August 5, 2026 – Bob – KA4PKB reported activity around the New Madrid fault zone recently. Could this be due to rainfall conditions north of that zone? Over the past few weeks and months, the zone has experienced dozens of small quakes, typically ranging from M1.5 to M2.6 centered around areas like Steele and New Madrid in Missouri and Tiptonville and Ridgely in Tennessee. Richard – WA4IWD mentioned that he has been following current information about hydrothermal vents in the oceans. All types of unusual organisms exist around these ocean floor phenomena. Dayne – K8CHY explained that sorority rush is beginning in the Auburn area. Nowadays, sorority at large SEC and Big 12 universities is practically a subculture with massive participation. Dale – WA4CQG noted that HF propagation in the past week has been strange and unpredictable. Others have mentioned that they believe the solar effects have a bearing on recent propagation changes. Gail – KB4JAA tells us they have a new preacher at their church. He and his wife have six children, so they are certainly busy. More good news related to this is that he has an interest in ham radio so Tom – N4RS is certain to support and advise him on this journey should he choose to pursue it! We exchanged memories of Dr. Harry M. Philpott who presided over Auburn University from 1965 through 1979. Your correspondent considers Dr. Philpott to be the most distinguished President that Auburn has ever had, and there have been several good ones! Admittedly, bias may exist since it’s his signature on my diploma. Mike – KI4TWB provided us with a remarkable custom polka song that was a big hit. It put a smile on all our faces.

July 30, 2026 – Dale – WA4CQG reported superb 6 meter propagation to Europe. In fact he reports that 6 meters has been good most of this year to Europe. Dayne – K8CHY corrected his previous description of power output on WSPR to 0.02 W as opposed to 0.002 W. We briefly discussed the outlook for Auburn basketball, football, and baseball. The consensus was that we will reserve our opinions until the first serious games are played in the upcoming seasons. Interesting information about the elk population in the area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was exchanged. John – NK4N outlined the background of elk in the area and the restocking program that has led to the resurgence of elk in the park. John also explained that a bear has visited his property and has done some damage to his apples and his bird feeder. We mentioned that the Huntsville Hamfest is coming up in August and several of us expressed positive sentiments about the quality of that hamfest based on our past trips there. Richard – WA4IWD showed us a fruit and vegetable cleaner that he is using that helps remove some of the harmful chemicals from those foods. The units are available on Amazon for around $30.

July 23, 2026 – Weather has been top of mind recently with most areas of the east getting significant rainfall. Bob – KA4PKB reminded us of the “Precip” app that provides great information about local rainfall history, forecasts, and so on. The app is available for both Android and for Apple devices. Dayne – K8CHY has installed a rain sensor on his lawn irrigation system that he obtained from Amazon. The cost was around $75 and Dayne feels that it has already more than paid for itself. Speaking of Dayne, he reported some interesting success recently with WSPR from 80M to 10M. He has been using the remarkably low output power of 0.002 Watt with success. The antenna is cut for 40M, but it works from 80M to 6M. Bob’s rig in Iowa picked up Dayne’s signal (a distance of about 675 miles) during the evening of July 21-22. That is truly amazing. We had some interesting wildlife discussions this morning. Richard – WA4IWD shared a picture showing significant squirrel damage to his bird feeder. He plans to craft and install a cone to thwart these incursions using a cone design developed using dimensions generated by an online application called CONE CALC.  Again, this app is available for both Android and for Apple users. Mike – KX4YZ reported trouble with raccoons taking corn from his deer feeder. Mike has obtained a trap that he plans to use to catch the raccoons for relocation to Opelika.

July 9, 2026 – 100% attendance (of the regulars anyway) today. We were pleased to summarize the band openings last week on our call. Dale – WA4CQG pointed out his success working Europe on 6 meters for example. None in the group were able to point to the precise conditions that led to this improved propagation. We find from John – NK4N, that the elk in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park are now shedding their antlers. Park policy is to leave these sheds in place when found because they provide a natural source of minerals to the smaller animals. Also, the elk are beginning to show up near the top of the mountains. John further reported a common issue with hikers in that area now is the failure to carry sufficient water. Crowds in the park during the July 4th holidays were not as large as in some years past. We had another equipment and instrumentation introduction by Richard – WA4IWD who explained the relative value of various types of coffee cups, the art of tempering those cups, measuring the temperature of coffee and bread, and other measuring, analysis, testing, and observation techniques attendant his many culinary pursuits.

June 25, 2026 – We talked today about our preferences for coffee. Richard – WA4IWD is clearly head and shoulders above the rest of the group in terms of knowledge and appreciation of a good cup of coffee and he even sent us a link to one of his favorite vendors of coffee and coffee related products, Roastmasters. None of the group members involved in the call today seem to have tried either civet coffee or the less knows Black Ivory Coffee. In terms of radio though, Dayne – K8CHY mentioned that despite the recent changes in allowable power output in the 60 meter band by the FCC in their FCC Report and Order 25-60, it seems many are still exceeding this. It’s hard to tell if this is accurate, but the FCC may soon begin to look into this. The ARRL has published a good article on this.

June 18, 2026 – Dayne – K8CHY pointed out that there had recently been tornado watches issued near his hometown in the mountains of West Virginia. We all considered that this is unusual. A discussion about the benefits of rebooting electronic equipment took place. Its strange that we either resist rebooting equipment when glitches appear or perhaps don’t consider that it might help. Somehow, corporal punishment in schools in the olden days came up. Most of the group are old enough to recall such being common and even having been on the receiving end of it. The consensus was that a ruler to the hands and fingers was almost ubiquitous in those days. Dale – WA4CQG mentioned that he has worked some meteor scatter recently. Yes, we do discuss ham radio topics. Richard – mentioned his good success using Mosquito Dunks to control mosquitos around his property. I bet some others will try it now. John – NK4N explained the stocking of elk in the Smoky Mountains National Park. This program has been a great success. John did mention that the elk can be dangerous though, and recommended caution. Somehow, this brought up the topic of the Elks Club or BPOE. More reading on this topic can be found HERE.

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