"Show and Tell" 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.
Christmas is coming...Leave your QST,CQ or WR magazine with the page marked and item circled for Santa's Helpers, or the 800# of those elves at Ham Radio Outlet. Remember, you deserve that new radio item you want! It is your responsibility to have modern reliable equipment to meet your obligations to community service...(How am I doing so far?-Editor)
As the primary agency responsible for securing a launch opportunity for Phase 3D, I am pleased to announce that AMSAT-Germany and Arianespace have now come to an agreement calling for the launch of P3D as a secondary payload aboard the first suitable Ariane 5 flight, Meinzer said in a statement from Marburg, Germany. From the very beginning of the Phase 3D project, we considered the Ariane 5 series our primary launch vehicle. Our long history of success and mutual cooperation with both the European Space Agency and Arianespace, coupled with our need to lift P3D into a high geostationary transfer orbit, made the Ariane 5 the unanimous choice by AMSAT.(FROM AMSAT/ARRL NEWS RELEASE)
The 1999 Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) with Scout Troop 189, Kamehameha District, Aloha Council was a resounding success with support from Ko`olau Amateur Radio Club
John Ching KH7NA, and his son, Jonathan KH7NB, of troop 189 did a very professional job preparing the operating position and cooking shelters to host our KARC volunteers. The scouts arrived on Friday and settled into the Kuou campsite within our favorite QTH, the Ho`omaluhia botanical garden. Saturday morning found Al Kaopuiki AH6PT, Art Nielsen AH6PZ, Art's XYL Marge, and yours truly, Doug White WH7E, busily overseeing the scouts in setting up our gear and small antenna farmette. Thanks to Walt AH6OZ for the Icom HF rig, the MFJ tuner, and the R-5 vertical antenna which he generously lent to the effort. Art brought along his Yaesu HF rig, a deep cycle battery, and a homebrew multi-band dipole. Al supplied all the antenna footings, poles and guying materials. Peter NH6VB provided us satellite predictions for the day, but we just never got around to trying to use them (maybe next year!). I supplied ... the 2X1 callsign and comic relief. After a few dry runs performed in advance, the gear all worked fairly well once we determined that the vertical needed to get well off the ground. Al's 20' piece of copper pipe handled that task for the vertical, while Art's telescoping mast for the dipole was more convenient for swapping the jumpers as we changed bands.
Once on the air the scouts took a little while to get into the mood and overcome a typical case of microphonophobia (a dreaded affliction...). At first we were a bit concerned when the only QSO we had was just over the Ko`olaus to Wahiawa. Not long after that, our new scout friend, David, by persistently calling "CQ Jamboree" finally hooked up with Troop 106 in Minnesota on 10m phone. David and another scout, Jeff, worked together and tracked down another QSO on 15m about an hour later with some boys in Salem, OR. As this was also a Camporee weekend, from time to time the scouts would engage in firestarting and first aid instruction, but David and myself managed to have another nice QSO with a young scout named J.J. operating in Seattle.
The most memorable QSO of the event took place over the course of an hour before dinner. David, John and Jonathan had a nice QSO with a special-event Jamboree station operating from 250' below sea-level at Furnace Creek, Death Valley. The control operator on that end was hosting 8 boy scouts and 1 girl scout and I think our boys talked to just about all of them. The conversations would flow from scout ranks, to merit badges, from television shows to professional sports, and from deserts to our lush QTH. Not only were the scouts having a great time, but even us control operators (at both ends) could be heard belly laughing in the background. These events are proof positive that amateur radio is about FUN!
The scouts treated us like VIPs; cooking for us and even performing skits for our campfire lounging entertainment. With more lead time next year, this event will be even better. John regaled us with tales of legendary intra-troop chili cookoffs and Dutch Oven baking contests. As Al said, next year he'll "bring his fork!" Unfortunately an evening drizzle compelled us to stow the gear for the night, but we were able to brainstorm a lot of ideas that we intend to build upon for our effort next year. Sunday morning the scouts whipped up another excellent meal for the KARC gang and then they had to pack up early to return their camping equipment. Not wanting the fun to end, the KARC members, joined Sunday morning by Eddie Boswell KH7TY, stayed for the morning and worked a little bit of DX before breaking down our site and leaving with some good memories. If you like silly QSO conversations, cross-generations camraderie, good food and helping to cultivate the future members of our hobby, please consider participating next year in the KARC JOTA event.
Troop 189 scouts in attendance at JOTA 1999: Jonathan Ching, Acting Senior Patrol Leader, KH7NB Jeffrey Bell, Acting Patrol Leader (working on radio merit badge) Craig Anderson, KH7UH Zac Coe, KH7UG Alex Perkins (working on radio merit badge) David Weedling (completed radio merit badge at JOTA) John Ching, Acting Scoutmaster, KH7NA73s, Doug. WH7E
1. Meeting was called to order at approximately 9:45 AM. Due to scheduling conflicts, Walt, Clem and Randy were unable to attend, and treasurer L. Young presided.
2. Normal round of self introductions was conducted. There were 20 members and guests present.
3. Order of business was reversed to allow our guest speaker to make his presentation and return to his post. Program chairman Al, AH6PT, introduced Lt. John Thompson of HPD, District 4 (Kailua./Kaneohe). Lt. Thompson is responsible for the district's Y2K preparedness programs. He gave us an insightful and informative presentation on where HPD stands with this work, and how they anticipate being able to use amateur radio support during the upcoming New Year's eve. During the presentation, Howard Andrus raised a question regarding the possibility of hams participating in a "ride along" program with patrol units, to add ham radio comm capability for those units. Lt. Thompson was receptive to this suggestion, and would be interested in knowing what degree of participation might be anticipated. Any takers??
4. After a brief recess, the meeting was reconvened. Minutes of the last meeting were accepted as printed in the KARC News. Doug noted that the location of the JOTA operating event scheduled for 10/16 had been changed, and that it would be held here at Ho'omaluhia. The treasurer reported that the bank balance as of 9/30/99 was $459.63.
5. Len read the "President's Report" prepared by Walt prior to his departure for the mainland, which summarizes recent activities and items of interest/concern to the club. Added comments: Item 1, participants in the SET, HPD trial run should include Albert (AH6PT) as well as Al (WH6CXI) Kaopuiki who were both involved in the set-up/operation at the Kailua substation. Len also commented on the equipment/antenna set-up and quality of the VHF and HF contacts made at the Kaneohe sub-station. Item 4. Warren provided clarification on several questions on details regarding possibility of early set-up, "big" vs "small" etc. regarding the upcoming mini-hamfest/swap meet.
6. Old Business
a. Our previously announced participation to provide support for the Kailua 5K run was cancelled at the last minute. Race officials had such a low turnout that they felt they could function adequately without radio assistance.
7. New Business
a. In connection with Sid's resignation, question was raised as to the disposition/future of the VE effort by the club. This will have to be explored further.
b. Pete Scheller suggested the possibility of a club sponsored HF net on ten meters, to supplement the VHF net, and hopefully provide better island-wide coverage. Pros and cons of local HF/coverage and the demise of a previous effort on a ten meter local net were discussed. Is there sufficient interest to at least try this again??
c. Show and Tell: Art Nielson briefed the club on his latest project. This month he had the bare circuit board and crystal oven unit. He plans to keep us updated monthly as this one progresses. (Didn't take notes on it and I forgot what this was).
8. Meeting was adjourned at 11:35AM.
1) KARC Members Al, Len, CLem and Walt praticipated in the Otcober 3rd SET exercise from the Kailua and Kaneohe Police stations. Check-ins were monitored on 146.88 and 146.58 (simplex) and made with the Alapai Station on 7.080 kHz. Len and Al can report more if they wish.
2) Art (AH6PZ), Al (AH6PT) and Doug White (WH7E) will be helping John Ching and his Boy Scout troop for the upcomming JOTA event the weekend of 10/16. Anyone interested in helping out should see one of these folks.
3) Mike (AH7R) successfully completed a DXpedition to Kalapapa the weekend of 10/2 through 10/4. He made over 200 contacts to world wide county hunter Hams from one of the least worked counties in the US. One ZL Ham had been looking for this QSO for 17 years! Good work Mike.
4) Plans for the 10/23 Ham Get TOgether are moving forward. Warren Munro has taken the lead on this evern. It now looks like there will be the necessary pair of Card Checkers for folks looking for DXCC and WAS credit. Warren can report more on this event if he wishes.
5) Sid Sneider has submitted a lettter to Walt resigning his position as one of the KARC Directors and as a member of KARC. While not stated in the letter, Sid mentioned over the phone a concern over unresolved liability issues with the upcomming Ham Get Together.
6) In the wake of this resignation Walt has carefully examined the issue of Club liability. Not only concerning the future event but also with respect to things like Field Day and the JOTA event and other activities that may be planned in the future. Walt has exchanged several emails with Greg Greenwood over this topic. Greg was involved in this process in California in the past and offered much insight into what was needed to protect KARC and the membership.
This is the proposed plan that would afford us more protection in the future: A) Incorporate KARC as a non-profit educational orginization. The corporation status isolates KARC, the officers and the members from everything except criminal activities. A local lawyer, who has prepared this paperwork for four different Oahu organizations has offered to do this for free. Walt is supplying him with the necessary information on the club. Paperwork in in preperation. It is anticipated that all will be in place by the end of this year. Any fees for filing will be covered by Walt and that cost will be doneted to the club. B) Join the ARRL Affiliated Club program. Aside from getting a rebate from ARRL on each KARC members' dues paid to ARRl we would be entitled to the ARRL club liability insurance. Other local clubs (BIARC, etc) have taken advantage of this program. BIARC reports that their annual insurance to cover all club events runs about $300.00. This is close to the rebate we would get from ARRL.
Walt has received all the necessary forms from ARRL. He is in the process of filling those out. One requirement is that 51% of KARC's voting membership needs to belong to ARRL. This is also in place. Jerry reports that there are 41 memebrs in good standing, 29 of which indicate that they are members of ARRL.
The person at ARRL indicated that this process takes about 3 to 4 months. Following that we will look into the insurance issue and report back what we have learned on that front.
On the issue of the Ham G-T at the end of October Walt proposes that we use disclaimers for the attendees that would be agreed to on sign-in. These would indicate that any transactions or transfers of items would be between two individuals and that KARC makes no claim to the condition of anything presented at the event.
Also, we could use as many KARC members as are available for this event to monitor the facility, clean up any potential hazard such as spills, obstructions and the like and to help those attending enjoy a pleasant and safe event. If you would like to ast as an aid to supervising the event please contact Warren Munro.
That's it for me. Hope that this is an enjoyable meeting.
I've asked Kimo Chun to come talk with us in January about his most recent DX trip. He is checking his calendar.
Walt
If you looked a bit to the left you might have seen a couple of buildings. There was a complete power generation system and a water system on the 25 acre site. All that is left today of this important radio link are a few pieces of stone foundation covered by mangroves near the edge of Kaneohe Bay.
The Federal Radio and Telegraph Company provided about 1500 words a day from their San Francisco radio facility to the Honolulu Advertiser. The cost was 2 cents a word. This was a quite a savings over the previously used cable system at 16 cents a word. This link also allowed Hawaii to send news to the world.
In 1914, a third tower was erected, this time 608 feet tall. This tower was on site at what is now the location of King Intermediate School. In April of 1917 the world was at war, and the US Navy took over the station and by 1918 it was a government radio station. The Heeia Naval Radio Station was active through the 1950s. It was partially manned by Naval personnel from the nearby Navy Omega Station (Low Frequency Navigation) in Haiku Valley through 1972.
You can imagine the important place in history the radio intercepts in the 1930s through the beginning of the second World War and beyond. The antenna nearest the water was dismantled in the mid-1930s. This radio station monitored the Japanese fleet extensively during World War Two. It's designator was Radio Intercept Station "H", and was linked to the "Main Station" at Pearl Harbor.
If you view this area of Kaneohe Bay from the air or nearby coastal roads, you will notice that there are neat rows of concrete bases that supported 10 Rhombic Antenna Arrays at 70', built in 1943. These antennas were actively in use until the 1950s.
In 1960 the land was transferred to the City and County of Honolulu that authorized the construction of King School. In recent years the area has had other vertical antennas transmitting to all corners of the Globe. These are the internationally famous radio stations of AH6CS, Crox; WH6LF, Howard and WB6FZH/KH6, Greg.
Most of the information in this article was taken from the Alii Shores Newsletter, Volume I, Issue 5, March 1997.
If you know anything about Hawaiian Radio History, consider writing an article like this for the newsletter.- Editor
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
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