Contents:
- Silent Keys: VE5TAW; K3ATY; W1GSC,
- Ja-No-Well-Fine
- TDOTA (Thinking Day on the Air) 2017
- Helen Archbald, VA1YL (Early days, Guides, nets, Dxpeditions)
- UPCOMING EVENTS
- YLs activate Museum Ship
- 9th Annual South American Lighthouses on the air Weekend
- Australian : Sydney Ferry; Central Coast ARC Annual Hamfest
- QRZ & Calendar
Silent Key: VE5TAW Joan
Ann Paulson passed away Tuesday, January 24, 2017. Joan was a
long time member of CLARA (Canadian Ladies ARC)
Silent Key: K3ATY Kathy A
Krajewski of Newark, DE It is with a heavy heart that I email
you with the passing of my friend, K3ATY. Kathy recently
suffered an aneurysm after a routine surgery. The
complications were too much for her to overcome. Please keep
her husband and daughter in your prayers as they are
devastated by this loss. Her lovely voice from Delaware will
be missed.
Sincerely, Carrie W9FML OMISS
President
QRZ extract: an active member of
3905 Century Club nets and was currently the third area
director. Kathy used to be a very active NCS for the club,
having "called" more than 200 nets on 40 meters. she could be
found most evenings on 7.267.5 often as primary relay
station.
She was a member of OMISS, (Old
Man International Sideband Society) now approaching 10,000
members, www.omiss.net
She changed her callsign, was
kb3ntj, because it was much easier for the dx stations to
understand and the European stations love to call her Katy,
thus k3aty.
Silent Key: Mary Cousins,
ex-W1GSC, died on January 28, 2017. She was 108.
Retired librarian Mary Sibyl
Wallace Cousins, a resident of a care facility in the coastal
fishing village of Deer Isle, Maine, (USA) celebrated her
108th birthday on September 20, 2016
In 1933 she became the first woman
in Maine to obtain an Amateur Radio license; issued to Mary
Wallace (her maiden name), age 24 -- by the old Federal Radio
Commission, the FCC came into being the following year.
Cousins' old call sign has been reissued at least once.
In the 1930s ham radio “was
something that the girls did not do, and the boys were all
doing it at the time, and I said, ‘I can do it too.’ And I
did.” She operated Morse, to relay weather information.
Photo of Mary Cousins celebrating
her 108th birthday shared by Young Ladies' Radio League, Inc.
(YLRL) September 27, 2016 ; [shared on HamYl facebook]
Sources: Posted: 29 Sep 2016 01:28
PM PDT
Ja-No-Well-Fine
As 8 March is only a month away be
sure to share any up-coming events concerning International
Womens Day, either by email or on our Facebook page...
Helen Archbald, VA1YL tells us
about Girl Guides and Dxpeditions; hope you find her frankness
about how she learnt 'on-the-air', helpful. Sometimes we
forget to pass on information, assuming others already know!
She provides a link for TDOTA which starts in NZ before moving
west across the globe; and indirectly onto the lighthouse
event on the same weekend.
TDOTA (Thinking Day on the
Air)
2017 will be the 3rd full weekend in February 18
& 19
On this day each year members of
WAGGGS (World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts)
remember the founders of the movement and take part in various
activities to think about their sisters throughout the world
and celebrate their Founders. On the nearest weekend to World
Thinking Day, some are involved with Thinking Day on the Air
(TDOTA) using amateur radio.
Mona Burgin, a founder member of
GirlGuiding New Zealand and every year on 22 February, Rangers
from Mona Burgin's Unit in Auckland, New Zealand set off
before dawn, climb to the top of Maungawhau / Mount Eden.
There they set up their little campfire and a flag-staff, and
as the sun rises over the sea they raise the Guide World Flag,
sing the World Song, and they speak of some of the people and
the countries they are Thinking about - and so they start "The
Big Think" which then travels all the way round the world.
Wiki
Helen Archbald, VA1YL Helen's
original incentive to become licensed was to be able to talk
to husband Fred VE1FA when he was away on DXpeditions, but it
didn't quite work that way. Since 1994 Helen has participated
in many Dxpeditions, but she has one condition for going on a
DXpedition - she goes as a radio amateur, not as a household
slave! And she loves a 20 meter pile up!
How I Got Started in Ham Radio and
where I went.
Husband Fred VE2SEI got his ticket
in 1988 and son Andrew VE2WHO in 1990. In the summer of 1990,
a gang of young hams planned a Dxpedition at our dining room
table. In the winter of 1991, I learned about something called
Guides on the Air . I persuaded Fred to put on a station for
a few of the Guides I worked with. It was fun, but my hands
itched to take control of the radio.
In 1991, the West Island ARC
planned another DXpedition at our dining room table;
destination St Paul Island (CY9). I worried about half my
family being on a desert island, so Fred set up the Collins
S-line receiver so I could listen for them. I learned very
quickly: 28,495 21,295 14,195 & have never forgotten!
I listened whenever I could. One
day I heard Jan VE2OL calling CQ from CY9CWI & no one was
answering! I phoned Jean, VE2OC, & asked him if he could
call them; he did, & phone patched me through. But the
infection had set in, I decided I wanted to be able to talk to
them the next time they went.
After the dxpedition I started
trying to match the QRZ cards the dxpedition had received. I
did not even know that 20 meters and 14 mHz were the same
thing! I didn’t know what rst meant! None of the guys knew
about the search feature on CT, if it existed, or if they did,
no one told me!
1992 was the beginning of the
no-code licence and the local repeaters were bustling. I kept
a Kenwood 02AT in the kitchen and got to know lots of the
VHFers. I went to my first hamfest & found out that they
didn’t necessarily look like they sounded!
When
GOTA (Guides On The Air) came along just a few weeks after I
got my ticket, I had girls in & got on the air. I knew
nothing at all about where to look for GOTA stations. I lucked
out & worked VE3BAO who talked to all of the girls. He
also told me about CLARA (Canadian Ladies Amateur Radio
Assoc.).
Summer
of 1992 the West Island ARC went to Charlton Island in James
Bay. Again, our IC 735 was part of the DXpedition gear. I
wanted to be able to talk to the guys so Fred set up the
S-line Receiver & Transmitter & gave me a lesson on
how to tune up. I was part of the Montreal team keeping in
touch with VE8CWI. I got to relay greetings to Hank's,
(VE2HN) wife on their 49th anniversary; and to assure her he
was fine but he wished he had taken his parka. Conditions were
horrible – they had a solar storm – and I struggled with the
tuning on the S-line.
The
next year, our daughter Margaret, just 12 years old, took the
ham course and got the call VE2ZOO. For GOTA, she took an HT
to Guide camp & they were able to talk to the Guides I had
at our home station.
Summer
of 1993, the guys went back to St Paul Island. Margaret &
I went out in the boat with them, then camped around Cape
Breton, armed with Fred’s 5 Watt Argonaut & a dipole we
strung in the trees at the camp sites. We contacted them
several times. But somehow, the infection got worse.
When
the guys started talking about a 1994 DXpedition to St Paul, I
decided I’d like to go But on one condition: I wanted to go as
a ham operator, not chief cook & bottle washer. This was a
challenge, with my whole family along! Then I got a new
infection. I loved working pile-ups. I felt like a movie star
with crowds of people trying to get a contact. Since then,
there have been 14 Dxpeditions planned at our dining room
table and they haven’t been able to get away without me. In
1995, when we went to Pictou Island, I continued to insist
that I go as an operator, not as cook. We have continued
Dxpeditions although more of the planning is done by email
these days, but the dining room table still gets some use.
CLARA
sponsors GOTA (Guides on the Air) annually on the 3rd Weekend
in February. I have continued to welcome Guides to the station
each February. In 2013 we had 65 girls & women come
through in shifts.
When
VE3BAO introduced me to CLARA ), I found out something about
ham radio I didn’t know existed – Nets! My first CLARA net is
in my log on Feb 23 1992. There are 3 CLARA nets – on 80m, 40
m, & 20 m. During 1993 the Net controller couldn’t run
the net and I ended up with that job. In 2001, I was nominated
as Vice President of CLARA and I did 3 terms as President.
See great pics & article by
Helen VA1YL about dxpedition to:
Bon Portage (Outer) Island
Nova Scotia, Canada (IOTA NA-126), N. Lat. 43°10'
W.Long. 65°45'
2 miles off the southwestern tip
of Nova Scotia, reached by a small boat and has no permanent
residents. The southern end of Bon Portage has an old
lighthouse and two habitable lightkeepers’ houses.
All the food and water must be
transported to the island as well as the radio equipment,
antennas, towers, generator and gas. It really does add up to
a ton or more.
UPCOMING EVENTS
YL Event
Members of the Ladies of the Net
Radio Club KM6CIR will activate the amateur radio station
NB6GC aboard the USS Hornet Museum Ship, Pier 3, Alameda,
California on Saturday, February 18 starting at 11:00 am
Pacific Time (1900 UTC). Carol Milazzo KP4MD.
The USS Hornet a Naval aircraft
carrier, originally named USS Kearsarge, was renamed in honour
of the USS Hornet (CV-8), which was lost in October 1942,
becoming the eighth ship to bear the name. Hornet recovered
the astronauts from the first moon landing mission, Apollo 11,
on 24 July 1969. Decommissioned in 1970, in 1998 she opened
to the public as the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, California.
17-19 Feb.2017 - 9th Annual South
American Lighthouses on the air Weekend
Organised through GRUPO DX BAHIA
BLANCA, under the official auspices of ARLHS
email:
http://www.grupodxbb.com.ar/ Carlos
Almirón lu7dsy@yahoo.com.ar
facebook Carlos Almirón LU7DSY
– has lots of pictures of Lighthouses, with up-to-date lists of
those who are participating.
Australian Events
SYDNEY AMATEUR RADIO FERRY CONTEST
March 12th, 2017 10:00am – 4:00pm local time VK2BV -
Waverley ARS hosts the second Ferry Contest.
This is a VHF / UHF contest which
encourages participants to make contacts from Sydney Ferries
or any of the 36 wharves around Sydney Harbour. Operation is
open to any mode, either simplex or through repeater, using
hand-held transceivers.
Central Coast Amateur Radio Club
Inc. NSW. (Aus.) 26 Feb 2017
On the last Sunday of February
each year, CCARC hosts a Field Day at Wyong Race Course.
The largest gathering of radio
amateurs in the southern hemisphere. – Amateur radio’s BIG DAY
OUT”
Located just north of Sydney the
club is also celebrating its 60th the anniversary in 2017,
QRZ CONTACTS:
SARLNUUS met Anette Jacobs ZR6D
zs6ye.yl@gmail.com Facebook
‘HAM Yl’ (YLs only)
Find yl.beam newsletters:
WEST RAND ARC wrarc-anode.blogspot.com
also Italian Radio Amateurs Union:
QTC U.R.I. – La rivista della Unione Radioamatori Italiani
Calendar - February 2017
11- 12 Feb National
Field Day (South African Radio League)
13 Feb Mon 2017
World Radio Day United
Nations observance
17-19 Feb. 9th
annual Sourh American Lighthouses on the air Weekend
18 Feb Ladies
Radio Club KM6CIR activate Hornet Museum Ship, CA, USA
18 Feb
AMSAT
SA - SDR workshop NARC
18 Feb Youth
Contest (South African Radio League)
18-19 Feb ARRL
International DX CW Contest
18 -19 Feb CLARA
GOTA 3rd full weekend in February (Canadian Guides)
22 Feb Guides
– Thinking Day: 2017 theme is “Grow.”
25 Feb West
Rand ARC Flea-market
26 Feb SARL
Digital Contest (South African Radio League)
26 Feb
Central
Coast ARC NSW. (Aus.) Field Day
March 2017
4 March Cape
Town ARC Annual Flea Market
4 - 5 March ARRL International DX
Phone Contest
5 March SARL
Hamnet 40 Metre Contest
5 March
2017 Sunday, DARC’s YL Activity on International Women’s Day
8 March International
Woman’s Day [Wed]
