ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP AASSEMBLY

Thursday evening, the 27^th of March, saw over a 100 members assemble in the dining room of the Tel-Aviv Motorola buildings. Eli Tal 4X6VR (“ViRus”) was elected to chair the meeting.

The assembly conveyed its blessings to Mr. Haim Mazar, representing the Ministry of Communications, and Mr. Rafi Rosen, of Motorola.

IARC chairman Joe Obstfeld 4X6KJ thanked the Ministry of Communications for its assistance of the years and its support of the aims of the IARC. He praised the ongoing aid given by Motorola in its sponsorship of the IARC.

4X6KJ said that has been the last year that he will have served in an official position in the institutions of the Israel Amateur Radio Club, after 25 years of holding various positions (since 1983).

The Membership and Watchdog committee chairmen, Ehud Zagar 4Z4UR and Miki Minzary 4X4KK respectively, gave their annual reports. Solicitor Arieh Sharoni 4X4ND presented his annual fiscal report, that had previously been distributed amongst the members. All the reports were ratified by the assembly and 4X4ND was voted to serve an additional year as the IARC’s accountant.

Elections were held, and the following members (in order from the highest to the lowest number of votes received) were elected to the new IARC council: Mark Stern 4Z4KX, Tidhar Teucher 4Z5CA, Yaacov Kedmi 4Z4GT, Srulik Haramati 4Z4JT, Roslin Boniat-Zada 4Z5LA, Moshe Inger 4Z1PF, Isaac Halevy 4Z1HJ, Moshe Bukris 4Z5NH and Ramko Nidar 4Z5LA.

The new Membership Committee was elected as Bernard Brandes 4Z5PB, Simon Klein 4X6XN and Gadi Homesh 4Z5AT.

The Watchdog committee is comprised by Uri Nadir 4Z5FG, Siman-Tov Hamami 4Z5PS and Yoram Gottesman 4Z1GY.

After the intermission, the IARC constitution changes were discussed and voted on.

Afterwards the floor was opened for comments: Dani Roth 4Z4YM praised Yossi 4X6KJ and Ruthie Obstfeld 4X4CM for their joint efforts over the years in serving the members of the IARC, and thanked all the volunteers for their contributions. Yanke;le 4X1AH spoke also in praise of all those contributing to our organization over the years. Michael 4X4KF pointed out that the Watchdog’s committee is not to call specific members to order (the job of the Membership Committee), instead it must focus on the IARC institutuions.

And, as such the AGM came to a close at midnight. Another year has come to pass, a new council has been elected to deal with the upcoming issues, and as such we can hope for a successful continuation of amateur radio in the land of our fathers.

THE ONGOING RADIATION SAGA-

A HAPPY CONCLUSION ?

The following is an official translation by your faithful elf:

The State of Israel

Ministry for Environment Protection

Noise and Radiation Prevention Department

14.1.2008

To Mr. David Ben-Bassat

The Israel Amateur Radio Club

Re: The Ordinance for Non-Ionizing Radiation, your letter of 30.9.2007

Your letter to the General Manager of the Ministry for Environment Protection was conveyed to my care on 18.10.2007 and my response follows:

1. In reply to your letter, changes were made in the wording of the to simplify the bureaucratic procedures connected with the granting of a permit for the establishment of an amateur radio installation.

2. The wording of the bylaw, which answers all the demands of the Israel Amateur Radio Club was ratified by the (Parliamentary – ed.) Interior and Environmental Protection Committee and the Honorable Minister of Environmental Protection signed the bylaw that will soon be published.

With blessing,

Dr Stellian Gelberg, department head

So, what does all this mean? Well, believe me dear reader, don’t believe anybody….

A highly placed source in our organization has assured us that this storm has passed, and we have all received an across-the-board exemption from radiation inspections, or even filling out the questionnaire we cited in a previous edition, along with a few hundred shekels to appease the lords of political appointments.

So now that the radiation bogey man has disappeared back into the closet, the new specter on the horizon is an aesthetic one. Will we be able to survive those who don’t understand the beauty of a radio sky-hook?

THE JERUSALEM REPORT

Shlomo Bauer 4Z5SW

   I am sad to report that the Greater Jerusalem 2-meter Information Net has had record low check-in numbers. I am hoping that the Jerusalem operators will be find the time to restablish some old connections.
    20, 40, and QRP: 20 Meters has been up recently with lots of activity midmorning to
mid-afternoon. 40 Meters peaks early morning and around sunset with good contacts throughout the evening. We can look forward to better propagation conditions in the days and years to come. QRP and low power portable operation will become
viable with modest equipment such as the FT817 and the IC-703+.   I love to BBQ and I enjoy taking along a radio, battery, tuner, and some portable antennas. I recently had a great QSO on 20 Meters using 5 watts into a Ventenna HF portable vertical.
   Amateurs interested in portable QRP should contact me (4z5sw@iarc.org).
Don't forget to check-in with the 2-Meter Greater Jerusalem Information Net
2nd Tuesday of each month at 8:00 PM.
   73,72 and shalom – Shlomo

logo designed by Herman 4Z5SA

How time flies when you’re having fun – the Israel will be 60 years old on the 8^th of May, and the IARC became 60 in February . One of the first signs on the air is the appearance of the stroke 60 suffix – for example 4X6ZZ/60. All Israeli amateurs are invited to tack the /60 on the end of their calls and bring attention to our age!

AND THE WINNERS ARE:

Please note, we are citing only the number of contacts in this limited space, with the thought that they are more meaningful to the casual, non-contester reader. In some cases, because of the skillful chasing of multipliers, some stations scored higher with fewer contacts than others. Complete results may be found on the IARC website.

For the 2007 Holyland Contest, the top ten of the 92 mixed mode single operator scorers were RG3K (opUA3QDX) with 304 QSOs; UT2IV 282; DL5WW 234; UA6GO 245; LY9Y (op LY2CY) 201; YU1EQ 194, UA9SP 152; KZ1KP 150; UU5WW 153; RV1AC 148 QSOs.

The top three of the 11 multi-operator scorers were UU7J with 445 contacts, S59DKR 244 and RU9SWW with 208 QSOs.

Of the 110 CW-only single ops, the top ten were LZ2PS with 131 QSOs, HA1ZZ 133, LY1CM 110, US5XD 123, YL2PQ 97, YL2CV 87, LY2BO 87, HA5LZ 85, RN6CH 77 and RK4HD with 80 contacts.

The top three of the 25 digital mode operators were RA6FB 23 QSOs, SP9DSD 25, EU6PW 21, UT0SE 18 and YO5AJR with 22 contacts. This category is still in its infancy, and we can expect it to grow as the years go by.

Of the 21 QRP (low-power) single-ops, we find the top five to be: OM5NL 171 QSO’s, LZ1MG/qrp 96, UT7GX 109, LZ2ITU 111, and YO9KVV 28 QSO’s.

From 84 SSB-only single-ops we find the top ten as DJ1AA with 145 QSOs, ER5DX 146, 4L4C 135, ON5CGB 132, YO3CZW 138, YO2BM 139, EK6CC 127, DL3AAF 124, and SP3LPG with 98 contacts.

Of the 14 SWL’s (Short-Wave-Listeners), we find LZ1G42 logging 258 QSO’s, R3A-847 135 and R1A-12 with 96.

Since, especially in this sunspot minimum, it is very much more difficult for further away stations to contact Israel, we find the higher scorers to be close by. Nonetheless there were those in all corners of the world in this contest. Of the single-ops, first in Africa was EA9AZ, Asia- UA9SP, Europe-RG3K, North America- K3ZO, South America- HK3JJH and first in Oceania was YB1UUN.

As always, our respect goes to Mark 4Z4KX for managing this contest and all those past.

the map of Holyland Squares

THE HOLYLAND CONTEST 2008

We’re keeping our fingers crossed that this issue will be in your hands before the contest to be held on Saturday April 19^th from 0000 to 23:59 UTC. Rules are similar to those of the past, and the official contest regulations may be found on the IARC website www.iarc.org.

Please note that some digital modes have been added so contacts may be made on SSB, CW, RTTY and PSK31.

In order to encourage participation of 4X/4Z stations (the use of force has been prohibited by law), Global QSL will award 100 QSLs to each participant who submit an electronic log with at least 200 valid contacts, and those who make more than 500 QSO’s will enter a raffle, the winner receiving the printing of the number of QSLs equal to the number of contacts she/he made in the contest.

Award for Top NA Holyland ‘test Score
This letter, from the secretary of the West Virginia DX Association to Fred K3ZO speaks for itself:

Fred,
On behalf of the Israel Amateur Radio Club (IARC), the 2007 Holyland Contest and the West Virginia DX Association (WVDXA), please accept our heartfelt "congratulations" for taking 1st place North America honors
in last year's Holyland Contest.

The WVDXA is proud to sponsor the 1st Place North America Award in memory of noted WV DX’er Albert Hix, W8AH, one of the founding members of WVDXA. Likewise, we are pleased to be sending you this beautiful plaque and hope you will find a prominent place for it in the K3ZO "shack." We look forward to seeing you in the 2008 Holyland Contest next month!

Once again, congratulations Fred. Your plaque is in the mail and
should arrive at your QTH in the next few days.

73 and Shalom Shalom,
Hal Turley W8HC, WVDXA Secretary

THE JERUSALEM REPORT

Shlomo Bauer 4Z5SW

I am sad to report that the Greater Jerusalem 2-meter Information Net has had record low check-in numbers. I am hoping that the Jerusalem operators will be find the time to re-establish some old connections.

20, 40, and QRP: 20 Meters has been up recently with lots of activity mid-morning to
mid-afternoon. 40 meters peaks early morning and around sunset with good contacts throughout the evening.

We can look forward to better propagation conditions in the days and years to come. QRP and low power portable operation will become viable with modest equipment such as the FT817 and the IC-703+.

I love to BBQ and I enjoy taking along a radio, battery, tuner, and some portable antennas. I recently had a great QSO on 20 Meters using 5 watts into a Ventenna HF portable vertical antenna.

Amateurs interested in portable QRP should contact me (4z5sw@iarc.org).
Don't forget to check-in with the 2-Meter Greater Jerusalem Information Net
2nd Tuesday of each month at 8:00 PM.

73,72 and shalom

- Shlomo

Mr. Moshe Galilee of the Ministry of Communications is retiring from his post after 12 years of service. We in the IARC are grateful to him for his understanding and support for amateur radio (above is the plaque awarded to him by the IARC).

Mr. Haim Mazar is replacing him as deputy manager of Spectrum and Radio Frequencies in the ministry. Mr Mazar, holding the degrees of MBA and BSc in Electrical Engineering has been elected as the Deputy Head of World Frequency Management in the International Telecommunications Union bringing home honor and recognition. Our congratulations and respect!

_ . . . _

A LETTER FROM 4X6KJ

Kiriat Ono, 26 Mar.2008

Shalom Ron:

Next to the numbers of the pictures I wrote the call signs of the persons. Our vaad (council) meeting room was taken up with the students last meeting, the next day they had an exam (for the ham license). By the way they all passed. The reason for the wine & cookies, was, that officially this was billed as my last council meeting.

In 1983 I joined the Va'ad, in those days it was 4X1AT that was leading the pack, I was new and joined, started "Sherut leChaver" (membership services) in the back of our store. So my quick calculation tells me that this year 2008, I have been 25 years in the Va'ad.

In 1989 took the position of Chairman, remain like that till the elections of 1997, Eli Stern 4Z5IS, took over for 2.5 years. We had the AGM at the Mikve Yisrael School, there was no Va'ad then. Yankele 4X1AT pleaded, that I should stay, and Danny 4X1YM jumped up and said he would help, so we put together a team and continued till this day.

Now after 25 years, I think it is time to quit and let others do the job.

73, Joe 4X6KJ

4X6KJ, 4Z4TL, 4Z4GT

4Z4KX, 4X1DF, 4X4CM

_ . . . _

The Fourth Annual Antenna Fest Field Day and Picnic will be held at the Ilanot Forest on Saturday May 3^rd. Come one and all for a guaranteed good time.

HAGAL INTERNATIONAL

March - April 2008