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Rob K6YR  PAN Cycle 4 Net Manager Effective Wednesday night, October 13 (14th Zulu), PAN (Cycle 4) changes its designated primary frequency to 3.552 MHz. The secondary frequency is 7.052 MHz (with an alternate 40M frequency of 7.108 MHz).
 
Net Control Stations retain discretion to move to the designated secondary frequency or the alternate 40 Meter frequency depending on conditions at net time or during a session, with appropriate notice to session stations.
 
Best regards,   Rob K6YR

 

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DPAN has been on for 1 year effective Oct 2, 2010.  Tomy Ivan KF7GC is still the manager and has done a very nice job. I usually bring traffic almost everyday and I am TX on Mondays and stand by NCS on other days if needed. All of the current members are very professional and nice to work with.

Allen W7QM

 

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On Sept 2 we left Moses Lake on a trip which would take us 4000 miles during the month of September. Our first destination was LaPine, Oregon for the 4-day Dixieland Jazz festival at the American Legion. During our time in the Bend/LaPine area we hiked the Obsidian Flow Trail at the Newberry Caldera, went to Lake Hauser, Elk Lake, and a festival at Sisters. Afternoons and evening were all dixieland jazz. On Labor Day we drove across Eastern Oregon to the Painted Hills at John Day Fossil Beds, a great visitors center and moteled in John Day. Then it was on to the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, five miles east of Baker City. This is one outstanding attraction. Yes, we saw the Oregon Trail covered wagon tracks, in fact, we walked on them.

From here it was on to Boise to visit Cynthia’s 95 year-old aunt and two cousins. We drove out to Bill Smith’s (W7GHT) new “digs”. It was great to visit with Bill and he has a very good setup; his op desk, Omni 6 and most of his gear is all there. Bill puts in a great signal here in Moses Lake. He is very proud of the George Hart Distinguished Service Award that he showed me. It’s a beauty!
After Boise, we got off I-84 at Bliss and drove to the Crater of the Moons National Monument. This part of Idaho has many lava beds, caused by fissures in the earth. Picture the Yellowstone Caldera erupting and fissures extending southwest into Idaho. It was a cold, windy and rainy day but we managed to hike uphill to one of these fissures and the sight was amazing. Just like looking into a volcano crater. We toured a great visitor center there too.

Our first “goal” was Steamboat Springs, Colorado for Don’s 75th birthday HS reunion. The next interesting place was Green River, Wyoming where we drove out into the country on a dirt road and saw our first herd of wild horses. Then it was down through the Flaming Gorge Recreation Area via Sheep Canyon and its many fascinating geologic formations. The drive from Flaming Gorge to Vernal, Utah is all downhill over a dozen switchbacks. The sign said “only 9 switchbacks left”!

Vernal is the jump-off to visit the Dinosaur National Monument and there are many interesting sights. The visitor center is very good and the ranger gave us the “inside scoop” on hiking to petroglyphs that are on black rocks, on the ground. It involved going through a gate, taking a short hike off the beaten tourist path, finding the rocks and there they were – dozens of petroglyphs on the ground. Amazing!
Steamboat Springs has over 100 condos and we (and 18 of Don’s classmates) occupied 4 of them for a week of fun. Hot Springs, waterfalls, a Gondola ride, lots of HS classmate visiting. One classmate has a Llama ranch 20 miles north of Steamboat and we had great outdoor fun and picnic there. We also had a “Christmas in September” party.

On the 19th it was time to move on and we drove east through the Rocky Mountain National Park over what I call the “roof of the continent” highway. The highest point is over 13,000 feet. The visitor center has big logs on it to keep the roof & shingles on it because winds can exceed 150 mph. That day it was very nice, Clear and in the 70s. We stayed in Estes Park and the following day we hiked three trails: Bear Lake (easy), Nymph Lake (uphill/downhill) and Sprague Lake (easy). The scenery is outstanding.

From here it’s downhill to the Boulder/Louisville area, a good “jump-off” for Denver. We decided to tour the Denver Botanical Garden and, well, if you do nothing else in Denver, spend a day at the Garden, 25 acres, 32,000 plants. They have an ongoing project that’s pegged at $75 million. Wow! The next day we took daughter Jennifer’s niece Sheila to the Denver Zoo. Sheila just got a job there managing in a Rak (Nordstrom) store and she wanted to see the zoo. We did too! It’s an excellent zoo and has a big (25 acre) building project in progress which has a $100 million price tag. So there’s our Denver visit: the botanical garden and the zoo.

From here it was up I-25 to moteling at Fort Collins. Ever hear of Fort Collins? Try WWV and yes, we found the antenna farm north of Fort Collins, just off I-25. There’s a dirt road saying “don’t enter” but we drove in anyway and got a couple hundred yards from the eight 1000-foot towers. It looks like a great Field Day site!

Crossing into Wyoming at Cheyenne we headed west on I-80 and took the Medicine Bow Scenic drive out of Laramie. The drive is beautiful, takes you up over 10,000 feet and yes, it had snowed the night before. Clear and 41 degrees. Our goal was to get to Yellowstone via Grand Teton so we headed to Lander where we spent a day touring ghost towns Atlantic City and South Pass City (gold mine) and Sinks State Park.
More driving, this time, to motel it at Dubois, home of the Big Horn Sheep museum and gateway to the Togowtee (tow-go-tee) Trail highway and Grand Teton National Park.

There’s a rest stop just before entering Grand Teton at Moran and the mountain range of Grand Teton is very spectacular. We made a loop drive, going down (and moteling) to Jackson, then driving up on the west side of the Snake River.

Our next goal was to be at the Elderhostel program at Gardiner, Montana by 5PM on Sunday Sept 26. Coming out of Colter Bay it was 2:15, we still had 100 miles to go and we made it at 4:57! We didn’t stop anywhere on the drive north through Yellowstone but that was about to change over the next 5 days. If you’re not familiar with the Elderhostel (now called “Road Scholar”) program, Google or go to Elderhostel.org. There were 28 participants, ranging in age from 50 to 86. Over the next 5 days, naturalist Gene Ball took us on tours of Yellowstone, explaining about anything you want to know about Yellowstone. He was about the best leader & teacher of the natural world that we’ve had the pleasure of knowing. Yes, Old Faithful is erupting about every 85 minutes and yes, Gene took us on the 3 mile walk to geyser basin and we got to see Daisy Geyser erupt (it erupts 4 times a day). What a great experience!

On Friday, October 1 we bid farewell to fellow Road Scholars, including Phyllis & Morris from NYC, 86 year-old Bob from Philadelphia, and headed home by way of Missoula. We are looking forward to our next Elderhostel/Road Scholar program and have our eye on Alaska. We are interested in educational tours and the Elderhostel programs are much to our liking.

We arrived home on Saturday October 2 and since we had left on September 2, this made the trip exactly one month. We are getting settled back into daily home routines but will be hitting the road for five days in November.     73,  Don  W7GB

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HI ALLEN
    DON'T HAVE MUCH TO HELP YOU WITH THE NEWS LETTER.   PLANNED ALL SUMMER TO GET MORE ACTIVE ON WSN BUT IT WAS A SHORT SUMMER AND I WAS GONE A LOT.   THE LAST REUNION FOR OUR PT BOAT GROUP WAS  NICE BUT SAD.  LOTS OF ABSENT FACES.
 
 REMEMBER THE INCIDENT ABOUT YOUR SHIP AND PICKING UP SURVIVORS DURING THE KOREAN WAR.  DO YOU REMEMBER THE PIRATE AND THE PLEDGE?  TWO MINESWEEPERS THAT WENT DOWN AT THAT TIME.   I WAS WITH ADM JOY'S STAFF AND WE WERE HIS COMMUNICATIONS GROUP FOR THE PEACE TALKS AT PANMUNJOM...VERY EXCITING.
 
DURING WWII, I  SPENT A YEAR WITH THE PT BOATS IN THE SOLOMONS AND THEN THE NEXT YEAR AND A HALF IN NEW GUINEA AND  THE PHILIPPINES SETTING UP RADIO STATIONS FOR THE AMPHIBS.  WAS IN MANILA WHEN THE WAR ENDED.   DURING VIETNAM , I WAS ON THE CARRIER "KEARSARGE" CVS-33..  SO MUCH FOR THE SEA STORIES,
 
WE MUST GET TOGETHER SOMETIMES AND MAKE AN EYEBALL QSO... US OLD NAVY CHIEFS CAN TELL A LOT OF SEA LIES..HI HI .OH YEAH..WILL BE LEAVING FOR ARIZONA THE FIRST WEEK IN NOVEMBER.   73 AND CUL...
 
BILL W7NDO

HI BILL, THANKS FOR THE NICE LETTER, I WILL PUT IT IN THE WSN NEWSLETTER, YES I REMEMBER THE PIRATE AND PLEDGE AND ALSO I SAW ANOTHER AMS GO DOWN OFF OF WONSAN BUT I CANT REMEMBER THE NAME ANYMORE. THE NEW CO WAS FROM SHELTON AND HE HAD JUST TAKEN COMMAND THERE WERE SIX SWEEPERS THERE FOR THE COMMAND CHANGE AND AFTER THE CEREMONY WAS OVER WE ALL TOOK OFF ON A SWEEP AND WITHIN 15 MINS THE SHIP HIT A MINE AND WENT DOWN WITH ONLY 4 SURVIVORS.
 
I WAS ON THE USS ZEAL AM 131 WHEN WE RESCUED 38 SURVIVIVORS FROM THE USS SARSI ATF 111. IT WAS SUNK AT 11:30 PM ON AUG 27 1952 UP AROUND HUNGNAM. IT HAD 105 CREW MEMBERS AND SUNK IN 15 MINUTES AND ONLY LOST 1 SAILOR. WE RESCUED THE 38 SURVIVORS THE NEXT MORNING AT 7:30 AM.
 
LATER ON I WAS ON THE USS CARMICK DMS 33 A 1650 TON DESTROYER AND WE GOT RAMMED BY THE FRIGATE USS GLENDALE PF 36 ON A VERY FOGGY MORNING UP IN KOREA. IT LOST ABOUT 7 FEET OF IT'S BOW AND TOOK OFF 20 FEET OF OUR STARBOARD SIDE RIGHT WHERE THE FIRE ROOM WAS. THE HOLE WAS ABOUT 20 FEET LONG AND ALMOST DOWN TO THE KEEL. AN ATF CAME TO KEEP US AFLOAT. THEY DID A GOOD JOB AND WE MADE IT BACK TO SASEBO JAPAN AND SPENT 3 MONTHS IN THE SHIPYARD. WE HAD TO THROW ALL OUR 5" AMMO IN THE AFTER MAGAZINE OVER THE SIDE TO KEEP FROM GOING DOWN AT THE STERN. NO ONE GOT KILLED OR INJURED.
 
I WILL COME OVER TO SEE YOU WHEN YOU GET BACK FROM ARIZONA AND I'LL BRING SOME PICTURES FOR YOU TO LOOK AT OF THE KOREAN WAR.

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My last Sea Duty was aboard the Carrier USS Midway CV41. I was on it for all of 1962 and we were over in the Far East for 9 months while Cambodia and Laos were having problems just before the Vietnam War started. I missed the Worlds Fair in Seattle which I did want to see.

The Midway is a Museum now at the Broadway Landing in San Diego. It’s one of the best Naval Museums they have now. I plan on going down to see it.
 
TAKE CARE BILL.
73 ALLEN W7QM   

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Top weather Forcasters are predicting a very bad winter for 2010 & 2011. They are predicting a much colder and wetter winter than it has been in many years. It is predicted that we will have a lot of snow this year. So keep your antennas in good condition and clean off the snow and ice.

Allen W7QM

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I attended the Memorial Service for Harvey Marsh (HM) K7GXZ.  He was a fine friend, gentleman,  NTS Operator, TCC Operator, RN7 Manager, WSN Manager, and WSN Recorder.   HM truly loved CW and handling traffic!    Jennifer Marsh can be contacted at N 1514 Holl Road;  Greenacres, WA  99016;  509-927-3942; jennilyn42 at comcast dot net

MARSH, Harvey E. (Age 80) Born in Spokane, WA, Harvey passed away at Sunshine Gardens Care Center on September 23, 2010. Harvey was well liked and respected by his friends and family. He would help anyone, but seldom asked for help.

Harvey is survived by his loving wife of 45 years Jennifer, daughter Wendy (Mark) Secrist, grandsons Seth and Aaron and son David (Erica), granddaughters Laurita and Annika Marsh, his brother Roy Marsh and wife Beverly, cousins, many nieces and nephews and many wonderful friends. Harvey was preceded in death by his parents, sisters Helen Rogers and Lillian Tanner and brother Louis Marsh.

Harvey grew up in and around Spokane. He worked at Great Northern Railroad for 10 years and then was drafted into the Army. He was shipped to Korea where he was trained to send Morse code and was in communications to forward Medical Units during the Korean War. This led to a hobby in amateur ham radio for over 50 years. His call sign was K7GXZ and he worked the nets over 50 years.

After two years of service he went to work at Kaiser Aluminum, Mead, WA. He then met and married Jennifer Eacho on June 26, 1965. Harvey worked in the pot rooms at Kaiser for several years and then went into electrical maintenance. He retired in 1988 after 32 years. He then worked at Silverwood for five years.

He will be terribly missed and loved by all. Family members invite friends and relatives to join us in acelebration of Harvey's life at Life Center North, 202 E. Lyons Ave., Spokane, WA at 2:00PM on Saturday, October 9, 2010.

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Greetings from the fine wet community of Yelm. Hope the rainy season treats everyone well. Carol and I are enjoying our retirement, and keeping busy:

Last month I spent 14 man-hours burying all my coaxes in PVC pipe in our back yard. I had to install extensions for 2 of the 3 antennas, but the whole system now seems to be working on all 3 antennas. All 5 bands work fine now, including being able to transmit more than 5 watts with my SDR on 40 meters without the transmitted signal locking up my computer. I can even get on PAN when it’s on 40 meters now! Now that it’s switched to 80 meters, of course…

And of course, contests abound:

***2010 Salmon Run Summary***

Hmmm.

I have had better Salmon Run contests since I started participating in 2003. This one, not so much. The whole weekend was a lost cause, frankly.

The Washington State QSO Party started at 0900 Saturday. I made it out at 0730 or so, and headed south to the county line park between Cowlitz county and Wahkiukum county on the north shore of the Columbia river. Got there at 1030 or so and unpacked. Got the antenna mast out and routed the guy ropes, cables, ect. When I broke out the Buddi-pole I discovered I had forgotten the adapter from the male BNC connector on the Buddi-pole spreader assembly to the PL-259 plug on my coax.

DARN!

Done. With nary a Radio Shack in sight out in the boonies, and no clue where to look for one I decided to chock that first day up to experience and continue on for a little ‘me’ time.

Did that. Stopped by Lewis and Clark State Park, where I set up Sunday, and picked out camping space 1 for the next day then.

Got home at supper time and fixed Carol supper. Relaxed the rest of the day.

Got going about the same time Sunday, and made it to parking space 1 by 0930 or so and started to set up, this time with the adapter on-hand.

Got all cables, ropes, and wires routed, antenna assembled and erected, and started to tie down the antenna. A puff of wind came along and blew over my antenna, it fell down, and broke one of the stainless steel telescoping whips.

DARN!

Done.

Yes, that was frustrating.

But wait, it gets better! Took me an hour to pack everything back up into the mini-van and then I decided to take a hour hike on the Lewis and Clark State Park’s ‘Trail of the Deer.’ I was all the way two miles north of parking space 1 when the rain hit. It had rained a little on and off all morning, but then it just came down in buckets. So when I got back to the mini-van a half hour later I was soaked to the skin, socks, shoes, coat, and all.

Yeah, that sucked, Murphy kicked my butt all weekend. Zero contacts.

At least I ate well, I had an opportunity to sample the local eateries in Centralia, Ethel, and Napavine four times. Good food, zero contacts.

***2010 TX QSO Party***

Faired a little better the next weekend when I just stayed home. I had forgotten how much I enjoy the Texas State QSO Party when I am able to get up on all five bands. 102 contacts in eight hours AITC (Ass-In-The-Chair) worked out to a rate of a dozen contacts an hour. That seems a little low to me. In fact it was the lowest rate in three years, but 102 is the most I have ever made in this contest, plus 32, 70 was my previous high.

It ran from 0700 to 1900 Saturday and 0700 to 1300 Sunday, our time. The bread-and-butter band for the TXQP is always 20 meters, and this one was no exception. I totaled 11 contacts on 15, 40, and 80 meters, and 91 on 20 meters. 1200 miles away to the center of the state is just right for one-hop skip on 20 meters.

I was only able to contact 5 stations on my new 40 meter inverted vee, but at least it didn’t lock up my computer when I transmitted over 5 watts this time! I was transmitting 75 watts fine, but the CQWWDX RTTY contest always occurs at the same time as the TXQP. That’s the same contest as the CW one I enjoy the weekend after Thanksgiving. RTTY signals don’t seem to affect 10, 15, 20, or 80 meters very much, but they’ve ALWAYS torn up all the Texas stations on 40 meters up here. This year I noticed the rules committee had even amended the rules for CW stations to be able to go all the way down to 20 KHZ above the bottom of the band, but that didn’t help much. I could see the signals of the RTTY forest all the way down to 7024 KHZ, and the Texas stations didn’t seem to want to go that low, most were stuck in the ‘trees’ from 7030 to 7035 KHZ, and I couldn’t hear them. Some of them may have had license restriction issues, only Extra class ham radio operators can go below 7025 KHZ. 40 meters continues not to work for the TXQP.

But other than that, it was a great contest. The solar flux of 83 sustained 20 meters from early morning till the end of the contest, and that will only get better as the years march on towards the solar maximum in 2013 to 2014. Looking forward to those conditions, Jupiter 2 is going to kick butt on 20, 15, and 10 when we get sunspots again.

***2010 CA QSO Party***

For some reason, I just couldn’t get my brain started in this contest, and for those of you who know about contests, contesting is 90% mental.

But now the 2010 California QSO Party is in the books, and I did about as well as I ever do in this fine contest. This year I made it to 125 contacts, which happens to be the same amount as I made in 2008.

To me, though, this year was a little different than most. My 40 meter inverted vee up against the back property line did an outstanding job. I got more contacts on 40 meters than I did on 20 meters, which is the first time that’s ever happened. I even busted a few pileups with east coast stations working CA. I nailed the CA station almost every time. I like 40 meters again!

15 never opened to California, although I could hear stations on the east coast working CA, the propagation never went north-south.

Saturday and Sunday during the daytime it was like pulling teeth just to get contacts on 20 meters. But Saturday afternoon 40 opened up and stayed open until I went to bed at 2200. 80 meters opened up at sunset as well.

Sunday morning both 80 and 40 were open at 0500 until sunrise, then I slogged along on 20 meters for the rest of the day until I gave up Sunday afternoon. With the SDR panoramic display now I can tell when a band is open or not, and 20 was pretty weak here both days.

But 125 contacts is 125 contacts! I happened to have already verified 80% of those contacts, but I’ll be sending out a few QSLs at least. All in all, a very successful weekend.

Looking forward to Sweepstakes the first weekend in November and the CQWWDX contest Thanksgiving weekend. Then next spring I need to call Mac the tree guy to go up my 3 (beam-supporting) pine trees in my back yard and install the pulleys directly on the eye-bolts at an altitude of 80 feet. The ropes supporting the pulleys right now are pretty much rotten, but they should last a few months.

I will see everyone on the net!

Leroy  N7EIE

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The trip Elvera and I took in September was very similar to Don and Cynthia Calbick’s!      Some of the same states and attractions were visited.

On Monday, September 8 (Labor Day) we had our 21 ft. trailer loaded, so we headed east for Holland Lake, Montana.   It is about 80 miles NE of Missoula, in the Swan River valley.    We stayed at a Forest Service campground.   Tuesday I attempted to hike 4 miles, up 4000 ft to the Holland Ridge Lookout (abandoned).   But not enough pre-training had been done for my 68 year old legs!   Close, but no cigar.   My Icom 7000 and Hamstik mobile antenna worked good enough to check into WSN and IMN from the campground.

After a day of rest, we drove to a nice campground at Island Park, Idaho.   We have enjoyed camping there before; which is about 25 miles west of West Yellowstone, Montana.   We stayed there a week, relaxing and enjoying watching herons fishing in the river (Henry’s Fork); a half day was spent in Yellowstone National Park before the crowds got the best of us.  Son Phil and family joined us for the weekend.   WSN and IMN were also on the “hit” list from that location.

We then moved 90 miles south to Shelley, Idaho, where Phil lives.  We “baby sat” Crystal (9) and Kiva (6) during the weekend while Phil and Sara flew to Denver to watch the Seahawks get beat by the Broncos.


That weekend was also the Washington State Salmon Run QSO Party, so I made about a dozen contacts from Phil’s driveway, using the Hamstik on 80 and 40 meters.   Too bad I didn’t work Leroy!

We then headed east to visit Elvera’s 96 year old uncle in NE Colorado, and numerous cousins.    Like W7GB, we drove through Ft. Collins and marveled at the WWV towers!

Visiting cousins included tours of the Cedar Creek Wind Farm (550 Mw), scattered among the cattle and wheat country.    New oil wells are also sprouting up in Weld County.    We got as far as Kimball, Nebraska (far western edge).   IMN was workable from there, using the Hamstik antenna.   

September 27 it was time to start heading home.   Our route was Cheyenne, Laramie, Steamboat Springs; then to Moab, Utah for two nights, while touring Arches and Canyonlands National Parks; recommended by the Calbicks.   We also enjoyed the parks, before going east to site-see and enjoy some “backroads” between La Sal, Utah, then into remote Colorado; Bedrock….Naturia….Norwood….Ridgeway…Montrose.   Not many people or cars on those roads (and 9% Hills)!    We camped that night in the parking lot of Powerhorn Ski Hill, at 8600 ft elevation, after visiting 10800 ft “Grand Mesa”.

Again north through Meeker and Craig, Colorado; before seeing lots of antelope near Baggs, Wyoming.   We then drove west on Interstate 80 to Green River; then looking for “backroads”, visited Farson and Kemmerer, Wyoming; then back to Phil’s at Shelley, Idaho.   We like to take “remote” paved roads, off the Interstates, if possible!   We also saw wild horses in Wyoming.

After washing some clothes at Phil’s we drove a short day to another favorite camping spot in the Pioneer Mountains (west of Dillon, Montana).   Three days of “rest” there got us in shape for the single day trip back home to Spokane; arriving home October 6.   The trailer is now put away for the winter; ready to go again next Spring! 

The Icom 7000 is a great rig for mobile and portable operation.   I leave it in the Dodge truck.   Hamstiks for individual bands are usually “good enough” to be heard; if not, then my “all band wire clip dipole” is center hung from a tree limb or the top of a 21 ft. “Windsock” fiberglass pole.    No antenna tuner is used.  It is fun to check into some of the cw and ssb NTS nets, including the Washington State Net (WSN).

 I also use (daily) pactor equipment to connect to Winlink HF “gateway” stations to access my K7BFL@winlink.org email account.   WSN member N7YRT serves as a Winlink HF “gateway” station.   Guy’s  pactor signal is good wherever I go; I just have to pick the right band.   He scans frequencies on 80, 40, and 30 meters.    Thanks…Guy!

 

           

It is very sad for me to report that our friend Harvey Marsh became a Silent Key on Thursday September 23, 2010. He had to stay in a nursing home his last days and really missed being on the Radio. It was his favorite hobby and he looked forward to checking in on the Nets everyday. He was NCS on WSN for many years. He was very dependable and could always be depended on being there and he was always willing to fill in for others when we needed help. He was very dedicated to his commitment as NCS, RN7-QNB and PAN station. I am sure we all will miss hearing him.

Allen W7QM

W7QM 79, K7BFL 41, W7BXH 38, VE7DWG 32, N7EIE 89, K7EKL 43, W7GB 79, W7JG 95, N7JJ 7, KV4K 20, W7LG 44, W7NDO 34, W7NWP 82, WA7OJI 54, KD7REM 25, W7TVA 25, WA7WBY 33, N7YRT 14, W7ZIW 57, N7CM 5

Pati Says hello to all the WSN Members. She said to tell you all her OM Bill W7XV is in a medical facility and she is looking after him. When Bill is back home she will be back on the net.

Allen W7QM

Pati W7ZIW, Assistant Manager. WSN.