SPECIAL EVENT. Club Officers: The Official Monthly Journal of the Tusco Amateur Radio Club. W8ZX repeater committee testing the new D-Star repeaters.

Transcription

1 The Official Monthly Journal of the Tusco Amateur Radio Club Volume 31, Issue 10 Celebrating 69 Years of Service October 2008 Club Officers: PRESIDENT Gary Green K8WFN VICE PRESIDENT Paul Truchly AA8WQ SECRETARY Janice Green KB8YDK W8ZX repeater committee testing the new D-Star repeaters. TREASURER NEWSLETTER EDITOR Steve Demuth KC8YBV ACTIVITIES MANAGER Howard Blind KD8KF SPECIAL EVENT W8ZX Special Event Station MHz PL 71.9 Monday Night Net 8:30 PM, MHz Club Website Saturday, October 11th, 8am 8pm At the Gnadenhutten Historical Museum Celebrating the first non-native born in Ohio and in coordination with the Gnadenhutten Apple Butter Festival. Frequencies: , , 7.230, All members welcome to attend and operate.

2 PAGE 2 QRM VOLUME 31, ISSUE 10 SEPTEMBER MEETING SUMMARIES Janice Green, KB8YDK September 4, 2008 Mike (N8QYA) reported on the van locks that they had to be ordered and some of the other items were going to take time fixed. There was discussion about ordering and temporary storage of generators for the new repeaters. Greg (KB8MNJ) suggested we take precautions to make the sure generators are protected once installed. KB8MNJ talked about time he spent working in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina, what he saw and the effort needed afterward. Paul (AA8WQ) reported how the Ohio QSO Party event went. Thank you to Mike (MA8MKH) for working on the wiring and to Alan (KD8EKN) for grilling. Robert (KC8FNF) would like for the club to help out with parking for the Ohio Swiss Festival. The club would receive 30% of the profit for the lot we are in charge of. The remainder of the meeting was dedicated to a hands-on an antenna project headed by Mike (WA9MKH). Thank you to everyone who volunteered to help park cars at the Swiss Festival. This was a successful fundraiser for our club! The repeater committee is scheduled to meet at Gary s (K8WFN) home on Sunday, September 9th to test the new repeaters before they are installed. The next club meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 18th at Dies Hill in Dover. There will be a hands-on program conducted by Mike (WA9MKH) to discuss and build an antenna similar to the one used during the Ohio QSO Party. September 18, 2008 Mike (N8QYA) mentioned that there is still DHS grant money left and that we might want to consider submitting a request for a new communications vehicle. Gary (K8WFN) suggested a committee consisting of Mike (N8QYA), John (K8CQA), Paul (AA8WQ), and himself meet with Patty Levengood to discuss this possibility. Swiss Festival parking fundraiser Inverted Vee Antenna Project Inverted Vee Antenna Project

3 PAGE 3 QRM VOLUME 31, ISSUE 10 NVIS NEAR VERTICAL INCIDENCE SKYWAVE Compiled from the ARRL Contest Update and ARRL Club Newsletter. Reprinted with Permission.. Near Vertical Incidence Skywave (NVIS) is a propagation mode which uses high angle radiation to send signals almost straight up to be reflected back to Earth for very effective short to medium haul communications. NVIS uses a no skip zone making reliable communications effective for a range out to 500 miles. No special equipment is required to create high angle radiation. The NVIS propagation mode works on frequencies below 10 MHz because these high angle radio waves are reflected back to Earth rather than absorbed by the atmosphere as with higher frequencies. Often a low dipole is all that is needed to accomplish reliable communications within the no skip zone. Because of the reliability of communicating within this range and no need for infrastructure or third party support such as repeaters or satellites, NVIS is an excellent choice for emergency communications and for staying in contact with friends in nearby locations. Kenny (K2KW) sees an NVIS antenna as a potent domestic contest tool. "I started looking at NVIS antennas after operating in the Ohio QSO Party, and realized the 80 meter 4-square I was using was not the best antenna for working in-state guys. I was in the SW corner of Ohio, and the farthest point in-state was about 230 miles, with most stations far closer. Compared to the 4-square at QTH I was using, the NVIS antenna should be 5-20 db stronger for in-state and nearby stations." With all of the recent tropical storms and hurricanes in the Southeastern United States radio amateurs employed NVIS techniques to get messages out of effected areas. The propagation mode works well with SSB and with digital modes including Winlink Because antennas for NVIS do not have to be mounted high, a complete antenna package including coax and support poles and antenna can be packed into a duffel bag ready to be deployed whenever and wherever needed. K2KW recommends visiting for more information on NVIS. HAM ASSISTS IN RESCUE 600 MILES AWAY From the ARRL Letter. Reprinted with permission. On Sunday, September 21, Bob Williams, N7ODM, of Bozeman, Montana, was just tuning around on 40 meters, giving his rig a test just before a scheduled QSO with his brother Rich, K7URU, in Spokane, when he heard a faint CW signal around 1 PM (MDT): Glenn Russell Ruby Jr., W7AU, of Corvallis, Oregon had broken his leg and was using a portable radio and Morse code to send out a call for help. Williams said he was able to understand the injured man's code even when his signal became very weak. "He called me. He must have heard me testing out the radio. When I finished, I signed off with my call, and then I heard, 'N7ODM, this is W7AU/7,' so I answered," Williams told the ARRL. "I told him to go ahead, I had solid copy. He told me that he was a hiker that had fallen and broken his leg. He identified himself as Russ, provided information as to his GPS coordinates, the shelter, food and water on hand, as well as his detailed physical condition. He told me exactly who I needed to contact for assistance." According to Williams, Ruby had slipped on a wet rock and broken his leg while out hiking in the Buck Creek Pass area of the high Cascades in Western Washington, 600 miles away from Williams. "Russ really had his act together," Williams said. "Before he even called for help, he set up his tent. It was raining when he fell, so he climbed into his tent and got into some warm clothes and had a snack of sunflower seeds and dried apricots. After that, he strung up a wire antenna, fired up his Elecraft K1 and called me." Williams said that Ruby told him he had a "couple of weeks worth of battery power" for the radio. Ruby asked Williams to notify the Snohomish County Search and Rescue in Washington State. "I didn't have their number, so I called my local 911 dispatcher. All they had was the info for King County in Washington, so I called them and they gave me the number for Snohomish. When I got a hold of Snohomish County Search and Rescue, they asked me to obtain additional info from Russ, such as the color of his tent and if he was in a clear or wooded area, and remain in contact with him as long as possible," Williams said. "Russ and I were able to maintain contact until about 8 PM on Sunday, during which time I was able to pass additional traffic between Russ and Search and Rescue, but then his signal got so weak where I couldn't copy it anymore. Before he faded, we had agreed to try and make contact in the morning. I tried, starting around 6:30, but he never heard me. I finally heard him calling me around 9 on MHz. We kept in contact until he was evacuated from the site by Search and Rescue at about 10:35 AM," Williams told the ARRL. On Sunday, rescue crews reached Ruby, who had set up camp on Buck Creek Pass, at about 6000 feet just west of the Chelan County line. He was taken to safety Monday on horseback. Williams said that bad weather Sunday prevented a helicopter rescue.

4 VOLUME 31, ISSUE 10 ANNUAL 52 FALL TOUR The annual 52 Fall Tour of local foliage has been scheduled for Sunday, October 19, This is a scenic caravan drive to view some of the area s beautiful fall foliage. Anyone interested in attending should meet at the Uhrichsville McDonalds restaurant at 2:30 PM. QRM Upcoming Hamfests October 26: Hamfest and Auction Massillon, OH November 8: Grant Amateur Radio Club Georgetown, OH PAGE 4 January 10: 23rd Southwest Ohio Digital & Technical Symposium. Middletown, OH Inverted Vee Antenna Project Happy Birthday to... K8DMT (Darren Turk) KC7CMP (Gary Stephan) KC8TAB (Robert Kohler) N8TZE (Kathy Kollman) W8JXH (Charles Leonhard) WEBSITE OF THE MONTH: IDENTIFY THOSE TOWERS Have you ever been driving around when you saw an antenna or tower and wondered who it belonged to? You now have the ability to find out with a quick query on the Antenna Search website. Key in a street address and the Antenna Search database will provide you with all the known towers and antenna structures within a four-mile radius. Better yet, the results are displayed on a Google Map that you can easily pan, zoom and click for detail

5 October 2008 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 7:30 PM Club Meeting at Dover Memorial Hall W8ZX Special Event Station at Gnadenhutten Historical Museum 8am 8pm :30 PM Club Meeting at Dover Memorial Hall :30 PM Annual.52 Fall Tour See pg. 4 for details