Subject: PVRC October Newsletter
PVRC NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 1996
OFFICERS
PRESIDENT KE3Q RICH BOYD (301) 464-8014 [email protected]
VICE PRES KF3P TYLER STEWART (301) 414-5444 [email protected]
SECRETARY WA3WJD BRIAN McGINNESS (301) 652-6768 [email protected]
TREASURER N3KTV JIM HORTON (301) 258-9731
HISTORIAN K3SA STEVE AFFENS (301) 774-0558 [email protected]
PVRC Charter Members:
W3GRF (SK), W3IKN, W4AAV (SK), W4KFC (SK), W4KFT, N0FFZ, W4LUE, W7YS,
VP2VI (W0DX).
PacketCluster Contest/DX System (MHz):
K3NA Frederick MD 145.630
W3LPL Glenwood MD 145.590 441.250
KE3Q Bowie MD 145.570 445.375
N3RR Rockville MD 145.510 441.325
N4OHE Mt.Weather VA 145.710 440.925
N4SR Woodbridge VA 145.530 *
WR3L Baltimore MD 145.610
K4FJ Mt. Vernon VA 145.770 *
The system is sponsored by the Potomac Valley DX Spotting Network except
for nodes marked with "*" are funded & operated by the Rappahannock DX
Packetcluster Group.
PVRC on Internet:
Visit the PVRC Home Page, courtesy of K3SA, at:
http://www.access.digex.net/~k3sa/pvrc.html
Dues are by donation.
The mandatory $10 dues have been discontinued. So please send your
donation - hopefully at least $10 - to Jim Horton, N3KTV, 8527 Calypso
Lane, Gaithersburg, MD 20879-1522. Make checks payable to PVRC. Thank
you.
Newsletter Editor:
Dick Wilder, K3DI, 913 Shore Acres Rd, Arnold, MD 21012-1724. The
communication ports are: (410) 757-6706, FAX/modem 757-6720,
[email protected], and the DXcluster. The deadline is for the November
issue is Monday, October 29.
The Next General Meeting is October 14th (always second Monday):
The meeting will be at the Public Library in Vienna, Virginia on route
123 outside the Beltway. Program: war stories and "teamwork at
multi-multi stations." Take the Beltway to VA Route 123 South (Chain
Bridge Road at this point). Cross over Route 7 and pass Tyson's Corner.
On right will be JKJ Chevrolet. Continue on 123 into Vienna where 123
becomes Maple Avenue. After passing Beulah Road (on right with light),
look for Park Street (about 3 blocks). Park Street has a light. The
Library will be along one block on the left, just before Center Street.
Entrance to the library parking lot is a left off 123 Maple. The lot is
just before the library itself.
Alternatively, if you take I-66 off the beltway, and exit at Nutley
Street toward Vienna, you will run into Maple Ave. A right turn takes
you into town. The library will be on your RIGHT just after Center
Street. Going this way, you will not have to make a left turn into the
parking lot across heavy double lanes traffic.
Some of the PVRCers get together at Chili's on route 7, Tyson's, before
the meeting and a few at the Pizza Hut afterwards. Best to check on the
147.000 repeater to determine the trend for the evening.
PVRC Meetings Calendar:
Mon, Oct 14: General meeting, 7:30 PM, Vienna VA (See Above)
Tue, Oct 15: NW meeting, Legends Restr, Frederick MD at 8:00 PM
Wed, Dec 18: 4th annual "Beezer" Xmas Dinner, Sylvia's Restr,
14670 Southlawn Lane, Rockville, MD
6PM -?. For more info contact WB2BZR.
GAITHERSBURG MEETING SEPTEMBER 8TH by Rich Boyd, KE3Q
Nice turnout! And I think the attendees liked meeting amongst the PVRC
tailgaters instead of on the other side of the building -- a new
innovation. In attendance: KF3P, WB2NQT, KE3Q, ND3F and jr op N3SLN,
KA4RRU, K5RJ, K3RV, K8MLM, KO4FM, N3JT, G0AYN, K3SFP, W3ZN, AA3NM, N4QQ,
WA3WJD, AA3LE, W3DA, K3SA, W2EOS, N3KTU, W4RW, WR3Z, ND3A, W3TMZ, KA3TGY,
NE3H, W3GN, NV3V, N3AM, AA4EL, N3RQV, N3KKM, WV3B, K1HTV, W9VL, K3TM,
N3II, AE3C, WB3AVN, N3KVF, WB3ECU, K4MJO, N3RC, W3HVQ, N3ORY, KC3EK, K3ZZ,
KB3AUG, K3WS, WF3J, K3SGE, N4MM, KT4W, WA3IKK, K4VV, N4ZR, AK2P, K7CMZ,
K3TZV, W3FTG, WA3KZR, WB6VGI, N3CBJ, W3EMH, KE3KL, AA3HM, AA3HA, AA6DC,
W3GG, WD3I, KA3TUE, K3YGU, KX3Q, N3UN, WB2BZR, AA3KX, KE3TT, WB3ARZ, W3UJ,
K3SKE, K3LYW, and N3RR.
I have that at about 79 attendees. Not bad. If we all got on both modes
in SS we'd win it! That'd be 158 SS logs!
Applications for membership were accepted from W3FTG, K4VV, G0AYN, KB3AUG,
K3EUO, NY3G, KV3J, WA3IKK, and N6CQ. About half were voted in at this
meeting (the ones who were there) and we'll vote the others in at the
September 10th meeting.
Pennsylvania co-chairmen NE3H and K3TZV were both there and are really
doing a bang-up job recruiting in south-central PA, the part of the state
PVRC encompasses.
As PVRC has spread, keeping ourselves pulled together has become
important. Nice to see the PA guys come down as often as they do. K4PQL
has been actively organizing in NC. None of the NC boys were up for
Gaithersburg but the Virginia Beach hamfest is coming up. Maybe some of
us can get down to it and meet with our SE Virginia and NC members.
GENERAL MEETING SEPTEMBER 9TH AT TEMPLE HILLS by Rich Boyd, KE3Q
In attendance were: WA3TAI, KE3Q, KF3P, ND3A, WR3Z, W3DA, WB3ECU, N3RR,
W3LPL, KO4FM, WB4NFS, WD4KXB, KE3KL, WR3L. The program by WB4NFS and
WD4KXB gave us an excellent presentation of their VP2MFM contest
DXpedition, including handouts from the DX Magazine and NCJ --the
write-ups in those magazines, a rundown of their planning, a nice video of
the whole thing, and Q&A. These guys from Woodbridge Wireless, PVRC, plus
W2HPF, were #1 world multi-two, with a score higher than any multi-multis
in the world as well. The ops: WB4NFS, KJ4VG, KO4FM, W4MYA, KA4RRU
(these first 5 are PVRC), plus WD4KXB and W2HPF. Beautiful villa with
pool, WAY up on a hill with a panoramic view of ocean toward the U.S. The
contest was ARRL 1995 Phone. The antennas, a couple 3-el tribanders (A3s
I think), and low wires for 40/80/160. 13,000 QSOs, 13 million points!
These guys are available to give this presentation to your local club.
Good job!
BIOGRAPHY OF NEW MEMBERS by Rich Boyd, KE3Q:
N6CQ, Bill Lumnitzer, Lewisberry, PA, licensed in '58 as WA6CZR. Also has
been TA8CW and HS5AKU. ARRL life member, DXCC, WAS, WAC, WAZ, has an
FT-1000, AL-1200, 5/5 20M, 3L40, KT34XA, 3L 80 wire beam.
KV3J, Keith Beebe, Camp Hill, PA, works at Office of Command Affairs,
Defense Distribution Region East. Licensed in '63 as WA4QCO. Also was
WA3UDJ. DXCC Honor Roll with 331 confirmed, WAS, WAC, WAZ, ARRL member,
life member of Central Pennsylvania Repeater Association, says he has a
"typical basic ham station (that works well enough for Honor Roll)."
NY3G, Bill Gillenwater, Mechanicsburg, PA, licensed in '68 as WN7RBN.
Also was KA3AGX, N3AOT, and KD3QH. Very active in the 10M contest, CW
only. 5BWAS and 5BDXCC, WAC. Has an FT-990, SB-220, 80M loop, 40M loop,
160 sloper, tribander.
K3EUO, David Kratzer, Dillsburg, PA, licensed in '58. Was recently
active in NAQP, Field Day, and CQWW. Has an FT-1000D, Alpha 91B and is
equipped for 160-2. Particularly likes RTTY, CW, and Pactor, and likes
rebuilding player pianos and wood working.
KB3AUG, Bill Hinkle, Mechanicsville, MD has been quite active on
packetcluster and HF DXing with his southern Maryland friends KE3QZ,
KE3RX, and others. Together they recently put the KE3QZ node on the air.
Bill has an FT-1000D, Yaesu 767, a 3-500Z amp, inverted vees for 160 and
80, half wave sloper for 80, A4S with 40 at 93' for 40-10. Bill describes
himself as "a DXer, but I do contests too." 220 countries confirmed, 130
or so on 80. Also on Internet, [email protected].
W4/G0AYN, Ian Dent, has been squired to recent PVRC/NCDXA meetings by
N3JT. Ian has been an FOC member for 10 years, is a keen CW and phone
contester and is also keen to participate actively in the club. Is a
member of the G3LNS and G0AAA contest groups, no station at present since
he's just located in our area, but plans to gear up in the next 6 months.
QTH, Hanover, MD, which I'm told is near BWI airport.
K4VV, Jack Hammett Jr., licensed in '52 as WN5WUN, became W5WUN, KR6AK,
and K4VV in '73. He operated some in Germany and with MARS. Has been
active in many of the recent DX contests, typically making 100-200 QSOs in
casual operating (no contributions are too small to our club effort!), but
is well equipped with: FT-1000D/Henry 2K-3, 930/Henry 2K-3, 830/Henry
2KD5, 520/L4B, C-Line, and KWM-2A. Really likes wire antennas, with
separate dipoles for 80, 40, 30, 20, and 15, fed with 450 ohm line and
tuners. Also likes CW DXing and WARC band rag chewing, plus local
contacts on 75M and learning from the example of others. I'm told Jack is
a sponge for ham radio knowledge and is often seen taking notes. Has "a
great job with SAIC that involves a lot of traveling and Army/DOD
telecommunications." Also likes family pursuits, internet, scuba,
boating, offshore fishing. And says, "I will need some help with CT or
other computer logging for contest log entries." QTH is Vienna, VA.
W3FTG, Red Free (and my apologies -- I received this application in March
and misplaced it), Fairfax, Virginia. Licensed in '58. Previous
callsigns: K0PFF, W5NGG, W4SXN, W9NDS, G0/W3FTG, BV/W3FTG, SV/W3FTG. Was
in many recent DX contests, making 200-300 QSOs each time. DXCC 279, WAZ,
WAS as a novice in '59. Yaesu FT-990/SB200, Carolina Windom and Windom
160. Likes digital modes, RTTY/Pactor/Amtor, mobile HF, and giving out
counties. Also likes golf, reading history and mysteries, walking, and
travel.
WA3IKK, Dusty Chapman, Camp Hill, PA, first licensed in '67 as WN3IKK.
Has most of the usual DX awards, is equipped with an FT-1000D, Ten-Tec
Titan amp, and a TH-11. Also likes fishing. Welcome aboard, Dusty!
CQ REGIONAL CHAIR-PERSONS de editor
My main focus for this Newsletter is tying together the far flung regions
of PVRC through publication of meeting, station, and personal information
of your regions. I would like to request that all chairs make use of this
Newsletter by sending in info about their regions.
Meeting minutes of any length are welcomed. They may consist of little
more than an attendance list and mention of the program. Or, as KE3Q
chooses, they may be long and very chatty. (Thanks Rich, your chatty
minutes precludes the need of a social columnist.) I also welcome
other articles of general interest. Chairs and other will find my input
ports listed on page one. To all recipients of this newsletter: why not
pass it along to a ham friend who is a contester-want-to-be?
WR3L OPEN HOUSE SEPTEMBER 21ST by Rich Boyd, KE3Q
In order by last name, the attendees were Rich Boyd, KE3Q; Amy Boyd,
N3MIL; Jack Hammett, K4VV; Bill Hider, N3RR/MM with Barbara, Brittney, and
Brian; Ike Lawton, W2EOS; Howard Leake, W6AXX/MM; Craig Lee, AA3HM; Rich
Lehr, WB3ECU; Dick Phelps, N4RP (joined in '54 as W4KXV) with Lona; Andy
Roberts, N3QYA; Mel Roberts, W3MR; Barry Shapiro, WR3Z; Ed Steeble, K3IXD;
Dick Wilder, K3DI; and Martha Wilder, N3FZB.
WR3L really had a spread laid out for us, BBQ beef, roast beef sliced as
we watched, sausage, and a bushel of crabs, as well as a nice sheet cake
with PVRC logo in the icing, and many side dishes, and an abundance of
beverages. And Dave's site is really super, a panoramic view of the
Middle River and Chesapeake Bay with the Baltimore Yacht Club off to the
right. Dave says it's a 10-mile view across water to the northeast
(Europe for us contesters!) Dave's nice powerboat, We-N-Joy was at the
dock and 6 crab pots had several crabs in them each. But, Dave had gone
out and bought a nice bushel of jimmies for us. After many calls on
147.42, WR3Z finally heard N3RR in the distance. He finally arrived at
3:30 -- his original plan was to get there at noon. But all his
passengers appeared to be in good health and spirits, including the
adventurous W6AXX.
N4RP (x-W4KXV) was there with the lovely Lona. They had lived on a 40'
boat for years, so felt very much at home at Dave's -- they've recently
moved into a condo in Florida. Dick expects to continue operating (mostly
CW) contests occasionally as N4RP/C6A.
Brittney Hider was the only one to test the waters of the swimming pool.
Brian Hider's mighty squirtgun (is that what they call a "soaker?") is the
kids' equivalent of an Alpha 77SX.
Not only was the food excellent and abundant, and the site tremendous, but
Dave and Darlene had borrowed 3 picnic tables and a big tent, so we dined
in shaded comfort. He was ready for any weather. Like K3ZO and like "the
old" W3LPL, Dave has not just the house he lives in but the house next
door, which he rents out. On narrow waterfront lots it helps greatly --
to have room for antennas. Dave has a 56' HBX self supporter with a new
Force-12 C3XL a few feet up the mast, so it's something over 60' high.
Above that, a Diamond packet antenna. Also on the tower a 440 yagi to
link to W3LPL node. And on the house a 2M yagi to link to W3XU and the
rest of the packetcluster system to the northeast.
Across the street, Dave has another lot, with no house on it, but he's
already poured concrete for a 90' (or so) crankup he got from (who else?)
KE3Q. That tower came from Les Moskowitz, AE3P (I'm trusting my memory on
the call, may not have it quite right), an inactive PVRC member who some
of you may remember. The tower should go up soon. Dave has an
interesting plan to get the hardline from across the road to the shack.
Inside, an FT-1000, FL-7000, Heathkit SB-1000, and FT-767. A very nice,
tidy, shack off the master bedroom. Darlene actually enjoys hearing the
phone contests -- has missed it since Dave went to headphones. I
suggested he hook up a loudspeaker in parallel, with a volume control.
Nice to get this kind of XYL support -- it should be encouraged! hi. Put
that speaker wherever she says! Dave was hoping to get an addition on the
shack (bump the house out 8' there) done by the open house, but a zoning
variance that is required has delayed it. Should be no problem since he
owns the adjacent lot. With the two homes, there were two docks, until
the high tides from hurricane Fran destroyed one. Repairs to the other
were done in time for the open house and the second one will be rebuilt.
These docks are 165' or so long -- all sorts of possibilities for ham
antennas out there! Dave already has a flag pole out there that he uses
to support one end of a 160 sloper. I suggested a MUCH BIGGER flag pole.
hi. Also, a flagpole on the new dock would mean wire antennas between the
two. Dave's thinking of getting one of the 5" tubing military "rocket
launcher" masts for out there. Good idea!
N3QYA (16-year-old son of longtime PVRCer W3MR) had suffered a "freak band
accident," and was at the open house with nine stitches on his nose.
Seems the person in front of him in the marching band did a cartwheel and
their foot bumped the bell of his baritone into him! So not all the
football accidents happen in the game!
Amy and I were the stragglers -- hung around talking to Dave and Darlene
until 9:30 p.m. Had a REALLY good time. Oh...Dave is very interested in
having some operators come in for the contests. You can work out with him
whether you single op a particular contest or do multi-single or multi-two
or whatever. He's also very open to having your participation on station
improvement plans and implementation. Essex, east of Baltimore, WR3L's
QTH, was 45 minutes drive from Bowie.
PVRC QSL CARD ORDER by Craig Lee, AA3HM
To date I have received 10 orders for a total of 11,000 cards but need
orders for 20,000 to get the prices quoted. Because of gate 2 opening, I
am going to extend the deadline for orders to the end of October. Don't
delay, get those orders in! (See order form in prior issue or contact
Craig or me. -editor.)
ATTENDING "JAPAN'S DAYTON" by Fred Laun, K3ZO
Having attended Germany's Friedrichshafen Hamfest last year, there
remained one world ham gathering that I had always wanted to see, and that
was Tokyo's annual Ham Fair. This gathering has been billed as the
world's largest hamfest (attendance this year was 55,000), and I wanted to
see what it was like. So this year Somporn and I decided to stop and
attend it on the way to our annual visit to Thailand.
The Internet has made visits to such events a lot easier to arrange.
E-mail messages were duly dispatched to a number of my ham radio friends
in Japan, most of whom had either visited me here or while I was working
in Thailand. Back came a schedule of Ham Fair events and a list of nearby
hotels from JR1GSE, a map and description of the Ham Fair site from
JM1UXU, and an offer to organize a personalized tour of Tokyo the Monday
following the Ham Fair by Saty, JE1JKL.
The big payoff came from Jim, JH1HGC who relayed information about a DX
Meeting organized by JH1AJT to coincide with the Ham Fair. When I
indicated a desire to attend this event, JH1HGC contacted Zorro, JH1AJT,
who not only added our names to the guest list, but offered to book us
into the hotel where the meeting was being held for our entire week in
Japan and pay for the hotel! Not only that, Zorro offered to pick us up
at Narita Airport. We gladly accepted all the offers.
On August 21 our ANA flight departed Dulles for the non-stop flight to
Narita and the real-time flight map exhibited on the screen when film
features were not being shown traced our progress up over Ontario, over
Hudson's Bay up to the Yukon's shore with the Arctic Ocean, west over
Central Alaska and down the Eastern Pacific just east of UA0-land to
Japan. Too bad it wasn't a night flight, I thought; we might have had a
good view of the aurora.
Zorro and his driver were waiting for us at the airport and the
GPS-locator-equipped grey Mercedes eased its way onto the tollway for the
40 mile trip to Tokyo in traffic resembling that during the rush hour on
I-95 from Springfield to Woodbridge. By then it was midafternoon on
Thursday, August 22 in Japan, and the Ham Fair would begin the next day.
We arrived over an hour later at the Harumi Grand Hotel, where Zorro
booked us in and waited in the coffee shop while we freshened up. He then
took us on a brief motor tour of downtown Tokyo, ending up at a tempura
restaurant for a scrumptuous shrimp dinner washed down by endless rounds
of Asahi Beer.
The following morning we got on the hotel's shuttle bus to the Ham Fair
where JARL's JA1TRC met us and gave us each big pink artificial flowers to
pin on, designating us as honorary guests. Also on hand were a number of
JARL officials led by President JA1AN, and the only other non-JA, ARRL's
DXCC Chief K5FUV. Somporn was the only woman in this ceremonial crowd.
The Tokyo Ham Fair this year took place in a massive convention center
with two exhibition wings connected by a central shopping/restaurant area.
The Ham Fair took up one of the exhibition wings, with a computer game
show exhibition occupying the other wing, the latter attracting a far more
numerous clientele including oodles of kids, which, as is the case these
days at Dayton, were a small minority at the Ham Fair. The food at the
various self-serve cafeterias in the facility was excellent and reasonably
priced for those who have heard the horror stories about Japan's prices.
I had a perfectly fine hamburger steak and gravy dinner for about $19
including soft drink, potato and vegetables. The bathrooms in this
facility, by the way, were super-clean.
After JA1AN cut the ceremonial ribbon at 0945 the Ham Fair was declared
open and the waiting crowd of hams surged into the exhibit area much as
they do at Dayton at noon on Friday when the inside exhibits are opened to
the public. At the Ham Fair there is no outdoor flea market; everything
is indoors in an air-conditioned atmosphere so weather is not much of a
factor. The first day it was over 90 degrees outside so the air
conditioning system had a little trouble keeping things cool, but we were
not at the mercy of the elements. The exhibit area was broken up into
four large rooms: ham radio manufacturers; JARL, ARRL, IARU and other
major organizations; radio stores, magazines, distributors, etc; and
general purpose booths including flea marketeers and special interest
clubs, groups, etc. Sprinkled among the exhibits were occasional seating
areas at which the various lectures and slide-shows took place. These
seemed to be well-attended but there didn't seem to be many of them
compared with Dayton.
JA1AN motioned the dignitaries including Somporn and myself to accompany
him on a ceremonial tour of the facility, followed by an unbelievable
number of photographers, video cameramen, etc. The first stop was the Ham
Fair's exhibition station 8J1HAM, where I sat beside JA1AN as he made the
initial QSO with JA1YRL/1 on 6 meter SSB. Then it was on to the
manufacturers' exhibits where Yaesu, Icom, Kenwood, JRC, etc., showed off
their latest goodies, while JARL Secretary JA1DM and IARU Region 3's
JM1UXU served as our personal guides.
After that we were guests at lunch sponsored by the Japanese Amateur
Industries Assocation where Somporn and I shared a table with the Editor
of IARU Region 3 News -- my Region 3 counterpart --Masa, JM1UXU, and Yaesu
President Mr. Hasegawa, JF1AAA. Mr. Hasegawa, the son of legendary Yaesu
founder JA1MP (the "MP" in the Yaesu FT-1000-MP comes from his call),
spent over 10 years in the States and speaks excellent English. Somporn
and Mr. Hasegawa charmed each other to the point where he offered to
deliver an FT-840 to my hotel for my use in Thailand, an offer which I
reluctantly had to refuse due to the complications involved in bringing a
rig into Thailand without having it pre-registered for import. But I have
now been ordered by my XYL to purchase an FT- 1000-MP, which should earn
her a free meal at Mrs. Wong's place in Gaithersburg paid for by W3ZZ, who
has been imploring me for years to get a modern rig.
Saturday morning it was back to the Ham Fair again on the hotel's shuttle
bus. The gates don't open until 10 o'clock so we encountered a long line
waiting to get in. Somporn and I decided not to walk around all day with
our big pink flowers getting in our way, so we bought entry tickets this
time -- for about $12 apiece, good for all three days at the Ham Fair.
Again, not bad considering the rumored Japanese prices. Fortunately among
the waiting crowd we found JA8OW, who we had met at previous SEANET
Conventions, so we had somebody to gab with until the gates opened.
I accompanied JA8OW to the SEANET booth where in the company of JA0AD and
JA0DAI I was presented an honorary SEANET exhibitors' badge. I had
learned the previous day that it is better in Japan to sit at a booth and
wait for the people you want to meet to come to you. Walking around until
you spot someone whose call you recognize and then going up to shake hands
doesn't always work so well; for one thing, only about a third of the JA's
had badges or hats with their calls on, and even for those whose calls I
recognized, they were somewhat startled by a foreigner accosting them with
a friendly outstretched hand. Far better to sit at a booth and be
properly introduced by your JA friends who man the booth. I thus pretty
much divided my time between the SEANET booth, The IARU Region 3 booth,
and the booth where K3EST held forth with his tee shirt sales in the
company of JE1CKA and JE1JKL who were selling the CT and TR Logging
Programs, respectively. Bob reported that his half of the space cost
about $200 for the weekend, and therefore the tee shirts he sold netted
him enough so that his trip on the fly-by-night cheapy airline ticket he
took over (was it Canadian International Airways [CIA] from Vancouver to
Nagoya International Airport, Bob?) was paid for.
Yoshi, JK2VOC, who has visited me here in Washington, took me on a brief
tour around the exhibit area, where many of the clubs we work in the
contests -- JA1YXP, JA1ZLO, JR1ZTT, etc. -- had booths. Their operators'
English may be adequate for contest work, but I found that it wasn't very
good for conversation purposes. There was also a booth manned by 7L1GVE
and others selling lots of immaculate Collins gear, a real status symbol
in Japan. I looked at the price on a very clean reconditioned 75A4, and
it was about $1200. That's close to the prices you see in the Yellow
Sheets, so I guess it's not too bad over there.
Yoshi also enrolled me in the call sign copying contest they have there --
more like the RUFZ system than the pileup contest at the Kansas City
suites in Dayton. You sit at a keyboard and type in the call you hear
blaring at you from a large speaker. Only one call is sent at a time.
Mercifully for this hunt-and-peck type, the system waits until you have
finished typing in the call before it sends the next one. Each time you
get a call right, it speeds up for the next one. Toward the end I was
having trouble distinguishing between B's and D's. Much to my surprise a
certificate and prize saying something about second place were later
delivered to the SEANET booth for me.
That night was JH1AJT's DXers' meeting back at the hotel. No speeches or
slide shows, just a brief introduction of the honored guests, and then the
fun began. While the hotel's staff served endless rounds of beer and
constantly renewed the buffet items along one wall of the room, Zorro got
things underway with his personally-barked Bingo game, with many real nice
prizes going to the winners, including Somporn. Many of the JA's brought
along their photo albums and I spent lots of time thumbing through them
while they described their antenna systems, DX-peditions, etc. The JA's
appear to be a rather reserved lot when sober, but the more the beer
flowed, the more they loosened up and the more their English appeared to
improve. The calls of those there, too numerous to mention individually,
were all familiar, from contests, pile-ups, DXpeditions, etc.
After the "meeting" broke up, most of us adjourned to the hotel's
restaurant where more rounds of beer were consumed and more tall tales
were swapped. This was followed by a dimly-remembered group photo taken
on the floor of the hotel lobby, followed by a massive assist from a
literally "big" DX'er, JA8RUZ, to help me get back on my feet.
This was just one grand illustration of international ham radio
friendship! What ordinary tourist, on the third day of his first visit to
Japan, could feel so much at home and so surrounded by good friends and
good cheer? No folks, ham radio may be under assault, but it ain't dead
yet!
The next day, Sunday, saw a contesters' luncheon at the Ham Fair followed
by a barbecue in honor of Somporn and myself at Zorro's hilltop country
estate overlooking the Pacific Ocean near the JA1/JA2 border, complete
with 80 and 40 meter rotaries, etc., and the only 15 KW amplifier I have
ever seen at a ham station. Somporn was provided her own personal guide
for the day, Zorro's sister-in-law, JO1DDQ.
The following day found us being guided around Tokyo on train and subway
by JE1JKL in the company of JE1CKA, JA7RHJ and K3EST. We dropped in at
JARL, Japan's CQ Magazine, Tokyo's Akhibara area (we would call it radio
row), a traditional temple, topped off by Ginza. Dinner that night,
hosted by JA7RHJ in a rooftop restaurant overlooking Tokyo Bay, climaxed
our day. After a day spent on our own shopping in Ginza, where I stood
outside and marvelled at the number of Japanese conversing on their
cell-phones as they walked down the street while Somporn busied herself
inside, we were escorted to the airport by contester JH4RHF and another of
Zorro's associates in order to catch our plane to Bangkok.
We were simply overwhelmed by the hospitality extended to us by Zorro in
particular and our other ham friends in Japan. Just as they are polite
and orderly in pile-ups, they are the finest hosts we could imagine in
person. I highly recommend a trip to next year's Ham Fair. You won't be
disappointed!
SOME ADDITIONAL AMATEUR RADIO SITES ON THE INTERNET, Compiled by Leo
Boberschmidt, KA3TGY
The PVRC Home Page is a marvelous collection of web sites and ham radio
information sources. We all owe a great deal of thanks to Steve/K3SA for
doing such a grand job. While surfing the Net, I've run into a lot of
other ham sites that might be of interest to some of the PVRC members. If
there is any question but that ham radio is a definite presence on the
Net, all you have to do is check out one of the search engines available.
Using the Infoseek Ultra search engine [http://ultra.infoseek.com/], I
entered the phrase "amateur radio" and go 19,335 hits; "amateur radio
antennas" produced 175 hits, "amateur radio contest" produced 106 hits,
W3LPL produced 77 hits, and PVRC produced 71 hits. So, there is
definitely a LOT out there.
The following list includes some interesting ham radio sites and also some
map and travel sites [so you can all prepare for those DXpeditions]. A
word about a few of the sites. The Bavarian Contest Club is one of the
leading DX contest clubs. Check out their 1995 CQWW CW score [#2 for DX
clubs] on page 16 of the October issue of CQ. The Royal Palm Elementary
School ARC is not a contest club [yet]. I worked Alan/WB4DYU during the
days a few weeks ago and he had me talk to several of his students. These
are our future contesters. Try tuning around 14220 to 14240 on Wednesdays
between 11 AM and Noon and you might get a chance to say hello to these
kids. I've included a few QRP sites. I know, I know; for most of you,
QRP is what happens when your linear goes out. But, QRP is a category in
a lot of the contests. Finally, the USAir site is included because they
have a feature where you can send them your e-mail address and they will
inform you of last-minute, e-mail travel bargains. Most of these are for
travel on the Saturday after you receive the e-mail and you must return on
the Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday. But, here are some recent round-trip
fares from Washington National: Kansas City, MO - $119, Rochester, NY -
$79; from BWI: Cleveland - $79, Los Angeles - 279, Jacksonville - $99.
Great prices if you want to do some last minute traveling [perhaps to a
hamfest]. [Note: I am NOT connected with USAir].
THE FOLLOWING LIST OF URL'S WAS REPLACED IN THE PAPER EDITION OF THIS
NEWSLETTER WITH A NOTE STEARING READERS TO THIS WEB PAGE. -EDITOR
Clubs:
Amateur Radio Clubs [W6BHZ List]:
http://www.w6bhz.calpoly.edu/clubs.html
Bavarian Contest Club:
http://www.rrze.uni-erlangen.de/~unrz45/BCC/
Royal Palm Elementary School ARC -
WB4DYU:http://newworld.bridge.net/~alan/rp_arc.html
Information: Links, Newsletters, Bulletins, Bulletin Boards:
Amateur Radio Newsline:
http://wwwcom.acs.ncsu.edu/HamRadio/News.html
Ham Radio Links:
http://www.unm.edu/~wx3w/ham.html
Ham Radio Online - Newsletters:
http://www.accessone.com/~vbook/newsletters.htm
Last DX Connection Homepage [has landline BBS with connection to KE3Q
node]:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/k3zr/
More Ham Radio Links:
http://user.itl.net/~equinox/
OPDX Bulletin - Internet Edition:
http://www.en.com/users/k8yse/opdx.html
Operating:
Amateur Radio QRP Pages:
http://wwwcom.acs.ncsu.edu/HamRadio/HF/qrp/
GridSquare Conversion:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/toys/gridconv.html
N.E.W.S. [North East Weak Signal VHF Group] Home Page:
http://uhavax.hartford.edu/newsvhf
N.E.W.S. VHF WWW Sites:
http://uhavax.hartford.edu/disk$userdata/faculty/newsvhf/www/vhf-www.html
QRP Amateur Radio Club International:
http://www.duke.edu/~djohnson/arci.html/
Organizations:
Hawaii Amateur Radio:
http://www.pixi.com/amateur-radio/
International Telecommunication Union (ITU):
http://www.itu.ch/
National Assocation of Tower Erectors:
http://www.daknet.com/nate/
Russian Ham Radio Page:
http://www.stack.serpukhov.su/~victor/hamradio/
Products:
Amateur Radio Vendor Directory:
http://www.scott.net/~wa4fat/vendor.html
W7FG Vintage Manuals:
http://eigen.net/w7fg/
Reference:
Amateur Radio FTP sites:
http://wwwcom.acs.ncsu.edu/HamRadio/ftp.html
Amateur Radio Reference: Table of Contents
http://www.panix.com/clay/ham/
Amateur Radio Web Servers
http://hamgate.cc.wayne.edu/AmateurWWW.html
Amateur Radio WWW Bookmark File
http://uhavax.hartford.edu/disk$userdata/faculty/newsvhf/www/ham-www.html
FCC Interference Handbook:
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Compliance/WWW/tvibook.html
More Amateur Radio FTP sites:
http://hamgate.cc.wayne.edu/ftp.html
SimTel index: [hamradio zip files]
http://www.sinica.edu.tw/simtel/simtel_index_hamradio.html
Virtual Radio Rally ["Radio Rally"=hamfest in UK]
http://ukinternet.com/ham/
WWWVirtual Library: Amateur Radio
http://www.meaning.com/pointers/wwwvl-ham.html
Travel - Airlines:
1-800 Numbers for Airlines:
http://www.mit.edu/people/wchuang/travel/Airlines.html
USAir [including USAir E-savers]:
http://www.usair.com/
Travel - Maps & Country Information:
City.Net & City.Net's Maps:
http://www.city.net/
http://www.city.net/indexes/top_maps.html
DeLorme-AAA CyberRouter:
http://route.delorme.com/
Internet Resources--Countries:
http://nearnet.gnn.com/gnn/meta/travel/res/countries.html
MapQuest!:
http://www.mapquest.com/
Sarawak Tourism Board Home Page:
http://www.jaring.my/stb/
Subway Navigator [for 60 cities around the world]:
http://metro.jussieu.fr:10001/bin/cities/english
U.S. Gazetteer [all U.S.place names: search by name or 5-number ZIP]:
http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/gazetteer
Travel - Other:
Expedition Link:
http://twentyone-11.org/2111/exp-link.html
Forecasts Along Interstate Highways[preparation for all the Rovers]:
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wilist.htm
Hotel & Travel Index Worldwide:
http://www.traveler.net/htio/
Travelocity's Currency Converter [55 different currencies]:
http://ps.worldview.travelocity.com/wvbin/put_date.cgi?
HTML=/WVHOME/PS/html/currencyconvert.html