January 17 Happenings

 

Radio Happenings

January 17, 2022

** In this edition, we are not going to go into deep discussion on what took place at the Club meeting on Thursday last. When the minutes come out, you will see more.

But there are highlights ..

^One of the items is a request of archiving these newsletters. To do this I will be copying them and put them in the Website. All the website articles are archived. If you look on the right side of the site, the years are shown. Pick on one and all the articles for that year will be listed. The present year is broken down by titles and are on the top of the list.

^The .360 repeater will be updated to a Fusion repeater. Now don’t think that you have to purchase a Fusion radio. This repeater will still do analog as well. If someone is using the Fusion function, and you want to use  the analog, as you begin your transmission, the repeater will switch to analog.. the analog will be primary.  At first, the repeater will not be connected to the internet until all the  checks and setting are verified. This first step should be finished before the next meeting.

 

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

#CQ Tuesday, January 18^th.

# January 20^th ETO Winlink training resumes.

#February 5^th, Hamfest in Negaunee. This has been CANCELLED. CV ramped.

#March 13^th, Wisconsin QSO Party See Page Three.

 

^The annual Awards Banquet is coming up. March or April. The Ham of the Year is one of the awards. You need to nominate someone you think provided an outstanding contribution to Ham Radio or the Club.

You must be a M&K Club member – the person you are nominating as well. Besides submitting the name and call sign of the person, you must indicate what they did to earn the nomination.

Send your nomination to Nathan Parks, KB9MVU@gmail.com. Be sure to put your call sign on there to verify your membership.

Did you know- that the most discussed item in Ham Radio – is proper grounding.

 ^Committees are being formed for our events. You are the most important resource to help make these successful.

Committees are for: The Banquet, Field Day (June 25/26), Brat Barns. Contact any of the Members-at-Large.

A vote was taken to have a Hamfest here. IF you want to be a part of the planning and execution of this event – watch for more information. Should be fun…

REMINDER:  Our Treasurer is collecting  your dues for the coming year. Send via PayPal (can be found on the www.K9EAM.org Website.. On the right side of the page. “Membership form/Dues”) OR send a check to:Green Bay Mike & Key Club, P.O.Box 13351, Green Bay, WI 54307-

If you are not a member, but would like to join, fill out the form mentioned above.  If you enjoy using the Club repeaters, please consider making a donation for the maintenance.

 See pages 3 & 4 for some great insights to the Wisconsin QSO Party. Thanks Joe…

       2022 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Paul Racine    KBØP-President

Nathan Parks  KD9MVU-VicePresident

Bill Duveneck     KB3KYH-Secretary

John Wolfe   WØLFE-Treasurer

Members-at-Large+(Programs)

Nate Mills       N9PAR

Brent Crier      N9BC

Robert  Duescher   KA9BXG

 WISCONSIN QSO PARTY. ..

The Wisconsin QSO Party is a fun contest that even the most modest station can enjoy.  Operators can use HF bands as well as VHF and UHF.  There is a club competition as part of this contest.  Even if you are not an avid contester, turning on your radio to make a few contacts can help the Green Bay Mike and Key Club.

The contest is March 13, 2022 from 1:00 PM until 8:00 PM.  Mark it in your calendar now so you don’t forget.  You can work a station once on each band.  The exception to this is if the other station is mobile, then you can work them again if they are change to a different county.  Phone contacts are worth one point, digital and CW are worth two.  Multipliers are states, providences, and Wisconsin counties.  There are power multipliers for less than five watts, and five to 150 watts.  Rules on the contest can be found at https://www.warac.org/wqp/wqp.htm

Last year N9UPU, AB9GK, N9BC, N8KQS/KD9LHY, K9EAM (Wes and Keith) were the only stations from our club to submit a log for the contest.  Please log your contacts and submit your log.  If you need help, please reach out to someone to get your log submitted. 

For logging, many of us use N3FJP.  It is an easy-to-use program.  You can buy their whole product for around $50, or you can buy the Wisconsin QSO party log for $8.99. 

Here are the suggested frequencies:

CW:	1.820, 3.550, 7.050, 14.050, 21.050, 28.050
Phone:	1.870, 3.860, 7.230, 14.260, 21.350, 28.400

 

VHF:	6 meters	50.140(SSB), 52.530(FM)
	2 meters	146.550
	1.25 meters	223.520
	70 cm	446.025

Please do not use the National Calling Frequencies:
     52.525, 146.52, 223.50, 446.00, 906.50, 1294.50

Tips and Tricks:

40 and 80 meters are the bread and butter for this contest.  The last five years or so, most of the contacts have been made on 80 meters, but I think this year will be the flip where 40 meters is more productive so play it by ear.  Personally, I try and make contacts early on 20 meters so I can grab some states that I may not hear later in the contest.  On 40 and 80 I use both calling CQ, and search and pounce methods.  This contest allows the use of spotting.  I have my radio and log hooked up to the clusters.  I am able to see counties (multipliers) that I need.  A click of my mouse brings my radio to the frequency of the needed station.  As far as calling CQ, most other contests the bands get so crowded and I get stomped on with my 100 watt station.  During the WIQP, we are needed stations.  I am in Calumet County, so that is a more needed county.  Folks in Kewaunee County will be in a similar boat.  Brent and his crew in Lincoln County had a pretty good run going every time I heard them on the bands.  Calling CQ is very productive in this contest.  My logging program tells me when someone spots my station on the cluster.  Every time I get spotted, I can expect a run of several stations. 

As I work HF, I keep my VHF/UHF radio on in the background to work some of the nearby stations.  Working the mobile stations in each county is a great way to add to your score.  I usually pick up a multiplier or two that I wouldn’t have otherwise had without VHF. 

There is an online contest scoreboard that is live during the contest.  Most stations don’t use them, but for those that do, it is neat to see how you are doing compared to other stations during the contest. 

If you have any questions regarding the WIQP, please send me a facebook message or an email at jtenor75@gmail.com.