ARRL Midwest Division Newsletter

July 2020

Field Day Photos - 2020

Field Day Pics from Reno County Kansas Amateur Radio Assn.

by Richard Johnson, K0RCJ; Photos by Todd Wilson and Brian Shull

Jerry, AC0RL and company operating at the Armory in Hutchinson, Ks.

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — July 2020 p. 2

Sheriff Campbell visited for awhile. Call sign used was W0WR for field day

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — July 2020 p. 3

The Antenna System we Used

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — July 2020 p. 4

Another Successful Field Day Completed

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — July 2020 p. 5

The Mid-MO ARC Field Day

by Kent Trimble, K9ZTV

The Mid-MO Amateur Radio Club of Jefferson City, Missouri, following the ARRL's

recommendation, voted not to hold a traditional outdoor Field Day. Up to a dozen

members (exact number unknown at deadline time) participated from home (with at least

one exception) in several categories appropriate to their operating. Propagation was

excellent to the Midwest the entire weekend with 10 and 15 meters open for significant

periods. Here are a few of the club's participants who reported in time to submit this

report:

Mitch Odneal, NWØM, was the club's champion scorer with 1,150 contacts (68 per hour) over

16.9 hours on 80-10, mostly CW, at 100 watts from a K3.

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — July 2020 p. 6

Kent Trimble, K9ZTV, managed 1,056 contacts (80 per hour) over 13.2 hours on 40-10, all CW,

at 100 watts from a K3 while refusing to accept that his laptop isn't a touch-screen.

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — July 2020 p. 7

Bill Gerth, W4RK, was third with 359 contacts (60 per hour) during only 6 hours of operations on

40-10, all CW, at 900 watts with an FTDX-5000 and Quadra. Hours before the contest Bill

purchased a new monitor which garnered him the club's Largest Screen award.

[NO PICTURE]

Field Day Chairman, Tim Raymer, KAØOUV, did a masterful job interpreting new and

sometimes confusing FD rules, and thereby earned the privilege of using the club's

Memorial Call Sign, NØSS, that honors long-time member Tom Hammond (SK). Tim

knocked out 165 CW contacts on 80-10 at 5 watts from a KX3.

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — July 2020 p. 8

Mike Dolson, NØZH, was our modest-power champ with 153 contacts at 35 watts and also walked away with the best mustache award.

Mike Smith, ADØYM, took our Field Day Rookie award (if we had one) with 130 contacts, all S&P, all CW on 80-10 with an FT-450D at 100 watts. Mike has only been pounding brass for a little over a year.

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — July 2020 p. 9

[NO PICTURE] Current club president, Art Langston, KDØGY, soloed (hence, no picture) at the historic Cote Sans Dessein ("coast without design") location in Callaway County, an early pioneer settlement on the Missouri River, and prevailed over heat, rain, bugs, and humidity to make around 100 CW contacts plus many more on digital from an IC-7300.

Bryan Nehl, KØEMT, relatively new to CW contesting, enjoyed 98 contacts (and Hawaii), all

QRP, all CW, and all S&P with a K2/KX3 on 40-15 and had a 19 QSO rate during the last hour.

[NO PICTURE]

Jim Biggerstaff, NØTKN, club Trustee, had 50 phone contacts.

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — July 2020 p. 10

Mike McCrady, NØESE, was able to work only 2.75 hours from his back porch due to rain

both days, but managed 8 CW contacts on 20 meters with 5 watts from a K2 and a

Buddipole.

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — July 2020 p. 11

Field Day Iowa – AC0PB by Mike Hynek, AC0PB; Photos by Rod Blocksome, K0DAS

How was everyone's Field Day?

Over at my field in the People's

Republic of Johnson County

(Iowa), we had a blast.

Operators were Gregg

(KC0SKM), George (NG7A), Joe

(AA0KW), Wyatt (AC0RA), and

myself (AC0PB). We operated

3A with a 6-meter station for a

kicker.

George, NG7A (left) and Wyatt, AC0RA Operate in the Garage

Wyatt, AC0RA “Supervises” while Mike, AC0PB works a SSB QSO and Greg, KC0SKM enjoys logging duties

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — July 2020 p. 12

40 Meter Phased Loops on Spider Masts at AC0PB

6 Meter Moxon in Truck Bed 65-ft. Fiberglass “Push-up” Mast

Six Meter Openings

by Jon Jones, N0JK

On June 26 Hasan, N0AN worked Japan from Iowa on 6M. He made some contacts running only

60 watts.

On Saturday right at the start of Field Day -- Bob, WB0NRV in Wichita, KS worked 12 D station

KL7SB in Alaska on 6 Meters. Later Bob had a 50 minute opening to Japan with JA stations

"lighting up my screen in red." Field Day weekend was good for some of the Midwest 6M

stations. I also picked up W5PUF in rare grid DL99 Sunday morning on 6 Meters. KV4HV has

been active from rare grid EL94 for those perusing the FFMA award.

Editors Comment: If you have never given the WSJT-X digital modes a try on 6 meters,

now is “prime time”. The annual summer Sporatic E propagation is fully engaged. FT8

allows contacts when the band is only “marginally open” thus providing activity nearly

every day. A 100 Watts to a modest 3-element yagi at 25-30 feet is an excellent starting

point at low cost. The FT8 mode is quite robust and easy to get going. However, I

recommend studying the instructions (and ask questions of experienced operators) to

gain full benefit of its many features and protocols.

After you gain experience with FT8, you may want to venture into meteor scatter using

MSK-144. Very small meteors are continually hitting the earth’s upper atmosphere. The

meteor vaporizes leaving a momentary trail of ionization that is sufficient to reflect your

six meter signal long enough to make a contact with MSK-144. The higher the speed of

the meteor, the more ionization, resulting in faster QSO’s and at longer distances. In the

morning hours, the earth’s rotational speed is added to its orbital speed thus adding to

the velocity of the meteor colliding with the atmosphere.

There are several ARRL operating awards that 6-meter operators work towards:

WAS – For working all 50 States (Hawaii & Alaska are tough but not impossible)

DXCC – For working 100 Countries

VUCC – For working 100 grid squares – includes incremental endorsements

FFMA – The “Fred Fish Memorial Award” for working all 488 grid squares on the

lower 48 States. So far only 10 hams have achieved this award.

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — July 2020 p. 13

ARRL Membership Statistics Update by Rod Blocksome, K0DAS

Total ARRL membership took a dive as did the Midwest Division. The Midwest Division

had a decrease of 26 members in May – putting us back to a total of 6,562 – same as

March. Below are the charts updated as of May 31, 2020. Perhaps the virus and our

lack of hamfests and club meetings are the reasons. But let’s get innovative and reverse

this trend. Invite a non-member ham to consider joining ARRL and explain to him/her the

benefits of membership. It is so much more than just a subscription to QST. Just browse

the ARRL web site at your leisure: www.arrl.org

-8.0

-7.0

-6.0

-5.0

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-2.0

-1.0

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3.0

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Jan

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Jul-

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Jan

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Jul-

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Oct

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Jan

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Jul-

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ARRL Membership Compared to Midwest Division

Midwest

ARRL

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — July 2020 p. 14

Included this month is the chart showing section membership numbers relative to a base line of

12 months prior. As you can see, the Kansas Section has maintained a constant positive

membership for the last 12 months. Conversely, Iowa has done just the opposite for the past 12-

months. Nebraska and Missouri initially declined but then climbed into a positive gain about

Christmas time. I can’t explain the reasons, but armed with the data, let’s all work hard to bring

more hams into ARRL membership.

It won’t be easy with all the hamfests canceled, but hopefully this will change in a few months.

I’m very concerned with the continued decline of ARRL members in Iowa. If anyone has an idea

what may be causing this, please let me know.

-50

-40

-30

-20

-10

0

10

20

30

40

50 Midwest Division ARRL Membership Changes Number of Members Gain/Lost Over Last 12

Months

Iowa

Kansas

Missouri

Nebraska

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — July 2020 p. 15

Midwest Division Special Event Stations

01/01/2020 | Iowa State Parks On-the-Air Centennial Celebration

Jan 1-Dec 31, 0000Z-2359Z, various, Dubuque, IA. Great River Amateur Radio Club. All

bands, all frequencies, as available. Certificate & QSL. IASPOTA-2020, c/o Great River

Amateur Radio Club, P.O. Box 1384, Dubuque, IA 52004. Members will operate with their

own call signs from state parks throughout Iowa. Operating as time permits, mostly

weekends. QSL for contact; certificate for 5 parks. See website for complete information.

07/12/2020 | Iowa State Parks On-the-Air Centennial – Volga River

Jul 12, 1500Z-1900Z, W0OEL, Fayette, IA. Rural Iowa Amateur Radio Club. 14.240 7.240.

Certificate & QSL. Great River Amateur Radio Club, P.O. Box 1384, Dubuque, IA 52004.

IASPOTA-2020 Located in one of the most scenic parts of the state. Northeast Iowa is often

referred to as "Little Switzerland" because of its rugged topography, rock outcroppings and

forest cover – a sharp contrast to the rolling hills, farmland and scattered stands of timber

found in the majority of the state. Certificate & QSL managed by Great River Amateur Radio

Club, P.O. Box 1384, Dubuque, IA 52004. QSL for contact; certificate for 5 parks. See

website for complete information, http://www.w0dbq.org/rules or https://www.w0oel.com

07/18/2020 | Kearney Junction Park

Jul 18, 1300Z-2200Z, W0KY, Kearney, NE. Midway Amateur Radio Club. 21.345 21.045

14.290 14.045. Certificate. Henry Angle, N0HA, 307 E. 35th St., Kearney, NE 68847.

08/12/2020 | Iowa State Parks On-the-Air Centennial – Fort Atkinson

Aug 12, 1500Z-1900Z, W0OEL, Fayette, IA. Rural Iowa and Buchanan County Amateur

Radio Clubs. 14.240 7.240. Certificate. Great River Amateur Radio Club, P.O. Box 1384,

Dubuque, IA 52004. IASPOTA-2020 Fort Atkinson is not the stuff of which legends are made.

Fort Atkinson was built to keep the Winnebago Indians on Neutral Ground (a 40-mile-wide

strip of land established by the Treaty of 1830) after their removal from Wisconsin in 1840,

and to provide protection for them from the Sioux, Sauk, Fox and from white intruders on

Indian land. Certificate & QSL managed by Great River Amateur Radio Club, P.O. Box 1384,

Dubuque, IA 52004. QSL for contact; certificate for 5 parks. See website for complete

information, http://www.w0dbq.org/rule https://www.w0oel.com

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — July 2020 p. 16

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — July 2020 p. 17

09/12/2020 | 4th Annual William Becknell Heritage Days Special Event - Founder of the

Santa Fe Trail

Sep 12-Sep 13, 1400Z-2200Z, WB0SFT/KC0VYS, Overland Park, KS. William Becknell

Santa Fe Trail Heritage Days. 21.365 14.265 7.265 3.865 1.830; SSB CW FT8. Certificate &

QSL. See website, for information on, receiving certificate or QSL. On the trail 1x1 calls, W0B

through W9B, and Parks on the Air (K-4579) activation. QRZ and LoTW. See website for

details, and how to receive a certificate and/or QSL. www.wb0sft.org

10/02/2020 | Lester Dent - Doc Savage Special Event

Oct 2-Oct 3, 1500Z-2300Z, W0D, Macon, MO. Macon County Amateur Radio Club. 14.270

7.200 3.950. Certificate. Macon County ARC, P.O. Box 13, Macon, MO 63552. The Macon

County Amateur Radio Club will operate the Lester Dent-Doc Savage Mystery Special Event

W0D, in Macon, MO. The purpose of the Special Event is to honor of the accomplishments of

Lester Dent, one of the most prolific writers of Pulp Fiction, world class adventurer, pilot,

creator of the Dent Master Fiction Plot Formula and an Amateur Radio Operator. The Special

Event also commemorates the 87th "Birthday" of Doc Savage the first modern superhero,

Lester Dent's creation. A colorful certificate will be provided to those that contact the Special

Event Station and send a QSL including a # 10 SASE to the Macon County Amateur Radio

Club, PO Box 13, Macon, MO 63552. dbagley@cvalley.net

or https://www.maconcountymissouriarc.org

10/31/2020 | National World War I Museum and Memorial

Oct 31, 1500Z-2300Z, WW1USA, Kansas City, MO. National World War I Museum and

Memorial. 14.225 SSB 7.250 SSB 14.060 CW 7.060 CW. Certificate. WW1USA Amateur

Radio Station, World War 1 Museum and Memorial, 2 Memorial Drive, Kansas City, MO

64108. We will be commemorating the 102nd anniversary of the Armistice, which ended the

fighting in World War 1. Our operation will be inside the Museum, in the Postcard Gallery. All

local and visiting hams are invited to come visit. ww1isa@theworldwar.org

or www.qrz.com/db/ww1isa

11/07/2020 | Honoring Veterans for Veterans Day

Nov 7, 1500Z-2200Z, W0FSB, Waterloo, IA. Five Sullivan Brothers Amateur Radio Club.

18.124 14.240 7.240. Certificate & QSL. Five Sullivan Brothers ARC, 3186 Brandon Diagonal

Blvd, Brandon, IA 52210. For QSL card: Send card and #10 SASE; For Certificate & QSL:

Send QSL, address label and 3 Forever stamps; For eQSL & Certificate: Send eQSL, then an

email to w0fsb@outlook.com, requesting a .jpg file of the certificate that you can print

yourself www.qrz.com/db/w0fsb

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — July 2020 p. 18

Midwest Division ARRL Hamfests & Conventions 07/18/2020 - Warrenburg Area Amateur Radio Club, Inc. 2020 Hamfest Location: Warrensburg , MO Type: ARRL Hamfest Sponsor: WAARCI, Johnson County ARES, MO-KAN Council Website: https://www.waarci.org 07/19/2020 - Zerobeaters Washington Hamfest Location: Washington, MO Type: ARRL Hamfest Sponsor: Zerobeaters Amateur Radio Club Website: http://zerobeaters.org 08/08/2020 - 08/09/2020 - CVARC Hamfest, ARRL Iowa State Convention – CANCELED

08/09/2020 - St Charles Amateur Radio Club Hamfest Location: O Fallon, MO Type: ARRL Hamfest Sponsor: St Charles Amateur Radio Club Website: http://wb0hsi.org/hamfest 08/22/2020 - Joplin Hamfest (Note Date/Venue Change) Location: Joplin, MO (Trade Center Parking Lot) Type: ARRL Hamfest Sponsor: Joplin Amateur Radio Club, Inc. Website: http://joplinhamfest.org 09/05/2020 - Reno County Kansas Amateur Radio Association 2020 Hamfest Location: Hutchinson, KS Type: ARRL Hamfest Sponsor: Reno County Kansas Amateur Radio Association Website: http://www.rckara.org

10/03/2020 - Wichita Area Hamfest Location: Wichita, KS Type: ARRL Hamfest Sponsor: Valley Center Amateur Radio Club Website: http://www.vcarc.org

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — July 2020 p. 19

10/04/2020 - Southeast Iowa Hamfest Location: Columbus Junction, IA Type: ARRL Hamfest Sponsor: Muscatine ARC & Washington Area ARC Website: http://www.MuscatineARC.org/se-ia-hamfest 10/31/2020 - ARRL Nebraska State Convention 2020 Location: Lincoln, NE Type: ARRL Convention Sponsor: Lincoln Amateur Radio Club Website: http://www.lincolnhamfest.org 10/31/2020 - Halloween Hamfest – CANCELED

11/21/2020 - Northeast Nebraska Hamfest Location: Norfolk, NE Type: ARRL Hamfest Sponsor: Elkhorn Valley Amatuer Radio Club, Inc. Website: http://www.qsl.net/evarc

State QSO Parties in the Midwest Division

If you have never operated in one of the state QSO parties, I urge you to give it a try. Besides a great opportunity to work a bunch of stations concentrated in a single state in a short amount of time, you will learn a bit of the geography and history of the state. If you are working on a county hunter award, these state QSO parties frequently have mobile and portable stations out in the less populated counties. The sponsors of the QSO parties also offer a variety of awards for working stations required for specific goals and objectives. I’ll admit to not being available to operate on many of the State QSO parties in the Midwest Division but if you can only manage one QSO party, I highly recommend the Kansas QSO Party. They offer a number of wonderful award certificates and the hams of Kansas go all out to activate all 99 counties. For full details check out the web sites for the two remaining Midwest Division QSO parties for 2020 – Kansas and Iowa.

Kansas August 29-30, 2020, Sponsored by Bob Harder, W0BH, Hesston, KS. For details go to http://ksqsoparty.org

Iowa September 19, 2020, Story County ARC Sponsor: http://www.w0yl.com

ARRL Midwest Division Leadership

Director: Rod Blocksome K0DAS

k0das@arrl.org 319-393-8022

Vice Director: Art Zygielbaum K0AIZ

k0aiz@arrl.org 402-421-0839

Iowa Section Manager: Lelia Garner, WA0UIG

Kansas Section Manager: Ron Cowan, KB0DTI

Missouri Section Manager: Cecil Higgins, AC0HA

Nebraska Section Manager: Matt Anderson, KA0BOJ

DX Advisory Committee: John Yodis, K2VV (MO)

Contest Advisory Committee: Glenn Johnson, W0GJ (IA)

Midwest Division Volunteer Counsel: Craig Long, K0CSL (IA)

Division Legislative Action Chair: Mike Edwards, WB9M (MO)

Legislative Action Coordinators: Nick Critelli, K 0PCG (IA); Bruce Frahm, K0BJ (KS &

NE); Mike Edwards, WB9M (MO).

Assistant Directors (Missouri): Paul Haefner K 0JPL, Dave Propper K2DP, Kent Trimble K9ZTV, Roger Volk K0GOB, Cecil Higgins AC0HA, John Frederick N8GOU, Eric Zust W0TT, Randy Schulze KD0HKD, and Ron Lowrance, K4SX.

Assistant Directors (Kansas): Mike Albers K 0FJ, Jim Andera K0NK, Bill Henderson K0VBU, Charlie Hett K0THN, Richard Johnson K0RCJ, Rick Tucker W0RT, and Jon Jones N0JK.

Assistant Directors (Iowa): Tim Busch N0CKR, C.W. Pantel K0IIR, and Jim Spencer W0SR

Assistant Directors (Nebraska): Matt Anderson, KA0BOJ, Joe Eisenberg K0NEB, Allen Harpham WD0DXD, and Todd LeMense KK0DX.

Midwest Division Webmaster: Steve Schmitz W0SJS email: w0sjs@arrl.net

Midwest Division’s website: http://www.arrlmidwest.org/