June 2016

Club President: Larry Unfried Dayton Hamvention 2016, Day 1: Meet and (WA9KJV) Vice President: Greets, Cautious Optimism on Parity Act, and William Dusenbery Late-day Rain (N9OQK) Secretary: 05/21/2016 Mary Ellen Sundstrom Hamvention has begun! Clouds loomed all day, and finally gave way to rain (KA9ZTJ) Treasurer: in the afternoon. Mike Phillips At the ARRL EXPO, Hamvention visitors had the opportunity to meet and (N0RSP) Board Members: greet ARRL leadership like CEO Tom Gallagher, NY2RF; CFO Barry Bill Schmidt Shelley, N1VXY, and ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR. There was also (WA0JCO) John Sundstrom Sr. a “Meet the Authors” table, where Glen Popiel, KW5GP – author of High (WA0LIS) Speed Multimedia for Amateur Radio and Arduino for Ham Radio – and J.K. Repeater Chair: Marty Schultz George, N3BB – author of Contact Sport: A Story of Champions, Airwaves, (N9PPJ) and a One-Day Race around the World –met and talked with visitors. There Newsletter Editor: Jason Cato was heavy traffic through the ARRL EXPO area, especially in the ARRL (KB9LBC) store.

Our website is; Over at the National Parks on the Air exhibit, Sean Kutzko, KX9X, said, www.w9aiu.org “The number of visitors to the NPOTA booth was phenomenal. It was nice

Our Facebook Page is; to meet so many NPOTA Activators in person after working them on the air from many NPOTA units. Can’t wait for tomorrow!” https://www.facebook.com/W9AIU At the “Ham Radio and the Law” forum, Hudson Division Director Mike Our Facebook Group is ; Lisenco, N2YBB, discussed the Amateur Radio Parity Act. He said, “Right https://www.facebook.com/groups/ 765454553468182/ now I’m cautiously optimistic. We think it stands a good chance of getting

Our repeaters are: through.” The bill has 126 cosponsors in the House and five in the Senate.

146.760 – PL 141.3 in downtown St. ARRL has been working with the Community Associations Institute for two Louis, MO with an EchoLink Node #541608 and a half months trying to negotiate on the bill, and they believe they’ve reached an agreement. 146.790 – PL 127.3 in Edwardsville, IL The ARRL EXPO has an Amateur Radio Parity Act booth, where members 224.060 – No PL in Edwardsville, IL can sign letters in support of the Amateur Radio Parity Act to be delivered to 442.400 + PL 127.3 in Edwardsville, Congress. ARRL has already delivered over 16,000 letters. During the IL forum, Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, said, “It makes a difference when politicians see all those letters from their constituents.” Also at that forum, Kevin Kaufhold, W9GKA; Jim O’Connell, W9WU; Bob Famiglio, K3RF, and Fred Hopengarten, K1VR, spoke about their experiences in real-life legal cases involving ham radio antenna restrictions. In product news, Elecraft announced their new KX2 portable transceiver. The transceiver is 5.8 by 2.8 by 1.5 inches and weighs 13 ounces. It operates from 80 – 10 meters on nine bands, putting out up to 10 W. The designer of the new KX2, Wayne Burdick, N6KR, explained that it’s half the size of the KX3, extremely lightweight, and very portable. He said, “This is a radio I’ve wanted since I was about 14...There was a sunspot cycle peak in 1957, and I was born in 1957, and at the time people could stand outside and work Australia with a walkie talkie. I’ve always had that image in my head.” To cap off the first day of Hamvention 2016, the Spurious Emissions Band played in the Presidential Ballroom at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in the evening. The performance was also available in a live stream online. The band features ham radio-themed covers of popular songs, like “Stand by Your Ham,” and “Climber John” (set to the tune of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” aka “Major Tom”).

Dayton Hamvention 2016, Day 2: Awards, Remembrance, and Intermittent Rain 05/22/2016 Day 2 of the 2016 Dayton Hamvention has come and gone. It was a busy day inside the Hara Arena complex, as intermittent bouts of rain pushed people inside from the flea markets. It was also a day for awards and recognition. At the SATERN forum – moderated by National SATERN Liaison Bill Feist, WB8BZH – SATERN founder Major Pat McPherson, WW9E (SK), was remembered and awarded a posthumous Exceptional Service Award from the Salvation Army. Many friends took to the podium and shared stories about Pat. ARRL Emergency Preparedness Manager Mike Corey, KI1U, presented the award, flanked by ARRL CEO Tom Gallagher, NY2RF, and ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR. The award was accepted by Ron Busroe, National CRD Secretary, who is responsible for the Salvation Army’s National Disaster Services program. The award will be presented to McPherson’s wife, Carmella, KB9YSQ, on June 19. At the National Parks on the Air forum, speakers Sean Kutzko, KX9X, and Norm Fusaro, W3IZ, addressed a packed room and answered questions about NPOTA. They were also surprised by two plaques in recognition of all their hard work on the NPOTA program, presented by the Ohio Section. The NPOTA program continues throughout the year to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service. ARRL and IARU President Emeritus Larry Price, W4RA, was inducted as an Honorary Member of the Hall of Fame by the Radio Amateurs of Canada. The award was presented by Ed Frazer, VE7EF, and Glenn MacDonell, VE3XRA. The appointment recognized Price’s years of work and service in support of RAC, and is the first Honorary Member appointment in RAC’s history. The Dayton Amateur Radio Club (DARA) presented ARRL’s Lauren Clarke, KB1YDD, and Rick Roderick, K5UR, with a $5,000 check to fund the Teachers Institute, $6,000 for the DARA scholarship through the ARRL Foundation, and a $10,000 payment towards their $100,000 Second Century Campaign pledge. The Youth Forum, moderated by Carole Perry, WB2MGP, took place on Saturday morning, featuring speakers like 17-year-olds Maria Lysandrou, KD9BUS, and Kelsey Seymour, K3LSY. From there, youngsters headed over to the ARRL Youth Rally at the ARRL EXPO. At the rally, led by ARRL Education & Technology Program Instructor Tommy Gober, N5DUX, and professional educator Jennifer Gober, KE5LNK, participants ages 11-26 enjoyed hands-on ham radio activities. The Hamvention continues through Sunday.

Dayton Hamvention 2016, Day 3: Sunshine and Served Agencies 05/23/2016 Day 3 of Hamvention is finished, and with it the 2016 Dayton Hamvention has ended. The sun was shining all day, allowing hams to explore the flea market and make any last-minute purchases. Traffic slowed down in the ARRL EXPO and the ARRL Store after days of long lines. In Hara Arena, vendors gradually packed up their displays and carefully took down antennas. At the Amateur Radio Disaster and Emergency Communications Panel, representatives from Amateur Radio disaster and emergency response organizations gathered together to answer questions. The panel was moderated by ARRL Emergency Preparedness Manager Mike Corey, KI1U, and served as a chance to bring the various agencies together. Corey said he’d like to make this an annual discussion between the various agencies. The panel members were Rob Macedo, KD1CY, of the VoIP WX Net and VoIP Hurricane Net; Paul English, WD8DBY, from US Army MARS; David Stapchuk, KD9DXM, US Air Force MARS; Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, representing the Hurricane Watch Net; Bill Feist, WB8BZH, of SATERN; Ohio SEC Stan Broadway, N8BHL; Ross Merlin, WA2WDT, Department of Homeland Security SHARESprogram manager, and Julio Ripoll, WD4R, representing Amateur Radio at the National Hurricane Center, WX4NHC, remotely attending on Skype. The panelists passed the microphone back and forth, taking turns answering questions from the audience, from members of various agencies and ham radio backgrounds. Corey wrapped up the panel by discussing the upcoming hurricane season, along with remarks from Julio Ripoll, WD4R, and input from the other panelists. At the “Maximizing Your ARRL Field Day Effort” panel, ARRL Regulatory Information Manager Dan Henderson, N1ND, talked about how to maximize your fun for Field Day, and ARRL Public Relations Committee Chair Scott Westerman, W9WSW, spoke about how to get a boost from using social media to promote your Field Day activation. This year’s ARRL Field Day takes place June 25-26. Next year’s Dayton Hamvention is scheduled for May 19-21, 2017. the feed line to your radio transmitter and the Antennas, Antennas, Antennas other end of the feed line to your antenna. Then ALL the radio energy you put into the feed line will What is all the fuss about antennas? The first go into the antenna and be radiated off to those questions I usually hear from new hams is, “What far distant lands you hear the DXers talking about, kind of rig should I get and how much power will I right? WRONG! need to run to talk with all those foreign hams I hear the DX crowd talking to?” Well, in Amateur There are many misconceptions, Radio it all starts with the antenna. misunderstandings and just plain “old wives tales” out there that can befuddle the best antenna The antenna is the single most important part of designs. First, let’s discuss the most your radio station. The QRP crowd will tell you misunderstood measurements in all of ham radio, stories about having contacts with people several SWR. thousand miles away running only 5 watts. This is rarely done without a well designed and properly Notice I did not say SWRs? SWR is an acronym for installed antenna. Yes, I am leaving radio wave Standing Wave Ratio. SWR is not something that propagation out of this discussion for right now. can be quantified and measured out in ounces, This discussion is about your antenna system. watts, quarts or feet. It is a ratio, a mathematical function. It is the ratio of the amount of radio The antenna SYSTEM that you install consists of energy (measured in watts) being fed into your the antenna, the feed line, and perhaps a couple transmission line (forward power), and the of tools to do things like changing the resonant amount of radio energy (measured in watts) being characteristics of the feed point when needed or reflected back into the transmission line (reflected measuring power, both forward and reflected. power) by a mismatch at the antenna feed point. Notice I said changing the characteristics of the “feed point” and did NOT say changing the feed SWR can be a valuable thing to know about your point impedance. I know, this part of antenna antenna system because it will tell you how theory can be rather dry and hard to digest, but effective your antenna system is at radiating radio bear with me. It is important to learn these basics energy and how well your feed line is delivering if you are to do a good job of building or installing that energy into the antenna if you know where to your antenna. Trust me; it will be worth the read. connect the SWR meter.

First we need to define what the antenna is and what it does. An antenna is a device used to send radio waves. Radio waves are electro-magnetic fields that can be detected at great distances with the proper receiving equipment. That is all the antenna does. It does not amplify RF energy. It does not generate radio energy. It just sends these radio waves. It can only send the radio wave energy you put into the antenna.

Huh? How do you put radio wave energy into the antenna? First you have to have a source of the radio energy, an RF energy generator. That is your radio transmitter. Then you have to have a “Feed Line” to get the radio energy output from your transmitter up to your antenna. Then you have to get the radio energy from your feed line into the antenna. This is done by connecting one end of Oops… Huh? What’s all this about radio energy transmitter from exceeding the peak inverse being reflected? If I feed radio energy into one voltage rating of the transistors. end of the feed line it is all going into the antenna at the other end, right? Here are a few simple truths that you need to remember. WRONG! Reflected power is “Unused power that is reflected back down the feed line”. 1. You should always use an antenna tuner. It goes in the shack near or inside your transmitter (or It is unused because your antenna was not tuned transceiver). It functions to match ONLY the to the same impedance as the radio energy transmitter end of your feed line to the coming out the antenna end of your feed line. The impedance of your transmitter output. It does not antenna could not absorb all that energy and change the impedance of your antenna. radiate it. The impedance of your antenna did not match the impedance of your feed line. The 2. Electrical energy can and does flow in BOTH energy that could not be absorbed by your directions inside your antenna feed line. Most antenna is reflected back down the coax toward feed line used today is either coax cable or ladder your transmitter. line. However, this statement holds true for all types of feed line. Back in the days of “hollow-state radio” when transmitters used vacuum tunes instead of 3. RF energy moves forward toward the antenna transistors, it was no big deal to have some RF through the feed line because the RF generator energy reflected back to the transmitter. The final (your transmitter) “pushes” it to the antenna. amplifier tank circuit in the transmitter just reflected it back up the feed line again and the tubes were pretty well able to ignore it unless the reflected energy was a very large percentage of the forward energy. Then you might have some arcing and sparking going on inside your transmitter tank coil circuitry if it was not physically and electrically designed to handle the voltages that are created when this energy hits the circuit.

With the more modern transistorized transmitters with wide-band output coupling it does cause problems. The transistors are a lot more sensitive to reflected power due to their lower peak inverse voltage rating. I won’t go into detail here about how that works. Just trust me when I say that the transistorized, wide-band final amplifier stage of your solid state transmitter will not tolerate very much reflected power without a built-in protection circuit.

Most of the newer transmitters have circuitry that will sense the reflected energy and start damping down the transmitter output power when too much reflected energy is detected. This is often referred to as a “fold-back” circuit that is designed to protect the final amplifier transistors of your the following very controversial statements to be 4. RF energy moves backward when the antenna true. cannot absorb all the energy and the unabsorbed energy is reflected back down the feed line. The The term “Antenna Tuner” is a misnomer. It energy that is absorbed by the antenna is radiated should be called a “Matching Network”. I will out into space as electro-magnetic/exectro-static refer to it as a tuner in this article instead because energy. that is what most Hams call it.

5. The reflected energy is re-reflected again by the The tuner adjusts the electrical length of the antenna tuner or the tuned circuit inside your antenna and coax #2, in the illustration above. transmitter. There are no losses at all in the The reflected RF energy has exactly the correct transmitter circuitry when the energy is reflected. phase to be re-reflected at the tuner. When the This is a FACT. Well, okay there is a miniscule tuner is tuned properly no energy gets reflected amount of energy absorbed by the tuned circuitry, back into feed line #1 to the transmitter. (inductors and capacitors) inside the tuned circuit of your transmitter or your antenna tuner. Feed line #2 still has reflected energy because of However, the amount of energy absorbed by the mismatch between feed line #2 and the them is really, really, tiny. A good estimate of the antenna, but those reflections will be re-reflected energy absorbed by the tuned circuits is 0.01 db. at the tuner and they will add to the transmitter Or, 1 watt out of every thousand watts. RF energy output. It may seem strange that the system will still have reflected energy but it does. 6. There are often two sections of feed line This is because there is a mismatch between feed between your transmitter and your antenna as line #2 and the antenna. illustrated below. There is the feed line between the transmitter and the antenna tuner and there The non-radiated portion of the RF energy gets is the feed line between the antenna tuner and reflected from the antenna feed point back to the the antenna. We will use this illustration for the antenna tuner where it gets reflected back up the rest of this discussion. feed line to the antenna where it gets reflected back to the tuner and so forth until the amount of Transmitter <---feed line #1---> reflected power is so small it is inconsequential. Antenna Tuner <---feed line #2---> Each time it gets reflected, in either direction, a portion of the energy will get radiated and a Antenna portion of it will get reflected. Each time the energy travels through the feed line a certain 7. Feed line #1 is usually very short and feed line amount of it gets absorbed by the feed line. #2 is usually very long. This is the opposite of how it SHOULD be. A high SWR will create a higher loss in the feed line because a higher amount of RF energy travels Many times people hear a story over and over back and forth through the feed line. This RF again until it is accepted as truth, even if it is not energy suffers the same loss as the forward the truth. That is the case here, with what you are energy when it is first sent toward the antenna by about to learn next. If you read the books the transmitter. published by L.B. Cebik, W4RNL, who is The tuner cannot change the SWR of your considered by many as one of the foremost antenna. Only proper tuning and matching of the authorities on antennas and feed lines, or M. antenna can do that. What the tuner does is to Walt Maxwell W2DU who wrote the book mask the SWR seen by the SWR meter. It makes “Reflections: Transmission Lines and Antennas” the impedance of feed line #1 appear to be a or the ARRL Antenna Book, or the ARRL Amateur perfect match but does not change the tuning of Radio Handbook, you will discover that all of what your antenna at all. The SWR meter is only we are discussing here is true. You will also find reporting what it sees on feed line #1 between the antenna tuner and the transmitter. It cannot see 5 Feed line losses are the only losses in the what is happening in feed line #2 even though whole system. These losses can be that is where all the action is. significant, but they are the ONLY losses in the antenna system. Did you notice Reflections happen at the feed line to antenna that this last step is just a re-statement of connection and they also happen at the feed line other steps above? to tuner connection. The last part of this statement seems to be missing from most If you use coaxial cable for your feed lines pay discussions of SWR and mismatched conditions. particular attention to one of the specifications This is why a lot of people think that reflected given by the coax manufacturer. They will specify power gets into the radio and does damage. the “loss per 100 feet” of the coax in “db per 100 feet”. If you remember one of those questions on These reflections do not cause energy loss. All your ham radio exam you know that doubling losses are due to the feed line itself. Unless the your RF power in watts is equal to 3 db of gain. transmitter is solid state and the solid state The same holds true of loss. Cutting the power in devices see reflected voltages higher than the half is a 3 db loss of power. device peak-inverse-voltage rating. A commonly used 50 ohm impedance coax for The following 5 points may help you understand amateur radio installations is RG-8X. It is relatively this better. small diameter cable and the attenuation specifications at 100 watts are as follows: 1 Energy moving backwards in the feed line is subject to the exact same losses as - 0.282 db/100 ft at 4 MHz (that is 80 meters) energy moving in the forward direction. - 0.374 db/100 ft at 7 MHz (40 meters) 2 The amount of energy reflected at the - 0.53 db/100 ft at 14 MHz (20 meters) feed line to antenna connection depends - 0.752 db/100 ft at 28 MHz (10 meters) on the amount of impedance mismatch (read SWR) between the antenna and the feed line. The greater the mismatch, the greater the reflection. 3 The amount of energy re-reflected at the feed line to tuner connection is 100% of the energy that gets there, but not all the energy that was originally reflected gets back through the feed line to the tuner connection. There will be losses in the feed line. The reflected energy that reaches the feed line to tuner connection is re-reflected back into the feed line headed for the antenna. 4 The re-reflected energy will be in phase with the transmitter so the two signals will add. This can create more forward power in the feed line than the transmitter is actually producing. It is possible to measure 125 Watts forward power from a 100 Watt transmitter because the re-reflected power adds to the transmitter power. As you can see, the attenuation, or loss, increases as the frequency increases. The higher the The exact same principles hold true for receiving frequency, the higher the loss per 100 ft. There is as for transmitting. The difference is in the a difference between types of feed line. The strength of the signal. Receivers accept power in specifications for “Wireman 554”, 450 ohm ladder microwatts (millionths of a watt). Transmitters line at 100 watts are as follows: deal in power levels of watts to kilowatts. However, notice that 3db of loss is still half the - 0.090 db/100 ft at 4 MHz power. 3db of loss in a received signal is still half - 0.121 db/100 ft at 7 MHz the power lost even though it is only ½ of an S- - 0.179 db/100 ft at 14 MHz unit. - 0.267 db/100 ft at 28 MHz What about my S-meter readings? Holy cow! There is a BIG difference between ladder line and coaxial cable. Why would anyone The S-meter would be more appropriately named use coax? the Guess-meter. There was an attempt back in the 1950’s to standardize the S-meter reading by There are a couple of reasons. First, the above major radio equipment manufacturers. specifications are for RG-8X coax. There are other Unfortunately they did not succeed in gaining coaxial cables available that have much better world-wide acceptance of their standard. They specifications. However, you are going to pay proposed that an S-9 signal would be seen with dearly for them and they will not be as low as the 100 millivolts of radio energy coming into the attenuation specifications for ladder line. Also, receiver. Unfortunately the marketing wizards of coaxial cable is very easy to install. Please the day didn’t like that idea. Some manufacturers remember the following because it is simple truth. calibrated their S-meter circuitry so that 50 millivolts would give an S-9 reading on the S- meter. This made their receiver appear to be - A 3db increase in received signal strength is “hotter” than the competition. Watch out for ONLY ½ of an S-unit on your receiver’s S-meter. those marketing derived performance specifications. They can be quite deceptive. S- - RG-8X coaxial cable is only a little over a quarter meter readings should be used for comparisons inch in diameter and it is quite flexible. You can between two different antennas used by the easily bend transmitting and receiving station.

- it around things down to about a 2 inch radius. If A very special thanks goes to Steve Ward, WC7I you bend it much tighter than that the center for giving us permission to use a lot of information conductor of coax pinches the insulation inside from his outstanding web site www.wc7i.com. the cable hard enough to eventually short against Much of the information provided here was the outer shielded braid. spawned from reading his web site and some was taken directly from there. There is a lot more - RG-8X is also light weight when compared to information there than just what is presented some of the other larger coax cables. here so be sure to take the time to visit his web site. You will be amazed at the information In summary, coaxial cable is easier to install and available there. work with than ladder line or some of the other open wire types of feed line and lighter than some Okay, that is enough for now. I hope it helps you of the larger coaxial cables available. understand what is going on in your antenna system. Just remember this, It all begins with the So far we have only discussed the effects of SWR antenna system because if you can’t hear ‘em, OR and mismatch as it relates to transmitting radio they can’t hear you, you can’t work ‘em. energy. What about receiving? 73 de K7RMJ Alert: Alert:

From the top... **For several years after I was first elected ten years ago, I got regular submissions for inclusion in the League's Public Service Honor Roll. PSHR exists to provide recognition for the efforts that many of you expend every day to assist in your communities. A lot of this is just taking credit for what you already do, and converting into points according to the League's system. Accumulate over 70 each month, and you can submit the scorecard form. to me, which I forward to HQ. Then, you will achieve immortality by having your call and score published in QST. Submit forms each month for a year, or 18 of 24 months, and you re eligible to receive a one-time certificate for your efforts. I just received a submission from the field for the first time in I can't remember. I'd like to see more of these. **Here's one that I'm just throwing out there: a fellow in Missouri has petitioned the FCC to designate the CW portions of the bands for "symbol communication" and eliminate the CW only restriction. The short version is that he wants the CW bands redesignated for modes that produce a discrete symbol on the receiving end (digital text modes) including CW, with voice and image restricted to the rest of the bands. CW would also be permitted throughout the bands. This is a gross oversimplification, and I invite those concerned to read the petition before reacting. Please note that this is not a League sponsored initiative, the League did not generate it, nor does ARRL have a position on this matter. Comments on the petition are invited via the FCC website or in writing to them. Remember that dozens of these are filed each year. Some never get to the comment period, and most never survive past the comment period. So, there's no need to think that this is imminent. I present this as a point of information for your consideration. Comments should be directed to the FCC website. Get informed... **The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) has become the custodian of the "best practices" operating guide "Ethics and Operating Procedures for the Radio Amateur". IARU is the international association of Amateur Radio societies, of which the League is a member. This guide was compiled by a couple of Belgian hams, and was adopted by the IARU as their position in 2008. It's been translated into over 25 languages and is recognized as a standard. There is a PowerPoint presentation available for use in your license classes or as a club presentation. Yes, we have slob operators, and it's very easy to point and say "what about them?" Let them worry about themselves and make ourselves as good as we can be. **"Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean."--Goethe **RFinder online repeater directory, which has recently affiliated with the League and other countries' national Amateur Radio societies, has launched an online form to allow users to submit repeater jamming. It appears to be fairly simple to use. It's unstated as to what, if anything besides making record, is to be done with these reports once entered. **There is another Petition for Rulemaking in the FCC hopper. This one was filed by a distributor of RF amplifiers in Texas, and seeks to remove the 15dB gain limit on external amplifiers. This would essentially allow the manufacture and importation of external amplifiers requiring less than 50 watts of drive. This limit was put in place ostensibly to prevent CB types from driving amplifiers with their 5 watt radios. (Never mind that the CB boom was nearly 30 years prior to that limit and the hardcore operators have always found a way to circumvent this. It's not important to this discussion as to why I'd know that.) On one side, the use of external amplifiers by CB types remains a concern, but not nearly as grave of one as it was 40 years ago. On the other hand, there are some very full featured radios coming on the market, including software defined transceivers, that have QRP output. Dispensing with this limit gives those folks some versatility. Again, comments to the FCC.

Around the Section... **Ben Kiningham K9IDQ sends the following: "I am forwarding a few photos of the CAARERT (Capitol Area Amateur Radio Emergency Response Team) station W9SPI out at A. Lincoln's New Salem State Historic Site Saturday when most of the several hundred scouts marched the 20-mile or so 'hike' from New Salem to Springfield....a number remained at New Salem-- some had done the hike before.....and while N9L was a special event in past years--- this year turned out to be VERY SPECIAL! A Weather Radio was donated -- (a) chance for any scout who typed and sent his name in CODE!....the drawing of the ticket would come later....no charge-just some learning FUN sending your name in CODE! Talk about curiosity, fun, youth participation..and CW-- all for the first time...... very SPECIAL...Dads talking with sons and Scouts about their Ham Radio days...or military service." **I'll be speaking at the Lake County ARES/RACES meeting on 6 June, and at the Peoria Area ARC meeting on 9 June, plus the hamfest circuit. Hope to see some of you there. **The Dayton Hamvention is this coming weekend. Strangely, the weather at this point looks to be pleasant. I imagine that will change as the week goes on, because Dayton. It just wouldn't be right if the weather did not seesaw somewhere between heat, cold, blazing sun, and drenching rain. Safe trip to those of you headed there. Cecil Higgins MO SM I enjoyed visiting with all the ARRL members and Hams at the Ararat Shrine ARC Hambash in Kansas City, MO. Rod Blocksome, K0DAS, Midwest Division Director, Ron Cowan, KB0DTI, Kansas SM, and I presented an ARRL Forum. We updated those attending about the ARRL program and answered questions. I’m looking forward to next year’s Hambash. I know I don’t have to remind everyone that the ARRL Field Day is coming up on June 25th and 26th. It is a good idea to list your Field Day site on the Field Day Locator http://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator so visitors can find your FD operation. This year there are two new bonuses. Your Field Day operation can get 100 points for having a Safety Officer and 100 points for posting Field Day related items to Social Media. It is great to have Youth participation at your Field Day operation and there are bonus points, up to 100 points, that can be earned at the rate of 20 points for each youth under 18 that is part of the Field Day . There are also 100 points for sending a Field Day message to the Section Manager or the Section Emergency Coordinator Jeff Young, KB3HF. That includes Traffic directly sent to the SM and SEC or relayed to the SM and SEC. 2016 HAMFEST CALENDAR There are no Hamfest in the Missouri Section scheduled for May or June so it is a good time to publish a list of the remaining Sanctioned Missouri Hamfests for 2016. There could be additions to this list as the year progresses. Sometimes the links are stripped from the Section News, so I’m providing the hyperlink address so you can copy and paste it to your browser. 07/16/2016 | Warrensburg Hamfest Warrensburg, MOhttp://www.arrl.org/hamfests/waarci-hamfest 07/17/2016 | Zero Beaters Hamfest Washington, MOhttp://www.arrl.org/hamfests/zero-beaters-hamfest 08/14/2016 | St Charles ARC Hamfest O’Fallon, MOhttp://www.arrl.org/hamfests/scarc-hamfest-2 08/27/2016 | Joplin ARC Hamfest Joplin, MO http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/joplin-hamfest 10/13/2016 | St. Louis Microwave Society Conference St. Louis, MOhttp://www.arrl.org/hamfests/microwave-update- 2016-conference 10/15/2016 | SouthSide ARC Hamfest Belton, MOhttp://www.arrl.org/hamfests/southside-arc-hamfest-1 10/29/2016 | St. Louis ARC Halloween Hamfest Kirkwood, MO http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/halloween-hamfest-3 11/05/2016 | Nixa Amateur Radio Club Hamfest Nixa, MO http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/narcfest-2016 11/12/2016 | Raytown ARC Hamfest Kansas City, MO http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/raytown-arc-hamfest-1 AFFILIATED CLUB NEWS KEITH HAYE, WE0G, ACC Leland C. Finley, WA0JSB, PCARG PIO, reports that on Saturday April 30th, the Platte County Amateur Radio Group (PCARG) held their Annual Open House at the Northland Regional Ambulance District Community Room. The Open House operated from 11:00 am through 3:00 pm with free food and drink provided by PCARG members. Equipment suppliers were on hand demonstrating amateur equipment and a sample Ham Station was on display for those interested in becoming an Amateur Radio Operator. Prior to the Open House, there was Amateur Radio license testing available for anyone interested in becoming a Ham. There is no charge for attending this event. Robin Cross, W0FEN, announced that the Raytown Amateur Radio Club is sponsoring a hidden transmitter hunt on May 14, 2016. This event is a free style event operating on 2 meters FM. The primary purpose of this event is to teach and practice basic transmitter hunting techniques and technologies for such purposes as; locating Radio Frequency Interference sources, search and rescue operations, and for sport. Some of the specifics of the Hunt are: Hidden transmitter frequency: 146.565 MHz FM Simplex. (National Fox Hunting Frequency) Participant coordination/communication frequencies include Primary Frequency (Raytown Repeater) 145.170 MHz FM -600 kHz, PL tone 151.4 Hz is optional and Alternate/fallback frequency 146.480 MHz FM Simplex. The hidden transmitter hunt begins at 9:00 a.m. and ends 12:00 p.m. Participants in the hunt will be in two classes of entry. Those using Doppler assisted and those utilizing Standard RFD equipment that are non-doppler. The official starting location is the Community of Christ Church parking lot (North side of building, 6231 Manning Avenue (63rd and Manning), Raytown, MO 64133. Robin reminded participants that they need to obey all applicable laws, that the event is a fun exercise not a “race and that the obvious disclaimers about liability apply. The Macon County ARC newsletter reports that the local cable TV outlet is airing an interview with former MO Section Manager Dale Bagley, K0KY and Sally Weber, KD0NTZ. The program was part of a series called Senior Moments and it focused on Amateur Radio in general. It was an opportunity for the MCARC to reach out to the folks that might have an interest in becoming a Ham. The program has been uploaded to YouTube and those interested can check it out by going to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt8c-JvTN6o . EGYPTIAN RADIO CLUB MEMBERS MEETING

DATE: May 5, 2016

MEETING PLACE: Anderson Hospital in Maryville, IL Vending Area

BEGAN: 1830

PRESIDING: Larry Unfried, WA9KJV

OFFICERS IN ATTENDANCE: Bill Dusenberry N9OQK, Mike Phillips N0RSP, Mary Sundstrom KA9ZTJ, Bill Schmidt WA0JCO, John Sundstrom WA0LIS

MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: Lynn Neumann KD9FWQ, Beth Nagel KD0SJR, Pat Walkup KC0ZIW, Thomas Hoven KD9EXT, Alexander Garbe W9APG, KT Green KD9RX, Justin Garbe WA9JTG, Bill Coby KB0MWG, Jacob Nagel AD0JA, Nolan Zobrist KA9VKC, Jean Wilson KC9MDC, Marty Schultz N9PPJ, Alan Geiss KD9DXH, David Miller K9EFV

 Alan Howard KB9ZVL has become a silent key after a long battle with cancer. At the meeting after the meeting there will be a salute to his memory. Condolences to his family.

 John AA9KC wife has passed. Condolences to him and his family.

 Treasurer’s report given by N0RSP and accepted by members.

 New radio has been ordered and has come in. It looks to be a very nice radio for the club.

 New repeater has also been purchased.

 TS-90 tickets are still available.

 Ham Fest tickets and Ham Fest Raffle tickets are available.

 Ham Fest report given by KA9ZTJ. MFJ cannot attend but sent a door prize. 20 vendors have been invited but am not receiving a response from many. Riley offered to give presentation but club has declined for this year due to lack of time for advertising. First Robotics has agreed to give robot presentation in the gym at 11am. AD0JA has agreed to give his presentation on CHIRP that he is giving to the Youth Forum at Dayton this year. VE testing is being provided by Cliff Cave and will be 9am to 11am. Free tickets and flyers have been sent to area clubs. Coffee and donuts will be provided for sale. Setup for the club will begin at noon on Saturday and will go to 6am Sunday. Members will be needed for setup, tear down, parking attendance, ticket taking at the door and the concession stand. Marty requested vests for parking attendants.  Jason Schmidt is battling serious medical conditions and would like to attend if his medical condition approves. Thoughts to him and his family.

 Repeater report given by N9PPJ. Problems with repeater noted. Repeater on Channel 30 tower had been unplugged. Repeater has been restored. New repeater at SIU is working very well.

 Red shirts have been requested for club members with patches WA9KJV has ordered and received. Patches are $10 apiece.

 CHIRP presentation given by AD0JA. Presentation was very well done and very explicit in details on how to use CHIRP software to program radios digitally.

 Volunteers are requested to obtain VE certification so club can do its own VE testing rather than relying on other clubs.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:15pm and the meeting after the meeting will be held at the Red Apple on HWY 159. There were several members that attended the meeting after the meeting. A good time was had by all. THE EGYPTIAN RADIO CLUB PRESENTS EGYPTIANFEST

2016 SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM

HOLY FAMILY COMMUNITY CENTER 2600 WASHINGTON AVE Granite City, Illinois

MAP on Reverse TALK-IN 146.790 TALK-IN 146.760

ADMISSION $5.00 IN ADVANCE $7.00 AT THE DOOR

AS USUAL MANY VENDORS,

GOOD FOOD & DRINK BY THE HF MENS CLUB,

LOTS OF FUN,

MANY PRIZES INDOOR TABLES MANY OLD FRIENDS TAILGATING $10.00 and NEW FRIENDS $5.00

HOLY FAMILY COMMUNITY CENTER 2600 WASHINGTON AVE GRANITE CITY, ILLINOIS

CONTACT INFO: WEBSITE www.w9aiu.org EMAIL: [email protected] PAGE 5

COLLEGE: OLD LOCATION

HOLY FAMILY CC 2600 WASHINGTON AVE

MOOSE LODGE

- 6 2 W

HOLY FAMILY COMMUNITY CENTER 2600 WASHINGTON AVE GRANITE CITY, IL 62040 FROM 270, GO SOUTH ON 203 TO MADISON AVE TURN RIGHT, GO LEFT ON 26TH ST. FROM 55/70 GO NORTH ON 203, FOLLOW RT 203 TO GRANITE CITY, GO LEFT ON MADISON AVE TO LEFT ON 26TH ST TO THE CC. FROM RT 162 TURN ON 23RD ST, TURN RIGHT ON 203, LEFT ON MADISON AVE TO 26TH FROM RT 3, GO LEFT ON MADISON TO GRANITE CITY, GO RIGHT ON 26TH ST TO CC SUNDAY JUNE 12, 2016

Announcements

HARN Operators are Volunteers Needed!!! Needed!!!!!! Tour de Cure 2016, the American Diabetes HARN (Hospital Amateur Radio Association Fund Raising Bicycle Network) is in need of amateur Tour will be on Saturday June 4. The ride radio operators begins and ends at the Liberty to help test the amateur radios Bank Amphitheater in Alton, Illinois. on a monthly basis at the following There will be ten SAG vehicles, two route hospital locations. If you would support pickup trucks and one like to help and become a sweep truck, all needing a driver and member of HARN, communicator. Additionally there are please reply to this email and tell eleven rest stops that need a me which hospital you would like communicator. As of now, I have about half to those positions filled. If you are able to volunteer at and I will give you volunteer, please contact me by more information on how you can e-mail at * [email protected] or on become a my cell, 314-496-7601. HARN member. Thanks for your help.

BJC West County Al Guise KD0BFG BJC Children’s BJC Progress West SSM Cardinal Glennon Alan S. Howard, KB9ZVL, Children’s SSM St. Clare in Fenton of Wood River, IL; Silent Key SSM St. Mary’s SSM DePaul It is with much sadness that we report the passing of one SSM St. Joseph’s in Lake St. of our members, KB9ZVL, Alan Howard. Our prayers and Louis best wishes to his family. St. Anthony's on Tesson Ferry At this time we don't have any details about funeral or (South Co) wake. As soon as we get the details, we will forward the St Alexis in South St. louis City information to all. Per the family's request, memorials my St. Luke’s Rehab Hospital on be made to The Wounded Warrior Project. Olive in Chesterfield VA Clinic in St. Charles, Mo The Egyptian Radio Club sends our deepest condolences VA Clinic in Belleville, IL to his family and close friends. We will miss Alan.

Steve Wooten KCØQMU (No obit info on St. Louis Post Dispatch or Emergency Coordinator for Belleville News Democrat as of 4/26/16) St. Louis Metro ARES, RACES & HARN

[email protected] Advertisements The Podunk Hollow News is a monthly publication of the Egyptian Radio Club, Inc. Advertising space is available in the Podunk Hollow News at $12.00 per business card size ad per year. Larger advertising space is available, per month or per year. All advertisers are welcome in the Podunk Hollow News. Ads are now clickable.

5800 North Illinois Street, Fairview Heights, IL 62208 (618)257-3000 The Egyptian Radio Club uses only Heil Headsets and Microphones. Watch HamNation on TWiT-TV, every Wednesday at 8pm Central. Or download it later from TwiT-TV.

www.jimsengraving.com

Anyone interested in joining the Egyptian Radio Club will find an application at the end of this newsletter.

Contact us; WebMaster - [email protected] Ham Fest Chairman - [email protected] Field Day Chairman - [email protected] Newsletter Editor - [email protected]

US Mail; General Club Information Egyptian Radio Club, Inc. The club holds a monthly meeting on the first P. O. Box 562 Thursday of the month and is open to all. Visitors Granite City, Illinois are always welcome at the meetings. The next 62040-0562 meeting is June 2nd, at 6:30pm at Anderson Hospital in Maryville, IL. It is in the Physician's Our website is; Office Building. Check the display by the www.w9aiu.org. elevators for the location. Members tend to arrive Our Facebook Page is; early to socialize, and the actual meeting starts at https://www.facebook.com/W9AIU. 6:30pm. After the meeting, there is usually a Our Facebook Group is ; social gathering at a local restaurant. “The https://www.facebook.com/groups/765454553468182/. meeting after the meeting.” Our repeaters are: The club has a informal net every Tuesday at 8:00pm on 146.76. The PL and time-out timer are 146.760 – PL 141.3 in downtown St. Louis, MO turned off for the net. You do NOT need to be a with an EchoLink Node #541608 member to participate or use the repeater, as it is open to ALL licensed Amateurs. Be sure to “stop 146.790 – PL 127.3 in Edwardsville, IL in” and say hi! 224.060 – No PL in Edwardsville, IL

442.400 + PL 127.3 in Edwardsville, IL

Artwork by Phillip “Gil” Gildersleeve, W1CJD/SK. Longtime Staff Artist at ARRL HQ This painting is the property of the Egyptian Radio Club and is on loan to the ARRL. It hangs in the entrance foyer at HQ.