Our club’s annual Christmas party is almost here! Festiv-ities start 5:30 pm, buffet dinner served at 6:00 pm on

Wednesday, December 4th. This month, we will meet at Reno’s Pizza in Carlinville, IL 62626. Buffet is $16.25/

person, club asking for $5 to 10 donation. Cash bar.

K9MCE Club Meeting on Wednesday 4 December

December 2019 Volume 7, Issue 12

K9MCE QSN K9MCE Officers:

• President: Mark Lewis,

KD9EFO

• Vice-President: John

Nalezyty, KD8KVO

• Secretary: Mark Kerhlikar,

WD9HBF

• Treasurer: Tim Coonrod,

KC9HQA

• Trustee: Mike Graham

K9MDQ

• Board of Directors:

• Mark Osborn, WA9SXK

• Chuck Baker N9LVY

• Jim Pitchford, N9LQF

• Ron Ochu, KO0Z

• Webmaster: Isaac Pizzo,

WX9SRV

Inside this issue:

Club Dues 3

FD Results 3,8

Beaver Dam Dash 4,5

Party Buffet Menu 5

WD9HBF SK 6,7

Tech Talk 10-

11

Club Minutes 12-

13

Macoupin County ARC

129 East First Street

PO Box 253

Carlinville, IL 62626-0253

We, the undersigned, being desirous of securing for ourselves the pleasures and benefits of the association of persons commonly interested in Amateur Radio, by promoting civic

interest, specific application, social activities and developing individual efficiency, while im-proving the general interest in amateur radio, do ordain and establish this Constitution and By-Laws of the Macoupin County Amateur Radio Club Inc., a non-profit corporation.

We do further agree that in pursuit of these purposes, this organization shall be non-sectarian, non-partisan and that it shall lend neither support or influence to any political party or candidate for office. The Macoupin CountInc., shall afford all persons, regardless

of race or creed an equal opportunity to join, participate, hold office and enjoy in the ben-

efits of this organization and the challenges of amateur radio.

K9MCE TRY GRIDS HONOR ROLL

Dave Reynolds, WA9OEX

Judy Reynolds, KA9ACM

Ron Ochu, KO0Z

The K9MCE Try Grids Award was established two years ago

to encourage Macoupin County ARC club members to experi-

ence the joys of VHF/UHF communications. Members are

encouraged to learn more about VHF/UHF propagation,

antennas and coax and to im-

prove their stations. Towards

that end the award was created and the goal is to successfully

establish two-way VHF/UHF contacts either from your

QTH or mobile with amateurs in three grids. More infor-

mation pertaining to grids can be found at this ARRL

webpage: http://www.arrl.org/grid-squares QSL cards con-

firming the Qs need to be pre-sented to the committee and

then you, too, will be eligible for this prestigious accolade at

a club meeting and to have your call inscribed in the

HONOR ROLL MEMBERS:

Jim Pitchford, N9LQF

Mark Kerhlikar, WD9HBF

Jeff Naville, KC9WZO

Paul Durand, KC9YCP

Ed Kallbrier, KC9QHJ

Bill Ogle, W9FJ

Skip Riba, WS9V

Mark Lewis, KD9EFO

Lou Bartels, KC9YFU (K9LL)

Debbie Ochu, KC9ULA

“These club

members earned

the Try Grids

Award and are

Honor Roll

members.”

Page 2 K9MCE QSN

Wayne, KC9ZYQ is in

EM58 and Dirk, W9OSI is in EM49 and these gentle-

men are available for VHF skeds for those working for

the Try Grids Award Macoupin County ARC Mission Statement

Every October, K9MCE begins

a new fiscal year. That means annual club dues are due. Per-

haps you’re like your editor and forgot to bring along a

checkbook at the October club meeting. Maybe you weren’t

able to make it to the meeting. There’s still time to pay dues

and not to be in arrears.

It’s that time of year

again...time to once again pay dues. According to the club’s

constitution, annual dues be-come due at the October

meeting and collected through

December. Club Dues are as

follows:

Regular membership is $20.00/

year.

Family membership is $25.00/

year.

Senior membership is $15.00/

year.

Full-time Student is $10.00/year

Lifetime membership is

$200.00.

Checks are payable to Ma-

coupin County ARC.

AD9I@comcast.net

Director: Kermit Carlson; w9xa@arrl.org 630-879-0983

Vice Director: Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA, k9la@arrl.org; 260-

637-6988

Illinois Section Manager: Ron Morgan, AD9I,

Annual Club Dues Are Due

Your ARRL Elected Officials

2019 FD Winner, Spoiler Alert: It Ain’t Us... us; they kicked our butts. The

only Field Day claim we can point to with pride is both of

our club scores appeared on page 69 in the December 2019

QST issue.

Okaw Valley ARC AD9OV

made 893 QSOs, had 50 partic-ipating club members for a

total of 4,812 points. Macoupin County ARC K9MCE made

667 QSOs, had 25 participating club members for a total of

3,188 points. A difference of 226 QSOs and 1,624 points. A

big reason of their success is

found on QST page 72.

AD9OV’s GOTA station AD9RR made over a 100 Qs.

A new generation of hams are being introduced to ham radio-

sport. Well done!

The big take away is that every

year, since our friendly compe-tition started, club scores have

gone dramatically up and im-proved, which is the ultimate

goal and purpose of the com-petition. Still, it would be nice

to have more pins on our side

of the trophy...

Pictured above is the ARRL Field Day Challenge Traveling

Trophy. In a few weeks it will reside with the Okaw Valley

ARC, 2019 Field Day champi-ons. In spite of K9MCE’s best

efforts, AD9OV not only beat

“Congratulations

to Okaw Valley

ARC AD9OV,

2019 FD

Champions”

Page 3 Volume 7, Issue 12

made their way back to the

finish line.

The weather was better this

year as compared to last. We had partly cloudy skies. Morn-

ing temps were in the upper thirties, but they climbed to the

forties by noon.

Six com positions along with

net control maintained a watchful eye throughout the

field. Com positions radioed in the first three male and first

Saturday, November 9 approxi-

mately 75 runners participated in Metro Tri-Club’s annual

Beaver Dam Dash and K9MCE club members along with Lewis

and Clark ARC members pro-vided public service communi-

cations!

This year the dash began at

10:00 am and it was over by noon. There were no incidents

other than three walkers strayed off the course. They

were quickly spotted and they

three female runners to net

control and race officials. It’s interesting to see the first

three runners jockey for first

place throughout the race.

A big shout-out to the Lewis & Clark ARC members that par-

ticipated this year. We hope you had fun and would like to

do it again next year around

the same date.

ARES Members Please Note

2019 Beaver Dam Dash Update

Page 4 K9MCE QSN

The ARRL’s ARES program is striving to meet twenty-first century emergency commu-nication needs of its members. Consequently, “An ARES Standardized Training Plan and

Emergency Communicator Individual Task Book” is available.

One of the tasks is to complete EC-001-S. It’s free and it’s readily available. All you need is the internet, a computer, time, interest and a willingness to learn.

The following article is from the ARRL website, http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-self-guided-emergency-communication-course-ec-001-s-is-now-available-on-demand

ARRL Self-Guided Emergency Communication Course EC-001-S is Now Available On Demand

11/21/2019 ARRL’s EC-001-S online “Introduction to Emergency Communication” course is now available to students in an on-demand

format, allowing students to register for the course and begin work at any time. This course is designed to provide basic

knowledge and tools for any emergency communications volunteer. In response to the great course demand and to expand access to EC-001, ARRL developed a self-guided version of the course,

EC-001-S, which launched in June. This version of the course is designed for those who prefer to work independently and who do not need guidance from an online mentor. EC-001-S was previously offered only during specific sessions along with the

traditional mentored version. The course opened for general enrollment on November 6.

Visit the ARRL Online Course Registration page for more information and to register

Buffet menu: Italian salad, spin-

ach lasagna, fetuccine alfredo, chicken marsala, roast beef, Ital-

ian potatoes, green beans, and

tiramisu for dessert. Price is

$16.25/ person, but our club is asking for a $5 to 10 dollar

donation. Cash bar at 5:30 pm

and dinner at 6:00 pm.

Christmas Party Buffet Menu

2019 Beaver Dam Dash Photo Essay

Page 5 Volume 7, Issue 12

Page 6 K9MCE QSN

Mark Kerhlikar WD9HBF SK

The photo above originally appeared in the April

2014 issue of this newsletter.

Mark with his bride Denise

Hindsight is always 20/20. In looking back at my nearly ten year friend-

ship with Mark Kerhlikar WD9HBF, I believe it is fair to compare the impact of Mark’s 57 year existence to that of the character portrayed by

Jimmy Stewart in the cinematic Christmas classic, It’s A Wonderful Life, as evidenced, in part, by the visitation line at St. Paul’s Episcopalian Ca-

thedral in Springfield. Visitors to Mark’s visitation lasted the entire three hour period and line never seemed to shorten. I don’t know how Denise

and Mark’s two brothers and his sister made it the entire time without a break. No doubt, Mark would have been surprised to see the turnout for

he was that modest. Family, colleagues, dog sledding enthusiasts, musi-cians, students, former students and his ham radio family gave tribute to

Mark on Saturday, November 23rd. It was a time for mourning, but also a time to celebrate his enthusiasm for nature, public service, music, ham

radio and just living life.

The picture of Mark proudly pointing to his DXing antenna array original-

ly appeared in the April Fool’s edition of this newsletter in 2014. Mark was always talking about expanding his DX reach. Anyone who knew

Mark also knew that he not only loved wintery weather, he thrived in it! Mark and Denise live near Modesto which is in rural, northwestern Ma-

coupin County. Not too many club members made it out to WD9HBF’s QTH on a regular basis. The article proclaimed that during the fall and

winter months Mark, with the help of friends, erected the antenna array.

In actuality, the photo is staged. DXpeditioner and contester Craig Thompson K9CT of Tivoli, IL kindly gave us permission to take this pho-

to at his super contest station. I remember taking this shot. We marched to one of his antenna towers, I got on my back, I had Mark

stand just to my left and had him position his hand just in the right spot for the photo. This photo became a club classic. I also remember this photo because a few hours before this shot, I was supposed to pick up

Mark at his QTH and from there go to K9CT’s QTH. Instead, Mark came over to my QTH because signals were peaking on 17 meters and I

needed the Andaman Islands, VU4, for an ATNO (all time new one). The Andamans are located near our antipode which makes working them a

challenge. I had spent the entire week chasing it and trying to break the pile-up. Five minutes before Mark arrived, I bagged the VU4. I was elat-

ed! Mark appeared in my shack and he could feel my enthusiasm. I asked him if he’d like to take a shot at the VU4. Mark was concerned that we

might be late getting to Craig’s, but I shrugged it off by telling Mark, “Craig’s a seasoned DXer and contester, he’ll understand. I told him we

planned to arrive sometime around 1:00 pm, with the operative word being “around.” If we’re a little late and we explain to K9CT that propa-

gation was great and we were putting the elusive Andaman’s in the log

book, he’d not only understand, he would agree!”

As it turns out we did arrive on time, we both put the Andamans in our log books and we told Craig our story. He confirmed what I suspected.

He smiled broadly, and congratulated us both and gave us a tour of his

super contest station with the resulting photo.

My most recent adventure with Mark was attending the Central States

VHF Society conference in late July at Lincoln, NE. Mark found his ham radio niche as a contest rover. He mostly worked 50, 144 and 432 MHz

and activated numerous grids. I will miss hearing his voice in future VHF and above contests.

Page 7 Volume 7, Issue 12

For many area hams, WD9HBF was the inviting, friendly, net control voice of our club’s Thursday, weekly K9MCE net at 8:30

pm welcoming club members and “Anyone wishing to stop by and to just say, hello!” It didn’t take long for our club net to expand and become a regional net.! Mark also became our club’s de facto annual Field Day chair and Field Day chef extraordi-

naire. Mark loved to cook and his omelets and BBQ chicken dinners were mouth watering. Debbie and I were fortunate to be dinner guests at one of Mark and Denise’s family gatherings. His grilling and baked goods not only tasted good; we were expe-

riencing culinary art!

Outside of ham radio, Mark loved dog sledding, cold weather, camping in cold weather and snow. He couldn’t get enough snow. Some men, while reminiscing, will speak of former loves. So too, did Mark. I heard Mark fondly speak of his love of

time spent on an Alaskan glacier and visiting North America’s tallest peak, Mount Denali. Winters will be colder without Mark.

Another love, besides winter was his love of professional baseball. Mark rarely missed an opportunity to cheer on the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team at Busch stadium. He kept me up on the latest box score and Cardinal stats. I do remember, one

summer, a few years ago, Mark missed a number of games. He missed them because he was working hard to obtain his CDL, so he could drive a school bus. Faithfully driving a morning and afternoon bus route in addition to being a full time music

teacher made for some very long days. Teaching is very demanding and draining, both physically and emotionally, and that took its toll on Mark from time to time . Still, a teacher makes a huge impact on students. Mark taught music and Mark took great

pride in his African drumming students. Auburn students paid tribute to their beloved teacher, Mr. K.

The American essayist and philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson defined success as making the world a better place for your

having lived, whether it be as simple as a smile, planting a garden, appreciate beauty, to win the respect of intelligent people, to

know that one person breathed easier because of you is to be successful. Mark WD9HBF met Emerson’s definition.

73 Mark SK

Page 8 K9MCE QSN

Saturday, June 22

Sunday, June 23

893 QSOs, 150 watts, 50 ops, 4,812 points 667 QSOs, 150 watts, 25 ops, 3,188 points

Winner

Page 9 Volume 7, Issue 12

Page 10 K9MCE QSN

Two Views of Our Electromagnetic Spectrum

Page 11 Volume 7, Issue 12

Proper Anderson Power Pole Connector Installation

Page 12 K9MCE QSN

Macoupin County Radio Club Meeting Minutes (draft) taken by

J Pitchford

NOVEMBER 6th 2019 7pm

November 6th First Wednesday in November Regular Radio Club Meeting 7 PM

Members present: Dan Hough, Chuck Baker, John Nalezyty, Ron Ochu, Jim Pitchford, and Bill Ogle

Pledge to the Flag

Discussion

Mike Graham arrived at 17:30 hours.

John made a motion to approve both minutes of the Board Meeting and minutes of the Regular Club meeting on October 2,

2019. Seconded by Ron: All yes. Motion Passed

Treasurers Report provide by Jim Pitchford for Tim Coonrod. Balance as of today $3652.28. Motion made to approve the Treasurer Report by Ron and seconded by John. All yes. Motion passed.

Motion to pay insurance payment for 2020 for club liability insurance bill paid by Jim Pitchford on credit card and computer. Payment

approved to repay Jim. Motion made by Ron and seconded by John all yes. Motion Passed

Website updated by Issac Pizzo and looking good according to President Mark Lewis.

EMCOM committee no report offered by Jim Pitchford

Mark Lewis paid $20.00 membership fees via check. Ron Ochu paid $25.00 family membership dues for Roman KD9COA and Deb-

bie KC9ULA. Jim Pitchford has checks for Tim Coonrod.

ARES Report by Ron Ochu. SET was a good exercise this year. Lots of folks participated. Mike M went to Staunton Hospital; Deb-

bie went to Carlinville Hospital with HT. Mike Graham relayed for Debbie as all she has was an HT. Simplex comms were estab-

lished with surrounding counties of Montgomery, Madison, Jersey, Christian so all was great for simplex ops. Mark Lewis reported on Montgomery SET and indicated Montgomery EMA participated they had operators both in Litchfield and

Hillsboro plus at Taylor Springs nursing homes. The statewide simplex message on 146.520 got stopped around Centrailia after

traveling from Metropolis.

Mark also indicated there will be a HAMCRAM class starting Saturday from 0800 to noon with classes again on Tuesday Nov

12th six to nine pm. With testing at the Montgomery Radio Club meeting on Wednesday evening.

Page 13 Volume 7, Issue 12

Ron Ochu gave a report about the Beaver Dam Dash coming up this Saturday. We can still use some extra operators if anyone is

available Saturday Morning at 0800 down at the Park. We are done by noon.

There was discussion about he menu for the Christmas party coming up next month. Mark K will be bringing a cake. We are still wait-

ing to find out who won the Field Day Challenge. The menu will be the same as last year. People planning on coming need to let Ron Ochu know prior to December 1 so we can get a good count on how many people are coming. Please call or email RON or let him

know on the nets on Thursday evening.

Old Business. Nothing came up

New Business. Discussion on WS9V equipment down in STL: No interest at this time for the club to purchase any additional stuff.

Mark Lewis is going to check with the ARRL about insurance for the Club owned equipment and see what it would cost to insure it. Jim Pitchford will also check with Steve Odell of Country Companies for a price.

Then next meeting will be on December 4th at 6pm at Reno’s Pizza on the Square in Carlinville.

Club will pay the bill and members are asked to make a donation to help cover expenses.

Motion to close the meeting was made by John and Seconded by Dan all yes.

The rest of the meeting was spend discussing DX’ing with Ko0Z leading the discussion and showing a slide presentation discussing

grey line, propagations and how DX works best. It was a great program and sorry more folks were not there to hear it.

Minutes captured by Jim Pitchford. Not official until approved at the next meeting.

Page 14 K9MCE QSN

Page 15 Volume 7, Issue 12

The W9DYV Radio Symposium is coming to Winterfest 2020! The Symposium will be held at the Gateway Convention Center

in Collinsville, Illinois, on Friday, January 24.

The Symposium was formed to honor Wes Schum (W9DYV), one of amateur radio's key advocates of the then-new technolo-gy, Single Sideband, and his company's ground-breaking ideas that culminated in the Central Electronics 100V Transmitter. Wes

introduced single sideband to amateur radio in a very big way, beginning in 1951 with his Model 10A sideband exciter and con-tinuing through his company's eventual ownership by Zenith Radio, Inc.

The Symposium starts at 9 a.m. with all day forums geared towards the history of Amateur Radio, vintage equipment, home brewing and experimentation. The scheduled forums can be found at the following link. https://winterfest.slsrc.org/wes-schum-

w9dyv-symposium/

The Symposium is free to all who atteThe W9DYV Radio Symposium is coming to Winterfest 2020! The Symposium will be

held at the Gateway Convention Center in Collinsville, Illinois, on Friday, January 24.

K9MCE QSN is a monthly publication of the Macoupin County Amateur Radio

Club. Our club meets on the first Wednesday of the month at 7:00 pm on the

second floor of the Macoupin County Sheriff Department in Carlinville, IL

Editor: Ron Ochu, KO0Z. ronochu.sky@gmail.com

Repeaters: 444.250 (103.5 pl); 146.865 (103.5 pl).

Website: www.k9mce.org

Webmaster: Isaac Pizzo, WX9SRV

Testing: Lou Bartels, KC9YFU, 618-977-4658

K9MCE QSN Contact Information:

Page 16 K9MCE QSN

Macoupin County

Amateur Radio Club

P.O. Box 253

Carlinville, IL 62626-

0253

Steve O’Dell LUTCF

145 E. Jackson St., Virden, IL 62690

217-965-5888

Annuities, Auto, Financial Planning,

Home, Life & Mutual Funds

Longtime supporter of the West Central Illinois Hamfest!

Page 17 Volume 7, Issue 12

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1Okaw Valley ARC

Net@9:00 pm, 444.250

N9MAF Net 146.805 @ 9

pm

2Lewis & Clark ARC,

K9HAM 8 pm 145.23

(79.7)

W9VEY Memorial Net

@8:30 pm, 146.820

3Old Capital ARC,

Vandalia, 146.745, 88.5

pl, 8:00 pm

4Club meeting

7 pm

5SSB NET 144.200

7:30 Macoupin County ARES

Net, KO0Z net control

147.480 MHz simplex @

8pm

K9MCE Club net, WD9HBF Net Control,

444.250 @8:30 pm

6 7ARRL 160 meter

contest

8Okaw Valley ARC

Net@9:00 pm, 444.250

N9MAF Net 146.805 @ 9

pm

ARRL 160 meter contest

9Lewis & Clark ARC,

K9HAM 8 pm 145.23

(79.7)

W9VEY Memorial Net

@8:30 pm, 146.820

10Old Capital ARC,

Vandalia, 146.745, 88.5

pl, 8:00 pm

11 12SSB NET

144.200 7:30 Macoupin County ARES

Net, KO0Z net control

147.480 MHz simplex @

8pm

K9MCE Club net, WD9HBF Net Control,

444.250 @8:30 pm

13 14ARRL 10 meter

contest

15Okaw Valley

ARC Net@9:00 pm,

444.250

N9MAF Net 146.805 @ 9

pm

ARRL 10 meter contest

16Lewis & Clark

ARC, K9HAM 8 pm

145.23 (79.7)

W9VEY Memorial Net

@8:30 pm, 146.820

17Old Capital ARC,

Vandalia, 146.745, 88.5

pl, 8:00 pm

18 19SSB NET

144.200 7:30 Macoupin County ARES

Net, KO0Z net control

147.480 MHz simplex @

8pm

K9MCE Club net, WD9HBF Net Control,

444.250 @8:30 pm

20 21 Winter Solstice

(First day of Winter)

22Okaw Valley

ARC Net@9:00 pm,

444.250

N9MAF Net 146.805 @ 9

pm

23Lewis & Clark

ARC, K9HAM 8 pm

145.23 (79.7)

W9VEY Memorial Net

@8:30 pm, 146.820

24Old Capital ARC,

Vandalia, 146.745, 88.5

pl, 8:00 pm

25 26SSB NET

144.200 7:30 Macoupin County ARES

Net, KO0Z net control

147.480 MHz simplex @

8pm

K9MCE Club net, WD9HBF Net Control,

444.250 @8:30 pm

27 28

29Okaw Valley

ARC Net@9:00 pm,

444.250

N9MAF Net 146.805 @ 9

pm

30Lewis & Clark

ARC, K9HAM 8 pm

145.23 (79.7)

W9VEY Memorial Net

@8:30 pm, 146.820

31Old Capital ARC,

Vandalia, 146.745, 88.5

pl, 8:00 pm

New Year’s Eve

Straight Key Night

K9MCE December 2019

Illinois HF Traffic Nets, Times and Frequencies...

K9MCE QSN BACKPAGE

We’re on the web!

www.k9mce.org

Illinois Side Band Net - Net Manager WB9QPM

Daily on 3905 at 1800 local time

Illinois Emergency Net

Sunday on 3940 at 0800 local time

North Central Phone Net – Net Manager WB9EDL

M-F on 3912 at 0700 local time

Illinois CW Net (ILN) Net Manager WB8SIM

W9NXM reporting

Daily on 3838 at 1915 local time

Illinois ARES Net

First and third Sunday of the month

3.905 MHz at 16:30 local.

IL NOAA NWS WX

Radio Stations Ward Silver, N0AX makes it a point to program his

VHF/UHF FM radios with the seven frequencies na-tionally assigned to NWS so that when he is on the

road he is within the coverage area of a NWS trans-mitter. These frequencies are 162.400, 162.425.

162.450, 162.475, 162.500, 162.525 and 162.550. Keep in mind that not all NWS transmitters have the

same output power. For instance, KD089 out of St. Louis and WXJ75 out of Springfield, IL have 1000

watts; whereas, KXI79 in Hillsboro runs 300 watts. A good URL to see the various NWS stations and

their respective output power is

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/Maps/PHP/IL.php

Besides being up to date with the latest NWS infor-

mation these stations can also serve as good VHF propagation beacons. Listen to the various frequen-

cies and see where and how well the station is com-

ing in to your location.

Springtime and summer months brings enhanced VHF

propagation during the morning and evening hours.

Local weekly nets:

Sunday: Okaw Valley ARC,

444.250 @9:00 pm

Sunday: N9MAF Net, 146.805

@ 9:00 pm.

Monday: Lewis and Clark ARC,

145.23 @ 8:00 pm

Monday; W9VEI Memorial Net,

146.820 at 8:30 pm

Tuesday: Old Capitol ARC,

Vandalia 146.745 @ 8:00 pm

Thursday: SSB, 144.200@7:30

pm

Thursday: Macoupin County

ARES, 147.480 @ 8:00 pm

Thursday: Macoupin County

ARC Net, 444.250 @ 8:30 pm.

Macoupin County ARC

129 East First Street PO Box 253

Carlinville, IL 62626-0253

https://

www.facebook.com/Macoupin-County-

Amateur-Radio-Club-

K9MCE-327469225218/

Webmaster: Isaac

Pizzo WX9SRV