HAGAL INTERNATIONAL
Israel Ham News
by Ahron Kirschner 4X1AT and Ron Gang 4X1MK
March - April
2003 Vol. 7 No. 3-4
Israel Ham News
by Ahron Kirschner 4X1AT and Ron Gang 4X1MK
Last year’s contest had good participation: 229 logs were received from
the world and another 85 from inside Israel.
AND THE
WINNERS ARE…..
Top WORLD single ops (mixed mode):
1. OM4JD
38,316 points
2.
UR4EWA 29,988
3.
HA7SQ 21,749
4. IK6XEJ
16,992
5. LZ4UU 16,380
6. LY3BH 16,044
7. DL5KUA 15,339
8. PA3AJW 15,272
9. OE8SPW 14,924
10.
DL3AAF 13,590
SSB: IK6XEJ
CW: LZ4UU
Multi op
SP9KRT 31,075
RA3AD 25,351
YO8KGA 19,936
CONTINENTAL
WINNERS
AFRICA CN2PM
ASIA EK6CC (single op)
RZ9AWK (multi-op)
EUROPE OM4JD (single op)
SP9KRT (multi-op)
N.AMERICA K1QS
S.AMERICA YV1DIG
OCEANIA VK8AV
ISRAELI TOP
SCORERS:
Mixed mode
single ops:
1. 4X4DZ 2.
4Z1GY 3. 4X4YM
Multiop
stations:
1.4X0R (portable)
1. 4X2F 2.4X6HI
3. 4Z4YU
Mobile
stations:
1.4Z4FL 2.4X4KK
3.4X4JU
SSB Only:
1.4Z8GZ 2.4X0J
3.4Z5AD
CW Only:
1. 4Z5FC 2. 4Z0X
3. 4Z5KO
THE WEATHER
Once in a while, when there is
not much to talk, or rather write, about, people talk about the weather.
This is what happened to me this month.
Fortunately, Radio Amateurs are forbidden to talk about politics or business
matters. Even if, what could I
write about? Local politics? It is
disgusting! The political
situation in the Middle East? I am
not giving away any new information if I just say ‘it is disgusting’ as
well.. Or might be I should write
about our local economical situatio?
It is just as bad as both of the 2 previous subjects. So how about writing on the weather?
Through many years I could write
about the heat in summer and the lack of sufficient rainfall in the winter
months. The waters of theSea Of
Galilee were receding steadily and we crossed the threshold, the ‘red line’ so
to speak, from where no more water
could be pumped out of the lake for drinking water of our country. The water would, on some instances
reach the Negev Desert, hundreds of kilometers away. As the Lake is anyway more than 200 meters below Sea Level
compared to the Mediterranean Sea, at the end of last summer we were down by
about six and a half meter below the critical point.
Now this winter,
fortunately we had, up to now, a huge amount of rain, way above the normal
annual downpour of the heavenly ‘wet substance’. On mount Hermon, the snow reached also unprecedented
heights. While I am writing these
lines, the snow at the top reaches about 6 meters! In the long run this snow will melt and will come down to
the Sea of Galilee. Up to
now the water in the lake has risen by about two and a half meter. The Jordan River, which flows through
the lake, and normally is a very small river, is overflowing and has at the
delta, getting to the lake. A width of over a hundred meters.
For us, the thirsty Israeli, cannot see
enough on television the way the Jordan is flowing, with its waterfalls
replenishing our water resource.
We are learning, almost daily, by how much the lake has risen.
One of the rivers flowing into the
Jordan is the Yarmuk has gates to prevent its waters to flow southwards in the
Jordan down to the Dead Sea. This
year, the amount of water is so high that after many years these gates were
closed, had to be opened and a lot of water will, eventually, at the end, flow
into the Dead Sea.
So, do ask any Israeli, what is
the best thing that happened to us lately there would be only one answer ‘we
had plenty of rain’.
P.S. In the mean time
there is heavy snow in Jerusalem, the roads to Jerusalem are closed due to the
snow, schoolchildren have a holiday and build snowmen. In short, at the end of this winter
season I will give you, once more, an account on the “water front”. Still, up to now, everybody seems to be
happy. What a glorious feeling, you
open the television and the main items of news are neither local nor foreign
politics nor the economical state of our nation – every thing has been ‘watered
down’!
de 4X1AT
ELEVEN
PIRATE RADIO STATIONS CLOSED IN JERUSALEM
(translated
freely from HAARETZ newspaper, March 12 2003)
by
Yehonatan Liss
Jerusalem Police raided yesterday 11
pirate radio stations that operated in the city and closed them down. Most of them transmitted from
Ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, and some of them were affiliated with the “Holy
Channels” of the Shas political party.
Three broadcasters were arrersted along with the maintenance manager of
the City Tower building on whose roof a pirate transmitter was installed.
Jerusalem police pointed out that the
raids were carried out as the result of complaints of (legitimate) radio
stations and airports, since the pirate transmissions interfered with the
frequencies that they use, and denied that the motive was a political order
from high places. Detectives of
the Zion Region of the police, commanded by Inspector-General Doron Turjeman,
confiscated much equipment including transmitters, amplifiers, antennas and
computers.
Amongst the stations that were located:
“The Voice of Truth”, “The Voice of Peace” and “The Voice of Grace”, identified
with Shas, as well as stations broadcasting in Yiddish to the ultra-orthodox
community, and a station that broadcasted in Persian.
Editor’s note:
In the past years we have done a few small articles about the massive
number of pirate broadcasters between 88 to 108 MHz. It’s interesting to note that for the first time in many
years, the Shas poiltical party, which has their network of “Holy Channels”
around the country, is not part of the new coalition government. At any rate, it’s still hard to find a clear frequency in
the FM broadcast band in which one can stick a needle!
Tuvia 4X4GT’s lecture series at the IARC headquarters
has celebrated one year of interesting and varied talks. Attendence has been high, and the scope
of topics covered is most wide.
_ .
. . _
After what seems like a decade break, Naftali 4Z4RM of
Haifa has re-instated the Saturday morning (11AM) HaGAL-On-The-Air net,
originating on the Haifa repeater.
This is an interesting roundtable, including amateur radio news and
technical topics. Uzi 4X4CP is
Naftaly’s second-in-command and will be conducting the net from time to time.
_ .
. . _
The IARC annual general membership meeting will take
place in the Lev Auditorium in the Tel-Aviv University’s Shenkar building on
Thursday April 3. We hope to
provide a full report of the proceedings in our next issue.
_ .
. . _
Recent amateur licence examinations held at the IARC
HQ saw 2 examinees pass the Morse test, 8 pass the regulations, and two the
technical portion. As a result a
few new callsigns are being heard on the air.
_ .
. . _
The IARC has received a very tidy sum of 150,000
shekels from monies bequeathed to the State, with a very definite string
attached:
The funds are for the sole purpose of education… thus
the money may be used to pay instructors and take care of expenses setting up
radio club stations. Should we
take advantage properly of this windfall, we should see a serious strengthening
of amateur radio in Israel.
_ .
. . _
Nahum 4Z5KN will be co-ordinating the Russian language
pages of HaGAL magazine, appearing next to these pages. Godspeed, Nahum!
_ .
. . _
_ .
. . _
At
the time these words are being written, the outcome of the military tension in
the Iraqi region is still unknown.
Having gained experience from the 1991 Gulf War and the other violent
acts occurring here in the last few years, amateur radio has definitely a
contribution to make to the public here in Israel.
Many IARC members have volunteered their time and expertise in the
setting up of an emergency communications network which will work in
co-ordination with the authorities in charge of Civil Defense. A country-wide exercise has been
conducted by the Emergency Network volunteers recently, and lessons are being
learned in fine-tuning and improving the operation.
Although we hope that we need only to participate in exercises and be
spared from the real thing, readiness and preparedness are very important!
Rules for participants worldwide (outside of Israel)
THE AIM: To
promote contacts between Radio Amateurs around the globe
and Israeli Hams. To aid
Amateurs to achieve the "HOLYLAND AWARD".and other different Israeli
awards.
1. Eligibility All licensed
amateurs and SWL's worldwide.
2. Object To
contact as many different Israeli amateur radio stations on as many bands, and
from as many 'Areas', as possible in both modes, CW and SSB.
3. Contest Period
Saturday 19 April 2003,
00.00 UTC to
Saturday 19 April 2003,
23.59 UTC.
4. Categories 1. Single operator - MIX
( all bands)
a. Single operator - SSB only ( all bands)
b. Single operator - CW only ( all bands)
2.
Multi operators - single
transmitter - all bands
3. Short Wave Listeners – SWL .
5. Modes SSB; CW; MIX
(SSB + CW).
6. Bands 1.8 ,
3.5 , 7, 14, 21, 28 Mhz. According to the IARU Region-I recommendations :
3.50-3.56, 3.60-3.65, 3.70-3.80, 14.00-14.06, 14.125-14.300, 21.00-21.08,
21.20-21.40, 28.00-28.10,
28.50-28.80 Mhz.
7. Exchange
Worldwide stations send
RS(T) + QSO number starting with
001. Israeli stations give RS(T) and 'Area'.
8. Valid Contact The same station
may be contacted both in CW and SSB on each band. It is thus possible to make
up to 12 valid QSO's with the same station if worked in CW and SSB on each
bandNeither Cross-Mode nor Cross- Band contacts are not permitted.
9. QSO
Points 2 points
for each QSO on 1.8 - 3.5 - 7
Mhz, 1 point for
each QSO on 14 - 21 - 28 Mhz.
10. Multipliers One multiplier for each 'Area'
worked once per band. Note : A district 'Area'. See explanation below.
11. Final score: To calculate the final score, multiply the sum of QSO-points
on all bands with the sum of multipliers worked on all
bands.
12.Logs
ELECTRONIC Files and PAPER Logs
are acceptable.
A. Electronic files must be in ASCII text format on
3.5”,1.44 MB disks, or Recommended Cabrillo format in standard ASCII file send
by e-mail
B. B.
Handwritten paper logs are acceptable - Separate logs for each band
and mode.
a. Each entry shall report:
Time UTC, call sign, band, mode, RS(T) QSO number sent, RS(T), 'Area' received
and points. b. SWL's shall report on Israeli stations only: Time UTC,band,
mode call sign, stations worked,
RS(T), 'Area' sent and points.
13.Summary sheet :
All entries must be
followed by a summary sheet showing station callsign, contest category, name of
operator(s),address and e-mail. A summary sheet shall list number of
multipliers and points scored from each band worked and the final score.
Declaration of compliance with rules of contest and own Amateur Radio License.
Entries must
be postmarked not later than May 31,2003 and sent to: e-mail: 4Z4KX@IARC.ORG or Contest Manager 4Z4KX , Israel Amateur Radio Club, Box 17600, Tel Aviv
, 61176, Israel.
14. Awards:A.A trophy for the overall winner in each category (MIX;SSB;CW;SWL).
B. A plaque for each continental winner
(highest score).
C. Certificates will be awarded to the top
scorers in each country or stateprovided a minimum
of 50 valid QSO's points have been reached.
15. Special Operation
Israeli mobile or portable
stations may move and change their
location, during the contest, into 5
different 'Areas', restricted to an operating time of at least one full hour per 'Area'. The
operation from each 'Area' gives that station the status of a different station
with a another call, thus giving additional contest points and multipliers. To
identify its different location / 'Area' those stations will change
their callsigns by adding a
number after their prefix. For
example 4X4JU will use
4X41JU, 4X42JU...4X45JU or 4X6JS
will use 4X61JS, 4X62JS etc.