THE FIRST CLASS C.W.

OPERATORS CLUB

NEWS SHEET 623

(http://www.firstclasscw.org.uk)

Editor: G4BUE

September 2001

A man should keep his friendship in constant repair - Samuel Johnson (1755)
(3525, 7025, 10120-10125, 14025, 18080-18085, 21025, 24905-24910 and 28025kHz)

BANDS OF THE MONTH FOR SEPTEMBER ARE 40 & 15 METRES

Saturday 6 October 2001 See April News Sheet for full information
Here is a response to G3SXW and K8JPs recent articles in the News Sheet, Rogers in 620 and Joes in 621. What do you think? G3LCS: Congratulations on your latest Topical Issue Roger. I find myself in total agreement. I do not wish to belong to an organisation which tells me how I must operate! I have probably done more DXing near the 025 QRGs since becoming a member and found many members doing similarly. G8VG: It was refreshing to read Joes balanced view of the Club rules and, particularly, sponsoring. He may be a new kid on the block but, as an old kid, I go along with him all the way. LA8XM: I am new to FOC and therefore I have kept a low profile on the future direction of the club. Let me state that I fully agree with Rogers last Topical Issues. There are a few things which I do not appreciate when I am on the air. Firstly, the Windle number chasing is given too much importance. Secondly, I dislike to be involved in a ring QSO on CW, if people want to work me they should wait until the QSO in progress has ended. The things I like with the Club is the number of considerate people and good operators. W1PL: Roger has the right diagnosis and the right medicine. I hope the fellows take it and the Club recovers. VE1BN: I read Rogers very interesting and probably timely article in News Sheet 620. I get a lot of pleasure ragchewing with members when I can find them these days. Think Roger is probably correct in assuming the Club needs a lift. Really dont know how it can be done. I do contesting although my station is really not set up for really competitive efforts. But its fun to pass out points to the more serious op-

THE 2001 LORDS ANNUAL DINNER

Tickets 32 each from Maud Slater, Wychwood, Park Lane, Maplehurst, West Sussex. Telephone 01403 891342.

erators. Many of the newer members, contesters or not, have not been heard here. Seems they get their numbers and thats it! W6TZD: Regarding K8JPs article in the July News Sheet received today, Bravo Joe. If I could write that well, I would have said exactly the same thing. I feel that people not rules are generally the problem and if we all came out of the same mold it would be pretty boring. Regarding activity, I worked very hard for my Augie award, he was one of my sponsors, and he and I plus G8VG, N2LK, W2MUM, K4FU, W4QM, etc spent many hours discussing Where are all of these guys, especially the newer ones? Like someone said Its only a hobby, however some do take it more serious than others. So be it! Again, Joe, well said. About two months ago, I was chatting to Steph, F5NZY, and we were talking about the FOC website. Steph mentioned very tactfully that it could do with a restructuring. I had been conscious of that requirement for a while and was very pleased to take him up on his offer of help. We reviewed the content in each section and tried to make it a little fresher. Stephs design skills quickly became apparent as he produced a new look and feel for the site A new feature that we have added is a chat room. No doubt this may offend some people, who think that all intra-club communication should take place on the air and using Morse code! I was particularly keen on the idea of including it, though, feeling that it might provide a useful backup means of communication for making skeds and so on. Indeed, so it has proven already, with people coming onto the chat room and then QSYing to the radio to make a QSO.

FOC WEB SITE by G4VXE

We dont have quite so much control about the commands used in the chat room, but it is fairly straightforward to use. Here are some basic instructions to get you started! Having pressed the Chat link from the site, click on the button that says Load Chat Client When prompted for your nickname, enter your callsign. You dont need to enter your email address - leave that as it is - and leave the field Join Channel as it is. Click on the button that says Connect. You will shortly be presented with a screen showing you who is in the FOC Chat Room. Simply type in the message that you want to send to the room and you will see it appear. Should you wish to change your nickname eg to show what frequency you are operating on, type in the following command: </nick newnickname> (eg </nick g4vxe_21022>). It is also possible to connect to the channel from an IRC program, such as mIRC. For details on the server and channel names, please contact me in the first instance. Reaction to the new site is good. I particularly thank Steph for his work - in what proved to be an enjoyable co-operative project. Naturally, there are some things that we shall be adding to the site over the next few weeks, so please come back to the site often to take a look. There has been a recent surge in the number of members asking how to subscribe to the various Internet services operated by FOC. May I remind members that full details are published every year in the front of the Call Book. As the groups are for members only, details are not published anywhere else. Can I also please reiterate the need for members to separately e-mail me with callsign and FOC number when subscribing, unless their email address contains their callsign. I get several attempts per month by non-members trying to subscribe so I do challenge every subscription that I do not recognise. This wastes time and is very frustrating. Again this is clearly spelled out in the Call Book but sadly few members comply. This is the last reminder for Lords. Please purchase your tickets from Maud (see front cover) as quickly as possible. as the final figure has to be given three days before. A new attraction this year will be the facility to have your QSL cards checked for various awards. W4ZYT has kindly offered to check cards for DXCC and for the three CQ Magazine awards WAZ, WPX, and the CQ-DX Award, and G4BWP to check cards for DXCC, WAS and the RSGB awards. Don will bring along some extra copies of the application forms and sheets for the various awards.

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION by G3MXJ

Starred List
3. KZ5D (Art): W5ZR. GKDZ, K6TS, K5AX, W8XM, K5CA, G4HZV, G4AFU, SV1AOW. 3. LU6EF (Raul): K4EWG, K4BAI, W6IJ, G3SXW, PAVDV, PR7PO, ON4RU, ZP6CW. 3. K5RC (Tom): W4AN, W4QM, W5GEL, G3RTE, N3BB, G4BUE. 2. N6FB (Bill): G3IEW, W5ZR, LZ1AF, W1WEF, W3NZ, G3NOH, K5DQ. 2. W8PBO (Art): G4HZV, W6OV, W1OT, W5ZR, N6NT, K5XK, VA3LK, VE1BN, N3BB, K2VCO, G3IY, G3KTZ, G3VMW, G3NKS 2. N6XI (Dick): W6CYX, N6NT, LZ1AF, DL4CF, G3LIK, ZL1MH. 2. DL8LBK (Ken): DL4CF, W1HMD, N4TY, DJ5ZN, G4XRV, PA5XM, GJWB, DL7AKC. 1. LY2PX (Willy): SV1AOW, LZ1AF, W2DX, I7ALE, W4PM, G3KKQ.

Additional Nominations

INTERNET GROUPS by G3WGV

4. I3KAN (Arrigo): K6TS. 3. N4XP (Sam): OK1GT, OK1KT, SM5COP . 3. G4PPG (Jim): G3HSP G3CWW, G3IY. , 2. EI6FR (Declan): 9V1YC. 2. K5ALU (Red): K5XK. 2. VK3XU (Drew): G4BUE, ZL1MH 2. ND4AA (Norman): K4BAI, DJ5ZN. 1. N1RL (Eric): VA3LK. 1. K6MD (Jerry): K6TS. 1. MUFAL (Colin): N4AF.

New Members

1757 G5LP (Lionel) L. Parker, 128 Northampton Road, Wellingborough, Northants NN8 3PJ; e-mail - <lionel@classicfm.net>. 1758 G4VHH (Fred) F. Atkin, 18 East Lane, Corringham, Gainsborough, Lincs DN21 5QU; XYL - Kath; tel - 01427 838361. 1759 K4UEE (Bob) R. C. Allphin Jr, 4235 Blackland Drive, Marietta, GA 30067; XYL Mary; tel - 770 953 3828; e-mail - <mallphin@ aol.com>. G3VNC (1421): resigned. TI2PZ (552): transfer to Associate List. VE7BS (140): transfer to Associate List. N3RD (1149): amend tel - 610 935 9719. N3RS (888): amend tel - 610 458 8184. W4AI (1383): transfer to Associate List. N4LS (1448): Silent Key. K6DC (1204): Silent Key. K7NAA (1331): change call - K1NA; new address - J. E. Power, 52 Pleasant Street, Chichester, NH 03258, USA. Phyllis and Frank, W3LPL; Jenny and Joe, K2VUI, and Marianne and Bo, F5VCT, are more overseas members attending. Overseas members can order tickets by e-mail to me at <g3vtt@aol.com> or by contacting Maud direct (+44 1403 891342). If your require hotel or guest house accommodation, then check <www.smoothhound.co.uk>.

Amendments

LORDS UPDATE by G3VTT

June and Chris, G4BUE, are hosting their Friday Party (5 October) at their QTH in West Sussex for overseas members and will arrange for transport to meet the train that leaves Victoria Station at 11.02am and arrives at Billingshurst at 12.09pm (it is on the Portsmouth line and members should ask for a cheap day return to Billingshurst. Please let Chris know you will be attending the Party and whether you will be catching the train. I personally am hoping for changes to our Annual Dinner for 2002. You may wish to indicate how you would like your Club to be run or to add your input to the way we organise our Annual Dinner in future. Either way the Committee Forum will be a major event at Lords this year. If you have a point to make or are unhappy with the way FOC is run then - be there! Your Committee, Hilary and I look forward to greeting you on the door! The following article is taken from the August issue of Auto Call magazine, the official journal of The Foundation for Amateur Radio, and was written by by John Kanode, N4MM, a Vice President of the ARRL and a long time renowned DXer - thanks Daily DX. Ducie Island very well may be the next new DXCC entity to be added to the DXCC List. It is part of the Pitcarin Island Group. The Pitcarin Island Amateur Radio Association has applied to the IARU for membership. Region 3, IARU has received the application and found it to be in order and has approved it and has forwarded it to the International Secretariat of the IARU for voting on by the other Amateur Radio Societies. The process takes five months and the closing date for voting is 15 November 2001. If 50% or more of the other member societies approve the admission of the Pitcairn ARA, it will become a member of the IARU. Once an application reaches the final voting state as it is now, it is almost assured to be voted in as a member society. How is this related to DXCC? When the Pitcarin ARA becomes a member society of the IARU, it becomes a Political Entity as per DXCC rules. This will not change Pitcairns status as a DXCC entity, it is already on the DXCC List but due to the fact it moves from one criteria area to another changes the distance that is required for other islands to be considered. In this case it is Ducie Island which is over 350km from Pitcairn itself. There appears to be no other land between Pitcairn and Ducie, however the DXAC will be asked to review all maps to be sure that this is so. If there is no intervening land and the distance is confirmed to be over 350km and the IARU vote is yes, Ducie Island will become a new DXCC Entity on 16 November 2001 at 0000z.

Needless to say that plans are in the works for a DXpedition to Ducie island in November 2001. The Pitcairn ARA is organising a DXpedition to Ducie Island (OC-182) and operations are expected to start 0000z on 16 November. Plans call for three stations operating 24 hours a day. The operating team includes Tom Christian, VP6TC, VP6DB, JA1BK/ VP6BK, JA1SLS/VP6BB, JF1IST and three other operators. QSL is via VE3HO. DJ3KR: Jurgen was QRV 11/21 August as JW/ DJ3KR, including the WAE CW Contest, and will be QRV 17 September/18 October as BV3/ DJ3KR. EA8CN: Andy was QRV as SK3GK in the Lighthouse Activity Weekend in August - thanks ZL1MH. F5VCT: Marianne and Bo are planning to attend Lords. G3MXJ: While answering QSL cards for his recent VK9CXJ DXpedition, Dennis came across the following from a W3 station, Im sorry to have to take your time to request another QSL. but truth is that my 80 pound golden retriever seems to have acquired a taste for QSLs. In any event, when I came home from work one day, only tiny pieces of the card were left. Dennis says, Clearly a real DX-Hound! G3SWH: Phil will be QRV as 5R8WH during his 15/20 September holiday trip to 5R8. G3TXF: Nigel and Roger, G3SXW, will be QRV 12/23 September as ZL7/G3TXF and ZL7/ G3SXW, CW only 80-10m. Nigel will be QRV WARC bands and Roger on non-WARC and will use frequencies ending in 3 (eg 18073, 21023kHz etc), operating with vertical antennas and linear amplifiers. QSL via home calls. More information at <http://www.G3TXF.com/ dxtrip/ZL7_G3TXF/ZL7.htm>. G4BJM: Fraser was QRV 26 August/1 September as GM4BJM/P from Wemyss Bay. G4BWP: Fred will partner G4PIQ to represent the UK at WRTC2002. G8VG: Pete is QRV with his K2, QRP only, and has his IC-735 for sale. He says, It is in A1 condition and boxed. I shall be looking for the going rate for the rig but I am sure that if anyone is interested we can do a deal. K1AR: John will partner K1DG at WRTC2002. K1ZZ: Congratulations to Dave on being one of the inaugural group of 50 inductees into the CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame. The Amateur Radio Hall of Fame was established in January 2001 to recognise those individuals, whether licensed radio amateurs or not, who significantly affected the course of amateur radio; and radio amateurs who, in the course of their professional lives, had a significant impact on their professions or on world affairs - thanks Daily DX.

MEMBERS NEWS by G4BUE

THE NEXT DXCC ENTITY?

K4XU: Dick is QRT at the moment due to a massive lightening hit on 10 August. It vaporised one half of the driven element on the beam, one of the top guy wires on the 80 feet tower, a remote antenna switch, welded an internal antenna switch set to ground the antennas, the, Omni transceiver, and the PIN t/r switch in the Alpha linear. The hit occurred while I was standing outside (in bright sunshine and no thunder heard before the event) 60 feet from the base of the tower. I was knocked to the ground but not hurt. K6DC: Merle became a Silent Key on 2 August aged 89 years, a real gentleman who had been a member of FOC since May 1973, and will be missed by many of us. K7NAA: Jim has his old call sign, K1NA, back and has returned to New Hampshire after spending nearly four years in Arizona. He will be busy getting a tower and antennas in the air before winter arrives and is looking forward to seeing everyone in next years Marathon from New England. N2NT: Andy will partner N6RT at WRTC2002. N4LS: Lin sadly became a Silent Key on 31 July, aged 92 years. Another real gentleman with a lovely smile who joined FOC in January 1982 and will also be missed by many of us. N7BG: Tony is nearly certain to be joining the IG9A for a multi-multi entry in the CQ SSB Contest in October, probably on 20m with IT9GSF. He intends being QRV on CW during the week before the contest. Form the CQ CW Contest, Tony will be QRV as PY5M single-op on 20m from PP5JRs QTH. Finally, he will be QRV in the 2002 Marathon as PJ9T from W1BIHs old QTH (Tony is a member of the Caribbean Contesting Consortium which is the group that is responsible for the re-construction of the station that will eventually become a multi-multi facility). OZ1VY: Ex-member Hal became a Silent Key suddenly. He was number 1345 and a member of FOC between November 1977 and January 1997 - thanks GW3KGV. PALOU: Lou will be in Guatemala for the IARU Region 2 Conference 29 September/8 Oc-

(callsign in brackets indicate G4FOC operator)

FOC CALENDAR

September - 40m & 15m (G3LIK) SV8/G3JZV (621) 1 Closing date for Ballot returns 8 Committee meeting 8/22 GM4OEC/P from Kilmartin (622) 12/23 ZL7 by G3SXW & G3TXF (623) 15/20 5R8WH by G3SWH (622) 17/18 Oct BV3/DJ3KW (623) 29/8 Oct TG9 by K1ZZ & PALOU (623) tober with K1ZZ and they may be QRV as TG9/ PALOU and TG9/K1ZZ from the conference station TGIARU. VA3UZ: Yuri was QRV 15 July/15 August as XL3UZ and will be QRV in the CQ SSB Contest as VE2IM from CQ zone 2, and 24/29 October before and after the contest on CW. W1CW: Your prayers are needed for Bob, who was rushed to hospital on 16 August after a heart attack. He will hopefully be home recovering by the time you read this - thanks K4OJ. W3LPL: Phyllis and Frank are planning to attend Lords W4AN: Bill will partner K4BAI in the only all FOC team announced so far at WRTC2002. W4CK: Mark met up with K6DDO on a recent trip to Los Angeles, An interesting Millennium FOC meeting, as Daves number is 515 and mine is 1515 says Mark. W4DL: Jens has put up a new Mosley TA33M beam. W9NN: Bob says, It has been a bad year here, Id say the worst in 95! Major surgery, cataract removed, small car accident to my right fingers etc, but Im still fooling them! He is planning to attend the Florida Dinner. ZL1AH: John writes I have just returned from a very enjoyable touring holiday, starting in VK8 and finishing in Perth. I was able to look in disbelief at the US Navys VLF station on the west coast complete with 13 towers, all of 1000 feet or better. What a waste, using them to talk to nuclear subs! Wonder if we could hire them for the 160 metre contest next year?

Score updates can be passed to G4BUE or any committee member. An asterisk against the call indicates the score has been updated this month. Table shows the scores received by 0830z 31 August 2001.
W8XM* K8JP W4QM* YV1NX G3KTZ* W5ZR* VA3UZ* G3LIK SMCCE W3NZ* LZ1AF SV1AOW GORH* G4BJM* 363 314 305 288 263 262 258 250 249 236 231 218 211 210 N3RS* G4BUE* K4AO K9QVB W4LZ DL6TQ LY3BA G3SXW G4HZV* DJ5ZN* ZL1MH KT4P* G3MXJ F5VEX 209 207 201 199 198 196 195 193 191 189 188 182 180 178 W6TZD* 170 W1HMD 168 G3NKS* 166 N3BB* 155 W6OV 150 G2FFO 143 G3IY* 137 WCGR 136 F3AT 134 VE1BN 129 GW3HCL*128 OK1RR* 126 K2VCO 122 SM5COP* 122 K5DQ W1WEF G2HKU G3JJG W9GW* W4CK* PA5TT N3BB G3IEW W2DX* G3MCK W3MC 4X1FC* G3HEJ 120 120 119 119 118 117 116 115 114 112 110 110 102 102 G3KKQ 102 K1JD* 101 G3PQC* 100 AC5K* 98 G3CWW 97 W4ZYT* 97 K6TS 96 W5GEL* 95 W6IJ* 95 G4XRV* 91 G8VG* 91 K4EF* 90 G3LHJ 88 AA4Z* 85 G3JZV OZ4FF* ZL1AH ZP6CW* GW3SB* PABW W4YE W6RGG* K4II WIAK N4JT PALOU* G3JZV 84 81 78 78 77 77 75 73 72 71 68 67 65 HA7PB K2SX W1HT GCHV K3TF* VE3AR W1FJ W1FZY* W8VSK K5CA KC7V VK8AV W6THN 65 65 64 63 63 62 61 58 57 55 55 55 55 G4PKD N2KW W3ABC DK4LX DK8EI W4IF K6LQA K2UFT W2MEL OH2EA W4DL* K6OU OH2KI 53 51 45 41 40 35 32 26 26 19 18 12 12

THE 2001 WINDLE AWARD