Monday, February 14, 2022

Radio Happenings Feb. 14, 22

 

Radio Happenings

February 14, 2022

CQ Tuesday Feb. 15th

The various committees have been on  the move. Dates are being filled in and planning is ongoing.

Your participation is needed for these to be a success.. as they have in the past.

 CALENDAR OF EVENTS

March 1st Nominations for Ham of the year deadline.

March 12th Scout Radio Merit Badge

March 13th Daylight Savings begins..

March 13th.. Wisconsin QSO Party

March 19th Awards Banquet (the Woods)

April 9th Brat Barn De Pere

May 7th Brat Barn De Pere

June 4th M&K Hamfest

June 12th Brat Barn GB East (if needed)

June 25-26 –Field Day *

 Radio Merit Badge..

We have been asked to help with the Radio Merit Badge. The Scouts need to have a 10 minute contact via radio and that is where we come in. Please plan on being available on March 12th. More information on Freq. and times coming.

  ##The Annual Awards Banquet is coming up. At the Woods Banquet Hall, 530 Erie Road. $18/person. I have heard that the menu will be chicken and  beef tips..  Will be looking for a head count soon.. Everyone welcome.. Make plans….                              

 Nominations - The Ham of the Year

Besides submitting the name and call sign of the person, you must indicate what they did to earn the nomination.

Send your nomination to Nathan Parks, KB9MVU@gmail.com. Be sure to put your call sign on there to verify your membership.

REMINDER:  Our Treasurer is collecting  your dues for the coming year. Send via PayPal (can be found on the www.K9EAM.org Website.. On the right side of the page. “Membership form/Dues”) OR send a check to:Green Bay Mike & Key Club, P.O.Box 13351, Green Bay, WI 54307-  If you have not paid dues prior to 2020, you have been expunged from the list.. Send in this year’s dues to get back on..

Have you tried out the new and improved 147.360 repeater? 

Have you made any Ham Radio instructional videos? We could put in a link to it in the next newsletter…

Talking about links.. have you checked out all the links that are in the Club website? https://www.k9eam.org/p/links.html
 
Notice the club logo -- in color!  No, It was not me, but talented member of the club that did that..
 
Short note – The Club“Shack” at St. Norbert College will be open for the Wisconsin QSO Party. They will be using the Club Callsign.
 
When filling out your log sheet, be sure to include everyone that was operating, not just the operator whose call you used.. that way if your station gets an award, everyone that worked it, will be eligible.
 
·         China has built a giant radio antenna that uses five times the area of New York City. It will be used to communicate with submarines. The Wireless Electromagnetic Method (WEM) project took 13 years and will emit extremely low-frequency radio waves (ELF waves).
 
That’s it for this email…
 
Stay RadioActive.

 

A radio operator in Lower Michigan would always end his transmission with: “There are no bad days, just that some days are better than others”


Thursday, February 10, 2022

Radio Happenings Feb. 7th, 2022

 As we begin our new Radio Year, I have begun to be more concerned about the RF noise in my area. It has been progressively stronger. This may change my plans for the QSO Party and have to go remote. I hope you have been planning for the “Party”

Other things in the near future to plan on..

CALENDAR OF EVENTS - Siren Test Net Feb 9th 11:45 ##Feb. 10th M&K Meeting *See details below.. ##Dues are due. March 13th, Wisconsin QSO Party...                                                                                                                       

 The Annual Awards Banquet is coming up. March or April. The Ham of the Year is one of the awards. You need to nominate someone you think provided an outstanding contribution to Ham Radio or the Club.

You must be a M&K Club member – the person you are nominating as well. Besides submitting the name and call sign of the person, you must indicate what they did to earn the nomination. 

Send your nomination to Nathan Parks, KB9MVU@gmail.com. Be sure to put your call sign on there to verify your membership.

REMINDER:  Our Treasurer is collecting  your dues for the coming year. Send via PayPal (can be found on the www.K9EAM.org Website.. On the right side of the page. “Membership form/Dues”) OR send a check to:Green Bay Mike & Key Club, P.O.Box 13351, Green Bay, WI 54307-

 Thanks for the upgrade.. Our dues at work.

***Something from the past.. 1957 convention. Notice these young folks getting ready for a Fox Hunt.

I was about their age then.

****unable to post picture..

***The Green Bay Mike & Key Club meeting will be this Thursday, February 10th.

In person meeting at St. Norbert, Tower Room 4th Floor GM Science Bldg. Across from the Chapel.

It will also be on Zoom for those that prefer or need to distance.  Here is the information on connecting. 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88928157505?pwd=a0hrdWRYM1ZnblVuSE0veFdQMG9YUT09

Meeting ID: 889 2815 7505
Passcode: 548543
One tap mobile
+19292056099,,88928157505#,,,,*548543# US (New York)
+13017158592,,88928157505#,,,,*548543# US (Washington DC)

Dial by your location
+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
Meeting ID: 889 2815 7505
Passcode: 548543
Find your local number:
https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbhFyuCDVK

Minutes of the previous meeting:2022 JAN GBMK 2022 Minutes.pdf

Agenda for the Feb. 10th Meeting:Agenda__February 2022 M&KC.pdf

GroundWave Newsletter: 2-22GroundWave.pdf

 Financial: Balance Dec  30, 2021  $ 9,893.40 Deposits  $445.03 Expenses -0- Ending Balance Feb 1, 2022        $ 10,338.43

 













Thursday, January 27, 2022

Short Notes at the end of January...

 Short notice... Winter Field Day - January 27- 28. Rules are the same as last year. Be sure you have updated your logging program. This year the weather may be more of a factor than some in the past. Of course, you can operate from your home QTH.

  Committees are hard at work. The Hamfest group is meeting soon, the Banquet committee is working with a location and menu. The Field Day committee has pretty well set up the Pine Tree Park for that venue.  The Brat Barn coordinators are just waiting for the day of  the picking of choices.

  Wisconsin QSO Party is coming on March 13th .. Be aware that if you have not been in this contest before, you can enter the Rookie category. Be sure to put the Mike & Key club as your club in the entry form. You will still get individual recognition and the Club as well.+

  Awards banquet ... in  the past, it has been known that members have put together "novelty" awards. (in good taste)

   Stay on the warm side of the door  if you can...  Good time to study for the license upgrade.. or  learn a new mode..

   Stay Radio Active...

Monday, January 17, 2022

January 17 Happenings

 

Radio Happenings

January 17, 2022

** In this edition, we are not going to go into deep discussion on what took place at the Club meeting on Thursday last. When the minutes come out, you will see more.

But there are highlights ..

^One of the items is a request of archiving these newsletters. To do this I will be copying them and put them in the Website. All the website articles are archived. If you look on the right side of the site, the years are shown. Pick on one and all the articles for that year will be listed. The present year is broken down by titles and are on the top of the list.

^The .360 repeater will be updated to a Fusion repeater. Now don’t think that you have to purchase a Fusion radio. This repeater will still do analog as well. If someone is using the Fusion function, and you want to use  the analog, as you begin your transmission, the repeater will switch to analog.. the analog will be primary.  At first, the repeater will not be connected to the internet until all the  checks and setting are verified. This first step should be finished before the next meeting.

 

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

#CQ Tuesday, January 18th.

# January 20th ETO Winlink training resumes.

#February 5th, Hamfest in Negaunee. This has been CANCELLED. CV ramped.

#March 13th, Wisconsin QSO Party See Page Three.


 

^The annual Awards Banquet is coming up. March or April. The Ham of the Year is one of the awards. You need to nominate someone you think provided an outstanding contribution to Ham Radio or the Club.

You must be a M&K Club member – the person you are nominating as well. Besides submitting the name and call sign of the person, you must indicate what they did to earn the nomination.

Send your nomination to Nathan Parks, KB9MVU@gmail.com. Be sure to put your call sign on there to verify your membership.

Did you know- that the most discussed item in Ham Radio – is proper grounding.

 ^Committees are being formed for our events. You are the most important resource to help make these successful.

Committees are for: The Banquet, Field Day (June 25/26), Brat Barns. Contact any of the Members-at-Large.

A vote was taken to have a Hamfest here. IF you want to be a part of the planning and execution of this event – watch for more information. Should be fun…

REMINDER:  Our Treasurer is collecting  your dues for the coming year. Send via PayPal (can be found on the www.K9EAM.org Website.. On the right side of the page. “Membership form/Dues”) OR send a check to:Green Bay Mike & Key Club, P.O.Box 13351, Green Bay, WI 54307-

If you are not a member, but would like to join, fill out the form mentioned above.  If you enjoy using the Club repeaters, please consider making a donation for the maintenance.

 See pages 3 & 4 for some great insights to the Wisconsin QSO Party. Thanks Joe…

       2022 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Paul Racine    KBØP-President

Nathan Parks  KD9MVU-VicePresident

Bill Duveneck     KB3KYH-Secretary

John Wolfe   WØLFE-Treasurer

Members-at-Large+(Programs)

Nate Mills       N9PAR

Brent Crier      N9BC

Robert  Duescher   KA9BXG

 WISCONSIN QSO PARTY. ..

The Wisconsin QSO Party is a fun contest that even the most modest station can enjoy.  Operators can use HF bands as well as VHF and UHF.  There is a club competition as part of this contest.  Even if you are not an avid contester, turning on your radio to make a few contacts can help the Green Bay Mike and Key Club.

The contest is March 13, 2022 from 1:00 PM until 8:00 PM.  Mark it in your calendar now so you don’t forget.  You can work a station once on each band.  The exception to this is if the other station is mobile, then you can work them again if they are change to a different county.  Phone contacts are worth one point, digital and CW are worth two.  Multipliers are states, providences, and Wisconsin counties.  There are power multipliers for less than five watts, and five to 150 watts.  Rules on the contest can be found at https://www.warac.org/wqp/wqp.htm

Last year N9UPU, AB9GK, N9BC, N8KQS/KD9LHY, K9EAM (Wes and Keith) were the only stations from our club to submit a log for the contest.  Please log your contacts and submit your log.  If you need help, please reach out to someone to get your log submitted. 

For logging, many of us use N3FJP.  It is an easy-to-use program.  You can buy their whole product for around $50, or you can buy the Wisconsin QSO party log for $8.99. 

Here are the suggested frequencies:

CW:

1.820, 3.550, 7.050, 14.050, 21.050, 28.050

Phone:

1.870, 3.860, 7.230, 14.260, 21.350, 28.400

 

VHF:

6 meters

50.140(SSB), 52.530(FM)


2 meters

146.550


1.25 meters

223.520


70 cm

446.025

Please do not use the National Calling Frequencies:
     52.525, 146.52, 223.50, 446.00, 906.50, 1294.50

Tips and Tricks:

40 and 80 meters are the bread and butter for this contest.  The last five years or so, most of the contacts have been made on 80 meters, but I think this year will be the flip where 40 meters is more productive so play it by ear.  Personally, I try and make contacts early on 20 meters so I can grab some states that I may not hear later in the contest.  On 40 and 80 I use both calling CQ, and search and pounce methods.  This contest allows the use of spotting.  I have my radio and log hooked up to the clusters.  I am able to see counties (multipliers) that I need.  A click of my mouse brings my radio to the frequency of the needed station.  As far as calling CQ, most other contests the bands get so crowded and I get stomped on with my 100 watt station.  During the WIQP, we are needed stations.  I am in Calumet County, so that is a more needed county.  Folks in Kewaunee County will be in a similar boat.  Brent and his crew in Lincoln County had a pretty good run going every time I heard them on the bands.  Calling CQ is very productive in this contest.  My logging program tells me when someone spots my station on the cluster.  Every time I get spotted, I can expect a run of several stations. 

As I work HF, I keep my VHF/UHF radio on in the background to work some of the nearby stations.  Working the mobile stations in each county is a great way to add to your score.  I usually pick up a multiplier or two that I wouldn’t have otherwise had without VHF. 

There is an online contest scoreboard that is live during the contest.  Most stations don’t use them, but for those that do, it is neat to see how you are doing compared to other stations during the contest. 

If you have any questions regarding the WIQP, please send me a facebook message or an email at jtenor75@gmail.com.