March was a full month for the club, starting with the monthly meeting on the 14th where Ed Fong WB6IQN gave us a talk on his antennas.? Many of us are already happy owners of one or more of them, but at the meeting we got to hear about the time and research he spent on their design. Ed concluded his presentation by offering us a group discount on his antennas and within a few days I’ll be placing the order. I own his DBJ-2 roll-up antenna, which I ‘every-day-carry’ (EDC) in my backpack.? I may never need to use it, but if I do, it’s ready for quick deployment.
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March 22nd we held a VE session which resulted in 7 new hams and 2 upgrades!? Congratulations to everyone that tested and also a big thanks to the VE’s that volunteered their time.? Without volunteer examiners our club would not be able to provide this needed service for our community. I have to say I really enjoy participating in testing sessions.? It’s rewarding to me to see folks get their license for the first time, or get their upgrade.
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As most of you know on the same day we held our first picnic of the year, which included setting up radios. This event was well attended, and included guests from the morning VE session too!? What a treat for them to be able to take their test in the morning, then walk out and look at stations and ask questions. It definitely put a smile on my face.? Thanks to all our club members that welcomed these folks, and thanks for bringing yummy treats and side dishes.
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Because that event was such a success, I decided that we should do ‘Portable Radio Operations and Help Sessions’ every month!? Except for December, I have reserved the picnic pavilion area of Grace Lutheran Church one Saturday every month from 11am until 2pm so we can ‘play radio’.? Note that the club will not be providing food for these monthly gatherings (except for the picnic in September), however if anyone wants to bring their own food and make a picnic out of it, you are free to do so.? The first of these will be on April 19.? Mark your calendars!
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This past weekend was the CQ WXP SSB contest.? I hope many of you got on the air and gave it a try.? Even if you are not a contester, contests are the perfect way for you to have a quick ‘in and out’ exchange to know how far you can be heard.? I didn’t start until late Saturday, working mostly US stations on 20, 40 and 80M, but? Sunday was very different.? My opinion that my 131 foot long EFHW antenna sucks on 10M changed when I heard and made contacts with many DX stations.? Italy, Denmark, France, Germany, Curacao, European Russia and others.? Wow!? 10M was hot!? I wish I had started earlier in the contest, but what I did do was fun!
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One interesting exchange I made on Saturday was with N3QE.? What was interesting about it?? It was an AI operator!? I originally thought it was a real person but the inflection was always the same for the same words and numbers.? I looked up the callsign on QRZ and saw “Tina, the AI operator”.? The day had to come right?? What I don’t know is how automated ‘Tina’ is.? Is it just someone typing into a purpose built piece of software that does text to voice?? I plan on reaching out to N3QE and hopefully get some details.? Here is a recording of N3QE during the contest.? Unfortunately it doesn’t have both sides of the exchange, but if it did you’d hear a pretty quick back and forth. And yes, my background noise is that bad at my house. I later discovered the noise blanker does a pretty good job of removing the background noise.
So that’s March.? What is happening in April?
April 11th Friday 7pm - Monthly club meeting where I’ll give a talk on Meshtastic.? These nodes use the unlicensed ISM (instruments, science, medical) 900 Mhz band to form a mesh messaging network.? It has interesting capabilities, and deficiencies, all of which I’ll cover.? If you like to tinker, it’s a fun thing to try. If you want to get a head start and learn about Meshtastic early, here’s the official webpage:
April 12th Saturday from 9am until 2pm - Spring Cleaning Day at Grace Lutheran Church (GLC).? I do not have details on what we’ll be doing, but I suspect it will dusting, removing cob webs, wiping down surfaces, cleaning windows, vacuuming etc, like we did last year before Easter.? Dress in your house cleaning/work clothes.? If you have a pail and some clean rags, bring them.? The Church invited us to join in a potluck BBQ at noon and they will supply hamburgers and chili dogs while we bring something to share.? IMPORTANT - this is not a K6MEP sponsored picnic.? This is GLC extending thanks to those that come to help clean.??
April 19, Saturday 11am? until 2pm - Portable Radio Operations and Help Session.? The first of once a month Saturday get togethers at GLC to play radio, test your equipment, get answers to your ham radio questions, or try your hand at making a contact on HF, VHF or UHF.? Field day is 2 months away!? Bring your FD setup and work out the kinks.? Are you a new ham and need help programming your radio?? Come on out. ? IMPORTANT - The club is NOT supplying any food.? You are however more than welcome to make this event a picnic for yourself.
Sundays, Mondays, Wednesday - our usual nets
Sunday 4pm - 10M (Techs are allowed to participate since we are in the 28.3-28.5 freq range)
Monday 8pm - 2M?
Wednesday 7pm - 40M and sometimes 80M
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Frequency details are listed in the graphic and link above.? Note that we often have to move frequency for the HF nets due to congestion.? We try to announce frequency changes on 开云体育, so if you don’t hear us, move up and down the dial or check your email.
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Thanks everyone and I’ll see you at the club meeting in April!
Dave AI6VX
