VOLUME XXXI #9

SEPTEMBER 2012 Q5

DOWNEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB

SERVING DOWNEY AND THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES SINCE 1951

Save the Date Mark your calendars for these future 2012 DARC service events.

Walk for Life 9-08 JOTA 10-19 & 20 Tour de Sewer 10-21 Christmas Parade 12-2

Dick Norton; N6AA, ARRL SW Division Director first licensed in 1955 as KN2PHF. Formally K2PHF, W6DGH and W6DGHG (MARS). Operated using many overseas calls such as 9Y4XX and 9Y4VT, A-1 Opera-tor’s Club, CP-454.

Initially active in traffic nets and DXing, he is today an active contester where he operates in CQ and ARRL World-Wide DX contests. He has operated from all of the 40 zones. Through his hobby, he has seen the world and met with amateurs from all corners of the globe.

Dick will bring us up to date with the current hap-penings at the ARRL.

There are two additional Public Service events which DARC is supporting. Tour de Sewer 2 and JOTA.. We need everyone to step up and assist with these fun and worthwhile events. Contact

Kent Savage, K6WCI to sign up.

Amazing Day Walk The Amazing Day event will be held September 8

th at

the Stonewood Shopping Center in Downey, starting at 7 AM. Volunteer operators are still needed for this event, so please sign up at the next club meeting. Contact Kent Savage, K6WCI, for more information.

Night

Q5 PAGE 2

http://darcarc.wordpress.com/

THE DOWNEY

AMATEUR RADIO CLUB, INC.

P.O. Box 207

Downey, CA 90241

Q5 Staff

Editor

John Powell, KF6EOJ john.powell@csulb.edu Phone: (562) 862-4608 Alt Phone: (562) 985-8610

Associate Editors

John Schroeder, N6QQ Phone (562) 404-1112 n6qq@msn.com Jon Olesen, KD6HXP au186@hotmail.com

Electronic Publishing

Rick Norwood,KD6KHJ Phone: (562) 865-5750 kd6khj@arrl.net

Permission to copy material from the Q5 is granted provided that credit is given to the “DARC Q5”.

Q5, as in: a signal that is perfectly readable, hence the name of our newsletter. We hope you agree.

Club Officers President Rick Norwood, KD6KHJ Phone: (562) 865-5750 kd6khj@arrl.net First Vice President Ron Eveland, W6QM Phone: (562) 860-3623 w6qm@msn.com VP Programs

Bill Heather, KB6WKT Phone: (562) 863-6607

kb6wkt@arrl.net, VP Membership Arlene Schwartz, KE6GFI Phone: (562) 928-1775 ke6gfi@arrl.net VP Service Kent Savage, K6WCI Phone: (562) 716-6070 k6wci@arrl.net VP Ways and Means Steve Hartranft, KI6SUF Phone: (562) 923-0070 grandpasjh@aol.com Secretary Position Open Treasurer Frank Myllo, KC6YPV Phone: (562) 860-4045 kc6ypv@arrl.net Director (Two Years) Buck Kerns, AE6DT ae6dt@arrl.net Director (One Year) Dave Glenn, N6TEB Phone: (562) 928-8560 n6teb@arrl.net Trustee, W6TOI Tom VanBuskirk, K6TV Phone: (562) 861-3085 tomk6tv@cs.com

Looking for an Elmer?

Here are a few resources that can get you going: Bill Heather, KB6WKT, 562 863-6607 kb6wkt@arrl.net, Helping Hams, Contesting Ivan Mikulich, KB6ATT, 562 862-4592 kb6att@att.net, Helping Hams, Field Trips Glenn Allen, KE6HPZ, 562 928-2080 ke6hpz@ham-radio.com, Microwave Harold ‘Buck’ Kerns, AE6DT, 562 634-8441 ae6dt@arrl.net, Public Service John Schroeder, N6QQ, 562 404-1112 n6qq@msn.com, Contesting, DXing, DXCC and WAS Card Checker, QSL cards for CQ WAZ and WPX awards.

When and where we meet:

We normally meet the first Thursday of each month at 1930 hrs in room 120 of

the First Baptist Church in Downey. The church is between 2nd and 3rd

streets, near City Hall, address is 8348 E. 3rd St. Use 2nd St, east from

Downey Ave (1 block north of Firestone Bl), adjacent to City Hall. Entrance via

double glass doors on the north side of 2nd St.

Swap Meet Information:

CHHS Electronics Swap Meet

Chino Hills High School

16150 Pomona Rincon Rd

Chino Hills, CA

Held the third Saturday of each month, 06:30 to 11:30 AM

W6TRW Swap Meet

Northrop Grumman Parking Lot

Corner of Marine and Aviation

Manhattan Beach, CA

Held the last Saturday of each month, 07:00 to 11:30 AM

Affiliations:

Affiliated ARRL Club

ARRL Special Service Club

Los Angeles Area Council of Amateur Radio Clubs

Orange County Council of Amateur Radio Organizations

Club Frequencies:

Simplex: 145.595 MHz*

440 Repeater #1: 445.640 (-) PL 156.7 Hz*

440 Repeater #2: 445.640 (-) PL 88.5 Hz

* See Calendar for Net Schedule

Q5 PAGE 3

Minutes of the D.A.R.C. General Meeting – August 2, 2012 The meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm by President Rick Norwood, KD6KHJ, with 26 persons in attend-ance. The meeting commenced with the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Ron Eveland, W6QM, and was followed by each individual in attendance introducing themselves to the group with their name, call sign, and QTH. One guest was present, Ramon Valdes, Downey, invited to the meeting by Steve Hartranft, KI6SUF. Rick Norwood, KD6KHJ, asked for motions to accept the Treasurer’s Report and the Minutes of the last meet-ing as they appeared in the August, 2012 issue of the Q5. The motions were made, seconded, and passed. Buck Kerns, AE6DT, reported that club members supported the 34th annual Ho’olaule’a two day event in Alondra Park. Buck indicated that coverage was a bit thin at times with only 5 participants on Saturday and 12 participants on Sunday. He reminded the membership that support for these events is needed. The next event that the Club will be supporting is the Amazing Day Walk, on September 8, 2012. Sign ups may be made with Kent Savage, K6WCI, at k6wci@arrl.net. In addition, volunteers will be needed for the second Tour de Sewer, on October 21, 2012, with the possibility of having four distance courses for this event. Also the club expects to be supporting the Southern Council of the Boy Scouts for the annual Scout Jamboree to be held in Long Beach, CA. The JOTA or Jamboree on the Air is a 24 hour event beginning Friday and con-tinuing through Saturday during the third weekend in October. Volunteers will be needed for both events which fall on the same weekend. Bill Heather, KB6WKT, announced that the September Membership meeting will be ARRL night and will in-clude a presentation by David Greenhut, N6HD, the Los Angeles Section Manager, ARRL, Southwest Division. Rick Norwood, KD6KHJ, announced that the Los Angeles County DCS will be exploring narrow band emer-gency messaging system, called NBEMS. It is a free program and can be downloaded. One of the features of this program is that input is facilitated into the format of a 213 form. Bill Heather, KB6WKT, reported that the Field Day information had been forwarded to the ARRL and that more than 1500 contacts were made. There is the possibility that another venue might be located for the 2013 Field Day activity. Tom Van Buskirk, K6TV reported that the logs for Field Day, under the club’s call sign of W6TOI have been loaded to the Log Book of the World, and that he has received several requests to exchange QSL cards for Field Day. A break was taken for ice cream, cookies, and soda that was brought by Ron Eveland, W6QM. After the break, Dick Palmer, WB6JDH, who likes to build QRP radios, brought several to show the group. In addition he spoke about the convention within a convention, known as “4 days in May” when the QRP’ers around the country share their small rigs and stories about their operational successes. Ray Wheatley, AE6XC, shared a personal story with a happy ending, on discovering a RFI noise problem caused by Southern California Edison power poles. He phoned Edison and they responded that they will send out a technician to take care of the problem. Within 7-10 days the noise problem was gone. That incident oc-curred two – three years earlier. And once again the situation occurred and by luck the same Technician re-turned and once again the problem was resolved. Ray was able to locate the source of the noise by using an AM portable radio and walking around his neighborhood. Arlene Schwartz, KE6GFI, brought pictures to show the field experience at the Laguna Beach Field Day site, N6L. She also described a flexible foldup solar panel that John, WO1S, purchased at the Dayton Hamvention that has an output of 600 watts and folds up no bigger than a football seat cushion. There were pictures of this panel included in the Field Day pictures and finally, Arlene shared her HF World Championship Certificate, for

Continued on page 11

Q5 PAGE 4

August Meeting Photos

Q5 PAGE 5

Treasurer’s Report—Income

Treasurer’s Report— Expense

2011 - 2012 Jul 12 YEAR-TO- ANNUAL (OVER)/UNDE

INCOME ACTUAL ACTUAL BUDGET BUDGET

Club Merchandise $0.00 $122.00 $175.00 $53.00

Dues $0.00 $665.00 $1,000.00 $335.00

Raffle $140.00 $0.00 ($140.00)

Misc.Income $0.00 $5,126.00 $3,500.00 ($1,626.00)

Fund Raisers $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Total Income $0.00 $6,053.00 $4,675.00 ($1,378.00)

2011-2012 Jul 12 (OVER)/

ACTUAL YTD ANNUAL UNDER

ACTUAL BUDGET BUDGET

EXPENDITURES

Raffle Prize $138.98 $150.00 $11.02

Repeater $29.73 $262.01 $350.00 $87.99

Club Merchandise $384.54 $400.00 $15.46

Correspondence

Printing $1.20 $100.00 $98.80

Supplies $9.78 $100.00 $90.22

Postage $0.00 $150.00 $150.00

Committees

Award $31.87 $75.00 $43.13

Education/Awareness $0.00 $75.00 $75.00

Membership $0.00 $75.00 $75.00

Publicity & Public Relations $0.00 $75.00 $75.00

Sunshine $0.00 $75.00 $75.00

Equipment/Maintenance $0.00 $500.00 $500.00

Events

Christmas Party $0.00 $75.00 $75.00

Field Day $711.35 $711.35 $150.00 ($561.35)

Luncheon $1,100.00 $1,100.00 $0.00

Picnic $0.00 $75.00 $75.00

Fund Raisers $0.00 $75.00 $75.00

Other Events $0.00 $75.00 $75.00

Insurance $320.00 $320.00 $0.00

Misc. Expenses $3,600.61 $100.00 ($3,500.61)

Officers' Expenses

Board Members $0.00 $100.00 $100.00

Treasurer $0.00 $75.00 $75.00

Other Organizations

Dues $0.00 $80.00 $80.00

P.O. Box Rental $120.00 $100.00 ($20.00)

Refreshments, Meetings $0.00 $150.00 $150.00

World Radio Listing $0.00 $75.00 $75.00

Total Expenditures $741.08 $6,680.34 $4,675.00 ($2,005.34)

Q5 PAGE 6

Treasurer’s Report— Summary

September Birthdays

Jon Olesen, KD6HXP, 16th

Larry Tinkler, K6LXT, 20th

Steve Hartranft, KI6SUF

Dick Palmer, WB6JDH

John Schroeder, N6QQ

DOWNEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB

TREASURER'S REPORT

Jul-12

SUMMARY

CHECKING-WA MUTUAL $10,745.87

BALANCE AS OF Jun 30, 2012

INCOME $125.00

EXPENDITURES $741.68

Raffle (Month)

Raffle (Total Holdings) $123.67

Brunch (Month)

Brunch (Total Holdings) ($468.42)

CHECKING-WA MUTUAL

BALANCE AS OF Jul 31, 2012 $10,129.19

Q5 PAGE 7

Minutes of the D.A.R.C. Board of Directors Meeting – August 07, 2012

Rick Norwood, KD6KHJ, President, called the meeting to order at 1930 hrs in the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at Downey Fire Station #1.

Officers Attending:

President: Rick Norwood, KD6KHJ

1st VP: Ron Eveland, W6QM

VP Programs: Bill Heather KB6WKT- Absent

VP Membership: Arlene Schwartz, KE6GFI

VP Service: Kent Savage, K6WCI

VP Way & Means: Steve Hartranft, KI6SUF

Secretary: Open

Treasurer: Frank Myllo, KC6YPV

Director One Year: Buck Kerns, AE6DT

Director Two Year: Dave Glenn, N6TEB

Agenda Topics:

1. September Guest Speaker: Bill Heather was absent, but Rick Norwood thought it would be Dan Hender-son, N1HD, ARRL Regulatory Information Manager.

2. Repeater: (Paul Metzger, K6EH) Paul reported that the DARC repeater located in Downey had serious problems. This repeater has moved around over the years, and most recently moved from Palos Verde. He described the unit has a “Hodge Podge” since many of the component units were not intended for 24 hour continues duty. He recommended to the board that the best solution would be to replace it with a commercial repeater. Paul had a bid for a replacement new unit for $2000.00 dollars, and agreed to brief the club at our September meeting since the cost would need club member approval.

3. Amazing Day Walk: this event will be held September 8th at the Stonewood Shopping Center in Downey.

Volunteer operators are still needed for this event, so please sign up at the next club meeting.

Continued on page 8

PAGE 8 Q5

4. JOTA: (Rick) Rick Norwood reported that this Boy Scout event will be held the 19-20 October.

5. Domain Name: Rick Norwood reported that our internet name “DARC.com” was lost when the club failed to renew it and pay the required fees. Since our club was no longer using it and had switched over to WordPress, which is at no cost to the club, the board consensus was not to pursue a new Domain name.

6. Mass mailing to Downey Hams: (Kent) Kent Savage proposed that a mass mailing be done to recruit new hams for the club and waive the first year’s membership dues as an incentive to join. After discussion, the board felt we should include the surrounding area that we draw existing members from. Kent will brief the club at our September meeting to get member approval.

7. Nominating Committee for the 2013 Officers. Rick asked Ron Eveland to head up the Committees for Board Election and Member Awards for 2012

.

Next Board Meeting: 09/11/2012. Meeting adjourned at 2010 hours.

Respectfully Submitted

Ron Eveland, W6QM

1st Vice President

Substitute Secretary

From page 7

NOMINATIONS FOR BOARD OF DIRECTORS It is that time of the year again when DARC club members have the opportunity to run for the Board of Direc-tors. You can run for any position from President to Director and once elected make a difference in our club. The position of President requires that you be a member for at least two years and a licensed radio amateur prior to taking office. The position of Secretary has been vacant for most of the past year. At our September meeting all those interested in seeking an office will be announced at the general meeting, so get your name in quickly. The election will be held at the October meeting where last minute nominations can still be added. Those that are elected will serve for one year beginning November 1, 2012. Contact Ron Eveland, W6QM, at 562-756-6530 (cell) or 562 860-3623 if you are interested or just have a question.

Q5 PAGE 9

September 2012 DX

By Mike Gauthier, K6ICS 8-12-2012

September Propagation Outlook

Fall will be here soon with its longer nights and less noise. The bands are still suffering with weak signals and high QRN noise levels of the summer. Shorter daylight hours will reduce noise and start a slow recovery of the 80 and 160 meter bands. 60, 40 and 30 meters will also improve with the reduced background noise. The best all round band will be 17 meters with 20 meters a close second. Listen on 15-10 meter for spot openings dur-ing daylight hours. Watch the Gray Line for enhanced propagation.

DX News

E6A-E6Z. ITU Assigns New Prefix for Niue: E6A-E6Z On August 3, the ITU updated its Table of International Call Sign Series to reflect a call sign change for Niue. The island will now have the entire E6 prefix block. Niue -- an island approximately 1500 miles northeast of New Zealand -- is a self-governing island nation that has been in free association with New Zealand since 1974. Prior to the change, the island used ZK2. According to the CIA World Factbook, Niue is about 1.5 times the size of Washington, DC, and has a population of almost 1300 people.

United Kingdom. For those of who have been working the United Kingdom Olympic stations with the special 2O, GO and MO prefixes and not sure which UK DXCC country you worked check out ClubLog’s helpful Webpage at http://www.clublog.org/docs/display/DXCC/2O%2C+GO%2C+MO+Prefixes+Olympic+Games%2C+London+2012 .

September DX

BENIN, TY2BP. Patrice, TY2BP has been active on 15 meters using CW around 1330z. QSL via IK2IQD.

ENGLAND, GB175PO. In celebration of 175 years of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (aka P&O) special event stations GB175PO from England and TM175PO from France will be on the air until September 11

th. “Both stations will have the opportunity to work from ferries at various times during the opera-

tion."

ENGLAND, GB2012OSP. Special event station GB2012OSP is on the air until September 9, during the Sum-mer Olympic and Paralympic Sailing events from Portland Heights. QSL direct.

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY, DR50DTANGO. Special event station DR50DTANGO is on the air until the end of 2012 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Swabia district. QSL via bureau.

FRANCE, TM175PO. In celebration of 175 years of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (aka P&O) special event stations TM175PO from France and GB175PO from England will be on the air until September 11

th. “Both stations will have the opportunity to work from ferries at various times during the opera-

tion."

NAMIBIA, V5/DF2UU. Hans, DF2UU will be active from the end of August to the middle of September as V5/DF2UU. Activity will be on 160 to 6 meters. He will also be active during some contests.

Continued on next page

Q5 PAGE 10

PAKISTAN, AP2TN. Tariq, AP2TN has been active on 30 meters around 2000z. QSL via DJ9ZB.

POLAND, SN63DNI. Special event call sign SN63DNI will be QRV until October 2 to remember the 63rd anni-versary of the Warsaw Uprising. QSL via SP5NHV.

REUNION, FR/DF7RJ. Willi, FR/DF7RJ will be QRV from September 26 to October 21, on 160 to 10 meters, using CW and SSB, with special attention to the US and JA on the low bands. QSL direct to his home call.

TANZANIA, 5H3ME. Roland, DL4ME will be QRV as 5H3ME until September 3 with his son Mike, 5H3EE. Operation will take place on 80 to 6 meters in CW and digital modes. QSL via DL4ME.

______________________________________________________________________ This months DX news was made possible with information provided by 425 DX News, The Daily DX, DXNL, The Weekly DX, and ARRL thanks to all.

DARC Member Recent DX Contacts:

30 Meters: PY2OE & SM3EVR.

20 Meters: S59ABC, SM2R, VK4CT, ZL6HQ, & LU5FC.

17Meters: FK8CE, HB9CNV, 5N7M*, LZ916SS, RI1ANF, R6AF, & ZP6CW.

15 Meters: PJ5/K3TRM, HG1S, V73NS, FO5RH, E51TAI, VK6DX, ZL4PW, & ZL6HQ.

*More than one report.

DARC Member DXCC Count

N6QQ - 338 MIXED, 321 SSB, 295 CW, 222 RTTY, 6BDXCC, 5BWAS, 3052 WPX,

WA6RTA - 328 Phone (AM & SSB)

KB6ATT - 305 Mixed, 60 CW

K6ICS - 301 Mixed, 292 Phone (AM & SSB), 164 Mixed on 40 Meters

K6TV - 257 Mixed, 240 SSB, 126 QRP, 151 CW, 30 RTTY

W6TOI - 212 Mixed, 145 Phone, 94 CW, 100 RTTY

W3OB - 150 Mixed

WA6OUD – 142 Mixed, 129 Phone on 10 Meters

K6EH - 57 on 30 Meters CW

I am interested in receiving DX reports for this column, one contact or many.

e-mail: k6ics@arrl.com

From page 9

Q5 PAGE 11

First Place Single Operator Phone Only, High Power, Orange Section, Zone 6, for 2011, having only 23 con-tacts. She reported in this year’s contest she doubled the number of contacts made during this 24 hour con-test. Bill Heather, KB6WKT, reported that W6A will be a special event station operating during the International Lighthouse Weekend on August 7, at the Point Fermin Lighthouse in San Pedro, CA. At this event members of the United Amateur Radio Club and the Coast Guard Auxiliary will operate. Bill invited those present to come join in the fun and operate during this event. The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 pm. Respectfully submitted, Arlene Schwartz, KE6GFI Vice-President, Membership, DARC Substitute Secretary.

From page 3

From February 1935 Popular Mechanics

Q5 PAGE 12

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Q5

DARC Annual Membership

Single: $20 Associate: $10

Maximum for Family: $35

Make checks payable to “DARC”,

Send to: DARC Membership

PO Box 207

Downey, CA 90240

Ever want to be a writer?

Do you have an idea for an article for the Q5? Remember, this is OUR newsletter, about OUR hobby. Please submit articles to: John Pow-

ell, KF6EOJ, john.powell@csulb.edu

DARC INFORMATION

VE Exams

The Downey Ama-teur Radio Club provides VE exami-nations for all clas-ses of Amateur Radio licenses on

the third Saturday of each even-numbered month. Exams are held at the Downey Fire Department Headquar-ters EOC rear building, 12222 Paramount Boulevard, beginning at 08:30 AM.

The upcoming dates are:

October 20, Dedember 15

Contact Arlene Schwartz, KE6GFI, 949-494-8783 or by email ke6gfi@arrl.net prior to the session.

The ARRL/VEC test fee is $15.00 for all tests which goes to the ARRL to cover their expenses in providing the tests and handling the applications.

After the test session please wait 10 days before contacting the ARRL at (860) 594-0300 or http://www.qrz.com/callsign for new license information. Please do not call the FCC directly.

SERVING DOWNEY AND THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES

SINCE 1951

Downey Amateur Radio Club PO Box 207 Downey, CA 90240

Website:

http://darcarc.wordpress.com/ PLACE MAILING LABEL HERE

PLACE POSTAGE

STAMP HERE

Saturday Breakfast Location

7900 Florence Ave.

Downey, CA