BARA Bulletin - Bergen Amateur Radio Association

Eeting D
Bergen Amateur Radio Association
BARA Bulletin
August 2015
Volume 52 Number 8
Our 52nd Year
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
BARA Family Picnic
WB2WWU - SK
W2HPE - SK
Upcoming Events
New Members
VE Exam Schedule
Public Service Information
Link of the Month
July BARA Meeting Minutes
Vanity Callsign Fee
Member Contest Scores
DX Insights
BARA Member Awards
2015 RTTY Roundup Results
2016 Nat’l Parks On The Air
Hamfest Photos
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BARA FAMILY PICNIC
Sunday, August 9th
Wood Dale County Park
139 Prospect Ave.
Woodcliff Lake
www.BARA.ORG
WB2WWU
George Kessel
SK
10 am - 3 pm
BARA will supply hamburgers, hot
dogs and coffee.
Members need to bring snacks,
salads, entrees, desserts and cold
drinks.
Sign-up at Sunday meeting or email
Rachel at [email protected]
George, WB2WWU, a long time
BARA member and generous
BARA benefactor, passed away on
July 7, 2015. May he rest in peace.
NEXT MEETING
August 2, 2015
7:30 PM
Municipal Building Senior Center
350 Hudson Avenue.
Township of Washington, NJ
W2HPE - SK
07676
2015 BARA DUES
BARA Dues for 2015 are $25 for an
individual member and $35 for a
family membership.
Please pay at a business meeting, kit
night, or mail to the Treasurer.
Meeting Programs
Are there any topics of interest to the
club that you would like to see a presentation or demonstration? Is there a subject you could lead a discussion on?
Please contact Steve Holly, WI2W
WI2W ‘at’ ARRL.NET
Cecil Fleck, a very long time
member of BARA has passed
away.
May he rest in peace.
Page 2
BARA BULLETIN
Bergen Amateur Radio Association
Upcoming Events
The BARA Bulletin is published
monthly by the Bergen Amateur
Radio Association. Subscriptions
are included in the annual membership dues. Membership is open to
anyone interested in radio communication.
August 1, 2 - ARRL UHF Contest
August 1, 2 - North American QSO Party - CW
August 2 - BARA Business Meeting
August 4 - Kit Night
August 9 - BARA Family Picnic
August 11 - Kit Night
BARA RESOURCES
August 14 - 16 - SARTG RTTY Contest
QSL Bureau:
Warren Hager, K2UFM
August 15, 16 - North American QSO Party - SSB
August 18 - Kit Night
Public Service:
August 25 - Kit Night
Club Contesting:
Phil Barber, WA2LXE
September 1 - Kit Night
September 6 - BARA Business Meeting
VE Exams:
Don Younger, W2JEK
Donnan917’at’aol.com
September 7 - Labor Day
Hamfests:
Jim Joyce, K2ZO
September 27 - BARA Fox Hunt
September 12, 13 - ARRL VHF Contest
Webmasters:
wm’at’bara.org
Tony Izzo, K2AMI
David Levine, K2DSL
BARA KIT NIGHT
7:00 PM to 9:30 PM
Washington Twp. Senior Center
350 Hudson Ave., Township of Washington, 07676


MEMBERSHIP
APPLICATION
Interested in learning more about
amateur radio and meeting new
people? Then join the Bergen
Amateur Radio Association (BARA).
Dues are $25 per year. Send your
application request to:
David Levine, K2DSL
11 Mackay Ave.
Waldwick, NJ 07463
e-mail to k2dsl’at’arrl.net.
Please include your name, address,
town, zip, call sign, license class,
and phone number.



Build a kit related to Amateur Radio (partial BARA funding available)
Diagnose/repair a defective piece of equipment
Discuss radio and computer problems
Technical assistance available
Seek/give technical opinions
 If Senior Center Room is unavailable,
meet in room on lower level.
KD2IOM, Lawrence O’Boyle - Rutherford
Page 3
Bergen Amateur Radio Association
PUBLIC SERVICE
nd
BC RACES NET
th
2 and 4 Wednesdays of each month.
7:45 PM on the W2AKR Repeater
146.790 Mhz; PL 141.3 Hz.
Net control is NJ2BC
Directed training net for all authorized
Bergen County RACES stations and
authorized liaison stations.
BC RACES
Communications Unit
Any licensed ham operator in Bergen
County, if not already a member, is
asked to join the BCRACES team by
sending an e-mail to:
[email protected]
with your name, callsign, e-mail, and
municipality.
VE EXAM SCHEDULE
The next VE test session
is scheduled for:
September
7 PM
at
Westwood Regional H.S.
Room 123
Enter school grounds from
drive at right side of school.
Cross in front of school and
turn right into parking lot. Enter side door with Gymnasium
sign over door.
The FCC has imposed a
Testing fee of $15.00 per
exam/retest.
Required documents:


New HF Digital Net
Focused on EMCOMM
The New Jersey Narrow Band
Emergency Messaging System (NJ
-NBEMS) Net meets every Sunday
Morning at 9:30 AM on 7.073
MHz using OLIVIA-8-500. This
net is NOT affiliated with RACES
or ARES, so any Radio Amateur
with appropriate operating privileges may participate.
FLDIGI is the preferred sound card
software because FLAMP and
FLMSG are used for message handling. This is a training net for
new users, so operator error is expected and well tolerated.
For additional information contact
Bill, KC2VUT at arrl.net, Rick,
N2PHI at comcast.net or Karl,
W2KBF at arrl.net.


Two forms of ID required
for all transactions.
Social Security Number
if unlicensed or FRN
Number if licensed.
Original CSCE if prior
test credit is claimed.
If license upgrade, a
signed copy of current
FCC license
Questions may be directed to:
Don Younger, W2JEK
201-265-6583
Question Pool Revision:
The General exam question pool
wasr evised on July 1, 2015.
Current Question Pool:
Technician, Element 2-July 1, 2014
General, Element 3 - July 1, 2015
Extra, Element 4 - July 1, 2012
Sample tests available at QRZ.COM
http://www.qrz.com/p/testing.pl
Daily FCC report of new and renewed callsigns available at:
http://www.qrz.com/new_hams.html
Link of the Month
Real time lightening strike map
www.lightningmaps.org/
realtime
- - Tnx to WA2PNI
K2BAR NETS
SSB Net:
Mondays 9:00 pm
10 Meters – 28.375 MHz
Net Control: Jim, K2ZO
FM Nets:
Mondays 8:00 pm
YL Net
2 Meters: 146.79 MHz.
PL 141.3
Net Control: Joanne, KC2QGH
Wednesdays 9:00 pm
2 Meters: 146.79 MHz.
PL 141.3
Net Control: Hector, W2NPR
Thursdays 8:30 pm
70 cm: 444.100
PL 141.3
Net Control: Marco, K2ZMA
Thursdays 9:00 pm
Technical Net
2 Meters: 146.955 MHz.
PL 141.3
EchoLink via K2FJ-L
Net Control: Gordon, W2TTT
Page 4
BARA Meeting Minutes
July 5, 2015
Opening of the meeting was slightly
delayed due to equipment
challenges.
7:40 Meeting opened with the salute
to the flag by Rachel Weiss followed
by a moment of silence for those
who became silent keys (SK).
7:42 President Weiss asked if there
were any guests – there was one: Joe,
KD2FLD. President Weiss also
asked if there were new members.
There were five: Li, KD2IYJ; Yan,
KD2IVD; Phil, KD2ENP; Hal,
KD2IBB and Chris, KD2IMV.
Chris just upgraded to General.
7:47 Vice President Steve Holly introduced Guy, N7UN, who was this
meeting’s guest presenter. As Guy
set-up, VP Holly spoke of Summits
on the Air and his involvement.
Then President Weiss reminded all
to sign-up for BARA Picnic, which
will be held August 9, 2015 at Wood
Dale County Park.
7:53 The meeting was turned over to
Guy, N7UN, for his presentation of
SOTA – Summits on the Air.
8:44 Guy finished his presentation
and the break was started.
9:02 President Weiss restarted the
meeting with comments of her
mountaineering and thanked Guy for
his interesting presentation.
9:06 VP Holly spoke again of his
SOTA experience and first SOTA
contact with N7UN. VP Holly gave
a BARA Certificate of appreciation
to Guy.
9:12 President Weiss introduced
Club officers: VP Steve Holly
WI2W, Secretary Bill Montague,
Bergen Amateur Radio Association
KB2OCJ, trustees Chuck Lemken,
KC2SST, Bennett Norell ,KO2OK,
and Harry Johnson, W2FT. A motion was made to accept the minutes
of the June meeting as posted in the
July BARA Bulletin by Larry,
WA2ALY, and second by Jim,
KC2VRY. Motion passed.
9:14 President Weiss spoke of the
Thirteen Colonies Contest; recognized all who participated in the audience and asked Tony Izzo,
K2AMI, to explain how it was set-up
and scored.
9:16 Committee Reports:
VHF Contest – Steve WI2W commented that the June contest participation was modified due to the
weather on the mountain peak; mini
VHF or VHF Lite was held on Sunday and enjoyed by all. BARA operated on 2M, 1.25M, 70 CM and
6M from 11:00 AM until 6:00 PM
and made a total of 271 contacts.
VP Holly asked Bennett, KO2OK to
explain how he participated in the
January 2015 VHF Contest. Bennett
operated in the January VHF Contest
from his home QTH. The results of
this effort was First place award for
the ARRL Hudson Division for 6 M
band.
Field Day – Steve, WI2W, explained that again, due to weather
and the fact that the field in Cresskill
is watershed and with the prediction
of 2” of rain and thunderstorms, it
was not safe for our members to participate as planned. If the lightning
siren sounded, we would need to
evacuate the field and find indoor
shelter within 5 minutes and remain
off the field for 45 minutes from the
last detected lightning strike before
the “All Clear” notification would
sound and we would be permitted to
return to the field. Jim, K2ZO, commented that the detection was for a
radius of 20 miles.
This broke Jim’s record of attending
52 consecutive BARA Field Days.
Steve WI2W further explained that
some of the BARA members attended Field Day with other local clubs in
the area or participated from their
home QTH. Many BARA members
are also Fair Lawn Amateur Radio
Club members and went over to Fair
Lawn and had a great time in their
location. Gordon, W2TTT, suggested that BARA change their Field Day
location, which started a discussion
regarding why this site was chosen.
President Weiss and VP Holly stated
that the EC has already met and established a contingency plan that
would go into effect so that BARA
would not cancel Filed Day participation in the future.
Looking forward, VP Holly and President Weiss discussed the possibility
to hold a joint Portable Day at the
Fail Lawn Field Day site. A conversation was had with Fair Lawn President Karl Frank and Fair Lawn Secretary Randy Smith. The Fair Lawn
site is a town park with a large pavilion, bathrooms and many tall trees
spread apart at a good distance to put
up wire antennas. Plans are being
made to hold this joint event on the
third week of October to coincide
with the Boy Scouts Jamboree on the
Air.
9:26 Kit Night – Jim, K2ZO, spoke
of the change of location for Kit
night to the Twp. of Washington
Senior Center for the summer. There
would be some renovations occurring
in the main room which would result
in being relocated to the lower level
for two or three weeks while the
flooring is replaced and the walls are
painted.
9:28 QSL Bureau – Warren,
K2UFM ,stated that he just sent
more cards to the ARRL for distribution and President Weiss commented
that this is a free benefit to joint
members of the ARRL and BARA.
(Continued on page 5)
Page 5
(Continued from page 4)
9:29 VE Sessions have ended for
the summer and will restart in September once school is back in session. There will be a special VE
Test Session at the end of August
(Friday, August 28th) in conjunction
with the Technician License training being offered by BARA on
Thursday nights from July 9th
through August 27th. If you know
anyone that is interested in getting
their Amateur Radio License,
please have them contact President
Weiss.
9:30 Hudson Division Awards
Banquet – President Weiss stated
that the Banquet will be held on
Sunday, November 8th at Meson
Madrid Restaurant, 343 Bergen
Blvd. Palisades Park, NJ. BARA is
the sponsoring Club and we are
looking for member participation
and attendance. The cost is $42.50
per person. More details to follow.
Jim, K2ZO, is the Chairperson for
this event.
9:33 Community Service - President Weiss urged all members to
get involved with one or more of
the community events that are coming up. Ham Radio has a long history of assisting and getting involved with the local community.
Sunday, July 19th is the NYC Triathlon. She will be “Net Control”
for this event. Hams are the eyes
and ears along the course to keep
the athletes and spectators safe.
Gordon, W2TTT, requests assistance with two events that will be
occurring on the same weekend; the
Passaic County Fair from Thursday,
August 13th thru Sunday, August
16th and the Bike Rally on Sunday
August 16th. President Weiss highlighted the fact that this is a very
visible way that Ham Radio is active and alive in our community and
Bergen Amateur Radio Association
one of the reasons we have been
granted these privileges of radio frequencies.
9:36 BARA Picnic - President
Weiss reminded everyone that the
BARA Picnic is August 9th and will
be a “Pot Luck” event. BARA will
supply hamburgers and hot dogs
along with coffee for dessert. Those
who attend need to sign-up to bring
the snacks, desserts, salads and entrees. It is a time for sharing and
experiencing the variety of tastes and
cultural dishes of our members.
9:38 NET Reports:
BARA YL Net has taken a br eak
for the summer.
10 Meter Net – Jim, K2ZO, is continuing to have lots of check-ins
from New Jersey through Florida.
VHF Net – Hector continues to have
lively conversations with 6 to 12
check-ins.
UHF Net – Marco, KC2ZMA, has 3
to 4 check-ins while operating from
his car.
Tech Net – Gordon, W2TTT, is
astounded at the number that listen
and do not check-in – good participation on a large variety of topics.
9:43 Old Business:
BARA Dinner - Helmut,
KA2BDU, inquired about our
Christmas Party. Two options are
being considered. Option one is to
go to the Meson Madrid. Feedback
on food and expense of Biagio’s was
not acceptable. Option two is to cater
the party at Twp. of Washington
Senior Center. Issues are parking
and setup/cleanup for the event.
President Weiss asked for volunteers
to join the Holiday Party Committee.
Gordon, W2TTT, offered to join the
committee – not chair the committee.
Club Banner - President Weiss
reported on the ongoing efforts to
purchase a new Club Banner. A
2.5 ft by 6 ft 15oz Vinyl Banner
will cost about $77. Bids for an
embroidered banner have been
requested and awaiting a response.
9:46 New Business: J im,
KC2VRY, suggested the purchase
of BARA sweat shirts and windbreaker jackets. Jim will investigate and report back to President
Weiss with costs from the shop in
Westwood that is used by the Fire
Department.
Gordon, W2TTT, and Nancy,
N2FWI, have extended an invitation to all BARA members to attend an Eagle Scout induction
ceremony at St John’s Church,
Bergenfield. The three scouts are
also Hams that many members of
BARA have assisted along the
way: Jeremy Beattie, KC2VBS;
Charlie Dewey, KC2VBR and
Eisen Villaluna, KC2WJA
9:53 Motion was made to adjourn
by Richard, AC2GI, and seconded
by Bill, WA2JKY – all in favor.
Meeting was closed.
Respectfully submitted
Recording Secretary,
Bill Montague, KB2OCJ
From the ARRL …
The Amateur Radio vanity call
sign regulatory fee is set to disappear in the next few weeks. According to the best-available information from FCC sources, the first
day that applicants will be able to
file a vanity application without
having to pay a fee is Thursday,
September 3.
Page 6
Bergen Amateur Radio Association
MEMBER REPORTED CONTEST SCORES SUBMITTED
FOR AGGREGATE CLUB SCORE
IARU Contest
Power QSOs Points ITU HQ
Score
K2DSL
Low
325
997
39
61
99,700
K2ZC
Low
140
462
24
29
24,468
NAQP RTTY Contest
Power
QSOs
K2DSL
Low
327
K2AMI
Low
55
WA2PNI Low
52
Points
327
55
52
CQ WW VHF Contest
Power Band QSOs
W2JEK 10 watts 6 M.
41
Mults
96
32
29
Grids
11
Score
31,392
1,760
1.508
Score
451
Members are encouraged to show “Bergen ARA” as the club when
submitting contest logs and send a copy of the summary sheet to
WA2LXE for inclusion in the Bulletin. A minimum of three individual
submissions are usually required for the “Club” category.
2015 RTTY Roundup Results
BARA members top the NNJ Section in this year’s RTTY
Roundup. In the low power category K2DSL and WA2LXE
captured 1st and 2nd place, respectively. In the high power
category, it was K2ZC as 1st place and NO2T as 2nd place.
K2DSL placed first in the Hudson Division, low power
category, and earned a plaque sponsored by the New
Providence ARC.
BARA also performed well in the Club Competition. The aggregate scores of all members earned 3rd place in the Local
Club category.
WA2PNI, Tom,
received his
W1AW Worked
All States certificate for contact
with a
W1AW/portable
station in each
state.
DX Insights
PRATAS ISLAND BV9P
#11 on the DXCC
MOST WANTED LIST
Pratas Island is an atoll in the north of the South
China Sea 211 miles southeast of Hong Kong.
The island is claimed by the Peoples Republic of
China, but is controlled by the Republic of China
(Taiwan) and has been organized as a national
park. Partas Island is largest of the South China
Sea Islands.
The Japanese Navy occupied the island during
WW2, using it as a weather station and listening
post until May 29, 1945.
Pratas Island is 2 miles long by 1 mile wide,
mostly made up of a coral reef and reef flats. The
island has a small airport which is used by the
ROC military. For the most part there are no permanent residents but fisherman and the military
occupy the island on a temporary basis.
DXpeditions have been few and far between. A
memorable one took place in 2003 by N2OO and
his group.
Note !! Les, W2LK, will present his last DXpedition to Mellish Reef at our August BARA meeting. A must see presentation. Les will also be one
of the team members going to Chesterfield Island
TX3X this October 1 to October 12th.
Chesterfield Is. is #22 on the DXCC most wanted
list.
73,
Harry, W2FT
2016 National Parks On The Air
The ARRL Board of Directors approved a
National Parks On The Air (NPOTA) operating
event in 2016 to celebrate the National Park
Service centennial.
Page 7
Bergen Amateur Radio Association
BARA Hamfest
May 2015
Pictures curtesy of
KC2VRY, K2DSL and
WA2LXE
Page 8
Bergen Amateur Radio Association
Next Business Meeting
Sunday, August 2nd at the
Twp. Of Washington
Senior Center
President
Treasurer
Rachel Weiss, AJ4WD
RACHEL.A.WEISS ‘at’
GMAIL.COM
David Levine, K2DSL
11 Mackay Ave.
Waldwick, NJ 07463
K2DSL ‘at’ARRL.NET
Vice-President
Trustees
Steve Holly, WI2W
9 Passaic Ave.
North Haledon, NJ 07508
WI2W’at’ARRL.NET
Bennett Norell, KO2OK
KO2OK’at’ARRL.NET
Secretary
Bill Montague, KB2OCJ
KB2OCJ’at’AOL.COM
Harry Johnson, W2FT
W2FT’at’AOL.COM
Chuck Lemken, KC2SST
CLEMKEN’at’HOTMAIL.COM
BARA Bulletin
Phil Barber, WA2LXE, Editor
WA2LXE’at’ARRL.NET
Presidents Emeritus
Bill James, WA2QHL - SK
Dominick Interdonato, NB2F - SK
Steve Mendelsohn, W2ML - SK
Bergen Amateur Radio Association
169 Woodland Ave.
Westwood, NJ 07675