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The First Class CW Operators’ Club President Membership Secretary Don Field, G3XTT 105 Shiplake Bottom Peppard Common Henley on Thames, Oxon RG9 5HJ, UK Tel: +44 (0) 118 972 4192 E-mail: [email protected] Tyler Barnett, N4TY 213 Camelot Court Georgetown, KY 40324, USA Tel: +1 859 221 9266 E-mail: [email protected] Chairman Internet Services Rob Ferguson, GM3YTS 19 Leighton Avenue, Dunblane, Perthshire FK15 0EB, UK Tel: +44 (0) 1786 824 199 E-mail: [email protected] Ray Goff, G4FON 2 St. Leonard’s Road, Headington, Oxford OX3 8AA, UK Tel: +44 (0) 788 418 3580 E-mail: [email protected] Committee Secretary Treasurer Roger Western, G3SXW 7 Field Close, Chessington, Surrey KT9 2QD, UK Tel: +44 (0) 208 397 3319 E-mail: [email protected] Graham Bubloz, G4FNL 42 Hillcrest, Westdene, Brighton BN1 5FN, UK Tel: +44 (0) 127 355 1186 E-mail: [email protected] Committee Webmaster Dave Lawley, G4BUO 4 Suttons Cottages, Clement Street, Hextable Kent BR8 7PF, UK Tel: +44 (0) 132 266 6062 E-mail: [email protected] Ed Tobias, KR3E 13110 Costal Highway Ocean City, MD 21842, USA Tel: +1 410 250 7357 E-mail: [email protected] Committee Committee Fred Handscombe, G4BWP (A65BD) P.O. Box 52831 Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 50 687 5731 E-mail: [email protected] Wes Spence, AC5K 465 Creekwood Street Lumberton, TX 77657, USA Tel: +1 409 755 4753 E-mail: [email protected] Committee Non Committee Members • Accounts Examiner • WAFOC Award Manager • Windle Award • FOC WAS Award • Webmasters • FOCUS Editor • News Sheet Editor • Subscriptions (non-web) UK & Overseas N. & S. America Europe FOCUS 96 G4HZV G4HZV W4PM W4CK N4TY G7VJR S57WJ V31JP G3LIK K2VUI DL8LBK Andy Chadwick, G3AB 5 Thorpe Chase Ripon, N. Yorkshire, HG4 1UA, UK Tel: +44 (0) 7879 835261 E-mail: [email protected] • Activity Co-Ordinator • Marathon • FOC QSO Party • FOCUS Mailing • FOCUS Mailing NA • Call Book Editor G3VTT F5VHY KZ5D G3LHJ WB2YQH N4TY Contents From Your President From Your Editor The 2013 FOC Dinner K2FOC Group Celebrates Working K5ALU in 50 US States A Birthday Present Getting a Licence in Thailand Operating G1ØØRSGB from Cheltenham DXing Down Under The Explanation of ‘QAC’ A Contact is More Than 599-73 Giuseppe Biagi and the Red Tent Review of Elecraft KX3 My Home Brew Quads Obituary of David Beckwith, W2QM Obituary of Steve Bleaney, GW3VPL Obituary for Dick Moser, W8XM Welcome to New Members Stealthy Four-Square Antenna in Texas W5FOC Weekend, Santa Fe, NM 3-6 April 2014 – Make your Reservations early Contesting September 2013 FOC QSO Party Results Don Field, G3XTT Gabor Szekeres, S57WJ Don Field, G3XTT Bob Nadolny, WB2YQH Vic Abell, W9RGB Bob Whelan, G3PJT Finn Jensen, HSØZLM (OZ1HET) Iain Kelly, MØPCB John Wightman, ZL1AH Mort Mortimer, G2JL Mike Mills, G3TEV Carlo Consoli, IKØYGJ Jim Danehy, W9VNE Terry Robinson, GM3WUX Joe Pontek, V31JP Rich Langford, G4FAD and Tony Roskilly, G3ZRJ Don Karvonen, K8MFO Tyler Barnett, N4TY Bruce Elbert, K6ZB John DePrimo, K1JD and Fred Maas, KT5X Patrick Barkey, N9RV Art Suberbielle, KZ5D 4 4 5 7 8 10 12 14 16 18 19 20 22 24 29 30 32 33 37 40 42 44 Front cover: Bob, G3PJT the recipient of Al Slater, G3FXB Memorial Award (photo Rosemary, G3PJT/2) Back Cover Photograph-top: You may not know, but there is no ham shack at VQ9 any longer, so Jim, VQ9JC (ND9M) now operates only portable. His QTH is a picnic table in a recreational park! His licence identifies Building 1524 which is used as a unique identifier for the Navy as his operating station QTH now. (photo VQ9JC/ND9M) Back Cover Photograph-bottom: Group photo of MUØHTJ Also known as HamTests Jimmies (l to r): Colin, MUØFAL (FOC 1892); Louis, 2UØFER; Paul, MØTZO; Pete, 2EØSQL; Chloe, MØGEJ; Mark MØMJH; Steve, MØSPF; Iain, MØPCB (FOC 2024); Alex, M1LXM The last three years the Jimmies have been building an IOTA Contest team activating Guernsey EU-114 successfully liaising with local operators for technical back up, logistical support and a good social side. The main operators are average age 25. “I act as a totally background supporter of the team but always visit them at the campsite near me.”, says Colin, MUØFAL. “You could not wish to meet a nicer bunch of youngsters.” FOCUS is the quarterly magazine of FOC which is published four times annually in January, April, July and October. It is distributed to all members. Articles and contributions for FOCUS are always welcome and should be submitted to the Editor by mail or email <[email protected]>, CD, disk, typed or hand written. Drawings can be re-drawn if necessary and original photographs returned after scanning. © First Class CW Operators’ Club Articles may be re-published from FOCUS with permission from the Editor and with the usual credit given. FOCUS 96 From Your From Your President, G3XTT Editor, S57WJ It’s an honour and a privilege to find myself as President of FOC and to be preparing this seasonal message. 2013 has been a truly memorable year for the Club, particularly in respect of the th publicity generated by the 75 anniversary activities. I was able to play a small part when I joined G3WGV and MDØCCE to activate GT4FOC. Thanks are due especially to Roger, G3SXW and the rest of the Committee for overseeing it all and to Bob, G4HZV and Art, KZ5D who couldn’t have anticipated the huge demand for certificates! Sadly we have lost a number of longstanding members in the past year, recorded in these pages and elsewhere. The good news is that we have a number of new members and, if anything, an invitation to join FOC is more prized than ever – the Club really is seen nowadays not so much as an elitist group out of touch with the hobby but a thriving international organisation dedicated to promoting the use of CW, a mode which seems to be as popular as ever on our bands. So we can look forward with optimism to what 2014 has in store. Yes, there are issues with DQRM. Yes, there are other issues such as the increasing average age of radio amateurs. But there is plenty of good news too. And in that vein I wish every one of you well for Christmas and the New Year, whatever your colour or creed. This hobby of ours transcends differences and brings us together across the world. Long may that continue! Time is passing by very quickly. A year turned around and I have five issues of Focus behind me. I am aware that I made some mistakes in editing and believe me, it hurts when I discover them in the printed edition. Since I am not a person who likes to torture himself, I will be more careful in future. Some members asked me how I find time to edit the magazine and to be active on the air as well. I am managing it so far. One thought crossed my mind a few months ago. How did the editing look like when Chris, G4BUE started with the Focus? It had to be a more demanding job as today with the lack of computers and digital technology. Speaking of digital technology this edition of Focus will reach some members only in digital form. I really hope that this will not have the same effect as with monthly News Sheet-unread issues and loss of interest in our magazine. Both publications are important for our club in their own way. Read them both in printed or digital edition! As I announced in my previous column, we have a new Contesting columnist. Pat, N9RV took over the task. I wish him a warm welcome and you can read his first Contesting column on page 40. My main worry editing this issue was the lack of material but as one of Murphy’s laws says “Many things in this world would not exist if it wasn’t for the ‘last moment’.” I wish a prosperous 2014 for all members and their families! 161! Gabor, S57WJ 73! Don, G3XTT FOCUS 96 4 The 2013 FOC Dinner By Don Field, G3XTT 72 members, partners and guests sat down to the 2013 UK dinner, which, for the second time, was held at Jurys Hotel in Milton Keynes. Quite a number of attendees had arrived the previous day and enjoyed an informal evening at local restaurants. Thanks are due to Vic, G4BYG for helping to organise one of the larger groups. On the Saturday, 24 of us enjoyed a tour round Bletchley Park, hosted once again by FOC member Ray, G4FON. I have visited “BP” several times now but always find something new to see and learn. I won’t go into detail here as John, G3WGV gave quite a bit of background on BP a year ago in his write-up on the 2012 Annual Dinner. There was also an opportunity to see the RSGB’s National Radio Centre in operation. Knowing we were coming, NRC volunteer Peter, G4XEX had made sure there was a suitable paddle connected up and several members took advantage to make a few QSOs as GB3RS. Mort, G2JL poses in front of the rebuilt Colossus computer (photo G3XTT) Those not attending the BP tour took advantage of other facilities in the area, especially the extensive shopping centre in Milton Keynes. I am not a particular fan of Milton Keynes but I was pleased to read Derek, G3NKS’s report of the weekend on Facebook in which he remarked positively on the tree-lined architecture and general ambience of the town – maybe it isn’t so bad, after all! G3SXW (right) presents the Magpad paddle to lucky winner G5LP (left) (photo G3TXF) The AGM has been written up separately so I won’t repeat that here. The dinner itself was extremely convivial, the catering good and the hotel staff attentive. We kept things relatively informal, but there were some important presentations to be made. Firstly, a draw for the G3HGE Magpad, a superb addition to any CW operator’s shack. Roger, G3SXW had organised the draw and promptly pulled out his own ticket! Being the gentleman that he is, Roger drew again and out came Lionel, G5LP’s ticket. Everyone was delighted with Lionel’s win. He is on the mend from some serious health issues so it was great to put a smile on his face. 5 FOCUS 96 It was just as well that Roger, G3SXW passed on the prize because, unbeknownst to him, the other Committee members had organised a second Magpad as a present to Roger by way of a thank-you for his great th work in overseeing the FOC 75 Anniversary events. It was presented by Chairman Rob, GM3YTS and, for once in his life, Roger was somewhat at a loss for words! There was an Unsung Heroes for Derrick, G3LHJ for his work over many years in mailing out Focus and the Callbook. Sadly GM3YTS (left) surprised G3SXW (right) with a well deserved Magpad (photo G3TXF) Derrick had had to cancel his attendance due to Sylvia’s illness but the award was welcomed by all present as being thoroughly deserved. Likewise, unfortunately, past-President Bob, G3PJT had had to cancel due to sudden illness and was therefore unable to receive the Al Slater, G3FXB Memorial Award for his efforts on behalf of the Club and the hobby generally over many years. The trophy was presented to Bob the following day by member Michael, G7VJR. The final business of the evening was the handover of the Presidential chain of office from Ivan, G3IZD to yours truly. It’s an honour to follow in the footsteps of so many worthy holders of this office. I hope I can continue in the best traditions over the next couple of years as I carry out my Presidential duties. Naturally, many discussions continued in the bar until the early hours, putting the world to rights. It all seems so simple when you are with good friends The handover of the Presidential chain from and suitably nourished with the fruit of G3IZD (left) to G3XTT (right)-photo G3TXF the grape! All in all, a great weekend. The Committee is already thinking about next year. A change of venue is probably appropriate as most attendees have now taken the opportunity to visit Bletchley Park so it would be nice to find something and somewhere else of interest. Your suggestions would be very welcome. Coming up in Focus 97 • What is the EUCW by G3VTT • Close to the Edge by 5B4AGN • Remotely Possible by N2KW Article deadline 28 February 2014 FOCUS 96 6 K2FOC Group Celebrates By Bob Nadolny, WB2YQH The FOC members that comprise the Western New York and Southern Ontario area form the North Coast CW Club under the K2FOC callsign. After a tremendous th experience during the FOC 75 Anniversary operation in May, the group decided to hold a mini celebration before the end of summer. On 28 August they gathered at the Youngstown Yacht Club on the shores of Lake Ontario which has NY on the pierside and Canada across the lake. Tony, K2NV is the captain. Along with First Mate Rose, of the BellaDonna, a 40 foot sloop rigged sailing vessel. On this sunny and warm afternoon, the group consisting of Mike, W2TB, Dick, K2ZR, Peter, K2RSK and Yuri, VE3DZ plus XYL’s set sail on a cruise of the Niagara River with Capt. Tony portraying the lawlessness of crossing the USACanadian border while enjoying scenic views of the American and K2FOC op’s at dock with BellaDonna in the background: Canadian shores. After over two standing (l to r): W2TB, K2RSK, WB2YQH, K2NV; kneeling (l to r): K2ZR, VE3DZ hours of an enjoyable sail complete with beverages and snacks, they returned to port to meet WB2YQH (1606) who unfortunately had to work at the office that day. BellaDonna is often heard on the air as K2NV/VE3 as she sails Lake Ontario. Equipped with an IC-706MKIIG using the back stay for an antenna on 160m - 10m. Now the whole group sat down for a dinner at the yacht club restaurant for more story telling and good conversation, which of course included talk of CW, paddles and the Club. Needless to say they could have gone on all night! The group entertained the possibility of a K2FOC Dinner at yacht club (l to r): Deb, W2TB/2, W2TB, Lynda, DXpedition next year. K2ZR/2, K2ZR, VE3DZ, Rose, K2NV/2, K2NV, K2RSK and However, a beautiful sunset WB2YQH indicated it was time to depart and head home. So we all headed back to our home QTHs after what will now be an annual affair. 7 FOCUS 96 Working K5ALU in 50 US States By Vic Abell, W9RGB In my youth a favourite torture of US primary school teachers was to make their students recite the capitols of all the states. For me, and probably for Red, K5ALU, there were only 48 at the time. Now there are 50 and I doubt either one of us could name all their capitols. However, we both can say we have had QSOs from all 50, Red moving from one to another, and I sitting in my fixed shack in Indiana (capitol Indianapolis.) We managed to do it in a little less than nine and a half years. And when we finished the quest with a QSO while Red was in Rhode Island on Vic, W9RGB with the plaque (photo K9FN) September 24, 2013, Red sent me this handsome plaque to commemorate the event. Design of the plaque was the handiwork of Red’s wife Linda. A nice highpoint came in 2008 when Red visited Hawaii and I worked him on all the islands where he was active. He sent me a certificate. It wasn’t until 2010 when Red issued a challenge to find who had worked him in the most states, and I discovered I was the winner with 25, that I realized I was now challenged to work Red in all 50. I followed him much more closely in the next three years. HI Cert In that same year Red headed for Alaska, traipsing through the Dakotas and several Canadian provinces along the way. Working Red in each state, including Alaska, added a considerable number to our count. I was able to help G3LIK and Red connect for a South Dakota QSO when Red had trouble hearing Mick. I told Red that Mick was calling so Red listened extra-hard for Mick and finally heard him. FOCUS 96 Alaska 8 We confirmed another big parcel of states in 2011 when Red followed Hurricane Irene down the east coast. I remember his stopping at gas stations along the way, finding them unable to refresh his dwindling supply of diesel fuel because of the lack of power for their pumps. When he crossed the bridge into Manhattan he finally found some diesel fuel, but his tank was nearly empty. We checked seven states off our list on that trip. As Red and Linda started wintering in the south and spending their summers on the west coast, we notched QSOs in almost all the remaining states. Only Colorado and Rhode Island remained by the end of 2012. I’m not sure how we missed either state, because Red had been in both of them. I put it down to sloppy record keeping on my part. One of the pleasures of working Red has been meeting him and his wife Linda personally in many places. Indiana was the first place, including three stops for them at a Blueberry Festival in northern Indiana. The first time they were there my wife Carol and I found them so busy selling cell phone accessories and sun glasses that people started handing us money. The latest Blueberry Festival visit was this past September when Dave, K9FN, his wife Mary, my wife Carol and I visited Red and Linda again. This time they were selling muscle stimulator TENS units. I should probably to go slightly off topic a bit to talk a bit about the entrepreneurs that Red and Linda are. Since I have known them while they have been touring the US, they have been stopping at shows and festivals where they have sold everything from toys to perfume. It’s hard to imagine, but they carried perfume to Alaska in their panel truck. Here is their truck on its way to Alaska, carrying Red’s screwdriver antenna on its side, entering North Dakota. A good mutual friend in Mississippi, Fred North Dakota K5FA, tells me that he first met Red as a young teenager who had a rhombic antenna on his father’s farm and was warned by Red’s dad that it would have to come down if a cow ever got tangled in the wire. Fred says he knows Red was making church pews at a factory he ran, and Red has told me he had a garment business once, was a shipboard sparks at another time, and was once known as the “quarter king of Tyler, Texas.” It is only certain that their wanderings will take Red and Linda next to another round of the 50 US states. Perhaps you, too, can garner a special worked K5ALU in 50 states plaque. The photos from Alaska and North Dakota were made by Linda and Red, K5ALU-S57WJ, Ed. 9 FOCUS 96 A Birthday Present By Bob Whelan, G3PJT “For your birthday present this year, shall we go and stay a week at Wireless Cottage on The Lizard? Call it if you like a pilgrimage”. A week in Wireless Cottage on the Lizard peninsula, where some might claim was the starting place of the Information Age! It was certainly where the Radio Age began. The whole area of The Lizard is full of radio history. Wireless Cottage is the site of Marconi's first wireless station. Wireless Cottage, now a National Trust holiday let, is next door to the Lizard Wireless Station and is located right on the cliffs close to Bass Point, at Pen Olver to be more precise. It is a magnificent site with uninterrupted sea views right to the horizon 16 + miles away. Plenty of birds and ships Lizard Wireless Station. The museum is in the right hand building for landlubbers to gaze at. And that is why Marconi sited his station there, so he could communicate with shipping as it passed this point at the entrance to the English Channel. When the station became operational it finally proved that radio signals could propagate much further than line of sight. In receiving signals from the Isle of Wight it more than doubled the distance record to 189 miles and possibly gave Marconi confidence in his idea that he might be able to span the Atlantic. Reporting the arrival and departure of ships was valuable information in those days when radio ranges were just a few tens of miles. The Museum contains a replica of the station as it was in Marconi's time including a working spark transmitter which can be seen operating, not connected to an aerial of course. But nonetheless you can get the idea of how noisy and Lizard spark transmitter on right with spark coil, jigger on bright the spark was! In addition wall and receiver to the left there is a replica of the Titanic radio setup and a collection of Morse keys and other pieces of radio equipment. 10 FOCUS 96 For visiting radio amateurs there is a Kenwood TS-850 and a trapped dipole which you can use to experience the real atmosphere of radio of operating from this very special place. Late at night you can feel someone looking over your shoulder. In 1903 the mast was 38m tall, these days the antenna is more modest. The callsign of the station was LD and that is kept alive with the call GB2LD. In 1910 the station became the first to handle a SOS call. The ship Minihaha loaded with passengers, goods and even a model T Ford, went aground in the Scillies and its SOS was picked up by Lizard which raised the alarm. All on board were rescued. Even so bits of the cargo still appear from time to time when the Scillonians reminisce. The Titanic passed Lizard on the first stage of its fateful voyage and a copy of the Marconi frequency graph still exists showing the Titanic going all the way to New York. The next stop on our pilgrimage was the Porthcurno Telegraph Museum, the site of the old Cable and Wireless training school, the international cable terminals and the hub of the British Empire's first international telecommunications network. This is a superb collection of old telegraph equipment which not only covers the technical aspects of the cable system but also A selection of keys in the museum the human interest aspects of the Cable and Wireless employees. The cable system played a key role in the development of radio as it was the medium by which contacts were confirmed even though many in that industry saw at that time that radio might ultimately supplant the cable network. All this is brought up to date with explanations and hands on experiments of the latest fibre optic cables which these days carry 95% of the worlds Internet traffic. Noteworthy was a 'radio shack' fitted out with a self guided explanation of the development of radio receivers illustrated with actual examples from the last 70 years. As the explanation progressed the commentary passes from radio to radio which light up to show which one is being described, rather clever and made the talk much easier to understand. The final stop was at The Marconi Centre at Poldhu Cove. This is run by the Poldhu Portcurno radio shack Amateur Radio Club and they are to be congratulated on a superb exhibition. Very little of the original station exists except a couple of meters from the generating system but the displays about Marconi's work are 11 FOCUS 96 very well done indeed. A walk up to the Marconi Memorial completed the visit. Marconi had an eye for good radio sites. So plenty to see in south Cornwall and at The Lizard in particular. Thanks to David, G3PLE, for the tours of the Lizard Wireless Station, to the Poldhu Club for the BBQ and the guided tour of the Marconi Centre and to Rosemary for spotting the Wireless Cottage in the first place. Web URL’s: Lizard Wireless Station <http://www.lizardwireless.org/> Porthcurno Telegraph Museum <http://www.porthcurno.org.uk/> Marconi Centre, Poldhu <http://marconi-centre-poldhu.org.uk/> Getting a Licence in Thailand By Finn Jensen, HSØZLM (OZ1HET) After more than 13 years of waiting I am glad to tell you that the Reciprocal Agreement between Thailand and Denmark is finally approved and signed by both countries, so that radio amateurs from Thailand and Denmark can obtain a licence in both countries. When I first time came to Thailand as a permanent resident with my Thai wife in January 2000, I definitely did not think that it would take such a long time to get a Thai licence and a call sign here, but I quickly realized that the Danish authority ITST would only support CEPT, and under no circumstances a Bilateral Agreement at that time. From the beginning and down through the years, I have been in contact with ITST via email, to give them various news which might make them change their view on a Bilateral Agreement. I was also in the office personally, while I was on holiday in Denmark, but nothing helped; they still only wanted to support CEPT. In year 2009 we were a group of Danish radio amateurs, with a special connection to Thailand, who started Danish-Thai Radio Amateur Society with the only purpose of making ITST change their view on a Bilateral Agreement. We collected signatures via email from Danish radio amateurs, who wanted to support our cause. It ended up with around 50 signatures and likewise support from DDXG=Danish DX Group and from EDR’s Hvidovre Section. We also got support from RAST former President Chaiyong, who wrote a support letter, and as well some signatures from RAST members. This entire thing was send to ITST, but unfortunately it didn’t change anything; they still only wanted to support CEPT. Then in July 2010 at last something new happened. At ITST a new Office Manager started to work there, and he took over the responsibilities with Danish radio amateurs. Very suddenly this new guy showed he had a distinct understanding of our desire to get this “Bilateral Agreement” installed, and he very quickly started to progress this. This proposal was sent to Thailand through the correct channels, and at the same time he kept me informed how it was progressing. The proposal was approved in Thailand with a minor correction, which ITST also approved without problems. 12 FOCUS 96 From 1 January 2012 ITST was closed down and all their tasks were transferred to ERST=Erhversstyrelsen. This new authority should now also take care of our problems with the Bilateral Agreement. Then on 1 March 2012 this new Office Manager suddenly stopped his work for ERST, and our tasks were transferred to a female office clerk. In the autumn 2012 this office clerk took a pregnancy leave, and our task once again was transferred to some chief-consultant, who quickly let another female team leader go on with our task. So as you can see, many people were involved in this work. At last on the 22nd August 2013, the long awaited message came from RAST; Thailand had accepted and signed the Bilateral Agreement with Denmark. When I received this message, the hair on my neck stood up, and I had tears in my eyes. More than 13 years of waiting was at an end; the Bilateral Agreement was done. On the 1 November I received my Thai license and call sign as HSØZLM, and will not have to use the Club Stations call sign HSØAC any longer, but I would like to say thank you to RAST for letting me use this call sign over the years. Several people have asked me, where were EDR’s executives in relation to the Bilateral Agreement, and I can only answer: They were not there at all, so it was very fine we could solve the problem ourselves. I am the first Danish radio amateur, in recent times, who has got a licence and call sign here in Thailand, but I am sure others will follow after me. FOCAL Robert, S53R (left) hosted Roger, G3SXW (right) during an August afternoon in Rome, when IØ/G3SXW scored his DXFC+QRV point for Italy. Yes, there were more QSOs than beers! 13 FOCUS 96 Operating G1ØØRSGB from Cheltenham By Iain Kelly, MØPCB During the centenary year of the RSGB there has been a special callsign making its way around the UK and local radio clubs have been getting on the air. In late 2012 the Cheltenham Amateur Radio Association decided to partake in the activity and were offered a three day slot between 2-4 November 2013. Time passed and as plans began to firm up it transpired that two FOC members would be part of the team, those being Derek, G3NKS and Iain, MØPCB. The activation was ultimately split between two locations, with Martin, G4ENZ hosting the station on 2 and 4 and Stewart, GØLGS hosting on 3 November. As Stewart was planning to be active mostly on SSB with some digital modes from his station that left the CW slots to Derek and I across the two days at the main location. Of the 1.658 QSO’s in the log over the three days 893 of Iain, MØPCB working 28.025MHz, joined by the newly them were CW on all bands knitted socks of Chloe, MØGEJ from 160m to 10m and CW operating time split evenly between the two operators and throughout the two days with roughly 10 hours each in the chair. For those that didn’t see the email announcement the following are the approximate times we were both active: Saturday, 2 November: 07.00 – 0959 MØPCB 10.00 – 1259 G3NKS 16.00 – 1759 G3NKS 18.00 – 2059 MØPCB Monday, 4 November: 07.00 – 09.59 G3NKS 16.00 – 19.59 MØPCB 21.00 – 21.59 G3NKS Operating went smoothly, though there were inevitably some teething troubles when changing operators, which involved swapping keys and headphones. The station was equipped with an Elecraft K-line comprising the K3, P3, KPA500 and KAT500 along with a Cushcraft R8 vertical and an 80m Doublet that had been extended to cover 160m. Of note was a very nice opening to the USA on 12m during Monday afternoon with very good signals, and a quick chat with Jean, 5TØJL was a pleasant surprise! Among the other DX stations worked were those in CE, CO, ER, FO, KP4, PY, TG, TI, UAØ, VP8 (Falklands), VU, XE, YB and ZF giving a total of 51 different DXCC entities. 14 FOCUS 96 We also worked many G stations who were chasing the G1ØØRSGB awards and were after as many band slots as possible. Looking through the log, combined with Fabian’s, DJ1YFK online calculator, we managed to work 40+ different members, some on multiple bands. This includes QSO’s with both G3NKS and MØPCB while we were at home after operator changes. A great result, made possible Derek, G3NKS maintaining his strength with some cake by Martin, G4ENZ for allowing us use of his station and also to Penny, GØNVP (XYL of G4ENZ) for providing many cups of tea and some splendid home-made cake to keep us both going. It’s fair to say that all the operators during the last three days of G1ØØRSGB – we passed the baton to GM and from there it moves to GI – all had a blast. Like the FOC75 activities in May this was a special time, the RSGB will only be 100 years old once. Thanks for the QSO’s. FOCAL The Society of Midwest Contesters had a mini-convention and meeting on 10 August in Kenosha, WI. Therefore many W9's were not able to be QRV full time in WAEDC CW. Regardless, fellow FOC member Doug, K1DG flew out from his New England QTH to give a most interesting and entertaining over view of WRTC 2014. “We met for our first time eye ball QSO Friday evening over some food and more than ‘some’ beers!” said Vic, K9UIY. Vic, K9UIY and Doug, K1DG 15 FOCUS 96 DXing Down Under By John Wightman, ZL1AH I was active in contests as G3AH in the late 1930’s and again from 1946-50 with only modest results but I guess the experience triggered my enthusiasm for later efforts. The best I managed from the UK was a second placing in the 1949 RSGB Low Power Contest. Moving to New Zealand at the end of 1950, we came to this area on the recommendation of an old friend, ZL1MP, ex-GW6AA. After attending to the priorities, we commenced the hunt for a suitable (DX) QTH and found a lovely spot, four and a half acres on the edge of the harbour, with a view out to the Pacific Ocean and elevated about one hundred feet. The nearest neighbour was a quarter of a mile away! Fortunately I succeeded in not drooling in the presence of the vendor and happily for my ambitions, my wife was enraptured by the views. After finishing off our new house, getting a garden established and putting up antennas, I felt I would be justified in devoting some time to contesting. With a job to hold down and family responsibilities, it would have been unreasonable of me to make a major effort in more than one contest per year. The decision I made was to have a serious shot at the VK/ZL (mainly because, in those days, it was one of the few 24 hour contests) but to spend a few hours giving out a ZL multiplier in others such as BERU, ARRL, CQ, NFD, etc. The period of my serious contesting was the 1950’s and early 1960’s and whilst this is ancient history, I doubt if some things have changed. QSO rates were much lower, of course, as this was the era of pencil and paper logging and, on marginal paths, it was not unusual to have to give repeats on the reports. We had not then “progressed” to 599 for every QSO. Equipment was almost entirely home -brew and throughout my competitive days I never had more than 60 watts of RF, from a pair of my stash of war-surplus 807’s. The receiver was triple conversion with separate crystal-controlled front ends for 10/15/20. These fed into the second mixer with tuneable IF of 3.5 to 4.0 MHz, using one of those marvellous HRO gangs with the associated 80 metre band-spread coil. Antennas in use were switched ‘Vee beams’ with 260 feet legs and in 1961 I added wide-spaced quads for 10/15/20 metres. Operating in the VK/ZL Contest I found to be very much a “Dance to the Music of Time” exercise. During the better periods of sunspot activity there would be a series of “runs” when one CQ would result in a long string of QSO’s. Starting at 1000Z on 28 MHz there would be an hour or an hour and a half of Europeans. Then it was the turn of 21 MHz and a similar run before moving to 14 MHz. About 1300Z on 14 MHz the last of the European opening was followed by long path to the USA when the eastern half of the continent came roaring in. At this stage I used to go to bed for about four hours because I believed this suited my body’s metabolism. When I got back on, my competitors had all got ahead of me but, usually within eight hours, I would have overtaken them again as their mental processes slowed. 16 FOCUS 96 In poor sunspot years QSO rates were much harder to maintain in daylight hours. During darkness forty would keep the log ticking over but after the sun rose, it could be slow going, trawling ten and fifteen for odd stations which were often on the edge of audibility. I did not set out to do it but, in the event, it turned out that I won the ZL CW section of the contest for one complete sun-spot cycle, 1953 - 63 inclusive. In 1964 I built my first high-power amplifier, so I retired from competition. The original format was extended to include Oceania and I believe that this made the contest even more popular. Possibly operating as a ZL is the easiest option in that there are never too many NZ stations operating CW at any given time, so we are hunted for multipliers by the big guns and for a new country by those at the bottom of the DX food chain. On the other hand we are not so rare as to engender those frenetic pile-ups that the FO and 3D2 stations suffer. Having operated pre and post war from five National Field Day stations, I retained a lot of interest in this contest and in only a few years have I been unable to give some G portables a point. Unfortunately the path to the UK from ZL1 is very close to the pole in either direction (my zero degree bearing passes through Swansea). In the very best of CONDX working the G’s was easy on twenty with many getting through on fifteen and ten. In the low years forty carried the load and the graveyard shift ops would start coming through from about 0300Z. Unfortunately, for me at least, National Field Day became European Field Day and the short skip meant that, even with high power and over a thousand feet of copper up in the air, the G’s could not hear me for the European portables answering their CQ calls. ZL fixed stations used to be worth six points but with the European slant there is now no great benefit to the FD station in working DX. However, the more sophisticated stations are well aware of openings to this part of the world on the HF bands and point their beams this way, so QSO’s are plentiful. Although the Restricted Section stations are usually weaker, they often have some of the best operators and appear regularly in my FD logs. My best year was 1981, making nearly sixty QSO’s with G portables on fifteen and twenty. There was a “DX Marathon” put on by Radio magazine, (the forerunner of CQ Magazine), in 1939. This was a contest based on the number of countries worked in one year and my score was affected by the fact that in September, along with a number of other members, past and present, I found myself in a village in France operating Field Day (R.A.F. style)! There are many fine contests (ARRL, BERU, REF, CQ WW DX, etc.) that in past years I used to get involved in for a few hours each weekend to pay my dues to all those who were supporters of VK/ZL. Nowadays I just get on to browse for friends and acquaintances, though I am still interested in IOTA’s. Forty years ago I got quite a kick out of collecting awards that were tough to achieve from this neck of the woods - H22, CDM, DPF4, etc. - and the national contests were an enormous help in finding that rare canton, county, province or DOK. 17 FOCUS 96 And what happens when old contesters pop their clogs? My religious friends tell me that they expect to be awakened by the Last Trump. I say to them that will be no help to me because my biological notch filter will tune it out. The only thing that might rouse me would occur in the following March when a faint 750 cycle note with a trace of echo, is heard sending CQ BERU and signing with the call of that guy I need for my last DXCC entity. The Explanation of ‘QAC’ By Mort Mortimer, G2JL The following abbreviated extract is taken from the Articles of Association of the South Hampshire International Telegraphy Society, (in the 1920’s it was South Hampshire International Radio Transmitting Society) re-formed from the Portsmouth & District Radio Society in 1977, to emphasise our one-mode one-track mind-set. Article 9 of the Gentlemanly Conduct of Operators: It shall be a Condition of Membership that Operators shall strive to promote high standards of work and to maintain a courteous and considerate attitude to other practitioners of the mode, whether operators or not. They shall reply, when called, even to ‘clickers’ and ‘chirpers’ working from undistinguished locations. Having been informed that their strength is nine, they shall eschew the practice of repeating their name and location more than seven times; they shall not call CQ over more than three DX stations on the same frequency; they shall not use open DX bands for local chitchat; they shall not send at 30 words per minute (WPM) to a station clearly preferring four; and amongst themselves they shall promote the use of the code QAC, which shall be taken as implying "All Compliments" and shall include: VY 73 73 OM CUL BCNU & mni tnx fer nice/FB QSO GL GB hpe cuagn wid gud/btr condx mri Xms Hpi Nw Yr 88 to XYL/YL Ciao Cheerio & GUD/FB/best DX or any part or parts thereof in any permutation or combination. An operator, having been in receipt of a report of S6 or better, shall send QAC but once. Letter to the Editor From Roger Western, G3SXW, 11 November 2013 OOTC means ‘Out Of Turn Caller’. There are several other categories of callers who destroy our pile-ups these days but for me this is the main one. Rick, K6VVA, has put together a YouTube video in which he tackles the problems head on. His style is interesting: non-confrontational, non-aggressive, non-evangelical: he just tells it the way it is. I cannot myself, for what it's worth, disagree with a single word that he says. This is 45 minutes well spent for any and everyone who spends time calling in pile-ups. Check it out: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svLlfrFA-1E&feature=youtu.be> 18 FOCUS 96 A Contact is More Than 599-73 By Mike Mills, G3TEV ─ QSL Manager of 9J2BO These days a contact on the HF bands is usually ‘599 73’ and that is all, if you are lucky you might get a name and QTH. Brian, 9J2BO and I had been talking to each other for several years usually at week-ends and always in the Commonwealth Contest. To my mind a regular sked and talk is so much more interesting than the usual two minute contact so common these days. In 1992 I suffered a heart attack due to over work and for several months had been arriving home in the evening at a sensible time. I suggested to Brian on one of our weekly chats that it might be interesting to see if we could try daily skeds. Little did I think then that it would still be going twenty one years later and over 5,800 contacts. My set up is very modest, a TS-850 (TS-830 when we started) with a home built linear running a pair of 813's. The only aerial is my 22metres centre fed inverted “V” centre height about 8.5 metres fed as a doublet using home-made open wire feeder. My QTH is about 220 metres ASL on the Cotswold Hills which does help as I have a good sloping take off towards Zambia. We usually operate on 21 MHz at around 1630Z, changing to 14 MHz if conditions demand. In 1998 I offered to act as QSL manager for 9J2BO but only for Europe, however it has now spread to worldwide and entails sending something like 3,000 cards a year direct and via the bureau. Operation between us is mainly on phone as it is much more convenient when checking cards. Brian does not do computer logging so cards have to be checked over the air, but we still manage to deal with cards usually on a return post basis. We can if necessary switch to CW as I usually operate that mode 99% of the time. Bureau cards take longer as they arrive 200+ at a time and have to be sorted into chronological order, written out and then confirmed over the air. I am lucky in that I get cards cut to QSL-card size at a very cheap rate which enables me to produce cards for any occasion, especially when Brian decides to use a special call-sign!!! Brian has become a great friend and we had an “Eyeball” in 2002 when he came to stay here for a few days, so he’s now almost one of the family. If for any reason Brian is away and I do not go out to the shack at the usual time, Margaret my XYL usually says “Aren't you going to talk to Brian this evening?”, it really has become that much of a routine. I am now 80 and hope that the skeds will continue for many more years, and several thousand more QSL cards. Incidentally I do also have another regular CW sked with an old friend from my days 60 years ago when I was in the Royal Air Force. He was in those days G3IYC but is now VK3CAZ. We met up again in 2001 after 45 years and have a twice weekly chat on 14MHz. 19 FOCUS 96 Giuseppe Biagi and the Red Tent By Carlo Consoli, IKØYGJ Much has been written and said about the expedition of General Umberto Nobile, and the Arctic exploration project. The flight of the "Italia" zeppelin was framed in a complex program of expeditions aiming at the exploration of the Arctic pack. It was back in 1928, and exploring inaccessible and climatically complex areas of the world was a mission of difficulty practically analogous to go to the moon. We know how it ended: the airship crashed on the pack weighed down by ice, 8 crew members died as well as other eight rescuers, who tried to reach the camp, now known as the Red Tent, by any means. As an evidence of the countless acts of heroism that characterized the whole crew, a conference on wireless telegraphy was held in Ariccia, Italy on 13 October. In this event two FOC members were invited to bring their contribution, Eliseo, IK6BAK and Carlo, IKØYGJ. We had the opportunity to spend some time with the grandson of Giuseppe Biagi, a radio operator who has, in fact, contributed significantly to saving the lives of the Red Tent crew and of an a heroic rescuer, that crashed with an airplane in a rescue attempt. Giuseppe Biagi told very special episodes, less known and released partly only in the specialized literature. Starting with the red tent, which was in fact not red, but khaki. It Eliseo, IK6BAK started the conference with the history of telegraphy was coloured red by the survivors thanks to the supply of aniline, a powerful dye that was used nonetheless than to measure the height of the airship above the ground. Giuseppe Biagi says that the procedure for measuring the altitude was about as simple and efficient as possible. Two crew members were equipped with bottles of aniline, a stopwatch and a reference table. The timekeeper fired the launch of the red dye, while starting the chronometer, when the bottle hits the pack- ice and snow as white as milk ‒ it left a visible red stain. It was easy then to stop the chronometer and check the reference table to estimate the corresponding height from the ground. It was thanks to the bottles of aniline that the tent was coloured red. Although, Biagi remembers, after 48 days spent on the pack the colour almost completely disappeared. But that was enough for the mankind to remember the "Red Tent". That mission was mainly a scientific expedition and Nobile - that, tells Biagi, was a true genius - devised a series of brilliant solutions. Such as the measuring of the depth of waters, from the zeppelin in flight. General Nobile built a series of wooden containers, each with a device inside consisting of a cage, a quill, and a balloon. An operator 20 FOCUS 96 launched the device made from wood armour, inner cage, quill and balloon. At the same time, the timekeeper started the chronometer. The inner cage was exposed after plunging into the water and when the quill hit the bottom, the balloon was released. When the balloon re-emerged the chronometer was stopped and, again with an appropriate table, it was possible to obtain an estimate of the sea depth. The technical solutions adopted by Nobile in the zeppelin Italia were quite refined. Biagi says that anchoring a zeppelin of such a big size, exposed to hard winds and pressure variations, it was a far from a trivial matter. An excessively rigid anchor would put the airship in danger, because of the strong upward thrusts. General Nobile built a series of heavy iron balls, ad hoc calculated. When the airship anchored to the ground, it received an upward thrust, then the anchoring pulled down Onaida 33S another iron sphere. In this way, the weighed anchor allowed to quickly find a balance between the upward lift and the weight of the anchor itself. Regarding the radio that saved the crew, an Ondina 33S operating on the 9 MHz band, Biagi said that it was Guglielmo Marconi himself to insist on embarking it upon departure. But the Italian airship was already too full, and although General Nobile had expressed some concern and preferred avoiding further weights, at the insistence of Marconi, Giuseppe Biagi decided to dismantle the bench where he had to sit during the trip, and replace it with the wooden box, some sort of a small closet, where the Ondina was stored. It really makes us shiver to imagine the telegraphist on board, sitting all the way on what would have turned out to be his salvation. Left to right: Carlo, IKØYGJ; Giuseppe Biagi-the grandson and Francesco Cremona (collection and museum owner) 21 FOCUS 96 Review of Elecraft KX3 By Jim Danehy, W9VNE I have owned an Elecraft KX3 since the first week of May 2012. I own several rigs including an Elecraft K2 and K3. I have high praise for Elecraft. I also own their KPA500 amp and KAT500 automatic antenna tuner. During the past year I have spent more time using my KX3 than any of my other transceivers. With a 60 year operating career I think that comment states a lot about the KX3. The serial number of mine is 94 and I believe that they have sold over 3,000 in the last year. That certainly indicates a high level of acceptance and success. Like many of you I am primarily a CW operator. Although I have done other modes including EME and RTTY. The KX3 is extremely compatible to traveling. It weighs just less than two pounds. It has many of the attributes of the K3 and a similar looking front panel. I have owned my K3 for almost four years. That helped in getting familiar with the KX3. Like many I do not pay a lot of attention to the manual. That habit does not bode well for a K2, K3 or KX3 owner. In my opinion, the Elecraft rigs require you to know how to navigate the various changes in operating the rig. That is not intuitive with Elecraft radios. That is good and bad. It means that there are a lot of things you can do with the radio. But the changes are hidden in the operating manual. With an external DC supply the output power can be 12 watts. With the internal optional battery supply you are limited to 5 watts. I have the internal supply but rarely use it. I do use the internal CW keyer which works very well. That keyer also has memories which I find useful. The most prevalent and relevant question that I answer concerns its ability in receiving. My answer: "very well indeed". You can get the empirical reports from the Elecraft web site if you want a more definitive answer. It is just a bit down from my K3 which is excellent. The KX3 also has a built in "dual receive" ability if you use that feature within 15 kHz of the main received frequency. I have the dual receive in my K3 but almost never use it. Having worked every DXCC entity but North Korea I rarely chase DX these days. I spend a lot of time rag chewing on 40m CW during the evening hours. Most of the rag chewing there is at QRQ speeds. The KX3 performs well in that environment. When I inform others that I am running 5 watts or 12 watts there is always amazement. 22 FOCUS 96 I have acquired several aftermarket accessories for the KX3. One is a Graphical User Interface (GUI) which I can use with my iPad. It replicates the front panel on the iPad and you can see and change the various operating parameters. I find this interesting and more recreation that practicality. I recently obtained a remote tuning knob that is very practical. It is produced by the same company (Pignology LLC) that sells the GUI APP for the iPad. The tuning knob itself is machined out of aluminum and is mounted in a plastic box. The box has 8 buttons which can be programmed. Each button can be made to perform the same function as any button on the front panel of the KX3. You can change bands and modes and send CW from the memory keyer with just the push of a button. See the information on the Pig Knob as it is called on Pignolory LLC's website. The Elecraft folks sell their own paddle which attaches to the front panel of the KX3. When I first got mine I was disappointed. However they made some changes and now I find the Elecraft paddle that attaches to the front quite acceptable. However, I bought a Begali paddle that also attaches to the front of the KX3. It is a step above the Elecraft. It is relatively expensive though. Elecraft provides the owner of their various products with the ability to download improvements in their firmware. I find that to be a great asset. Most of my use in that area has been with my K3 since I have owned it for four years. I am sure over time the KX3 will benefit from that Elecraft feature. When I first got my Pignology GUI for my iPad I was playing with it on our dining room table. My shack is on a different floor of our home. Rather than putting the KX3 on an antenna I used a ten foot piece of hook up wire to receive and test the new GUI which allows you to decode CW onto your iPad screen. I heard Vic, K9UIY call CQ so I called him using the ten foot wire laying on the floor on the ground level of our home. We had a nice chat. Then over the next week I added a few dozen rag chews with that "long wire". Pressure from the XYL caused me to move the KX3 to the shack. So how is the KX3? Well, for $1,500 it is a real value. Because I use it so often you might get the impression that I really enjoy it. I do. Give me a call and maybe you can listen to a nice rig. Errata FOCUS 95, page 21, reported the Harrogate dinner in June 2013 but an error crept in. It says: “Paul G4AFU won the only prize of the night a keyer that Dave, G3JKB had given”. Of course, the MagPad was supplied by Tom, G3HGE at a significant discount and was th provided by the Club to help celebrate our 75 Anniversary. It was one of seven MagPads donated by the Club during this special year. 23 FOCUS 96 My Home Brew Quads By Terry Robinson, GM3WUX I like quad antennas because: • as closed antennas they pick up less noise than open ended Yagis • they seem to be less susceptible to other objects in the immediate environment • they seem to give more gain for the relatively short boom length • they seem more tolerant of the errors which inevitably creep into the manufacturing process. I had made a couple of quads – a 4 el. for 70 MHz and another for 50 MHz, both of these were made with wooden booms and dowel spreaders. I decided to try to do better than this and make something more robust and reliable. I was greatly encouraged by information produced by Justin, GØKSC whose website <www.g0ksc.co.uk> included proven designs for a five element quad for 50 and a six element one for 70 MHz. So, given the electrical design, it was simply left for me to do the physical design and build. Design objectives Given the dimensions, I needed to design the antenna so that I, as a blind person, could build it then re-assemble it again as necessary. This required building in physical markers for the positioning of elements and boom sections. I also wanted this to be a project conceived and built by myself, in my own way, which I could assemble independently. This has very much fitted in with my former role of assembling antennas whilst others sort out masts, tents, etc. during portable operations. I have a reasonably equipped workshop, the only special tools being a 30 cm embossed ruler and a talking tape measure 5 metres long. I didn’t pay too much attention to the overall weight or cost of materials, so long as I could buy the items I needed which would, ideally fit together without much fuss. Materials I wanted to use fibreglass spreaders, but sadly, couldn’t find anything suitable on a UKbased website. I therefore chose DX Engineering who produces a wide range of fibreglass tubing from half inch up to two inches and beyond in quarter inch increments, consecutive diameters would fit together smoothly. I therefore decided to make the booms out of this tubing as well, selecting 1.5 inch diameter for the central section of each boom and 1.25 inch for each end section. The spreaders would be 0.5 inch tubing. I wasn’t able to find anything that would do for the spreaders, so I decided to build these from scratch using 15 cm squares of 3 mm Mild Steel, these can be bought made to measure from a local supplier. I still needed to attach these to the boom. Again, I didn’t find anything that was immediately suitable, so eventually went for 35 mm capacitor clamps. I was assured that these would expand to grip the 38 mm tubing of the central section, but I needed to invent something for the 32 mm end sections. I eventually settled for small rings of 24 FOCUS 96 the 38 mm tubing, cutting the side with a hacksaw, thereby producing something that the capacitor clamps could hold firmly to the boom. This seems to work well, though I’ve since been told about double thickness hacksaw blades, which may do a slightly better job. I then merely had to source enough 3 and 4mm screws, washers and self-locking nuts to put the beasts together. The design process Given the dimensions from Justin’s site, I had to make some decisions. The elements themselves were quite straightforward, given the overall length of the reflector, I calculated the diagonal, added 30 mm onto this to allow for fixing the wires. I allowed 40 mm gap in the middle of each spreader for the boom. This meant I had to create 24 pieces of 795 mm spreaders for the 70 MHz quad and 20pieces of 1120 mm spreaders for the 50 MHz antenna. I had to be more careful with the design of the boom for each antenna. As explained above, each boom would be in three sections, the middle section would be 1.5 inch tubing whilst the two outer sections would be 1.25 inch. Not being able to rely on indelible markers, I needed to create physical markers which would allow me to assemble each boom and position each element without having to re-measure the thing every time I needed to put it together. In practice, this means that I could put an element at either end of a section or fix a Jubilee Clip to which I could slide an element from either end. This allows up to four possibilities for each section – two ends and two clips. In practice, one clip on each outer section of boom was used to control how far that section was inserted into the central section. The following regime was therefore chosen: 50 MHz Antenna • The rear section had the reflector at the rear and a clip to define the insertion into the central section. • The central section had the driven element at the rear, the first clip controlled the position of D1, slid from the rear, whilst the second clip controlled the position of D2, slid from the front. • The front section had a clip to control the insertion of the front section into the central, whilst D3 was placed at the front. 70 MHz Antenna • The rear section had the reflector at the rear, a clip to position the driven element slid on from the rear and a clip to control the insertion of the rear section into the central. • The central section had D1 at the rear and a clip to position D2, slid from the front. • The front section had a clip to control the insertion of the front section into the central, another clip to position D3 slid on from the front and D4 at the front. Allowing about 300 mm insertion of each outer section, this then informed the lengths of all the boom sections. The Build Process You’ll note that two elements of the 50 MHz and four elements of the 70 MHz antenna are mounted on the outer, 1.25 inch, sections of the boom. I therefore began by cutting 25 FOCUS 96 the six padding rings, each to the depth of a capacitor clip. I realised later that I needed to use a bit of each diameter of tubing as a template to “centre” the hole in each spreader, more anon. The Spreaders I decided to make a template. Using my tactile ruler across the diagonal of a 150 mm square plate (just over 210 mm) I marked the centre. Recognising that the first 20 mm weren’t available, I marked 35 and 95 mm positions in each direction with a centre punch. Using the same centre, I then marked 35 and 95 mm positions on the other diagonal. I established that the hole spacing in the capacitor clamps was 48 mm, as the holes were slotted, I set my ruler across the width of the template and marked a hole 25 mm each side of the centre. This last was a bad move as the 38 mm tubing distorted the clamps so that these holes were not in the right place – more anon. With my pillar drill, I drilled all the above-mentioned 11 holes at 3 mm then used this template to drill out the 11 plates for the spreaders – I still have the template (HI). Having cut the fibre glass spreaders to length, using the talking tape measure, I needed to drill each so as to correctly fit onto the plate. I cut a 40 mm piece off one of the off cuts and drilled a 3 mm hole through the middle of this. I then found a piece of pencil which nicely went inside the fibre glass off cut, drilled this and put a 3 mm bolt through. This provided a centre piece for the following operation. I bolted the centre piece through the centre hole of a plate then pushed a fibre glass spreader onto each protruding end of the pencil and lined this assembly up along a diagonal of the plate. Holding carefully, I then drilled through one outer hole of the diagonal and put a bolt through to hold the assembly in position. I then drilled the other outer hole, put a bolt through that, then drilled the two inner holes. I removed the spreaders from the centre piece, being careful about which piece fitted where (despite one’s best efforts, these never seem to The centre be quite the same), I then repeated the process with two more spreaders along the other diagonal. I removed the second pair of spreaders from the centre piece, took the centre piece off the plate then assembled the spreader. This process was repeated 11 times in all. I could now drill the centre holes for the booms. I was fortunate, during my university days, to acquire some ring saws, one of which was 1.5 and the other 1.25 inch. Using the pillar drill, I drilled the centre hole in five of the spreaders to 1.5 and the other six to 1.25 inches. I then fitted the capacitor clamps and tried sliding the spreaders onto the boom. It was at this point that I realised my mistake. The holes didn’t line up, well, one of them sort of did, but the other was well out! As it happened, I could still spare a bit of each size of 26 FOCUS 96 tubing, so I cut about a 2 inch piece of each. Removing one screw from each clamp allowed me to find the correct position for the other hole. A single piece of the larger tubing resolved matters for the 1.5 inch holes, whilst the 1.5 inch tubing into the clamp and the 1.25 inch tubing shoved through this then through the centre hole, established the correct position for the 1.25 inch diameter centre holes. I also enlarged the capacitor clamp fixing holes to 4 mm, so I could use bigger screws. Preparing the Wires Before cutting lengths, I created a spread sheet for each antenna (see Appendix). For each element, this included the overall length, diagonal, 3/8 length, 1/8 length and position on the boom. Justin specified 12 SWG wire for the elements and I did use this on the former 50 MHz antenna mentioned at the beginning. I discovered, however that the centre conductor of some decades old H100 coax was about the right size. Recognising that the coax was probably well past its useful life and that I had two lengths of about 30 metres, I stripped out the centre conductor of each length and pulled it straight. I was able to run about 20 metres from the bench vice in my workshop, along the rear of the house. I could then maintain useful tension by gripping the remote end in a spare vice. In doing this, I bent the wire about half an inch from the end, to give me a good measuring point. My tape measure only goes to five metres, so for the 50 MHz elements, I pushed a single chocolate block connector along the wire for 5 metres, tightened the connector then measured the balance. I again bent the wire at this point, then gave myself about half an inch before cutting. Being careful not to get the chocolate block trapped in the works, I then measured the 3/8 distances from each end, bending the wire at these points. I then repeated this process at the 1/8 points and completed bending the wire to form the required square. The chocolate block was then used to make the connection. Note that the 50 MHz antenna was to be built inside an existing HF quad, so the middle three elements needed to be opened and re-closed during the installation. A double chocolate block was used for each driven element. Knowing the overall dimensions of the spreaders, I calculated the position of the fixing holes from the diagonal of each element and drilled a 3 mm hole in each spreader at this point. I then fixed the wire of the element to the spreaders with thin wire, rather than trying to thread then through, this seems to have provided an adequate fixing. Final Assembly As I measured and fitted elements, I marked the centre plates as necessary. The reflector and driven elements didn’t need marking but I cut notches in one edge of the director plates to indicate the element number. Having decided that the capacitor clamps would face forwards, I then assembled the elements on the booms, positioning each by measuring from the reflector and tightening the clamps and clips as necessary to maintain their position. I then drilled a hole about 150 mm from each end of the centre sections and fitted a bolt through each to hold them together. 27 FOCUS 96 The 50 MHz antenna was to be mounted inside an existing hf quad, so with the fitting of a suitable length of coax, this was essentially complete. The 5 metre length of the 70 MHz antenna allowed significant sagging so I installed a king post to reduce this. Fortunately I already had a suitable clamp from a previous job so didn’t have to make this as well. I’ve subsequently found that both antennas seem to work to specification. Conclusion This was an exciting project that I undertook having worked quite hard up to the time of the Olympics. Most of the construction was carried out whilst listening to commentary of the Olympics and Test Cricket on the radio. The whole activity provided a fulfilling and relaxing diversion from work. Apart from the electrical design, from Justin’s site, I believe this was my creation which although not the most elegant and economic solution available, leaves me feeling very satisfied with the outcome and I look forward to some activity, at least on 50 MHz during this year’s sporadic E The self holding 70 MHz Quad season. Sadly, it wasn’t until late September that I finally installed the 50 MHz antenna on the tower. Here’s to my next project! Appendix 70 MHz-6 element Element Reflector Driven D1 D2 D3 D4 FOCUS 96 Total length 4544 4416 4312 4312 4280 4064 50 MHz-5 element Diagonal Distance Element 1606 1561 1524 1524 1512 1437 0 825 1320 2470 3783 5035 Reflector Driven D1 D2 D3 28 Total length 6360 6152 6016 6064 5816 Diagonal Distance 2248 2175 2127 2144 2056 0 946 1705 2853 4080 Obituary of David Beckwith, W2QM By Joe Pontek, V31JP Dave was born on 5 August 1923 and passed on in 30 October 2013 at age 90. He th had celebrated this 75 year as a ham. I had the opportunity and great pleasure to talk with Dave one more time on the telephone a few weeks before, using Skype. He sounded great, but was having health issues. It had become more difficult to be active, even with the station at their assisted care residence and that frustrated him. We always kept an ear out for each other when we both were on the air and we both missed the personal meetings at Dayton in the NJDXA hospitality suite. Dave was first licensed in July, 1938 as W8SHC in Syracuse, New York, USA. Dave served in the Army during World War II as a radio operator in the infantry. When he came back, his call changed to W2SHC. He graduated from Syracuse University and married Beverly. They moved then to New Jersey. Dave joined the North Jersey DX Association and eventually was its president. He earned his Amateur Extra Class license in 1968. Dave joined the FOC in December, 1974. He made DXCC #1 on the DXCC honour roll in 1979. In 1978, Dave was appointed to the DX Advisory committee and served for 10 years on DXAC. Dave retired and moved to Florida in 1989. Still active chasing DX and has 380 countries including all on the present DXCC list except North Korea. Dave and Beverly have two sons, Edward and Bruce. Dave, also, has three grandchildren, Jessica, Jason and Jenna; and three great-grandchildren Noah, Cole and Jack. None are hams. Art, WA8VSJ, met Dave when he was in Florida. Art tells that Dave was instrumental in doing all the sound and lighting wiring in the theatre in Rainbow Bay and it is still in use to this day. Art’s experience with Dave started in 2003. He was a big help to Art and all the hams that have lived there in their complex. When Dave was in NJ, he had a tower and got many DX contacts confirmed. When Art went to Florida and realized that he would only have an R8 at 13 feet and worried that he would not be able to work any DX. It was Dave who showed him that he had been doing it since the middle 80s. At last count, Dave, W2QM, had about 385 countries confirmed and many of those he worked from down there with his vertical. In 2010, he was the last man standing at the Dayton DX dinner DXCC count down. Dave invited Art and Greg, W8ZKT, to the NJDXA suite. All you heard from everyone there was what a great guy, Dave, their former president was and how much he contributed to Ham radio. As Art said, “One of the saddest parts of Dave’s passing is that I did not know him longer. His contribution to ham radio is legendary, but to me, his biggest contribution is his being such a great person.” –Art, WA8VSJ 29 FOCUS 96 Obituary of Steve Bleaney, GW3VPL By Rich Langford, G4FAD On the 20 June 2013 we lost Steve Bleaney GW3VPL, a member of FOC for only a few months, a man who had much to contribute to our club. He is survived by his wife Janis and two sons Richard and Matthew. Steve was born in 1949 in Bedfordshire, the family soon moved to Swansea where Steve lived for the rest of his life. He studied accountancy and became financial director for a large safety clothing manufacturer but took retirement in his early 50’s when the business was sold to an overseas company. However this did not mean he no longer worked as he took on local small businesses and did their accounts for them. He became interested in Amateur Radio in his teens and got a full licence in 1967. In 2012 he finally retired and bought himself an Elecraft K3 line up. He had been on the air with it for about a month when he realised he had not tried SSB, so he went onto 40 Metres and heard a station on from Bedfordshire where the family had moved from when Steve was a child. He called the chap who came back and said he knew the village that Steve had been born in very well and the strange thing was he knew another ham well with the same surname! Before Steve could digest this piece of news another ham broke in to say he had been listening to the conversation and had realised that he was Steve’s uncle and the last time he had seen Steve was when he was about three years old. The unfortunate end to the story is that they never got to meet face to face but had many long telephone conversations together. At his funeral I met many hams who told me how Steve had helped and encouraged them and mentored them in radio. It was obvious that he was an important part of the local Port Talbot Radio Society and will be greatly missed by all those that he became involved with. He also helped to set up the local repeater doing much of the technical work. He was very honoured to have been sponsored for FOC and proud to be a member. I met Steve perhaps half a dozen times and many more times on the air. The last time we met was at the Radio Amateurs Old Timers Association AGM last autumn where we sat together during the meeting. At the AGM we always have a minutes silence to remember the calls who are no longer with us; I cannot believe that Steve’s call will be read out this year. Steve was a fine operator on CW and he had many chats on the key with members; we will all miss him and our thoughts are with his family. Rich, G4FAD FOCUS 96 30 By Tony Roskilly, G3ZRJ Steve was an active and keen radio amateur from the late 1960s when he gained the callsign G3VPL, he moved to South Wales and became GW3VPL under which call he is mostly known. I first worked Steve in 2009 when he was QRV with a Kenwood TS-830S and was impressed by his excellent and consistent CW fist. We had many contacts over the years and his love of the hobby and especially of CW always shone through. The TS830S gave way to an Icom IC-7400/IC-746-PRO. Steve was also very active on the VHF bands and was in large part responsible for the design and construction of a local VHF repeater. Steve was one of those blessed with true intelligence in that he could perform to a high standard in several fields and not just electronics. By profession Steve was an accountant and although partially retired continued to carry out his work on a part time basis. Before retirement Steve took over responsibility for looking after the I.T equipment in the firm for which he worked and continued to do this until his death. Steve was proposed for FOC by Bill GØJWB and it was with great pleasure that I supported the sponsorship along with Rich G4FAD and others. Steve was immensely proud of gaining membership of FOC. With the aim of becoming even more active in honour of FOC membership Steve invested in an Elecraft K3, he also used a Perseus SDR receiver fed from K3 to great effect. Steve was fascinated by the nature of radio signals and used the Perseus in this regard. A Hexbeam was bought to improve performance on the higher bands but unfortunately, complaints from neighbours resulted in the Hexbeam having to be removed. Planning laws in the UK are dreadfully strict and neighbour complaints are taken very seriously by the authorities. Steve was as always looking for ways to improve his aerial system and we had long discussions on Skype and the landline phone as well as on 80m CW about possible antenna projects. Steve was suddenly hit by a mysterious infection of his throat and glands which were treated with antibiotics and were not thought to be too threatening; I spoke with Steve on the landline a few times over the initial period of his illness. Medical investigation showed that Steve had contracted leukaemia, he advised me of this in an email and asked that it not be made public at the time. I tried to telephone on several occasions but the calls were not answered, it was with immense shock and sadness that I read of Steve's death on the FOC reflector. Like so many, I feel I have lost a close friend and a very fine fellow member of our "family" in FOC. To sum up, Steve was a real gentleman, a really genuine and honest man who had so much more to offer in our hobby and otherwise, as someone not trained in radio and electronics he impressed all hams who knew him with his deep and genuine knowledge of the technicalities of the hobby and his readiness to help anyone struggling with technical and operating issues was manifest. I like many others have a hole in our lives and can only wish his family the strength and peace of mind at this dreadful time. 161, Steve! DE Tony, G3ZRJ 31 FOCUS 96 Obituary for Dick Moser, W8XM By Don Karvonen, K8MFO Those of us who were licensed early in life as I was at age 12 in 1958, are fortunate to have known some of the greatest hams you can imagine. My recently deceased friend Dick Moser, W8XM was also licensed at age 12, but in 1933. I didn’t know Dick for the first 40 years he was on the air, but I did for the last 40, and it truly was an honor to have a close friendship with such a talented and humble man. When I first moved to Ohio in 1973, I was listening on 20 CW and came across a very loud signal buzzing along at 50 WPM. He was signing W8OPB, Dick’s original call. I couldn’t resist giving him a call, and was duly welcomed to Ohio. Shortly after that Dick and I met at a local hamfest, and for the next 40 years we shared our ham lives. Dick was born on 21 February 1921 in Dalton, Ohio, married his childhood sweetheart Evelyn there, where they built a home, and lived together for 72 years. Dick served in the U S Army Signal Corps during WWII, at Fort Harrison, Indiana, performing tasks that he never spoke about. Other than that, the Mosers never strayed far from their home, located conveniently on top of a ridge. It’s no more expensive to live on a hill than in a valley! Ask any ham -- he will tell you that! Dick was a talented builder, antenna designer, and operator. He also held patents for the electronic organ and was a consultant for the world renowned Schantz Organ Company. In his younger years he was a saxophone playing member of dance bands, was a square dance caller, and expert genealogist, helping many families to trace their roots. Dick retired from a management position for Ohio Edison, a major supplier of electricity. His volunteer and church interests would take a while to recount. At one time Dick was on top of the DXCC Honor Roll. One year he decided he would like to get on 160 meters for the first time, and had a Top Band DXCC within several months. Dick was also one of the early winners of the Windle Award, always willing to chat in pursuit of his goal. In later years Goose, W8AV and I worked to keep Dick on the air, with either loaned rigs or antenna work. Doug, K4LT and Rick, K8ZH were always ready to do the same. One special favor was also provided by Jim, W9VNE, who found a technician in his area to fix Dick’s IC-761. A dozen trips to Icom and inability by other service facilities to do the job did not deter Jim’s friend from doing a fantastic job. Doing things for someone like W8XM was a pleasure. They’re the same types of things that he did for others his entire life. FOCUS 96 32 An enormous crowd gathered for calling hours at a local funeral home. Goose and I ordered a special “W8XM wreath” which was prominently displayed. Many other hams were in attendance. On the following day K8ZH and I attended the funeral, which required three ministers to properly say goodbye. There were some very touching remembrances by family members as they said farewell to a special husband, father, and grandfather. Rick and I walked from the church to the local cemetery, where a good portion of the town gathered. Full military rites were provided, complete with a 21 gun salute. Dick is now buried less than two miles from his lifelong home. Rick and I then went back to the church where we enjoyed a luncheon and fellowship with family and friends, who gathered to remember a very nice man who touched the lives of so many others. th It’s been a tough year and a half for FOC in the 8 call area, with the loss of W8VSK – licensed in 1932, N8GZ – from 1934, K8NW – licensed in 1958, and now W8XM. You don’t replace guys like these. Perhaps there is a place where silent key hams gather and share memories. What a great crew this would be, with Dick playing his saxophone during their meetings! Rest in Peace, Dick. It was a true pleasure to know you. 161 de Don, K8MFO Welcome to New Members By Tyler Barnett, N4TY Raoul Coetzee, ZS1REC (2012) I was born in Bellville, near Cape Town South Africa in 1959, and I grew up in Kuils River, also in the Western Cape. As a young boy was fascinated by some old radio and WWII electronics stored in some boxes and crates. My father was a qualified steam fitter in the South African Railways and became assistant foreman to one of the biggest railway building and repair centers in South Africa. He was a man with varied interests and he had many old radio and later television magazines some that I still have, from the early 1930 and 20’s with wonderful (to me as a boy) TRF and later superhet diagrams and stories about HAM radio. I studied many a diagram and picture of some operator with the necessary overhead open wire feed line in his shack and some dubious wiring from cells stored on the floor, obviously the power supplies for HT, screen grid and filaments. I would then listen to the mysterious Morse using two 1950’s stripped down “radio gramophones” (you remember the ones with Gerhardt turntables, cat’s eye signal indicator?) using one radio’s VFO as beat frequency oscillator for the other. It was a real pain to get some SSB using this system! I did built the normal crystal sets and audio amplifier, 2x 6V6 beam 33 FOCUS 96 pentodes in the push-pull output, cannot remember the phase splitter but somewhere a 6K6 or 6J6 were also used. The amplifier later became my electric guitar amplifier and family torture device! After school I went to do my two years national service in the Air force and spent about 9 months of my young life in border war on the border between Namibia and Angola. Afterwards, I got a job in electronics in the printing industry. They were moving away from lead typesetting to electronic word processors. A new age era started and I was at the front! I received training in Switzerland, Italy and the UK and was in love with my now XYL, Hannelie. No time for radio. We married in 1983 and our only son was born in 1987. In 1991 I did my Amateur Radio exams and in 1992 passed my 12 words per minute CW test. In those days we needed to spend two years on CW or 200 QSO’s. After a spell of SSB contacts, I returned to my beloved CW and never really returned to SSB. I became a CW examiner for the South African Radio League but as the rules got watered down to “no-code” I received less and less candidates. My big radio love became 160m and from a small lot of 20m x 40m, and blessed with the curse of African QRM, I managed 160m DXCC and with that CWDXCC. I now have about 128 countries worked on Top Band. I only have wire antennas, small property but somehow, with tenacity, I do enjoy my radio life very much! Current radio is my FT-1000 MP MKV, Field model and homebrew linear using two 4-400 in parallel. My lovely wife went through a tough time, being diagnosed with lymph cancer more than 15 years ago, now is in remission for 12 years but the radiation caused a lot of damage to her heart and valves. She underwent a massive operation last year, December, receiving two heart valves and a triple bypass. We are very happy to report that all went well and she is nearly back to normal, in fact better than before. We gratefully thank the Lord. I hope to work many of you excellent FOC members, and indeed it is a great honour to have been sponsored and elected. There are many better CW ops than I could ever hope to be, but the challenge is in the trying to improve my skills and that, I will always keep doing! Thanks to my sponsors and thank you to each and every FOC member who heartily welcomed me, even during the Marathon, taking time to welcome a newbie. It really made me feel welcome. Looking forward to work you! Gary McSweeney, GI4CFQ (2013) FOCUS 96 It's a great pleasure for me to join everyone at FOC. I've found it quite challenging to become a part of the gang because my station is very modest. No excuses though, I prefer my radio that way and I enjoy operating and having QSOs in the old traditional style. I'm not a contester at heart and generally try to stay out of the spotlight but I live for my Ham Radio and CW in particular. Rarely a day passes by when I am not to be found on the bands. I turned 58 years old a few weeks ago and operate CW mostly on 40m, 20m and 15m. It would be nice to spend more time down on 80m but unfortunately living in a big city means high levels of QRM on that band. I find 40m works 34 well for local and semi local contacts with 15 and 20 letting me reach across the pond without difficulty, conditions permitting. If you hear me, please feel free to call and say hello. Bob Beebe, GU4YOX (2014) I became a Short Wave Listener in 1972, aged 12, became a member of the Derby and District Amateur Radio Society in 1973, and within a year I was on the committee. After my SWL apprenticeship I got my full UK licence in 1983 as G4YOX. Many thanks for the encouragement in my early years to Fred Ward, G2CVV for helping me along. In 1990 I moved with my family to Guernsey in the Channel Islands and became GU4YOX and soon realised that every time on the air meant monstrous pileups! It also meant a restart on DXCC 23 years ago, now sitting at 318 worked with 290+ on CW which is my 99% mode. I am predominantly a 160m operator and have always loved Top band. I do enjoy DXing and contesting as well as keeping in touch with radio ham friends on CW. I have been invited on a few DXpeditions and was involved in advanced capacity as operator and responsibility for matters electrical on D68C, 3B9C and T32C with the Five Star DX Association. I have also advised on electrical matters for several other notable DXpeditions. My busy working life is as Operations Director for the Island Power Company here in Guernsey. I am married to my Italian wife Maria Antonietta and enjoy motorsport, particularly Formula 1. It is great to be invited to FOC and I look forward to working and seeing some new and old friends soon. Ian Fugler, G4IIY (2015) My interest in amateur radio was sparked by my Uncle (G3XFL) from the age of about nine. He had a Pye Westminster in his car, which had three 2m FM channels. I would enjoy listening to him talking to the local Cornish amateurs. He leant me an EC10 receiver, to which I connected a random length of wire and I spent five years as an SWL. During that time, I saved my earnings as a paper boy to buy my own receiver - a Trio 9R59DS and then a Yaesu FRG7. As soon as I was 14, I took the RAE. My CW elmer was Ron, G2ABC – my uncle didn’t do CW! I recall very clearly being driven to Lands End Radio by my Mum and Grandma, clutching my application and £6.40 worth of stamps. The CW test itself was over in a few minutes. I then spent two hours being shown round the coastguard station and thoroughly entertained and, for their amusement (!) tested on just how fast I could read CW. My Mum and Grandma sat patiently in the car park at Landsend Radio for the best part of two and half hours. That was in 1979 and the G4IIY licence duly dropped on the mat. 35 FOCUS 96 It took me a while to get on the air, because I was restoring a very tired KW Viceroy transmitter. But I eventually got it working and was fairly quickly hooked on contests and chasing DX. I took a break from radio for several years, when I moved from Cornwall to London (via a year in Bristol) with my work. I had joined the Ministry of Agriculture in Cornwall, after studying Maths at University. After various jobs in London, including a role as Private Secretary to the Agriculture Minister during the BSE crisis, I decided a move out of London was on the cards. I moved to Cumbria in 1998. I have essentially stayed in the Civil Service line of work and am now an Executive Director with Natural England, a Government organisation that advises on the environment. I have two boys (10 and 8) and two years’ ago we moved to an old farmhouse just north of Hadrian’s Wall. I assume that at one point, I would have been a GM had I lived here a few hundred years’ ago! I have still not managed to put up my masts with the HF beams, so rely on field day style installations. I have a reasonable receive set up for the LF bands, with four 900 foot beverages and some EWEs. I thoroughly enjoy chasing DX and taking part in contests, with most of my activity being on CW. I also enjoy having more than the standard “rubber stamp” QSOs. Being a member of FOC has encouraged me to do even more of that and I have had some great conversations on the key. I now look forward to learning some new expressions like Windles and Augies. John Davies, 9V1VV (2016) I was first licensed in Singapore in 2002 and have held no other call signs. I am 60 years old. I worked as a radio officer on cargo and passenger ships from 1979-87, then when the writing was on the wall for CW at sea, I re-trained as an electrical engineer. I now work in the offshore deep-sea diving industry on board specialized dive vessels. I did not touch a Morse key for 15 years, until I became a radio ham, and my CW got rather rusty, but hopefully now it is back up to scratch. I use a bug key exclusively. I am active at least 4 evenings a week when I am home on leave. I do a 6 week on / 6 weeks off rota. My main interest is ragchewing and I am not much of a contester. I am on all bands 40m up to 10m with a K3 and KPA500 linear, plus a simple Inverted Vee on the roof with a remote controlled balanced tuner -- the condo people will not allow me to erect a beam or tower. I am originally from South Africa but I have lived in England, Israel, Sri Lanka and Thailand. I have been in Singapore for twenty years and I expect to retire here. I would like to thank all those who sponsored me for FOC membership. FOCUS 96 36 Stealthy Four-Square Antenna in Texas By Bruce Elbert, K6ZB We did our QSY to the Austin, TX, area from the Los Angeles, CA, area back in 2011 and have found a great location for life and ham radio. Cathy and I chose a neighbourhood that was pleasing to the eye and afforded a good location for the hobby, thanks to rather high ground (that’s 300 metres, high for Texas) with a good view to the East. But, like our QTH in CA, the community has restrictions that include the pervasive prohibition on outdoor antennas. The solution once again was stealth – make the antenna invisible from the street and reduce its footprint so that the immediate neighbours and the XYL could look out across our yard and see the greenery and not aluminium or steel. The final product as seen from the top of the driveway is shown right. You might ask, “Where is it”, but it’s behind that wrought iron fence and the white rocks (lots of that wonderful limestone around here). The 1.2 acres of raw land we obtained had possibilities and the final product in terms of home and garden meet our every need. My shack is in the house to the right with good access to the base of this antenna system through buried plastic conduit. Back in CA, we had a third of an acre and I wanted to make use our Texas-size lot to get more physical separation to reduce RFI in the house. Talking it over with Richard, K5NA, Jim, N3BB, and Jim, W5JAW, I settled on a 20 metre four-square by COMTEK and DX Engineering. The antenna uses four quarter-wave verticals on a footprint of only 50x50 feet (15x15 metres). This was accommodated within what I call the “quadrangle” garden plot, shown above after installation of the radial system and ground cover. Note that this is a flat area built-up on ground that falls off to the northeast. The lot has a limited quantity of native trees so I added those live oaks to improve concealment. If you find us on Google Maps (corner of W. Majestic Oak and Sunset Ridge), you can clearly see the large rocks that form its borders. The “heavy lifting” to create this foundation was done 37 FOCUS 96 by a local contractor who had the right equipment and excellent team of workers. The antenna installation was done by me and my daughter, Michelle. DX Engineering offers the complete kit so that all we had to do was to follow the instructions. The hybrid-switch unit comes weatherized and is located at the centre. The vertical elements, which are each a quarter wave on 20 metres, after assembly are shown below. Their relatively small size makes this project easy from a physical perspective so everything can be a one-person operation. But it is always a good idea to have someone to talk to and help with the soldering (Michelle earned her merit badge on that). As is always the case with ham solutions like this, there was a lot of unwritten stuff that we had to figure out on your own. But Michelle could sort out what I couldn’t and the installation was pretty easy. It consisted of locating the verticals properly and laying out the phasing lines. Pre-measured pieces of string, like the old “cat in the cradle”, was the solution she came up with. Below is the ground plane design suggested by DX Engineering, consisting of 30 radials per vertical, each wire soldered to the cross made of copper strapping. I decided to go with 40 times four, giving a total of 160 radials and we took great pains to lay it out exactly as shown in this diagram. This ground plane really does what it’s supposed to do. DX Engineering provides a good “off the shelf” package so I won’t go into details on the design and operation as you can download them from their website: <http://static.dxengineering.com/pdf/ACB4-A-Series-Rev1.pdf>. What I found attractive from a technical perspective is that its gain is basically the same as a 2-element yagi at 30 feet (9 metres), but without moving parts or delay in re-pointing. The antenna performs as advertised, with SWR at 14.025 MHz of approximately 1.3 to 1. Now, here is the interesting part – the antenna functions on all of the higher bands through 10 metres! I’ve compared it to a big screwdriver vertical and it provides at least 3 dB of gain on all of these bands with the same directional properties it has on 20 metres (e.g., switching by the control box). The only significant variable is the power 38 FOCUS 96 dumped into the dummy load that attaches to the difference port of the hybrid. That ranges from about 5% on 20 metres to 25 to 40% on the higher bands. That seems wasteful, but I compensate with raw RF from my amplifier. The good news is this antenna puts me on five bands with good performance in comparison to a single vertical or dipole. SWR can reach as high as 2 to 1 on one or more bands, but my amplifier has a built-in autotuner. I have another basis of comparison on 10 metres in the form of a three-element wire yagi in the attic. In the favoured direction, the yagi outperforms the four-square by about 3 dB; but the four square tops the yagi everywhere else. I’ve enjoyed using this antenna for over a year, yielding the classic situation that if I can hear them, I can work them. The front-to-back ratio is at least 20 dB, as advertised, and my signal reports are uniformly good. In sum, the antenna works better than it should. The success with the vertical and radial field approach led me to go a similar direction for the low bands – a single quarter wave 40 metre vertical with 40 ground radials. Having the full 40 metre four-square is desirable but I don’t have the room and the profile would go way up. But, this single vertical has also proven its value time and again. Regarding the 20 metre four-square, I stopped by the DX Engineering booth at Dayton last year to discuss my results. They said that what I’ve measured on 20 metres is in specification. One of their people said that he was surprised to see my original order for the 20 metre four square as most of what they sell are the 40 and 80 metre versions. It confused him until he realized that this would probably be an excellent approach for a stealthy beam on 20. Well, he was right. FOCAL Dave, K1ZZ and his wife Linda, KA1ZD spent their vacation on the island of Murter, Croatia in early September. They stopped by in Ravne to visit Jelka, Sam and Gabor. Sam, S51WO; Dave, K1ZZ; Linda, KA1ZD; Gabor, S57WJ and Jelka, S57WJ 39 FOCUS 96 W5FOC Weekend, Santa Fe, NM 3-6 April 2014 – Make your Reservations early By John DePrimo, K1JD and Fred Maas, KT5X The 2014 W5FOC weekend is scheduled for April in historic Santa Fe, NM. Santa Fe was founded in 1610 by the Spanish Conquistadors, and there remains much of that culture to this day. Your hosts are John K1JD and Fred KT5X. Activities will center around the Inn at the End of the Trail, La Fonda Hotel on the Plaza, which has just undergone extensive renovation. The following is an excerpt from their web site at: <www.lafondasantafe.com> “As Santa Fe’s oldest, best known hotel, La Fonda on the Plaza has set the standard for elegant accommodations since the early 1900s. Located in the historic heart of the city across from the 1887 St. Francis Cathedral Basilica, we have long been the destination for discriminating travelers, earning a reputation as the crossroads of the world. The legendary Santa Fe Trail ends at La Fonda, signaling to travelers that, wherever their journey began, they’ve finally arrived.” Reservations must be made individually and must be received no later than Monday, 17 February 2014 to receive the group discount. A block of 40 rooms has been reserved and the balance of those rooms not booked by 17 February will be released. After that date, the rooms can still be booked, but on a space and rate available basis. Cancellations can be made without penalty until that same date, so make your reservation now! Group Discount Room rates: The group rate is $130.00 per night plus applicable taxes totaling 15.19%. This rate will be honored for 3 days before and after the 3-6 April event dates for those wanting to arrive early and/or stay longer. La Fonda’s policy – they do not charge your credit card until your stay commences. They accept American Express/Optima, Diner’s Club, Discover Card, MasterCard, or Visa. Check in-out times are 3PM and 12 noon respectively. FOC will be given a special hotel parking rate of $8/day vice the usual $20/day. Reservations can be secured 2 ways: •By telephone: Call 800-523-5002 or 505-982-5511 and then choose #1 from the menu. Be sure to identify yourselves as part of the FOC organization to secure the group rate. 40 FOCUS 96 •On-Line: Go to <http://www.lafondasantafe.com/group-reservation-request/> and identify yourselves as part of the FOC group. Jim, W8ZR, has graciously offered his QTH for a cocktail party on Friday afternoon. Jim is well known as a keen boat anchor collector as well as designer and builder of all things amateur radio. Check out his web page <www.w8zr.net>. Other activities will be planned as the date approaches, stay tuned. La Fonda is located directly on the historic Plaza, so there will be ample opportunity to explore and shop “The City Different” during the course of the weekend. Santa Fe is one of the top “destination cities” in the USA, and is often referred to as the art focus of the nation. There are wineries in the area that could be of interest to some of the members. Please let us know and we’ll organize a tour. We will also offer guided hiking and Summits on the Air (SOTA) activations at all fitness levels… from modest to seasoned hiker. For those interested in experiencing this wonderful aspect of our hobby, a few of us will be available as guides. We will supply the radios, antennas, etc; you supply your energy and appropriate footwear! Santa Fe enjoys among the cleanest air in the country, access to extensive wilderness areas with stunning vistas. This will be a weekend to remember! So, make your reservations early. Please feel free to email with questions, and let us know you’re booked and planning to attend: John, K1JD <[email protected]> or Fred, KT5X <[email protected]>. More information regarding registration, special events and activities will follow soon. FOCAL “Here in the Dallas area we have Hamcom which is a smaller version of Dayton. It was held in June 2013. This was the first time I had met Mori, KR5V - now sadly silent key. These are almost certainly the last pictures of Mori in an amateur radio setting.” says Pete, N5KD. At Hamcom (l to r): Richard, K5NA; Pete, N5KD and Mori, KR5V (photo N5KD) 41 FOCUS 96 Contesting By Patrick Barkey, N9RV Greetings from the new FOC contest desk in western Montana! We’ll be doing our best from this point forward to whet your appetites for tricks, hints, stories and inspiration for keeping your contest habit well nourished. Thanks to K5RC and N2KW ahead of me for carrying the ball this far. The great thing about FOC is that our club is all about operating. So everyone knows how to contest. But not everyone is a contester. Fair enough. But by way of introduction let me tell you a little bit about why I love contests. First off, I am a station builder. We all are. There is no such thing as an out of the box station. Each of our stations involves something we have constructed ourselves, be it a complex transceiver or a simple centre fed. What better way to get feedback on that effort than to get into a fray? Much is made on our reflector at times at the “phoney” RST’s given in contests. But I will wager that your performance in pileups, whether running them yourself or calling in them, gives a more meaningful assessment of your signal strength than any so-called “real” report ever could. Speaking of making contacts – isn’t that in essence the thrill of ham radio? There is no better point in operating than that moment when you hear a station coming back to you. The sound of them sending your call is the sound of success. Sure, I enjoy chatting with people. But I like it best at the moment when I know they hear me and vice versa. So in a contest I can have that thrill thousands of times. I also have many contest friends. And it heartens me to hear them on during contest weekends. I don’t talk to AI6V to learn how he is doing recovering from his stroke in the middle of a contest, but when I hear him on I know he is feeling well enough to operate. It’s great to hear the rest of my friends, some of whom I personally know and the many I do not, operating up a storm. And then there is the competition. Setting goals, making station improvements, and getting your results evaluated through the school of hard knocks. There’s nothing more fun for me than going into a contest season with a new toy, a new antenna, or a new capability that I didn’t have before. Learning what others have done and taking those lessons home to try. The FOC Marathon That’s exactly what each of us will be doing during our very own contest this February. Are you and your station ready this time? Whether it’s a few hours to reacquaint with your fellow members or a full bore effort from a tropical island, the time for the operating event of the year is just around the corner. Like most things in life, preparation pays off in the Marathon. Get your time cleared with your spouse, get your nagging station problems fixed and get all of the latest member data loaded into your favourite logging program. Now, not later. And then flip the radios on for some fun! 42 FOCUS 96 Of course, the Marathon rules reward stations that are QRV on all six bands and ready and willing to QSY quickly between them. It’s a special thrill to knock off your fellow members on band after band, hunting them down harder as the band counts climb. So having decent antennas on all bands, and coming up with fast ways to band change are rewarded. If this fall is any guide, this year’s Marathon could see fantastic conditions. But no matter how the sun treats us, there are three things we can all do to make this contest better for everyone. The first is to be careful and considerate as we QSY. If you and another member agree to move to, say, 14027 you need to be careful not to tread on the station(s) who may already be there, whether they are members or not. Here’s a second thing to think about. Believe it or not, not everyone in FOC lives in the eastern third of North America or the western third of Europe. Our members in VK/ZL, Asia and elsewhere like the Marathon too, but it’s no fun for them if everyone goes to bed, say, in the US when the low bands close to EU. That’s especially so this year when conditions may serve us up some unusual night time openings on the high bands. And here’s my last plea – get QRV on all six bands. FOC operators are really good, and it’s amazing how little you need on a band to make some nice two-ways that will put plenty of smiles on the serious competitors trying to hunt you down. You’ve got two months. Get going! FOCAL Dennis, K2SX and his wife Betty were on a two week cruise around Italy in September. They met Carlo, IKØYGJ at the Hotel Intercontinental in Rome before the start of the cruise. Hotel Intercontinental, Rome (l to r): Carlo, IKØYGJ, Betty and Dennis, K2SX 43 FOCUS 96 Good Band Conditions Sparked the 14 September, 2013 FOC QSO Party By Art Suberbielle, KZ5D The semi-annual FOC QSO Parties are becoming ever more popular as time goes on. This event is designed to offer something to all of membership. Some treat it as a contest. Others like the chance to touch base with old friends whom they have not heard on the air lately. Another group likes the fact that it provides good will for our club among the non-members who participate. We also deliberately made reporting activity during these QSO parties easy, and completely voluntary. As a result the actual number of reports included in this summary of our latest 14 September, 2013 event somewhat deceiving. Judging from the comments received and from my own observations, there were many more stations active than those listed herein. Gabor, S57WJ has graciously volunteered to prepare a graph showing participation levels over the last several years that is quite interesting. The number of reports received from both members and non-members continues to grow. It is also interesting to note that when we are fortunate enough to have our event on a Saturday when there are few if any other events, our participation is higher. We have selected some permanent dates to hold this event in the future on Saturdays without any significant conflicts. Take time to mark these dates on your calendars so you can have time to join in the fun. FOC QP Statistics *2011 Spring FOC QP coincided with CQ MIR Contest FOCUS 96 44 Sig, N3RS, who is a regular winner in our annual Marathon, put in a serious effort in this FOC QP to report the highest number of contacts worldwide. Here is how Sig explains how he did it: “I thought conditions were fairly good, considering the rather low solar flux and the fact that we were in the midst of a solar wind event. Higher latitudes had some beautiful auroras to keep folks up there gazing at the skies. I found that the level of member activity was well down from what I have experienced in the Marathon, especially during the night time in Europe. I slept from about 23:30 local till around 6:00 AM. I would have stayed up a bit longer, but the 40m & 80m bands were not very productive due to the low level of activity. All in all, I enjoyed myself and had several short chats with old friends.” Sig worked a total of 214 members on at least one band. Another very interesting entry was by Allen, N2KW, who still holds the all-time contact record for our FOC QPs with a total of 700. This time Allen operated via remote as DL1A. To my knowledge, this is the first time that someone operated the entire QSO Party by remote. (If others have done this before, please let me know.) Allen did point out that operating from Europe requires a completely different mindset than the usual game plan when operating in the U.S. He noted that at European sunset, all the stations are on 80 working each other, while the US stations are not able to do much on that band at that time. And John, 9V1VV, reported another problem. Since his call is relatively rare to many casual operators, he was inundated with non-members calling him, to the point of drowning out the calls from some members. Certificate winners include Sig, N3RS with the highest North America and Worldwide total of 660. The second highest worldwide report and the highest from Europe was turned in by Vic, R6AF, with 432 QSOs including 307 with members. Curt, N5CW, had the third highest report of 425/267. West Coast US honours claimed by Dick, K4XU with 381/234. Allen, N2KW, operating as DL1A finished with 340/204 for second highest score from Europe. It was VK2BJ with the top score from Oceania. Barry reported 100/52 QSOs and John, 9V1VV, had the highest report from Asia with 171 QSOs but only 15 with members. Leading non-members was KØRF with 316 QSOs. G3SJJ had the highest report from Europe with 240. South America high score was reported by PY4ARS with 39 and Asia honors won by JA1GZV with 31. Future dates set: Mark your calendars for 2014 now. THE FOC QP will be held on Saturday, 22 March and 13 September, 2014. Starting in 2015, we have scheduled the FOC QP to be held on the last Saturday of March (opposite of the CQ SSB WPX contest) and the second Saturday of September (opposite of the WAE SSB contest). By establishing firm dates we hope to avoid conflict with other CW events. Members soapbox: AD8P – Conditions at my house were deplorable. Line noise was horrendous with the antennas pointing at Europe. I apologize to those who undoubtedly called me an alligator. DF4BV – Limited time resulted in less QSOs. 45 FOCUS 96 DK5AD - Everything went fine the first three hours. Then unfortunately my amplifier broke. With it the computer and the contest program crashed due to power failure caused by blown main fuses. It took some time to fix the computer and the contest files. Repairing the amplifier was not possible, because the transformer is broken. But fortunately I could proceed with the FOC QSO Party though with lower power. DK7VW – Due to a busy job, I haven’t been very active during the past months. This Saturday I was able to take the time for some hours on the air and it was great fun! DL1A (op. N2KW) – I operated the DL1A remote station from home in NYC. The entire FOCQP was done via remote control. DL1VDL – During a busy weekend I managed six hours of fun to attend the party, thanks to all. DL3AZ – An enjoyable event, as usual. Unfortunately 10m was not open and 80m activity was nearly zero in EU. DL4CF – Propagation was poor. Signals on 20m were even weaker than the ones on 15. Very strange indeed. But it was good fun anyway. F6HKA – I couldn’t give much time in Party because it was my daughter’s wedding and had a very busy weekend. G3IZD – Conditions not too good and 15m probably the best here. G3LIK – Considering poor conditions, it was a good day on the bands. G3NCN – It was a great pleasure to work folks from across the pond. G3NKS – Just a dabble. The lousy band conditions made it tough going for “little pistol” stations like mine! G3SXW – Very limited time, sorry! Good signals on 20m and plenty of activity. G3ZYV – Limited operating time mostly before dawn and after darkness. I was away during the day delivering my granddaughter and she belongs to University. G4BUE – Not very good because I had to juggle the little operating time I had between lots of chores. G4RCG – I thought the G activity was quite low and lots of regulars were th missing. I could not do as much as I would have liked as it was our 39 wedding th anniversary. G5CL – Sadly the event coincided with my 10 wedding anniversary so fearing imminent divorce, I limited my activity to just a few well timed bursts. GI4CFQ – Another BW over and very good it was too. GM3YOR – Could not manage to be very active due to family commitments. GMØGAV – I was on for a few hours spread through the day in between chores like cutting grass, taking my son to Cub camp and repairing a beverage box for GM3YTS. GW3KGV – My operating time is severely restricted as I have an invalid XYL to care for, but I enjoyed the event though condx on 10 and 20 could have been better. HA7AP – I was able to work a few hours only, but enjoyed it a lot. Conditions were pretty lousy, but amazed how well some of you guys could copy my puny signal. I3BLF – It was a very nice and successful event. IKØIXI – Little time available due to job. Nice to work old friends and some candidates. IKØYGJ – I managed to work for around 6 hours in different times of the day. It was a great fun to meet the friends with changing propagation. ISØAFM – Due to limited time, I managed only few QSOs mostly on 40, 20, and 15. Good propagation condition on these bands. K4OSO – I had fun. Propagation as well as participation levels, at times, were up, down and sideways. K4UEE – Was operating portable at my in-laws home in NE Alabama. 100 W to a wire…amazing what one can do with almost no antenna. HI! K5AX – Great to hear all the activity and a lot of non-members in the FOCQP. Hope you all had as much fun as I did. Got to work about nine hours of the event. K6RB - Nice to work Joe, 7Q7BP, on two bands. Many CWops members in the fray, too. FOCUS 96 46 K6ZB – I fully enjoyed the QP, especially being able to catch up with some many good friends. Seems like everybody came out. K5TF – A lot of fun although conditions weren’t optimum. Happy to have worked 54 new Windles. KF7E - I was only able to get in during the final hour, all QSO’s but one on 20m. KM4FOC (op. K2SX) - My wife had many other plans and projects for the day by managed to squeeze in 7 hours. KR3E – Conditions less than ideal for my first FOC QP from my new QTH, where I’m limited to th running 100w into a Screwdriver mobile antenna on our 7 floor balcony. LA5FOC (op. LA5HE) – Terrible CONDX but able to use LA5FOC. Got it renewed within an hour Friday afternoon. Excellent service from a bureaucrat. MØIKE – Another great event as usual. MØPCB – This was my first FOC QP as a member. I started on 40m as the higher bands weren’t great in the morning, though things improved in the afternoon and evening. N2ATB – It was lots of fun as always with good conditions on 15 and 20 metres. N3RS – I spent a tad over 17 hours trying to be available to all who needed me for a Windle. I thought conditions were fairly good, considering the rather low solar flux and the fact that we were in the midst of a solar wind event. N5AW – Enjoyed it! Nice to be able to work lots of stations “contest style’ but at the same time keep it relaxed and friendly. N5XZ – Fun. Can’t wait until I can do a full contest again. OH2EA – Just a few hours on, but as usual, great fun even with just 80w and a windom. OZ4FF – Not very good condx and not many joining in. PA7RA – Hope to have better condx next time but it was fun to have this QSO Party. PAØDIN – It was fun. PAØLOU – FOC participation disappointing. Lost much time calling CQ BW…no replies! R6AF – Major part of QSOs were made on 7, 14, and 21 MHz while propagation at 28 was close to none. No antenna for 1.8 MHz. SA1A (op. SM1TDE) – It was great fun, especially during the afternoon when 15m opened up toward the US. It is sure an honour to be an FOC member. SM6CUK – Band conditions was very poor. V31JP – Darn work got in my way as well as local storms and trying to get my TS-850 interfaced. Finally got on for the last half an hour. VE3USP – I hope it went better for you than it did for me…An hour after the start, my computer died. Found an old one, but only had PS2 connectors. Frantic search for adapter, but could not find any. Went to bed and bought a new one on Saturday when stores opened. VK2BJ – Conditions were in general pretty awful down under. At least there was a good opening to the USA long path on 20m Sunday morning VK time. I was using a brand new only just erected 2el Ultrabeam at 55 ft. VK4TT – Lousy numbers for the time spent. W1AO – The conditions in Maine weren’t great, but I enjoyed connecting, even if briefly, with old friends and with a surprising number of capable non-members. Encouraging non-members to participate is an excellent way to showcase the operating skills of our members and to create interest in the Club. W1FJ – Had fun and worked some new guys in just 4.5 hours operating. 9V1VV calling in on 15 was a treat. VK2BJ was a true S9 long path on 20. W1HL – Was able to sneak away from family gettogether for 20 minutes or so. W1MO – Spent the weekend fighting a plumbing leak somewhere in my house’s foundation. And it’s not over yet! W1RAN - Last year's hurricane-damaged tower, control cable & Yagi now repaired but not up yet. Fired up back-up vertical only to discover infinite SWR. So I was running 20W to a broken vertical. Vic, R6AF, again proved that he has the best ears in the club. 47 FOCUS 96 W4PM – Conditions were not great but I was able to make at least a few contacts on every band and also made contacts in all continents. The only six bander was N3RS (who else could it be?). Best DX was HSØAC on 15. That area is extremely tough for my wire antenna. W5ZR – Conditions were mostly poor. 10m never really opened. W9RGB – Another good party. N3RS was my only six bander-ten meter is a harsh mistress (to corrupt a phrase borrowed from Heinlein.) WB2YQH - Good time in this casual affair. Still several non-members who seem to be gun-ho on taking part. Heard them calling CQ as well. Nice to hear my old friends and the very newest members as well. Let's keep the FOC flag flying high! WG4FOC (op. K3TW) – Outdoor activities in the beautiful Florida weather limited my operating time again. As always, I had a great time. ZB2CW – I was only QRV from the club QTH on 20 and 15 but called many times on 28025 but no replies. Looking forward to the next one. ZL2IFB – The highlight for me was catching up with Jean, 5TØJL. 7Q7BP – Unfortunately we suffered an unscheduled electricity outage from 0530 – 1600Z which ruined my 10m operation completely. Conditions were not good on 40 and below, so had to make do with just 15 and 20. 9V1VV – I was spotted many times and found myself inundated with Russians who had no idea what BW was. I was forced to do the 5NN TU thing, split. This is a drawback of being a semi-DX country! Non-Members Soapbox: AC4CA – I really enjoyed meeting so many of the members. I had some very kind and encouraging chat-ettes with many FOCers. DK9HE – I had a lot of fun at your very great QSO Party. I found great condx on 40m with lots of activity at the beginning. G3SJJ – The bands started off poor but 20 and 15 really perked up in late afternoon and into the evening. Great openings to W6/7. G3YJQ – A great time. I will be looking forward to the next one. G6GLP – I managed to do better than in previous years. Nice to catch some of the new members as well as many of the not so new, HI. GØEFO – I had just returned from a week’s holiday and managed to get only a couple of hours on the bands this time. IK1WNO – I am pleased to have participated in the QSO Party organized by the wonderful FOC Club. K4GM - Had a great time in the QP. Did it last September and made 54 QSOs. This time I made 162 QSOs with members. Recognized many calls from CWOps. K5KV – It was interesting to see how friendly the ops were greeting each other in a contest type activity. KØRF – I had a great time in the QSO Party. KCØURL – Conditions weren’t the best so I only worked 20m. N7RCS- Really enjoyed this contest and worked my first Scotland contact. I was running about 5 W. OZ4CG – It was my first participation, but no last, as it is a very enjoyable and relaxed way to perform a contest. WØJX – This was my fourth BW QP and I really enjoyed it especially the multi-band QSOs. WØVX – Very enjoyable activity and I had a great time. WB6BEE- I had two stations, K5TF and W5ZR, with four bands. I did get 16 QSO’s with European stations and five with UK. Felt good about that. FOCUS 96 48 Members Results: Call QSO’s N3RS R6AF N5CW W4PM K4XU W9RGB W5ZR DL1A op. N2KW K7NJ GW3KDB W1RM K4OSO W1FJ K5TF G4RCG N3AM AD8P K5AX KM4FOC op. K2SX GMØGAV DL3AZ N5AW K2QMF WØUCE S51WO F5VCT OK1RR W8PBO G3LIK AC5K K4BAI K2NV NA5G DL6LBI DL4CF K6ZB DL8PG DK5AD W4YE 9V1VV DL1VDL WB2YQH PAØLOU FOC Call 660 432 425 382 381 359 355 340 449 307 267 266 234 260 263 204 324 305 302 297 278 266 256 256 253 249 245 199 230 210 214 171 192 156 185 184 191 169 232 228 223 221 220 219 215 215 208 203 195 194 193 192 186 185 179 178 175 175 171 170 165 161 176 169 164 151 169 192 174 169 140 158 146 129 138 176 107 135 127 136 146 144 15 125 141 104 SM6CUK W1AO PAØVDV MØPCB N5XZ K6RB LZ1AF VE3USP N6TT G3ZYV KØVBU WA9AQN W8PBO G4BUE W6RGG US9PA G3RVM KR3E MØIKE N2ATB OZ4FF IKØIXI ZB2CW K4LTA G4BUO AC2K OZ8SW F6HKA GM3YOR K9FN VK2BJ PA5TT SA1A op. SM1TDE VK2BJ GW3KGV WG4FOC G3IZD DF4BV GI4CFQ HA7AP G4HZV LA5FOC op. LA5HE NØAV QSO’s FOC 160 160 158 157 154 151 150 148 146 145 144 143 140 136 136 133 126 125 121 120 120 117 117 116 115 115 112 108 107 104 101 100 100 136 120 111 110 95 114 117 93 91 117 104 112 68 105 100 84 120 112 100 101 95 108 67 85 85 75 82 82 74 82 52 68 73 100 92 90 89 82 82 81 80 79 52 87 70 79 60 77 71 77 79 41 49 Call QSO’s PA7RA DK7VW W7QC ISØAFM SM5COP G3NCN HSØAC op. HSØ/OZ1HET F3AT W5PEH VE2AEK op. VE3HX I3BLF W1EBM PA0DIN UU5JZ G3NKS IK6BAK W5FOC op. K5NA OH2EA 7Q7BP KC7V W1JR G3SXW IKØYGJ K4UEE G5CL G8VG W1MO VK4TT K2NV/VE3 ZL2IFB V31JP KF7E W1RAN W1HL FOC 77 75 73 70 70 69 69 49 58 57 45 60 55 51 69 69 69 59 59 60 68 66 65 65 62 59 59 65 57 60 51 47 50 40 57 53 50 44 42 42 38 36 36 35 32 25 25 22 19 18 12 51 44 42 42 34 33 31 27 34 30 25 21 15 17 10 18 11 FOCUS 96 Non Members Results: Call FOC Call FOC Call KØRF W1SOC G3SJJ WØJX WØVX AC4CA K4GM DL5YM DL5YL DK9HE K5VWW HA3OD WB6BEE W4GJ DM2SO 93 82 75 70 68 68 64 58 52 51 50 43 39 38 36 AE1T AA9K JA1GZV K5KV RW3AI EA5BS SM5AJI WØSOC G3SVL W2LK K9MM WA1FCN MJØASP K6BZS S56A 316 303 240 229 199 175 162 145 144 142 124 109 102 95 93 FG8NY K7WP K1SM UA3MIF KCØURL OZ4CG W5ZO NN6T G6GLP GØEFO G3YJQ OK1DM PY4ARS IK1WNO VE2FK FOC Call FOC 32 31 31 28 27 26 26 26 25 25 24 24 24 23 23 HB9DNG NM5M N7RCS UAØLCZ HB9BJL DK2FG N9NA OK1HMP SM4DQE OH/DL2SWW W4JHC HA7MG SP2HMY JA1NSR MØCFW 22 20 17 17 16 14 13 13 13 11 10 7 3 2 2 Inside back cover Focals Top: Derrick, G3LHJ was awarded the FOC Unsung Hero Award at the recent Annual dinner in Milton Keynes and the prize was a MagPad set of paddles. Because he was not in attendance Tony, G6GLP formally presented it to him at the Torbay Amateur Radio Society meeting on 15 November. Pictured G3LHJ (left) and G6GLP (right). “I just wanted to thank the Committee for selecting me for the first recipient of the new “FOC Unsung Hero Award” in the shape of a MagPad paddle suitably engraved; I will treasure it and make it my No 1 paddle. I very much enjoy organizing the posting of the Focus and the few News Sheets to you Guys & Gals in G, EU & ROW. Also thanks to Sylvia my XYL who gives a hand from time to time, and even she with the aid of Tony, G6GLP did the complete posting this time last year when I was ‘Horizontally Polarized’ in hospital with my Appendix operation.” says Derrick, G3LHJ. Annual dinner photos by Nigel, G3TXF Second Row left (l to r): Rosemary, G4FON/2; Pete, N5KD and his wife Lauri Second row right (l to r): Dan, MØCVR and Paul, G3VCN Bottom row left: Attendees at the AGM Bottom row right (l to r): Derek, G3PQD and John, G3WGV FOCUS 96 50