F  E  E  D  -  P  O  I  N  T

With all the beautiful warm weather we have been having it is difficult to sit at the computer to write the June Feed-Point. Here it is July already. And, who would believe that it would be so dry now after the rainy May and the rainy third week of June. Also, the warmth now is in strong contrast to the temperatures during the wet weather. Leaf out was about two weeks late and the blackflies were, too. Guess that means flies will be feasting on us longer than usual.

On June 7th a bit before noon I heard traffic on 146.640. KA1OOW and N1UYB were trying to exchange information. I stepped in to help as a relay. KA1OOW was stuck up to the axles on a back road way back in the woods. Ken traps nuisance beavers. He tried to turn around and it was so wet that he got stuck. He was trying to give his GPS coordinates and a phone number to his wife. I was able to clarify the message for N1UYB. It turned out that Ken was on an untraveled road, and three miles from a road that might be used. He was just able to make .64 with a handheld. When he moved away from the truck he could not reach it. He could not get into 146.715 either. It took a few hours, but eventually he was rescued. One of two rescue trucks got stuck also. The other two pulled that one out.

KA1OOW and N1UYB were greatful for the 146.640 repeater. Without it, Ken might have been in a bad situation, considering the time of year (voracious biting insects) and the lack of road traffic in the area where he was. Thanks again to all who contributed money and labor to move 146.640 to its present location, where it has better coverage than it ever had before.

On May 13th two contest CW operators appeared on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Chip, K7JA, and Ken, K6CTW, passed a message in a race against two teeenaged text messenger champions who had modern cell phones. Ben and Jason could not do it as fast as Chip and Ken. Old fashioned Morse Code was faster. A similar challenge took place in Australia a month earlier with the same result. Morse Code was faster! The CW operators wore outfits worn by 19th century Western Union or railroad Morse telegraphers. A Bencher paddle was used and Yaesu Ft-817 rigs.

N1CHF was up in Fort Kent on June 30th. He transferred the old 146.640 repeater and the amplifier to N1FG. What do we want to do with them?

Field Day Weekend was blessed with good weather, though quite hot. Everyone had a good time. N1PMS was at UMPI to help with the set-up and stayed until after dark. He returned the next morning. N1FG arrived at UMPI around 6:30 PM and stayed until 9:30 Sunday morning. The bands were not the best. Both 15 and 17 were dead. Twenty meters was good until about 23:00 and did not come back to life until about 7:00 AM on Sunday. There were so many people using 20 and 40 meters that it was hard to make contacts. However, each contact was very satisfying. A couple of times we managed to get a frequency and call CQ and have people contact us.

WA1YNZ's 12 year old granddaughter Alexis worked 20 meters with me. Alexis just became a ham in April. Her call sign is KB1MHG. Her enthusiasm was a delight. She is a very interesting young lady. We had a good time together. Twenty meter operations were in KA1CQX's trailer. He helped us and kept us entertained with good stories.

WA1YNZ and AA1OQ operated CW in another trailer. There was also a station for 40 meters. KB1CLC was in charge of that set up in the big food tent.

The following was received by N1FG to share with the club.

"Today is Wednesday 15 June 2005 and already 154 stations in 31 countries have confirmed their participation in the International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend 20/21 August 2005. A list of the stations with QTH and QSL information can be found at http://illw.net/2005_list.htm

If you are joining us in the fun of the weekend please listen for other lighthouse or lightship stations. We wish to remind non-US CW stations to operate above 14.225 to allow access by Advanced Class US amateurs. Operations below 14.225 eliminate the potential for some US hams to work the LH stations."

Just want to say again, that Emily Clarke's presentation on Amateur Satellites should be a real treat for us. Please try to attend. She flies back west the next day so will not be making a long presentation. Please invite anyone who might have an interest in working with amatuer satellites or an interest in learning how they work. That's July 12, 6:00 PM , Nadeau Hall Alumni Conference Room at UMFK.