Presidents Column
Jim Hall, AA8Y
As we start a new season I would like to say hello to every one. It’s been a busy summer for every one. Now it’s time to start thinking about those
antenna projects we’ve been putting off all summer and get them done before winter.
If anyone has projects they need help with, give a yell, you can always get help
from someone in the club. Field day was a success again. We were a little short handed but we made it anyway. The
Forest Service cabin is a great place but there’s speculation that we might not be getting
out as well as we might somewhere else. As usual the pot-luck on Saturday night was a
great success. The picnic at Jack and Wanda Meyers place was really nice. We had a very nice day, lots of
good food and great company. As we all know we have had a very dry and hot summer and with that many fires all over the
west. Our club members were asked to help out in three places. the Maudlow fire, the EOC,
and being prepared for the possible evacuations caused by the Beaver Creek fire south of
Big Sky. In the beginning we deployed the SAR repeater along Dry Creek road for the use of
the local firefighters and after the command changed to the Forest Service, we brought
it in and a number of us helped staff the county EOC for over a week. It was 24 hours
a day in the beginning but tapered off to 18 hours a day as activity scaled back, then
it was closed completely as activity dropped to almost zero. I want to thank everyone who helped out in the EOC and all those who helped me out
while I was babysitting the SAR repeater up on Dry Creek Road. Jim Hall AA8Y
Meeting Minutes
submitted by KD7FVR, Ron Schimpf
There were no meetings for June or July.
Last updated 11-JUN-2000 - noted passing of Keizo Obuchi JI1KIT - recently deceased Prime Minister of Japan.
Callsign Name Claim to Fame Notes
W0ORE Tony England Astronaut
K1JT Joe Taylor Scientist Nobel Prize in Physics
K1OKI Mickey Schulhof Heads SONY US
KB2GSD Walter Cronkite TV Journalist
K2HEP John Sculley former CEO of Apple Computer apsed callsign
KB2LHI J Joe Walsh Guinness Book says "World's Fastest Shooter" Silent Key 2/28/00 (60)
WA2MKI Larry Ferrari Musician/TV personality Silent Key
K2ORS Jean Shepard Author/Actor/Radio/TV personality Silent Key 10/16/99 (78)
W2TQ Joel Miller IEEE attorney
K2ZCZ George Pataki Governor of New York 1994- lapsed callsign, now re-issued
W4CGP Chet Atkins Singer/Songwriter ex-WA4CZD
WB4KCG Ronnie Milsap Singer/Songwriter Spoke at Dayton 5/98
N4KET David French TV Journalist CNN TV News Anchor
K4LIB Arthur Godfrey TV personality Silent Key
KC4OCA Gordon Barnes Meteorologist
N4RH Ralph Haller Former FCC PRB chief
WA4SIR Ron Parise Astronaut
WD4LZC Larnelle Harris Country Music Singer 7 time Grammy winner
WD4SKT Donnie Osmond NOT the TV personality! Has same name...
KD4WUJ Patty Loveless Country Music Singer
W4ZG Worth Gruelle Author Raggedy Ann/Andy
K4ZVZ Paul W. Tibbets War Hero (via AA7OA) Pilot of
Enola Gay
W5LFL Owen Garriot Astronaut
N5QWL Jay Apt Astronaut
KC5ZTA Koichi Wakata Astronaut from Japan (ISS)
WB6ACU Joe Walsh Guitarist/Singer/Songwriter Eagles
KD6BUP James Treybig, Jr Son of Tandem Computer CEO W6JKV?
K6DUE Roy Neal TV personality produces/stars in ham radio videos
W6EZV Gen. Curtis LeMay Military legend Silent Key
N6FUP Stu Cooks Baseball player
N6GGM Laura Cooks XYL of N6FUP
W6JKV J Ames Treybig reportedly CEO of Tandem Computers see KD6BUP
N6KGB Stewart Granger Actor born James Stewart!
KB6LQR Jeana Yeager Pilot/Adventurer Round The World flight 1986
KB6LQS Dick Rutan Pilot/Adventurer Round The World flight 1986
AI6M Barry Friedman 2-time World Champion Juggler Raspyni Brothers
W6OBB Art Bell Syndicated radio personality
KB6OLJ Paul J. Cohen Mathematician
KD6OY Garry Shandling TV Personality
W6QUT Freeman Gosden Actor (SK) Amos & Andy
W6QYI Cardinal Roger Mahony Cleric L.A. Roman Catholic
Cardinal
WB6RER Andy Devine Actor Silent Key
N6YOS Priscilla Presley Actress Aka: Lou Lou Beaulieu
W7DUK Nolan Bushnell Inventor, Computer Pioneer, Founded Atari ex-ham, 1958 Callbook
KG7JF Jeff Duntemann Author
K7TA Clifford Stoll Scientist/Author/Actor "A Cuckoo's Egg"
NK7U Joe Rudi Baseball player
K7UGA Barry Goldwater late US Senator/SK 1998 friend of amateur radio
W8JK John Kraus Astronomer
9K2CS Prince Yousuf Al-Sabah Royalty
9N1MM Fr. Marshall Moran Renowned Missionary Silent Key
CN8MH King Hassan II King of Morocco (Moulay Hassan) Silent Key 7/24/99
EA0JC Juan Carlos King of Spain
F5VBY Tony Dolby Brother invented Dolby Noise Reduction System ex-G3TZH,XYL: F5VBX
FO5GJ Marlon Brando Actor aka Martin Brandeaux
GB1MIR Helen Sharman Astronaut
G2DQU Sir Brian Rix Actor/Philanthropist
G3YLA Jim Bacon TV Meteorologist
HS1A Bhumiphol Adulayadej King of Thailand
I0FCG Francesco Cossiga Former President of Italy (via XE1MN)
JI1KIT Keizo Obuchi former Prime Minister of Japan SK 5/14/00
JA5FHB Katsutsugu Sekiya Minister of Construction and Minister of (via Takehiko Hiyosh
State for the National Land Agency H6MHO)
JY1 King Hussein King of Jordan SK 07-FEB-1999
JY1NH Queen Noor Queen of Jordan American-born Lisa Halaby
JY2HT Prince Hassan King Hussein's brother Former Crown Prince
JY2RZ Prince Raad King Hussein's cousin Chairman of the Royal Jordan Radio Amateur Society
LU1SM Carlos Saul Menem President of Argentina
SU1VN Prince Talal Saudi Arabian royalty
UA1LO Yuri Gagarin First Cosmonaut Silent Key
U2MIR/UV3AM Musa Manarov Cosmonaut
VK2KB Sir Allan Fairhall Statesman
VK4HA Harry Angel Was Australia's oldest radio amateur (SK) 106 on 12/14/97
VU2RG Rajiv Ghandi late Prime Minister of India Silent Key
VU2SON Sonia Ghandi XYL of VU2RG
XE1GC Guillermo González Invented Tri-Color picture tube that made viewing the color signal possible
Camarena U.S. Patent #40235 (August 17, 1940) Silent Key (via XE1ZVO)
XE1GGO Enrique Guzman Singer (info via XE1ZVO)
XE1K Walter Cross Buchanan ex-Minister of Communications and Public Works Silent Key (via XE1MN)XE1MMM Jorge Vargas Singer (info via XE1ZVO)
XE1N Manuel Medina Built first spark transmitter in Mexico Silent Key (info via XE1MN)
Upgrade Honor Roll
This is a new column to honor all who receive or upgrade their license! Those who upgrade will remain on this list for the rest of the year.
Congratulations to all who upgraded!
Tech class
Vikki Bohlman KD7HGY
Scott Graber KD7HGZ
Andy Macrae KD7HXA
Shelley Peterson KD7HXB
Melody Schimpf KD7HXC
Ross Snider KD7IEV
Kim Snider
KD7ILWJoshua Alzheimer
KD7JBDGeneral Class
Andrew Jesaitis KD7EMO
Wendy Reeser KD7DYW
James Sweaney KD7DYU
Ron Schimpf KD7FVR
Darrell Berreth KC7NHF
Don Wilson KC7EWZ
Pat Sands N7SVI
Don Bissell K7DRB
Kurt Borge KC7PFG
Gordon Lister KD7HHA
William Loman N7PWC
Kent Rudolph N7WHL
Glen Gallier KD7AEP
Extra Class
Robert Williams N7ODM
Walt Baxter WB7USV
Ralph Bergantine KC7PFH
Ric Helvey KB7KB
John Nash K7YXU
Doug Peterson KK7VC
Don Regli KI7OJ
Larry Cronenwett KA7WXN
Dale Heidner W7NAV
Theodore Hundtoft KA7QCY
Willard Cox N7FMT
Greg Estep KC7SK
Jim Fuller N7VMR
Jerome McDonald W7FVB
Albert Zoller W6OTE
Darrell Berreth KC7NHF
Harley Leach KI7XF
Theodore Hudtoft KA7QCY
Michael McFeters KE7VQ
Albert Zoller W6OTE
Element definitions:
Element 1 = 5 WPM CW Test
Element 2 = Technician Class
Element 3 = General Class
Element 4 = Extra Class
VE Test Sessions
Test sessions are held at 9 am in room 632 at
Cobleigh Hall on the MSU Campus the first Saturday AFTER the first Thursday during the following months: December, March, June, September. This schedule may be revised. Make sure to check your newsletter each month for any changes to the VE Testing Schedule.
For more info: Contact Jack, N7ODN
2000 Schedule
September 9th
December 9th
2001 Schedule
March 3rd
June 9th
September 15th
Happenings Page
Schedule of Events
 | Sept. 2nd – Ham and eggs at 4-corners café 7:30AM. |
| Sept. 5th - 146.88 Net at 8PM. |
| Sept. 7th – Club Meeting at 7PM |
| Sept. 9th - Ham and eggs at 4-corners cafe 7:30 AM. |
| Sept. 12th - 146.88 Net at 8 PM |
| Sept. 16th - Ham & eggs at 4-corners cafe 7:30 AM. |
| Sept. 19th - 146.88 Net at 8 PM. |
| Sept. 23rd - Ham and eggs at 4-corners cafe 7:30 AM. |
| Sept. 26th - 146.88 Net at 8 PM. |
| Sept. 30th – Ham & eggs at 4-corners cafe 7:30 AM. |
September 2000
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7 Meeting 7:00 PM |
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9 Ham & Eggs @ 4-corners |
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12 Net on 146.88 |
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16 Ham & Eggs @ 4-corners |
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19 Net on 146.88 |
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23 Ham & Eggs @ 4-corners |
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26 Net on 146.88 |
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30 Ham & Eggs @ 4-corners |
Hamfests & National Amateur Radio Events
HAMFEST
The 3rd ANNUAL GHRC HAMFEST
OCTOBER 14, 2000 IN BOZEMAN, MT.
Talk in: 146.88/146.52/447.7
Hours 9:30 AM – 3:00 PM
Contact Don Wilson, KC7EWZ for more information
Walla Walla ARC HAMFEST
23 Sep 2000
Contact Mary Hayter, KC7PNE
Phone: 509-522-5227
Email: kk7sr@arrl.net
Montana Amateur Radio History
10 years ago – September 1990
SM Pete Peters, Helena has a new 10-meter net 2nd & 4th Sun at 7:30 on 28.360 MHz. AA7ES, Robbin Brooks is EC for Rosebud Co, replacing Otto, WA7KMP; Thanks Otto for the many yrs as EC for Rosebud Co. Blanchard Mtn 146.80 & Big Fork 146.62 rptrs are now linked
20 years ago – September 1980
SM Bob Leo, Lots of Field Day activity. WA7GVT says 15 in Glendive; Libby ARC 6 ops; Hardin used 2B class; Bozeman & Butte each 2A; It was a close race between Bozeman & Butte – outcome not known yet. MT repeater updates: 01/61 WB7RIS/R Red Lodge; WB7CXR Havre 01/61; 16/76 WB7FFW Billings; 28/88 K7CM: Miles City; 34/94 K7EFA Red Lodge; 37/97 WB7VTS Saco. Hellgate ARC active in Field Day. Gallatin HrC operated Bannack Ghost Town Dxpedition over July 4, 200 QSO’s. KB7Q reports many June 6-meters QSO’s including NP4A West Indies, C6ACY Bahamas, 275 QSO’s on June 18th!
25 years ago – September 1975
SM – Harry A. Roylance, W7RZY – The MT Proficiency Net, a CW net, meets Sun. at 1800 on 3735 KHz with WN7ACT as mgr. I am sad to report the passing of W7VNP and W7FGB. Several groups went out for Field Day but nor report on how they did.
Montana Fires
A look back to 1988.
Submitted by Lyndel Thiesen, N7LT
The fires of 2000 will go down in the history books as the worst ever on record. Montana was the hardest hit with acreage burned totaling over 1 million acres as of late August, 2000. In Gallatin County alone we lost more than 100,000 acres of land to wildfires between the Maudlow/Toston and Beaver Creek fires.
When asked, the Gallatin Ham Radio Club sprang into action on a moments notice and provided incredible support to the fire fighters and EOC of Gallatin County with communications capabilities for any and all services. The list of those involved is long but they deserve being mentioned here because of their dedication to our hobby and providing emergency communications anywhere and anytime. They included at the EOC and in the Maudlow area KC7EWZ, KK7VC, KC7HCN, AB7VR, KC7PFH, N7GS, KI7OJ, K7CUB, AA8Y, AA7GK, KC7MRV, WB6ODO, N7FLT, N7ODN, W7LR, N7UB, KE7X. Involvement included deploying the portable SAR (Ruby) repeater near Brainard
Hill south of Maudlow. Helping to site the USFS portable repeater (and helping to install it -- KC7EWZ). And manning radios at the EOC. KC7EWZ scouted ham repeaters in the White Sulphur and Ringling area to determine coverage. AA8Y & KC7EWZ scouted possible sites for the SAR portable repeater in the Big Sky area and also checked HF on 40 and 80 meters in Big Sky back to the EOC.
I won’t go into any details about the fires as we’ve heard plenty in the news for the last few months….What I thought would be interesting would be to go back and re-experience the fires of 1988. I found an old newsletter from October 1988. In this issue were stories of ham radio emergency services operating at their peak performance! Bob Leo, W7LR, was the newsletter editor at the time and here is what he covered.
AMATEUR RADIO SUMMER FIRE COMMUNICATIONS
On the evening of September 1, 1988, Hank Wruck-through the efforts of Lucille Elliot was able to get word to me that amateurs were needed for communications purposes in West Yellowstone. W7JMX volunteered his motor home for use in West as a communications center. N7FLT, KF7FP, and KF7FW also volunteered to leave immediately for West. The EOC was manned by several people until about 1:00 A.M. The EOC was then opened again about 7:00 A.M. Friday and continued in operation through Friday evening. The amateurs in West came home Saturday. The story of the communications in West Yellowstone is told by W7JMX elsewhere in the newsletter.
On September 4 , 1988 three amateurs were requested to take over for KF7R and W70IQ who were in the Cooke City area providing communications for Park County DES and Montana Races. W7LR, N7FLT, and KE7LH volunteered to provide communications for Cooke City and Silver Gate and proceeded to drive there by the only route left open, over the Beartooth highway. That story is told by W7LR.
On September 10, 1988 KE7LH was requested to provide communications to Bozeman from the Divide Lake area because of the possibility of fire breaking into the upper Gallatin drainage. He also tells his story in this issue of the newsletter.
I wish to express my thanks to these dedicated people for their commitment to amateur radio. Also thanks to all who kept the EOC manned during this busy time.
73 WA7U
Another outstanding meeting of the Gallatin Ham Radio Club was about to wind up. It was Thursday, September 1st. The usual committee reports had been made. WA7GHW, Matt Montagne, had flown up from Jackson Hole to to the GARC outline a proposed emergency drill/that would involve ham clubs from the four states bordering Yellowstone Park in an exercise with a scenario of downed telephone and power lines in the Park with ham radio providing communications to the outside world. Steve Roberts, KA80VA and his friend Maggie, KA82WY, had demonstrated their "Winnebiko II", a eight foot long recumbent bicycle equipped with solar powered computers, HF. UHF voice, packet and CW radio that they were taking to the ARRL National Convention at Portland, Oregon. Steve is the author of a monthly column in 73 Magazine and the book "Computing Across America".
Meanwhile, at the Emergency Operating Center at the Gallatin-County Courthouse, "Hank" Wruck, County Civil Defense Director and Sheriff Ron Cutting were getting grim reports on a major forest fire that was moving Westward, out of Yellowstone Park, and threatening the town of West Yellowstone and residents in Gallatin Canyon. If power and telephone lines, in the path of the fire, went out the only communication with the area would be via a sheriff's solar powered repeater and it had been mal-functioning for several days. Wruck and the Sheriff decided it was time to "call in the hams"..... just in case.
Wruck found, on his first call, that the ham club was meeting and that there was no phone at the meeting place manned at that time of night. He talked W7JMX's XYL, Lucel, into driving to the meeting and breaking the news that the Sheriff wanted a volunteer group of hams to get to West Yellowstone as soon as possible.
Gallatin County ARES Emergency Coordinator, Todd Gahagan, WA7U and his Assistant John Montagne, KE7LH, rounded up four volunteers: Tom Wold, KF7FP, Allan Overcast, KF7FW, Don Godward, N7FLT and Ian Elliot W7JMX.
In less than an hour the four raced home, packed personal supplies and radio gear and rendezvoused at the EOC for last minute instructions and were heading South in a mini-mobile home.
On arrival at West Yellowstone the mobile home was parked next to the portable command post of the Sheriff's Department. Should power fail the mini's 4.5 kva generator could power both units. Communication was established on HF and, via the Eaglehead Flat-top repeater, on two meters.
The Sheriff's hi-band radio was operating poorly. The "hams", all of whom had commercial licenses, re-tuned a "J Pole" ham antenna to the 156 MHz band and the dispatcher said her radio had never worked better.
The air was heavy with smoke and falling ash. Flames, a solid wall, were visible five to fifteen miles on a line East of the town. About two A.M., the four sacked-out with instructions to the Sheriff's dispatcher to wake us up if you need us. About three a.m. there was a heavy clanking alongside the motor hone. It was a group of Mormon farmers laying sprinkler irrigation pipe between the fire and the town. Eighteen wheeler water tankers were filling up all night long next to the command post. Friday and Saturday saw Air Force C-130 tankers dropping their pink loads of retardant and helicopters dropping water loads on the fire within a half mile of town.
By late Saturday night, the immediate danger was passed. The Sheriff released the hams, but on standby in case things flared up again, to return to Bozeman. Ian, W7JMX
COOKE CITY COMMUNICATIONS
Amateur radio was used in Cooke City to provide emergency communications due to widespread forest fires this summer in and near Yellowstone Park. By this time over a million acres of forest have burned. The biggest blaze of the summer
was the CLOVER-MIST in NE Yellowstone, and Cooke City and Silver Gate residents got nervous as smoke poured over their small mountain towns from CLOVER-MIST. Other nearby fires were also of concern -the Storm-Creek blaze and the Pebble-Creek fire.Those towns are in Park County and so the Park County emergency communications bus was taken to Cooke City and used as the EOC there. A telephone was installed in the bus and it was heavily used, but amateur radio was there too as backup in case the telephones went out. Some agencies made use of the bus communication facilities, and other agencies worked out of the fire hall across the street using telephone. Many of the fire fighting agencies in the field made use of their own radio systems.
Our amateur radio channels were 80 and 40 meter SSB, and 2 meter FM. Since Cooke City is in a radio "hole" no repeaters can be brought up from there. We did however discover that a mag-mount antenna on the bus roof and a 40 watt FM rig would work quite well over the path to Absarokee. The net control on HF for this work was N7GXP in Helena who did a good job as NCS. As Pete KF7R from Livingston remarked we got a lot of help from stations who listened or would relay when necessary.
First on the scene in Cooke City were John W70IQ and Pete KF7R. They operated for 2 or 3 days and were relieved by Don N7FLT and Bob W7LR. Operating mobile there for at least a week was Doug K7YD. Coming next was John KE7LH who was at Cooke City a while before the bus was moved eastward due to the approaching fire.
From the amateur radio viewpoint communications went quite well. It was quite an experience and rather eerie to be in a town that had been evacuated and that was like a ghost town. We all learned things from this experience and will be able to do even better if there is a next time. 73 W7LR
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS USED FOR NORTH FORK FIRE AT DIVIDE LAKE, GALLATIN COUNTY, MONTANA
On Sept. 17, strong southwest winds drove an arm of the Northfork Fire up the south side of the West Yellowstone Basin, and into the valley of Grayling Creek. This rapidly moving fire began to threaten the west side of the Gallatin Canyon, with all the property losses and evacuations that would result. By 10AM such plans were put into effect, but the Sheriff key repeater in handling these arrangements, the South Repeater, was not working sufficiently well to carry the communication load.
At 10:30 AM, Civil Emergency Leader Wruck alerted the team previously appointed by WA7U and that team of four individuals took their posts, -Godward and Thiesen, and later Shea to the EOC in the Gallatin County Court House basement, and I was assigned the mobile post in the Upper Gallatin.Allan Overcast soon joined the group.
Since it was necessary to maintain backup link for the Sherrif and EOC, I was assigned a Sherrif escort to the outpost location at Divide Lake, and I proceeded to set up there amidst the smoke and confusion. It soon became obvious that if the wind continued, this position was threatened by traveling fire, so the road block together with my outfit was reassigned to the Yellowstone Park Entrance at Snowflake Springs, along Highway 191. In the meantime, the EOC was well manned in Bozeman, and maintained excellent communication with me throughout via 82 link to Allan Overcast's repeater- 147.38 (positive). I also experimented with HF, using vertical mobile antenna and was not satisfied with the quality of this arrangement until I finally got a portable (tape) dipole setup at the outpost. The latter was terrific, and we used 3947 as the major frequency. This happened to be the RACES frequency, although RACES was not officially mobilized for this event.
Communications were maintained throughout the 24 hour period until the change of wind and the arrival of snow reversed the fire advance, at which time the amateur radio organization was dismissed. At its height, the fire was advancing catastrophically, with a huge smoke and heat plume capped by white cumulus clouds. It would have been a great disaster if it ultimately engulfed the rest of the entire Gallatin Canyon area! I have great confidence that we can establish excellent communications to the Gallatin by two different modes from the EOC and outlying stations, and that the Ham community can do the job quickly provided emergency equipment is kept at top working readiness. I know that those at the EOC were satisfied that this demonstration proved this claim.
KE7LH (John)
NORTHERN ROCKIES WEAK SIGNAL GROUP
YOUR INVITED TO JOIN IN WITH THE
NORTHERN ROCKIES WEAK SIGNAL GROUP EACH TUESDAY EVENING AT 830PM ON 144200 USB.
FORMAT IS CASUAL ROUND TABLE.
NET CONTROL IS BOB N7CZ AND JIM N7YO IN GREAT FALLS.
Watch out for a local Bootlegger!
John Mc Dougall K7JM would like everyone to know that the use of his call K7JM has been happening in all kinds of radio activities by a bootlegger ranging from cw to dxing. Please contact John (call book address in Helena) if anyone has info.
Wanted:
Ferrite Loopstick antennas in the 6 inch by 1/2 inch in diameter size. (like the ones you find in old broadcast radios) Call K7YXU, John Nash, at 284-3217
Wanted:
7 to 10 amp power supply to run a mobile 2 meter rig.
Also, plastic battery case for a deep cycle marine battery.
Call Terry, N7GDM at 587-7400.
Air Force 'hams' invited to anniversary party
Submitted by Fred Sanford, KK7Y
WASHINGTON (AFPN)
-- Amateur radio operators, or "hams," from around the globe will celebrate the 53rd anniversary of the Air Force with a worldwide radio "QSO party" on Sept. 16. The party is set for 12:01 a.m. Sept. 16 to 11:59 p.m. Sept. 17 Universal Coordinated Time. QSO is ham radio shorthand for "radio contact."Hams are licensed by their governments to develop radio skills, improve radio science, provide disaster and public service communications, and build international goodwill. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has issued such licenses to more than 700,000 people. Hundreds of thousands of citizens of other nations are similarly licensed by their governments.
The QSO party was started in 1997 as a one-time celebration of the Air Force 50th anniversary, but has become an annual event at the request of hundreds of its participants from around the world, including many Air Force members and retirees. Through it, hams gather on the airwaves to renew old Air Force acquaintances as they exchange radio greetings.
The event is sponsored by the Air Force Directorate of Communications and Information, and managed by the Razorback Radio Club. Its trustee, Brig. Gen. Bernie Skoch (amateur radio call sign K5XS), is the principal director for network services at the Defense Information systems Agency in Arlington, Virginia.
Hams have a historical practice of using the Morse code to communicate. They couple this practice with modern communication techniques such as voice communications, radio teletype, television, facsimile, and even computer-to-computer communications over radio. Space shuttle astronauts communicate with classrooms worldwide via ham radios to educate elementary and high school students on space travel. The new International Space Station will include a ham radio station as well.
For more details, e-mail Skoch at k5xs@Compuserve.com.
Related Web site: 2000 Air force Anniversary QSO Party". http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/k5xs/
NET CONTROL
Sept 5 N7LT Nov 7 N7LT
Sept 12 (open) Nov 14 N7GS
Sept 19 (open) Nov 21 KD7FVR
Sept 26 KD7FVR Nov 28 (open)
Oct 3
KI7XF
Dec 5 (open)
Oct 10
(open)
Dec 12 (open)
Oct 17
(open)
Dec 19 (open)
Oct 24 K7CUB
Dec 26 (open)
Oct 31 (open)
PLEASE HELP OUT
BY VOLUNTEERING!If you’ve not signed up as a net control operator yet, please do so! As members of the GHRC, each of us should take a
half an hour each month to run the net. This is a very small sacrifice of time which greatly enhances the quality of our
net and club.
If you’ve never run the net before, contact KC7EWZ, Don for info on running the net. It’s really easy!Running the net is a great experience which will help prepare you for participating in emergency communications.
The net is every Tuesday evening at 8:00 PM on 146.88.
Newsletter Articles Needed!
As your newsletter editor, I’d like to ask the age old plea for articles and information. Anything you might have that would
be of interest to other hams is what I’m looking for to include in our monthly newsletter.
If each of you could contribute just one thing once a year, I’d have enough material to fill every page of this newsletter.
Some of the things you could write about are: Antennas, Dxing, Emergency Services, Public Service, License upgrade
experiences, Operating experiences, Contesting and the list goes on.
Contributions from magazines and other electronic media are also welcome. If you find something that you feel would be
of interest to our club from the Internet, please forward it to me and I’ll see if we can get it in the Newsletter for everyone
to enjoy.
Please send your newsletter articles and information to:
Newsletter Editor,
Lyndel Thiesen N7LT
1679 Remuda Dr.,
Belgrade, MT 59714
Email: n7lt@arrl.net Phone: 388-9531
Big Sky Wind Drinkers Summer Events Results
Submitted by Kay Newman, N7ZHN
T Big Sky Wind Drinkers Summer events were highly attended with record numbers of participants and very few problems. Thanks to the dedicated Ham Operators who so willingly helped out. Sweet Pea Run; Bicycle sweeps: Todd, WA7U, Jack, N7ODN, Curt, KC7PFG. Finish line: Eric, KB7PMW. Back up: Don, N7FLT. Ridge Run; Start: Don, KC7EWZ. Ross Pass: Kay, N7ZHN. Bridger Bowl: Vivian, K7CUB. Baldy Ridge: Ralph, KC7PFH, Joe, AB7UR. Finish: Ted, KA7QCY. Support: Don, N7FLT. It was great to have 2 new Hams participate. Ralph and Joe did the extra mile (vertical that is) by helping out at Baldy Mountian.
FCC Turns Down CB DX Petition
NEWINGTON, CT, Aug 22, 2000--The FCC has denied a petition that would have amended the FCC's Part 95 rules to permit DXing on the 11-meter Citizens Band. The petition sought to amend §95.413 of the rules that prohibits communications or attempts to communicate with CB stations more than 250 km away and to contact stations in other countries.
Designated RM-9807, the petition was filed by Popular Communications Contributing Editor Alan Dixon, N3HOE.
"Dixon's request is inconsistent with the purpose of the CB Radio Service and could fundamentally alter the nature of the service," the FCC said in turning town the petition.
The FCC action was adopted August 18. The Order was released August 21.
The FCC said CB operators generally supported the proposal and stated that the present rule was unenforceable.
The ARRL commented in opposition to the petition, noting that long-distance communication is contrary to the fundamental purpose of the CB Radio Service, and that legalizing it would encourage the use of illegal power amplifiers. "The Amateur Radio Service is the proper forum for the desired long-distance communications sought by the Dixon petition," the League told the FCC.
The National Association of Broadcasters also opposed Dixon's petition. The NAB said that the restriction was necessary to deter CBers from operating at excessive power levels and that consumers must be protected from illegal CB transmissions that interfere with radio, TV and other consumer electronics.
The FCC said it agreed with the ARRL that the CB Radio Service is for short-range personal and business communications and "we note that this purpose has not changed since the service's initial authorization."
The FCC acknowledged that long-distance communications do occur inadvertently on 27 MHz, but the Commission did not intend to create a service paralleling the Amateur Service when it authorized the Citizens Radio Service.
"Amending the rules to permit long-distance and international communications would undermine the purpose of the CB Radio Service rules and compromise one of the core distinctions between the CB Radio Service and the Amateur Radio Service," the FCC concluded.