eeting d bara bulletin · 2016-06-04 · eeting d bergen amateur radio association bara bulletin...

Eeting D

Bergen Amateur Radio Association

BARA Bulletin June 2016

Volume 53 Number 6 www.BARA.ORG

June VHF Contest 1

President’s Message 1

BARA Hamfest 1

VE Exam Schedule 2

Public Service Information 2

Link of the Month 2

Upcoming Events 3

New Members 3

BARA May Meeting Minutes 4

FOR SALE 4

Clamp Your Attic Antenna 5

Museum Ships Weekend 6

DX Insights 6

June VHF Contest 6

June Hamfests 6

Portable Day Photos 7

Hamfest Photos 7

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Our 53ed Year

President’s Message

The BARA Hamfest on Saturday

May 28th, was very successful.

The weather was good and we

had a great turnout. I would like

to thank everyone who helped

make it a success.

We will be discussing the VHF

contest and Field Day at the next

BARA meeting on June 5th.

I hope you will all come to the

meeting to provide some input to

our discussions, and sign up to

participate in these BARA events

73,

Jim, K2ZO

June 5th Meeting Program

Planning for BARA VHF Contest

and BARA Field Day.

June VHF Contest

Saturday, June 11

Sunday, June 12

Saturday morning 9 AM - load

the truck at the garage in

Dumont.

Saturday 10 AM - Start setup

of operating positions and tow-

ers/antennas at the VHF site in

Orangeburg, NY

Saturday 2 PM - Contest opera-

tion begins on four bands.

Sunday 2 PM - Dismantle all

equipment, load the truck, and

return the equipment to the

Dumont garage.

Signup for specific activities at

Sunday’s meeting.

If you do not operate at the K2BAR

site and have mobile capability, con-

sider giving BARA points by trav-

ersing the 4 grid squares that inter-

sect in River Vale. A 5 mile route,

described on Page 6, will take you

through all 4 grid squares.

NOTE: River Vale Road has been

closed a various points for months,

however the latest information from

the town on May 31st is that it will

be completely open by Friday, June

10th. The current closure is just

South of Old Tappan Road. Use of

the detour for the first leg of the trav-

erse will take you River Vale Road

at Old Tappan Road where the sec-

ond leg begins.

K2BAR will operate multiple HF

stations from the Cresskill town

recreation area at:

100 3rd Street,

Cresskill, NJ.

Operation will be continuous from

2 pm on Saturday to 2 pm on Sun-

day.

Member support is needed to setup,

operate and takedown the stations

and arrange for food.

Come to Sunday’s meeting to dis-

cuss plans and volunteer to help.

Field Day

June 25, 26

Flag Day - June 14th


PUBLIC SERVICE

BC RACES NET 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month.

7:45 PM on the W2AKR Repeater

146.790 Mhz; PL 141.3 Hz.

Net control is NJ2BC

Directed training net for all authorized

Bergen County RACES stations and

authorized liaison stations.

K2BAR NETS

VE EXAM SCHEDULE

The next Ham License

test session is scheduled for:

June 17

7 pm

Room 123

Westwood Regional

High School

Enter school grounds from

drive at right side of school.

Cross in front of school and

turn right into parking lot.

Enter side door with

Gymnasium sign over door.

The FCC has imposed a

Testing fee of $15.00 per

exam/retest.

Required documents:

Two forms of ID required

for all transactions.

Social Security Number

if unlicensed or FRN

Number if licensed.

Original CSCE if prior

test credit is claimed.

If license upgrade, a

signed copy of current

FCC license

Questions may be directed to:

Don Younger, W2JEK

201-265-6583

Question Pool Revision:

The Extra exam question pool will

be revised on July 1, 2016.

Current Question Pool:

Technician, Element 2-July 1, 2014

General, Element 3 - July 1, 2015

Extra, Element 4 - July 1, 2012

Sample tests available at QRZ.COM

http://www.qrz.com/p/testing.pl

Daily FCC report of new and re-

newed callsigns available at:

http://www.qrz.com/new_hams.html

Link of the Month

Old QSL Cards

This is a neat website to look at old Ham

Radio QSL cards........ and stories about

famous Hams like Arthur Godfrey

K4LIB and Martin Block. Did you know

Jackie Gleason was an SWL (Short

Wave Listener) or that Les Paul operat-

ed a Pirate Radio Station. Did you know

that the Capitol Building in LA con-

stantly sent Morse Code on its airport

beacon light spelling, HOLLYWOOD.

Dave Mann K2AGZ, a local songwriter

co-wrote In The Wee Small Hours of

The Morning for Frank Sinatra.

http://oldqslcards.com/

Tnx to Chuck, K2RRV

BC RACES

Communications Unit Any licensed ham operator in Bergen

County, if not already a member, is

asked to join the BCRACES team by

sending an e-mail to:

[email protected]

with your name, callsign, e-mail, and

municipality.

SSB Net:

Mondays 9:00 pm

10 Meters – 28.375 MHz

Net Control: Jim, K2ZO

FM Nets:

Wednesdays 9:00 pm

2 Meters: 146.79 MHz.

PL 141.3

Net Control: Hector, W2NPR

Thursdays 8:30 pm

70 cm: 444.100

PL 141.3

Net Control: Marco, KC2ZMA

Thursdays 9:00 pm

Technical Net

2 Meters: 146.955 MHz.

PL 141.3

EchoLink is available to Chestnut

Ridge repeater members.

Net Control: Gordon, W2TTT

The FM Nets use the BCFMA repeater.

New HF Digital Net

Focused on EMCOMM

The New Jersey Narrow Band

Emergency Messaging System (NJ

-NBEMS) Net meets every Sunday

Morning at 9:30 AM on 7.073

MHz using OLIVIA-8-500. This

net is NOT affiliated with RACES

or ARES, so any Radio Amateur

with appropriate operating privileg-

es may participate.

FLDIGI is the preferred sound card

software because FLAMP and

FLMSG are used for message han-

dling. This is a training net for

new users, so operator error is ex-

pected and well tolerated.

For additional information contact

Bill, KC2VUT at arrl.net, Rick,

N2PHI at comcast.net or Karl,

W2KBF at arrl.net.


BARA BULLETIN

BARA RESOURCES

The BARA Bulletin is published monthly by the Bergen Amateur

Radio Association. Subscriptions are included in the annual member-ship dues. Membership is open to anyone interested in radio communi-cation.

QSL Bureau:

Warren Hager, K2UFM

Public Service:

Club Contesting:

Phil Barber, WA2LXE

VE Exams:

Don Younger, W2JEK

Donnan917’at’aol.com

Hamfests:

Jim Joyce, K2ZO

Webmasters:

wm’at’bara.org

Tony Izzo, K2AMI

David Levine, K2DSL

MEMBERSHIP

APPLICATION

Interested in learning more about amateur radio and meeting new

people? Then join the Bergen

Amateur Radio Association (BARA). Dues are $25 per year. Send your application request to:

David Levine, K2DSL

11 Mackay Ave.

Waldwick, NJ 07463

e-mail to k2dsl’at’arrl.net.

Please include your name, address, town, zip, call sign, license class, and phone number.

Upcoming Events

June 5 - BARA Business Meeting

June 7 - Kit Night at Senior Center

June 11, 12 - ARRL VHF Contest


June 17 - VE Testing Session at Westwood H.S.

June 21 - Kit Night or Field Day Walk Through ###

June 25, 26 - ARRL Field Day


July 3 - BARA Business Meeting

Welcome New Members:

Chris Hamlin - Park Ridge

Mark Scanel - Hackensack

Michael Scanel - Mahwah

Michel Zadoroznyj, K2ZAD - Saddle Brook

Christopher Hurley - Ramsey

Bennett A. Meyer, WA2DNC - Glen Rock

Miguel E. Perez - Hasbrouck Hts

Aram Vlahogianhis - Rutherford

Chris Bolton, KD2IZZ - Hackensack

BARA KIT NIGHT 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM

Township of Washington Senior Center

350 Hudson Ave., Township of Washington, 07676

Build a kit related to Amateur Radio (partial BARA funding available)

Diagnose/repair a defective piece of equipment

Discuss radio and computer problems

Technical assistance available

Seek/give technical opinions


BARA Meeting Minutes

May 1, 2016

The meeting started at 7:28 pm.

President Jim Joyce, K2ZO,

opened the meeting with a call

for the Pledge of Allegiance to

the Flag of the United States fol-

lowed by a moment of silence for

the Silent Keys (SK).

President Joyce announced that

there were sign-up sheets for the

Hamfest floating around. Please

assist to make this event success-

ful.

The presentation this evening will

be made by Dave, WO2X, on

Software Defined Radio / Maes-

tro.

There were three visitors: Bob,

NY2Q, Chris, KD2IZZ, and

Vincent.

Treasurer David Levine, K2DSL,

gave his report. Gordon, W2TTT,

moved to accept; second by Billl

WA2JKY. Motion carried.

Reports from our Net Controls

were presented. The 2M Net is

continuing to be held weekly.

Hector, W2NPR, is moving to

North Carolina and we are look-

ing for someone to take his place.

The 10M Net Control, Jim

K2ZO, reported the normal num-

ber of check-ins and encouraged

all members to stop in on the net.

The UHF Net has a half hour of

DMR followed by half hour of

Analog. No additional report giv-

en. The Tech NET needs some-

one to volunteer to take over as

Net Control as Gordon, W2TTT,

will be away.

Old Business:

President Joyce and VP Izzo an-

nounced that they would sign a

contract with the Crow’s Nest for

the First Sunday in December 2016

for the BARA Installation and

Holiday Party.

President Joyce announced that he

had QSL Cards for all BARA mem-

bers who assisted with NPOTA at

the Great Falls April 22 and 23.

President Joyce stated that it was

awe inspiring to see the Great Falls

being turned off for the clean-up

that Friday for Earth Day.

BARA President Joyce, K2ZO,

with FLARC President Karl Frank,

W2KBF, announced a joint Porta-

ble Day at the Fair Lawn Pavilion

next to the Town Pool on Saturday,

May14th. All members were en-

couraged to participate by either

operating or observing the set-up

and configuration of others that

were operating.

New Business:

President Joyce announced the need

for assistance of members with pre

-cooking, Pre-baking, cooking and

help with staging for the Hamfest

on May 28th. President Joyce con-

firmed that there would be VE

Testing at the Hamfest and that he

was in possession of the School

Permit for this Hamfest. Jim

Cooper, W2JC, will send out an

EMAIL Hamfest Reminder to the

Ham Radio Operators EMAIL List.

The ARRL freebees will be raffled

off throughout the Hamfest time.

President Joyce stated that BARA

will participate in the VHF Contest

at Nike Park on June 11th and 12th

and Vice President Izzo applied for

the permit.

President Joyce stated that BARA

will hold Field Day at the Cresskill

Site on June 25th and 26th. Permit

has been approved and [we] hope

for good weather.

There was a donation of four BARA

Boxes – the proud recipients were

Thom, Chris, Dave and Gordon.

The Fox Hunt was held on April

24th, the winners were . . . Charlie

Reiche, N3CRT, and John

McConkey, KC2WQD, Congratula-

tions! I know that they will provide

us with a good fox challenge for the

next foxhunt.

At 19:40 President Joyce declared a

break for coffee and conversation.

At 19:55 The break ended and our

Feature Presentation by Dave

WO2X on the Software Defined Ra-

dio and the Remote Control of his

Ham Station began.

At 21:05 President Joyce resumed

control of the meeting and presented

Dave, WO2X, with a Certificate of

Appreciation. The meeting was

closed.

Respectfully submitted,

Bill, KB2OCJ

BARA Secretary

For Sale by BARA

10M 5 Element Beam

Trapped Vertical - Cushcraft R5

42ft 5 section aluminum Tower

with Tilt Over base - some

maintenance required

Two 30' Rohm Towers

8ft 1/2 inch diameter copper

tube -- shack ground buss.

Best offer will be accepted.

Contact Rachel at:

[email protected]

SOME ITEMS MAY NO

LONGER BE AVAILABLE

mailto:[email protected]


[The following article is reprinted with permission

from the June 2016 issue of the PCARA Update, the

newsletter of the Peekskill/Cortland Amateur Radio

Assn.]

Clamp Your Attic Antenna - N2CKD

Hams have constructed and suspended HF/VHF/

UHF dipole wire antennas in attics in the past. Many

years ago I constructed an excellent fan dipole for

10, 15, 17 and 20 meters in my attic and nailed

down the eight dipole ends on the attic rafters. I reg-

ularly made good DX contacts with this antenna. Fan dipole antenna for 14, 18, 21 and 28 MHz has separate-

half-wave wire dipoles for each of the four bands, all con-

nected to a common feed point. (Note: wire lengths for reso-

nance can be affected by proximity to the other dipoles.)

While many novel ways have been devised to sus-

pend and secure the dipoles, a common method has

been to nail the dipole ends to the attic rafters. When

you find the perfect (or compromised) compass di-

rection for pointing the dipole, you nail the ends

down. However, at a later date, if you decide to re-

orient the dipole to a new direction then you need to

drive new nails into different rafters or other attic

spots. Many times it is difficult to secure antenna

ends by nailing, depending on accessibility of our

attic.

I would like to suggest a different approach to secur-

ing the antenna by using plastic clamps attached to

the end of the dipoles. In my attic, I have experi-

enced that re-orienting dipoles

by clamping and de-clamping

dipole ends takes a matter of

mere seconds using plastic

clamps. The clamps are very

inexpensive and readily availa-

ble in dollar stores, Home De-

pot, Harbor Freight or at ham-

fests.

The plastic clamp itself is a good insulator so the

dipole wire ends can be attached

directly to it. But I suggest you

use an appropriate insulator at

the end of the dipole and attach

the insulator to the plastic clamp

via a short piece of string. This

method ensures that you are not

likely to damage the plastic

clamps when running 100

watts of RF power, since we

know maximum voltage is

present at the ends of dipoles.

In my experience, I find that

clamping the dipole ends on

different rafters (16" apart)

gives me the ability to point

my fan dipole antenna to my

favorite DX location in mere

seconds and I work “new DX”

with relative ease. Each 16" rafter spacing provides a few

azimuthal degrees deviation on the compass bearing. At my

QTH I can work the

West, NW, SW

USA or Central

North America or

South America and

the Caribbean by

clamping/de-

clamping on differ-

ent attic rafters so as

to change the broad-

side orientation of

the attic dipole. It’s

like using a rotating

dipole. I can also

move the two dipole ends in different directions to give

coverage in different azimuthal bearings. I hope the next

time you are constructing or need to move your attic anten-

na you will consider using clamps instead of nails. Good

DXing! - Lovji, N2CKD

[Attic antennas can have advantages over outdoor antennas

including less need for waterproofing and reduced exposure

to wind and snow. But be careful about increased RF expo-

sure for those living below and proximity to electrical wir-

ing or other equipment. Thermal roof insulation lined with

aluminum foil may prevent any use of an attic for antennas.

- Ed.] 4½" plastic spring clamp

Plastic woodworking clamp.

Dipole end is supported using a

ceramic insulator, string and a

plastic clamp in Lovji’s attic.

[N2CKD pic.]

Center insulator and coiled-coax balun for

Lovji’s multi-band dipole antenna are sus-

pended in the attic. [N2CKD pic.]


June VHF Contest

Four Grid loop for Rovers

START at the intersection of Westwood Ave and River Vale Rd

in River Vale, NJ (FN20).

Go NORTH on River Vale Rd. (enter FN21 at about 0.5 miles).

In 1.3 miles turn RIGHT onto Old Tappan Rd (enter FN31 at

about 0.6 miles).

In 1 mile turn RIGHT onto Washington Ave.

In 0.5 miles turn RIGHT onto Westwood Ave (enter FN30 at

about 0.3 miles)

In 0.9 miles Westwood Ave turns right

Continue on Westwood Ave for 0.7 miles to starting point (enter

FN20 at about 0.4 miles).

Have a second person to log your contacts or stop to transmit and

log. Drive safe.

DX Insights

AVES ISLAND, YV0

Now #18 on the

DXCC MOST WANTED LIST

Aves Island is a Caribbean dependency of Venezuela. The name Aves means ( Island of Birds or Bird Island). It lies near Dominica, west of the Leeward Island Chain. Aves Island is 1,230 ft long by 160 ft wide and approx.. 13 ft high on a clam day. Over the centuries the island has erod-ed due to storms and hurricanes and now could be classified as a rock. Venezuela still claims it as an island to maintain the 200 mile exclusive economic zone.

The island is a resting and breeding place for sea birds and Green Sea Turtles. Due to the low profile of the island it is a hazard to navigation causing many ships to be wrecked there. In 1978 the Venezuelan Navy set up a scientific naval base on the island consisting of a building on a platform which has been inhabited by a group of scientists and military personal.

Aves Island is a rare entity. The last Dxpedi-tion was in 2006 when YX0A made over 42,000 contacts during their weeklong stay. Sadly one of the operators Jose Valdes Rodriguez passed away on the DXpedition of a massive heart at-tack. The team dedicated the expedition to Jose.

73 and Good Hunting,

Harry, W2FT

MUSEUM SHIPS WEEKEND

June 4, 5

Museum Ships weekend is an annual amateur radio operating

event, in which HAMS operate on the amateur band waves

from retired maritime vessels, both military and commercial,

from all over the world, to enable the amateur community at

large the opportunity to contact these historic museum entities

and receive written confirmation of the contact. Maritime mu-

seums, maritime memorials, historic aircraft, and other appro-

priate entities also participate. Many, if not most of the ships

participating in MSW have an active and ongoing relationship

with an amateur radio club or group.

The event dates back to the mid 1990s, when it was sponsored

by the USS Salem (CA-139) Amateur Radio Club. Since 2006,

The Battleship New Jersey Amateur Radio Station has assumed

sponsorship. Participating amateurs receive a certificate for

successful contacts with 15 of the museum entities, and hams

who operate from the Ships receive a separate certificate con-

firming their valued participation. While the primary purpose

of the event is to offer the amateur community worldwide ac-

cess to these historic vessels, the hams operating from the ves-

sels enjoy contacting each other, and pass along frequencies

where other ships are operating. Many of the ships have /their

original radio equipment restored to operating condition by the

hams who operate during the event, and it is always a bonus to

make a contact where one or both ends are using communica-

tions technology dating back several decades, particularly in

Morse code.

Participating museum entities usually number between 80 and

100, mostly located in North America and Europe, but also

from as far away as Brisbane, Australia.

Hamfests Mt. Beacon Amateur Radio Club

06/05/2016

Employee’s Recreation Center (near Downstate

Correctional Facility)

121 Red Schoolhouse Road

Fishkill, NY 12524

http://www.wr2abb.org

Talk-In: 146.97 (PL 100)

Raritan Valley Radio Club

06/18/2016

Piscataway High School (Lots 11/12)

110 Behmer Road

Piscataway, NJ 08854

http://www.w2qw.org

Talk-In: 146.625 (PL 241.8), 442.250 (PL

141.3), 146.52 Simplex

http://www.wr2abb.org

http://www.w2qw.org


David,N8MAR, and Bruce. W2SE operat-ing at the May BARA/FLARC Portable Day.

BARA

Hamfest

May

2016



169 Woodland Ave.

Westwood, NJ 07675

President

Jim Joyce, K2ZO

K2ZO ‘at’ ARRL.NET

Vice-President

Tony Izzo, K2AMI

K2AMI ’at’ ARRL.NET

Secretary

Bill Montague, KB2OCJ

KB2OCJ ’at’ AOL.COM

Treasurer

David Levine, K2DSL

11 Mackay Ave.

Waldwick, NJ 07463

K2DSL ‘at’ ARRL.NET

Trustees

Bennett Norell, KO2OK

KO2OK ’at’ ARRL.NET

Gordon Beattie, W2TTT

W2TTT ’at’ ATT.NET

Chuck Lemken, KC2SST

CLEMKEN ’at’ HOTMAIL.COM

BARA Bulletin

Phil Barber, WA2LXE, Editor

WA2LXE ’at’ ARRL.NET

Next Business Meeting

Sunday, June 5th at the

Twp. Of Washington

Senior Center

Presidents Emeritus

Bill James, WA2QHL - SK

Dominick Interdonato, NB2F - SK

Steve Mendelsohn, W2ML - SK

eeting d bara bulletin · 2016-06-04 · eeting d bergen amateur radio association bara bulletin...

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