a top competitor as we always do in the state of Ohio and what has become a major national contest. This event also turns out to be a major social gathering for our Society. Please join us for a weekend of great camarad- erie, spirit, food and fun for all ages. Anyone, regardless of their operating privileges/licence, can fully participate in this contest, and it is a great way to learn. At the June meeting, there will be various sign up sheets for the Field Day stations. We typically sign up people for two hour shifts, one logging and one operating. Don't feel intimidated, this contest is built for learning and fun. Please don't hesitate to sign up. Still there are many of us who will stand up and let you take command! This is how you learn and you will never forge it! I have my two favorite times of year...Christmas, HamventionR and Field Day! Life is good! Speaking of HamventionR (Christmas in May), I want to congratulate the long list of people who helped out at the Oh-Ky- In booth at the year 2000 HamventionR. We always seem to have a reliable bunch of people and always some new members who wish to help, and I want to tell you all how much I appreciate the good show this year. Congratulations to all, especially to Gene McCoy N8KOJ for getting all the folks together and Judd N8RVR for transportation and setup. Anyone who cannot attend the June meeting and would like to get involved in Field Day, please don't hesitate to give me a call. On one other note, not any less important, please don't forget that in July, Oh-Ky-In will sponsor its third Hamfest. Planning is in full steam. If you would like to get involved, please call Lynn Ernst WD8JAW. Once again, the Third Annual Oh- Ky-In Hamfest will take place at Diamond Oaks, the third Saturday in July. See you all at the meeting and Happy Field Day! 73, Eric N8YCL Next membership meeting The next meeting of the Oh-Ky-In Amateur Radio Society will be held on TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2000 at the Western Hills Church of Christ, 5064 Sidney Road, one block from Glenway Avenue. Field Day!!! It's coming, the 4th weekend in June (set-up 23, operate 24-25 at Mitchell Memorial Forest). Dick WB4SUV, our Field Day chair, will lay out the plans and firm up the details for this important event. Sign-ups will be accepted for everything that needs done, from raising the pneumatic masts to working CW at 3 AM to grilling the metts and brats. Your help will be welcome in folding and tabbing the Hamfest fliers for the mailing. Address labels will be applied later, so you don't even have to keep the pieces in order. Really easy! To get to the club meeting, coming from town on Glenway, pass Ferguson Road and turn left on to Sidney between the BP station and Sebastian's restaurant, just before the Frisch's, then turn right at the light into the drive down to the church parking lot. The entrance is at the back of the church building. Plenty of parking is available. 73, Rick KD4PYR The meeting after that according to the calendar will be TUESDAY, JULY 4. As paste-up of this issue was in progress, an attempt was being made to re- schedule the July meeting. The church has a regular event on the 2d Tuesday each month. That leaves us without another real option. Looks as if the meeting will indeed be on the 4th. In the car park or on the back lawn if necessary! 33/73, Susie N8CGM, Ye Ed. Late news: Negotiations with the church have yielded clearance to hold the July members' meeting on THURSDAY, JULY 6 (2 days later than normal), as we had hoped. Minutes of members' meeting, Tuesday, May 2, 2000 Eric N8YCL, home at last from reserve duty in Kuwait, called the meeting to order at 7:42 PM. There were about 45 present. Guests were Tom KC8MMZ, Don KC4BME (who joined later in the evening). There were about 12 upgrades present from the April exams. Carol K8DHK has been granted the vanity call of WA8YL. Eric N8YCL commented favorably on the awards dinner and thanked Rick KD4PYR for filling in as assistant temporary President. Cora, the church lady with the key, was late; Eric was almost ready to convene the meeting outdoors. Health & welfare: Carol WA8YL reported that Joan Wissell was able to be home last weekend. She is ailing; prayers of members for her will be appreciated. Jack Rief W8HQK, a member years ago, is now SK. Bob Krupp KG8HG is well on the mend from hip replacement surgery; he is present with the aid of a cane. Dues may be paid to Lynn WD8JAW, membership chair. Rick KD4PYR announced the program of "Favorite QSL Cards", of which there were a bunch! Eric N8YCL showed off a card for a packet QSL with MIR. He also mentioned that Armed Forces Day(s) is May 13-14; Department of Defense gives nice wallpaper. Carol WA8YL had a card from the first day of operation for ZL8AMO Kermadec Island. Lloyd WD8NNG displayed a card for a satellite contact on AO13. Ken N8ASV flourished a 9K2DR card (manager of the Kuwaiti ARC) with the call sign in the watermark. Bob N8CW brandished a card from a Mongolian special event station commemorating the 800th birthday of Genghis Khan. He also displayed a huge certificate (price $.75!) from an Italian Mt. Etna expedition. Bob received QSL cards for the K8CW Heard Island DXpedition, and forwarded those to the callbook address in Mansfield. Harry WA8LOJ's prize contact was with Wayne Green W2NSD in New Caledonia at 4 AM local. Dick WB4SUV was licensed in 1969 while on active Navy duty at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He hand-made KG4EH QSL cards, by hand, by the thousand! His most memorable contact was the phone patch into the delivery room at St. Elizabeth for the birth of his first daughter. Bob WA6EZV brought a flock of cards to display. The one from UA1PL, Franz Josef Land in Russia, took 7 years to arrive. He worked South Sudan the night before Field Day one year with a sloping dipole. Bob denounced D44BC as a "dollar collector" who doesn't return QSLs. Bob finally got a card from Costa Rica after 40-50 contacts; it had to be specifically requested. There was also a hand-painted card from Upper Volta and a $5 Hong Kong car done in gold leaf. John WB8NMV cited CN8CO as his only CW QSL card. A fire in 1988 took almost all of his cards, including a VR6KY from Pitcairn Island. Gene NU8U displayed his first DX QSL card, from ZL2MN. Judd N8RVR's favorite QSL card was turned up by Carol WA8YL; a contact with John N8FU (SK) on Feb 5, 1995. Ray W8LKX's favorite QSL card was the one from Hawaii on satellite that gave him WAS. Carol WA8YL cited a BZF station who gave her really odd phonetics. Ken N8ASV mentioned A25/WD8NMV, John's DXpedition to Botswana. Program concluded at 8:18 PM. Susie N8CGM mentioned, for the benefit of those not going to Dayton on Saturday, the availability of tickets for her Sweet Adelines chorus show on Sat the 20th. Gene N8KOJ announced that the Dayton booth signup sheet is on the hospitality table. Carol WA8YL made the point that gear may still be brought to Judd N8RVR in the car park, 7-8 PM on May 16 thru 18. Roger W8CRK mentioned that he had some estate items he'd just collected; come see. Bruce N8FWA announced that all items from the estate of Vic Stordeur N8VMX (SK) have not yet been sold; unsold items were to go to the HamventionR. Break at 8:25 PM, business meeting convened at 8:41 PM. Rick KD4PYR thanked the rest of his family for staffing the hospitality table. Pete KB8BZM moved to accept minutes as printed in the Q-Fiver, Ray W8LKX second. Lynn WD8JAW reported for the Hamfest that the next meeting is Tue May 30. R&L has signed to be a vendor and taken 7 tables! Invitations have been sent to local ARRL brass. Tickets are $4 in advance, $5 after midnight the day of the fest. Gene N8KOJ h as ordered the mailing labels from ARRL. Dual-band and single bands rigs for door prizes have been acquired as major prizes, draw for those will be at 1 PM. Judd N8RVR will pick up 2 tables and folding chairs from WD9HDZ/N8CGM storage. Awards dinner: Eric N8YCL congratulated Rick KD4PYR and Jo KD4PYS as the first joint recipients of the Ham of the Year award in 10 years. Rick asked "what good are laurels that can't be rested on?" Jo designed a new award certificate to incorporate all awards for a ham for the year on a single certificate. Co-Hams of Year photo elsewhere in this Q-Fiver. Lynn WD8JAW reported that the 2000 DXpedition appears to be in good shape, there are 8 booked to go to TopSail Island NC. They plan to go Sat to Sat, Sept 23-30, before the hurricane season! They still have to sort out the exact rental location. All the gear will be in hand, including satellite and digital. Foxhunt reported by Bob WA6EZV: Ernie W8EH hid 2 foxes, one at LaRosa's and the other at Gamble Middle School, in the bottom of a valley. Don KC8BME, a new club member, found the second one and will hide in June. Sunday will be the ARDF orientation hunt at McFarlan Woods, good turnout is expected. Judd N8RVR is even going to try 80m! Dick WB4SUV explained that a topo map (supplied by Cincinnati Orienteers for $4) will be needed, barely covers their cost). Bob WA6EZV said 4-5 orienteers would like to try the ham radio version. Dick also announced that the Dayton Foxhunt forum will be 10:15- 11:45 AM Saturday. Hunt's at 2 PM at Meadowdale High School, behind the pay parking lots, 5 minute walk from Hara. Help is badly needed! Bob added that a bigger turnout is expected, may be 50 teams. This hunt is sponsored by Oh-Ky-In, not by DARA or the HamventionR. Gene N8KOJ had nothing to report for Silent Keys. Bob WB8W was not present; no workshops report, the library is not open. Harry WA8LOJ reported for the slow-scan net that last week saw 11 check-ins, 2 of them Canadians. Eric N8YCL thanked Harry for sticking with the net; Oh-Ky-In's the only area club to do slow scan on this scale. .67 gives the net wider coverage. No ARPSC or WARN report as liaisons were not present. Pete KC8BZM announced that the Flying Pig Marathon on the 14th, an internationally-ranked event, still needs 10-15 communicators 3 ham nets run; medical, tracking and supplies. Hams need to be there at 4 AM, will be all done by 1:30 PM. Packets will be mailed to earlier sign-ups the end of this week. Final meeting for late changes and packet distribution will be Friday the 12th Oh-Ky-In support will be appreciated. Brian KE4HOR reported for the Technical Committee that a work party to cure .925 is planned for 10 AM Sat the 27th. Ground crew and signal reports are needed. .775 will also be moved to gain MIC-E capability (half-second of packet data including position and call, mute normal and send out as APRS). Eric N8YCL observed that antennas at Mt St Joseph are high, providing a good profile for APRS. Carol WA8YL announced that classes are OVER!! Education committee will meet the end of July. Rick KD4PYR said the new manuals should all be out by later in the summer. Education plan needs revamped, it's hoped the fall classes will be full. Bruce N8FWA mentioned that the old Advanced and Extra study material is still useful. Roger W8CRK said he thought the new Extra question pool ran to ~66 pages; Rick KD4PYR agreed that's about right. West Valley Amateur Radio Assn (WVARA) has a good sample test on line. Bob WA6EZV thanked the all VEs for their work on the 8th and 15th. 49 exam candidates came (new record), 5 written exams were given, everyone passed something. They finished in 2 hr 17 min. Ken N8ASV observed that there were no actual upgrades on the 8th but elements were passed. Carol WA8YL confirmed that our next exams will be at our Hamfest. Harry WA8LOJ announced that the equipment list is pretty much in order, though there is one piece of gear he's still trying to recover. Old business: Bruce N8FWA said Scouting for Food & Clothing went well, invitations for the celebration next Tues at the Clarion should be in the mail. Bob WA6EZV distributed thanks envelopes containing a patch and 4 Big Boy coupons each. Bob continued that the Sweeps mugs have come and are red! He has all colors but one since 1990. 2 of this year's arrived cracked, ARRL will send replacements. He then asked those working toward the DXCC Millennium Award to stand. Lynn WD8JAW got the pen award with 5 contacts. (The first pen was left at Sweepstakes, this one was left at Bob's place at the Awards Dinner). Leaders in DXCC Millennium are Dick WB4SUV, 153 countries and John WD8NMV, 113 countries (won a bottle of wine). Dick WB4SUV announced that there are only minor Field Day rules changes; license class changes will have no bearing. Stations get 100 more points for out-of-the-ordinary communications. Field Day meeting will be 7:30 PM May 25 at Bob WA6EZV's, come if you can. Brian KE4HOR, Otto AA8KK and Bob WA6EZV are revamping the guidelines for the John M. Hugentober Memorial CW Proficiency Award. Work is still in formative stages, but a finalized version is hoped for soon. This time Otto AA8KK won the 20 wpm, Nathan KA3MTT the 13 wpm and Al KC8FJO the 5 wpm. July club meeting date turns out to be the 4th. Rick KD4PYR asked Cora about rescheduling. The church has a regular event on the 2d Tuesday, maybe the meeting could move to Wednesday or Thursday of that week. A show of hands was requested for moving the meeting date, was not a majority. If nobody hears anything, we may not have been able to change from Tuesday the 4th. Pete Tandy WB9ZMJ would have won the attendance incentive had he been present. As he was not, the amount next time will be $70. Awards certificates were given to those present who had not been at the dinner. Rick KD4PYR's "pop-up comedian" award certificate, for all the terrible jokes told in class, was passed around for viewing. Carol WA8YL read out the wives' certificate, thanking them for letting their spouses out to do radio and teach. Eric N8YCL observed that it was a great Awards Dinner, and the awards program is improving. Bob KG8HG won $23 in split-the-pot. Judd N8RVR moved to adjourn at 9:44 PM, Mike KC8IVR second, motion carried. Respectfully submitted, Susie Scott N8CGM, Recording Secretary >From the Technical Committee: I would like to thank everyone who has helped with the repeater "get-well" project, and hopefully as you are reading this, everything is done! We have replaced the controller, power supply, radio and cabinets for the 146.925 and the 442.775 repeaters. If you have any comments, positive or negative, please let me know. Along with this project, we have added MIC-E compatibility to the 146.925 repeater, and I feel this needs some explanation. MIC-E is a system where APRS positional data is transmitted at the end of a voice message, and sent out over the regular APRS network. So, if you are talking on the 146.925 repeater, each time you un-key, your radio sends out a packet burst of about one-half second. The repeater recognizes this data, and mutes the output of the repeater so that annoying data sound is not re- transmitted over the air. That data is also sent to the APRS sta- tion that is already located at the Mt. St. Joe site, so that anyone with an APRS station will see that information. Also, that information is sent out via an IGATE to the Internet, so you will be visible to Internet users as well. This functionality is built-in to the Kenwood D7A and the D700 radios, or you can purchase or build an add-on that will add this capability to any radio. If anyone has any questions, or want further information about MIC-E, APRS, or any other item of a technical nature, please feel free to contact me. The next meeting of the Technical Committee will take place on June 13, at 7:30 PM at my house, located at 8 Meadow Lane in Alexandria KY. Again, a big thank you to all who have helped out on this and other projects. 73, Brian KE4HOR DX Extras June 2000 Bhutan in the log -- I hope everyone had a chance to log this long awaited DX rarity. At last report they had over 55,000 QSOs in just 6 days. Glad I am not in charge of answering them Hi Hi. By the way if you missed them, you can get another chance in September when the Clipperton DX Club will be there. Hope you took your cards to Dayton. Members of the A51A team were at booth #313 from 1- 4PM Friday & Saturday. ============================================================ Here are just a few near and far scheduled DX opportunities: June & July: No. Mariana Is. KH0 -- June 16-20 by JA6AGA. Look for KH0/AF4IN Lesotho 7P -- Scheduled for July 2 to 22 Late Summer: Tristan da Cunha ZD9 -- Look for this CW operation in September. Kingman & Palmyra -- Both these rare Pacific islands are scheduled to be active later this summer. Keep your fingers crossed. Cocos (Keeling) Is. VK9C - Look for Bert PA3GIO between August 26 to Sept 1st. Christmas Is. - VK9X -- Bert will follow his Cocos operation with a stay at Christmas from Sept 2 to 13. ============================================================ Useless Trivia -- The Clipperton operation, FO0AAA, logged 69,400 QSOs in 7 days. The TX0DX operation to Chesterfield Island logged 72,654 in 7 days. ============================================================ For recent info you can always check the ARRL DX news bulletins available from the members' area of ARRL.ORG. Just another reason to join the ARRL. Hope you all had a great time in Dayton. CU next month 73, Bob WA6EZV Contests June 2000 3 QRP TACtical Contest, CW (The EPA QRP Club) 10-12 ARRL June VHF QSO Party TOEC WW Grid Contest, SSB ANARTS WW RTTY / Digital Contest, Australia 16-18 Kids' Day Operating Event, 1800-2400Z June 17. SMIRK 2000 QSO Party All-Asian DX Contest, CW WV QSO Party 24-25 ARRL Field Day! Not many contests, but one big one. Get ready for Field Day! Also, if you know some little ones, Kids' Day is a lot of fun. My 8 year old had a ball last time. For more information see QST, CQ, or the ARRL Website 73, Dan KF4AV * Wacky WARN videos available: The Weather Amateur Radio Network's answer to Weird Al Yankovic-- Rob Reider W8GFF performs "Up on My Roof," a witty parody detailing the escapades of an ill-fated weather spotter caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Also, see "Twista," the Pink Flamingo-centric sendup of Twister. (The pink flamingo is the WARN mascot.) The performances were part of the fun at WARN's annual SKYWARN training session. Thanks to WARN Webmaster Brad McConahay N8QQ, the latest batch of videos and audio files now is posted on the WARN site at http://www.warn.org/video. Enjoy! -- Mike Nie KB8VMX/WARN in The ARRL Letter, Vol 19 #16, April 21, 2000 These current or recent Oh-Ky-In members were "proud to be a Flying Pig GRUNT!" as claimed on the gold T-shirt that volunteers received for the Mother's Day event. The marathon borrowed .67 for one of its three administrative nets. Communicators were in place by 4 AM (!); the marathon was a "wrap" by 1:30 PM. Thanks to Steve Lewis N8TFD for the list. KC8BZL Karen Feichtner KC8BZM Pete Feichtner W3EOA Herb Nichols N8EXF Bob Boehm KC8FQY Jim Elmore KC8HJK Greg Wilkins KE4HOR Brian DeYoung KC8HQT Stu Press WD8JAW Lynn Ernst KA8RTG Rick Zielasko N8RVR Judd Sexton (winged pig in flight helmet & goggles in space by end of list) Tally damp: May 13 Oh-Ky-In foxhunt The morning rains quit just in time to allow the fox to use plan "A" with multiple foxes in place of a single transmitter, to the chagrin of the hounds. The first part of the hunt was straightforward, with 5 watts emanating from a vertical antenna 15 seconds out of every minute. This was designed to get the hounds to French Park in Amberley Village without having to take too long or waste a lot of gas. On arrival, things got a bit stickier, as 4 additional transmitters, each controlled by PiCon controllers, were running on 146.565 in ARDF fashion. Each came on for one minute then off for three. All the hounds had to do was find them in any order. All were running one watt; however, two were on rubber ducks (vertical polarization) and two were using turnstyle antennas (horizontal). Here are the results: new club member Don gets to try to the hounds in June. KE4BME Don 13.6 miles all 5 transmitters 102 minutes WB4SUV Dick & Janie 15.7 miles all 5 transmitters 112 minutes KB8UEZ Jim, WD6ADM Bill, Donna 12.4 miles Jim watched while Donna sniffed out two of the transmitters and Bill one transmitter while debugging his equipment and following a lot of reflections. Guess the wet trees didn't help. Note: Dick stuck with his Graham receiver to see what kind of intermod he might expect in LA for the Team USA ARDF qualifiers. It was considerable and will likely make both of us prepare to have alternate equipment available. 73, Bob WA6EZV So, where's my new ticket? Despite an infusion of temporary help, Volunteer Examiner Coordinators continue struggling to process the huge influx of exam session paperwork resulting from Amateur Radio "restructuring" that went into effect April 15. As a result, license grants from post-April 15 applications are taking up to four weeks. "How do y'all spell 'busy'?" asks ARRL-VEC Manager Bart Jahnke W9JJ who, along with his staff, has been put-ting in a lot of overtime and weekend hours lately. Jahnke jokes about imposing a moratorium on sick leave. Fred Maia W5YI cites a similar situation for applications filed via his W5YI-VEC, where he's added a couple of temporary employees. "We've got mail buckets everywhere," he said this week. Jahnke and Maia urge amateur applicants to refrain from calling or e-mailing either their respective VECs or the FCC to inquire as to the progress of individual applications. "If we respond to the phone calls and e-mails," Maia said, "we can't handle the processing. We're going as fast as we possibly can." Maia believes that a lot of the impatience in the amateur community has come from those wanting to either file a vanity call sign application or to upgrade their Volunteer Examiner status. Neither can be accomplished without a license grant from the FCC reflecting the applicant's upgraded class. In a few cases, applicants are awaiting first-time amateur licenses and do not even have interim operating authority. Boxes of applications continue arriving to be logged in at ARRL- VEC, which has added three temporary staffers. Jahnke says the ARRL-VEC now has caught up with the paperwork backlog from pre- April 15 test sessions. The ARRL-VEC served nearly 35,800 applicants between January 1 and April 14. It continues to deal with the nearly 16,000 applications logged in from April 15 through April 25, most of them from April 15 test sessions. Jahnke points out that while VE teams have 10 days to ship session paperwork to ARRL-VEC, the transit time can be as long as a week. "At this point, Jahnke said this week, we're just wrapping up the April 18 receipts and moving on to April 19 and 20. Once keyed in and sent on electronically to the FCC, most applications are granted overnight. Jahnke says the care ARRL-VEC takes in checking VE session paperwork and applications for "completeness, accuracy and integrity" pays off in avoiding potential problems or questions from the FCC down the road. "We're still saying at least 3-1/2 weeks from exam to FCC grant," Jahnke says, "including transit time from the VEs to us." Maia cites a similar number. He said it's taking about three weeks "from receipt to filing" and says that license grants applied for via W5YI-VEC are taking up to a month from the exam date. "Right now, we're filing sessions received at W5YI-VEC April 25," he said. Statistics to date suggest a total of more than 13,000 new Generals and more than 10,000 new Extra class hams as a result of restructuring--and those numbers undoubtedly will continue to rise. As ARRL President Jim Haynie W5JBP recently put it: "Ama- teur Radio is on a roll!" -- ARLB026, followed immediately as the lead story inThe ARRL Letter, Vol 19 #19, May 12, 2000 Rick KD4PYR reported in a post to the Oh-Ky-In reflector on May 22 that data from the April 15 exams has now been published. Licenses shouldn't be too far behind. VE exam opportunities Sat Jun 3 at Hartwell Presbyterian Church, Parkway & Woodbine Avs, sponsored by CRA. Registration 8:30 AM; walk-in only! Info: Herb Blasberg WA8PBW, 513=891-7556 Sat Jun 10 at Indian Springs Admin Bldg, Morris & Millikin Rds in suburban Hamilton OH, sponsored by Butler Co VHF Assn. Registration starts at 9 AM, testing at 10. Parking on side opposite police station only; don't block the driveways! Info: Ted Wilson K8TCR, 513=868-7012 or Bill Moore W8KVU, 513=868-0102 or 868-0210. Talk-in 146.97 Mon Jun 19 sponsored by Bethel ARA. All license classes. Info: Sam Elbe, 513=724-3523 IN ALL CASES 2 IDs (at least 1 with photo), originals (bring to exam) & photocopies (enclose with preregistration or bring to exam to file with 605 of license & CSCEs) are required. Given the recent Restructuring, best in all cases to call for info. Headphones for the CW element and photocopying available at OH- KY-IN exams but not at most other testing locations (call for info). Form 610 expired Feb 16, 2000; you must now use the new Form 605 (NCVEC Quick-Form, highly recommended!) Pre-registration encouraged where available (see specific exam info for where to send, enclose SASE for confirmation and NCVEC 605). $6.65 is 2000 ARRL/VEC exam fee; if paid in cash, correct change expedites walk-in registrations. Hamfests June 2000 Sun Jun 11 Northern KY ARC Ham-O-Rama 2K, 7 AM-2 PM at Summit View Middle School, 5002 Madison Pk (KY 17), Independence. Exit 80 off I-275, 5 mi south on KY 17. ARRL hamfest, forums, fox hunt, door prizes, food & drinks, friends. $4 advance, $5 at g ate. Info: Rob Blocher N8JMV, 513=797-7252, Sat Jun 17 Milford ARC Hamfest at Live Oaks CDC, Buckwheat Rd. in Milford. Info: Chris Reinfelder KB8SNH, 753-5066 or What's coming in Oh-Ky-In in June 2000 Fri Jun 1 8 PM Amateur Radio Public Service Corps at Hamilton Co Sheriff's Training Center, Hamilton Av at I-275 Tue Jun 6 7:30 PM Club Meeting at W HILLS CHURCH OF CHRIST, 5064 Sidney Rd Program: Field Day! Dick WB4SUV, chair; tab Hamfest fliers (easy!) Wed Jun 7 8 PM Slow Scan ATV Net, 146.67 9 PM Tech Talk, 146.67, NCS Carol WA8YL Sat Jun 10 10 AM Monthly foxhunt, hounds start from Mt. Storm Park; talk-in to start 146.67 Tue Jun 13 7:30 PM Technical Committee meeting at Brian KE4HOR's Wed Jun 14 8 PM Slow Scan ATV Net, 146.67 9 PM Tech Talk, 146.67, NCS Dale KC8HQS or Rob KC8HMQ Fri Jun 16 8 PM Queen City Emergency Net, Red Cross HQ, 820 Sycamore St Tue Jun 20 7:30 PM DXers at Lynn WD8JAW's Wed Jun 21 8 PM Slow Scan ATV Net, 146.67 9 PM Tech Talk, 146.67, NCS Dennis KB8ROA Fri Jun 23 2 PM onward Field Day set-up, Mitchell Memorial Forest Sat Jun 24 2 PM- CQ Field Day! Mitchell Memorial Forest ~6 PM Field Day Picnic (bring a covered dish please) Sun Jun 25 1:59 PM Last Field Day contact Tue Jun 27 7:30 PM Board meeting at Carol K8DHK's Wed Jun 28 8 PM Slow Scan ATV Net, 146.67 9 PM Tech Talk, 146.67, NCS Rick KD4PYR Tue Jul 4 7:30 PM Regular day/time for Club Meeting Rescheduled to Thu Jul 6 Wed Jul 5 8 PM Slow Scan ATV Net, 146.67 9 PM Tech Talk, 146.67, NCS Carol WA8YL Thu Jun 6 7:30 PM Club Meeting at W HILLS CHURCH OF CHRIST, 5064 Sidney Rd Program: Oh-Ky-In 3d Annual Hamfest, Lynn WD8JAW Sat Jul 22 7 AM-1 PM Oh-Ky-In ARS 3d Annual Hamfest at Diamond Oaks CDC News of members and students in recent classes Our sincere condolences to WA8ZOR Frank Bredestege's family (brother Chuck WD8KBO et al). Frank, a previous Oh-Ky-In member, died May 22 W8AM Richard Fisher on the passing of his wife Mary on April 19, after a long illness (news received after print-copy deadline) Ailing Joan Wissell, YF of WB8QOH Howard Wissell. Your prayers on her behalf will be appreciated New call sign! WA8YL Carol Hugentober, was K8DHK (& may still be called that for some time to come) Upgrade WA4ZKO John Loze Tech + to General Welcome to new and returning members KG4BDP Darwin E. Elliott KE4BME Donald W. Bullock KC8LEL Robert H. Meador KC8NMF Thomas A. Melton Thanks to Ryan Koch, one of Jack KA8JFE's grandsons, for collating all the May issue pages! (There were extra copies for Dayton, so it was a bigger task than usual, and very much appreciated.) KB8DCH Clara Longano, back on the circulation committe to help staple, stamp and stick the May (& June) mailers Another post-deadline addition (5.31.00) The favourite shriek-of-the-week: "WE GOT MAIL!!" New licences have come. The photo that missed the deadline last time Jo KD4PYS and Rick KD4PYR Haltermon, recipients of the Joint Ham of the Year Award for 1999, hold the plaque at the April 15 Awards Dinner at Shuller's Honours must travel in packs! Just 10 days after Jo KD4PYS & Rick KD4PYR Haltermon were named Co-Hams of the Year (first dual award since 1989), Susie Scott N8CGM was dubbed as Sweet Adeline of the Year (1999-2000) by Queen City Chorus of Sweet Adelines Intl. This was the first time, maybe ever, of a second such honour (1991-92) in Queen City. Those of you who spent Sat May 20 at Dayton, missed a heckuva good barbershop harmony show! With any luck, videotapes will be available for loan sometime in June.... Or if you're at a loose end &/or so inclined, the "Smooth Sailin'" first half of the QC show will be reprised at Summerfair at Old Coney Island on Sunday, June 4 at 2 PM. regular ads for Signs & Things and Wright Radio Convention! (figures 2000 inside balloon that replaces "o") Capitol & dome foreground canted 20 degrees right, US flag background canted 20 degrees left Rated G Tickets: 851-0984 Political conventions are serious business - NOT! Enjoy the antics of this 60-man chorus in this broadway style original musical comedy. Plus... SW OH's own 1995 Intl Quartet Champions, Marquis! A production of the Cincinnati Delta Kings Barbershop Chorus June 16 & 17 * 8 PM Saturday Matinee * 2 PM at Deer Park High School PS. It's on Father's Day weekend! Great gift idea for Dad. All tickets $12. Talk to Brad WD9HDZ or Susie N8CGM, 513=385-5201, Researcher undertakes study of radio amateurs National Cancer Institute researcher Kenneth Cantor has embarked on an epidemiological study of radio amateurs. Cantor wants to evaluate whether causes of death among amateurs differ from those of the general population. If it turns out that they do differ, he then wants to find out whether the individual's "usual occupation" might explain the differences. Representatives of the ARRL RF Safety Committee met with Cantor at League Headquarters April 28 to discuss the project. On hand were Committee Chairman Greg Lapin N9GL, Committee members Robert Gold WB0KIZ and Kai Siwiak KE4PT, and David Sumner K1ZZ and Ed Hare W1RFI of the ARRL staff. In addition to identifying ways that the League could assist in improving the study's accuracy, the meeting was aimed, in part, at educating committee members and League staff about the specifics of the proposed study. Cantor described his investigation as an "inexpensive kind of quick study" that would not yield fine detail. As a result, he told the group, it would be "wrong" to ascribe the deaths to any particular factor. The session presented an opportunity for Cantor to learn about influences amateurs tend to be exposed to in addition to RF energy. Cantor and the amateurs also were able to gain an appreciation for each other's points of view--Cantor on the public's sensitivity to the words used to explain the results of such an epidemiological study, and the amateurs on the significance of different types of epidemiological studies. Some discussion at the session focused on a similar study done 15 years ago by Samuel Milham. Wording in that study's conclusions led many to believe that the Milham study had presented evidence that RF energy caused "an excess of leukemia." Cantor emphasized that his investigation is a preliminary study, based on a statistical comparison of FCC licensing records and State of California death records. Additional death records might be included as needed. The initial "cohort group" for Cantor's study includes more than 100,000 men and women--seven times larger than the earlier Milham study. "This type of study can be performed at minimal cost, but it has the potential for misleading results," said Lapin -- himself a research professional. Lapin explained that in the event of "apparent associations" in the results of Cantor's study, a follow-up study would be conducted. The followup would involve individual questionnaires and contact with the families of Silent Keys -- something the Milham study did not attempt to do. .................................... A shack in space nears reality A new chapter in the history of Amateur Radio will begin later this year when ham gear is installed aboard the International Space Station for the first time. Three major events must happen before the first QSO is made from the ISS, however. First, the Russian-built Zvezda Service Module is scheduled for launch in early to mid-July, providing the living quarters for the first ISS crew. Then, the initial amateur station hardware will be sent up to the ISS aboard shuttle mission STS-106 in August. Finally, the initial crew of US astronaut Bill Shepard KD5GSL and Russian Cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev U5MIR and Yuri Gaidzenko will be launched in October from Russia aboard a Soyuz spacecraft for what's expected to be a long-duration mission. Amateur Radio will be available to the first crew members once it's been installed temporarily aboard the Zarya Functional Cargo Block module, already in space. Earlier plans had called for the initial station gear --primarily VHF and UHF hand-held transceivers -- to be put aboard the Service Module. Launch delays forced the change, however. The amateur gear likely will be transferred to the Service Module next year. The initial station will use existing antennas on the Functional Cargo Block. The system is being adapted to support Amateur Radio operation on 2 meters but not on 70 cm. A Russian station license and call sign, RZ3DZR, have been granted for the ISS ham radio station. Long-term plans call for obtaining an international call sign for the ISS station to recognize the cooperative nature of the ARISS project. With assistance from the International Amateur Radio Union, efforts are under way to request a specific ISS call sign block from the ITU. "A multinational call sign block is the most desirable route," said ARRL First Vice President Joel Harrison W5ZN, after a meeting of the ARISS international partners earlier this year in the Netherlands. ARISS team members continue to pursue licenses in their respective countries. A German call sign, DL0ISS, has been issued, and a US call sign has been applied for. The initial ISS amateur station will provide primarily FM voice and "improved" packet capability on 2 meters and--once aboard the Service Module -- on 70 cm using Ericsson hand-held transceivers. It's expected that slow-scan TV, various types of amateur TV, and experimental projects eventually will be added. A primary goal of ARISS is to continue a schedule of Amateur Radio contacts with schools, so students can interview the astronauts and cosmonauts directly -- as a major component of a classroom project. NASA "clearly supports the educational outreach aspects" of the ARISS project, US delegation member Frank Bauer KA3HDO told the Netherlands gathering. Bauer was scheduled to discuss progress on the ARISS project during the Dayton Hamvention AMSAT forum Saturday, May 20. __________________________________ In brief: * Riley Hollingsworth: Is my face red? FCC Special Counsel for Amateur Radio Enforcement Riley Hollingsworth says he was just trying to see if the amateur community was paying attention when he suggested on his recent Radio Amateur Information Network enforcement news report (http://www.rainreport.com) that the use of phonetics during station identification was contrary to the amateur rules. As Hollingsworth has since conceded, after being challenged from several quarters, the applicable FCC station ID rule -- 97.119(b)(2) -- specifically encourages "use of a standard phonetic alphabet as an aid for correct station identification" [emphasis added]. "I plead temporary insanity," Hollingsworth told the ARRL. "I was working too close to my antennas the evening before." * Former Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, JI1KIT, SK: Former Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, JI1KIT, died May 15. He was 62. Obuchi had been hospitalized in Tokyo since suffering a stroke April 2. The former foreign minister, Obuchi took over as prime minister in 1998. from The ARRL Letter, Vol 19 #20, May 19, 2000, ARRL Ntl Convention 2000 edition