ISSUED May 2011 ISSUE NO. 17. CLUB WEBSITE: CLUB REPEATER: OUTPUT, MHz; INPUT, MHz, NO TONE

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1 ISSUED May 2011 ISSUE NO. 17 CLUB WEBSITE: CLUB REPEATER: OUTPUT, MHz; INPUT, MHz, NO TONE NEXT MEETING: 7:30 p. m. FRIDAY May 20, 2011 MEETING QTH IS HEARTH AND HOME TECHNOLOGIES ON HIGHWAY 395 NORTH ACROSS FROM SUPER 1 FOODS. CLUB NET SUNDAY EVENINGS, 8:00 p. m. LOCAL THE BREAKFAST IS THE FIRST SATURDAY OF EACH MONTH, DOWN IN GERONIMO 9 a. m. Don't forget the eats before the meeting at Rancho Chico's

2 I Was Thinking... ARES members had a chance to participate in a multi-agency drill on April 12th. The mock emergency was a natural gas main break near Arden. AVISTA responders had no advance notice, but others from AVISTA were there to document the process and followup. The Stevens County emergency response vehicle was on site at the Arden Fire Station. ARES members and Rick Anderson (Stevens County [job title] were in the vehicle monitoring radios. Ambient noise of radios, people talking, generators running, etc. made for real life challenges. Participants met in the fire station afterward to discuss what went well, how things could be improved, and overall lessons learned. One of the best parts was being able to have some "face time" with what would be our served agencies. Most of our practices involve huddling over radios working with other hams. The reality, though, is that it's highly possible an ARES member would be assigned to help at a shelter, hospital, or command center with personnel from law enforcement, a hospital, or the Red Cross. Exercises such as this one are the time to learn and practice. During an emergency others will be looking to us to know our jobs. Rick Anderson will be presenting an overview of the exercise at a future club meeting. It should prove very interesting. Thanks to the following participants: Dwayne - KE7AGN, Bruce - KC7H, Bert - KE7MAK, Wilse - WX7P, Kris - KB7TWC, Bert - N7YPP KE7AGN Rick Anderson Arden WX7P-KB7TWC

3 Rick Anderson WD7K KC7H KE7AGN N7YPP Darryl 73, Dave - WD7K WD7K - KC7H Cynthia's notes My new call sign is...ww7ca. Here's what took place during our April meeting: Announcements The club made $170 at the Spring Auction. Thanks to all who participated. Tom KE7TEG is teaching a Technician class at our local community college (IEL) Monday & Wednesdays 6-8:00 pm. Testing date is May 25 at the college. If you need to get your license or upgrade, this would be a good opportunity to do so. Contact Tom. Dave WD7K reported on the results of the 12-week Extra class taught by himself, Lynn N2HS, & Mike KD7IBE. Class began with 10 people, 3 dropped. Results: 6 out of 7 upgraded to Extra. A young couple drove from Okanogan to test on April 2; both passed as Technicians. Congratulations to all! Thank you to Dave, Lynn, & Mike for teaching the Extra class; the VE's, Gimmie AL7LB, Tom KE7TEG, Dave WD7K, and helpers Tracie KF7DRA, and Bert KE7MAK who gave up their Saturday to test us. ARES ARES members participated in an intra-agency exercise with Stevens County and Avista. What would happen in case of a gas line rupture and fire? Bruce or Dave will contact Ric Anderson to see if he would give a presentation to the club on the results of the exercise. ARES net is Saturdays at 9:00 a.m. and Mondays at 6:30 pm. on All are invited to check in.

4 Other news: Cynthia WW7CA aka KE7ZDJ received her first DX QSL card from an operator in Kuwait. Wilse reported on his Curacao trip. The owner of the world class contest station and villa is owned by Geoff from SDXA. It was 85 degrees (Did he have to rub it in!) There were seven operators, over 7,000 contacts were made. Because of being located near the equator, the bands are open all the time. Wilse passed around photos. The villa rents for $2,000/wk. Randy and Lynn climbed Wilse' tower and replaced the balun. Wilse thanked Randy, Lynn, Jim, Bruce, Dave, and Jonathan (upcoming ham) for their help, and Gimmie & Cynthia for the great feed. Upcoming Events: Field Day is June Contact Jim KE7WDD if you plan to go. See you May 20...Secretary, Cynthia WW7CA Calendar of events Nets: Ares - 9 am, pm on 3985 Club 8 pm on Meter 7pm on Club: Friday May 20 7:30pm Testing: May 25 6 pm, in the college rm 107 Field Day: June 25 th & 26 th contact Jim KE7WDD if you plan to go.

5 Open Test Dates 23 July & 3 December At the American Legion Hall in Colville Tom, KE7TEG is teaching a tech class Ham Tech class (Mon. - Wed.) starting April18 May pm with test on 25 of May Location: The Collage in Colville, WA FOR MORE INFO CONTACT: Tom Howe WILSE'S WIDE WORLD OF RADIOSPORT AND DX 05/11 The big news is that 6 Meters (The Magic Band) 50.0 to 54.0 MHz is coming alive. If you are going to operate 6 Meters you need to do it now. It will only last a couple of months. There should be a some sporadic E openings and aurora later this fall. You can work 6 Meters with low power and simple antennas. Since the sun spots are on the increase 6 Meters should come back each year for the next few years. Most all newer transceivers have 6 Meters. So all you need is an antenna. It only has to be 30 or 40 feet in the air to work fairly well. If you are looking for a real challenge try and get the ARRL worked all states award (WAS) for 6Meters. My PJ2/WX7P (Curacao) QSL cards just arrived from the printer. He did a great job on them. I have many many cards to answer most of them from DX stations. I concentrated on the WARC bands and 10 meters when I was on the air with my home call. By now you might be thinking of building or buying that interface to get your computer up and running on RTTY for the next roundup. This digital sport is what makes the bands come alive and fills the bands with old-time RTTY signals. The solar cycle 24 is in full swing so don't miss the next ARRL RTTY Roundup. This is a radiosporting event that tests your skill and ability. The roundup is the most fun you can have 24 hours according to AA5AU. The 7 th area QSO party (7QP) did not go very well because of poor band conditions and a high noise level. Cynthia and Jim gave it a good try and worked a number of stations. I didn't work any where near as many stations as I did last year. Propagation over all remains good. Many DX stations are on the air. Check the Announced DX Operations web site for more information and who they are working in real time. Janez S57J has all the papers and license to operate in Afghanistan with the call T6JC. He is a mechanical engineer from Slovenia. He is operating from a tent and is under the

6 protection of the Slovenian army. He will be mostly on CW. I hit it just right and was one of the first stations to work him when he came on the air. Check for QSL information on QRZ.com. Also look for these DX stations: Tuvalu T2X6 5/17 to 5/24, Faroe Island OY 5/22 to 6/03, Chad TT8PK 4/15 to 6/15. Here is an example of how bad a Dxpdition can go. Several operators were set to go in Afghanistan with the call T6PSE. The Taliban blew up the station and Jim McLaughlin WA2EWE was killed. These people spend all this money and sometimes put there lives on the line and all you have to do is key a mike and talk. Think about that. Logbook Of The World (LOTW) 344,095,528 QSO records are in the system. 41,023 amateurs are using the system. Are you one WHY NOT!! There have been 5,333,217 new QSO's put in the system since last month. 73 Wilse WX7P wx7p@arrl.net SKYPE=WX7PDX It works when nothing else does. It makes you part of a worldwide community. Trivia for the month 65 Great things about Ham Radio one - five The opportunity to help neighbors by providing public service & emergency communications. Some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. Some of the smartest people you'll ever meet. Items for Sale Designing Cards; eyeball qsl post greeting, letter heads, & fliers. A Organ Contact: traciedhowe@yahoo.com