Tonight we had 14 check-ins.

1. KZ1X – Steve: Very interesting RARS with fewer dealers this year. Some not there due to illness.
2. NC4CX – Butch: Really enjoyed the RARS fest and seeing folks that he has not seen in quite some time. Good to finally meet Bruce and Laurie. Also saw many of the regulars on the Monday night net. Very little radio activity but did get his 6 meter beam up with some good preliminary reports. Now he can switch from his 40 meter I-V to the new antenna.
3. KX4P – John: Able to copy everyone so far. Really enjoyed going to the RARS fest with a friend that drove in for the weekend. Brought lots to sell but ended up bringing everything home again. Did end up purchasing a few things. Using a Collins S-line tonight.
4. KR4UB – Dan: Also enjoyed RARS fest – the most enjoyable part were the eye-ball QSOs. Enjoyed the after RARS trip for super hamburger lunch. Looking forward to the Tar Heel 10 mile run.
5. KJ4UZU – Clint: Real good to see so many familiar faces at RARS. Did not bring a new HF radio home from RARS. Did purchase a couple 6 meter FM HTs and they both work! Great to see Wayne after such a long time. Now up to 93 on 80 meters – getting closer. Got South Shetland for a new country and it was on 80! Now at 280 total confirmed. Now looking forward to Durham Fest.
6. K4FD – Dan: Good evening to everyone – been off the air for a couple years and got back on a couple weeks ago. Heard about the 10 meter net and wanted to check in. This is the first time he checked in. Been spending some time working on antennas. Also really enjoying 17 meters. The band noise has been very low allowing Q5 contacts without huge signals. Also enjoyed RARS and purchased a few things including some small tools. Able to copy everyone on the net!
7. KU4GC – Dee: RARS was fun and the club tables did fairly well. DFMA made about $300.00 net after paying for the tables. Don’t yet have the OCRA final $$ but in the last minute one of the ICOM rigs went for $400.00 that will certainly help the final results. Have a DFMA Board meeting tomorrow night. Also looking forward to the Tar Heel 10 mile race. Not much HF work – Clint is 1 ahead on 80 with Dee’s total being 92. At 236 on all band DXCC. Still have an ICOM 706 for sale – had 2 one left so Dave (NA4VY) still has an opportunity.
8. W4BOH – Wilson: Also enjoyed RARS and controlled his purchases. First time ever he did not purchase anything from the club table. Enjoyed seeing Laurie – hope she did well. Saw a couple Hammarlund receivers. Bought JR’s amp – it is a big Heath Kit with (2) 3-500s. This will be one of the next Land of Magic amps. (Perhaps a SB-220 or SB-221 depending on age.) Good to see some regulars but some of the regulars were missed. Been working on taxes almost all day. Greta was visiting for a few days and just went back home. Still in need for a food committee for Field Day – really needed to keep the food moving on Saturday night / Sunday morning.
9. NA4VY – Dave: Running the Yaesu FT1200 today. Hope it sounds good as he is using he mic that was purchased from Bruce. Made it to RARS and enjoyed walking around seeing people and checking out the boat anchors. Want to get rid of some stuff, so nothing was purchased. Was tempted to purchase the ICOM 706 that was on the OCRA table. Also busy with taxes.
10. KG4NNT – JR: Good to see everyone at RARS last Saturday. Looking forward to the Durham Fest in a few weeks.
11. KK4PH – Lowell: Had company so got to the net late but made it!
12. WQ8U –Mac: Using his only modern radio, the Ten Tec Jupiter. Wilson showed up in Mac’s driveway to help solve a noise problem and pointed out a few antenna related issues. One issue was lack of use – this helps by checking in on the net!
13. KE4VNC/M – Joe in Knightdale – very light copy.
14. N1LN – Bruce: Net Control

Tonight we had 9 check-ins.

Upcoming Events:

1. DFMA membership meeting: April 2 at Bullock’s Restaurant

Check-ins:

1. NC4CX – Butch: Unable to check-in last week as he could not hear net control. Did listen to those that he could copy. Did not get on WPX at all this weekend. Listened but nothing new heard. Did work Ivory Coast before they left. Hope they confirm as it is needed. Did get Niger for an all time new one.
2. KZ1X – Steve: Using a different antenna tonight – a 10 meter squalo about 10’ off the ground. His usual antenna is under construction. Worked 12 contacts on WPX and now only 1 short for a SA prefix for Excellence Award.
3. KJ4UZU – Clint: Has rf audio issues with his FT897. Now using the Kenwood and all is fine. Did work a few countries in the WPX contest – about 11 contacts. One new one on 80 – Iceland and now looking for a confirmation. Also worked Western Sahara on 80 and looking for a confirmation. Still stuck at 90 confirmed. Worked Papua New Guinea on 40 from the mobile.
4. W4BOH – Wilson: Nothing new at the Wilson residence. Went to Peter’s over the weekend. Did some metal detecting today with his grandson. Got the Loudenboomer going. Found a power supply issue and also a filter choke issue. Replaced it with a choke from the Land of Magic inventory and now the high voltage is MUCH better. Going to write it up for the link. No new DX – Niger pileups were horrible. Listened Bangladesh – wonder if anyone worked them. Had a very enjoyable trip to the mountains but some rain on the way home.
5. KG4NNT – JR: Able to hear Bruce. Glad to be in the net tonight.
6. KA5ETS – Doug: Wilson came up a few S-Units due to turning his beam. Not going to be able to do much with Field Day this year. Got on 60 meters a few months ago and getting used to that. Running some JT65 around 5:00am. FCC may open more of 60 meters up for wider use. Awaiting their decision. Also now have a vertical for 80 meters with 4 radials. Have worked some Europe and Russian stations with JT65.
7. WA4PSC – Howie: Sorry to have missed the OCRA meeting last week. Been involved driving Sarah around but she is on the mend and actually drove her car the other day. Been working on lots of new projects for Dayton. Trying to get parts with long lead times reduced. Just got in from the machine shop – now eating dinner.
8. KU4GC – Dee: Missed most of the net tonight due to an OCRA Board Meeting. Heard Doug and Howie only. Not much to report. Worked Ukraine on 160 JT65. Also putting some time in on the Link proofreading. Enjoy The Egg and I breakfast.
9. N1LN – Bruce: Net Control

Joel KM4NOU, filled in for Bruce N1LN as Net Control.

Joel reported that he’d had a nice weekend visiting his son and family in Centreville, VA.  Grandma always likes to visit the granddaughter, Sierra, who is now 10 months old! Joel took his radio and portable antenna with him and was able to participate in the Virginia QSO party as a Virginia station.

KZ1X (Steve) – a little DXing; some antennae problems

KR4UB (Dan) – administrivia, working on taxes, first pass thru; needs to work on DMFA club minutes (this prompted Joel to remember that he needed to work on OCRA meeting minutes!)

KU4GC (Dee) – confirmation on Thailand, new country; DMFA board coming up; visit to the Egg and I; some power supply problems

KJ4UZU (Clint) – new country on 80, French Polynesia on JT65; a couple of new countries on 80M; looking forward to the weekend contests; worked Ivory Coast on 80M;

W3AHL (Steve) – Been a while since he was on the 10M net; some time working on the tower today, cranked it up today; spent several hours working on ICOM HT; shack computer wouldn’t power up so has to work on that;

KA1HPM (Nick) – with contests over the weekend, enjoyed contesting and some DX; working on digital interface for JT65; heading to Nags Head in May, working on the rig for traveling;

KX4P (John) – using old Collins running barefoot, glad to be heard. Still working on 100 countries confirmed digital (stuck at 99);

KG4NNT (James) – in and out on the second list;

W4BOH (Wilson) – Reporting from the Land of Magic; Working on an old amp, fixed power supply; went out to local greasy spoon for dinner; Some DXing, got Ivory Coast, etc.

We had a total of 10 stations, including KM4NOU as Net Control.

Joel KM4NOU, filled in for Bruce N1LN as Net Control. Bruce was went to a Dook basketball game, but this Tarheel still filled in to let him go!

We had a total of 11 stations, including NCS, so not bad for a holiday weekend, with folks just getting back into town.

Joel KM4NOU reported from NCS that he’d had a very nice holiday, visiting his son and family in Centreville, VA. Joel and Jan got to see seven-month old granddaughter Sierra at the beginning and end of the week, since during the middle of the week, the Centreville contingent made a trip to visit other relatives in Kentucky. That left Joel and Jan in charge of his son’s house, their own two Labrador Retrievers, and also the two ten-month old Labrador Retriever puppies that call it home. It was a Labapalooza! Joel had his HT, and the VHF/UHF in the truck, but didn’t find anyone to talk with on the local repeaters. He did make a trip to the HRO store in Woodbridge, VA, and bought himself a Christmas present: a new Heil HM-12 mic, a pedestal, foot switch, and appropriate cables to hook to his FT-450D.

KR4UB – Dan: Not much happening with him, made it to the Egg and I, and had some neighbors over for NYE. Dan said that Joel’s new mic sounded good 🙂

KM4MBG – Jack: Lots of food over the holidays, but mostly relaxing. He’s wanted to get a 6M antenna, but tried tuning his HF antenna and got an SWR of 1.5, so he’s pretty happy and was able to connect to the OCRA 6M Friday Net. Getting ready for “back to work.”

KU4GC – Dee: Being retired means every day is a holiday! He did a little HF, but it was slow; picked up a couple of new band/countries.

KF4PAB – Lenore: Enjoyed holiday parties, food and festivities, but is now getting focused on getting back to work.

KJ4UZU – Clint: Happy New Year! Not much DX (yeah, like we believe that, Clint!) but did work Belarus on 80M last week. Like others, he’s getting focused on back to work.

K0OUX – Vic: Late coming into the Net, had been talking on another frequency, and didn’t shift sideband when he came onto 10M. Still recovering from a double hit of Chickenpox and Shingles that really hit him hard. We were all happy to hear that he was well on the mend after a rough time.

W4BOH – Wilson: It was a fine holiday! Going to carpool to the DFMA meeting on the 3rd, so the Western Orange contingent will be represented. He’s done little DX’ing, but a few cards are dribbling in. Still stuck at 213 countries. One of the kids got a Yaesu 817 for Christmas, but not much other radio stuff.

KK4PH – Lowell: Just rolled back in from a trip to Pennsylvania, Happy New Year, all! Just got the car unpacked, ate dinner, and turned on the radio. It was good to have time off work; worked on a few projects, including installing radios into his truck (that involved welding a bracket to the transmission hump, so serious work there!).

KA5ETS – Doug: Just back from the grocery store, turned on the radio and caught the Net in progress. Enjoyed Christmas with the family in Nashville, and then the beach for New Years. Has been doing a bit of digital mode radio.

WQ8U – Mac: Wilson had been harassing him about joining the Net, he turned on the radio, and there we were! He had a great, if hectic holiday, with 4 of his 6 kids at home at various times.

Respectfully submitted by Backup NCS
Joel KM4NOU