The Q-Fiver, newsletter of Oh-Ky-In ARS, Cincinnati OH February 2003 Vol 45 #2 >From the President Welcome to the February 2003 Edition of the Q-Fiver. Boy, where does the time go? I hope everyone made it safely through last month. The weather definitely presented some hardships and challenges for most of us. But even during these months of where we are mostly housebound, it allows us to explore other areas of interest for passing the time and enjoyment. One of my favorite, since I was a wee-young lad, is to dig through the box that holds my Dad's old (actually ancient) QSTs. Besides gawking at the old boat-anchors, laughing at the antiquated comics and reminiscing about times gone by, it is a treasure trove of potential projects and experimentation. Even though my father never went for his Amateur Radio ticket, he was still a great experimenter and builder. It was because of his love of electronics, tinkering and building radios with me as a young boy that I too discovered the excitement and love of electronics. I know that times have changed, where it is simpler to buy something right off the shelf, but a real feeling of excitement, accomplishment and satisfaction comes from building it yourself. A few of these were shown at our last general meeting's Home-brew night. What I am hinting at is that if any of you has the desire and time to host and lead a general Projects Group, I would, and I assume many others would be quite pleased and willing to participate, build, learn and share in the experience. We have had some fabulous sessions in the past and I know it would broaden and stimulate the minds and hearts of many of our new students and members. I hope and look forward to hearing from you soon. Until next time: "May God sleep on your pillow, May He hold you in the hollow of His hand, May the roads rise with you, fair weather to your heels, May the wind be ever at your back, And may you be a long time in heaven before the devil knows you're gone." ... Another great treasure from my Dad's box of artifacts. :-) 73, Phil KG8AP Barbershoppers sing very similar lyrics as "The Irish Blessing." -- Ye Ed Next meeting Lack of speaker feedback is pushing Brian K4BRI into a "make it and take it" sort of program; some of the club members may not have a clue about how to make a J-pole antenna. Brian is going to try to remedy this. The next meeting of the Oh-Ky-In Amateur Radio Society will be held on Tuesday, February 4, 2003 at the Western Hills Church of Christ, 5064 Sidney Road, one block from Glenway Avenue. To get to the meeting, coming from town on Glenway, pass Ferguson Road and turn left onto Sidney between the BP gas station and Sebastian's Greek restaurant, just before the Frisch's. Then turn right at the stoplight 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, Brian K4BRI Minutes of members meeting, Tuesday, January 7, 2003 Phil KG8AP called the meeting to order at 7:35 PM with the Pledge of Allegiance and self-introductions. There were about 35 present. No health or welfare announcements. Brian K4BRI then introduced the evening's program on Homebrew. He displayed a little Ch 3 transmitter with 1 watt audio amp he uses for polar plotting. He paid $19 for the RF modulator used; they're normally about $5. Bob WA6EZV displayed an 80 meter antenna with matching vertical (fishing rod). This is of course used in orienteer-ing. 20w with a QRP transmitter and 8 components. He also showed off an 80 meter ARDF receiver with a halo. He needed a new quad that would fit in his car, so built one that collapses. Phil KG8AP displayed a small robot that he built at the robotics group. This would be a good draw for kids or Scouts, something they could see. John KY4JD pulled out a 2 meter transceiver from a Ramsey kit. It's stuck with 10 channels, he built the thumbwheel switch version, put in 2 E-proms. Receiver works better on 2 meters than 220. It also carried a computer parallel port. Rick KD4PYR has been working on but did not bring the sound card and radio for echo link. That will be tried out on .925 first. Program ended at 7:55 PM, break until 8:05 PM Phil KG8AP thanked the Haltermons for staffing hospitality. Pete KC8BZM moved to accept the minutes as printed in the Q-Fiver, Mike KC8IVR second, motion carried. Lynn WD8JAW stated the next Hamfest meeting will be January 16 at Carol WA8YL's. Hamfest is July 26, any help is welcome. Flier labelling will be the end of June. Rick KD4PYR explained that Bill KI4QJ is awaiting the arrival of the audit committee so he can close 2002. Rick's treasurer's reports will begin with February. Bob WA6EZV reported that no new functions were incurred for Sweepstakes-150-160 K8SCH QSOs. Brian K4BRI reported for the fox hunt that Jim KC8FQY hid at Cross County and 75, which is the realty board. 25 w transmitter was stuck in a tree. Dick WB4SUV won, Bob WA6EZV and Brian K4BRI also participated. Bill WD6ADM will hide next month. Silent Keys: nothing to report, luckily. Library: Jim KC8PRY reported that he is developing a shelf list of the library contents which will be posted on the web site, so members can see what we have and request books by title and author. There are over 100 books, CDs, etc. Slow-Scan TV has been on vacation over the holidays; Harry WA8LOJ expects activity to resume with tomorrow's net. Tech Talk: As the first Wednesday was last week, Dale KC8HQS will be NCS. Bruce N8BV urged those present to bring lots of queries for a long net (hi). There was no ARPSC report. Lynn WD8JAW mentioned that WARN training sessions begin soon, see the schedule at warn.org. Pete KC8BZM reported for QCEN that their first meeting after the holidays, with the new officers, is somewhat social. Will be at 8 PM on the 3d Friday at Red Cross HQ. Hot tea, coffee and donuts are offered. Brian K4BRI stated emphatically that the Technical Committee awaits better weather for the quantities of work that need to be done. No need to meet this month, however. Rick KD4PYR reported that the classes faculty will meet January 23. Dates and teachers still need to be confirmed. There have been 2 calls from prospective students. Talk to Carol WA8YL, Rick KD4PYR or Phil KG8AP to volunteer to teach. Next ARDF meeting will be January 21 at 7:30 PM, said Bob WA6EZV. Confirmations are in on the final medal design and T shirt design. One course is confirmed, should have word on the last one by end of January. Bob is working on an appreciation for buses and medals. More entries are coming in! Heavy organisation is needed and bullet lists. Committee needs to do practise events. Web site is www.ardf.usa. Dale KC8HQS finished the web calendar last night, new design. Harry WA8LOJ reported no change in equipment inventory. Jim KC8FQY would have won the attendance incentive had he been present. As he was not, the sum will be $10 next time. Old business: June 26 is the date for Hamfest flier labelling, before Field Day. Bob W8RJK won $16.50 in split-the-pot. George N8FFV moved to adjourn at 8:25 PM, Bob WB8JHT second, motion carried. Respectfully submitted, Susie Scott N8CGM, Recording Secretary OH Section News for February 2003 SM: Joe Phillips K8QOE, Fairfield, (to contact me, see QST page 12); ASM-NE: Bob Winston,W2THU, Cleveland; ASM-NW: Ron Griffin,N8AEH, Findlay; ASM -Central: Bill Carpenter,AA8EY, Westerville; ASM-SW: John Haungs,W8STX, Cincinnati; ASM-SE: Connie Hamilton,N8IO, Marietta; SEC: Larry Rain WD8IHP, Mansfield; STM: Jack Wagoner WB8FSV, Hilliard; ACC; Brenda Krukowski KB8IUP, Toledo; TC: Tom Holmes N8ZM, Tipp City; PIC: Scott Yonally N8SY, Mansfield; OOC: Alan Cook N7CEU, Newark; SGL: Reuben Meeks W8GUC, Vandalia. SECTION NEWS - The Maumee Hamfest (Toledo) will be March 16 at the Lucas County Rec Center as always. It was late getting on the ARRL Calendar...But remember this month hamfest at Mansfield with a Saturday night ARRL Banquet....The Great Lakes Divi-sion Convention (Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio) in September, the day before the Findlay Hamfest, is beginning to take shape. Besides Jim Haynie W5JBP, ARRL National president as main banquet speaker, the conference will have sessions on FCC/OO Cleanup of Frequencies, HamRadio clubs, Direction Finding Radio and a day-long class toward achieving Emergency Certification. Other details are still being finalized....Ohio club information - Congrats to the following officers for 2003 for the Grant ARC: Pres: Bill Cox KC8OVO, VP: Kaye King KC8CZC, Sec: Jerry Silman KB8PVY also for the Massillon ARC officers: Pres: Richard Ross KA8ZQH, VP: Jim Farris WA8GXM, Sec: Linda Finley K8MOO, Treas: Ann Ballinger N8GAF and also Findlay RC officers: Pres Bill Kelsey N8ET, VP: Mike Yammine KB8CMS, Sec: Dean Calvin N8RMF and Treas: Ron Griffin N8AEH. More club officers next month. Welcome to the following clubs who have become affiliated with ARRL again:Grant Amateur Radio Club and Indian Hills Radio Club. OHIO SECT CONGRATS (A) To Jack Sovik KB8WPZ, Youngstown, for being part of the popular ham radio RAIN report and for being named Ham of the Year for Mahoning Valley ARA (Youngstown); (B) To Sam Eberling KC8ETZ, as Alliance ARC Ham of the Year; (C) To Ohio Newsletter editors who are using the Section News at a rate beyond my wildest dreams after only one month; and (D) To Spirit of 76 and 88, newsletter of Lake ErieARA (Cleveland) forlisting all writers who contributed to the newsletter the past year. Good recruiting tool for newsletter participation. FEBRUARY OHIO HAMFESTS...(2) NorthernOhio ARS in Lorain. Info? Write [electro7@apk.net]; (9) IARC-MASER in Mans-field. Banquet the night before at 6 p.m. Info? See www.maser.org: (23) CuyahogaFalls ARC in Cuyahoga Falls. Info? See www.cfarc.org. Now for the DECEMBER TRAFFIC REPORTS.... N8IXF 473, N8IO 352, N8BV 303, WD8KFN 273, N7CEU 199, KD8HB 174, N8TNV 144, N8DD 143, W8STX 114, N8OD 109, KX8B 109, KB8SBK 103, W8QIW 98, W8PBX 93, WB8HHZ 79, KA8CXG 78, KA8FCC 77, WA8EYQ 74, W8RPS 71, WA8SSI 70, KA8VWE 64, NS8C 62, N8IBR 60, WB8SIQ 57, N8CW 51, NY8V 37, KD9K 37, W7RG 33, K3RC 31, N8EX 32, KI8IM 30, K8PJ 28, KC8KYP 26, WBB8PMG 26, KC4IYD 24, N8WLE 24 KC8HTP 23, K8QX 18, KC8TKB 18, N8GOB 9, WB8FSV 4, K8JE 4, WD8IHP 3, K8QIP 1. Late November Traffic: K8JE 4 SECTION TRAFFIC NET REPORTS: QNI QTC QTR SESS. NM BN(E) 142 57 263 31 WD8KFN BN(L) 190 89 286 30 NY8V OSN 111 23 444 31 WB8KQJ OSSBN 2108 765 3029 93 N8IO DX Extras February 2003 With the cold and snow on the ground, no grass to cut etc, you should have plenty of time to tune the low bands. Activity and the bands have been a bit spotty for the past month. Let's hope that 2003 brings us a lot of new operations. February and March shows some promise with operations from Ducie and Macquarie. Here are some expected operations. January you-missed-it activity included operations from Namibia, Aruba, J7, KG4, ST Sudan, PJ2, KH9 Wake Island and YA Afghanistan. February and March Here is your second chance to work VP6/D Ducie Island . This operation is expected to go QRV on March 8 or 9, weather and seas permitting. VK0 Macquarie Island - Peter KV0MQI is QRV till mid-March, QSL to JA1ELY. A4 Oman - Marco A4/IV3NCC will be active for a couple of months. S21YV Bangladesh - KX7YT will be active from January 27 to March 2. Look for him from 1200 to 1600Z 3B8 Mauritius - Feb 9 to 15. JW Svalbard - The JW3E club station will be active from Feb 23 to March 1. Down the road D88S South Shetlands - Lee DS4CSB from King George Island until November. 73, good DX, Bob WA6EZV Contests February 2003 Feb 1-4 VT QSO Party; NH QSO Party; MN QSO Party; Ten-Ten International Winter Phone QSO Party; North American Sprint, Phone; XE International RTTY Contest; DE QSO Party; Classic Exchange; Spartan Sprint, CW Feb 8-9 North American Sprint, CW; RSGB 1.8 MHz Contest, CW; Asia-Pacific Sprint, CW; FISTS CW Winter Sprint; QRP ARCI Winter Fireside SSB Sprint; Winter 6-Meter Contest; OMISS(Old Man International Sideband Society) QSO Party Feb 15-16 ARRL International DX Contest, CW; YL International QSO Party, CW Feb 22-23 CQ WW 160-meter SSB Contest; REF French Contest, SSB; UBA Contest, CW; FYBO (Freeze Your B*** Off) Winter QRP Field Day, CW; CQC (CO QRP Club) Winter QSO Party; NC QSO Party; Grupo Argentino De CW Key Day Many small contests. Don't you wish you still had those tube finals to warm up the shack? All contests multimode, unless listed otherwise. Good hunting. See QST, CQ or http://www.arrl.org/contests/months/feb.html for details. 73, Dan KF4AV Ham Radio Classes -- OH-KY-IN Style The OH-KY-IN Amateur Radio Society will offer amateur radio license classes in the Cincinnati, Ohio area, scheduled to begin on Thursday evening, February 20, 2003, at 7 PM Classes are now forming for all levels of amateur radio licenses, Technician, General and Extra, as well as Morse code at 5 words per minute. Classes will be held every Thursday evening for ten weeks at the Salem Presbyterian Church located at the corner of Mozart and Higbee in West-ern Hills (behind the White Castle Restaurant at Harrison and Boudinot). At the conclusion of the ten week course, participants will be given an FCC license examination on Saturday, May 3, 2003, at the same location. Classes are open to persons of any age, and no prior experience is necessary. To register, or for additional information, contact Carol Hugentober WA8YL at 513=661-5323 or Bruce Vanselow N8BV at 513-251=1555. Email inquires to [wa8yl@juno.com]. Or visit the OH-KY-IN Amateur Radio Society on the World Wide Web at www.ohkyin.org. Membership Reminder: Dues for 2003 are due now. Renewals are coming in at a steady pace, and more than half of the 2002 members have already renewed. So if you have not yet paid, send in your renewal now. Membership dues cover most of the normal club operating expenses. Getting the dues in now helps our cash flow and keeps us from pulling cash from savings accounts. Also, thanks to all the current renewals for your patience and diligence in fully completing the renewal application. It makes the job of record keeping a whole lot easier. 73, Lynn WD8JAW Hamfest Committee Due to the inclement weather on Thursday evening, January 16, the hamfest committee meeting was cancelled. The meeting has been rescheduled for THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 7:30 PM at Caro WA8YL's house. Anyone is welcome to attend. Important future hamfest related dates: Thursday, June 6, flyer labeling party; Friday, July 25, hamfest setup: Saturday, July 26, OH-KY-IN 6th ANNUAL HAMFEST. Tickets will be available at the February meeting, $5.00 in advance. 73, Lynn WD8JAW Newington CT January 16, 2003 To all radio amateurs ARLB006 FCC seeks comments on WRC-03 draft proposals The FCC is seeking comments on draft recommendations the World Radiocommunication Conference Advisory Committee adopted January 8. ''Based upon our initial review of the recommendations, the International Bureau tentatively concludes that we can generally support the proposals recommended by the WRC-03 Advisory Committee,'' the FCC said in a Public Notice released January 15. The FCC also has draft proposals developed by other Executive Branch agencies, and the FCC requests comment on those proposals as well. US delegations will use the proposals at bilateral, regional and international meetings. One agenda item involves examining the adequacy of the frequency allocations for HF broadcasting in the vicinity of 4-10 MHz. Complete texts of draft proposals are available via the FCC's WRC-03 Web site. Comments may be filed via e-mail to [wrc03@fcc.gov.] Commenters also may submit an original and one copy of comments to the Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street SW, Washington DC 20554. Comments should refer to specific proposals by document number. The deadline for comments is January 31. First foxes of the year Bill WD6ADM and Jim KB8UEZ were the foxes for the January 2003 Oh-Ky-In foxhunt. Fox 1 was hidden in Mt. Washington at Stanberry Park, Fox 2 was hidden on the bank of the Little Miami River behind Lunken Airport. The hunt was a success, from the foxes' point of view. Early on, when three of the hounds found the first fox after only 30 minutes of hunting, we thought maybe we had made the hunt too easy. However, the final results indicate that was not the case. Listed below are the times each hunter found a fox and the total mileage. Fox 1 Fox 2 Total Miles 1. WB4SUV Dick and Janie 10:38 10:45 15.9 2. W8EH Ernie and Elaine 10:35 11:13 29.05 3. K4BRI Brian 12:11 12:34 62.2 4. WA6EZV Bob 10:35 Quit at 12:10 in Ft. Thomas, KY 73, Bill WD6ADM Hamfests &c. February-March 2003 2 NOARS Hamfest at Gargus Catering Hall. 1965 N Ridge Rd (Rt 254), Lorain OH. Public 8 AM- 1 PM. $5 gate, includes free pancake/sausage & coffee breakfast until 11 AM. No RF emitting prizes to non-hams, but cash amount at club cost of prize. Talk-in: 146.7 (110.9 Hz), 444.8. Info: Clark Beckman N8PZD, 216=671-8795, [electro7@apk.net], www.apk.net/noars/winterfe.htm 22 LaPorte IN ARC Hamfest at Civic Auditorium, 1001 Ridge St. 7 AM- 1 PM. Talk-in: 146.52. $5 gate. Info: Neil Straub WZ9N, 219=324-7525, www.k9jsi.org 23 Cuyahoga Falls OH ARC Hamfest at Emidio & Sons Party Ctr, 48 E Bath Rd. Talk-in: 147.27. Hamfest, Electronics/Computer Show, vendors, free parking. $5 gate. Info: Ted Sarah W8TTS, 330=688-2013, [w8tts@arrl.net], www.cfarc.org Mar 1 Mammoth Cave ARC Hamfest at Cave City KY Convention Ctr. I-65 south, exit 53, follow signs. Public from 8 AM. Dealers, vendors, tailgating, ARRL forum, VE sessions 9 AM, 3.960 MHz meeting, free coffee. Talk-in: 146.94. $6 gate. Info: Larry Brumett KN4IV, 270=651-2363, [lbrumett@glasgow-ky.com] What's coming in February 4 7:30 PM Club meeting at Western Hills Church of Christ, 5064 Sidney Rd Program: "Make it & take it" workshop 5 7:30 PM Slow Scan ATV Net, 146.67 9:00 PM Tech Talk, 146.67, NCS Carol WA8YL 7 8:00 PM Amateur Radio Public Svc Corps in Maple Knoll Village assisted living bldg club room (new location!), 11100 Springfield Pk. Talk-in 145.37 until 8 PM, yield to Tri-State Amateur Traffic Net, QSY to 146.46 simplex 12 7:30 PM Slow Scan ATV Net, 146.67 9:00 PM Tech Talk, 146.67, NCS Dale KC8HQS 17 7:30 PM Robotics Special Interest Group at Phil KG8AP's 19 7:30 PM Slow Scan ATV Net, 146.67 9:00 PM Tech Talk, 146.67, NCS Dennis KB8ROA 20 7:00 PM Code and theory classes begin at Salem Presbyterian Church, Mozart and Higbee in Westwood-Cheviot 21 8:00 PM Queen City Emergency Net, Red Cross HQ, 820 Sycamore St 26 7:30 PM Slow Scan ATV Net, 146.67 9:00 PM Tech Talk, 146.67, NCS Rick KD4PYR 27 7:00 PM Code and theory classes at Salem Presbyterian Church, Mozart and Higbee in Westwood-Cheviot Mar 4 7:30 PM Club meeting at Western Hills Church of Christ, 5064 Sidney Rd January 22, 2003 ARLB007 Board Discusses Strategic Planning, WRC-03 Efforts The ARRL Board of Directors met Jan.17-18 in Connecticut to discuss a wide range of topics, including a timeline for future strategic planning, increasing League membership and raising the level of awareness in Washington DC of Amateur Radio issues at the upcoming World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-03). Last summer the Board created an ad hoc committee on strategic planning, which developed a set of recommendations for a new strategic planning process and brought them to the Board meeting last week. The Board will meet in a special leadership seminar in July, and in September will convene for a special strategic planning retreat. With a closer view in mind, a new ad hoc committee was created to focus on the recruitment and retention of members. The Board also spent a fair amount of time discussing strategy for pursuing Amateur Radio's interests at WRC-03, to be held in Geneva, Switzerland this summer. The hottest topic concerning ham radio is 7 MHz and the objective of a worldwide 300 kHz harmonised amateur allocation. The immediate need is to get the government side of the US administration to support realignment of the amateur band and the shortwave broadcasters in ITU Regions 1 and 3. VE exam opportunities February 2003 Sat. Feb. 1 at Hartwell Presbyterian Church, Parkway & Woodbine Avs, sponsored by CRA. Registration 8:30 AM; walk-ins only! Info: Herb Blasberg WA8PBW, 513=891-7556 Mon. Feb. 10 at Turkeyfoot Middle School, 3230 Turkeyfoot Rd, Edgewood KY, sponsored by NKARC. 6-8 PM. Pre-registration encouraged, but walk-ins will be accepted. No photocopying on site; please bring everything you need! Info: 859=472-6690 or 859=356-5460. Sat. Feb. 8 at the Butler Co VHF Communications Centre in the D Russel Lee Vocational School, 3603 Hamilton-Middletown Rd (Rt 4), suburban Hamilton, sponsored by Butler Co VHF Assn. Registration 8:30 AM. School's talk-in: I-75 to M Fox Hwy (SR 129), follow 129 to Bypass 4 to Rt 4 .2 mi on the right, 1st drive. 4-way stop & a yield, beyond which is new addition with lots of glass; you're there.. Info: Ted Wilson K8TCR, 513=868-7012. Talk-in 146.97 Other opportunities; see Hamfests &c. 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 NCVEC Form 605, of license & CSCEs), blue or black pen for answers & form filling are required. Headphones for the CW element and photocopying available at Oh-Ky-In exams but not at most other testing locations (call for info). Pre-registration encouraged where available (see specific exam info for where to send, enclose SASE for confirmation and NCVEC 605). ARRL/VEC exam fee is now $12. News of members and students in recent classes Our condolences to the family and friends of Peyton G "Pete" Tandy WB9ZMJ, who died in mid-January New and returning members: Frank Asberry KG4QWG Gayle E. Anderson N8SVA 611 4th Ave. 3382 Citrus Lane Dayton KY 41074 Cincinnati OH 45239 859=261-4261 513=923-1582 License: TECHNICIAN License: EXTRA Copy deadline for March issue is Friday, February 14