Newsletter of the Northern California Contest Club
February 1998
George Daughters, K6GT, Editor
(N6NZ and FrontPage take the blame in equal measure for any formatting weirdness caused by conversion from George's original copy.)
NEXT NCCC MEETINGS DATE: Friday, February 13
At Harry’s Hofbrau near the
Palo Alto Airport
DIRECTIONS BELOW!
Harry's is on the north side of Embarcadero Road, east of 101 (Embarcadero is an exit on 101.) Social hour/dinner at 6:30, program at 7:30. The meeting will feature a special joint meeting of NCCC and NCDXC held on FRIDAY, February 13, (Note the change in the day of the week -- this is NCDXC's normal date and place.) A two part program of interest to all hams will be presented: (a) "Web surfing your way through ham radio," a guided tour of all the best ham radio sites and (b) "How to cope with the RF exposure rules and not get burned," by Jim Maxwell, W6CF (with backup by Brad Wyatt, K6WR) on the new FCC rules that affect all amateurs regarding compliance with RF exposure limitations. These are must - see presentations!
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NCCC OFFICERS
President .... Andy Faber, AE6Y ............... ae6y@aol.com
Vice President/CC ....... Bob Wilson, N6TV ......... n6tv@vnet.ibm.com
Secretary/Treasurer ... Ed Muns, W0YK ............... w0yk@msn.com
Directors ....
Carl Cook, AI6V ... ai6v@aol.com
Bruce Sawyer, N6NT ... n6nt@worldnet.att.net
Ken Silverman, K2KW ... ken.silverman@airtouch.com
Jim Hollenback, WA6SDM ... jholly@cup.hp.com
JUG Editor .... George Daughters, K6GT ... gdaught6@leland.stanford.edu
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January Meeting.
All I can say about the January meeting is WOW! If you weren't there, you missed the best attended meeting of the entire year. Whether it was the draw of 6Y4A antenna secrets presented by Kenny, K2KW, or the South Beach Yacht Club location in San Francisco, or the rainy weather, or the cessation of Monday night football - whatever the attraction was, it worked. Over 50 people showed up, including four new members. The camaraderie was exceptional, even for our group, and the last partygoers had to be shooed out after 10 p.m. so we could put the lights out.
Many thanks are due to Ed, W0YK, who arranges for the use of the site. A man of many talents, he also tended bar, coordinated with the restaurant, ordered pizza for latecomers, and dealt with all the finances. Having a guy like Ed to do the heavy lifting sure makes the president's job easier. Thanks are also due to Ed's XYL, Mary, who helped out in all the same duties (and without even getting the honor of being a club officer.) John, N6JT, who is also a member of both clubs, also lent a hand.
Kenny's program was extremely informative. If you missed it, take a gander at his article in the February 1998 edition of K3EST's magazine, CQ Contest. The article covers many of the same points Kenny made in his presentation, but without the opportunity for the point-counterpoint of the live presentation.
Upcoming Meetings
Our next meeting is February 13. Note that this is a FRIDAY, not our usual Monday day for the meeting. That's because it's joint meeting with the NCDXC to discuss two topics of interest to everyone: Net surfing with a ham twist, and then the new rf exposure rules that affect us all. The net surfing session will be held by our NCCC webmeister, Dave Curtis, N6NZ. If you email him (N6NZ@contesting.com) your favorite URL's prior to the meeting, he can try to include them in his talk. The rf rules will be explained by Jim Maxwell, W6CF, who is an acknowledged expert in the field. You won't want to miss this one!
Chasing the Maldives: 8Q7AA
As this is written, the 8Q7AA expedition to the Maldives sponsored by the Central Arizona DX Association is winding down. Several of our gang are on it, including Bruce, N6NT, Darryl, AF7O, and Carlos, NP4IW. I've spent many hours chasing this one, as it is an all-time new country here and would put me within one of the Honor Roll (assuming the XW30 operation QSLs.) This has been more frustrating to work than any expedition in recent memory -- caused by a combination of propagation conditions, my limited time availability and operator practices at their end. I got a pretty easy QSO on 20 CW on the first or second day, courtesy of Bruce I'm pretty sure. I thought phone and 40m would be a snap, but that hasn't been the case.
I'd been getting up early each day only to hear a barely readable signal some days on 75 phone, but have never heard them loud enough to make a qso except briefly one day when they were operating split with a one kHz difference, so I was continually blasted by locals. On 40 ssb, I've twice heard them well. One time they were erratically working only the East Coast and Midwest (i.e., jumping from call area to call area, calling for "only 8's in Ohio" or "4's in Florida", etc.). The second time I think I might have made it, but the op had a casual operating style and they faded out without working many West Coasters. I listened for a long time, with W1AW's cw bulletins blasting in my ears, and gave up.
I took to coming home from work early (i.e., 5 p.m.) to try for 20m phone long path. On the Friday the 23rd, they had a great signal, but the operator had a very chatty, casual style that kept the rate half of what it could have been, and I called and called, and gnashed my teeth as they slowly faded out. Then on Sunday morning, I heard nothing on 80, and heard them very QRS on 40 (maybe a pirate -- they didn't seem to be working anyone). I'm preparing for a trial, so I got to work at 10:20 am, and a bit later checked the OH2BUA web cluster on the internet. Low and behold they were spotted on 14195 by a W2 who said they were working 7's! This is the last thing I had expected at that hour, but being a true DX'er, I raced home, turned on the rig and heard them loud and clear. Carlos was working the pileup efficiently, but there were lots of guys calling. I kept calling and spinning the dial looking for a clear spot. I'd about given up when I heard him come back to me. Unconsciously, I had turned the big knob slightly, which led to a moment of major panic. Fortunately, I had vaguely noticed the split xmit frequency, so I hastily went back to where I thought it was and gave his report. He QSL'd it, so I guess I ended up somewhere near where I had been. Whew! This is a perfect example of a combination of old-time and new-style dx'ing - even with the assistance of packet and the internet, it took a lot of hours and frustration to make the contacts.
After all the frustration on 40 SSB, on Monday morning Bruce showed up with a good signal and a snappy operating style on 40 CW. He was having difficulties caused by callers outside of NA, plus very poor operating practices by the pileup. For example, he would call "N6? N6? N6?" and all kinds of guys would keep calling. One W7 seemed to respond to every possible U.S. callsign! Anyway, I did get through after only a few tries, thanks to Bruce's skill. KB Bruce!
Here's a pome about that:
DX'ers exchange their high fives
And speak once again to their wives.
After hours of grief
What a relief,
We finally worked the Maldives!
ARRL DX Contest
Don't forget the ARRL DX Contests coming up in a few months. Conditions are improving, so we should be able to do better from the West Coast. Also, since dxpeditions now count for club scores, we're expecting more interesting trips than usual. If you're game, contact our travel agent, Kenny, K2KW, get the latest info, and find out about any vacancies that may exist.
73, Andy
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QST QST QST
The Florida Contest Group is pleased to announce the re-birth of the Florida QSO Party. Mobilers wanted...check out the contest's web page for planned operations!
Rules for the 1998 Florida QSO Party (FQP)
1) Object: For amateurs outside of the state of Florida to make contact with as many Florida stations as possible. Florida stations work everyone.
2) Contest Period: Last full weekend of April. There are two operating periods. 1800Z 25 April - 0359Z 26 April and 1400Z - 2359Z 26 April. 20 hours total. All stations may operate the full 20 hours.
3) Categories:
(A) Single operator. One person performs all operating and logging functions. Use of spotting nets (operator arrangements involving assistance through DX-alerting nets, PacketCluster, etc) is not permitted. Only one (1) transmitted signal on the air at any time.
(B) Multioperator. Those obtaining any form of assistance, such as relief operators, loggers, or use of spotting nets. NOTE - Multioperator stations do not have to remain on a band for 10 minutes before changing bands.
(i) Multi-Single. Only one (1) transmitted signal on the air at any time.
(ii) Multi-Multi. More than one (1) transmitted signal on the air at any time. No simultaneous SSB/CW signals on a band.
(C) Mobile. Mobile is a station that is self-contained (radio, antenna, power source) capable of motion. Motion is optional. Mobile entrants may be either Single Operator or Multioperator.
(D) Novice/Technician. Novice or Technician licensees perform all operating and logging functions.
4) Power. Three power output categories for all categories. Logs not showing power output category will be listed as high power.
(A) QRP - 5W output or less
(B) Low Power - 150W output or less
(C) High Power - more than 150W output
5) Modes:
(A) Single Operator, Mobile, and Novice-Technician categories may operate:
(i) Mixed mode (phone and CW)
(ii) Phone only
(iii) CW Only
(B) Multioperator work Mixed mode only.
6) Contest Exchange:
(A) Florida stations send signal report and county.
(B) W/VE stations (including KH6/KL7) send signal report and state or province.
(C) DX stations (including KH2/KP4, etc.) send signal report and DX.
7) Scoring:
(A) QSO Points: Each complete non-duplicate Phone contact is worth 1 point. Each complete non-duplicate CW contact is worth 2 points. No partial contact credit. Duplicate contacts must be clearly identified and are worth 0 points.
(B) Multipliers:
(i) For Florida stations, 50 states (including Florida); Canada MAR (VE1, VE2, VE9, VY2), NF (VO1, VO2), QC (VE2), ON (VE3), MB (VE4), SK (VE5), AB (VE6), BC (VE7), NW (VE8), YT (VY1); DXCC Countries (except the US, Canada, KH6 and KL7.) A multiplier can be counted once per mode. Working NP4Z on CW and then on SSB is two Puerto Rican multipliers.
(ii) All others work Florida counties (a maximum of 67). Florida mobile stations that change counties are considered to be a new station and may be contacted again for point and multiplier credit. Florida stations on a county line may be claimed as a multiplier for any or all of the counties they give in their exchange. A Florida county multiplier can be counted once per mode. Working W1YL in Hillsborough County on CW and then on SSB is two county multipliers.
(C) Final Score: Multiply QSO Points by total multipliers by the power multiplier (see below). Florida mobile operations must submit separate logs for each county activated; a mobile entrant's score will be the total points for all counties activated by that effort.
Power Multiplier: If all QSO's were made using 5W or less, multiply your score by 5; if all QSO's were made using less than 150W, multiply your score by 2; if any or all QSO's were made using more than 150W, multiply your score by 1.
8) Suggested frequencies: CW - 3.545, 7.045, 14.045, 21.045 and 28.045 and 10 khz up for Novices/Technicians. Phone - 3.850, 7.225, 14.250, 21.300, and 28.450. Look for SSB activity on the hour and CW on the half hour. Fixed stations are urged to call CQ above/below these frequencies to keep them clear for low power mobile operations. No 160 meters, WARC bands, or VHF bands.
9) Miscellaneous:
(A) Call signs and exchange information must be received by each station for a complete QSO.
(B) No cross-mode contacts; CW contacts must be made in the CW portion of the band.
(C) Stations may be worked once per mode, per band, i.e., WC4E may be worked on both 20 CW and 20 SSB for credit.
(D) Your call sign must indicate your DXCC country (also, portables in Hawaii and Alaska must sign /KH6 or /KL7).
(E) A transmitter used to contact one or more stations may not subsequently be used under any other call during the contest period (with the exception of family stations where more than one call is assigned).
10) Reporting:
(A) Entries must be postmarked no later than 30 days after the end of the contest (May 26, 1998). No late entries can be accepted. Any logs (other than check logs) with over 100 QSO's are encouraged to submit their logs in computer readable format. Any entrants who submit paper logs with more than 100 contacts must also include cross-check (dupe) sheets.
(i) E-Mail. You may submit your contest logs via e-mail to FLQSOParty@aol.com . Send your summary sheet file and your log file following the ARRL Suggested Standard File Format.
(ii) On Disk. You may submit your logs on diskettes instead of paper logs. The floppy diskette must be IBM compatible, MS-DOS formatted, 3.5 inch. The log information must be in an ASCII file.
(iii) Via Regular Mail. Contest logs (paper or diskette) may be submitted via postal mail to:
Florida Contest Group
c/o Jim White, K4OJ
1508 W. Patterson St.
Tampa, FL 33604.
(B) Logs must indicate band, mode, date, time in UTC, calls and received exchange, multipliers and QSO points. Multipliers should be marked clearly in the log the first time they are worked. Single operator entrants should indicate if you used 2 radios on the summary sheet. This will be noted in the results.
(i) Templates for the contest logging programs NA and TR are available for downloading from the FQP Web Site.
(ii) Entry forms (summary sheet, log sheet, and county abbreviations) can also be found at the FQP Web Site.
(iii) You may also receive entry forms (rules, summary sheet, log sheet, and county abbreviations) by mail. Please send a business sized SASE, to Florida Contest Group, c/o Jim White, K4OJ, 1508 W. Patterson St., Tampa, FL 33604.
(C) Logs that have been received will be listed on the Florida QSO Party Web site no more than 48 hours after receipt.
(D) Final results will be posted on the Florida QSO Party Web site and the "3830" Internet reflector.
(E) If you desore a hard copy of the results, please send a business size SASE to Jim White, K4OJ, at the address above.
11) Awards:
(A) Certificates will be awarded to top scorers in each category from each Florida county, State, Canadian province, and DXCC country.
(B) Special awards may be awarded at the discretion of the Florida QSO Party Contest Committee.
12) Condition of Entry: Each entrant agrees to be bound by the provisions, as well as the intent, of this announcement, the regulations of his or her licensing authority and the decisions of the Florida QSO Party Contest Committee.
We hope you will join us for what we hope will be a fun operating event each year!
73 - see you in the FQP!
Jim White, K4OJ, k4oj@ij.net
....visit our website @
http://www.4w.com/deemer/fcg.htm
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MASS EFFORT TO PALMYRA ISLAND, BAKER/HOWLAND ISLAND, AND KINGMAN REEF.
This will be an all-band, all-mode effort with possible satellite and 6 meter operations. The operation will be in two stages.
SSIDXG member mark KA4IST will depart Honolulu on Jan. 26th.aboard the SS MIDWAY and will open up operations from Palmyra island around Feb 4th. Mark will operate during his off duty hours on the ship. On Feb. 20th, he will be joined by Chuck N4BQW Until the 25th, when the other 5 operators will join the group. The schedule at this time is for round the clock operations from Palmyra until the 27th. At that time they will sail for KINGMAN reef and operate around the clock from KINGMAN till the 29th. The team will then sail to BAKER ISLAND and operate as /KH1 march 5-12th.The time frame on each island is controlled by the fish and wildlife service who have kindly agreed to allow the operators to be part of their operations in the area.
The team consists of the following operators: Chuck, N4BQW, Mark, KA4IST, MKDXF member Pat, NH6UY, Joe, N4DAZ, Mac, WA4FFW, Dan, W4DKS, and Harold, K4AU. Your support is needed to help offset the high cost of this operation and all funds and QSL’s will be handled by the SSIDXG QSL team. All QSL's and support should be sent to AC7DX, Ron Lago.
The short development time of this trip has severely handicapped efforts to raise funds . we would like to thank the Northern Calif. Dx Foundation and the German DXF Group for their help with this dxpedition. The operators have generously contributed to this trip but they still need help to offset the shortfall that remains at this time.
We would like to thank Kenwood USA, Cushcraft, Force 12, WF1B, AH0W and INDXA for their support of equipment. We would also like to thank Kimo C. Chun, KH7U, for his super effort getting equipment from Midway, and Kimo and Pat (NH6UY) for their work on checkout and packing of the Midway equipment. It was with great sorrow we learned of the passing of Eric Edberg, W6DU. Eric has been a longtime member of the NCCC and a member and director of NCDXF for many years. His help and support to dxpeditions will be sorely missed. The members of MKDXF and SSIDXG along with the entire landing party would like to dedicate this operation to the Memory of Eric, W6DU!
73, Tony DePrato WA4JQS / VP8BZL
Frank Smith AHOW/W7 / OH2LVG
South Sandwich Island Dx Group
Midway-Kure Dx Foundation
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AWARDS BANQUET IN MARCH!
Mark your calendars now and plan on attending the annual NCCC Awards Banquet on 21 March 1998! This is an opportunity for us all to gather and congratulate one another for the many contest results and awards achieved this past contest season. While there are many awards in the form of letter openers, mouse pads, certificates, plaques CQP wine, etc. you don't have receive anything to attend and socialize with other NCCCer's. We'd like to have a great turnout to not only recognize the awardees but also to enjoy some eyeball QSOs with each other and our significant others.
No-host cocktails begin at 6:00PM with dinner served at 7:30PM and awards presentation at 8:30PM. The venue will once again be back at the Pleasanton Hotel with the following menu:
SALAD: Baby lettuces with julienne carrots, sliced radishes, and aged red wine vinaigrette
ENTREE: Grilled breast of chicken with tomato coulis, mashed potatoes, and snap peas ($30),
OR
Penne rigate with roma tomatoes, roasted Japanese eggplant, basil, Kalamata olives and Parmesan ($28),
OR
Seared salmon with tarragon-shallot butter, local country & wild rice, blue lake beans and crushed pecans ($34)
Sourdough bread and butter, coffee, tea included.
DESSERT: lemon-ricotta cheese cake with bush berry sauce Please make your reservation by sending your dinner choice (for each person attending) and your check to:
Ed Muns, W0YK
POB 1877
Los Gatos, CA 95031-1877
See the March JUG for directions.
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UPGRADE? ME?
You bet! If old K6GT could do it at age 55, you can do it! And you don’t have to drive up to Battery Street in San Francisco and be examined by a Federal Officer. (Who remembers that?!) You can be examined by one of the local Volunteer Examiners. NCCC’s own Gordon, W6NW, points out the Sunnyvale VEC website at:
which has a link to the FCC for licensing, renewal, change of address, forms, etc. The ARRL also has a VEC in the area. So I’m afraid there are no excuses remaining. If you aren’t at that higher class of license you’ve been thinking about, it’s a goal that’s within reach. Go for it!
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The BOD met on Jan. 10, 1998 at AE6Y's house. Present were officers AE6Y, N6TV, and W0YK, directors K2KM, WA6SDM and N6NT, JUG editor K6GT, and member K6AW.
Action Minutes:
1. Future Meeting Locations
a) Jan 12 -- SBYC
b) Feb 13 - Friday -- Harry's in Palo Alto
c) Mar 21, Saturday -- Awards Banquet in
Pleasanton
d)April 13 - HP Santa Clara
e) May 11 - To be set by new President.
2. Future Meeting topics
a) Feb - Joint Meeting with NCDXC
i) N6NZ on net surfing: What hardware and
software are needed?
ii) W6CF and K6WR on FCC RF Exposure
Rules
b) March - Awards Banquet; No Meeting topic –
More social hour
c) April – Elections; Topic TR/CT/NA shootout
i) N6TV will do CT, Geoclock and Beacon
Wizard
ii) K6AW will do TR
iii) Ask in JUG to find someone for NA
3. New officers/ BOD
By-Laws: "No officer shall succeed himself"
Need BOD candidates: Consists of officers,
immediate past president and three others
Transition job memos to be done by each officer for the new ones.
d) Other posts
i) Jug Editor - George K6GT to continue
ii) Awards chairman -Ed W0YK to continue
iii) CQP Awards - Has been Jim WA6SDM.
Jim will chair a committee to be set up.
4. CQP
CQP rules to be modified to incorporate a
definition for club competition requiring that:
i) Clubs have 50 or fewer entries.
ii) Clubs certify that all entrants operated
from within 175 miles of club center, to
avoid competition by "paper clubs."
b) Processing of CQP awards and decisions on the 8 extra bottles of wine available will be made by the new CQP awards committee.
5. Club Awards issues
a) 5 Meg award By-Laws say only full members get awards.
i) Consensus seems that if someone who started as a full member accumulates points that count for the club, then that person should still qualify if added points count for a club score, but it requires a by-laws change.
ii) See by-laws discussion below re possible by-laws changes re eligibility and costs of awards.
Decision that we give an SS award only if a
member's SS points count for club score.
North-South trophy - Decided to get a
"medium-sized" trophy. N6TV to get wording to W0YK for the inscription.
Worked All California Award. Currently done
by K6PU under NCCC sponsorship. (After the
meeting AE6Y checked with Ken, who is happy
with the arrangement, so we should put more
publicity for it in CQP announcements.)
6. Follow up: Moving club center
a) At Sept 1997 meeting we said that N6TV would use a mapping program to find the ideal center site.
b) Ramifications re
i) Membership
ii) Other formal changes/notifications?
c) Decision - tabled pending review by N6TV.
7. Club Awards for 1997-98: Committee of W0YK and N6TV appointed to determine the three discretionary awards.
8. By-laws revisions
W0YK, WA6SDM and AE6Y appointed as a
committee to recommend by-laws revisions.
They are to hammer out and e-mail to rest of
the board. AE6Y to check with original
drafter, W6OAT.
b) Amendment process
i) Proposed in writing by 5 full members
ii) Mailed with ballot to all full members
iii) Members are given between 30 and 75
days to return ballots.
iv) Could be mailed in JUG and members
given 30 days to return ballots (or allow
e-mail balloting?)
v) Must pass by 2/3 of ballots received
c) Consensus on some key issues
Simplify the by-laws to allow greater
flexibility. For example, eliminate the
requirement that meetings be at night.
ii) Have only two classes of members, Full
and Associate. Dues for family members
and students will be reduced, but they will have the full privileges of their status as Associate or Full members.
iii) Have awards eligibility be determined by
the criteria for the individual award, not
in the by-laws.
73, ae6y
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WHAT’S A WACC?
I've had a surge of interest in the NCCC sponsored Worked All California Counties (WACC) award. In the last few months the following have been issued:
#13, 24 August 1997 to Paul Hammer, KA6CHJ.
Endorsed - All 2 Meter SSB, 1st VHF, 1st 2 Meters
#14, 26 November 1997 to Tom Meal, N7WWQ.
#15, 31 December 1997 to
Norman Alexander, KC6ZWT.
Endorsed – All 2 Meter SSB, 2nd VHF, 2nd 2 Meters
The VHF/UHF crowd is suddenly very turned on about the award. I'm told there are several more very close on 2 Meters and at least one within 2 counties on 432 MHz!
73, Ken - K6DB (ex - K6PU)
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NCCC’s Contest Station: K6ZM
Last summer Stan, K6WG (ex- UY5LK), was thinking about wanting to build a Contest station. Stan lives in a condo with an indoor antenna and being an avid contester, he wanted to start on a project that would get him back on the air in a big way. Stan was the founder and maintainer of UK5MAF, the Club Station of Coal Miners in Ukraine, which for many years was THE signal out of the USSR. In 1968 he was awarded a Radiosport medal by the government as the amateur radio operator for the Soviet Union. He was active in organizing a DX-Pedition for CQWW on CW and SSB to Georgia, USSR in 1978 as RF6F and in 1979 as R6F. They set the World Record as Multi Single for a few years. They were always loud when nothing else from that part of the world was coming in.
Just before Field Day, Peggy, now KF6NIA, the wife of Phil Frazier, K6ZM, was talking to Al, NH7A, about how the station at her home in Danville was in need of a lot of work done. Since Phil had died, the maintenance on the station had basically stopped. Since K6ZM was now the club call of the NCCC, Al wanted Phil's station back up to the standards that Phil had established under his own call. Phil had been a true a gentleman and an Elmer to many hams, not just to contesters. Operating with Phil was not just the use of his station, but the enjoyment of the warmth and hospitality of him and his wife Peggy.
During Field Day, Stan talked to Peggy about getting the station back in shape. Peggy's home is the offical mailing address for the NCCC and she was all for the station to be restored to the standards that Phil had maintained. For those who haven't visited the Danville QTH, it sits on a knoll with two towers.
As of June last year, the station had the following problems:
1. The forty meter beam had only two elements;
The 20 meter beam was missing two and a half elements;
3. The prop pitch motors on both towers stopped turning just after Field Day;
4. The fifteen and ten meter yogis were showing high VSWR;
5. The coaxes on all the yogis were almost two sunspot cycles old;
6. The cable on the crankup was just as old as the coax, and was frayed:
7. The guys on the towers had not been checked/replaced for years.
Well, the needed fixes did not faze Stan at all, and with summer in full bloom, he enrolled Sergei, KD6RMN ( also licensed as RA0FC), Stan's son Alex, UU6JZ, Mark, KF6KVT, and Al, NH7A, into the project.
The first order of business as to take down the 20 and 40 meter yagis and re-build them back to their original size and configuration. Stan and Sergei had to prune a bunch of tree limbs that had grown since the 40 and 20 meter antennas had last gone up.
Suffice it to say it took over two months for the 20 meter yagi to get reassembled as a 5 element antenna and the 40 meter yagi to be re-built as a 4 element KLM antenna! Sergei brought three Russian friends over from San Francisco to K6ZM for the 40 and 20 meter projects and they were a big help.
By the way, these antennas had been up for almost 30 years. When they went back up there was a complaint to the City that the antennas were ruining the complainant's views. It’s lucky that the zoning restrictions in Danville have a "grandfather" clause that allows for pre-existing towers not be restricted to the present 35 foot height regulation. A City of Danville employee showed up and started taking pictures of the station's towers. Because Peggy is a licensed amateur, it was a "grandmother" installation in this case! So, nothing came of the complaint to City.
For what seemed like every night for four months, Stan was over at K6ZM, working on one project or another to get the station ready for the fall contest season. Since Stan lives in Hayward and Sergei in San-Francisco, a lot of time was spent commuting back and forth during the work week, just to get in a couple of hours at K6ZM.
By late September, all four yagis had been taken down and rebuilt. The prop pitch motors were fixed, and although they turn very slowly, they do turn. There is new coax and hard line for the antennas. The crank up tower's cable was replaced and new guy wires were put up. A new 80 meter loop is now up, thanks to Alex's climbing some big Oak trees. Thanks to Mark, who also was climbing both towers and his 500' rope made it possible to put the huge 20 and 40 meter yagis up. Sergei and Stan supplied all new coax, hardline, guy wires, tower cable, and a lot of other parts to get the station up and running. Other contributors were Glenn, W6OTC, who donated a 486 computer and Steve, WB6MZQ, the use of a monitor. Al, NH7A, supplied a Packet radio, modem, two meter antenna, and a Viking MB tuner.
The station is now up and running for the contest season for members of the NCCC. The welcome mat is out for operators for the upcoming contest season! Contact Al, NH7A, at:
about availability. The station is still in need of Band Pass filters, and a 286/386 computer for Packet, so if you have any of these items, please consider donating them to K6ZM!
For the last few years the NCCC has had Field Day from the Danville QTH. This year promises to be a lot of fun with better propagation, and terrific equipment! The food and getting to meet other members at Field Day is always a treat.
Thanks to all of the above-mentioned guys for the big effort, and of course, to Peggy for allowing a lot of people to be over at her home day and night, working on something or another.
K6ZM is again a very LOUD SIGNAL as the official Beacon and Club station for the NCCC.
73, Al, nh7a
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