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Allen, I thought you guys may be interested in this for the newsletter.

I am graduating from Central Washington University this June 12 Magna Cum Laude  (3.7 GPA) with a B.S.E.E.T Bachelor of Science in Electronics Engineering Technology.

I am Valedictory Speaker at Commencement. 18 people submitted speeches, they narrowed it to 3 for the judging panel, and I was selected. (Being a member of Toastmasters for the last 4 years probably helped.)

I have been accepted into the CWU MSET (Master of Science in Engineering Technology) program.

I have been offered (and I accepted) a Teaching Assistantship during the first year of my Masters studies. I will apply for another next year. The assistantship includes a stipend for 20 hours of work, half of that goes to tuition. I will assist the profs and probably teach at least one class in the year, maybe more.

PS, CONGRATULATIONS: To Chris for the fine accomplishment. All of us from WSN wish him good luck in his CWU MSET Program.

Also I wish to thank Chris for the very fine job he is doing as RN7 QNB Station on WSN.

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By Leroy Smith, N7EIE

It had been a few years since I went out roving in VHF/UHF contests with my grandkids as drivers. 2006, or so. But now four years later, the open road, it did beckon.

The grid squares in Western Washington happen to be set up so six are accessible from 101 around the Olympic Peninsula, but I needed a driver. W7QM was nice enough to help out, him driving and me talking/logging, and his XYL Bev in the back.

We used a 6M ham stick horizontally polarized out the back of my mini-van, and a Elk 144 / 440 MHZ log periodic horizontal antenna on top. The radio was my stand-by rig, an ICOM-706. Logging program was 4 ink pens, paper, and a clipboard.

We hit the road in Olympia soon after 1000 Saturday, and made it into and out of all six grid-squares before making it back to Olympia at 1900. The south edge of Ocean Shores was in grid CN76, so we had stopped there for supper.

I made a few more contacts while stopped a few times on the way home that evening, then from my driveway Sunday morning. Then I drove to Enumclaw that afternoon on a grid square edge, then traveled up into the northeast foothills of Mt. Rainier for our eighth grid square.

We got a total of 91 contacts on all three bands while activating eight grid squares all weekend. I had a great time, we may do it again sometime.

The dinner we had was at the Shilo Inn in Ocean Shores. It’s a fabulous place to enjoy dinner with a very nice atmosphere and the food was excellent. If you ever go to ocean shores for lunch or dinner be sure to stop at the Shilo Inn. “ Allen W7QM”

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In 2008 Al, W7QM, Allen, my grandson, and I ran Field Day from the Nisqually Pines Clubhouse and Evacuation Center for the first time. I had put up a G5RV thirty feet up in the trees, and we got 54 contacts Saturday. I didn’t do much Sunday except ‘clean up’ since it was so hot: 98 outside, 105 inside.

In 2009 I discovered I have to put in for the clubhouse a full year ahead of time lest it be reserved. June weddings are popular.

So I did, and we had the clubhouse again in the same place with the same antenna. I set up my TS-570 for the SSB contacts and traffic, and tested my one-year-old Flex 3000 SDR as the CW station.

We did quite well, almost double our first effort, garnering a total of 90 contacts on both days, and a BUNCH of bonus points. Technically it was a very successful Field Day test because we found that the SDR will load on the CW portions of all five Field Day bands (80-10) with maximum power with no gliches, but most importantly, no software interference. The G5RV at the clubhouse works better than my G5RV at home. Grr.

Thanks again go to Al and Bev for their integral support throughout Field Day, and hopefully we can do it again next year. We had no visitors this year, but maybe we will do better in that aspect with more advertising next year.

 

73,

Leroy

I enjoyed the Field Day with Leroy and the Clubhouse is an excellent place to hold it. Again we had a nice dinner of Kentucky Fried Chicken with all the trimmings. I am looking forward again to next year.  “Allen W7QM”

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8-14-2010, Radio Club of Tacoma, Spanaway, WA.

9-18 2010, Micro Hams Digital Conference, Redmond, WA

9-25-2010, Wash State Convention, Spokane, WA

           

On June 1, 2010, I was elected as WSN Mgr for another 2 years. I will try my very best to do a good job for all of us. To do a good job I need help from all of you and I appreciate the help I have received from all of you in the past. We are all getting older and it is very difficult to find new members that will join a CW Net.

The Digital Mode seems more interesting to the new Hams now days so that’s what they are interested in. I keep looking for someone to help us with the positions that  we need help in but I don’t have much luck finding any but I keep trying. My Best to all of you and see you on WSN.

Sincerely

Allen W7QM

Well are you all ready for the heat of summer?  We put our A/C in the window today, so we are ready.  WSN has been rolling along.  The morning sessions have been a little skimpy, but evenings are good QNI.  We didn't do Field Day this year.  Instead we went to a family birthday party at the local lake and we had good weather. That is about all I have this time.  Have a great summer season.

Pati W7ZIW, Assistant Manager. WSN.