All amateur radio operators are nerds. This is a commonly-held misconception. Actual ly,only 95% of l icensed amateur radio operator are nerds. We can’t figure out how the other5% got their l icenses. Dan Romanchik, KB6NU said this and I think its true! We are nerdsits just some get their l icense from a cracker jack box. News from the FCC is starting to getheavy as of late with hams getting it trouble violating the privi leges they are given. as aham we are put on a higher pedestal than those who hold no l icence.

Last may LCARC was planning on operating the 201 4 INQP well we had some badcommunications with parties, anyway the prel iminary scores have been posted to theINQP web site. http://www.hdxcc.org/inqp/scores.php

As most of you know I am an avid l istener to podcasts but from time to time I l isten toterrestrial radio I popped it over to 99.9 and was shocked that they had SWITCHEDFORMAT AGAIN! I ts pol ish radio! I t makes you wonder if i ts going to last… aha whoknows.

I do al l my stuff for the club using my laptop. I had gotten it from a lawsuit, I had nothing todo with! but long story short, emachines had gotten sued due to a 1 .44in floppy corruptionissue and was forced to offer a cash option of $65 or a replacement device. Well I took thereplacemant! Anyway, everytime I take it somewhere the damn CD tray opens… WHOuses CDs anymore? I certainly dont and haven't used them in months and so want to prythe bottom off. Let me know if you agree.

One of the Skywarn Yahoo! groups I ’m subscribed to mentioned TVNWeather.com andthem having a new season for perchase, I ’mthinking about purchasing season 2 ofTornado Chasers after going on a Youtube watching spree about Storm Chasing from theThe Discrovery Channal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1 ND_6ay_XrwI’m the type of guy who wil l watch a someone review a crappy HP computer for two hoursfor the hel l of it! So speaking of watching spree if you have something cool and interestingplease send it my way.

On Saturday September 6th, LCARC wil l be having its annual N9D Indianaparks on the Air and Club Cookout at the Indiana State Dunes - Tremont Shelter. Setup wil lbegin at 1 0:00 AM with the contest starting at 1 1 . Fires wil l be l i t just after. Everyone is invited to come out and have a great time.The club wil l be providing the meat, so al l you are required to bring is side dish, something to drink and your appetite. I f you wouldl ike to operate as N9D at the park you wil l also be required to bring a copy of your amateur radio l icence and * must be a clubmember. We plan on operating N9D ti l l about 4:00 PM so come early. As a note the park has an entrance fee/day pass of $5 forIndiana residents and * $1 0 for non residents and this is per vehicle. (* Corrected from the last issue)

Lastly I was looking through photos and came across a photo of some from the 201 1 fei ld day, one in particular is of Mark K9MQpole dancing! have a look from the l ink below http://fl ickriver.com/photos/wv9o/popular-interesting/

Hope everyone has a great month, and hope to see you at one of the next meetings.73, Ben KC9UNS

From Your EditorBenjamin Straw, KC9UNS

July 201 4, Issue 7, Volume 62

UPCOMING EVENTS

In this Issue of Short Skip

Bob WD9EZBDan KD9ARDJoe KC9WCUJohn K9KIQShirley K9SALWayne KA9YNB

ARTICLES NEEDED! ! !I f you have anything pertaining toamateur radio that you would l ike tocontribute to, and share with others inShort Skip, we would be happy toinclude your offering in any future

edition. Anything you would l ike. Hintsand kinks, antennas, technical talk,operating tips, publ ic service, classicradio, club activities, etc., would be

hearti ly welcomed! ! ! Al l articles must bein by the 23rd of every month. Copyright

rules and permission apply to al lsubmissions. Please send your

submission to:KC9UNS / Short Skip Editor

kc9uns@gmail .com

I hope you enjoy this month’s Short Skipas much as I did putting it together!

2. Meeting Minutes, For Sale

3 - 4. Ham News

5. Repeater Update, WN9Z SK

6. New Hams

7. Portable Paddle, Out Cat

8. Membership FormI f we missed your birthday orget it wrong, please let us

know

July 1 1 , 201 4Lake County EMA Building

2900 W 93rd Ave. Crown Point, In.General Meeting: 7:30 PM

Board: 6:30 PM

Sat July 1 2, 201 4Indianapolis Communications & Technology Expo

Marion County Fairgrounds

Sun July 1 3, 201 4FRRL Hamfest and Electronics MarketAurora Central Cathol ic High School

Sun July 20, 201 4Karsfest

Wil l County Fairgrounds

Hamfest

Meeting

NetsLCARC Information Net

Thursday @ 8:00 PM LCARC Repeaters

RACES NetWendsday @ 8:00 PM EMA VHF Repeater

NWI Skywarn NetTuesday @ 8:00 PM N9IAA VHF Repeater

Club EventSat September 6, 201 4

N9D - Indiana Parks On The Air and ClubCookout

Indiana Dunes State Park - Tremont Shelter1 0:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Side Dish and Appetite Required

Meeting MinutesBenjamin Straw, KC9UNS

2Short Skip

Meeting called to order at 7:35 PM

Attendance:1 3 Attendees

Reading of Minutes:The minutes of the previous board meeting read by BenKC9UNS was approved as corrected.

Treasure Report:Treasurer Report read by Jim KF9EX and was approvedas read.Expenditures of the month where flowers for the funeral ofRick Terpstra, WN9Z and INPOTA

Committee reportsQLS: The club received a QSL from KB3MNO that wasmade on June 26th 201 0 (Field day). From the card it looksl ike it has been lost in the mail for 4 years according to howmuch the stamp was (34 cent) . (Image below)Repeater: Board wil l be looking at relocating the St. John7420 repeater due to Lake Central being underconstruction the decision wil l be made at the July meeting.Net: Ben KC9UNS Reported we had over 1 00 people checked in since we started logging who checked in.For the month of May we had 66 check ins and thanked Carter KC9YGU for fi l l ing in.

Old Business:Ben KC9UNS made an error in last months (June) issue of Short Skip, it is $1 0 for non residents for IndianaState Dunes. Ben also reminded the members about Sept 6 INPOTA from 1 0-4.

New BusinessNONE

Program:None

Meeting adjourned at 7:55 PM local.

201 4 Officers

President: ................. KB9HORuss McComb

Vice President: ...... WD9EZBBob Wiberg

Secretary: ............. KC9UNSBenjamin Straw

Treasurer: ................ KF9EXJim Harney

Trustee: ..................... WV9OMarv Boetcher

DirectorsBill Young ................. N9QLSKen Brown ................ KE9TCBob Nelms ............ WD9FNYMark Skowronski .......... K9MQJohn Gianotti ................. W9WYCarter Garcia ............. KC9YGU

Editorial StaffEditor-in-Chief ...... KC9UNS

Benjamin Straw(kc9uns@gmail.com)

Club ResourcesW9LJ/R ......................... 1 47.000 + PL 1 31 .8

W9LJ/R (St. John) ..... 1 47.240 + PL 1 31 .8W9LJ/R ......................... 442.075 + PL 1 31 .8

Repeater Nets

Thursday Night @ 8:00 PM:

LCARC Weekly Infomation Net

MeetingsSecond Friday of Each Month

BOARD MEETING

LCEMA OFFICE,

2900 93rd Ave

Crown Point (41 .449555,-87.36893)

(Across from Gov. Ctr.)

6:30 PM

Second Friday of Each Month

CLUB MEETING

2900 93rd Ave

Crown Point (41 .449555,-87.36893)

(Across from Gov. Ctr.)

7:30 PM

LCARC is an IRS-certified 501 (c)3 charitable organization and donations are deductible pursuant to the IRS rules. If you haveworking radio equipment and anci l lary equipment that you can and wish to donate to the club, please contact one of the boardmembers and we wil l be happy to talk to you about the process. Many companies wil l either grant or match employee’s gifts tononprofit organizations l ike LCARC.Please determine if your company is among these and contact a board member so we mayhelp fund and grow LCARC. We cannot accept certain donations, and have to place some restrictions around them (no hazardousmaterials, nothing we could not sel l , etc. ) . I f you are interested, look me, or any other board member up at one of the meetings, orcontact us via email (our addresses at the end of this newsletter)

Vol. 62 No. 7

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MFJ Hamsticks. I have one for each of the fol lowing frequencies:20 Mtr - http://www.mfjenterprises.com/Product.php?productid=MFJ-1 620T40 Mtr -- http://www.mfjenterprises.com/Product.php?productid=MFJ-1 640T1 5 Mtr - http://www.mfjenterprises.com/Product.php?productid=MFJ-1 61 5TList price of each is $1 4.95 plus shipping. He wil l sel l al l three for $30.00 ($1 0each and no shipping).Contact John W9WY - w9wy@sbcglobal.net

========

Behringer Xenyx 1 204USB - 1 2 input 2/2-Bus Mixer, USB cable, Rackmount,Power cable. $1 00 OBORanger RCI-2950 1 0/1 1 Meter, 30 watts, original microphone (Radio is not the DX version) $1 00 OBOAntron99 CB/1 0M antenna $302 mobile fiberglass 1 0M antennas with dipole bracket for portable or shack use (New never used) $30Contact Ben KC9UNS, KC9UNS@gmail .com

========

Ameritron AL-81 1 H amplifier. Very good condition. Strong tubes, strong output on al l bands. Amp currentlywired for 220VAC.Asking $625 or best offer, pick-up only.Contact: Marty, WJ9Q, martyd64@sbcglobal.net or cel l 21 9-789-0374.

========

Arrow GP52 antenna for sale. I t is unopened in the package.http://arrowantennas.com/gp/gp52.htmlCost is $45

Contact Robert W9RBC at W9RBC@arrl .org

STUFF FOR SALE

3Short Skip

SKYWARN Pioneer Alan R. Moller, N5ZCB, SK

National Weather Service forecaster, storm chaser, and SKYWARN pioneer Alan “Al”Moller, N5ZCB, of Benbrook, Texas, died June 1 9. He was 64. Moller and Chuck Doswellwere the primary contributors to the development of the national SKYWARN program.

Moller was a Senior Forecaster (retired) at the National Weather Service Fort Worth, Texas,Office, where, the NWS said, he “tirelessly worked to better understand thunderstorms andtornadoes, whi le at the same time teaching others to responsibly observe and report storminformation from the field. He was a voice and a bridge between operational and researchmeteorology, and thus, was respected by both of these meteorological discipl ines.”

He also was a writer and cinematographer, known for StormWatch (1 995), Tornadoes: ASpotter's Guide (1 977), and Chasing the Wind (1 991 ). In addition, Moller enjoyed natureand landscape photography.

Moller held bachelor’s and master’s degrees in meteorology from The University of Oklahoma. Doswell , a friend and col leagueMoller met at the University of Oklahoma, described Moller as passionate about public service as well as about forecasting andsevere storms.

“He was profoundly committed to that, doing spotter training talks al l over North Texas and elsewhere — the best spotter traininganyone could have asked for, dispensed with his unique style and panache.” Doswell said Moller “cared about people — all people— and did whatever it took to help them, if they needed something.”

According to his Dallas Morning News obituary, Doswell and Moller started a storm-chaser program in 1 972, theorizing thatweather observations from the field could help forecasters. This establ ished the groundwork for SKYWARN, a volunteer programwith nearly 290,000 trained severe-weather spotters, many of them Amateur Radio l icensees, who work with NWS forecasters byproviding real-time observations.

“Moller taught volunteers how to cal l in observations and the Weather Service employees to work with the observers,” thenewspaper article said. “Throughout his career, Moller trained thousands of storm spotters — on duty and in his spare time — andorganized them into a reporting network.”

Storm Prediction Center forecaster Roger Edwards said, “Al’s unrestrained love for severe storms, his simi larly unbridled candor,his outstanding analytic ski l l , and his deep devotion to science in forecasting, each impressed me a great deal from the start.”

Memorials may be made to the Humane Society of North Texas, 1 840 E Lancaster Ave, Fort Worth, TX 761 03. — Thanks to SamBarricklow, K5KJ

AAMMAATTEEUURR RRAADDIIOO NNEEWWSS

King Juan Carlos of Spain, EA0JC, toStep Down

King of Spain Juan Carlos de Borbón, EA0JC,announced June 2 that he wil l abdicate histhrone after 39 years in favor of his son, CrownPrince Felipe. The king turned 76 in January,and his reign has been troubled by a series ofrecent scandals that have harmed his popularityand put pressure upon him to abdicate.

Prince Felipe, a former Olympic yachtsman, isthe father of two daughters. He’s married toLetizia Ortiz, a former TV news anchor. Inaddition to Spanish, he is fluent in Engl ish,French, and Catalan and studied in Canada fora year. He holds a degree in law and has earneda master’s in international relations fromGeorgetown University.

King Juan Carlos ascended the throne upon thedeath of dictator Francisco Franco in 1 975,winning the respect of his subjects by guidingthe country into an era of democratic rule.

Changes to Amateur Service Part 97Rules Go Into Effect on July 21

The FCC’s recently announced revisions to thePart 97 Amateur Radio rules governing examcredit to former l icensees, test administration,and emission types wil l go into effect onMonday, July 21 . The new rules were publishedin The Federal Register on June 20.

In a wide-ranging Report and Order (R&O)released June 9, the Commission announced

that it would grant examination credit for writtenelements 3 (General) and 4 (Amateur Extra) toholders of “expired l icenses that requiredpassage of those elements.” The FCC wil lrequire former l icensees fal l ing outside the 2-year grace period to pass Element 2(Technician) in order to be rel icensed. TheCommission decl ined to give exam credit toholders of expired Certificates of SuccessfulCompletion of Examination (CSCEs) or toextend l ifetime validity to CSCEs.

The FCC also embraced the use of remotetesting methods, al lowing volunteer examinersand volunteer examiner coordinators “the optionof administering examinations at locationsremote from the VEs.” The National Conferenceof Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (NCVEC) in2002 endorsed experimental use ofvideoconferencing technology to conductAmateur Radio testing in remote areas ofAlaska. The Commission dropped its earl ierproposal to permit two VEs to administer exams;the requirement remains at three VEs. TheCommission did not spel l out the “mechanics” ofremote testing, however, which it said would“vary from location to location and session tosession.” VEs administering examinationsremotely must grade such examinations “at theearl iest practical opportunity,” rather than“immediately,” as the current rule forconventional exam sessions requires.

The FCC also adopted an ARRL proposal toauthorize certain Time Division Multiple Access(TDMA) emissions in the Amateur Service. TheWireless Telecommunications Bureau in 201 3

granted an ARRL request for a temporaryblanket waiver to permit radio amateurs totransmit emissions with designators FXD, FXE,and F7E, pending resolution of the rulemakingpetition. That waiver becomes permanent onJuly 21 .

The Commission also made “certain minor, non-substantive amendments” and corrections to theAmateur Service rules.

ARRL Making Website SecurityUpgrade

This upgrade only affects HTTPS (secure)pages on the ARRL website, including the e-store checkout pages, any pages that acceptdonations, or pages that al low amateurs to jointhe ARRL or renew their memberships. As aresult of this upgrade, users running WindowsXP Service Pack 2 or earl ier Windows operatingsystems wil l not be able to access these pages.

To ensure uninterrupted service, Windows XPService Pack 2 users are encouraged toupgrade to Service Pack 3, or Windows 7 or 8.

I f you are unaware of what Windows operatingsystem you have, go tohttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/322389.

I f you have any further questions or problemsupdating, please contact your local computertechnician or service center.

Vol. 62 No. 7

4Short Skip

FCC Releases Warning Notices toSeveral Radio Amateurs

The FCC Enforcement Bureau has made publicseveral warning notices issued over the pastfew months to radio amateurs. A couple of theletters from Special Counsel Laura Smithinvolved al leged infractions on 20 meters. OnApri l 1 5, the FCC wrote Larry S. King, KI8NGS,of Owosso, Michigan, regarding fai lure toproperly fol low station identification rules onMarch 21 . Smith told King that he wasmonitored by staffers at the FCC HighFrequency Direction Finding Center (HFDFC)“operating your Amateur Radio on 1 4.31 3 MHzfor 20 minutes without identifying in a timelymanner.” Smith said the HFDFC used direction-finding equipment to confirm that thetransmissions were coming from his location.She said the Center recorded the transmissions.

“This incident constitutes a fai lure to properlytransmit your assigned call sign, in violation ofthe Comission’s rules,” Smith wrote. “Youroperation as described is contrary to the basisand purpose of the Amateur Radio Service, asset out in Section 97.1 and is a violation ofSection 97.1 1 (a) of the Commission’s rules.”

On March 31 , Smith sent a warning notice toDaniel G.Churovich, N9RSY, of Ripley,Tennessee, al leging that Churovich engaged inan extended communication on 1 4.31 3 MHzwith a station that may not have been operatingin the Amateur Service.

“On Friday, March 28, 201 4, you were heard bystaff at the Commission's High FrequencyDirection Finding (HFDF) Centercommunicating repeatedly on 1 4.31 3 MHz withan individual who you identify only as ‘cowboy, ’”Smith wrote. “This individual fai led to providehis cal l sign during your conversation, a fact thatyou were aware of as you repeatedly demandedthat he provide his name, cal l sign, and location.Despite being aware of the rule violation on thepart of this other individual, you continuedcommunicating with him for an extended periodof time.”

Smith told Churovich that the incidentconstituted “unauthorized transmissions” inviolation of Commission rules that permit radioamateur to engage in two-way communicationswith “other stations in the Amateur Service.”

“There is no evidence that the individual withwhom you were communicating with on March28 was an Amateur Radio operator, as he fai ledto provide his cal l sign as required byCommission rules,” Smith pointed out.

Smith also wrote Amateur Radio l icensees inTennessee, Michigan, and Wisconsin on March31 , al leging that they al l had fai led to complywith formal written requests not to use localrepeater systems. Smith advised four l icenseesthat the FCC expected them to “abide by therequest of the trustee and/or control operatorthat you stay off [the repeater] — and any othersimi lar requests to cease operations on anyother repeaters by any other repeater l icensees,control operators or trustees.”

Smith advised al l recipients that any recurrenceof the al leged violation after receipt of thewarning letter could subject them to “severepenalties, including l icense revocation,monetary forfeiture (fines), or a modificationproceeding to restrict the frequencies uponwhich you may operate.”

“Fines normally range from $7500 to $1 0,000,”she concluded.

FCC Okays Changes to AmateurRadio Exam Credit, TestAdministration, Emission Type Rules

In a wide-ranging Report and Order (R&O)released June 9 that takes various proceedingsinto consideration, the FCC has revised theAmateur Service Part 97 rules to grant credit forwritten examination elements 3 (General) and 4(Amateur Extra) to holders of “expired l icensesthat required passage of those elements.” TheFCC wil l require former l icensees — thosefal l ing outside the 2-year grace period — topass Element 2 (Technician) in order to berel icensed, however. The Commission decl inedto give examination credit to the holder of anexpired Certificate of Successful Completion ofExamination (CSCE) or to extend its val idity tothe holder’s l i fetime.

“Our decision to grant credit for writtenexamination Elements 3 and 4 for expiredl icenses that required passage [of thoseelements] wi l l provide some rel ief for formerGeneral, Advanced, and Amateur Extra classl icensees,” the FCC said, “and is consistentwith how we treat expired pre-1 987 Technicianclass l icensees who want to reenter theAmateur Service.” Pre-1 987 Techs can getElement 3 credit, since the Technician andGeneral class written examinations in that erawere identical. The Commission said currentrules and procedures that apply to expired pre-1 987 Technician l icenses “are sufficient toverify that an individual is a former l icenseeunder our new rules.”

The Commission said that requiring applicantsholding expired l icenses to pass Element 2 inorder to rel icense “wil l address commenters’concerns about lost proficiency and knowledge,because a former l icensee wil l have todemonstrate that he or she has retainedknowledge of technical and regulatory matters.”The FCC said the Element 2 requirement alsowould deter any attempts by someone with thesame name as a former l icensee to obtain aham ticket without examination.

In 1 997 the FCC, in the face of opposition,dropped a proposal that would have general lyal lowed examination element credit for expiredamateur operator l icenses. In the past, the FCChas maintained that its procedures “provideample notification and opportunity for l icenserenewal” and that retesting did not impose anunreasonable burden. The issue arose again in201 1 , with a request from the AnchorageVolunteer Examiner Coordinator.

The FCC pulled back from its own proposal toreduce from three to two the minimum numberof volunteer examiners required to proctor anAmateur Radio examination session. TheARRL, the W5YI-VEC and “a clear majority ofcommenters” opposed the change, the FCCsaid. The FCC said it found commenters’arguments persuasive that that the use of threeVEs “results in higher accuracy and lower fraudthat would be the case with two VEs.” In arelated matter, though, the Commissionembraced the use of remote testing methods.

“Al lowing VEs and VECs the option ofadministering examinations at locations remotefrom the VEs is warranted,” the FCC said. TheNational Conference of Volunteer ExaminerCoordinators (NCVEC) in 2002 endorsedexperimental use of videoconferencingtechnology to conduct Amateur Radio testing in

remote areas of Alaska. The Anchorage VEChas long pushed for the change, citing theexpense to provide Amateur Radio test sessionsto Alaska residents l iving in remote areas.

The FCC declined to address “the mechanics”of remote testing, which, it said, “wi l l vary fromlocation to location and session to session.” TheCommission said specific rules spel l ing out howto administer exam sessions remotely “couldl imit the flexibi l i ty of VEs and VECs.” The FCCstressed the obligation on the part of VECs andVEs “to administer examinations responsibly”applies “in ful l” to remote testing.

The FCC amended the rules to provide that VEsadministering examinations remotely berequired to grade such examinations “at theearl iest practical opportunity,” rather than“immediately,” as the rule for conventional examsessions requires.

Final ly, the FCC has adopted an ARRL proposalto authorize certain Time Division MultipleAccess (TDMA) emissions in the AmateurService. The Wireless TelecommunicationsBureau in 201 3 granted an ARRL request for atemporary blanket waiver to permit radioamateurs to transmit emissions with designatorsFXD, FXE, and F7E, pending resolution of therulemaking petition.

“Commenters strongly support amendment ofthe rules to permit these additional emissiontypes,” the FCC noted. “The commenters assertthat the proposed rule change ‘is consistent withthe basis and purpose of the Amateur Service, ’”and wil l al low repurposing surplus mobile relayequipment from other radio services in theAmateur Service, the Commission added.

The FCC said it also wil l make “certain minor,non-substantive amendments to the AmateurService rules.” I t is amending Part 97 “to reflectthat the Commission amended its rules toel iminate the requirement that certain AmateurRadio Service l icensees pass a Morse codeexamination,” the FCC said in the R&O. It alsosaid it was correcting “certain typographical orother errors” in Part 97.

The new rules become effective 30 days aftertheir publ ication in The Federal Register, whichis expected to happen this week.

Yeasu to discontinue production ofthe FT-897D

I t’s been reported that Yaesu plans todiscontinue production of the venerable FT-897radio. This is a “nifty” radio that is l ike a SwissArmy knife of radios. While I have not ownedone of these rigs, they are quite popular andeasy to use.I t can even be run on its own battery power.According to Yaesu, There was not muchdemand for the FT897, unl ike the FT-857Dradios that has been a very popular model forportable, mobi le, and base operations.I suspect they wil l replace the 857 in a few yearswith another compact mobile rig.Sadly, I also learned that the equally venerableand quite popular ICOM IC-7000 is also beingdiscontinued. No word on any replacementradios for these two fun radios.

Vol. 62 No. 7

5Short SkipVol. 62 No. 7

Repeater UpdateMark Skowronski, K9MQ

We had severe weather pass thru the area on Saturday, June 21 st. After the storm, I found that they 1 47.000 and 442.075repeater control ler was behaving erractical ly and that there were no voice announcements or voice id's. Both systems remained onthe air and were useable. We were unable to gain access to the control ler thru dtmf to try to reboot it. We also tried cycl ing thepower thru the remote dtmf l ink (separate from the repeater system) and it also was unresponsive.I visited the repeater site the fol lowing Monday and was quickly able to fix the control ler issues by cycl ing the power. Comcast wasalso in the bui lding trying to restore phone/internet service. Upon further investigation, I have found that the power supply for theremote dtmf l ink and the dtmf control ler board itself had fai led. The manufacturer of the dtmf control ler board has recommendedreplacement over repair as the repair costs wil l be higher than a new board. A replacement board is on order and we hope to getthe remote dtmf l ink reinstal led as soon as possible.

73 Mark, K9MQ

Kennehoochee Amateur Radio Hamfest FindsAmateur Radio Hamshack in a box!This thing has a lot of radio and computer equipment thatcan be closed up and moved to another location in a j iffy.This would be a great setup for a field day or emergencycommunications on site.

Video Spotlight: Building your First Amateur Radio StationDuring this seven minute long video, Tyler Pattison, N7TFP explainswhat equipment you would need to create your first amateur radiostation.

For more information about Tyler, see the N7TFP blogwww.n7tfp.com

Richard Terpstra, WN9Z64, of Lowell , passed away Wednesday, June 1 1 , 201 4. He is survived by his wife, Debra, chi ldren Dr.Brian (Logan) of Cincinnati , OH and Lisa at home, l i fe long friends Michael and Beverly Gall , Joseph andShirley Santianti , and close "friends" James Henry and Annette Carlson. Rick was a teacher for 30 yearswith Merri l lvi l le High School and Purdue Calumet, before taking his dream job as CommunicationsCoordinator for Lake County Emergency Mgmt. Office. He was a passionate amateur radio operator, apublished author and loved vacationing with his family in Door County, WI where he visited often with hisparents, Richard and Ethel, who preceded him in death. Rick joined LCARC in 1 990 and was the Sec.1 999, Ham of the Year: 1 995, RACES Officer, 1 995 - 09, ARO, 201 0 - 1 1 , EC 2003 - 09, and Club Pres.2000 - 01 . RIP Rick we shall miss you.

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6Short Skip

SSTTAAYY UUPP TTOO DDAATTEE WWIITTHH TTHHEE CCUURRRREENNTT HHAAPPPPEENNIINNGGSS OOFF

TTHHEE LLAAKKEE CCOOUUNNTTYY AAMMAATTEEUURR RRAADDIIOO CCLLUUBB OONN FFAACCEEBBOOOOKK..TTOO FFIINNDD UUSS TTYYPPEE LLCCAARRCC IINN TTHHEE FFAACCEEBBOOOOKK

SSEEAARRCCHH BBOOXX OORR FFAACCEEBBOOOOKK..CCOOMM//LLCCAARRCC

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Vol. 62 No. 7

New hams are differentDan Romanchik, KB6NU

This is going to be a bit of a ramble, but I need to get some thoughts down about new hams, and maybe get somefeedback on these ideas from both new hams and guys that have been around for a while.

Recently, I visited the All Hands Active (AHA) makerspace here in Ann Arbor. Several of the "makers" that use thisspace have recently gotten their ham licenses—-most of them in one of my one-day Tech classes. I was down theretrying to get them interested in attending Field Day, and in particular, in operating the GOTA station.

There were four of us sitting around, talking about amateur radio, the projects they were working on, Field Day, andother stuff. In the past, they had also expressed an interest in doing something with WA2HOM, our station at the AnnArbor Hands-On Museum. While it was a great discussion, it was apparent to me that it was going to be difficult to getthem out for Field.

I t dawned on me that these new radio amateurs were just not interested in the “old” amateur radio. Sitting in front ofshortwave radios and exchanging fake signal reports with other guys sitting in front of shortwave radios is just not theiridea of a good time. I think that if you take a step back and try to look at it through their eyes, you’ l l see where they’recoming from.

What are they interested in? Well , one guy is having a blast playing around with RTL SDR dongles. He’s also trying tofigure out a way to rig up wireless l ink to l ight a l ight at bus stops around his house when a bus is approaching.Another is working on a Hinternet-type project. I helped him out a l ittle bit last summer setting up a wireless node at hishouse.

This is perhaps one reason why there are so many more l icensed radio amateurs these days, but yet there seems tobe less activity on the HF bands these days. HF is just not where it’s at for these new guys.

One consequence of this is that the old amateur radio clubs don’t have much to offer the new guys. In fact, one ofthem told me that the one time that he attended the local club meeting, he got such a hosti le response that he decidednot to return.

I ’m finding this al l quite interesting. I do intend to pursue some kind of joint activities between the All Hands Activemaker group and WA2HOM and see where that goes. They may not be interested in working DX on 20m, but they doseem to be interested in the IRLP node that we’re in the process of instal l ing there.

I ’m not sure where this is al l headed, but what I do know is that these folks have a lot of energy and creativity. I f wecan couple that with our knowledge and experience, then I think that we’ l l be a good fit for one another. I t’s going totake open minds al l around, though.

I 'm real ly interested in hearing from all of you about this. Have your clubs made contact with the "makers" in your area?Do any of them have ham radio l icenses? Are there any interesting ham radio/maker projects going on in your area?

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When he's not thinking about the future of amateur radio, Dan, KB6NU enjoys working CW on the HF bands, teachingamateur radio classes, and bui lding kits. For more information about his operating activities and his "No-Nonsense"series of amateur radio l icense study guides, go to KB6NU.Com or e-mail cwgeek@kb6nu.com.

No-Nonsense Study GuidesTechnician, General, Extra-Class License Study Guide

Free PDF Version or purchase on Amazon Kindle or Barnes & Noble Nook

Download at KB6NU.com/tech-manual

7Short Skip

New portable paddleLarry Makosk, W2LJ

I decided that I wanted to try something new paddle-wise for my lunchtime QRP portable operations. The main criteria was that ithad to be on the inexpensive side. That seems to be my main criteria these days where a lot of things are concerned. Besidesworking well , i t would also be nice if the paddle was light in weight.

Palm paddles would probably be the ultimate, but are way too expensive and would not fit within my meager budget right now. Ineeded to keep it under $50 if at al l possible. That real ly narrows down the possibi l i ties, let me tel l you. I have a Whiterook MK-33single lever paddle. I t works well and it also fits the bi l l , but it tends to get a bit sloppy around the 22-23 WPM mark.

I had a Bulldog paddle back when I had my K1 and I l iked it. However, I included it as part of the K1 package when I sold that radioto raise money for my KX3. So, relying on my memory, I decided to give another Bul ldog a try. I went to the Website:http://www.amateurradioproducts.com/, only to find out that they no longer manufacture the model I had. Mine was the one on asmall triangular wooden base that had three tiny suction cups.

They have several different modelsnow, and I decided to go with the BD6,the Mini-Iambic. I t arrived onSaturday through the mail , and tonightwas the first chance I had to try it out.

I have to admit that I was skepticalwhen I opened up the package that itcame in. I t is indeed 'mini" - in fact, i tgets lost in the middle of the 1 .5 inchfender washer that serves as a base!But as usual, i t turns out that looks arequite deceiving. This l i ttle paddle is smooth and is great to use just as itis, no adjustments were required, although the accompanying instructionsheet tel ls you how to go about that, i f needed. I worked both W1 AW/5

and W1 AW/0 tonight at about the 21 WPM range. The paddles acquitted themselves nicely there. Then I turned up the speed anotch to work EV1 R and LZ1 WR and C6ATT. Even at the speed where the Whiterook goes kaflooey on me, the Bulldog stayssharp, smooth and flawless and had great feel to it. The fact that it was only $35 was icing on the cake. I wi l l definitely bring thesealong for Field Day. They may be too small for some of our guest operators, but they work great for me!

72 de Larry W2LJQRP - When you care to send the very least! http://w2lj .blogspot.com

Vol. 62 No. 7

Ham Throws Out Famiy CatK5KVN. HamHijinks.com

BEEDEVILLE, Md. — Morse, the family cat at the Muester household, is now fending forhimself outdoors.

The cat was given its name after Samuel Morse, the inventor of Morse code, an antique modeof communication sometimes used by amateur “ham” radio operators.

“Morse [the cat] has been fascinated with my radio gear since he was a kitten. He would lay onmy lap and sometimes his tai l would hit the Morse code key. I thought it was pretty funny at thetime,” said Ernest Muester, a ham radio operator since the 1 990s. “That’s why I cal l himMorse! ”

A recent event changed his attitude about the cat, though.

“I was in the shack Sunday night getting ready for the Wire Twister Net on 7.227 MHz, but headed into the kitchen to fix asandwich. Morse stayed in the shack,” said Muester. “I got distracted by my wife talking about a dancing show on the television, soI didn’t get back to the shack unti l probably 1 5 minutes later.”

When he walked into the shack, he saw Morse [the cat] napping on his straight key.

“I immediately knew what was going on and I might have screamed a little,” said Muester. He sti l l has trouble talking about theincident.

“I dropped my sandwich and frantical ly ran to the desk, knowing that I had left the radio on the frequency for the net which hadstarted 1 5 minutes earl ier. That damn cat had beensending a carrier over the net the entire time! ”

Morse [the cat] is no longer l iving a cat’s dream of food always at the ready and winter naps next to warm vacuum tubes. “I pickedhim up right then and there and put him in the backyard. For good! ”

His family isn’t happy. “My dad’s a jerk,” said Muester’s 1 0-year-old son.

Muester, sti l l feel ing the embarrassment of the moment, says he does not yet have the courage to check in to the net again.

Visit the Lake County ARC on the web at W9LJ.org