NEWSLETTER OF THE ST CLAIR AMATEUR
RADIO CLUB
PO BOX 94, BELLEVILLE, IL 62222
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2003
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FIELD DAY 2003
The weather was cooperative,
and the club had a good and enjoyable field day.Fourteen
members participated for the club in various capacities.Competition
in the 2A category waspursued again
this year; however, a dedicated cw station was not operated continuously
during the event due to a shortage of available and/or well rested operators.Your
editor planned to log time on cw, but missed the fun due to an out of town
family medical emergency.A total
of 324 ssb and 203 cw contacts were accumulated during the operating period.Those
contacts with multipliers and bonus points gave the club a total score
of 2060.This is down some from the
past several years, but should still place the club at the upper half of
2A entries.However, the big winners
were that the club demonstrated a well executed emergency response, and
provided newer operators an opportunity to gain valuable experience and
fun on HF.An example of the new
HF operator experience was Marjorie, KC9CXU working the NASA station NA5SA.Many
thanks to all that participated and particularly the dedicated members
that stayed through the hours of darkness to give the club 24 hours of
coverage.A special thanks to WA9MGX
and KB9HYY who kept participants well supplied with food and drink throughout
the event.Also, thanks to K9HUH
who worked with the Belleville News Democrat to get great media coverage
of area field day activity.
FOX HUNTING
With K9HUH in control,
a fox was put in play by the club on July 12th.The
hunt started from Mel Price Park in Swansea and four teams participated.The
fox transmitter was cleverly placed in a borrowed vehicle left in a bank
parking lot with a big horizontally placed placard inside to confirm a
successful hunt.A team of Karl,
K9BGL and Bruce, N9MND were the first successful hunters to home in on
the prey.Several new teams participated
in this hunt which is good news for fox hunting in the area..Socializing
and great refreshments prepared by WA9MGX were enjoyed after the hunt in
Mel Price Park.It looks like with
the four hunts sponsored by the club over the past several years, eight
or nine different teams have enjoyed the fun of fox hunting.Hopefully
all these teams will come on board for a big hunt that is planned for October.For
old and new teams, now is the time to start organizing and planning a hunt
strategy.The clubs fox hunts are
open to any interested participants, so spread the word about October.
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
A club member since
2001, Dan Pierson, KE9BG got his start in ham radio with his first license
in 1967.His early interest in ham
radio lead to a variety electronics related interests for both hobbies
and professions.After a career
in Air Force communications, electronics and computers, Dan now owns his
own personal computer business.While
the computer business takes a lot of time, Dan in the past several years
again put his ham license to good use enjoying projects to put on the air
and a lot of rag chewing QSO’s.Also,
to try something new, he teamed with N9CPU to enjoy the recent club fox
hunt.His equipment outlay includes
2-meter mobile and portable stations, and usually running off battery power
are a Kenwood TS 440T and an Yeasu FT 211R/H for the fixed stations using
dipoles and a vertical.Dan also
has hobby interests in personal power generation, solar power and magnetism
which explains his fixed rig power source.Dan
brings to our club expertise on many topics that are often associated with
our hobby.Catch him on the air,
at a club event or hamfest and enjoy the conversation.
RED CROSS COMMUNICATIONS
Progress continues
on a radio communications center for the Fairview Heights Red Cross.Plans
call for amateur radio HF, VHF and UHF, and a GMRS repeater.A
30 foot tower with verticals and a G5RV will be scheduled for installation
in September.This resource will
be a very valuable addition for amateur radio emergency and disaster communications
in the local area.Club volunteers
are needed for this project.Contact
Skip, AA9ZV, telephone 346-8655 or 277-9767, for information.
MICELLANEOUS.
The program for the
August 28th club meeting will be members “show and tell”.Bring
an item of interest to demonstrate and/or talk about, or bring an item
that you need information on.This
is your program (five minutes or less) and an opportunity to share experiences
and events with fellow club members.
The club was well represented
in support of the recent major accident response exercise at Scott AFB
and MidAmerica Airport.A special
thanks to our members that activated amateur radio communications at local
civilian hospitals, and to 2-meter net participants.
For information on
St Clair County VE test sessions, contact K9HUH at 235-6152 or 233-1313.Sessions
will be scheduled the evening of the second Tuesday of each month if a
reservation for testing is made by an applicant.
Are you on the clubs SC-ARC@yahoogroups.com
e-mail reflector.This is a place
to send and receive timely club and member amateur radio related topics.If
you need help getting set up or other information, contact Dave, KB9WZT
at sgtstop@charter.net
or phone 558-5314.
Harry, W0KXI is interested
in trading an SX-62 (recently recapped) for an SX-71 in good condition.He
is also looking for a vintage “Gotham” antenna or a source for aluminum
tubing to make one.Contact Harry
at 537-4498 or by PO Box 126, Lebanon, IL 62254.
Don’t forget to be
with your ham friends and part with your money at the St Charles ARC Hamfest
August 24th at the St Charles American Legion Post 312, and
the Peoria Superfest September 19th 20th and 21st
at the Peoria Exposition Gardens Fairgrounds.
The DX Summit at http://oh2aq.kolumbus.com/dxs/
is a great site to find spots on DX and special event activity that is
on the air.Also, solar updates are
posted as they change.
Thanks to Mallo’s Pastries
for their longtime support of club events by providing complimentary refreshments.Remember
Mallo’s for your pastry and special desert purchases.
Send your items and
preferences for the SCAN to the editor, Bob, W9BP, by e-mail w9bp@aol.com
or by phone 624-2797, or mail to 1022 Edgewood Dr, O’Fallon, IL 62269.Your
help is always appreciated.