The Indianapolis Radio Club Newsletter Founded 1914 “The oldest continuously operating Amateur Radio Club in the United States” March 2009 Newsletter Upcoming Meetings: April 10, 2009: Indiana QSO Party presentation by Mel Crichton, KJ9C May 8, 2009: Antenna presentation by Tom Chance, K9XV June 12, 2009: Annual equipment auction. Highlights from the March Meeting: Club President Ron Cooper, WB9DKL, started the meeting out with self introductions. There were 57 present at the meeting, including 2 brand new hams. Ron announced that there are still tickets available for the bus trip to Dayton. Ron said that Chuck (W9IH), Ed (N9IZN), Dave (N9KZJ), and Rudy (KN9C), were on their way to New Mexico to pick up some working World War II vintage radio gear that is being donated to the Indiana War Memorial/USS Indianapolis Radio Room project. Ron plugged the ARRL “kickback” where the Radio Club can earn money when you renew or start an ARRL membership through the Radio Club. Tom Chance talked about Field Day. It is going to be on June 26 and 27 this year, and will be returning to the Marion County Fairgrounds, where it was last year. Last year, there were over 20 people that stayed over night at the site. Tom said that we will have a GOTA station where first time or inactive hams, or even unlicensed individuals will be able to get on the air. Tom said they are looking for a cook! Ron talked about upcoming events, including the Indiana QSO Party, on May 1, the Dayton Hamvention running May 15 through 17, the annual Broadripple ham fest coming up August 1, the annual hill top contest coming up on September 19, and the antenna shoot out on October 9. The May meeting will be on antennas, presented by Tom Chance. If anyone has any antenna projects, they should contact Tom. Ken Bandy, KJ9B, announced a rare Hoosier island activation coming up. On August 1st, Ernie Pyle Island, in Owen County will be activated. Station W9I will be on the air to commemorate the 109th birthday of Indiana hero Ernie Pyle. They plan on operating CW and SSB on the 10 through 40 meter bands. Jerry Skoll, KC9DTB, announced that he was going to be going out on the Atlantic from St. Martin to Bristol, England. He will be leaving the first week of April and out for around a month. He plans on checking in to the Maritime Mobile net on 14.300 MHz, and then moving to 14.315 on even days, and 14.285 on odd days. He said that their progress would be able to be tracked at http://www.shiptrak.org/, by entering his call sign in where requested. Next, Dave Miller, K9RTT, gave an update on upcoming meetings. Next month's meeting will feature a presentation by Mel Crichton about QSO parties. May will be the antenna meeting, June's meeting will be the annual auction. Dave is hoping to get the September meeting at the Indiana War Memorial to show off the new USS Indianapolis display. He is also planning on having a W9DUU memorial fox hunt at some point in the future. Next, Bill Akin, K9YDO, gave a presentation on “fox hunting”, or direction finding (DFing). He said a basic method of DFing is by signal strength in a mobile. From there, there have been different methods developed, using directional antennas or phased antenna arrays. He showed a yagi antenna made from tape measure steel tape on a PVC boom. He also had a dual band loop made from PVC tubing with wire taped to the tubes. This type of antenna allows you to “null out” the signal to the sides of the antenna. At that point, you have to try by trial and error to see which direction the signal is originating from, since you can be 180° off, due to the characteristics of a loop antenna. He then demonstrated a “DFer box” that Malcolm Mallette, WA9BVS, designed and wrote about in an article for the November, 1995 QST Magazine. DFing has been used for many purposes, such as tracking balloons that have been released as part of the “Wintrax” program, for “fox hunting” at ham fests, where there is a contest to find hidden transmitters, also for finding accidentally or purposely stuck transmitters. Bill noted that phase cancellations and reflections on VHF and UHF can cause erroneous readings, but that this “hones your skills”, to be able to “read your equipment”. Malcolm added that one way to track is to tune your receiver to the 3rd harmonic of the transmitter after you get relatively close to the transmitter. Bill told an anecdotal story of tracking down defective TV receiving antenna amplifiers in RVs. They were made by Winegard (the “bird wing” design), and they had a batch that had been made out of specs and would radiate in the 70 cm band, causing some repeaters to become useless. After Bill’s very informative talk, door prizes were awarded. Ham Radio News: BOY SCOUTS UPDATE RADIO MERIT BADGE REQUIREMENTS The new BSA Radio Merit Badge Pamphlet includes color pictures and updated charts and text. The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has updated the requirements needed to earn the Radio merit badge. The new requirements became effective with the publication of Boy Scout Requirements 2009. While no new content has been added to the program, the new merit badge pamphlet features lots of new information -- including color pictures and updated charts and text -- that reflects the changes in the Amateur Radio Service since the last pamphlet update in 2002. Approximately 4000 Radio merit badges are earned each year. Additional information -- which includes the new 2009 requirements -- can be found on the web at, http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/02/24/10667/?nc=1 INDIANA QSO PARTY COMING UP IN MAY Received from INQP mobile/portable coordinator, Mel Crichton, KJ9C: Every May, hams in Indiana are the target of contesters, county hunters, and other hams who just want to have fun....The Indiana QSO Party is a 12 hour event in which hams all over the world try to work as many Indiana hams in as many Indiana counties as possible... it's the Indiana QSO Party, to be held May 2 2009. INQP is sponsored by the Hoosier DX & Contest Club, and rules, scores, and activity information are posted at http://www.hdxcc.org/inqp. Take a look at the web pages, and plan to be on the air May 2 from your county. If you don't have an HF station, now's the time to line up a "guest op" position, upgrade your station or license, set up a mobile rig, or energize your club to put together a multi-op effort. Hope to hear a LOT of Indiana signals on May 2. INDIANAPOLIS VE Testing Schedule for First half of 2009 April 4, 2008 June 6, 2008 Calling in advance to ensure testing availability is suggested but not mandatory. SPONSOR: Indianapolis Radio Club (W9JP) LOCATION: Indianapolis Training Center 2820 N. Meridian Street. CONTACTS: Gale Wuollet, AA9WU (h) 317-849-8449, or Dr. Jay Wright, KK9L 317-203-3335. All testing at the Indianapolis Training Center starts at 9:00 am and the last test will be administered no later than 11:00 a.m. JULIUS GENACHOWSKI NOMINATED AS CHAIRMAN OF FCC President Barack Obama nominated Julius Genachowski as chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. "I can think of no one better than Julius Genachowski to serve as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. He will bring to the job diverse and unparalleled experience in communications and technology, with two decades of accomplishment in the private sector and public service," Obama said in a statement announcing the nomination. As for his technology work, Genachowski co-founded LaunchBox Digital and is a managing director there as well as at Rock Creek Ventures. He also served as a special adviser at General Atlantic and worked for eight years as a senior executive at IAC/InterActive. Genachowski was raised in New York and now lives in Washington, D.C. JUNE N.I.T.E. RIDE NEEDS RADIO VOLUNTEERS >From Mike Palmer, N9FEB: One of the coordinators of the N.I.T.E. (Navigate Indy This Evening) Ride is KC9KZH, Elaine. She has assisted in checking sirens from time-to-time and is involved with the Hilly Hundred Bicycle Ride each year. http://www.niteride.org/home.html This is Saturday, June 27th ... and is also Field Day Weekend. She coordinates the route and safety part of this event. There are roughly 100 Law Enforcement Officers along the route, blocking intersections for the cyclists. They really do not help in letting anyone else know what's what and who is where. There are around 2500 cyclists involved, riding some 20 miles around the streets of the near west side; starts at the Velodrome near 38th & Kessler Blvd., goes south along White River to Michigan St., back north to 10th St., south on the west side of the river to new York St. and into and around Monument Circle. Then, north on Meridian St. to 34th, over to Washington Blvd. and north to 49th St., west thru Butler University, south along the river to 30th St. and back to the Velodrome. She is in need of Course Marshal's; folks that would be at stationary positions that assist in not letting the bikers make the wrong turn. I am not sure just what we would report, other than leader, tail end, and mishaps. This is a late one ... 9PM Marshal Meeting, 11PM start of event, 2AM event over. Those on early spots would be let go much sooner of course. It would be a long night, but safety is a must. Anyone interested? Let me know or let KC9KZH know: kc9kzh@hotmail.com W1AW 2009 SPRING/SUMMER OPERATING SCHEDULE Morning Schedule: Time Mode Days ------------------- ---- --------- 1300 UTC (9 AM ET) CWs Wed, Fri 1300 UTC (9 AM ET) CWf Tue, Thu Daily Visitor Operating Hours: 1400 UTC to 1600 UTC - (10 AM to 12 PM ET) 1700 UTC to 1945 UTC - (1 PM to 3:45 PM ET) (Station closed 1600 to 1700 UTC (12 PM to 1 PM ET)) Afternoon/Evening Schedule: 2000 UTC (4 PM ET) CWf Mon, Wed, Fri 2000 " " CWs Tue, Thu 2100 " (5 PM ET) CWb Daily 2200 " (6 PM ET) RTTY Daily 2300 " (7 PM ET) CWs Mon, Wed, Fri 2300 " " CWf Tue, Thu 0000 " (8 PM ET) CWb Daily 0100 " (9 PM ET) RTTY Daily 0145 " (9:45 PM ET) VOICE Daily 0200 " (10 PM ET) CWf Mon, Wed, Fri 0200 " " CWs Tue, Thu 0300 " (11 PM ET) CWb Daily Frequencies (MHz) ----------------- CW: 1.8025 3.5815 7.0475 14.0475 18.0975 21.0675 28.0675 147.555 RTTY: - 3.5975 7.095 14.095 18.1025 21.095 28.095 147.555 VOICE: 1.855 3.990 7.290 14.290 18.160 21.390 28.590 147.555 Notes: CWs = Morse Code practice (slow) = 5, 7.5, 10, 13 and 15 WPM CWf = Morse Code practice (fast) = 35, 30, 25, 20, 15, 13 and 10 WPM CWb = Morse Code Bulletins = 18 WPM CW frequencies include code practices, Qualifying Runs and CW bulletins. RTTY = Teleprinter Bulletins = BAUDOT (45.45 baud) and AMTOR-FEC (100 Baud). ASCII (110 Baud) is sent only as time allows. The complete W1AW Operating Schedule may be found on page 97 in the January 2009 issue of QST or on the web at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw.html . FCC CLARIFIES WHAT AN AMATEUR RADIO REPEATER IS In December 2007, Gary Mitchell, WB6YRU, President of the Northern California Packet Association (NCPA), filed a Petition with the FCC, asking for the Commission to clarify the definition of a repeater. According to Part 97, Section 3(a)(39), A repeater in the amateur service is "[a]n amateur station that simultaneously retransmits the transmission of another amateur station on a different channel or channels." Mitchell sought clarification on the word "simultaneously," asking if it referred to the signal information being retransmitted, or to the fact that the receiver and transmitter must both be active at the same time while acting on the same signal information. On March 23, 2009, the Commission clarified that even if there is a slight delay between what is received and what it transmits (as in the case of D-STAR and other digital repeaters), it is considered simultaneous if the receiver and transmitter are both active at the same time. In its reply, the Commission pointed out that prior to 1994, a repeater was defined as "[a]n amateur station that automatically retransmits the signals of other stations." This, the Commission told Mitchell, was revised to clarify "that certain accommodations for message forwarding systems do not apply to other operating activities such as repeaters and auxiliary stations." The Commission proposed to define a repeater as "[a]n amateur station that instantaneously retransmits the transmission of another amateur station on a different channel or channels," but ultimately replaced "instantaneously" with "simultaneously" because commenters noted that there is always a small propagation delay through a repeater. As one commenter explained, "The word 'simultaneously' in this case means that the repeater is receiving and transmitting concurrently, whereas each signal might be slightly displaced in time between receive and transmit." To be able to repeat another station's transmission, the Commission said that a repeater "must be able to receive a transmission from another station and retransmit it. Because the word 'simultaneously' in the definition is used to modify 'retransmit,' we believe it refers to a repeater station's transmitter being active when retransmitting the signal received by the repeater station's receiver from another amateur station. We conclude, therefore, that 'simultaneously' as used in the definition of a repeater refers to the receiver and transmitter both being active at the same time." HAMS TO ACTIVATE MIDWAY ATOLL IN OCTOBER 2009 Earlier this year, US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced that they would open Midway Atoll to Amateur Radio operations for two weeks only, from October 5-19, 2009 . Tom Harrell, N4XP, of Monroe, Georgia, and Dave Johnson, WB4JTT, of Aitkin, Minnesota, have put together a team of 19 operators from all over the world to activate Midway Atoll for a 10 day period as K4M . This the first time that USFWS has allowed amateurs to operate from the wildlife refuge since 2002. "Midway ranks as Number 24 worldwide and Number 13 in Europe on DX Magazine's Most Wanted List ," Harrell and Johnson said. "Activity will be on 6-160 meters with 5 to 6 stations. At least one station will be active on 20 meters around the clock for those who need it for a new country. Major efforts will be made to meet the demand to the most needed geographical areas, the low bands and RTTY." The team has posted a list of planned frequencies on their Web site . Midway is located in the North Pacific Ocean (near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago) -- approximately 1250 miles northwest of Honolulu -- about one-third of the way between Honolulu and Tokyo. At less than 150 miles east of the International Dateline, Midway Atoll is truly "midway" around the world from the Greenwich meridian. The atoll is an unincorporated territory of the United States and is the only atoll/island in the Hawaiian archipelago not part of the State of Hawaii. Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge is owned and administered by the USFWS on behalf of the American people and has international significance for both its historic and natural resources. GLOBAL SIMULATED EMERGENCY TEST SET FOR APRIL The HQ Stations of all IARU Member-Societies, as well as the stations of Emergency Communications Groups, have been invited by IARU Region 1 to participate in the 2009 Global Simulated Emergency Test (GlobalSET), on Saturday, April 18, 2009 from 1100-1500 UTC. The GlobalSET will take place on and near the emergency Center of Activity (CoA) frequencies on 80, 40, 20, 17 and 15 meters, +/- QRM. Stations in the United States intending to participate need to register through their IARU International Emergency Communications Coordinator. For the United States, registrations should be e-mailed to ARRL Emergency Preparedness and Response Manager Dennis Dura, K2DCD at, k2dcd@arrl.org. Dura confirmed that W1AW will participate in the GlobalSET. For more information on the 2009 GlobalSET, including a list of CoA frequencies for Regions 1, 2 and 3, please see the GlobalSET announcement at, http://www2.arrl.org/news/files/2009GlobalSET.pdf. PETITION TO INCREASE SIZE OF QUESTION POOLS DENIED In April 2008, Michael Mancuso, KI4NGN, of Raleigh, North Carolina, filed a petition with the FCC, seeking to increase the size of the question pools that make up the Amateur Radio licensing exams. Mancuso sought to increase the question pool from 10 times the number of questions on an exam to 50 times more questions. On March 19, 2009, the Commission notified Mancuso that it was denying his petition. The Commission concluded that Mancuso did not present grounds for the Commission to amend its rules: "As noted above, the purpose of the examinations is not to demonstrate an applicant's comprehension of certain material, but rather to determine whether he or she can properly operate an amateur station. Moreover, your contention that there has been 'a significant increase in the number of Amateur Radio operators...who do not appear to possess the knowledge indicated by their class of license' is not supported by any data or facts." The FCC pointed out to Mancuso that the Commission's Rules only dictate the minimum number of questions for each question pool for the three Amateur Radio license classes. This, the Commission told Mancuso, "does not prevent the National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (NCVEC) from increasing the number of questions in a question pool should it decide that this is appropriate. We conclude, therefore, that the petition presents no evidence of an existing problem or other reason for a rule change." MID-STATE ARC GENERAL STUDY CLASS COMING UP >From Steve, K9DY: The General Class will start Monday, March 30th. It will be held in the community room at Old National Bank, located one block south of Smith Valley Road on SR 135 in Greenwood. The time will be from about 6 P.M. to 8 P.M. The next sessions will be on April 6th, April 13 or 14 (tentative), and April 15. This is not a formal class setting but is intended to be a study group to facilitate questions and get familiar with what will be required to pass the test. Please bring your ARRL General Class License Manual. The intent was to help other club members attain their upgrade, but others are welcome. WELCOME NEW MEMBERS New member at the March meeting was: Russell Ault, KC9PFZ FEEL FREE TO SHARE OUR NEWSLETTER If you belong to any other radio groups, please feel free to share our newsletter with them. They can also sign up to be on our mailing list by filling out the form available at http://www.indyradioclub.org/rqstnewsletter.htm. SEND ME YOUR HAM RADIO NEWS If anyone has any items for the newsletter, please send them to Ken Bandy at kj9b@arrl.net Signals from the Past: >From the March, 1949 Amachewer: Classified Ads: FOR SALE: Mobile phone rig, 15 watts output either 10 or 75. Pi networks working into single whip. 6V Ps built in…. With tubes less mike and crystals $35….. LAST CHANCE: New 250TH’s, never used, $15 each. BC-459A (40 meter) transmitter brand new $12.50. BC 454 (80 mtr) receiver brand new $7…. Upcoming Area Radio Events: * May 2: Indiana QSO Party. Point your browser to http://www.hdxcc.org/inqp for more details. * May 15 – 17: Dayton Hamvention. Get your ticket for the IRC’s bus trip going over on Saturday, May 16. Only 44 tickets are available at $30 per person. * August 1: Ernie Pyle Island (IN008L) on the air! From Cagle’s Mill Lake in Owen County, Indiana. Station W9I will be on the air to commemorate the 109th birthday of Ernie Pyle, operating CW and SSB on the 10 – 40 meter bands. 2009 IRC Officers: · President: Ron Cooper, WB9DKL - ..EMAIL wb9dkl@sbcglobal.net · Vice Pres.: Dave Miller, K9RTT - ..EMAIL dmiller@ivytech.edu · Secretary: Ken Bandy, KJ9B - ..EMAIL kj9b@arrl.net · Treasurer: Jay Willever, K9LJW - ..EMAIL k9ljw@arrl.net · Chief Operator: Steve Wendt, KB9RDS - ..EMAIL kb9rds@arrl.net · Dir. at large: Tom Chance, K9XV - ..EMAIL k9xv@arrl.net · Dir. at large: Bob Osterhous, W9PSE - ..EMAIL rosterhous@iquest.net · Dir. at large: Bob Begeman, W9KVK - ..EMAIL w9kvk@juno.com · W9JP Trustee: Don Hemenover, N9DOO – EMAIL don9doo@lightbound.com ?? ?? ?? ?? 10