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Secretary’s Beat – Meeting Minutes

Hamfesters amateur radio club meeting Feb. 5, 2021 at 7:33 pm

This was a Zoom only meeting, 26 members attended.

Roll: Nora KC9MLV, Jim W9JPR, Kurt WB9FMC, Patti KC9LYE, Don KC9EQQ,
John KB9FQB, Steve W9KXT, Gene W9PNG,Cindy N9CAS

President’s Report: by Nora KC9MLV, Kurt WB9FMC, is our new club
Treasurer, Ed WA9EOL, has retired. Thank You! Ed & Kurt.

Tonight’s Program: by Gregg AB9MZ, Intro to Vector Network Analyzer.

Minutes: The January club minutes were approved by Don KC9EQQ, and Al N9ZD.

Treasurer’s Report: by Kurt WB9FMC, he’s getting up to date on club’s accounts. Most recent club dues $80.00.

Education: by Brian W9HLQ, Tech class week #4 taught on Zoom. We have students around the country. Mike K9ACM, is also teaching the course.
Thanks for the great work Brian & Mike.

Future 2021 Programs: by Don KC9EQQ, March White Elephant sale, spread the word. Attend in person, wear masks.
April Weather Spotter’s program by Dave N9KPD, on Zoom and in person.

Hamfest 2021: Held the first Sunday in August, we’re putting down a deposit.

Field Day 2021: by Jim W9JPR, we’re hoping to have it on site in person.

Club Awards: Steve W9KXT, and Bob N9WKG, are going to present awards when possible. One of these awards is the 2020 Hamfester of
the Year.

Hamfesters VE Testing: by Al N9ZD, will be held in the 2nd weekend in March. See Hamfesters.org for details.

Hamgab: Submit your articles to Gene W9PNG.

Old Business: by Cindy N9CAS, she’ll research club jackets.

Adjournment: Mike WA9ZPM, & Gregg AB9MZ, at 9:04 pm.

VE Exams begin March 13, 2021!

Hamfesters conducts FCC authorized VE (volunteer examiner) tests for Technician, General, and Extra class licenses monthly.

Date: 2nd Saturday of each Month

Location: TBA upon email registration NOTE: Oak Forest City Hall closed during Pandemic. We will announce when re-opened!

Time: Start time of Exam: TBD time by slots – (0900 hrs) – (1100 hrs) 3 candidates per time Slot

NO WALK-INS ALLOWED

Exam Candidates: You are REQUIRED to register in the FCC CORES system and receive a FCC Registration Number (FRN) before exam day. Already Licensed? Please bring your Amateur License and Copy of Your License. Also Bring any CSCE from previous Exams and A Copy if FCC has not acted upon.

Exam Session Requirements
Candidates could go directly to the FCC CORES User Account and Registration
page: https://apps.fcc.gov/cores/userLogin.do

FEES: (currently $15) for the test. We urge you to bring exact amount of cash. NO CHECKS or CREDIT CARDS EXCEPTED!

CONTACT: Al Bukowski – N9ZD >> Registration by email ONLY!

N9ZD@ARRL.NET – primary OR aln9zd@gmail.com – secondary

PLEASE – NO TELEPHONE CALLS!

Exam Day
What to Bring to an ARRL Exam Session:

1. One legal photo ID (identification):
   a. State Driver’s License
   b. Government issued Passport
   c. Military or Law Enforcement Officer Photo ID card
   d. Student School Photo ID card
   e. State Photo ID card
2. If no photo ID is available, two forms of identification:
   a. Non-photo State ID card (some states still have them)
   b. Birth certificate (must have the appropriate seal)
   c. Social security card
   d. Employer’s wage statement or Minor’s work permit
   e. School ID card
   f. School or Public Library card
   g. Utility bill, bank statement or other business correspondence that specifically names the person; or a postmarked envelope addressed to the person at his or her current mailing address as it appears on
   the Form 605.
3. Students/minors without a photo ID need to bring only one of the above items if a legal guardian presents their photo ID; otherwise two non-photo IDs are required. Minor children (under the age of 18) may be accompanied in the room by an adult during the test.
4. FCC Registration Number (FRN): VECs are required by the FCC to submit your FRN with your license application form.
   New license applicants MUST create an FCC user account and register their Social Security Number (SSN) in the FCC Commission Registration System (CORES) before attending exam sessions.
   Registrants will be assigned an FRN which will be used in all license transactions with the FCC. Examinee Must bring their FRN number to the Exam Session.
   For instructions on how to register your SSN and receive an FRN from the FCC, visit the FCC’s Registration page and the FCC’s Registration instructions page. Per FCC rules, a valid email address is also mandatory on the application form.
5. If applicable, bring a printed copy of either your official Amateur Radio license or a reference copy available from the FCC website, or the original(s) and photocopy(s) of any Certificates of Successful Completion of Examination (CSCE) you may hold from previous exam sessions. If your license has already been issued by FCC, the CSCE showing license credit is not needed. The photocopy(s) will not be returned.
   Instructions on how to obtain an official FCC license copy are on our Obtain License Copy web page.
   
6. Two number two pencils with erasers and a pen for in-person sessions.
7. A calculator with the memory erased and formulas cleared is allowed. You may not bring any written notes or calculations into the exam session. Slide rules and logarithmic tables are acceptable, as long as they’re free
   of notes and formulas. Cell phone must be silenced or turned off during the exam session and the phones’ calculator function may not be used. In addition, iPhones, iPads, Androids, smartphones, Blackberry devices
   and all similar electronic devices with a calculator capability, may NOT be used.

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Field Day

CQ Field Day de Jim Riley W9JPR

As I write this it’s snowing yet again, there’s a foot or more of snow on the ground, and more lake-effect snow is on the way. What better time to give some thought to Field Day 2021. As of right now, it looks like this year’s event will be a traditional one so it’s not too early to prepare.

We especially need to start thinking about nominations for this year’s GOTA station call. In the past, we’ve nominated regular FD operators both alive and those who have gone SK but whose licenses are still active. There are only a few rules: the nominee must be an extra and it can’t be a call we’ve used before. The GOTA era started in 2006 and this is a list of our previous GOTA calls: K9RDR, WA9EOL, N9JYX, K9MS, N9VOK, KC9LYE, AB9MZ, W9HLQ, and W9KXT (I think). There are possibly one or two more but this is all I could glean from old Hamgabs, ARRL Field Day records, and what’s left of my memory. Some sharp-eyed readers might notice that there have been 15 Field Days in the GOTA era but we’ve used fewer than 14 calls. That’s because we used some calls over multiple years and there was no GOTA station last year.

I’m asking for your pictures for my Field Day presentation at the June meeting, in person or on Zoom. This is your show and your photos are what make it what it is. If you have any pix of Field Day 2019 or your home setup in 2020, get them to me soon. CD, flash drive, email, or prints, it doesn’t matter.

Field Day 2020 is June 26 and 27 at Southbridge Church on 155th St. west of Harlem. Operations run from 1 p.m. Saturday to 1 p.m. Sunday. Setup begins at 8 a.m. Setting up is a big job and we’ll need all the help we can get.

ARRL Honor Roll – Volunteer Examiners

Thank You to Marty WD9ABG for the great news!

Ham Radio Forms a Planet-Sized Space Weather Sensor Network

02/10/2021

The article “Ham Radio Forms a Planet-Sized Space Weather Sensor Network,” appeared on February 9 in Eos, Earth & Space Science News — an American Geophysical Union (AGU) publication. It sprang from a project by the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI), founded by Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, of the University of Scranton, one of the paper’s authors. The others are David Kazdan, AD8Y, and Kristina Collins, both of Case Western Reserve University (W8EDU). The article says that with their experience dealing with ionosphere-influenced propagation, amateur radio operators have an empirical knowledge of space weather and offer a ready-made volunteer science community.

The article covers the method and research being used to monitor the effects of solar activity on Earth’s atmosphere, telecommunications, and electrical utilities — and the valuable data being crowdsourced from amateur radio signals.

“To fully understand variability on small spatial scales and short timescales, the scientific community will require vastly larger and denser sensing networks that collect data on continental and global scales,” the article asserts. “With open-source instrumentation cheaper and more plentiful than ever before, the time is ripe for amateur scientists to take distributed measurements of the ionosphere — and the amateur radio community is up for the challenge.”

“The reach of these crowdsourced systems, and the support of the amateur community, offers tremendous opportunities for scientific measurements,” the article notes.

The research acknowledges a handful of HamSCI collaborators — from organizations and universities — and is supported by National Science Foundation grants. HamSCI’s Personal Space Weather Station initiative aims to develop a network of specially equipped amateur stations that will allow amateurs to collect useful data for space science researchers. As the article explains, ham radio operators and researchers, through HamSCI, are designing hardware for a distributed network of personal space weather stations.

November and December 2021 mark the 100th anniversary of the successful ARRL Transatlantic Tests, which took advantage of data gathered via university and individual amateur stations — an early example of citizen scientists leveraging amateur radio.

The 2021 HamSCI virtual workshop will take place March 19 – 20.

Article Submitted by Mike Burdett N9AFU

The CWOps Academy

By Gregory D. Rosenberg (AB9MZ)

I haven’t really done much with CW since the mid ‘60s through the ‘70s. When attending QSO today event in early 2020 I learned about CWOps Acadamy. I am in the January / February beginner class with an absolutely wonderful mentor Ken AC5EZ. I decided to start their since it has been so long since I could do code at 18 to 20 WPM. The class is very well organized and offers excellent mentoring. We meet Monday and Thursday nights at 19:00 CST. The class sizes are kept small to allow for a better mentor to student ratio. The assignments are well put together.

The hardest part for me was unlearning bad habits. That is how we learned it back in the day. Know with the Farnsworth model we practice code at a faster speed with more space in between characters, I started at 10 WPM with a Farnsworth of 4. Then gradually increased the Farnsworth setting until I am approaching where I am today.

In the past few decades folks have learned it is better to learn the rhythm rather than having that extra decode step in your head. So the goal is to learn how the character sounds, rather than what dits and dahs it is composed of.

It is true what they have always said. It is easy to send code than to receive it. So starting out slow and gradually increasing the Farnsworth setting to bring the letters, numbers, symbols, and procedural signs closer together makes it much easier to learn the code and quickly get your speed up. Remember never send faster than you can receive.

In my case I am using the radio’s CW side tone to practice the code with an external paddle. On an ICOM IC-7300 that is a matter of turning off. I also used a variety of online tools, iOS apps, Windows / Mac apps for practicing receiving. I spent a fair amount of time on 40 meters at or above 7.050.00 where many of the slow nets are active. On my iOS devices I used the Morse-IT app for practice. It has the CWOps Acadamy beginner class sessions built in. You have to pay a few dollars for its advanced features like adding Farnsworth spacing.

You can find a document I put together entitled “Learning Morse Code” which can be found on the Hamfesters website at https://www.hamfesters.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Learning-Morse-Code-v2021.02-B-1415-GDR.pdf

I encourage anyone that hasn’t tried their hand at Morse Code or feels they are rusty to select and dive into a CWOps Academy Class.
A

For the beginner

1. Want to communicate with fellow hams around the world using even a modest rig and antenna?
2. Want to stay in touch when on vacation to some remote area where you don’t have access to a repeater or cell phone service?
3. Want to meet a whole new community of amateurs that share a common bond?
4. Want to expand your operating capabilities with little or no cost? If you answer “Yes” to any of the questions, then becoming skilled in CW is the answer. CWops CW Academy advisors are ready and willing to teach you a new skill that will open a world of fun and opportunity

For those having experience with CW who want to improve or regain proficiency

1. am getting bored with voice and digital modes
2. My CW skills are not what they used to be
3. I’m too rusty or embarrassed to get back on CW
4. I want to be able to copy in my head

If you know the code but are rusty, can’t copy or send as proficiently as you once could, then CWops CW Academy is right for you

For those that want something new but are not confident to take the plunge

1. love chasing DX and I want to try something new
2. I like contesting and would like to be better at CW radio sport
3. I’ve tried CW learning aids, but nothing seems to work for me
4. CW intrigues me but I’m worried about the challenge

If this sounds like you, then CWops CW Academy is absolutely right for you and is available to anyone, anywhere.

There is no cost or obligation to participate in CWops CW Academy Classes and membership is not required. Enrollment is open to anyone with the desire to learn or improve their proficiency in Morse Code.

Please Note: CW Academy training and mentoring for Beginners and those with Morse Code experience needing help are offered three times a year, in two-month increments: January through February, April through May, and September through October.

Sign up and learn what CW Academy can do for you.
https://cwops.org/cw-academy/cw-academy-options

Club Information

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Pics from the February Meeting

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Notice: Beginning with Feb 2021, all HamGab issues will be gluten and salt-free. This is part of my commitment to provide you with the healthiest and environmentally friendly reading possible. You will notice no degradation in image quality due to the clever design of the editor. If you choose to print HamGab we suggest you use low-fat, vegetarian-based in your printer.