TROJAN ARC HARMONIC

VE TEST RESULTS GREAT Our VE session October 21 was a great success. To start with Dave N0IPW of St. Francis finally was able to trade in his ‘paper’ and get a General upgrade thanks to the April restructuring that already saw Darel WA0GBN make it to General. Rick Scholtz stepped up to the plate and passed the Tech exam PLUS 5wpm Morse, and is now KC0JAO; this after a 2 week (!) campaign to learn the code. Gregg KB0MBT was going for Extra written, and only two evenings prior to the test discovered he was studying the old Extra pool rather than the new post-restructuring nasty that includes the old (and hairy) Advanced syllabus. No problem – a couple nights of study plus years of practical experience and Gregg sailed right along. Now, a passed Morse test will jump Gregg from Tech to Extra in one blow. Scott KB0WPY came from Goodland and nailed down the Extra. Look for a new vanity call out of this guy….. Congratulations to all the examinees who walked away with new privileges or a CSCE.

CHRISTMAS PARTY We were hoping to get the Colonial in suburban Oakley booked for the party this year, but they are full on Dec. 14. We could have our party Sat. Dec 16, or there is also room on Thursday at Montana Mike’s in Colby, which is set up reasonably well to handle a large group. We’ll discuss these possibilities at the November meeting and vote. Absentee ballots are accepted, so if you may not be able to attend the meeting and have a choice, please email, packet or QSO K0FJ re your preference: Dec 14 Montana Mike’s or Dec 16 Colonial. Save some cash for paying $10; the party is a great time to square up for next year’s dues.

OFFICER ELECTIONS Don’t forget to wear your railroad caps to the meeting. Nominations from the floor will be accepted, but smooth sailing is anticipated for the current slate:

FIELD DAY RESULTS After the dust settled the Trojans came out on top of the NOMADs by a tight 4866 to 4472 score! We placed 67^th out of about 450 2A non-battery, non-commercial entries. Here are KS 2A scores, and area interest scores of other categories:

1A SPARC – Liberal N0RZ 745 2128 42^nd

CQWW SSB FUN Mike K0FJ had to try out his new DX Telnet toy in the heat of battle, and hosted K0BJ and KC0HBR for a multiop/single xmtr entry in the CQ Worldwide DX voice test. The guys were fascinated with chasing packetcluster spots which came up either in a window in the logging software, or on a "bandmap" displaying the calls on a virtual radio dial. With FJ’s newly-refurbished SB-220 throwing heat, pileup waiting was seldom a problem. The only real downside to the DX Telnet method of grabbing spots is the ease of going out of the USA voice subband, as the guys discovered firsthand a few times…….. While the team pulled down nearly 1000 Qs for the weekend and scored 1.25M points, their score is easily outdistanced by other M/S teams on the coasts; they don’t call W0 the RF Black Hole for nothing, as we fight the NE corridor to bag the European mults and have to deal with the Left Coast for Japan and all its hams. But, the fun is in the effort, and one thing making this especially rewarding was seeing HBR blossom as a runner and gunner, and having a visit from KC0IWH and KC0JAO to witness the battle. Mike and Rick were kind enough to NOT tear their tickets up and run away screaming…. K0FJ was pleased to have qualified for ARRL’s Millennium DXCC merely with his 10 meter log, which showed the guys nailed 128 DXCC countries. Also Mike’s aluminum pretty well sprays the world; of CQ’s 40 zones, K0FJ made it in the logbooks of 38 during the 48 hours of the contest. Zone 22 – India area, and 34 --Egypt area, eluded the Foxtrot Juliett call. The guys had India spots but never heard it, and called Egypt a couple times with no luck.

SPOTTING ACTIVITY Late October isn’t considered a prime wx spotting timeframe, but a spooky line of storms raced through the area Halloween afternoon and evening. Our gang spotted no funnels but did report many wall clouds, some hail and rain, and a few accidents to Scott and Kevin at NWS Goodland. KB0LGX K0FJ K0MXU KC0HBR K0BJ KC0IWH N0XNO N0XNK KB0MBT and possibly others were mobile and reporting to KB0WPY and KC0FEH at NWS. Some tornadoes did touch down in the area, and spotty but torrential rains kept most of the young goblins at home in Colby.

NEW CONSTITUTION AND BYLAWS RATIFIED At the October meeting the draft Constitution and Bylaws circulated by email were read, slightly altered, and voted on and passed. We are now a "normal" (not school-related) ARRL affiliated club in current standing. Thanks to K0FJ for drafting these, and to everyone’s careful consideration. Anyone desiring a copy of the current Constitution and Bylaws should contact K0FJ.

BANDSCAN Jim KC0HBR helped Brad KC0HQZ remove W0FEE(SK)’s TH3 and now has it and a Ham IV ready to go up on his soon-to-be skyward tower. BT Allen K0MXU has parceled out the old Wheatbelt Radio Club’s hand-crank Instructo-Graph to Gregg KB0MBT. For those of you younger than a T-Rex, this is a Morse Code sending machine that reads paper tape punched code practice (or as used at the FCC, exam runs!) Given his longterm sweating of the code, Gregg is probably the ideal recipient of this antique…… BT David N0IPW not only got ‘instant upgrade’ at the VE session – he got ‘instant on’ as he’s had a Ten Tec HF rig waiting in the wings. Welcome to the fun of HF operating David. BT The DX Telnet system of K0FJ’s that many of us saw at the October meeting is helping Mike roll up some impressive DXCC numbers. He’s still waiting on enuff cards to get to the DXCC mark, but has logged over 180 countries, so the upward march is rolling on. BT Bruce K0BJ/m had a fun QSO with Leo W0GFQ of Omaha. Leo was Mr. World Radio Labs of Council Bluffs back in the ‘60s. Fleck K0RXT (SK) supported Leo by owning and using Galaxy V and then GT-550 HF transceivers. Leo’s handiwork was renowned for putting out a healthy 200 watts or so barefoot, and brought fame to the Midwest. Bruce had met Leo at a couple hamfests but this was a first QSO. BT Darel WA0GBN has been busy creating antenna farms for 440, a new band for him with his IC706 Mk2G. He recently bagged KP4EIT in Puerto Rico on 6M. With his new privileges, Darel hasn’t ignored the low bands either. In fact, he’s planning to put the 330’ base-fed KLOE AM tower on 160 in the ARRL contest in December. Must be nice to be the engineer for a broadcast station…… BT KC0HBR, K0FJ and K0BJ are among the throngs that worked the recent Kingman Reef K5K Dxpedition. Quite a Field Day – operating from the mid-Pacific on a 8 x 500’ sand spit (at high tide). Terrible sunburns at Kingman are thought to be the source of the cancer that claimed HRO’s national 2^nd in command Jim N6RJ a few years ago. Jim and his XYL met then-WA0TAS while traveling on I-70 a few months after the first Kingman Reef Dxpedition in the early 70s. BT John KB0UDX is an active call in Goodland. John moved east from Denver to escape the madding crowd. He’s interested in getting up a good 6M station. BT The club’s old tower trailer (former Wheatbelt RC) has undergone a much-needed facelift to reinforce the bottom, tilting hinged section and add a reduction/locking winch to do the tilt. This trailer has made possible comms for Field Days, Sunrayces, contestts etc. since at least the mid-60s, and has been a centerpiece of the City of Colby Christmas display, hoisting the star high above the swimming pool house. Thanks to all who helped at our two worknights to get this thing back in shape. BT Mike K0FJ is the proud owner of an IC-706Mk2G which is installed in his mobile. OXP practically begged him to pick the ‘lil goody up at HRO -- if only EVERY ham could have an XYL (or OM) like that! BT Dick N0QGB has mounted his VHF/UHF rig in his pickup, and is actually thinking about making some QSOs! Actually Dick is counting down the 18 months he has left as a Scoutmaster, and looking forward to a little more time to push the mic button. BT Ham wannabe Calvin Peck has a new trucking job, and figures that’ll give a chance to log some /m QSOs. He’s hoping to find time to study for and nail the exams. BT Jim KG0PI received his long-awaited traps and took advantage of a nice weekend to install them. Attempting to load them uncovered a defective balun which is being replaced; Jim hopes to put out a salty sig on 40/80 meters shortly. BT Bruce K0BJ is spending the weekend at W0CEM’s in Junction City. John, Lee K0WA and Tim AB0S are perennial Sweepstakes multiops and with BJ joining them last year they made 7^th in CW Multiop (these guys have taken the multi category in the past). They’re hoping for a Top 4 finish this time around. BT There’s a nice story on the upcoming NWS Special Event on www.arrl.org web news.

The Trojan Amateur Radio Club is a general interest educational and public service ham club. We maintain a 2M FM repeater and a station at the NWS in Goodland. Dues are $10/annually, payable to Mike Albers K0FJ, 140 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