President's Message
Hi Gang, Ready for change in seasons? I'm not, it's that time of year again, time to make sure all your antenna work is done and your coax is all sealed up and ready for the deep freeze. I know, I'm not even in the mood either, but you gotta' do what you gotta' do.
We just finished our last hamfest of the year, and while it wasn't our best we were still in the black, so congratulations on a job well done. I want to say Thank You to everyone who came out and helped out with it.
Last month were were able to get North Island in Como Lake park certified for the US Islands program, and we are already trying to choose an island for next year. I thought it was a fun event, but I'm hoping there will be some camping involved with next year's island.
I would also like to remind everyone that Dues are now Due. You can send in your dues via Pay Pal on the club's web page, or see the Membership Chairman, Phil Mayer (KC2TPY), and pay them in person to him. They are still only $30.
During the October meeting, we took nominations for club officers, board of directors and Member of the Year. The election for those positions will be held in November at the General Membership Meeting so be sure to come out and cast your vote.
With that I'll put a cut little bow tie on this month's message and I hope to catch You on the Repeater. 73 JOE WV2NY
Upcoming Board Elections
> Nominees List
The following is a list of nominees, taken at the October General Membership Meeting. Please be prepared to vote during the November GM Meeting. Bring a pen! Bring yourself, as you must be present to vote.
- Vice President
- Steve Piotrowski KC2QZF
- Treasurer
- Chuck Curtin W2EM
- Board Members
- Dave Minchen N2BND
- Kevin Retzer K9KVN
- Bill Freeman N4NJJ
- Tom McCormick AC2BT
- Jay Thompson AC2GJ
- Chuck Lawson KC2BLH
- Member of the Year1:34 PM 10/13/2011
- John Maxwell W2EM
- Steve Piotrowski KC2QZF
- Joe Gearhart Wv2NY
- Phil Meyer KC2TPY
- Vince Orlowski KA2HJX
- Bob Delameter AA2ZW
- Jay Thompson AC2GJ
- Pam Ware AB3PW
- Chuck Curtin W2EM
- Chuck Lawson KC2BLH
- Tom McCormick AC2BT
Island Breeze
> Bob, AA2ZW
I sat down at the radio and gently keyed out CQ CQ CQ DE W2SO W2SO W2SO NY ISLAND # 044 044 044.
As a cool gentile breeze came off from across Como Lake park lake. The replies to my CQ came rolling in, One couldn't stop the certification of the north island if one wanted too, the replies were beginning to pile up just that fast. The north island is now NY #044 and soon it will be NY044L as we only need 25 contacts to get the "L" attached to the end of it's number to indicate it's certification.
As I keyed away more club members began to show up on site, first one then the other we had KC2QZF, N2GDU, AB3PW, WV2NY, WA2WWK, W2KTH, KC2TPY, N2BND, AA2ZW and W2EM. The log began to add more and more callsigns as members took turns at the radios. Together we made over 50 Q's from 8 states and 10 DX Q's from GERMANY, SPAIN, ITALY, CANADA,CZECH REP and the UKRAIN.
Most were on USB some were on CW. We Only had about 2 hrs of air time ( sure gets dark fast in the park) but that would be all we needed. It was a good day to be in the park and on radio. The Sunset just left of the lighthouse, you couldn't have asked for a better back drop for our outing.
There were several radios and antennas up, both Steve KC2QZF and Chuck W2EM had up wire antennas, Luke was running his Vertical Outbacker antenna. Steve was using his Icom 7000, Chuck had his Yaesu FT-847 running and Luke was on his trusty Icom 706 and everyone was working hard and It looked as if everyone had a good time.
Next time we go out Island DXing I have only one suggestion, lets make it........SOME PLACE CLOSE TO BARBADOS
I had a great time and I'm looking forward to next year.
Bob AA2ZW
NY044L was certified, as of September 19th
Here are some photos of the Island Event: (Click for Big)
Photos are courtasy of Joe, WV2NY
Fifteen Minutes of Fame
> KC2YQF
October's General Membership meeting was more than procedure and coffee. This month we enjoyed an introduction to Amateur Satellite operations by John, KB2HSH, accompanied by Keith, WB2VUO.
This presentation included some information about satellite tracking software, antennae, and more. We were treated a video of satellite demo operations - proving that anyone could do it.
See John's Youtube Channel for links to videos as seen at the meeting.
Chuck, W2EM, helpfully provided us with a source for the RG-62 as in the video, although John notes that other cables are acceptable, they just change the antenna properties:
For those of you thinking about building the eggbeater antennas, I have found a decent source for the phasing cable (RG-62). You need 5 1/2” for a 440MHz and 16 1/2” for a 144MHz eggbeater antenna. An 8 foot cable can be ordered on eBay for a total of $6.95, which is enough to make 4 sets of 2 antennas, for about a buck an antenna. http://www.ebay.com/itm/150621753072?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649
As John demonstrates, the eggbeater antenna can provide you with an alternative to the traditional "tripod and beam" or "wandering around outside" approach, to get you on the air for as long as you can during a satellite's pass - giving you your shot at fifteen minutes in the spotlight.
Road Rally Results
The Road Rally is one of those things where, you'd had to have been there to appreciate what sort of fun you can have doing one of these things. I wish I'd been, I would have more to say, but, alas, the only "rally" my car was doing at that time was a rally to the Junkyard. I did learn about bicycle commuting but that wins no awards.
Anyways, I digress. Significantly. Joe, WV2NY, snapped a few shots of our Road Rally teams, including the winning team, of Tom, AC2BT, and his son. They're the group with the nice shiny trophies. If you're not in the shots, let me know. If you've got any memories, pass those along too, and we'll edit it in.
Hamfest Revue
> KC2YQF
This fall's Greater Buffalo Hamfest on October 3rd, ended succesfully, marking another great repeat event at the Shriner's Centre.
Few seemed to leave empty handed as they were treated to the GB Hamfest's unique blend of radio, electronic, and computer equipment. A couple of last minute purchases, prior to winter's dormant period, are always needed.
However, I would like to put out a personal call, looking forward to next year. What have your Hamfest experiences been? Obviously, we cannot compare our events to Dayton, or, perhaps, even some of the regional events, but, what it is that you like? A night on the airwaves has told me that many hams are great at gripes, so, please, get all your ducks in a row for the near term future as we think about what the hamfest means to our organization, and what we'll do going forward.
This fall's fest was also visited by N3LLR, The director of the ARRL Atlantic Division, to whom we appreciate dropping in! In case you don't believe us, see the photo below:
Another day, another dollar (spent on radio related equipment)
> KC2YQF
So, many of the repeater regulars have been familiar with my dismay at my radio operations from a "Garden" style (read: basement) apartment. It is miserable. The usual suggestions to look for attics, apple trees, etc, didn't pan out. I did try a couple of options:
- The Slinky Antenna: Maybe some people have had luck with it, and it is generally compact for portability, but, I didn't find it to be so good. I had an opportunity to try this on a couple of occasions, but, at no time did I ever get it more than 8' or so off the ground. That may have been my problem. I basically found this thing to be resonant nowhere. It would occasionaly be tuneable, but, I never heard any replies to my calls. For the portability aspect of it, I don't see how you could practically wing this thing up into some trees, it is just unwieldy for that. Perhaps if you were in Manhattan, and you had a clothesline to the building next door, you could work this out. I'd like to say it's great as a slinky, but, unfortunately, the coil stretched and now it just unrolls all over the place.
- The Hustler Resonator: These things are the bomb. They are more "random" than a random wire antenna as far as I'm concerned, but, they work. They do pick up noise, however, so they work best in field or mobile situations. I regularly attempted to run these off the hitch of my car, and into my apartment. Being about 12' from the building presented some problems, but it worked, and I made a couple of contacts. It was a challenge. These were great on field day and went all over the place. I had 4 resonators off the hitch, 10, 15, 20, 40, and it tuned on 6, 12, and 17 as well. Can't beat that. This is no longer the solution for me however, having donated my hulking boat of a vehicle to rust research, and no longer having a hitch.
But, now I've got some new digs, and again the ideas are flowing. I decided, this time, that there are a couple of trees and things that may work, on a temporary basis, but, I wanted to test some ideas before I made a mess of things. Enter the 'random wire antenna'.
We've all been around the ol' wire-in-the-tree style thing and I can say, after having tried this thing, that, like any other antenna, it works as well as it works. I worked RTTY and PSK on the east coast, and to Spain, on 20W with 27' of crappo speaker wire, strung in my apartment.
It was easy, nothing burned down, nobody died. I've since mutated it into some sort of off-center fed 30-some foot long Frankenstein thing. It, again, picks up a ton of noise, especially the neighbor's TV (S9+ all bands with the pre-amp OFF :( ), but, when they're not on the tube, it works.
The TS-480 has some absurd data filtering, being able to cut a RTTY signal down to 50KHz with the 250Khz Crystal filter and another 150 of digital filtering. So, it works.
Of course, now, I want to work the New York QSO Party this weekend. This means I've got the itch to buy more garbage wire and build a web out my window!