Fall 2013 Archived News

Sept

BROADCASTING! MEANS "Sirius" BUSINESS
FOR W6OBB 

When ham radio talk turns to getting a signal out, the old adage "It's hard to beat a wire" usually rings true and around Nye County, the wire to beat is the 1600 ft loop antenna of W6OBB.
Perched 75 feet above a five acre lot this skyhook gets the job done for veteran broadcaster Art Bell.

Art, who has been an active amateur radio operator since 1958 is best known as the founder and host of the nationally syndicated radio show "Coast to Coast AM" and as the founder of KNYE radio in Pahrump.

Art Bell-W6OBB hanging around "the shack"

Art, began his broadcasting career like so many others in the industry, by spinning records.
 
His early Vegas talk radio
broadcasts, which originated from KDWN (K-Dawn) in the Plaza Hotel, were garden variety political formats.  

Art moved his studio to his home in Pahrump and the show began to explore conspiracy theories, the paranormal, and other super-natural topics.  These topics help to propel Art to the top of broadcasting with a nightly listenership of more than 15 million.

Changes in Arts family and personal life, coupled with retirement prompted Art to relocate to the Philippines for several years.  It's reported that an improved immigration status for his wife and a longing for his Nevada antenna farm and ham station prompted his return to Pahrump in the summer of 2011.

For the next two years rumors of Arts return to broadcasting came and went.  His only radio involvement appeared to be his continued appetite for Amateur Radio.

Last week Art publicly announced that he had struck a deal with the SiriusXM satellite network for a regular night time show to be named "Art Bell's Dark Matter".

A three hour program beginning at 7PM PST, the show will air live Monday thru Thursday with an encore show on Friday nights.

Beginning September 16th you will find Art on the Indie Talk Channel #104.

W6OBB's new QRP signal will travel more than 23,000 miles and be S9 across the entire country......even his giant loop can't do that.

incumbents seek re-election in Pacific Division Elections 

American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Secretary David Sumner- K1ZZ has issued a "Call for Nominations" seeking candidates for the positions of Director and Vice-Director of the Pacific Division.


Fifteen ARRL  members  comprise the Board of Directors, which governs the activities of the organization.

Each of the fifteen ARRL Divisions is represented by a Director and a Vice - Director.  Board members serve a term of three years.  Each year elections are
held in five Divisions for one third of the sitting members of the Board.

Geographically, the Pacific Division is the largest in the ARRL.  The Division covers about 65% of the State of California, all of the states of Nevada and Hawaii, the Marianna Islands-including Guam and Saipan, American Somoa, the Marshall Islands, all island and US Territories in the Pacific, and all military bases having a AP postal address.

Nominating petitions have been filed for both the Incumbent officers, Director Bob Vallio-W6RGG of Castro Valley, California and Vice-Director Jim Tiemsra-K6JAT, of Oakland, California.

You can read the full biographical information on the candidates here.
 
Full members of the ARRL are eligible to vote in the election, with balloting to begin October 1, 2013 and conclude at 9:00 AM on November 15, 2013.

Additionally, any full ARRL member, who is at least 21 years of age, and who has been a continuous full member for the past 4 years may seek the nomination as a candidate for these offices.  To nominate a candidate an official nominating petition, bearing the signatures of 10 Full ARRL members and completed by the candidate must be sent to the ARRL Secretary before 9:00 AM August 9, 2013.

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ares needs a repeater pair

Northern Nevada ARES is in need of a coordinated repeater pair on 2
meters.

Noting that there are many coordinated
frequencies in Northern Nevada that are assigned and not being used, Storey County ARES Emergency Coordinator Tom Taormina-K5RC said the following: "There are  obviously many unused pairs in the region and many of them have been assigned to  individuals or groups that have not put them on the air. This request is for  anyone who currently has a coordin-ated repeater pair and would like to make it available for Storey County ARES, please contact me".

Taormina went on to say: "We currently have a repeater on 441.625, PL 114.8, but we really could use a 2 meter box for maximum coverage and coordin-ation."

Taormina says that space is available for the equipment.  You may contact Tom at: [email protected]

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October

Incumbents returned to pacific div
leadership

Bob Vallio-W6RGG

Both ARRL Pacific Division Director Bob Vallio-W6RGG and Vice-Director Jim Tiemstra-K6JAT will serve an additional term in their respective offices.

With no opposition candidates stepping forward, the two officers have been declared elected and will retain their leadership positions for an additional three year term. 

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Jim Tiemstra-K6JAT

Valio became the Pacific Division Director in February 2003, following the death of then Director Jim Maxwell-W6CF.  He was returned to the Directors position in 2004, 2007, and 2010.

Tiemstra was appointed Vice-Director in June of 2009 following the resignation of  Andy Oppel-N6AJO.  He gained a full three year term in 2010.

Individually, Vallio and Tiemstra each had many years of leadership in the amateur community before their current offices.  Both are noted  DXers, with each having several DXpeditions to their credit.  They are active in contesting and each is experienced in
Emergency Communications.

November

Nevada Mustang Round-up winners announced

Nevada's premier contest, the Nevada QSO Party, also known as the Nevada Mustang Round-Up took to the airwaves May 11th-12th. 

Logs were submitted and the scores have been tabulated.

Plaques winners are as follows:

Overall high scorer and First Place in the Nevada Low Power-Mixed Division is Raymond Bass-W7YKN of Sparks, with a score of 13,248.

First Place in the Nevada Low Power CW/Digital Category is John Bigley-N7UR of Las Vegas with a score of 11,562.

First Place in the Nevada QRP CW/Digital Category is Ron Stark-KU7Y of Silver Springs with a score of 2,016.

First Place in the Nevada QRP Phone Division is Lee Dusbabec-N7LD with a score of 32.

First Place Overall Non-Nevada goes to John M Desloge, Jr.-N6MU of Cypress Groves, California-with a score of 396 in the Low Power Phone category.

"Night OF Nights" this evening

It has been fourteen years since the last commercial telegraph was sent in the United States.  However, each year some of these station come to life during the annual "Night Of Nights" event.

Spearheaded by the Maritime Radio Historical Society and Station KPH located in the Point Reyes National Seashore, the event is joined by costal stations, ship stations, and Coast Guard stations.  The first transmission will of this years event will be at 5:01 PM
Read all about it: Night of Nights

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black rock desert Group combines outdoor adventure with amateur radio fastclass and exam

 A Technician level "FastClass" is scheduled for Sunday August 11, in Gerlach Nevada,.

Get your Ham License in Just One Day!  Perseid Meteor Shower Campout Weekend!  See the meteors, explore the Black Rock, soak in a hot spring, eat barbecue, and get a Ham License!  Advance registration required for the FastClass!  

To sign up or for more info, call Michael Myers at 775/557-2900, [email protected]

The $50.00 Class sign-up fee includes Saturday evening Barbecue and Friends Membership!  Camping is Free. RV's and Trailers OK!

This class is a fundraiser sponsored by Friends of Black Rock and taught by David Book, KD7YIM.  David says " I've done about a dozen of these classes and have about a 95% pass rate
for people who study a little bit on their own.  Of course, the pass rate is much lower for people who don't study ahead of time.  At my last class 100% of the
 people who took the class passed!  That even surprised me!"

Be sure to check out the Black Rock Amateur Radio Association by clicking on their Nevada Amateur Radio Newswire page.