Next Meeting

The next EAARS meeting will be St Patricks Day, March 17th at Search and Rescue in Thatcher, AZ. Arrive at 6:30 PM, meeting at 7 PM

Silent Keys

According to the March QST former members Joesephine WA6ULC and Tom WA6ULD McGuire are both silent keys. They lived in Fort Thomas for many years before moving to Sun City to be close to Joe's sister. Tom was a WW2 pilot and avid model aircraft builder and flyer.

Philip KC6NJX Madsen passed away on February 27th. Phil was one of our VE's for many years and did many things to help the club

Dues

EAARS dues were due December 31st. Those of you that recieve your newsletter by US mail, the first line of your label shows when I think your dues expire. If you've paid through 2009 and the label doesn't reflect that, contact Larry and I and get it corrected. If you are not paid through 2009 this will be your last printed newsletter!

Newsletters

The newsletter is sent to a few members by US mail because they didn't have or give us an email address. If you are one of those people, please consider changing to the email method. Along with this newsletter which is sent out as soon as it's done instead of up to a week later by mail depending on my schedule and the printer, you also recieve the ARRL weekly bulletin, contest journal, and section managers monthly mailing plus being notified of any last minute EAARS events such as mountain top work parties you may be able to participate in.

7th Call Area QSO Party -- May 2-3, 2009

1300 UTC Saturday to 0700 UTC Sunday (6 AM to midnight PDT the first Saturday in May). 7th call area stations work everyone, others work 7th area stations only. Work stations once per band/mode. 7th area mobiles (and those participating in other concurrent QSO parties or contests) may be worked again as they enter new counties. Last year EAARS posted the top score in the contest and we plan to do even better this year!!! This is the contest we chose to replace field day when Milt retired from field day coordinator. It is done at low level on a county line between Safford and Duncan. Set up is Friday, 18 hours of radio on Saturday, and tear down on Sunday. No demonstrations, traffic handling, visitor promoting, etc. just radio done in a field day type environment. Consider joining us if only for one of the three days. Help is always needed for setup and tear down as well as operating. We do SSB and CW there is room to camp and the temperature is usually a lot cooler in early May. The location is less than a mile off the pavement of highway 70. Since there are always a number of extra class operators at the contest, even novices and technicians can operate with a control operator and see what contesting is all about. to check out 7QP go to:

http://www.codxc.org/new/Page.asp?Content=DRYLAND7S&Page=1

Field Day

EAARS has the resources to do field day. I YOU would like to be in charge of any type of field day operation, let the officers know. Whether it's a full blown qrp operation from Mt Graham or a demo in the park it can be done but, YOU will have to be in charge of planning, set up, and everything.

Other Contests

James W1EYE is working on "ARRL Club Contesting" where you operate from home in one or more of the approved ARRL contests and EAARS gets credit for your operation (you also get credit). James and Kevin W7XF have also talked about participating in one of the ARRL VHF/UHF contests. The next one is June 13 - 14 ARRL June VHF QSO Party. If anyone is interested contact James or Kevin.

From Amateur Radio Newsline http://www.arnewsline.org/

RADIO MISTAKE: THAT'S NOT A BOMB - IT'S AN ANTENNA

Still in Nebraska, a sad yet funny story out of Omaha. That's where Police and a Bomb Squad have blown up a trap from a ham radio antenna because nobody could figure out what it was. It all happened on Thursday, February 26th. That's when both agencies were called out following the discovery by a cleaning crew of a device that they thought looked like a PVC pipe bomb. The house in question belonged to Bob Rennolet, W0AEX. There had been an electrical fire in the house 2 weeks ago and he had hired the clean- up crew but it had no idea as to what it had found. So, rather than take chances, the Bomb Squad decided to blow it up. That's when they realized it was not a bomb but a piece of W0AEX's ham radio gear. Ironically, W0AEX lives next door to a fire station, so they didn't have far to go to put out the fire or blow up the trap. (K0NEB, W0HXL)

WORLDBEAT: RNW ESTABLISHES RESCUE RADIO INFO SERVICE

In case of an international disaster, a shortwave broadcaster in Holland will be there to bring you the latest news and information. Randy Ross, KI4ZJI, has the rest of the story: -- Radio Netherlands Worldwide has a new international disaster information system set to launch this spring. Using a combination of special broadcasts, a separate Web site and mobile phone alerts, the international service will report on events and provide complete information for any Dutch victims and their relatives. A specially trained Radio Netherlands team will answer questions via phone, radio, the Internet and the Dutch BVN television network. It will cover incidents such as natural disasters, social conflicts or any terrorist attacks that may occur. The news and information stream will be kept up to date from minute to minute. Editor-in-Chief Rik Rensen is in charge of the project. He says that the disaster team is Radio Netherland's response to the urgent requests for hlp and information we received during recent violence in Mumbai and the lengthy airport strike in Bangkok. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm, Randy Ross, KI4ZJI, in Shelby, North Carolina. -- This new service from Radio Netherlands will be in addition to their many other international broadcasts. (Media Network) **

BREAKING DX NEWS: THE K5D TEAM SAYS THANK YOU

The recent Desecheo Island K5D DXpedition netted a grand total of 115,783 QSO's. According to co-leaders Bob Alperin, K4UEE, and Glenn Johnson, W0GJ, it means that the DXpedition ranks seventh for all-time for the total number of QSO's, and first for the most 30 Meter contacts. In recent times, Desecheo Island was the number two most-wanted contact in Asia, and number three most-wanted in Europe. Alperin and Johnson say that 40% of the K5D contacts were with those two continents, making it an important goal that was achieved. The team leaders say that a special K5D QSL card is in the final stages of design and will be available in the next few weeks.In the meantime, QSLs go directly to N2OO and are also being accepted on-line. Alberin and Johnson add that the Desecheo 2009 team wants to thank everyone for working them and helping to make this DXpedition such a success. The K5D operation ran from February 12th to the 26th. (K5D release)

HAM RADIO IN SPACE: NEW CERTIFICATE FOR OPERATING VO-52

Still with ham radio space related news, VU3TYG has announced that AMSAT India will issue a certificate to radio amateurs who establish two-way contact through the VO-52 ham radio satellite between now and May 5th. The first fifty certificates will be sponsored and includes postage. After the 50 certificates have been issued a fee will apply. Please send your QSL card containing the details of your QSO on VO-52 to AMSAT India (Regd.), No. 201, 2nd Main Road, Mahalakshmi Layout, Bangalore 560086 India. Make sure to include the mailing address where you would like to have the certificate sent to VU3TYG)

DX

In DX, word that AA7JV and HA7RY will be active from Mellish Reef as VK9GMW in what they call another low-key DXpedition between March 22nd and April 6th. The operation will have a strong low-band focus. QSL via HA7RY direct, by the Bureau or using Logbook to the World. And please note that the dates of this operation are approximate and subject to change with little notice.

A group of 10 operators will be on the air April 12th to April 17th from the Western Sahara using S04R callsign. Operation will take place on 10 to 160 Meters using SSB, CW and some digital modes. The QSL manager will be EA5RM. EA5BZ will be the pilot station and additional info is already available at www.dxfriends.com.

F5TGR will be active as stroke FG from Guadeloupe March 14th to the 28th. Look for him on 40 through 10 Meters using CW and SSB. QSL via F5TGR.

F5UOW, will be active from Boucan Canot near St. Gilles les Bains between March 8th to the 22nd operating holiday style mostly CW on 20 Meters. QSL via his home callsign.

Look for W5JON portable J 6 from Saint Lucia from March 1st through 11th. He will be on 160 through 6 Meters using SSB from Marigot Bay. Antennas are dipoles on the HF bands and a Yagi for 50 Mhz. QSL via W5JON.

PF4T will be active from the Maldives as 8Q7TB from between June 8th to the 25th. Listen for him on 40 and 20 meters using SSB. QSL via PF4T.

(Above from various DX news sources)

 

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