NETNEWS

by WB6IXN

12/03/2008 10m Phone Net – W6ZE/AF6C checked in WB9YCJ, DE, AB, IXN, HHC, CF, and HC.  Ken-YCJ alerted OPs to the gud prices on amateur gear during these bad times, and Ken doesn’t care for the locking push-to-talk feature on microphones. Ken also alerted OPs to the upcoming ARRL 10m Contest of Dec. 13.  DE took advantage of gud prices and bought himself a YAESU FT-950, which James is now putting through its paces!  Most OPs cud not hear AB, and IXN will check his email for check-ins to last Wed. fer 10 & 2m Nets…And IXN, wid his shingles problem, will not attend the Christmas Party this year.  HHC reminded all abt the Club Bfast at Yaegerhaus come Sat. morning, and CF said American auto market problems wud be solved if U.S. companies made autos that competed wid foreign autos!   AF6C put up some Christmas lights, but IXN hasn’t even thought abt any trimmings yet!

HC and the Club congrats HHC for 10 vy successful years as Club Webmaster!  HC said that auto unions are part of the troubles of U.S. Auto manufacturers, and Arnie, like many of us generally use hand mikes supplied wid our rigs.

 

12/03/2008 2m Phone Net – W6ZE/IXN checked in DE, CF, HC, IBH, AB, HHC, AF6C, W6HTW(Hank), and WA6BRD(Mark).  DE likes having a YAESU repair facility nearby if repairs to his new rig become necessary, and CF reminded OPs abt the Club Bfast come Sat. morning.  HC congrats DE’s purchase of a new YAESU FT-950, and Arnie tells CF that his sigs have greatly improved over the last few months.  IBH doesn’t have an antenna up yet, and Kathleen is still busy finishing up work on some papers from school.  AB suspects low voltage on the HF mobile rig (controlling screwdriver ant) as the reason fer weak sigs on 10m.  HHC announced that the Club Website now has over 50,000 hits from all over the world…(What!...No DX award fer HAM websites Yet?!!)  AF6C said that ARRL did not release an ARRL Audio News over the TG Holiday, and, that he talked wid Bob Buss, BWH, on SYYPE…Bob has troubles with rapidly changing fuel prices in the oil retail business and a few medical problems on the side!

 

12/10/2008 10m Phone Net – W6ZE/HHC checked in DE, CF, CJ, IXN, AF6C, and HC.  AF6C, running late, was eating din-din.  Bob checked in later to tell us that he will have surgery for a torn retina tomorrow morning.  HHC announced that there is over $3,000 in raffle prizes for the club Christmas Party this Fri. eve.   Ken announced that he completed his very first transaction on E-Bay successfully.  DE loves the DSP feature on the new rig, and James left us to rpoet into another net.  CF cudn’t copy IXN, and OPs said that IXN’s sigs were weak.  Bob-IXN is nursing a cold along wid the shingles and will miss the Christmas Party.  YCJ is using a Cushcraft R-7, and Ken likes using a vertical ant.  N6HC announced the ARRL 10m 48 hour Contest this weekend, and a scheduling conflict will cause Arnie to miss the Christmas Party.

 

12/10/2008 2m Phone Net – W6ZE/IXN checked in DE, N5XMT(Dave), AF6C, WB9YCJ, CF, HHC, HC, FKX, KR6J (Kenan...aka N6CCE)), EVX, and HTW.  DE uses a balun to match coax to a dipole, and newly wed XMT’s sigs, in Portola Hills, lit up 5 bars on IXN’s rig…AF6C told Dave his badge is ready, and, AF6C will have laser surgery on a torn retina tomorrow.  YCJ will check out the 10m Contest this weekend, and Ken says people need to exercise financial discipline to bring us thru the financial depression.  CF had no sigs on IXN on 10m.   HHC said Dino, RIX, had received a new call, KX6D.   HHC congrats AF6C on an excellent Dec. ‘RF’ newsletter.  HC wants OPs who operate the ARRL 10m Contest on Sunday to give him a check-in.  AF6C said that the Nittany Lions are 10 point underdogs fer the PennState/USC Rosebowl game on New Years Day.  FKX has finished up the semester with his geology students and Doug is ready fer some R & R!  N6CCE checked in wid his new call, KR6J, and AF6C will get Kenan’s new Club badge made soon.  HTW, on the south facing side of the Whittier Hills checked in using a mobile ant.  EVX ‘flew in & flew out’.  IXN forgot to have AF6C air the ARRL Audio News!

 

12/17/2008 10m Phone Net – W6ZE/AF6C checked in DE, IXN, KK6OZ(Jay), HHC, YCJ, N6ISY(Dick), HC, and BWH.  AF6C, wid the eye doing much better after retina attachment surgery, said the Club Christmas Dinner was a success!...Bob also put a new tarp on the Club generator.  DE was on the computer all day looking for rare patches, staying dry, and enjoying the rain.  IXN won’t be home next Wed., and, being Christmas Eve, most OPs chose to cancel the 10 & 2m Nets in favor of a ragchew for OPs at home.  IXN cudn’t copy OZ, but Jay is a Baker-to-Vegas OP for COAR communicators.  HHC bought his first Heil microphone from HC, and Ken must pick up the proper control cable for mike-to-rig attachment.  YCJ asked OPs if we had any news abt no shortwave on 40m above 7100 KHz (no response), and OPs told Ken that Skip Margelli will have the Club program in January.   HC checked into Net after Huell Howser’s program on Caligraphy, and, like IXN, Arnie has had enough rain!  ISY, Dick, in Fountain Valley, is another Baker-to-Vegas OP, and IXN cud not copy KØBWH on SKYPE/HHC…Bob sounded slightly off frequency (HHC explained there was "packet stealing" going on).

 

12/17/2008 2m Phone Net – W6ZE/IXN checked in DE, YCJ, OZ, XMT, HHC, KØBWH (via SKYPE), HC, CF, ISY, AF6C, and GMU via SKYPE.  YCJ, accident free for 15 yrs, is a traveling equipment repair man.  DE ‘flew in and flew out’.  Jay, OZ, has helped both the City of Cypress and COAR wid Baker-to-Vegas.  IXN, still conquering the shingles, and XMT wid the ‘crud’, did not attend the Club Christmas Party.  HHC found that SKYPE works much better if the computer is not creating digital distortion by running too many programs at once, and Ken enjoyed three Baker-to-Vegas OP check-ins to the Net tonite!  BWH, wid no wind in Sheldon, ND, tonite, has been ‘snowed in’ due to the high snow drifts.  BWH told club members he is having treatments for cancer.  HC announced bad CA. road conditions wid snow closures of freeway to the North & East of us…Arnie worked 14 hours, 180 CW contacts, 160 phone contacts, during the ARRL 10m Contest last weekend.  2009 El Presidente CF picked up a new 2m/440 ant. and coax.  ISY, in a cold shack tonite,  made contact wid one Washington station during the Contest, and Dick says he wishes that BWH was back out here so that we cud put him to work during Baker-to-Vegas!   AF6C suggested that ISY buy the 2KW Drake Amplifier, listed on the Club Website, to keep his shack warm!  AF6C and OPs reported a strong clicking sound on 2m tonite.  AF6C then aired ARRL Audio News…As was to be expected, FCC fudged on BPL reports…IBM is now looking into BPL out of the ham bands…ARRL requests hams to help neighbors wid TV analog-to-digital conversion problems come Feb…DO NOT install conversion box for them!  ARRL reported a new rig to hit the market, the new FLEX 5000A…No ARRL audio News for Dec. 26, 2008, or Jan. 2, 2009…ARRL Audio News concluded at 21:37 hrs local time.  Tnx, Bob!

 

12/24/08 10 & 2m Nets – Night before Christmas, no formal Nets.

 

12/31/08 10m Phone Net – W6ZE/AF6C checked in DE, CF, HHC, IXN, and YCJ.  DE said that 1 full second would be added to the length of this day, and James enjoyed an outing at the TRW Swapmeet.  CF ‘flew in and flew out’…Nicolas is having trouble wid the amplifier. He called HHC on SKYPE to explain that 2008 went out with a "bang" on 10M with sparks flying on his amp and arcing inside his ant tuner.   HHC wishes all a HNY, as Ken works on the club Jan. Newsletter. All OPs join YCJ in a discussion of their amateur licensing histories.  AF6C & HHC watched the Pitt game today, and tomorrow they’ll watch the Penn State/USC game here at the Rosebowl.

 

12/31/2008 2m Phone NetW6ZE/IXN checked in DE, EVX, WB9YCJ, HHC, IBH, and AF6C.  DE and CAP buddies have a gud time at the TRW Swapmeet.   Then EVX said that the Fullerton Junior Tennis Tournament needed OPs…phone KB6CEO at 714 680-2458.  YCJ and IXN briefly discuss ham licenses, and HHC gets a SKYPE frm CF that Nicolas has an amplifier problem & sparking tuner.  HHC had a tour , bk a few years, of KDKA, Pittsburgh.  Ken and IXN briefly discuss the ‘Russian Woodpecker’ over-the-horizon radar that created interference on the ham bands.  Ken is writting an article in newsletter on the "Woodpecker" No SKYPE frm BWH, and AF6C said it was 9 deg. F. in Sheldon, N.D.  AF6C then aired Dec. 22 ARRL Audio News:  We have had 25 yrs of amateur operations from space from the International Space Station!  There will  be no ARRL Audio News for Dec. 26 or Jan. 7…ARRL Audio news aired at 20:59 hrs. and concluded at 21:17 hours local time.

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