To all GERATOLers, aspiring GERATOLers, SWL’s and anyone else reading this POST on the GERATOL Website, we wish you a healthy, happy and great “hamming” new year in 2019 !!!

CQ CQ Have you been “Naughty” or “Nice”  ?

“Ho ! Ho ! Ho ! This is Santa on 3.668 !! Merry Christmas to all GERATOLers young and old, those with Numbers and those still working toward their numbers !!”

“But remember, if you have not checked into the net this year, Santa is telling you that your getting COAL in your stocking, and my reindeer will make sure to accidentally “clip” your dipole or vertical antennas !! Ho ! Ho ! Ho !

“Just kidding, have a great Christmas Holiday, and Happy New Year to all GERATOLers !!”    Ho ! Ho ! Ho !

Just a reminder, for those looking for a last minute Christmas gift, or to get ready to sport your own GERATOL logo apparel at the upcoming Ham Radio Flea Markets this Spring, the arrangement George put in place with the vendor remains, and the “link” may be found at any time on our web page under the “Files” section of the upper menu, or just click on the link below.

https://www.onctees.com/geratol

What a great way to publicize our Worked All States net at your next Ham Radio Club meeting, Ham Flea Market or any Ham Radio event. When folks approach you and ask you what the heck a GERATOL is, you can explain the net workings, and invite them up.

12/17/2018

Registration  is now open for the QRP Amateur Radio Club International “Four Days in May” (FDIM), Thursday – Sunday, May 16 – 19, at the Holiday Inn, Fairborn, Ohio. The annual FDIM event for QRP enthusiasts and builders takes place in conjunction with Hamvention®. Registration begins the evening of Wednesday, May 15.

Most of Thursday will be taken up with seminars, “meet the speakers” opportunities, and an open room for casual show and tell. Most of Friday and Saturday are open to attend the Hamvention and visit the QRP-ARCI Toy Store.

Friday evening activities typically include “show and tell,” vendor displays, and a homebrew contest. Saturday evening features social activities and a banquet, while Sunday is open for Hamvention. Attendees are invited to display their QRP-related projects at FDIM. One evening will feature vendors offering QRP-related products, with some offering FDIM discounts. Dress is casual for all events.

Reservations and special room rates for FDIM will be available after January 1 through the QRP-ARCI website. For more information, contact FDIM 2019 Chair Norm Schklar, WA4ZXV. 

Source: ARRL Website

Kevin N1KL Site Administrator

12/11/2018

Hamvention® is soliciting nominees for its 2019 awards — Amateur of the Year, Technical Achievement, Special Achievement, Club of the Year. Since the inception of the Hamvention awards program in 1955, many radio amateur have been honored for their dedication and selfless contributions to Amateur Radio and to society.

• The Amateur of the Year Award recognizes a radio amateur who demonstrates a long-term commitment to the advancement of Amateur Radio, a history of contributions to ham radio, and a dedication to service and professionalism. 
• The Technical Achievement Award honors a radio amateur who has achieved technical excellence in the world of Amateur Radio through inventions, processes, discoveries, experiments, and technical accomplishments, or through other outstanding technical achievement that has contributed to Amateur Radio. 

• The Special Achievement Award goes to a radio amateur who has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of the radio art and/or science. This award typically recognizes a radio amateur who has spearheaded a single significant project. 
• The Club of the Year will be honored for clearly demonstrating its involvement in varied aspects of Amateur Radio for the greater good of their community or the nation.

Nomination forms for each award are available online and should include the information requested. There are separate forms to nominate individuals and to nominate a club. The individual(s) making the nomination should provide contact information in case questions arise.

Submit nominations via email or via USPS mail to Hamvention Awards Committee, Box 964, Dayton, OH 45401-0964. 

The nomination deadline is February 15. The Awards Committee will announce the award recipient after reviewing the nominations. An honors convocation will be held on the Saturday evening of Hamvention weekend, and presentations to award winners will take place on Sunday afternoon, prior to the door prize awards.Contact the Awards Committee for more information. — Thanks to Mike Kalter, W8CI, and Frank J. Beafore, WS8B

Source: ARRL Ham Radio News 

Featured Member – Bob, W9JOP G #1020

Bob with one of his RC Planes

(He is also a licensed pilot, which he obtained when a senior in high school)

As most regular check-ins know, the GERATOL Net is comprised of some pretty amazing and incredibly accomplished people, who just happen to also be Ham Radio operators.    Our featured member for this segment, reflects just such a person.  He is someone with a very high level of expertise, who also has an incredible commitment to Ham Radio combined with a high degree of curiosity and exploration.  He is someone who embraced Ham Radio at an early age, and continues to enjoy the hobby to this day.

We are pleased to feature, one of our own, very accomplished members;  Bob, W9JOP in this Featured Member segment. He received his GERATOL # (1020) in April of 1986.  He’s also held a few other call signs, including: DL4OP and KR6EU.   Interestingly, while in Germany, Bob, along with other Americans at the time, was issued the DL4 call sign, and if available, followed by his U.S. Ham suffix.  His suffix was available, and hence he ran DL4OP.  Now days Bob tells me, the DL4 prefix is no longer a U.S. in Germany prefix, but used by German ops in general.

Bob was first licensed in 1954 under the very same call sign he uses today:  W9JOP.  His initial station was comprised of assorted ARC 5’s and some Heathkit gear.  For the ARC 5’s, Bob would store them along with his homebrew Power Supplies under his bed, since they were not very safe !!  I can imagine they provided some extra “heat” to his bedroom while in operating mode !

Originally designed in circa 1938-39, the ARC5 represented some of the most popular military surplus items converted for Amateur use.  Below is an early picture of Bob, probably studying for his upcoming Ham Radio exam, since this shot was taken prior to his getting his ticket.

Bob Circa 1949

Bob’s natural curiosity is what led him to become interested in Amateur Radio.  He had no real Elmer coaching him along the way.  Like many of us, he would tune the AM bands to pull in stations outside his immediate AM listening area, like WBAA “The Voice of Purdue” or late at night picking up WLS in Chicago, which was 150 miles north of his QTH.  After wearing out the ARC5’s he upgraded to a Hallicrafters S20-R Receiver.  Bob says in his notes to me, providing the information for this article: “With the Hallicrafters S20-R receiver the world was my oyster!”  ha ha.  Here is what he had to say about a crystal set, which he  used even before the S20-R, in his own words, which reflects radio experimenting at the time and is quite interesting:

“My first receiver, way before the S20-R was a crystal set, which had an actual Quartz Crystal , potted in a lead holder. The idea was to use the “cats whisker” to scratch around on the crystal and find a ( live spot ). once a station was ( tuned in ), by sliding a piece of thin metal across the inductor you could search for a DX stn such as WLS – Chicago. Keep prodding and maybe the signal got louder, OR you lost everything. My ant was an unused telephone line which ran from house to the barn. When we got a ( dial-up system ), the town thought it was cheaper to “donate” the insulators, poles and wire to Bobby Chapman than remove them!            ( great huh )?”

Hallicrafters S20-R Receiver

He continued to experiment, next focusing his attention on antenna building and design. He constructed a two element 15 Meter Yagi made of bamboo poles and wire. One of his creations was common to the central part of the country,  a HAMMS beer can vertical for 40 Meters.  Later he constructed multiple dipoles and Homebrew verticals.

In addition, Bob has been heavily involved in QRP, attaining the first ARRL WAS with QRP CW endorsement.  He was only running, get this: approximately 250mW !!  That’s milliwatts gang, not watts…can you imagine ?  So you guys working on your basic, take heart, it can be done !!

He made most of his contacts on 40 Meters (48 there) using a G5RV antenna at 50 feet.  The other portion of this challenge for Bob, was the fact he was rock bound on 40. No VFO to find the ones he needed, just patience, persistence, a good ear and a good CW fist.  Nothing really exotic, which proves you can do it with low power and the right antenna and especially the right attitude.  The final two states, HI and AK he worked on 20 meters, using a Tuna Tin QRP built for 20M,  to wrap it up.

As an avid antenna and rig builder, Bob was featured at the Dayton Hamfest “Four Days In May” or FDIM forum, which is a Homebrew Contest/Show & Tell event.  Bob had an array of QRP rigs on display, from his Tuna Tin, several Tuna Tin II’s, Sidekick N’ Tuna, his WAS QRP certificates, etc.  Bob was actually featured in the November 2014 CQ magazine in an article written by Cam Hartford, N6GA.

In addition to his homebrew and WAS activities, Bob participated in the 17th East African Safari Rally in 1969.  He was responsible for assembling a Radio Link from Kabwhoe Control, one of the rally check points, back to Nairobi, Kenya.  He transported the communications gear to the checkpoint via the use of his 1964 Chevy Malibu. He and his son Roger set up the checkpoint in time, before the first batch of race vehicles came zooming by.

Bob’s daughter, Carol, is also a licensed Ham: KM4PAG and now lives in Kentucky. Also, Bob’s wife Joy, who is now a SK, was licensed as KA9TTB.  I’ve saved the following picture for last, since it shows Joy at the operating position in their ham shack, and in addition to Joy, you can see Bob’s Tuna Tin just above her right hand.

Bob’s XYL Joy, KA9TTB (SK)

Believe it or not, there are many more items of interest regarding Bob’s Ham Radio career, and space does not permit my putting them all in at this time. However, after checking with Bob via email,  he’s agreed to let me hold on to the materials he sent, so we can add another update in the future to his Featured Member article, where we can share more items of interest…..

Please feel free to take a minute and place a comment on the GERATOL Website post for Bob, and I hope you all enjoy the portions of his story in this article, as much as I had putting it together.

Regards, Kevin N1KL

The 50/50 Award, which combines the challenge of working all 50 states with contacting 50 hams who have been licensed for 50 years or more, has been successfully completed by several net members.

The award, which maintains the tradition of the GERATOL net, by requiring to Work All States as one if its elements, provides a fun challenge for those who already received their GERATOL number, along with the extra challenge of working operators who have been licensed for 50 years or more.

Quite the challenge indeed, now in it’s second GERATOL Season.  As challenging as the award may be, especially with current band conditions, FIVE GERATOLers have successfully completed the challenge.   In addition to providing fun challenge for our regulars, the award has had some positive side effects on the net including:

• The chance to reconnect with some of our “Old Timers” who were invited up on frequency
• Getting introduced to some “new” Old Timers, that is, guys with 50 years of licensing who never checked in previously to GERATOL
• Finally and perhaps most important, invitees brought to the net by those chasing the award, provided several NEW STATES for the guys working toward their basic award.

For those close to completing the award, we wish you continued success and hope the conditions continue to improve as you finalize your efforts.

For those of you who may not have checked in for a while, and who are looking for a challenge on the net, along with renewing old acquaintances and putting your state in the log for those folks working on the basic, stop by the net some evening, and also take a look at the details surrounding the award on our website.

To those who have successfully completed the award,  CONGRATS !!

50/50 AWARD WINNERS

WV1Y – Ken

WW8X – Joe

N9RY – Don

W0FP – Frosty

KJ8V – Dave

Regards, Kevin N1KL