The Q-Fiver, newsletter of Oh-Ky-In ARS January 2005 Volume 47 Number 1 From the President Happy New Year, and welcome to another year of Oh-Ky-In. This year promises to be interesting –- see you at the club meeting! 73,Brian K4BRI Next meeting The next meeting of the Oh-Ky-In Amateur Radio Society will take place TUESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2005 at the Western Hills Church of Christ at 7:30PM. The meeting program for January will be Tim Shoch from ARTIMIS to talk about the system of cameras and message boards of ARTIMIS. To reach the meeting, coming west on Glenway from town, pass Fergusobn Rd and turn left into Sidney between the BP station and Sebastian's Greek restaurant, just before the Frisch's. Then turn right at the stoplight at Covedale into the drive down to the church parking lot. The entrance is at the back of the building. Plenty of parking is available. 73,Dale KC8HQS Minutes of members’ meeting Tuesday, December 7, 2004 Phil KG8AP called the meeting to order at 7:40 PM with the Pledge of Allegiance and self-introductions. Three people passed their exams. There were about 40 present. Howard WB8QOH has remarried, his new wife Dot was present. Sam KJ8K asked for a moment of silence for the members who have become SK this year; Clara KB8DCH, Tom KC8ZIX and John KA8JPX. Phil thanked Emily K4MLE for doing hospitality. Howard WB8QOH moved to accept the minutes of the last meeting as printed in the Q-Fiver, Bob WA6EZV second, motion carried. Phil KG8AP read off the ballot of Brian K4BRI for President, Dale KC8HQS for Vice President, Rick KD4PYR for Treasurer, Susie N8CGM for Recording Secretary, Carol WA8YL for Corresponding Secretary; Nathan KA3MTT, Bruce N8BV and Bob WB8JHT for Directors. The Ballot for 2005 office is declared elected unanimously per Robert’s Rules of Order. Ken N8ASV is accepting memberships. Rick KD4PYR said gear maintenance cost $400, phone bill is more now that .925 is back. $2300 donation from ARDF from that major event. Mary Ann Wallace contributed more than the sale of KC8ZIX’s gear because Bruce N8BV did such a good job with it all. Technical committee will meet the 14th at .67. Harry WA8LOJ has no new club gear to report. Exams: 4 of the Tech students passed, a few are still studying. Brian K4BRI reported 9 exams given, 8 passed and 1 was quite close. CW on CD is much better quality than on cassette. Last month’s fox hunt was written up in the Q-Fiver. This Saturday will be a hunt with a “secret fox”. Sweepstakes was a good try, with 77 of 80 sections secured (missed NW Territories, Quebec and Oklahoma). Rick KD4PYR presented Brian K4BRI with the ritual Viagra mug and pen. Dale KC8HQS will do Tech Talk tomorrow. No report from WARN, QCEN or ARPSC. Old business: Bob WA6EZV reported the Thanksgiving parade went well, without a jet plane at the end of this year’s parade route. New business: Dale KC8HQS reported that the contact guy from Artimus will speak (name to be provided). Tours will be available at a later date. Attendance incentive: Al Bolton W8OC would have won $15 had he been present. As he was not, the sum will be $20 next time. There was a consensus to draw for door prizes after adjournment. On that note, Eric N8YC moved to adjourn at 7:59 PM, Judd N8RVR second, motion carried. Respectfully submitted, Susie Scott N8CGM, Recording Secretary VE Exam opportunities Sat Jan 8 at Butler Co VHF Communications Ctr in D Russel Lee Vocational School,3603 Hamilton-Middletown Rd (Rt 4) suburban Hamilton sponsored by Butler Co VHF Assn. Registration 8:30 AM. Info: Ted Wilson K8TCR, 513=868-7012. Talk-in 146.97 Mon Jan 10 at Turkeyfoot Middle School. 3230 Turkeyfoot Rd, Edgewood KY sponsored by NKARC., 6-8 PM. Pre-registration encouraged but walk-ins accepted. No photocopying on site; please bring everything you need! Info: 859=472-6690 or 859=356-5460 Pre-registration encouraged where available (ask info source where to send, enclose SASE for confirmation & NCVEC 605). ARRL/VEC exam fee rises to $14 on January 1, exact currency appreciated. Hamfests &c. Jan 15 19th Annual SW OH Digital Symposium sponsored by Dial ARC in Thesken Hall, Miami University, Middletown OH. Doors open at 8 AM for registration, presentations start at 9 AM and continue to 4 PM. Presentations on digital operating modes. No fleas! -- this is a technical society conference/seminar only. Admission free. Talk-in 146.61,m 224.96, 444.825. Contact: Hank Greeb N8XX, [n8xx@arrl.net], www.swohdigi.org Jan 16 SCARFest 2005 in Nelsonville OH by Sunday Creek AR Federation at TriCounty JVS on SR 691. Public 9 AM- 1 PM Talk-in 147.15, 147.225. Fleas, dealers, VE sessions at noon (all classes, walk-ins OK), refreshments. $5 gate. Info: Russ Ellis N8MWK, 740=591-2232, [n8mwk@arrl.net] Jan 23 TUSCO Hamfest in Strasburg OH at Wallick Auction House, 965 N Wooster Ave. Public 8 AM-2:30 PM. Talk-in 146.73 (71.9 Hz). $5 gate. Large indoor arena, dealers, refreshments. Info: Gary Green K8WFN, 740=922-4454, [k8wfn@tusco.net] Contests January 2005 Jan 1-Dec 31 UBA-SWARL (Belgium) 365 Day Contest, All modes 1 ARRL Straight-Key Night New Year's Snowball Contest (AGB-Belarus) HA Happy New Year Contest SARTG New Year RTTY Contest (Scandinavian RTTY Group Arbeitsgemeinschaft CW Happy New Year Contest 8-9 ARRL RTTY Roundup Kid's Day, Phone NA QSO Party , CW DARC 10-meter Contest, CW & SSB Midwinter Contest --CW & SSB, (Dutch YL Committee) 15-16 NA QSO Party, Phone MI QRP Club January CW Sprint LZ Open Championship, CW Hunting Lions in the Air, CW & Phone HA DX Contest , CW 070 PSKFest, Penn/OH DX Society 22-24 ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes BARTG RTTY Sprint (British) 29-30 CQ WW 160-Meter Contest, CW REF French Contest, CW UBA (Belgian ) Contest , Phone, UK DX RTTY Contest Contests to warm you during the cold of winter. Have fun. For more information see QST, CQ, or http://www.arrl.org/contests/ 73, Dan, KF4AV WEAVER'S WORDS -- END OF YEAR TWO AND MORE It is hard for me to believe that January 1 at noon will mark the end of my second year as your Great Lakes Division Director. It also marks the beginning of my third and final year of my 3-year term. I have enjoyed working with and for each of you very much. Being a Director has been as satisfying as I had hoped. Nearly each member whose path I crossed proved to be a pleasant and knowledgeable person. This is true even though we did not always agree with each other on certain issues. In nearly each such case, we were able to look each other in the eye, to smile with respect for each other and to agree to disagree. The times when pleasant disagreement was not possible probably numbered no more than two. I hope to stick around for a while so I can have the opportunity to join with other of my Director and Vice Director colleagues to better Amateur Radio and to bring each member more closely into the base of truly active ARRL members. As I have said frequently, ARRL and its members need each other if Amateur Radio is to be nurtured and resume the growth it had in past years. I appreciate very sincerely the work of Vice Director Dick Mondro, W8FQT. Because of his intellectual sincerity, honesty and capability, Dick was given a unique opportunity to head a very technical and important ad hoc committee for the Board of Directors. I want to say once again, that he did himself, each of our Division members, me and every amateur in this country proud through the diligent effort he brought to the committee and the superior results of the committee's work. Dick has provided me with great counsel in many instances. Thanks, Dick. I look forward to continuing our work together. Finally, I want to thank the people in this Division who bear the toughest jobs in Amateur Radio. These are the Section Managers. You and I are fortunate that the GLD Directors throughout past years and the Section Managers during these same years developed a tremendously valuable working relationship. Dale, WA8EFK, Joe, K8QOE, and John, WA8EFK have proven tremendously helpful in our collaboration. GLD ARRL members have benefited and will continue to benefit from this collaboration. Thanks, fellows. All Divisions should be as fortunate. LOGBOOK OF THE WORLD I request your input on the Logbook of The World (LoTW). If you have not attempted to use LoTW, yet, you can skip to the following topic if you wish. My question is directed ONLY to members who have tried Logbook. The question is simply, "What has been your experience with LoTW?" I need you to answer this question with one of the 6 answers I give, below. If you wish to add a written explanation of your experience please do so, but please be certain to use the written answer only to expand on your numeric answer. The numeric answers are: 5. LoTW was a snap to install and use. I like everything about it. 4. LoTW was moderately easy to install and to use. I like most things about it and will continue to use it. 3. LoTW is OK. I had some difficulty installing it and in getting it to work for me. I'll keep using it. 2. LoTW caused me a moderate level of problems to install, but is easy to use. I'll keep using it in spite of the initial difficulty I had. 1. LoTW has been a pain to install and nearly as much of a pain to use. I'm thinking of not using it. 0. LoTW has been so much difficulty to install or use that I've given up on it. Again, please answer the question ONLY if you have attempted to or succeeded to install and use LoTW. Also, please use the numeric answer that best states your position/experience with LoTW. Feel free to append written discussion beneath your numeric answer if you choose to expand on the numeric answer. CONTACTING ME If you have questions concerning ARRL policy or concerning the operation of our folks at HQ, please ask me. If your question concerns the operation of ARRL activities "in the field" these nearly always should go to your Section Manager. I have said very often that I would like to hear from members with suggestions or complaints -- or even with praise -- for ARRL operations. Especially if you have a complaint about policy or HQ function, please send the complaint to me . . . ONLY. Sending it to someone else or to multiple people will do nothing but confuse the situation. It is a policy of the Board that an issue in one Division will not be managed a Director in a different Division or by an officer. At most, sending complaints or requests for action does nothing more than confuse the issue and slow action on the complaint/request while we communicate with each other to see who is doing what, if anything, about it. As always, I pledge to make every feasible effort to reply to your messages promptly, and to work to resolve complaints as soon as feasible. DAYTON HAMVENTION/ARRL NATIONAL CONVENTION 2005 As you may know, the 2005 Dayton Hamvention will host the 2005 ARRL National Convention. The site of the activities will be HARA arena. You can expect a National Convention that is unique from those of the past as well as a Dayton Hamvention that remains unsurpassed. Incidentally, a contract has been signed with the Arena for the Hamvention to be held at it through at least 2007. GREAT LAKES DIVISION CONVENTION General Chairman Gary Johnston, KI4LA reminds everyone that nominations are being sought for several distinguished awards to be made at the ARRL Great Lakes Division Convention in March. The Convention is being hosted by the Toledo Hamfest folks and will be the day prior to the Hamfest. For further details on the awards and making nominations for these, as well as for other information on the Convention, go to http://greatlakes.arrl.org/. TO ALL: I WISH AND PRAY FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES TO HAVE A VERY HOLY AND MERRY CHRISTMAS OR HOLY AND HAPPY HANUKAH. I HOPE THAT YOU WHO OBSERVE RAMADAN HAVE BEEN GREATLY REFRESHED IN SPIRIT FOR THE COMING YEAR. HAVE A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR. 73, Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE Director, Great Lakes Division ARRL; http://www.arrl.org/ 5065 Bethany Rd., Mason, OH 45040 Tel.: 513-459-0142; E-mail: k8je@arrl.org ARRL: The reason Amateur Radio Is! MEMBERS: The reason ARRL Is! From the judges’ comments on the 13th OH Section newsletter contest: “The Q-Fiver I found to be a different type of newsletter, almost a booklet, but not quite. I like the fact that this newsletter is laid out differently. It gives it its own character and makes it stick out from the others. It makes the statement that it’s different.” (The Q-Fiver scored 81 points for 2d place – Ye Ed) Some other out-takes from PIO Scott Yonally N8SY’s column in the OH Section Journal, Winter edition on the contest: --44 entries this year, up from 43 last year, a 2.32% increase (same as the year before) --Of the 44 submissions 25 of them were produced for Internet distribution. That’s 56.81% of the entries, we’re seeing a steady increase from year to year on this stat. I’d say it shows that the Internet is becoming more and more an important part of a ham’s life. (The electronic edition of the Q-Fiver which is not PDFed is drawn together to save postage on exchange copies and to provide copy for the Oh-Ky-In web site). --The average score this year was also very good. This year first place scored 83 of a possible 100 points. The spread between first and third was just 4 points. This made it extremely close. The average score for newsletters that have been submitted over the past 11 years of record keeping is 69.5 points. --The judges … were selected by their profession, all of them are non-hams and in the professional news or advertising business. One of them is a feature writer for a very large newspaper. One of them is a graphic artist for a large commercial advertising company as well as a published author of poetry and now several children’s books. The third judge is a proof reader and published author for a large book publishing company. As you can see, all 3 judges have professional writing skills as well as degrees in journalism and/or graphic arts. And now, the rest of the judges’ comments: “I was pleased to find that you have a growing number of newsletters over the last time that I did judging for you.” “I found these newsletters to be very interesting and diverse. You guys cover just about everything from soup to nuts including Star Trek. Amazing, simply amazing.” “The Spirit of ’76 and ’88 newsletter (1st place with 83 points – Ye Ed) was not what I expected. It was well balanced and had a good mix of reporting the local happenings along with what appeared to be news from around the world. Very good.” “The HF Chronicles (3d place with 80 points – Ye Ed) had a good story about RTTY. Something I’m curious about though, is this a mode that the hearing impaired use?” ==>ARRL AIMS TO DAMPEN CALIFORNIA UTILITY COMMISSIONER'S ENTHUSIASM FOR BPL Citing its accumulated experience in dealing with Broadband over Power Line (BPL) issues, the ARRL has suggested that California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) member Susan P. Kennedy temper her "excessively optimistic" view of the technology. Speaking recently about BPL with Marc Strassman of California Politics Today, Kennedy contended that it's "criminal that California does not have a major BPL pilot project or commercial project under way." Kennedy said she intends to see the CPUC do Everything possible to change that. ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, wrote Kennedy December 10 to raise the caution flag and offer the League's BPL expertise. "It has yet to be demonstrated that BPL systems can be deployed without polluting the radio spectrum," Sumner said. "Until this issue is resolved, we respectfully suggest that public statements that paint an excessively optimistic picture of BPL are inadvisable." Even the CPUC acknowledged the BPL interference issue in its reply comments in the FCC's BPL proceeding, ET Docket 04-37, Sumner noted. Citing BPL's status as "a nascent service" ,and the "significant disagreement" over the level of interference, the CPUC suggested the FCC "ensure that adequate testing is performed and industry standards are developed before any deployment takes place." Sumner told Kennedy that BPL's interference potential is "not surprising" since it uses unshielded power lines. "The fact that they radiate radio frequency energy is simply a matter of physics," he pointed out. California is home to some 100,000 Amateur Radio licensees--about 14 percent of the nation's total. This fall, a BPL field trial in Menlo Park, California, where FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell had extolled the technology's virtues earlier this year, was aborted before getting very far off the ground. The demonstration of BPL technology was co-sponsored by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and AT&T, which decided to direct its business energies elsewhere. PG&E said that without a telecommunication partner in the venture, it didn't make sense to continue the trial. California Politics Today article noted the apparent lack of interest on the part of California utilities in getting involved in BPL. Sumner said there are "a number of good reasons why BPL is not moving forward very fast," including the interference "caused by virtually all BPL systems to nearby radio receivers." Nonetheless, Kennedy told Strassman that she'd be surprised if California could not get "something substantial" under way in the BPL area by the middle of next year. She suggested she'd like to pave the way for BPL at the state level in much the same way that the FCC has done at the federal level. On October 14, the FCC adopted a Report and Order (R&O) spelling out Part 15 rules specifically aimed at enabling the rollout of BPL technology. At the same time, the new rules impose certain regulatory requirements aimed at mitigating interference. Sumner said radio amateurs were not alone in their concern. He pointed to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's BPL study, which concluded that interference to low to moderate radio signals was likely from BPL systems 75 meters from land mobile stations and 460 meters from fixed stations. The FCC cited the NTIA's findings in its decision to prohibit BPL systems from using Aeronautical Radio Service frequencies, he said. "The ARRL is continuing its efforts to persuade the FCC that in order to conform to international agreements and the Communications Act, other radio services must be afforded the same protection," Sumner told Kennedy. "We at the ARRL would be pleased to work with you and your staff to answer any questions you may have," he concluded, directing Kennedy's attention to the BPL information available on the League's Web site . The California Politics Today interview is available on the Web . The ARRL Letter Vol 23 #49 Dec 17 2004 What's coming in January Wed Dec 29 9 PM Tech Talk, NCS Rick KD4PYR Fri Dec 31 New Year's Eve Sat Jan 1 New Year's Day Tue Jan 4 7:30 PM Club meeting at WESTERN HILLS CHURCH OF CHRIST, 5094 Sidney Rd Program: ARTIMIS Wed Jan 5 9 PM Tech Talk, NCS Carol WA8YL Fri Jan 7 8 PM Hamilton Co Amateur Radio Public Svc Corps at Hamilton Co Communications Office Conference] Rm, 2377 Civic Ctr Dr; park in Bd of Education lot, N side of Civic Ctr Dr Sat Jan 8 10 AM Monthly fox hunt, hounds start from Mt Storm] Park; talk in to start 146.67 Tue Jan 11 7 PM Technical committee meeting if needed; location\ TBA Wed Jan 12 9 PM Tech Talk, NCS Dale KC8HQS Mon Jan 17 7:30 PM Robotics Group at Brian K4BRI's Wed Jan 19 9 PM Tech Talk, NCS Dennis KB8ROA Fri Jan 21 8 PM Queen City Emergency Net at Red Cross HQ, 820 Sycamore St Tue Jan 25 7:30 PM Board of Directors' meeting at Carol WA8YL's Wed Jan 26 9 PM Tech Talk, Brian K4BRI Tue Feb 1 7:30 PM Club meeting at WESTERN HILLS CHURCH OF CHRIST, 5064 Sidney Rd Program: Gray History of Wireless Museum News of members and students in recent classes Ev KC8JR is resting at home after a stay in hospital Our deepest sympathy to Duffy WB8NUT in the loss of his Mother Red & Rover by Brian Bassett from The Cincinnati Enquirer Dec 21 Red: This year, I suggested to Dad that he put up the kind of lights that blink! Rover: Why the kind that blink?] Red: So we can wish the astronauts a Merry Christmas in Morse code.] Copy deadline for February issue is Friday, January 21 \-30-