From the top... **This month's effort will be longer
than normal, as the abbreviated News from last month was not circulated via email
due to the timing. Apologize for the repeats for those who regularly check
here.
**The 2008 State Convention was again ably hosted by the Bolingbrook
ARS. Congratulations to the BARS crew for a job well done. The venue, a local
high school, was top-notch.
**Another unprecedented windstorm/tornado producing weather system swept across
the northern part of the Section on the evening of 4 August. The wind damage
was widespread, causing many lengthy power outages. Again, the SKYWARN nets
were a pleasure to listen to as data passed to NWS. Very few injuries reported
despite some notable damage and four (I think) confirmed tornadoes. In my neighborhood,
there wasn't a property owner without either tree or structural damage. I have
a Volkswagen-sized pile of brush waiting to burn to prove it. The remnants
of Gustav provided some badly needed rain and very few consequences due to
a recent dry spell.
**The hamfest season rolls on. It's kind of concerning to see the obvious drop
in attendance at most events. Gas prices are relaxing somewhat, but it seems
like people are taking the lessons of $4/gallon gas to heart. Maybe it's time
for clubs to start talking to their neighbors about consolidating hamfests? What
would you rather have...several large, well attended and staffed events, or many
little events with sparse attendance? Granted, there'd have to be talk up front
about sharing the load and the revenue, but we're hams. We can do anything.
Get
informed...
**What ever happened to W2NSD? Wayne Green folded 73 Magazine
back in 2003, but that doesn't mean that he's been idle. For those of you who
don't know him, W2NSD was Amateur Radio's prototype curmudgeon in the sixties
and seventies. He held forth in editorials monthly, critizing
everything from the League to Dick Bash and everything in between. He also
proposed solutions to those perceived ills. Wayne helped popularize FM repeaters,
RTTY, personal computers, the compact disk as a medium for music,
and other innovations. He famously challenged
a fellow radio columnist to a pistol duel when the other columnist publicized
the practice
of 'unlocking'
ham gear. I greatly admired Wayne at one time, as a lot of his prophecies about
Amateur Radio have come to pass, especially those that involved clubs that
didn't welcome newcomers and how that would hobble the Service. Sadly, Wayne
aligned himself with Art Bell and other wearers of the tinfoil hat, which finally
drove
me
and thousands
of reasonable
others away. A current article in
Computerworld magazine gives a concise description of W2NSD's career and an
interview.
**In a related happening, Tom Kneitel W4XAA ex-K2AES passed away on
22 August. Tom was to CB and scanning what Wayne Green was to Amateur Radio:
the resident curmudgeon. He was editor of S9 Magazine for many years, and was
the original editor of Popular Communications. Interestingly, Tom was a vocal
critic of the cult of high-powered hooligans and numbers collectors that
inhabited parts of 11m. That attitude probably
caused the demise of S9 along with CB becoming an appliance rather than
a pastime in the mid-seventies. (There are some very interesting parallels
between the use of CB as
a social
instrument
in the seventies and the rise of the PC as a similar social instrument now.
It would make a dandy study for some doctoral candidate.) I'm
glad that Tom stopped writing for PopComm before the tinfoil
hatters
took
that publication
over. Rest well, Tomcat.
**The National Weather Service and Department of Homeland Security are again
teaming up to distribute NOAA All-Hazard Radios to public and private schools.
Please be aware that these schools *may* be seeking programming assistance
for these SAME-capable radios. As we did during the last distribution, please
make yourself and your talents availalble through your local EMA/ESDA or Citizen
Corps if requested. More to be posted soon at www.arrl.net.
**As
a part of their new relationship with the Transportation Safety Administration,
Army MARS personnel have been assisting TSA in support of the Democratic and
Republican National Conventions. TSA does not have the best reputation with
our population. What better way to help raise them up than to associate them
with a class act like Army MARS. As an aside, I'm soooo glad that I visited
the
Denver area the week prior to the Convention and then got out of Dodge...
**It's a long way off, but Amateur Radio participation has been requested for
a reenactment of the 1919 Transcontinental Motor Convoy. Over two hundred restored
and period military vehicles will be traveling the Lincoln Highway from Washington
DC to San Diego CA. This will be a Big Deal as it crosses the Section on 20-21
June 2009. Background here and here: more as it develops.
**Once again, the Route 66 On The Air event will be held on 13-21 September. The
Six Meter Club of Chicago will operate W6Q for the duration of the event. Details
here.
**It's not too early to start thinking about the Illinois QSO Party on 19 October,
once again ably sponsored by the Western Illinois ARC. Again, there is a need
to get all 102 counties of the state active for this event. Think about some
activity that day, especially you guys with the whiz-bang HF mobiles. More
here.
**Don't forget the 27th annual ARRL/TAPR Digital Communication Conference
which will be held in the Chicago area on 26-28 September. The recent purchase
of a D-STAR HT is going to ensure that I show up. More here.
**Club elections are drawing near. Please remember that if 'somebody' has to
do it, we're all 'somebody'. Please help share the load.
Around the
Section...
**The July issue of the Chicago Suburban RA was devoted
to remembering Frank Jackowiak WY9U, a long-time member of the club. Folks,
we share your loss. CSRA has also moved their 2m net to the CFMC machine on
146.76MHz for the Monday night gathering at 2000.
**I enjoy reporting on new and innovative ways to utilize technology to further
the Service. After all, aren't we technologists and scientists first? For their
50th Anniversary Hamfest on 20-21 September, the Peoria Area ARC is pulling
out all of the stops as far as utilizing technology. They will operate a Special
Event
Station
during
the
fest. The club's new D-STAR box *should* be on line in time for the fest. Tickets
and flea market spaces are available online using a PayPal option. Streaming
audio describing the fest is available here. And
some of the local and regional emergency response agencies will display their
comm vehicles on site. Ladies and gentlemen, I am impressed.
**From Tom Lower K9GPC, EC of Ogle County, comes the following: "On July 31,
2008, 8 members of the Ogle County ARES® Team once again provided Traffic Control
and Parking Management for the Ogle County Fair held just west of Oregon, Illinois.
At the top Thursday's venue was the Tractor Pull Event - which I believe sparked
an all time record attendance for this Fair. By 7:30 PM Fair Officials closed
the main entrance to the Fairgrounds and had our team direct incoming vehicles
to the freshly cut hay field across the road - something that has never happened
at the Fair or any other event held at this location. The gang
of eight endured hot weather, high humidity, and absolutely no breeze from 4:00
PM until
9:00 PM. ARES® members that could be found by the Fair Board
Members attending were each thanked personally for their hard work in managing
this record crowd. I as EC for Ogle County would also like to congratulate
the 7 Ogle County ARES® Members who gave of themselves in such a professional
manor for such a worthy event. The Members present were (in no particular order):
Dave
Lewis - K9VFS,
Mark Miller - N9MKI,
Debbie Lower - KC9FSC,
Jim Conrad - (DEC Northwest Illinois) W8MQ,
Charlie Anderson (AEC Ogle County) N9QDJ,
Brenda Anderson - KA9DHX,
John Sorensen - WA6UCA,
Tom Lower (EC Ogle County) - K9GPC."
**The Kishwaukee ARC held its Special Event Station W9S from 14-17 August in
conjunction with the Sycamore Steam Show and Threshing Bee. This event is a wonderful
collision of old and new technology and a great showcase for the Service. Over
300 contacts were made and over 100 non-KARC hams signed the guestbook. Pics
below.
**As the last of the Field Day reports trickled in, I note that a new
feature of many FD events is a VE test session. This is a great trend. Additionally,
congrats to BARS for providing both VE license and ARECC testing at the State
Convention.
**Lake County ARES® provided communications from the Health Dept, EOC in
Waukegan and to Central Distribution Points at the Grant Township Highway Dept
and the
Ela Township Highway Dept.. They also provided communications at St Peter's
Church (which is a public dispensing point) in Lake Zurich.
**Whither the fox hunt? Maybe I'm not reading enough, but the fine art of hidden
transmitter hunting seems to be fading save some notable exceptions in Rockford,
Kankakee (last 31 August...more here) and the western part of the Section.
These
last
weeks
of
summer
and
the
first warm weeks of fall are perfect for fox hunts. Did you know that t-hunting
is
a
sanctioned sport with its own world
championship?
Just
remember
to
consider the physical capabilities of your targeted participants when planning
a t-hunt.
After
a certain
age, some folks cease to consider trooping around in the woods as fun. However,
a rural area has some fun possibilities for teams of participants of varying
skill levels. The old guys can read the signals, but the kids can still climb!
Ye Olde Traffic
Report...
** IL ARES®
Net -- QNI xx -- QTC 0 -- 2 Sessions KC6VVT
** Lake County ARES®/RACES Nets --QNI 100 voice/5 Packet-- QTC 0 --
4 Sessions K9DRW
** W9VEY Memeorial Net -- QNI 205 -- QTC 6 -- ? Sessions WA9RUM
** IL Emergency Net -- QNI 64 -- QTC 5 -- 5 Sessions K9HEZ
** IL Phone Net -- QNI 152 -- QTC 17 -- 26 Sessions K9HEZ
** North Central Phone Net -- QNI 96 -- QTC 13 -- 21 Sessions K9HEZ
Visitors at KARC Special Event Station at the Sycamore Steam Show. W9ZMR, K9JAT, KB9YMG, KG9Y, Operator WD9GNX
Station with Ten Tec Jupiter and a dipole at 45 feet
Eric KC9DUX Operating
John K9VIS Operating CW
Luc, Kobe and Leo check out the action. Hopefully, these are three future hams!
Tom K9GPC EC Ogle Co. Operator, Kent KC9LIF Logging
Threshing while kids play in straw stack.
Mike WD9GNX operating
Steam Engine under power. Hard to believe that these devices brought the world into the Industrial Age.
Responsibility for content of all posted material above rests
exclusively with the item author. ARRL staff assumes no responsibility
for errors, omissions, and accuracy of items appearing on this page. All
questions and comments should be directed to the item author.
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