The PARC S-Meter
An Electronic Newsletter of the
Panoramaland Amateur Radio Club
PO Box 7
Colville, WA 99114
Issued Monday, August 17, 2009 (Issue No. 8)
Club Website: www.qsl.net/k7jar
Club repeater: Output, 146.62 MHz; Input, 146.02 MHz, no tone
Next meeting: 7:30 p.m., Friday, August 21, 2009
Meeting QTH is Hearth and Home Technologies on Highway 395
North across from Super 1. Enter off 395 at traffic light at Arby's.
CLUB NET
Sunday evenings, 8:00 P.M. local
NEW! Listen to Amateur Radio Newsline, a bulletin service provided
over the club repeater at 7:00 p.m. Sunday evenings.
PSE CPY “Don’t forget the Eating before the Meeting beginning at 6:15 p.m. at Rancho Chico on Main Street, Colville.
PARC S-Meter Newsletter for August, 2009
Page 2
THE VIEW FROM THE TOP OF THE
TOWER...a few words from our club
President, WX7P
Wilse, WX7P, in a rare display of flamboyance, MCs for the recent PACIFIC
North West 54th Annual DX Convention in Spokane as Spokane DX
Association President Gary Elliot, K7OX, aka ‘the OX’ listens and thinks
“I can’t believe this is really Wilse”.
The 54th N W DX Convention went very well. We had 177 hams in attendance.
50 or so of them were VE=s from north of the border. Those rascals took home
three of the four main raffle prizes. The Spokane DX association members really
worked hard to put this convention on. Congratulations to all of them.
The PARC was represented by Karl, WX7DX, and Cleo, KC7TTM. They
attended the Seminars and the Saturday night Banquet and I saw Karl slipping
some of those raffle tickets into the big drum.
The keynote speaker at the banquet was Mike Mraz, N6MZ. He showed a
fantastic video of the whole operation at K5D at Desecheo Island. It is only 14
miles from Puerto Rico. It took lots of helicopter trips at $25.00 a minute for
transporting the necessary equipment and personnel to the site. He said they
went $100,000 over budget. They spend all this money and risk their lives and
PARC S-Meter Newsletter for August, 2009
Page 3
all we have to do is key a mike and talk. The K5D operation made a total of
115,787 Q=s.
I had 17 QSL cards that needed counting so took them along and got them
added to my DXCC.
The Club voted to have the club picnic on the 12th of September this year. It will,
once again, be up north at the Evans camp ground. Remember, it is potluck.
We will be eating about 1200 hours. The club will furnish soft drinks, etc. Guy,
N7YRT, will have his horse shoes there so plan on pitching a few. You can
camp over Friday night if you like.
The Tiger-Tri had about 250 participants this year and all went well. I was at the
lake when they all jumped into that cold water and swam the 1K. When the last
bike rider left the lake, Gimmie and I followed her down and picked up all the
warning signs as we traveled back to Colville. Alberto, KE7QOK, as K7JAR at
net control, handled it all very well. Our thanks to Karl, WX7DX, and Bruce,
KC7H, for putting all of this together. Of course, all you folks at the check points
made it work. A great public service event!
The Salmon Run (WA State QSO Party) this year will be on September 19. It is
a 24 hour Radio Sport. It is all about counties. If you are in a RARE county
PLEASE get on 80 Meters and pass out contacts. Stevens and Ferry are rare.
Stevens has 188 hams and Ferry has 15 hams I will be trying for the SDXA
plaque again this year.
The Stevens County Fair is the 27th thru the 30th. Stevens county search and
rescue will have a booth. The ARRL has donated amateur radio hand outs that
will be passed out to people that stop by. Alberto, KE7QOK, and friends will be
manning the booth. Tom, KE7TEG, will be there with HF radio. You can also
contact them on 2 meters. Why not spend some time there and talk to people
about ham radio. Also pass out some of the PR material.
Log Book Of The World (LOTW) now has 234,272,565 Q=s that have been
entered into the system. This is 3,000,000 more then last month.
28,299 users are registered in the system. Are you one ??
Hope to see many of you at the August 21st club meeting.
73
Wilse WX7P
509 738 4248
Wx7p@arrl.net
PARC S-Meter Newsletter for August, 2009
Page 4
MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
Submitted by Cynthia Frees, KE7ZDJ, Acting
Secretary
Meeting called to order at 7:30 p.m. by President Wilse
Morgan. 30 were in attendance. A quorum of officers
was present.
Minutes of the June meeting were read and accepted.
Treasurer’s Report: CD $4,045.03; Checking $170.25;
Savings 2,303.25;
Cash $48.60; Total $6,567.13; HRO $25.00
ARES Report: Bruce, KC7H, reported that the July 4th ARES activity at Two
Rivers was relatively quiet. Jim, KE7WDD, and Cynthia, KE7ZDJ, assisted
Bruce in monitoring radio frequencies for emergency communications.
Rick Anderson, who heads Stevens County Emergency, is looking for more ham
operators to become acquainted with the emergency command vehicle.
PARC Net: The Sunday Night Net Roster needs updating. New hams were
asked to give Maria, KE7DSK, their name and call sign so she can include them
on the roster.
BOARD Report: Bruce would like to have feedback from members as to what
activities they want the club to be involved with.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: HRO tickets for $1, and club patches for $5 are available.
See Randy for tickets. The 2009 Tacoma Hamfest is August 8.
Guy mentioned that adapters for various interconnections on radios and
computers are available at $2.25 each. See the recent newsletter for more
information.
Wilse: The IARU HF World Championship contest went well; 919 contacts were
made. Thanks to all who participated. VE Session went well; four new
technicians and one ham upgraded to Extra. The DX Spokane Convention is
August 7,8,& 9. Great prizes and Saturday seminars. Plan to attend.
OLD BUSINESS: Anyone interested in RTTY contesting please contact Wilse.
Wilse took 3rd place in the QSO 7th Call Area Contest. Cynthia, KE7ZDJ,
“Contester in Training” also worked the contest.
Tiger Tri: Karl,WX7DX, and Cleo, KE7TTM, have maps and ribbons for those
participating. T-shirts can be picked up after the meeting. All volunteers to meet
PARC S-Meter Newsletter for August, 2009
Page 5
at CHS parking lot on Saturday at 7:00 a.m. Bruce will use the emergency
command vehicle. Alberto, KE7QOK, will be Net Control.
Field Day: Guy, N7YRT, reported that over 50 people attended Field Day.
There are no scores yet. Club gave a big “thank you” to Wilse, Gimmie, Diane,
Maria, and Dale for the food preparation. Ric and Karl to collect pictures for next
month’s newsletter. Bruce to write an article for newsletter.
NEW BUSINESS:
tonight.
Guy has radio equipment to be auctioned after meeting
Antenna Party coming soon at Wilse’ house. Ground crew members are needed.
Maria requested that all hams take photos of their ham shack and e-mail them to
Ric. Ric will develop a presentation. A minimum of five photos were requested.
All hams were encouraged to participate.
Wilse reported that Avista stopped selling anchor rods for putting up towers.
Wilse found an outfit in Portland that sells them. See him if interested.
Joe, N7YPS, suggested that a new box is needed for the tent/radio equipment
used at Field Day. Karl has a box. Jim, KE7WDD, volunteered to build the lid.
The Salmon Run is Sept 12. The PARC Annual Picnic is Sept 12 at Evans
Campground.
Let Ric, K5UJU, know if you want to be added to newsletter e-mail list.
Search and Rescue will have a booth at the Colville Fair. Alberto suggested that
PARC display radios, photos, handouts, posters, etc. Wilse will provide handouts
and easels. Maria to coordinate with Ric for displays.
Meeting adjourned: 8:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by Acting Secretary,
Cynthia, KE7ZDJ
NET CONTROL SCHEDULE FROM THE
PARC WEBSITE
August 23, 2009
August 30, 2009
September 6, 2009
September 13, 2009
KE7ZDJ
KE7QOK
KE7WDD
KE7USW
KE7ZDI
Cynthia
Alberto
Jim
Shadow
Dustin
PARC S-Meter Newsletter for August, 2009
September 20, 2009
September 27, 2009
October 4, 2009
October 11, 2009
October 18, 2009
N7YRT
KE7DSK
KG7WT
KA7BHW
KE7TDY
Page 6
Guy
Maria
Judith
Stef
Jason
Remember to checkout our club website at www.qls.net/k7jar where you can see
past issues of the S-Meter, photos, archived files, links to other amateur radio
sites of interest and a calendar of club meetings, Saturday morning breakfasts,
and other events of interest.
TIGER TRI 2009
Submitted by Bruce Fortune, KC7H
Swimmer in the water, bikers on the road, and runner
off to the finish. Progressively, that is how it all
started Saturday morning on 07-18-2009. The end to
the 1k swim, 40k bike ride and 8k run This year’s
Triathlon event finished in front of the Colville High
School grand stand. Just imagine if you can believe
it, there were people waiting along the way with the
nerve to holler at these fine folks giving it their best to
go yet faster! I wonder if they were still friends after
the race.
Again this year, the Colville Park and Recreation
department asked the ham operators to assist in monitoring the bike course
along Highway 20 from Pend Oriel lakes to Colville. Under the planning and
direction of Karl (WX7DX) and Cleo (KC7TTM) Miller it is no wonder we had
another enjoyable operation this year. If you were somehow not in the group of
those of us having fun, please let Karl (WX7DX) know. I am sure he can fix you
up for next year.
Those of us proudly sporting the fancy yellow T-shirts given for identification
were Jim (KE7WDD) and Cynthia (KE7ZDJ) Frees, Alberto Gomez (KE7QOK),
Jerry Hill (WB7CGW), Randy (N7CKJ) and Diane(KC7WQB) Jones, Stefan
(KA7BHW) and Linda (KE7TEC) Mallory, Karl (WX7DX) and Cleo (KE7TTM)
Miller, Wilse (WX7P) and Gimmie (AL7LB) Morgan, Jim Morse (N7DAS),
assisted by his daughter, Courtney Nelson (KE7ZDL), Joe Schmeller (N7YPS),
Ric (K5UJU) and Valeria Tell, Bruce Fortune (KC7H). Ken Clark also showed
up at the crack of dawn to help riding his motor cycle. I don’t remember where
Karl put him to work, but Ken sure was a part the face-to-face QSO party going
on in the parking lot before we all reported to our stations of duty. There was a
lot of doubling going on. Some multipath also.
PARC S-Meter Newsletter for August, 2009
Page 7
Alberto, KE7QOK
Joe
Schmeller
(N7YPS),
Valeria
Tell, and Alberto
KE7QOK) shared the Inside the Stevens County Mobile Command
comfort of the net control Center, Alberto, Valeria and Joe, N7YPS)
station set up in the
Stevens County Command Vehicle. Thanks to Joe (N7YPS) for keeping Alberto
(KE7QOK) on track in the brief moments when Alberto was not keyed up as net
control operator. Why, it looked like Alberto kept both Valeria and Joe busy
logging traffic. The Trio made a great team under the careful eye of Valeria and
Joe as they tracked the event on the map and recorded the net control log. With
the day being quite warm, the air conditioned Stevens County Command Center
Vehicle offered by Stevens County Emergency Coordinator Rick Anderson was a
cooler place to be. I understand but did not see that some of our group set up
residency along the road at their station. Maybe nobody put up mail boxes, but
at lest one station had one of those fancy canopy shades set up providing a
shaded oasis. It is
a wonder the bikers
didn’t stop to cool
off.
Well, maybe
some did.
The
whole race was
wrapped
up
by
eleven
o’clock.
Then the award
presentation
took
place with a little
bragging.
The beginning of the end
Beg Karl early for
next year if you
have a favorite spot.
Now listen to this.
PARC S-Meter Newsletter for August, 2009
Page 8
I was asked for feed back about this year’s event. Here was my point of
discussion. At one point about 11:00 a.m., we needed to make contact with
those people that begged us to help. With confidence I fumbled for the sheet of
paper with all the cell phone numbers to use should they be needed. Most of my
attempted calls went to voice mail. The voice mail message was not the answer
I was listening for. We sure didn’t have the issue of voice mail with our radios.
For those of you that would
like to level the playing
field for QRP, please
remind Wilse how valuable
he was working his 5 watt
station
(waterproof
handheld) at the water
course.
I am proud to pass along a
heartfelt thank you from
Debra and Kendra for a job
well done.
If the weather was too The Stevens County Mobile Command Center
warm for your taste for this
event, check out the hoot owl patrol coming up on Halloween. Now that is a
night that is not always real, but it has been real funny.
HAMS SPOTTED AT THE COLVILLE
2009 FLY-IN
Country hams come to town. Dave Klimas,
N7DRK, Dan Kilgore, KA7TDC, and Jean.
Quick draw Cousin Brucie,
KC7H
PARC S-Meter Newsletter for August, 2009
Ham N Taters Tell, K5UJU
Steven Kresek, KE7TDZ
Page 9
Colville Gothic…or…The Hotelings, Maria,
KE7DSK, and Mike, KD7IBE
Hams on a hog. Diane, KC7WQB, and
Randy, N7CKJ, Jones.
PARC S-Meter Newsletter for August, 2009
Page 10
PARC FIELD DAY 2009
Photos courtesy of Guy Fiola, N7YRT
The site
The testing
Jim and the Spud Gun
crew
PARC S-Meter Newsletter for August, 2009
Page 11
Two boys and their radios.
Look guilty to me.
Who says there aren’t
adverse effects of RF
energy?
And Wilse says to Guy, “It’s been a long
time since I operated, which knob should
we turn next?
Oh, they sound so cute, can
we listen a while longer?
PARC S-Meter Newsletter for August, 2009
Page 12
CAR 54 WHERE ARE YOU?
For those of you here in Stevens County, you should be aware of the map book
for the County that is available via the County website at
http://www.co.stevens.wa.us/GIS/Maps/StartMapbook.html
If you would like an index for all of the streets so you can quickly pull up the
proper page showing that area, drop an e-mail to Bruce, KC7H at
bruce.fortune@gmail.com
OFF FREQUENCY
SPACEWEATHER RADIO: The US Air Force Space Surveillance Radar
is scanning the skies over North America. When a Perseid meteor
passes overhead--"ping"--there is an echo. Tune into Spaceweather Radio for a
live audio feed from the radar facility. http://spaceweatherradio.com/
Radio Shack to re-brand as "The Shack" in advertising, but to remain "Radio
Shack" in fact: http://radioworld.com/article/84842
A pleasant a cappella. The sound starts soon enough. Be patient. And be
prepared to be delighted: http://www.videosift.com/video/Africa-Acapella-cover
Computerized Panoramas Find out the names and distances of mountain
peaks around you. Hit the "New panorama" button to enter your location. Check
out the "visibility cloak" feature too. A very interesting program:
http://www.heywhatsthat.com/
Model Saturn 5 rocket launch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bj4lj6YSwzg
Silhouette art set to music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW-3KwXpkkM
Dilbert and the Knack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmYDgncMhXw
PARC S-Meter Newsletter for August, 2009
Page 13
FOR Sale
Have something that you want to sell or give away. Send info to the Newsletter
and we’ll post it here.
For those of you wanting to use accessory jacks and peripherals on your radios
contact Guy Fiola, N7YRT at 509-936-0238 or via e-mail at
guyval@centurytel.net. Please don’t ask about these items on the radio.
DANGER
Leonard, AA7AH, offers
training in the use of his
long barrel Spud Gun.
Guy shields his face
from the blast of the
exploding hair spray. Is
this thing safe?
QRT
VHF
UHF
Ric Tell, K5UJU, S-Meter Editor, playing
ham radio with the Mt. Carmel Hospital,
Colville, WA, ARES radio equipment
during the August 16 ARES net check-in.
E-mail: rtell@radhaz.com for comments,
complaints, articles, what have you.
Heart beat monitor (Didn’t ya hear my pulse?)