2023-8-1 Weekly This & That Newsletter
de KB3FW
Our club’s next big happening is the upcoming Lighthouses and Lightships Weekend (ILLW) operation of KE4HAM from Hunting Island State Park on August 19th. The big day is a little over two weeks away and we don’t have a whole lot of members indicating that they’ll join the fun. We have enough “firepower” to get three stations on the air. But it won’t be as much fun as it would be without others coming to this great jewel of a state park to participate for a few hours.
Some of our “regulars” are away on vacation at that time and won’t be there. That can be viewed at least two ways: One…”Oh that’s awful, what a bummer.” Or Two…”This may be a great time to participate as I might be able to get more involved in what is going on.”
I hope you will further consider coming to Hunting Island on the 19th. More details are included below. If you haven’t yet RSVP’d to the email invitation sent last week, please do so as soon as you can!
Please note that two of the items in this week’s newsletter were contributed by members as noted below. Thank you for that! Please keep the ideas, links, photos, etc. coming. I have a good one from Bob Kennedy, N0DQD, for next week’s issue. Your input is always appreciated.
Thanks all and 73!
W1AW/4 SC Operation – Updated Numbers
The SC W1AW/4 Volunteers on the Air (VOTA) team eclipsed 22,000 QSOs for its two weeks of operation (one in February and the other that ended last week). After notching over 16,000 QSOs in February, the team battled poor band conditions and some summer doldrums in the ham radio community and perhaps other factors during the July effort.
The SC team did a SUPER job in overcoming these hurdles and may end up being the team with the most QSOs for the VOTA program across the ARRL spectrum.
During this most recent W1AW/4 activation, Harve Hnatiuk (KB3FW) contributed nearly 90 QSOs to the SC effort, which ranked high among all operators who mainly worked the event on CW. Russ Treadwell, N1ZK, got into Harve’s W1AW/4 log on 2m FM after the Wednesday July 19th repeater net. Thanks Russ! As the saying goes here: Every QSO Counts!.
Ham Radio Equipment For Sale
Recently, the club heard rom Ted Curtis, KD1IF, about his plans to downsize and to sell a lot of ham radio equipment. Some clubs publish these listings in their club newsletters. We can do that too if the club’s members are OK with that.
For now, the approach is to send a “blast email” to all club members with details on the equipment for sale and contact information on the seller. An email about Ted’s equipment for sale was sent on July 28th.
Amateur Radio and Philately
Thanks to Ed Stratton for sending news about Malta’s new stamps that feature amateur radio.
It’s been quite a while since our USPS has done so!
Current price on EBay for one of these vintage stamps is about one dollar.
Humor
On our SCHH ARC 2m nets, we ask stations to check in with their call signs in phonetics.
Thanks to Charlie Bess, AD5EN, for contributing this photo.
QSL Card of the Week
This week’s card was sent by Jack Frisch, K2ITZ.
Please email a .jpg of one of the best cards that you’ve received to Harve at hnat@gmail.com.
Upcoming Club Events
August 19th – KE4HAM Operation on Hunting Island for International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend (ILLW).
Here are the lastest details for this year’s outing to Hunting Island.
Please get to Hunting Island State Park by 9:30 AM on August 19th to assist with setting up the three stations that we plan to operate.
We will look to get on the air by 10:30 AM and operate up to three HF stations until about 3-3:30 PM. We may adjust the time that we close down our operation based on band conditions.
Plans include:
— Operating on SSB with two stations, one on 20m and the other on 15m or 40m.
— Operating on CW with one station on 10 through 20 meters, including the WARC bands.
There may some adjustments on the day of the event depending on what bands are “open for business”.
Lunch will be around Noon and will include the grilled hot dogs that were so popular at last year’s gathering. Feel free to bring whatever you like to eat and/or drink and, if you are inclined, bring some for others to enjoy as well (no alcoholic beverages please).
Additional details will be in the next two issues of “This & That”.
If you have not yet RSVP’d, please do so. The more the merrier!
Next Membership Meeting
The Club’s next Membership Meeting will be on Thursday, September 7th, at the Lake House. Plans are to have an Elmer Presentation by Frank Pollino, K2OS, at 6:45 PM followed by the evening’s main program, which will be presented by Ken Finke, KN8F, and cover how to get an antenna installation approved here in Sun City. The business meeting will follow Ken’s presentation. More info will be sent as the date gets closer on the calendar.
Club Website
The URL is https://www.ke4ham.org. If you notice any errors or have site-related questions, email: webmaster@ke4ham.org.
Nets:
Sunday NET (8 PM) operates on 147.550 MHz simplex and Echolink node: KE4HAM – L
Wednesday Nets (8 PM) operates from KK4ONF/Jasper repeater, 147.060+ and Echolink node: KE4HAM-R
Thanks to our regular Net Controls: Bob Officer, WA6WAY; Russ Treadwell, N1ZK; and Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW.
Thanks to Ron Frick, AI4HH, for keeping the nets on Echolink.
Please check into our nets when you can. The nets are informative and interesting and foster club camaraderie.
If you are interested in being a Net Control, please let Ron or Harve know.
Other Operating:
Daily — DX spotting and open chat 24/7 on 147.550 MHz simplex and the Jasper Repeater, 147.060+ (no Echolink).
KB3FW – SCHH ARC President