HWC Shield Harvard Wireless Club Bulletin August, 1999

Hello HWC:

I hope everyone has had a good summer. Enjoy what little is left of it. First off, the family and I will be moving back to Pennsylvania on the 31st of this month. I'm still in the running for several positions in this area but our apartment lease is up so its back to the PA house we go -- for a while anyway. So, here's the rest of the summertime news:

  1. This past Thursday, K1VR had a barbecue in honor of W3EF and family's return from England for summer break. We all got to meet and talk with Jelka, S57NW, a noted YL contester from Slovenia who is here on holiday. It goes without saying, a good time was had by all.

  2. Our packet DXCluster gear is up and running again. Tnx to KO1O and N1TDI for bringing it over to the HWC so we could hook it up again. There is a new node in Hopkinton (W1FY) sponsored by the Framingham Amateur Radio Association that we connect easily to. Nice to see those spots rolling again. . .

  3. Unfortunately the August Flea was pretty much a bust for us. Tnx to N1EXQ for putting in a couple of hours. And that was it. I sure hope the HWC can make a comeback in September and October. Remember, the Flea accounts for 90-95% of our operating budget each year.

  4. TNX to K3USC for selling several small white elephant pieces for us at a recent hamfest in Ohio. An $81 check is coming our way.

  5. And another TNX to Coach Warren Smith for donating a solid oak table and three chairs to the HWC. Warren did a little remodeling of the golf area and we are the lucky recipients of his older furniture. The table is 5' x 3' and looks great in the clubroom. Finally, a meeting table! It's really a gem.

  6. The ARRL finally ruled on the Collegiate Championship last week. Unfortunately, things turned out rather poorly for collegiate stations. The ARRL has dropped the CC in favor of a school club category in which no champion is declared and alumni are prohibited from operating. As a consequence, UTexas ARC, the originators of the event, have taken control of the CC again and will run it independently as it was from 1994-1997. I hope to see HWC operators work the SS in the Multi-op category and also submit their scores to the CC committee. Remember, W1AF holds all CC Ivy records but one.

  7. VE7KSQ, Chris Dedels, a summer school student from Canada, was a summer member of the club. He stopped by half a dozen times in recent weeks and hopefully had some fun here.

  8. Speaking of activity at the club, there hasn't been too much over the past month. N1EXQ passed through last Sunday to give the tour to a G-land friend and to work some 6 Meters. I worked several hours in the IOTA contest a while back and also snagged several new countries this week for W1AF (JW, CY9) on CW. Mostly, I've been cranking out QSLs for 7Z5OO & PJ5AA. I'm caught up, once again -- but not for long, I'm sure.

  9. Our new equipment insurance policy from Albert Wohlers arrived last week. We're covered again through September 2000.

  10. Several weeks ago I wrote an article for CQ entitled, "A Collegiate Radio Milestone: the Harvard Wireless Club 90th Anniversary Celebration." CQ requested this to go along with the October cover shot. You can find the article in Members Only on the HWC web site. Obviously, this is not for distribution until publication. I also sent CQ a number of recent photos and 2 sidebar articles; one on that pesky story of the origin of the word "Ham." The other is little piece I put together on Professor G. W. Pierce, the HWC founder. I think it makes a nice package and I hope the CQ audience enjoys it.

  11. I'm putting together an internal document entitled, "Managing the Harvard Wireless Club" that I'll post for you on Members Only tomorrow. Believe me, there's a lot to it and I need to get this down on paper for all of you. Unless someone steps forward and volunteers to pick up the station manager chores (realistically, I doubt if any of you has the time but the offer certainly stands) the HWC will be without a station manager or acting station manager for the first time in over a decade.

  12. I want to mention the 90th Anniversary Special Event again and ask that you reserve that weekend (October 2 & 3) to put in as much operating time as possible. With the CQ and QST articles, there will be a real crowd out there looking for W1AF so I hope we can give them one heck of a good operation. I'll be back to work the event. I've asked Phil to help out with the coordination of operator schedules. In case you've never operated a special event before, I'll put together some information regarding operating procedures and send it to you next month.

    Well, that's about it. It's been a great year and I'm glad I was around to do my bit for the club. I'll leave you with the "Suggested Goals for the 1999-2000 School Year" from the 1998-1999 Annual Report:

    1. Plan and carry out a successful special event anniversary operation this coming October

    2. Devise ways of involving HWC alumni in the club again; institute a development campaign with HWC alumni

    3. Plan and carry out a yearlong training and member recruitment program

    4. Establish a quarterly VEC exam schedule

    5. Encourage more actual on-the-air activity from W1AF

    6. Encourage more active participation by members who seldom attend meetings

    7. Implement additional measures to promote the club web site

    8. Successfully cover the duties of the HWC Station Manager

    9. Plan and carry out Sweepstakes and Field Day operations

    10. Erect a 160 Meter antenna 73,
      Mike, K3UOC

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      © 1999 The President and Fellows of Harvard College.