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Jim's GAZETTE Newsletter #165
5 April 2004
Please feel free to forward this document to any and all interested parties, or reproduce it
any other publication. All we ask is that you give credit where credit is due.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
SHORT NOTES: May spring arrive soon for all those in the Northern part of the world, I
said, at the end of the last newsletter. My brother and his wife, after spending a week with
me in beautiful Florida, arrived home last night. There was, you guessed it, snow in
central Michigan. They flew into Flint and then went on to Midland, in soft, wet snow.
Charles NX2T just called from New York and, yes, snow is forecast. Spring. Bah!
Meanwhile, I arrived home at 2200 local last night from a dinner in Tampa, and suddenly
realized it was really 2300. Spring. Ugh!
George, the newest resident, who is sitting with one paw on the keyboard, wants to say
hello---DXKTYGFDHLKSALORIOSGJWQ2 SDSJL. For those of you who can read cat
language, no problem. Hi! (Actually, he is telling you to look for his picture on the website,
soon.)
TARA is running a new Digital contest on April 17. The "Skirmish" is a digital prefix contest
and will run all 24 hours of that date. There are lots of categories and interesting twists on
the multipliers. Check it out. Full information is at n2ty.org/seasons/tara_dpx_rules.html.
Sounds like fun
>>>>>>>
A few weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal ran a lengthy article reporting on and supporting
that new technology BPL, Broadband over PowerLines. In fact, the journalism was third
rate and was essentially the electrical power industry's public relations handout. It
focused on how neat and efficient it would be and stated that the only real opposition was
from radio amateurs, that shrinking group of hobbyists who used old technology on old
freqencies.
Rich W2VU, editor of CQ magazine, took them to task in a remarkable letter of rebuttal,
one that the WSJ has yet to acknowledge in print. The correct facts were provided for nine
factual errors in the article. Most of the answers are easily available from government
sources on the Internet, but the reporter did not even bother to confirm the number of
licensed US amateurs. He simply talked about the shrinking number and how they were
dying off.
My favorite paragraph sums up the interference argument in grand style. In brief: Hams
are not the only ones threatened. Every other user of the spectrum between 2mHz and
80mHz is at risk. This includes international broadcasters, US military, FEMA,
long-distance airline communication, CB and some police and fire departments--and many
household necessities like portable phones.
There have been other letters as well, but the Journal seems immune to the comments. As
a long-term subscriber, I am going to try another approach.
Of course, the BPL interests, including the FCC, assure us that the power companies will
not use frequencies that interfere with any service. Do you believe a word of that
promise? I do not either. Every reader who is a US ham operator ought to bombard the
FCC and their representatives in Washington with a message demanding a stop to this
nonsense.
>>>>>>>>>
The Makrothen RTTY contest received many kudos for its concept and the entrants scored
some very large totals, as you'll see below. The only real criticism for this new idea had
to do with its scheduling. The ARRL SSB contest was running at the same time and pretty
much dominated all of the space on the low bands.
As mentioned before the contest scoring was based on the distance between the two
stations--neat idea and one apparently easily executed. I enjoyed the comments from Eric
VE3GSI. He amassed a total of 1.4 million points on 313 QSOs. He concentrated on 15M
and the propagation to the South Pacific. Not a bad idea when the ZL2BR contact, and
others in the area each gave him an additional 14,250 kilometers!
He also came up with an interesting idea that is worthy of discussion. Simple, says he.
Add time to the distance equation and have a contest where the first 3 stations to reach a
million points would be the winners. Time and Distance! That will wake up the contest
crowd for sure! Of course, there would have to be some time zone adjustments or multiple
contests within the contest, but why not try something along those lines?
Scott VE1OP, who tallied only (!) 2 million points with 452 QSOs, thinks that 40 and 80M
deserve extra point value. There is a certain logic to this idea for it is certain that
10/15/20M, even with modest propagation, deliver the long haul contact with much greater
ease than the low bands.
Whatever, it seems obvious that this contest is going to be on the schedule for a long
time to come. Whether or not the new ideas become part of the rules, though, the test
must find a date without such heavy competition. That, unfortunately, is not a simple task.
Good luck and thanks again for adding new sparkle to the contest scene.
>>>>>>>>
Among the many Emails of late, one set me back a pace or two. I read and reread and still
had no clue as to how I really felt about this one. It began: "Hi Jim, I am one of those
freebanders you talk about. I am a ham but also like 11 meters. Another way to practice
our hobby, we are not rare persons, just amateurs who like 11 meters." And then went on
to invite me to join in the fun. He assured me it was more fun to work DX there than on the
regular ham bands. Juan signed without giving me his callsign so I have no idea where he
lives.
In response, I could but say that I felt no need for 11 meters and, further, that I never use
phone. Also, I had to admit that I had never used the term freebanders. Regardless, he
wants us to see them, not as strange animals or pirates, but as our mates. Well, okay, I
promise not to pick on users of 11M again!
>>>>>>>
73 de Jim N2HOS
jem@n2hos.com
GAZETTE www.n2hos.com/digital
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