1}dwepe.com/farcnewsletters/y2015m11.pdf · january 11-26, 2016 kh5 palmyra atoll dxpedition...

November Program-Basic DX-ing

October FARC Meeting

Program at the Red Cross Building

VP (and 2016 President-Elect!) willpresent an overview of basic DX-ing at the October meeting.This is aimed toward the newer hams who have beenlicensed in the past few years but should prove interesting toall.

Jim Atkins W4UX

by Don, WS4NC

A basic presentation of Community Emergency ResponseTeam, CERT was given by

. Disasters can severely restrict andoverwhelm emergency response resources and leavecommunities cut off from outside emergency support.CERTs are trained to take care of themselves and helpothers in their communities for the first three days following adisaster. Training Topics include: Disaster Preparedness,Fire Safety, Medical Operations, Light Search and Rescue,Disaster Psychology and Terrorism.

Leigha Cordell, LogisticsOfficer, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County EmergencyManagement

November, 2015

November, 2015 FARC Newsletter

INSIDE THE NEWSLETTER:Pg Article1 Jamboree on the Air1 October FARC Program1 November FARC Program1 FARC Member Spotlight Harold, N4HER2 John Kippe, K1PPE Status Report2 FCC Exam Report3 Memorials received in memory of W4IRE3 Happy Birthday to FARC3 Field Day Antenna Captains3 Amazon Smile34 CX Contest5 Help Early FARC Records5 FARC History5 Minutes of 12 October 2015 Meeting7 Minutes of 19 October 2015 Meeting8 Winner October Baofeng8 Amateur Radio Parity hits 100 Proponents8 Upcoming FARC Programs9 Arduino Workshop9 News from Wilson, W4BOH10 FARC Member Spotlight N4HER11 {{{November Treasure Hunt}}}11 November Birthdays11 Greetings from XU land12 HR1301 and S 168512 October FARC meeting review13 RTN-ATM Rules13 CQWW15 JOTA pictures and article16 Diddle-De-Dah-De-Don17 145.47 New Antenna18 New FARC Membership form for 2016

Calendar of Ham Events - *****

Continued on page 10

Continued on page 15

Almost Halloween,How about JOTA from the Graveyard?

by Geoff Rudy, KK4MOVGenerating some interest from Boy Scout Troop719 in Lewisville, NC in earning the Radio MeritBadge and participating in the annual Boy ScoutJamboree on the Air (JOTA) started slowly. JOTAis an annual worldwide event held on the thirdweekend of October, with the goal of getting asmany Scouts talking to other Scouts by amateur

FARC Member SpotlightHarold E. Richardson – N4HER

Harold E. Richardson, N4HER, was born in a locale calledDyers Store in Henry County, Virginia. He was delivered by amid-wife in his family’s home, a three room log cabin that hadno power, no indoor plumbing and the only source of water wasfrom a nearby spring. He had three sisters that had precededhim in birth and his family was thrilled with a son.

by Terry Brown,AK4DSecretary FARC

Life changed quicklyfor Harold at age sixmonths when hisfamily moved to ac i v i l i a n s e c t i o napar tment in themilitary housing inJacksonv i l le , NC.Harold states that itwas a big step up forhis family. Their new

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For more pics and info see Pages 6 & 12

Forsyth Amateur Radio Club, Inc is a non-profit (IRS501(c)3) North Carolina corporation for the promotion ofAmateur Radio, and for the education and training ofhams and the general public primarily in Forsyth County,North Carolina.

FARC was originally incorporated as the Winston-SalemRadio Club on December 31, 1930 and has been inoperation ever since. We currently maintain a state-of-the-art ham station in the basement of the Red Cross,690 Coliseum Dr., Winston-Salem, NC and also maintaintwo 2-meter repeaters, 146.64 (100 Hz tone) and 145.47(100 Hz tone) and a 444.275 repeater (100 Hz tone).

FARC has a general membership meeting with aprogram on the at the RedCross building, 690 Coliseum Drive in Winston-Salem.The club conducts its main business meeting (the BoardMeeting) on the 3rd Monday generally at HamRestaurant, located in the Thruway Lower Mall onKnollwood Street. This is where most of the club’sbusiness is conducted and all attending members have avote. All club members are strongly encouraged toattend the business meeting. For more informationabout FARC mail us at FARC, Inc., PO Box 11361,Winston-Salem, NC, 27116; call 336-245-5740; or visitour web site at www.w4nc.com

Club email is to info <at> w4nc <dot> com *

Officers for 2015 are:

President: Jerry Minor, K4GWVice-President: Jim Atkins, W4UX

Secretary: Terry Brown, AK4DTreasurer: Henry Heidtmann W2DZO

Newsletter Editor: Don Edwards, WS4NCTech Chairman: Dale Mierisch, WB9SZLHamfest Chairman: David Shoaf, KC4X

Field Day Chairman: “Doc” Holliday, WB4QIZArduino Workshop: Bob Gusek, NC4RG

All content is Copyright 2015, All Rights Reserved, byDon Edwards and Forsyth Amateur Radio Club, Inc,unless otherwise noted. Permission is given toreproduce for non-commercial purposes provided propercredit is given. If you would like to help support theNewsletter with an ad, please contact Don Edwards(email: ws4nc <at> dwepe <dot> com).

We trade newsletters with other clubs, and many clubsare on our mailing list. If your club has a newsletter andwould like to trade please send us a copy.

Submissions and inquiries please send to ws4nc <at>dwepe <dot> com *

*The “funny” email addresses are to confuse the Spambots. Spam shall be cause of the fall of WesternCivilization. Either that or the spork.

2nd Monday of every month

John Kippe, K1PPEby Don, WS4NC

I am very sorry to report that as John Kippe left theSeptember meeting he broke his leg. John thought atfirst it was just a serious sprain and he even workedTour-to-Tanglewood with only a brace on his foot. Johncontinues to recover and we hope to see him at theNovember meeting. During surgery they installed fivescrews and one lag bolt. For at least the next few weeksJohn is *still* trapped at home and he and Cathy wouldappreciate any visitors or calls. 336 nine six nine 4461.

FCC Exams Reportand FARC Membership

by, Dale Mierisch, WB9SZLVEC Session Manager

Allow me to offer all of you a hearty congratulations on yournewAmateur License's and Upgrades:

I look forward to chatting with each of you on the air.

For new hams/ non-FARC members or any upgraded hams,please complete the information on attached form (last pageof the Newsletter), if you have not already done so. This formwill provide you a free membership to the Forsyth AmateurRadio Club (FARC). Mark the form "New Ham-10/12/2015(the date of your test)". Once the form is completed, bring it tothe next club meeting, or please scan and email to me.

Exams are offered before the FARC meeting and start at6:15 PM in room 109 at the Red Cross building. Pre-registration is strongly suggested at info <at> w4nc <dot>com. We try to accommodate walk-ins if we can. Ourbiggest challenge continues to be convincing encouragingupgrade candidates to bring a copy of their license to examsessions. A copy of your license must accompany theapplication to the FCC. Any missing copies unfortunatelydelays the entire license process for all exam candidates.Bring your original license, if you have one, two forms of ID,$12.00 and successful completion forms (CSCE’s - if any).

Exams are held at the general club meeting on secondMondays at the Red Cross starting at 6:20 PM except for themonth of December.

MICHAEL K THORN KM4OCN TJERRY M BROWN KM4OCO T(Nat) OLIVER N SWANSON III KM4OCP GPAUL M SCHUH KM4OCQ TSTEVEN P ILTIS KM4OCR TCATHERINE G MELVIN KM4OCS T

FARC Newsletter October, 2015

FARC Newsletter

Memorials received in memory ofJohn Huffman, W4IRE

Happy birthday to... FARC!

Field Day – Antenna Captains

More donations in memory of FARC member John HuffmanW4IRE who passed away this past July have been received.Treasurer W2DZO will have a new total at the Octobermeeting. The board is considering a naming opportunity inJohn's memory as we begin our shack renovation. More detailsto follow.

As the club looks forward to its 85th birthday this December,the board is asking for input from the membership on how wewould like to celebrate this historic event. Please bring an ideato the next meeting - a birthday party for the public at theshack? A special event station with special QSL card? Howabout an FARC 85th Anniversary lapel pin? Some blue FARCshirts or coats like we did about 20 years ago? Maybe a postbirthday shindig at the Hamfest in January? The troposphere isthe limit. Let us know how you would like to celebrate!

year each captain needs to meet at Gene’s where we will goover each antenna make any adjustments necessary and re-pack them for 2016 FD. Contact Gene, WB4MSG at the nextFARC meeting or at gbowman4 <at> triad <dot> rr <dot> com

Do you buy stuff from Amazon? If you do there is a way forFARC to earn a little money here. Go to the Amazon Smile linkbelow and register and select Forsyth Amateur Radio Club,Inc. Amazon will donate 0.5% of your purchases to FARC. Itcosts you nothing more, but it benefits the club. Anything youorder has to be ordered from the Amazon Smile link – if, afteryou register, you forget to order through the smile program itwill usually remind you. Again it costs you nothing more.Amazon is supporting legal 501c(3) organizations through thisprogram. Thanks to Raja, KB6MTH for pointing this out.www.smile.amazon.com

Amazon Smile Program

October, 2015

needed NOW

One BIG thing - we are lookingfor captains for each bandantenna next year. The antennacaptain will be responsible forchecking and setting up andtaking down one particular bandantenna. The work for all theantennas on Gene alone is justtoo much. Sometime in the next

Calendar of Upcoming Ham EventsHamfests, Special Events, Contests,Club meetings, etc.

By Don WS4NC

[Ed. Note: Please help with this. It is a real pain finding when and where events of ham interests areheld. There really isn’t one source to find this information and putting this together requires diggingacross various club Newsletters, NC ARRL Section newsletter (thanks Karl!), QST, CQ and othersources. Please all clubs, unless you are just trying to keep secrets – read your websites and makesure that Who, What, When, Where, and How are answered. If you know of a correction orsomething that should be here please send it to ws4nc <at> dwepe <dot> com. I know I am missing anumber of NC clubs and NC (and big national) events that should be on the list. With your help I canmake this a more useful list including events in NC, GA, VA, SC and TN.] *non FARC event - confirmwith event sponsor.

October 31: 19th Annual Grand Strand ARC “Beachfest 2015

November 7 & 8 Stone Mountain, Georgia Hamfest.

November 9 FARC General Membership Meeting

November 14, VE Session

November 14 HamJam.

November 15: JARSFest 2015, J

November 16 FARC Board Meeting

Nov 27-29 CQ WW DX / CW

November 28, *VE Session

December 7 FARC Annual Dinner (DATE CHANGE -FIRST MONDAY!)

Dec 12, *VE Session

Dec 21 FARC Board Meeting

Dec 26 *VE Session

Jan/Feb? Classic Exchange (CX) Contest

January 9 at Summit School

January 11 FARC General Membership Meeting

January 15 FARC Board Meeting

”, GrandStrandAmateur Radio Club, Conway, SC, see http://www.w4gs.org

Georgia’s largesthamfest and GAARRL section Convention. Forums, youth lounge, specialevent station among other events. www.stonemountainhamfest.com

at the Red Cross onColiseum Drive in Winston-Salem. FCC exams at 6:20 PM, meeting startsat 7:30 PM. The program will be by Jim W4UX and will an Introduction toDX-ing. Our annual Homebrew Show-&-Tell has been moved to January -be building something NOW!

*Hinshaw United, Methodist Church, 4501High Point Road, Greensboro, NC 27407, Time: 9:00am. Contact: RoySmith, Phone: (336) 312-0647, E-mail: n4by <at> arrl.net

Not a hamfest but a presentation by world-classspeakers for the North Ga. and nearby ham community.http://hamjam.info/

ohnston Amateur Radio Society,Benson, NC see http://www.jars.net

. Our new meeting place is at Hamslocated in the Thruway Lower Mall. 7PM. Thank our hosts by orderingsomething and tip your waitress!

. The CW version of ham radio’s Super Bowl.dah dit dit-dit-dit dah

at High Point Red Cross building. seewww.w4gso.org.

River Ridge Tap House, Clemmons, NC

*Hinshaw United, Methodist Church, 4501 High PointRoad, Greensboro, NC 27407, Time: 9:00am. Contact: Roy Smith, Phone:(336) 312-0647, E-mail: n4by <at> arrl.net

(subject to confirmation). Our new meetingplace is at Hams located in the Thruway Lower Mall. 7PM. Thank our hostsby ordering something and tip your waitress!

, High Point Red Cross Building. see www.w4gso.org.

Encourages oldercommercial and homebrew gear use. Details: www.classicexchange.orgsee page 4.

at the Red Cross onColiseum Drive in Winston-Salem. FCC exams at 6:20 PM, meeting startsat 7:30 PM. Our annual has been moved toJanuary to accommodate our speakers - be building something NOW!

. Our new meeting place is at Hamslocated in the Thruway Lower Mall. 7PM. Thank our hosts by orderingsomething and tip your waitress!

Winston Salem Hamfest

Homebrew Show-&-Tell

FARC Newsletter

January 11-26, 2016 KH5 Palmyra Atoll DXpedition

January-February, 2016,VP8 South Sandwich and South GeorgiaDXpedition

Feb 8 FARC General Membership Meeting

Feb 15 FARC Board Meeting

~March 16-April 8, 2016, VK0EK The Heard Island DXpedition

Mar 11, 2016 Charlotte Hamfest

Mar 19, 2016 Charleston (WV) Hamfest and Computer Show

Apr 2, 2016 North Carolina Section Convention (Raleigh Hamfest),

Apr 9,2016 Culpeper Amateur Radio Swapfest,

Apr 15, 2016 VHF Super Conference,

Sept 3, 2016 North Carolina State Convention (Shelby Hamfest)

1st Tuesdays Durham FM Association

1st Tuesdays Davie County Amateur Radio Club

2nd Mondays: The Orange County Radio Amateurs

2nd Tuesdays: Raleigh Amateur Radio Society General Meeting

2nd Mondays Rowan Amateur Radio Society

3nd Mondays Forsyth Amateur Radio Club, Inc. Business Meeting

, seehttp://palmyra2016.org/index.html

, see http://www.intrepid-dx.com/vp8/

at the Red Cross on ColiseumDrive in Winston-Salem. FCC exams at 6:20 PM, meeting starts at 7:30 PM.The program will be by Matt Jordan about Cell tower and microwaveinstallation and maintenance.

. Our new meeting place is at Hams located inthe Thruway Lower Mall. 7PM. Thank our hosts by ordering something and tipyour waitress!

, seehttp://vk0ek.org/

, Concord, NC, Mecklenburg Amateur RadioSociety, http://www.charlottehamfest.org

, Charleston,WV, Charleston Hamfest Committee

Raleigh, NC, RaleighAmateur Radio Society, http://rars.org/rarsfest

Culpeper, VA, CulpeperAmateur RadioAssociation, http://w4cul.org

Sterling, VA, Southeastern VHFSociety, North East Weak Signal Group & Mt. Airy VHF Radio Club. Hosted bythe Grid Pirates Contest Group and Directive Systems and Engineering,http://vhfsuperconference.com/

, Shelby,NC, ShelbyAmateur Radio Club, http://shelbyhamfest.org

: Meets for Dinner (optional) at6:00pm and the business meeting and program at 7:00pm. We are meeting atBullock's BBQ, on 3330 Quebec Drive in Durham. For more info on eachmeeting, check http://www.dfma.org/

: This may not beaccurate. Last info I had was from Kris, KB4MB that “they are ‘slightly’ active,but basically there is a small group of 2m guys, and a few HF guys and that is it.Maybe 6-10 members at this point?” Doyle, KM4BGJ advises that “The lastmeeting was in August at the Harmon Masonic Lodge located at 3229 Ray TMoore Rd. Yadkinville,NC 27055 at 7:00 pm. We will be looking forward to thismeeting. The club gained several new members on Field Day and also had anew Ham get their ticket on Field Days.” Contact Doyle at doyle5362 <at>yahoo <dot> com

meet at 1900 at theOrange County EOC in Hillsborough.

onsecond Tuesday of each month, Location: Ridge Road Baptist Church, 2011Ridge Road, Raleigh, NC, 27607. Time: People begin arriving at 7 PM, Themeeting officially begins at 7:30 PM. RARS also meets for a monthly dinner onthe first Tuesday of each month for the RARS dinner. Dinner begins at 6:30 PM.Next Dinner at Golden Coral, 6129 GlenwoodAvenue, Raleigh 27612.

. at the Red Cross Buildingon Coliseum Drive. FCC Exams are offers starting at 6:20 PM (pleasepreregister at info <at> w4nc <dot> com.) Meetings start at 7:30 PM with aprogram on various ham related topics.

at the Rowan County RescueSquad Building at 1140 Julian Road. Monthly meetings usually begin at 7:00PM local time, except for the July and December meetings which are “dinner”meetings and thus start a little earlier, usually beginning about 6:00-6:30 PM.Programs may include equipment demonstrations, movies, guest speakers, orjust open discussions on radio. We look forward to seeing you at the nextmeeting. http://www.rowanars.org/

. Open

Nearby NC Ham Club Meetings:

2nd Mondays Forsyth Amateur Radio Club, Inc

to all FARC members and interested visitors. We meet at Hams Restaurant(how appropriate!) located in Thruway Lower Mall starting at 7PM.

usually held at Tex & Shirley'sRestaurant in the Friendly Shopping Center on Pembroke Rd. 6:00 PM to eat,7:00 PM to meet. Verify the dates at http://www.w4gg.org/

Eat at 6:30pm andthe meeting is at 7:15pm. Captain Bill's Seafood & Steakhouse, 6108 WestMarket St., Greensboro, NC 27409. Verify the dates at http://www.w4gso.org/

, Thomasville: Breakfastat 8:30 am on the first Saturday of each month at the Denny's in Thomasville,1 0 3 S e d g e h i l l D r i v e ( m a p i t ) . F o r m o r e d e t a i l s s e e :http://nc4ar.org/us/page.php?2

http://k4stk.com/index.html

http://www.knightlites.org/ Meets in Cary. Seewebsite for details.

Next club meeting in 2015 is ? ; the meetingwill be held at TCRH. Meetings and FCC Test Sessions Test sessions are heldat the Twin County Regional Hospital in Galax, VA unless otherwiseannounced. http://galaxbarc.tripod.com/

3rd Mondays(?): Guilford Amateur Society

4th Mondays(?): Guilford Amateur Radio Association

1st Saturdays(?): Tri-County Amateur Radio Club

Last Mondays: Stokes County Amateur Radio Society SCARS

Knightlites QRP Club

BriarpatchAmateur Radio Club -

October, 2015

FARC Newsletter

Help! Early FARC Records

FARC Wayback Machine

by Don, WS4NC

by Henry Heidtmann, III, W2DZO

Continued from last month . . .

Just in case it isn’t obvious I am trying to locate as much oldhistory of FARC as I can find. The club was originally called theWinston-Salem Amateur Radio Club. Sadly most all of theearly records were lost in a fire in the club shack. If you haveany early records of FARC we would appreciate either thedonation of those or at least the opportunity to copy them.Sadly the first thing a family throws out after a ham dies is thepaper work - I’ve been told directly by one family that “that wasjust old ham radio papers and work papers - no one isinterested in that trash.”

The early history of FARC was written in 1934 by Wilson Lamb,W4BOH. You can read it all at:

http://www.dwepe.com/FARCHistory/1934%20FARC%20History%20by%20W4BOH.htm

Last month was part 1 of the history compiled by HenryHeidtmann, III from FARC records and interviewing those whowere there. This month we continue with part 2 . . .

1940 President- Robert DayJanuary, 1940 - Dues raised to $12 per year, payable at 1.00per month.

1941 President- LeRoy ColeyDecember - Due to the United States entering World War II, allamateur communication is suspended. However, the club isnominated to be a special relay station for military messagesonly. During the war years, the government offered payment forany ham gear, as there was a shortage of reliable radios. Many

Winston-SalemAmateur Radio Club History

club members sold their sets, but the club still managed tomeet on a monthly basis. Croquet became all the rage at theclubhouse. Amateur privileges were slowly reinstatedbeginning in the spring of 1946.

1947 - 1956There are limited Club records for these years due to a fire atthe Clubhouse which destroyed many of the documents. Wedo know that the Club continued to meet on a regular basisalthough active membership began to shrink.

1957 President - Wilson Lamb, W4BOH

1958 President - Dalla WattsThe club purchases a two meter beam for the clubhouse. Thegenerator is replaced with a new one, and Field Day takesplace in the mountains. The minutes of the club meetings showthere are several groups within the club which operatesomewhat independently of each other; The stockholders ofthe WSARC, INC.; the regular members of the WSARC, andthe Board of Directors of the WSARC, INC.

1959 WSARC President Beacham Leonard, W4RXGApril, 1959 - A letter goes out from the Board of Directors toform a committee of discussion concerning the liquidation ofthe club's properties. It states that the issue is not dissolution ofthe organization, only its assets(i.e., the clubhouse, land andequipment.). It was becoming clear that the club as it stood wasbeginning to come apart at its seams. Yet another small groupwithin the club was busy with forming an offshoot of the club,with full support and commitment from the WSARC.

to be continued next month . . .

Minutes of the Forsyth Amateur RadioClub Meeting— 12 October 2015

By Terry Brown, AK4D,Secretary, Forsyth Amateur Radio Club

1. Call to Order and Welcome:

Jerry Minor, K4GW

Meeting at the Red Crossbuilding, 690 Coliseum Drive, was called to order by President

, at 1932 hours. He welcomed FARCmembers and visitors to the meeting, approximately 35 total.

October, 2015

WS4NC QSL Card (Also, a “Bird” wattmeter!)by Don, WS4NC

WS4NC

FARC Newsletter

2. Announcements/Club Business:

a. Treasurer's Report: Henry Heidtmann-W2DZO

b. Newsletter Prize: Don Edwards-WS4NC

Chuck Small-KM4IVY

Gene Bowman-WB4MSG

c. ARDUINO Report: Bob Gusek-NC4RG

d. VE Test Session Report: Dale Mierisch,WB9SZL, Kent Englebert-K4HKE

Don Edwards-WS4NC

Michael K. Thorn—KM4OCN--Technician LicenseJerry M. Brown—KM4OCO--Technician LicenseOliver N. Swanson—KM4OCP--General LicensePaul M. Schuh—KM4OCQ--Technician LicenseSteven P. Iltis—KM4OCR--Technician LicenseCatherine G. Melvin—KM4OCS--Technician

License

e. Repeater Status: Dale Mierisch, WB9SZL

f. 444.275 Repeater Net: Steve Patterson-WA3RTC

g. Nomination Committee: Henry Heidtmann-W2DZO

Jim Atkins-W4UX Harold Richardson-N4HER

Terry Brown-AK4DHenry Heidtmann-W2DZO,

Bob Gusek-NC4RG

Judson Davis-KG4OHQ

stated the club balance was $2582.88.

talkedabout the prize given to attendees at each months meetingwho had read the monthly newsletter in detail and who hadlocated text items surrounded by { and }.

was the winner for this month's drawing, a BaofengUV-5RA. suggested that an entrybe made before each drawing for anyone getting or upgradinga license at the VEC test session prior to the meeting.

statedthat the next ARDUINO meeting would be 21 November andthat a Raspberry Pi would be required. More details wouldfollow prior to the meeting.

head volunteer thankedand for helping with the testingprocedure. Dale stated that there were six test takers andcongratulated six successful candidates:

,stated that all three club repeaters were operational and thatthe echolink nodes were operational on the 146.640 and the145.470 repeaters. Dale covered the basics of each repeaterfor visitors and the new amateur radio license holdersattending the meeting. Dale also stated that the maintenancefor the Sauratown Mountain repeater, 145.470, was scheduledfor the end of October, weather dependent.

stated the interest in getting more activity on theclub's 444.275 repeater by starting a net on Tuesdays from2000 to 2030 hours. It was recommended that users of the444.275 repeater to let the repeater signal drop beforereengaging the repeater. This may help preventing therepeater timing out.

announced the nomination committee results locatingcandidates for club officers for calendar year 2016.Candidates volunteering to run for office were

for President, for Vice-President, for Secretary and himself,

for Treasurer. Henry asked ifthere were any additional nominations from the floor. Nonewere heard. made a motion to accept thecandidates previously stated as officers for the 2016 calendaryear. seconded the motion. Votewas called with majority approval. The members of the

Nomination Committee for this process were

and

that the Boy Scout Jamboree-on-the-Air (JOTA) would be thiscoming weekend on HF frequencies.

asked everyone to check out theclub hamshack and that the new filters had been installed. Hestated that more improvements were on the way. Henry alsoencouraged everyone to participate in the CQ Worldwidecontest on 24-25 October in the club hamshack. He is settingup shifts of four hours each for anyone wanting to participate.

thankedand

others for the club hamshack improvements.

pointed out some surplused electronic meters and abox filled with QST, CQ and SE Repeater Journal magazinesthat had been donated to the club and encouraged attendeesto get those. Applicants for Echolink are now required tosubmit proof of amateur radio license.

gave apresentation on the Forsyth County Community EmergencyResponse Team (CERT) program. Some pertinentinformation on key slides follow:

: The CERT program trains citizens incommunities, businesses and other organizations inemergency preparedness and basic disaster responsetechniques that enable them, as volunteers, to provideassistance to their neighbors and support to first respondersduring emergencies or disasters.

: Why is CERT Needed? Disasters canseverely restrict and overwhelm emergency responders,communications, transportation and utilities. Disasters canleave businesses, neighborhoods and individuals cut off fromoutside emergency support. Citizens need to be proactive withtheir own safety. CERT can promote a better understandingbetween emergency responders and citizens.

: Activation Levels of CERT can be ona County Wide or District, Community or Single Incident Level.

This slide showed the fourteam districts in Forsyth County and the CERTTier System.

e. This slide explained how to start a CERTTeam by recruiting 15-25 interested individuals, completing the21 hour basic training course, establishing and participating inorganization, objectives, continued training and exercises.

Ms.Cordell explained that the training was free. Additionali n f o r m a t i o n c o u l d b e f o u n d a t t h e w e b s i t e :http://www.readyforsyth.org

HenryHeidtmann-W2DZO, Don Edwards-WS4NC, John Kippe-K1PPE, Harold Richardson-N4HER, David McDonald-N4WMB, JimAdkins-W4UX.

h. Jamboree-on-the-Air: Geoff Rudy-KK4MOV

i. Club Hamshack Status and CQ Worldwide:Henry Heidtmann-W2DZO

Jerry Minor-K4GW Gene Bowman-KB4MSG,Henry Heidtmann-W2DZO, Don Edwards-WS4NC

j. Miscellaneous Comments: Henry Heidtmann-W2DZO

3. Main Presentation: Leigha Cordell, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Emergency Management,

a. Slide One

b. Slide Two

c. Slide Three

d. Slides Four and Five:

Slide Six:

f. Training Cost and Additional Information:

October, 2015

g. Contact Information: LeighaCordell

4. Meeting Adjourned:

5. Meeting Attendees:

Don Edwards-WS4NC; Terry Brown-AK4D;Gene Bowman-WB4MSG; Dale Mierisch-WB9SZL; TonyPoindexter-KD4MMQ; Harold Richardson-N4HER; JimAtkins-W4UX; Jerry Minor-K4GW; Van Key-KC4WSK;Andrew Gusek-NC4AG; Bob Gusek-NC4RG; Geoff Rudy-KK4MOV; Steve Patterson-WA3RTC; Jeff Stafford-AC4YN; David McDonald-N5WMB; David Shoaf-KC4X;Kent Englebert-K4HRE; Jim Marler-KM4HUZ; ChuckSmall-KM4IVY; Bill Kennedy-KM4MMG; Judson Davis-KG4OHQ; John Canup-KM4HVB; Bruce Baliff-WB4QCM;Michael Thorn; Steven Iltis; Michael Pope-KM4MMH; PaulSchuh-KM4OCQ; Les Jongberg-KJ4JYZ; Wayne Collins-KK4ZHL; Jerry Brown-KM4OCO; Sam Poindexter-KM4LUD; Ken Melvin-KM4NFQ; Cathy Melvin-KM4OCSJimAtkins-W4UX and Henry Heidtmann-W2DZO.

If interested,could be contacted at 336-661-6440 or by email at

.

Motion to adjourn the meeting wasmade by many, seconded by many and agreed to at 2050hours.

Below are the names of the meetingattendees who are listed on the sign-in sheet or otherwiserecognized:

[email protected]

Minutes of the Forsyth Amateur RadioClub Business Meeting—19 October 2015

by Terry Brown (AK4D)Secretary, Forsyth Amateur Radio Club

1. Attendees: Fourteen attendees:

2. Call to Order: The meeting, in the glass walled side room atHamm’s Restaurant, 414 South Stratford Road, Winston-Salem, was called to order byat 1938 hours.

3. Meeting Topics:

a. Treasurer’s Report: statedthat the club balance was $2532.68. The balance included $50to support the NC QSO party which was approved by thebusiness meeting attendees. The $50 is the cost of one awardgiven to the NC QSO party participant who makes contactswith the most counties.

b. Future FARC Main Meeting Topics: Discussion washeld on upcoming meeting topics:

1. 9 November: Introduction to DX by.

2. 7 December: Annual holiday dinner meetingscheduled for the first Monday in December at River Ridge TapHouse. The normal second Monday that we usually meet was

Jerry Minor-K4GW,Henry Heidtmann-W2DZO, Terry Brown-AK4D, DonEdwards-WS4NC, Gene Bowman-WB4MSG, David Shoaf-KC4X, Harold Richardson-N4HER, Steve Patterson-WA3RTC, Jim Register-KV4SJ, Geoff Rudy-KK4MOV,David Ramsey-W4OIL, John Kippe-K1PPE, Jim Atkins-W4UX and Doc Holiday-WB4QIZ.

President Jerry Minor-K4GW

Henry Heidtmann-W2DZO

Jim Atkins-W4UX

already taken. will reconfirmreservation.

3. 11 January: Homebrew Show-&-Tell - BringSomething!

4. 8 February: will do a presentation oncell phone tower installation and maintenance.

c. Sauratown Mountain Repeater Work:stated that had sent out an

email to the repeater repair crew detailing the SauratownMountain repeater work scheduled primarily for 31 Octoberand 1 November as a backup date.

led discussion on transporting the replacementantenna to the repeater site. stated that hecould transport the antenna. The antenna is one piece withharness pre-mounted on the antenna.stressed making sure that extra mounting hardware, waterproofing, basic tools and to make sure that cable connectorsfor the new antenna were correct. A repeater meeting isscheduled for Tuesday night at 2030 on the 47 repeater on 27October and a pre-work inspection scheduled for Thursday, 28October. A tentative listing of the repeater work crew is

d. FARC Website: noted that acorrection needed to be made on the FARC website on thebusiness meeting location. stated hecould make corrections. asked who elsehad access to making corrections on the website.

will have administrative access as abackup.

e. FARC 85th Anniversary Pins and Increasing FARCMembership: Several members discussed a previous topic onpreparation for FARC’s 85th anniversary and a brief discussionwas held on how to increase club membership. This will be acontinuing topic.

f. Hospitality Chair: leddiscussion on the need for a club member to serve asHospitality Chair at meetings. will ask

if he would be interested in being HospitalityChair.

g. CQSSB: restated theoperating times at the FARC club hamshack for the CQ SSBevent were 1900-2300 on Friday (24 October), 1000-1400 and1600-2000 on Saturday (25 October). Don Edwards-WS4NCvolunteered to send out an email to remind club members andothers on the club station operation.

h. Jamboree-on-the-Air: gave anupdate of the prior weekends Jamboree-on-the-Air. Geoffstated that 20 out of 22 boy scouts had gotten merit badges.Ham radio stations for boy scout use were in use from 1900-2200 on Friday and 0800 to 1100 and 1430 to 1630 onSaturday.

i. Newsletter Prize: Discussion was held on how to putentries for those getting or upgrading licenses for the monthly


Matt Jordan

John Kippe-K1PPE Dale Mierisch-WB9SZL


David Shoaf-KC4X

Jerry Minor-K4GW

DaleMierisch-WB9SZL, David Ramsey-W4OIL, Don Edwards-WS4NC, Jim Atkins-W4UX, Mike Atkins-N4VE, HenryHeidtmann-W2DZO, David McDonald-N4WMB, JerryMinor-K4GW and John Kippe-K1PPE.

David Shoaf-KC4X

Jerry Minor-K4GWTerry Brown-AK4D

HenryHeidtmann-W2DZO

Don Edwards-WS4NC

Jerry Minor-K4GW JimMarler-KM4HUZ


Geoff Rudy–KK4MOV


Part 2, next month

FARC Newsletter

Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015 Hits 100Proponents in the US House

ARRL - The Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015 -- H.R. 1301 andS. 1685 -- now has the support of 100 members of the USHouse of Representatives. Two additional cosponsors signedonto H.R. 1301 on September 24, raising the number ofcosponsors to 99. Those members plus the House bill'ssponsor, US Rep Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), total 100 proponents,and the number is expected to continue growing.

One of the newcomers agreeing to cosponsor H.R. 1301 wasthe congressman who represents the Connecticut Housedistrict that includes ARRL Headquarters -- Rep John Larson(D-CT). The other new cosponsor was Rep Kristi L. Noem (R-SD)

The Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015 would direct the FCC toextend its rules relating to reasonable accommodation ofAmateur Service communications to private land-userestrictions. Kinzinger introduced H.R. 1301 in March, with 12original cosponsors from both sides of the aisle. Sen RogerWicker (R-MS) introduced S. 1685 in June, with Sen RichardBlumenthal (D-CT) as the original cosponsor.

Recently the League took steps to address objections andconcerns raised by representatives of community associationsabout the legislation. "Clarity on Amateur Radio Parity" makesit clear that the bill would not create new federal policy withrespect to outdoor amateur antennas. As it points out, the FCCalready recognizes a strong federal interest in effectiveAmateur Radio communication from residences and hasadopted a limited preemption of state and local regulation of

VHF radio drawing in addition to the entries from club memberswho have read the club newsletter. It was agreed that newlicensees or upgrades would have to attend the meeting inorder to be eligible for the drawing.stressed that the rules have been previously stated that youhave to be present to win.

4. Meeting Adjournment: Motion was made to adjourn thebusiness meeting by , seconded by

and others. Meeting was adjourned at2013 hours.

I never know exactly what I am getting when I order theBaofeng for the monthly giveaway. These radios are (I think)made by different companies in China. Or in idfferent batches -or something. Last month I received a UV-5R - the onlydifference I could find was that the case was more(sexy?). And the bezel was slightly larger and maybe a littleflashier. But more importantly October’s winner of the Baofenghandheld was

Don Edwards-WS4NC

Doc Holliday-WB4QIZJim Register-KV4SJ

Chuck Small, KM4IVY.

Winner - Winner, October Baofeng!

Acurvaceous

October, 2015

FARC ProgramsBy Jim W4UX

November: Will be an “Introduction to Dxing” by Jim, W4UX.This is targeted at new hams but will be also for long-timehams. The November Program is normally the HomebrewShow-&-Tell but it has been postponed to January.

December is the annual FARC Dinner with the installation ofnew officers. FIRST MONDAY! See the calendar for details.

January, 2016 will be the Homebrew Show-&-Tell (rescheduledfrom November - that gives you more time to have somegoodies ready!)

February, 2016 will be a great program about the technicaldetails behind the cell phones you use everyday. Don’t missthis one!

March, 2016 will be aboutARES by Jim Mansfield, WA4NOT.

I hope to see everyone at the meetings, normally starting at7:30, Red Cross Building, 690 Coliseum Drive, Winston-Salem. Be sure to keep in touch with our website as meetingtimes or programs may be altered: http://www.w4nc.com

Don't forget to put theon your calendar!

Saturday, 9 January Classic Hamfest

At one of the most attended meetings of the year there wereonly 22 entries in the box. 22! Come on guys - this isn’t thathard. But just in case it was too hard the clues are bigger thismonth and much easier to find. All you have to do is write downthe four secret clues surrounded by squiggly brackets {} buriedin the Newsletter and write them on a 3X5 card provided at theclub meeting. And be present at the drawing after the program.And whatever other rules were published - but basically thatcovers it. If the odds were this good at the lottery there wouldbe a line out the door of every convenience store.

So let’ssee if that improves things. If that means that only 22 peopleread the Newsletter before the meeting then maybe I shouldjust publish a simple card, which could be mailed. Apparentlybribery doesn’t work.

I have another FARC blue (maybe we should call them Hull-a-Ba-Loo) Baofeng UV-5R for November. Gentlemen, readyyour entries.

This month the clues are different - see page 11!.

continued on page 9

FARC Newsletter

Amateur Radio antennas. The Amateur Radio Parity Act of2015 would extend the limited preemption to private land-userestrictions.

H.R. 1301 has been referred to the House Energy andCommerce Committee. Rep Greg Walden, W7EQI (R-OR),chairs that panel's Communications and TechnologySubcommittee, which will consider the measure. S. 1685 hasbeen referred to the Senate Commerce, Science, andTranspo r t a t i on Commi t t ee ' s subcommi t t ee onCommunications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet,chaired by Sen Wicker, the bill's sponsor.

The ARRL continues to encourage members to write their USHouse and Senate members urging their cosponsorship of thelegislation. Visit the Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015 page forinformation on how you can get involved.

Great appreciation to Bob Gusek NC4RG for his great jobdoing the Arduino workshops. The last workshop was held inAugust. The date for the next workshop is November 21 andwill be the first workshop on Raspberry PI. For more details seeBob’s website at http://ncbob.info/arduino-class/

Caveness was one of Dad’s profs at State and is in a FDpicture in QST. I could likely find it.

I have an ARRL Handbook with Handy’s signature on thefront...may have been his desk copy.

Sorry I missed the BBQ. I’ve been out that way and eaten atGreasy Corners, but never at Snappy...will try it. Greasycorners has changed hands a couple of times and I have no

Arduino Workshop- now with PI!

News from Wilson, W4BOH

& Future Technical Saturday Workshops

[Editor’s note: Apologies to Wilson but I ran out of time to edit this a little better,but decided to run this in November while it is current. This is a composite frommultiple emails. Please try to read a little “between the lines”. Don WS4NC.]

idea if it’s even going. Corner of 601/801. {Ed. note: Its stillthere - much changed. The only other remaining Davie CountyBBQ shack.]

Condx awful for CX. I only made 55 QSOs.

October, 2015

The vintage operating position with vintage lamp cord (didnot burn my actual Edison bulb) and 1938 QST with SignalShifter ad... The Variac keeps the old stuff at 110 V.

The back of the racks was getting a little messy. Nowtaken apart for maintenance and and a few updates...Safety is not a problem. [Ed. Famous last words!] I onlyrun 3KV to the 4-125s... The others are a little lower.

From Early QSTsby Phillip Space, N0KAL

Parity continued from page 8

Here’s my CX setup, with Signal Shifters from 1938, 40, 42,Comet Pro (W4BOH) 1935, Hallicrafters HT-9 1940, and HRO-7,\ 1940. Note also the 1940s W4BOH radio chair, nowrestored. I’ll have a story about it ‘soon”.

The amps are 810 triode, prewar, PP 4-125As, built by me fromparts in the family many yrs, and parallel 813s, junk from a shedcleanup, finished by me. They all work. I have the loudestchirp on 20m and several helpful emails informing me thereof!


home had running water and electricity!! His Dad, a plumber,had accepted a job at Camp Lejeune which led to a CivilService position there. Another sibling came into the familymaking Harold the only boy out of five children.

Harold experienced his major life’s challenge in his first twoyears of school. He reports that it took him four years of schoolto make it to the third grade!! Teacher comments on his reportcards were “Does not pay attention” and “Does not listen”.Harold explains that he could have been diagnosed with ADDand Dyslexia during those four years from his apparenthyperactivity and lack of concentration in school. He statesthat his oldest sister was constantly taking notes from theSchool Principal home to his Mom and Dad. But……hissymptoms were quickly diminished, attention levels greatlyincreased and full potential started hitting stride when theLARGE amount of sugar used in home cooking and the mealshe took to school was reduced by a substantial amount!!!Teachers, family and the school Principal quickly saw hisimprovement. Most apparent was his real talent and growinglove for math and science. Harold recalls his interest in gettingand repairing shortwave radios and listening to the broadcasts.Aside from his school books, one of his favorite books was thecatalog for Lafayette Electronics!!

His family moved from the military base into Jacksonville in1953, Harold did very well in school and graduated fromJacksonville High School. He was accepted at N.C. State inthe Engineering Program. But he stated that he was notprepared for college and none of his sisters had gone tocollege. At this point, Harold took the late Yogi Berra’s advicewhen he came to a fork in the road. He took it. A close friendconvinced Harold to go with him to talk to anArmy recruiter. Hetook a battery of tests and was told that since he had basicallyachieved a perfect score on the tests, he could choose thecareer path of his choice! He chose electronics. He startedclasses at a base in Georgia that was the beginning of anexceptional career.

FARC Member SpotlightHarold E. Richardson – N4HERContinued from Page 1

Harold served tours of duty inspecting and repairing complexcommunication equipment both in the shop and in the field andbeing an instructor all over the world including many spots inthe United States including Korea, Germany, and Vietnam.Harold states that he really enjoyed the Germany duty stationas it allowed him to do some traveling and sightseeing inFrance, Italy, Austria, Scandinavia, England and othercountries.

His tour of duty in 1964 with the 123rd Signal Corps at CampMosher, near Uijongbu, Korea was very memorable. Thiscamp was the inspiration for the book “MASH” by RichardHooker, a pen name for the military surgeon Dr. H. RichardHornberger. The book was adapted for the television show“MASH” and the layout of the real camp was the model for thelayout of the 43rd MASH unit on TVHarold recalled that thetelevision show brought back a lot of memories including theplace of relaxation called “Rosie’s Bar” both on TVand also inreality.

His year of living dangerously during November 1968 toNovember 1969 was a temporary tour of duty in Pleiku in thecentral highlands of Vietnam for the 861st Signal Detachment,62nd Maintenance Battalion. This was 30 miles fromCambodia and in short, Harold did “house calls” which took himto some interesting communication equipment repair jobs.Harold recalls that the ground would shake in the camp fromartillery shells being fired.

He wanted to reenlist for a third time, but it was time for achange. Harold went back to school on the GI Bill gettingdegrees in computer programming and also in business. Hehad also bought a motorcycle. All of his schooling effortsstarted paying off when he began working at BurroughsCorporation in Greensboro in 1972 working on mechanicaladding machines. He temporarily lived in Greensboro with oneof his four sisters. He quickly moved up, went to the computergroup, worked in UNIX systems, built digital projects, gotadvanced training and started working on mid-size computersystems.

During this time frame there were a lot of other significantevents in his life. Harold rented a home off of Hawthorne Road,got married to his wife Colleen in 1975 and even had a smallairplane crash in his back yard. He got more promotions andstarted working on large computer systems and was coveringmuch of the South and Eastern United States.

He went to China in 1984 for two months to install a computersystem in their census bureau. The Chinese governmentwanted to do their first census count since the revolution of1949 since the population count would affect the amount ofmoney they could borrow on the world market. This effortrequired some serious computer work.

There were enormous changes in the computer industry fromthe mid-1980’s through the 1990’s. Burroughs bought Sperryand the combination company became Unisys. Harold statesthat he did well through all of the changes, up and down,learned a lot, accomplished much. But, eventually, he wanteda change.

Harold retired in 2001, but not really. Certifications werebecoming very important for computer programmers and other

Continued on the next page


IT workers. His own credentials looked very impressive and asa result, he was hired part-time by Forsyth Technical Institute toteach classes in Cisco Certifications. He did this for sevenyears.

Harold states that through the years, he had collected a lot ofstuff and built a lot of electronic test equipment. A short timeago, he felt a tad crowded by all of his “stuff” and went to somehamfests including the hamfest at Summit School to see if hecould sell some of his treasures. He had some prior ham radioexperiences, was interested in ham radio but the SummitSchool Hamfest gave him a bigger taste. Harold did somework with MikeAtkins, N4VE.

He bought a Kenwood TS-940S transceiver in 2012 from Mike,sat through one of Mike’s Technician training classes and gothis Technician and General license at Greensboro in onesession in February 2013. Harold is not satisfied being at theGeneral level and is mentally preparing for the Extra testsession. He enjoys all of the facets of ham radio, includingmaking antennas for sale but focuses on the digital operatingmodes due to some hearing loss. His favorite digital modesare PSK31 and RTTY.

His HF antenna at home is a G5RV but he wants to put up a 20meter delta loop but that is complicated by his neighborhoodCC&R’s. For VHF and UHF, he has a J-Pole in the attic alongwith a fan dipole and three long-wire antennas. For a recentbirthday in early February, his present was a K3S, which he hasadded to his current collection of working gear that now alsoincludes at Yaesu FT-847 and a Yaesu FT-8900R in his vehicle. Greetings from XU land . . .

When we sent out a notice that we were going to be workingCQWW-DX from the Red Cross shack I received an email backfrom David Griffith, WA4MKK. It seems that David is trekkingthrough Cambodia. Don’t think he has a radio with him. Withhelp from translate.google.com I sent Dave a message

“ ”

which according to my computer is supposed to be “Walkcarefully behind the Buffalo.” I’m not sure the translation wasaccurate.

!"#!$%&'#()&'#%*+',,-./0'#$%0'#&/&1,2

{November’s Treasure Hunt}

This month the {Treasure Hunt} will be a little different. Look atthe picture above from an old Newspaper article. It is of anFARC member taken years ago when he was President of theCommodore Computer Users’ Group. Who is that? You don’t

have to pick the right name to qualify - you just have to guess.To make it easier you can just put the letter on the 3X5 card thismonth - or the name - or the call. If you know, don’t spoil it - let’ssee what the guesses are.

A. JimAtkins, W4UXB. John Kippe, K1PPEC. Don Edwards, WS4NCD. Terry Brown,AK4DE. Gene Bowman, WB4MSGF. Jim Marler, KM4HUZG. Jerry Minor, K4GW

November Birthdays!

KK4RKL 11 11WA4RDZ 11 13KK4MOV 11 15KK4LCK 11 24Pending 11 25KG4OHQ 11 28pending 11 28N4YMP 11 29KK4GAF 11 29

N4HER continued from page 10


October FARC Meetingby Don, WS4NC

A basic presentation of Community Emergency ResponseTeam, CERT was given by

.Disasters can severely restrict and overwhelm emergencyresponse resources and leave communities cut off fromoutside emergency support. CERTs are trained to take care ofthemselves and help others in their communities for the firstthree days following a disaster. Training Topics include:Disaster Preparedness, Fire Safety, Medical Operations, LightSearch and Rescue, Disaster Psychology and Terrorism.

Leigha Cordell, Logistics Officer,Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Emergency Management

HR 1301 and S 1685

from ARRL

NOW, “CLARITY ON PARITY” – THE VIDEO! – In August, theARRL responded to the concerns expressed by communityand neighborhood associations regarding HR 1301 and S1685 Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015 by publishing, “Clarity

on Amateur Radio Parity.” Thisdocument clarifies that the Billwould not result in new federalpolicy on outdoor amateur radioantennas and it would notrequire approval of largeantenna towers by homeownerassociations. For furtherinformation on the document,see

http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Regulatory/Clarity%20on%20Parity.pdf

Now, a new video has been produced, “The Amateur RadioParity Act of 2015 – Separating Fact from Fiction”, whichreinforces the arguments discussed in the ARRL statement.ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN, said the video will bemade available on Capitol Hill to make sure that Members ofCongress have correct informat ion, instead ofmisrepresentations. For further information on the video, seehttp://www.arrl.org/news/now-clarity-on-parity-the-video

HR 1301 AMATEUR RADIO PARITYACT OF 2015 (UPDATE)– As of October 29th, HR 1301 has 107 co-sponsors, including5 Representatives from North Carolina: David Price (D-NC-4);Walter Jones, Jr (R-NC-3); Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10); DavidRouzer (R-NC-7); and, Renee Elmers (R-NC-2). For furtherinformation, see http://www.arrl.org/news/parity-act-house-cosponsors-now-in-triple-digits

S 1685 AMATEUR RADIO PARITY ACT OF 2015 (UPDATE) –

In June, it was announced that S 1685 Amateur Radio ParityAct of 2015 had been introduced in the US Senate. Thewording in S 1685 and HR 1301 are identical. Senator RogerF. Wicker (R-MS) introduced S 1685 into the US Senate. As ofOctober 27th, there is only 1 co-sponsor, Senator RichardBlumenthal (D-CT), who is the original co-sponsor of the Bill.For comments by Senator Wicker on the benefits of S 1685,see http://www.arrl.org/news/senate-sponsor-of-amateur-radio-parity-act-of-2015-said-bill-promotes-regulatory-transparency-equali

AMATEUR RADIO PARITY ACT OF 2015 PAGE ON ARRLWEBSITE (REMINDER) – A combined web page has beensetup by the ARRL to accommodate activities related to HR1301 and S 1685, and to provide a central location forinformation on these identical Bills. ARRL members are urgedto contact their Members of Congress in the House ofRepresentatives and the Senate and ask them to sign on to theBills as a co-sponsor. For further information, seehttp://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-website-has-new-amateur-r a d i o - p a r i t y - a c t - o f - 2 0 1 5 - p a g e a n dhttp://www.arrl.org/amateur-radio-parity-act

From Early QSTsby Phillip Space, N0KAL


Read-The-Newsletter,Attend-The-Meeting (RTN-ATM) -Maybe win something!

2016

mobile

T

Newsletter - hidden within will be somelittle stupid saying or poem between two curley brackets { } onseveral pages. The words have been converted to curves sodoing a CTRL-F will not work; you have to actually look andread - that requires a small investment of your effort and skill.Write what you find on a 3X5 card (provided at the FARCmeeting) along with your call.

Just after the program there will be a drawing for a ham-related goodie. Each month we will pull one entry from thatmonth - the winner must be present to win. At the December,

Banquet all the cards (including monthly winners)received from 8/2015 to 12/2016 will go into one drawing for anew 2-meter, 440 radio (Jetstream JT270M orequivalent); for the Big December, 2016 prize you will notneed to be present to win (but we hope you will); for themonthly prizes you must be present to win or we will drawanother card.

We say JT270M or equivalent because due to the Chineseimports the market is changing so fast that we don’t knowwhat will be the best choice 15 to 16 months from now - we willcommit to a particular radio around this time next year. Thecosts of all this has been paid by a special anonymousdonation.

The prize for August will be a pretty, blue Baofeng UV-5Ralready programmed, charged and ready to go. The odds arereally good each month so read and be there. The plan rightnow is continue with blue UV-5Rs each month, depending onavailability or if something better comes along. TheNewsletter will announce what is coming each month.

Repeating the text from last month’s Diddle-de-dah-de-Don:“There is a new secret message hidden in the Newsletter -look for {}. Print the secret 4-line message on a 3X5card (cards will be provided at the club meeting) or you canprint the secret message on the back of a $20bill - $100s are also good (thanks Click and Clack!) and dropit in the box at the next FARC meeting. Rules: 1) Messagemust be exact. 2) Must be on a 3X5 index card and appearexactly as in the Newsletter. 3) One entry per person. 4)Winner must be present to win or another entry will be drawn.5) No cash value. 6) Prizes will vary from great stuff to OKstuff - no substitutions. 7) At least one prize per meeting. 8)At the December meeting all yearly entries, includingwinners, will go back into one drawing for a special goodie. 9)Entries are the property of FARC, Inc. - except for the 20s and100s - the Newsletter editor may keep those!) The sprit of theidea here is that a) you must read the Newsletter and b) youmust come to the club meeting. There is nothing nefariousabout it.”

One additional rule - FARC reserves the right to end thispromotion early (but that is not the plan!)

o celebrate our 85th birthday (12/30/2015) we arehaving a special drawing. First - youneed to read the

participation

exactly

non-refundable

Other News:

“ARRL NATIONAL PARKS ON THE AIR”

The Tar Heel Emergency Net (THEN)

EVENT TO MARKNATIONAL PARK SERVICE CENTENNIAL – In 2016, theNational Park Service (NPS) will celebrate its 100thanniversary, and radio amateurs will be able to help mark theoccasion with the ARRL National Parks on the Air (NPOTA)event. The event begins at 0000 UTC on January 1, 2016 andcontinues throughout the rest of the year. Amateur radiooperations will be promoted and encouraged from any of themore than 430 official NPS administrative units and affiliatedareas across the US. Participants in NPOTA can be a Chaser,an Activator, or both. Chasers attempt to make contact withamateur radio operators in as many NPS units as possible,whereas Activators attempt to “put on the air” as many NPSunits as possible. Chaser and Activator totals will be postedonline using LoTW data. For further information on NPOTA,see http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-nationalparks-on-the-air-event-to-mark-national-park-service-centennial andhttp://www.arrl.org/NPOTA

is the North CarolinaARES net on the HF bands. It is on the air every evening at 7:30PM local time on 3.923 MHz. The purposes of the THEN are toprovide emergency communications, provide training in netoperations, serve as a forum for discussion, and promotefellowship among radio amateurs.All Hamsare invited to participate – check it out!

It is remarkable that the THEN has been on the air since 1947!If you would like to learn more about the THEN, seehttp://www.ncarrl.org/nets/THEN/index.html Please take amoment to review the 1954 THEN Rules, which were providedby Weldon Fields, W4AJT (SK).from NC Section Newsletter Oct. 2015


CQWW

The SuperBowl of Ham Radio. We ran a limitedentry this year due to the rebuilding of the RCstation. Still we had fun and worked at lot ofinteresting DX.

Those who participated were

and a few others (sorry I didn’t get a sign-up sheet) along with 12-year old not-yet licensed

Henry W2DZO, DarylKnight N5WK, Doc WB4QIZ, Don WS4NC, GeneWB4MSG, John Kippe K1PPE, Cathy MelvinKM4OCS

Henry running forty meters early on in the contest.

Daryl kept 20, 15 and 10 meters hopping during many ofthe hours we ran.

Mason got a great early education about 20 and 15 meterDX-ing. For about 4 hours he really starting stacking up

Mason. 12-year old Mason showed up and soonwas an expert at running DX. This was fun to watch.He worked a lot of European, Carribean stations andeven a few of the hard-to-getAsian stations.

We were open for a few hours Friday night when thecontest started, about 4 hours on Saturday and thenabout 6 hours on Sunday until the end of the contest.Great job all.

Our results were:

Band QSO ZN DX160 0 0 080 0 0 040 70 9 3320 180 30 9715 133 21 7610 225 22 83

TOTALS 608 82 289

TOTALSCORE 624,022

Where the Buffalo Roam . . .

Our “best-in-the-west”m e m b e r

isback at building goodies.This is a not-yet-finished40 meter rig James isworking on right now.James moved Cheyenne,WY back a few years agobut stays in touch. Jamesbuilds the most beautifulstuff. This is a pair of 807sd r i ven by a 6GW8oscillator CW transmitter.

J a m e sKretzschmer AE7AX

JOTA - Continued from Page 1


radio as possible. A few months ago it did not seemlike any local Scouts were planning to take part. Bylobbying leadership we were able toget on the calendar to hold a Radio Merit Badgeclass on Saturday, October 17 – the same weekendas JOTA. Interest was weak with only 3 Scoutsinitially signing up. The invitation was opened to

where we picked up just 3 more Scoutsas their troop was planning a camping trip for thatweekend. So with 6 Scouts it seemed to be a goodstart, though 10 would have been better.

Two weeks before JOTA, had a campingand bicycling trip rained out and was looking to get anight of camping in for those working on theCamping Merit Badge and to be eligible for Order ofthe Arrow nominations in the Spring. They gotpermission to camp in their sponsoring church’scemetery overnight on Friday night before the RadioMerit Badge class on Saturday morning. A perfectplan as many Scout troops camp during theweekend of JOTA where they can come and go tothe radio station between playing and roastingmarshmallows.

Suddenly somebody remembered that also onSaturday morning the Troop was scheduled tovolunteer for the Lewisville Recycling Day event.The Scouts enjoy helping with the community eventand at the same time earn service hours for rankadvancement.

Troop 719’s

Troop 752

Troop 719

Th is had nowevolved into RadioMerit Badge class,JOTA, a campingtrip, and a servicehour project on thesame day. The

increased number of Scouts planning to be at thechurch had added 9 more Scouts fromwanting to participate in the Radio Merit Badge andJOTA. There were now 15 Scouts.

ended up cancelling their weekendcamping trip and 6 more Scouts fromdecided to join in for the Radio Merit Badge. Nowthere are 21 Scouts on the list with little time left toexpand the operation. There was plenty ofclassroom space, but a single radio station wasstarting to seem like it would be a problem.

Troop 719

Troop 752Troop 752

We shot lines into a couple of trees a few days aheadof time, then showed up around lunch time on Fridayto pull up an antenna and set up a station so wecould start making JOTA contacts after the Scoutshad arrived on Friday night and pitched their tents.

We had a few members of the church stop by asking‘who had passed’, as we had set up an EZup tent inthe cemetery that from a distance was easilymistaken for a fresh grave site. We certainly neverthought that our activities might trigger this smalltight-knit church into meal preparation mode for agrieving family.

We ran a batch of contacts Friday night for thecampers, another early Saturday morning for the

Scouts, another mid-morning for theScouts, and then another after the 4-hour

merit badge classroom work to finish up.

Troop 719Troop 752

Diddle-De-Dah-De-Donby Don, WS4NC

73, Don WS4NC,Newsletter Editor

Thanks to everyone who helped with this month’sNewsletter. I can’t do this without the help of a lotof people and I appreciate it.

We have a lot of participation in FARC and we areproud of our members.

Thanks especially to those who wrote somethingthis month: Terry AK4D, Geoff KK4MOV (supergreat JOTA article!) and Wilson W4BOH. Terry,especially works hard to keep up the membershiplist and to do the Minutes.

Please plan on attending the December meetingwhich will be held on the

We will meet at River Ridge TapHouse just off 421 at the Lewisville Exit. Drivingfrom Winston you will turn left off 421 and RiverRidge will be on your right shortly after you crossover 421. It is located a little off the road.

In just one month we will celebrate our 85thanniversary – there are some good things cominglater this year, watch for them.

Thank you for your comments. I welcome anysubmissions.

FIRST MONDAY INDECEMBER.


We talked to VA, PA, MD, MA, and MN with the bestcontacts being experienced Scouting minded hamsthat could draw out the 10 minute conversationsneeded to earn the Radio Merit Badge.

In the end we had 21 new Radio Merit Badges andeven a few Scouts who showed up just to talk on theradio. We will organize a study class for any thatwant to pursue their Technician License as the meritbadge covers roughly half of the material.

All in all we had nearly 50 Scouts and adults who gotan exposure to amateur radio both in the classroomand ‘field’operation outdoors on a beautiful Fall day.

We could not have been happier with the turnout ,the attentiveness of the Scouts, the quality of thequestions during the class, the support of parents,and of course our sponsoring church,

. Somechurch members also came out asking how wecould put a radio station in the Scout room.

The Boy Scouts make this easy as there is a ready touse Powerpoint presentation, and Word formatworkbook from the 2013 National Jamboree. Weran the presentation using a projector in the church‘classroom’driven by a Raspberry Pi computer.

SharonUnited Methodist Church, Lewisville, NC

In order to teach the Radio Merit Badge you mustregister with the Boy Scouts as a Merit BadgeCounselor, and register as an adult. When youregister as a Merit Badge Counselor, you canspecify which Scout Troop or Troops that you arewilling to teach the merit badge to.

WS4NC

Happy T-day

Please pass the turkey!


145.47 has new ‘Ears”

by Don, WS4NC

If the 145.47 repeater sounds better these days it is due to thehard work of a group of people. Dale Mierisch WB9SZL, MikeAtkins K4VE, Henry Heidtmann, III W2DZO, DavidMcDonald W5WMB, Jeff Stafford AC4YN, Jerry Minor

K4GW, David Ramsey KJ4OIL and Don WS4NC spentOctober 31 replacing the old tower and antennas onSauratown Mt.

The tower work was done primarily by Henry and Mike withDale filling in after Henry had to leave to attend a wedding inCharlotte. Logistics was more than a little involved. Planningbegan at least a year and a half ago. Access to Sauratown Mt.

is restricted so all had to beapproved. Much appreciation toWXII who provides the site andapproved the erection of the newequipment. The cost of all this waswell over $1500 even some smallitems were donated.

We removed the old 30-foot tower,replaced it with a new 40-foot tower,removed three antennas andinstalled a new commercial folded-

dipole antenna. Wind, storms and just general severeconditions had deteriorated the old tower and just destroyedthe old antennas. The old tower swayed dangerously and wasmore than a little scary coming down.

One of our “friends” found theend of the heat gun anappealing spot.

A Motley group that couldn’t hold still for a group shot. Itwas chilly on the mountain around 7AM.

Before I had to hunt to find a spot where I could put my HT in myoffice or home and hear the repeater without noise. Now I can’tfind a spot that is not full quieting. We had been operating withtwo antennas due to noise problems, one for receive and thelesser one for transmit. Now we are back to one antenna that ishigher than before. 40 feet doesn’t sound high until you realize

that the top of themountain is about 2250ASL. Sauratown Mt. ist h e h i g h e s t p o i n tbetween Atlanta andWashington, DC.

The view toward, and looking down on, Pilot Mt looking acrossWTQR’s tower site. Shot from ground level at the repeater site.

Before we could begin work wehad to evict a couple ofthousand hornets. It was coolenough that they didn’t haveany fight in them or thingsmight have not gone so well.

David and Dale are conferringon a point in front of the 145.47

repeater. Um, I think Dale is still holding the broomthat he used to fly to the top of the mountain. It was,after all, Halloween. We met at 6:15 AM in King forbreakfast. The last of us left the Mountain around 5PM and we gathered at King Kitchen for Dinner.

At the left the old transmit antenna is coming down.The receive antenna had already been removed atthis point. 145.47 repeater is located in the old radarshack on the top of the mountain inside the fence atWXII. WXII has graciously allowed FARC access inrecognition of that FARC does for the community.We do appreciate that. No other ham organization isallowed on the top of the mountain.


Forsyth Amateur Radio Club Membership Form

_________________________ __________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________CALLSIGN BIRTHDAY FIRST NAME MI LAST NAME

(MM/DD/YY)

__________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

STREET OR MAIL DELIVERY ADDRESS ************ EMAIL ADDRESS************

_____________________________________________ ________ ________________ ____________ (YES)(NO) (YES) (NO) (EMAIL) (USMAIL)CITY STATE ZIP +4 ARRL MEMBER? ARES MEMBER? NEWSLETTER BY

_____________________________________(YES) (NO) _____________________________________(YES) (NO) _____________________________________(YES) (NO)HOME PHONE PUBLISH? CELL PHONE PUBLISH? WORK PHONE PUBLISH?

______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

Emergency Contact Number(s) Emergency Contact Name

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________HAM FAMILY MEMBER 1 CALLSIGN

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________HAM FAMILY MEMBER 2 CALLSIGN

Note: Full Membership and family members must be licensed hams.Please check the special interests you may have below:

Please make sure your email address is correct.The Newsletter is sent to email addresses only because of cost (now about $0.70 withprinting and postage) and almost everyone has an email address. We still send some US Mail several times a year and for those withoutinternet access.

3rd line is asking if you are an ARRL member(Y or N) or an ARES member (Y or N). We track ARRL membership because we are requiredto maintain a certain percentage to keep our ARRL certifications. ARES membership info is required sothat the back of your membership cardwill show ARES for ARES identification. For ARES members, there is training that you should completeto participate in big emergencies.There is a ARES net on 145.47 on Thursday evenings(open to all) and many fun ARES events during the year, often with FREE T-shirts.

6th and 7th lines. If there is more one licensedham in the family at the same address, all may be members for FREE after one paidmembership.

Please complete the above and return this sheet along with your dues to address below or give toHenry W2DZO at the next Club meeting.Even if your dues are paid please return the sheetso club records can be kept up to date.

Forsyth Amateur Radio Club, Inc. Thanks and 73, Don WS4NC and Terry, AK4D--FARC Secretary

PO Box 11361Winston-Salem, NC 27116-1361

DUES EXPIRE IN DECEMBER -

1. Regular Dues $24.If over 65 or full time student,dues are $12 ___________

2. Donations (Appreciated!!) ___________

3. Total ___________

( ) CW ( ) Science Discussion ( ) QRP( ) Digital ( ) EME ( ) Kit Building( ) Foxhunts ( ) Satellite ( ) Arduino( ) HF Contesting ( ) Emergency Comms ( ) FARC Board/Business( ) VHF Contesting ( ) Public Service ( ) ___________________( ) ARES ( ) SWL ( ) ___________________( ) Microwaves ( ) Test Equipment ( ) ___________________

This is the new-for-2016 form.

1}dwepe.com/farcnewsletters/y2015m11.pdf · january 11-26, 2016 kh5 palmyra atoll dxpedition...

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