BULLETIN
OF THE
OTSCHODELA
COUNCIL AMATEUR RADIO GROUP
VOLUME 3 NUMBER 6
FEBRUARY 2003
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Scouting Hams and Hamming Scouters--
Otschodela Council Amateur Radio Group (OCARG) is dedicated to the enhancement of the Scouting program through amateur radio and to the advancement of amateur radio in Boy Scouting. Membership is open to any and all Scouters, amateur radio operators, and Scouting and ham clubs with an interest in the Boy Scouts of America, particularly within, but not exclusive of Otschodela Council, BSA, Oneonta, NY. There are no membership dues, no officers, no constitution, no newsletter charges, and no organized meetings. All communications are via email or ham radio. All that's required to join is an interest in Ham-Scouting and an email to the above Sender. OCARG is an FCC-licensed Amateur Radio Club Station with the callsign KZ2BSA.
Copies of the OCARG EAGLE are sent to many interested persons in addition to OCARG members. If you feel that you have received this bulletin in error and no longer wish to receive it, please send a message so stating to the above Sender <mailto:k2frd@arrl.net>.
This newsletter is brought to you in Living Color, compliments of Eudora Pro 5.1.3 emailer. If you have Rich Text Format (RTF) or stylized text capability and want to see everything as it was sent, make sure your RTF or styled text Preference/Option/Control Panel/Setting is turned ON or set. If you want to see it only in black typeface, turn it off. Fonts are Comic Sans MS, Capital, and Mishiwaka Bold (with the slashed zero), available from Editor if desired.
The online edition of the OCARG
EAGLE may be found at:
http://homepage.mac.com/k2frd/ocarg.htm.
The OCARG EAGLE is mailed only via Blind CC to cut down on your header's size and to avoid providing a ready-made list to spammers.
© 2003 by Otschodela Council
Amateur Radio Group KZ2BSA
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Index of February 2003:
In Memorium: Columbia 1 February
2003
Shuttle Re-Entry Radar Loop
Ham-Scouting In Washington State
Sidney Troop 99 Hams At Klondike
The WA2IAX Battery Pipe
Oldest Ham In the U.S.?
Yahoo Groups For Scout, Scouter
Hams
Quote For The Month
Upcoming VE Sessions
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IN MEMORIUM: Columbia 1 February 2003
The entire world shares the grief over the tragedy of the space shuttle Columbia as it tore apart on the morning of 1 February 2003. As amateur radio operators and Scouters, we share this loss and mourn the seven men and women of Columbia crew, headed by Commander Rick Husband, and including Pilot William McCool and Mission Specialists Kalpana ''KC'' Chawla, KD5ESI; David Brown, KC5ZTC; Laurel Clark, KC5ZSU, Michael Anderson, and Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon. We can easily relate to them since three of them were amateur radio operators and William McCool was an Eagle Scout.
Their loss is the cost we incurred as members of the human species as we continue our quest for knowledge, for improvement, and for exploration of places where we have never gone but where we must go. It has been this way ever since the first Australopithicus floated a log to cross a river and it will always be this way as long as the species strives for a greater goal. These seven brave astronauts knew this, the Challenger astronauts knew this as did those of Apollo 1. All who go into the unknown know there is always a risk that they might not come back and they accept this risk. We all will continue to accept this risk as we must so long as we are human; it is our nature and the cross we must bear.
Indeed, life is a risk, the degree of acceptance known only to each individual. All we can do throughout life is to minimize this risk through planning and preparation as we are taught in Scouting. We cannot ignore this risk nor can we go through life without risk unless we lock ourselves within a windowless, stairless, electricity-less home with nothing to do and no responsibilities. The day the human species ceases its requirement to progress and accept the inherent risk is the day the species ceases to exist. As Scouts, Scouters, and amateur radio operators, we must go on with our lives no matter what the risk, always striving to attain a better life for ourselves, our families, our friends and neighbors, and for the world. These seven heroes unknowingly, but not unwillingly sacrificed themselves so that we might have this better life through our own exploration of the universe via the pursuits we know and love best: Scouting and amateur radio.
de K2FRD
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SHUTTLE RE-ENTRY RADAR LOOP
Columbia left a distinctive radar track as it burned during re-entry. The national Weather Service preserved this loop for posterity:
<http://www.rap.ucar.edu/cgi-bin/neilley/NIDS_archive?Radar=SHV&Composite=NONE&Start_date=20030201&Start_time=13&Duration=360&Frequency=0&Parameter=1>
Ensure the entire URL address is enclosed and attached within the "<" and ">" (greater than and lesser than symbols). It may be busy, so allow some download time.
¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥
HAM SCOUTING IN WASHINGTON STATE
From our roving reporter Mike Carey KD7GHZ near Spokane, Washington comes this report:
Troop 485, Inland Empire Council, Grizzly District, Spokane Valley went camping the weekend of the 24 and 25 of Jan 2003. Among the things the troop was to play the lost Scout game, we had 3 teams with a ham on each team go out to find the lost Scout, the Scoutmaster, was net control. It took approximately 20 minutes to find the lost Scout, Mrs Calvert, the other two teams came back to camp and then went out to retrieve the lost Scout. A good time was had by all.
The boys also set up a 2 meter station and did approximately 5 third party conversations. A good campout and we now have three more boys interested in getting their ticket.
On a side note two of my boys have surpassed their Scoutmaster and are now Generals, I hope to follow soon.
Participating Scout-hams included: Jay Martin, KD7OCQ, Robbie Calvert, KD7OMS, David Carey, KD7OYX and myself KD7GHZ. We also talked to AA7RT, Mary Moore. Besides, Scouting, we are also a part of Spokane County ARES.
de Michael Carey, KD7GHZ
ScoutMaster, Troop 485
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SIDNEY TR 99 HAMS AT KLONDIKE
Troop 99 Scouts Troy Skylar Reithofer and Patrol Leader Josh McLenon move through snow on the Klondike Derby trail at the Walton fairgrounds Jan 25,'03.
Sidney Scout Troop 99 attended the 2003 annual "Klondike Derby" at the Walton, NY Fairgrounds Jan 25 and 26. Inter-troop contests were staged around the grounds. Teams from each Troop moved from event to event pulling their "dog sleds" which carried all the equipment they would need to complete each event which included firebuilding, tree identification, animal fur ID, animal sign ID, 4-man snowshoe race, snow snake (a Native American game where the contestant slides a wooden "snake" along an ice trough), a "Dog sled" race and knots and lashings.
Troop 99 placed 2nd, junior category in the 4-man snowshoe race, 2nd, jr. in First aid, 1st. place jr. in the "Dog sled" race and 2nd. place overall in all events.
Scouts attending for the day were Josh McClenon, Connor Hornbeck KC2JJY (field communications), Alex King, Skylar Reithofer, Dillon Ives, Adam Soroka, Andrew Soroka, Jordin Fitzgerald, Derrick McHenry and Bryan Price.
Scouts attending for the day and who camped overnight were Dan Maddalone, Andrew Fritzsch and Troy Kiel.
A campfire worship ceremony followed by songs and skits was held Saturday evening.
Radio messages were sent home for Scouts and leaders. Our thanks to the following Amateur Radio Operators who listened for us delivered them: N2RXK Bob [Sherburne], AB2IC John [Downsville], WB2JOW Paul [Franklin], AB2PA Donnie [Delancy] and N2KGC Brian [Cooperstown].
Our very sincere thanks to Troop34, Sidney who, when we discovered we had forgotten our "Snow Snake" and in the true spirit of Scouting, loaned us theirs.
Many thanks go to the Troops of Walton, 36 and 45 who hosted the Derby. A lot of fine work.
Troop members are: Eric Echard, Ken Echard, Jordin Fitzgerald, Andrew Fritzsch, Tom Haney, Eric Hitt, Conner Hornbeck, Dillon Ives, Troy Kiel, Alex King, Alex Latta, Ryan Latta, Dan Maddalone, Josh McClenon, Derrick McHenry, Dan Metch, James Munholand, Matt Nickell, Bryan Price, Skylar Reithoffer, Kyle Rutenber, Adam Soroka, Andy Soroka, Corey Steffen, Steve Winston and Dan Zieno. Our sponsor is the First Congregational Church, Main at Bridge Streets, Sidney. The Troop meets every Monday night at the church at 7:00 PM. Scouting is open to all boys, ages 11 through 17 regardless of previous Cub Scout or Boy Scout experience. Please see the Troop website: http://www.upstate88.com/99 for additional information.
de Jim LeBaron WA2IAX
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THE WA2IAX BATTERY PIPE
Jim's never ending imagination and inventive mind is again at work:
A PVC Pipe-built storage enclosure
for 6 AA batteries
It is nice to have an AA battery case for your HT to serve as a backup when that NiCad or NiMhd battery that come with the rig finally turns toes-up, especially during that great QSO you were having or, worse yet, during a drill or real emergency.
My quandary started when I bought an HT and there was NO rechargeable battery with it and no charger! Gotta watch those back-alley guys with the loud ties. Anyway, I got a neat AA, AAA, 9V charger for about $27 and Ham-fested a bunch of AA NiMhd's for $2 each and then another batch for $1 each! The guy had a fairly drab tie this time!
Enter the sloth factor: Now that I had enough batteries and a way to charge them, I was keeping them in plastic bags and every time I wanted to see how they were doing, I had to hold the battery in one hand, one of the DVM probes in the other hand and the OTHER DVM probe in yet ANOTHER hand. Now, hams are usually pretty good math jocks and you probably have come up with, "Hey, he has 3 hands." by now. Well, that's just it; I only have 2!
Plus, even with 3, you still have to check all 6 batteries. For an "all thumbs" type guy like me this takes a lot of time and a lot of knee wear on the ol' Levi's looking under the bench for errant batteries. Wouldn't it be neat to have a way to hold all 6 batteries so you could check their total voltage and also have a storage container more durable than a plastic bag?
OK, _ in. PVC pipe to the rescue. You buy a couple feet of it, 2 caps and one male adapter and one female adapter, both for _ pipe thread. Then you buy a 10-32 flat head brass screw by _ long, another one 1-1/2 long and 5 brass nuts. Can use 10-24 for these if that's all the store has.
Get, borrow or scrounge some PVC pipe cleaner solvent and some cement.
Next, go to Sears Hardware Store and buy these things manufactured by Hillman Fastener Corp.: A spring, #5 from their Spring Assortment #S-206 and a Nylon bushing #58067-D from their Bushing assortment #58063. These may set you back $.50 or more.
Drill a 3/16 [or if you have a #7 drill] a .201 dia. hole in the center of one of the caps. Cut a piece of the pipe 9-1/4 in. long. Stick the _ long screw into the cap from the inside and torque up one of the nuts on the outside of the cap.
Cement the cap-screw-nut assembly to the 9-1/4 in. long pipe.
Cement the Male adapter to the other end of the 9-1/4 length of pipe.
Now, take the other cap and drill a 5/16 [.312 dia.] hole in its center. Stick the nylon bushing in there from the inside [with the flange on the inside]. You might be able to PVC cement this in too but maybe Silicon RTV cement might work better or you could mess up the surfaces with a hot soldering iron and they would stay together long enough to put the rest of the thing together. Mine pressed in nicely.
Now, cut off about 3/8 in. of the spring with a grinding wheel [notch it and break it off] or with a little abrasive cut-off wheel in a Dremmel tool. Slip this 3/8 long spring over the longer screw and insert screw and spring together into the bushing from the inside end of the cap. Spin on 2 of the nuts and tork them against each other to leave about _ in. of travel as the spring is released and compressed to solid height.
Cut a length of pipe about 1-3/4 long. Cement one end into the female adapter. The other end will go into the second cap-spring-bushing-screw-nut assembly BUT WAIT!!!
Don't cement it in yet. See, it is kind of critical that the spring be compressed a little when the thing is assembled with the 6 batteries. If the last piece of pipe is too long, the screw will not contact the battery. If it is too short, the screw will glom down on the battery stack too soon and you won't have enough thread engagement in the adapters to make up a good joint.
Another worry is that with PVC pipe fittings, you can't really fit them up dry and be sure that will result in the same length after cementing because, I guess the cement acts as a solvent and dissolves some of the pipe and fitting and allows them to squash together, giving a reduced length over that found with the dry fit-up.
What I did was file, sand and cuss off some of the outside diameter of the remaining piece of pipe destined for the spring-cap cemented joint. I kept doing this until it would force in to a stopping depth. Then I tried the fit with 6 batteries in there. I kept cutting off the pipe end 1/8 at a time and filing the outer dia. until the dry fit-up just let the spring compress 1/8 or so when the adapters' threads snugged up. Then you can sock the goo to it.
Add the 4th and 5th nuts to each of the screws in case you want to attach a wire or terminal to them. That's it.
Hope you can find good use for this. Sure has helped at my end AND it is easier to find under the bench!
'73 Jim LeBaron WA2IAX
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OLDEST HAM IN U.S.?
At 102, "Tex" Burdick, Sr. W5BQU
of El Paso, Texas may be the oldest ham in the Untied States:
http://www.qrz.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST&f=3&t=28298
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YAHOO GROUPS FOR SCOUT, SCOUTER HAMS
Yahoo offers many online email groups (known as "reflectors" or "lists") to exchange information, ideas, and activities. These are not "chat rooms"; rather, they are email communications groups among which members exchange emails. These lists are great places to obtain new ideas, keep current on Scout-ham activities, and keep in touch with Scouting-ham friends. Yahoo has done a very good job eliminating spam and many of the groups' owners have gone an extra step by requiring prior approval before an applicant may join thus screening out the potential spammers. Two of the major groups for Scout and Scouter amateur radio operators are:
Scout Radio Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scoutradio/
Scout Radio Youth Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ScoutRadioYouth/
And, of course, there is out very
own Otschodela Council Amateur Radio Group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OCARG/
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QUOTE FOR THE MONTH:
"Something hidden. Go and find it.
Go and look behind the Ranges --
Something lost behind the Ranges.
Lost and waiting for you. go!"
Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), The Explorer
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UPCOMING VE SESSIONS
24 February 2003, 7PM, Schoharie County, NY EMO, (518)827-4800.
24 February 2003, 7PM, Vestal NY Public Library, (607)754-7940.
4 March 2003, 6PM, Otsego Co. EOC, Cooperstown, NY, (607)746-2777.
8 March 2003, 1:30PM, Endicott, NY Central Fire Station, (607)797-5777.
31 march 2003, 7PM, Vestal, NY Public Library, (607)754-7940.
12 April 2003, 1:30PM, Endicott, NY Central Fire Station, (607)797-5777.
19 April 2003, 2PM, Margaretville, NY Telephone Co, (845)586-2324.
28 April 2003, 6PM, Oneonta, NY NYSEG, (607)746-2777.
28 April 2003, 7PM, Schoharie County, NY EMO, (518)827-4800.
28 april 2003, 7PM, Vestal, NY Public Library, (607)754-7940.
These are the only VE Sessions listed by ARRL for this area. If someone knows of unlisted sessions, please send us an email <Mailto:K2FRD@stny.rr.com>. More details are in:
http://www2.arrl.org/arrlvec/examsearch.phtml
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