August 2005 Newsletter – CVVHF

Current Member Roster:

David Aho                      N9TTX               ARRL                Secretary

Darrell Schreiner            K9AIH               ARRL

Justin Glasener              K9MU               ARRL                Web page editor

Robert Rohrssen            KB9PJL            ARRL                Vice President

Charlie Betz                  N0AKC             ARRL                President

John McDonald              KB9TLV            ARRL

Ray Johnson                 W9RAY                        ARRL   

Randy Westerberg            KB9POI            ARRL

Allan Schlaugat             N9ISN               ARRL                Treasurer

Brad Zuelke                   K9BZ                ARRL

Paul Brooten                 KB9TYC          ARRL                Web page Host

Steve Bluem                  KA9OMY          ARRL   

Bill Noble                      KA9GNG         

Jay Grokowski               N9CIQ               ARRL

Marvin Opitz                  N9RVV

Wanda Rohrssen            KB9QGL          ARRL

Christian Lantz              W9CDL             ARRL

Mary Slifer                     KC9FVS          ARRL

Michael Fenske             KC9EXW         ARRL

Amber Ericksen             KC9FVW        

Kayla Kwitti      

Scott Littfin                    N0EDV

Albert Pichler                 KC9GIQ            ARRL

Events of Interest:

·         Aug. 6-7, 2005      -  ARRL UHF Contest

·         Aug. 20-21, 2005      -  ARRL 10 Ghz+ Cumulative contest

·         Sept. 10-11, 2005      -  ARRL September VHF QSO party

·         Sept. 17-18, 2005       -  ARRL 10 Ghz+ Cumulative contest weekend 2

·         Sept. 24-25, 2005      -  CQ WW RTTY contest

·         Sept. 24-25, 2005      -  ARRL EME Contest (2304 and  up weekend)

·         Oct. 22-23, 2005      -  ARRL EME Contest (1^st 50-1296 weekend)

·         Oct. 29-30, 2005      -  CQ WW SSB DX Contest

·         Nov. 5-6, 2005      -  ARRL CW Sweepstakes

·         Nov. 12-13, 2005      -  ARRL EME Contest (2^nd 50-1296 weekend)

·         Nov. 19-20, 2005      -  ARRL SSB Sweepstakes

·         Nov. 26-27, 2005      -  CQ WW CW DX Contest

·         Dec. 3-4, 2005      -  ARRL 160 meter Contest

Scores: 

June VHF contest 2005

Call                   Score                QSO            Mult            Class                + Ops

                K9MU               164,802            527        227       Low Power (A)         

            N0AKC               33,264            209       108       Hi-power (B)

            N9TTX                   9,126            135          54         Low Power (A)

            W9RAY                            7,473    102          53         Low Power (A)

            W9CDL                 5,782            118          49         Low Power (A)

            K9AIH                      882         63          14         Low Power (A)

            Field Day 2005

            Call                   Score                QSO            QSO pts        Bonus            Class

            K9CVC                                                                                       7A Low Power

            IARU DX Championships 2005

            Call                   Score                QSO            QSO pt.            Mult.            Class

            N9TTX               33,232              208        536                   62         Low Power

            ARRL UHF Contest 2005

            Call                   Score                QSO            Mult.            Class

            K9CVC             76,788              191      108       Multiop

            I know there are some member scores that are missing from this list, these are what were

Member Awards/Certificates:

        Wow, imagine this…finally the newsletter!!  Between the various contests, work, and other activities, I have only gotten around to working on the newsletter seemingly as an afterthought over the last few weeks.  I wanted to get it out before the UHF contest, but decided to wait and get it out after the contest to let everyone know what went on during the contest.  We almost did not have our meeting in July.  There was a 10 GHz event in the cities that weekend, so a few members did not make it, and I forgot to set my alarm to get up in the morning, so the members who did make it brought the meeting to my house…how’s that for getting a look at a “Morning Face?”   Storms wrought havoc with equipment and other things, contests were frustrating condition-wise, but there were high points.  I have combined the newsletter and the meeting in a chronological breakdown since last, so here goes.

        Throughout May and June, the weather was constantly inclement.  After the Field Day site between the water tower and Menards became ours to use again, Chris and Darrell started to mow the area down.  During this time there were worries that we would not be able to utilize the field.  At various times, vehicles had to be towed out because the ground was too soft.  As the contest weekends got closer, we all kept hoping it would warm up and quit raining.  Murphy’s law reigned supreme.  A violent storm cell that came through, Al-N9ISN has tornado pictures, and took out Al’s HF rotor, 1000MP, tilted his VHF tower and bent the mast…among other things.  Others had damage, though not as severe.

        The June VHF contest came around and for the most part, seemed to be better for propagation than the last few contests were.  The bands were not in optimum condition, and some bands were still on the very “quiet” side.  We did have a small 6-meter opening to the South into Texas, which helped, but it did not “bloom” like we all hoped it would.  Later on, we had massive Aurora conditions which lasted for hours and affected up through 222 Mhz.  Justin (K9MU) came out smelling like a rose with a claimed score of 164, 802, from the W0AIH/W0UC farm.  Congrats Justin on the huge score!  There was a lot of group help during the contest when something (Aurora) or someone new came on a frequency.  The “heads-ups” that were passed on to various stations were helpful to everyone.  The conditions could have been better, but they were definitely a good bit better than the last few.

        Field Day…Thanks to all that participated and made it happen.  Special thanks to Mike, KC9EXW, the cook for the weekend.  We did not go home hungry!  The bands were in decent shape, and all the bands other than 160 were run.  The weather held, and we were able to utilize the field.  The far SE corner was a bit mushy, but the rest of the site was good.  No one got stuck.  We had a visit by Dave Zien and various members of our local law enforcement, which gave us good exposure and some bonus points for our score.  Nothing really went wrong this year, other than a slight mishap with the A-3 tower as it was going up.  A few chiropractor visits by Dave, N9TTX, and his neck was feeling better.  The A-3 was electrical taped back together (one of the reflector elements snapped a tip).  The site was lit up at night, and we could be seen from Clairemont Ave. and the North crossing day and night.  Charlie, N0AKC, enjoyed working HF; Bob, KB9PJL, ran a “cough” Kenwood; David, KB9SGY, was spy turned operator—just kidding about the spy bit; Mary’s, KC9FVS, youngest daughter Kayla gave us youth bonus points when she made 4 contacts, and did not want to quit at the end of the contest.  She may be our newest ham soon.

        July Meeting:  This almost did not happen.  It snuck up on us all.  There was a 10 GHz event in the cities that Saturday, so a few members were not around.  By the time I had found out about the 10 GHz event, it was too late to reschedule the meeting as snail mail would not have gotten to those in time.  I (N9TTX) had finally gotten back to night shift and forgot to reset my alarm to wake up in time for the meeting.  Those that showed brought it to my house, and we concluded the meeting there.  Members present at the homestead were: N9TTX, KB9TLV, W9CDL, KC9EXW, KC9GIQ, and KA9OMY had showed up also at the Burger King location.  The topics touched on were the upcoming contests, Thanks and recap of Field Day.  Chris, W9CDL, has a picture and is in the process of making it presentable to Epiphany Church to thank them for the use of the field Day site.

        New Members:  Amber Ericksen, KC9FVW is now a member of the club.  She is Justin’s better half in case you are wondering.  Welcome to the club Amber.

        Charlie, N0AKC, and I, N9TTX, went up to help John KB9TLV with some tower work.  We took everything down from the tower, replaced all the feedline, checked and re-tuned the 222 and 6 meter antennas, and put everything back up before dark fell.  This was also the weekend of the other big storm that blew through the area.  We did not have much more than a few large gusts of wind and a little rain.  Over in the Eau Claire area though it got a little bit more severe.  Bob KB9PJL, and Chris, W9CDL got hit, and are still in the process of getting things back up…as is Al, N9ISN, who still needs to get things done at his place from earlier in the spring.

        The ARRL UHF contest came up, and the K9CVC call was used at the W0AIH/W0UC site again.  Justin, K9MU, Charlie N0AKC, and Dave, N9TTX, were the full time ops with Ray W9RAY doing a part time effort.  It started out a bit hairy.  The amps and sequencers and relays for 222 and 432 were not working right.  The 222 amp of Charlie’s was not working very well, so we ran and got Dave’s which seemed to play well.  The sequencers kept blowing transistors and at one time, Charlie had the three sequencers all hooked together to make one working one.   We had 902 problems…the heliax seemed to have water in the line.  We could be heard, but we could not hear.  The 1296 transverter went down, so that band was switched to N9TTX’s 736R 1296 module for the remainder of the contest.  Although we did not have an elevation rotor working for the 10Ghz dish, Justin had attached it to the tower pretty well, as we made 3 contacts with W9FZ/R in three grids on 10Ghz…one of which being EN52..Woohoo!  There was a bit of a good Tropo opening, and we bagged a lot of grids.  The score at the end was not too shabby.

        A bit of sad news to add.  For those of you who don’t know, John Ingersoll, W9SWL passed away this August.  He will be missed.

        Please mark the calendar.  The next Club meeting will be on Saturday October 1^st, at the Burger King in the Westridge Center.  The meeting start time will be 9am.  I will try to remember to set my alarm this time.