February 2022 – HamGab

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HAPPY NEW YEAR.   Happy Valentine’s Day!  Thank you to those members who attended the January meeting and were able to find the new meeting place for January.  Thank you to Judy Riley, for sending her awesome home baked cookies. Thank you to Steve Peters for the video program.

NEWS ON MEETING PLACE:  CHANGE OF VENUE.The Village of Crestwood wants to move our meetings to their new building by the Village Hall.  The problem being, it is located in the basement and is a much smaller room.  Access is down two flights of stairs (which could pose a problem for our older members) and the elevator is currently not operating so Pattie would be unable to attend.   That is why we scrambled and Don was able to get us the meeting room at the Bridgeview Community Center.  It was actually a nice cozy meeting room and had easy access and plenty of parking.  IN A NUTSHELL, OUR MEETINGS WILL BE IN DIFFERENT LOCATIONS AT THIS TIME, SO PLEASE CHECK THE WEBSITE BEFORE YOU HEAD OUT.

ANNOUNCEMENT:  After fifteen years of dragging and storing all the essentials for the goodies at the meetings, Don and I no longer can serve to do this.  WE NEED A NEW VOLUNTEER who is willing to take on this responsibility at the monthly meetings.  You would be responsible for purchasing and making the coffee (getting to the meeting early for set up), cups etc., pop, water (brought cold to the meeting) and goodies such as cookies and donuts individually wrapped, and the clean-up of same.  The club will reimburse you for expenses.  If there are no volunteers, there will be no refreshments at the upcoming meetings.   If you are interested, please give Nora, KC9MLV a call.

 HEALTH AND WELFARE:  Hope everyone is staying safe and well.  Prayers are also being sent to those members who are suffering or struggling. 

 NEW MEMBERS:    Welcome back to Dennis Calderone, KC9DSP.  Welcome to Jim Conerty, N8EAT.  Glad to have you join up and hope to see you at a future meeting.

 FEBRUARY MEETING: Our very own Gene W9PNG will be presenting a program on how to protect yourself when you’re on the internet.  More details will be forthcoming. If you have ever been hacked or got a bad deal online then this program is for you.  NOTE:  THIS MEETING WILL TAKE PLACE AT OAK FOREST FREEMASON LODGE NO. 832, LOCATED AT 15470 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Forest, IL  60452.

MARCH MEETING:  News flash just handed me—- The Friday, March 4^th, 2022 meeting will be our famous WHITE ELEPHANT SALE! This particular meeting will be located at the Bridgeview Community Center which is located at 7902 S. Oketo Ave. in Bridgeview, Illinois. The meeting will start at 7:30pm. You may bring your items in as early as 6:30 pm to set up and sell. If you are selling, space is available on a first come first serve basis. The club does not provide change or extension cords to try out items that need electric for testing. We are not responsible for mislaid, lost or stolen items. Bring a buddy to watch your stuff if you wish to browse. Sorry to be so strict, but it is for everyone’s benefit. Thank you for understanding.

PROGRAMS:  If you know someone or something that may be of interest to the Club, please let Don KC9EQQ know.  We are looking for new ideas, so now is the chance to provide names of speakers and topics etc. for this year’s programs.

As always, we ask you to keep an eye on the website (Hamfesters.org) (AS PROVED BY THE JANUARY MEETING CHANGE OF VENUE) (dutifully brought to us by Brian Davis and Gene Phillips) for the most current happenings in our club. Remember to Like us on our Hamfesters Page and spread the word about our great club too! We are the fun place to have a good time of fellowship at all of our events!

Secretary’s Beat – Meeting Minutes

Hamfesters Amateur Radio Club W9AA club meeting 7:40 pm

This meeting was held at the Bridgeview Community center, the Crestwood Center is closed.

Roll: Nora kc9mlv, Jim w9jpr, Patti kc9lye
At tonight’s meeting; 19 members, 1 visitor. Welcome, everyone!

Health & Welfare: Kurt wb9fmc, absent feeling under the weather.
Paul Batcherlar (I’m not sure of last name spelling), death in the family. Sorry for your loss Paul.

Programs: The date of our Feb. club meeting is unknown because we don’t have a site. PLEASE, check Hamfesters.org

April Weather program unknown

President’s Report: Nora kc9mlv, a volunteer is needed to bring snacks to club meetings.

Minutes: January club minutes approved by Bob n9kwg, & Steve w9kxt

Treasurer’s Report: by Jim w9jpr,”Kurt wb9fmc, says the club has money.”

New Member: Dennis kc9vsp, welcome

New Business: Don kc9eqq, is looking for vendors for our hamfest the first Sunday, Aug. 2022.
Kurt wb9fmc, received the Hamfester of the Year Award 2021. Congratulations Kurt!

Patti kc9lye, won $25.00 at the Christmas party.

There’s a for sale page on Hamgab, contact Gene w9png, with details.

Old Business: Al n9zd, check the expiration date on your ham license.
The renewal fee is Not in effect yet.

Adjournment: 8:59 pm Bob n9kwg, Don kc9eqq

Split the pot winner: Steve w9kxt

Raffle prize winners: Bob n9kwg, Linas kc9pcp, Steve w9kxt, Patti kc9lye

Grounding FAQ

Roy Lewallen, W7EL, ARRL Technical Adviser

After antennas, station grounding is probably the most discussed subject in amateur radio and it is also the one replete with the most misconceptions. The first thing to know is that there are three functions served by grounding in ham shacks: 1. Electrical Safety 2. Stray RF Suppression (or simply RF Grounding) 3. Lightning Protection. Each has it’s own set of requirements, but not all station setups need every kind of ground. In fact, some setups don’t use a ground at all! The articles on this page will help clear up some of the myths and mystery surrounding this popular topic.

Grounding FAQ

1. How important is a ground? Most people say that grounding is all- important, but I have had a few people tell me that grounds aren’t necessary.

Grounds fulfill three distinct functions. The best ground for one function isn’t necessarily the best for another. The three are:

a. Safety ground. This protects you from a shock hazard if one of the mains or high voltage power supply wires contacts the chassis due to some kind of fault. The requirements for this ground are spelled out in your state’s electrical code. I believe that most states adopt the National Electrical Code (NEC). The safety ground conductor in your wall sockets should be connected to ground according to this code, and your rig’s chassis should be connected to the safety ground.

b. Lightning ground. The requirements for a ground for lightning protection are much more stringent than for a safety ground. The topic has been discussed in this group many times, and there are numerous resources available for learning how to make a ground system for lightning protection. (See the TIS Page on Lightning Protection)

c. RF ground. This is required only for certain types of antennas– ones which require current flow to ground to complete the antenna circuit. An example is a quarter-wave vertical. One wire of the feedline connects to the base of the antenna, and the other connects to ground. The connection to ground has to have a low RF resistance, or you’ll expend too much of your power heating the ground. A few radial wires will provide a moderately low loss connection. A ground rod will help a little, but the RF resistance will be high, resulting in quite a bit of loss. Chapter 8 of the ARRL Antenna Book shows the approximate trade between resistance and number of radials. If your antenna is much shorter than ¼ wavelength, you’ll need many, many radials to get reasonable efficiency. If it’s longer, you can get by with fewer. A ½ wavelength base-fed vertical needs only a very modest ground, and a ground rod is adequate. The requirements for various other end-fed antennas depend on their length. If you use a “complete” antenna like a dipole or a ground plane (that is, one that doesn’t require your feedline to connect to ground), you don’t need a RF ground, as long as you keep common-mode currents off your feedline. A “current” or “choke” balun is most commonly used for this.

2. What are the ground/counterpoise alternatives to driving an 8-foot metal pole into the ground? I live in an apartment, and I highly doubt I can do this.

Shallow-buried radial wires are the best. Connection to other conductors just under the surface, like a metal water pipe, is next. These are for the RF ground described above.

3. I have heard that balanced antennas don’t require grounds. How do I get a balanced antenna?

See RF ground, above.

4. How do mobile HF operators get RF grounds? For obvious reasons, the 8-foot buried pole won’t work.

In a typical HF setup, the car is capacitively coupled to the ground, so the antenna is something sort of like a cross between a lopsided vertical dipole (with the whip being one side and the car the other) and a vertical with elevated radial system.

From ARRL’s website.

http://www.arrl.org/grounding

Online Scams

Growing up, someone gave me a t-shirt that said, “Money is the Root of all Evil, and We all need Roots!” Although money is not evil, people’s greed for money can cause them to do some evil things.

• Bait: Scamers will use many tacticts from emails, website ads, phone calls, text messages.
  • Using pshycology they will try to lure you in with an attractive offer or scare you with a fake alert message.
• Compromise: Users will unknowling provide their informations to the scammer.
  • This information could be your Social Security, passwords to websites, credit card #s.
• Excecute: Scammers will exploit this information for their personal gain.
  • At this point, depending on the info you gave, the scammers can cause you great deal of pain.

The following link has additional information online scams.

https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/preemptive-safety/scam-websites

Hopefully, you can make it to the February meeting where I will be giving a presentation on Social Engineering.

For Sale By Owner

No Items for sale this week. 🙁

email me at hamgab@hamfesters.org if interested or see me at the club meeting

Hamfesters VE Testings

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

Date: 2nd Saturday of each Month

Location: Oak Forest City Hall, 15440 Central Ave, Oak Forest, IL 60452

Time: 0900 hrs

Walk-ins accepted with FRN number in hand

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 the exact amount of cash. NO CHECKS or CREDIT CARDS EXCEPTED!

VE Coordinator: Al Bukowski – N9ZD

N9ZD@ARRL.NET

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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Feburary 2022 Contest Calendar

From WA7BNM Contest Calendar Website

+ Vermont QSO Party	0000Z, Feb 5 to 2359Z, Feb 6
+ 10-10 Int. Winter Contest, SSB	0001Z, Feb 5 to 2359Z, Feb 6
+ Mexico RTTY International Contest	1200Z, Feb 5 to 2359Z, Feb 6
+ FYBO Winter QRP Sprint	1400Z-2359Z, Feb 5
+ Minnesota QSO Party	1400Z-2359Z, Feb 5
+ AGCW Straight Key Party	1600Z-1900Z, Feb 5
+ British Columbia QSO Party	1600Z, Feb 5 to 2359Z, Feb 6
+ European Union DX Contest	1800Z, Feb 5 to 1800Z, Feb 6
+ North American Sprint, CW	2300Z, Feb 5 to 0300Z, Feb 6
+ ARS Spartan Sprint	0200Z-0400Z, Feb 8
+ CQ WW RTTY WPX Contest	0000Z, Feb 12 to 2359Z, Feb 13
+ SARL Field Day Contest	1000Z, Feb 12 to 1000Z, Feb 13
+ Asia-Pacific Spring Sprint, CW	1100Z-1300Z, Feb 12
+ Dutch PACC Contest	1200Z, Feb 12 to 1200Z, Feb 13
+ SKCC Weekend Sprintathon	1200Z, Feb 12 to 2359Z, Feb 13
+ KCJ Topband Contest	1200Z, Feb 12 to 2359Z, Feb 13
+ PODXS 070 Club Valentine Sprint	0000Z-2359Z, Feb 14
+ 4 States QRP Group Second Sunday Sprint	0100Z-0300Z, Feb 14
+ ARRL School Club Roundup	1300Z, Feb 14 to 2359Z, Feb 18
+ AGCW Semi-Automatic Key Evening	1900Z-2030Z, Feb 16
+ NTC QSO Party	1900Z-2000Z, Feb 17
+ ARRL Inter. DX Contest, CW	0000Z, Feb 19 to 2359Z, Feb 20
+ Run for the Bacon QRP Contest	2300Z, Feb 20 to 0100Z, Feb 21
+ SKCC Sprint	0000Z-0200Z, Feb 23
+ CQ 160-Meter Contest, SSB	2200Z, Feb 25 to 2200Z, Feb 27
+ REF Contest, SSB	0600Z, Feb 26 to 1800Z, Feb 27
+ UBA DX Contest, CW	1300Z, Feb 26 to 1300Z, Feb 27
+ North American QSO Party, RTTY	1800Z, Feb 26 to 0559Z, Feb 27
+ High Speed Club CW Contest	1400Z-1700Z, Feb 27
+ North Carolina QSO Party	1500Z, Feb 27 to 0100Z, Feb 28

Club Information

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Photos from the January 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 ink in your printer.