VOLUME XXXII #1

JANUARY 2013 Q5

DOWNEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB

SERVING DOWNEY AND THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES SINCE 1951

Event Date Lead

ARC Walk Mar 23, 2913 Buck Kerns

Street Faire May 4, 2013 Kent Savage

Field Day Jun 22-23, 2013 Bill Heather

Ho'olaule'a Jul 20-21, 2013 Buck Kerns

Amazing Day Walk TBA Rick Norwood

Tour de Sewer Oct 12, 2013 Norwood/Savage

JOTA Oct 19, 2013 Frank Myllo

Christmas Parade TBA Kent Savage

DARC 2013 Public Service Events

SDR Radio by Dave N6TEB

Greetings and Happy New Year, Since I am once again the clubs VP of programs I look forward to providing interesting, educational and impactful series of talks throughout this year. Some of the presentation I

already have commitment for include; Emergency Com center set up, Simple DXpedition opportunities and working with surface mount components. If you have any suggestions please drop me an email n6teb@arrl.net.

In January I will be sharing my experiences using the Flex 5000a Software Defined Radio. When I first heard about SDR I couldn’t imagine using a radio without any knobs, meters or dials on the front. They also require a computer in order to work. Clearly didn’t sound like fun or anything I wanted to use. Then I started doing some more research. I read about some of my friends making some very impres-sive contacts on the upper bands using SDR’s and digital modes.

Last March I broke down and bought a Flex 1500. One of their smallest radios. It only put out 5 watts but would make a great IF rig for using transverters on the higher frequencies. Once I got it I immediately hooked it up to my Gap Vertical to see how well it heard on HF. I was amazed. It had great sensitivity an selectivity. Since you can work what you can’t hear I thought I would put it to a very unscientific test. I hooked up an Elecrft K3, and Icom 751 ProII, Ken-wood 2000 and the small Flex radio. I would find a weak signal then switch the antenna to each radio listening to the results. While they could all discern the signal the intelligibility was clearly better on the Flex. I as sold. I sold the 1500 on eHam, which went very fast and purchased a Flex 5000A. Making the same test as before the highend model proved to be even better on receive.

I will bring my Flex 5000 to the club meeting on Janu-

ary 3rd

and set it up for a demonstration. Please stop

by and check it out.

Q5 PAGE 2

http://darcarc.wordpress.com/

THE DOWNEY

AMATEUR RADIO CLUB, INC.

P.O. Box 207

Downey, CA 90241

Q5 Staff

Editor

John Powell, KF6EOJ john.powell@csulb.edu Phone: (562) 862-4608 Alt Phone: (562) 985-8610

Associate Editors

John Schroeder, N6QQ Phone (562) 404-1112 n6qq@msn.com Jon Olesen, KD6HXP au186@hotmail.com

Electronic Publishing

Rick Norwood,KD6KHJ Phone: (562) 865-5750 kd6khj@arrl.net

Permission to copy material from the Q5 is granted provided that credit is given to the “DARC Q5”.

Q5, as in: a signal that is perfectly readable, hence the name of our newsletter. We hope you agree.

Club Officers President Rick Norwood, KD6KHJ Phone: (562) 865-5750 kd6khj@arrl.net First Vice President Ron Eveland, W6QM Phone: (562) 860-3623 w6qm@msn.com VP Programs

Dave Glenn, N6TEB Phone: (562) 928-8560 n6teb@arrl.net

VP Membership OPEN VP Service OPEN VP Ways and Means Steve Hartranft, KI6SUF Phone: (562) 923-0070 grandpasjh@aol.com Secretary

Bill Heather, KB6WKT Phone: (562) 863-6607

kb6wkt@arrl.net Treasurer Frank Myllo, KC6YPV Phone: (562) 860-4045 kc6ypv@arrl.net Director (One Year) Buck Kerns, AE6DT Phone: (562) 634-8441 ae6dt@arrl.net Director (Two Years) Kent Savage, K6WCI Phone: (562) 716-6070 k6wci@arrl.net Trustee, W6TOI Tom VanBuskirk, K6TV Phone: (562) 861-3085 tomvanb@verizon.net

Looking for an Elmer?

Here are a few resources that can get you going: Bill Heather, KB6WKT, 562 863-6607 kb6wkt@arrl.net, Helping Hams, Contesting Ivan Mikulich, KB6ATT, 562 862-4592 kb6att@att.net, Helping Hams, Field Trips Glenn Allen, KE6HPZ, 562 928-2080 ke6hpz@ham-radio.com, Microwave Harold ‘Buck’ Kerns, AE6DT, 562 634-8441 ae6dt@arrl.net, Public Service John Schroeder, N6QQ, 562 404-1112 n6qq@msn.com, Contesting, DXing, DXCC and WAS Card Checker, QSL cards for CQ WAZ and WPX awards.

When and where we meet:

We normally meet the first Thursday of each month at 1930 hrs in room 120 of

the First Baptist Church in Downey. The church is between 2nd and 3rd

streets, near City Hall, address is 8348 E. 3rd St. Use 2nd St, east from

Downey Ave (1 block north of Firestone Bl), adjacent to City Hall. Entrance via

double glass doors on the north side of 2nd St.

Swap Meet Information:

CHHS Electronics Swap Meet

Chino Hills High School

16150 Pomona Rincon Rd

Chino Hills, CA

Held the third Saturday of each month, 06:30 to 11:30 AM

W6TRW Swap Meet

Northrop Grumman Parking Lot

Corner of Marine and Aviation

Manhattan Beach, CA

Held the last Saturday of each month, 07:00 to 11:30 AM

Affiliations:

Affiliated ARRL Club

ARRL Special Service Club

Los Angeles Area Council of Amateur Radio Clubs

Orange County Council of Amateur Radio Organizations

Club Frequencies:

Simplex: 145.595 MHz*

440 Repeater #1: 445.640 (-) PL 156.7 Hz*

440 Repeater #2: 445.640 (-) PL 88.5 Hz

* See Calendar for Net Schedule

Q5 PAGE 3

General Meeting Minutes December 6, 2012

President Rick, KD6KHJ, brought the meeting to order at 19:32. Dick, WB6JDH, led the group in the pledged of allegiance. After the pledge of allegiance, introductions

took place with 24 in attendance. There was no guest speaker this month as it was a simple business portion of the meeting that took place before the goodies. A motion was made to accept the November minutes as published in the Q5. Motion carried. A motion was made to accept the November treasures report as published in the Q5. Motion carried.

Linda, KI6NSI, reported that the Audit Committee, consisting of herself, Steve,

KI6SUF, and Ron W6QM, met and the audit has been performed of the Treasur-er’s books and all is fine.

Kent, K6WCI, reported that the Downey Christmas Parade went well. Even though there was bad weather there were a few changes to the parade. Rick, KD6KHJ, informed the group present that the dates for next year’s public service events will be pub-lished in the January Q5. Arlene, KE6GFI, reported the November luncheon was well attended and the guest speakers were good. The next VE secession will be December 15, 2012. Due to Arlene’s pending retirement a new VE coordina-tor is needed. As of December 5

th over 100,000 licensed hams are in California.

Rick, KD6KHJ, informed the group that Buck, AE6DT, has reserved the dates for 2013 for the use of the EOC room throughout 2013. After the business portion of the meeting the group feasted on goodies provided by the members of the Club attending the meeting. Raffle Prizes: Cannon Printer – N6TEB; Electrical Outlets – W6QM; Tools – N6SWO; Batteries – K6NQZ; Ream of Paper & Flash Light – W6NH. The meeting adjourned 20:20 Respectfully Submitted, Bill Heather, KB6WKT, Secretary

Source: Popular Mechanics

March 1941

Q5 PAGE 4

VE Testing Session. Sssh, quiet please!

CQ Worldwide DX Con-test, CW Call: N6QQ Operator(s): N6QQ Station: N6QQ Class: SOAB HP QTH: CA Operating Time (hrs): 23 Summary: Band QSOs Zones Countries ------------------------------ 160: 80: 40: 217 34 96 20: 238 38 126 15: 309 32 114 10: 220 29 91 ------------------------------ Total: 984 133 427

Total Score = 1,552,880 Club: Southern California Contest Club Comments: Worked 143 countries in 34 zones. 40 meters results are down - as I am not operat-ing between 8:00 pm and 12:00 am - hope this will help with a TVI prob-lem. Have one neighbor is still using an outside TV antenna. 73 John -- N6QQ

ARRL and CQ awards

QSL checker

Past President of South-ern California DX Club -

2011

www.scdxc.org

http://www.qrz.com/db/N6QQ

2 New Classes for VHF Contests.

Did you know that this January’s VHF Contest has 2 brand new single opera-tor classes aimed at getting more hams to participate and see what all can be done on Simplex. The first new class is FM only on 3 bands; 6meters, 2 meters and 440. Look for activity on 52.525, 146.550 and 446.000. The 2 meter calling frequency 146.520 is off limits for contests but there may be some activity on 146.580, 146.595 and 146.565. You can work this one with an HT! The exchange is your grid square which for those of us in Downey and south is DM03. The second new class is 3 bands only aimed at those with modern mutilmode rigs with coverage from hf through 440 to compete in their own category. Mode is SSB and the calling frequencies are 50.125, 144.200 and 432.100. The contest starts at 11am Saturday January 19 to 8pm Sunday the 20

th. You

will be surprised how far Simplex can go even on FM. Get in the air and give it a try. For more details check out the complete rules http://www.arrl.org/january-vhf

73, Dave N6TEB

Q5 PAGE 5

Treasurer’s Report—Income

Treasurer’s Report— Expense

2012 Nov 12 (OVER)/

ACTUAL YTD ANNUAL UNDER

ACTUAL BUDGET BUDGET

EXPENDITURES

Attendance Prizes $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Repeater $29.83 $29.83 $0.00 ($29.83)

Club Merchandise $116.20 $116.20 $0.00 ($116.20)

Correspondence

Printing $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Supplies $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Postage $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Committees

Award $31.81 $31.81 $0.00 ($31.81)

Education/Awareness $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Membership $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Publicity & Public Relations $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Sunshine $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Equipment/Maintenance $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Events

Christmas Party $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Field Day $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Luncheon $1,100.00 $1,100.00 $0.00 ($1,100.00)

Picnic $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Fund Raisers $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Other Events $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Insurance $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Misc. Expenses $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Officers' Expenses

Board Members $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Treasurer $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Other Organizations

Dues $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

P.O. Box Rental $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Refreshments, Meetings $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Total Expenditures $1,277.84 $1,277.84 $0.00 ($1,277.84)

2012 - 2013 Nov 12 YEAR-TO-DATE ANNUAL (OVER)/UNDER

ACTUAL ACTUAL BUDGET BUDGET

INCOME

Club Merchandise $76.02 $76.02 $0.00 ($76.02)

Dues $140.00 $140.00 $0.00 ($140.00)

Raffle $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Misc.Income $337.50 $337.50 $0.00 ($337.50)

Fund Raisers $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Total Income $553.52 $553.52 $0.00 ($553.52)

Q5 PAGE 6

Treasurer’s Report— Summary

January Birthdays

Frank Meyers, N6ATU, 4th

Ron Eveland, W6QM, 12th

Robert Patterson, K6ZCM, 23rd

Steven Sherman, AA6IO, 23rd

Kent Savage, K6WCI, 28th

Norman Dickhoff, NQ6L

Dave Glenn, N6TEB

Amy Savage, KI6PXI

Greg Savage, K6SVG

DOWNEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB

TREASURER'S REPORT

Nov-12

SUMMARY

CHECKING-CHASE $10,399.92

BALANCE AS OF Oct 31, 2012

INCOME $533.52

EXPENDITURES $1,277.84

Raffle (Month) $0.00

Raffle (Total Holdings) $0.00

Brunch (Month) $0.00

Brunch (Total Holdings) $0.00

CHECKING-CHASE

BALANCE AS OF Nov 30, 2012 $9,655.60

W6TOI

Q5 PAGE 7

Board Minutes December 11, 2012 President Rick Norwood, KD6KHJ brought the meeting to order 17:14 hours in the Emergency Operations Center at the Downey Fire Station #1. Besides Rick, other board members present were: First Vice Presi-dent, Ron Eveland, W6QM; VP-Ways Means, Steve Hartranft, KI6SUF; Secretary Bill Heather, KB6WKT; Director 1 year Buck Kerns, AE6DT; Director 2 years Kent Savage, K6WCI. Absent: VP Programs, Dave Glenn, N6TEB; Treasurer Frank Myllo, KC6YPV; VP Service Open; VP Membership Open. Kent, K6WCI, reported that the accessory items that are needed for the 2nd repeater belong to club. Bill, KB6WKT, provided a handout sheet and a price quote for the Icom repeater system. After a short discus-sion the board voted to purchase the Motorola repeater. Since the club at a previous general meeting al-ready voted to spend up to $2,000, the action does not need to go before the general membership. Kent, K6WCI, reported that the Christmas parade went well despite the inclement weather. Rick, KD6KHJ, reported that on May 4th, 2013 the Downey Street Faire will take place. Kent also in-formed the board that we as a Club have taken on an additional assignment of controlling the North park-ing lot. Steve, KI6SUF, reported on pricing for wearables. Steve provided a price quote sheet to the board mem-bers present, of the different wearable Club items. The policy on charges for wearables will be cost plus tax and round up to nearest dollar. Rick, KD6KHJ, questioned Kent, K6WCI, regarding the mass mailing. Kent reported that as of date there has been no progress with the project. However, after the 1st of January is the goal to get the first mailing out. A brief dis-cussion took place amongst various board members at to the cost of the first mailing. Ron, W6QM, reported that audit committee convened and performed the annual audit of the Treasurer’s books. The audit commit-tee has concluded that there are no dis-crepancies to report. Meeting adjourned on 7:56 PM Respectively Submitted Bill Heather KB6WKT, Secretary

PAGE 8 Q5

December Meeting Photos. Goodies!

Q5 PAGE 9

December 2012 DX By Mike Gauthier, K6ICS 11-13-2012

December Propagation Outlook With longer night-time hours, 80 and 160 meter bands are showing more activity. 60, 40 and 30 meters are improving. The best all round band last month was 12 meters with 17 meters a close second. This is ex-pected to continue. All bands from 20-10 meters will continue to improve. Listen to 6 meters for spot open-ings. December DX CURACAO, PJ2/xxx. Operators DL5MFL, DB5IJ, DF9MV and DJ1MGK are operating as PJ2/home calls from Signal Point Station until December 15. QSL to home calls. DOMINICA, J79WTA. Walter, HB9MFM is active as J79WTA from the Tamarind Tree Hotel near Salisbury until December 17. Activity is holiday style on 160 through 10 meters, using SSB, RTTY, PSK as well as SSTV, if possible. QSL via his home call sign, direct or by the Bureau. MADAGASCAR, 5R8IC. Eric, F6ICX will be operating as 5R8IC from Nosy Boraha, IOTA AF-090, from now till December 9. Activity will be holiday style on the HF bands using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK63. QSL to home call. MALDIVES, 8Q7AK. Andrew, G7COD will be active as 8Q7AK from Embudu Island on the South Male Atoll, AS-013, for three weeks in February 2013. QSL via his home call sign, direct or by the Bureau. MALDIVES, 8Q7MS. Max, HB9TUZ, will be operating as 8Q7MS from Gangehi Island, Maldives starting December 26th through January 3rd. He'll be on SSB only on 80 through 10 meters. QSL via Eqsl only. MICRONESIA, V63XG. Haru, JA1XGI will be active as V63XG from Yap Island (OC-012) from December 5 to 12. Activity will be on 40 through 6 meters, using mainly CW, with some SSB and the digital modes, and JT65. QSL via JA1XGI, direct or by the Bureau. SABA ISLAND, PJ5J. The PJ5J DXpedition now has a website: http://www.ndxa.net/pj5j/ . The PJ5J DXpedition is planned for November 30-December 12 with six operators. SABLE ISLAND, CY0. Al, VE1AWW is operating as CY0/VE1AWW until late December. Activity is on the HF bands using SSB, PSK and possibly 6 meter EME. QSL to home call. SLOVENIA, S512IAPMC. Slovenian special event station S512IAPMC is on the air until January 15, from the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities in Slovenj Gradec. Activity is on all bands, using CW, SSB and digital modes. QSL via the Bureau. TAIWAN, BM0LF & BV2013LF. Special event stations BM0LF and BV2013LF are on the air until March 10, 2013 in celebration of the Taiwan Lantern Festival 2013 in Hsinchu, IOTA AS-020. QSL via BM2JCC. UGANDA, 5X1NH. Nick is on 14021, listening up 2-3 KHz, Listen for him between 21 and 22Z. URUGUAY, CX. Special event station CW90A is on the air until the end of 2012 to celebrate the 90th anni-versary of the first transmission of Radio Paradizabal, broadcast on Nov 6, 1922. Activity is on all bands and modes. QSL direct to CX2ABC.

Continued on next page

Q5 PAGE 10

UZBEKISTAN, UK/UA4WHX. Vlad, UA4WHX is on the air as UK/UA4WHX. Activity is on 160 to 10 me-ters using CW and SSB. His length of stay is unknown. QSL to home call. VANUATU, YJ0MB. Michael, VK2BXE, has set up a semi-permanent station at Port Vila, Vanuatu. He plans to start up as YJ0MB on December 22

nd.

___________________________________________________________________ This month’s DX news was made possible with information provided by 425 DX News, The Daily DX, DXNL, The Weekly DX, and ARRL thanks to all. DARC Member Recent DX Contacts: 40 Meters: PT0S, KP2M*, RA0LAX, CO2IZ, YW5RY, 6Y5WJ & A31OY. 30 Meters: T30PY, HA9RT*, & 7T5OI/P. 20 Meters: PT0S, 3A2MD, BD3CB, PY7VI, KH6LC, & J79WTA. 17Meters: T30PY*, RI1ANF*, FG5FR*, V31MF, C6AZZ, LY2BJ, PJ2/DF9MV, LY5A, PA3FQA, LY2MM, V21C, RK3ER, V84SMD, & 9Q6AL. 15 Meters: T30PY*, OM2VL*, XV9NPS, FK8DD/M, DJ6QT, HA8DM, YV8AD, BD4FM, LR3M, V84SMD, VP9KF, PR2P, DS3HWS, & VP9KF. 12 Meters: SV3AQR*, RI1ANF*, EI0CZ*, IS0GQX*, LX1NO*, E77DX*, S51DX*, 9A2YM*, J79WE, GD6IA, ZB2FK, 5W1SA, GM3YOR, FO5RH, P29VCS, HS0ZGQ, & HR2/NP3J, 10 Meters: BD4FM*, R0QA*, VE9DX*, VE2GSO (Zone 2), VY1EI, LU7HZ, XE5AE, AH2R, PJ4X, VK7ZX, HK1NA, VO1XX, 3G3O, 6Y3M, AH2J/KH0, & ZM4T. *More than one report. DARC Member DXCC Count N6QQ - 338 Mixed, 321 SSB, 295 CW, 222 RTTY, 6BDXCC, 5BWAS, 3052 WPX. WA6RTA - 328 Phone (AM & SSB). KB6ATT - 305 Mixed, 60 CW. K6ICS - 303 Mixed, 296 Phone (AM & SSB), 166 Mixed on 40 Meters. K6TV - 257 Mixed, 240 SSB, 126 QRP, 151 CW, 30 RTTY. W6TOI - 212 Mixed, 145 Phone, 94 CW, 100 RTTY. WA6OUD – 153 Mixed, 130 Phone on 10 Meters. W3OB - 150 Mixed. K6EH - 57 on 30 Meters CW. KJ6YQV – 12 Mixed, 6 Mixed on 10 Meters. I am interested in receiving DX reports for this column, one contact or many. e-mail: k6ics@arrl.com

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DARC Annual Membership

Single: $20 Associate: $10

Maximum for Family: $35

Make checks payable to “DARC”,

Send to: DARC Membership

PO Box 207

Downey, CA 90240

Ever want to be a writer?

Do you have an idea for an article for the Q5? Remember, this is OUR newsletter, about OUR hobby. Please submit articles to: John Pow-

ell, KF6EOJ, john.powell@csulb.edu

DARC INFORMATION

VE Exams

The Downey Ama-teur Radio Club provides VE exami-nations for all clas-ses of Amateur Radio licenses on

the third Saturday of each even-numbered month. Exams are held at the Downey Fire Department Headquar-ters EOC rear building, 12222 Paramount Boulevard, beginning at 08:30 AM.

The upcoming dates are:

February 16, April 20

Contact Arlene Schwartz, KE6GFI, 949-494-8783 or by email ke6gfi@arrl.net prior to the session.

The ARRL/VEC test fee is $15.00 for all tests which goes to the ARRL to cover their expenses in providing the tests and handling the applications.

After the test session please wait 10 days before contacting the ARRL at (860) 594-0300 or http://www.qrz.com/callsign for new license information. Please do not call the FCC directly.

SERVING DOWNEY AND THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES

SINCE 1951

Downey Amateur Radio Club PO Box 207 Downey, CA 90240

Website:

http://darcarc.wordpress.com/ PLACE MAILING LABEL HERE

PLACE POSTAGE

STAMP HERE

Saturday Breakfast Location

7900 Florence Ave.

Downey, CA