TROJAN ARC HARMONIC

RECENT WX SPOTTING After a short lull following wild spring weather, Trojans have been back in the saddle, or actually the driver's seats, keeping an eye on the sky. May 28 the worst seemed to be tracking to our south, but K0FJ N0XNO and K0KHP positioned themselves around the west part of the county just in case. In spite of rain obscuration Mike spotted a tornado/funnel cloud (couldn't make up its mind…) near the Sherman/Thomas/Logan line, which had been reported as a Doppler tornado only until his spot. David wasn't QRL on the repeater, but Mike was able to relay his harmonic's observations in to N0QE and Co. at NWS Goodland because he scans the HiPo freqs.

EMERGENCY SERVICES FAIR AT ARMORY K0FJ WA0CAL KC0JAO and K0BJ represented the club at the Nat. Guard fair. We mounted 2m/70cm yagi on the Fire Department's ladder truck and an 80 M dipole just below that, for an impressive skyhook. We worked some nice HF Qs including Jamaica, but had no luck with VHF DX. The powerpoint program from ARRL and APRS laptop were impressive. Biggest disappointment was lack of crowd. Not counting families of participants, including a lot of Boy Scout concessionaires, there were only 30 or less attendees. Ham wannabe Calvin Peck was on hand, and we had some other inquiries. Best tangible accomplishment was fixing K0BJ's Tailtwister rotator to indicate position (finally!) so we'll be fixed for Field Day. Jeff fortunately recalled the indicator calibration wire in the control box that was snipped at the NWS Special Event last December, saving the group a good 15 minutes of gnashed teeth. Besides swapping bell housings and indicator pot, Mike contributed a bottom race's worth of new ball bearings to replace BJ's old, dry rusted set.

LOCALS DO SWEEPSTAKES Three Trojans turned in Sweepstakes SSB scores last November, and the results are in:

W0NO 1st in KS Multi 1st in Midwest Div 2nd in Midwest Region; did not finish in Top 10.

K0FJ K0BJ N0OXP AT DIVISION CONVENTION Mike, Patti, Bruce and Janice will be attending the ARRL Midwest/Dakota Divisions convention in Sioux City, along the banks of the Missouri River, Thursday through Sunday. Much to the delight of Trojxxxxxxx ….. er, please note this means that two of the bigger loudmouths will NOT be in attendance for the monthly meeting.

FIELD DAY At present nobody is holding out for doing FD at Fike Park, so we'll most likely be at the airport for the second time, and will have the Rohn 60' mast this time around. Eastern KS plans to invade as Shawn KC0CVS and Mike KC0IWH look toward returning to lend a hand. We're gonna be a little weak on setup manpower, plus some members want to check out the Great American Race as those contestants make a lunch stop just before the FD starting gun 1PM CDT June 23.

PACKET RACKET de Mike K0FJ - Work on the K0MXU node by N0XJ KC0JAO K0FJ K0BJ K0MXU took more time than expected due to multiple problems, but it's now behaving. The problems at NWS Goodland stemmed largely from a FM bcst spur sitting close to 144.39; a more robust rx helped out there. We're now getting good local data passthrough, as well as consistent APRS info from the Garden City area on south, and occasional DX packets.

BANDSCAN Gregg N0XJ's TS440 is behaving properly now, after a good scoping. BT Tagteam Dxing was a fun occurrence a couple weeks ago when XJ HBR JAO and BJ were scouring a red-hot 20 meter band for DX late at night. FJ BJ and RXT engaged in this years ago and it's worth doing on a regular basis. BT Jim KC0HBR recently visited the Cosmosphere. The Int'l Space Station was just getting a crew change, and the Hutch club was operating a station there so there was some extra spice for Jim's visit. BT K0BJ got his TM-D700 on APRS, and it even took him (just) less than a year from the purchase at Dayton. N0XJ and K0FJ have been helpful in debugging all the settings needed to get the rig and GPS talking in a civilized manner. BT Armed Forces Day is now celebrated on the ham bands a week early, to avoid the Dayton Hamvention. K0BJ was enroute to a graduation in NE, NOT in his RF-mobile, but managed early QSOs with the Naval Sub base in Groton CT and an Army facility in IL. BT Ex Trojan Jack KB0VUS is in Germany this summer on an IBM internship. His studies at MIT will continue in the fall. BT Jim KC0HBR had a fun, if costly, trip to HRO where he got Yaesu's nice 2M VX150. Actually the price was a near steal with some money off and a free new Repeater Directory. BT The Military Sealift Command, a civilian branch of the armed services, is looking for high school grads to be radio ops. and sent the club some material. If interested, give K0BJ a buzz. BT Mike KC0IWH reports via email from the KC area. He's been to Associated Radio and is the proud owner of a G5RV which he will use in place of the current random wire to rx the HF bands until he gets a license upgrade.. Mike wants the Trojans to know how much fun he had in the club and the area while being a student at CCC. BT N0XNO is among those afflicted with HRO-happiness. Tom grabbed Yaesu's snazzy 6m/2m/70cm VX5R HT there recently. BT Gary KB0ASI reports bad luck with lightning a week back or so. He had the antennas disconnected but got zapped through the mains -- most of the shack gear and some other items throughout the house. He did have one small bit of luck -- one of his rigs was down in Scott City for repairs and missed the hit! BT The Dean of Field Day CW, Moe W0SZF, had an aneurysm a few months ago and recently had a corrective operation, which went great. Moe (father of ex-Catholic school principal Leland Francis) is home in McCook, and will undoubtedly be enjoying "cw juice" (ask NS0O about this) and the HF bands. BT Cop cajoling -- Chet NS0O suffered suspected wounds in a recent meeting with KC0HBR…. Well, pocketbook wounds to be precise. O was admiring Jim's sweet FT-90 do-all dual bander, and concluded his patrol car would probably have room for one of them TOO. SO don't be surprised if you spot Chet limping from a light left hip, but grinning from ear to ear… BT Trojan harmonic Candace Albers graduated from CHS and is playing grease monkey/car jockey this summer on the racing circuit with one of those noisy jalopies. BT Jim KC0HBR is gonna run a little heat…. A VERY little heat, on 2M mobile. He has a brick'ette' from K0BJ via K0RXT's estate: 2W in / 8 W out. The price is right, and that difference could make some difference while mobile in fringe areas. BT

NEXT MEETING JUNE 14 PIONEER MEM. LIBRARY 7:00PM. Field Day will be on the front burner.

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 $10/annually, payable to Mike Albers K0FJ, 145 E. Cherry, Colby KS 67701. Material from the Trojan Harmonic may be freely copied; attribution is appreciated. News and free email subscription requests to KØBJ, PO Box DX, Colby KS 67701 or bfrahm@colby.ixks.com Online archive of some past issues at http://colby.ixks.com/~bfrahm/trojnls.htm