DCES Ham Radio Club Kids Finish Year with Dots and Dashes
By Nancy Stitt (KØNNC)

The excitement continues to grow as KAØNZZ, KCØFLZ and I work with the kids at Deer Creek Elementary.

We’ve covered UTC (Universal Coordinated Time), QSL cards (parts and pieces), basic radio operation, and frequency. The QSL card exercise was really good to kick off discussion on the various parts of the radio and leading to basic radio operation. According to the 4th/5th grade Science Teacher, Mr. Rourke, some of his brightest kids are in the ham radio club.

We took in our 2-meter rig and the kids talked on the radio. Bob, KDØBRA, was their first official contact. Bob was very generous with his time in talking with the kids. They enjoyed it immensely, as did Bob. Thank you, Bob, for your help with the kids.

We then used the IRLP (Internet Radio Linking Project) with Reese’s (KBØWGM) help to call Australia. Thank you, Reese. Bill (VK5WCC) answered our call. Bill is the ham operator KAØNZZ and I met when we were in Australia visiting our daughter and son-in-law. He graciously spent time talking with the kids. We showed them where Bill was in Australia. They talked with him about what time and day it was in Australia along with other questions.

We had cue cards to start the talking but pretty soon, the kids were coming up with their own questions. We heard from the parents and Mr. Sandos the following week that “talking on the radio” especially Australia had been the talk of the dinner table, the cafeteria, and various written assignments. Parents have expressed their thanks for bringing ham radio to the kids.

The kids then completed QSL cards (KAØNZZ’s cards) to give to Bob (KDØBRA) and Bill (VK5WCC). We’ve gotten the cards to Bob and mailed the cards to Bill with a request to send cards back for the kids.

We also had a raffle for a crystal radio kit. Pictured below is Justin, the winner of this drawing. Thanks to Daniel (NØBN) for the donation of the crystal radio kit. Justin was so excited about winning he wanted to start working on the radio right then. So we did! Each one got a chance to do part of the crystal radio. We were just getting around to checking out the completed radio when we ran out of time. More will follow.

A Morse Code competition is also coming up in a few weeks with KAØNZZ sending code – just a short message. Again, thanks to Steve Kelsey (WØCOD) for the donation of the code practice oscillator. The kids are having a ball with that and have picked up a lot of the code.

AND, the kids are talking about getting their license. How exciting!

What are we still looking for? We need a dual-band transceiver (VHF/UHF) for talking with the international space station. And we need ideas to implement as we work with Mr. Sandos, ideas that can be done in 10-15 minutes and understandable at the 4th and 5th grade level. And we need small prizes for the kids. If you have something we need and would be willing to donate or lend to us, please contact Nancy at . And ideas are much appreciated.

Thank you very much.

Justin holding the Crystal Radio Kit that he won!

Deer Creek Elementary School kicked off its ham radio club by having meetings during the week of January 14. Thirty kids signed up and we had 20 attend. Mr. Sandos showed the Walter Cronkite and Jay Leno Morse code competition CDs we provided.  As a former science teacher, he enjoys working with kids in the sciences. He did a wonderful job of introducing radio waves to the kids.

Mr. Sandos also used the school’s radios and our support to allow the kids to actually experience talking on a radio followed by a discussion of some ham radio operator protocol. They looked at QSL cards from KAØNZZ and KØNNC and then practiced sending their name with the code practice oscillator. The kids had so much fun that they were talking a mile a minute when the parents picked them up an hour later! It was really great fun.

We provided the school with the Technician License Manuals, a resource notebook, and several handouts for the first session. Handouts included a ham radio word search, the alphabet in Morse code, a sheet for writing names – their own, family members, and classmates - in Morse code plus a page of websites specifically for kids and ham radio.

We agreed to be support for Mr. Sandos and provide him with approximately 10-12 minutes on ham radio each week. Our second session was on call signs (the kids had made up their own), radio protocol, using maps to locate where QSL cards were from, using the radios again to practice and the code practice oscillator to send their “new” call signs. The kids love the code!

Pictured below are kids working the school’s radios and the code practice oscillator; what fun!

Thanks to KAØNZZ and KCØFLZ for help with this project.

What are we still looking for? We need a dual-band transceiver (VHF/UHF) for talking with the international space station. And we need ideas to implement as we work with Mr. Sandos, ideas that can be done in 10-15 minutes and understandable at the 4th and 5th grade level. If you have something we need and would be willing to donate or lend to us, please contact Nancy at . And ideas are much appreciated.

Thank you very much.

DCES Ham Radio Club, from left to right - Scott, Justin, Jonah, Andrew, Mr. Sandos, Brian, and Emily - start the meeting

DCES Ham Radio Club, from left to right - Kylen, Emily, Juliette, and Justin - use the school's radios (walkie-talkies)

DCES Ham Radio Club: Kylen (left) and Juliette (center) work with Jim (KAØNZZ) on the code oscillator

The story continues as we put up the antennas

By Nancy Stitt (KØNNC)
10 25 07

It was a very blustery day when we awoke the morning that was to be our “Install the Antennas” day. It wasn’t really safe for us to be on the roof in this weather, so we decided to install the antennas later in the week.

Once the winds calmed down, we met Bob at the school and got the antennas, guy ropes, hardware and mast to the roof. Our good friend, Jerry Gregory, helped us; Jerry also helped us at the Burro Races in Leadville. Thank you, Jerry. Jim, Bob and Jerry worked on the roof while I used a rope and pulley system to get tools, mast, ropes, hardware, drill, and ladder to them. Even though this may sound like a non-ham operator confession, I do not do well with heights so I was much better on the ground being the “go-fer” person.

We worked about two and a half hours and got the antenna work completed. We had let Mr. Sandos know that we would be there and his response was “Thank you!!!!” Again, he was so excited and appreciative.

Mr. Sandos had his friend, Mr. Ernest Martinez, of ATS - Advanced Technology Systems install our coax on Friday, September 12. And on Friday, September 19, we installed the connectors and tested our rigs and antennas.

Thanks Padre for your help with the field test and the US Frequency charts. Thanks Jim for the balun. We have the Walter Cronkite DVD from Jack Frank (WØDSV). Thanks Jack.

And a huge thanks to Bob (KCØFLZ) and Jim (KAØNZZ) who are working with me on this exciting project.

We now need to meet again with Mr. Sandos and the teachers to determine next steps.

What are we still looking for:  A dual-band transceiver (VHF/UHF) – necessary if we want to talk with the space station, large laminated world map, and two Amateur Radio License Manuals. Also any donation would help defray some of the cost. If you have anything that we need and would be willing to donate or lend to us, please contact Nancy at .

By Nancy Stitt (KØNNC)
October 1, 2007

We decided at a PCRC meeting to work to get Ham Radio in the Schools. We got not only our foot in the door at Deer Creek but also have a very excited Principal in Mr. Sandos. With our prepared handout in hand and some brochures from the ARRL, we met with Mr. Sandos on September 28th. We fully expected Mr. Sandos to tell us he would need to review what we provided and “get back to us.” We were about three quarters through our presentation when he stopped us and said “You’ve sold me, now what do I need to do.”

From that point, we checked out three room options and decided on the science room, assessed the roof from an antenna perspective, determined Mr. Sandos knew someone who would put in the coax at no charge, and established next steps. While we were in the science room, Mr. Sandos explained to the students what we were doing. Jim talked about the possibility of talking with the space station and Bob talked about the origin of the word “Ham”. If you could have seen the eyes and faces light up on these fourth graders!! Awesome.

We spent two hours with Mr. Sandos and left feeling very excited about working with Deer Creek Elementary. The Executive Board approved an initial spending for use with the schools and some of our members and other hams stepped up to donate or lend equipment. Steve Kelsey (WØCOD) donated a G5RV antenna, a Comet GP-3 antenna, an Alinco power supply, a code practice oscillator, and an antenna tuner.  Dutch (KØAWS) loaned a power supply, Padre (WØWPD) loaned a Kenwood TS120 transceiver, Jim (KAØNZZ) donated hardware and grounding connector/wiring for the roof antennas and Bob (KCØFLZ) donated the mast. We got connectors and reducers from PCRC’s stash in Dutch’s garage. In addition, one member is donating $50 (anonymously). Thank all of you very much!

And a huge thanks to Bob (KCØFLZ) and Jim (KAØNZZ) who are working with me on this exciting project.

What are we still looking for? A dual-band transceiver (VHF/UHF) – necessary if we want to talk with the space station, a 4:1 current balun, large laminated world map and U.S. frequency charts. Also any donation would help defray some of the cost. If you have anything that we need and would be willing to donate or lend to us, please contact Nancy at .

By Nancy Stitt (KØNNC)

Friday, August 3rd , Padre talked to Mike, KCØCNT, in Lakewood, who was on the 146.895 repeater. Mike said the Alpine Search and Rescue Team used our VHF and UHF repeaters on a mission the night before at the Guanella Pass area to find a lost hiker. The Mission was successful. The group was very pleased that the repeaters were available and thanked us through Padre for their usage.

To get a little more insight into the Mission, I talked to Roger, KØYY, who is a member of the Alpine Group.

A group of hikers, some from out of state, had hiked from the top of Guanella Pass to Mt. Bierstadt, a Fourteener. On the way back the weather turned bad and the clouds moved in cutting visibility and causing one hiker to be separated from the party. For the searchers it became very difficult after dark with low visibility. Meanwhile the separated hiker found his way down to the Burning Bear Campground and had planned to spend the night there. This is where the hiker and one group of the S&R team found each other. The hiker was in good condition but very tired. Roger also told me that if it had not been for our repeaters it would have been a long time before the command center would have known that the man was found.

As you see the repeaters are more than just functions for gabbing on. They have served PCRC, ARES and others when needed. It is not like they get a lot of use, which they do not, but they seem to be there when needed and are improving with more work.

Some of the credit goes to the people who have helped us in the past from time to time and a lot goes to Mike KCØATI. Presently a lot of credit goes to Pete NEØT. Now, if some of the people who helped us in the past would like to give us a hand once in a while? We could use it. Frankly I do have a couple of small items that need programming.

Dutch KØAWS

Up until the first part of July, as a new Ham I had stuck to VHF, venturing only occasionally (twice!) into HF. I had one DX contact (Tortola, British Virgin Islands) as a General and one DX contact (Russia) when I first obtained my Extra ticket. I hadn’t taken the time to learn how to work our HF equipment. I also found it frustrating to realize HF Ham radio meant a whole new protocol and set of terms.

My Ham life changed when Roger (KØYY) and Marilyn (KBØLJW) Krautkremer invited Jim, KAØNZZ (my OM) and me to join them at Steamboat Lake Campground for two special events.

We agreed and made reservations.

We arrived at Steamboat Lake about 2 p.m. on July 11th and set up camp. We headed straight to the outdoor Ham shack and portable equipment set up at Roger and Marilyn’s campsite on Bridge Island – a designated U.S. Island in Steamboat Lake.

We were operating under control operator KØSDW, Stan Whicker. For the rest of that day and the next four days we were operating the radio or logging contacts from 7 a.m. until nearly 10 p.m. We operated on 80, 40, 20, 10, 17, and even 6 meters. I learned that on 6 meters you give and receive your grid square. Ours was DN60, a rare grid square. I helped set up the 6 meter antenna. I can now report that I am an experienced Ham with over 130 contacts in many states under my belt.

Our first special event was for U.S. Islands – Bridge Island. Our island number was CO12L. I was hesitant at first, and then they couldn’t keep me off the air. We found for some reason other Hams responded to my voice and contacted us. Not sure if it was because I was a woman or because my voice “got through” or both. Whatever the reason, every time I got on the radio, we would get contacts. I got contacts even if the band had seemed dead before.

I learned to get the information we needed (call sign, signal report, QTH) and give the information about the island, the control operator, how to get a QSL, and my name and call sign. One contact was NU5DE, The Naturalist Amateur Radio Club in Austin, TX. Check them out on QRZ! Very interesting contact as were all the contacts I also logged – see picture below. We used a computer logging program – another learning opportunity!

On a break, we were back in our RV and on our own portable equipment. I made three DX contacts in about 15 minutes – Canada, Chile, and Venezuela. “Wow,” I thought, “this is definitely cool.” I’ve even ordered QSL cards!

On Sunday, July 15, we did the Colorado QSO Party from Routt County which is considered a “rare” county. We were a multi-operator, portable, running low power station. Our multiplier included two points for every CW, RTTY, or PSK contact and two points for running low power. We had to log the QTH (Colorado county, state, or DX location) and the signal reports. When we ended the day Sunday we had just over 17,000 points. That might be good enough for an award.

Thanks to the encouragement of my “Elmers” KØYY, KØSDW and KAØNZZ (see pictures below), I learned a lot about radio and logging operations and had a lot of fun in the process.

KØNNC logging contacts with KAØNZZ on the radio


My “Elmers”: KAØNZZ, standing, KØSDW in the foreground and KØYY in the background


My “Elmers” with our vertical dipole array (left to right) – KØYY, KAØNZZ and KØSDW

Nancy Stitt, KCØYFK, age 57, wasn’t going to let the “No Code” provisions get in her way of obtaining her General Class License. She passed the 5 wpm CW and the written exam for her General Class License on January 27, 2007.

She is shown here proudly displaying her CSCE with Padre - WØWPD, lead for the Park County Radio Club (PCRC) VE team. January 27’s session was the last CW exam for the PCRC.

I am privileged to be Nancy’s Elmer, and her husband, and mentored her as she obtained her Technician Class License in July 2006 and then the CW and General Class License in 2007.

While I am an Extra Class Licensee and have been in Amateur Radio for 25+ years, Nancy had always thought of ham radio as “noise.” That changed during the summer of 2006 when Nancy and I attended the HamFest in Estes Park, Colorado. During the HamFest, we participated in a Fox Hunt. She enjoyed it so much she decided to get her Technician License.

Nancy also wanted to get her General and knew it meant passing 5 wpm Morse Code. She was determined to master the “code” - at least at 5 wpm. Although the FCC announced a change to the rules requiring Morse Code, Nancy made the decision to get the “real” General Class License which still required passing the Morse Code rather than waiting for the change. She announced happily, “I amazed even myself because I thought I would never get the code.”

Nancy’s first contact with her new license was a DX - VP2VQ on Tortola, British Virgin Islands. How exciting for her! How exciting for me!

Jim Stitt, KA0NZZ

January 27, 2007

NO ONE LEFT HUNGRY
by Padre - WØWPD
(12 16 06)

When all is said and done, and by all observations, it was a very successful Christmas gathering today.

Nearly three dozen PCRC members and spouses, and a couple of visitors came to our annual event.

There were many self-introductions and eyeball QSOs, and the swapping of stories. A good number of new acquaintances sat down to eat together, and continued the eyeball QSOs.

President Sharon introduced the officers, and others in the club. Later, Father Abbot Warren, pastor of Saint Mary’s was able to come, and was introduced.

One of the visitors, Robert Suding, Ph.D., WØLMD, of Conifer, gave a talk on the tower regulations of Jefferson County, in which he has been, and continues to be, involved.

Dolores and Nancy received special sweet recognitions from Santa’s Helper for their work, and twelve attendees received a small door prize, based on a drawing.

Those prize winners were: KBØQBF, KCØHVD, NEØT, Dwain’s nephew (EJ), NØBN, KØAWS, and his wife FRAN, NØDSV, KBØEKH, NØTWO, and his wife RACHEL, and KAØNZZ.

Finally, THANKS go to all who brought copious amounts of foods/desserts and beverages, and volunteered to help decorate and clean up to put things back in place.

A large quantity of donations was brought for the Mountain Peace Shelter (formerly Crisis Center).

POLICE AND “OUR” Q CODE
by Padre – WØWPD
(07/13/06)

Earlier this week while listening to one of the many “COP” shows on TV, I was jolted into reality when I heard a policeman in Florida, on the scene of an incident say, “QSL.”

“Oh my”, I thought. Later in the same program I heard the following, “QRU,” and “QRX.” All three were used in proper context, as hams would use them.

Then I remembered a few weeks ago, in another “COP” show from Texas, I heard “QSL” and another one or two I don’t recall.

I find this very interesting. Perhaps, as many in law enforcement say, “10” codes are obsolete. I know there are jurisdictions where the use of “10” codes is forbidden except in certain circumstances. These jurisdictions use “plain language.”

It may be that plain language takes too much time in a critical situation, and the “Q” code provides succinct communication. It would seem so, to me.

I have to wonder what some Hams think who disdain using “Q” in voice contacts … and vocalize their (often) snide and sarcastic comments.

Yes, I know “Q” is usually out of place on VHF and UHF. But why? So please don’t send me any hate mail!!!!!! I’m an old fuddy duddy but I know what’s going on, even though I do use an occasional “Q” on 2 meters and 440 mg. So what??? : -)

Anyway ---

We’re now QRU, and QRT.

QSL?

de PADRE
WØWPD

(Webmaster note: You can refresh your memory regarding Q Codes here)