We would also like to hear from anyone willing to volunteer for an office. Helping do some of the chores needed to keep the club functioning is fun and a chance to meet and work with other fine amateurs. Of course, if we are to continue to have a club, someone has to keep the books, arrange the meeting programs, organize Field Day, etc.

If you would like to volunteer either for the nominating committee or for an office, contact any of the club officers.

Table space is priced as follows:

Prepaid 8-foot table:	$ 7.50
Non prepaid 8-foot table:	$10.00

Talk-in is on the Mount Logan 146.72 MHz repeater which requires a PL tone of 103.5.

For the full story and pictures see Field Day 2008.

Woody recently got married at age 96. For full details see http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/256254/17/ for a story from the Provo Daily Herald.

You might be a ham operator if:

1. When you look at a full moon and wonder how much antenna gain you would need.
2. When a friend gets a ride from you and remarks that you have a lot of CBs in your vehicle, it turns in to an hour long rant on how ham radio is not CB radio.
3. When someone asks for directions, you pause, wondering if long or short path would be best.
4. When you can look at a globe and be able to point to your antipode (and you know what an antipode is).
5. Your cell phone ring tone is a Morse code message of some kind.
6. You have accidentally said your Amateur Radio call sign at the end of a telephone conversation.
7. Your favorite vacation spots are always on mountain tops.
8. You notice more antennas than road signs while driving your car.
9. You have driven onto the shoulder of the road while looking at an antenna.
10. Porcupines appear to be fascinated with your car.
11. If you ever tried to figure out the operating frequency of your microwave oven.
12. When you look around your bedroom of wall-to-wall ham gear and ask: Why am I still single?
13. The local city council doesn't like you.
14. You actually think towers look pretty.
15. Your family doesn't have a clue what to get you for Christmas, even after you tell them.
16. Your HF amplifier puts out more power than the local AM radio station.
17. The wife and kids are away and the first thing that goes through your head is that no one will bother you while you call “CQ DX” a few hundred times.
18. When you pull into a donut shop and the cops there on their coffee break ask if they can see your radio setup.
19. You refer to your children as your “harmonics.”
20. Your girlfriend or wife asks: "You're going to spend $XXXX on what???
21. You actually believe you got a good deal on eBay.
22. When you see a house with a metal roof, and your only thought is what a great ground plane that would be.
23. You have pictures of your radio equipment as wallpaper on your computer's desktop.
24. Every family vacation includes a stop at a Ham radio store.
25. The first question you ask the new car dealer is: "What is the alternator's current output"?
26. You buy a brand new car based on the radio mounting locations and antenna mounting possibilities.
27. You have tapped out Morse code on your car's horn.
28. A lightning storm takes out a new laptop, plasma TV, and DVD recorder, but all you care about is if your radios are okay.
29. Your wife has had to ride in the back seat because you had radio equipment in the front seat.
30. Your wife was excited when you were talking about achieving that critical angle, but very disappointed when you finally did.
31. During a love making session with your wife, you stop to answer a call on the radio.
32. Your wife threatens you with divorce when you tell her that you are going on a “fox” hunt.
33. Talking about male and female connectors makes you feel excited.
34. You dream of big, comfortable, knobs, but not on women.
35. You always park on the top floor of the deck, just in case you might have to wait in the car later.
36. When house hunting, you look for the best room for a radio shack and scan the property for possible tower placement.
37. When house hunting, you give your realtor topographical maps showing local elevations.
38. The real estate agent scratches his head when you ask if the soil conductivity is high, medium, or low.
39. You have Ham radio magazines in the bathroom.
40. When your doorbell rings, you immediately shut down the amplifier.
41. Fermentation never enters your mind when “homebrew” is mentioned.
42. Instead of just saying no, you have said “negative.”
43. You have used a person's name to indicate acknowledgement.
44. You become impatient waiting for the latest AES catalog to arrive.
45. You have found yourself whistling "CQ" using Morse code.
46. You always schedule the last full weekend in June for vacation.
47. You walk carefully in your back yard to avoid being close-lined.
48. You have deep anxiety or panic attacks during high winds or heavy ice.
49. You and the FedEx/UPS men are on a first name basis.
50. You really start to miss people that you've never seen.
51. Your exercise machine is a Morse code keyer.
52. You walk through the plumbing section at the hardware store and see antenna parts.
53. Your neighbors thought you were nuts when you ripped up your lawn to bury chicken wire.
54. Your next door neighbor thinks that your wife is a widow.
55. Your wife has delivered meals to your Ham shack.
56. If you sold all your Ham radio equipment, you could pay off your mortgage.
57. Removing snow from the roof of your car requires working around the antenna and wires.

Still with digital voice repeaters, word that the Utah VHF Society has produced what observers are calling a very useful article on channel spacing for D-Star digital relay devices. Titled “Analysis and recommendations of channel spacing for D-Star operations on the VHF and UHF amateur bands” the article addresses the issues of co-channel D-Star interference. It also covers adjacent channel interference issues between D-Star and existing analog FM systems.

The article is well worth the time to read. You will find it on line at www.utahvhfs.org/dstar_channel_spacing.html.

The study was done, principally, by Frequency Coordinator John Lloyd, K7JL, and Clint Turner, KA7OEI. Ignoring the marketing hype, they went to the lab and made an extensive set of measurements including receiver bandwidths and shape factors, and interference susceptibility.

2006 Utah Field Day Scores Call Class Score QSOs Po- sition of Per- centile 2005 Per- centile Club K7UM 2A 11,738 3,934 6 456 98.7 — Utah DX Assn K7DAV 3A 6,074 1,672 23 279 91.8 — Davis County ARC K3SS 1E 3,290 329 15 180 91.7 30.4   WA7LNW 1B1B 4,330 418 11 88 87.5 —   W7SP 4A 5,406 1,562 18 128 85.9 83.4 Utah ARC NC7X 1AB 8,840 779 3 18 83.3 73.7 Manti Camping/Contest Club W7DRC 1A 1,996 622 49 154 68.2 67.7 Dixie ARC WB6FDY 1B1 860 184 26 63 58.7 71.7   KJ7NO 1D 226 44 147 272 46.0 —   WI7J 2A 1,870 560 258 456 43.4 — Dixie Renegades K9MWM 1C 228 64 27 47 42.6 —   W7SU 2A 1,798 601 269 456 41.0 —   NE7P 3A 1,874 321 171 279 38.7 21.1 Utah Box Elder Thiokol RC  N0KGM 1B1 340 95 47 63 25.4 —   N7BO 2A 804 242 404 456 11.4 78.6 Rainbow Canyons ARC W1RO 1AB 170 2 18 18  0.0 — Utah Adventure

Key to Entry Classes Starting number   The number that begins each class is the number of simultaneous transmitters on the air. For example, UARC's 4A class indicates there was a maximum of four transmitters on the air at any given time.   First Letter The letter that follows the starting number tells the type of operation: A: A club or group portable with three or more operators B: A non-club group portable station using one or two operators C: A mobile station D:   A home station using commercial power E: A home station using emergency power F: A station at an Emergency Operating Center (EOC)   Second number A "1" or "2" following the letter indicates the number of operators. Class B entries are subdivided in this way.   Final “B” A “B” following the number of operators or the class letter indicates an operation powered entirely by batteries and running no more than five watts transmitter output power.   Example: Class 1B2B means a single-transmitter portable operation with two operators using only batteries for power and running five watts or less.

Robert held a General class license and was a frequent participant in a number of area nets. Despite some medical handicaps, Robert attended almost every UARC meeting, taking a complicated string of busses and trains to get from Orem to the University of Utah campus.

KC7DXH has supplied the following obituary:

Guy Robert Scofield passed away early in the morning on September 21, 2006. He was born on July 30, 1933, in Inglewood, California. He is the son of Guy Wixon and Clara Lavon Scofield. He graduated from Inglewood High School and worked for years at the Cerebral Palsy Foundation. He later moved to Ogden, Utah; and, in the later years of his life, moved to Orem, Utah. Robert obtained his Amateur Radio License, enjoyed playing his organ, and visiting people at the senior center. He was active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was a devoted home teacher. He is survived by his mother, Clara Lavon Scofield; and his three brothers: Gary Duane Scofield, of Las Vegas, Nevada; Mark Nathan Scofield, of Provo, Utah; and Paul David Scofield, of Orem, Utah. The viewing will be held on Tuesday, September 26, 2006, from 6-8 p.m., at Sundberg-Olpin Mortuary, 495 South State Street, Orem, Utah. A viewing and funeral service will be held on Wednesday, September 27, 2006, both services being held at Sundberg-Olpin Mortuary. The viewing will be held from 9-9:45 a.m. The funeral will start at 10 a.m. He will be laid to rest in the Aultorest Cemetery in Ogden, Utah. (Published in the Provo Daily Herald on 9/24/2006.)

See full story and pictures for more details.

UARC made 1790 QSOs over the twenty-four hour period, almost a thousand more than the nearest competitor. The Manti group, however, was able to amass more points owing to the multipliers for lower power and battery operation.

One good way to rank stations is by their percentile within their entry classes. This shows how well they competed against stations running the same number of transmitters. By this metric UARC did very well, coming in at 88.9, the highest in the state. Referring to the table below, you can see that UARC was 29th place out of 262 entries in the 3A class. This meant that 88.9 percent of the 3A entries had lower scores than did we. This was an improvement from last year's 83.4.

The Davis County Club (DCARC) has often made a very good showing, coming in last year with a 92.9 percentile. Apparently, however, they did not send in an entry for 2005.

Those who are ARRL members can access the score database directly at www.arrl.org/members-only/contests/scores.html?con_id=90.

Here is the tabulation of Utah entries in order of percentile:

2005 Utah Field Day Scores Call Class Score QSOs Po- sition of Per- centile 2004 Per- centile Club W7SP 3A 5,538 1,706 29 262 88.9 83.4 Utah ARC NC7X 1AB 7,890 714 5 19 73.7   Manti Contest Club WB6FDY 1B1 1,044 245 15 53 71.7 60.4   N7ARE 1C 405 51 21 54 61.1     N7BO 2A 1,802 609 272 454 40.1 78.6 Rainbow Canyons ARC W7DRC 2A 1,946 554 255 454 43.8 67.7 Dixie ARC K7UB 4A 1,940 351 81 127 36.2 21.1 UBET ARC WI7J 1A 870 310 95 141 32.6   La Verkin ARES W7IVM 4A 1,806 468 87 127 31.5 33.3 Bridgerland ARC K3SS/7 1B2B 1,180 108 16 23 30.4     N7JS 1A 690 289 104 141 26.2   Ogden ARC KD7VEM 1B1 238 44 41 53 22.6     AD7BN 1B1B 310 6 77 84  8.3     KD7WPJ 1B1B 160 2 81 84  3.6     KB6BYU 1D 19 19 263 269  2.2     K7DAV — — — — — — 92.9 Davis County ARC

Key to Entry Classes Starting number   The number that begins each class is the number of simultaneous transmitters on the air. For example, UARC's 3A class indicates there was a maximum of three transmitters on the air at any given time.   First Letter The letter that follows the starting number tells the type of operation: A: A club or group portable with three or more operators B: A non-club group portable station using one or two operators C: A mobile station D:   A home station using commercial power E: A home station using emergency power F: A station at an Emergency Operating Center (EOC)   Second number A "1" or "2" following the letter indicates the number of operators. Class B entries are subdivided in this way.   Final “B” A “B” following the number of operators or the class letter indicates an operation powered entirely by batteries and running no more than five watts transmitter output power.   Example: Class 1B2B means a single-transmitter portable operation with two operators using only batteries for power and running five watts or less.

The tall (foreground) tower is the 100-foot unit belonging to W7PS. The one just to the right is UARC's own new 85-foot tower. (Click on image for a larger version)

So how did we come to have such a plethora of towers? It seems that just a few weeks before Field Day Garth had let the club know that his employer had some surplus trailer-mounted motor-crank-up towers available for bid. Club President Glen Worthington, WA7X, and Field Day Chairman, Brett Sutherland, N7KG, negotiated a good price for a unit that came not only with trailer, but also with a 7.5-KW propane generator. Garth had also acquired one for eventual permanent installation at his home, but at Field Day time it was still in a state where it could be towed to the Field Day site.

Brett identified some hangups in our normal setup procedure. According to the Field Day rules, setup can begin as early as noon (MDT) on Friday. Brett asked, “Why do we never get much done on Friday?” and soon came to understand the answer. Two of the most important elements in our setup, the generator/tower trailer and the large tent, were often just rolling in about sunset when there wasn't time left to do much setting up. Volunteers were found who could get the vital items up on Friday morning.

It was good that we had some time Friday to check things out. The new generator (which had less than an hour of operating time) began acting flooded. On investigation, it was found that engine heat had raised the pressure in the propane tank causing the pressure relief valve to open. This, in turn, had filled the engine compartment with a propane haze, and the carburetor was taking in additional propane where it was supposed to be getting air. Fortunately, this was discovered before the site was rocked by a major explosion. (We're not sure if a news story about hams burning down the national forest counts for media publicity credit.) The solution was to remove the panels around the tank to provide cooling.

Another cause of poor generator performance turned out to be that the engine was configured for natural gas jets instead of propane jets. Once KA7OEI discovered and corrected the problem, the generator ran much more smoothly and guzzled much less propane.

By noon Saturday, the official start of the contest, the towers were erected, generators were running, and we were pretty much ready to start making contacts. The 20-meter CW station had its first QSO (Minnesota) in the log by 1202, and 20-meter phone was underway by 12:17. The “Get-On-The-Air” (GOTA) station chimed in at 12:36. By 12:50 40-meter phone came onboard and we were officially a 3-transmitter entry. (The GOTA station is a “free” station and doesn't count in determining our entry class.)

A problem at many recent Field Days was the inability to work the two best bands -- 20 CW and 20 Phone -- at the same time. Interference between stations kept each station from hearing anything while the other one was transmitting. Brett attacked this problem with a three-prong solution:

1. Orient the beams end-to-end rather than broadside to one another
2. Separate the operating tents as far as possible
3. Don't use any IC-706's.

By late afternoon skies were darkening and some ominous thunderclaps. Brett warned the operators and the phone stations shut down. However, Darryl Hazelgren, AF7O (who more recently became K7UT), bravely kept making CW contacts and survived unscathed (and, unfortunately, unfed).

Heavy rain held off until right when the dinner call was sent out. (Field Day and Murphy's Law have a long-recognized association and this seemed to be a remarkably good demonstration.) Folks grabbed portions of Gary Openshaw's barbequeued pork and the great pot-luck spread provided by others, and scrambled to tents, RVs, overhangs, and tarps. It was about this time that Willy Marshall, AC7DO, had a memorable experience driving to the site in his topless Corvette convertible.

The club's older generator has a reputation for needing occasional pounding on a carefully chosen spot on the carburetor, ostensibly to unstick the float valve. This year, although the generator ran fine with no load, when a load was applied, the hammering was needed full time rather than on an occasional basis. The problem was solved (or at least worked around) by running extra extension cords to put the south stations on the propane generator.

Operation continued, although with some notable gaps in the wee hours. A number of young people made their first HF contacts on the GOTA station. Some seemed to catch the contest bug and may be studying hard for the General class license.

By noon on Sunday, it was time to tear down. Fortunately, this year, there was plenty of help. Packing up an operation of this size is not trivial, but almost everyone was on the way back in a few hours.

The exception was our faithful Secretary, Dick Keddington, KD7TDZ, and several people who took time to help diagnose why Dick's vehicle would not run. After trips back to the valley for parts and more diagnosis, it was finally decided just to haul the vehicle back to Salt Lake and leave it on the repair shop's doorstep. For Dick and his helpers, getting home happened well into Monday.

This Field Day was particularly labor-intensive. Just towing the massive tower trailers, the portable toilets, and the club's older generator trailer took considerable manpower (and pull-power). Thanks to these folks and the ones who figured out how the new tower was supposed to work and what extra parts were necessary, the ones who supplied tents, trailers, cables, lights, heaters, tables, chairs, and equipment, and to everyone who pitched in and operated, logged, cooked, and pounded tent stakes.

How did we do? At first look we seem to have done better than in most recent years. We made 1706 contacts compared to last year's 1245. Total score (with anticipated bonus points) was 5538 compared to 4654 in 2004. Much of that is probably attributable to licking the problem of simultaneous 20-meter stations.

How could we have done better? The main thing we could have done is to find operators for the wee hours. All three stations went dark for at least a few hours for lack of operators. The CW station was down almost eight hours, from about 2 A.M. to 10 A.M. It brought in more points than any other station, but didn't operate for one-third of the contest. Think how our score would have been improved by having about two more CW operators. Everyone practice your code skills!

Additional photos taken by Chuck Johnson, WA7JOS, are available at userpages.burgoyne.com/wa7jos/fd/. Clint Turner, KA7OEI, took a time-lapse sequence of the teardown. It can be found at www.ussc.com/~uarc/fd_2005_teardown_1f.wmv. Additionally he has still photos at www.ussc.com/~turner/fd_2005/fd_2005pix.html. If anyone else has photos or stories they would like to share, contact K7HFV@arrl.net.

UARC 2005 Field Day Score Calculation
Band/Mode	QSOs	CW Mult.	QSO Points	Total Points
40 CW	32	X 2	64
40 Phone	344	X 1	344
20 CW	556	X 2	1112
20 Phone	595	X 1	595
6 Phone	16	X 1	16
GOTA (40 Ph)	163	X 1	163
Total:			2294
Power Multiplier:			X 2
QSO Points:			4588	4588
Bonus Points:	100% Emergency Power		300
	Media Publicity		100
	Information Booth		100
	W1AW Field Day Message		100
	Visited by Elected Official		100
	Youth participation		100
	Over 100 GOTA QSOs		100
	Web submission		50
	Total Bonus Points		950	950
Total Points:				5538

Dave Felgar, NJ7A, and Clint Turner, KA7OEI, work with an uncooperative rotor under the 6-meter Yagi. (Photo by K7HFV)

It's over for another year and many of the operators are speaking coherently again, but the memories will be with us a bit longer. UARC's entry in Field Day 2004 attracted many attendees and gave many operators their first shot at contesting.

Field Day is an annual contest sponsored by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) and held each year on the fourth weekend in June. The object is to make as many contacts as possible from a portable location over a 24-hour period. The contest gives operators practice in setting up equipment rapidly and in copying a large amount of information quickly and accurately -- skills needed to provide effective communications in an emergency.

Lonnie Oaks, K7LO, was the Field Day Chairman and he planned the event at our traditional Field Day site near Payson Lakes. Hams and their families began to arrive as early as Thursday, June 24.

Field Day operating doesn't stop just because it's 2 A.M. The moon shines behind the A4 atop Bryan's 75-foot tower. (Photo by KA7OEI)

Bryan Scott, K7BLK, brought his company's 75-foot motor-driven crank-up tower with trailer. After the club's A4 tri-bander was mounted on the tower, the package made quite a sight in the middle of the national forest.

According to contest rules, setup could officially begin at noon on Friday. But the setting up that could be done was limited a bit because the trailer with the club's generator and towers had not yet arrived. As Murphy's Law would have it, right after the generator trailer arrived that evening, a serious thunderstorm came up and thoroughly drenched the area for over three hours. At least two families packed up and left.

Saturday morning was more pleasant. By contest starting time at noon, at least one station was on the air, and others followed shortly thereafter. UARC President Glen Worthington, WA7X, had his usual satellite internet connection with local wireless connectivity. This made it possible for Glen to stand in the middle of the field with his laptop computer and check the proper beam dimensions from Internet while the beam was being assembled.

We entered in the “3A” category, which means we were running up to three stations on the air at once and were a club portable station. The fine print in the rules allows a “Get-On-The-Air” (GOTA) station to be used without increasing the transmitter classification. Soon CW was being used on 20 meters using a TS-570 supplied by John, N7MFQ. Phone stations were on from a TS-450 and a TS-820. The GOTA station completed the lineup using the club's other TS-450.

CW contacts count twice as many points as phone contacts on Field Day, and the better CW operators seem to be able to work stations faster as well. This makes good CW operators a very desirable commodity. Alas, most of the ones that had contributed in past years were away on missions, moving out of town, tied up with other activities, or in a desertion mode, operating with other groups. Our one hope was Tom Rohlfing, W7GT, who has a hard time getting through the day without a morning “CW fix,” and had indicated he would be joining us Saturday. Unfortunately, Tom had a crash project underway for his employer and had to spend the weekend working.

The day was saved by Mike Baker, KA6SAR, who was in Utah on a scouting mission for the Atlanta Braves. He had seen the details of our plans on the web site and decided to drop in. Mike's CW skills were phenomenal and he quickly generated major pileups on 20 meters. His strategy for thinning out the deepest pileups was just to crank the keyer up to about 50 words per minute. The good operators could keep up and the slower ones knew they wouldn't have to wait very long.

As evening approached, The Eternal Miracle of the Forest again manifested itself. With the announcement that the Saturday dinner was available, our team of ten operators suddenly became a crowd approaching 600. Jerry Bennion, our traditional Dutch oveneer, was unable to attend this year, but Gary Openshaw, KC7AWU, took on the duties of Master Chef and provided a tasty barbequeued chicken. When the many pot-luck contributions of others were added, the result was an outstanding camp dinner.

Dave Felgar, NJ7A, arrived about this time with the six-meter station. After a fight with a rotor that seemed to be greased with pine gum, the six-meter station went on the air and was able to take advantage of a great sporadic-E opening that went on long after dark. Since a VHF station can be operated “free,” this put us on the air with five transmitters, but still in the 3A class.

Another thunderstorm came up Saturday night. It was enough to send everyone scurrying for shelter, but, by all reports, was nothing to compare to the Friday storm. The club's 5-kilowatt generator faltered a bit and Brett Sutherland, N7KGG, made a dash through the rain to diagnose the problem. Depending on the source, the problem was attributed to an air intake that was more than happy to breathe water, or to the load of a popcorn popper originating in the president's camper.

We did a better job than last year of keeping the stations on through the night. We're not sure just who was operating 40-meter SSB just after midnight, but we received the following e-mail:

CQ CQ CQ Field day...! CQ CQ CQ Field day...! CQ CQ CQ Field day from W7SP...! All this morning we could hear a verry sharp but clear young voice claminng for contesting. The report was S3 (signal/noise ratio is 0 DB ) a very weak singal but noise is zero and the voice very sharp. There was hundred stations calling at same time but W7SP voice was outstanding over the background of hundreds CQs . QRG = 7.254.00 KHz The QTR was 03:15 local time or 06:15 UT. Our evironment is a quiet rural and very adequate for extreme DX listening. We use DC power supply to avoid QRM inspite we are in a farm. Receivers:       Eddystone E C 958 A Professional one but the other can receive also very well: Drake R7A and Sony ICF-2010. Antennas:       Beverage, Half Delta Loop and Long wire for 160 mts at 10 M over ground. Congratulatuons for your station ! My QTH is correct at QRZ.Com. QTH: Petropolis, RJ, Brazil. Best Regards from Martin PY1 EUN, See My Station At QRZ.Com 73' s and Good Luck, PY1EUN.

The generator purred along through most of the rest of the event. Ron Speirs, K7RLS, who has been taking care of the generator in recent years, says there was another problem near the end of the contest on Sunday. It was so close to the end that it generally went unnoticed. Ron tells us the generator is again happy.

After a simple four-hour tear-down procedure, a caravan of trucks, trailers, and SUV's brought most of the gear back to the Salt Lake Valley.

We made a few more contacts than last year, although we did a bit worse on bonus points -- no one originated a message to the SM. See the score tabulation below.

Thanks to all who donated time, effort, tents, equipment, food, and operating skill. We may not have had the highest score in the country, but we think a lot of people had fun and many had a first exposure to contesting and HF.

See more photos on the Field Day Photo Page. Many additional images from K7BLK, K7RLS, and KA7OEI are available at two picture sites: Check www.sirbryan.com/gallery/uarcfieldday2004/ and www.ussc.com/~turner/fd_2004pix.html.

Anyone who has pictures or stories of other things that went on at Field Day is encouraged to send them to us to add here.

W7SP Field Day Score Calculation   Band     CW     Phone   Total 80m  47  115  162  40m  ---  328  328  20m  448  51  448  15m  62  ---  62  6m  ---  94  94  GOTA ---  100  100    (GOTA contacts on 15-meter phone) Total Contacts 557  688  1245    Mode Multiplier X 2  X 1    Contact Points 1114  688  1802    Power Multiplier X 2    Contact Score 3604    Bonus Points:   100% Emergency Power 300  Media Publicity 100  Set up in public place 100  Information Table 100  W1AW Bulletin 100  Alternate Power QSOs 100  100 QSOs on GOTA station 100  Grand Total 4504

[11-16-03]
The results of the 2003 Field Day contest are now available from ARRL's web site. Here is how the Utah portable stations did in order of percentile within their entry classifications:

Call	Score	Cat.	QSOs	Pos.	of	Percentile	Club
NC7X	5,880	1B2B	558	2	22	90.9
K7EN	2,790	1B1B	249	8	72	88.9
K7DAV	4,896	3A	1,217	40	278	85.6	Davis County Amateur Radio Club
W7SP	4,310	3A	1,074	52	278	81.3	Utah Amateur Radio Club
WB6FDY	758	1B1	329	16	48	66.7
W7IVM	1,510	1A	401	57	155	63.2	Bridgerland Amateur Radio Club
AB7QG	1,510	1B2	455	19	40	52.5
K6PDQ	1,010	1B1	131	26	48	45.8
WI7J	1,794	2A	546	260	423	38.5	Dixie Renegades
K3SS/7	1,595	1B2B	167	16	22	27.3
KV7V	582	2A	179	414	423	2.1	Great Basin Contest Group
Home Stations
WA7LNW	5,020	1E	502	5	140	96.4
KH6SH/7	1,354	1D	428	14	192	92.7

“Pos” means “Position.” So, for example, W7SP was in 52nd position of the 278 stations that entered the 3A entry class, putting it at the 81.3 percentile point.

To interpret entry classes, remember that the first digit means the number of transmitters operating at once. The letter following is the entry classification:

A - Club or group portable
B - Portable with one or two operators
C - Mobile
D - Home station on commercial power
E - Home station on emergency power

Class B entries may be followed by another digit, a 1 or 2, which indicates the number of operators. A “B” following that digit indicates battery power QRP.

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FREMONT ISLAND STORY

[10-18-03]
A group of hams, mostly from UARC, recently made a “DXpedition” to Fremont Island, an island in the Great Salt Lake. The first attempt resulted in virtual shipwreck and made for an interesting story. A second attempt was more successful. Clint Turner, KA7OEI, presented video and electronic slides of the trip at the September meeting. A link was posted on the UARC mailing list to a web story about the event. Unfortunately, the story was not quite ready for public consumption and had to be removed from its web location.

We now have a story in two parts about the trip written specifically for UARC members. Check it out at http://www.xmission.com/~uarc/ufremnt.htm, or if you have already read Part 1, you can go directly to Part 2.

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ELMER LIST AVAILABLE

[03-15-03]
Our new president, Brett Sutherland, N7KG, has started an initiative to maintain a detailed "Elmer" list of those willing to offer help to newcomers to the hobby and newcomers to particular facets of the hobby. The latest list is now available on the web at:
http://www.xmission.com/~uarc/elmers.html If you would like to find someone who can help you solve a problem or get started in a new area, check the list.

If you would like to offer your services and be added to the listing, or if you are already listed and would like to add or modify contact information, talk to Brett. He can be reached at 994-9944 (business hours), 298-5399 (home), or by e-mail at bsutherland@attbi.com.

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PRB-1 BILL IS LAW

[09-22-03]

That's the way the Utah Senate display board looked just before 11 A.M. on the morning of February 14 as Utah's PRB-1 bill got the final vote it needed for passage. On March 15 it was signed by Governor Leavitt and became law. This bill could be a major boon to amateurs wanting to erect antenna structures.

Sixteen other states had passed similar bills in order to ease the legal hoops through which amateurs must pass to erect reasonable antennas. FCC made a clear claim of federal preemption with its PRB-1 declaration that required cities, counties, zoning commissions, etc. to reasonably accommodate amateur antennas enacting only the minimum restrictions necessary for health and safety considerations. (“Federal Preemption” is the notion that federal rules override state and local legislation in matters the federal government regulates, such as radio licensing.) Unfortunately, hams have sometimes needed a great deal of time and money to fight unreasonable restrictions using PRB-1. A state law that reflects or emphasizes the PRB-1 provisions can make it much easier to convince local government entities that they need to comply with those provisions.

It all started in Utah when Mike Davis, KD7FQD, who drives for the Granite School District, realized that one of his fellow drivers, Neal Hendrickson, was a representative in the Utah Legislature. With Mike's input and help from the Capitol Hill attorneys, Representative Hendrickson drafted a bill that would prevent cities and counties from restricting amateur radio antenna structures in a way that would be inconsistent with FCC rules, particularly PRB-1. The bill became known as HB-79.

The first major hurdle for the bill was passage by the House Political Subdivisions Committee. John Hanson, KI7AR, using his experience in the Washington Legislature, came to bat to help fight for the bill. However, on January 21, the bill was rejected by a 3-7 vote in the committee.

Representative Hendrickson, though, did not give up. Part of the problem had been that time for the committee meeting ran out when some of the members still had unanswered questions. A few days later Representative Hendrickson let Mike and John know that he believed he had the votes to pass the bill and it would come up for reconsideration. Daryl Hazelgren, AF7O, prepared written materials for distribution to the legislators, a task that is said to have saved the day for the bill. On January 28 the bill was recommended favorably by the committee on a vote of 8-0 with two absent or abstaining.

From that point on, the bill met little opposition. It was passed by the full House on January 31 with a 65-8 vote (two absent or abstaining).

In the Senate, the bill was referred to the Business and Labor Committee which reported it out favorably on February 6. John Hanson, KI7AR, tells us that he went to the hearing prepared to address the issue. He got only a minute and a half into his presentation when the Chairman said,

“You're speaking in favor, right?”

When John indicated that he was, the Chairman suggested there was no need. A 6-0-2 vote demonstrated that he was correct. John says he's sure the favorable report was the result of the Committee realizing it was the only way they could avoid hearing him speak for another fifteen minutes.

The Senate votes on most bills twice, once on “Second Reading” and once on “Third Reading.” The Second Reading vote was taken on February 13 and HB-79 passed on a 26-0 vote (three absent or abstaining). The final vote came on the following day when the bill won a 23-0-6 approval. The last step was the Governor's signature which came on March 15.

Signing ceremony, April 4, 2003. L. to R.: John Hanson, KI7AR; Gov. Leavitt; Mike Davis, KD7FQD; Rep. Neal Hendrickson; Daryl Hazelgren, AF7O; Mel Parkes, AC7CP, Utah SM.

A “ceremonial signing” took place on April 4, making possible photos of key participants with the Governor.

Thanks to the hams who originated the bill and defended it in its committee hearings. Thanks also to those who contacted their state Senators and Representatives and helped assure passage.

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NEWCOMER TEACHERS NEEDED

[11-12-02]
Remember the Newcomers' Meeting? The UARC Board would like to get it started again, but it needs some volunteers to conduct it.

We used to have a feature called the “Newcomers' Meeting” preceding each regular UARC meeting. In it we had a short lecture about operating procedure for new licensees along with explanations of some things they would need to know such as how PL tones work. Then there was a period when the newcomers could ask questions.

In the past, one volunteer has done duty as the newcomers' instructor for a whole year or more. The board now feels it would be better to spread the duty around more and involve more people. If you would like to be the instructor, even for only one or two evenings a year, get in touch with one of the club officers. The Newcomers' Meeting starts at 7 P.M. on regular meeting nights.

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COAX CRIMPER AVAILABLE

[6-06-00]
In preparation for Field Day (and the 50 coax connectors needed), UARC purchased a coax crimper. This crimper allows crimping of PL-259 (properly known as UHF), N, and BNC connectors. Also, it allows crimping those connectors onto RG-213, RG-214, 9913, RG-8, RG-58, and RG-8/X cables.

UARC is considering purchasing a supply of connectors that members may purchase for just a bit over the UARC cost to help defray the costs of the crimper. Perhaps, at club Elmer Hour at the UARC meetings and the like, we will be able to help members use the crimper to put connectors on their own cables. On average, each PL-259 is about $1.50. Currently, we do not have the crimp dies for SMA or RG-174, but if there is enough demand, we may purchase those in the future. This is yet one more benefit available to the UARC membership.

-Tom, NY4I

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UARC MAILING LIST OPENS

[6-06-00]
There is yet another mailing list available for UARC members. A mailing list has been established for Internet email called the UtahAmateurRadioClub list. Unlike the UtahHam list, membership in this list is open to current UARC members only. This policy is to allow members of the club to share information and to avoid boring non-members with UARC details. If you would like to subscribe, simply go to the UARC website, and look for the subscribe button at the bottom of the home page OR send an email to UtahAmateurRadioClub-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

For those unfamiliar with mailing lists, here's how the idea works. The list is a bit like a party-line for e-mail. Whenever someone wants to send a message of general interest to the whole group, he simply sends it to the group address: UtahAmateurRadioClub@egroups.com. The list server then duplicates the message, possibly hundreds of times, and sends a copy to everyone who has “subscribed” to the list. Thus, one can reach a large number of people with a minimum of effort.

-Tom NY4I

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DF PAGES AVAILABLE

[5-16-00]

Direction-finding is surprisingly easy and inexpensive to get started in. You can build one of the simple homing circuits with a single integrated circuit. So you can get started for a few tens of dollars if you can use a soldering iron and read a schematic. (And you learned that back on the Novice test, right?)

Clint, KA7OEI, has put together some information to help you get started. Check the UARC DFing Page for some basic pointers and the famed circuits designed by Mike Mladejovsky, WA7ARK. Mike has been involved with CAP in locating downed aircraft. His team once won a national contest and located their target a good hour before the nearest competition. Mike's circuits have been circulating in the Utah ham community for a number of years and are now available on the web.

We like to take any opportunity to put off the next dues increase.