Inside……… - Northern California DX Club

Inside………
President’s Message,
Editor’s Reflections.p.2
Welcome New Members
December Party…..p.3
Our Speaker for January 12, 2006 is
Chuck Patterson, K6RK, an NCDXC
member since 1969 and an operator since
1930!!! He will speak on “160 Meter
Antennas and Operating Techniques.”
Chuck is a great DXer who has worked every DXCC
entity and who knows, how many deleted entities? He
has held officer positions in our club, presently a
director, and has high energy that may pass up those
40+ years younger!
He is now challenged by Dxing on 160 meters. Will
he reveal his country total on 160 on January 12th?
That remains to be heard.
He will be sharing his operating secrets as well as how
to use effective antennas on a typical Bay Area lot.
Since the 160 meters is a different experience from
typical 20-10 meters as most of us use, we will come
home from the meeting with new ideas as how to snag
other DX operators on the “top band”, 160!!!
His presentation will be followed by our monthly
raffle. See p. 5 for the prize list. Come and join the
fun. We look forward to seeing you. Bring a friend.
New members are always welcome.
See p. 5 for the next great raffle!!
Holiday Luncheon and
Thanks to Helpers..p.4
Christmas Party Raffle
Winners/Thursday Net
Info………………….p.5
January 12, 2006
Meeting/Prizes……..p.6
Thanks, HRO……..p.7
Our next meeting
will be January
12, 2006
at Harry’s
Hofbrau at 7:30
Hope to see you
there!
Deadline
For
February DXer is January
28, 2006
See you in January!
January, 2006
Northern
California
DX Club
Club Officers:
President:
Vice Pres:
Secretary:
Treasurer:
Director:
Director:
Director:
Dewey Churchill, KG6AM
John Eisenberg, K6YP
Mike Gavin, W6WZ
Steve Jones, N6SJ
Ron Panton, W6VG
Doug Westover, W6JD
Chuck Patterson, K6RK
Exofficio Director/
DXer Editor
Carolyn Gavin, WB6ABC
132 Alta Vista Rd.
Woodside, CA 94062
[email protected]
Web Page:
Chuck Vaughn, AA6G
http://www.ncdxc.org
DX Ladder:
9-Band Award:
Contests:
California Award:
Records Manager:
Publications Mgr:
John Kelly, KG6XF
John Brand, K6WC
Dick Courtway, N7RC
Robert Bickel, K6FX
Ron Panton, W6VG
Ron Panton, W6VG
Club Repeater,
Frequency/offset:
Trustee:
Control Operator:
Club simplex:
Thurs. Net OTR:
Net Manager:
DX News:
Swap Shop:
W6TI/R
147.360 Mhz +, pl 110.9
Bob Vallio, W6RGG
Robert Smithwick, W6CS
147.54 MHz (suggested)
8 pm local time.
Randy Wright, W6CUA
Net Control Operator
Mitch Cipriano, AE6AI
W6TI DX Bulletins:
W6TI Station Trustee Bob Vallio, W6RGG,
transmits DX information at 0200 UT every
Monday (Sunday evening local time) on both
7.016 and 14.002 MHz.
Club address:
Box 608
Menlo Park, CA
94026-0608
The DXer is published monthly by the Northern
California DX Club and sent to all club members on
the web. Unless otherwise noted, NCDXC permits
re-use of any article in this publication—provided
The DXer and the article’s author are credited.
Page 2
President’s Comments
Fellow Hams,
Happy New Year 2006, sure to be another good one for our
club. Looking back on 2005 seems appropriate. Although
sadly, some of our old friends became silent keys, the club
had a great year. We gained new members, had a fantastic
convention, enjoyed a fun filled picnic, attended excellent
meetings and finished with our party in December that was
one of the best if not the best in my memory. All this was do
to a handful of members whom I will not embarrass by
naming here—but we all know who they are. With regard
to the Christmas/Holiday Party, the most enjoyable part
was having eyeball QSOs with a lot of hams I seldom see.
Of course the raffle and presentation were also high points.
It’s my understanding that we will go back to the same spot
this year. Thank you to those hard workers who make this
the world’s best DX Club.
73, Dewey, KG6AM
Editor’s Reflections…………………
Dear Friends,
Can you believe that it is 2006? Well, the best part is that the
days are getting longer. I love the outdoors, especially gardening,
so I am happy for the 10-12 extra minutes of light per day! The
holidays flew by. Hope they went well for all of you.
We have both, Mike and I, finally gotten rid of 4-5 weeks of back
pain. Wow! What a relief! I now have a nasty cold-type situation,
but for the most part have enough energy to get most jobs done.
Since I am usually “high energy”, I get impatient when I tire
more easily.
DX has not been on our agenda as much in the last few weeks but
I am sure that things will get going again one way or the other.
Mike, W6WZ worked KP5-Desecheo Isle on 20 meters. It is
controversial as to whether it will hold up even though those who
were there seemingly got permission.
They had to leave rather quickly. The police arrived just before
sunset and told the operators that they had to leave but they kept
working other hams all night and left the next morning.
I would like to take this time to say Happy New Year to all of our
members and other Dxers. Let’s hope that 2006 will be a year of
peace, hope joy and love!!
Sincerely yours, Carolyn Gavin, WB6ABC
January, 2006
Welcome New Members
We had one new member this month, Jim Rice, W6AK. He is a serious DXer who is enthusiastic about
new entities and shares his finds generously with fellow hams. He has been very active in the PAARA
club. His XYL, Lisa, KG6KQS is also an amateur and his son Kyle, KG6MSK is ticketmaster at PAARA.
A Great Time was had by all
who attended the Holiday Luncheon at Michaels’ at
Shoreline on December 17. About 70 people attended and many old friends were very happy
to spend time with their fellow hams, in some cases whom they had not seen for a number of
years.
Thanks you to our speaker, Robert Schmieder, KK6EK who presented a great talk with
slides sharing his experiences on the K7C Kure Atoll 2005 Dxpedition. It was fun for all and
unique to all in the area of how the confirmation of contact was immediately available on
one’s personal computer with little “greenies” at the moment of contact. His XYL and 2
young children added joy to the warm luncheon environment.
We were happy to have Gerry Griffin, K6MD who shared his great joy with all of us as to his
permanent/final return home. Welcome home, Gerry!!!
All agreed that the new venue for the luncheon was a great improvement over some of the
past years. Since it is a popular place, we have already reserved it for next December 16th so
please put it on your 2006 calendar-same time.
Row 1. 1st pic. Mike Gavin. W6WZ, Jack Troster, W6ISQ 2nd pic. Steve Jones, N6SJ, Dewey
Churchill, KG6AM. 3rd pic. John Eisenberg, K6YP, Jim Abraham, W6EB.
Row 2. 1st pic. Chuck Vaughn, AA6G, Keith Butts, KN6K, 2nd pic. Jerry Griffin, K6MD, Gary
Shapiro, NI6T 3rd pic. Gary Cervo, K6DXX, with XYL, Rose Marie.
Page 3
January, 2006
FUN!! Winter Holiday Luncheon at Michaels’ at
Shoreline, Mt. View, on December 17, 2005……
Row 1-1st pic, Doug’s XYL, Myrna, Doug Westover, W6JD, Gary, NI6T, 2nd pic. Dick Crouch, N6RC,
Rusty Epps, W6OAT, Bob Schmieder, KK6EK
Row 2-1st pic. The deserved enjoying the K7C Kure Atoll Dxpedition, 2nd pic. Schmieder’s harmonic
choosing a raffle winner with Carolyn, WB6ABC, 3rd pic. Kristen McIntyre, K6WX wins the grand
prize, 706!! What a moment!
Thanks, Fellow Club Members…………………………
We’d like to thank Rob Riley, KG6HVW, for his help with registration at the holiday luncheon.
He also helped with carrying supplies back to our car. He is a great co-operative new addition
to our club. Thanks Jim Rice, K6AK, for your help carrying. Thank you Risto Kotalampi,
K6RK for taking the photos at the event. All help was greatly appreciated.
Red Vernier, W6ALK, our club member DJ, was fully prepared to play holiday and 1946
music, but he and I concluded that members were having so much fun talking about their DX
accomplishments that music at a moderate volume could not be heard. Another time!!
Get ready to lend a hand next year in all events, meetings, etc., of the NCDXC as some of us
would like to get more of an opportunity to visit members at club events.
Page 4
W6RK fo
January, 2005
We had lots of happy winners at the December party…
1. Door Prize winners were: Lil, W6LIL, Dave, KI6WF,
Jack, W6ISQ, Walt, W6MZQ.
2. 8th Prize: Apollo, WA6HRK-Yasme Book
3. 7th Prize: Dave, KE6PFF-Laser Tool Kit
4. 6th Prize: Mystery Person-Hamstick
5. 5th Prize: Doug, W6JD-21 LED Light
6. 4th Prize: Dave, KI6WF-Power Checker
7. 3rd Prize: Joe, N6IWJ-Shorty All-Bander Dipole
8. 2nd Prize: Charlie, WA6MME-Heil
Proset-QuietPhone/ Headset
9.1st Prize: Kristen, K6WX-IC 706MKIIG
Thursday Night Net:147.360-NCDXC Club Station
Here is the opportunity to share any DX info. or what latest
gear you’ve acquired or are having success with!
Randy, W6CUA has been helping to keep it going for the last
5 yrs. or more. He just compiled the new list of volunteers to
be Net Control for 2006. Those members are John, K6YP,
Dewey, KG6AM, Randy, W6CUA, Mike, W6WZ, Risto,
W6RK, and Jim, W6EB.
It would be nice to have 2 more members of this team so each
person only has to do the job every 2 months or 6 times per
year. Please contact Randy to offer your services. We would
also like to find a member to do the DX news and a member
to do the Swap Shop. If you want a club that is great to be a
part of, volunteer your help!!!!
Page 5
January, 2006
NCDXC-Meeting
When: Thursday, January 12th, 2006-7:30
Socializing/Dinner from 6:00-7:30
Where: Harry’s Hofbrau-Redwood City
What: Chuck Patterson, K6RK, NCDXC member will be
speaking on “160 Meter Antennas and Operating Techniques”.
What Else? Monthly Raffle-Fun for all members/friends.
1st Prize-HEIL SOUND PROSET 5-Studio Headphone-Proset
with HC-5 Element-Brings great articulation to your signal!
2ndPrize- Powerizer Ultra-Fast Battery Charger-NiMH/Ni-CdDouble AA, Triple AAA. Comes with 4AA NiMH 2000 batteries. Great for shack
or car use.
3rd Prize- MFJ 24/12 Hour LCD Clock-Large clear numerals,
aluminum frame-Great for DX logging!
4th Prize-CQ Amateur Radio Calendar-Not only is it very
attractive, but it also contains detailed info about ham radio happenings!
5th Prize-Radio Shack Dual-Display Thermometer-Indoor/outdoor
plus daily high or low temperatures-Outdoor freezing can sound an alert!
4 Door Prizes-All meeting attendees will receive a free raffle ticket at the
door for the following 4 prizes:
1. ARRL Repeator Directory, 2004-5
2. Mini Digital Multimeter
3. 8LED Metal Flashlight with 3AAA batteries
4. K47 Compass
Page 6
January, 2006
Thank you for your generosity Howard and George of HRO.
P. 7
January, 2006