DELARANEWS

Joe

Joe Papworth, K8MP

Low Band DXing around the Winter Solstice Howdy from Joe’s Place… Ring out the Old, Ring in the New It’s hard to believe that another year has come and gone. But what a year it was. Our radio room at the Red Cross was totally revamped, as were the wire antennas, the ground system, and lightning protection. A 160-meter Inverted-L was added. The “L” will come in handy in a number of ways. Besides rag-chewing and contesting on Top Band, The OHDEN (Ohio Digital Emergency Net) is considering a move from 80-meters to 160-meters, due to 80 being so “long” after sunset at this time of the solar cycle. Thank you Dale and his helpers! (Mostly Dale, I think) The “Old”: The “New” The stations are now on solid footing thanks to Tim’s beautiful workmanship. The FT-950 remote operation has been pretty much perfected. (Well, sort of. You know George. He will continue to refine it) I have connected into the 950 from home and tuned around a bit. It works! For those without an HF station at home, this would be an easy way to get on the air without having to leave the comfort of your home. There is very little set up required. Other 2018 Highlights and Lowlights The Delara VE Team (Gary, Bill, plus the rest of us) produced a lot of new and upgraded Hams. In six exam sessions we produced 46 new Hams and 16 upgrades. Two of those sessions were the result of Ham classes run by other clubs, with the Delara Team overseeing the testing. We are becoming famous! The “Wow Signal” movie, featuring our own Dr. Bob Dixon, premiered. We won 4F in Field Day !!! (Yep, again. It’s getting boring) The Republic of Kosovo (Z6) was added to the DXCC List of current entities. In the better-late-than-never category, a record was set when Bob, W8ERD, received a QSL from a 1990 QSO with 3DA0DX. The sender, ZS6BRZ, took the heat saying he filled out the card but somehow never mailed it. In the bummer-of-the-year category, the Bouvet Island DXpedition was scrubbed due to bad weather. The team was within sight of the island when they had to turn back, which made it extra painful. In the “We’ll work ‘em all, no matter what it takes” category: We sent visual Morse code via Tim’s trailer at Field Day. Scuttlebutt says it was seen by astronauts on the space station. We’ll never know for sure. Ed, K8MEJ, worked with the folks at Camp Lazarus to demo Ham Radio for the scouts on two occasions. (June day camp and JOTA) They loved having us and we’re going back in 2019, making it bigger and better! In the “Has it really been 30 years?” category. DELARA History 30 years ago - May 1988 Russia changed over to direct QSL instead of Box 88 for all hams. Prior to this, every QSL card out of the USSR had “QSL via Box 88, Moscow” printed on it. After they began allowing Russian citizens to have mail sent directly to their homes, it was like an iron weight was lifted off of them. I received letters, photos, and even Christmas cards from Russian hams and their families. One of them, Nick, RA1QQ, had a son the same age as our son Josh. (Kindergarten age at the time) Nick and I set up a letter exchange between Josh’s and Dima’s classmates. Here are some notable photos from the past year K8MEJ’s “Giant-to-tiny” adaptor. (Rumor has it that DX Engineering carries these but I can’t find them) “Dit and Dah” took one for the team. RIP you guys. Mount “Olympics”??? Bringing a classic heathkit receiver into the 21st century. Oh, hell no… “Otto” the DX Alert Master “Fantasy Island” (On the cheap!) JB Weld: The new “Handy man’s secret weapon” ??? Well, another year is in the books. I hope to see you all at the party. If not, then next year, at Joe’s Place!

Bonus-

The “Other” Will Crestline, Ohio: The town that began as a train station For passenger convenience, the “Bee Line” (Cleveland/Columbus/Cincinnati) wanted a stop-off between Galion and Shelby, a distance of 13 miles. Since there were no towns there, they built a station halfway between them. Soon after, a general store, a post office, and a few homes were built. Early residents believed they lived on the divide separating the Great Lakes and Mississippi River watersheds, hence the name Crest Line. It turned out the location was not on the divide but the name stuck and was later changed to one word: Crestline. As time went by, it became a hub of railroad activity with The Pennsylvania and New York Central Railroads, among others. Major engine facilities were operated in Crestline. Locomotives were often switched out there to accommodate either the flat western runs out to Chicago or the mountainous eastern runs through Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Railroad’s engine facility included a round house. It was decommissioned in 1968 after the merger with NY Central and then demolished in 2007. Today, the Chicago, Fort Wayne and Eastern, CSX, and Norfolk and Southern Railroads operate in and around Crestline which is now a thriving community with various businesses and industries. At heart, it is still a railroad community.

DELARANews

Joe

Joe Papworth, K8MP

Low Band DXing around the Winter Solstice Howdy from Joe’s Place… Ring out the Old, Ring in the New It’s hard to believe that another year has come and gone. But what a year it was. Our radio room at the Red Cross was totally revamped, as were the wire antennas, the ground system, and lightning protection. A 160-meter Inverted-L was added. The “L” will come in handy in a number of ways. Besides rag-chewing and contesting on Top Band, The OHDEN (Ohio Digital Emergency Net) is considering a move from 80- meters to 160-meters, due to 80 being so “long” after sunset at this time of the solar cycle. Thank you Dale and his helpers! (Mostly Dale, I think) The “Old”: The “New” The stations are now on solid footing thanks to Tim’s beautiful workmanship. The FT-950 remote operation has been pretty much perfected. (Well, sort of. You know George. He will continue to refine it) I have connected into the 950 from home and tuned around a bit. It works! For those without an HF station at home, this would be an easy way to get on the air without having to leave the comfort of your home. There is very little set up required. Other 2018 Highlights and Lowlights The Delara VE Team (Gary, Bill, plus the rest of us) produced a lot of new and upgraded Hams. In six exam sessions we produced 46 new Hams and 16 upgrades. Two of those sessions were the result of Ham classes run by other clubs, with the Delara Team overseeing the testing. We are becoming famous! The “Wow Signal” movie, featuring our own Dr. Bob Dixon, premiered. We won 4F in Field Day !!! (Yep, again. It’s getting boring) The Republic of Kosovo (Z6) was added to the DXCC List of current entities. In the better-late-than-never category, a record was set when Bob, W8ERD, received a QSL from a 1990 QSO with 3DA0DX. The sender, ZS6BRZ, took the heat saying he filled out the card but somehow never mailed it. In the bummer-of-the-year category, the Bouvet Island DXpedition was scrubbed due to bad weather. The team was within sight of the island when they had to turn back, which made it extra painful. In the “We’ll work ‘em all, no matter what it takes” category: We sent visual Morse code via Tim’s trailer at Field Day. Scuttlebutt says it was seen by astronauts on the space station. We’ll never know for sure. Ed, K8MEJ, worked with the folks at Camp Lazarus to demo Ham Radio for the scouts on two occasions. (June day camp and JOTA) They loved having us and we’re going back in 2019, making it bigger and better! In the “Has it really been 30 years?” category. DELARA History 30 years ago - May 1988 Russia changed over to direct QSL instead of Box 88 for all hams. Prior to this, every QSL card out of the USSR had “QSL via Box 88, Moscow” printed on it. After they began allowing Russian citizens to have mail sent directly to their homes, it was like an iron weight was lifted off of them. I received letters, photos, and even Christmas cards from Russian hams and their families. One of them, Nick, RA1QQ, had a son the same age as our son Josh. (Kindergarten age at the time) Nick and I set up a letter exchange between Josh’s and Dima’s classmates. Here are some notable photos from the past year K8MEJ’s “Giant-to-tiny” adaptor. (Rumor has it that DX Engineering carries these but I can’t find them) “Dit and Dah” took one for the team. RIP you guys. Mount “Olympics”??? Bringing a classic heathkit receiver into the 21st century. Oh, hell no… “Otto” the DX Alert Master “Fantasy Island” (On the cheap!) JB Weld: The new “Handy man’s secret weapon” ??? Well, another year is in the books. I hope to see you all at the party. If not, then next year, at Joe’s Place!