Remember, the "Play In The Park" Activity will be from Friday through Sunday, contact Walt, AH6OZ, 263-3872, for details. If you are going to spend the night, remember to stop at the Visitor's Center for your permit and special information related to gate access. We are certainly lucky to have this wonderful park so near to home.
The meeting will be short, and no guest speaker, There are benches attatched to the picnic tables that will be rounded up, or bring your favorite folding chair along with your picnic lunch and stay a while. (Reminder: No Alcohol in Park).
There will be special antenna exhibit, including a Kite Antenna if there is wind on the "Windward" side at meeting time. Mike, AH7R will bring his secret weapon "Double Ended Zepp" for 15 and 20 meters. PSK-31 and other "Special Modes" will be showcased, with presentations on various aspects of Amateur Radio Operating. The Ham Station will be in operation from meeting time Saturday, through Sunday Morning, much like our KARC Field Day operations.
There will be a "Fox Hunt" Demonstration by Clem, KH7HO, and Fred, KH6BI. This is the art and science of Radio Direction Finding. The location of a Transmitter by using high and low technology equipment. A web article about this topic will be serialized in KARC News as space permits, and perhaps a simple directional antenna project too.
Many activities for this special day are still being planned. Don't miss this special KARC Meeting as we guide our club into the next 2000 years!
Please think about what you would like KARC to be doing in the next year and beyond, bring your ideas to the meeting or communicate them to an officer of the club that will share them at the meeting.
"Show and Tell" always needs you to bring something from your shack to show those attending, while you tell about it. Remember, you can not win the prizes, contribute your special ideas and catch up on the latest from your ham radio friends if you do not attend.
There were many others installing antennas and HF and VHF/UHF ham radios at the various HPD police stations, coordination on what to do, which frequencies to use, the initial testing for VHF/UHF and HF propagation, the various testing of the HPD ham gear, meetings, etc., in preparation for the New Year Eve exercise.
I want to thank those in the Windward Oahu, from Waimanalo to Kaneohe, including those who are KARC members who put in their time to help out. To Walt (AH6OZ), Len (KH6NFN), Al (WH6CXI), Al (AH6PT), Mark (KH7UM) who is not presently a member of KARC but may join, and Mike (AH7R) for helping in the initial HF and VHF propagation testing from the Kailua and Kaneohe HPD stations and from NWS in Manoa. Some of these guys where also involved in later testing and also where in the actual December 31, 1999 being on station by 10:30 pm and ready to operate by 11pm.
The following amateur radio communicators where on duty New Year's Eve. At the Kailua Police station were KARC members, brothers Al (WH6CXI) and Al (AH6PT). At the Kaneohe Police station were KARC member Randy (KH7EH), and Mark (KH7UM). KARC member Warren Munro (KH6WM) assisted in getting the Hawaii Afternoon Net (HAN) radio communicators informed on what was going on and to assist with relay if needed on HF. KARC member Clem (KH7HO) helped coordinated the Windward stations and help run a net on the 145.150 repeater as the operating net for Windward Oahu. Information was relayed on the 145.150 repeater after the OCDA net on the 146.880 repeater. Clem also operated on HF to help with relays if needed.
The following windward radio operators also were willing to stand by and assist if needed. They were Lee (KH6BZF), Alex (KH6FT), Mark (KH7NP) in their homes in Kaneohe. Also the Shawn (WH6JY) also of Kaneohe who crossed banded his home base radio to assist the radio operators in the Kaneohe Police station. Shawn also help at the Kaneohe police station in the VHF/UHF radio testing.
KARC member Fred (KH6BI) assisted as a back up radio communicator with Healthcomm at Castle Medical Center in Kailua. Castle now has HF, VHF, and UHF capabilities.
KARC members Richard (WH6T) and Clem (KH7HO) were also standing by to be activated by Oahu Civil Defense, District 4 (Windward Oahu), to be at our assigned station at the Olomana fire station (one of six in District 4) to assist with the Honolulu Fire Department's and the old HPD VHF radios. These radios where to be used for backup communications at the fire stations. The Oahu Civil Defense district volunteers where never activited though everyone was ready to go.
Windward RACES members Bev (AH6NF) was stationed at OCDA and husband Jim (WH6GS) was stationed at his assigned Honolulu hospital for Healthcomm.
There were several other windward radio operators listening and standing by to assist if need be.
Also thanks to the Kailua Amateur Radio Association (KARC) for permitting the use of their Kailua repeater for net coordination.
Even though the Y2K bug did not arrive, an emergency communication system is in place and can be used if a natural disaster occurs.
Editor's Note- KARC Member, WB6FZH- Greg, was one of a handfull of Trinity County (Northern CA) Hams that were standing-by monitoring the local County Sheriff's Department Repeater and the 6,000'high Ham repeater output for any orders to deploy. None came...Greg has now tested all the contents of his Emergency Deployment Pack Including the "food Pack". Reportedly he consumed all the candy and protien bars, cookies, trail mix, canned fruit and chili, washing it down with bottled water, softdrinks and vegetable juice. Luckily, he did not eat the MRE in the pack, as he noticed the 1979 packing date after he ate the brownie(just kidding). Always prepared...he had some malox in his pack too. He says the Peanut Butter flavored protein bars are the best!- 73 Greg-WB6FZH
Permission was finally granted to form a "Battleship Missouri Amateur Radio Club". The tenative plan is to have multiple stations with Ham and Navy MARS stations in the Main Radio Room. The hope is to find period US Navy radio equipment to display also, and be able to document the communications and other electronic equipment used through the long and proud service of the USS Missouri.
PART ONE
VHF/UHF enthusiasts often install yagis and quads at their home stations. Many take them out on camping trips and use them on public service events. But did you know that some enjoy flying the freeways and beating the back roads with one hand on the steering wheel and the other on a rotating antenna mast?
Perhaps you have seen these hams on weekends, intently driving and turning their beams. What are they doing? They are competing in hidden transmitter hunts.
If you've never experienced one of these radio direction finding (RDF) contests, you have missed some of the greatest excitement a ham can have. While there are several names for it such as "fox-hunting" and "bunny chasing," in southern California this sport is almost always referred to as "T-hunting."
Transmitter hunting seems to be one of the best kept secrets in ham radio, even though dozens of hams here consider themselves to be regular hunters. Hunters range in age from the teens to the eighties. Besides keeping the coordinated two-meter hunt frequency (146.565 MHz FM) hopping, hunters love to hash over their exploits by the hour on their favorite repeaters.
The idea is simple: One or two hams take a transmitter, antenna, and some sort of distinctive audio source to an carefully selected spot, then make continuous or intermittent transmissions. Usually they remain stationary, though mobile "bunnies" are popular with some groups. Sometimes there are more than one "T" to be found. Surplus ammunition cans are often used as hidden transmitter enclosures. The hunters, as individuals or in teams, do their best to home in on the hidden station(s) with their mobile and portable RDF gear.
"Techies" like the thrill of finding the hidden T with gear they made themselves. They relentlessly work to improve their setups. Mystery lovers and dyed-in-the-wool contesters love the challenge, because very hunt is a fresh start to a new adventure. Your past performances are forgotten. It's just your team and your equipment against today's hider and the other hunters.
At some point, every ham will find knowledge of RDF techniques useful, because it simplifies such chores as finding a neighborhood source of power line interference or TV cable leakage.
RDF plays an important part in Amateur Radio self-policing. In many areas of the country, including southern California, there are standing agreements between Local Interference Committees and district FCC offices, permitting volunteer ham RDFers to gather evidence leading to prosecution in serious cases of malicious interference.
You have over twenty competitive hunt opportunities to choose from every month in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and Santa Barbara Counties. They are all different in some way, such as time or mileage scoring, day or night start, single or multiple transmitters, intermittent or continuous signal, wide or narrow boundaries. (Or perhaps there are no boundaries at all!)
Most hunts are on two meters with FM signals, but there are occasional FM hunts on the 50, 223 and 440 MHz bands.
END PART ONE
MEMBERSHIP CHAIRMAN-
Jerry Mulherin, WH6BKQ, 235-3042,
email:jerham@aloha.net
MAILING ADDRESS- KARC c/o J.Mulherin, 45-145 Mikihilina St., Kaneohe, HI 96744
KARC WEBSITE & INTERNET INFORMATION