The NODXA. January-February. Northern Ohio DX Association. P.O. Box Strongsville, Ohio U.S.A. Fireside Chat With KB8NW

Transcription

1 Ohio First DXCC Field Checking Club The NODXA RAG NO8DX - Special Event Callsign W8DXA - NODXA Repeater K8MR - PacketCluster & Web-site: nodxa.html Northern Ohio DX Association P.O. Box Strongsville, Ohio U.S.A. Newsletter: wd8iou@adelphia.net Fireside Chat With KB8NW January-February 2007 Fellow DX'ers, It seems 2007 has started out well so far for DXers. January so far has brought us few rare DXpeditions. The second group on Lakshadweep Islands (VU7RG) showed up as promised. The club station at the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (1A4A) made a rare appearance on the air with a new prefix. Bangladesh (S21XA) was on the air for a short period. There was an excellent operation from Burkina Faso (XT2C) that was fun to work, especially on the low bands. The month of February looks like it should also be interesting and will keep DXers busy. Look for DX0JP from Spratly Island to hit the air between February 3-13th. From February 3-21st, look for ZK3RE to be active from the Tokelau Islands. Also, another Aves Island operation will be on the air between February 8-15th using the callsign YW0DX. Hopefully, the band conditions will be good for these stations. Lastly, I hope everyone is surviving the winter season and hope to see you at the next club meeting or possibly at the next hamfest. Also, remember to mark your calendar for the September 22nd, for the ARRL Great Lakes Division Convention. Details will be forthcoming. 73 and Good DX de Tedd KB8NW Congratulations to Linda, N8LRS, for her recent upgrade to General! Her OM, Metro, W8MET, is so proud of her accomplishment. Way to go Linda! NODXA RAG January-February 2007 Page 1

2 Minutes of the October 2nd, 2006 NODXA Meeting The meeting was opened at 7:35pm by the Vice President, Dwaine, K8ME. There were 16 members and 1 guest present. After a round of introductions, the Secretary, Al, N8CX, read the minutes of the September 11th meeting. The minutes were approved as read. The Treasurer, Mary, N8DMM reported a balance of $Ka-Ching! in the account. Pete, N8TR, reported that the repeater is running fine and that he had given Jim, K8MR, a backup computer for the cluster. The original computer was found to have all three internal fans not working after seven years in operation. Once replaced, the computer is running fine. Dave, WD8IOU, reported that he will be out of town next week but will start on the next newsletter after that. Old-New Business The club has received a donation request from a German group for the upcoming XF4DL DXpedition to Revilla-Gigedo Socorro Isl. George, K8KR moved, seconded by Ron, K8VJG, that the club donate $50. After a lengthy discussion, a vote was taken. There were 8 yes votes and 6 no votes with 2 abstentions. The motion passed. Tedd, KB8NW, received an from OK1KT, the winner of the DX Plaque in the 2005 Ohio QSO Party, saying that he would not be able to participate in the 2006 QSO Party. Dwaine, K8ME, thanked everyone who helped out at the NODXA table at the recent Cleveland Hamfest. He also thanked Keith, N8KOL for DXCC card checking. Dwaine checked WAS cards as well. At next years Great Lakes Division Convention here in Cleveland, Dwaine, K8ME, will check WAS cards, Al, N8CX, will check VUCC cards and, hopefully, Keith, N8KOL, will check DXCC cards. George, K8KR, received a 3Y0X card. He stated that there was no NODXA logo. John, K8YSE, reported that he had worked all stations participating in the recent Rt. 66 operating event, including RTTY. He also reported that there was a lot of PSK-31 as well. Glenn, AF8C, reported that John, W8BE, had recently moved into an assisted-living complex. Mary, N8DMM, also reported that John had donated an Ameritron AL80B amplifier to the club. Dwaine, K8ME, reported that ST2A is QRV from the Sudan and that JH4HRF will be active from VU4. Other groups will be going to VU4/ VU7 as well. The members present decided to postpone the raffle until the next meeting. Dwaine, K8ME won the September drawing. Ron, K8VJG moved, seconded by Bruce, N8DJX, that the meeting be adjourned. The meeting was adjourned by the Vice President, Dwaine, K8ME, at 8:16pm Respectfully submitted, Al, N8CX, Secretary Minutes of the November 6th, 2006 NODXA Meeting The meeting was opened at 7:30pm by the President, Tedd, KB8NW. There were 19 members and 1 guest present. After a round of introductions, the Secretary, Al, N8CX, read the minutes of the October 10th meeting. After some callsign corrections, the minutes were approved as read. The Treasurer, Mary, N8DMM reported a balance of $Ka-Ching! in the account. Pete, N8TR, reported that the repeater is running fine. He also reported that the K8AZ cluster was down for about 24 to 30 hours during the CQWW-SSB Contest because of a power failure. Dave, WD8IOU, re3ported that the newsletter is in progress and that anyone with information should it to him. Old-New Business Dwaine, K8ME, reported that 3DA0TM had sent in 8 contacts for the NODXA Award. Metro, W8MET, also received the award. Ron, K8VJG, moved, seconded by Bob, W8GC, to have a minimum $100 donation to any DXpedi- NODXA RAG January-February 2007 Page 2

3 tions supported by the club. The motion passed unanimously. Bob, W8GC, reported that the CARS Christmas party will be held on Saturday, December 9th, at the Independence Civic Center. Deadline for tickets is Friday, December 1st. Al, N8CX, reported that the NOARS Christmas dinner will be on Saturday, December 2nd, at Gargus Hall in Sheffield. Deadline for tickets is November 23rd. John, K8YSE, showed his certificate for working all Route 66 stations during the annual event. He also showed some Japanese publications concerning the recent KH8SI Swaine's Island DXpedition. John also reported that he was informed by the power company that he would have to file a complaint with the FCC concerning some recent noise problems. Tedd, KB8NW, reported that he had received an from Kahn, JA1BK, thanking the club for their donation to the KH8SI DXpedition. Tedd also reported on some other requests for donations he has received. These are: A multinational group to VU7RG, The Lacadives and, a month-long VU7LD during December with Indian operators only. Bob, W8GC, moved, seconded by Bruce, N8DJX, that the club donate $200 to the Lacadives DXpedition. The motion passed unanimously. Action was deferred on the VU7LD Dxpedition. The raffle was won by Linda Sinko. The meeting was adjourned by the President, Tedd, KB8NW, at 8:00pm. Respectfully submitted, Al, N8CX, Secretary Minutes of the December 4th, 2006 NODXA Meeting The meeting was opened at 7:33pm by the President, Tedd, KB8NW. There were 17 members and 1 guest present. After a round of introductions, the Secretary, Al, N8CX, read the minutes of the November 6th meeting. The minutes were approved as read. The Treasurer, Mary, N8DMM reported a balance of $Ka-Ching! in the account. Pete, N8TR, reported that the repeater and cluster are running fine. He also reported that the 1200 baud link is too slow and that spots are experiencing long delays until displayed. Dave, WD8IOU, was not present and thus no newsletter report. Old-New Business Dwaine, K8ME, reported that the repeater renewal application was filed with the $5 fee for Denny, WB8K, printed and Dwaine, K8ME presented Metro, W8MET, with the NODXA Award for working 10 NODXA members. Dwaine also reported that he will send one to 3DA0TM an award as well. Tedd, KB8NW, reported that he had mailed a donation to W0CG for the VU7RG DXpedition. Tedd also reported that DL8LE sent a thank you to N8TR for the clubs donation to the XF4DL DXpedition. Tedd also reported that the Dxpedition to Bangladesh would have the callsign of S21EA. Tedd gave a well-deserved thank you to Steve, N8IS, Tom, WB8N and Gary, NI8Z for giving CPR and aid to Ron, K8VJG, after having a heart attack at a recent CARS meeting. They are credited with saving Ron's life. CARS will be having CPR classes in the near future. Tedd reported that a Peter I DVD will soon be available. Pete, N8TR, reported that the Potomac Valley Radio Club has produced a DVD set on contesting, antennas, grounding etc. and he will bring them in for programs at future meetings. Bob, W8GC and Pete, N8TR, commented on computer contest log checking by the ARRL and CQ and the penalties imposed for inaccurate contact information. They also commented on biggun operators and their antennas for 80 and 160 meters. Tedd, KB8NW, stated that the January meeting will be on the 2nd Monday, January 8th due to New Years Day being on the 1st Monday. The raffle of $17 was won by Nelson, K8DJC. NODXA RAG January-February 2007 Page 3

4 The meeting was adjourned by the President, Tedd, KB8NW, at 8:15pm. Respectfully submitted, Al, N8CX, Secretary QSL Card Care and Feeding David F. Doler Jr., WA3YAY, via eham.net If you're going to print your own QSL cards, have a look at first. What you're sending to that other ham might not last very long if you using a generic brand ink and photo paper. In fact, using the cheap stuff, your card might last less than a year before it fades into oblivion. I received a home printed QSL a couple of days ago from a Ham in Florida. It was a pretty one with a nice bright sunset and all the QSO information printed on it. Knowing from my experience with digital photography and printing, I'll have to keep that card in a closed box unless I want to see that sunset disappear in relatively short order. On my desk are about two hundred cards that I've received that were printed in the 70's and 80' by commercial printers like 'The Little Print Shop'. These were offset printed or maybe by 4-color CMYK process for photos. Done properly and cared for, these cards will last a lifetime. Cards made by at-home inkjet methods probably won't. When I was a novice in the mid-70, I had the stamina to stay on the air for hours on end happily pounding out 20 watts of CW on 40 and 80 meters. This netted me lot of QSL cards. Ever so proud of my accomplishments, I made the mistake of cellophane taping my favorite cards up onto heavy poster boards and sticking the whole think up on the wall. Even the best quality QSL cards are probably not printed on archival quality, acid free paper stock and they eventually my cards interacted with the adhesive on the tape and turned brown - and fell off the board too. To compound my mistake, I attempted to pull of some of what tape remained only to damage the back surface of the cards and is some cases ripped the card too. During a recent work project repairing old engineering blueprints, I discovered a small company in New York City called Talis ( ) that sells bookbinding supplies. They have an archival quality pressure sensitive, thin, transparent paper tape called Filmoplast P that's made from a special wood-free paper that virtually disappears leaving a mend that both looks and feels like the original paper. It won't discolor or damage the QSL card over time. Needless to say, I bought a roll and brought the old cards out into light and did my best to repair the tears and rips. It worked well and the cards should be stable for quite a while. You should store QSL cards in an archivalquality, acid-free box. Tamis also sells these. But if you want to display the cards either on the wall or in a ring binder, be sure that the clear oversheets do not contain unstable chemicals such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyether or acetate as these can, under the right conditions bind to the surface of the card. Also never, ever use the cheap "static"-type photo holders. They are about as un-archival as they come and will surely stain your cards over time. The best combination is a binder with acid-free fiber materials and 'foggy' Polypropylene for a coversheet. These offer the best environment for the cards survival. The way I see it, QSL cards, like a well-kept logbook are a history lesson about your life as a Ham. It's worth sending good quality cards and taking care of the ones your get. One of my favorites is from K1HO aboard the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute's R/V Knorr research ship. I had a QSO with them while they were at sea right over the site of their discovery of the RMS Titanic in That's one that will last a long time. Thanks to the following for their contribution to this months edition: N8TR, N8DMM, KB8NW, N8CX, K8YSE, WA3YAY, AF8C, and the ARRL Letter. NODXA RAG January-February 2007 Page 4

5 NODXA Club Officials for President - Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW ( ) V. President - Dwaine Modock, K8ME ( ) Secretary - Al Moriarty, N8CX ( ) Treasurer - Mary Michaelis, N8DMM ( ) Newsletter Editor - David Autry, WD8IOU ( ) As of July 2006 Current DXCC Entities Total is: 337 New UK Postal Rates ARRL Letter QSL MANAGER Phil Whitchurch, G3SWH (AD5YS), reports that beginning April 2nd, 2007, the UK postal rates will rise across the board by slightly more than 10%. Current situations and for some time now, the 1 USD has been insufficient to pay for the minimum return postage to countries outside Europe. This new increase will mean that 1 USD is no longer sufficient to pay for the minimum return postage to countries *WITHIN* Europe. There is no surface mail service offered by the Royal Mail to countries within Europe. However, they do offer a surface mail service to countries outside Europe. However, at today's exchange rate, the new postage cost is barely met by 1 USD and with the continuing decline in the dollar/pound sterling exchange rate, it is unlikely to remain so. The good news is that the new, 2009 expiry IRCs are still exchangeable for the minimum return postage to all parts of the world. However, very few seem to be using them at present. Please bear the above in mind when sending QSL requests which may not be able to be processed and returned before April 2nd. In particular, the cards for the VP2MTE operation are unlikely to be received from the printers by this date. Please do not send currency other than USDs or properly stamped, 2009 expiry IRCs. If you must use mint stamps, please supply them loose (not stuck onto the envelope). Any QSL requests received without adequate return postage will be answered via the RSGB bureau. Revised ARRL Band Chart Available A new ARRL band chart reflecting all recent changes to the FCC Amateur Radio Service rules as of February 23, 2007, now is available for downloading on the ARRL Web site in either black and white or color versions at FandES/field/regulations/bands.html. Created by ARRL Senior Technical Illustrator, Dave Pingree, N1NAS, the attractive new chart represents a major change from earlier designs. This is the same chart featured in the eight-page "Welcome" tearout section in March QST (following page 48). The entire QST tear out also is available for downloading in PDF format at HFWelcome/Welcome.pdf. NODXA RAG January-February 2007 Page 5

6 NODXA Meetings are held the first Monday of each month at the Gourme Family Restaurant at Pearl Road (Rt. 42) just west of Interstate 71 and south of Rt. 82 in Strongsville at 7:30 PM. Come early and have dinner and meet your fellow DXers and enter the 50/50 raffle. NODXA Application and Renewal Form The Northern Ohio DX Association is a non-profit organization with a primary interest in DXing. We encourage all DXers to join our group and share the interest and fun of DXing. Please complete the application below and send along your appropriate dues or renewal to: NODXA, P.O. Box , Strongsville, Ohio First Time Membership/Renewal (U.S.) $12.00 Foreign Membership (outside U.S.) $22.00 *Foreign Membership (no printed newsletter) (but w/web access for newsletter) $12.00 Name Callsign Address City State/Prov. Country ZIP ARRL Member? Exp. Date DXCC Member? Special Interest Newsletter circulation: Pete Michaelis N8TR, and Mary Michaelis N8DMM The Northern Ohio DX Association P.O. Box Strongsville, Ohio U.S.A Dated Material Please Rush

7 Ohio First DXCC Field Checking Club The NODXA RAG NO8DX - Special Event Callsign W8DXA - NODXA Repeater K8MR - PacketCluster & Web-site: nodxa.html Northern Ohio DX Association P.O. Box Strongsville, Ohio U.S.A. Newsletter: wd8iou@adelphia.net Fireside Chat With KB8NW March-April 2007 Fellow DX'ers, As I am writing this on April 24th, DXers around the world are waiting for the most sought after DXCC entity to hit the air waves. Scarborough Reef (BS7H) is what I am talking about. A large international group of about 18 operators are expected to activate DXCC's smallest entity any day now. The reef itself is quite large, but mostly under water. Last activity was about 10 years ago. The group that went there last time operated from three rocks (about the size of large picnic table) that were sticking above the water's surface (about 4-6 ft.) during high tide. Just imagine, operator(s), radio, antenna(s), generator, operating position (table), and etc... all have to fit on each rock. Under these conditions, this new operation from Scarborough Reef will have a real challenge to fill the needs of many. Also, this is a very expensive operation, the NODXA membership has donated a large amount of funds (the largest ever) to this DXpedition. I would like to wish the BS7 team the best and let's hope that the propagation will be with us. Good luck in the pile-ups. In closing, on behalf of the NODXA officers, I would like to thank the membership for re-electing the same slate of officers for Thank you for showing your confidence in us. 73 and Good DX de Tedd KB8NW P.S. Just a reminder that it is time to renew your club dues. "The Mission of the Northern Ohio DX Association is to promote and support Amateur Radio and the DX Community around the world." NODXA RAG March-April 2007 Page 1

8 Minutes of the February 5th, 2007 NODXA Meeting Open: about 7:30 p.m. Presiding: Tedd, KB8NW Attendance: 13 Minutes: none Treasurer's Report: $Ka-Ching! Tedd began the meeting with a round of introductions. With the secretary under the weather these minutes were recorded by AF8C, Glenn. Tedd reminded us that dues are due by April. Pete, N8TR, said that he had found some old NODXA newsletters. The club started in 1979, and he had Vol. I number 2. He also had one newsletter from a year later. This prompted Glenn, AF8C, to inquire as to the status and location of the club's constitution. Actually no one seemed to know where it could be found. So Tedd asked for anyone who can bring in constitutions from other clubs, to do so by the next meeting. These will then be used by someone to type up a new club constitution. Per Pete,N8TR, the cluster is working fine on the frequency he usually connects to every day. Dave, WD8IOU, is seeking articles for the club newsletter and also is awaiting Al, N8CX, to send him all the back minutes started with the October, 2006 meeting. Sunshine: Stan, K8VI, was in the hospital for a few days (per Dave, WD8IOU). Tedd announced that the Great Lakes Convention Committee has moved the convention site to the Sheraton on Rockside Rd. The convention will start Friday evening September 21 with a get-together at the hospitality suite. On Saturday there will be forums all afternoon and a dinner banquet in the evening. There will be door prizes including a grand prize, an FT897D. This part will be run by CARS and LEARA. The hospality suite will be open Friday evening and all day Saturday until the Banquet. Dwaine, K8ME, moved that the club donate $100 toward funding the hospitality suite at the Convention. This was seconded by Bruce, N8DJX, and passed unanimously when voted. This also should get our club's name on the flyer. Dwaine announced there will be DXCC and WAS checking by NODXA member Keith, N8KOL, at the Convention. There will be VUCC card checking by Randall, KD8JN. Also, some cards will be checked by the Great Lakes Division Director, Jim Weaver, K8JE. The ARRL president W5ZN, Joel Harrison, will be checking 160 meter cards and cards older than 10 years, but by appointment only. Pete, N8TR, announced there also will be card checking at the Mansfield Hamfest, February 11. DXCC and WAS will be checked by Keith, N8KOL. Tedd had received a letter from the group forming up a new St. Brandon DXpedition, seeking financial support. St. Brandon is number 45 on the world most wanted list. The Five Star DXers Association (FSDXA) team is scheduled to operate as 3B7C from Isle du Sud from September 7 until September 24. Bruce, N8DJX, moved that a $100 contribution be sent to that group. Ron, K8VJG seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Tedd had received a letter from David, EB7AEY, wanting support for a Gibraltar operation to be ZB2/4O3AL. The club took no action on this request. Miscellaneous DX that is up, and includes J2, CE1 lighthouse, and 5W. Two Swain's Island visits are coming, one in the spring and possibly one in September. None of those has requested financial support, yet. The 50/50 raffle was $24.00, with Dwaine, K8ME, taking his share for $12.00 as the winner. Tedd reminded everyone of the Dayton dinner banquet seating purchases. The Program began at about 8:05 p.m., as the viewing of the 2006 Peter I expedition 3Y0X video on DVD, taking almost a full hour. The next meeting will be on March 5. Respectfully, For the secretary, by Glenn, AF8C. NODXA RAG March-April 2007 Page 2

9 Minutes of the March 5th, 2007 NODXA Meeting Open: about 7:30 p.m. Presiding: Tedd, KB8NW Attendance: 22 Treasurer's Report: $Ka-Ching! Minutes from the last meeting were not available tonight due to the absence of the secretary. Dues are payable by May 1, We have a new member, K8AJS, John Bastin, of Wooster, Ohio. After a round of Introductions, Tedd and Glenn, AF8C, discussed the sunshine report about Al, N8CX, who is home recuperating after an operation. Linda Sinko, N8LRS, has upgraded to General. Mary, N8DMM, reported that Our donation for the 3B7, St. Brandon, operation has been sent by mail. Pete, N8TR, reported that the repeater is operating well. The Internet K8AZ connection to the Packet Cluster was down over the weekend. Bruce, N8DJX, reported that the K8AZ RF link to the radio-based cluster has been down for a whole month. Dave, WD8IOU, has sent out the new newsletter. Per Mary and Pete, only about 35 hardcopy newsletters are mailed out through the post office. After an ensuing discussion, the decision was made to end hard copy circulation in September, Pete will make sure everyone is notified, by hard copy if necessary, the date of the curtailment. The Pioneer Amateur Radio Society has announced they are offering the opportunity to reserve bus seats to Dayton on Saturday. The fee will be $42.00 for the bus, and $57.00 if also purchasing a Dayton ticket. Tedd, KB8NW, announced that the #1 sought country, Scarborough Reef (BS7H) will be on at the end of April for 10 days. There will be a Pilipino operator in the group this time, which may help end the protesting over island ownership. W6RGG and 9V1YC are organizing the operation. Tedd notified N7NG of the situation. Ron, K8VJG moved, and Bruce, N8DJX seconded, that the club donate $500 to the BS7H operation, and there was much discussion. Upon a vote, the motion passed. Bruce, N8DJX, promised to personally donate $250, raising our total donation to $750. Eventually a basket went around, collecting $350 in cash donations at the meeting. This will make the club total donation $ (There was also a post-meeting donation of $25.00 bringing the total to $875.00) Ron, K8VJG, asked if the same Field Day site should be reserved again this year. We said yes. The ARRL Field Day announcement should be in the April issue of QST. Tedd, KB8NW, reminded us that this is March: the appointed time for officers elections. Secretary Al, N8CX, was re-nominated by K8VJG. Treasurer Mary, N8DMM, was renominated by Bob, W8GC. Vice President Dwaine, K8ME, was re-nominated by Carl, W8AV. President Tedd, KB8NW, was re-nominated by K8YSE, with W8AV seconding. Then Dave, WD8IOU moved, and Gary NI8Z seconded, to close the nominations and accept the nominated slate. Upon a show of hands, the new slate was unanimously elected. Tedd, KB8NW, mentioned the obvious, that our balance has been going down. The question is how to raise our balance. John, K8YSE, moved that in May 2008 the annual dues shall go up to $15.00 effective After discussion that motion was withdrawn so that Dwaine K8ME could make a motion for dues to be $20.00, starting in The latter motion was seconded by Bob, W8GC. The motion passed by at least a majority. On a question, Tedd then recited the history of the beginnings of the OP/DX Bulletin. Dave, WD8IOU, mentioned that our newsletter does not carry a mission statement. Dave suggested something like "Devoted to Promoting DX" but these minutes may need correction. DX this month will be Spratly and Swains Islands. Someone mentioned that March 31 is the deadline for sending in updates for Honor Roll NODXA RAG March-April 2007 Page 3

10 submissions. Glenn, AF8C, warned folks to get them in early, due to his recent experience with the time period it takes the ARRL to move mail from their mail room to the DXCC desk: two weeks. The 50/50 raffle was won by Bill, W8BG, with his split being $ Bill donated his $24.00 back to the club. A runner's up drawing for a new ARRL DXCC listings book which was donated by K8AV, was won by W8GC. Tedd and Bob, W8GC, made a pitch for more help at the ARRL Convention on September 22. CARS and LEARA are running that event. Glenn, AF8C, volunteered to ask the Hamfest Association of Cleveland if NODXA can sell food at a purchased table at the Cleveland Hamfest. Linda, N8LRS, mentioned selling cookies or donuts or pop there. Glenn feels that the Hamfest group will rule out any sales that would take business away from their contracted food vendor. Someone said we should have a volunteer make an NODXA welcome packet for the club to advertise at hamfests, etc. Linda, N8LRS, said she will bring a video camera to Field Day in time to film the whole start of the days events. Bill, W8BG asked about whether anyone had tried weather balloons to hold up wire antennas at Field Day. The meeting was over at approximately 8:45 p.m. The next meeting is April 2. Respectfully, For the secretary, by Glenn, AF8C. Random Signals Looking for a place to rest your weary feet, escape from the hot sun, and maybe enjoy a cool drink during the upcoming Hamvention? Then head on over to Pete s (N8TR) and Mary s (N8DMM) flea market spots #928 and #929. As usual, Pete and Mary will be selling an interesting collection of HUGE soldering irons and guns, various electronic related books, and small tools under the bright white canopy which covers their double-wide lot. This is also a good place to drop off that precious boat anchor for later retrieval. Speaking of the Hamvention, be sure to check out the DX forum on Saturday from 2PM though 4:45PM. NODXA icon John (K8YSE) will be giving a presentation about the totally unexpected KH8SI Swains Island DXpedition. Your humble correspondent has attended John s previous presentations on KH8SI and they have been excellent. Also, NODXA Club President Tedd (KB8NW), will be giving a PowerPoint presentation on the preparation and distribution of a little known rag called the OPDX Bulletin; just kidding Tedd! The OPDX has a subscriber list of well over 3000 and is read by many more Dxers in various DX forums and web sites. T-Bone steaks at Field Day? That is Dwaine s (K8ME) idea of proper field day cuisine. Dwaine will be supplying the steaks at his own expense to encourage people to participate at our club s annual event. What could be better? Pitch a tent, then eat a steak! Make a few Q s then go for the T! (bone). Make your reservations today! Looking for a better way to spin the knob on your radio? The head on over to and check out the Fingerdimple and Kranker products. Both of them are American made and were designed by fellow NODXA er Wayne (K8FF). There is also an interesting video review of the Kranker at Bob (W8GC) sent the following info on the Ohio PRB-1 bill: Please go to the Ohio PRB-1 Information site. This year an Ohio PRB-1 type bill will be introduced in the Ohio General Assembly. The reasons for this initiative should be obvious to all amateur radio operators. What we are asking is that the Ohio General Assembly pass a Thanks to the following for their contribution to this months edition: N8TR, N8DMM, KB8NW, N8CX, K8YSE, AF8C, W8GC, WA9WBV/6, and eham.net. NODXA RAG March-April 2007 Page 4

11 NODXA Club Officials for President - Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW ( ) V. President - Dwaine Modock, K8ME ( ) Secretary - Al Moriarty, N8CX ( ) Treasurer - Mary Michaelis, N8DMM ( ) Newsletter Editor - David Autry, WD8IOU ( ) As of July 2006 Current DXCC Entities Total is: 337 law (and the Governor sign it) which puts the Federal ham radio antenna and tower protections of PRB-1 into the Ohio Revised Code. This information site contains a list of jobs to be filled to make this happen, news about this effort, and our historical and legal basis. ohio/ooc/ohio-prb1-info-site.html RF Pollution by 'Compact Florescent' Light Bulbs A couple months back in another ham radio forum, I mentioned the RF pollution effects of various electronic devices and their danger to all frequencies below 1GHz, with possibly the most dangerous being the "compact florescent" light bulbs. A potentially much worse problem than BPL. Well, one of my fellow hams (wa9wjb) back in my midwest roots hometown area who I first discovered this major problem with has done his impeccable research and yes, you can read up on his findings on the following website. Read and shiver. Where does one address this challenge? The ARRL, our Federal Congress, the FCC, Wal-Mart, China manufacturers??? Who knows how to stop billions of these things being deployed? Oh, and the mercury disposal problem, well that's no different than properly disposing of billions of batteries... Enjoy reading and save your low band dxing by offering all your neighbors free incandescent light bulbs for the asking! 73, Dale, wa9wbv/6 via eham.net NODXA RAG March-April 2007 Page 5

12 NODXA Meetings are held the first Monday of each month at the Gourme Family Restaurant at Pearl Road (Rt. 42) just west of Interstate 71 and south of Rt. 82 in Strongsville at 7:30 PM. Come early and have dinner and meet your fellow DXers and enter the 50/50 raffle. NODXA Application and Renewal Form The Northern Ohio DX Association is a non-profit organization with a primary interest in DXing. We encourage all DXers to join our group and share the interest and fun of DXing. Please complete the application below and send along your appropriate dues or renewal to: NODXA, P.O. Box , Strongsville, Ohio First Time Membership/Renewal (U.S.) $12.00 Foreign Membership (outside U.S.) $22.00 *Foreign Membership (no printed newsletter) (but w/web access for newsletter) $12.00 Name Callsign Address City State/Prov. Country ZIP ARRL Member? Exp. Date DXCC Member? Special Interest Newsletter circulation: Pete Michaelis N8TR, and Mary Michaelis N8DMM The Northern Ohio DX Association P.O. Box Strongsville, Ohio U.S.A Dated Material Please Rush

13 Ohio First DXCC Field Checking Club The NODXA RAG NO8DX - Special Event Callsign W8DXA - NODXA Repeater K8MR - PacketCluster & Web-site: nodxa.html Northern Ohio DX Association P.O. Box Strongsville, Ohio U.S.A. Newsletter: wd8iou@adelphia.net Poolside Chat With KB8NW May-June 2007 Fellow DX'ers, Those that did not attend Dayton this year missed out on a good time and great weather. I have not heard what the attendance was, but I would imagine it was about the same as last year's HamVention. I would have to say there were more foreigners there this year than last year. The DX dinner banquet was very well attended as was the DX Forum. The DX Forum was probably the best and most interesting event than in past years. Speakers were limited to only 20 minutes, but each speaker could have talked longer. The DX Forum was very packed with standing room only. John/K8YSE and I gave our talks early in the program (I was first and he was third). The DX Forum closed with a presentation on the recent Scarborough Reef BS7H DXpedition. I can not wait for the video to come out on this DXpedition. Looks like there may be some surprises on it. If you did not work the BS7H operation, don't feel bad. Talking to some other individuals in Dayton, it seems there were a lot of operators who did not get through (even some from 4, 5 and 7 land). Hopefully, another operation will take place soon with better propagation and during a higher sunspot cycle. 73 and Good DX de Tedd KB8NW P.S. Just a reminder that it is time to renew your club dues. "The Mission of the Northern Ohio DX Association is to promote and support Amateur Radio and the DX Community around the world." NODXA RAG May-June 2007 Page 1

14 Minutes of the April 2nd, 2007 NODXA Meeting Open: 7:35 p.m. Presiding: Tedd, KB8NW Attendance: 16 After a round of introductions the minutes of March 5 were read and there were no corrections. Treasurer's Report: by N8DMM: $Ka- Ching!. We still have a couple of pledges coming in. We have collected $27.00 for the 50/50 raffle, which was won by Glenn, AF8C. Pete, N8TR, reported that the repeater is working fine. Pete also reported that the Packet Cluster is working now. K8AZ has a cable connection with "dynamic IP" and he goes through a service for the dot-no-ip-dot-com connection that some of us use. At times that service's server was not working correctly with K8AZ's IP. A discussion ensued about ISPs and providers. Dave, WD8IOU, was absent so we have no update on the newsletter. Under Old Business, Ron, K8VJG, reported that the Field Day site is reserved. For Dayton, we will still have the NODXA hospitality room. We usually allocate $ for the Dayton activities. Glenn, AF8C, reported that the Hamfest Association of Cleveland has said that no food can be sold at the Hamfest other than by their food vendor who needs the profit in order to continue with the Hamfest. Dwaine K8ME reported that IK3GER Paulo Corsetti has applied for the Club Award, all on CW. Paulo provided documentation for contacts going all the way back to 1985 for K8CW and KQ8M in Tedd, KB8NW, reported that the Scarborough Reef crew did get our donation and is now posting our logo. This month Tedd has received no new requests for donations to DXpeditions. Tedd announced in his DX bulletin an opportunity to purchase a "survival pamphlet" for $2.00. Tedd announced that the club got a free Northern California DX Foundation DVD. Bob, W8GC, also reported getting such a DVD. It appears to be a 20 minute advertisement for the NCDXF. Dwaine, K8ME, drew up a Mission Statement, to wit: " The Mission of the Northern Ohio DX Association is to promote and support Amateur Radio and the DX Community around the world." A copy of Volume 1 No. 2 of the NODXA newsletter was circulated for people to view and pass. Swains Island, N8S, may be up earlier, and on from April 3 through April 15. For estimating GMT, use the western hemisphere for N8S, as 7 hours west of us. George, K8KR, posed a trivia question: In 1914 the ARRL, started by W1AW, created the Elser-Mathes DX Cup challenge. This achievement has never been earned by an amateur radio operator. What was that challenge? Answer: the first two-way QSO between Earth and Mars. Bob, W8GC reported that at the CARS meeting of April 10 will be a program on what goes on behind the scenes of cell phone calls. Also, at the DX Convention on September 22, K4UEE, Robert Allphin, Jr. will be a featured speaker on VU7RG. Bob has been involved in ninety DX operations. There will be a hospitality room. Cards will be checked, including a special checker for 160m. The meeting was over at approximately 8:45 p.m. Respectfully, for the secretary, by Glenn, AF8C. Field Day 2007 By David Autry, WD8IOU It s Field Day time again! June 23 and 24 to be exact. Our perpetual field day chairman, Bill, W8JGU, will once again answer the call to duty and organize this event. The NODXA site is the same as last year, the Mount Augustine Training Center located on NODXA RAG May-June 2007 Page 2

15 5232 Broadview Road in Richfield. Everybody is encouraged to attended this 24- hour marathon, and, most of all, to operate! (Hey, if KB8NW can operate, then you can too!). We especially need CW operators to keep that station running for the full 24 hours. This year the club will participate in the 2A class using three stations: SSB, CW/RTTY, and 6 meters. We will be housing all these stations in two large tents. Here is your chance to operate RTTY if you have never done so. Pete, N8TR, is planning an early setup of tents and antennas Friday evening around 6 PM. Everybody is encourage to stop by and help out; this will decrease the amount of work required on Saturday morning. The contest starts at 2 PM Saturday and ends at 2 PM Sunday. Operators are real scarce during the 3rd shift (12 AM to 8 PM) so it would be a great help for our club s score if we could have a couple more operators during those hours. The club has allocated some money for food and drink so there should be plenty to eat. But we will need some cooks so, even if you don t want to operate, stop on out and flip some burgers! Speaking of food, Dwaine, K8ME, has promised to bring T-Bone steaks for dinner on Saturday! (Limit: one per customer!). Dwaine was also talking about having steak and eggs for breakfast on Sunday! Remember to bring the bug spray, folding chairs, sun screen, and 807 s! See you there! Death of a Radio Company Michael S. Higgins, K6AER, via eham.net Many years ago we watched with some ambivalence the slow decline of the Drake Company from the amateur ranks. Mr. WR Drake had died and his non ham son was at the helm wanting to take the company in a different direction. At the time the excitement was high with new radios coming out from Kenwood, Yaesu and ICOM. We are at a similar fork in the road with Kenwood. Looking at the excitement almost every manufacture experienced at Dayton, Kenwood was one of the loan exceptions. I talked with their North American sales Manager, Phil and he said they have no high performance HF radio in the pipeline. The sales crew looked haggard and tired and when I visited their booth on Friday and Saturday at Dayton, no one was smiling. No give aways, no fluf and the booth was looking old. The booth was for the most part vacant and best served as a short cut to the MFJ booths further into the arena. They had an empty Plexiglas covered box on Thursday during set up and many hoped a new high HF radio was to appear on Friday. Come Friday morning..just a VHF mobile. At the Visalia DX Convention a month earlier, the Kenwood Factory representative left on Sat- NODXA RAG May-June 2007 Page 3

16 urday at noon while the convention show lasted for five more hours. Just some brochures were left on the table. They had a TS-2000 but no one stopped to talk. I would have to say the morale at Kenwood must be very low. Their two-way radio division is doing very well but not having a licensed ham at the helm of the amateur radio division is taking its toll. I feel Kenwood has suffered greatly in the HF community since the TS- 870 was pulled from production with out a replacement. The last high performance design was the TS-2000 which started designed in late The technology is over 7 years old and getting long in the tooth. I have been a Kenwood man for 35 years. My first Kenwood radios were the 599 twins. I own a TS-2000 as a backup radio and it is a very fine $1500 radio but it is not cutting edge performer. I finally went to an IC-756 Pro III when I upgraded my HF radio and as a result also bought several ICOM VHF radios. The lack of a flagship radio does transcend your buying decision for other radio purchases. I saw this downward spiral of esteem with the Drake line after the old man died and his non ham son took over. The rest was history. I hope Kenwood is not on the same path. If three guys at Elecraft can bring out a high perform HF transceiver, the K3 in a year's time it makes you think there is no one left in engineering at Kenwood other than the two way radio division. The crowd at Elecraft booth were two or three deep for much of the show and with every new buyer of a K3 sprouting a proud K3 button his shirt. By the end of the show they must have taken hundreds of orders for I saw K3 buttons every time I looked at the crowd. I hope this is not the case for Kenwood but as a wise man once said: watch what a person does, not what they say. Kenwood's actions are speaking very loud. new HF transceiver at Dayton. This year, there were no fewer than six to drool over. Here, in alphabetical order, is a rundown: Elecraft < announced its new K3 HF and 6 meter transceiver. It includes many upgrade options, so many, in fact, that you can configure anything from a kitbuilt 10 W portable QRP radio to a fullfeatured, contest-ready 100 W rig with *two* high-performance receivers. It is scheduled to ship starting in July. FlexRadio Systems < a pioneer in high-performance software defined radios (SDRs), introduced its Flex HF plus 6-meter transceiver series that promises higher performance and more features than its earlier model. Included are the Flex- 5000C, a fully integrated system in a single box, and the Flex-5000D, which includes a second receiver. New Gear Debuts At Dayton ARRL Letter It's always a treat to get your first look at a Thanks to the following for their contribution to this months edition: N8TR, N8DMM, KB8NW, N8CX, K8YSE, AF8C, K6AER, eham.net, and the ARRL Letter. NODXA RAG May-June 2007 Page 4

17 NODXA Club Officials for President - Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW ( ) V. President - Dwaine Modock, K8ME ( ) Secretary - Al Moriarty, N8CX ( ) Treasurer - Mary Michaelis, N8DMM ( ) Newsletter Editor - David Autry, WD8IOU ( ) As of July 2006 Current DXCC Entities Total is: 337 Hilberling, the first Amateur Radio transceiver maker from across the Atlantic for some years, announced its PT-8000 transceiver. It's offered as a full-featured HF and VHF transceiver available in 10, 100 or 600 W versions. The North America distributor is Array Solutions < Ten-Tec < has its new Omni-VII HF + 6 meter transceiver on display. The unit's "distributed roofing filter architecture" promises ham-band-only receive performance with a general coverage receiver. Stay tuned for the "Product Review" in July QST. ICOM < unveiled its IC-7700 HF + 6 meter transceiver. It appears to be a single-receiver version of its top-tier IC-7800, sharing the 200 W transmitter, high performance receiver and 7-inch display of its sibling. Contesters are the market target, but the IC-7700 may be of interest to anyone who covets the features of the IC-7800 but doesn't need two receivers or the higher price tag. Finally, Yaesu < showed its new FT-450 HF + 6 meter offering. The FT-450 bears some similarities to the Yaesu FT-2000, but with fewer features and a correspondingly lower price. NODXA RAG May-June 2007 Page 5

18 NODXA Meetings are held the first Monday of each month at the Gourme Family Restaurant at Pearl Road (Rt. 42) just west of Interstate 71 and south of Rt. 82 in Strongsville at 7:30 PM. Come early and have dinner and meet your fellow DXers and enter the 50/50 raffle. NODXA Application and Renewal Form The Northern Ohio DX Association is a non-profit organization with a primary interest in DXing. We encourage all DXers to join our group and share the interest and fun of DXing. Please complete the application below and send along your appropriate dues or renewal to: NODXA, P.O. Box , Strongsville, Ohio First Time Membership/Renewal (U.S.) $12.00 Foreign Membership (outside U.S.) $22.00 *Foreign Membership (no printed newsletter) (but w/web access for newsletter) $12.00 Name Callsign Address City State/Prov. Country ZIP ARRL Member? Exp. Date DXCC Member? Special Interest Newsletter circulation: Pete Michaelis N8TR, and Mary Michaelis N8DMM The Northern Ohio DX Association P.O. Box Strongsville, Ohio U.S.A Dated Material Please Rush

19 Ohio First DXCC Field Checking Club The NODXA RAG NO8DX - Special Event Callsign W8DXA - NODXA Repeater K8MR - PacketCluster & Web-site: nodxa.html Northern Ohio DX Association P.O. Box Strongsville, Ohio U.S.A. Newsletter: wd8iou@adelphia.net Poolside Chat With KB8NW July-August 2007 Fellow DX'ers, September should be an interesting month for Northern Ohio hams. Start making plans to attend the 2007 ARRL Great Lakes Division Convention and the Cleveland Hamfest. Everything begins on Friday evening September 21st with individuals checking in at the Sheraton Independence Hotel and the opening of the CARS, LEARA and NODXA hospitality room. There will be card checking for DXCC, WAS, VUCC, Low Bands and VHF. Meet and greet hams, Dxers and Contesters from all over. There will be a great line-up of speakers for the seminars on Saturday for DXers/Contesters and your new/average ham. Some of the Contester/DXer speakers to talk are: Bob Heil/ K9EID and Chip Margelli/K7JA (from Heil Sound), Tim Duffy/K3LR, John/K8YSE, Bernie/ W3UR, Don/K8MFO and Bob/K4UEE. Card checking will also happen on Saturday in the hospitality room. The convention will end with a dinner banquet and ARRL President Joel Harrison/W5ZN as guest speaker, as well as some great prizes. Hope you can attend. Who knows when the next convention will take place in the Cleveland area. If you have not heard, a change will be taking place with the NODXA newsletter after September. Since the NODXA's Reflector is working well, the newsletter will now be only available on the Web (unless you really want one via the mail). The majority of most clubs are now doing this to help save funds. As over the past several years, an announcement will be made over the club's Reflector when a new newsletter is available. Having it on the club's Web makes the newsletter more flexible (color, not being restricted with the amount of pages, easier to save on the computer...). Hope you enjoy the change. NODXA RAG July-August 2007 Page 1

20 Lastly, if I don't see you at the 2007 Great Lakes Division Convention, I hope to see you at the Cleveland Hamfest. Enjoy the last few days of summer, it is going fast. 73 and Good DX de Tedd KB8NW Minutes of the May 7th, 2007 NODXA Meeting The meeting was opened at 7:36pm by the President, Tedd, KB8NW. There were 25 members and 1 guest present. After a round of introductions, the Secretary, Al, N8CX, read the minutes of the April 2nd meeting. The minutes, taken by Glenn, AF8C, were approved as read. The Treasurer, Mary, N8DMM reported a balance of $Ka-Ching! in the account. Pete, N8TR, reported that the repeater and cluster are running fine. Dave, WD8IOU, reported that the newsletter is in progress and that the current issue will be out soon. The issue published before Field Day will contain a map to the Field Day site. Dwaine, K8ME, reported that he is taking orders for ARRL Field Day t-shirts. They are $13 each. Dwaine also said the he will be ordering steaks for the big Field Day dinner and wanted a count of those planning on attending. Tedd, KB8NW, reported that the hospitality suite at Dayton is all set and reminded everyone to get ready for the Hamvention. Ron, K8VJG, moved, seconded by Carl, K8AV, to allocate $250 for Field Day expenses. The motion passed unanimously. Pete, N8TR, reported the he and Mary, N8DMM will be at flea market slots 928 and 929 at Dayton. They invited everyone to stop by and rest and drop off any heavy packages they had purchased. Tedd, KB8NW, reported that there will be #1 DXer (identity not stated), at the hospitality suite. John, K8YSE, will be giving a presentation on Swains Island. Tedd, KB8NW, reported that he has received a donation request from W3WL for the 3B7C St Brandon DXpedition. We have already sent $100, but they would like an additional donation. Bruce, N8DJX, said that he will donate the additional $100. Tedd, KB8NW, will W3WL saying the we will donate the additional amount. Ron, W8WH, reported that all Hamvention rooms at the Crowne Plaza are filled. Pete, N8TR, reported that contest forums and clubs are filling up the rooms. Ron, K8VJG, was the first member of the club to work the BS7H on Wednesday, May 2. Congratulations to Ron were accorded. Tedd, KB8NW, reported the Amateur Radio Newsline reported that we might have and additional year in the sunspot null before we start to climb out. The 50/50 raffle was again won by Glenn, AF8C. The amount was $24. The meeting was adjourned by the President, Tedd, KB8NW, at 8:11pm. Respectfully submitted, Al, N8CX, Secretary Minutes of the June 4th, 2007 NODXA Meeting Open: 7:35 p.m. Presiding: Tedd, KB8NW Attendance: 13 The meeting started with a round of introductions. Unfortunately the secretary was absent and we didn't have access to his minutes from his car which was parked at Southwest General. Treasurer's Report: by N8DMM: $Ka-Ching! We have collected $27.00 for the 50/50 raffle. On Sunshine reports: N8CX is in Southwest General Hospital getting some emergency antibiotics. W8JGU has recently under the weather with food poisoning. Pete, N8TR, reported that the repeater is working fine. It was reported by AF8C that the Packet NODXA RAG July-August 2007 Page 2

21 Cluster was down on Sunday of the CQ WPX CW contest. Dave, WD8IOU, was absent so we had no update on the newsletter. Under Old Business, Tedd presented a wrapup on the Dayton activities and the hospitality suite. $ was spent, out of $ The room was open but there were no signs and access to that floor was confusing. Friday night was packed. More soda pop and less beer was drunk. Both "Goose" W8AV and Don, W8MFO, each donated $20.00 toward the hospitality. Total donations were $ The weather was good at Dayton. Software Defined Radio technology was gaining attention. Dwaine, K8ME, reported that the W9DXCC Convention wants patch donations. We can supply two Honor Roll patches and two DXCC patches. Dwaine moved to send the four patches. K8VJG seconded, and the motion passed on vote. Dwaine, K8ME, discussed the monogram place in Brunswick can add #1 to your existing patches. Bob, W8GC, discussed that the Tuesday meeting of CARS will be at the Oak Grove Pavilion in the Metroparks in Brecksville. See for details. George, K8KR, discussed how the postage increase will hurt letter managers because of the number of underpaid envelopes. Tedd, KB8NW, discussed the ARRL Great Lakes Convention. Dwaine, K8ME, will have a poster on foam board with three different logos. FIELD DAY John, K8YSE, and Nick, W8XD, both retired May 31. Field Day is the same every year for what people bring. The grass must be cut. John's son will be bringing some satellite antennas and supports. Satellite dishes will be borrowed from N8TR. Someone should bring a 6M radio. Dwaine has a big tent, grill, stakes, and generator. Setup will start at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Linda Sinko N8LRS will videotape everything and will bring cole slaw and potato salad. More discussion on miscellaneous items for Field Day went on. Our next meeting is July 2. Dwaine, K8ME, won half the $26.00 raffle collection. Tedd, KB8NW, reminded us that K8MR wrote about the Ohio QSO Party in August. Are we going to sponsor a plaque? Ron, K8VJG moved and Bruce, K8DJX seconded, that we pay $60.00 for a sponsored plaque, also to include up to $10.00 for shipping and handling. The motion passed. The meeting was closed at 8:14 p.m. Respectfully, For the secretary, by Glenn, AF8C. Field Day 2007 Report The mystery is solved. Dwaine's generator simply ran low on oil and the sensor killed the spark. There were other maintenance items necessary to get the generator back in top shape. There was a small gas leak which was traced to Metro, W8MET, and Linda, N8LRS, operating CW and 6M SSB NODXA RAG July-August 2007 Page 3

22 Tedd, KB8NW, and John, K8YSE, with the Richfield Chief of Police at the public information table. improperly positioned clamps on the gas lines leading to the fuel pump. They were repositioned and that seemed to cure the leak. We removed the head (Dwaine felt that the bolts were very loose) and cleaned the combustion chamber and valve surfaces. The carburetor bowl was full of crud so that was cleaned up and a new fuel filter was installed. The head was torqued to spec and after adding some oil, we had spark. The generator started and ran. For those who were not there, Dwaine's generator quit at 1pm on Sunday. Our field day operation ended an hour early. The other good news is that Ron Borke's brother donated 300' of 10/4 rubber coated cable along with the proper 220v connector for Dwaine's generator. Ron and I picked it up on Thursday and installed the connector on one end and 2 duplex outlets on the other end of the cable. The cable is on a spool which is very heavy. We will need Bill's cable reel stands next year to unwind the cable. This will vastly reduce the loss from the generator all the way to the CW tent and provide plenty of power for the rigs and the coffee pot. Dwaine is going to purchase and install a muffler so that the generator doesn't make so much noise. This will make everyone happy! The rotor cable for the six meter beam is now on a cable spool which will make it somewhat easier to deploy next year. It takes some effort to put it back on the spool, but it makes for a neat package that we can use year after year. For those of you who were not at the meeting, our final score for Field Day was 5970 points, down from last year by 1000 points. The big difference was in the number of CW contacts. We need to pay more attention to this next year. CW contacts are worth twice that of SSB contacts. We did manage 6 satellite qso's, one on 1296/435 fm, 2 on V/U cw and 3 on V/U SSB thanks to Doug, KD8CAO. The antenna positioning was computer controlled and we just enjoyed the fine weather until the antenna started to move, indicating that a pass was in progress. A short walk to the radio and we were ready to make a qso. We were able to make quite a few bonus points including 5 solar powered 40m qso's by W8XD and his FT817 low power rig. Six meters was not that good for us but we did make 84 qso's there. We also made 9-2M SSB qso's as well. We did copy the W1AW field day bulletin on 110 baud ASCII, getting the radio/program set up just in the nick of time. We had a visit from the Richfield Chief of Police thanks to Carl, K8AV. Debbie Chitester from the Red Cross came out with Ev to see our operation. Our total SSB qso's were 1148 and CW was 606. Total bonus points = Thanks to all who came out to operate and especially to Ed, W8EDB, for mowing the grass and Doug, KD8CAO, for driving the 325 miles from Holland, MI, with his satellite equipment. And a special Thanks to the following for their contribution to this months edition: N8TR, N8DMM, KB8NW, N8CX, K8YSE, AF8C and the ARRL Letter. NODXA RAG July-August 2007 Page 4

23 NODXA Club Officials for President - Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW ( ) V. President - Dwaine Modock, K8ME ( ) Secretary - Al Moriarty, N8CX ( ) Treasurer - Mary Michaelis, N8DMM ( ) Newsletter Editor - David Autry, WD8IOU ( ) Are you going to eat that? As of July 2006 Current DXCC Entities Total is: 337 thanks to everyone who brought equipment/ food and spent hours and hours preparing for this effort. Bill, W8JGU, and Pete & Mary, N8TR & N8DMM, are the major contributors of antennas, equipment, logistics, food preparation etc. Without them, there would be no field day at NODXA. Many others provided equipment and support for the operation too. And a special thanks to all of the operators who came out and waited their turn at the radio, especially those who operated through the night when it is difficult to stay awake & keep going. And last but not least, to Dwaine for cooking up those juicy steak dinners for everyone who was there late Saturday. You can't work on an empty stomach! Everyone that wasn't specifically mentioned here is not unappreciated. Every team has many unsung heroes. Thanks to everyone who made this a success. Hope to see everyone next year at FD Thanks and 73, John K8YSE Doug, KD8CAO, with his innovative satellite antenna system. "The Mission of the Northern Ohio DX Association is to promote and support Amateur Radio and the DX Community around the world." NODXA RAG July-August 2007 Page 5

24 NODXA Meetings are held the first Monday of each month at the Gourme Family Restaurant at Pearl Road (Rt. 42) just west of Interstate 71 and south of Rt. 82 in Strongsville at 7:30 PM. Come early and have dinner and meet your fellow DXers and enter the 50/50 raffle. NODXA Application and Renewal Form The Northern Ohio DX Association is a non-profit organization with a primary interest in DXing. We encourage all DXers to join our group and share the interest and fun of DXing. Please complete the application below and send along your appropriate dues or renewal to: NODXA, P.O. Box , Strongsville, Ohio First Time Membership/Renewal (U.S.) $12.00 Foreign Membership (outside U.S.) $22.00 *Foreign Membership (no printed newsletter) (but w/web access for newsletter) $12.00 Name Callsign Address City State/Prov. Country ZIP ARRL Member? Exp. Date DXCC Member? Special Interest Newsletter circulation: Pete Michaelis N8TR, and Mary Michaelis N8DMM The Northern Ohio DX Association P.O. Box Strongsville, Ohio U.S.A Dated Material Please Rush

25 Ohio First DXCC Field Checking Club The NODXA RAG NO8DX - Special Event Callsign W8DXA - NODXA Repeater K8MR - PacketCluster & Web-site: nodxa.html Northern Ohio DX Association P.O. Box Strongsville, Ohio U.S.A. Newsletter: wd8iou@adelphia.net Fireside Chat With KB8NW September-October 2007 Fellow DX'ers, As we head into the winter months band conditions should be getting better (we hope!). However, conditions still seem pretty poor, and the debate continues on whether or not we have actually hit the bottom of the sunspot cycle 23. During the summer there were some reports stating that we hit the bottom, but now it seems that it has now been delayed until All I can say is hang in there, it has to get better. The upcoming new year is starting to look good for DXpeditions to take place during the first three months of The operations that were announced are: Chatham/Auckland Island (ZL7/ZL9), Ducie (VP6/D), Cocos Island (TI9) and Clipperton Island (FO/C). Last time I wrote something it was back in September. Since then the 2007 ARRL Great Lakes Division Convention (GLDC) and the Cleveland Hamfest have taken place. I would have to say that both events were great, especially the 2007 GLDC. The feedback on the GLDC was very good, and everyone I talked to said they would attend again. The seminars, prizes, dinner banquet and the hospitality room were well worth the price. The only disappointing thing was the poor attendances by local area hams. I was glad to be part of and involved in this major event. Hope it comes to Cleveland again. Lastly, can you believe this great weather we are having, and did you get all your antenna work done before the snow flies? Hope to see you at the next meeting. 73 and Good DX de Tedd KB8NW "The Mission of the Northern Ohio DX Association is to promote and support Amateur Radio and the DX Community around the world." NODXA RAG September-October 2007 Page 1

26 Minutes of the July 2nd, 2007 NODXA Meeting The meeting was opened at 7:35pm by the President, Tedd, KB8NW. There were 19 members and 2 guest present. Our guest this evening was Ron, K8DZO. After a round of introductions, the Secretary, Al, N8CX, read the minutes of the June 4th meeting. The minutes, taken by Glenn, AF8C, were approved as read. The Treasurer, Mary, N8DMM reported a balance of $Ka-Ching! in the account. Pete, N8TR, reported that the repeater was running and that the cluster was now working after K8AZ or K8MR had made some corrections. Pete also reported that the cluster is still running a 486 micro and DOS. Tedd, KB8NW, reported that there was some interference coming from the repeater. Dave, WD8IOU, reported that the electronic newsletter had been sent out and that the paper version was going to the printer. Old-New Business: Tedd, KB8NW, reported that the Summer NOARSfest would be held on Saturday, July 14th. This is one week earlier than last year. John, K8YSE, gave a Field Day report. The phone station made 1148 contacts and the CW station made 606 contacts. Other contacts were made on satellite and other modes. A total of 1250 bonus points were also earned. The total claimed score was Tedd, KB8NW, thanked John, K8YSE's, sonin-law W8EDB and John's son KD8CAO for bringing satellite equipment from Michigan. Pete, N8TR, wants to make another long power cable, but cited the very high cost of copper as a detriment. Dwaine, K8ME's, generator needs a new muffler. Mary, N8DMM, echoed the feelings of all that the food was excellent! Tedd, KB8NW, reported that he had received a donation request from DL7DF for the Burundi, 9U0A DXpedition scheduled for Sep 26th to Oct 9th. Burundi is ranked 48th on the most-wanted DX list. Karl, K8BCK moved, seconded by Ron, K8VJG, that the club donate $100. The motion passed. Tedd also reported that he had received information concerning a request for nominations for three awards to be awarded at the Great Lakes Division Convention on September 22nd here in Cleveland. They are for 1) Lifetime Achievement Award, 2) Technical Achievement Award and 3) Amateur of the Year Award. Mary, N8DMM, moved, seconded by Ron, K8VJG, that the club donate $100 to the Great Lakes Division Convention. The motion passed. The program this evening will be a video of the big contest station of OH0Z in Finland. The raffle of $18.50 was won by Dwaine, K8ME. The next meeting will be Monday, August 6th. The meeting was closed by the President, Tedd, KB8NW at 8:09pm. Respectfully submitted, Al, N8CX, Secretary Minutes of the August 6th, 2007 NODXA Meeting The meeting was opened at 7:30pm by the President, Tedd, KB8NW. There were 23 members and 1 guest present. After a round of introductions, Tedd, KB8NW introduced Keith, N8KOL, the DXCC card checker. He will be at the Great Lakes Division Convention on Saturday, September 22nd to check cards. The Secretary, Al, N8CX, then read the minutes of the July 2nd meeting. After a few minor corrections, the minutes were approved. The Treasurer, Mary, N8DMM reported a balance of $Ka-Ching! in the account. Ron, K8VJG's brother, Jack, of Professional Electrical Products Co., donated 300 feet of 10-4 electrical cable to the club. This cable will be used on Field Day to reach the furthest most tent. Also, a muffler adaptor and baffle will be installed on Dwain, K8ME's generator to direct sound away from tents. NODXA RAG September-October 2007 Page 2

27 Pete, N8TR, reported that the cluster and repeater are running fine. Dave, WD8IOU, reported that the newsletter will be completed this weekend. Linda, N8LRS, reported that the Field Day video was not finished yet. Old-New Business: Glenn, AF8C, reported that Chris, DL5NAM, who runs logsearch.de and where the N8S logs were listed in April, needed someone to write a program that would convert ADIF files to "comma-separated values (CSV) files which he can read into his SQL database. Chris had more that one million records to convert. Glenn volunteered to write the program in the C language. He submitted the program to Chris. Glenn reports that he now has a program that will convert ADIF files into CSV files for entry into EXCEL, Access or other programs. Tedd, KB8NW, asked if anyone had received their BS7H card. Four cards were reported as having been received. Tedd also displayed his #1 DXCC Honor Roll plaque. Tedd then introduced Steve, N8IS, who had made a vinyl sign for NODXA that will be used at the Great Lakes Division Convention. Steve is also making a new NODXA banner (2' x 4') and a rigid NODXA sign (2' x 3') for use at Field Day and other events. Mike, W8HB moved, seconded by Ron, K8VJG, to spend $100 for the new signs and banners. The motion passed unanimously. Tedd wants help at the Great Lakes Division Convention to man the NODXA table. Tedd also reported that the Convention was shaping up nicely. There will be many excellent speakers at the forums. If attendance is good, then there is a possibility of a DX Convention being held next year. This is only a possibility at this time. The next meeting will be held on the 2nd Monday of September, as the 1st Monday is Labor Day. Karl, K8BCK, won $22 in the raffle. The meeting was closed at 9:06pm by the3 President, Tedd, KB8NW. Respectfully submitted, Al, N8CX, Secretary Minutes of the September 10th, 2007 NODXA Meeting The meeting was opened at 7:30pm by the President, Tedd, KB8NW. There were 18 members and 1 guest present. Our guest was Joe Mizik, N8QXC After a round of introductions, the Secretary, Al, N8CX, then read the minutes of the August 6th meeting. the minutes were approved as read. The Treasurer, Mary, N8DMM reported a balance of $Ka-Ching! in the account. Mary also reported a new member, Chuck, K8CMP of Middlefield. Pete, N8TR, reported that the cluster is okay, but the link to K8AZ is intermittent. Pete also reported that the repeater is running fine. Dave, WD8IOU, reported that the newsletter is online and that the paper version is at Office- Max being printed. A short discussion was held concerning how many newsletters to have as handouts at the Great Lakes Division Convention. Tedd, KB8NW, put out the call for help at the club table in the hospitality room at the convention. Tedd also showed the new club banner. Everyone in attendance was very impressed. John, K8YSE, reported that the club has a new website. Tedd, KB8NW, showed paper copies of what the new Field Day signs will look like. A discussion was held concerning which way a direction arrow should point. The matter was resolved. The other sign will have back-to-back arrows (one pointing each way on opposite sides) for use at the driveway entrance. John, K8YSE, moved, seconded by Ron, K8VJG, that the club donate four (4) DXCC and four (4) DXCC Honor Role patches to the W9DXCC convention. Tedd, KB8NW, suggested that anyone who gets their DXCC certificate dated between and would get one (1) year free membership and a DXCC patch. Dwaine, K8ME, moved, seconded by John, K8YSE, that this suggestion by adopted. The motion passed unanimously. NODXA RAG September-October 2007 Page 3

28 Mary, N8DMM, reported that the $100 donation to the 9U0A, Burundi DXpedition was mailed. Tedd, KB8NW, reported that he had received a donation request from EA5BYP for the group going to 3C7Y, Equatorial Guinea, from October 5, 2007 to October 14, The request was tabled. Tedd also confirmed with Al, N8CX, that the club would have its usual wall table at the Cleveland Hamfest. Al reported that the table was reserved. Tedd also said that only one (1) table would be required. Tedd also reported that he had received a letter from Dee Logan, W1HEO, thanking him for the OH-Penn DX Bulletin and commented about the amount of time that it must take. Dee also included a check for $50. to be used for anything. Tedd sent the book Tips-to-the-Top to Dee in return. Old-New Business: Dwaine, K8ME, is working on the Field Day generator. He reported that the muffling of sound was not as good as expected and that he is still working on it. The generator is working fine though. Dave, WD8IOU, reported that Stan, K8VI, was in the hospital and receiving treatment after suffering a heart attack. John, K8YSE, reported that the Route 66 event is this week. The stations will be W6A through W6Q. The order of the stations with respect to their location is reversed this year from last year. John also reported that AO-7 was operating this past week. Up on 2m and down of 10m. See for details. The raffle of $17. was won by Ron, W8WH. Ron donated the money back to the club. Respectfully submitted, Al, N8CX, Secretary What? You only have ONE antenna? By Don Keith, N4KC, via eham.net First let me try to deflect potential flames with a quartet of caveats: If you only operate on a single amateur band and have multiple wide-spaced elements at 120 feet for that band, then this article is probably not for you (though I believe you could benefit from having access to other radiators in addition to that one big beauty). If you operate several amateur bands and have multiple wide-spaced elements at 120 feet for each of those bands, you may already agree with my thought process here, if not the scale of its execution, but it wouldn't hurt you, either, to have some simpler alternatives at times. If you live in a condo, town home, garden home or have to answer to covenant Nazis before you can even paint your mailbox or mow your lawn in a different direction, much less put up multiple ham radio antennas, then you probably won't be able to follow my suggestion, even if you wanted to. If it's all you can do to get one hank of wire in the air for whatever reason space, money, physical ability, desire, technical knowledge, allergy to copper and aluminum and are resolved to make do with it, then you may or may not go along with my idea here. So here's my contention: to get the most satisfying experience from operating on the high frequency amateur radio bands, you need more than one antenna that works on the bands on which you operate and ideally at least THREE. Let me quickly add that I am not suggesting that you put up THIRTY antennas three aerials for each of the ten HF bands. What I am saying is that, if possible, it is a big advantage to have a choice of antennas and, if possible, antenna types for each band. I'm an advocate of multiband antennas, whether you achieve it with tuner/ladder line, traps, fan-type arrangement, or black magic. With a little ingenuity and lots of poison-ivy lotion and liniment, it's possible to have several antennas that work fine on that vast array of spectrum we have at our disposal. There Thanks to the following for their contribution to this months edition: N8TR, N8DMM, KB8NW, N8CX, K8YSE, WB8LFO, K8AV, N4KC, N3JBH, N0UJR, eham.net, and the ARRL Letter. NODXA RAG September-October 2007 Page 4

29 are a dizzying number of sites on the Internet that give good advice on some multi-band alternatives. I even have some thoughts at Let me give you an example of how having simple options can make a difference in euphoria and Dang it! The other night, I was trying to work the 5L2 in Liberia on 20 CW. The DX cluster said he was on a certain frequency but I could not hear a thing on my big skywire loop just the chaos of the pileup a few kilohertz above and a few dimwits calling him on his frequency. I quickly switched to my 130-foot ladder line-fed doublet. Yep, there he was, but just barely audible above the noise. But I had one more option the 4BTV vertical out there in the backyard. Click! And he was suddenly 579 (though I, of course, gave him 599 when I worked him a few minutes later). Side benefit: on the vertical, the dimwits calling on the DX station's frequency practically disappeared. But there is more. An hour later, I dialed back across, just to see how the 5L2 was coming in by then. He was way, way down in the crud. Jeez, propagation was gone. Glad I got him when I could. But then, on a whim, I flipped the antenna switch back to the doublet. 589! He was loud! Now how could this be? Those of you who have been around the hobby for a while know that the layers of the upper atmosphere that reflect radio waves back to earth are constantly moving, shifting, and changing. It can offer a variety of heights with different angles of reflection (picture a basketball shot, bouncing off the backboard). Holes develop, too, allowing signals to zoom right past, through other layers who have interest in deflecting radio signals, allowing them to travel all the way out into deep space where amused aliens hear them, shake their heads, and make fun of us silly Earthlings. The angles at which our emitted signals strike those obliging layers can determine whether we bag that rare one or just waste lots of kilowatt hours trying. And different types of antennas at different heights above ground, and varying ground systems they may be working against, can have a big influence on not only how much energy gets to the station you covet, but how much of his emitted RF energy finds its way to the front end of your receiver. Both things have to happen, you see, to make a contact! To belabor the point, here's another recent example of success through multiple antennas. We have a Sunday night group who solve all the world's problems near the middle of the 75- meter band. Last night, the band was unusually long, and even groundwave signals from twenty miles or more away were lost in the static. One of our group was operating from an RV with a quickie antenna over on the South Carolina coast and the rest of us are in Central Alabama about 500 miles apart. I was using the doublet, which usually does beautifully on 75, but I could copy very little of what our vacationing friend was saying. The big loop is usually very good out to about 300 miles on 75 but mediocre any farther away (it's only 20 to 35 feet off the ground) but I decided to try it anyway. And there our RV guy was, bragging about his view of the beach from the campground, his signal suddenly well clear of the noise on the band. Seems to me that the ideal complement of antennas again assuming a bunch of big, honkin' beams way up in the sky is not possible might include one multiband wire with some height above ground, some kind of wire closer to the ground so it radiates almost straight up, and a vertical. I feel rather strongly that a vertical or some kind NODXA RAG September-October 2007 Page 5

30 of vertically polarized wire (inverted L, maybe) should definitely be in the mix. Bottom line is, I think most newcomers would be surprised how often an antenna you don't think will work will actually do a better job than something far more elaborate. No matter your license class, your knowledge of things electronic, or how many kilo-dollars you have invested in your station, you have no control over the ionosphere and how it decides to treat your signal. Yes, a lot of metal high in the air will work best most times. Too many laws of physics dictate that it is so. But it very often pays dividends to have more than one way to aim some RF at the sky and see what kind of lucky bounce you get. My Famous Three-Step Water Proofing Process Jeff, N3JBH. via eham.net It has appeared to me that there are some folks that simply just don't know how to water proof their PL-259 connections. I have developed my three-step process, as I like to call it. -- Although there is well maybe more than three steps. But first for the shopping list of items we shall need: each turn by half. The second step we will repeat the same wrapping style only using the splicing compound and beginning where we left off with the mastic tape and going towards the coax. Make this go one-inch further down the coax from where you started with the mastic tape. The final step is over wrap every thing you all ready done with the Scotch super 33+ Tape again starting inch below where you ended with the splicing compound and over lapping each turn by half a wrap. Okay, I admit this is over doing it a bit. But I never had this method fail. And while I will freely admit I have not done thousands of these on antennas. I used this same exact method in weather proofing electrical connections that was exposed to some really harsh conditions. And that's where I discovered just how great it worked. After removing the covering I made on them some 15 years latter they looked as great as the day I made them. So there it is fellows. No reason now for not knowing how to water proof the PL-259! We will need- 1 roll of Scotch super 33+ t Scotch Rubber Mastic Tape 2228 And Scotch brand splicing Tape 2155 (tm) Bottle of rubbing alcohol Now that we have the necessary hardware we first make sure that are PL-259 is securely attached to its opposing connector. And then take a towel and clean all outer surfaces with the rubbing alcohol. We just want to remove any oil and dirt; we don't need to make it surgically clean. Now wrap a layer of the scotch mastic tape starting one inch behind the PL-259 on the coax and continue wrapping over the connector And it's opposing surface. Being sure to overlap NODXA RAG September-October 2007 Page 6

31 NODXA Club Officials for President - Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW ( ) V. President - Dwaine Modock, K8ME ( ) Secretary - Al Moriarty, N8CX ( ) Treasurer - Mary Michaelis, N8DMM ( ) Newsletter Editor - David Autry, WD8IOU ( ) As of July 2006 Current DXCC Entities Total is: 337 NODXA RAG September-October 2007 Page 7

32 NODXA Meetings are held the first Monday of each month at the Gourme Family Restaurant at Pearl Road (Rt. 42) just west of Interstate 71 and south of Rt. 82 in Strongsville at 7:30 PM. Come early and have dinner and meet your fellow DXers and enter the 50/50 raffle. NODXA Application and Renewal Form The Northern Ohio DX Association is a non-profit organization with a primary interest in DXing. We encourage all DXers to join our group and share the interest and fun of DXing. Please complete the application below and send along your appropriate dues or renewal to: NODXA, P.O. Box , Strongsville, Ohio First Time Membership/Renewal (U.S.) $12.00 Foreign Membership (outside U.S.) $22.00 *Foreign Membership (no printed newsletter) (but w/web access for newsletter) $12.00 Name Callsign Address City State/Prov. Country ZIP ARRL Member? Exp. Date DXCC Member? Special Interest Newsletter circulation: Pete Michaelis N8TR, and Mary Michaelis N8DMM The Northern Ohio DX Association P.O. Box Strongsville, Ohio U.S.A Dated Material Please Rush

33 November-December 2007 O h i o s F i r s t D X C C F i e l d C h e c k i n g C l u b The NODXA RAG Fireside Chat With KB8NW Fellow DX'ers, WOW! Another new DXCC entity. What a nice Christmas present for Dxers to end the year I am sure you have by now heard that St. Barthelemy (FJ) has been added to the DXCC List making the island entity number 338 with an effective date of December 14, Cards with contacts dated December 14, 2007, or after, will be accepted for DXCC credit. New card submissions for St. Barthelemy will not be accepted until January 1st, 2008, in order to allow time for administrative adjustments. Why you say? Well, on February 21, 2007, the French Ministry issued a decree that made St. Barthelemy an Overseas Collective. Now its status is equal to that of Guadeloupe, Martinique and other French territories currently on the DXCC List. The "event date" that caused St. Barthelemy to be added to the DXCC list was December 14, 2007, the date the U.S. State Department Fact sheet was updated by the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. This update added St. Barthelemy to the List of Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty with its Administrative Center in Gustavia, qualifying it under DXCC rules in Section II -- 1 Political Entities (c): "The Entity contains a permanent population, is administered by a local government, and is located at least 800 km from its parent. To satisfy the 'permanent population' and 'administered by a local government' criteria of this sub-section, an Entity must be listed on either (a) the U.S. Department of State's list of 'Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty' as having a local 'Administrative Center,' or (b) the United Nations list of 'Non-Self-Governing Territories." So, looking back over the year 2007, I would have to say it was a pretty good year for DX even with the poor propagation we had throughout the year. Some of the 2007 DXpeditions that took place were: 1A0KM - SMOM J20RR/J20MM - Djibouti 3B7SP - Agalega & St Brandon J5UAR - Guinea Bissau 3B7C - Agalega & St Brandon N8S - Swains Island 3C7Y - Equatorial Guinea OJ0B - Market Reef

34 November-December 2007 Page 2 4W6AAV - Timor Leste VK9DNX - Norfolk Island 5L2MS - Liberia YK9SV - Syria 8R1XR/8R1XT - Guyana VK9WWI - Willis Island 9U0A - Burundi VU7RG - Lakshadweep Islands BS7H - Scarborough Reef XT2C - Burkina Faso C52C/C50C - The Gambia YW0DX - Aves Island Now, what will 2008 bring? Probably the biggest year yet for DXers. We are looking at possibly 5 to 6 new DXCC entities. Kosovo will most likely be the first new entity of the year. An independence declaration by the leaders of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority is expected early in Then in December 2008, the islands of the Netherlands Antilles are expected to receive independence which will cause possibly 4-5 new DXCC entities. On top of all this, (just to name a few) there are planned DXpeditions to Chatham/Auckland Island (ZL7/ZL9), Ducie (VP6/D), Cocos Island (TI9) and Clipperton Island (FO/C). WOW! What a "JACKPOT" for DXers. Lastly, with all this great DX coming up, we are now hearing that we may now be in the new sunspot cycle; Cycle 24. This means better HF and propagation conditions are on the horizon. 73 and Good DX de Tedd KB8NW Minutes of the October 1st, 2007 NODXA Meeting The meeting was opened at 7:33pm by the President, Tedd, KB8NW. There were 21 members and 5 guests present. After a round of introductions, the Secretary, Al, N8CX, read the minutes of the September 10th meeting. Ron, K8VJG moved, seconded by Dwaine, K8ME, that the minutes be approved as read. The motion passed. The Treasurer, Mary, N8DMM reported the balance the account. Tedd, KB8NW, reported that one new member joined at the Great Lakes Division Convention. He paid for two years. The new member is Wes Boyd, W8IZC. The display and sign-in board from the Convention was on display at the meeting. Tedd reported that the Convention went very well; excellent attendance by DX'ers and at the forums and excellent food at the dinner. Linda, N8LRS, won a deluxe headset combo. The hospitality suite was great and had a lot of bakery donations. Dave, WD8IOU, reported that the "Wouff-Hong" ceremony was great as well. Steve, N8IS, commented that the commercial vendors and sponsors paid for much of the cost with their prize and other donations. Pete, N8TR, reported that the cluster is okay. Denny, WB8K, reported that the repeater is okay but that we might be getting interference from the repeater. Denny also reported that the repeater might be back on the air soon. Tedd, KB8NW, questioned what the status of BART was. Al, N8CX, responded that the last he had heard, BART would be on the NOARS repeater. Dave, WD8IOU, reported that he needs articles for the newsletter. Tedd, KB8NW, reported that the newsletter would only be on-line. If someone needs a printed version, they would have to request it.

35 November-December 2007 Page 3 Old-New Business: Tedd, KB8NW, brought up the question of a donation to the 3C7Y DXpedition. Ron, K8VJG moved, seconded by Bob, W8GC, that the club donate $100. After a very close vote, the motion failed. Tedd also reported that he had received a donation request from IT9DAA for a donation to the PZ5YV DXpedition to Suriname. No action was taken on the request. John, K8YSE, reported that if you have old IRC's issued here in the USA, you can redeem them before October 17th. If you have old large ones that expired , you can redeem them up to October of Tedd, KB8NW, reported that AES would host a Yaesu Day at the store on October 20th from 9am to 3pm. There would be many door prize give-aways. The Raffle was won by Dave, WD8IOU. The amount won was $22. The meeting was closed by the President, Tedd, KB8NW, at 8:16pm The program this evening was the NODXA 2007 Field Day video. The video was enjoyed by all. Respectfully submitted, Al, N8CX, Secretary VUCC VHF/UHF Century Club Award The VUCC is awarded for contact with a minimum number of Maidenhead 2 degrees by 1 degree Grid Locators per band above 50Mhz. Grid Locators are designated by a combination two letters and two numbers, example: EN91 is the Grid Locator for this area and all of Northeastern Ohio into Erie PA. The QSL cards you receive a lot of them have the grid location of the person you contacted on the card. If you make contact on a band above 50 MHz, part of the signal exchange would be I m in Grid EN91. The minimum number of grid locators needed to initially qualify for each individual band award is as follows: 50 MHz, 144 MHz & Satellite = 100 Credits or grids 222 MHz, & 432 MHz = 50 Credits or grids 902 MHz, & 1296 MHz = 25 Credits or grids 2.3 GHz = 10 Credits or grids 3.4 GHz and above = 5 Credits or grids There are no specialty endorsements such as CW only. In addition, Satellite communication is considered a valid VUCC award. All credit for Satellite both above 50 MHz and below 50 MHz are credible for VUCC. Satellite is the only VUCC award which allows credit for under 50 MHz. There is one more final requirement, to qualify for VUCC award you must have ARRL Membership for all US & possessions and Puerto Rico. So don t forget to count your grid squares, maps available from the ARRL. (Congratulations to Doug Papay-KC8CAO son of John-k8yse for achieving VUCC on Satellite 100 grid squares, he only needs three more states for WAS on satellite, GO GET em DOUG. 73, Dwaine K8ME, WAS &VUCC checker "The Mission of the Northern Ohio DX Association is to promote and support Amateur Radio and the DX Community around the world."

36 November-December 2007 Page Great Lakes Division Convention Photographs W5ZN, ARRL President, and K8JE, Great Lakes Division Director, checking cards The hospitality suite was the place to be between seminars

37 November-December 2007 Page 5 NODXA members, Ron, W8WH, Ron, K8VJG, and Nick, W8XD, getting ready for the next seminar Don, K8MFO, and Tim Duffy, K3LR, discussing who gave the better presentation

38 November-December 2007 Page 6 Wayne, K8FF, Jay, K4ZLE, and Bernie, W3UR, posing for Tedd, KB8NW. Bob Allphin, K4UEE, recently appointed DXAC Chairman, gave a nice presentation about the DXAC and his recent VU7RG activity. The Royal Order of the Wouff-Hong

39 November-December 2007 Page 7 The legendary Bob Heil, K9EID, Chip Margelli, K7JA, and our very own Tina, W8BHI. The IARC MidWinter Hamfest & Computer Show Sunday, February 10 th, 2008 Doors open at 7:00 am Flea Market Sponsored by the InterCity Amateur Radio Club, Inc. Check out a hamfest video here: Forums and VE Testing Session Talk-in W8WE /.94 09:00 a Ohio Army MARS Forum Tickets: Advance $5.00 Door $ :00 a ARRL Forum TABLES ADVANCE ONLY $ :00 a OSSBN Meeting Ticket and Table Deadline: 01 Feb :00 p VE Test Session-Registration Required Order Tables via PayPal Now Richland County Fairgrounds Orders via US Mail MUST INCLUDE SASE to: 750 North Home Rd Dean Wrase, KB8MG Mansfield, OH Beal Rd View Map Mansfield, OH Mapquest Link (Between 1-8pm) hamfest@iarc.ws See you at the Hamfest!

40 November-December 2007 Page 8 Linda Mirgliotta, XYL of KB8NW, did a great job at keeping the hospitality suite running smoothly! FOR SALE Hy-Gain HG54HD Tower with TH7DX plus D3W Rotatable dipole and raising fixture Pair of Stacked 2-Meter Beams Vertical Antenna Five-position Remote Antenna Transfer Switch Tail Twister Rotor with modified control box 2K Alternator (Gasoline Powered) Hy-Gain Dipole 160-meter with loading coil Asking price $3,000 TS-570D with Computer Control Cable Henry 2KD5 Two brand new spares Ameritron AL80 Two used spares Nye Viking Antenna Tuner Miscellaneous Accessories, such as MFJ259B and others FT990 Transceiver (1) 20-Amp Power Supply (2) 30-Amp Power Supplies CONTACT: Stan Haase, K8VI K8vi@sbcglobal.net or (440) Prefer to sell each listing as a complete package. Priced to sell! Asking price $3,000