1972 Officers
- President: Al Chapman, W6MEO
- Vice President: Maurice Piroumian, WA60PB
- Secretary: Walt Williams, W6JSO
- Treasurer: Jay Bestow, WB6NFN
- Trustee: Jay Holladay, W6EJJ
- Past President: Walt Ross, W6VPN
- Publicity Manager: Harold Wheelock, W6SCW
- Emergency Communications Mgr: Bruce Kelly, W6DEL
- Station Facilities Manager: Bill Harris, K6KZQ
- QSL Bureau Manager: Sam Weaver, WN6EMO
- RFI/TVI Coordinator: Jay Bastow, WB6NFN
- Education Committee: Gordon Crawford, WB6DRH
- Newsletter Editor: Stan Hench, WB6JMP
Club meetings are held on the 2nd Wednesday of each month, at noon, in 238- 543. Everyone is welcome to attend.
The Club Board of Directors meet on the 4th Wednesday of each month. Club members are welcome to attend.
ARE HAMS OBSOLETE??
Nash Williams/W6HCD, recently received a letter from the RCA Electronic Components Division that has a few hidden implications from the tone of the communication. We will quote it:"Dear Sir:
"It is with considerable regret and much nostalgia that RCA Electronic Components has announced suspension of its publication HAM TIPS. This action was decided upon because of the reduced need for a Radio Amateur publication featuring construction type articles. It was also recognized that there are a number of excellent periodicals in publication that serve this need adequately
hopes, however, to continue to supply and serve amateur radio activities with both product and information. For examples it is expected that articles by RCA people that were formerly published in HAM TIPS will appear in the well-known Radio Amateur periodicals. . .
Cordially yours
John F. Wilhelm, Chairman
RCA Amateur Radio Committee"We can well see the economies of this move, being familiar with the costs of publications. But we feel that RCA is trying to buck the growing trend back to home-brew equipment, especially with all of the nice new solid state goodies on the market and the growing popularity of VHF equipment. And why the need for "nostalgia"? Hams are by no means on the way out, yet. Ye olde editor's main concern, at this point, is for the future of Mr. Wilhelm and not for the ham fraternity.
We guess that if things really Set tight, we might be able to use an assistant editor for W6VIO Calling. . .QSL INSURANCE
Merv MacMedan/W6IUV warns that you can't believe everything you read in the Call Book. The page listing the proper number of IRC's to pay for an Air Mail reply from a DX country to the U.S. indicates that three are required to prepay a letter from Colombia, South America to the U.S. In a recent scheduled , 0 with HK4BTY, Merv learned that IRC's cannot be used to purchase Air Mail stamps there, only surface mail stamps. Consequently, HK4BTY often has to pay substantial postage bills to answer the many requests she gets for an Air Mail reply.
This may very well be the case in a large number of DX countries, accounting for the lack of that one last QSL you need; not everyone is as rich as the Americanos, senor.
one way out of this dilemma would be to obtain the correct amount of postage stamps for that particular country and mail it with your QSL request. The DX Stamp Service offers such mint postage at prices that appear to be more attractive than IRC's For instances three IRC units are necessary for Colombian Air Mail to the U.S., which will cost you 660; a mint Colombian Air Mail stamp will cost You 25 cents. A price list,, by prefixes may be obtained by writing to DX Stamp Service, G. H._Robertson/W2AZX, 83 Roder Parkways Ontario, N.Y. 14519.MERV IS ON THE MOVE
Merv MacMedan/W6IUV is making plans to spend his vacation in South America this year. he expects to do some ham operating from Colombia, followed by a more intensive effort to provide some CW activity from San Andres Island GEO). Merv's present plans call for him to be on the island August 28-31. all goes well, and lie gets his operating permits look for him as W6IUV/HK0 about 25 kHz up from the low end of the bands and listening 5 kHz higher.
If pileups are not a problems Merv will operate in transceive at -030 MHz on each band for which antennas are available. Anyone that desperately needs San Andres can contact Merv to arrange a schedule. Send your QSL's direct to Merv at his home QTH.BAJA SAFARI FILM AT NEXT CLUB MEETING
The next Club meeting will be held on July 12, at Noon, in the usual places 238-543. the courtesy and permission of the City Council of National City, we will be able to view a trip into the heart of Baja California. The film is entitled "Baja Bug Safari to Scammon's Lagoon," and will be presented by Stanley Biggs and Cecil Scaglione. Biggs is Director of Building and Housing for National City, and Scaglione is a photographer and Staff Writer for the San Diego Union.
The trip was planned for four years, two of which were required to design and build the vehicle, especially to traverse the most desolate area this side of the Sahara. With no landmarks) and ever shifting sand dunes, navigation was by compass only. This remarkable adventure should be put on your "don't miss" list, so plan to attend the meeting -and see it in person before it is released for television. Probably, it would be just your luck to have it shown on the one channel you can't receive in your locality.
W6VIO PARTICIPATES IN FIELD DAY
Four brave souls ventured atop Mt. Wilson to represent our Club during the recent Field Day exercise, and a fine job was done by all! The stalwarts. were Jerry Hawkes/W6WXL, Jim Lumsden/WA6MYJ, Jay Bastow/WB6NFN, and Dave Hubiak/?? Out of this four, three remained to man the three transmitters all night (the name of the absent party has been withheld to protect the chicken!) About 550 contacts were made during the period they were on the air. Most of the operations were on phone, on 75, 40, 20 and 15 meters; Jay Bastow managed to squeeze in a little bit of CW operation 01, 19 meters, but was too tired to keep it up. This time, there were no generator problems and the verticals and dipoles performed admirably. Once again, W6VIO should place respectably well in the final standings, although no direct comparison with last year's operation is possible because we were running four rigs at the time, not three. Congratulations and thanks to this hardy crew!
TARFU PAR, BUT GOOD!
In mid-May, Okinawa reverted back to Japanese control from the previous U.S. administration. Under the old rules, the FCC issued U.S. Nationals KR6 calls, and Japanese Nationals had KR8 calls. Now, under Japanese administration, U.S. Nationals have KA prefixes, while the Japanese Nationals get JR6 prefixes.
One day Merv MacMedan heard a Japanese station answer KA6IX's CQ. He was quickly brushed aside with a "SRI NOT ALLOWED" and the CQ's continued. Merv called KA61X to ask why he wasn't allowed to QSO JA's and it appears that the Japanese law forbids JA's to QSO KA's. This had not been the case with KR6's and KR8's, under U.S. control.
As frosting on the cake, Merv asked him to say hello to the most famous KR8 on the island, KR8EA (now JR6EA), and was told that KA's can't contact JR's either. The best way to send greetings would be to contact JR6EA direct! And they only live a few miles apart on the island! With a little bit of remorse, JA61X noted that, as KR6IX, he had QSO'ed several thousand JA, JH and JI? stations with no troubles at all.
We don't know the whole story, but we sure hope that the Japanese aren't still carrying a grudge against us for something that happened 28 years ago!CLASSIFIED ADS FOR SALE
3-element, Tri-Band Beam (10-15-20M), make unknown, but performs well. $25.
M. Piroumian/WA60PB X6506 or 248-3564
Topaz DC pwr Supply; Input 13 vdc; Output +600 vdc @ 425 ma, +300 vdc @ 300 ma, 0 to -120 vdc @ 10 ma bias; will run Swan 140-240, Drake TR-3 or NCX-3. $35.
Jess Ball X5726
Swan 500-C, modified to CX with VOX and AC/ Spkr/Pwr Supply. Loudenboomer linear, with 3500 v Pwr Supply. SB-610 Heath Scope. All for $600.
"Speed" Sheetz/W6FMO 221-5854
Swan 2401 with AC Pwr Supply, companion unit containing 2nd VFO XTAL Calib, VOX & Spkr in matching cabinet* $300,
Stan Hench/WB6JMP X2475 or 963-2225
WANTED
One used antenna rotators TR-44 or better, in good condition. Call K6TUY, 790-38709
Service Manual for Hallicrafters S-39, to borrow only. Would also like to borrow schematics for Sony 3F61W AM-174 Transistor Portable and for Realistic #908 AM-FM-AFC Transistor Portable.
Jack Bobrow X3591
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