Spokane DX Association

DAN IN THE EARLY DAYS

AT THE BASE OF HIS MONSTER TOWER

DAN AT HIS 80TH BIRTHDAY PARTY IN OCTOBER, 2005

Dan was one of the original founders of the SDXA. During the many years in the SDXA, he presented us with programs on antennas, his favorite subject. He had the tallest amateur radio tower in the county and was a member of the Number One DXCC Honor Roll CLub where he communicated with every country in the world. He attended the 2017 Awards Banquet with his son Mike so we got to see him then. He was a great contributor to the organization and he will be missed.

His Obituary in the May 6 Spokesman Review:

A moment of silence, known as “the silent key” was heard by the amateur radio community on April 27, 2018. Daniel Hearn, N5AR, an amateur radio operator for over 75 years, passed away in his home, surrounded by his loving family. Dan was baptized and accepted Our Lord as his savior shortly before his passing. Dan was born on October 15, 1925 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He worked alongside his father, a small business owner, where a strong work ethic was established from a young age.

He was only sixteen when his love for HAM radio was found. His incredibly patient mother offered up her pantry as a “HAM shack” and would check with Dan before hanging clothes out on the clothesline to ensure it wasn’t “live” with electricity. Dan was on the air on December 7, 1941 and heard the announcement that amateur bands were closing and the United States was at war.

After high school, Dan started college at Oklahoma State University, but it wasn’t long before he was drafted into the Army and accepted into a pilot training program. Right away, he ended up in the flight line radio shack where his aptitude for electronics was quickly identified, and his skills were put to good use servicing airplanes. Before he was trained for flight, the war ended and Dan quickly jumped back into his pursuit of higher education and earned his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering, followed later by a Master’s Degree in Antenna Theory and Design, both from OSU. Dan had a rewarding career as a Down Hole Analytical Oil Production Engineer. There are 22 patents held to his name.

Dan loved passing his knowledge on to others and was a mentor to many, especially in the amateur radio and DXing field. He co-founded the Spokane DX Association (SDXA) and took great effort to train others in disaster radio communication. Dan is preceded in death by his parents, Dempse and Irene, and his loving wife and golf partner, Virginia. He is survived by his son, Mike (Barbara) Hearn; daughter, Susan (Dirk) Paseman; sister, Dana Davis; brother, Jim (Geneva) Hearn; grandchildren: Carley (Matt) Sanchez, Luke (Catherine) Paseman, Silas Hearn, Nancy Hearn, Cody Paseman, and many nieces, nephews and great-grandchildren.

BOB W7SX

STILL RUNNING STRONG AT $29.95; BOB’S ANTENNA BOOK AVAILABLE FROM THE ARRL OR AMAZON

Gary Bytnar AD7XG

I am excited to announce our new SDXA club President to fullfil the unexpired current term.

Our process:
1. We asked each of the club officers if they would like to take the role of President. Each of the current officers felt they were currently in the role that they were best suited for and that will help the club the most. I think we have an excellent team (Mel N7GCO – VP and Program, Jay WA0WWW – Sec, Bob N7AU – Treas, Chris WX7B – Past President, plus a number of Committee Chairpersons).

2. We also had a very gracious offer from one of our club members to serve in one of the support roles, if any of the present officers took the Presidency. They were not interested in the Presidency. Since all the current officers chose to stay in their current positions, we have asked this club leader to consider one of the committee chairperson roles and hope they will do this. The committee chairpersons role is becoming much more significant in our club leadership.

Present Committee leaders are:
Awards and card checker, Gary AD7XG
Club Log, Chuck KI7DG
Contest, Jay WA0WWW
DX, Gary K7GS
Programs, Mel N7GCO
Spokane Hamfest, Jay WA0WWW
Technical, Bob W7SX
Web and Google Group, Steve K7AWB

We hope to add chairpersons for 1) Field day and 2) the Summer Picnic. These would be a great addition to our club. If you are interested, please let one of our officers know.

3. We established a list of potential SDXA Presidents and I am pleased to say we had a number on this list. The future looks great. I think we were all encouraged.
After deliberation, the current officer’s unanimously ask Gary Bytnar AD7XG, to serve as President. Gary has agreed. Gary has been our card checker, awards committee chairperson and one of the most active club members. He is a gracious leader and the current officers are all looking forward to serving with him. We will formally introduce Gary as President at the club meeting on Thursday.
Congratulations Gary!

Sincerely,

Mel N7GCO
SDXA Vice President.

We celebrated the 16th year of SDXA at the March 1, 2018 meeting with a fabulous white cake, milk, and coffee. Here is a LINK to the story of our beginnings by Lamar WA7LT. (The birthday is really on March 16 so maybe we can celebrate twice?)

Mel N7GCO giving the presentation on DX tips and a visit to two member’s shacks

Gordon AA6TQ is gleaming over his recent WAS award while other members in the background eat their SDXA birthday cake.

Treasurer Bob N7AU,President Randy W7TJ, Harold AD7QJ, and Gary K7GS discuss the business of the meeting

President Randy W7TJ smiling while Gary AD7XG watches

Two of the top Idaho VHFers as well as HF activity: Bob K7TM and Mark W7MEM

(March 1) The two SDXA Constitutional Amendments needed 66% to pass, but only 62.5% were in favor, so both were not approved.

These are the proposed Constitutional Amendments proposed at the January and February, 2018 meetings by President Randy Crews. The proposed amendments were officially read at the February meeting; comments and voting will be at the March meeting.

• By Laws Article II – Attendance:

  All SDXA Members are expected to attend two (2) Meeting Events during the Calendar year; honorary members are exempt as well as members with acute physical conditions or extraordinary work requirements. Not meeting this expectation will result in review of the members application and could result in membership termination. Club officer decisions will be final.

• Bylaws – Addition of Article V Participation:

  All SDXA Members are expected to participate during the year in one of the published categories (categories may be added) or a member may develop an area of their own. Not meeting this expectation will result in review of the members application and could result in membership termination. Club Officers decisions will be final. (see next article on categories)

Active paid members will be REQUIRED to participate in one or several of these categories [Constitutional Amendment – By Laws – Addition of Article V – Participation]. In this manner, SDXA will be powered by interested, devoted, and strong membership:

1. Serve as an officer
2. Serve on a club event committee
3. Put on or contribute to putting on a club presentation
4. Host the Club DX Net
5. Host or participate in a Club member antenna party
6. Assist or serve as the Club Webmaster
7. Go on a DXpedition or operate from a unique remote QTH
8. Participate in a Club Event (Field Day, etc.) [The Annual Picnic does not count unless hosted]
9. Host a Contest at your QTH
10. Contribute contest scores to the Club’s Efforts
11. Serve as a DX Chairman/Contest Chairman/Membership Chairman, etc.
12. Serve as an Awards Chairman (DX Card Checking)
13. Serve as a VE
14. Room around – Plans for the club on something you have built for your station

(Categories may be added or developed by members or Officers)

Chuck and his new wallpaper

To see a closeup of the certificate, use this LINK

You will remember Chuck as the MC at our 2017 PNW DX Convention in Spokane

CONGRATULATIONS!

Gordon AA6TQ and his WAS

The WAS certificate up close

The QTH of Gordon AA6TQ and his Cushcraft yagi

SEPTEMBER 22, 2018
NEW CHAIRPERSON SELECTED

The September Hamfest at University High School in Spokane Valley is on again, after some searching for a new Chairperson. Long time Chairperson Betsy Ashleman N7WRQ reported today (Jan 12) that Dave Carleton K7DSR, from Spokane Valley, and President of the IEVHF Radio Amateurs, has bravely stepped forward to take over these responsibilities. She is providing him with a rough draft of the initial planning procedures, along with a listing of all the committee members. As the new Chairperson, he can use as much support and volunteers as possible. You?

Lamar Ray WA7LT, Betsy N7WRQ, and Wilse Morgan WX7P (sk) shown in 2008 at award ceremony honoring Betsy.

Gary at the January, 2017 SDXA meeting

The 2017 plaque

Back in September, 2017, during the Salmon Run contest, Gary scored the most points in the category for which the SDXA gives a plaque.

Congratulations to Gary. It’s been a long time since a SDXA member won our plaque. Gary also had the high score for Spokane County. Incidentally, Gary is on the ARRL DXCC Number 1 Honor Roll!

Gary’s statistics:

384 QSOs
58 multipliers
60,182 points

The plaque is given to the highest score satisfying these parameters:

• Single Operator operation
• using Low Power
• Operating in the ARRL EWA Section
• Mixed mode (two or more modes [phone, CW, & digital], at least 5% of score in the smallest one)

SDXA took 3rd in the club scores with a total of 198,262 points only bested by the Radio Club of Redmond and the South Hill Contest Club.

The entire Salmon Run scores for all entrants are at this 2017 WWDXC Salmon Run Winners LINK

Here is a LINK to all the past winners and their scores

Mark in his shack

the prized certificate for 100 unique DX entities worked

The little pistol station, using a very basic SteppIR DB18 trombone antenna at 30 feet; Gary AD7XG on the tower

– Lance & Karen (XYL) at 2017 banquet –

LANCE COLLISTER W7GJ FROM FRENCHTOWN, MT
gave an excellent presentation of his EME DXeditions
that activated ten islands in the South Pacific
entltled “THE W7GJ 6M DXING JOURNEY”

Lance has been on many DXpeditions around the world to give EME (Earth-Moon-Earth) enthusiasts a chance to work more countries on that exotic mode. Some were with the wife and one ( Clipperton Island) was with a multi-person major HF DXpedition.

E51SIX from Cook Islands (2009)
3D2LR from Fiji (2010)
5WOGJ from Samoa (2011)
EM6 from Niue (2012)
TX5K from Clipperton Island (2013)
KH8/W7GJ from American Samoa (2014)
VM6 from Micronesia (2015)
T8GJ from Palau (2016)
VK9CGJ from Cocos/Keeling (2017)
VK9XGJ from Christmas Island (2017)

The talk was well rounded for both the dedicated hams and their accompanying spouses or friends. Lance was one of the presenters at the second SDXA-sponsored PNW DX Convention in 2013 in Spokane Valley.

The big 6-meter EME quad array

Lance W7GJ is known around the world. He was the first ham to contact the Space Shuttle. It was in December 1983, operating from Montana as WA1JXN. Astronaut Dr. Owen Garriott, W5LFL, was contacted using a 2m EME array of 12 yagis as shuttle STS-9 passed down along the West Coast of the USA. He obtained the ARRL FFMA Award #7 on October 13, 2015.

Lance’s DXCC totals are 191 on 2 meters and 204 on 6 meters.

For more information on Lance and EME, go to his personal webpage LINK.

Here is a ANTENNA LINK to the most complete listing of 6 meters antennas, supplied by VE7BQH

AWARDS AT THE BANQUET


STEPHEN SALA K7AWB, SDXA WEBMASTER
DXER OF THE YEAR

LIFETIME HONORARY MEMBERSHIP:

DAN HEARN N5AR

LAMAR RAY WA7LT

GARY ELLIOTT K7OX

What is this all about? Here is the BEGINNINGS LINK to the start of SDXA, written by Lamar WA7LT. It is self-explanatory. None of us would be reading this website if it had not been for these three gentlemen moving to Spokane to be close to their respective daughters about the same time.

2017 SDXA-sponsored PNW DX Convention Chairman Randy Foltz K7TQ gave out plaque awards to his staff supporting the good results of the convention. These awards went to:

Secretary Jay WA0WWW and his award

Jay Holcomb WA0WWW
Chuck Williams KI7DG
Mel Ming N7GCO
Gary Bytnar AD7XG

The 2017 SDXA-sponsored plaque for the winner of our special category in the Salmon Run contest was SDXA member Gary Swartout K7GS. Thanks Gary for bringing the plaque home.

The category was:

Single Operator
Operating in the ARRL EWA Section
Using low power
Doing a Mixed Mode of two or more of the three allowed modes with a fixed percentage from the rules

How well do you know the antennas at your fellow SDXA member’s QTHs?

1.
MARK W7MEM

2.
SDXA FIELD DAY IN RATHDRUM
3.
SDXA FIELD DAY IN RATHDRUM. K7AWB ON LADDER CONNECTING HIS 7-ELEMENT M2 6M7JHV 6-METER YAGI
4.
BOB W7AU IN EPHRATA. IT’S THE START OF A REAL 3-ELEMENT 80 METER YAGI INSTALLATION

5.
PRESIDENT CHRIS WX7B
6.
GEORGE W6AEA IN SPOKANE VALLEY BEFORE HE MOVED
7.
SECRETARY JAY WA0WWW, THE GAP MAN
8.
STEVE K7AWB, BROADCAST FM ANTENNA TRYING TO GET 91.7 MHZ FM IN PULLMAN DURING 80’S – BEST AURORA OF HIS LIFETIME
9.
DAN N5AR, TALLEST HAM TOWER IN SPOKANE COUNTY

This is a list of companies or individuals that have helped SDXA hams in their antenna work. They are listed because of satisfactory performance according to our members.

1. Jeremiah Puhek KD7DMP

JP Telecomm
tower climbing, running coax/heliax,
installing antennas, connectors, solid state and tube repairs, selling refurbished equipment, etc.
phone 509 998-2865
jeremiahp@jptelecomm.com
https://jptelecomm.com/
has rate sheet for hams

If you have other recommendations,
let the Webmasters know

Reflectors are a great source of information on selected topics. It’s sort of like the “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” TV show where a stumped contestant can “ask the audience” for the answers. What they get back is a bar graph from people who are knowledgable about the subject and answers from those who don’t know anything about the subject. It’s up to the contestant to figure out if the bar graph gives them the right answer.

Same from Refectors. You ask a question on a topic, say tower installation, and you will get several answers back that may disagree among themselves. But often, there is more than only one correct answer in antenna construction, but several methods of installation providing that they safe. Here are some of my favorites:

TOWERTALK – about antennas and tower, etc. Join TowerTalk at this LINK.

WSJTgroup – about the Joe taylor Weak Signal digital modes. Join the Yahoo group at the YAHOO GROUP LINK.

N1MMloggerplus – a free contesting logging program. Most serious logging programs have their own reflectors such as DX4WIN, N3FJP, etc. Join the Yahoo group at YAHOO GROUP LINK.

FFMA – about the ARRL’s Fred Fish Memorial Award for working all 488 6-meter Maidenhead grids in the 48 contiguous United States. Join the Yahoo group at YAHOO GROUP LINK.

CQ-contest-request – about various contesting discussions. Join CQ-contest group at this LINK.

The website CONTESTING.COM gives you a larger list of reflectors under the headings of CONTEST LISTS and OTHER LISTS at the lower left side.