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Our club’s annual Christmas party is almost here! Festiv-ities start 5:30 pm, buffet dinner served at 6:00 pm on
Wednesday, December 4th. This month, we will meet at Reno’s Pizza in Carlinville, IL 62626. Buffet is $16.25/
person, club asking for $5 to 10 donation. Cash bar.
K9MCE Club Meeting on Wednesday 4 December
December 2019 Volume 7, Issue 12
K9MCE QSN K9MCE Officers:
• President: Mark Lewis,
KD9EFO
• Vice-President: John
Nalezyty, KD8KVO
• Secretary: Mark Kerhlikar,
WD9HBF
• Treasurer: Tim Coonrod,
KC9HQA
• Trustee: Mike Graham
K9MDQ
• Board of Directors:
• Mark Osborn, WA9SXK
• Chuck Baker N9LVY
• Jim Pitchford, N9LQF
• Ron Ochu, KO0Z
• Webmaster: Isaac Pizzo,
WX9SRV
Inside this issue:
Club Dues 3
FD Results 3,8
Beaver Dam Dash 4,5
Party Buffet Menu 5
WD9HBF SK 6,7
Tech Talk 10-
11
Club Minutes 12-
13
Macoupin County ARC
129 East First Street
PO Box 253
Carlinville, IL 62626-0253
We, the undersigned, being desirous of securing for ourselves the pleasures and benefits of the association of persons commonly interested in Amateur Radio, by promoting civic
interest, specific application, social activities and developing individual efficiency, while im-proving the general interest in amateur radio, do ordain and establish this Constitution and By-Laws of the Macoupin County Amateur Radio Club Inc., a non-profit corporation.
We do further agree that in pursuit of these purposes, this organization shall be non-sectarian, non-partisan and that it shall lend neither support or influence to any political party or candidate for office. The Macoupin CountInc., shall afford all persons, regardless
of race or creed an equal opportunity to join, participate, hold office and enjoy in the ben-
efits of this organization and the challenges of amateur radio.
K9MCE TRY GRIDS HONOR ROLL
Dave Reynolds, WA9OEX
Judy Reynolds, KA9ACM
Ron Ochu, KO0Z
The K9MCE Try Grids Award was established two years ago
to encourage Macoupin County ARC club members to experi-
ence the joys of VHF/UHF communications. Members are
encouraged to learn more about VHF/UHF propagation,
antennas and coax and to im-
prove their stations. Towards
that end the award was created and the goal is to successfully
establish two-way VHF/UHF contacts either from your
QTH or mobile with amateurs in three grids. More infor-
mation pertaining to grids can be found at this ARRL
webpage: http://www.arrl.org/grid-squares QSL cards con-
firming the Qs need to be pre-sented to the committee and
then you, too, will be eligible for this prestigious accolade at
a club meeting and to have your call inscribed in the
HONOR ROLL MEMBERS:
Jim Pitchford, N9LQF
Mark Kerhlikar, WD9HBF
Jeff Naville, KC9WZO
Paul Durand, KC9YCP
Ed Kallbrier, KC9QHJ
Bill Ogle, W9FJ
Skip Riba, WS9V
Mark Lewis, KD9EFO
Lou Bartels, KC9YFU (K9LL)
Debbie Ochu, KC9ULA
“These club
members earned
the Try Grids
Award and are
Honor Roll
members.”
Page 2 K9MCE QSN
Wayne, KC9ZYQ is in
EM58 and Dirk, W9OSI is in EM49 and these gentle-
men are available for VHF skeds for those working for
the Try Grids Award Macoupin County ARC Mission Statement
Every October, K9MCE begins
a new fiscal year. That means annual club dues are due. Per-
haps you’re like your editor and forgot to bring along a
checkbook at the October club meeting. Maybe you weren’t
able to make it to the meeting. There’s still time to pay dues
and not to be in arrears.
It’s that time of year
again...time to once again pay dues. According to the club’s
constitution, annual dues be-come due at the October
meeting and collected through
December. Club Dues are as
follows:
Regular membership is $20.00/
year.
Family membership is $25.00/
year.
Senior membership is $15.00/
year.
Full-time Student is $10.00/year
Lifetime membership is
$200.00.
Checks are payable to Ma-
coupin County ARC.
Director: Kermit Carlson; [email protected] 630-879-0983
Vice Director: Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA, [email protected]; 260-
637-6988
Illinois Section Manager: Ron Morgan, AD9I,
Annual Club Dues Are Due
Your ARRL Elected Officials
2019 FD Winner, Spoiler Alert: It Ain’t Us... us; they kicked our butts. The
only Field Day claim we can point to with pride is both of
our club scores appeared on page 69 in the December 2019
QST issue.
Okaw Valley ARC AD9OV
made 893 QSOs, had 50 partic-ipating club members for a
total of 4,812 points. Macoupin County ARC K9MCE made
667 QSOs, had 25 participating club members for a total of
3,188 points. A difference of 226 QSOs and 1,624 points. A
big reason of their success is
found on QST page 72.
AD9OV’s GOTA station AD9RR made over a 100 Qs.
A new generation of hams are being introduced to ham radio-
sport. Well done!
The big take away is that every
year, since our friendly compe-tition started, club scores have
gone dramatically up and im-proved, which is the ultimate
goal and purpose of the com-petition. Still, it would be nice
to have more pins on our side
of the trophy...
Pictured above is the ARRL Field Day Challenge Traveling
Trophy. In a few weeks it will reside with the Okaw Valley
ARC, 2019 Field Day champi-ons. In spite of K9MCE’s best
efforts, AD9OV not only beat
“Congratulations
to Okaw Valley
ARC AD9OV,
2019 FD
Champions”
Page 3 Volume 7, Issue 12
made their way back to the
finish line.
The weather was better this
year as compared to last. We had partly cloudy skies. Morn-
ing temps were in the upper thirties, but they climbed to the
forties by noon.
Six com positions along with
net control maintained a watchful eye throughout the
field. Com positions radioed in the first three male and first
Saturday, November 9 approxi-
mately 75 runners participated in Metro Tri-Club’s annual
Beaver Dam Dash and K9MCE club members along with Lewis
and Clark ARC members pro-vided public service communi-
cations!
This year the dash began at
10:00 am and it was over by noon. There were no incidents
other than three walkers strayed off the course. They
were quickly spotted and they
three female runners to net
control and race officials. It’s interesting to see the first
three runners jockey for first
place throughout the race.
A big shout-out to the Lewis & Clark ARC members that par-
ticipated this year. We hope you had fun and would like to
do it again next year around
the same date.
ARES Members Please Note
2019 Beaver Dam Dash Update
Page 4 K9MCE QSN
The ARRL’s ARES program is striving to meet twenty-first century emergency commu-nication needs of its members. Consequently, “An ARES Standardized Training Plan and
Emergency Communicator Individual Task Book” is available.
One of the tasks is to complete EC-001-S. It’s free and it’s readily available. All you need is the internet, a computer, time, interest and a willingness to learn.
The following article is from the ARRL website, http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-self-guided-emergency-communication-course-ec-001-s-is-now-available-on-demand
ARRL Self-Guided Emergency Communication Course EC-001-S is Now Available On Demand
11/21/2019 ARRL’s EC-001-S online “Introduction to Emergency Communication” course is now available to students in an on-demand
format, allowing students to register for the course and begin work at any time. This course is designed to provide basic
knowledge and tools for any emergency communications volunteer. In response to the great course demand and to expand access to EC-001, ARRL developed a self-guided version of the course,
EC-001-S, which launched in June. This version of the course is designed for those who prefer to work independently and who do not need guidance from an online mentor. EC-001-S was previously offered only during specific sessions along with the
traditional mentored version. The course opened for general enrollment on November 6.
Visit the ARRL Online Course Registration page for more information and to register
Buffet menu: Italian salad, spin-
ach lasagna, fetuccine alfredo, chicken marsala, roast beef, Ital-
ian potatoes, green beans, and
tiramisu for dessert. Price is
$16.25/ person, but our club is asking for a $5 to 10 dollar
donation. Cash bar at 5:30 pm
and dinner at 6:00 pm.
Christmas Party Buffet Menu
2019 Beaver Dam Dash Photo Essay
Page 5 Volume 7, Issue 12
Page 6 K9MCE QSN
Mark Kerhlikar WD9HBF SK
The photo above originally appeared in the April
2014 issue of this newsletter.
Mark with his bride Denise
Hindsight is always 20/20. In looking back at my nearly ten year friend-
ship with Mark Kerhlikar WD9HBF, I believe it is fair to compare the impact of Mark’s 57 year existence to that of the character portrayed by
Jimmy Stewart in the cinematic Christmas classic, It’s A Wonderful Life, as evidenced, in part, by the visitation line at St. Paul’s Episcopalian Ca-
thedral in Springfield. Visitors to Mark’s visitation lasted the entire three hour period and line never seemed to shorten. I don’t know how Denise
and Mark’s two brothers and his sister made it the entire time without a break. No doubt, Mark would have been surprised to see the turnout for
he was that modest. Family, colleagues, dog sledding enthusiasts, musi-cians, students, former students and his ham radio family gave tribute to
Mark on Saturday, November 23rd. It was a time for mourning, but also a time to celebrate his enthusiasm for nature, public service, music, ham
radio and just living life.
The picture of Mark proudly pointing to his DXing antenna array original-
ly appeared in the April Fool’s edition of this newsletter in 2014. Mark was always talking about expanding his DX reach. Anyone who knew
Mark also knew that he not only loved wintery weather, he thrived in it! Mark and Denise live near Modesto which is in rural, northwestern Ma-
coupin County. Not too many club members made it out to WD9HBF’s QTH on a regular basis. The article proclaimed that during the fall and
winter months Mark, with the help of friends, erected the antenna array.
In actuality, the photo is staged. DXpeditioner and contester Craig Thompson K9CT of Tivoli, IL kindly gave us permission to take this pho-
to at his super contest station. I remember taking this shot. We marched to one of his antenna towers, I got on my back, I had Mark
stand just to my left and had him position his hand just in the right spot for the photo. This photo became a club classic. I also remember this photo because a few hours before this shot, I was supposed to pick up
Mark at his QTH and from there go to K9CT’s QTH. Instead, Mark came over to my QTH because signals were peaking on 17 meters and I
needed the Andaman Islands, VU4, for an ATNO (all time new one). The Andamans are located near our antipode which makes working them a
challenge. I had spent the entire week chasing it and trying to break the pile-up. Five minutes before Mark arrived, I bagged the VU4. I was elat-
ed! Mark appeared in my shack and he could feel my enthusiasm. I asked him if he’d like to take a shot at the VU4. Mark was concerned that we
might be late getting to Craig’s, but I shrugged it off by telling Mark, “Craig’s a seasoned DXer and contester, he’ll understand. I told him we
planned to arrive sometime around 1:00 pm, with the operative word being “around.” If we’re a little late and we explain to K9CT that propa-
gation was great and we were putting the elusive Andaman’s in the log
book, he’d not only understand, he would agree!”
As it turns out we did arrive on time, we both put the Andamans in our log books and we told Craig our story. He confirmed what I suspected.
He smiled broadly, and congratulated us both and gave us a tour of his
super contest station with the resulting photo.
My most recent adventure with Mark was attending the Central States
VHF Society conference in late July at Lincoln, NE. Mark found his ham radio niche as a contest rover. He mostly worked 50, 144 and 432 MHz
and activated numerous grids. I will miss hearing his voice in future VHF and above contests.
Page 7 Volume 7, Issue 12
For many area hams, WD9HBF was the inviting, friendly, net control voice of our club’s Thursday, weekly K9MCE net at 8:30
pm welcoming club members and “Anyone wishing to stop by and to just say, hello!” It didn’t take long for our club net to expand and become a regional net.! Mark also became our club’s de facto annual Field Day chair and Field Day chef extraordi-
naire. Mark loved to cook and his omelets and BBQ chicken dinners were mouth watering. Debbie and I were fortunate to be dinner guests at one of Mark and Denise’s family gatherings. His grilling and baked goods not only tasted good; we were expe-
riencing culinary art!
Outside of ham radio, Mark loved dog sledding, cold weather, camping in cold weather and snow. He couldn’t get enough snow. Some men, while reminiscing, will speak of former loves. So too, did Mark. I heard Mark fondly speak of his love of
time spent on an Alaskan glacier and visiting North America’s tallest peak, Mount Denali. Winters will be colder without Mark.
Another love, besides winter was his love of professional baseball. Mark rarely missed an opportunity to cheer on the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team at Busch stadium. He kept me up on the latest box score and Cardinal stats. I do remember, one
summer, a few years ago, Mark missed a number of games. He missed them because he was working hard to obtain his CDL, so he could drive a school bus. Faithfully driving a morning and afternoon bus route in addition to being a full time music
teacher made for some very long days. Teaching is very demanding and draining, both physically and emotionally, and that took its toll on Mark from time to time . Still, a teacher makes a huge impact on students. Mark taught music and Mark took great
pride in his African drumming students. Auburn students paid tribute to their beloved teacher, Mr. K.
The American essayist and philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson defined success as making the world a better place for your
having lived, whether it be as simple as a smile, planting a garden, appreciate beauty, to win the respect of intelligent people, to
know that one person breathed easier because of you is to be successful. Mark WD9HBF met Emerson’s definition.
73 Mark SK
Page 8 K9MCE QSN
Saturday, June 22
Sunday, June 23
893 QSOs, 150 watts, 50 ops, 4,812 points 667 QSOs, 150 watts, 25 ops, 3,188 points
Winner
Page 9 Volume 7, Issue 12
Page 10 K9MCE QSN
Two Views of Our Electromagnetic Spectrum
Page 11 Volume 7, Issue 12
Proper Anderson Power Pole Connector Installation
Page 12 K9MCE QSN
Macoupin County Radio Club Meeting Minutes (draft) taken by
J Pitchford
NOVEMBER 6th 2019 7pm
November 6th First Wednesday in November Regular Radio Club Meeting 7 PM
Members present: Dan Hough, Chuck Baker, John Nalezyty, Ron Ochu, Jim Pitchford, and Bill Ogle
Pledge to the Flag
Discussion
Mike Graham arrived at 17:30 hours.
John made a motion to approve both minutes of the Board Meeting and minutes of the Regular Club meeting on October 2,
2019. Seconded by Ron: All yes. Motion Passed
Treasurers Report provide by Jim Pitchford for Tim Coonrod. Balance as of today $3652.28. Motion made to approve the Treasurer Report by Ron and seconded by John. All yes. Motion passed.
Motion to pay insurance payment for 2020 for club liability insurance bill paid by Jim Pitchford on credit card and computer. Payment
approved to repay Jim. Motion made by Ron and seconded by John all yes. Motion Passed
Website updated by Issac Pizzo and looking good according to President Mark Lewis.
EMCOM committee no report offered by Jim Pitchford
Mark Lewis paid $20.00 membership fees via check. Ron Ochu paid $25.00 family membership dues for Roman KD9COA and Deb-
bie KC9ULA. Jim Pitchford has checks for Tim Coonrod.
ARES Report by Ron Ochu. SET was a good exercise this year. Lots of folks participated. Mike M went to Staunton Hospital; Deb-
bie went to Carlinville Hospital with HT. Mike Graham relayed for Debbie as all she has was an HT. Simplex comms were estab-
lished with surrounding counties of Montgomery, Madison, Jersey, Christian so all was great for simplex ops. Mark Lewis reported on Montgomery SET and indicated Montgomery EMA participated they had operators both in Litchfield and
Hillsboro plus at Taylor Springs nursing homes. The statewide simplex message on 146.520 got stopped around Centrailia after
traveling from Metropolis.
Mark also indicated there will be a HAMCRAM class starting Saturday from 0800 to noon with classes again on Tuesday Nov
12th six to nine pm. With testing at the Montgomery Radio Club meeting on Wednesday evening.
Page 13 Volume 7, Issue 12
Ron Ochu gave a report about the Beaver Dam Dash coming up this Saturday. We can still use some extra operators if anyone is
available Saturday Morning at 0800 down at the Park. We are done by noon.
There was discussion about he menu for the Christmas party coming up next month. Mark K will be bringing a cake. We are still wait-
ing to find out who won the Field Day Challenge. The menu will be the same as last year. People planning on coming need to let Ron Ochu know prior to December 1 so we can get a good count on how many people are coming. Please call or email RON or let him
know on the nets on Thursday evening.
Old Business. Nothing came up
New Business. Discussion on WS9V equipment down in STL: No interest at this time for the club to purchase any additional stuff.
Mark Lewis is going to check with the ARRL about insurance for the Club owned equipment and see what it would cost to insure it. Jim Pitchford will also check with Steve Odell of Country Companies for a price.
Then next meeting will be on December 4th at 6pm at Reno’s Pizza on the Square in Carlinville.
Club will pay the bill and members are asked to make a donation to help cover expenses.
Motion to close the meeting was made by John and Seconded by Dan all yes.
The rest of the meeting was spend discussing DX’ing with Ko0Z leading the discussion and showing a slide presentation discussing
grey line, propagations and how DX works best. It was a great program and sorry more folks were not there to hear it.
Minutes captured by Jim Pitchford. Not official until approved at the next meeting.
Page 14 K9MCE QSN
Page 15 Volume 7, Issue 12
The W9DYV Radio Symposium is coming to Winterfest 2020! The Symposium will be held at the Gateway Convention Center
in Collinsville, Illinois, on Friday, January 24.
The Symposium was formed to honor Wes Schum (W9DYV), one of amateur radio's key advocates of the then-new technolo-gy, Single Sideband, and his company's ground-breaking ideas that culminated in the Central Electronics 100V Transmitter. Wes
introduced single sideband to amateur radio in a very big way, beginning in 1951 with his Model 10A sideband exciter and con-tinuing through his company's eventual ownership by Zenith Radio, Inc.
The Symposium starts at 9 a.m. with all day forums geared towards the history of Amateur Radio, vintage equipment, home brewing and experimentation. The scheduled forums can be found at the following link. https://winterfest.slsrc.org/wes-schum-
w9dyv-symposium/
The Symposium is free to all who atteThe W9DYV Radio Symposium is coming to Winterfest 2020! The Symposium will be
held at the Gateway Convention Center in Collinsville, Illinois, on Friday, January 24.
K9MCE QSN is a monthly publication of the Macoupin County Amateur Radio
Club. Our club meets on the first Wednesday of the month at 7:00 pm on the
second floor of the Macoupin County Sheriff Department in Carlinville, IL
Editor: Ron Ochu, KO0Z. [email protected]
Repeaters: 444.250 (103.5 pl); 146.865 (103.5 pl).
Website: www.k9mce.org
Webmaster: Isaac Pizzo, WX9SRV
Testing: Lou Bartels, KC9YFU, 618-977-4658
K9MCE QSN Contact Information:
Page 16 K9MCE QSN
Macoupin County
Amateur Radio Club
P.O. Box 253
Carlinville, IL 62626-
0253
Steve O’Dell LUTCF
145 E. Jackson St., Virden, IL 62690
217-965-5888
Annuities, Auto, Financial Planning,
Home, Life & Mutual Funds
Longtime supporter of the West Central Illinois Hamfest!
Page 17 Volume 7, Issue 12
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1Okaw Valley ARC
Net@9:00 pm, 444.250
N9MAF Net 146.805 @ 9
pm
2Lewis & Clark ARC,
K9HAM 8 pm 145.23
(79.7)
W9VEY Memorial Net
@8:30 pm, 146.820
3Old Capital ARC,
Vandalia, 146.745, 88.5
pl, 8:00 pm
4Club meeting
7 pm
5SSB NET 144.200
7:30 Macoupin County ARES
Net, KO0Z net control
147.480 MHz simplex @
8pm
K9MCE Club net, WD9HBF Net Control,
444.250 @8:30 pm
6 7ARRL 160 meter
contest
8Okaw Valley ARC
Net@9:00 pm, 444.250
N9MAF Net 146.805 @ 9
pm
ARRL 160 meter contest
9Lewis & Clark ARC,
K9HAM 8 pm 145.23
(79.7)
W9VEY Memorial Net
@8:30 pm, 146.820
10Old Capital ARC,
Vandalia, 146.745, 88.5
pl, 8:00 pm
11 12SSB NET
144.200 7:30 Macoupin County ARES
Net, KO0Z net control
147.480 MHz simplex @
8pm
K9MCE Club net, WD9HBF Net Control,
444.250 @8:30 pm
13 14ARRL 10 meter
contest
15Okaw Valley
ARC Net@9:00 pm,
444.250
N9MAF Net 146.805 @ 9
pm
ARRL 10 meter contest
16Lewis & Clark
ARC, K9HAM 8 pm
145.23 (79.7)
W9VEY Memorial Net
@8:30 pm, 146.820
17Old Capital ARC,
Vandalia, 146.745, 88.5
pl, 8:00 pm
18 19SSB NET
144.200 7:30 Macoupin County ARES
Net, KO0Z net control
147.480 MHz simplex @
8pm
K9MCE Club net, WD9HBF Net Control,
444.250 @8:30 pm
20 21 Winter Solstice
(First day of Winter)
22Okaw Valley
ARC Net@9:00 pm,
444.250
N9MAF Net 146.805 @ 9
pm
23Lewis & Clark
ARC, K9HAM 8 pm
145.23 (79.7)
W9VEY Memorial Net
@8:30 pm, 146.820
24Old Capital ARC,
Vandalia, 146.745, 88.5
pl, 8:00 pm
25 26SSB NET
144.200 7:30 Macoupin County ARES
Net, KO0Z net control
147.480 MHz simplex @
8pm
K9MCE Club net, WD9HBF Net Control,
444.250 @8:30 pm
27 28
29Okaw Valley
ARC Net@9:00 pm,
444.250
N9MAF Net 146.805 @ 9
pm
30Lewis & Clark
ARC, K9HAM 8 pm
145.23 (79.7)
W9VEY Memorial Net
@8:30 pm, 146.820
31Old Capital ARC,
Vandalia, 146.745, 88.5
pl, 8:00 pm
New Year’s Eve
Straight Key Night
K9MCE December 2019
Illinois HF Traffic Nets, Times and Frequencies...
K9MCE QSN BACKPAGE
We’re on the web!
www.k9mce.org
Illinois Side Band Net - Net Manager WB9QPM
Daily on 3905 at 1800 local time
Illinois Emergency Net
Sunday on 3940 at 0800 local time
North Central Phone Net – Net Manager WB9EDL
M-F on 3912 at 0700 local time
Illinois CW Net (ILN) Net Manager WB8SIM
W9NXM reporting
Daily on 3838 at 1915 local time
Illinois ARES Net
First and third Sunday of the month
3.905 MHz at 16:30 local.
IL NOAA NWS WX
Radio Stations Ward Silver, N0AX makes it a point to program his
VHF/UHF FM radios with the seven frequencies na-tionally assigned to NWS so that when he is on the
road he is within the coverage area of a NWS trans-mitter. These frequencies are 162.400, 162.425.
162.450, 162.475, 162.500, 162.525 and 162.550. Keep in mind that not all NWS transmitters have the
same output power. For instance, KD089 out of St. Louis and WXJ75 out of Springfield, IL have 1000
watts; whereas, KXI79 in Hillsboro runs 300 watts. A good URL to see the various NWS stations and
their respective output power is
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/Maps/PHP/IL.php
Besides being up to date with the latest NWS infor-
mation these stations can also serve as good VHF propagation beacons. Listen to the various frequen-
cies and see where and how well the station is com-
ing in to your location.
Springtime and summer months brings enhanced VHF
propagation during the morning and evening hours.
Local weekly nets:
Sunday: Okaw Valley ARC,
444.250 @9:00 pm
Sunday: N9MAF Net, 146.805
@ 9:00 pm.
Monday: Lewis and Clark ARC,
145.23 @ 8:00 pm
Monday; W9VEI Memorial Net,
146.820 at 8:30 pm
Tuesday: Old Capitol ARC,
Vandalia 146.745 @ 8:00 pm
Thursday: SSB, 144.200@7:30
pm
Thursday: Macoupin County
ARES, 147.480 @ 8:00 pm
Thursday: Macoupin County
ARC Net, 444.250 @ 8:30 pm.
Macoupin County ARC
129 East First Street PO Box 253
Carlinville, IL 62626-0253
https://
www.facebook.com/Macoupin-County-
Amateur-Radio-Club-
K9MCE-327469225218/
Webmaster: Isaac
Pizzo WX9SRV