The Carrier - MDARC Newsletter

Complete Editions

The Carrier - Official Newsletter of the Mt. Diablo Amateur Radio Club

Selected Articles from the Carrier

PRESIDENTIAL QTC
John Ronan, K3ZJJ

OUR CLUB WILL HOST THE 2012 ARRL NATIONAL CONVENTION !

During their January 2010 meeting, the ARRL Board of Directors named our club as host entity for the 2012 National Convention and ARRL EXPO, which will be held at PACIFICON in Santa Clara October 19-21. This will be the first time since 1965 than the ARRL Pacific Division has hosted a national convention. This achievement represents a tremendous vote of confidence in our club by Pacific Division Director Bob Vallio, W6RGG and Vice Director Jim Tiemstra, K6JAT. Congratulation to Marty Heyman, W6MDH, Chair, Paula Costa, KI6MPD, Vice Chair and the entire PACIFICON Committee! PACIFICON is back better than ever, thanks to dedication and hard work of everyone on the committee!

My First Experience with the Magic Band
By Marty Heyman, W6MDH and Matthew G. Vurek, N4DLA

I own a Yaesu FT-817ND HF/6m/2m/432 MHz portable transceiver which is considered QRP (low power) as it has an RF output of only 5 watts. With my minimal antenna facilities, being able to work any significant "DX" seemed impossible. After owning this small transceiver for over a year, I was considering upgrading to a rig with a higher RF output.

The 2008 ARRL June VHF QSO party was held on the weekend of June14 and 15. Fellow Orindan Matthew G. Vurek, N4DLA, was enjoying a significant band opening on 6 meter single sideband during this contest. N4DLA was able to work dozens of stations from British Columbia south to Mexico and east to Louisiana. Matthew's 6 meter station consisted of his vintage 2002 100 watt Ranger Communications RCI-5054DX100 all mode transceiver into a 3 element yagi beam antenna perched on the roof of his paternal grandmother's garage.

After working N4DLA on 2 meter FM simplex, Matthew suggested I try working some of the same 6 meter stations that he was working. After all, he said, 6 meters was considered "The Magic Band," where low power and a small antenna could produce big results when conditions were right. I placed my equipment skepticism aside as I fired up the FT-817ND and plugged it into my Diamond V2000A 6 meter/2 meter/440 MHz vertical antenna, which has a paltry 2 dB gain from 52-54 MHz - and probably less in SSB portion of 6 meters - since it was not built to work in that part of the band. However, I soon heard WA7NB furiously calling "CQ contest! CQ contest!" on 6 meter SSB. The FT-817ND's signal strength meter showed a long streak of tall black bars on its LCD display when WA7NB transmitted. I gave him a quick call and despite my 5 watts and a vertical antenna, I received an immediate answer, "W6MDH, please copy [grid square] DM42, delta mike forty two, QSL?" I quickly replied, "QSL delta mike forty two, please copy my charlie mike eighty seven and we're QRP!" WA7NB gave me a quick acknowledgement on our QSO and resumed calling CQ.

Was this "beginner's luck"? Such thoughts were quickly dispelled as I managed to make 8 more QSOs in California, Mexico, Colorado and New Mexico. I eventually racked up 7 different grid squares scattered amongst 4 states and Mexico. I only operated for a short time during last few hours of the contest and I wished I had started earlier. My goodness, I thought, N4DLA was right about 6 meters ... the "Magic Band" had cast its spell on me!

For further reading:

Summer E-skip and the Magic Band by Gene Zimmerman,W3ZZ. July 2008 QST, page 55

Six Meters: A Guide to the Magic Band (revised 2003) by Ken Neubeck, WB2AMU. Published by Worldradio Books, Sacramento,CA