From the President’s Shack

I was disappointed in the turn out at the August Hidden Transmitter Hunt.There were only enough operators to make one team.However, they were the “A-Team” because it only took them 31 minutes to locate the hidden transmitter, operated by me, located in the parking lot of the Modest Town Baptist Church.

August Hidden transmitter hunt results:

Team No.MembersTime

#1KD4NVS0:31

KG4OTL(1^st)

The last Hidden Transmitter Hunt of the year will be on October 13th at 1400 starting at the Farmer’s Market in Parksley.Rob, KD4NVS, will operate the Hidden Transmitter.I’ve invited the members of the PROS, so we’ll see what kind of operators they are.

With Fall upon us, 6 and 10 meters have been open again.Recently, I worked a station in Venezuela and another two Arizona on 10 meter FM, two Florida stations on 6 FM and both Andrew and I worked stations in North Carolina and Delaware on 6 meter SSB.HF band conditions, particularly 80/75 meters, have improved dramatically.I worked Croatia on 17 meter CW and the Czech Republic on 15 meter CW andAndrew and I have had some nice 599 “rag-chews” on 40 CW.There was very pronounced 2 meter ducting the day of the Club Picnic.While mobile through Onley, I worked a station in New York City and another in Connecticut via a repeater on Long Island.

Finally, I want to encourage members to support club activities and talk on the club repeater.

Hope to hear you on-the-air!

73, Steve, KV4AN

Technical Article

Setting Up a Six Meter Station

By Steve, KV4AN

Technician class and higher operators are urged to try the six meter amateur band (50-54 MHz). The lowest VHF amateur band offers much excitement for those with even a modest station and a little patience.I’ve worked stations from as far away as the Mid-West on FM (both simplex and repeaters) and Europe on SSB and CW.

Many modern HF transceivers have six as one of the bands they cover.Some examples are: the Icom IC-706 and IC-746, Yaesu FT-100, FT-920 and FT-847, and Kenwood TS-570DG and TS-2000.Any of these radios are a great way to get on HF and six.

There are also a couple of mono-banders, such as the FM-only Alinco DR-M06, which sells for $260, and the all-mode Ranger RCI-5054DX at $320.Finally, Ten Tec makes a beautiful all-mode 6 and 2 meter transceiver, the Model 526 which they sell direct for $695.For FM enthusiasts,Yaesu has just came out with the mobile FT-8900 which does 10, 6, 2 m and 70 cm.It’s a bit pricey at $470, but would be really nice under the tree this Christmas (XYL hint).

To operate FM on 6 meters, you need a vertically polarized antenna.Diamond makes the bestvertical antenna, the DP-GH62, which is a whopping 21 feet tall!It sells for $140.For $155, Comet sells the GP-15, which also works on 2 m and 70 cm FM.Cushcraft manufactures the venerable AR-6 Ringo, which is available for $70.

For SSB and CW, a horizontally polarized antenna is necessary.MFJ makes a stacked 2 meter 5/8 that is also a half-wave dipole on six.The 1764 can be mounted horizontally and is only $50.Selling for around $100, Diamond manufacturers a two element beam for six that offers reasonable performance.Cushcraft offers boththree element (A50-3S) and five element (A50-5S) yagis for $115 and $180, respectively and a log periodic antenna (ASL-670) that covers 6 m through 70 cm for $250.

FM operation on 6 meters is similar to 2 meters, with both simplex and repeaters.I have the Alinco DR-M06 and a Comet GP-15 vertical up 20 feet.With that setup, I can hear (but not work) a couple of repeaters in the Richmond and Washington areas.With the tall Diamond antenna, I’d probably be able to hit them.During band openings, I’ve made contacts with stations through repeaters in Florida and the Mid-West.Repeaters on six use offsets of 0.5, 1.0 and 1.7 MHZ and many repeaters use “PL” tones, so a repeater directory is a must.The Alinco DR-M06 has 100 memory channels, so I programmed almost all possible repeater frequencies into memories so I can scan for band openings.The primary FM simplex calling frequency is 52.525 MHz.Mostsimplex activity occurs there.During band openings it is very congested and you’ll find stations on other simplex frequencies, such as 52.54 MHZ and 52.49 MHz and several others.I monitor 52.525 MHz almost all the time to catch the infrequent band openings.There are also some local stations that I work regularly in Maryland and Delaware.We took the Alinco mobile with us on vacation last year and worked a few stations on repeaters.

The most activity on 6 meters is SSB.The SSB calling frequency is 50.125 MHz.During band openings, most of the activity is on 50.125 and higher.I’ve worked local stations in Virginia, North Carolina and Delaware, long-distance stations from Florida and the Mid-West and DX from Europe with my Icom IC-746 and a home-brew Extended Double Zepp antenna.A new horizontal antenna, probably the 2 element Diamond, is at the top of my list for station improvements.

Below 50.1 MHz is the CW segment of the band.Most activity occurs around 50.1 MHz.Most of the DX that I worked was on CW.

Finally, the AM calling frequency is 50.4 MHz.25 years ago, I ran a Lafayette HA-460 and a Cushcraft 5 element yagi with a TV rotor and had a lot of fun.During a good band opening, you may still hear someone on AM.

Accomac and Eastville Repeaters

Use the club repeaters often!Make it a habit to take your handi-talkie with you, turn your mobile rig on when you’re driving and monitor at home.Since 9/11, I don’t go out the door without my handi-talkie.

Accomac Repeater: 147.255 MHz, TX Offset +600 KHz, CTCSS “PL” Tone 156.7 Hz

Mappsville Remote Receiver: PL 162.2 Hz

Cradockville Remote Receiver: PL 151.4 Hz

Eastville Repeater: 147.345 MHz, TX Offset +600 KHz, PL 156.7 Hz

Accomac 440 Repeater: 444.3 MHz, TX Offset +5.0 MHz, PL 156.7 Hz

XYL’s Recipe of the Month

Black & White Brownies

Brownie:

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

¾ teaspoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon salt

½ cup unsalted butter

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 ½ cups sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Cheesecake Dimples:

6 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons milk

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan with aluminum foil. Coat with nonstick cooking spray.
Brownie: In a medium-size bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt until blended.
3. In a large microwave-safe blow. Combine butter and chocolate. Microwave on HIGH for 1 minute or until melted; stir until smooth.
Add sugar to chocolate mixture; stir to combine. Add eggs and vanilla; stir until smooth. Stir in flour mixture until smooth. Spoon into prepared pan; spread evenly.
Cheesecake Dimples: In medium-size bowl, on medium speed, beat cream cheese until smooth. On low speed, beat in flour, sugar and vanilla until blended. Add milk; beat until smooth.
With a tablespoon, make a depression in top of brownie batter. With another tablespoon , drop a dollop of cream cheese mixture into the depressions (mounds will flatten during baking).
Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until firm to touch and set. Let cook in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes. Using foil, remove brownie from pan to rack. Let cool for two hours before cutting. Makes 16 brownies to be served while monitoring 52.525 MHz.

Virginia National Traffic System Nets

The Virginia National Traffic System (NTS) Nets are a great way get training and experience in net operation, traffic handling, and making on-the-air friends.Hope to hear you check-in or “QNI”.

Eastern Shore Emergency Services Net

Monday 2030 EST 147.255 MHz FM Repeater

Virginia Traffic Net (VTN)

Daily 1300 EST 7262 KHz LSB

Virginia Side Band Net (VSBN)

Daily 1800 EST 3947 KHz LSB

Virginia Net Early (VNE)

Daily 1900 EST 3680 KHz CW

Virginia Slow Net (VSN)

Tuesday 1900 EST 3680 KHz CW

Virginia Net Late (VNL)

Daily 2200 EST 3680 KHz CW

Virginia Late Net (VLN)

Daily 2215 EST 3947 KHz LSB

Maryland Slow Net (MSN) – On-Air Traffic Handling Training Course (contact Andrew, KG4OTL, for more information)

Daily 1930 EST 3717 KHz CW

Club Calendar

October

2Harvest Festival (0730, Sunset Beach Resort)

13 Hidden Transmitter Hunt (1400, Farmer’s Market,Parksley)

19Club Breakfast (0800, Cove Restaurant, Melfa)

November

10Club Meeting (1400, Moose Lodge, Nelsonia)

Presentation:ITU, Will, KU4ZR

16Club Breakfast (0800, Cove Restaurant, Melfa)

December

15Club Breakfast (0800, Cove Restaurant, Melfa)

Humor [sic]

A man was flying back to Salisbury after a long business trip.The flight attended assisted him to his seat and gave him a couple of magazines to read during the flight.The plane was not very full, so he was surprised to hear a voice say: “That’s a great looking suit…I really like your tie…Have you been working out?”He looked around and the closest passenger was asleep, so he called the flight attendant and explained to her what had happened. The flight attendant said, “Oh, that’s just the magazines—they’re complimentary.”

Proposed Club Dues Increase

At the November Club Meeting, a proposal to increase Club Dues from $10 to $12 for regular membership and $2 to $3 for family membership will be discussed.

Monthly Club Newsletter Submissions:

Members wishing to submit articles, calendar events and information of interest to other club members for the monthly club newsletter.Send your submissions (MS Works or text format) to Steve, KV4AN, at kv4an@arrl.net or call me on the repeater.Deadline is the Club Breakfast.

Many thanks to Ben, KD4NVK, for printing the newsletter each month.Eastern Shore Printers in Onancock can print 250 quality QSL cards for your station for $40.Contact Donna at 787-4646, ask for the “Standard QSL” and give her your callsign, name, address and choice of cardstock color.