RIVERLAND AMATEUR RADIO CLUB JULY 2011

T H E K E Y

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Repeaters146.970 PL 131.8 444.475 PL 131.8

RARC NetThe club’s weekly net is 8 p.m. Sundays on the 146.970 repeater.

ProgramsTuesday, July 5, 7 p.m.,

“Field Day re-cap.”

Club meetings Club meetings are 7 p.m.,

Tuesday, at Gundersen/Lu-theran in La Crosse. They will be in meeting room 1 on the lower level of the clinic.

“Meeting of Elmers,” advice, discussion and help is at 6 p.m. in the confer-ence room in the Gundersen Clinic.

Visit the RARC Web page at http://rarc.qth.com/ to find information about the club and links to other ham related sites.

Over Tuesday coffee in downtown came the question: “What was going on in Onalaska Park this weekend? There were a bunch of antennas and an emergency trailer!”

The answer is “it was the Riverland Amateur Radio Club doing Field Day.” Members, prospective members and friends made the call “W9UP” heard far and wide during the ARRL’s annual Field Day, June 25-26. Members made contact after contact despite a vow to emphasize social contacts over radio contacts.

Roger Reader, KA9BKK, didn’t chair Field Day – there was no actual chair or committee -- but he made it happen with the help of others.

The club trailer was the focus of operations in Onalaska’s Thomas Rowe Park. The club radio was assigned to HF and Van Elston, WA9FIO, using his Icom for a digital station.

Additionally, Art Osborn, WØJDC, and

Carl Thurston, KC9HDS, provided HF set-ups based in their vehicles. Osborn erected a war surplus vertical and Thurston burned the ozone from a little OPEK multi-band antenna.

Other antennas included a “Miracle” and a “Super Duper Five Band.”

Contacts came fast and furious from 80 meters through 6 meters. The latter and 10 meters were particularly fruitful.

Steak, beer and other treats fed the social contacts.

Participants included: Tom O’Brien, WB9BJQ; Mark Cassellius, KB9OFK; Bob Seaquist, KC9IWE; Gary Webb, NI9V; Bill Wood, KE9XQ; Joe Johnson, KC9HDV; Caleb Johnson, KC9KVF; Mike Mohler, W9MBM (with grandson Caleb and Caleb’s buddy Will); Clark Van Galder, KC9HBZ; Osborn, WØJDC; Thurston, KC9HDS; Elston, WA9FIO; and Reader, KA9BKK.

There will be a re-cap of Field Day at the club’s meeting Tuesday, July 5.

You know you’re an addict when your wedding invitations are printed on the back of a QSL card.

A Walk In The ParkField Day a Club Success

Field Day operators Van Elston, WA9FIO, left, and Roger Reader, KA9BKK, right, make contacts under the watchful eye of Will, a middle school student from Nebraska.

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RIVERLAND AMATEUR RADIO CLUB JULY 2011

CalendarSat. July 2, 7 a.m., Chileda Classic communication support. Tues. July 5, 7 p.m., RARC meeting, Gundersen Lutheran La Crosse. Field Day recap.Sat. July 9, 6:30 a.m. - South Milwaukee Amateur Radio Club Swapfest at American Legion Post #434, 9327 S. Shepard Ave, Oak Creek. Sat. July 16, 8 a.m. - 12 p.m. - CVARC Tail Gate Swap Fest at Eagles Club Park-ing Lot, 2855 HWY 53, Chippewa Falls. Sat. Aug. 13, 8 a.m.-noon, RARC Swap meet, Onalaska Community Center, 515 Quincy St., Onalaska.

Riverland Amateur Radio ClubP.O. Box 621Onalaska, Wis. 54650

President ............. Mark Cassellius, KB9OFKVice-president..... Roger Reader, KA9BKKTreasurer.............. Tom O’Brien, WB9BJQSecretary.............. Carl Thurston, KC9HDSNewsletter editor .. Bob Seaquist, KC9IWEAddress correspondence regarding the club to Tom O’Brien, WB9BJQ, wb9bjq@charter.netThis newsletter is sent by e-mail to current and past RARC members and others. If you wish to change your address or sub-scription, e-mail KC9IWE@arrl.net

VE testing for licensing The RARC will continue providing VE testing for licensing. The fee

remains $15. The next tests will be administered Saturdays, Sept. 10, and Nov. 12. Each session will begin at 9 a.m. at the American Red Cross office,

2927 Losey Blvd. S., La Crosse.

La Crosse County ARESWeekly net 8:30 p.m. TuesdaysTuesday July 11, 146.970 (-) tone 131.8Tuesday July 18, 147.090 (+) tone 131.8Tuesday July 25, 147.000 (+) tone 131.8Monday, July 24, La Crosse County ARES meeting, county administration center.

Swap meet Aug. 13Collect your surplus gear as well as your hopes

for new stuff and be on-hand Saturday, Aug. 13, for the Riverland Amateur Radio Club swap meet.

The event will be at the Onalaska Commu-nity Center, 515 Quincy St.

Antique radio dealers and venders will join those with buys, sells and swaps.

Club members (l-r) Gary Webb, Bill Wood, KE9XQ, Mark Cassellius, KB9OFK, and Mike Mohler, W9MBM, practice the social side of Field Day.

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RIVERLAND AMATEUR RADIO CLUB JULY 2011

The KP1-5 Project is famous among Hams for a DXpedition that opened two rare islands to amateur radio. One of the islands, Desecheo , had its first approved DXpedition in 15 years in Feb. 2009 making 115,787 contacts.

The difficulty in having that DXpedition approved was that Desecheo was a Navy bombing range making it a hazardous place to this day.

The KP1-5 Project, written up in amateur radio publications at the time, spent thousands of dollars, had tons of equipment and had a chartered helicopter to make it possible.

I, on the other hand, conducted my own DXpedition, the KP4/KC9IWE Project, near Desecheo island over the Memorial Day weekend. To make it possible I spent tens of dollars, had ounces of equipment and a Hertz rental car.

While I, indeed, hoped to make radio contacts the principal purpose of my DXpedition was to attend my son’s destination wedding in Rincon, Puerto Rico. My son’s (now) mother-in-law decreed the nuptials would be in an exotic place so both families flew to San Juan, PR at the appointed date for a week of relaxation, sight-seeing, drinking, radio and the wedding.

The KP4/KC9IWE Project station consisted of my little Yaesu FT-817 radio, headphones, a LNZ Precision EndFedz 20m antenna and a logbook.

A TSA officer in Milwaukee didn’t like the look of the ‘817 so it was removed from my carry-on and thoroughly tested for explosives. Anyone who has played with this particular radio knows it is anything but explosive. It emits 5w on a good day and needs filters to ‘hear’ really good.

The next hurdle on the journey was the 96 mile drive from the airport in San Juan to Rincon. Garmin predicted two hours, reality settled on three and a half despite multi-lane roads for most of the trip. Drivers did not seem motivated to get anywhere soon and they also were not concerned about cutting abruptly across lanes with no warning. The final 15 miles were on what appeared to be driveways and footpaths that frequently became very narrow, single-lane venues.

A few rum punches and a good night’s

sleep settled my nerves. After a pleasant breakfast on the lanai I walked the 20 yards to the villa’s seawall and set up the radio. There was a convenient palm tree on which I hung one end of the antenna. I pulled up a bar type chair and started tuning around.

It was tough. Conditions were not particularly good and there was a fairly high noise level. I hoped being by saltwater (about 30’) would help and perhaps it did. Just not enough. I heard a number of Caribbean hams cheerfully rag chewing hour after hour. Some guy named Emerson seemed to be the ringleader but in the few times I heard him or the others

do an I-D it was too fast to catch.Many Florida and other southeastern

U.S. stations were on the band, almost all of them bitterly complaining about the 100-degree heat. In Puerto Rico our weather was 84 during the day, 75 at night and it rained (usually just a little) at 1 p.m. Sitting at the seawall was delightful.

I did complete four QSOs in about as many hours operating. Such is the life of a QRP Ham. One was a check-in to the Intercon net at 14300 MHz when the net control was a Ham in Boston.

I figure the KP4/KC9IWE Project was a success. Sitting on a beach playing radio is wonderful, I added to my tan, the rum punches served were a delight and I even made a couple contacts!

Being a fairly new Ham and being new to QRP I learned that operating with 2.5 watts is a challenge. It requires a lot of patience and faith. And some rum.

The wedding itself, Chris marrying Kristen, was a fun, casual, beautiful event on the sea framed by a setting sun. They’ve been happily together seven years and continue being happy.

My DXpedition (almost) to Desecheo IslandBy Bob Seaquist, KC9IWE

A beer, a beach, a radio and an antenna make for a great DXpedition

The KP4/KC9IWE Project in action.

RIVERLAND AMATEUR RADIO CLUB JULY 2011

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There are times in one’s life when things happen that one might wish for but do not expect to see take place. As uncommon as this may be to some, it seems to happen to me repeatedly. Things like what happened with the legendary Seneca saga and the continual threat of a gremlin invasion in my shack. Some times these things are desirable, some times not, and some times it’s hard to tell which is which. This time it was definitely desirable.

Everyone who has had the opportunity to view the interior of my shack, my tech room or my garage can tell you what a gigantic mess exists in those locations. The suggestions about what can or should be done about this mess are as varied and humorous as one might expect. Suggestions have ranged from

getting a big dumpster and filling it repeatedly until all of the stuff is gone, to moving it all to the curb and see if it might disappear over night, to putting all of the items on eBay. The main difference between these suggestions is whether the person making the suggestion sees any value in the items in my collection.

Over the years, some items were eliminated while others continue to miraculously appear. My wife has thrown her hands in the air over this phenomenon, but still it is a point of friction at our house. I’ve been truly working on an ultimate solution for some time now, with little visible success.

That was until last Friday. A friend, Clark Van Galder, KC9HBZ, offered

to help me go through some of the mess, but alas; it rained and since the garage was so full that there was no room to maneuver, whatever we pulled off the stack had to be restacked outside on the driveway. We couldn’t let some of that stuff get wet so we took our wives out to dinner where we could talk over the situation and plan a strategy. Off we went to Sullivan’s Super Club for a very pleasant dinner, conversation, and planning session. It was agreed that if the weather cleared the next day, that we would regroup and with the help of coal mining equipment, helmets, lanterns, and a canary in a cage, we would once more attempt to excavate the debris of my garage.

Saturday morning proved to be cool but dry and once I had completed the usual early Saturday morning functions, I called Clark to see if he was still interested. He was, and agreed to come over about

1330. At that time we set to work

in earnest. In a short time, a large organized pile of containers was stacked neatly on my driveway and a not so neat pile of empty boxes, discarded items and just plain junk formed next to the stacks of containers.

As we peeled back the layers of artifacts left over from a technology museum, Clark spotted a cherry wood gun cabinet that he wanted to buy, so we trenched our way over to it and pulled it from the mass of mess. Yes, it was just what he wanted. We haggled over the price and to sweeten the pot, I offered to throw in an ornate coffee table with a bas-relief of an eagle on its top. This tipped the scales and we agreed on the price and loaded them in his van.

By 1630 we had sorted through about 400 cubic feet of containers, set aside about 50 cubic feet of unwanted junk, and loaded up another 20 cubic feet of items to go to Goodwill. All of that plus Clark got some nice furniture, Goodwill got some saleable items, the pickers are having a field day with what we set on the curb, and by gosh, I can see my garage ceiling again!

With all of that accomplished, I could go to Field Day and enjoy myself without felling guilty about the mess waiting for me at home.

Oh yes, and now my wife can see that it might not have frozen over yet, but it is definitely frosting over a bit.

It almost froze overBy Carl Thurston, KC9HDS

After a garage cleaning Carl made it to Field Day.