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LSDXA NewsJanuary 2015

MEETINGJanuary 17, 2015

11 :00 am-2:00 pm

Eat at 11 :00. Meeting begins at 11:30 (new time).

Spring Creek BBQ

351 4 West Airport Freeway

Irving, Texas 75062

Program: Navassa Island DXpeditions

Future: NA5U Mike

Past: N0TG Randy

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The President’s Letter

de N5JR

I t has been an exciting fal l season on the bands. Several major DXpeditions have been active

including FT4TA Tromelin Island, VK9DLX Lord Howe Island, VU4KV Andaman Islands, ZD9XF

Tristan de Cunha and 1 A0C Sovereign Mil itary Order of Malta.

Contrary to predictions 1 0 meters has been very good with several openings to al l parts of the

globe. I suspect this may be the last hurrah for 1 0 unti l the next sunspot cycle.

The club has contributed funding for the fol lowing DXpeditions which are all scheduled to occur in

the next few months. K1 N Navassa ($1 000), EP6T Iran ($500) and E3A Eritrea ($500). Your club

dues at work. Thanks.

During October I travelled to Aruba with Jim NT5V and we had the opportunity to operate as P40JR

and P40JW from the superstation of Carl P49V. The pileups were incredible and we had a great

time. Sadly Carl has since passed away. I f you have never operated from a DX location you

should try it sometime as it wil l give you a whole new appreciation for what it is l ike when a major

DXpedition comes on the air.

The next Lone Star DX Association meeting wil l be on Saturday, January 1 7 at the Spring Creek

Barbeque at 351 4 W. Airport Freeway (SH 1 83) at Belt Line Road in Irving. The meeting wil l start

at 11 :30 am instead of the usual 1 2:00 Noon. So arrive for lunch at 11 :00.

The program wil l be about Navassa. Mike NA5U wil l tel l us about the preparations being made for

the upcoming K1 N DXpedition. Randy N0TG who has operated from Navassa twice wil l present a

history of past operations from Navassa.

We sti l l have an opening for a webmaster for our website www.lsdxa.org. I f you have HTML and

JavaScript experience and you would l ike to help the club keep our website up to date please

contact the current webmaster, Bob, W5KNE, or any of the club officers

As usual, be sure to bring your bureau QSL cards to the meeting. We wil l ship them to the ARRL

free as an LSDXA membership perk. They need to be presorted per ARRL requirements along with

a check to cover ARRL processing fees and proof of ARRL membership. Note: you need to deliver

your cards in person.

See you at the meeting.

73,

Joel, N5JR

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ARRL Outgoing QSL Bureau

At each meeting LSDXA collects and ships QSL cards to the ARRL Outgoing QSL Service. You areresponsible for paying the ARRL Outgoing QSL Service fee but LSDXA wil l ship al l col lected cardsto ARRL HQ.

In order to participate you must:

- Be a current paid member of LSDXA

- Be in attendance at the quarterly meeting

- Wrap together with a rubber band:

o Your properly sorted QSL cards

o Your proof of ARRL Membership

o Your check for the proper amount made out to ARRL Outgoing QSL Service

See http: //www.arrl .org/outgoing-qsl-service for ARRL Outgoing QSL Service detai ls.

LSDXA Board of Directors Meeting 23 August, 201 4

LSDXA Board meeting was held on 23 August 201 4 all board members were present including:

President Joel Rubenstein N5JRPast President Kris Mraz N5KMActivities Director Rick Barnett N0RBInformation Director Bil l Engel K5DHYSecretary/Treasurer John Barber N5JB.

President Joel Rubenstein cal led the Board Meeting to order at 1 0:05 AM.

I tem 1 : The board unanimously voted to fund the VU4KV Dxpedition $500.

I tem 2: The board voted to have our next general meeting on January 1 7, 201 5.

I tem 3: The board voted not to fund the TX5 dxpedition because of low standing on the need list.

I tem 4: The board discussed the HamCom venue move and other changes to be instituted in201 5. Rick Barnett agreed to work directly with Bil l Nelson of HamCom, attend their meetings, andgeneral ly look after affairs pertaining to the LSDXA booth, presentation rooms and the W5DXCCDinner.

President Joel Rubenstein adjourned the board meeting at 1 0:40 AM

Respectful ly SubmittedJohn Barber - N5JBLSDXA Secretary/Treasurer

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23 August 201 4 LSDXA General Meeting Minutes

LSDXA President Joel Rubenstein, N5JR, cal led to order a general meeting of the club at 11 :05AM 23 August 201 4 at the Spring Creek BBQ in Irving, TX.

I tem 1 : The minutes of the previous meeting as taken and written by then Secretary/Treasurer KenKnudsen, N5TY, were read and unanimously approved.

I tem 2: Previous Secretary/Treasurer Ken Knudsen, N5TY, presented the Treasurer's report whichwas unanimously approved.

I tem 3: Activities Director Rick Barnett, N0RB, presented information about the changes comingfor the 201 5 HamCom and activities. Rick commented that there would be some space and timeconstraints on the presentation rooms and on the W5DXCC dinner. Discussion ensued.Comments were that LSDXA should seek to operate jointly with other clubs to maximize time anduse of the presentation rooms.

I tem 4: President Joel Rubenstein, N5JR, commented about and the reasons that the boarddecision to fund the VU4KV Dxpedition, but not the TX4 dxpedition.

I tem 5: There being no further business before the meeting President Joel Rubenstein adjournedthe meeting at 1 0:25 AM

Item 6: Activities Director Rick Barnett then presented an excellent video about the January 1 998dxpedition to Heard Island, VK0IR.

Meeting Attendees

1 . Joel Rubenstein - N5JR 2. Kris Mraz - N5KM3. John Barber - N5JB 4. Rick Barnett - N0RB5. Bil l Engel - K5DHY 6. Bob Kellow - W5LT + XYL7. Mike Watters - WA5ICA 8. Jim Johns - KA0IQT9. David Little - AF5U 1 0. Ron Bushnell - AD5MN + XYL11 . Scott Dans - KK7JJ 1 2. Gary Johnson - K5SWW1 3. Dwaine Cannon - K5DZ 1 4. Bob Gil l - K5BG1 5. Randy Farmer - W8FN 1 6. Jim Wilson - K5ND1 7. John Lechner - K5GKC

Respectful ly SubmittedJohn L Barber, N5JBLSDXA Secretary Treasurer

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Your 2014­2015 LSDXA Board of Directors

Chief Director and President Joel Rubenstein N5JR

Secretary/Treasurer John Barber N5JB

Information Director Bil l Engel K5DHY

Activities Director Rick Barnett N0RB

Immediate Past President Kris Mraz N5KM

LSDXA Treasurer’s Report as of January 2, 201 5

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First Day Cover and a Thank You From Tromelin

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Card Checking TipsDXCC Card Checking wil l be available at the meeting. To avoid problems with field checking yourapplication be sure to fol low the instructions on the ARRL website. Note that as of Apri l 2, 201 2,there are 2 ways of doing a paper card submission, onl ine and traditional. You can no longer do ahybrid LoTW and paper card submission on a single application. I t is absolutely necessary that youfol low all the instructions and have all the paperwork properly fi l led out or we wil l not be able tocheck your cards.

I f you use the preferred Online Electronic DXCC Application https://p1k.arrl.org/onlinedxcc/ for yourpaper cards it wil l be easier and cheaper for you. I t wil l also go a lot faster at HQ when they getyour paperwork since you already entered your card data in the ARRL system. With the onlineapplication you can enter the cards in any order. Just make sure to enter the QSOs on cards withmultiple QSOs together to facil itate checking. The reason you don’t have to sort by band then modeis because there is minimal data entry work at HQ when they get your field checked application.

You can also use the Traditional Application forms http://www.arrl.org/dxcc-forms where you fi l l in andprint the PDF forms for the application and record sheets. Make sure to fol low those instructions. Atraditional application wil l cost you roughly twice as much as the online application to cover dataentry costs at HQ. With a traditional application you must sort cards by band then by mode with al lthe multiple QSO cards being l isted last to facil itate data entry at ARRL HQ. If you use thetraditional application make sure you include valid credit card info on the bottom of the PDFapplication form.

Whichever way you do it, fol low those instructions and make sure the cards are properly sorted inthe same order as your DXCC Record Sheet. Also make certain that al l the QSL card information(cal l , date, band, mode, country) has been entered correctly on the record sheet.

Bring the fol lowing:

· Cards sorted per your Record Sheet

· Printed copy of the signed and dated Application Sheet

· Printed copy of the DXCC Record Sheet

· Stamped envelope addressed to DXCC Desk, ARRL HQ, 225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111so we can mail your application to HQ.

Editor's Note

The fol lowing is a Wkikpedia article on Navassa Island. Please go to

http: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navassa_Island to view the entire article. There you wil l find addtitional

pictures and references for the sources used.

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Navassa Island

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Navassa Island (/n?'væs?/; French: La Navasse, Haitian Creole: Lanavaz or Lavash) is a small ,

uninhabited and disputed island in the Caribbean Sea. I t is administered as unorganized

unincorporated territory of the United States, which administers it through the U.S. Fish and Wildl ife

Service. The nearby state of Haiti has claimed sovereignty over Navassa since 1 801 , and claims

the island in its constitution.

Geography, topography and ecology

Navassa Island is about 2 square miles (5.2 km2) in area. I t is located 40 nautical miles (46 mi; 74

km) west of Jérémie, Haiti , on the south-west peninsula, 90 nautical miles (1 00 mi; 1 70 km) south

of the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and about one-quarter of the way from Haiti to

Jamaica in the Jamaica Channel. I t reaches an elevation of 250 feet (76 m) at Dunning Hil l 1 1 0

yards (1 00 m) south of the l ighthouse, Navassa Island Light. This location is 440 yards (400 m)

from the southwestern coast or 655 yards (600 m) east of Lulu Bay. The island's latitude and

longitude are 1 8°24'1 0?N 75°0'45?W.

The terrain of Navassa Island consists mostly of exposed coral and l imestone, the island being

ringed by vertical white cl iffs 30 to 50 feet (9.1 to 1 5.2 m) high, but with enough grassland to

support goat herds. The island is covered in a forest of just four tree species: short-leaf fig (Ficus

populnea var. brevifol ia), pigeon plum (Coccoloba diversifol ia), mastic (Sideroxylon foetidissimum),

and poisonwood (Metopium brownei).

I ts topography and ecology are similar to that of Mona Island, a small l imestone island located in

the Mona Passage, between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. I t shares historical

similarities with Mona Island since both are U.S. territories, were once centers of guano mining,

and presently are nature reserves. Transient Haitian fishermen and others camp on the island but

the island is otherwise uninhabited. I t has no ports or harbors, only offshore anchorages, and its

only natural resource is guano; economic activity consists of subsistence fishing and commercial

trawling activities.

There were eight species of native repti les, al l of which are believed to be, or to have been,

endemic to Navassa Island: Celestus badius (an anguid l izard), Aristel l iger cochranae (a gecko),

Sphaerodactylus becki (a gecko), Anolis longiceps (an anole), Cyclura (cornuta) onchiopsis (a rock

iguana), Leiocephalus eremitus (a curly-tai led l izard), Tropidophis bucculentus (a dwarf boa), and

Typhlops sulcatus (a tiny snake). Of these, the first four remain common, but the last four are l ikely

extinct.

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History

1504 to 1901

In 1 504, Christopher Columbus, stranded on Jamaica during his fourth voyage, sent some crew

members by canoe to Hispaniola for help. They ran into the island on the way, but it had no water.

They called it Navaza (from "nava-" meaning plain, or field), and it was avoided by mariners for the

next 350 years.

Despite an earl ier claim by Haiti , Navassa Island was claimed for the United States on September

1 9, 1 857, by Peter Duncan, an American sea captain, under the Guano Islands Act of August 1 8,

1 856: for the rich guano deposits found on the island, and for not being within the lawful jurisdiction

of any other government, nor occupied by another government's citizens. Haiti protested the

annexation, but on July 7, 1 858, U.S. President James Buchanan issued an Executive Order

upholding the American claim, which also called for mil itary action to enforce it. Navassa Island has

since been maintained by the United States as an unincorporated territory (according to the Insular

Cases). The United States Supreme Court on November 24, 1 890, in Jones v. United States, 1 37

U.S. 202 (1 890) Id. at 224 found that Navassa Island must be considered as appertaining to the

United States, creating a legal history for the island under US law unlike many other islands

original ly claimed under the Guano Islands Act.

Guano phosphate was a superior organic ferti l izer that became a mainstay of American agriculture

in the mid-1 9th century. Duncan transferred his discoverer's rights to his employer, an American

guano trader in Jamaica, who sold them to the newly formed Navassa Phosphate Company of

Baltimore. After an interruption for the American Civi l War, the Company built larger mining facil ities

on Navassa with barrack housing for 1 40 black contract laborers from Maryland, houses for white

supervisors, a blacksmith shop, warehouses, and a church. Mining began in 1 865. The workers dug

out the guano by dynamite and pick-axe and hauled it in rai l cars to the landing point at Lulu Bay,

where it was put into sacks and lowered onto boats for transfer to the Company barque, the S.S.

Romance. The living quarters at Lulu Bay were called Lulu Town, as appears on old maps. Railway

tracks eventual ly extended inland.

Hauling guano by muscle-power in the fierce tropical heat, combined with general disgruntlement

with conditions on the island, eventual ly provoked a rebell ion in 1 889, in which five supervisors

died. A U.S. warship returned eighteen of the workers to Baltimore for three separate trials on

murder charges. A black fraternal society, the Order of Gali lean Fisherman, raised money to defend

the miners in federal court, and the defense built its case on the contention that the men acted in

self-defense or in the heat of passion, and that the United States did not have jurisdiction over the

island. The cases, including Jones v. United States, 1 37 U.S. 202 (1 890) went to the U.S. Supreme

Court in October 1 890, which ruled the Guano Act constitutional, and three of the miners were

scheduled for execution in the spring of 1 891 . A grass-roots petition drive by black churches around

the country, also signed by white jurors from the three trials, reached President Benjamin Harrison,

who commuted the sentences to imprisonment and mentioned the case in a State of the Union

Address. Guano mining resumed on Navassa at a much reduced level. The Spanish-American War

of 1 898 forced the Phosphate Company to evacuate the island and fi le for bankruptcy, and the new

owners abandoned the island after 1 901 .

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1901 to present

Navassa became significant again with the opening of the Panama Canal in 1 91 4. Shipping

between the American eastern seaboard and the Canal goes through the Windward Passage

between Cuba and Haiti . Navassa, a hazard to navigation, needed a lighthouse. The U.S.

Lighthouse Service built Navassa Island Light, a 1 62-foot (46 m) tower on the island in 1 91 7, 395

feet (1 20 m) above sea level. A keeper and two assistants were assigned to l ive there unti l the

United States Lighthouse Service instal led an automatic beacon in 1 929. After absorbing the

Lighthouse Service in 1 939, the U.S. Coast Guard serviced the l ight twice each year. The U.S.

Navy set up an observation post for the duration of World War I I . The island has been uninhabited

since then. Fishermen, mainly from Haiti , fish the waters around Navassa.

A scientific expedition from Harvard University studied the land and marine l ife of the island in

1 930. After World War I I amateur radio operators occasionally visited to operate from the territory,

which is accorded "entity" (country) status by the American Radio Relay League. The callsign prefix

is KP1 . From 1 903 to 1 91 7, Navassa was a dependency of the U.S. Guantanamo Bay Naval Base,

and from 1 91 7 to 1 996 it was under United States Coast Guard administration. Since January 1 6,

1 996, it has been administered by U.S. Department of the Interior.

On August 29, 1 996, the United States Coast Guard dismantled the l ight on Navassa. An inter-

agency task force headed by the U.S. Department of State transferred oversight of the island to the

U.S. Department of the Interior. By Secretary's Order No. 3205 of January 1 6, 1 997, the Interior

Department assumed control of the island and placed the island under its Office of Insular Affairs.

For statistical purposes, Navassa was grouped with the now-obsolete term United States

Miscellaneous Caribbean Islands and is now grouped with other islands claimed by the U.S. under

the Guano Islands Act as the United States Minor Outlying Islands.

In 1 997, an American salvager made a claim to Navassa to the Department of State based on the

Guano Islands Act. On March 27, 1 997, the Department of the Interior rejected the claim on the

basis that the Guano Islands Act applies only to islands which, at the time of the claim, are not

“appertaining to” the United States. The Department’s opinion said that Navassa is and remains a

U.S. possession “appertaining to” the United States and is “unavailable to be claimed” under the

Guano Islands Act.

A 1 998, scientific expedition led by the Center for Marine Conservation in Washington, D.C.

described Navassa as "a unique preserve of Caribbean biodiversity." The island's land and offshore

ecosystems have survived the 20th century virtual ly untouched.

By Secretary's Order No. 321 0 of December 3, 1 999, the United States Fish and Wildl ife Service

assumed administrative responsibi l ity for Navassa, which became a National Wildl ife Refuge

Overlay, also known as Navassa Island National Wildl ife Refuge. The Office of Insular Affairs

retains authority for the island's political affairs and judicial authority is exercised directly by the

nearest U.S. Circuit Court. Access to Navassa is hazardous and visitors need permission from the

Fish and Wildl ife Office in Boquerón, Puerto Rico in order to enter its territorial waters or land.[5]

Since this change of status, amateur radio operators have repeatedly been denied entry. However,

in October 201 4, permission was granted for a two-week DXpedition to take place in January 201 5.

The U.S. Department of Interior and the U.S. Fish & Wildl ife Service who have jurisdiction over

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Navassa, have given written permission. A license has been issued by the US Federal

Communications Commission who has control of al l amateur radio l icensing on U.S. territory. The

U.S. Coast Guard frequently visits the area to provide surveil lance and security.

Unofficial flag

The unofficial flag of Navassa Island was designed for and first flown at a World War I I memorial

tribute at the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 2001 . I t is a white

and blue horizontal bicolor, with a profi le of the island (and its landmark lighthouse, with

exaggerated size) in the white band.