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Hawaii and Pacific Section Report - April 2016Bob Schneider, AH6J, retires from his sixteen-year service as Section Manger in the ARRL Pacific Section. His early contributions to the development of repeaters have made an indelible mark on inter-island VHF/UHF communications that we all enjoy today. While dedicated to Amateur Radio during his tenure, Bob found time to participate in 125 VE sessions. Many of you reading this tribute are licensed because of Bob’s service to the ARRL VE system. Bob’s career covers a wide range technologies and events that Hawaii’s recognized Amateur Radio Internet historian, Ron Hashiro (AH6RH), captured in an article written for this report. As your new Section Manager I'll try to serve Amateur Radio as well as Bob. He has agreed to stay on as Assistant Section Manager for Hawaii County and I plan to call to call on him for advice and consul. 73, Joe Speroni (AHØA) |
Bob Schneider (AH6J) Retires As ARRL Section Manager | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bob Schneider was born in Riverside, California and grew up in Northern California along with two sisters and a brother. Active in scouting, in 1957 he was licensed as a novice KN6ZBZ and attended his first Boy Scout Jamboree on the Air at Valley Forge, PA along with 50,000 other friends. He got a Conditional license. In May 1964, his parents retired and moved to Hawaii. He got his KH6FNB call from the Honolulu FCC office while also testing for the Commercial Radio Telephone license. He later obtained AH6J when the FCC made available the 2x1 calls to Hawaii Extra class licenses in the 1980s. Bob started out with running phone traffic for Army MARS. That later grew into a fascination with 6- meter and VHF repeaters. (See the story on the EARC DH repeaters). Bob worked with the UH and RCUH as an electronic technician, then as a radio technician for Federal Electric, AMFAC before joining Hawaiian Electric Light Company (HELCO) on the Big Island. Bob retired in January 2001 after 29 years of service with HELCO. He got his start as the ARRL Section Manager from the previous SM Army Curtis AH6P. Army worked for Hawaiian Electric Light Company on the Big Island when he was the Section Manager. As Army began preparing for retirement and moving to the mainland, he tapped Bob as SM. Bob served as SM in 1992-1996, 2002-2004, and 2006-2016. Bob has also served as the President of the Big Island Amateur Radio Club (BIARC). Bob's key accomplishments during his terms were obtaining amateur radio support from ARRL for Kauai during recovery from Hurricane Iniki, and in getting ARRL to speed up distribution of the QST magazine to Hawaii. In 2002, the QST magazine was delivered via bulk mail and Hawaii ARRL members would often about the schedules for the upcoming events after the events have passed. Bob worked tirelessly with the ARRL QST staff on improving the production and delivery to the point where the magazine is received in the prior month. Bob notes that amateur radio is a vast multitude of hobbies, with the common theme of having a transmitter. Interests range from HF to VHF/UHF to Microwave; direction finding; satellites; digital modes; public service and emergency communications; experimenting and building. Different clubs specialize in different things. So trying to paint amateur radio with a one brush stroke is a difficult thing. And, interests change over time allowing for personal growth. It's the social element (such as the amateur radio clubs) that keeps us united. Bob likes to chase DX. Among his awards include the Bicentennial WAS in 1976. Bob's most memorable QSOs included a one hour 20-meter HF MARS QSO at midnight where he talked with a YL in South Africa where it was 12 noon. Even though Bob was running a six element beam, he pointed it in every direction and still could not get the signal to peak -- the YL was on the other side of the earth and radiating equally in all directions! Another time, he was atop Mauna Loa during a tropoduct opening with California and made an FM QSO with Vandenberg AFB using only 100 milliwatts. Bob also made a two-way contact with ISS astronaut Bill McArthur KC5ACR in March 2006. Bob currently resides in Keeau with his wife Ester and looks forward to traveling to see his son, daughter and grandkids who live in Colorado. 73, Ron, AH6RH | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WINLINK/WINMOR Server Operating on Oahu | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
For the past few years, Gus MacFeeley (NH7J) and Tom Overman (W2AIT) have operated an HF WINLINK RMS server in Hawaii, in central Oahu. The station is on line 24/7/365 and is completely off-grid, with solar panels and batteries as its only power source. Until now the station operated PACTOR only. Now WINMOR mode, which substitutes PC sound card modulation for the relatively expensive PACTOR modem, has been added to two frequencies; one on 40 meters and one on 2 meters. Since 2013 the station has primarily served the amateur maritime mobile community in the Pacific Rim. We are now making a few changes to better support Hawaii inter-island emergency communications. The station is KH6UL, registered in the WinLink system (www.winlink.org), operating PACTOR and WINMOR on 7102 kHz USB and 144.250 MHZ USB. It operates PACTOR-only on four additional HF frequencies. On May 8th, 2016 the call sign for the 40- and 2-meter frequencies will change from KH6UL to KH6SP. The remaining frequencies will retain their KH6UL call sign. Hawaii stations that have interest in digital communications can download RMS Express which includes a WINMOR software module. Installation instructions are available at: At the time of this report, Steve (KH6WG) had already sent an email to several hams using WINMOR on 2-meters and 40-meters via KH6UL. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
New Hawaii ARES Web Site | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Section Emergency Coordinator, Clement Jung (KH7HO) launched a new web site to improve communications with ARES volunteers. Our unique island state makes frequent face-to-face contact difficult and EMCOMM all that more important. He hopes the use of Internet will allow sharing of information and experiences to the benefit of all. The ARRL Pacific Section extends its sincere appreciation to Edward Stuckey (AI7H, ARRL Idaho Section Manager, Michael Meier (WB7RBH), Idaho Section Emergency Coordinator, and Ray Montagne (W7CIA), Idaho ARES Web Administrator, for their agreement to share the source code for this website and support in implementing a version for Hawaii. Hawaii ARES is structured into nine districts, each having a District Emergency Coordinator (DEC). Amateurs wanting to assist their communities can register on the web site at www.HawaiiARES.info. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hawaiian Islands Grid Madness | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Aulani Hui Amateur Repeater Club, a newly formed group of technically oriented hams in North Kohala, South Kohala, and Hamakua are supporting and maintaining FM repeaters and remote base stations on the Big Island. The club promotes a VHF/UHF simplex operation thru a contest called “Hawaii Grid Madness” - unique in the Hawaiian Islands. It is a four-hour event designed for EMCOMM practice, and for fun. It gives hams an opportunity to test equipment, coverage and operating skills using simplex on 2 meters and 70 cm. An event for all radio amateurs in the state of Hawaii, especially new hams! The event is not scheduled until September - Sunday, September 18th, 2016 (mark your calendar so you don’t forget!). There is enough time to build and test new antennas for the event. Stan Froseth (AH6KO) handles administration and posted a summary of the 2015 activity event at http://tinyurl.com/zjeev94. Contest rules are at http://gridmadness.blogspot.com Events like this contribute to the Amateur Service as defined in FCC rules §97.1 Basis and Purpose. Going forward ARRL Hawaii will make it part of our web site and promote it as a section activity. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Intruder Watch in Hawaii | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Most of us have been unaware Hawaii has ARRL volunteers that contribute their time to protect our frequency allocations by reporting band intrusions. Merv Schweigert (KH6/K9FD) has been participating in the Intruder Watch program for 30 years, faithfully filing reports to the FCC via ARRL HQ. Merv is an active CW operator and contester operating from Molokai using a pair of Elecraft K3s. Low noise levels on Molokai, knowledge of modulation modes, how to decode them and pan adapter equipment makes monitoring the bands easier but still a time consuming contribution to the Amateur Radio Service. Mahalo Merv! Here is an excerpt from his March 2016 reports. If you’re interested, Merv has offered to include PACSEC ARRL members on copies of his reports to HQ. You might even call his attention to other suspicious signals you hear on our bands to add to our reporting. Drop him an email at k9fd@arrl.net.
Here is a link to information about the ARRL program and how to participate: www.arrl.org/intruder-watch. Volunteers collecting intruder information can make a difference! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ARISS Celebrates 15 Years of Ham Radio in Space, Supported From Hawaii | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
You may have seen this story on the ARRL web site commemorating the 1000th space station Amateur Radio event supported by the ARISS program (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station). The full story can be seen http://tinyurl.com/hszfwcj. What you may not know is the important part that Hawaii played in this story. More than 70 of those contacts were run from Honolulu. Participation started in the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) at McKinley High School in 1992. Shuttle astronauts answered student questions and contacted family and friends via the school’s amateur radio telebridge station. A telebridge station basically runs a phone patch for the astronauts, linking them up with students and others around the world. One particularly memorable contact was between the crew of Hokulea in the South Pacific and the crew of STS-50 passing over Hawaii. The circuit setup for this contact was an HF link from Hokulea to UH, then telephone to McKinley, and finally the 2-meter ham band link from McKinley to STS-50. A permanent gateway station was built at Sacred Hearts Academy (Honolulu) in 1993 and is still in use today. Richard Flagg (AH6NM) and Nancy Rocheleau (WH6PN), a science teacher at the school, have been the main operators of the station for the past 23 years. Dozens of students in the Sacred Hearts Academy radio club have participated over the years in setting up the station for contacts. Several other Amateurs have contributed to the success of the program – Mike Scott (KH6GOZ), Steve Teegarden (WH6IC), Bob Hilvak (NH6XO), Peter Brown (KH6IRT), Rich Weigand (AH6MC). Over one-hundred ten (110) Hawaii telebridge contacts have been made with schools in 19 states and 17 different countries. Local Hawaii schools and school groups have also had contacts with astronauts via the SHA station. With an average of 100 persons present at each participating school, over 10,000 people have viewed ham radio in action thanks to support of ARISS and SAREX here in Hawaii. Oh and one thing further; many of the contacts were scheduled for morning hours on the mainland, meaning that those contacts were conducted between 2 and 4 AM, Hawaii time. Real dedication by the team and quite a contribution to the Amateur Radio Service! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Big Island North Hawaii Keiki Fest | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Norm Cohler (NH7UA) and Steve (WH7TW) from the Kohala Hamakua Amateur Radio Club (KHRC) setup and demonstrated Ham radio at the North Hawaii Community Hospital Keiki Fest on Saturday, April 16th. They demonstrated repeater operation, HF on 7088 with Eric Grabowski (KH6CQ)operating from his home QTH. Sending CW with code oscillators was a big hit with the kids. Booths at the event were setup to expose the kids to issues related to environment, fitness, health, mind, nutrition, and safety. Ham radio communications was demonstrated as an important contributor to community safety in a way that was fun for the kids. The club operated the booth for four hours beginning at 9:00 AM. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kalaupapa, National Parks on the Air | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Five Oahu hams traveled to the island of Molokai to activate Kalaupapa National Historical Park (HP18) for the National Parks on the Air (NPOTA) centennial operating event from Thursday, Mar. 31st to Tuesday, April 5th. The team stayed near the lighthouse, at the old lighthouse keepers house. The team, using the William O Kupele Memorial Club call sign KG6BWG, setup one station at the lighthouse two others at Ocean View, an open pavilion beside the water between the airport and Settlement. Propagation was fair but they made 2,110 contacts on SSB, CW, RTTY, PSK and other digital modes on 10-40 meters using two Kenwood TS-480s and an ICOM 7200. An Elecraft KPA-500 and ACOM 1010 were used during periods of marginal propagation. The antennas included a Hex beam (the best performer), several vertical dipoles and a 40/80-meter dipole. The group conducted a VE sessions for residents and licensed two more Technician class Amateurs to join two others already there as well as provided training and tutoring on radio operations and emergency communications. The team thanks the National Parks Service staff, Hawaii Department of Health and the peninsula residents for their hospitality. Several members who have visited in the past commented “It is always a pleasure to be in Kalaupapa.” Team members included Bart (KH7C), Kimo (KH7U), Ron (AH6RH), Bev (AH6NF), Jim (WH6GS), and Lionel (NH6LK). Stuart (KH6FP) provided computer and technical support from Oahu and Clem KH7HO and Steve KH6WG provided spotting assistance from Oahu. A more complete story with photos is available at, Left to right: Ron AH6RH, Bev AH6NF, Jim WH6GS, Bart AH7C, Kimo KH7U and Lionel NH6LK | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Big Island, National Parks on the Air | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
During April 16-24, three hams from Michigan - James Vigne (KB8TXZ), Douglas Basberg (N8VY) and Gregory Stobbs (N8GAS) - activated five National Parks on the Air sites on the Big Island of Hawaii. They operated 20, 17 and 15-meters using mostly SSB and some PSK31. Contacts were made with KH6/ appended to the Michigan calls and logged in Logbook of the World, with park locations annotated.
They plan to update their website with more information and photos after returning home – www.N8GAS.com. The equipment was two K3s and one ICOM 7100, each running 100 watts. Although they carried numerous antennas, the park rules did not permit them to string dipoles up in trees, so they worked all of the above using portable vertical antennas: two MFJ Big Stick verticals and one SteppIR CrankIR. All three antennas performed well. At most sites, the operation used battery power. On the last day of the trip the group got a chance to meet with the Kona Amateur Radio Society (KARS) hams at the club’s meeting/picnic at Wawaloli Beach Park. The next visit is already being planned. Left to right: Greg N8GAS, Doug N8VY, and Jim KB8TXZ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Saipan (CNMI), National Parks on the Air | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jim Clary (ND9M/KH0) is a merchant mariner on a Navy ship currently anchored off Saipan. During the visit he took a launch boat to the island every two or three days to operate from Muchot Point (grid QK25uf) inside American Memorial Park (AA02) for the National Parks on the Air (NPOTA) centennial award. Saipan was hit pretty hard by a typhoon last year, and there was still no AC power at the park, so he brought a pair of standard computer UPS batteries to power a FT817ND (QRP, 5-watts). Operation was limited to CW because of the power limitations. Most days a four-band dipole (17, 20, 30 and 40-meters) was strung up at about 30 feet, when the picnic table at the Point was available. It took about a half hour to setup everything, operate for three hours and then another half hour to break it down and head back to the ship. During his operation from AA02 (hanging out on the beach) he worked 320 CW QSOs but was sometimes distracted by his second hobby, photography. The views from the park were breathtaking! At the time of this report Jim had moved onto Guam, operating the same QRP equipment from Asan Beach at the War in the Pacific National Historic Park - HP47 for the NPOTA program (grid square is QK23il.). His first on the air netted some 45 QSOs on 30 meters, most of which were with US stations. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Contesting Column By Kimo Chun, KH7U | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In this first installment please allow me to introduce myself. I have been a radio amateur for 40 plus years and have been fortunate to also work with radios, professionally, for almost as long. I began radio contesting in the early 70’s and, in fact, got my first license in the mail while participating in the ARRL Field Day event! I have helped to build and maintain a high level HF radio station with multiple operating positions and towers full of antennas for around 20 years. I am continuously learning more about the radio craft and how to operate them effectively in all conditions. What is “contesting”? It is the area of amateur radio that provides lots of fun in a short period of time. If life doesn’t allow you to get on the radio each day you can plan a limited operation in a contest and enjoy yourself for that time allotted. It gives you the opportunity to learn and sharpen your radio operating skills. It provides satisfaction by competing against others or by bettering prior efforts. You can also pick up needed DXCC “entities” at the same time. Many kinds of contests exist using one or more modes (typically, SSB, CW, RTTY, digital). There are fast one hour sprints up to 48 hour events. You choose which ones to participate in and learn about. Even if you prefer a more passive approach, perhaps to get your feet wet, you can always provide contacts for stations in the contest. It is preferable that you turn in your log to assist the organizers score the contestants but that is always optional. You just need to read the rules, learn and use the accepted exchange protocols for valid contacts in that contest and any special operating techniques. Then, configure your station to make it work (more on this next time). Why do it? Simple, it teaches you to operate with skill and confidence and gives you a reason to work at improving your station. This also provides the added benefit of preparing you to provide emergency services should the need arise. If you learn to operate through the adversity in contests you will naturally become a valuable provider of reliable communications to serve your community. You’ll also learn more of the technical aspects of the hobby. If you have an interest in learning more you can look at the Contesting.com Web site, the ARRL.org site or contact me via email. I’ll be glad to help connect you with what you need. Also, if you’ve been active in a recent contest drop me a note with a few details on which contest, mode, your results and comments that we can share with others in the Pacific Section. Good pictures in JPEG format are also welcome but cannot always be used. 73, Aloha Kimo KH7U kh7u@arrl.net | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
New Maui ASM, Alan Maenchen (AD6E), Exploring Internet CW Course | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Our new Assistant Section Manager for Maui County, Alan Maenchen (AD6E), was first licensed in 1962 as WN6BID while in high school. He upgraded to General in 1963 as WB6BID. After college he was drafted so ham radio was QRT until about 1980. The FCC gave him his current call AD6E (not vanity) when he upgraded to Extra. The search for new DX entities turned into contesting. Alan managed the CA QSO Party (CQP) for over 10 years, then started and managed the CW Open competition. Contesting led to DXpeditioning. He's operated from KH9, KH7 (Kure), YV, TI9, DU3, P2, 3D2C, T33A, and most recently TX3X. He recently received the ARRL A1-OP award. Alan moved to Maui two years ago. His station consists of a K3, Acom 2000 and a 3 element SteppIR antenna on a 70 foot tower approved by his HOA. (Yes, it can be done). Alan is exploring starting an on-line CW course for Hawaii hams. For info on the program please see -- http://cwops.org/cwacademy.html Interested in learning CW (Morse)? Want to increase your CW skill level? The CW Operators Club (CWops) has been running a very successful CW Academy for a while now which has trained hundreds of new CW operators. Presently there is a huge backlog of students wanting to get CW training. However, Alan AD6E is offering to hold classes for KH6 students if there is enough interest. Interested? Contact Alan directly: ad6e at arrl.net |