The LEDThe newsletter of the Livingston Amateur Radio Klub (LARK)

Howell, Michigan

June 2019

Who 8 Darrell’s Spicy BaconW8DSB

[The press of business has prevented our fearless leader from framing hismonthly message. But he promises that he shall return.]

National Contest Journal

The May/June 2019 issue of the National Contest Journal is once again full of useful information. And, the editor, Scott Wright, K0MD, reminds the readers that the NCJ is not geared to the Big Gun Stations:

“Casual contester” seems to be a common thread among those who write us. Many assume NCJ is targeted at the owners and operators of US and Canadian Superstations. It is not!. In fact, I suspect none of the big station owners glean much from NCJ, as they have already figured out what many of us have yet to learn and apply. NCJ is targeted at radiosport newcomers, advanced and experienced contesters, and those somewhere in between—which probably is where the casual contesters fall. We work diligently to offer content in every issue that appeals to this spectrum of readers. We recognize that more than half of all who get on the air for a contest are casual contesters, who enter a contest to achieve personal goals with limited time and/or energy. They are there to have fun and improve their scores.”

Scott also reports that a digital version of NCJ is being looked at by the ARRL.

The May/June issue takes another look at vertical antennas, using software and empirical testing. And, in the first of a series, Greg Jurrens, K5GJ, describes the contest rover experiences in VHF-UHF contests. Joel Harrison,W5ZN, describes building a VHF contest station. Bill Mitchell, AE0EE, describes roving, new digital modes and planning a route, with a neat photo of Bill operating 70 centimeters with 5 watts and a solar panel. A NCJ profilefocuses on Randy Martin, K0EU, a top contester, who says that he first was tickled by the ham radio bug by a birthday gift of a crystal radio set, a pair of CB walkie talkies and listening while on vacation to a host's Zenith Transoceanic portable radio (just like your editor was before getting his novice). And (just like your editor did while going to school endlessly) Scott went off the air while attending the Colorado School of Mines, where he obtained a BS in mining engineering, before seriously building a contest station. And the NCJ interviews Stephen Bloom, KL7SB, and Wigi Tossi,

KL0R, about the status and future of the KL7RA multi-multi contest station. Neil Rapp, WB9VPG talks about mentoring contesters in “Next-Gen Contesters”. Articles in the issue also address remote contesting, making a choke balun and digital contesting. Results of the North American QSO Party-SSB-January 2019 are published. Jeff Miller, WB8WKQ, of Dryden, was the highest single operator from Michigan, followed by Pat Lafrenier, W8PSP of Hancock, Scott Meister, K2CUB, and Jason Newton, K8JT of Fowlerville.

The National Contest Journal is published bi-monthly by the ARRL, and costs $34 per year for U.S. Subscribers. Well worth the price.

From The San Francisco Examiner, 20 October 1929

From the Mansfield (Ohio) News-Journal, 11 November 1927

The following is from the Indianapolis Star, 13 November 1938

From QST, June 1993, reprinted with permission of the ARRL

Ham Radio and those Damned Commies

Many of us oldtimers remember the times when amateur radio operation was prohibited in several countries. For example, Uganda in the reign of Idi Amin banned ham radio operation (see QST article, reprinted above). I seem to recall that the penalty for violating this ban in Uganda had something to dowith being fed to alligators.

These bans caused extreme consternation among DXers. Other famous examples of prohibition were China, Laos, Libya, Cambodia, Vietnam, Angola and Albania. I remember when Angola went Communist in the 1975 and remained that way until the mid-1990's. I never could figure that one out. I regularly worked Angola stations when I was a novice in 1968; thestations came in strong on 15 meters in the afternoons when I got home from school, and I thought nothing of giving them a hello and a signal report. Then, nothing. Just because of a change in politics. I don't want to digress too much about the “why” of ham radio bans, but I certainly conclude that mostly it was the damn Communists who imposed them (with certain exceptions like Idi Amin, of course).

What also doesn't make sense is why some Communist countries banned hamradio, but others encouraged it, at least after a fashion. A good example of this is the old Soviet Union. The USSR had tons of ham radio operators, some very well known.

Although it sounds like the Soviet government tried to keep a tight rein on itshams, at one point prohibiting discussions of anything except mundane matters such as QTH, name, signal report and limited information on equipment and antennas, and requiring all QSL cards be sent to the famous Box 88, Moscow, it also encouraged contesting and club activities. To the Russians, ham radio seemed to be encouraged as part of science education. I

Ernst Krenkel, first Russian ham, U3AA, UA3AA, RAEM, Chairman of theCentral Radio Club, Hero of the Soviet Union

don't remember a time when the Russians went off the air, even for brief periods. A pretty interesting description of ham radio in the USSR is “Amateur Radio Operation in the Soviet Union”, by F. Gayle Durham, Centerfor International Studies, MIT (1965), see https://archive.org/details/AmateurRadioOperationInTheSovietUnion

Durham's description of the organization of ham radio in the USSR, doesn't sound all that different from its organization in the USA, although with certain draconian penalties and unbelievably frustrating bureaucracy. As justone example, Durham says that the USSR limited its hams to no more than 200 watts, but that operation of up to a kilowatt was well known (just like hams in the USA can't operate 2.5 kilowatts output or more!). And obtaining permission to operate portable in the USSR involved obtaining an endless series of permissions from various departments. I am sure things have eased

up in Russia since 1965.

Another example of a Communist country encouraging ham radio is Cuba. As far back as I remember, Cuban hams were on the air. Ever since I was licensed, on CW, you could tell a Cuban ham by the awful tone on his signal. I had always been told that Cuban CW sounded so bad because of the poor state of the electric grid on the island. But poor sounding signals or not, they were always there and with strong signals coming from poor equipment. I never knew Cubans to be active contesters, at least up until recent times, however. Now, they get special prefixes assigned and you will find them in every international contest.

CO8TW, CO8HF, IN3ZNR, CO8DD

According to the webpage of CO8TW on Qsl.net, see: https://www.qsl.net/co8tw/Cuban first class licensees can run a KW on CW and 2 KW on SSB, and second class licensees can run up to 500 watts. And it seems as if Cuba is improving its equipment since the days of jury rigged transmitters. Before my time, I am led to believe that Cuba went off the air when Fidel Castro came to power, but at some point before 1968 when I got licensed, they were back on the air.

Remember that the FCC Rules, Section 97.111, provides that U.S. Amateurs may communicate with those in all other countries, except with those in any country whose administration has given notice to the ITU that it objects to such radio communications. According to the FCC's website, there are no countries on this so called “banned countries” list. See,

https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/mobility-division/amateur-radio-service/international-arrangements#block-menu-block-4

Despite what Wikipedia says, North Korea and Yemen are not currently on the list. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio_operator

This is not to say that there have never been banned countries in the past. According to the March-April 1962 edition of G-E Ham News, the “banned countries” list for U.S. hams as of April 1, included Thailand, Java, Sumatra, Netherlands Borneo, Celebes and Molucca Islands, and Viet Nam. The same issue listed countries which were on the list for certain periods of time in the 1950's: Iran, Korea, Japan (nationals only), Lebanon, Austria (nationals only), Netherlands West Indies and Laos. According to the March, 1964 issueof QST, banned countries for U.S. Hams were Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Viet Nam. Canadian hams were prohibited from contacting amateurs in those countries as well as Laos and Jordan. Jordan???? Well, it appears that Canada and the U.S.A. interpreted the ITU regulations differently, but Jordan??? Yes, King Hussein, JY1, was the ruler of Jordan in 1964!!! Why were Canadians forbidden to QSO with Jordanian stations? Too late to ask King Hussein, he became a silent key in 1999.

When you stop and think about it, Communist countries encouraging ham radio seems a bit counter-intuitive. For such iron-fisted governments, allowing their citizens this ability to communicate around the world doesn't seem to make sense. But then, again, I never have quite figured out why Communism still exists.

Livingston County

Emergency Management Department1911 Tooley Rd.

Howell, MI 48843(517) 546-6220

https://www.livgov.com/emergencymanagement

May 12, 2019

On May 11, 2019 the MI-ARRL held a statewide Simulated Emergency Test. The EX-19-1 SET’s focus was the county’s ability to communicate with the SEOC using Winlinkand MI-CIMS software programs.

Since Livingston County ARES does not have a central radio room, ARES members metat Americus Restaurant, Brighton, MI. At 9am members opened Mi-CMIS and Winlink software programs contacting the SEOC via a wireless hotspot. Email messages and logins were made to the SEOC.

The following members made themselves available for deployment:Bruce-N8WWX, Gary-N8RDF, Gene-KE8JGU, Terry-KE8GXK, Jim-K8JK, Jason-W8JMB, Tom-W8TMS, Les-W8MSP, Karen-KB8AKC, Bob-K88VQC, Mary-W8MCK, Dave-KD8UCF, George-KE8GTA, Steve-K8CA, Tom-KT8Y.

Bruce Pollock, N8WWX, EC/RO/CERT Coordinator

LARK Volunteer Examination Statisticscourtesy of Jim Kvochick, K8JK

Our VE Team began using the Laurel Electronic Tool called “Session Manager” in July of 2016. A recent addition to the tool allows us to pull statistics from the testing sessions. The LARK VE team has conducted 35 exam sessions since we started using Session Manager and have seen 92 applicants.

A special thanks to all of our exam team, and especially Bob Hitchens, K8VQC, who had to take on the role of Team Lead on several occasions.

The table below gives you a brief glimpse:

Since July 2016 35 Exam Sessions Total Applicants 92Successful Exams 77Unsuccessful Exams 15Passed_Element2 46Failed_Element2 18New_Technician 40Passed_Element3 16Failed_Element3 14Element3_CSCE 1Pre1987_Tech 1Expired_General 2New_General 5Upgrade_to_General 12Passed_Element4 15Failed_Element4 3New_Extra 1Upgrade_to_Extra 14Administrative_Update 6Renew_License 2Change_Name 2Change_Address 5

Hamvention 2019 another Success!

Those who were able to attend the 2019 Hamvention were not disappointed. Friday and Saturday were wonderful, with great weather, tons of vendors andthings to see, and crowds of hams. For whatever reason, the numbers of hams dressed in an “unusual manner”, and with hygiene issues seemed few and far between this year, and Hamvention was attended by very presentable members of the ham brethren and sisterhood. Your editor believes that younger hams had increased in number (although grey haired types were the most represented). The number of scooters seemed to have increased as well.

Vast crowds blocked most of the aisles in the buildings, eager to spend money with row upon row of vendors with shiny new equipment. And, the Flea Market stayed high and dry with lucky purchasers gripping boat anchorsas they headed to the parking lots.

Your editor attended various Forums this year, including the ARRL Member Forum, which had several League bigwigs giving short summaries of such things as the FCC initiative to re-form the Official Observer program, with retired FCC enforcement chief Riley Hollingsworth K4ZDH leading the ARRL efforts; the decision to halt efforts for the time being on the Parity Act;and the introduction of new ARRL CEO Howard Michel, WB2ITX.

Also well attended was the Forum on Ham Radio and the Law, hosted by newly elected ARRL Director Fred Hopengarten, Esq., K1VR, who literally wrote the book on “Antenna Zoning for the Radio Amateur”. Presentations included those by Bob Famiglio, Esq., K3RF, on Excluding a Ham from yourRepeater and Network; Barney Scholl, Esq., K3LA on whether a club should be tax exempt; and Fred on recent case developments.

Your editor did not attend on Sunday, but reports he received were that the storms stayed away until after the close of Hamvention. And no, your editor did not win a prize. LARK was well represented by a number of members, including Les Butler, W8MSP, who came down for Saturday and spent time at the ARRL tables doing DXCC cardchecking for the deserving; Jim Kvochick, K8JK, who was spotted at the ARRL tables (after he no doubt paid

tribute to the new Elecraft equipment at tables nearby); and Stacy, N8NYK, and Darrell Black, W8DSB, who stayed at the same hotel as your editor, whowas able to spend quality time with them at breakfast and just lounging around.

For those who have never attended, it is worth the price of admission! Consider making plans for next year.

Ad from the Pensacola News-Journal, 4 December 1966

The Following article appeared in the Battle Creek Enquirer, 15 Feburary 1950, following an ice storm in the area which prevented United Press teletype news from getting through. An example of ham radio assistance from an earlier age.

Ad from the Battle Creek Enquirer, 23 August 1962. Not sure how theKW transmitter was attached to the bed. No doubt the Vibroplex bug

was mounted on the siderail.

Upcoming Swaps

June 15 Midland Amateur Radio Club Hamfest—This is a Saturday Swap See http://www.w8kea.org

June 16 Monroe Hamfest See http://mcrca.org/

Upcoming Contests

See the list of tons of contests at http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Contest%20Corral/2019/June%202019%20Corral.pdf

Here is a sampling:

June 8 1800 Z--ARRL June VHF Contest See www.arrl.org/june-vhf

June 15 0000 Z—All Asian DX Contest CW See www.jarl.org/English

June 15 1600 Z—West Virginia QSO Party See qsl.net/wvsarc/wvqp/wvqp.htm

June 15 1800 Z—ARRL Kids' Day See www.arrl.org/kids-day

June 22 1800 Z—ARRL Field Day—Join with the South Lyon Area ARCfor the big one for the summer

From the South Lyon Area ARC website:

Field Day

The EventField Day is a nationwide ARRL event designed to showcase amateur radio to the general public and local government officials. It occurs each year on the 4th weekend in June, with on-the-air operation commencing at 2:00 PM EDT and ending exactly 24 hours later. Participants range for individuals through small teams of 2 or more hams, to large, highly organized club events. Although planning may occur throughout the year, participants are not allowed to set up equipment in the field more than 24 hours in advance.Field Day provides an annual opportunity for the amateur radio community to put a significant radio communications resource in the field in a short amount of time and keep it actively on-the-air for 24 hours of continuous operation. Field Day demonstrates the ability of amateur radio to provide essential communications throughout North America such as might be needed in the case of natural or other disasters that render the normal communications and electrical power infrastructures inoperable. Many Field Day participants operate their equipment on emergency power sources, such as portable generators or batteries and solar panels.

Since a real disaster is usually not underway during Field Day but the emphasis is on maximizing “contacts” with other hams the event is run like a “contest” in which operators and clubs earn scores based on the number and type of contacts they make. Field Day is also a major public relations event for amateur radio and many clubs set up their field operations in public view or in publicly accessible locations. The event is also used to build or strengthen bridges with local government officials and Emergency Management operations personnel, who are invited to attend the field operations of local clubs. Finally, for many clubs Field Day is a major social event of the year, providing an opportunity to “get out there and do ham radio” with their friends.

SLAARC ParticipationSLAARC has participated in Field Day for many years and plans to continue doing so for the foreseeable future. It is the single largest activity that the club undertakes during the year. In recent years the club has obtained permission to set up equipment and operate from the James F. Atchison Memorial Park located behind the Lyon Township Municipal Center at 58000 Grand River Avenue in New Hudson. The park was created on top of a land fill and provides an excellent elevated location for ham radio operations. If SLAARC was called up to set up and operate in a real emergency, the park would be our first choice location.

Field Day c. 1911

A page from the First Annual Official Wireless Blue Book of the Wireless

Association of America, Containing a List of the United States andCanadian Wireless Telegraph Stations, Corrected to May 1, 1909,

published by Modern Electrics Publication. This is the first “amateurradio” callbook I have found. The callsigns were self assigned.

The following is from the Herald-Press (St. Joseph, MI), 12 March 1960. Look at the 200 Hallicrafters radios as prizes! The Crusade for Freedomorganization apparently supported Radio Free Europe. The prizes seem too good to be true. According to Wikipedia, the organization was actually funded primarily by the CIA as part of a propaganda campaign to support America's Cold War policies.

A Generous Offer from ARRL Michigan Section Manager, JimKvochik, K8JK

Sometime in 2015, the Livingston Amateur Radio Klub took on the challengeof encouraging the use of Anderson Powerpole connectors on all the station equipment in use by its members. Our first pass was to purchase many connectors for terminating gear. Our second volley into helping members transition to this universally accepted connection method was to build a distribution unit for attaching multiple cables to a 12-volt source.

The project details have been chronicled on my WordPress web site (https://k8jk.wordpress.com) .

Our finished units look like this:

I am pleased to offer the 12 or so CIRCUIT BOARDS ONLY for this project to members for no charge. It would be easy to use the online documentation to duplicate our build. The boards only will be available at the next meeting Iattend. The boards look like this:

Additionally, I am offering 4 COMPLETE KITS, ready to assemble, for only $20 each. Again, those will be available at the next meeting I attend.

These boards and kits should complement the latest projects being undertaken at the Klub.

73

LARK Financials courtesy of Stacy N8NYK

Cremonte Named Emergency Manager Of The YearRecognition has been bestowed on the person in charge of Livingston County’s emergency preparations.

Livingston County Emergency Manager Therese Cremonte has been named as the 2018 Michigan Professional Emergency Manager of the Year. Cremonte received the award at a special ceremony in Grand Rapids on May 6th. The award recognizes an emergency management professional who displays outstanding professional ethics, leadership and innovation, and provides outstanding contributions to the field of emergency management in

the state of Michigan.

Michigan State Police, Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division Commander, Capt. Emmitt McGowan, said that, “Cremonte’s proactive approach and commitment to emergency management and to preparing her community for disasters are just a couple of the reasons she deserves this recognition.” As Livingston County’s emergency manager, McGowan said Cremonte played a significant role in providing guidance to local and private school systems in applying for grant funding for various safety projects. She also proved instrumental in a three-year renovation project of the Livingston County Emergency Operations Center.

Cremonte became Livingston County’s emergency manager in February 2016. A retired Michigan State Police lieutenant, Cremonte holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Ferris State University and is a graduate of the Michigan State University School of Staff and Command program. (JK)

from WHMI 93.5 FM

DXCC This week on HF courtesy of DX-World.net

5T, MAURITANIA Johannes, PA5X is now operating until July as 5T5PA from Nouadhibou. QSL via LoTW, Club Log and QRZ.com. More to follow. CU, AZORES Herman, HB9CRV is once again active as CU8FN until June 11. Operation using FT4 and FT8. During the contest he will sign as CR2W with Antonio CU8AS. QSL for both calls via HB9CRV, direct or bureau, LoTW. FR, REUNION Thomas, F4HPX is once again QRV as FR/call starting mid-May. Operation from 40 to 15 meter using SSB and FT8. QSL via home call, LoTW and Club Log OQRS. J5, GUINEA-BISSAU Livio, IZ3BUR is again operating as J52EC. Operation on HF. QSL via home call. Livio is working as missionary so operation is only during his spare time. SV5 DODECANESE Wolf, DL3DRN will be active as SV5/call from May

25 until June 14. Activity on HF using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via home call, direct or bureau, LoTW. TG, GUATEMALA Dwight, VE7BV is QRV as TG9BBV until June 13. QSL via home call, direct or bureau, LoTW. XZ, MYANMAR Akio, JE2QIZ has been living in Naypyitaw, Myanmar forthe past 2 years. He finally received his license as XZ2B. Note that the XZ2B license is only valid for 150 days (end June) and a maximum of 25w isallowed. Furthermore, this particular license is valid for use between 20-300Mhz. Z6, KOSOVO In a few days, the Kosovo Friendship Consortium, Z66X willparticipate in the CQ WPX Contest from the capital, Pristina with the team ofOH2BH, Martti, OH2TA, Pekka, Z61DX, Driton and Z62FB, Fehmi. When not in the contest we will be preparing young Kosovo hams for YOTA 2019 and searching for a noise-free location outside of the city for future low-band activity. QSL via OH2BH. Z8, SOUTH SUDAN Diya, YI1DZ is once again operating as Z81D from Juba. Activity from 80 to 10 meter using SSB and digital. Operation until June. QSL via OM3JW, OQRS. Coming up soon5W, SAMOA The Uruguay DX Group with Gus CX2AM, Bert CX3AN andRainer CX8FB will be operating from Upolu (OC-097) between June 1 and June 10. Call to be announced. Operation from 80 to 6 meter using CW and SSB. QSL to be announced. IS0, SARDINIA Stefan, DL3BY will be active from Bari Sardo between June 5 and June 25. Operation on HF using CW and SSB. QSL via home call. XV, VIETNAM Sven, HB9DXB will once again be active as XV9DXB starting from June 1. Activity on 80, 40, 20 and 15 meter using CW and SSB. QSL via EB7DX.

Next Klub Meetings

The next Klub meetings will be Wednesday, June 12, 2019 and July 10, 2019, at the Livingston County EMS, located at 1911 Tooley Rd, Howell,

MI 48855, at 7:30 PM. Members and friends are welcome. Klub meetings typically are held on the second Wednesday of each month at this location. Informal gathering of the troops occurs sometime around 7:00 PM, for the swapping of lies and insults. Please participate in the 50/50 drawing and prizedrawing, which are held at the conclusion of the meeting. Tickets to be purchased from the Klub treasurer as soon as she arrives and sets up. A special mystery person will select the winning tickets.

Our June 12 Speaker will be our own Terry Neuendorf KE8GXK, who will make a presentation on using Raspberry Pi in your ham shack.

LARK Two Meter NetThe LARK two meter net is held on Thursday evenings at 8:00 PM on theKlub's two meter repeater, 146.68 Mhz (negative offset, 162.2 hz CTCSS).

Michigan ARRL RepresentativesDale Williams WA8EFK, Great Lakes Division DirectorThomas Delaney W8WTD, Great Lakes Division Vice DirectorJim Kvochick K8JK, Michigan Section Manager

Livingston Amateur Radio KlubP.O. Box 283 Howell, Mi 48844www.W8LRK.orgKlub Call: W8LRKThe LARK is an ARRL Affiliated Club

Board Members of the LARKDarrell Black W8DSB PresidentMark Bennett K8ACM Vice PresidentStacy Black N8NYK TreasurerTim Crane WM8A SecretaryReece Albright KB0KSU Director (Member at Large)Jason Biehl W8JMB Technical DirectorTerry Neuendorf KE8GXK Program Director

LED EditorTom Auth, KT8Y [all otherwise unattributed articles in the LED are the work of the Editor]