Newsletter of the Framingham Amateur Radio Association October 1998, Vol. 65, No. 10

In This Issue

President's Message
Packetcluster is on the Air!
Page 2-

FARA Picnic Picture
QSL Card
Page 3-

FARA Web Site Relocates
From the Editor
and more...

President's Message

The mornings are starting to get nippy, and another school year is underway.  We had a great FARA picnic, with swimming (and a lifeguard!), radio, canoes and a kayak, to wind up the summer.  As far as I could tell, a good time was had by all, and very little food left over (in spite of Lew's absence).
The packet cluster guys are up and running!  There's still work to be done, but I have been over to Martin's Garage, and there's a pile of gear there.  Try connecting to W1FY on 145.61.  It's not up all the time, yet, but when it's up, the connections are reliable.  Looks like the cables will be going in the trench soon, and the whole shebang is going into a nice equipment rack, courtesy of W1RH's extensive junkpile
The shack computer has been upgraded.  FARA thanks Anne, N1ECI, who won a Compaq Pentium in a raffle at work, and immediately donated it to the club.  With some hard work by Paul, N1DGT and your obedient servant, it's now running Win95 and can connect to the Web.  As soon as we can, we'll get the club database loaded, and we'll be able to print labels and update membership records at the shack.
I've just heard that I'll be a field tester for Elecraft's www.elecraft.com new K2 kit.  This is an all-band, QRP CW rig, with SSB, antenna tuner and internal battery options.  I should be getting it at the end of October, and I'll let you all have a look.  If you have never built a kit, you should sign up for my Wednesday night kitbuilding group.  We have lots of fun, and everybody's kit is guaranteed to work.  So, start thinking about what you'd like to build while the snow flies, and FARA will help you build it!


73,
Peter, KA1AXY

Packetcluster is on the Air!

by Charlie, NC1N

Labor Day was more than a holiday for FARA... it was also PacketCluster Day! The W1FY DX spotting node went on the air on 145.61 MHz. after 14 months of preparation.
The weather was rainy, and we had to keep suspending the antenna work due to thunderstorms, but everything came together in the end. Bob (W1RH), Martin (AA1ON), and I spent the afternoon putting together the pieces--2 antennas, 2 radios, 2 TNCs, 2 power supplies, computer and software--that had been collected and tested separately. We also tried a "first" for me: running co-ax in an abandoned chimney. ("Our clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot...")
The node is officially in testing mode, but we're trying to keep it on-line as much as possible. The first two weeks saw their share of headaches as we learned just how complicated a system can be. Bob and the RF team worked on a number of issues associated with the 2-meter radio and antenna. The digital team and I worked on

Thursday, Oct 8
This Month's Meeting

Marjie, KA1HIA

It's that time again.  Mario and Guido (I8PZA and I8MOR) will again give us their bi-annual update on DX doings from the isle of Pepperoni!  Come and enjoy them.  They've never failed to give a feast of an evening!

Submitting Material to the Circuit


Material may be submitted for publication by sending it directly to the editor.  This can be done by phone, by US Mail, or via the Internet (preferred).  The deadline for each issue is the Wednesday, one week before the monthly meeting.


by phone
Home:
(508) 435-2055 (before 9:00PM please!)
College:
(508) 910-5296


by mail

Robert Hess, N1UVA
1 Cold Spring Brook Road
Hopkinton, MA  01748


by internet

[email protected]

FARA October Monthly Meeting Postponed One Week
Due to Rosh Hashanah, the regular FARA monthly meeting for October will be postponed one week.


The October meeting will be held at the regular time, at the regular place on Thursday, October 8.