Category: Baarcer

All Things HF: October 2017

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All Things HF

It’s about people, it’s all about people. I look back over 20 years ago as I entered the hobby of Ham Radio Operator. The ARRL had given me the phone number and address of Barb Ranson (AAØI/SK) the president of the Wadena Radio Club. I met Barb at her home as she generously took time to show me her radio station and to encouraged me to purchase a book from the ARRL titled ‘Now you’re Talking’ and so I did.

I studied the book’s chapters until I was ready to take the exam for both Novice along with the Technician class license. After testing (and passing both) one of the VE’s came over to introduce himself. Pete Meyer (NØFW) who was home on break from NDSU where his major was civil engineering was that VE. Pete lived and breathed radio…he was an avid DXer who was the first Ham to introduce me to the world of DX. Pete’s home is now in Hamilton, Ohio where he is a patent/copyright attorney. Go figure, from engineering to the world of law. Pete is now on the top of the DXCC honor roll, he’s a number 1 along with being a world class DXer whom I hear in the pileups occasionally. He has 5 band DXCC and presently working on obtaining 160-meters DXCC. Both Barb and Pete encouraged me along the way to being a good radio operator. It’s the people that make this hobby great.

I joined the BAARC where I was encouraged and mentored by several wonderful Hams that I don’t need to mention. Again, it’s about the people. My electronic logbook has over 16,000 QSO’s (paper logs have a few thousand more) of the people that make this a great hobby. I took the CW examination in order to get my Tech Plus license and…get on HF finally. One of the present BAARC club members encouraged me to get serious about CW which I did years later. The very first DX station I worked on CW was well after my 80th birthday. It’s all about people, the people who are always there to help you along the way. Just imagine calling CQ if there were no ‘people’ to answer. Before closing I’d like to mention that the Northern California DX Foundation (NCDXF) of which I am a contributing member has pledged a large sum of money to the DXpedition to Baker/Howland so we DXer’s can obtain an ATNO.

Again, it’s all about the people. So long from Huntersville for now, don’t forget to sit at your station and call CQ because someone, somewhere is out there waiting for your call (one of those nice people).

Best 73 es gud DX from my station to yours. Bob/WØZPE

June 2017 BAARC Secretary Report

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THURSDAY-June 22, 2017 – 4:00 PM – BAARC BOARD MEETING MINUTES – BRAINERD FIRE STATION

President: Steve Mott NØCRM
Vice President: John Luce WØWY
Treasurer: Doug Bergsnev WØDWB
Secretary: Ron Finger KØGOP
Past Presidents: Charles Lane W5CCL, Al Doree WØRC
Director At Large: Lyle Amundson KØLFV
Director of Emergency Communications: Dave Schuldheisz KØISZ
Repeater Trustee: Mitch Ahrenstorff ADØHJ
Community & Special Events Coordinator: TJ Graves KØTEG 

Attendees: John WØWY, Doug WØDWB, Ron KØGOP, Al WØRC, Shirley KØDCW, Mitch ADØHJ, Dave KØISZ, and Nick WØNY. The Vice President opened the Board Meeting at 4 PM.

Secretary’s Report: Membership roster shows 90 members with 62 paid for 2017. The Club roster can be found on the Club website under the “Resources/Members Only” area. Current paid members can request an individual password for access via the “Contact Us” form. The May 2017 meeting minutes were posted to the “Club Blog” area. A thank you letter was sent to Susan Clark, widow of Stan K3JKW-SK for donated items to the Club. Her reply of how much Stan appreciated the BAARC will be shared with the membership. Motion to accept Al WØRC, Second Dave KØISZ, Passed. 

Treasurer’s Report: The Treasurer’s report was made to the board showing all month’s account transactions and balances to date. The Spring Dinner receipts met expenses. Motion to accept: Dave KØISZ, Second Al WØRC, Passed. 

Membership Meeting Program: The Vice President reviewed recent and future Club programs and events. Several possibilities for the July meeting program were discussed including a local “Field Trip” visit.

Digital & Emergency Communications: Mitch ADØHJ and Nick WØNY discussed the Club Website and Repeaters. After 6 months the new Club website has proved to work well. It is much easier to update and browse on a variety of devices. Mitch suggested it was now time to vacate the old site hosted by Crosslake Communications. The Secretary will send a thank you letter for their years of support. The old PC’s used for repeater management have been a frequent problem. Nick has started purchasing components to build 6-8 rack-mount PC’s to better perform this function. One unit was completed and shown for display. Mitch would like to build 2 additional units at this time along with purchasing some additional parts for the others. Motion to spend $2000 for 3 builds ($1200), and additional parts ($800): Dave KØISZ, Second Al WØRC, Tabled. Al WØRC reported no Gull Lake site updates.

Old Business: Club Modifications to the smaller trailer were completed in time for Field Day. Improvements include 2 windows and a rooftop AC/Heater unit.

New Business: John WØWY noted that the Amateur VHF radios in the County Sherriff’s trailer need reprogramming with our new channel plan and a better antenna.

The Board Meeting was adjourned at 5:20 PM.

 

THURSDAY-June 22, 2017 – 7:00 PM – BAARC MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES – BRAINERD FIRE STATION

The Vice President opened the Club membership business meeting at 7 PM with 24 members and guests present. John WØWY discussed Field Day plans and schedule, and distributed information prepared by Lyle KØLFV. Ron KØGOP played several Field Day news video reports done by KTCA in recent years, and demonstrated the Club FD network logging program. Michael KEØAFZ demonstrated his live-updating FD log for all to follow the weekend action on the Club website. Door prizes and refreshments followed the business meeting.

–Respectfully submitted by Ron KØGOP, Secretary

 

2017 BAARC Field Day Results

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W0UJ's Contest Summary Report for ARRL-FIELD-DAY
Created by N3FJP's ARRL Field Day Contest Log
Version 5.4 www.n3fjp.com

Total Contacts = 410
Total Points = 640

Operating Period: 2017/06/24 18:28 - 2017/06/25 05:53

Total Contacts by Band and Mode:

Band   CW Phone Dig Total %
----   -- ----- --- ----- ---
  80    0     3   5     8   2
  40   63    90  21   174  42
  20  112    79  29   220  54
  15    0     8   0     8   2
----   -- ----- --- ----- ---
Total 175   180  55   410 100

Total Contacts by Operator:

Operator Total %
-------- ----- ---
AD0HJ      175  43
K0GOP       63  15
N0CRM       52  13
KI0FW       28   7
W0DWB       24   6
KE0AFZ      23   6
N0KEN       15   4
W0NY        15   4
K0ISZ       11   3
WU0S         3   1
W0RC         1   0

Total = 11

2017 Field Day Form Page 1
2017 Field Day Form Page 2
2017 Field Day Contact Map

ALL THINGS HF: MAY

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All Things HF…

Gosh! 4 days in a row with no sunspots making DX a bit difficult if not impossible. I managed to get my DX fix whenever I sat down at my station so it wasn’t that bad plus…all the good rag chewing was super enjoyable as usual.

This station is active and has been since HF privileges were awarded back in 96-97. If bragging rights are allowed, there are over 13,000 QSO’s in my electronic log and another 6,000 in my paper logs. It seems like a very long time ago since I took my novice test followed by the technician test. I quickly realized that getting on HF depended on passing my element 1A test which was the dreaded CW part required for technician plus and 10-meter privileges. At that time (1997) during sun cycle 23, 10-meters was the king of the bands. One could operate the world with a simple wire antenna. The emission privileges at that time were from 28.300 to 28.500 for us new guys. I passed the 5 WPM CW after studying code for 6 months and this opened the window to the world of DX for me on SSB.

I knew that if I was to be successful and get the coveted DXCC awards…I needed to get my General ticket. I breezed through the exam but there was one other thing waiting in the wings and it was CW requirement at 13 WPM. I started the learning process of operating CW at 13 WPM when the FCC dropped the mode as a requirement for licensing…whoopee, I was a General with HF operating privileges on all bands. I opened the window and tossed the CW as far as it would go. Good riddance!

Fast forward to the new century when I had worked and confirmed 225 countries and entities. I was getting on in years and I felt that I was missing something in this great hobby and that something was ‘CHARLIE WHISKY’ as some of the old timers called CW. An order was placed for an MFJ code tutor…when it arrived, we became pretty good buddies for the next several months. Somewhere along the way I was able to copy 10 WPM and send at 13+ WPM with my new paddle. I also ordered a software decoder program and installed a remote key pad that was programmed to send my call sign.

About a month or so after my 80th birthday I worked an ATNO and my very first DX contact using CW. What a great moment for me. By July of last year my DXCC credits were at 310 worked and confirmed with half of those 80 new ones using CW. DX is easy using CW if it’s a station looking for 5 band DXCC or a DXpedition…as soon as my call is confirmed I send ‘TU UR 5NN TU’ and I’m in the log. Its been a long enjoyable journey from the beginning to this point in time and I wanted to share it with you.

If I can learn CW, you can learn CW, just do it. Remember, take time to sit down at your station and call CQ, someone somewhere is listening…don’t disappoint them.

So long from Huntersville for now, 73 es gud DX from Bob/W0ZPE.