PAGE 1 VOLUME # 44 NUMBER 2 SPARK-GAP TIMES APRIL 2007 Published quarterly - January-April-July-October 3191 DARVANY DR. DALLAS TX 75220-1611 U. S. A. E-mail [email protected] http://www.ootc.us Spark-Gap Times, the official publication of the Old Old Timers Club, 3191 Darvany Dr. Dallas TX75220-1611. Editor, Bert Wells, W5JNK. Ph:214-352-4743 [email protected] PAGE 2 VOLUME # 44 NUMBER 2 SPARK-GAP TIMES APRIL 2007 WE HONOR THESE NEW MEMBERS OF OOTC NAME CALL # REFERRAL, SPONSOR ELMER RICHARD "DICK" NIELSEN K5RN 4452 BOB IRISH K5ZOL #3872 RANDY K. MURRAY W3LF 4453 SECRETARY EARL SWEENEY K4LSB 4454 RONALD TOLLER N4US #3443 GARY L. DOUGLAS KD5VJC 4455 SECRETARY KLAUS-DIETER HANSCHMANN DL8MTG 4456 GÜNTER PESCH DJ2XB #3384 THOMAS D. "TJ" JENKINS WA8VDC 4457 MORT BARDFIELD, W1UQ #3027 ALLAN H. KAPLAN W1AEL 4458 TIMOTHY BRATTON K5RA #4414 ALAN H. NIELSEN K2GRO 4459 SECRETARY R. DAVID "DAVE" FLESH W6IBF 4460 JOE SAUGIER, K6CD #2842 DOUGLAS N. "D-BAR" MARTIN VE3SJE 4461 SECRETARY ROBERT H "BOB" NICHOLAS JR. K5HLZ 4462 W5AJX, DON ZELENKA #3897 ROBERT M. "BOB" ROSIE W7GSV 4463 SECRETARY GORDON L. JONES W5OU 4464 MORT BARDFIELD, W1UQ #3027 ALLEN S "AL" OLDFIELD W9KXI 4465 SECRETARY JOHN K. SHORB W3FSA 4466 SECRETARY DAVID P. "DAVE" BATES W2HLI 4467 SECRETARY Were you licensed at least 25 years ago and licensed now? Then you should belong to the Quarter Century Wireless Association. QCWA PO BOX 3247 FRAMINGHAM MA 01705 PAGE 3 VOLUME # 44 NUMBER 2 SPARK-GAP TIMES APRIL 2007 OOTC OFFICERS CONTENTS PRESIDENT Troy L. Wideman, Jr, W6HV #2852 Application for membership (back page) 24 230 Fremont St Redlands CA 92373-5078 Ph:909-798-2212 [email protected] Badge order form (inside back page) 23 V. PRES. Joseph J. Schroeder, Jr., W9JUV #2967 Election of Directors EVEN Districts 4 2120 Fir St., Glenview, IL 60025-2815 Ph:847-724-8816 [email protected] Member birthdays April, May, June 18 - 19 Members enrolled since last issue 2 TREASURER Lee Knirko, W9MOL #2914 Member letters and new members 7 - 16 833 Park Plaine Ave Park Ridge IL 60068- Member supplies 4 2223 Ph: 847-823-1862 [email protected] On the air meetings 4 EXEC. SECR. Bert Wells, W5JNK #2951 3191 Darvany Dr Dallas TX 75220-1611 President message W6HV 5 Ph: 214-352-4743 [email protected] QSO Party OOTC APRIL 2007 W1EOF 17 OOTC DIRECTORS DIST. 1 Morton L. Bardfield, W1UQ #3027 Silent Keys 22 16 Addington Rd Brookline MA 02445-4520 Secretary says 19 - 20 Ph: 617-566-8613 [email protected] The Death of Radio Row, New York 21 DIST. 2 Jerry Mulberg, W2MJP #2995 609 Kappock St 8E Bronx NY 10463-7779 Williiam D. Terrill #0099 6 Ph: 718-549-8018 DIST. 3 Paul Gerbracht, W3QPP #2850 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2114 W. 29th St. Erie, PA 16508-1066 Chairman, Troy Wideman W6HV, Lee Knirko W9MOL, Joe Schroeder W9JUV, Ph: 814-868-5519 [email protected] Bert Wells W5JNK DIST. 4 David H. Knight. W4ZJY #3428 ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE 505 Eleanor DR SW Decatur AL 35601-4756 Chairman, Mark Titterington W1EOF Ph: 205-353-2866 [email protected] PRESIDENT EMERITI DIST. 5 Charles Stanton, W5LBU #3409 Earl E. Cline (sk) exW4PPZ 3220 Dakota St NE Albuquerque NM 87110-2613 Raymond E. Meyers (sk) exW6MLZ Ph:505-881-4769 [email protected] SECRETARY EMERITUS L. F. "Ted" Heithecker (sk) exW5EJ DIST. 6 Troy L. Wideman, Jr, W6HV #2852 230 Fremont St Redlands CA 92373-5078 REGISTERED AGENT RHODE ISLAND Ph:909-798-2212 [email protected] Janice Lentz K4IJK DIST. 7 Frank T. Piskur, K7FP #3628 DIST. 9 Joseph J. Schroeder, Jr., W9JUV #2967 12002 Densmore Ave N Seattle WA 98133-8410 2120 Fir St., Glenview, IL 60025-2815 Ph:206-364-8516 [email protected] Ph:847-724-8816 [email protected] DIST. 8 Joseph Wehner, W8KNO #4030 DIST. 0 Leo I. Meyerson, W0GFQ #0707 11924 Alpha Rd Hiram, OH 44234-9774 1210 N. 97th Ct, Omaha, NE 68114-2171 Ph:330-569-7718 [email protected] Ph:402-392-1708 [email protected] PAGE 4 VOLUME # 44 NUMBER 2 SPARK-GAP TIMES APRIL 2007 THE NOMINATION - ENDORSEMENT PERIOD FOR DIRECTORS IN DISTRICT 2, 4, 6, 8 AND 0 IS OPEN. CANDIDATES MUST LIVE IN YOUR DISTRICT AND BE WILLING TO SERVE. SEND NOMINATION - ENDORSEMENT TO: SECRETARY OOTC 3191 DARVANY DR. DALLAS TX 75220-1611 DISTRICT INCUMBENTS 2 NJ-NY. JERRY MULBERG, W2MJP, #2995. Nominated by G. Levy, W2LAP, #4094 and by Sy Yuter, W2NBT, #3038. 4 AL-FL-GA-KY-NC-SC-TN-VA. DAVID KNIGHT, W4ZJY, #3428. No nomination received. 6 CA-HI. TROY WIDEMAN, W6HV, #2852. No nomination received. 8 MI-OH-WV-IL-IN-WI. JOSEPH WEHNER, W8KNO, #4030. No nomination received. 0 CO-IA-KS-MN-MO-NE-ND-SD. LEO MEYERSON, W0GFQ, #0707. No nomination received. _______________ OOTC ON THE AIR MEETINGS EUROPEAN CHAPTER #5 CALL DL0OTC SSB 7:30 CE(S)T 3624 kHz, Tue, NCS DJ5ND, Willi Kreibohm. SSB 11:00 CE(S)T 7090 kHz, Tue, NCS DJ2XB, Guenter Pesch. CW 17:30 UTC 3576,5 kHz, Tue, NCS DL1MEB, Karl Maerz. CE(S)T = Central European (Summer) Time = UTC + 1(2). U. S. A. Chapter #2 (CA): Tuesday, 1600 local 3917kHz. NCS W6HV, Troy Wideman. AZ CH: Tuesday, 1600 local, 3913 kHz. NCS W7LGB, Lyle Brown. N.East: Thursday, 1330 local, 7230 kHz. NCS K2VNM, Robert Kerns. CH82 E. TN & SW. VA: Sun, 9:00PM E. 145.110MHz. down shift. OOTC National Calling Frequency : Friday, 1700 UTC on 14050 kHz. SUPPLIES AVAILABLE – Price includes postage. OOTC BADGE - $7 - $9 or $9.50 (inside back page) OOTC 4" Round Iron-on Jacket patch - $5.00 OOTC 3" Round sticker - $1.00 Gold 1" stamps free with large SASE. Glue unreli- able. May need to use a glue stick. 80 yr free by W1GAY. Replacement Lapel Pins 40(no #), 50, 60, 70, $3.50. Send U.S. Check, U.S. currency > OOTC 3191 Darvany Dr Dallas TX 75220-1611. (no credit cards) PAGE 5 VOLUME # 44 NUMBER 2 SPARK-GAP TIMES APRIL 2007 A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT Like many clubs, OOTC is expecting a tight financial year for 2007. One way to help the club have a healthy source of income is to promote growth in our member- ship. You can help by making an effort to recruit at least one new member this year. Our Executive Secretary (Bert, W5JNK) and our Treasurer (Lee, W9MOL) have done yeoman’s efforts at insuring the most return for every dollar. But, some cost (such as printing and post- age) are very difficult to control. New memberships can help provide the dues necessary to sustain OOTC. It’s a good bet that by now you have been thoroughly briefed on the release of the FCC’s “Omnibus” Amateur Radio Report and Order. Also, you’ve probably managed to get a copy of the new band plan from the ARRL or some other avail- able source. In addition, you’ve no doubt been made aware that the requirement for some level of knowledge in the use of the Morse code has now been elimi- nated from the required testing for an Amateur Operator license. I’ve been hearing a lot of arguments, for and against, any and all of the above. I expect it will take some time to prove the wisdom or lack thereof for the changes. Personally, change always seems to bother me when I don’t really un- derstand what’s “broke”. I happen to feel that CW should have been retained as a requirement since it is an important part of amateur radio history. Maybe though there is some merit to another argument I’ve heard. This one goes, “If you don’t push it down their throats they will do it on their own” –or words to that effect. Maybe that’s so. When I turned in my three contacts to the ARRL for Straight Key Night I discovered a very interesting comment on the ARRL SKN web page. It said that the event’s popularity is growing and that a record number of entries (349) had been received for the 2007 New Year's Day SKN. The state- ment indicated that only 80 entries were received 1985 and 90 for SKN 2000. Assuming this to actually reflect increased activity and not just that more participants are sending in their contact logs, I find this encouraging! As I listen around the bands there seems to be an increasing amount of CW activity. There are at least two clubs devoted to encouraging the use of CW, F.I.S.T.S. and SKCC (Straight Key Century Club), that I would recommend if you would like to get more active. Finally, don’t forget the OOTC QSO Party! I hope to see you there. Bert and I will be on CW. The QSO Party is open for CW and SSB and should be a great way to meet some of our OOTC members. Contributions to the Scholarship Fund November 2006 through January 2007: Frank Lester W4AMJ Silent Key Memorial and Luther Pully W5JIZ. 73, Troy, W6HV PAGE 6 VOLUME # 44 NUMBER 2 SPARK-GAP TIMES APRIL 2007 FOLLOWING FROM BLABBERMOUTH (the forerunner of Spark-Gap Times) DECEMBER 1961 by George Sterling (SK) ex-W1AE. WILLIAM D. TERRELL (SK), MEMBER #0099 Membership sponsored by George Sterling 1AE-1913 (W1AE #0051) Mr. Terrell was the first appointee to the post of Wireless Ship Inspector on June 5, 1911, and retired as chief, Field Engineering and Monitoring Bureau.