MEETING
The next CMRA meeting will be May 14 at Boone Hospital cafeteria room B at 7:00 pm. Rob, KB0TCR, often is available for talk in on 146.76-
NO HAMFEST :-(
It was decided at the April meeting not to have a hamfest this year, due to the logistics of getting the committee together. We'll be back next time, bigger and better!!!
UPGRADES
Congratulations to KB0TCR, Rob McMinn, who passed his 5 WPM code to become a Tech Plus, and to Ray Lutz, KC7MQB who passed his 13 WPM to become a General. CU on the air!!!
FOX HUNT TRANSMITTER
It was decided to purchase a "fox", or radio direction finding tranmitter, for use in hidden transmitter hunts. It is a 2 meter (146.565) modulated CW transmitter putting out about 10 mW, plenty for a local fox hunt. Need to build that portable phased array....
WPX PHONE RESULTS
The WD0DVG club station was active in the CQ WPX phone contest, with WY0B, KB0TCR, and others participating. We made 227 QSO's, and the station tribander and SB-200 amplifier performed admirably in DX chasing and pileup breaking. Good work, guys, and sorry I couldn't make it!!! Hope we can try for the CW contest on May 27- 28.
146.76 IS BACK!!!!
At long last, the WD0DVG repeater, 146.76-, is back on the air from atop Paquin Tower. This gives us another wide area repeater to use, as well as freedom from the dropouts that plague the 146.685- machine. Plus, it's ours!!! Thanks go to Mac McKenzie, K4CHS; Mike Baker, N0LBA; and Dan Nicholson, N0FPE for their work. The Central Missouri Radio net will be meeting once again on this repeater on the usual Wednesday time of 9:00 pm.
The Central Missouri Emergency net will continue to meet on 146.685-.
FIELD DAY CHECKOFF LIST
It's coming up!!! Remember June 22-23 at Pine Ridge State Park on Route Y near Guthrie. Go east off 63 on Y about 7 miles and watch carefully. It is to the south of the road. Generally we operate thos event from 1:00 in the afternoon Saturday to 1:00 Sunday, with setup Saturday morning. We need to be prepared also to either run off batteries using headphones for the late night or just not operate then, as we have been advised by the rangers that we must turn off the generators if other campers complain about the noise.
We have the wire antennas that we usually use, and can use the TS- 430, tuner, and power supply from the club station. The club has two generators in working order. Several people in the club have tents, tables, and deep cycle batteries, as well as other radios and keyers.
What we still need (to the best of my knowledge):
We have also discussed some people camping there the night before to make sure we get the clearing. The space is #4, and there is ample space for tents and good spacing between trees for antennas. We have two more meetings before the event so lets all think of what we can bring to make this an enjoyable and productive day for the club and for all of us.
OTHER REMINDERS
The club breakfast will be held on the last Saturday of the month at Country Kitchen at 8:00 am. If anyone is getting burned out on CK, bring it up at the next meeting. Might be nice to have a change once in a while.
The club station on W. Worley is open Monday nights except for the Monday preceding the club meeting at about 7:00 pm till ?. We often monitor 146.76- while there so if you're wondering whether it is open, give a call to WD0DVG on our repeater. Jim, WY0B, has been getting the doors open recently as my work schedule has made it difficult for me to get there at a reasonable time, or at all.
Anyone with things to buy, sell, or trade, or announcements or articles for the newsletter can reach me at 875-1943, e-mail at mfoeckin@mail.coin.missouri.edu, snail mail at 416 Alexander Ave, Columbia, MO 65203, or at the club post office box.
Broadcasting in the Amateur Service, an Editorial
By Mark Foecking, AA0UJ
Every now and then I happen across a certain SSB signal on 14.275 when I'm driving, or tuning around at night. I'm sure most of you know what I'm talking about. This is billed as "amateur radio's first talk program" and is the work of Glenn Baxter, K1MAN. I have found him to air some interesting material, also. I have nothing against the man particularly -- his broadcasts have never cut off a QSO of mine, or interfered with a net I was checked into. However, I know that many people have had trouble with his broadcasts, and it seems that these activities have brought the issue of frequency "ownership" and the fights over spectrum to a real head. The conflict with the Georgia sideband net (3.975) has spawned advertisements asking amateurs to keep 3.975 in constant use, nasty phone calls to K1MAN's program, and a great deal of ill will among people whom you would think would be able to settle their differences in a gentlemanly manner.
W1AW, the ARRL Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial station, has conducted bulletin and code practice "broadcasts" for years. Before the days of computer generated CW practice, W1AW was THE code practice resource for the amateur wishing to sharpen CW skills. They also broadcast bulletins using RTTY and SSB. As far as I can determine, no one really objected to this practice. However, a petition was filed with the FCC to ban all one-way transmissions in the amateur service, and many editorials and on air discussions have gone over the merits of this proposal regarding the W1AW bulletins versus the freer, more opinion oriented work of K1MAN and others. K1MAN has since (as far as I've been able to hear) launched into a tirade against the ARRL and the FCC and anyone that disagrees with him, or feels that he is causing interference, that continues with every broadcast.
Many amateur interests have desires to operate on one frequency. Even though it is clearly spelled out in the rules than no frequency shall be assigned to a particular station, many nets operate on specific publicized frequencies, and in the "gentlemen's agreement" world of amateur radio, these informal allocations are respected. There are hundreds of state and special interest nets which meet on known frequencies, sometimes keeping them in use all day. Why, then, do amateurs get so upset over the taking of one frequency out of many available for K1MAN to do his particular thing?
What occurs to me in this regard is that K1MAN's work is a BROADCAST. There is no one listening for a "break". The monologue will go on for hours, and Mr. Baxter will never pause to let the "tubes cool down". For example, if I wanted to call CQ, I would ask if the frequency is in use, an appropriate way of avoiding interference. If I was mobile, as I often am, I may not hear his broadcast due to any number of conditions. The frequency may sound more or less clear, and if no one responded to my query, I would go ahead and call CQ right over his broadcast, thereby breaking the law. If I ask if the frequency is in use on, for example, 14.336 (the County Hunters net), any number of stations will tell me that it is. That is the difference. In all other amateur activities, there is TWO-WAY communication occuring. I have always wondered why his "talk program" could not be handled just as well as a net, with amateurs talking about the subjects usually discussed OVER THE AIR, in REAL TIME, BACK AND FORTH!!! He could call it the "NO ARRL net"!!!
It has been said that what he is doing is really no different than what W1AW does with its bulletin services. Legally, that is correct. But considering the content of most of the broadcasts lately, I feel there is a big difference. W1AW does not transmit opinion, at least not like K1MAN does. There are any number of nets around which discuss all range of subjects, even the abolishment of the FCC. I would think that Mr. Baxter could get just as much enjoyment out of his radio being net control as he would as a broadcaster. I would even check in, and air my puny opinions for whatever they are worth. Let's do it the way everyone else does it, with real people talking into real microphones to each other in real time. If you want to publish a radio show, tape it and syndicate it, or get a regular broadcast license and go to it. If you want to be an amateur, use your mike and key to have regular two way QSO's, and say whatever you like. But dust off your receiver, and have the guts to listen to what your fellow amateurs say back to you. 73 OM/YL de AA0UJ....