ARRL Midwest Division Newsletter

June 2020

Hams Aid COVID-19 Health Workers

by Allen Harpham, WD0DXD

On March 30th of this year, I learned that there was a need for protective face shields in

the area at local hospitals and other medical facilities.

After notifying several members of the Amateur Radio Association of Nebraska located in

Hastings we determined that we could start printing and laser cutting parts to make these

face shields. I then contacted the Emergency Managers in Adams, Hall and Buffalo

counties. They all approved of the idea and asked our organization to coordinate the

production and delivery of the shields. Since then, volunteers from Central Community

College in Hastings and Grand Island, Hastings Public Library, Grand Island Public

Library, Grand Island Public Schools and individuals in Kearney and Hamilton County

have also volunteered to produce these materials

.

We have also had materials donated to us from Hastings Public Schools, Adams Central,

Kenesaw Public Schools, Hastings Catholic Schools, Amhurst Public Schools and many

others used to produce the face shields.

The Central District Health Department agreed to distribute the final product in their

district, the Amateur Radio Association of Nebraska is distributing them in Hastings Area

and Michael Forseman of Kearney is distributing them in the Kearney area. Michael also

developed a very important website that helped us track and distribute the products.

During this time we were also asked to make special face shields for Dentists that would

go over their eye loops. We did that and even shipped some to Indiana and Ohio.

Other items that were produced included Ear Protectors used to help avoid strain on

users’ ears when wearing masks all day and Nasal Swabs that were used to take

samples during covid-19 testing.

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — June 2020 p. 2

We organized a group of volunteers that have

been practicing NON-CONTACT pickup and

delivery of the items.

We shut down major production on May 11th

having produced over 4000 face shields and

over 14,699 products in all. This included a

stock pile of 400 face shields for each

county. All were donated free of charge to the

communities.

The Amateur Radio Association of Nebraska

coordinated this project with the help of all of

our wonderful volunteers. This includes

numerous non Ham Radio Operators. In total

we had over 25 volunteers contribute to the

project.

We couldn't have done this without the entire

support of the community and we are very

humbled by their help.

Allen Harpham President/CEO Flatwater Technologies 1126 N. Briggs Ave. Hastings, NE 68901 402-462-4619 Ext. 111 Facebook: @fwtechnologies Twitter: @FlatwaterTech

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — June 2020 p. 3

COVID 19 Face Shield 3D Printing

by Ray Bosenbecker, KEØNCS

When the COVID 19 pandemic started to affect the US, I began making face shields and

masks with my 3D Printer, but couldn't find a way to contact hospitals that needed them

until I contacted "Face Shield Initiative STL" (St.

Louis).

The Volunteer Group had just been created to

provide entire Face Shields to hospitals and first

responders.

I contacted Face Shield Initiative STL on April 3rd

and that same day one of the members came to my

house, picked up 3 face shield frames and gave me a

box of filament for my printer.

All frames were made from the DtM-V3.0 stl file. The

next week they came and I provided 10 Face Shield

Frames for the biweekly pickup.

To increase my build rate, I bought another 3D printer and the next delivery I provided 20

Face Shield frames, then 26 and then 29.

Three Dimensional printer used to make Face Shield Frames

Production set-up with Second 3D Printer

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — June 2020 p. 4

The initial frames took 6 hours each but with printer parameter changes a frame only

took 4 hours. I made between 6 and 8 Shield frames a day. My two Monoprice Select

Printers and some of my shield frames are shown in the photos.

On April 24th the Initiative Group picked up my last Shield frames because requests

slowed down. In a month the group of small companies, schools and individuals

delivered over 4000 Face Shields to meet the demand of St. Louis Area Hospitals and

first responders.

As of April 26 more than 8000

Face Shields had been made

providing many spares. See the

photo of Face Shield delivery

site and Face Shields users. If

you have any questions about

3D printing or the Face Shields,

you can contact me at

rbosenbeck@aol.com.

Ray Bosenbecker

KEØNCS

Completed Face Shield Frames

Bins of Completed Face Shields Face Shield Delivery Site

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — June 2020 p. 5

Happy First Responders with new Face Shields as part of their Personal Protective Equipment

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — June 2020 p. 6

Grandpa Camp By Tim Busch, NØCKR

Becoming a grandparent was a big scary deal for me initially. Clearly, I could not

possibly be old enough to be a grandpa, I told myself. But I soon found out how big a

blessing being a grandparent can be. It wasn’t long before I had a herd of grandkids. I

have so much fun with them and they with me. I found myself inventing things for them

to do. This resulted in a new event I call Grandpa Camp!

Grandpa Camp is a half-day Saturday event where the grandkids come over and get to

experience a variety of fun things that I do. It’s a random Saturday, not on any particular

schedule on the calendar. Being kids, they get bored with one thing all afternoon, so I

mix it up. Since we’re all different, it could be a wide variety of activities, but here is a

sample of activities I have cooked up:

Learning Morse Code

Learning to Solder

Get a ham license & talk on the radio

Building and Launching Rockets

Learning to Shoot a BB Gun

Basketball, Softball/Baseball, Soccer, etc.

Martial Arts

Woodworking

Archery

Fishing

Building & Flying Kites

Building Models - Airplanes, Cars, etc.)

Flying Radio Controlled Airplanes

Gardening

Astronomy

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — June 2020 p. 7

These activities are whatever you do and/or are interested in. No, these are not all ham

radio related. That’s the point. The secret is to keep it moving. Before boredom sets in,

switch to a new activity. Pick 3 or 4 unrelated activities to do on a given camp day. You

never know which things will stick, but I guarantee, they will remember doing activities

with you. It is incredibly satisfying when you find out they decided on their own to

continue any of these activities.

There has been a lot of talk about the average age of ham radio operators increasing

and numbers decreasing. Much of this talk is around how to solve the problem and

lower the average age. Want to be the coolest grandparent ever? Try hosting a Grandpa

or Grandma Camp and see how much fun they, and you will have!

Bonus Section: I also created another event to be held at Christmas time. I call it

Grandpa’s Grab Bag. Like many of you, I collect a lot of “stuff” throughout the year,

most of which I will never use. It comes from a wide variety of places: trade shows,

mailings, home improvement stores, auctions and garage sales, literally all over. I gather

everything together and when the families get together, we hold a Grandpa’s Grab Bag

event, where each grandkid gets to pick an item (none are wrapped, so they can see

them all) one a time, youngest-to-oldest, in rotation until the entire bag is gone. I get to

place a lot of cool items into the grandkids’ hands and they have a blast! Now they ask

“when do we get to play Grandpa’s Grab Bag again?”.

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — June 2020 p. 8

ARRL Field Day – Revisited

by Rod Blocksome, K0DAS

Prologue: I have been an avid field day participant and occasional organizer almost

every year for nearly 60 years. From my first field day, in 1961, I’ve always enjoyed field

day. In 1988, I did a bit of archival research into the back issues of QST and wrote this

tongue-in-cheek article and submitted it to QST. It was rejected by the editor but my

local club, the Cedar Valley ARC, published it in the monthly newsletter. So with field

day 2020 just around the corner and to be conducted under the most unusual

circumstances in modern history, I fired up the “way-back” machine and reproduced my

1988 article for your amusement (hopefully). It begins here:

QST recently published the results of the 1988 Field Day Contest. In class 2A we

(CVARC) placed 72 in a field of 501 – pretty good. While looking at this result, I began to

wonder how this year compared to previous years. So into the back issues of QST I

plunged and here is the data for the last 15 years (not shown).

If you take the time to ponder this mass of information you will eventually come to ask

“what’s the explanation for CVARC’s erratic showing?” Well, I believe I may have found

some insight while digging out the scores from musty old QST’s.

We probably never really knew who or what we were up against even though we talked

directly to them during the contest. What can be expected from a group of clean-cut

Iowa hams when they are competing against the likes of “QRP QRQ QSK CW Lid

Stompers” (WB2AXV 1976) or “Weasel’s Weirdos” (KW4M 1988)? These guys sound

like they mean business!

But there were more subtle things working against us. Some Field Day groups may have

actually distorted propagation conditions in their favor. I suspect this was the case with

the “Magnetic Storm Troopers” (K7SS 1988) or the “Horizontal Engineers” (NE1A 1988)

or “The Electron Club of Denver” (W0ICR 1976) or the “Aether Tweaker” (K0DIA 1974)

or the very sinister “Secret Underground Radio Empire” (NQ7Z 1986) or the “High

Frequency Ionospheric Propagation Research Institute – Radio Technology Division”

(W0CIV 1982) or the “Upper Crab Creek Propagationists” (W7JBN 1984).

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — June 2020 p. 9

Some of the competition seemed to have a strong leader but a crew of somewhat less

than desirable qualities. What other conclusion can one draw from such clubs as “Omar

and the Slug-Slayers” (WA8REN 1974) or “Pa Pa John’s Boys” (WA0IDK 1974) or “Dr.

Bob and his Riverdale Rascals” (WI4R 1988) or “SJS and the Bayonne Band Busters”

(W0MHK 1986) or “Bozo and the Lids” (W9TG 1982) or “Morris and the Cheshire Cats”

(KA1VH 1983) or “Mickey Mouse and his Goofy Gang” (KA1MM 1983) or Chibi’s Flea

Pick’n Superdupers” (KF6AM 1983) or “John M. Blarerbooenski FD Junta” (AC9C 1987)?

One individual, Sticky, had a particularly difficult time with his crew – each year he had a

new bunch:

1981 – “Sticky and the QRP Mountain Boys” (N2RI)

1982 – “Sticky and the QRP Sheet Eater Boys” (N2RI)

1983 – “Sticky and the QRP Bulkhead Bashers” (N2RI)

1984 – “Sticky and the QRP Bayside Bombers” (N2RI)

But other Field Day groups did not even have the luxury of a leader. I leave to your

imagination the mindless Field Day efforts such groups put forth as the “Hole-in-the-Day

Gang of Minnesota” (WA0IDK 1976) or “Two Sparks and a Gap” (KL7ED 1988) or

”Confederacy of Idiots” (K5TMS 1982) or “The Ditty-Dum-Dum-Ditties” (W0IZ 1982) or

“Four Hams and a Little Bacon” (WC4B 1983) or “The Oggsters” (N0BMP 1983) or “The

Jackpine Savages” (N0AFW 1984) or “The Parking Lot Attendants” (VE3OLP 1985) or

“Resurrected River Rats” (W3NNL 1986) or “Just Friends and Nerds” (K8TE 1986) or

“Trailer Buddies” (K7SF 1986) or “SMURFs” (K2RS 1987) or the “Thumb Bums” (K8JM

1987) or “Guam’s Fools” (KG6JIC 1979) or “Carol, Don, and Bob” (WA8TMI 1979) or “2

Man Port Plus 1 Woman” (K0TK 1979).

Other groups were strictly out of our league. Before I became a ham, I was an SWL and

I came to know and appreciate the awesome power of the shortwave broadcast stations.

When these boys decide to take you on in a Field Day contest – well, what chance do

mere Iowa hams running 150-watt transceivers have against the likes of “Radio Free

Southampton” (NR2L 1987) or “The Voice of Volga” (K0DD 1986) or “Radio Free

Streamwood” (NA9D 1985) or “Number Four Earth Station” (N4ES 1985) or “The

Morning Show” (VE7LAW 1983) or “The Voice of Alabama” (W4IAX 1988) or “Radio

Free Pinckney” (K8CC 1978) or “Grand Funk Radio Network” (WA6ENS 1979) ?

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — June 2020 p. 10

Some groups obviously know a good name as we also find: “Collins Radio Independent

Group” (W7WPR 1974) and “Collins Radio Splinter Group” (W5DW 1974) and “Collins

Radio and Company” (KH6HQG 1976).

A few groups may have enhanced their competitive edge with beverages somewhat

stronger than soda pop. They range all the way from “The Utah Liquor Commission”

(KC7O 1983) through “Getting Loaded AR Foundation” (K9GL 1983) and the “Austin Suds

Suckers” (N5GXB 1986) and the “Whiskey Lakers” (KI3L 1988) and the “807 Field Day

Group” (WB8ULW 1984) and “The Area 8 Soothing Libations Consumer Corp; Ham

Radio, Softball, and Social Divisions – Northern Expedition” (WB8FMX 1976) and the

“Saddle Mountain Corn Whiskey Distillers” (N7FU 1985) to the incredible “DRONK Radio

Network” (NN6E 1988). Why incredible? The DRONK Radio Network entered 2A with 4

people operating 2 transmitters and managed to make a single contact (and log it) for a

total score of 4 ! They placed dead last out of 202 entries in class 2A.

Some groups apparently were organized for a far more noble purpose than Field Day,

although we can’t be certain. I am referring to the “Desert DX Corps” (AA7A 1985) and

the “Society for Preservation of Amateur Radio in Kodiak” (KL7GCH 1975) and the

“Nebraska Radio Development Society” (NU0C 1988) and the “Ohio Valley Teratology

Network Contest Committee” (WB8NSL 1987) or “The Coleman-Coyote Conspiracy for

Continuation of CW at Cedar Bend for Field Day” (KY0T 1983) and the “Society for the

Preservation of Key Click, Splatter, and TVI” (AA3E 1983) and the “Placentia

Neighborhood Radio Watch” (WB6DCC 1983).

Some of the Field Day groups took to the field in a literal way. Some even went seeking

the source of ham(s) as we competed against “Entwhistles’ Pig Farm” (N6CFO 1986) and

“Edison/Tin Lizzie and Andy’s Pig” (K8VA 1985) and “Piggy Boys Contest Club” (KN5H

1987) and the “Naked Chickens FDG” (KA1MIS 1987) and “Aunt Dorothy’s Farm Pond

RC” (WA9CSS 1975).

Some of the competition we dealt with are known only by capital letters such as “SCUM”

(AG9A 1988) or “MOTHERS” (K9UA 1984) or “The FORCE” (W0AIH 1982) or “B.R.A. &

P.A.W.A.” (K1ME 1981) or “QRPOOPED ARC” (K7FD 1980) or “S.C.A.R.S.” (KB7R 1980)

or “FUBAR ARC” (K9VV 1980) or “F.A.R.T.S.” (W3VW 1977) or “S.L.U.R.P.” (KC8PS

1982) and last of all (if you still have the stomach for more of this) “B.A.R.F.” (N3AW

1977).

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — June 2020 p. 11

As you have probably surmised, some of the Field Day groups may have behaved like

wild animals. Only a few will admit it, though, as we find “The Wild Pigs” (KH6HD 1980)

and the “Dirty Birds” (K3MT 1977) and the “Great Salt Lake Rotting Brine Shrimp Inhaling

Assoc.” (N2EX/7 1978) and the “Long Tailed Lizards” (W7LTL 1974) and “Neurosa’s

Gopher Munchers” (AE6C 1984)

Insects always figure big at Field Day. The groups were on both sides of the fence here

as we find among the competitors the “Texas Chigger Growers Assn. and Armadillo

Contest Committee” (K5MW 1977) and the “Texas Chiggers and Itchy Underwear FD

Assoc.” (K5IU) and “Chigger Mountain Scratchers” (W4NYR 1982) and the “New England

Gypsy Moth Appreciation Society, New Hampshire Division” (K1LL 1981) and the “Gypsy

Moth Exterminators” (WB3GOK 1981) and the “Black Flaggers” (W8PYD 1979) and the

“Red Ant Annihilators” (N6KN 1982) and the “Wood Ticks” (KN0O 1984) and the “Sand

Hill Fleas” (WS4Y 1987) and the “Barbour Ponds Bug Pounders” (W0IVJ 1987) and

(closer to home) the “Cedar River Skeeter Slappers” (W0IZ 1980).

Some of our competition may be secret agents as I have detected some hidden messages

in their names, such as “Seldom Heard Amateur Radio Keying Society” (W3IA 1977) or

“Raiders of the Lost ARC” (N5HD 1983) or “Big Unorganized Radio Projects” (K9TJ 1986)

or “Old Friendly ART” (W6LEN 1987) or “Noah’s ARC” N6MQX 1975) or “The Four Q’s”

(AA4Q 1979) or “W0 Question Marks” (W0IZ 1981) or “Albuquerque Renegade Radio

League” (W5DEZ 1975) or “New Mexicans Engaged in Radio Discussions” (W5VBO

1980) or “Pair-A-Docs Plus” (K2OID 1979).

Many Groups elect to subject themselves to more than the normal amount of Field Day

abuse by running low power. The entrants may be found with names like “Milli-Kilowatts”

(VE7DTI 1977) and “Quiet Reduced Power, Code Keying Mosquito Mashers” (WA7ZBL

1977) and “Five Lousy Watts” (W0RSR 1979) and “Back to QRPP Club” (K7FD 1979) and

“One Watt Wonders” (WA6WJV 1976) and “Nocturnal Emissions QRP FD Group”

(WA2HSQ 1984).

One coincidence that puzzles this writer is the extraordinary number of groups that chose

the same name – “Non Club Group”. It is unbelievable how many settle for that popular

name year after year. As many as there are, there were three other clubs that came

close, but not quite getting it right (perhaps it was their first attempt at field day). These

were the “Non Name Group” (K9KTR 1977) and the “No Name Group” (K5GAB 1977) and

my favorite for originality “Just Another Club” (VE4RFI 1986).

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — June 2020 p. 12

Finally there are a few Field Day groups that are in a class by themselves. My choices for

your enjoyment are listed below:

From Field Day 1977:

“Rhombic Raiders” (K0RN)

“Junkyard Lids” (WA8WCW)

“Rags Eschewers” (W2JJ)

“Idi Amin’s Raiders” (K0UR)

From Field Day 1978:

“Frozen Buns ARC” (K7FD)

“Confederate Signal Corps” (K5ZC

“Non Cheating Contest Conspiracy” (W2RR)

From Field Day 1980:

“The Sleepless Senders” (K2NH)

“The Little Pistols” (WB5NGB)

“Ohmless Operators Protection Society” (KB8QI)

“Coax Cowboys” (WD5HER)

From Field Day 1981:

“Hams for a Democratic Field Day” (K5VDP)

“Shared Medical Systems” (KE3C)

“Communications Division New Orleans Police Dept. (KB5JM)

From Field Day 1982:

“See Soapbox Comments” (K7ZZ)

“See Attached Sheet” (K7MX)

From Field Day 1984:

“San Andreas Fault Line Survivors” (KY6Z)

From Field Day 1986:

“Thunder, Mayhem, and Science” (K5TMS)

From Field Day 1988:

“Fist and Mouth Contest Company” (W5EW)

First prize for the longest name goes to “The Decaying Corpse of the Roasted Turkey Gut

Group Fortified by the Loose Individuals DX Society in Coalition with the Rubber Circle

Contest Club FD Clique” (K7SS 1981).

In conclusion, the following group name expresses everyone’s feelings following Field Day

– “Better Luck Next Year ARG” (KB7KY 1988).

From the Archives: Cedar Valley ARC Field Day – 1989

The SSB Station and the Packet Radio Position

W0GQ/P CW Station Foreground; SSB Station Background – 144 & 432 SSB Demo Station

A 4-element 10 meter beam for the Novice Station

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — June 2020 p. 13

ARRL Membership Statistics Update by Rod Blocksome, K0DAS

Total ARRL membership continues to increase. The Midwest Division showed an

increase of 26 members for the past month. Below are the charts updated as of April

30, 2020. Let’s continue this trend. Invite a new ham or potential ham to a club meeting,

a hamfest, or field day, and introduce him/her to ARRL and the benefits of membership.

-8.0

-7.0

-6.0

-5.0

-4.0

-3.0

-2.0

-1.0

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

Jan

-15

Ap

r-1

5

Jul-

15

Oct

-15

Jan

-16

Ap

r-1

6

Jul-

16

Oct

-16

Jan

-17

Ap

r-1

7

Jul-

17

Oct

-17

Jan

-18

Ap

r-1

8

Jul-

18

Oct

-18

Jan

-19

Ap

r-1

9

Jul-

19

Oct

-19

Jan

-20

Ap

r-2

0

Per

cen

tage

Ch

ange

Rel

ativ

e to

Jan

uar

y 2

01

5

ARRL Membership Compared to Midwest Division

Midwest

ARRL

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — June 2020 p. 14

Included this month is a new chart showing the membership numbers relative to a base line of 12

months ago. As you can see, the Kansas Section has maintained a constant positive

membership for the last 12 months. Conversely, Iowa has done just the opposite for the past 11-

months. Nebraska and Missouri declined and then climbed into a positive gain about Christmas

time. I can’t explain the reasons, but armed with the data, let’s all work hard to bring more hams

into ARRL membership. It won’t be easy with all the hamfests canceled, but hopefully this will

change in a few months.

-50

-40

-30

-20

-10

0

10

20

30

40

50 Midwest Division ARRL Membership Changes

Last 12 Months

Iowa

Kansas

Missouri

Nebraska

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — June 2020 p. 15

Midwest Division Special Event Stations

01/01/2020 | Iowa State Parks On-the-Air Centennial Celebration

Jan 1-Dec 31, 0000Z-2359Z, various, Dubuque, IA. Great River Amateur Radio Club. All

bands, all frequencies, as available. Certificate & QSL. IASPOTA-2020, c/o Great River

Amateur Radio Club, P.O. Box 1384, Dubuque, IA 52004. Members will operate with their

own call signs from state parks throughout Iowa. Operating as time permits, mostly

weekends. QSL for contact; certificate for 5 parks. See website for complete information.

06/05/2020 | Salvation Army National Donut Day

Jun 5, 1400Z-2200Z, KØSAL, Lincoln, NE. Lincoln SATERN. 14.318. Certificate & QSL.

Charles Bennett, P.O. Box 67181, Lincoln, NE 68506. kd0ptk@gmail.com

06/14/2020 | Iowa State Parks On-the-Air Centennial – Cedar Rock

Jun 14, 1500Z-1900Z, KCØRMS, Quasqueton, IA. Buchanan County Amateur Radio Club .

14.240 7.240. Certificate & QSL. Great River ARC, P.O. Box 1384, Dubuque, IA 52004.

IASPOTA-2020 Lowell Walter residence by the famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, the

residence lies on a limestone bluff overlooking the Wapsipinicon River near Quasqueton in

Buchanan County. Cedar Rock is one of nine Wright designed residences in Iowa. Certificate

& QSL managed by Great River Amateur Radio Club, P.O. Box 1384, Dubuque, IA 52004.

QSL for contact; certificate for 5 parks. See website for complete information,

http://www.w0dbq.org/rules or www.bcarc.net

07/12/2020 | Iowa State Parks On-the-Air Centennial – Volga River

Jul 12, 1500Z-1900Z, W0OEL, Fayette, IA. Rural Iowa Amateur Radio Club. 14.240 7.240.

Certificate & QSL. Great River Amateur Radio Club, P.O. Box 1384, Dubuque, IA 52004.

IASPOTA-2020 Located in one of the most scenic parts of the state. Northeast Iowa is often

referred to as "Little Switzerland" because of its rugged topography, rock outcroppings and

forest cover – a sharp contrast to the rolling hills, farmland and scattered stands of timber

found in the majority of the state. Certificate & QSL managed by Great River Amateur Radio

Club, P.O. Box 1384, Dubuque, IA 52004. QSL for contact; certificate for 5 parks. See

website for complete information, http://www.w0dbq.org/rules or https://www.w0oel.com

07/18/2020 | Kearney Junction Park

Jul 18, 1300Z-2200Z, W0KY, Kearney, NE. Midway Amateur Radio Club. 21.345 21.045

14.290 14.045. Certificate. Henry Angle, N0HA, 307 E. 35th St., Kearney, NE 68847.

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — June 2020 p. 16

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — June 2020 p. 17

09/12/2020 | 4th Annual William Becknell Heritage Days Special Event - Founder of the

Santa Fe Trail

Sep 12-Sep 13, 1400Z-2200Z, WB0SFT/KC0VYS, Overland Park, KS. William Becknell

Santa Fe Trail Heritage Days. 21.365 14.265 7.265 3.865 1.830; SSB CW FT8. Certificate &

QSL. See website, for information on, receiving certificate or QSL. On the trail 1x1 calls, W0B

through W9B, and Parks on the Air (K-4579) activation. QRZ and LoTW. See website for

details, and how to receive a certificate and/or QSL. www.wb0sft.org

10/02/2020 | Lester Dent - Doc Savage Special Event

Oct 2-Oct 3, 1500Z-2300Z, W0D, Macon, MO. Macon County Amateur Radio Club. 14.270

7.200 3.950. Certificate. Macon County ARC, P.O. Box 13, Macon, MO 63552. The Macon

County Amateur Radio Club will operate the Lester Dent-Doc Savage Mystery Special Event

W0D, in Macon, MO. The purpose of the Special Event is to honor of the accomplishments of

Lester Dent, one of the most prolific writers of Pulp Fiction, world class adventurer, pilot,

creator of the Dent Master Fiction Plot Formula and an Amateur Radio Operator. The Special

Event also commemorates the 87th "Birthday" of Doc Savage the first modern superhero,

Lester Dent's creation. A colorful certificate will be provided to those that contact the Special

Event Station and send a QSL including a # 10 SASE to the Macon County Amateur Radio

Club, PO Box 13, Macon, MO 63552. dbagley@cvalley.net

or https://www.maconcountymissouriarc.org

10/31/2020 | National World War I Museum and Memorial

Oct 31, 1500Z-2300Z, WW1USA, Kansas City, MO. National World War I Museum and

Memorial. 14.225 SSB 7.250 SSB 14.060 CW 7.060 CW. Certificate. WW1USA Amateur

Radio Station, World War 1 Museum and Memorial, 2 Memorial Drive, Kansas City, MO

64108. We will be commemorating the 102nd anniversary of the Armistice, which ended the

fighting in World War 1. Our operation will be inside the Museum, in the Postcard Gallery. All

local and visiting hams are invited to come visit. ww1isa@theworldwar.org

or www.qrz.com/db/ww1isa

11/07/2020 | Honoring Veterans for Veterans Day

Nov 7, 1500Z-2200Z, W0FSB, Waterloo, IA. Five Sullivan Brothers Amateur Radio Club.

18.124 14.240 7.240. Certificate & QSL. Five Sullivan Brothers ARC, 3186 Brandon Diagonal

Blvd, Brandon, IA 52210. For QSL card: Send card and #10 SASE; For Certificate & QSL:

Send QSL, address label and 3 Forever stamps; For eQSL & Certificate: Send eQSL, then an

email to w0fsb@outlook.com, requesting a .jpg file of the certificate that you can print

yourself www.qrz.com/db/w0fsb

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — June 2020 p. 18

Midwest Division ARRL Hamfests & Conventions 07/18/2020 - Warrenburg Area Amateur Radio Club, Inc. 2020 Hamfest Location: Warrensburg , MO Type: ARRL Hamfest Sponsor: WAARCI, Johnson County ARES, MO-KAN Council Website: https://www.waarci.org

08/08/2020 - 08/09/2020 - CVARC Hamfest, ARRL Iowa State Convention Location: Central City, IA Type: ARRL Convention Sponsor: Cedar Valley Amateur Radio Club Website: http://w0gq.org/hamfest/

08/09/2020 - St Charles Amateur Radio Club Hamfest Location: O Fallon, MO Type: ARRL Hamfest Sponsor: St Charles Amateur Radio Club Website: http://wb0hsi.org/hamfest 09/05/2020 - Reno County Kansas Amateur Radio Association 2020 Hamfest Location: Hutchinson, KS Type: ARRL Hamfest Sponsor: Reno County Kansas Amateur Radio Association Website: http://www.rckara.org

10/03/2020 - Wichita Area Hamfest Location: Wichita, KS Type: ARRL Hamfest Sponsor: Valley Center Amateur Radio Club Website: http://www.vcarc.org 10/31/2020 - ARRL Nebraska State Convention 2020 Location: Lincoln, NE Type: ARRL Convention Sponsor: Lincoln Amateur Radio Club Website: http://www.lincolnhamfest.org 11/21/2020 - Northeast Nebraska Hamfest Location: Norfolk, NE Type: ARRL Hamfest Sponsor: Elkhorn Valley Amatuer Radio Club, Inc. Website: http://www.qsl.net/evarc

ARRL Midwest Div. Newsletter — June 2020 p. 19

State QSO Parties in the Midwest Division

If you have never operated in one of the state QSO parties, I urge you to give it a try. Besides a great opportunity to work a bunch of stations concentrated in a single state in a short amount of time, you will learn a bit of the geography and history of the state. If you are working on a county hunter award, these state QSO parties frequently have mobile and portable stations out in the less populated counties. The sponsors of the QSO parties also offer a variety of awards for working stations required for specific goals and objectives. I’ll admit to not being available to operate on many of the State QSO parties in the Midwest Division but if you can only manage one QSO party, I highly recommend the Kansas QSO Party. They offer a number of wonderful award certificates and the hams of Kansas go all out to activate all 99 counties. For full details check out the web sites for the two remaining QSO parties for 2020 – Kansas and Iowa.

Kansas August 29-30, 2020, Sponsored by Bob Harder, W0BH, Hesston, KS. For details go to http://ksqsoparty.org

Iowa September 19, 2020, Story County ARC Sponsor: http://www.w0yl.com

ARRL Midwest Division Leadership

Director: Rod Blocksome K0DAS

k0das@arrl.org 319-393-8022

Vice Director: Art Zygielbaum K0AIZ

k0aiz@arrl.org 402-421-0839

Iowa Section Manager: Lelia Garner, WA0UIG

Kansas Section Manager: Ron Cowan, KB0DTI

Missouri Section Manager: Cecil Higgins, AC0HA

Nebraska Section Manager: Matt Anderson, KA0BOJ

DX Advisory Committee: John Yodis, K2VV (MO)

Contest Advisory Committee: Glenn Johnson, W0GJ (IA)

Midwest Division Volunteer Counsel: Craig Long, K0CSL (IA)

Division Legislative Action Chair: Mike Edwards, WB9M (MO)

Legislative Action Coordinators: Nick Critelli, K 0PCG (IA); Bruce Frahm, K0BJ (KS &

NE); Mike Edwards, WB9M (MO).

Assistant Directors (Missouri): Paul Haefner K 0JPL, Dave Propper K2DP, Kent Trimble K9ZTV, Roger Volk K0GOB, Cecil Higgins AC0HA, John Frederick N8GOU, Eric Zust W0TT, Randy Schulze KD0HKD, and Ron Lowrance, K4SX.

Assistant Directors (Kansas): Mike Albers K 0FJ, Jim Andera K0NK, Bill Henderson K0VBU, Charlie Hett K0THN, Richard Johnson K0RCJ, Rick Tucker W0RT, and Jon Jones N0JK.

Assistant Directors (Iowa): Tim Busch N0CKR, C.W. Pantel K0IIR, and Jim Spencer W0SR

Assistant Directors (Nebraska): Matt Anderson, KA0BOJ, Joe Eisenberg K0NEB, Allen Harpham WD0DXD, and Todd LeMense KK0DX.

Midwest Division Webmaster: Steve Schmitz W0SJS email: w0sjs@arrl.net

Midwest Division’s website: http://www.arrlmidwest.org/