Short Skip - September 2021

SHORT SKIP - FROM THE PARADE STAND
By Tim McGillen/N9CA   2021 LCARC President
September  2021
Hi Everyone,
Last months Club Program: “6 meter Propagation” simulcast  to us via ZOOM and presented by Carl Luetzelschwab K9LA. Thank you again Carl for the generous sharing of your time with us. The presentation on “The Magic Band” demonstrated why so many find it fascinating.
September Program: “Solar Effects On Earth’s Power Grid” by Charlie Sutana AJ9N via ZOOM from Florida.
The physical Club meeting and ZOOM link will start at 7:30pm Friday September 10th. Look for the ZOOM link on W9LJ.org. Club members will also have had this link sent to their email as well as a meeting reminder. Physical meeting at the EMA office 2900 W. 93rd, Crown Point IN.
 
 MORE CLUB NEWS
 
LCARC HT Give Away GOTA Program
If you were newly licensed in 2020 or 2021, you may join the LCARC for our yearly $20 membership dues and we’ll help you get-on-the-air with a programmed VHF/UHF HT provided to you by the LCARC. You must submit an application to the Club (found on www.W9LJ.org) and physically attend at least one live Club meeting.
 LCARC Information NET   EVERY Wednesday at 8:00pm. 147.000 and 442.075 pl 131.8 (on linked Club repeaters). Informal, informative, and fun. A great way to stay connected with local hams. You do not have to be a Club member to check-in. Typically 30 minutes
 Indiana Parks On The Air (INPOTA) is Saturday September 11th. We will be getting a group together to meet and operate off-the-grid at the Indiana Dunes State Park (weather permitting). Set-up 8-10am. On the air operating 10-5pm. Contact Tim N9CA via W9LJ.org for details for a day near the Saturday European Market, shops, and pub restaurants of Chesterton. The IDSP has one of the 10 best rated beaches… in the entire world!
October Club Program: “The Raspberry Pi mini-computer”. Live hands-on building and programing for Ham Radio use. Kits available in stock at;  adafruit.com dfrobot.com and vendors on Amazon.com.  A case and fan are needed it you plan to run a full SDR or FT8 with the thing.  BridgeCom makes an HT to WiFi hotspot using a Raspberry PI (with no fan!).

 UPCOMING HAMFEST NEWS

09/11/2021 - MARC Tailgate Hamfest
Location: Franklin, IN
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Midstate Amateur Radio Club
Website: http://www.midstatehams.org      (down I-65, South of Indy near Columbus and Nashville Indiana)
 
09/11/2021 - Tippecanoe County Hamfest
Location: Lafayette, IN
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Tippecanoe Amateur Radio Association

 09/10/2021 - 09/11/2021 W9DXCC Convention, ARRL Illinois Section Convention
Location: Naperville, IL
Type: ARRL Convention
Sponsor: Northern Illinois DX Association (NIDXA)
Website: http://w9dxcc.com

09/18/2021 - 09/19/2021  PAARC Superfest 2021
Location: Pekin, IL
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Peoria Area Amateur Radio Club
Website: http://www.w9uvi.org

09/26/2021 - Radio Expo
Location: Belvidere , IL
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Chicago FM Club
Website: http://chicagofmclub.org
 
OTHER IMPORTANT HR ITEMS
Indiana ARES District 1 is conducting a weekly net EVERY Tuesday evening  7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. CDT.  ARES membership not required to check in. N9IAA repeater 146.685  pl 173.8. Joe/W1SPY offers free training and practice in the latest digital EMCOMM modes. Joe has also created a great new website that he constantly updates.   www.ARESd1.com  
 
SEPTEMBER CONTESTS
FT8 North American Stations are to transmit on the “ODD” ½ minute intervals. SO… looking at the main page of WSJT,  in the middle middle of the page, just below the software menu click setting box that says DECODE, is a another click check box that says “Tx even 1st”. Make sure this box is not “clicked toggled” to “on”.
Hunting For NDBs In CLE 271
https://ns6t.net/azimuth/azimuth.html    It's CLE time! 'CLE's are 'Co-ordinated Listening Events, and NDB DXers around the world focus their listening time on one small slice of  the NDB spectrum. Click on headline to be directed to an article that tells you everything.
SOTA W0C 10-10-10 Challenge Report
In the ilk of POTA and INPOTA, there is SOTA. Worth a few moments to read the interesting link.. For activators, the objective was to activate 10 summits higher than 10k feet in 10 days. … Continue reading SOTA W0C 10-10-10 Challenge Report →
 Locally, we do have 3 sand dune “mountains” at the Indiana Dunes State Park and of course Mount Baldy near Michigan City. Hmmm?
 
·         September 1 -- VHF-UHF FT8 Activity Contest
·         September 1 -- UKEICC 80-Meter Contest (Phone)
·         September 1 - 3 -- G3ZQS Memorial Straight Key Contest (CW)
·         September 2 -- NRAU 10-Meter Activity Contest (CW, phone, digital)
·         September 2 -- SKCC Sprint Europe (CW)
·         September 11-13th   ARRL VHF Contest         Details at:    ARRL.org        
·         September 18-19th  ARRL 10 GHZ and Up Contest    Details at:   ARRL.org    
·         September 25-26    CQWW RTTY Contest.       Details at:    cqwwrtty.com
 
The K7RA Solar Update
Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: Sun watchers saw no days without sunspots this week. Average daily sunspot numbers rose from 17.7 last week to 21.7 over the August 19 - 25 reporting week. Average daily solar flux increased from 73.8 to 78.5.
We are less than 1 month away from the autumnal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere on Wednesday, September 22. That's when both hemispheres will be bathed in equal measures of solar radiation -- always good for HF propagation.
For What It’s Worth – A Survey
Here is your Chance! Vote for the direction(s) you want the Club to do more of:      Please Email your thoughts via W9LJ.org

·         Contesting
·         ARES
·         More NETS
·         DMR
·         Local Volunteering
·         Building sessions
·         Computers
·         Advanced Ham Radio License Classes
·         Off-The-Grid outings
·         More on Propagation
·         A Bowling Team
·         Breakfast get together
·         Dinner night
·        More frequent Club meetings

Or, some-thin else
Q: Other than the initial use of the call sign of a station you are communicating with (so they know you are calling them) is it necessary to ID using their call every 10 minutes?
 
73, Tim/N9CA
A: NO. You must announce your ID every ten minutes and also when you signing off at the end of the QSO