RADIOACTIVITIES
Newsletter of the Argonne Amateur Radio Club
Volume XLII, Number 5 May 2001
In This Issue...
Amateur Radio shows good growth signs • Private citizen going to the ISS is now a ham! • and more!
Club meeting
The May meeting will be the 1st of the month at the clubhouse. The subject will be Field Day and the planning that goes along with this fun event.
FIELD DAY 2001!
The experience will be great-the opportunities many at the Argonne radio Clubs field day site. The date this year is June 23-24. Are you ready? For more information call D. Konecny (K9IB) X6597 or Bruce Epperson (630)252-3495.
HAM RADIO NUMBERS SHOW POST-RESTRUCTURING GROWTH SPURT
Amateur Radio is experiencing a bit of a growth spurt in the wake of amateur license restructuring. FCC licensing statistics as of the end of March – the most recent complete figures available – show a net gain of approximately 6600 current licensees, or about 1%, from last April, when restructuring went into effect. Prior to that, the number of amateurs had remained relatively stable since 1998.
ARRL VEC Manager Bart Jahnke, W9JJ, says the full impact of license restructuring – including the elimination of the 13 and 20-WPM Morse exams – is slowly making itself felt within the amateur community. “For the first quarter of 2001, ARRL VEC test session statistics show that new and upgrading amateurs continue to earn licenses at a rate stronger that that of first quarter 1999 and first quarter 2000,” he said.
“This is a positive trend that we expect will continue over the coming months.”
As of the end of March, according to statistics compiled by Joe Speroni, AH0A, the FCC showed 684,359 current licensees on its books, although the number of active amateurs is believed to be far smaller. Speroni’s figures show that more than 20,000 new amateurs entered the hobby over the past year, while attrition was on the order of 13,600.
Overall, statistics show growth in the number of Extra, General and Technician licensees from year-earlier figures, while the number of Advanced, Tech Plus and Novice licensees declined.
Jahnke says comparing the ARRL VEC’s first quarter 2001 numbers shows that interest in the Extra class license is up by as much as 30% over the first quarters of 1999 and 2000. “Extraordinarily, interest in the General license is up 450% to 650%!” he said.
With the change to a new, 50-question Extra class written element that combines material formerly covered in the 90 questions contained within the old Advanced and Extra tests, some predicted the Extra test would be easier to pass. That’s not proving to be the case this year – at least at ARRL VEC-sponsored sessions, where the Extra pass rate has declined by nearly 7% from 1999. Technician and General pass rates this year have been up on the order of 10% to 12% from pre-restructuring rates, however, at ARRL VEC sessions.
Licensee numbers compiled by Speroni show that the FCC issued nearly 5400 new licenses in the first quarter of this year – more than 2230 in the month of March alone. That compares with around 3730 new hams in the same quarter last year. As would be expected, the vast majority of the newcomers entered the hobby as Technician licensees. March was one of only three months in the past year where the number of new licensees exceeded 2000. For more information, visit Speroni’s Amateur Radio Education Web Site, http://ah0a.org/AH0A.html.
/ARGONNE AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
9700 S. Cass Ave.
Bldg. 222 - A253, Argonne IL 60439
¾¾¾¾¾¾PRESIDENT Bruce Epperson KA9JXU
VICE PRESIDENT Dick Konecny K9IB
V. P. IDAHO Bill Parmley KR8L
SECRETARY Joe Kilar WB9THV
TREASURER Dale Travis AG9H
DIRECTOR Charles Doose KB9UMF
DIRECTOR Dennis Kelly K9LJK
DIRECTOR Jim Specht W9GBL
DIRECTOR Loren Thompson KB9CTJ
¾¾¾¾¾¾
e-mail:
http://www.bigfoot.com/~w9anl / MEMBERSHIP is open to all who are interested in amateur radio. This club is sponsored by Argonne National Laboratory. Employees of ANL or DOE-Chicago are eligible for full membership. Auxiliary membership is available to non-employees.
W9ANL/R is an open repeater, coordinated on 145.19 MHz (600 input). The AARC repeater has been in operation on this frequency pair continuously since February 5, 1982.
W9ANL Packet node runs MSYS on 145.09 MHz.
CLUB NETS: 2 meter fm (1) Regular, every Monday evening at 9:00, and (2) the Night Patrol every night at 10:30, both on W9ANL/R. There is an open packet conference on W9ANL packet node every Monday evening at 8:00; type C at the BBS prompt. The Peanut Whistle Net (PWN) every Sunday at 1:30 p.m., and many evenings at 8:30 p.m. on 1932 kHz (cw/am/ssb), QRP. / RADIOACTIVITIES is published monthly by the Argonne Amateur Radio Club as a nonprofit newsletter intended only for the use of its membership. Material appearing here does not represent the official position of Argonne National Laboratory or the U. S. Department of Energy. Please give credit to the author and to Radioactivities or the Argonne Amateur Radio Club, when using original material published here. Deadline for submissions normally is the fifteenth of the preceding month.
EDITOR Bruce Epperson KA9JXU
EVENTS Lew Garrison WB9PGO
SKYWARN ACTIVITIES Deni Lamoreaux W9DS
PACKET RADIO Loren Thompson KB9CTJ
OCCASIONAL LAST PAGE Bill Karraker W9AVE
Please send club and editorial correspondence to the above address, or to . Please include “AARC” in the subject.
Editorial
by Bruce A. Epperson, KA9JXU
Here we are once again in the warming up part of the year. The trees are green, the grass is too, and the wind blows our antennas around like so much chaff. Ah, to think of summer yet to come and those long, easy days.
Summer may not be here yet but it will be here next month. And so will Field Day. And just think of it. Club members putting up masts and antennas, hooking up cables to radios and computers, checking the oil and gasoline levels on the generators, and making sure that enough coffee and doughnuts are on hand to take care of the operators. One if not two hf stations, a two-meter station, a packet station, and maybe a special mode (if the time isn’t too tight) are planned for our Field Day operation.
I know that the 23rd and 24th of June seem like a long way away but when you think of how fast time goes by that weekend will be here before you know it. It will be time to pack up the necessary items into the car and get to the FD site for a fun time of making sure that we can communicate under field conditions should the need ever arise.
Now, I know that you really want to put in your part and help out to make things easier for all of those participating because the old saw about “Many hands like light work” is still valid.
And by the way don’t forget that this is the month of THE DAYTON HAMFEST. Yes, the BIG one just over in Ohio where you can see all the latest and greatest in radio gear and attend seminars where you can hear about all the latest tips, tricks, and operating modes. You owe it yourself to take the long weekend and experience DAYTON for yourself.
The treasurer’s computer:
by Dale Travis, AG9H
Members: East 34; West 5; Associate 76; Newsletter 9; Retired 29
Balances: Checking $5437.75; Cash $0.00; ANL fund = $70.00
Distributed as: Club $1438.59; Equipment $1028.41; Repeater $1857.83; Packet $1112.92
For the period March 21, 2001 thru April 20, 2001:
Income: Dues $8.00; Club $7.25; Eqp $6.59 Rptr $5.39; Pkt $4.23; ANL $0.00
Expenses: Club $112.58; Rptr $0.00; Pkt $0.00; Eqp $0.00
The address of the AARC web page is http://www.bigfoot.com/~w9anl. Take a look at what is there and if you have comments, send them to the e-mail address on the web pages. The e-mail address on those pages is the club’s e-mail address (), which currently gets forwarded to me.
MISSIONARY PLANE SHOT DOWN OVER PERU SK KD4CKM
Patrick Herman writes “The Missionary plane shot down over Peru by the Peruvian military, included the loss of a ham. Veronica “RONNIE” Bowers KD4CKN. Ronnie and her husband Jim Bowers KD4CKM were on their way to Iquitos Peru from Benjamin Constant in Brazil.
Missonaries Killed in Peru 4/22/01 Jim & Roni Bowers.
Muskegon, Michigan native Veronica “Roni” Bowers, 37, and her 7-month-old daughter, Charity, were killed and pilot Kevin Donaldson was wounded when their Cessna was shot down by a drug-sniffing Peruvian aircraft. A U.S. surveillance plane monitored Peru’s downing of the plane carrying American missionaries, a U.S. Embassy official said Saturday. Map courtesy www.larepublica.com.pe.
“There was a US government tracking aircraft in the area in support of the Peruvian intercept mission,” was the official statement from an embassy official in Lima. “As part of an agreement between the US and Peru, U.S. radar and aircraft provide tracking information to the Peruvian Air Force on planes suspected of smuggling illegal drugs in the region.
U.S. government tracking aircraft used for this program are unarmed and do not participate in any way in shooting down suspect planes Jim and Corey returned to the United States Sunday. They are in North Carolina, where they will spend time with family members before returning home to Muskegon.
Thanks for all the Prayers, Patrick Herman KI8EP cousin of Jim Bowers”
KENTUCKY STUDENTS CHAT WITH JIM VOSS ABOARD ISS
Youngsters at the Woodford County Middle School in Versailles, Kentucky, showed up for school during their spring break to ask questions of astronaut Jim Voss aboard the International Space Station. The contact April 9 was scheduled through the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, or ARISS, program. Voss used the space station’s NA1SS call sign.
Voss’ first outing on Amateur Radio from space as part of the ISS Expedition 2 crew got off to a shaky start because of difficult copy on> Voss’s part. A solid contact for the southern hemisphere pass via Tony Hutchison, VK5ZAI, in Australia, eventually was established as precious seconds ticked by. As a result, only eight students got to ask their questions. Students were networked – or telebridged – with Hutchison via a WorldCom telephone connection for the ARISS contact.
During the question-and-answer session, one student asked about research projects. “We’ve conducted a lot of experiments in space over time,” Voss said. “We grow crystals in space that help us to better understand the structure of crystals.” He said this research might have applications in developing pharmaceuticals and other products. “We do a lot of things we can’t do on Earth by using the microgravity of space,” he said, explaining that eliminating gravity makes research a lot easier.
Food is a favorite question topic, and the Woodford students were no exception in posing one on the subject. Voss said that half of the crew’s meals are Russian cuisine, the other half American. Voss signed off by urging the students to work hard in school and to do their best.
“I think everybody enjoyed it,” said the Woodford County Amateur Radio Club’s Steve McFadden, KA4TJD, following the contact. “It’s been a learning experience for all of us.”
DAVID CLARK, KB6TAM, IS BACK ON THE HIGH SEAS
from ARRL letter
Call him persistent, even stubborn, but don’t call him a quitter, and don’t count him out. Rebounding from the February 7 disaster that sank his first sailboat, the Mollie Milar, David Clark, KB6TAM, again set sail April 11 from Cape Town, South Africa, in a new boat. His goal is to become the oldest person to sail solo around the world. Clark will turn 77 on May 17.
The February maritime disaster in which his sailboat sank also claimed the life of his beloved canine companion, Mickey, who was lost at sea during the rescue. Clark has named his new vessel Mickey in the dog’s memory. The new boat is a 34-foot fiberglass hull vessel.
Now some 800 miles out of Cape Town, Clark has been keeping a daily ham radio schedule with the Pacific Seafarer’s Net on 20 meters, according to Bob Reed, N6HGG. The net has been running phone patches so that Clark can speak with his wife.
Clark’s next port of call is St Helena, where he will take on water and supplies. He expects to reach there in about 10 days. Reed says Clark has been keeping a daily schedule on 14.245 MHz at around 1400 UTC. He’s also keeping in touch with South African hams at 1500 UTC on 14.195 MHz.
Clark says he expects to be back in Ft Lauderdale, Florida – where his journey began in December 1999 – sometime between the middle of June and the first of July. While Clark has some corporate sponsors, he’s been funding his trip largely out of his Social Security income and his occasional clarinet gigs.
For more information on David Clark’s journey, visit http://www.dclark.com and http://www.captainclark.com.
HOPEFUL SPACE TOURIST TITO IS NOW KG6FZX
Wealthy US businessman Dennis Tito, who hopes to be the first space tourist aboard the International Space Station, now is an Amateur Radio operator. Tito, 60, has been in Russia training to go into space.
Last weekend a volunteer examination session was set up for Tito in Russia and he passed the Technician exam. The FCC issued Tito the call sign KG6FZX April 11. It’s not clear at this point how Tito plans to use Amateur Radio aboard the ISS.
Press accounts say Russia has given Tito the go ahead to visit the ISS as part of a three-man team that will blast off April 28 on a 10-day mission.
Tito reportedly is paying the cash-strapped Russian space program some $20 million for the privilege of being the first space tourist. Accompanying Tito into space will be Talgat Musabayev as team commander, and Yuri Baturin as onboard engineer. Tito reportedly will handle communications systems during the flight.