VOLUME VIII ISSUE 2

IN THIS ISSUE Up Front 1

Smartphones 2

#6 VHF/UHF 3.8

MI POW Camps 4,7

Learning CW 5

LARC in the Park 6

Contests 8-9

Special Event Stations 10

DX News 11

Hamfests & Swaps 12

Local Nets 13

About LARC 14

UP FRONT

IMPORTANT DATES Feb. 20, 10:30pm—Set-up for

Swap.

Feb. 21, 6:00am—45th Annual

Swap & Shop. Livonia Senior

Center.

Feb. 22, 7:00pm—General Meet-

ing. Annual Election of Officers.

Mar. 14—Board Meeting

VE SESSIONS The next testing session is

March 16, 2016

Contact Bruno, WA8DHP, for

more information. (734) 464-

8928 or wa8dhp@arrl.net.

LIVONIA REPEATERS ♦145.35 PL 100HZ ♦ 444.875 PL 123 HZ ♦ ECHOLINK W8WQU-R

LARC 2-METER NET EVERY THURSDAY ♦ 8:00PM LOCAL TIME

LARC SLOW SPEED CW NET EVERY THURSDAY 7:30PM BEFORE THE 2-METER NET ♦ 28.15 MHZ

WEBSITE: HTTP://WWW.LIVONIAARC.COM. AND, JOIN US ON FACEBOOK

♦ LARC Swap-n-Shop: Mark your calendars for February 20th

and 21st. Livonia Senior Center. We will need your help for set-

up beginning at 10:30 PM THIS Saturday night. We begin on

Sunday at 6:00 AM. More help is needed throughout the morning,

and especially again at noon, to clean up the center.

I’m putting out a personal appeal—for a couple of people to help

me in the Kitchen. Even an hour or so would help. Please email

me at sallen17@mi.rr.com. Thanks.

♦ Our next meeting is February 22nd at 7:00 pm at the Livonia Civic Cen-

ter Library. At this meeting we will be holding the Annual Election of

Officers. We especially need a willing member to take over the role of

President, so Fred can retire after many years of service.

♦ Weekly Breakfasts take place each Saturday at Senate Coney Is-

land, 34359 Plymouth Rd. It is just east of Stark, on the south side of

Plymouth. We start arriving shortly before 8:00 am when the doors open.

♦ John Hopkins (K8YYZ) coordinates our monthly LARC in the Park

outings on the second Saturday of each month, usually after breakfast.

Through April, we meet in the EOC of the Livonia Police Station at 15050

Farmington Rd. Because of restricted access, only Club members are per-

mitted, and you must sign up before noon on the Friday before. If you plan

to attend the March 12th gathering, please RSVP to Bill Allen (KD8KTF)

at wallen_diver@yahoo.com. The planned topic will be “COAX,” by Fred

(W8GKH) 12t ♦ The LARC Slow Speed CW Net takes place on 28.15 MHz at 7:30pm on

Thursdays before the weekly 2-meter net call-in. Contact Peter, K8ACS,

at: hamradio@isshomefront.com.

♦ With deep regret, we announce the passing of our friend and club mem-

ber, Ray, N8ZU, on February 14th. Our condolences go out to his family.

FEBRUARY 2016

I was prompted to write this because of

the latest poll on eHam. It's about smart

phones and Amateur Radio apps. Of course, it

devolved from being anything useful into a

bunch of curmudgeons blasting the topic to

smithereens.

"What do you need a smart phone for an-

yway? I detest them, they are the mark of the

Beast - the Devil's plaything, they are every-

thing that is wrong with society! I use a real

radio that has knobs ...... remember what those

are?" I am paraphrasing, of course. ;-)

And so on, and so on, and so on. Sigh -

heavy sigh.

It's a tool, guys ...... just another tool in

the Ham radio arsenal, get it?

I have a pre-owned (sound so much bet-

ter than "used") Samsung Galaxy S3, which I

recently picked up on eBay. It's my first per-

sonal 4G cell phone. (I know, forever behind the

times.) Even though it's an older model, it's in

excellent shape and I'm familiar with the S3, as

my work-issued cell phone used to be an

S3. For work, they recently upgraded me to an

iPhone 5s, which I don't like (or use) - but this

post is not about that.

Galaxy S3 is a great companion for port-

able QRP ops. It's works much better than the

Motorola Droid 2 that I previously used. It has

more system memory, so it doesn't lock up or

lag on me, like the Droid 2 used to. I have the

following Amateur Radio apps on it:

HamLog

SOTAwatch

Morse Trainer by Wolfi

QRZDroid

DX Cluster

HamLog is great! It's easy to use and has a

lot of features. If I'm not in a pileup situation

(ragchew mode, or even causal sprint opera-

tion), it's easy enough for me to type in my con-

tacts. In a hectic pileup situation (think acti-

vating NPOTA or the Skeeter Hunt), where

things are happening fast and furious, I get

flustered a bit. I can start out logging on the

cell phone, but inevitably, I end up getting fum-

ble-fingered and have to resort to old school -

paper and pencil. If I'm near a Wi-Fi source (I

have a very limited monthly data allowance, so

my data connection is always off), it will even

look up the names and QTHs of the operators

that I am currently working. I can easily ex-

port the log to an ADIF file, so that I can add

my portable ops contacts to my main log on

Log4OM.

SOTAwatch - turn it on and it shows

you the current activations. Call signs, peak,

frequency and mode. It has other features

which I haven't even explored yet.

Morse Trainer - This is one of the best

Morse Code trainers out there IMHO. It will

allow Morse to be sent as fast as 60 WPM. I

keep mine set to a speed of about 40 WPM and

have it send regular words. I try to listen to

some code practice several times a week in my

never ending goal to become an even more com-

petent CW op. Boy, 25 WPM sure sounds easy-

peasy after listening to 40 WPM for a while!

QRZDroid - QRZ.com in an app. Easy

call sign look up.

DX Cluster - Very helpful in tracking

NPOTA stations. The only drawback with DX

Cluster is that you can filter it for either all HF

bands or mono-bands. It would be nice if I could

filter say, 20 and 17 Meters in one shot. But,

hey, if wishes were nickels, I'd be a rich man.

Wish I was smart enough to write apps like

these, then maybe I would be a rich man!

The bottom line is that a smart

phone can be a useful tool to compliment and

enhance your overall Amateur Radio experi-

ence. It's not a replacement or any other kind of

bogeyman. It is what you make of it.

Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRa-

dio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at

w2lj@arrl.net. This article is reprinted with Larry’s permis-

sion.

THE REPEATER PAGE 2 FEBRUARY 2016

SMARTPHONES AND HAM RADIO BY LARRY MAKOSKI, W2LJ

One of the most efficient means of communica-

tion, and likely the most common behind FM phone

operation on VHF/UHF, is digital communication.

Each of these modes could be the topic of an article to

itself! But here is a quick summary of modes often

used, so that you can determine whether they might be

of interest!

Before going further, a quick refresher on digital

mode basics is in order. Although direct modulation of

a carrier frequency (Frequency Shift Keying… FSK) is

a great method of communicating digitally, the same

effect can be attained by feeding tones into the input of

a SSB rig, as is done with JT65, for example. Similar-

ly, tones may be fed into FM rigs, as is common with

Packet or its derivatives (APRS).

Feeding tones directly into a mic/ear jack, especially

in a standard FM HT, will generally result in the tones

going through some filtering and pre-/de-emphasis.

This is not preferred! When possible, it is best to use a

rig with a data jack, and to

ensure that the tones be-

ing sent are of an appro-

priate level and/or that

deviation is set properly.

This process and the rea-

sons behind it could easily

take another article by

itself; please consult your

service manual or the In-

ternet for more infor-

mation! Quality signals

and non-interference are

everyone’s job!

As one might infer from

prior articles, the underly-

ing modulation technique

(SSB vs. FM) will have

impacts quite similar to

those of voice communica-

tions using the same tech-

nique. Feeding audio to a

SSB transceiver will generally make efficient use of

bandwidth and power, be able to be copied farther

away, and be typically fed to a horizontally-polarized

antenna. AFSK via FM will tend to be more regional,

falling off fairly quickly, and will generally be best re-

ceived (by convention) when vertically polarized.

A general exception to this is space communication,

where the method of operation and sometimes even

specific equipment (for example, a given satellite) will

dictate a recommended polarization and modulation

scheme. At one time CW and SSB were the workhorses

of satellite work. Following the popularity of FM rigs

as well as the popularity of FM-based packet/APRS

radio, satellites are increasingly supporting FM as an

alternative mode. A drawback is that in most cases,

since one FM “channel” is so wide, typically only one

QSO can exist on the bird at one time, and it is not un-

common for one or two stations to hog the entire pass.

Nevertheless, it does provide opportunities for users

having no SSB/CW capability to get engaged in satel-

lite work!

Anyone on VHF, especially for more than a few

years, will probably remember the days when 1200

baud FM AFSK packet radio was hugely popular. To-

day, packet operation has zeroed in on APRS, a one-to-

many mode which communicates information about

objects, usually those physically near the user. APRS

utilizes 1200 baud packet on 144.390 MHz. A standard

packet modem (Terminal Node Controller = TNC) may

be used to visualize or even send such data, and this

can be made even sim-

pler when coupled

with a PC configured

for KISS operation

(Keep It Simple, Stu-

pid). Indeed, the en-

tire TNC can be re-

placed by soft modem

software such as

SoundModem, in cases

where a PC may be

relied on to be present

when packet operation

is desired.

“Classic” or

“connection-based”

packet is still seen

from time to time. 6m

has a national packet

simplex frequency at

50.700MHz. 2m often

uses 145.01, 145.03, …

145.09 in 20kHz steps. 144.930 is used regionally in

the Detroit area to support AX.25 routing of IP-

tunneled data. Unfortunately, general purpose packet

is not very common on 220/440 or above, but keep your

eyes open for special events or other “amateur utility”

type uses. Packet radio can be routed from node to

node, and provides keyboard-to-keyboard conversation

with a full character set. For a time, packet was a sta-

ple of the National Traffic System.

Following packet, the most likely digital mode to be

(Digital Modes, Continued on page 8)

THE REPEATER PAGE 3 FEBRUARY 2016

#6 VHF/UHF: COMMON DIGITAL MODES BY PATRICK THOMAS, KB8DGC

THE REPEATER PAGE 4 FEBRUARY 2016

Editor’s Note: This article has nothing to do with amateur

radio. It was just an interesting piece of Michigan (& U.S.

history I thought you might be interested in learning.

It was not until recently that I knew Michi-

gan was home to several German POW camps

during World War II. Somehow these camps

were left out of every single Michigan history

book I read in school and later in life. I feel a bit

ignorant not knowing about these POW camps

and wonder just how many other Michigan resi-

dents are unfamiliar with them as well.

I can’t remember where exactly I came

across this, but somehow I found this documen-

tary, The Enemy In Our Midst. This documen-

tary was produced by Jackie Chandonnet and

John Pepin and originally aired back in 2004.

The German POW camps in Michigan’s Upper

Peninsula are the focus of the documentary, but

the premise of it intrigued me enough to dig

further and see where, and how many, German

POW camps were in Michigan during World

War II. I was hoping to get a DVD copy of The

Enemy In Our Midst, but I emailed John Pepin

and he said that there are only VHS copies

available. I’m buying the VHS version as I real-

ly want to see this film.

I’ve been unable to get a consistent number,

but thanks to a handful of different websites

(primarily this page at www.gentracer.org) I

was able to put together a list. One would think

that there would be more information available

on this subject, but so far I haven’t been able to

find too many sources. Depending on how you

link the camps together (some camps fell under

the “umbrella” of other camps) I was able to

come up with 31 different camp locations. Now,

some of these locations may have been consoli-

dated under another camp name/location and

some of them were strictly hospitals so some-

times you see the number of camps in Michigan

listed closer to 20.

Around 6,000 German POWs were posted at

the various camps across Michigan. About

1,000 of the POWs were at the five camps in the

Upper Peninsula with the remainder located in

the Lower Peninsula. The Red Cross made peri-

odic inspections of the camps to ensure that the

POWs had decent living conditions and were

being treated fairly. Escape attempts were few

and no German POW from Michigan is known

to have made a complete escape from one of the

camps.

A lot of the German POW camps in Michigan

were formerly CCC camps and filled mainly

with Germans that were forced into service in

Hitler’s army that fought in Africa. Therefore,

they were not thought of as too terribly danger-

ous and were brought here to work at various

(POW, Continued on page 7)

THE GERMAN POW CAMPS OF MICHIGAN DURING WWII

At its peak in 1945, the army’s Prisoner of War Division

housed roughly 379,000 German military prisoners at

Camp Raco German POW Camp Photo via waymarking.com

THE REPEATER PAGE 5 FEBRUARY 2016

I have decided to learn CW. Why? Because I

want to, not because I have to. Yes I am one of those no

-code hams!

Most of this blog post is aimed at newer hams.

If someone is thinking about trying to learn CW, I hope

this post might help motivate them to go for it and give

it a try.

Since I became a more active ham a couple

years ago, from a non-active ham, I have thought it

would be nice to have a very small portable battery

powered radio, and easy & quick to deploy antenna and

make some QSO’s when and where I can.

The next question, once I decided to learn CW,

was how to learn CW? I know in the past, people used

to use cassette tapes, learning at 5 wpm (words per mi-

nute). I looked online and found that the “tapes” can

still be purchased, but now they are on CD instead of

tapes. From the reviews that I

have read, the content has not

been updated but simply cop-

ied on to CD format. So it’s the

same lessons that existed in

the 60’s, 70’s, 80, etc, just in a

little newer delivery format.

My goal isn’t 5 wpm. It’s high-

er. More like the 20 wpm range

someday. That then leads to

some “newer” methods of

learning. The “Koch” method is

very popular. It starts with

two characters, sent at 20 wpm but with more space

between the characters, making the effective overall

speed slower but still with faster character speed. The

key is learning characters at a faster speed, introducing

another letter when you learn the first two. You keep

adding letters until you eventually have them all

learned. There are many web sites and programs that

use this and other methods. There are also a lot of

phone apps that people use to learn. A friend of mine

learned CW using these apps, and I sat with him on

Field Day in 2013 as he worked without a microphone,

only CW. He didn’t even bring his microphone to Field

Day! He now works CW almost exclusively.

After further research I came across The CW Opera-

tors Club web page,

http://www.cwops.org. I found that they have a CW

Academy with 3 different levels. Level I is for beginners

with no CW experience and Levels II & III are more

advanced working on increasing speed and other

things. I decided to enroll in their Level I beginner

class. I signed up on their web site and weeks later, I

was confirmed for the Level I class that started in Jan-

uary ’16, a few weeks ago. I am now 5 weeks through an

8 week class. The class meets twice a week, using

Skype. There are five students in my class, which is

lead by an experienced instructor. Homework consists

of using a web based CW training program, for receiv-

ing practice. Assuming you have a key/paddle or some-

thing to send with, there are sending exercises as

well. The curriculum introduces the letters, much like

the Koch method, at a 20 wpm pace, but in a different

order than the standard Koch trainers. The first session

consisted of four letters, and words using those four let-

ters. If you would like more information ther web site

is: http://www.cwops.org

Is it working? So far it is working. Five weeks

into the class, I now know the whole alphabet, the num-

bers 0-9 and a few punctuation characters. I say “know”

them, but I am not very good at receiving yet. I miss a

lot of characters when I try to listen so a real QSO on

the air. Like learning anything

like another language, it’s going

to take some practice to get bet-

ter at listening in real time. I

have recorded a couple QSO’s

from a websdr.org station and

when I repeat it multiple times, I

can figure it all out. Considering

5 weeks ago I didn’t know a sin-

gle letter, I am making progress.

I’ll continue attending class, and

practicing. I’ll post again later

when I make some more progress

and someday pretty soon, I’ll get in the air and attempt

a real QSO!

Until then – – . . . . . . – –

Wayne Patton, K5UNX, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com

and writes from Arkansas, USA. Contact him at k5unx@arrl.net. This

article is reprinted with Wayne’s permission.

PS “- – . . . . . . – -” is morse code for “73” in case you wondered!

LEARNING CW—THE BEGINNING BY WAYNE PATTON, K5UNX

THE REPEATER PAGE 6 FEBRUARY 2016

LARC IN THE PARK

A good group of LARC members gath-

ered at the Livonia Police Department

Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to

learn about the Automatic Packet Report-

ing System from Patrick (KB8DGC).

APRS is digital communications infor-

mation channel for Ham radio. As a single

national channel, it gives the mobile ham a

place to monitor for 10 to 30 minutes in any

area, at any time to capture what is hap-

pening in ham radio in the surrounding ar-

ea. Announcements, Bulletins, Messages,

Alerts, Weather, and of course a map of all

this activity including objects, frequencies,

satellites, nets, meetings, Hamfests, etc.

The APRS network has grown to most coun-

tries with strong Amateur Radio popula-

tions. (From left) John (K8YYZ), Patrick (KB8DGC), Walt (K8RKT), Rick (N8XI)

and Jerry W8RQM) get ready for the APRS presentation.

Andy (KD8ZPX), Bob (KD8TSJ) and Patrick (AC8ND) do some face-to-face rag chewing at the EOC).

Art (W8AEP) and Keith (KE8AUO) love

their electronic toys.

THE REPEATER PAGE 7 FEBRUARY 2016

camps. Of course there were some SS soldiers

that were definitely in the Nazi category and

locals usually steered clear of them. These

camps were not forced labor camps, in fact, the

POWs liked being able to go out and do some-

thing, plus the ones cutting pulpwood in Michi-

gan’s U.P. were paid $.80 per day. The work the

German POWs performed was in areas where

there were shortages of labor due to the war ef-

fort.

After the war ended the German POWs were

sent back to Germany. Many of the prisoners

would have liked to have remained here, but

due to regulations they had to return to their

home country. The German POW camps in

Michigan were an interesting part of Michi-

gan’s history that I am glad to have found. I

still can’t believe it took me so long to hear

about all of these POW camps and how they

have been buried in our history books.

List of German POW Camps in Michigan:

Camp Allegan

Camp AuTrain

Barryton, Mecosta County, MI

Benton Harbor, Berrien County, MI

Blissfield, Lenawee County, MI

Caro, Tuscola County, MI

Coloma, Berrien County, MI

Croswell, Sanilac County, MI

Fort Custer, Galesburg, MI

Dundee, Monroe County, MI

Camp Evelyn – Alger County, MI

Freeland, Saginaw County, MI

Fremont, Newaygo County, MI

Camp Germfask – Germfask, MI

Grant, Newaygo County, MI

Grosse Ile Township, Wayne County, MI

Hart, Oceana County, MI

Camp Lake Odessa, Ionia County, MI

Mattawan, Van Buren County, MI

Mass, Ontonagon County, MI

Milan (USFR), Monroe and Washtenaw Coun-

ties, MI

Odessa Lakes, Tuscola County, MI

Camp Owosso – Shiawassee County

Camp Pori – Upper Peninsula

Camp Raco – Upper Peninsula near Sault Ste.

Marie

Romulus Army Air Field, Wayne County, MI

Shelby, Oceana County, MI

Camp Sidnaw – Sidnaw, MI

Sparta, Kent County, MI

Wayne (Fort), Detroit, Wayne County, MI

Waterloo, Jackson County, MI

Wetmore, Alger County, MI

Article taken from internet story. Sources cited as found.

(POW, Continued from page 4)

German POW Camp Pori Photo via Christopher Bills

WARINING! Ham Radio Side Effects: t

Whiplash from spotting antenna towers. Dragging antennas on drive-through awnings.

Negative cash flow acquiring radio gear. Obsessive need to attend swap meets.

(See you Sunday at the LARC Swap & Shop)

THE REPEATER PAGE 8 FEBRUARY 2016

encountered is the WSJT family of high-reliability pro-

tocols (JT65, JT9, FSK441, etc.). These protocols are

carried on SSB, and are specifically designed for appli-

cations where communications may take place near the

noise floor. Since they use a high degree of forward

error correction it is actually possible to carry on a min-

imal QSO even during lengthy periods of fading, or

with a signal too quiet to be readable by the human

ear. Needless to say, these modes have been used to

great effect on DX and Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) oper-

ation. FSK441 has been popular for meteor scatter op-

eration. JT65 and JT9 enforce a strict call/answer pro-

tocol typical of a weak signal QSO. Freeform messages

are possible but unusual, as the protocol only allows a

maximum of 13 characters per 47-second turnaround.

JT65 and JT9 also require a high degree of time

synchronization (listen to HF frequencies such as

14.076 for an example of the protocol). Typical VHF

frequencies are 50.276 and 144.489 or 144.160, and

432.097 MHz for UHF. Operation above the 2m band

is somewhat unusual except for moonbounce or contest

activity; look at some of the EME sites for real-time

chat clients which discuss frequencies where people are

calling.

One mode that has a lot of potential for high band-

width communication is High Speed MultiMedia

(“HSMM”) Radio. This mode takes advantage of the

overlap of the amateur and 802.11b/g “WiFi” segments

of the Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) spec-

trum in the 13cm band and 802.11a (5cm/5.7GHz)

band. When NOT using spread spectrum modes, full

amateur power can be utilized in some regions of these

bands, along with large multi-element or dish anten-

nas, to provide immense point-to-point bandwidth over

modest distances. A typical station might consist of a

custom operating system such as DD-WRT on a

Linksys router, plus an amplifier. This variety of com-

munication typically utilizes Orthogonal Frequency-

Division Multiplexing (OFDM). Remember that such a

station is in Amateur service, so the usual rules requir-

ing identification and prohibiting encrypted or commer-

cial communications still apply!

Many of the conventional modes (RTTY, PSK31,

even SSTV) used on HF are available for use with

VHF/UHF, although in practice they are rarely used.

If you attempt to use such a mode via FM AFSK, be

sure to do so in the FM section of the band! If you at-

tempt to use such a mode via SSB AFSK, it may be

safely done in the lower portions of the band, and you

will gain the benefit of improved signal efficiency, albe-

it at the penalty of a reduced audience.

It also warrants a reminder that VHF and especial-

ly UHF permit higher baud/data rates than are permis-

sible on HF! Of course if you are simply interested in

keyboard-to-keyboard discussion, this may not be rele-

vant, but when sending data files or lots of textual traf-

fic may be better suited to a higher-bandwidth digital

mode.

Recently, digital voice has been making its distinct

sound heard on VHF, particularly 2m. This topic will

be covered in the future. Some fairly high-speed data

modes are also standard with these radios.

Digital operations in Michigan are loosely coordinat-

ed by the Michigan Digital Radio Group (http://mi-

drg.org/), which is chartered for that purpose by our

ARRL Section Manager.

Look for additional data on these modes in future

articles, as well as more on space communications and

terrestrial DX!

(Digital Modes, Continued from page 3)

INFORMATION ABOUT THESE AND MANY OTHER CONTESTS AVAILABLE AT:

http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/contestcal.html

NAME DATES MODES BANDS CATEGORIES LINK

FEBRUARY 2016

+ UBA DX Contest, CW 1300Z, Feb 27 to 1300Z,

Feb 28 CW

80, 40, 20,

15, 10m

Single, Multi,

SWL

http://www.uba.be/en/hf/contest-rules/uba-dx-contest-rules

+ South Carolina QSO Party 1400Z, Feb 27 to 0059Z,

Feb 28

CW, Digital,

Phone

160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10,

6m Single, Multi http://scqso.com/rules/

+ North American QSO Party,

RTTY 1800Z, Feb 27 to 0559Z,

Feb 28 RTTY

80, 40, 20,

15, 10m Single, Multi http://www.ncjweb.com/NAQP-Rules.pdf

+ North Carolina QSO Party 1500Z, Feb 28 to 0059Z,

Feb 29

CW, Phone,

Digital

80, 40, 20,

15, 10, 6, 2m Several http://rars.org/ncqsoparty/index.php?id=rules

THE REPEATER PAGE 9 FEBRUARY 2016

CONTESTS

INFORMATION ABOUT THESE AND MANY OTHER CONTESTS AVAILABLE AT:

http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/contestcal.html

NAME DATES MODES BANDS CATEGORIES LINK

MARCH 2016

+ ARRL Inter. DX Contest,

SSB 0000Z, Mar 5

to 2400Z,

Mar 6 SSB

160, 80, 40,

20, 15, 10m Single, Multi http://www.arrl.org/arrl-dx

+ UBA Spring Contest, CW 0700Z-

1100Z, Mar 6 CW 80m Only Single http://www.uba.be/hf/contest-rules/spring-contest

+ DARC 10-Meter Digital

Contest 1100Z-

1700Z, Mar 6 RTTY, Amtor,

Clover, PSK31,

Pactor

10m Only Single http://www.darc.de/referate/ukw-funksport/corona/

teilnahmebedingungen/

+ SARL Hamnet 40m Simu-

lated Emerg Contest 1200Z-

1400Z, Mar 6 SSB 40m Only Single, Multi http://www.sarl.org.za/Web3/Members/DoDocDownload.aspx?

X=20151130131559djqp8afPgb.PDF

+ South America 10 Meter

Contest 1200Z, Mar 12 to 1200Z,

Mar 13 CW, SSB 10m Only Single, Multi http://sa10m.com.ar/cqsa10m_rules.html

+ Oklahoma QSO Party 1400Z, Mar 12 to 0200Z,

Mar 13 and 1400Z-2000Z, Mar

13

CW/Digital,

Phone

80, 40, 20,

15, 10, 6m Several http://k5cm.com/okqp2016rules.pdf

+ EA PSK63 Contest 1600Z, Mar 12 to 1600Z,

Mar 13 PSK63

80, 40, 20,

15, 10m Single, Multi http://concursos.ure.es/en/eapsk63/bases/

+ Idaho QSO Party 1900Z, Mar 12 to 1900Z,

Mar 13

CW, Phone,

Digital

160, 80, 40,

20, 15, 10m Several http://idahoarrl.info/qsoparty/rules.htm

+ Wisconsin QSO Party 1800Z, Mar 13 to 0100Z,

Mar 14

CW/Digital,

Phone

All, except

WARC Single, Multi http://www.warac.org/wqp/wqp.htm

+ Russian DX Contest 1200Z, Mar 19 to 1200Z,

Mar 20 CW, SSB

160, 80, 40,

20, 15, 10m Several http://www.rdxc.org/asp/pages/rulesg.asp

+ Louisiana QSO Party 1400Z, Mar 19 to 0200Z,

Mar 20

CW/Digital,

Phone

160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6,

2m Several http://laqp.louisianacontestclub.org/laqso_rules.htm

+ AGCW VHF/UHF Contest 1400Z-1700Z, Mar 19 (144) and

1700Z-1800Z, Mar

19 (432)

CW 144 MHz, 432

MHz Single Op

http://www.agcw.org/index.php/en/contests-and-cw-activities/vhf-uhf-

contest

+ Virginia QSO Party 1400Z, Mar 19 to 0200Z,

Mar 20 and 1200Z-2400Z, Mar

20

CW, Phone,

Digital

All, except

WARC Several

http://www.qsl.net/sterling/

VA_QSO_Party/2016_VQP/2016_VQP_Rules.html

THE REPEATER PAGE 10 FEBRUARY 2016

SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS

02/27/2016 | 71st Anniversary of the Battle of

Iwo Jima Feb 27, 1500Z-2200Z, W0FSB, Waterloo, IA. Five Sul-

livan Brothers Amateur Radio Club. 21.240 14.240

7.240. Certificate & QSL. Five Sullivan Brothers ARC,

3186 Brandon Diagonal Blvd, Brandon, IA 52210. For

QSL card: Send card and #10 SASE; For Certificate

&QSL: Send QSL, address label and 3 Forever stamps;

For eQSL & Certificate: Send eQSL, then an email to

w0fsb@outlook.com, requesting a .jpg file of the certifi-

cate that you can print yourself www.qrz.com/db/w0fsb

02/27/2016 | LaBelle Swamp Cabbage Festival

50th Anniversary Feb 27-Feb 28, 0900Z-1900Z, N4N, LaBelle, FL. Big

Lake Amateur Radio Club. 28.370 21.370 14.270 7.270.

QSL. Frank C. Harris, WA4PAM, 512 E Pasadena Ave,

Clewiston, FL 33440.

03/04/2016 | 70th Anniversary of Winston

Churchill's "Iron Curtain" Speech Mar 4-Mar 7, 0001Z-2359Z, W0C, Fulton, MO. Calla-

way Amateur Radio League LLC. 14.275 14.070 7.225

7.070. Certificate & QSL. David Mueller, 1701 Plaza Dr,

Fulton, MO 65251. 70th Anniversary of Winston

Churchill's "Sinews of Peace" address at Westminster

College, Fulton, MO in 1946, which became known by

the popular name "Iron Curtain" speech.

dmueller55@sbcglobal.net

03/12/2016 | Battle of Guilford Courthouse -

235th Anniversary Mar 12-Mar 13, 1300Z-1900Z, N4G, Greensboro, NC.

Greensboro Amateur Radio Association. 21.325 14.325

7.235. QSL. N4G Special Event Station, GARA, PO Box

7054 , Greensboro, NC 27417. DSTAR REF054C. This

event is NPOTA activation (MP-04). Request SASE for

QSL. www.n4g-gch.org

03/12/2016 | Legion Birthday to be Celebrat-

ed Worldwide Mar 12, 1400Z-2100Z, K9TAL, Indianapolis, IN. The

American Legion Amateur Radio Club. 14.275; Repeat-

er 147.315; IRLP Node 9735; Simplex 146.46 . Certifi-

cate & QSL. The American Legion National Headquar-

ters, Attn: TALARC, 700 N Pennsylvania St, Indianapo-

lis, IN 46204. k9tal@legion.org

03/12/2016 | Tucson Festival of Books - Sci-

ence City Mar 12-Mar 14, 1630Z-0030Z, K7UAZ, Tucson, AZ.

Amateur Radio Club at the University of Arizona.

21.275 14.275. QSL. K7UAZ Amateur Radio Club, 1127

E James E Rogers Way, Rm 303, Tucson, AZ 85721. See

website for details and updates. www.k7uaz.com

03/12/2016 | USS Midway Museum Ship; USS

Midway Launching Special Event Mar 12, 1700Z-2359Z, NI6IW, San Diego, CA. USS

Midway (CV-41) Museum Ship. 14.320 7.250; PSK31 on

14.070; D-STAR on REF001C or XRF041A. QSL. USS

Midway Museum Ship Radio Room, 910 N Harbor Dr,

San Diego, CA 92101.

03/13/2016 | Lost Hour Special Event Station Mar 13, 0000Z-0600Z, W8BAP, Chillicothe, OH. Scioto

Valley Radio Club . 28.445 14.250 7.250 3.860. Certifi-

cate. Jim Boyce, 604 W 5th St , Chillicothe, OH 45601.

This the 5th annual special event station celebrating

the start of Daylight savings time. Certificate with SA-

SE.

03/19/2016 | 30th Anniversary Clewiston Sug-

ar Festival Mar 19, 0900Z-1900Z, W4W, Clewiston, FL. Big Lake

Amateur Radio Club. 28.370 21.270 14.270 7.270. QSL.

Frank C. Harris, WA4PAM, 512 E Pasadena Ave,

Clewiston, FL 33440.

03/20/2016 | Bataan Memorial Death March

Marathon Mar 20-Mar 21, 1600Z-0100Z, K5B, Las Cruces, NM.

Mesilla Valley Radio Club. 14.250 7.250. QSL. Mesilla

Valley Radio Club, PO Box 1443, Las Cruces, NM

88004. See website for more information. www.n5bl.org

03/20/2016 | Western Reserve Amateur Radio

Club 6th Anniversary Mar 20, 0200Z-1000Z, W8WRC, New Springfield, OH.

Western Reserve Amateur Radio Club. 14.310 7.170.

QSL. Western Reserve Amateur Radio Club, 2050 East

South Range Rd, New Springfield, OH 44443. wrarc.net

03/22/2016 | Honoring World War II Gunners

at Buckingham Airfield Mar 22-Mar 24, 1400Z-2100Z, W4LX, Fort Myers, FL.

Fort Myers Amateur Radio Club. 28.360 21.360 14.270

147.345. Certificate & QSL. W4LX Fort Myers Amateur

Radio Club, PO Box 61183, Fort Myers, FL 33906.

www.fmarc.info

THE REPEATER PAGE 11 FEBRUARY 2016

DX NEWS Start

Date

End

Date DXCC Entity Call

QSL

via

Reported

by Info

FEBRUARY 2016 Indicates New Station

2016

Feb26 2016 Mar14 Guadeloupe TO66R F6HMQ

DXNews By F6HMQ F6GWV; HF

20160229

2016

Feb28 2016 Mar13 Aruba P4 WA2NHA

OPDX By WA2NHA as P4/WA2NHA fm SA-036; 80-10m; mainly CW

20160125

MARCH 2016

2016

Mar01 2016 Mar16 East Kiribati T32 LotW

K8AQM By K8AQM as T32TR, KG8CO as T32CO, K8QKY as T32SB, K8MU as T32MU, AC8W as T32WW, N8LJ as T32LJ, N6FS as T32FS; 160-10m; CW SSB + digital; 500w; beach verticals; QRV for ARRL DX SSB; QSL

also OK via AC8JF 20150906

2016

Mar03 2016 Mar15 Marquesas TX7EU DK2AMM

DXW.Net By DK2AMM DL6JGN GM4FDM PA3EWP fm Hatiheu, Nuku Hiva (OC-027, BI91xe); 40-10m; CW SSB + digital; 2 stations (1 24/7); Hexbeam,

vertical; QSL OK via DARC Buro or direct, also Club Log 20160115

2016

Mar04 2016 Mar13

Equatorial

Guinea 3C7GIA

LA7GIA

Direct

DXNews By LA7GIA fm Malabo I (AF-010, JJ43jr); 40-10m, possbily 80m; CW

SSB RTTY; 2 ele yagis + G5RV 20151218

2016

Mar04 2016 Mar19 South Cook Is E51AQA VE7AQA

DXW.Net By VE7AQA fm Rarotonga I (OC-013); HF; SSB; holiday style operation

20160209

ARRL International DX Contest, Phone (Mar 5-6, 2016) Check here for pericontest activity too.

2016

Mar06 2016 Mar21

San Andres &

Providencia 5J0P LotW

OPDX By SP6PT SP2EBG SP3CYY SP3GEM SP6IXF SP9FOW SP9RCL SQ2OFS fm San Andres I (NA-033); 160-6m; CW SSB RTTY; QSL

request via Club Log (QSL details on Web) 20160111

2016

Mar10 2016 Mar24 Grenada J34G G3PJT

G3PJG By G3PJT; 80-10m; mainly CW; 100w; QRV for Commonwealth Con-

test; holiday style operation 20160208

2016

Mar10 2016 Mar26 Vietnam 3W2BR

DK2BR

Direct

DXW.Net By DK2BR fm Con Son I (AS-130); 40-10m; SSB RTTY PSK31; 60w;

verticals; holiday style operation 20151216

2016

Mar11 2016 Apr07 Madeira CT9 LotW

DL3KWF By DL3KWF as CT9/DL3KWF and DL3KWR as CT9/DL3KWR; focus

on WARC; CW; QSL also OK via DARC Buro and eQSL 20150822

2016

Mar15 2016 Mar23 Isle of Man GD4SKA M0OXO

425DXN By GW4SKA fm EU-116; 80-10m; RTTY, some PSK; will use GD0A for

BARTG HF RTTY Contest (19-20 March); QSL also OK via Club Log 20160116

2016

Mar15 2016 Mar26 Cocos Keeling VK9CK LotW

DXW.Net By LB2TB LA6YIA LB1GB LA9DFA; 160-10m, focus on 160 80m; CW SSB RTTY; focus on all time new one (ATNO) contacts; QSL also OK

via Club Log or LA6OP, Buro or direct 20150316

2016

Mar15 2016 May15

Minami Torishi-

ma JD1 JA8CJY

DXW.Net By JG8NQJ as JG8NQJ/JD1; HF; CW; spare time operation

20160205

2016

Mar17 2016 Mar29

St Pierre &

Miquelon FP LotW

DXNews By KV1J as FP/KV1J fm Miquelon I (NA-032); 160-10m; SSB RTTY

CW; QRV for RDXC and WPX SSB contests; QSL also OK via KV1J 20151118

2016

Mar20 2016 Apr10 Heard I VK0EK M0URX

KK6EK By HB9BXE K2ARB K3EL KM4MXD N6TQ NG2H NP4IW UT6UD

VK2BAX VK6CQ WJ2O KK6EK W7XU; HF; CW SSB RTTY 20141215

2016

Mar24 2016 Apr21 Mayotte FH F4FET

DXNews By F4FET as FH/F4FET fm AF-027; 40-10m; SSB

20160210

CQ WW WPX Contest, SSB (Mar 26-27, 2016) Check here for pericontest activity too.

2016

Mar31 2016 Apr14

Juan de Nova &

Europa FT4JA TBA

DXW.Net By F6BEE F1NGP F2DX F5PTM F4BKV F5CWU F4FET FM5CD

F5UFX fm Juan de Nova I (AF-012) 20150418

THE REPEATER PAGE 12 FEBRUARY 2016

HAMFESTS & SWAPS 03/06/2016 | NOARS Winter Hamfest Start Date: 03/06/2016

End Date: 03/06/2016

Location: Elyria VFW Post 1079

500 South Abbe Road

Elyria, OH 44035

Website: http://www.noars.net

Sponsor: Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society

(NOARS)

Type: ARRL Hamfest

Talk-In: 146.700+ (PL

110.9)

Public Contact: Darlene

Ohman , KA8VTS

4122 Bush Avenue Cleve-

land, OH 44109

Phone: 216-398-8858

Email: winterham-

fest@noars.net

03/19/2016 | Cross-

roads Hamfest

Start Date: 03/19/2016

End Date: 03/19/2016

Location: Wings Event Center

3600 Vanrick Drive

Kalamazoo, MI 49001

Website: http://www.w8df.com

Sponsor: Southern Michigan Amateur Radio Society

Type: ARRL Hamfest

Talk-In: 147.000 (PL 94.8)

Public Contact: Tom Goodson , WR8G

8 Cooper Avenue Battle Creek, MI 49014

Phone: 269-962-8007

Email: wr8g@arrl.net

03/20/2016 | TMRA Hamfest and Computer

Fair Start Date: 03/20/2016

End Date: 03/20/2016

Location: Owens Community College

30335 Oregon Road

Perrysburg, OH 43551

Website: http://www.tmrahamradio.org

Sponsor: Toledo Mobile Radio Association

Type: ARRL Hamfest

Talk-In: 147.27/87 (PL 103.5)

Public Contact: Brian Harrington , WD8MXR

4463 Holly Hill Drive Toledo, OH 43614

Phone: 419-385-5624

Email: wd8mxr@gmail.com

03/26/2016 | MOVARC HAMFEST

Start Date: 03/26/2016

End Date: 03/26/2016

Location: Senior Citizens Center

1165 State Route 160

Gallipolis, OH 45631

Website: http://www.facebook.com/KC8ZAB

Sponsor: Mid-Ohio Valley Ama-

teur Radio Club

Type: ARRL Hamfest

Talk-In: 147.060 (PL 74.4)

Public Contact: Lester Cardwell ,

KD8ZU

15422 Hannan Trace Road Crown

City, OH 45623

Phone: 740-256-1312

Email: docdiesel@hotmail.com

04/02/2016 | Portsmouth Ra-

dio Club Hamfest Start Date: 04/02/2016

End Date: 04/02/2016

Location: Ohio National Guard Armory

2313 17th Street

Portsmouth, OH 45662

Sponsor: Portsmouth Radio Club

Type: ARRL Hamfest

Talk-In: 145.390 (PL 136.5) & 444.600 (no PL tone)

Public Contact: Gary Caldwell , WX8G

65 Lois Avenue Wheelersburg, OH 45694

Phone: 740-778-2119

Email: garcaldwell@yahoo.com

FOR THE FUTURE:

05/20/2016 | Hamvention

Start Date: 05/20/2016

End Date: 05/21/2016

Location: Dayton, Ohio

No other information available at this time.

The Ann Arbor Radio Club (ARROW) is once

again advertising their annual bus trip down to

Dayton. Save the hassle of driving and parking

and spend time with fellow radio enthusiasts.

For more information on the trip, go to:

http://www.w8pgw.org/activities/dayton-

bus-trip/

THE REPEATER PAGE 13 FEBRUARY 2016

SOME POPULAR LOCAL NETS

Net Day Time Frequency PL

Tone Link

Michigan Traffic Net Daily 7:00 PM 3.952 MHz None MITN

Michigan Net Daily 6:00 PM 3.563 MHz None QMN

Southeastern Michigan Traffic Net Daily 10:15

PM 146.76 MHz 100 Hz SEMTN

Wolverine SSB Net Daily 2300

UTC 3.935 MHz None WSSBN

Michigan ARPSC Net Sunday 5:00 PM 3.932 MHz None MIARPSC

Spirit of 76 ARC Sunday 8:00 PM 146.76 MHz 100 Hz LEARA

Hazel Park ARC Sunday 9:00 PM 146.64 MHz 100 Hz HPARC

Garden City ARC Sunday 9:00 PM 146.86 MHz 100 Hz GCARC

Salvation Army Team Emerg Radio

Net Monday 7:30 PM 147.18 MHz 100 Hz SATERN

ARROW ARC Monday 8:00 PM 146.96 MHz 100 Hz ARROW

ARC

Utica Shelby Emerg Com Slow Code Monday 9:00 PM 147.18 MHz 100 Hz USECA

Motor City ARC Tuesday 9:00 PM 147.24 MHz 100 Hz MCARC

Spirit of 76 Skywarn Wednesday 8:00 PM 146.76 MHz 100 Hz LEARA

General Motors ARC Wednesday 8:00 PM 146.70 MHz 123 Hz GMARC

Wayne County ARPSC Net Wednesday 9:00 PM 147.16 MHz 100 Hz WA8EOC

Hazel Park ARC Kids Thursday 7:00 PM 146.64 MHz 100 Hz HPARC

RACES/ARES Thursday 8:00 PM 147.20 MHz 100 Hz n/a

LARC 2 Meter Net Thursday 8:00 PM 145.35 MHz 100 Hz Livonia

ARC

THE REPEATER PAGE 14 FEBRUARY 2016

ABOUT LARC

LIVONIA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB OFFICERS

& COMMITTEE CHAIRS President - Fred DesChenes, W8GKH— president@livoniaarc.com

Vice President - Ryan Marrs, K8RDM

Treasurer - Doris Kelterborn, K8DXJ

Recording Secretary - Tas Foley, K8TAS

Public Information Officer - Mike Rudzki, N8MR

Club License (K8UNS) Trustee - Stanley Philips, N8SP

ARRL VE Liaison - Bruno Walczak, WA8DHP

Webmaster—John Hopkins, K8YYZ

LARC/LPD EOC Liaison—Bill Allen, KD8KTF

Repeater Maintenance - Dan Saputo, K8PLW

Swap-N-Shop Committee—Mike Rudzki, N8MR & Doris Kelterborn, K8DXJ

Field Day Coordinator—Tyler Burda, K8DTB

2-Meter Net Manager - Jodie Harris, N8LSA

Refreshments—Jodie & Ben Harris, N8LSA & KD8BAH

Equipment Manager - Mike Rudzki, N8MR

Safety Officer - Ryan Marrs, K8RDM

Slow Speed CW Net—Peter Lee, K8ACS

Volunteer Examiners - K1QD, K8ACS, K8LU, KN8B, N8DXR, N8MR, NB8W, NW8E,

WA8DHP, AC8ND, W2EQX, KD8KTF, AC8QI, AC8TG

Repeater Newsletter Editor - Sandy Allen, KD8UTR — sallen17@mi.rr.com

LIVONIA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB

P.O. BOX 51532

LIVONIA, MI 48151-5532

The Livonia Amateur Radio Club, founded in 1969, has been a long-standing part of the

Livonia, Michigan community. Our club has wide and varied interests --

Special events, DX, Contesting and More.

LARC has been affiliated with the ARRL since February 7, 1976.