THE FIRST CLASS C.W.

OPERATORS CLUB

NEWS SHEET 632

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

Editor: G4BUE

June 2002

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

BANDS OF THE MONTH FOR JUNE ARE 10 METRES & VHF

THE 2002 LONDON FOC DINNER by G3VTT

Saturday 5 October 2002 See page 2 of FOCUS 50 for full information
Tickets 29.50 each from Maud Slater, Wychwood, Park Lane, Maplehurst, West Sussex RH13 6LL. Telephone 01403 891342.
Please order your tickets from Maud (see above) and remember to state your choice of meal - lamb, salmon or vegetarian. Cheques payable to FOC and overseas members can pay on the day. Margot and Herman, DJ2BW, will be attending and he has kindly offered to bring a paddle as raffle gift. Also new member Ken, DL8LBK, and Alexandra will be coming for the first time. A bottle of Glenmorangie Scottish whiskey has also been donated for the raffle. If you are attending is there a prize you could donate please? We are already seeing some new faces coming to the London Dinner for the first time and if you have not attended in recent years why not join us this year? Two of the ladies are already planning a trip to the Greenwich Antiques and Craft Market which is held on the Saturday afternoon. There will plenty for the wives and family to do in the immediate area of the Tavern and the lunch venues, shops, sightseeing and museums are all in the vicinity. More details will be published over the following two months.

June and I arrived home in the UK for the summer on 22 May. When we booked the flight earlier in the year, we wondered whether we were leaving it too late as we did not want to miss out on any nice late spring weather that we often get in the UK in May. Judging from the weather we have had since we returned, I think we should have delayed the flight back even later! It is hard to believe that Midsummer Day is less than four weeks away and I do not ever recall having heating on at the end of May! The dates of the 2003 North American Weekend in Washington DC have been announced by N3JT as 9/11 May 2003, a week earlier than usual to avoid being the weekend prior to the Dayton Hamvention. The dates of the 2003 International DX Convention at Visalia, California (and hence the West Coast Dinner) have been announced as 2/4 May. Finally, K6LQA is the latest member to tell me he will be attending the London Dinner at Greenwich in October. Got your ticket yet?

EDITORIAL by G4BUE

The committee met at Mauds home in Maplehurst on 27 April. Apologies for absence were received from G3WGV and G4BUE. Further discussions on the Defining the Future Shape of FOC project would be held over until the next meeting to allow more preparation to be made. The membership listing on the public Website was up and running and is being maintained by F5NZY. G3MXJ reported that he had uploaded an all time members listing onto the files area of the members only Website (Yahoo groups). G4VXE presented an outline paper on a suggested FOC Morse Proficiency Programme. The committee approved this. Several actions were initiated. G4VXE will write an article for FOCUS as well as contacting Ed, G3SQX, on the RSGBs Amateur Radio Development Committee. G3NOH will contact other CW clubs to see if they would be interested in co-operating with such an initiative. An objection to 4X4KX was discussed and overruled. Membership matters were discussed

COMMITTEE REPORT by G4VXE

in relation to late payers and inactive members. G3MXJ will write to the members so identified. The club currently has 492 members, 8 Permanent Associates and 3 Temporary Associates. The accounts for the club to the end of December, 2001 were agreed. G3MXJ gave a progress report on the arrangements for the Annual Dinner, 2002 - the arrangements for which are going very smoothly. A suggestion had been received from G3PQC that the 2003 Dinner be held in Eastbourne. It was decided to see how the 2002 Dinner went before considering other options. The format of the Marathon was discussed and possible rules changes considered. It was decided not to make any rule changes. Given the increased interest in QRP however, it was , decided to introduce a 10 watts QRP section. It was noted that a number of entrants had not found the revised format of the tick-sheets convenient. The date of the next meeting with be 10 July at G4BUEs QTH.

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION by G3MXJ

Starred List
3. G4OHX (Sam): VP2MT, G3CWW, W1HMD, VK6WT, SV1AOW, W6TZD. 3. HS/G3NOM (Ray): F5VHC, G4UZN, G3IGW, G3SED, VK2BJ, 5B4AGN, K3ZO, LZ1AF, N8GZ. 2. TL8DV (Dave): W5ZR, WIAK, W3MC, G4OEC, G3LCS, G4HZV, OZ5DX, K4BAI, GM3POI, DK8IT, N3JT, 9J2BO, OK1CZ, ZS1EL. 2. WK2G (Merill): VE3DZZ, K5DQ, W4AN, G3XNG, LZ1AF, G4SIE, KT5X, DJ5ZN, G3IY. 2. G4TSH (Justin): G3WGV, G4BJM, GIVZ, ZF2NT, G4ZVJ, K4AO, G3VMW. 2. W8FJ (John): N3RS, K8MFO, ZS6QU, N3RD, K4LTA, GW3KGV, N2UU ZS1AAX, W2DX. 1. HS/OZ1HET (Finn): LA5HE, G3UOF, OZ5DX, K8JP , SMKV, SM6CLU, LA8XM, LZ1AF, JA1NUT. 1. S53R (Robert): VK6VZ, OK1RR, G4ZVJ, S5A, N8GZ.

Invitations will be sent to 4Z4KX, G3MBN, NSS and ZL2TX.

Additional Nominations

FRIEDRICHSHAFEN (FN) LADIES DAYS by DL8LBK/2

Further to the article on page 10 of FOCUS 50, so far we know of 14 ladies who are going to attend FN. I have made a plan for Friday and Saturday and for Sunday it is possible to make a trip to Pfaender in Austria, but is dependent on the weather! Friday: travel to Ravensburg by public transport for a stroll through the city with shopping and lunch afterwards. For the early afternoon I am about to arrange a 90 minute guided tour in English, but I will help with a translation for the German Ladies. Please let us know if you are going to attend the guided tour as I have to make the arrangement with the tourist information. The fee will be around 7EUR, dependent on how many ladies attend. Saturday: a trip to Berlingen to stroll through the picturesque city with shopping of course. After lunch a visit to the town garden. Sunday: a trip to Pfaender mountain by cable railway with an extraordinary sight over Lake Constanz. There are many loop tracks in a marvellous landscape. Please let me know which day(s) you would like to attend. Thanks! Participants so far are 5B4AGC, 5B4AGN, DJ2BW, DJ4KW, DL4CF, DL8LBK, DL9TJ, F5VEX (G4MCD), G3KHZ, G3MXJ, G3PJT, G3SJJ, GM3YTS and W1HMD. The dates for the 2003 Marathon will be Friday 31 January to Sunday 2 February. Please let G3MXJ, G4BUE or myself know if you intend to use a callsign other than your normal one.

6. G3HJF (Jim): GM3JKS, G3MCK, G4BJM, VE1BN. 5. LA2TD (Odd): LA1IE. 5. SM7EH (Goesta): SM7BVO, SM6CLU. 5. K4OGG (Jay): K4BAI, W4AN, K4EWG, K4LTA. 5. LX1DA (Andre): OK1RR, SM3BCS. 4. N1TO (Ed): N4JT, W4QM. 4. SV1LV (Castor): SV1AOW, VK8AV. 3. ON4WW (Mark): VK6VZ, G4ZVJ, PAVDV. 2. DU3NXE (Chuck): G4ZVJ. 2. G3PDH (Malcolm): G3LIK, GADE, G4YNU, G3MCK. 2. G3OWO (John): F5VHC. 2. GGKH (David): G3LPN, GJWB. 2. GWKJ (Chris): G3WUX, G3LIK, GADE. 1. K1DG (Doug): S5A.. 1. N9RV (Pat): K8MFO.

New Members

1777 GOPB (Tony) A. J. Canning, 261 Loddon Bridge Road, Woodley, Reading, Berks RG5 4BL; XYL - Arlene; tel - 0118 9698274; e-mail <g0opb@compuserve.com>. 1778 G3PJT (Bob) Dr. R. C. Whelan, 36 Green End, Comberton, Cambridge CB3 7DY; XYL Rosemary; tel - 01223 263137; e-mail - <g3pjt@ whsmithnet.co.uk>.

Amendments

K2SG (1494): new address - 24 White Oak Lane, Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey 08087; new tel 609-296-5339. VA3UZ (1740): new call - VA3DZ. My holiday in the Cayman Islands was extremely enjoyable. I have never had experience of seeing a capital citys traffic held up by an iguana in the middle of the road. The weather was very favourable, it rained once during my two weeks on the island - an hour before I was due to leave. There was lots of interesting animal and plant life, marine and land-based to look at (turtles, iguanas, lizards, fish of every imaginable colour etc). Thanks to ZF1EJ and

ZF1VX by G4VXE

THE 2003 MARATHON by G3LIK

the Cayman Amateur Radio Society, I was able to use the excellent ZF1A antenna farm and made just over 3000 QSOs. I made a lot more SSB QSOs than normal (the split was around 50% CW and 50% SSB) in an effort to work more newcomers to the hobby. I was delighted to work very many M3 callsigns (UK Foundation licence holders) and some of the newer US calls. Phil, G3SWH, has very kindly agreed to handle the ZF1VX QSL tasks for me.

ACCOUNTS by GW3KDB FIRST CLASS CW OPERATORS CLUB Financial report for the year ending 31 December 2001
Income Subscriptions 2001 Subscriptions 2002 Bank interest Donations Sundries Sales Lords a) Ticket sales b) Raffles Bank correction and compensation Petty cash repayment Transfer from old a/c Total 2001 5618.93 3742.00 224.50 1962.66 80.23 3478.00 691.50 2002 8602.99 200.01 674.18 294.87 102.50 3374.00 501.50

28.85 27.22 8562.05 15853.89 22312.10

Expenditure Printing (Note 1) 5393.74 4145.06 Postage (Note 1) 3505.34 2830.02 Stationery 283.40 222.32 Sundries 17.00 256.17 Trophies 1199.79 578.15 Petty cash 450.00 Committee expenses 210.48 90.00 Lords 3667.59 3447.96 Lords deposit (for following year) 550.00 587.50 Lords insurance 49.75 52.00 G4FOC licence 15.00 Bank charges 17.60 Transfer to new Bank a/c 8562.05 Total 14909.69 21221.23 Excess income 944.20 Balance Bank 31 Dec 2000 9580.60 Balance Bank 31 Dec 200110524.80 1090.87 8489.73 9580.60

Independent Examiner GP Stancey, G3MCK. Date 6 February 2002. Treasurer PA Miles, GW3KDB. Date 31 January 2002. NOTE 1 Due to the early production of the January 2000 News Sheet and FOCUS 42, these were paid in December 1999. To give a true comparison of cost, printing needs to be increased by 1143.44 and postage by 426.86.

5B4AGN: Bob was QRV as P3F in the WPX CW Contest. DJ6SI: Baldur was QRV for a few days from 9 May as 6OX from Hargeisa, Somaliland. DL8LBK: Alex and Ken will be staying at Tonbridge, Kent for two weeks from 27 September, including attending the Greenwich Dinner. EA8CN: Andy was planning to leave Tenerife in the middle of May to spend the summer in Sweden. F3AT: Congratulations to Ivan on recently qualifying for the DXCC Challenge plaque 1500. F3OA: Mike was QRV for a week in may as CN2OA from the club station at Rabat and then for another week from Marrakesh operating QRP . F5NZY: Steph planned to be QRV 8/15 May as 3V8SM from Djerba (AF-083) while on holiday. G3IY: Jim says my mistake in the last News Sheet in referring to G2FFO helping him with his new computer has resulted in much pulling of Dicks leg about him now being a computer expert! It was G3LTV who has been helping Jim. Sorry guys. G3LCG: Ex-member Peter sadly passed away peacefully on 9 May. He was a very supportive member of FOC (680) between January 1961 and February 1996 and also held the callsign 5B4PB - thanks G3CWW. G3RWL: Richard is having surgery on his shoulder (not his keying arm) for a torn muscle and tendon. He says, The injury was gained (in the true spirit of amateur radio) while erecting antennas! Consequently I will be at home and, hopefully, more QRV than usual during June. G3SWH: Referring to their recent trip to South Africa, Phil says We had a great time down there, and even had an unplanned three day extension - our passports and tickets were stolen about an hour before we were due to leave for the airport. It took a further three days to sort it all out. Its at times like these when you realise that travel insurance never covers you for real situations!. G3VMW: Steve was QRV as 5B4/G3VMW at the beginning of May. G3VTT: Hilary and Colin will visit Jean, EI5HY/2, 4/7 June and Colin will be QRV in the evenings as EI/G3VTT from Stans station. Colin is dealing with a SK sale and has a 40ft Versatower, 5 element Hy-Gain beam and a FT1000MP with CW filters, all at reasonable prices. Please contact either Colin or G3ISD <g3isd@ehatch.freeserve.co.uk> if you are interested. G4VXE: Tim says that GOPB, G3JJZ, G3PJT, G3SXW, G3WGV G3ZRJ, G4BUO and himself , are all expected to operate at some time from the Golden Jubilee station GB5 at Windsor Castle between 29 May and 9 June (see page 33 of FOCUS 50).

MEMBERS NEWS by G4BUE

GW3NJW: Clive was QRV as GW7X in the WPX CW Contest. GW3YDX: Our condolences to Ron on the sudden passing of his wife Janet on 14 May. K1ZZ: Dave was QRV from 4U1ITU on 12 May. K2LE: Andy made 2331 QSOs all bands as KW2O during the WPX CW Contest. K2SG: Tony is moving to a new QTH and says, I cant wait until all this moving is complete and I can get back on the air again. It is really hard moving from a home you have lived in your entire life, not only emotionally but physically as well. One can collect a lot of junk in 60 years!. K4XU: Chris and Dick will be in Scotland from 17 September until the Greenwich Dinner and visits to GM3POI and GM3YTS have been arranged. Perhaps we can visit some other members. We have booked a condo in Aviemore for the week ending 5 October. That makes going to Greenwich quite difficult, but that is not yet off the table. This will be the first holiday not associated with a household move we have taken in more than ten years. K5RC: A freak ice storm in February caused Tom to lose his KT34XA and 2 el 40m Yagi antennas and damage his 3 el 40m Yagi. Repair work will commence in June when the better weather should arrive. N3BB: Congratulations to Jim on his retirement at the end of March after 38 years in the semiconductor industry. Retirement plans include to begin writing a fictional novel soon, so will devote four hours a day to that endeavour! Hope to get a bit more time on the bands as well. Jim will be attending WRTC in Finland in July as a referee. N3RS: Sig was QRV in the WPX CW Contest using Alans, KF3B, callsign. N4KG: Tom went home from hospital on 28 May following successful aortic valve replacement surgery on 21 May and a couple of minor post operative events that were handled successfully. N6XI: Rick was QRV before and after the WPX CW Contest as 6Y5/N6XI and was one of the 6Y2A NCCC Team Vertical (multi-multi) operators during the contest. He was using the new 100 watt K2 from Elecraft. OH2EA: Hans is still using his R4 vertical, as he cannot get permission to put his beam back

(callsign in brackets indicate G4FOC operator)

FOC CALENDAR

June (G3NOH) Until 9 GB5 (FOCUS 50 & 632) 1 Con-Din (FOCUS 50) 4/7 EI/G3VTT (632) 27 Deadline for July News Sheet 28/30 Friedrichshafen (FOCUS 50) July UT4UZ by VA3UZ (632) 6 Harrogate Get-Together (FOCUS 50) 10 Committee meeting 29 Deadline for August News Sheet on the apartment building, and has a bad case of TVI with it. He says, The owners of the apartments are finally considering upgrading the communal antenna amplifier system, so relief on the TVI front should ensue in due course. OZ1LO: Congratulations to Leif on being inducted into the CQ Contest Hall of Fame at Dayton - thanks Daily DX. VA3CH: Denise and Chas saw their first snow for 14 years when they arrived home from Florida in April! VE3DZ: Yuri planned to be QRV with an 8P9 call with MSDX in the WPX CW Contest and QRV before and after on all bands. After attending WRTC, he will spend ten days in Kiev and will be QRV as UT4UZ. W1HT: Our best wishes to Linda who is very sick in hospital. W1RM: Pete reports 47 attended the North American Dinner and it was a good crowd and everyone had fun. W4CK: Mark made 5366 QSOs, which included 128 different FOC members, as V73BL 14/24 May. He was using the club station with an IC765, AL-1500 amplifier, a TH7 at 70ft, 3 el 40m Yagi at 50ft and a log periodic (10-30m) at 50ft. W9VNE: Barbara and Jim attended the West Coast Dinner at Visalia during a ten day trip of western states, and then drove through Arizona and New Mexico visiting some of the national parks. Jim says, I also had the opportunity to treat myself to some dark skies so I could enjoy one of my other hobbies, astronomy. The skies out in the desert are fantastic for stargazing.

Score updates can be passed to G4BUE or any Committee member. An asterisk against the call indicates the score has been updated this month. Table shows the scores received by 1900z 29 May 2002. The two scores are the total points and the number of different members worked.
W4QM 573/326 W5ZR* 561/304 G3LIK* 492/276 YV1NX* 425/256 SV1AOW* 416/229 LZ1AF* 398/259 G4BUE* 362/254 G3KTZ* 352/232 W6TZD* 299/204 KT4P* 270/178 LY2PX* 239/176 G4BJM G3JJG* G4HZV* KZ5D* W8KJP* K6LQA G3JZV G3ZGC W4ZYT* N3BB* K4EV 237/178 195/151 195/150 193 188/131 186 184/176 181 179/145 174/137 173/136 WCGR* W4LZ* EA6ACC K6TS* K5DQ* G2FFO* ZL1AH G4PKD* K4EF W4CK* F3AT* 170/106 166 165/139 164/119 161/130 148/118 143/119 142 140/118 128 126 VE3DZZ 122 G3IY* 115/93 G3NKS 109/102 G3KKQ* 108/96 PABW 107/87 W8KJP/M*108/131 K2VCO 104 G5LP 102 K5RC* 101/81 KC7V* 101 G3NOH* W8LX* K4XU* GW3SB* G8VG W2DX N4TY OZ4FF* G2HKU* ZS1EL 97/87 96/73 95 86/78 83 83 82 78 77 75 G3MCK W1HT* G3LHJ N4AF G3LCS K5CA LA5HE K6WG OH2EA* OZ6XT 71/70 68 65 56 55 51 42 29 25 8

THE 2002 BILL WINDLE CENTENARY AWARD