January 2005
Updated Roster
HAPPY NEW YEAR WSN MEMBERS AND FAMILIES
I know we all sent HNY many times on the net however I would like to say one more time “HAPPY NEW YEAR” to all of you and your families. I hope you all have a very good and prosperous year in 2005.
The 6 PM time for WSN/1 is working ok. The 80 meter band has been holding up very well except for a few times on WSN/2 at 9:45 PM. The time for WSN/1 will probably change back to 6:45 PM late in Feb.
The next Hamfest for Washington listed in QST is the Mike and Key Club of Seattle. It is scheduled for March 12, 2005 at the Puyallup Fairgrounds. It is a good one to visit as it usually has lots of good stuff and lots of spare parts and tubes.
Just think of how lucky we are not live or be on vacation in one of those countries in the Indian Ocean that were devastated by the 9.0 Earthquake and Tsunami that hit on Sunday Dec 26, 2004.It will be years before all those countries will get back to normal again. You feel that you would like to do something to help those people but aren’t sure just exactly what to do.
EVERETT BASED USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN ON HAND
By Ben Stocking and Tim Johnson
Knight Rider Newspapers
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - Driven to desperation by hunger, grief and the growing threat of disease, flood survivors swarmed around U.S. Military Helicopters yesterday as substantial international aid finally began to reach remote regions devastated by last Sundays Tsunami.
Jostling crowds swarmed to helicopters from the USS Abraham Lincoln CVN 72, an Everett based Aircraft Carrier. As soon as it touched down in Aceh Province on the Northern tip of Sumatra in Indonesia.
Indonesia is the nation hardest hit by a magnitude 9.0 Earthquake and the resulting waves that have killed at least 155,000 people and climbing.
HAM RADIO CW MODE HELPED COMMUNICATIONS
ALSO CHECK
THE THIRD PARTY INFO
Majumdar says the VU4MYH station marks the very first Amateur Radio operation from Nicobar Island. "Mohan's signals were extremely weak, and he was in the skip zone of the Andaman stations on 20 meters," he said. "Improvisation was the name of the game. Hams had to switch to good old CW and switch frequencies from 14.190 and 14.160 MHz to 7.090 MHz." He said in the afternoon, signals were best on 15 meters (21.240 MHz) between the Andaman and Nicobar Islands stations.
Third Party Traffic Question
Since none of the countries affected by the earthquake
and tsunami have third-party traffic agreements with the US, the question
has been raised about the legality of such traffic--especially health-and-welfare
messages--between those countries and US amateur stations. A staff member
in the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau points out that the international
Radio Regulations as revised at World Radiocommunication Conference 2003
(WRC-03) provide that amateur stations may be used for transmitting international
communications of behalf of third parties only in case of emergencies or
disaster relief.
"An administration may determine the applicability
of this provision to amateur stations under its jurisdiction," the FCC
staff member told ARRL. Although the FCC has not formally adopted the changes
approved at WRC-03, he continued, "the FCC has no objection to US stations
passing disaster-related traffic to and from stations in the affected areas
if the administrations responsible for the Amateur Service in those countries
do not object to their amateur stations receiving messages from our amateur
stations on behalf of third parties."
HEALTH AND WELFARE TRAFFIC INTO BANKOK THAILAND
Inquiries Jam Tsunami-Related Heath & Welfare Traffic (Dec 30, 2004) -- NEWINGTON, CT, -- Charly Harpole, K4VUD, reports from Bangkok, Thailand that incoming health and welfare queries to the huge affected area is presenting a huge problem. All channels, including ham radio, are or will be totally overwhelmed by potential incoming H&W traffic. He urges that no incoming H&W traffic be handled. For something this size, he says, it is best for those in the area to send messages out only. But even getting messages out is rather unlikely inside the areas that have been devastated, and there are many such areas. Requests for information about relatives and friends in the affected areas are jamming up the already overloaded hams. Harpole says: "This widespread disaster would require hundreds if not thousands of hams deployed over the whole Indian Ocean rim to meet the H&W need." Hams who already live in the affected areas are on the air and doing their best to help."
by Dave Drew, W7DPW
Since last summer Dave has been on a Mission......get QSL cards for contacts with other stations in each of the 50 states, on cw, on each of the 5 bands (80, 40, 20, 15, 10). That is 250 QSL cards! Dave relates the story of his quest and the progress at:
http://home.comcast.net/~w7dpw/was-5bcw.pdf
COMMENT: Very nice job Dave, Thank you for your efforts and Congratulations on all your awards. It sounds like you had a lot of fun too. It’s a real pleasure to have you on WSN - 73 Allen W7QM WSN Mgr
For Christmas we passed 73 Santa grams to AL7N in Fairbanks Alaska for relay to Santa in the North Pole. All the Santa grams were relayed by Don K7BFL to Ed AL7N in Fairbanks.
Some of the cute messages were as follows:
Dear Santa I would like for Christmas a Husband
for my children BT
Jane age 25 Bay City MI
Dear Santa I would like for Christmas a Son BT
Debra age 33 Iron Mountain MI
Dear Santa I would like for Christmas a lotto
winner BT
Sam age 52 Manistee MI
Dear Santa We love you Happy Holidays BT
John age 47 Sagina MI
Another one that applies to all of was:
Enjoy the holidays that makes us all kids again ARL Sixty One. - How True
An elderly couple went to breakfast at a restaurant where the "seniors' special" was two eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast for $1.99.
"Sounds good," the woman said. "But I don't want the eggs."
"Then I'll have to charge you two dollars and forty-nine cents because you're ordering a la carte," the waitress warned her.
"You mean I'd have to pay for not taking the eggs?" The woman asked incredulously. "I'll take the special."
"How do you want your eggs?"
"Raw and in the shell," the woman replied. She took the two eggs home.
DON'T MESS WITH SENIORS !!!!!!!!!!
God Bless
Dave VE7DWG
by K7BFL, STM EWA
There will be a Simulated Emergency Test (SET) on Saturday, February 12. It is sponsored by Gordon Grove, WA7LNC. Gordon is the EWA Section Emergency Coordinator. The drill will consist primarily of sending and receiving formal written messages (traffic) between ARES stations. Guy, N7YRT (of WSN fame!) will be the NCS, operating simultaneously near 3985 KHz and 7245 KHz.
Relay stations (such as YOU) are invited to check into the net and offer to relay messages between ARES stations. CW will be used, in addition to voice and digital modes. Just let Guy know that you are an expert on cw and he will do his best to line you up with another station. We are hoping that Alan, VE7TRM, in Kamloops, British Columbia, will again participtate.
Please participate if you can; newcomers to traffic handling need you as a Mentor!
Oct Sessions 93
QNI 894 TFC 218
Nov Sessions 90
QNI 805 TFC 199
Dec Sessions 93
QNI 989 TFC 216
Individual Traffic Count Oct Nov Dec
N7AJ 7 – K7BFL 49 – W7DPW 63 – N7EIE 74 – KA7EKL
30 – W7GB 46
W7IJ 16 - W7JG 30 – K7GXZ 58 – W7LG 29 – W7QM
147 – KK7T 36
N7YRT 13 – W7ZIW 70
I
want to thank you all for your contribution to helping WSN be a good
Net and for helping me to keep all the positions filled when needed. It
really makes the job much easier when you all chip in and help. Take Care
Allen W7QM
WSN Manager
News from Pati
Things are a little hectic at our home. We needed to move my mother into our home. She is using the Ham Shack room, so I will be off the air for awhile. Thank you to Harvey, KA7EKL for subing for me as NCS on Thursday. Please let Allen know if you can take my RN7 QNB slot on Tuesday.
Best wishes to each of you in the coming year.
