Short Skip - May 2023

By Tim McGillen/N9CA   2023 LCARC President
 
May 2023 issue
    *Click on blue and underlined wording to open the internet topic links
April’s Club meeting was actually a field trip. We were invited by Connie Kuiper to visit his remarkable private museum in Griffith. Personally, I cannot get over the extent of his collection. Connie’s hospitality, and the stories he told about each object made those items come alive.
Thank You to Andy Finick W9FXT for making that field trip possible.
 
May’s Club Meeting will be May 12th (as always the 2nd Friday of the month) at 7:30PM. The Program will be “Listening to Earth’s Ionosphere, Magnetosphere”, and Space Itself”
LCARC meetings are on the 4th floor of the 7 story EMA/Lake County health department building at 2900 W. 93rd Ave Crown Point Indiana.
Ample parking.  Handicap accessible, and you do not need to be a LCARC member to attend.
Don’t be left out. New Club members receive both 2023 and 2024 Club membership for just $20.
 
LOCAL HR NETS – VHF and HF
Courtesy of KC9UNS   www.tinyurl.com/chicago-ham-nets


Tornado Siren Test Help Request
David KD9UOW (Hobart) wants us to know that on the 1st Saturday every month (May 6th) at 12:00 noon there will be a test of ALL our local tornado sirens. He is hoping that we can log into their 2 meter HR net to report what we hear inside our homes and outside.
This special (first Saturday each month) net is on the N9IAA repeater 146.685 with a PL of 173.8. No membership or special training is required.  Thanks David!
 
Amateur Radio Newsline 04/26/23  5min:CW,Satellites,SFI
https://youtu.be/YfjYM-TqlMU
 
 Annual Armed Forces Day Crossband Test
The US Department of Defense (DoD) will host this year's Armed Forces Day (AFD) Crossband Test on May 13, 2023. This annual event is open to all licensed amateur radio operators and will not impact any public or private communications. For more than 50 years, military and amateur stations have taken part in this event.
The AFD Crossband Test is a unique opportunity to test two-way communications between military communicators and radio stations in the Amateur Radio Service (ARS), as authorized in 47 CFR 97.111. These tests provide opportunities and challenges for radio operators to demonstrate individual technical skills in a tightly controlled exercise scenario.
Military stations will transmit on selected frequencies and will announce the specific ARS frequencies monitored. All of the times are Zulu (Z), and all frequencies are Upper Side Band (USB) unless otherwise noted. The frequencies used for the test will not stray outside the confines of the exercise.
A complete list of frequencies, time periods, QSL cards, and other information can be found at DoD MARS - Armed Forces Day.


2023 Online Ham Bootcamp
The Nashua Area Radio Society's spring 2023 online Ham Bootcamp will be held on Saturday, May 13, from 10 AM to 6 PM Eastern Time. Access to the session will be provided via Zoom.
Ham Bootcamp includes a series of demonstrations and tutorials designed to help newly licensed Technician-, General-, and Extra-class license holders get on the air. Ham Bootcamp is also a great opportunity for hams who are interested in seeing what the hobby has to offer.
The online Ham Bootcamp program is available to all licensed and prospective amateur radio operators. You can register for the next Ham Bootcamp session here. For additional information, contact Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB, of the Nashua Area Radio Society at ab1qb@arrl.net.
 


EME: Learn How To Make Contacts
Doug Hansel, AA1UI, found himself with some extra time during the pandemic and thought that it might be the right time to learn how to make Earth-moon-Earth (EME) contacts. Many now do it with 100 watts, and a good yagi.
"First, I did a lot of reading and talking to other amateurs. Then, I realized I needed better equipment, software, and a lot of patience," said Hansel.
“The EME community was very generous with their time and advice in helping me tick this off my bucket list."
He made a detailed video of his experience that can viewed here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2n4rlnoh37rmgt7/EME%20Project%20short%20FB720-FINAL.mp4?dl=0.
 

 
 
Build a VLF Receiver Kit. Listen to the Sounds Of Earth.
This site has many links to VLF information and journals   https://theinspireproject.org/default.asp?contentID=3


General License Question Pool Announcement
The National Council of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (NCVEC) has released a 2nd Errata for the 2023 - 2027 General Class Element 3 Question Pool. The NCVEC Question Pool Committee (QPC) has released the second revision of the 2023 - 2027 General Class element 3 Question Pool. This revision supplants the question pools released on December 1, 2022, and February 1, 2023. The changes are reflected in the new General pool downloadable files, dated April 15, 2023. Three questions have been withdrawn from use and removed from the pool: G6B09, G9C06, and G9D13. Most of the other questions had minor changes. ARRL VEC teams are advised to check the NCVEC website or the ARRL website regularly for updates to the question pools, which may include errata and withdrawn questions. 
The revised General Class Element 3 Question Pool goes into effect on July 1, 2023. 
May 19 - 21 | Dayton Hamvention,
Hosting the ARRL Great Lakes Division Convention, Xenia, Ohio. With nearly 700 volunteers, this year's Hamvention will boast more than 500 indoor exhibits and more than 2,500 outdoor exhibits. 
Tickets are now available online and by mail order. They can be purchased at https://hamvention.org/purchase-tickets.
 
National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting Open during 2023 Dayton Hamvention®.
The National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting, in conjunction with the West Chester Amateur Radio Association, announced their expanded hours during the 2023 Dayton Hamvention®.


VOA Museum.
The museum will be open Thursday, May 18, from 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM; Friday, May 19, from 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM; Saturday, May 20, from 12:00 PM to 9:00 PM, and Sunday, May 21, from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM.
Admission is $10.00 at the door. The West Chester Amateur Radio Association, WC8VOA, will be on the air. The museum is a short drive from Hamvention, down Interstate 75 or Route 42 from Xenia. Use the Crosley Blvd address on your GPS.
New exhibits include a dedicated room for amateur radio and shortwave equipment and a newly renovated ham shack with state-of-the-art equipment from Yaesu, Icom, and Elecraft. Docents and operators will be available to enhance visits to the museum.
For further information, visit voamuseum.org or wc8voa.org. You can also find the museum on Facebook or call 513-777-0027. The museum's regular hours are Saturdays and Sundays from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, and it is located at 8070 Tylersville Road, West Chester, Ohio.
 
ARRL  DUES  SURVEY OPENS MAY 1
ARRL is considering a membership fee increase in the near future.  The last dues increase was on January 2016, the 2nd time over 22 years.
The ARRL is looking for membership input on how ARRL will handle an increase in dues. 
Start by reading the editorial written by ARRL CEO David Minster, NA2AA, in the April 2023 issue of QST magazine. Read now (PDF)
IMPORTANT: Before taking the survey, you'll need to make sure you have logged into the ARRL website. The survey is available to ARRL members, only.   www.arrl.org/take-dues-survey. This is a member-only page.


Consider renewing or extending your membership at the current rates below. Renew or extend for 3 years, and get a special ARRL coffee mug.

Current Memberships: 1 year $49, 2 years $95, 3 years $140
 
THE SMALL IDEA THAT GREW
On October 13th 1984 Bob Burnett, then President of Ameritech, placed a call from the parking lot of Soldier Field in Chicago on an early mobile cellphone prototype.
The call went through, and on the other end, Alexander Bell’s great grandson answered in Germany.
In the 40 years since, cell phones have become ubiquitous world-wide. There are now over 15 billion cellphones in use worldwide.
Consider that the 2023 population of Earth is 8 billion.
 
 
2023 Award Winner
The Amateur Radio Software Award (ARSA) Committee has announced that GridTracker, a project led by Stephen Loomis, N0TTL, and the GridTracker.org team, has been selected as the recipient of the 4th annual Amateur Radio Software Award.
The award recognizes software projects that enhance amateur radio and promote innovation, freedom, and openness in amateur radio software development.
GridTracker is a tool that visualizes WSJT-X amateur radio traffic, like FT8 and contacts from log files, which makes it easier for radio amateurs to track their contacts and participate in contests. Its unique approach to visualizing radio traffic adds a new dimension of enjoyment to the radio art.
To learn more about GridTracker, visit https://gridtracker.org.
 
CONTESTS
www.contestcalendar.com        
www.ARRL.org/contest-calendar   *pick the month 


HAMFESTS
HAMFEST/CONVENTION
04/29/2023 - Henry County Hamfest
Location: New Castle, IN
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Henry County ARC
Website: http://www.w9ob.org
Learn More
A 3 hour 200 mile drive from NW Indiana  and they are on EST
 
HAMFEST/CONVENTION
04/29/2023 - North Central Indiana Hamfest
Location: Peru, IN
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Cass County, Grant County, Maimi County, Howard County
Website: http://NCIHamfest.com
Learn More
109 miles and a 2 hour drive away and they are on EST
 
HAMFEST/CONVENTION
04/29/2023 - Sullivan Hamfest
Location: Sullivan, IL
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Moultrie Amateur Radio Klub
Website: https://www.qsl.net/mark/
Learn More
3 hours and 178 miles away
 
HAMFEST/CONVENTION
05/07/2023 - The DeKalb Hamfest
Location: Sandwich, IL
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Kishwaukee Amateur Radio Club
Website: http://karc-club.org
Learn More
1 hour 45 minute drive and 84 miles and they are on CDT.
Anyone want to carpool to this one?? Contact me Tim/N9CA
 
LOCAL  VE SESSION
EXAM SESSION
05/06/2023 | Valparaiso IN 46383-4820


Sponsor: Porter County ARC     www.pc-arc.net
Location: Downtown Valparaiso Public Library  
9:00am Sharp!    Walk-ins welcome.
Photo ID, photocopy of license if you have one, your FCC FRN #, test fees ($35 for FCC + $15 Club), pen, pencils, valid email.
BTW, The FCC offers a two year grace renewal if your license has expired. Bring a photocopy of that license.
73, Tim/N9CA