THE FIRST CLASS CW OPERATORS CLUB

NEWS SHEET 643

(http://www.firstclasscw.org.uk)

Editor: G4BUE

(g4bue@adur-press.co.uk)

May 2003

A man should keep his friendship in constant repair - Samuel Johnson (1755)
(3525, 7025, 10120-10125, 14025, 18080-18085, 21025, 24905-24910 and 28025kHz)

ACTIVITY DAYS FOR MAY: 7th (WED), 17th (SAT), 30th (FRI)

THE 2003 LONDON FOC DINNER

Saturday 4 October 2003 See April News Sheet and page 2 of FOCUS 50
Tickets 29.50 each from Maud Slater, Wychwood, Park Lane, Maplehurst, West Sussex. Telephone 01403 891342.
Tickets are now available from Maud and once again they will be colour coded indicating your choice of meal, which will be either fish, lamb or vegetarian. The Trafalgar Tavern can cater for gluten free meals if required, please let Maud know. An SAE would be appreciated by Maud and cheques should be payable to FOC not Maud. Overseas members can book tickets and pay on the day, but tickets must be paid for if ordered. There will now be a get-together at Mick, G3LIKs, QTH on the Friday before and plans for a river cruise to Westminster on the Sunday. The cruise will be an FOC first for the London Dinner and should include views of HMS Belfast, the Houses of Parliament etc. Thanks to Ron, G3KTZ, there will be a tour of the Greenwich Meridian on the Saturday afternoon and Dave, G3JJZ, is investigating the possibility of having lunch at the Maritime Museum. If you require accommodation then the Ibis Hotel in Stockwell Street was popular with members last year. It is only a short walk from the Tavern and is competitively priced. The contact telephone number is 0208 305 1177 and e-mail is <H0975@accor-hotels.com>. The Ibis Hotel Website is <www.accorhotels.com>. Further details will be available next month. Your Committee hopes to see you there. How about some more UK southeast members attending this year? 73 de Colin, G3VTT. The term of Committee membership for G3LIK, G3WGV G3NOH, G3MXJ and G4VXE , expires this year. G3LIK, G3NOH and G3WGV are willing to continue, if re-elected, and two new members will be required to replace G3MXJ (now resident in France) and G4VXE. A request for nominations will be published in the News Sheet. An objection to membership to KL7J was discussed and overruled. The Committee also reviewed the list of non-payers for 2003 subscriptions and inactive members in 2002 and decided on the appropriate action for each individual case. The Windle Award rules will remain as they are for 2004, clarifying the rules where it appears to be necessary. G3NOH reported there are 496 members, with seven Permanent Associate and three Temporary Associate members. FOC had been approached by the RSGB with

The committee met on 13 April at Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. G3LIK, G3WGV , G3RXP G3RVM, G3NOH and G4VXE attended, , with apologies from G3SWH and G3MXJ (F5VHY). Details for the proposals for the Morse Proficiency Programme so that it can be implemented quickly when required. Nominations for the 2003 G3FXB Memorial Award will be requested in the News Sheet. Plans for the 2004 Annual Dinner at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester are going well and G3WGV and G3RXP were due to meet with G8VG and the General Manager of the College. G3SWH proposed a Mechanical Key Activity Day, which the Committee considered could generate some on-air interest, and will compile some details for publication in the News Sheet.

COMMITTEE REPORT by G4VXE

a view to the Club taking over Morse testing for the occasions after WRC 2003 when people may need a Morse test to obtain a reciprocal licence overseas (eg Russia). The Committee were interested in this possibility and G3NOH will write to the RSGB to find out more. It had been suggested by some members that QSYs to other bands in the first 24 hours of the Marathon could be frustrating to those with smaller signals and that such QSYs should be banned. The Committee felt generally that it could be suggested that QSYs should only take place if no-one else was calling. G3LIK will take over the administration of subscriptions for FOC and GW3KDB will continue as Treasurer. G3NOH will address the Call Book Who to Contact for What page errors later in the year and G3WGV reported that over 70% of members are now on e-mail. The next meeting will be held on 13 July at G3RXPs QTH.

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION by G3NOH

Starred List
3. G3XTT (Don): W9KNI, G3SED, K9QVB, G3RTE, LA5HE, G3VMW, DL7AKC. 2. KL7J (Les): W5ZR, G4SIE, DL4CF, LA5HE, K5NA. An invitation will be sent to W2UE (exWA2RUE). An objection to KL7J was considered by the Committee and overruled.

Additional Nominations

Members are reminded that nominations for this years trophy should be submitted to me by 12 July. Nominations must include a full biography of the nominee together with full details of the specific activities for which it is considered an award is appropriate. The criteria for the award is described on page 7 of the Call Book and you are reminded that recipients need not be members of FOC. Previous recipients of the Award are: 2001 Frank Donovan, W3LPL 2000 Roger Western, G3SXW 1998 Lou van de Nadort, PALOU 1997 Peter Watson, ZL3GQ 1996 Northern California DX Foundation 1995 Fred Laun, K3ZO 1994 Chiltern DX Club 1993 Bill Maxson, N4AR My apologies to KZ5D for printing his call wrongly (K5ZD) in the results of the 2003 Marathon in the April News Sheet. Art came fourth in the North American Open Section. Since the Update in the April News Sheet, the following two new certificates have been issued: Certificate #8 G4BUE 41 States Certificate #9 G3IAF 39 States Mobile activity continues - Red, K5ALU, is planning a trip through a few midwestern States and Jurgen, N9RD, will be QRV about 2000z 24 May, and again on 28 May, on his way to and from MO, mainly on 20 metres. He will indicate he is in IA by using N9RD/ otherwise will be N9RD/M while in IN, IL and MO. Thanks to Andy, K2LE, for activating Vermont during the New England QSO Party as K2LE/1.

AL SLATER, G3FXB MEMORIAL TROPHY by G3NOH

5. VK4TT (Keith): VK4XA, N6NT, LZ1AF, VE3HX, VK6VZ, VK8AV. 5. KFX (Don): N4UB, K9QVB, N6NT, DK8IT, JA1NUT. 4. AF1Q (Jim): N6FB. 4. GTBD (Terry): G3LPN, G4YNU, GJWB, GADE, G8VG. 4. G3JRE (Ray): G3LPN, GADE, G8VG. 4. W1JR (Joe): W2MUM, N6RA, W9KNI, K2VUI, 5B4AGC. 3. WA7SPY (Glenn): W6CYX. 3. K2UR (George): K5NA, G3LCS, N3BB. 3. KCDJ (Bill): W1OT, W8LX. 3. MUFAL (Colin): N4AF. 2. OK1TN (Slav): OK1KT, N6NT. 2. DK1WU (Hans): DL7AKC, DL8LBK, SV1AOW, DF5JT. 2. WJLC (John): ZS6QU, ZS1EL. 1. W3AWU (Al): G3XNG. 1. N3AM (John): F5NZY. 1. YO3FLR (Cristian): G4HZV.

New Members:

2003 MARATHON by G3LIK

FOC WAS UPDATE by W4CK

1798 G3JAG (John): J. A. Crux, 4 Sandyway, Prestwich, Manchester. M25 9PG; tel - 0161 773 9170; fax - 0161 773 7834; e-mail: g3jag@arrl. net. 1799 DL1BUG (Red): R. Frenzel, Fritz-ReuterStrasse 2, D-15517 Furstenwalde; tel - 03361 304373; e-mail dl1bug@web.de. 1800 N2JZ (Mike): M. Nicolich, 43 Hedgewood Road, Howell, NJ 07731; tel - 732 751 1593; email - n2jz@arrl.net 1801 K1DG (Doug): N. D. Grant, 144 Kendall Point Road, Windham, NH 03087; tel - 603 432 4738; e-mail k1dg@ix.netcom.com 1802 W6ZH (Pete): H. Hoover III, 1520 Circle Drive, San Marino, CA 91108; tel - 626 793 8791; e-mail - w6zh@ix.netcom.com 1803 W3EF (Maury): M. A. Peiperl, Wolfsden, 1111 Bonifant Road, Silver Spring, MD 209055954; tel - 301 879 2770; e-mail: mpeiperl@ mba1986.hbs.edu

Amendments:

DJOS (1488): resigned. G3AZ (1346): delete, no reply correspondence. G3PDL (1012): amend address - Terrain Rise, Church Lane, Keddington, Louth, Lincolnshire LN11 7HG; telephone - 01507 605792. G3SXW (847): delete fax - 020 8397 3326. GW3SYL (A1387): resigned. WK2G (1788): new address - 7201 Yardley Way, Tampa, FL 33647, USA. W3NX ( 1462): Silent Key. W4XJ (1583): Silent Key. KZ5D (1761): amend zip code - 70563. K6OU (1123): resigned.

The two year term of office for G3LIK, G4VXE, G3MXJ, G3WGV and G3NOH will end in October. G3LIK, G3NOH and G3WGV are prepared to continue serving. Please submit other nominations for Committee service to me by 14 June. 03. Nominees should be willing to undertake Committee service if elected and to take on a role position within the Committee. G3MXJ has moved to France and will not attend any more meetings this year. I have set up the FOC Breakfast again at the Crown Plaza Hotel at 33 East 5th Street, Dayton (on the corner of 5th and Main Street) at 8.30am on Sunday 18 May. This will be a buffet breakfast, cost $10.02 each which includes tax and gratuity. Each individual is responsible for payment after the Breakfast. I am looking forward to meeting those that can make it again this year. 9V1YC: Congratulations to James who will be inducted into the CQ DX Hall of Fame at Dayton, for his DX operations, support and unique presentations of DXpeditions through video thanks Daily DX. DJXJ: Cliff has resigned from FOC as he can no longer use a Morse key following a stroke. He writes, With kindest regards to all who have made my years with the Club so enjoyable. DJ8FW: Ben was QRV 8/22 April from CT3. DJ1YFK: Congratulations to Fabian on being placed first and to Ken, DL8LBK, on coming third in the Mens Class of the German Telegraphy Championship, which took place at the annual meeting of AGCW and HSC in Erbenhausen on 12/13 April. Congratulations also to new member Red, DL1BUG, for third place in the Seniors Class - thanks DL7AKC. GKDZ: Mike will be QRV 25 May/13 June from North Uist (EU-010), primarily a family walking holiday. Referring to the Marathon he says, Someone might benefit from my disastrous experience. Occasional sky high SWR with severe intermittent RFI caused my PC to fail to register some QSOs, making the log useless, even as a checklog. Lowering and examination of the antennas failed to locate anything wrong but some days later I found the fault - a loose PL259 on the PA output socket. Lesson learned - look for the simple explanations first. GORH: Ken asks is anyone is a beekeeper as has taken on two full bee hives, and hopefully will soon have plenty of golden honey! G2ALM: Our condolences to Roy on the sad passing of his wife Jean recently - thanks F5VEX and GADE. G2HKU: Referring to the recent poor HF conditions, Ted writes, It was not made any better for me when I appeared to be having trouble with the ATU. Further investigation dis-

COMMITTEE BY G3RXP

DAYTON BREAKFAST by K8NW

MEMBERS NEWS by G4BUE

closed the G5RV was minus its feeder which had attached itself to a nearby conifer tree. This presented a further problem as a blackbird had a nest inside with youngsters, so care was needed to get everyone happy and back to normal. G3HZL: Don is waiting to go into hospital for three weeks for surgery on his right hip. G3PQC: Doug says he will be away in his caravan in the New Forest for most of the summer and so will not be very active until the autumn. G3SXW: Roger is launching his new book UP TWO - Adventures of a DXpeditioner at Dayton and which is available for sale on the idiompress. com web-site, and includes specimen chapters for free download. G3VTT: Colin and GPZX visited Jean, EI5IY/ 2, over Easter. She sends greetings to members, is still interested in FOC and is planning to attend the Greenwich Dinner again. Stans station has been relocated for visitors in the sun lounge and the antenna raised a further 15 feet. G4BKI: Paul is QRV as J3/G4BKI. G4ODV: Brian was QRV for two days at the beginning of May as ZC4VG - thanks G3LIK. G4XRV: Rupert will be QRV 28 May/2 June as OY/G4XRV while on a walking holiday and helping OY5J get back on the air after being QRT for five years. GM3YTS: Rob was QRV 19/20 April as GSXCW, details of this activity weekend can be found on <www.gmdx.org.uk. GW3HCL: Congratulations to Kaye and Dan on celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary on 3 April - thanks GW3SB. GW3SYL: Roy has decided to leave FOC and writes, I do not see myself returning to radio for some time yet, if at all. I would ask that you convey my sincere thanks to all the gang for their company over so many years and that I send you all my best wishes for the future. K1DG: New member Doug was QRV 3/4 May while driving through 12 Counties in three States during the New England QSO Party. He thanks K9QVB and W3VT for helping him test his mobile set-up in his driveway before the Party. K2ZR: Dick will go QRT from Key West about 15 May. K4OJ: With N4KM, Jim made 1999 QSOs in 41 Counties as K4FCG/M in the Florida QSO Party at the end of April. K8JP: Joe is home from Belize. KY7M: Lee writes, After beta testing, the FOC Marathon module is now ready for downloading if you have WriteLog. The developer was Steve Woodruff, N9OH. It can be donwloaded from his WriteLog add-on site at <http://wlmods. n9oh.com>. The FOCers involved in beta testing were 5B4AGN, KC7V and myself. You can , send any feedback directly to Steve at <Steve@n9oh.com>. Lee will be part of the ZF1A team (MS) in the CQ WPX CW Contest and will be QRV as ZF2LF before the contest.

LZ1AF: With other LZ amateurs, Dimiter will be QRV 1/31 May as LZ3KM to commemorate the Bulgarian brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius who created the Cyrillic alphabet in 855 AD. QSL via bureau. N3BB: Jim will be QRV in the WPX CW Contest as NT5C. N4TO: With Dan, K1TO, Vic made 2226 QSOs from 44 Counties as N4TO/M in the Florida QSO Party at the end of April. OK1RR: Martins callsign was pirated on 23 April by an operator giving the name Jan and QTH Usti. G2JL heard him and said his CW was not very good. Martin says, If you meet OK1RR with bad, slow CW, I am not drunk or totally mad but it is a pirate!. OY1CT: Caens operation (see March News Sheet) was postponed until 13 April when he was hoping to be home after ten days. OZ1LO: Congratulations to Leif for being presented with his CQ Contest Hall of Fame award at Dayton as he was unable to attend last year thanks Daily DX. PALOU: Congratulations to Lou who became a Member in the Order of Oranje-Nassau (a royal decoration) on 29 April - thanks PADIN. S53R: Robert arrived in Baghdad, Iraq on 1 May with the first UN team back in the capital since the evacuation before the hostilities. With other amateurs, he is trying to obtain a valid licence, but until there is an interim Government formed this could be rather difficult - thanks Daily DX. WCGR: Congratulations to Gary on his retirement on 1 April. W1RM: Pete writes, Assembly of my new beams is nearing completion. The C31XR is a beautiful antenna and the MAG240N is big - 56 foot elements on a 24 foot boom. The current schedule is to have them up on 22 May so look for me on the bands that evening. W3AU: Ex-member Ed Bissel (803) became a Silent Key on 10 May after repeated strokes. Ed joined FOC in June 1964 and left in May 1990 thanks W3TMZ and the FCG Reflector. W3NX: Roy sadly became a Silent Key on 4 April after suffering from Alzheimer's Disease for a number of years. He was a long time (over 50

(callsign in brackets indicate G4FOC operator)

FOC CALENDAR

May (G3LIK)

ZF2LF by KY7M (643) 1/31 LZ3KM by LZ1AF (643) 16/18 Dayton Hamvention 17 FOC Activity Day 18 Dayton Breakfast (643) 20 Deadline FOCUS 55 24 N9RD/ from Iowa (643) 25/13 June EU-010 by GKDZ (643) 28 N9RD/ from Iowa (643) 28/2 June OY/G4XRV (643) 30 FOC Activity Day 31 Deadline for May News Sheet June (G3NOH) 6/8 Condin at Undeloh (640) 10 FOC Activity Day 14 Deadline Committee nominations (643) 15 FOC Activity Day 27/29 Friedrichshafen (642) 30 FOC Activity Day years) member of the Frankford Radio Club. Our condolences to his wife Toni - thanks N3RS. W3NZ: Referring to G3IYs comments about new members in the March News Sheet, Fritz writes, I not only find the absent of our new members alarming - many of our older members are missing in my log - year after year. Shouldnt we FOC members protect the future of our great hobby by being active on a regular basis on as many bands as possible?. W4MQC: Alan is hoping to attend the Greenwich Dinner. W4XJ: John sadly became a Silent Key on 2 May. He had had heart surgery recently and appeared to be recovering normally, but suffered a heart attack in the hospital. He was 62 years old and a retired biology professor from the University of Tennessee. Our condolences to his family in Jackson, MS - thanks K8EJ. W9KNI: Bob is launching the third edition of The Complete DXer at Dayton which is available for sale on the idiompress.com web-site, and includes specimen chapters for free download.

Score updates can be passed to G3RVM or G4BUE. An asterisk against the call indicates the score has been updated this month. Table shows the scores received by 1200z 13 May 2003. The two scores are the total points and the total number of different members worked.
W6CYX* W5ZR* LZ1AF* G3KTZ* G4BUE* PAVDV* G3LIK* W6TZD* F5VEX KZ5D* LY2PX W4QM W3NZ* W8FJ* 500/278 475/275 416/240 390/245 361/240 340/219 335/227 304/199 297/214 282 264/180 258/198 257/175 252/192 YV1NX*
HS/OZ1HET*232/179

THE 2003 BILL WINDLE AWARD

252

W1HMD K6TS* G4BWP LY3BA G5LP* N4OO W3MC* G4BJM G4HZV N3BB* GORH* G2JL

219/158 199/76 195/181 190/148 181/146 175/140 166/116 164/136 162/140 157/136 154 152/132

PABW G3HZL G3PJT* K1JD* DK7VW* G4XRV* WCGR* 4Z4KX G3ZGC* K4WJ K5ALU* DU3NXE* W1HT* W8LX

152/116 150/111 141/114 140/106 133/99 129/110 129/110 125/95 120 119/96 117 113/100 112/92 108/91

G3LHJ* DJ5ZN G2FFO* ZS1EL N6NT G3NOH* DJ1YFK* ZL1AH* DL8LBK N3JT W4PM G3IY* W4YE K4EF

107/100 107/91 104/86 102/84 101 100/84 98/86 93/90 92/84 92 90/80 88 87 80/68

LA3FL* W4ZYT W4CK DK4LX* K2VCO G3IZD SM5COP LA5HE K5RC W1DV G2HKU* G3MCK W6IJ K4LQ*

80 73 72 68/59 68 67 66/57 65 63/59 62/54 61 58 58 55/51

VE3AR AA5DX F3AT GW3SB G8VG N1DG OZ4FF* KC7V W9VNE K9QVB PALOU K2ZR* VE3HX OH2EA

55/51 51 51 49/48 47 47 44 43 43 42 38 31 21 2