The
summer is on its way out… over on our side the temperatures are starting
to cool off and the kids are back to school. Amateur radio in Israel is
alive and well….
100
Logs
Yes!Mark
4Z4KX has succeeded in coaxing out one hundred logs from the Israeli participants
in the 2001 Holyland DX contest, and all-time record.The
number of overseas logs received will be known as the final results should
be available in the near future.
A
few weeks ago, when Mark was heard on the Tel-Aviv repeater pleading for
the 100th log, I was reminded of a storyof
a man asleep, dreaming that an unknown hand was counting him out gold coins:
“One,
two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine” called out the voice as
the coins were placed in the dreamer’s hand, and then it stopped…..
“I
want ten!Ten! TEN! TEN!” shouted
the dreamer so loudly, that he woke himself up.Now
awake, looking into his hand he saw now nothing.He
closed his eyes again, and softly said,
“O.K.I’ll
settle for nine.”(Think about it.)
IARC
Executive Meeting
Here
are some of the main points, as supplied by Dani 4X4YM on the IARC’s weekly
net (covered on R7, and the nationallylinked repeaters):
The
HaGAL magazine will come out in September before the High Holidays.
The
Council thanks Simha 4X4FW for the donation of a UHF repeater .
On
September 9th 2002 in San Marino the IARU (International Amateur
Radio Union) convention will take place.We
are looking for club members willing to represent us there.Please
apply to the IARC executive.On
the agenda is the proposal to extend the 40 metre band to a full 300 KHz
in our region (presently it’s only 100 KHz wide.)
Mark
4Z4KX was co-opted into the council as the liason person to the many new
immigrant members from the former USSR.
There
will be a social event this year (there has been none since 1998, just
annual IARC general membership assemblies).4X6UU
and 4X6ZI are co-ordinating the affair as per the council’s decision.
The
insurance policy on members’ equipment and antennas is terminating soon,
and the amount of equipement and premium proposals have to be checked.Moshe
4X6MG will take care of this.
Joe
4X6KJ is taking care of the new IARC callbook aided by Isaac 4X6HJ of Beer-Sheva.The
book is slated to come out at the beginning of 2002 in print and digital
media… be sure to supply any updates to your personal information to appear
there.
Mark
4Z4KX provided a report on the IARC booth at the annual “Ham Radio” fair
at Friedrichshafen Germany, Europe’s answer to Dayton.As
in the past years, we were well represented by a volunteer crew.
An
effort is being made to return old prodigal members back to the ranks of
the IARC.There is a long list of
names and great optimism.
A
discussion will be held about expanding the services of the Israel Amateur
Radio Club… teaching amateur radio courses all around the country and build
a cadre of teachers.There are quite
a few retired hams who should be glad to do a bit of teaching and supplement
their income.
Lighthouse
Activity
On
the 18th and 19th of August, there was a world-wide
activation of amateur stations operating from lighthouses all over the
world.Not to be left out, our people
were on hand to operate from lighthouses at the following Israeli coaal
points:Haifa, Akko (Acre), Ashdod,
Mikhmoret ans Eilat.The IARC council
voted an allotment to cover the printing of QSLs for this event.
WARC
2003 Caracas Venezuela
Yes,
in two short years representatives from every country will made to decide
what changes to be made in the electro-magnetic spectrum allocations….
In other words the reshuffle of frequencies.In
the last while we’ve been losing a lot of our VHF-UHF-SHF allocations as
more and more pressure is on from cellular telephones, satellite communications,
etc., etc.But there is a good chance
that we’ll see some HF improvements (as there was in WARC `79 when we got
the 30, 17 and 12 metre bands).There
is a move afoot for a world-wide 300 KHz wide exclusive amateur allocation,
possibly from 6800-7100 KHz, but time will tell.
The
IARU has published a beautifully illustrated booklet outlining the history
of amateur radio and its benefits to makind, especially underlining the
educational and emergency communications aspects.Stressing
the fact with the declining sunspots, reliable worldwide communiations
will be possible only on the 40 metre band, a very strong case is made
for the providing amateur radio with a good worldwide allocation on this
wavelength.The booklet is available
in Adobe Acrobat PDF format electronically.