Traffic Call 2006

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September-December

Newsletter of the Ben White Memorial Nets

Founded 1938 by Ben White W4PL

January – August 2006

No. 290

Hit and Bounce Net Daily 8:30 AM ET 7042 kHz

Hit and Bounce Slow Net Daily 7:30 AM ET 3590 kHz

LARRY FRAZER AWARD

JULY – DECEMBER

WØUCE

The Larry Frazer, W4SUS Award Committee has chosen Jack, WØUCE as the next award recipient. Jack brings a tremendous amount of traffic savvy to HBN. Jack brings a huge amount of traffic to HBN also. Jack is a valuable asset assisting net control and helping forward traffic. Congratulation's Jack!

-Awards Committee

HBN Manager’s Comments

I know most of you thought that I had fallen off the face of the earth, and some thought they had been taken off the mailing list. My fault for not keeping everyone informed. Sorry. I was in WV with my mother for a month. When I got home, I got carried away trying to rest and had a bad case of the blahs, or maybe just burnout. I got phone calls from Ole, Mark and Edith, and talking helped. Thanks for your concern. I’m up to my ears in net reports, some of which will be printed in this issue.

Sorry to hear that we lost two fine operators this year; NR9K and W1PEX. They are missed very much.

HBN June and July: In June, QNI 467; QTC 567; QSP 527; Average time: 32. (Missing reports June 2 and June 16.) In July, QNI 481; QTC 611; QSP 576; Average time: 30. (Missing July 7).

New Addresses: WF1M, Robert T. Allan, 131 Cedar Ave., Orange City, Fl 32763 and WA4SRD, Edith McDade, 407 Pocono Court, Arden, NC 28704-8475

New QNI: KA2GJV, Bruce, NY

73, Sis WD8DIN

In case you missed the following in QST, here is Ole’s contribution about our net:

Hit and Bounce Nets: The Beat Goes On

by Ole, N4ABM

It’s ten PM local. I’m the NCS of the NTS Virginia Net (3680 kHz). A station in Lynchburg has a birthday greeting message for someone in Maine. The birth date is tomorrow. The NTS has gone to bed in the eastern corridor. Solution: pick it up and take it to HBN, the Hit and Bounce Net. HBN meets daily at 8:30 AM local on 7042 kHz. The chances are about .85 that the message will probably go to Dave, KC1DI or Bill, W1KX based on historical net statistics. These data can be found in Traffic Call, published by Sis, WD8DIN, North Carolina, who is HBN Manager nowadays. With a little bit of luck the ARL 46 message will arrive before the candles on the cake are blown out.

If I wanted to get up an hour earlier I could take this message to the Hit and Bounce Slow Net (HBSN). It meets daily on 3714 kHz. Its Manager today is Mike (WD8DHC) in WV. Usually one of the HBSN QNI will go to the HBN. And our statistics show that a Maine station frequently checks into the HBSN too.

As Sis has written: "These are the Ben White Memorial Nets. HBN was founded in 1938 by Ben White, W4PL, and still going strong. HBSN was born in 1973. They are wide-area independent nets, with approximately one hundred members, known as the Royal Order of the Arfers (ROOA). Our password is "Arf", and once you have established yourself as a regular check-in and have been issued a certificate, you are then a "certified traffic hound", and have the privilege of "arfing" around the "kennel". "Rouser" is the current net mascot and Sis is in charge of the Kennel.

Given worldwide terrorist activity and the uncertainty it creates the value of effective wide area CW nets would seem to have increased. Thankfully, HBN and HSBN provide that kind of coverage on a daily basis, holidays included. Its members know how to QNB, and can switch bands to make contacts using the best skip distance. Some days, to pass traffic, 80, 40, 30 and 20 meters are all employed.

Most HBN/HSBN regulars are members of NTS, several are active in the TCC, and hence these stations can widen the net to cover the USA and Canada. On any given day, despite band conditions these nets will typically have stations QNI from AR, CT, DE, FL, GA, IN, MD, ME, MA, MI, MN, NJ, NC, NY, OH, ON, PA, TX, WV, VA, VT. Daily QNI is about 18-30, so the chances your message will have a station that can move it on HBN/HSBN are high.

Nevertheless, our membership is aging. We need volunteers to take on NCS positions. We need stations in states where we have lost members through

illnesses or SK. We would welcome any of those great operators we hear during contest times (we move to alternative frequencies then to avoid the created QRM) to join in with the HBN/HSBN CW gang to help perpetuate and invigorate these White Memorial Nets. As Amateur Radio station owners and operators we all have responsibility to provide a public service. All Radio Amateurs are welcome to do just that by checking into HBN/HBSN.

To learn more about HBN/HBSN history, its awards, and roster of stations go to the Internet and key in http:/hitandbounce.net.

Comment received via email:

I just read N4ABM's article in March QST (p.94) about the Hit and Bounce Nets. My, what nostalgia that brings forth! As a teenager in the 1950's when I lived in New York as W2JOA, I was a very active traffic handler. I found enjoyment in traffic handling as opposed to DX, because I had a poor station with poor antennas. Only the best local operators could hear me, and I got pleasure in being able to move traffic with my little station instead of being frustrated by NOT snagging the DX.

I remember the Hit and Bounce Net very well. Each member sat and idled with "QRZ TFC?" a few kHz apart around 7140 kHz. We would drop in on each other to clear our traffic. I checked in with Ben, W4PL and others every morning and took traffic for the Northeast (W1, W2 areas). Ben's fist was distinctive because he used a particular kind of newfangled electronic key, while most of the rest of us used bugs. I remember one Christmas, Ben sent me a shiny new flashlight. I was embarrassed, since I had not sent him a present. I asked him why he sent it to me, and he replied "I never knew a kid who couldn't make good use of a flashlight". He knew I was just a kid, but trusted me completely with his traffic. That made me live up to the responsibility! I also checked in

with VE3BUR, VE3ATR, W4FPC on Hit & Bounce, and others long since forgotten. I ran long-haul skeds in the evening with W3CUL and WØTQD (now WØUS) around 7140 and worked W3CUL again in the morning on Hit & Bounce. I think all calls mentioned except WØUS are now SK's.

Many other calls listed on your "history" webpage are familiar too, although I don't remember them all from Hit & Bounce; they may have been there earlier or later than my active period. I remember W8DAE's booming, bell-like signal, I think mostly as an Ohio net control on 80m. W2OE was a traffic giant on 80m and I remember his big raunchy signal with clicks. I also remember W2EC who had the distinctive swing of a sideswiper instead of a bug. I can still remember how they sent the code, just like you would remember a familiar voice.

Back then, the last remnants of Trans-Continental Relay Net 4 (TCRN-4) were single-handedly maintained every night by Red Barger, W3CVE, on 7042. That was the other big traffic frequency on 40m back in the 50's and you have now chosen to make good use of that historically significant frequency for Hit & Bounce.

Unfortunately I had to give up traffic handling after many BPL awards, BPL medallion and about 50,000 messages. That was to avoid flunking out of college. Back then, traffic was very meaningful, many

consisting of MARS refilings from service personnel in

Korea and Germany and I hated to give it up.

Eventually I moved to California in 1966 and was

disappointed that I never found a counterpart to Hit & Bounce on the west coast. My ham time was limited and irregular due to my career as an Engineer in the Space Program, so I turned to DXing. By now I had a good station, and DX was an activity that I could engage in whenever I had a free moment, whereas traffic demanded more regularity than I could devote. Now that I am retired I drop into the local CW traffic nets here on 80m occasionally, but there is almost no traffic handled on it anymore.

I am so glad to find you have memorialized Ben in Hit & Bounce. He deserves it. He was a great traffic hound! I wish you all much success carrying on his legacy.

73, - - Merv MacMedan, N6NO

Ex-W2JOA (1951-1966), W6IUV(1966-1977)

Profile: Art Thiemens AA4AT

I came from a small town of Medical Lake, close to Spokane WA. When WWII came I enlisted and went to radio school at Scott Field, Ill, which is close to St. Louis. From there I went to radar school in Boca Raton, Florida and eventually joined a Sea Search flying squadron plying the east coast for subs (1942). I was a radar operator on the plane crew and went to Trinidad for a few months, still looking for German subs. Later, in 1944,I was assigned to Baer Field, near Ft. Wayne, Ind. I ended up there as a M/Sgt in charge of the radar section.

While there I took a correspondence course in radio repair and introductory TV. I got a job in evenings repairing radios for half of the labor charge. Was discharged from there in August 1945 and returned to St. Louis, where the xyl and her mother and grandmother lived. Her father had passed away earlier. I got a job repairing radios in a small appliance store, which soon folded.

Then found work at the Crosley distributor as a radio repairman. The first job they gave me was replacing a five-band radio band change switch, which had multiple contacts and wires, and all the wires were red color. I succeeded in doing the job, and all was well after that. Later, joined RCA in the spring of 1947 as a TV antenna installer

AA4AT Photo below

aa4at.jpg

RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF AN OLD HAM

Geo does his summer duties away from campus

A journalistic history of the life and times in the

Amateur Radio world of W1NJM

- by George Hart, W1NJM

CHAPTER 20 - MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE FARM

My participation in AARS did not cease during the

summer months. My brother Ed, W3NF, had also been

active in AARS and in 1933 he was assigned WLML

and we took over the Wednesday night WLM operation as usual. Ed at that time lived in Bloomsbury, NJ, a suburb of Phillipsburg. He had a nice location just off the then route U.S. 22 with an empty field behind his house on which he erected an A-frame antenna. The result was an outstanding signal, even better than we had on College Hill. The farm by then had electricity, but Ed much preferred his own location, so I was a frequent visitor at W3NF in Bloomsbury, especially on Wednesday nights. If for whatever reason I was not able to be there, Ed was quite as capable as I, perhaps even more so, of conducting the WLM schedules.

Backtracking a little: During the second semester of my freshman year at Penn State, after Prof. Crossley

slipped me a key to the station "under the table," I made contact with Ed at the farm once a week. He had obtained a second-hand generator in dubious condition, had installed it in an outbuilding and, after considerable effort, had succeeded in getting it running. It was capable of only 500 watts and Ed used it for the ham transmitter. I remember well the first contact using the generator and Ed's elation having "electricity at the farm." His signal was strong and of good quality and we had a good half hour conversation (all by Morse Code, of course, which was to us as good as talking by voice, better in some respects).

During our second contact using the old generator he

mentioned that it "sounded funny," so we signed off so he could investigate. I learned the full story a couple of days later when we made contact with Ed using battery power again. On conclusion of our previous contact, he looked out the window and discovered the outbuilding in which the generator was housed, several hundred feet away, ablaze. He called the Riegelsville fire department, the nearest to the farm, but the telephone connection had to go through the Easton rural exchange. We were on a twelve party line which was occupied almost all the time, so he had to get the party occupying the line to get off, then for the rural operator to answer, then wait for her to complete the long-distance routing to Riegelsville, which was only three miles away.

Thus, the call went from the farm to Easton, five miles north, to Riegelsville, nine miles south through lines that hummed and crackled - a far cry from the type of telephone service we enjoy today. By the time firefighters arrived, first from Riegelsville, then from Easton, the fire had spread from the generator building to a nearby wagon shed and was threatening the big barn, all of wooden construction, with old hay occupying the loft in the barn. The blaze lighted the sky for miles around and the one-car lane from the highway to our farm was soon congested with curiousity-seekers, making it difficult for fire trucks to reach the scene. When they finally did, the barn was ablaze -- flying embers were landing on the house. Hope for saving the barn was quickly abandoned and the firefighters concentrated on saving the house. Fortunately, the main part of the house was made of stone and the roof of slate; but an extension protruded toward the barn made of wood, as was the interior of the house. With a limited water supply, it was "nip and tuck" for several hours.

The big barn and other outbuildings were abandoned as a total loss, and the total effort was in saving the house. Meanwhile, spectators poured into the area and caused terrific congestion. It must have been a frantic time, but the house was saved. The three other buildings, however - the generator building, the wagon shed and the barn with its voluminous load of hay -burned to the ground. All that was left were a few

smoking embers and the stone wall surrounding what had been the barnyard. Thus ended the brief presence of W3AMR at the farm.

Shortly thereafter, Ed moved to Bloomsbury and set up W3NF there. Fortunately, the entire property, including all buildings, was heavily insured. The buildings were never rebuilt; they weren't being used anyway. The insurance money provided some badly needed funds to continue college education expenses for me and my younger brother, and for running an electric service from the highway, about 3/4 of a mile, to the house. A private contractor installed poles and line, which was then owned by my mother. The electric company approved the line, installed a transformer at its end, and imposed a $10 minimum monthly fee. Reasonable? Not really. An average household in the city paid only about $5 a month for electricity; but rural electricity laws were not yet in effect, and the electric company could dictate terms. The house was wired by an electrical contractor under Ed's supervision, all BX cable with #14 gauge wire and standard wall and floor outlets.

Electrical consumption then was nowhere near what it is today. Ed's residency in Bloomsbury didn't last long. He was unable to keep up the mortgage payments, and in a year or two he had sold the place and moved back to the farm where, with commercial electricity now available, W3NF was reinstalled and W3AMR became history. I maintained my station license at the farm, but I had no equipment of my own and during my weekend visits, vacations and summers I operated W3NF/WLML.

Next in Chapter 21: Penn State rocky middle years

June Top QTC: WØUCE 218; K8LJG 60; N1OTC 39; KW1U 31; KA8WNO 28; K8KV 23; 2X4H 18; KB8ZYY 16; W2EAG 12. Top QNI: KA8WNO 27; WØUCE 25; N1OTC 25; WX4H 25; W2EAG 24; K8LJG 22; N4ABM 22; W1WCG 20.

July Top QTC: WØUCE 218; K8LJG 61; KA8WNO 60; KW1U 57; N1OTC 53; K8KV 27; W2MTA 15; WX4H 14; WA2YL 11. Top QNI: WX4H 29; WØUCE 28; KA8WNO 27; W2MTA 26; K8LJG 23; W2EAG 22; K2TV 22; N1OTC 21; KW1U 20; AA4AT 20; W1WCG 18; K8KV 17; V3EDTR 14; WB8KPE 13.

Treasurer’s Report

Ole, N4ABM Treasurer

Balance 12/31/05 $196.44

KA8WNO 1/14/2006 $10.00

Balance 1/24/06 $206.44

Pd Print 2/6/2006 -54.95

Pd Post 2/6/2006 -40.56

Balance 2/6/06 $110.93

W8RTN 2/7/2006 $20.00

KG2HA 2/6/2006 $25.00

W8CPG 2/9/2006 $10.00

WD8Q 3/7/2006 $15.00

KX8B 3/21/2006 $20.00

Balance 2/29/06 $200.93

W8IM 8/1/2006 $10.00

Balance 8/8/06 $210.93

W2EAG 8/12/2006 $10.00

Balance 9/4/06 $220.93

To make a contribution, please make checks payable to Merritt Olson, 12106 Stirrup Road, Reston, VA 20191-2104

Your contributions are greatly appreciated. Lee, Sam, Bruce, Henry, Chuck, Dean and Mark, thank you.

TRAFFIC CALL

C. L. Berry WD8DIN

1182 Eastbrook Lane

Hendersonville NC

28792-6411

The QSB of CW

-K1BTD

The cessation of CW service on 500 kHz has affected more than just the maritime industry.

Once upon a time, a young CW ham (with ambition) always had the hopes for employment and adventure with one of the many unique CW employers.

The elimination of the distress watch has triggered the malcontents who lack ambition and drive. The employment potential is no longer present.

The sole remaining point of CW justification seems to be the advantage of simple, low power consuming equipment in a disaster area. Self esteem with new hams seems to be a thing of the past.

The act of coupling the words "5 wpm" and "Extra" should cause any reasonably mentally competent individual to wonder how these words complement each other.

The biggest tragedy is that the three "concerns" of the licensing process are condoning dubious methods of CW testing.

If you get the opportunity to stand in front of a monument in Battery Park-NYC, you realize this might be the last dedication to the mystique of the morse operator.

-K1BTD (Ex TI2KCS, VP5CS, ZD8CS, KL7FBK, K1BTD/VK6, K1BTD/mm)

In Memory of Dan and Ad

W1PEX

Daniel Arthur Mac Donald, 87, of Nashua NH, died Tuesday, May 2, 2006, at the Hunt-Pavilion in Nashua after a long battle with cancer. Mr. Mac Donald was born July 16, 1918, in Rockingham, village of Bellows Falls, Vt., son of the late Harry and Winifred (Belknap) Mac Donald. His family lived in Lexington, Mass., for 30 years. He moved to the Hunt Community in Nashua in 1988.

He was the widower of Virginia (Beattie) Mac Donald. Mr. Mac Donald retired from Civil Service at ESC-Hanscom Air Force Base. In the 1960s, he served in the Civil Defense and Civil Air Patrol and traveled on business trips overseas. Throughout his career he worked in the electronics field.

He was a longtime ham radio operator, and learned to use computers. He was a Mason and Shriner and a member of The First Church of Nashua.

Mr. Mac Donald was a Navy veteran who sailed on the USS Northhampton in the Hawaiian territory. He reenlisted in 1942, and served during World War II as an instructor at Fleet Radio School. In 1944 he was the NCO in charge of Joint Communications on the Island of Tinian. Mr. Mac Donald graduated from high school in 1937. He later graduated from the University of Vermont with an engineering degree on the GI Bill.

NR9K

Addison Boren Scholes, glass technologist and ceramic engineer, died March 28, 2006 at his home in Upper Saucon Township, Pennsylvania. He was 88 years old.

After graduation from Alfred Universitys College of Ceramics in 1939 with a degree in ceramic engineering and glass technology, Mr. Scholes worked in research and development for almost his entire professional life. He was essentially an inventor with more than 40 patents to his credit. He was an elected fellow of the American Ceramic Society.

He was employed at Sylvania Corporation in Massachusetts, then joined the Air Force Research Project at Alfred University, developing ceramic liners for the exhaust systems of jet fighter planes, then returned to Sylvania in Warren, Pennsylvania. For the next 25 years, he worked at Ball Corporation, Muncie, Indiana as director of development and led research and development teams. He was recognized in 1980 with the Award of Excellence for outstanding contribution to Ball Corporation.

Mr. Scholes was a world authority on glass coatings. His invention of a process for coating glass has had application worldwide. He contributed a ceramic device which makes possible the atomic clock in satellites, essential to the Global Positioning System. In retirement, he was a valued consultant and was still an avid inventor. In recent months he had been devising a method for refurbishing florescent light bulbs.

Mr. Scholes was an active musician, singing in and directing barbershop quartets. He was a certified harmony accuracy judge for barbershop music competitions. An avid amateur radio operator, he achieved the highest level extra radio license and often served as a net manager for the American Relay Radio League.

He was also an active sailor, competing nationwide in the Day Sailer class and serving one term as president of the Day Sailer Association. In later years, he cruised Lake Erie, single-handing a 27-foot sloop. He brought an intense energy and competitive spirit to racing, as he did to everything in which he was involved.

As an undergraduate at Alfred University, he was the smallest man on the football team at 140 pounds, but played like a tiger. He brought to the laboratory, to his community, to his family and to every endeavor intense commitment. Soon after graduation from Alfred, he married his college sweetheart, Virginia Robinson, who died in their 63rd year of marriage in 2002.

WHY BAD BAND CONDITIONS?

The last many months have shown us hams band conditions that were near non-existent of unheard of by most of us who were on the bands years before. They were about as reliable as bull cooks or Baptist ministers. Something has caused all that normality to go awry.

Thinking back to to the many possible causes, I have come to a conclusion. What's causing all this Morse misery? All arrows point to just one cause. Global warming is the culprit!   -Arfie Woofingham

Hit and Bounce Slow Net January 2006 Report

QNI 260 QTC 41 Time 653 minutes.

KC1DI

DAVID

ME

1

N1JX

ARNOLD

NJ

26

W1KX

BILL

ME

8

N1PVP

MARINO

MA

3

W2DSX

   

1

W2EAG

MARK

NC

13

KG2HA

SAM

NY

30

W2PL

PHIL

NY

2

K2VX

DAVID

VA

5

N3COR

DON

PA

12

VE3DTR

JOHN

ON

26

W3JKX

EARLE

EPA

4

WA3JXW

DUDLEY

EPA

11

W3QQ

CID

DE

3

N4ABM

OLE

VA

1

KT4CB

   

11

W4VLL

VIC

VA

7

K5GAT

   

1

W5TFB

JACK

TX

1

KX8B

CHUCK

OH

20

WD8DHC

MIKE

WV

18

WB8KPE

DON

WV

1

WD8Q

HENRY

OH

24

KI8U

   

7

KA8WNO

JACK

WV

1

N9KHD

ANDY

WI

21

K9VSO

   

1

HBN June QNI

KC1DI Dave ME 6 - 0

W1KX Bill ME 8 - 0

N1OTC Jack MA 25 - 39

N1PVP Marino MA 2 - 4

KW1U Marcia MA 13 - 31

W1WCG Van CT 20 - 2

WA2CUW Tom NJ 1 - 0

W2EAG Mark MA 24 -12

WB2GTG Bill NY 1 - 2

W2MTA Bill NY 18 - 4

K2TV Bob NY 16 - 1

N2ULY Paul NY 1 - 0

K2VX David VA 1 - 0

WA2YL Jan FL 10 - 4

N3DE Harry MD 4 - 1

VE3DTR John ON 17- 0

W3FAF John MN 5 - 0

W3JKX Earle EPA 2 - 0

WA3JXW Dudley EPA 8 - 1

K3MIY Ron WPA 10 - 3

N3QA Cal MD 2 - 0

K3RC Bob OH 15 - 0

N3SW Scott PA 1 - 0

WA3UNX Don WPA 1 - 0

WA3YLO Tony MD 1 -1

N4ABM Ole VA 22 - 10

AA4AT Art VA 16 - 5

K4FUM Jere GA 2 - 0

WX4H Mort FL 25 - 18

K4IWW Will NC 24 - 11

KB4T Frank FL 11 - 0

W4VFJ Chas NC 3 - 0

W4WXA Tom GA 1 - 0

KA5NNG Mike AR 4 - 0

WD8DHC Mike WV 3 - 9

WD8DIN Sis NC 4 - 1

W8IM Dean FL 6 - 0

N8IY Sam WV 1 - 4

WB8KPE Don WV 16 - 0

K8KV Ben MI 19 - 23

K8LJG John MI 22 - 60

KA8NYY Dudley FL 2 - 0

WD8Q Henry OH 2 - 0

W8RTN Lee MI 3 - 0

KA8WNO Jack WV 27 - 28

KB8ZYY Ray MI 2 - 16

K9PUI Dick IN 4 - 0

WØUCE Jack NC 25 - 218

………….

HBN July QNI

K1BTD Keith CT 1 - 0

KC1DI Dave ME 8 - 0

W1KX Bill ME 11 - 0

N1OTC Jack MA 21 - 53

N1PVP Marino MA 2 - 3

KW1U Marcia MA 20 - 57

W1WCG Van CT 18 - 6

WA2CUW Tom NJ 6 - 0

W2EAG Mark MA 22 - 6

KA2GJV Bruce NY 2 - 3

W2MTA Bill NY 26 - 15

K2TV Bob NY 22 - 0

WA2YL Jan FL 12 - 11

N3AO Carter WPA 2 - 0

VE3DTR John ON 14 - 0

W3FAF John MN 5 - 0

K3GHH John MD 1 - 0

W3JKX Earle EPA 1 - 0

WA3JXW Dudley EPA 10 - 0

K3MIY Ron WPA 11 - 0

N3QA Cal MD 4 - 0

K3RC Bob OH 9 - 0

WA3UNX Don WPA 2 - 0

WA3YLO Tony MD 1 - 1

N4ABM Ole VA 12 - 1

AA4AT Art VA 20 - 3

WB4FDT Pip MD 2 - 0

WX4H Mort FL 29 - 14

KB4T Frank FL 1 - 0

W4VFJ Chas NC 10 - 0

WD8DHC Mike WV 2 - 4

W8IM Dean FL 9 - 0

WB8KPE Don WV 13 - 0

K8KV Ben MI 17 - 27

K8LJG John MI 23 - 61

KA8NYY Dudley FL 3 - 0

W8RTN Lee MI 3 - 0

WB8SIW Jim MI 1 - 0

KA8WNO Jack WV 27 - 60

K9PUI Dick IN 1 - 0

WØUCE Jack NC 28 - 218

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