May Meeting

The annual election of officers will be held at the May meeting on Wednesday, May 11. Please attend for this important club activity.

The May meeting will also be the last regular meeting before Field Day. Field Day Chairman John Teagardin, AA8UU, plans to have short discussion about Field Day plans before the meeting. Anyone interested in participating should try to arrive by 7 PM.

And finally, in keeping with the Field Day theme for the meeting, the program will be a video entitled The Last Big Field Day, a documentary of the 2004 joint effort of the Potomac Valley Amateur Radio Club and the Columbia (MD) Amateur Radio Association when they competed in class 50A with 50 transmitters on the air simultaneously!

We received the following on Monday, April 16, 2012 from John Lewandowski, WD8R:

Robert Rochte KC8UCH, will speak about his experiences flying high altitude, long-distance balloons carrying amateur radio payloads. These flights were projects for Robert’s students at Grosse Pointe Academy, and one of his flights held the record for the longest flight distance as listed by the Amateur Radio High Altitude Ballooning website at the time of the flight.

Raising that new dipole is a lot easier when there’s a reliable way to get it up into the treetops. One tool that makes the job fast and easy is a “spudgun,” a gadget that uses low-pressure compressed air to shoot a lightweight plastic “spud” high up, dragging a fishing line behind it. From there, an antenna builder can just pull sturdier line back through the tree, then haul up the antenna by its mounting rope. With a little practice and steady aim, it’s easy to hit within a foot or two of a spot fifty feet up.

W4SSY’s version is very popular, with plans written up in the March 2009 issue of QST. You may have seen one in action on Field Day. It’s made from easy-to-find materials like PVC pipe, a sprinkler valve and a fishing reel.

Wes AC8JF wants to bring more spudguns to HPARC. So he is asking for other members to join him in a group build of W4SSY spudguns. This would take place on the first or second weekend of May in some outdoor location. The guns should take only a couple of hours to build. The cost would be about $50 apiece for everything except a bicycle pump. The guns would use manual valves to keep the cost low.

Anyone interested can contact Wes via e-mail at ac8jf@arrl.net, at the HPARC meeting, or on the DART repeater.

Russell Dwarshuis, KB8U will present his experiences with a solo “grid-expediton” to northern California to activate one of the more difficult locations in the contiguous 48 states that count for the popular ARRL VUCC awards.

See the ARRL account of the Fred Fish Memorial Award that resulted from Russell’s operation.

It’s February already and I have only had to use my snow shovel once this winter so far. In four more weeks it will be March and we can go fly a kite–with an antenna wire attached of course.  It will be Field Day time before we know it. I wonder if we will have a 5/8-wave vertical antenna on 75 meters again??  It sure was fun that year.

Now is the time to start thinking about elections.  I think four years as president is long enough.  We need different people with fresh ideas. It’s time to volunteer for the nominating committee; maybe I’ll join it so I can’t be reelected.   The June banquet will be here soon.  This year we will sell tickets in advance and not at the door, so buy them early as we have to pay for a minimum number of plates.

The swap was a success this year with the number of tickets sold at least 200 over last year. Most were happy and said they would return next year.  A big thank you is in order again to Walt, KD8LWC, who managed it this year and to his assistant Bernie, W8NBC, who will take over next year.  A big thank you also goes out to all the volunteers who helped make it a success.

I am writing this tired as I stayed up late last night working the CQ 160 meter contest. I used a different antenna this year and had better results including some DX. I will make more 160 meter antenna improvements this summer for next winter. Yes you can do it on a city lot. After 50 years as a ham I’m still learning and finding new things to do.  So why don’t you jump into some contests?  Contests let you hone your operating skills and they are an easy way to obtain contacts you need. The serious contesters want your contacts.  You don’t need a lot of power or super antennas–you can still have fun.

Has anyone seen or built any of the new Heathkits yet?  Have you built any other kits from other suppliers? If so, bring them to the meetings and show them off.  In fact, bring anything radio related. If the XYL has or is getting her license bring her too! If you have awards, bring them to the meetings and show them off.  Let people see them as this will increase interest.

Let’s hear you on the HPARC net Sunday at 9PM at 146.640 MHz, the DART repeater.

Turn on those radios and make contacts. Have fun!

Promote ham radio!

73,

Murray, KE8UM

The ARRL has posted preliminary results for the CW portion of the 2011 Sweepstakes. Sweepstakes is the focus event for the club’s contesting activity. (Remember that Field Day technically isn’t a contest, hi hi.) See how members K8GT, KE8UM, and WD8S fared against the thousands of competitors across North America in one of the most popular domestic contests. Preliminary results for the SSB weekend will be available soon, and the full results for both modes will be published online in April.

From the ARRL website on the history of Sweepstakes:

…the oldest domestic contest, beginning in January 1930, it was called “The All-Section Sweepstakes Contest.” It was truly a relay contest with 1 point for sending a complete message with at least 10 words of text in correct message format and 1 point for receiving a similar message. Most stations worked were not in the contest and had to be schooled (on the air) on the desired info exchange. Sixty-eight sections were possible and 48 sections participated. The contest ran for 14 days on 80, 40, and 20 meters–mostly CW but some phone entries. The first winner was W1ADW with a whopping 153 QSOs in 43 sections–when did he have time to sleep? (Thanks, SS Manager, Larry K5OT)

Our next general meeting is Wednesday, February 8,  at 7:30 PM. Our speaker will be Wes Faler, who is building a small satellite called Fluid & Reason Engine Test Satellite 1 or FRETS1. According to Wes:

FRETS1 is a TubeSat-style picosatellite flying in Summer 2012 at 310km altitude in a sun synchronous orbit. Its mission: test a new kind of ion engine, one designed for higher thrust and lower power than traditional designs. In this presentation, we’ll show off the satellite under construction and discuss the mission, technologies, challenges, and opportunities for amateur radio tie ins. Wes will be bringing the satellite to the meeting, and is hoping to brainstorm features that might be added to the satellite before launch. Check out the FRETS1 website at http://frets1.wordpress.com/.

Southfield Emergency Management is planning to hold Skywarn training on Monday, March 5, 2012. Exact time and place are not available yet. Call 248-796-5990 for more information.

The club’s  annual June banquet will be held on Wednesday, June 13, 2012. The venue will again be DeCarlo’s Banquet and Convention Center in Warren. Advance tickets are  available at the meetings, and most Saturdays at the club breakfast. Since tickets will not  be sold at the door, it’s important to get your tickets early. Contact Rey, W8REY.

We’ve secured a permit for the Camp Hazel Woods site near Holly for Field Day 2012 the weekend of June 23-24. John, AA8UU, will chair the effort again this year. Stay tuned to these pages for plans as they develop.

General Class License Course:
Start Date/Time: Monday, January 9, 2012 7 to 9 PM
Duration: 12 Monday sessions
Location: Southfield Emergency Management Office
(Area map, Civic Center map, Directions)
Cost: FREE ($23 charge for book)
Contact: Wallace Murray, KE8HR, email

Volunteers Needed
We have a few openings for volunteers. We are looking for a Zero Beat Newsletter editor and a Banquet Assistant. If you are interested, contact one of the board members.