TROJAN ARC HARMONIC

DECEMBER 2002

Editor Bruce Frahm KØBJ Send articles to k0bj@arrl.org

Publisher Mike Albers KØFJ Subscription requests to k0fj@arrl.net

MEETINGS 2^nd THURSDAYS 7PM K-N COMMUNICATIONS

HAM LUNCH NOON FRIDAYS MONITOR .82

WORK NIGHTS AS SCHEDULED

WØWOB REPEATERS

146.22/.82

444/449.65 156.7 PL

KØFJ-2 APRS DIGI 144.39

WØWOB APRS Weather Node

WØWOB-10 APRS IGate

SKYWARN RECOGNITION DAY AT NWS GOODLAND NWS Skywarn Recognition Day takes place this year on December 7 (GMT). At the November meeting we planned for two stations. We’ll be running an IC706 and our newly-repaired yagi, and dipoles, at the ‘tower’ station, and the WXØGLD IC706 is benefiting from rerouted ladder line and should put out a more consistent HF signal. Then there’s the SECRET WEAPON… see the Fundraising article below. We’ll again run an Ethernet LAN for logging. Setup will start forenoon Friday, and the starting gun is 5PM MST. The recognition day runs 24 hours. NWS will have pizza etc. on hand for us. If you haven’t yet participated in SRD, come experience what it’s like to have many stations out looking for YOU. We can use anyone at any time. KØBJ has agreed to work on the design of the certificate that’ll go out to SRD participants. ARRL Hq. is assisting with what we hope will be an automated way of queuing up callsigns and award endorsements, so certificates can be printed on autopilot. Look for a stuffing party with the NWS GLD guys sometime after the New Year, to get the certificates out the door. A W5YI VE Session will be conducted at 10:00 AM Mountain Time at the NWS Office on Saturday. Anyone wishing to test should contact KØFJ so he can arrange enough test materials. Anyone able to assist with setup should meet at the NWS Office at 12:00 CST.

CHRISTMAS PARTY DEC 12 To clarify last month’s article -- gathering time is 6PM CST and forks will fly at 6:30. This is potluck so bring your favorite holiday treat, spouse and kids and plan on a relaxed, no-meeting evening. KØBJ’s QTH is northwest of Colby. From the K25/US24 intersection, go 4 miles west to County Road 16, then one mile north (across RR tracks) to County Road T, then a half mile west to the second house (follow the yagi-borne Christmas star….)

Be sure to put January 9 on the calendar. Part of the fun of being a Trojan is TWO Christmas parties, and we’re set for the Colonial in Oakley on our regular January meeting night. Same gathering/eating time as the Dec. party.

IT’S DUES TIME The end of another year….. $15 individual member dues are payable. $25 gets the family deal! Gary NØXNK is the lucky winner of the Treasurer’s slot so make your payment to Gary in person or by mail to the address at the footer of this newsletter.

FUNDRAISING PROJECT We’ve suffered with co-station interference at Field Day and SRD to one extent or another whenever operating more than one HF station. We’ve looked at bandpass filters but never jumped. Well…… after operating at WØNO for Sweepstakes and being totally impressed with the effectiveness of the filters used there, KØFJ and KØBJ briefed the Ham Lunch crowd on the miracles of these little babies. After discussion of whether to go homebrew or commercial, and what configurations to go with, members at the special Ham Lunch meeting opted for a complete set (80 40 20 15 10 Meter) single Dunestar filters, which we’ll lay at operating events and be able to put inline with the feedline. Ops will be amazed at the effectiveness of these – you might hear an occasional squawk of interference, WAY DOWN in the noise, over a tiny portion of the band you’re operating on – otherwise, you won’t know someone else is operating nearby. One important warning – be sure to transmit ONLY on the bandpassed band when the filter is in line. Otherwise you’ll let the magic smoke out……..

As the treasury is not extremely healthy, the hat was passed at the special meeting and $115.00 was collected for the Dunestar project. Those who will be using the filters at Field Day, SRD and other such events are encouraged to consider adding a contribution to this project, so we can keep actual club treasury depletion to a minimum. Send to treasurer NØXNK.

APRS HAPPENINGS If you want to keep up with APRS online, don’t forget to check www.findu.com for the latest APRS traffic. The Club is also working to fund a replacement antenna for the Hoxie APRS Digi. We hope to have the antenna replace in time for severe weather events this spring.

NEW CALLSIGN KØILB AT GOODLAND Larry KB4GFT recently traded in KB4GFT for his dad’s old call. Hope you enjoy the nostalgia Larry, and now you’re a bona fide Zerolander! By the way congratulations to Dave N5DBZ, who passed his General at the NWS test session prior to the November club meeting. Passed…. Heck, he ACED the thing!

POPCORN & DX Movie NIGHTS The VP8THU “Micro-lite” DXpedition to South Georgia off the Antarctic coast, was enjoyed by BJ J FJ. These guys used minimal equipment and antennas and had a successful, lowcost operation in an environmentally sensitive locale. Some goodies are in the queue -- a DVD version of the IMAX show Solar Max featuring some astounding sun imagery, a Powerpoint program on beefing up the Smoky Hills Public TV antennas for high-definition broadcasting, and the 4W6MM East Timor video, which features the marriage of K7BV DURING the expedition…… Now THAT’S a honeymoon. Standby on 2M for word of the next Movie Night.

BANDSCAN NØXJ and ACØJ went through the 440 machine once again, and don’t know what they “did”, but the intermittent audio level problem on the 444.65 machine appears to be solved. Thanks for the work guys!. BT KØBJ and ACØJ checked out the shack of Sam WØVDF (SK), longtime Wheatbelt Radio Club member. Bruce now has a couple “bugs” – semiautomatic keys that Sam used, and Corky WBØVOQ has Sam’s old B&W HF station. Jeff and Bruce may obtain a few more items and move them on eBay…. If no club members are interested in the antique rigs. BT Jim KCØHBR has been out of county more than in recently…. His family went to Colorado for Thanksgiving, and now he’s off the Hutchinson for some sort of cloak and dagger-type training. BT As mentioned in the SRD article, the club’s veteran TH-3 is behaving once again on 15M. FJ BJ and J had a worknight at the city shop and soon discovered a 15M trap with an outer sleeve having no connection to its element. That meant the capacitor in that tuned trap was AWOL. Once that was repaired, the guys went through all traps, found and repaired a couple ready-to-be-AWOL traps. The magic MFJ analyzer gave the antenna a clean bill of health. BT Thanks to Gil and Char KØBLU/K3RRY who drove down from Oberlin for the special bandpass filter meeting at Ham Lunch. We had a good crowd and discussion that day. Gil has been to Denver for repeated doctor work and enjoyed meeting with the Trojans. BT

NEXT MEETING DECEMBER 12 6PM KØBJ QTH Our Christmas potluck. No program, just a gabfest…. Bring kids, DX lies, etc.

The Trojan Amateur Radio Club is a general interest educational and public service ham club. We maintain 2M and 70cm FM repeaters and APRS packet digi. Dues are $15/annually, payable to Gary Shull NØXNK, 755 Lane Drive, Colby KS 67701. Material from the Trojan Harmonic may be freely copied; attribution is appreciated. News requests to KØBJ, PO Box DX, Colby KS 67701 or bfrahm@colby.ixks.com. Subscription changes and requests to KØFJ k0fj@arrl.net. Club website at http://colby.ixks.com/~bfrahm/trojanarc.htm