2023-04-02 Weekly Ham Radio Activities

Maybe you’re looking for next week’s or last week’s newsletter?

Recap 🔁

  • 3/29 Wed LCARA Potluck at LCARA Clubhouse: Great turnout, thanks for coming and eating.
    • 50/50 raffle brought in a $105 in donations for LCARA!

Upcoming Events 🗓

  • 04/05 Wed 19:00 Cowlitz ACS Meeting at LCARA Clubhouse

Later This Month

  • 04/12 Wed 19:00 LCARA Presentation Night with Brian KJ7OX
    • “Antenna Modeling” using MMANA-GAL modeling software.
    • We’ll build a dipole in software to see and understand its pattern as well as a multi-band short doublet with DX performance in mind.
  • 04/19 Wed 19:00 LCARA Business Meeting at LCARA Clubhouse

04/29 WSDOT Communication Exercise

Next 5th Saturday exercise is April 29. Cowlitz County ACS is currently planning where and how to participate in the exercise, which will involve scripted observations, message passing, and Winlink HF operations across EoCs in the state.

Nets ✅

Club Updates

Gratitude 😊

Thanks to Matt KD7BBJ for mowing the lawn last Friday along with Steve K7KO. I heard that the club’s mower need additional repairs this year, and Matt was able to user his own mower to complete the job. Please donate time or money towards the groundskeeping effort.

Repeater Status

  • 147.100 MHz / 444.900 MHz: The repeater output measured as expected last Friday, which suggests the issue is somewhere in the line or antenna. Further investigation is still needed.

Club History

The year was 1969 and I had just been introduced to an Amateur Radio Club (LCARA) This club was licensed as W7NCW by the Federal government of United States.

Their meeting place was in North Kelso where they used a room in the Juvenile Detention building. There was not much in the way of equipment, and a small tower outside held a tri-band antenna. But the enthusiasm of the men attending the meeting made up for anything lacking in the amount of equipment.

It was mentioned that a beginner’s class was being organized for the following week so I decided that I would enroll and see what it was all about. (I never regretted this adventure).

Apparently the club had been formed during the drastic floods in the year 1948. The Columbia River was at risk of flooding the whole area. The city of Vanport, (just North of Portland) was actually wiped out; Completely destroyed, with a great loss of life. Longview and Kelso was at great risk of the dykes failing, but a few Amateur Radio operators put their heads together and communicated with the authorities as to the condition of the dykes. With their portable radios they got the word out as to where the dykes were about to fail. Thus the two towns and many homes were actually saved by their efforts.

Back to the club class that I signed up to take……It was called a Novice, or beginner’s class. This made sense to me because I had absolutely no knowledge of radio or Morse Code. Morse Code was required at 5 words per minute and some rudimentary theory was also required. The course was for one evening each week for six weeks, and there were approximately twenty attendees taking the course. It turned out to be a great deal of fun, due mainly to the enthusiasm of the two instructors.

Teaching the theory was Harry Hale, W7FON. The Morse Code was taught by Ray Sechler, W7DG.

I passed as a Novice with the call WN7OMX.

Among the club members was a local dentist, Richard Palmer, who’s call was K7RP. He was friends with the owner of a local radio station which was situated on Columbia Heights. He was instrumental in gaining permission for the club to rent an acre of the land upon which the radio station operated. With the financial assistance of many members we were able to construct the present building where the club is presently situated.

Each member donated $100 to this effort and also donated lots of hard work. We poured the cement foundation, purchased all the materials involved, had lots of fun installing the septic tank, which, incidentally managed to roll down the slope to the North of the building. It was finally retrieved by a member who had a Jeep, and is presently in the ground just outside the building on the North side.

The only part of the building that was not put together by its members was the actual stonework. This was done by a professional stone mason. We had a member who was a roofer, who showed us how to install tiles, etc., and we also installed a 100 foot tower and various beams over the years. These, as you can see have recently been replaced, as have many radios.

I hope each of you are appreciating the efforts that have gone into the makings of LCARA and realize what a wonderful club we have.

Over the years we lost our dear friend Ray Sechler. His widow agreed that the club should apply to the FCC to change the club call from W7NCW to W7DG to honor Ray. This was granted, and since that time the club has held the call W7DG.

Look to your left as you enter clubhouse door and you’ll find a new wooden sign, on the Memory Wall, “LCARA 75”, to commemorate the club’s 75th anniversary this year.

Sincerely, Stu Farmer, K7WF

[Original] [Page 2]

CW Forever

You must have, at times, thought into the past,
Where some things go out, while others last,
What comes to my mind is the Old Morse Code,
That has weathered the storms from any abode,

To talk with ones fingers, is surely an art,
Of any info you care to impart,
In most conditions the signals get thru,
While the same about phone is simply not true.

Those dits and dahs cut through the trash,
Of nearby noise or lightning’s crash,
To the sensitive ears of the ham receiver,
Who records this data with ardent fever.

He knows he’s doing something unique,
(in such poor conditions, that’s quite a feat!)
To roger the message that came off the air,
These brass pounders sure do have that flair.

They say Morse ops are a dying breed,
But don’t despair, there’s always that need,
That when conditions get rough for the new automation,
Be rest assured, there’ll be need for your station,

CW is dying? believe it never,
This mode will be ‘round forever and ever,
But one thing is sure, what we really need,
Is to relay our knowledge to the younger breed.

To carry the torch, long after we’re gone,
To send Morse Code thru the air like a song,
When at last, Silent Keys pull that final lever,
We can rest in peace, it’s CW forever.

Jim Hatherley, WAITBY 7/4/85

Shared by Brian KJ7OX. [Original]

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Thanks for reading.

Kindly send any comments, corrections, events, pictures, stories, or content for this newsletter to kf7hvm@0x26.net.

Consider joining the LCARA W7DG Facebook Group.