HAGAL
INTERNATIONAL
Israel
Ham
News
by Ahron Kirschner
4X1AT and Ron Gang 4X1MK
SPRING 2004
Isaac 4X1HJ teaching children ham radio at the Eshel Hanassi
high school in the Negev
APRIL WAS AN ACTIVITY FILLED MONTH…. STARTING ON
THE 15th WITH IARC A.G.M., BUILDING UP WITH THE HOLYLAND CONTEST ON
THE 17th AND CULMINATING IN ON THE 27th WITH THE INDEPENDENCE
VHF-UHF CONTEST, IT SEEMED AS THOUGH EVERYTHING REVOLVED AROUND OUR
HOBBY. MARCH 27th A MONTH BEFORE SAW THE FIRST ANTENNA
FEST. SO, DEAR READER, HERE’S ANOTHER EDITION IN THE ONGOING CHRONICLES
OF THE ISRAEL AMATEUR RADIO CLUB. PLEASE READ ON…..
THE
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The Wingate Institute (Physical Education
University) was the venue for this year’s annual membership meeting. Near
the coastal city of Netanya, half way between Tel-Aviv and Haifa, it was hoped
to bring a large turnout if hams from our fair land. Mini-busses were
chartered at IARC expense to bring the participants from the Haifa and
Beersheba regions. All in all an estimated 170 participants were on hand.
In the lobby was a sign-in table for
those not yet having paid their dues to make good. The outgoing and
incoming QSL bureaus had their managers present to distribute and receive
packages of cards. A new addition was a display booth of the Israeli
importers of Icom amateur radio equipment with stacks of dream-brochures.
They also donated some gear for the raffle at the end of the program, and we
won’t forget our traditional donors and sponsors such as Volvo Israel (4X1IK),
importer of Kenwood, Daiwa, Diamond, etc.
Those who arrived on time had a chance to
hob-nob and shmooze before the procedures got underway. Your humble
scribe rode the bus from Beersheba, which took two hours to reach Wingate with
our skillful driver navigating the rush-hour traffic. We arrived just in
time for the beginning of the AGM’s proceedings, the main points of which I
jotted down and follow:
On (that’s his first name, which
means “strength” in Hebrew) 4Z4KQ, with his radio phonic voice and great stage
presence, chaired the meeting dressed in a tuxedo and red sash to give the
event a touch of class.
The first speaker was Natan Gidron
of Motorola, our sponsor. Natan started out with a personal touch telling
that he had just passed the additional Morse exam to upgrade from Technician to
General Class. After his speech, he was surprised to be presented with a
baseball cap with his new call sign, hitherto unknown to him, 4Z5NG,
embroidered on it.
Kuti 4X6OM, IARC Incoming QSL Bureau chief
distributing cards at a field day
The next speaker was Mr. Moshe Galili, the
deputy director of the Ministry of Communications. On introduced him as
no stranger to our craft, having done his Master’s thesis years ago on
antennas. Mr. Galili pointed out that 4Z5NG had received no “protektzia”
(special consideration) and had passed his Morse test at 12 words per minute
fair and square. He also quoted the popular IDF radio station “Galei
Tzahal” which had announced on one of their news bulletins the upcoming Israel
Amateur Radio Club annual general meeting. Their reporter Liat Mudrik
said that radio amateurs are people that like to get together and listen to the
radio.
Mr. Galili then related to the Word
Administrative Radio Conference (WARC) that was held in 2003. A decision
was taken to expand the 40-meter band by another 100 KHz (here in Region I we
presently are allocated 7.000 to 7.100 MHz) with an option of expanding it by
another 100 KHz in 2007. Another decision was to allow the authorities in
each country to decide whether or not Morse proficiency will be necessary for
an HF license. In Israel, Moshe Galili said, the Ministry has decided not
to take the decision alone what to do with Morse exam, and will consult with
the IARC on the matter…. If the IARC thinks that the abolishment of the Morse
requirement will bring more young people to the hobby, then the Ministry will
follow that course.
Another controversial issue, Mr. Galili
said, was that of PLC – Power Lines Communication (also known as BPL). It
is hard to stop a new technology, he said. We have struggled together
with the aid of the amateurs, and we have not allowed PLC to operate except in
the experimental framework that is still going on in Kiryat Motzkin (a suburb
of Haifa). Amateurs have helped with the measurements. MAYNET, the
PLC company, has been bringing heavy pressures to bear on the Ministry.
Member of Knesset (Parliament) Eli Landau has been pushing to connect the
schools in Herzliya and their students via PLC. Yet this would go through
seventy voltage transformers in the city, and the QRM would probably be
amazing.
Moshe Galili said that the issue of PLC
should be of concern to the coastal wireless stations and the army as well as
the radio amateurs. The bottom line is that we will have to find the
“golden path”, the middle way, to accommodate all concerned. Galili said that
he doesn’t know of any country (with the possible exception of Germany) that
has authorized regular day-to-day operation of PLC.
Speaking of the recent boom in
“communications”, Mr. Galili said that before the seventies on the air there
were only ships, aircraft and hams. Then, with the inception of cellular
telephone, money started to be poured into the telecommunications, frequencies
being bought up for the hitherto unheard tune of $200 billion. Here in
Israel frequencies were sold more cheaply than abroad. There will be a further
run on frequencies with the onset of the third generation of cellular phones.
Our next speaker was our perennial IARC
chairman Yossi Obstfeld 4X6KJ. He was very outspoken on the issue of PLC
saying that there were more disappointments than satisfactions. We
couldn’t get the Ministry to stop this mode that pollutes the radio environment
and is a free-for-all, which will destruct amateur radio and emergency
communications. (Possibly the full text of Yossi’s will appear separately
in this issue.)
As for clubs, the IARC executive was not
able to move things further, and Yossi apologized for the delay in approving
new memberships.
He praised Moshe 4X4PG for his work with
the Israeli delegation to WARC, traveling at his own expense.
Our booth at the Han Radio fest at
Friedrichshafen was a success, and thanks were given to Tommy DL2FDF, Jack
PA3AJW and Ronald PA3BMQ for their important help. Our sponsors included
Ahron Suleima 4X6AS and the Golan wineries providing refreshments of Israel to
our visitors.
Yossi then spoke of our co-operation with
the Civil Defense Command of the IDF, which has been bearing fruit, and called
for more volunteers for the Emergency Network. Unfortunately the colonel
from the Command who was invited to speak at the AGM did not attend.
Hats’ off to Amnon 4X1DF for his work on this ongoing project.
Dani 4X4YM speaking for the
Executive Committee, spoke of the downward trend in amateur radio, and how it
had already been identified a few years ago. The emphasis was put on
bringing old hams back to the fold and activity, and as a result we have been
able to keep our numbers stable.
The “HaGal” magazine continues to be published
regularly, edited by Michael 4X4KF with a wide range of articles with regular
columns in both the English and Russian languages. The QSL bureaus
function well with Kuti 4X6OM on the incoming cards and Ami 4X6HT taking care
of the outgoing QSLs.
The weekly Thursday evening lecture
series at the IARC HQ continues, with thanks to Tuvia 4X4GT and Moshe 4Z1PF
arranging a variety of interesting speakers. Yaacov 4Z5GT and Shalom
4Z4BS are doing great work at the IARC offices, keeping everything running
smoothly.
Tidhar 4Z5CA has been doing a Yeoman job
maintaining the IARC Internet server performing its many functions for web
sites and Email and keeping it impenetrable to all the hostile hackers who
stalk cyberspace.
There were two main events this
past year, the first the Field Day – Picnic at the Ganei Yehoshua Park, 4Z4KX
prevailing, and the first Antenna Fest at the Ilanot Forest organized by Alex
4Z5KJ (See the separate coverage of this event elsewhere in this issue).
Slava 4Z5MU “pounding brass” at the Ilanot Antenna
Fest field-day
As for the Holyland Contest, under the
capable leadership of Mark 4Z4KX, the emphasis is being put on mobile and
portable stations activating rare squares. For the next contest (which
followed hot on the heels of the AGM) an “encouragement prize” will be drawn by
the participants in this category.
As for monies bequeathed to the State, in
2002-3 we benefited from 50,000 shekels to be used for the establishment and
maintaining of youth clubs. However, we missed the deadline for
submitting an application for 2003-4. An application for 2004-5 will be
made.
In order to minimize waiting times,
amateur radio license examinations are administered a few times a year at the
IARC headquarters, with 4Z1PF and 4X1UK handling these matters.
Active radio clubs at this time are in
Museum of Science in Haifa, Re`ut Maccabim (adjoining the city of Modi`in), the
handicapped center in Netanya and the Motorola club in Tel-Aviv. There is
a shortage of amateurs willing to take on the task of running clubs and instructing.
The new committee is urged to deal with this important matter.
Vis a vis WARC, we’ve already touched on
it above. Yet 4X4YM reported that Israel had applied for another call
sign prefix, yet we received a negative response, so we’re still allocated only
the 4Z and 4X prefixes. If it’s any consolation, we may now use four
letter suffixes. Big deal.
The fearless IARC Repeater Committee crew scales a
tower to install a new antenna for R12 near Safed in the upper Galilee (photo courtesy of 4X4GT)
Repeaters – Israel 4X1OM, Itzik
4X6ZH and David have been keeping the VHF and UHF repeater networks up to snuff
and as such have been doing an impeccable job.
The weekly HaGal Hameshudar
bulletin/roundtable on the Tel-Aviv repeater has been run by Yoram 4Z1GY for
the past many years, yet Yoram announced that he’s stepping down, so a new
moderator is required.
The weekly 40 meter HaGal net in Russian under
the auspices of Mark 4Z4KX celebrated its 600th edition at the Ganei
Yehoshua field day.
As far as the proposed electromagnetic
radiation law of the Ministry of the Environment goes, Eli Stern 4Z5IS
submitted the application of the IARC requesting exemptions for amateur radio
operators.
Dani 4X4YM finished his report for the
Executive Committee stating that all the antenna installations of the IARC are
still insured including third party liability.
Paul 4X6UU, IARC treasurer reported a
reserve of 200,000 shekels in the IARC coffers, he and Haim 4X6ZI running a
computerized data base and inventory to keep track of all the IARC
assets. 4X6KJ and 4X4CM were thanked for their continued work for the
IARC “Keeping the train running”, and thanks to Motorola for our office and
Israel Kass 4X1IK for his massive contributions to our HaGal magazine.
Wishes for a speedy recovery are extended to Yaacov 4X1FP and Uri 4X1VR.
Our accountant 4X4ND’s report told that
the costs of our activities had decreased while the collecting of dues remained
in order. He was re-elected for another term.
Outstanding Amateur was awarded to Daniel Yaari
4X1FC, and Slava 4Z5MU Amateur of the Year, operating the Re`ut Maccabim club.
4Z1GY presented the Membership
Committee’s report, and apologized for the delay in approving new
memberships. This year, Yoram said, we gained only 43 new members, half
of what was in the previous year.
4X4KK, chairman of the Watchdog
Committee, found all the executive’s activities to be in order. That
concluded the reports of the IARC’s committees to the membership assembly.
The last item of business to be attended
to was the election of the new IARC committees. This was the first time
in my memory that more names were proposed for the executive than there were
places. In the past years it was like pulling teeth to get people to
volunteer to be in the council. There would have been a long-drawn out
voting procedure that in the end was sidestepped when a number of potential
candidates stepped down allowing a legal number of names to be voted upon as a
bloc. The new committee is: 4Z1PF, 4Z4RM, 4Z5RG, 4X1YM, 4X6UU, 4X6ZI,
4Z4GT, 4Z5FG, 4X1DF, 4Z4KX, 4Z4TL, 4Z5KJ, 4X1HJ, 4X6KJ, 4Z5RM and 4X1AT as an
honorary member. The new watchdog committee is 4X4KK, 4Z5MG, 4X6ZQ and
4Z7GDI in reserve. Membership committee is 4Z5CA, 4X6XN, 4X6UO and 4X4CP
in reserve.
And before retiring for refreshments at the
intermission, a short film of the Antenna-Fest field day at Ilanot, to the
enjoyment of all present.
After a marathon of coffee, cakes and
eyeball QSO’s, the assembly resumed for the traditional open forum, in which
members had previously submitted their names to bring up topics that deemed
worthy of discussion and consideration. After a few speakers, the
assembly got bogged-down on the topic of membership-dues exemptions, and a
rather heated discussion ensued, until matters were clarified and a decision
was taken that the IARC executive would review all exemptions made for
2004. By this time, the hour was late and other matters could not be
raised, as the auditorium’s time was up and there were long journeys to made
back to the Beersheva and Haifa environs.
Thus, we all rose to sing “Hatikva”, the
national anthem, and the 2004 Annual General Membership meeting adjourned.
ANTENNA FEST AT ILANOT
Saturday March 27th saw a new
kind of gathering at the Ilanot forest, between Tel-Aviv and Netanya on
the inland road. The initiative was that of Alex 4Z5KJ
Alex 4Z5KJ writes in QRZ.co.il (our
translation from the Hebrew):
“The light in your eyes at the
Saturday gathering in the Ilanot forest was worth all the effort organizing the
event.
“I am happy to receive the positive
reactions and praise for the fun day that of course would not have been
possible without the IARC council. Heartfelt thanks to my friends Eli and
Mark that aided and gave from all their energies in organizing this field day.
“I want to tell you about Eli
Shahaf 4Z5NB who has been with us for a short time and in spite of this
gives so much to the different activities of the IARC and also to thank Mark
Stern 4Z4KX, our veteran friend who, despite all his years of much activity,
continues to give of his great experience without tiring.
“I hope that this
get-together will open up future events in which we will have an opportunity to
get to know better each other personally and the families. And once again
heartfelt thanks for your words and support.”
4Z5KJ’s
portable stacked 2 meter array and six meter yagi at Ilanot
CQ CONTEST, CQ CONTEST
…And into the night the crazed contester
calls, “CQ contest, CQ contest.” The lights are out, the house is dark,
everyone has gone to sleep, yet still he calls out, “CQ contest, CQ
contest.” The streets are deserted, not even the howl of a lovesick stray
dog breaks the silence, yet on into the night the contester calls, “CQ contest,
CQ contest.” Is the man mad, has he lost his mind, why does he
continue to call out, “CQ contest, CQ contest”?
Yes, dear readers, and so it was.
The brief IARC contest period has come and gone leaving in its aftermath piles
of logs and QSL cards and plenty of work for our faithful contest manager,
4Z4KX. Mark has been managing the Holyland Contests and Independence Day
Contests for years now, checking thousands of logs, compiling Holyland Contest
results booklets yearly, filling out certificates, ordering trophies and
plaques, and taking the podium every year at the IARC Annual General Meeting to
ceremoniously distribute these prizes to the winners. More are mailed out
to abroad, and the work is momentous. Your humble scribe along with 4X6KJ
undertook the organization of the Israel 40th Anniversary
International Contest in 1988, so we know what a time and energy-consuming task
this is. Our admiration and appreciation goes out to Mark! More
power to you!
THE HOLYLAND CONTEST this year
took place during the 24 hours of April 17th this year. As we
write these lines, Mark has received already 170 logs from 45 countries. Amongst
them are Niger Republic, South Korea, Indonesia, Ecuador, Cuba, Venezuela and
Brazil. Many more to come.
About 128 Israeli stations were on
the air, quite a few of them mobile activating rarer Holyland squares.
Band conditions were so-so, with ten meters hardly opening up at all.
Thus it looks like no records heave been broken. Yet we are on the
downslide of the sunspot cycle, so this is to be expected.
More news to come with the results in a
future issue. Stay tuned.
4X1FC demonstrates his CW technique at Ilanot
4X1HJ
aeronautical mobile
THE INDEPENDENCE DAY
CONTEST
A more minor contest is the annual 50
MHz-VHF-UHF inland competition. This takes place on Independence Day
between 9 to 12 noon, so as to insure a fair bit of operating on this day of
traditional picnics in Israel.
This year it fell on April 27th, and
a “sharav” (hot spell) had just broken, so propagation on VHF-UHF was dismal,
the worst I have experienced in the history of this contest. I was not able
to complete a contact with 4X6PO in Ashdod, a mere 60 kilometers away.
Nonetheless, participation was good, and after all when it comes to
propagation, this part of the game and we take the bad with the good.
For the first time, and aeronautical mobile
station was on the air, with 4X1HJ, 4Z8NN and 4Z7AFF activating squares in the
Beersheva district. From their high altitude they were able to rack up
many long haul contacts. Other mobiles were heard, 4X6ON, 4Z5NB and
4Z7EBC in the hills of Northern Samaria, 4Z7ECI and 4Z7EDI mobiling around the
Jerusalem hills. 4X4LF operated portable on the top of the grain elevator
of Kibbutz Kissufim and other stations in the north were active, which yours
truly here in the south didn’t work this time around. All in all a fun
contest, with the scoring based on 10 points per contact plus a point for every
single kilometer of each QSO, encouraging long-haul QSOs.
VHF-UHF PROPAGATION is an interesting
phenomenon here in the Eastern Mediterranean, and seasoned operators can almost
predict the weather by the conditions.
Generally, tropospheric ducting or
reflection occurs frequently when there are sharp changes of temperatures of
different air masses, with microscopic water droplets condensing between these
air layers forming a mirror for VHF RF on their borders. Sometimes
it is a duct, which will create great signal levels between the Negev, and
Haifa yet will pass over Tel-Aviv, and sometimes conditions will be enhanced
between many more regions of the country. This can happen when air masses
of different temperatures move in with the approach of a Sharav (dry hot
spell), and in the summer evenings when the higher air cools off, yet the
warmer Mediterranean keeps the lower air warm. The latter, is known
locally as “Summer Conditions” and from June through October is
prevalent.
Your scribe thinks that what happened on
Independence Day was all the air levels becoming of a more or less uniform
temperature, so there was little reflection, and possibly the increased dust in
the air blown in from the desert attenuated signals somewhat. No matter what,
as they say, “Yom assal, yom bassal (one day honey, one day onions).”
Friends and a magnetic loop at Ilanot
ARTICLES IN THE HEBREW
HAGAL
Those of you not versed in the ancient
tongue of the Bible are missing some interesting reading.
In the previous issue oh HaGal we
saw the first of a two-part construction article by 4Z1PF (the continuation
appearing in this issue). Moshe takes a switching power supply from an
old computer and turns into a supply delivering 13.8 V at 20 amps, enough to
power any modern HF transceiver. In short, the main points of the
modification are (as opposed to what we saw in QST a few years ago which perhaps
gave us only 7 amps at 12 V) removing all the 5 volt components, rewinding the
transformer, using the high-current Shotkey diodes from the 5 volt supply to
rectify the higher voltage and adding higher voltage filter capacitors.
Moshe also gives an in-depth explanation of how these power supplies work, and
the reasons for each and every modification. Moshe also gives the supply
a new box, adds panel lights and changes wires to those with the proper
color-coding. He also shows how to maintain 12 volts on the
fan This article deserves to be translated into English and be
distributed worldwide
Elsewhere in this issue we see the minutes of
the IARC council meetings, satellite news, ham radio history, soldering
technology measuring equivalent series resistance of capacitors, 4Z1FC’s “The
Art of Abbreviation” on Morse lore and pictures of various keys, “The Nice
Pirate from the African Continent” by 4X1IO, 4Z5IS on Logic 7 (Eli Stern writes
regular on amateur software), further articles on the amateur of the month,
Electro-Magnetic radiation, contests coming up and results and the Russian and
English language sections.
All in all we see 72 pages (not including
covers), edited by Edited by Michael Barak 4X4KF.
Did you order a call-sign
hat?
Thanks very much to Alex 4Z5KJ and QRZ.co.il for the
photos from the Ilanot Antenna Fest (“A picture is worth a thousand
words.”)
____________________________________
the
4X1MK sky hook
Until next time….
73 de Ahron
4X1ATand Ron 4X1MK