The W.A.C.O.M. Ham. Washington Amateur Communications. ~~ NOTE~~ Next General Membership Meeting ~~ NOTE~~

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1 The W.A.C.O.M. Ham Washington Amateur Communications Inside: NBEMS Training WALK FOR ALEX Seen at the June Meeting Colonies Event Breezeshooters ARES Info Items of Interest Minutes Hamfests Garage vs. Antenna Governor s Proclamation..12 Field Day Photos ,13,15,17,18 Definition WACOM Field Day Texas Style Member Info Form Presidents Message July 2011 The WACOM Field Day Event again this year was enjoyed by all. Our Field Day was dedicated to all silent keys. We opened with a moment of silence in honor of them. We had plenty of family members attend and the GOTA station was very busy for the entire field day event. Also new this year we tried a YL station shared by new amateur operators and this was also a great success. We had plenty of visitors this year with over 52 signing in on our sign in sheet. Also we welcomed people from the area just stopping by and asking about amateur radio. We enjoyed great local news coverage of the event by making the front page of the Observer Reporter local newspaper and also a visit by Senator Solobay of Pennsylvania. We will post the results as soon as they are available. This was a true club event and I want to thank everyone who helped in every way and took the time out of their busy weekend to make Field Day 2011 such a great time. Hope to see you all at Field Day s Bud N3TIR This meeting Bob KB3IN will demonstrate a mobile cross band repeater system. Be sure to bring your handhelds. ~~ NOTE~~ Next General Membership Meeting ~~ NOTE~~ South Strabane Fire Hall No#1 ~ 1696 East Maiden Street ~ Washington, Pa The change of location is a onetime event due to construction at the county building. Thursday, July 7, 2011 at 7:30 pm ~~All are welcome

2 Page 2 The W.A.C.O.M. Ham Narrow Band Emergency Messaging System (NBEMS) Training Washington E.O.C. meeting room 100 West Beau Street Washington, Pa Sunday July 24, P.M. to 4 P.M To register or directions contact Bud Plants N3TIR Limited Seating please contact early bud@n3tir.com Schedule: 1-2 PM Introduction to NBMES 2-3 PM NBEMS installation workshop 3-4 PM Advanced Nbems Attendees should bring their own computers, portable radios and interfaces (if they have them) so I can help get them up and running with NBEMS during the installation workshop part of the training. sponsored by Washington Amateur Communications Inc. Class conducted by Harry Bloomberg W3YJ

3 The W.A.C.O.M. Ham Page 3 WALK FOR ALEX Again WACOM provided communication support for the Bentleyville Walk for Alex on Saturday, June 4. Pictured at Left: (L to R): Norma N3YJJ, Dave N3IDH, Bob KB3IN, Kevin N3HKQ, Bud N3TIR, Rich KB3VFW, (not in picture) net control from Washington, PA

4 The W.A.C.O.M. Ham Page 4 Seen at the June Meeting. Bill, NY9H, brought in some Anderson PowerPoles and the Rigrunner. The rig runner is a convenient way to distribute 12 vdc across the shack. Bill adds: Also serves as somewhat a standard among most emergency groups, so everybody s stuff plugs into everyone else s stuff Great for rigs and accessories amps, as well as 1 amp product as each outlet has it's own fuse. Great for Field Day or any other day. It is a 13.8 VDC power panel that uses the excellent Anderson Powerpole connectors. Standardize all of your 12 VDC connections using the amateur radio ARES & RACES, RSGB, ARRL Powerpole system. FIELD DAY

5 Page 5 HOLMESBURG AMATEUR RADIO CLUB 3341 Sheffield Ave., Philadelphia, PA Serving the Community Through Ham Radio WM3PEN-K3FI The W.A.C.O.M. Ham Independence Week Original 13 Colonies Special Event July 1-5, 2011 Amateur radio stations operating from the 13 original U.S. colonies will be joined by members of the Holmesburg Amateur Radio Club to celebrate Independence Day from the city where independence was declared, Philadelphia, PA. The theme for the 2011 event is the Declaration of Independence. Each of the original 13 colonies will be represented by a special event station using a 1x1 callsign, K2A - K2M. The Holmesburg Amateur Radio Club will operate the Club call, WM3PEN, as a special event station and will offer a special QSL card featuring Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed. In all you can collect 14 QSL cards during the 5 day event. The 13 Colony Special Event will be offering a special certificate with the Declaration of Independence on it. For further information on the 13 colony certificate look up the The U.S. Original 13 Colonies Group at When you work WM3PEN make a note on the 13 colony log sheet and you will get a "Liberty Bell" endorsement with the WM3PEN call place on the certificate. The Pennsylvania Assembly ordered the Liberty Bell in 1751 to commemorate the 50-year anniversary of William Penn's 1701 Charter of Privileges, Pennsylvania's original Constitution. When you work WM3PEN send an SASE, IRC, or Green Stamp ($1) with your QSL to WM3PEN. Use the address for WM3PEN at QRZ.COM. SWLs may send a confirmation of reception to request a QSL card. Simply indicate the stations making contact with WM3PEN, time, frequency, and your receiving equipment. SWL stations should follow the same mailing instructions. Collect all "13" for a set. All Colony States have real nice special event QSL cards in full color, depicting their state flag or other Colonial period designs promoting their Colony State! This is a must have collection! The only way you can acquire a "set" is to complete a "Clean Sweep" of all Colony stations during the 5 day event.wm3pen, along with the other stations participating in the 13 Colonies Event will be operating on Meters, but will not be operating on the WARC bands. WM3PEN is planning on operating on 2 Meter Simplex. Using K2M and representing Pennsylvania will be WX3A in Hamlin and N2MZZ in Stroudsburg. Times will be: 12:01 AM Eastern on July 1st to 11:59 PM Eastern on July 5th. Join in the fun and be Radio active. Hope to see you on the air. For further information on the WM3PEN operation, check out the Club website at or contact WM3PEN@ARRL.NET. HARC wishes to thank the Marple Newtown ARC for their support of this event.

6 Page 6 The W.A.C.O.M. Ham WACOM at BREEZESHOOTERS Jim KC3HW selling candy at the WACOM table BILL NY9H talking To Scott N3HCC from the target system about the repeater that links out of Somerset PA TO Washington D.C. The WACOM table seems to always attract visitors maybe only for the tempting chocolate?

7 Page 7 Website- ARES - The W.A.C.O.M. Ham The Section ARES website, has a new look and most important, we have our own registration program up and running. Thanks to all that participated in the beta test and high praise to Bob, AG3U for the programming. We are now ready to turn it on. The program worked so well in test, that if you participated you need NOT re-enter information. Online Registration- dates Registration is open to all interested in joining WPAARES. During the initial period, we requesting a staggered process, by District. This will 1. minimize overloading of the server and the manual processing required in start-up and 2. Give ECs a fairly complete list in one pass. Please register on the following schedule. N1 District - June N2, S2 - July 1-14 S1 July IS OUR SECTION If there are questions, the following may help. Frequently Asked Questions- 1. How do I access the registration page? Go to The registration page is accessed from a button on the left side of the homepage 2. Is my information confidential? Information you submit will be available only to the Section Manager, Section Emergency Coordinator and the Emergency Coordinator for your County. 3. Why collect this information? Collection of information on-line is more convenient, an easy to use roster is compiled to facilitate efficient communication with you and more effective response actions in your community and the Section. 4. How will I know my registration was successful? You will receive a confirmation message after you hit the submit button at the bottom. PLEASE DO NOT use ENTER when completing the form. use the TAB or Mouse to navigate between fields and use the SUBMIT button. 5. If I make an error, can I correct it? Yes, just resubmit ALL data, We recognize duplicates and will use the most recent entry. 6. Can I register in two counties? Yes, if you live on a boundary and serve two counties. You must enter two complet and separate forms. There is a growing need for ARES emergency communications services, you willingness to help is greatly appreciated. Questions, contact your EC or AB3ER@comcast.net. 73, Larry AB3ER SEC WPA ARES

8 Page 48 Items of Interest The W.A.C.O.M. Ham Here's the link to the Ham Nation podcast that Joe, N3XE brought up at the meeting - ~~ Breezeshooters Hamfest ~~ Ed, N3ZNI won 9th prize: A $ Certificate from KJI Electronics The Next WASH VE exam sessions will be Wednesday, July 27th, 2011, 6:30 PM, at the North Strabane Township Building, 1929 Route 519, Canonsburg, PA. Talk-in on the MHz and MHz repeaters. All examiners are ARRL VEC affiliated. Walk-ins are always welcome, but if you plan on attending the test session, please contact VE Team Liaison Jacqué Gosselin N3ZEL: Telephone (724) or n3zel@comcast.net Please bring the following to your test session: Picture ID or other suitable identification (2 forms of ID required) ; Pen / Pencil / Calculator ; Original FCC license plus a copy of license (if upgrading) ; Original CSCE plus a copy of CSCE (if upgrading) ; Check or Cash in the amount of $15.00 (payable to: ARRL VEC). DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SELL OR SWAP? SEND IN THE INFORMATION AND HAVE YOUR AD IN THE NEWSLETTER. SEND INFO TO n3zel@comcast.net I am looking for a Heathkit DX-100 Transmitter to restore! KD3RZ David Frankenbery [flintlock5000@yahoo.com] ~~ WANTED ~~ NEW UPDATED INFORMATION ON THE FOX HUNT : The Fox Hunt is temporarily on hold. Latest information indicates a date in July? Support your club! Wear Club logo items from Created by Amy Caps, T-shirts, Jackets and other items are available with the WACOM logo. Get your Name and Call Sign on a Hat! Vinyl Decals, Embroidered and Vinyl Apparel as well. Amy Cicak amy@createdbyamy.com Web: Phone: /

9 Page 5 Minutes The W.A.C.O.M. Ham Page 9 Minutes The W.A.C.O.M. Ham June 2, 2011 W.A.Com General Meeting Minutes Present: Bud (N3TIR), Norma (N3YJJ), JohnQ (N3GHR), BillS (NY9H), Sam (W3CYO), DaveD (N3IDH), JoeC (N3XE), Ed (N3ZNI), Jacque (N3ZEL), Jim (KC3HW), Tom (K3PLM), Fay (KA3VOM), Bob K (KB3IN), JoeB (KB3QQT), Paul (N3WMV), Kevin (KB3JHO), Dave (W3TD), Kevin (KN4AA), Sally (KK4YL) Bud called the meeting to order at 7:31 PM Reports Secretary John read the minutes from the May meeting. Ed moved to accept the minutes as read, Joe seconded, motion approved. Treasurer Norma gave treasurers report. Dave moved to accept, Joe seconded, motion approved. Newsletter need names of all new members to add to list Nets Dave - 2 meter OK; Fay -10 meter doing well; Bud Elmer participants having interesting discussions WACOM 100 DX contest Bill reported that Wylie was the first newbie to reach 100 countries; the final stage of the contest will be most countries contacted by Field day. Floor was opened for new ideas for the next contest; Bud suggested that we have a rules committee to put together the next contest. ARES Run for Alex will be this weekend. Be at Bentleyville fire hall at 8:00 to participate. The Bentleyville repeater is Old Business Field Day Meeting to take care of details June 16 at Shorty s at 7:00 PM; will have one station for new operators as well as a GOTO station; will operate on 6 to 160 meters plus satellite on 2 meters Fox hunt shooting for late July Classes Six students completed Technician classes; five passed test. Other student to retest. Planning a General class, also a Technician class for EOC personnel. New Business RACES NBEMS will have a three hour class July 24 at EOC office on data transmission; need laptop and handheld Breeze shooters Ham Fest to be this Sunday Sam has a lot of old newsletters if someone is interested in preserving them Joe Podcasts for Hams are on the internet for those interested Jim moved to adjourn, Dave 2 nd, meeting adjourned at 8:32 Thanks to Bill for his demonstration of distribution panels

10 The W.A.C.O.M. Ham Page 10 * JULY * HAMFESTS 10: Hamfest-North Hills ARC 26th Annual Hamfest (New Location) Westview V.F.W. Post Perry Highway-Pittsburgh, Pa More Info: (Phone: ) k3yub@verizon.net 17: Somerset County ARC Hamfest Somerset County Technology Center, 281 Technology Drive, Somerset, PA More Info: ak3j@arrl.net Mhz 31: Hamfest-Foothills ARC Hamfest-Hose Co. #1-Greensburg, Pa Talkin: More Info: Phone n3flr@arrl.net NETS REPEATERS NETS Officers Repeaters W3CYO Mhz, Mhz K3PSP Mhz 2 Meter Net - Tuesdays at 8:30PM on W3CYO Repeater 10-meter net - Tuesdays at 9PM on Mhz YL Net - Wednesdays at 7:30PM on K3PSP Repeater Elmer Net - Wednesdays at 8PM on K3PSP Repeater (immediately following the WACOM YL Net) LOCAL TRAFFIC NETS <+><+><+><+><+><+><+><+> SWPA 2-Meter Daily Net :00 p.m. * * * * * * * * * * * HF WPA Phone Daily Net :00 p.m. <+><+><+><+><+><+><+> President: Bud Plants, N3TIR; bud@bnelectronics.com Vice President: Dave Demotte, N3IDH; n3idh@hotmail.com Secretary: John Quigg, N3GHR jjquigg@comcast.net Treasurer: Norma Plants, N3YJJ; njplants@yahoo.com Board of Directors Director: Adam Quigg, NZ3S, kb3omh@comcast.net Director: Jim Burtoft, KC3HW; jburtoft@verizon.net Director: Bill Steffey, NY9H; ny9h@arrl.net Webmaster: Joe Caldwell, N3XE; joecaldwell.jc@gmail.com Editor: Jacque Gosselin, N3ZEL n3zel@comcast.net

11 The Page W.A.C.O.M. 11 Ham HAMFEST The W.A.C.O.M. Page Ham 11 Parking Garage: 1 Antenna: 0 We got an from Texas Dave, K3LGM a few weeks ago.. he asked: Does this antenna look OK?? To which we replied...uh, NO! and the inevitable What happened? Well it seems that going UP INTO a multi-level parking garage (with the antenna all the way down and without the whip) the truck clears the ceiling easily. However, going DOWN these same ramps, the clearance is a good bit less and the antenna lost the battle. Dave wrote: Don't think it appears to be as bad as it looks No damage to mount or truck. Just folded over the tube. I do have another tube and weather shield from the old antenna. Shaft probably bent too bad to straighten. Have another one in the old antenna too. Will have to wait to disassemble to see if the coil survived. Cannibalized old antenna and replaced tube. The lead screw was okay just needed a bump with a hammer. Reassembled and works great.

12 Page 12 Proclamation The W.A.C.O.M. Ham

13 The W.A.C.O.M. Ham Scenes at Field Day Page 13 Happens all the time, newsletter editors hit feast or famine and are scrabbling for news. Be warned if news doesn t continue to come in we will be printing photos and stories of dogs and cats who join us in our hobby. So keep the news coming! Thank you. and thanks from the Editor s dog who hates cameras!

14 Page 914 The W.A.C.O.M. Ham Definitions.. Hams have our own slang, our own shorthand. As time goes by we hear others use these terms and we start to use them ourselves. But what of the new person to the hobby who isn t sure what we mean? What did they say? Well recently I was asked what I meant when I ended an with 73. Uh, well. I went in search of a definition of 73 and found these definitions at the ARRL web site.. SOS The amateur distress call, QRRR, grew from the purpose of the first organized amateur emergency nets. They were set up in cities along the Pennsylvania Railroad to aid the "Pennsy" (and later other railroads) with train communications in the event of failure of the railroad telegraph landlines--which were frequent. The signal QRR came to be used to indicate that the calling station had railroad traffic related to some emergency. ARRL eventually adopted this call for use by any amateur who had distress traffic and later the call was changed to QRRR because of a conflict in definitions with the international Q signal QRR. One of the first distress calls was CQD, coined by the Marconi Company about 1904 from the "general call" CQ and the letter D for "distress." The main problem with CQD was that it was supposed to be used only by ships which subscribed to the Marconi radio system and ships of one system were discouraged from communicating with ships or shore stations of other, competing, companies. The problem got so bad that it was taken up in the international radio conference in 1906 where a new universal distress call was proposed. The American delegation suggested the letters NC which were already recognized in the International Signal Code for Visual Signaling. The German delegation proposed its own SOE which was already in use on German ships as a general inquiry signal similar to CQ (which was then used only by the Marconi system). The British delegation, of course, wanted to stick to the Marconi signal CQD. The convention found SOE acceptable except that the final E could easily be lost in QRN so the letter S was substituted, making it SOS. The convention decided that SOS should be sent as a single code character with a sound unlike any other character, thus arresting the attention of anyone hearing it. So was officially adopted, but CQD remained in use for some years, particularly aboard British ships. It wasn't until 1912, after the Titanic disaster, that SOS became universal and the use of CQD gradually disappeared. Titanic radio operator Jack Phillips sent both CQD and SOS to be sure that there couldn't possibly be any misunderstanding.

15 Page Page 1215 Scenes at Field Day The W.A.C.O.M. Ham

16 The Page W.A.C.O.M. 16 Ham The W.A.C.O.M. Page Ham 13 Categories.. WACOM 100 EVENT RESULTS A. HAM licensed 5 years or less reaching 100 countries first B. HAM licensed 5 years or less with the most countries C. OT (more than 5 years) reaching 100 countries first D. OT ( more than 5 years) with the most countries NEWBIES: First to hit 100 countries: Wiley, AC8GH. Second: Denny, K8DKS OT: First To Hit 100: KEN, AA3GN OT: Most Countries : Bud, N3TIR Bud also accepts for Denny, K8DKS as Second Newbie to reach 100. We had an Over 100 Countries Worked QRP Award presented to Bill, W3WH. Accepting for Bill, W3WH is Dave, N3IDH. Bud presents Bill, NY9H, with an ARRL "Elmer's" Award

17 The W.A.C.O.M. Ham Scenes from Field Day Page 17 F I E L D D A Y

18 The W.A.C.O.M. Ham Scenes from Field Day Page 18

19 Page 19 Field Day in Texas The W.A.C.O.M. Ham Texas Dave, K3LGM, sent us information on his Field Day Operation this year. Wanted to do these before I tore it down. Buddipole components used to make a Buddistick inch arms, standard black coil, 4 -section shock cord whip and single radial set for 20 meters! Station setup replete with cat dissuasion device and insect repellant tool. Clockwise from Left: Elaborate Antenna Farm; Sophisticated Field Day Station; Radial System; Mount; Buddipole 22 in. arms with coil.

20 The W.A.C.O.M. Ham Page 10 Page 20 Membership Form The W.A.C.O.M.

21 Page 21 The W.A.C.O.M. Ham YLS AND XYLS!!! There is an organization for you. It s called the Young Ladies Radio League Come join other Lady Hams and enjoy the fellowship. See all we have to offer at or contact Jacque, N3ZEL at n3zel@comcast.net <*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*> Quarter Century Wireless Association Inc. Have you been a radio amateur for 25 years or more? Were you originally licensed 25 years ago or more, even if not continually? Well then please join us at the Quarter Century Wireless Association, Chapter 6 quarterly luncheon at Rocky II's. Located on PA Rt. # 51, just north of McKees Rocks, in Stowe Twp.at the Fleming Park bridge. Join our members who are like you, the foundation of amateur radio. There is much we can learn from them and from each other. And it's fun too. No reservation necessary. Contact Jacque, N3ZEL at n3zel@fyi.net for information