Hellgate Amateur Radio Club

February 12, 2007

Twenty hams or potential students were present at the meeting. Minutes were accepted as presented in the February Hellgate Static. Meeting called to order at 1903 local time by President Jerry Ehli, N7GE.

Old Business

Eric, NZ7S has purchased a board for the 146.90 MHz repeater. Everything looks good so far, and this board has three decoders and three ports.

A letter for donations has been prepared by Bob, N7MSU, Vick, K7VK, and President Ehli, N7GE.

Membership fees are due! I KNOW I HAVEN’T PAID YET! Fees are $25.00 per member and $5.00 per family member.

New Business

President Ehli, N7GE has investigated the possibilities of having mailing accomplished by a company in Missoula. It is a standard “bulk mailing”, and all undeliverable is tossed. The name of the business is “Business Directory” and is part of the Opportunity Workshop.

If anyone needs to use the auto patch, the login code is *51, and the logout is #. Not many people are using it lately.

Morris Campbell, WA7W has recently signed up as a life member and Bruce McCloskey, WB7OTC has donated $100.00. Thank you to both of you from every one present at the meeting.

Lewis, AC7UZ has brought us news regarding a young man that passed his tests in one day here in Missoula. This young man is now overseas and is in India. He is currently at a “bamboo” orphanage and would like to install a transceiver for them to operate. He is looking for a transceiver to purchase in the $400.00 “neighborhood”. He would like to set it up with WINLINK (software similar to e-mail that can be transmitted across amateur radio).

Wilmajean, KD7HP, is curious if anyone within the club would like to join MARS (Military Amateur Radio Service)? Applications are available through her and may be in a future Hellgate Static.

A Technician class will begin instruction next week. Any questions, please e-mail Frank, W7PAQ.

The March program is expected to be Lance Collister, W7GJ. He will discuss moonbounce and new digital modes.

The April presentation is expected to be presented by Frank, W7PAQ and Donny, W7XY. They will discuss APRS.

The Wednesday night net (2100 local on the 147.04 MHz repeater) control stations are:

N7GE / W7PAQ February 14

W7PAQ / W7DHB February 21

W4YMA / AC7UZ February 28

NZ7S / W4YMA March 7

W7PAQ / N7GE March 14

Taxes are unfortunately due. We will need all information on equipment donated to the club during 2006. Please contact President Jerry, N7GE with any information or questions.

Meeting was adjourned and a simple program on knot tying was presented by Frank, W7PAQ. Is that out of the hole around the tree and back into the hole?

TECHNICAL TIPS AND INFORMATION

From the ARRL Contest Rate Sheets
February 7^th and 21^st, 2007

Anybody need a Smith Chart or some graph paper? Check out http://www.pdfpad.com to print out Smith Charts, graph paper and even
staff paper. Another Web page (http://www.sss-mag.com/pdf/smithchart.pdf) has a nice Smith Chart too. (Thanks, Tom KF4YYD and Chris N7ZWY)

Bands are dead and you're hungry for a little Charlie Whiskey? For those of you with an AEA MM-3 keyer, enter **5 on the keypad, then call CQ. If you have the right version of firmware then it calls you back and will QSO with you exchanging name, QTH, equip, WX, relatives, gossip. It will go as long as you can. If you enter **5 , then leave the MM-3 alone, it will start calling CQ. Answer and the QSO starts! (Thanks, Art W6KY)

Jim KG0KP offers this easy, no-filing way to expose the brass body material of a PL-259 for soldering. "A drill press, a wooden jig
clamped in a drill vise, and a quarter inch drill bit (a normal one, not those goofy new ones with the outer cutting point) used like a
countersink bit (just cone the hole) does this 'filing' in a jiffy. Easy and quick. (Thanks, Jim KG0KP)

URL of the Week - How many of us earned the Radio merit badge back in our youth? Is the badge still available? You bet it is! K2GW runs a Radio Merit Badge day once a year at the David Sarnoff Library in Princeton, NJ. They typically get about 50 Scouts to attend and always fill a follow-on Tech licensing course with a dozen Scouts and parents. There's no better way to get more hams (and potential contesters) than by doing this! Gary's Web page (http://k2gw.tripod.com/radiomeritbadge) has everything a ham needs to teach the Radio merit badge, including downloadable presentations. You need not be a scoutmaster or otherwise a member of the troop - you only need to make yourself or your club known to a Scout leader as someone interested in helping Scouts obtain their merit badge.

In a conversation with a professional radio astronomer, Paul NA5N said that "he described a weird phenomenon where the amplitude of the signals would increase and decrease in a random fashion. Of course, every ham knows this is called fading or QSB. However, I thought you might be interested to know what astronomers call this phenomenon: "Ionospheric induced amplitude scintillation with aperiodic variability." Somehow, QSB just rolls off the tongue a bit better -- and certainly off the old Morse code key!

A recent thread on the RFI reflector (rfi@contesting.com) about mobiling noises "Strange radio static problem in vehicle" pointed out
that since cars and trucks are no longer constructed with continuous metal bodies, bonding between the sections will degrade over time, possibly leading to RFI problems where once a solid ground was present. This may not solve your problem, but is a tip to be aware.

If you worry about the size of wire for ground plane radials, Steve N0SM provides a sample calculation. "Say you are dumping 2000W CW into the vertical antenna, and it has a base impedance of 34 ohms. Ohm's Law says that you've got a current of around 8 Amps total. If you're dividing that up among 60 radials, that's 130 mA per radial, well within the current handling ability of AWG26." And that's how to figure it out!

TECHNICAL URL OF THE WEEK -- Jerry K4SAV contributes three Web sites that offer free antenna modeling software based on the NEC-2 software. "The free demo version of EZNEC 4.0 (http://www.eznec.com) is fully functional except for limiting you to 20 segments, which will be good only for simple antennas. Download the EZNEC 4.0 Demo program. The EZNEC help file contains many answers to your questions. Another option is MMANA-GAL, based on MININEC, available at http://mmhamsoft.amateur-radio.ca 4NEC2 is a full blown version of NEC2 including an optimizer, downloadable at http://home.ict.nl/%7Earivoors/Home.htm Have fun!

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STUDY, STUDY, STUDY

The next amateur radio license examinations will be March 22 and April 12, both 6PM at the Missoula Public Library.

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COUNTRY #110 WORKED ON SIX METERS

W7GJ, Lance just put DX0JP in his log for country #110 (station #147 and DXCC #58 off the moon on the Magic Band) on 6 meters. Lance says that "he was -19 dB on JT65A mode when they worked at 13:06, Feb 4, 2007)". Lance believes that is also a new "6 meter FIRST" for 1S (Spratly Islands).

Congratulations Lance!

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MONTANA LEGISLATIVE ACTION VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED

February 13, 2007
Dear Montana ARRL Member,

The Northwestern Division needs your help! In the last couple of Division newsletters, I discussed the formation of the ARRL's Legislative Action Committee. This initiative seeks, with the able help of ARRL members, to insure Amateur Radio's survival by enlisting members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate to support various initiatives. A further explanation appears in February 2007 QST.

At the ARRL Board meeting a few weeks ago, the framework for the program was presented to the Board and was approved. Links allowing member access to the revised Legislative Action Program on the ARRL website should be added by the end of February. This link will be included on the “Member's Only” section.

Also, the Board approved initiatives for discussion with members of the 110th Congress. These are not in any particular priority order; they are dependent on gaining support and sponsorship by Members of Congress. These initiatives include:

Objective 1 - The ARRL seeks legislation to extend the requirement for “reasonable accommodation” of Amateur Radio station antennas (a requirement that now applies to state and local regulations to all forms of land use regulation).

Objective 2 -- The ARRL seeks legislation requiring the FCC to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the interference potential of broadband over power line (BPL) systems to public safety radio services and other licensed radio communication services. Further, the ARRL seeks Congressional instruction to the FCC, based on this evaluation, to adopt improved rules to prevent the deployment of BPL systems having a potential to cause destructive interference to radio communication systems.

Objective 3 -- The ARRL opposes legislation that would diminish the rights of federal licensees in favor of unlicensed emitters, especially unintentional emitters.

Objective 4 -- The ARRL seeks recognition of the unique resources, capabilities, and expertise of the Amateur Radio Service in any
legislation addressing communications issues related to emergencies, disasters, or homeland security.

Objective 5 -- The ARRL supports the complementary legislative objectives of other radio communication services, particularly the
public safety and scientific services that require spectrum access and protection from interference for noncommercial purposes that benefit the public.

To this end, Representative Michael Ross introduced on January 12, 2007, House Bill 462 which “requests a study by the Federal Communications Commission on the interference caused by broadband Internet transmission over power lines”.

On February 13, 2007, the following article appeared on the ARRL website.

NEWINGTON, CT, Feb 13, 2007 -- A bill in the US House of Representatives calling on the FCC to study the interference potential
of broadband over power line (BPL) technology and report its findings back to Congress has gained two cosponsors, its sponsor, US Representative Mike Ross, WD5DVR (D-AR), reports. They are US Representative Steve Israel (D-NY) and US Representative Ron Paul (R-TX). One of two radio amateurs in the House, Ross submitted the "Emergency Amateur Radio Interference Protection Act of
2007" (HR 462) on January 12. Last year, the US House passed a telecommunications bill, HR 5252, containing language that Ross
proposed requiring the FCC to study the interference potential of BPL systems. The study requirement did not make its way into the final version of the bill, however. In a letter to his House colleagues inviting additional cosponsors, Ross emphasized that his primary goal is to minimize BPL's interference potential.

"In the 110th Congress, I have reintroduced this legislation and narrowed the scope of the study significantly so as to not hinder any
broadband Internet deployment that does not cause proven interference," Ross wrote. "The study called for by this bill will not slow, nor frustrate, the deployment of competitive broadband delivery mechanisms. It will not inhibit the deployment of Broadband over Power Line (BPL) systems anywhere in the US. The purpose of the study is to ascertain what additional rules should be adopted by the FCC governing BPL systems in order to reduce the interference potential to a reasonably low level."

Ross said that as a radio amateur, he believes it's imperative that BPL's interference potential be thoroughly examined and comprehensively evaluated. "Power lines are not designed to prevent radiation of RF energy; therefore BPL represents a significant potential interference source for all public safety radio services using this frequency range, including Amateur Radio operators," he told his colleagues.

HR 462 would require the Commission to address several technical facets, including variations in BPL emission field strength with
distance from power lines and a technical justification for using a particular distance extrapolation factor when making measurements.
The FCC also would have to investigate the degree of notching necessary "to protect the reliability of mobile radio communications," and provide a technical justification for permitted BPL radiated emission levels relative to ambient noise levels. Finally, the study would have to outline options for new or improved BPL rules aimed at preventing harmful interference to public safety and other radio communication systems.

Ross's bill zeroes in on some of the same issues the ARRL cited last October when it asked the US Court of Appeals -- DC Circuit to review certain aspects of the Part 15 BPL rules. The League's Petition for Review asserts that the BPL rules "exceed the Commission's jurisdiction and authority; are contrary to the Communications Act of 1934; and are arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and otherwise not in accordance with law."

HR 462 has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. If Ross's measure is adopted by both houses of Congress and signed by the president, the FCC would have to undertake a study of BPL's interference potential within 90 days of enactment and report to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

If needed, Bills that might harm or be of detriment to Amateur Radio will also be added.

We need assistance with this program in Montana by appointing Legislative Action Assistants providing communication and information to the following elected members of the U.S. House and Senate from Montana:

                Senator Max Baucus
                Senator Jon Testor
                Representative Dennis Rehberg

Finally, a Montana State Legislative Action Coordinator is needed. This person will serve to coordinate the program with volunteers and ARRL members in Montana.

Training, material and other essentials to successfully communicate our message will be provided. If you have an interest or need further information, please contact me at k9jf@arrl.org .

For those ARRL members not directly participating as appointees to this program, we will request letters and e-mails be written to your elected Federal representatives a needed.

Thanks, in advance, for your interest and willingness to help insure the long-term survival and viability of Amateur Radio.

73,
Jim Fenstermaker K9JF
Director
ARRL Northwestern Division
K9jf@arrl.org

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Thanks Members!

Thanks to the following amateur radio operators for their support of the Hellgate Amateur Radio Club (Feb 24, 2007).

Returning	Members	New	Members
AC7UZ	Lewis Ball	KC0AJD	Kathy Brummit
K7BA	Bob Black	KC7DPF	Todd Clark Family
K7IMZ	Gerry Nelson	KC7UZJ	Jack Randolph
K7VK	Vick Applegate	KE7IZG	Michael Leary
KC5WRA	Donna Pecastaing	KE7JQC	Liz Myers
KC7RBC	Jackie Harrington	KE7JQD	Elmer Myers, Jr
KD7BIG	Bill McGuire	N0XPO	Jim Brummit
KD7HP	Wilmajean French	WB7OTC	Bruce McCloskey
KE7WR	Kevin Goffe
KJ7NL	Walter Bradford
KK7UV	Steve Flood
N7FMW	Ruth Scott
N7GE	Jerry Ehli
N7MSU	Bob Henderson
N7STM	Jerry Willis
N7TAE	Wayne Van Meter
N7WKR	Mike Boxell
NL7WB	Greg Lee
NZ7S	Eric Sedgwick
W4YMA	Bill Farrell
W7DHB	Dennis Barthel
W7KNT	John Vugteveen
W7PAQ	Frank Kisselback
W7XY	Donnie Fort
WA7W	Morris Campbell

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a question of intent

February 21, 2007 ARRL Contest Rate Sheet

Welcome to all of you new HF operators! You will find HF operating to be incredibly interesting and incredibly challenging. There are a huge variety of operating events and wild changes in propagation. You will be able to use the ionosphere in brand new ways and the upcoming ARRL DX SSB contest is a great way to start. You can operate on 10 meter SSB or perhaps join a multi-operator effort nearby. Either way, you're going to have a ball - welcome!

If you do decide to enter the contest, be sure to send in your log so that your score can be listed in the results. As a consequence of
sending in the log, you'll also receive a Log Checking Report (LCR) that gives you invaluable feedback on how well you copied all of the information in the contest. Your first LCR may surprise you with the errors that you made - I know I was sure surprised to see my score shrink because penalties were assessed for logging errors.

I was a little embarrassed until I realized that I wasn't being accused of cheating. I was simply being assessed something similar to a five-yard penalty for jumping offside! I made a mistake, that's all. I wasn't corking my bat, just failed to execute. I decided to improve my accuracy and my scores improved, as well.

Some folks get their hackles up when a penalty is assessed because they feel accused of intentionally violating a rule. We all know
that there are some people that “do” intentionally violate rules - they're called cheaters. But that is certainly NOT the only reason for penalties to exist.

I'll say it again - assessing a penalty is NOT an accusation of cheating. True, penalties keep people that attempt to cheat from an ill-gotten gain, but the penalty does not brand every bad QSO a dishonest QSO or accuse an operator of dishonesty. That is jumping
to unwarranted conclusions. (Before I go further, let me insert the disclaimer that while I am the Chair of the Contest Advisory
Committee, these are my personal opinions and not CAC or ARRL policy.)

Let's go back to why we have contests and why we have amateur radio. Contests are a means of increasing an operator's skill and technical abilities. Contests are fun, sure, but there is no mention of "fun" in the FCC's Basis and Purpose for the Amateur Service, Rule 97.1. By being an enjoyable activity, contests get people on the air and that furthers the mission of the Amateur Service. That is why the ARRL and other organizations encourage and sponsor contests – they make for better amateurs, technically and operationally.

But enjoyment can not be the primary purpose of “any” amateur radio activity - it must go hand in hand with advancement of personal skills and capability. That's what justifies us as a licensed service with protected access to valuable spectrum.

So - why have penalties? Why not just remove the QSO? Because no penalty means there are no consequences for sloppy operating - I'm not saying dishonest operating, I'm saying sloppy operating. Guessing, assuming, being distracted, not making that extra effort to
get things...RIGHT. That's what the penalty is all about. (A small fraction of penalties are in the "blown call" or "brain freeze" category, but let's not get hung up on that miniscule fraction. Stuff happens.)

The penalty and the log checking which generate it are simply tools to notify the operator that information was not transferred with 100% accuracy. And yes, that includes the typing or printing. Would it be OK to say, "I copied that Health and Welfare traffic perfectly in my head, but I made a typo on the phone number - sorry it didn't get delivered. Just forget about it, OK?" No, it would not! Messages and the contest QSOs they emulate need to be transferred from origin to destination with 100% accuracy. Anything less is a broken or "busted" contact.

The attitude of, "But I was only one character off!" is baloney. A QSO is a two-way exchange of information. Was it successful or was it not? If not, something bad happened on either or both ends and the operators need to know about it to fix the problem. Which is the better 300-QSO log; one that had 375 QSOs as submitted with 75 busted or a 300-QSO error-free or "golden" log? Why should they both result in the same performance metric - i.e. score?

The current system of log checking and penalties is not extreme, it is applied equally to all, and points the Good Arrow firmly in the
direction it should be pointing. There is still debate about penalties and the size of the penalty is certainly up for discussion. Nevertheless, accuracy is now recognized as desirable and important as an operating skill. Is this a problem? I don't think so.

73, Ward N0AX

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HMMM, NICE DRAWING

A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was. The girl replied, "I'm drawing God." The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like." Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a minute."

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INTERESTING NEWS FROM THE 2006-2007 WINTER

Recently I have heard that North Dakota has broken a long standing record for the amount of snow angels. Minnesota, the previous holder of the record has vowed to regain their previous title.

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SOME HISTORY OF THE NAMEs HELLGATE AND MISSOULA

Though we have no idea of how the selection of "Hellgate Amateur Radio Club" from the earlier "Missoula Amateur Radio Club" came about, Hellgate does have a unique history to the Missoula area. The term "Hell Gate" was applied to the steep walled narrow canyon just on the East edge of Missoula that is filled by the Clark Fork River (previously the Missoula River).

Early French Canadian trappers termed it "Porte d'Enfer," or Gates of Hell, due to the stories of ambushes on other Indian tribes by the Blackfeet. The Blackfeet and Flat Head (Salish) Indians and maybe others were known to battle one another within the narrow canyon, a primary route East to the great plains of Eastern Montana and the vast herds of buffalo.

Captain Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark expedition traveled and camped near Missoula in July 3 & 4, 1806 on his way East from their Western march to the Pacific Ocean. He traveled beyond the Hell Gate and up the Blackfoot river to enter US Territory on the continental divide. British explorer David Thompson also passed through this way in the early 1800s mapping the area.

In 1860, FL Worden & CP Higgins located a trading post about 4 miles West of current day Missoula calling it Hell Gate Village.

Missoula is derived from a Salish word (some would say corrupted),"Nemissoolatakoo" or "lm-I-sul-e" with several meanings. Commonly heard are " by the shining waters" and "near the cold, chilling waters". The later, some attribute to the Indian conflicts within Hellgate Canyon. A good but lengthy read on the subject is at http://www.memoriallibrary.com/NA/IndianWhite/pt2ch12.htm.

So, even though uncertainty remains about how we became the "Hellgate ARC", we do know that the name is not the biblical gate to "hell". But rather is tied to a significant Missoula geographic landmark with a rich history of those who passed through the Hell Gate.

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THE NEW HF FREQUENCY BAND MAP

As of February 23, 2007, the FCC changed the way all hams look at the HF bands. To help you out, Vick, K7VK, has put the new band plan and the “Considerate Operator’s Frequency Guide” on the Hellgate Amateur Radio website (please see the first page). Otherwise, you can go to the ARRL website and find them on http://www.arrl.org/HFWelcome/Welcome.pdf .
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DAH DAH DI DAH, DI DAH DI, DI DAH DI DI (QRL)

We hope the HELLGATE STATIC was interesting for you this month. Let us know if this newsletter is to your acceptance. So far, I’ve only heard good things. If there is something YOU would like to see, or that you feel is overdone, please let me know. This is the Hellgate Amateur Radio Club newsletter, not mine! If you have something (even a simple one-liner) please write to me at our address or e-mail me (Craig, KE7NO) at twincreek@blackfoot.net.

I have included a membership application within this Hellgate Static. Use it, just like I have. Hopefully you will feel embarrassed that you haven’t paid for your membership. The standard membership is $25.00 per person, BUT, it is only $5.00 more per family member.

March is the “end” of the winter contest season. March 3-4 is the time of the ARRL International Phone contest. It is always a fun contest, and it is a good time to “pick-up” missing countries. March 10-12 has QSO parties for Wisconsin, Oklahoma, and our neighbor Idaho, and the North American RTTY sprint. The 17-19 brings us the Russian DX contest, the Virginia QSO party, and the 10-10 mobile contest (we’ll see if there is more activity after the FCC changes). March 24-26 is another filled weekend with the CQ WW WPX SSB contest and the EU EME contest (432 MHz and 5.7 GHz).

HELLGATE AMATEUR RADIO CLUB

PO Box 3811

Missoula, MT 59806

Application for Membership

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Please circle the appropriate answer:

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New member dues are $2 per month + $1 from date of application; renewals are $25 per year, family members $5 each.

Please mail the application to the above address or bring it to the next meeting