NYU Amateur Radio Club News,  December 2012

Season's Greetings to all alumni and club members.  It's time to update our readers on the activities of our club members over the past 15 months.  Our club-building efforts saw a few potential sparks, but so far nothing concrete has materialized.  Hurricane Sandy certainly didn't help.  Many members in the NY metro area are still recovering from damaged homes and antennas, and we read stories about  the NYU Med Center involvement.

On the positive side, we have added five members in the past year, for a total membership of 65 now.  Welcome to:

•  Gyuri Buzsaki, ex-HA3ME, NYUMC Faculty
        Dear Ham Friends:   I will be moving my lab to the new Neuroscience Center at NYU Medical Center in January 2012 (becoming an endowed chair of neuroscience). I just discovered your web site.  My career as a neuroscientist started with my interest in coding and transmitting information. This is how I became a serious radio maniac and ham, learning the Morse code and building transmitters, receivers and of course ever bigger antennas. My call sign for many years was HA3ME (still listed in some call books!) and I was also the chief operator of the club station HA3KMA for several years.

• David Bamford, W2DAB, '07TSOA
       Hi:  I came across the website for the NYUARC and was surprised and pleased to find it.  I would love to be involved in some way, or just to be a member.   Nice job on keeping the torch lit for amateur radio at NYU!

• Kira Prentice, KF5NJI, '16W
       Hi, My name is Kira, I'm in the class of 2016 at NYU. I was involved in my high school's amateur radio club and have a general class license (KF5NJI). After last semester I haven't been active on the air at all! Do the NYU hams have meetings - if so, when? I'd love to get involved

• Ted Rappaport, N9NB,  NYU-Poly Faculty
       I am willing to be faculty advisor to the club, as I did this at UT Austin and VA tech. Thanks for your nice note of welcome!

• Guan Yang K6UAN, '11GSAS
       I'm originally from Denmark and moved to the city 4 years ago to go to grad school. I got my ticket last year but haven't operated much yet, mostly 2 meters and APRS.   I'm a member and co-founder of Hack Manhattan (http://hackmanhattan.com/), a non-profit hackerspace near Union Square where my HF rig is located. We are currently working on getting more members licensed  and getting an antenna up on the roof—it's a 3-story building with a lot of tall buildings around it, so it might be a challenge

SILENT KEY - Some of you may remember Reno C. King Jr.  A mechanical engineer, he was a teacher and assistant dean at the NYU Heights campus in the 1950s and 60s and later became KF2M.  He passed away in Feb 2012 at 94.

Bill K2EK, Bob WB2NVR, and Gerry K1NY continued to log some great DX contacts on behalf of W2DSC in 2012.  Unfortunately Bob and Gerry are now recovering from Sandy.

Colin AE3A writes -  Hi –Just an FYI – Happy to say that a picture of my straight key (a trusty Nye Viking Speed-X) and rig are featured in the December QST, in the announcement for Straight Key Night.  73 and with warm wishes for the holidays.

From Elliott Greenstein (son of Prof Phillip Greenstein) - "I thought that you would like to know that several buildings on the Heights Campus have been given landmark status.  To read about this, search Bronx Community Landmark Status."

We apologize for the lateness of this bulletin,  Your editor had a very busy year.  We upgraded from an apartment to a house in Florida, and are still working on antennas (when we are not busy enjoying our newest grandson, born 12/7/12.)

If anyone wishes to activate W2DSC or W2NYU in a contest, just let us know.   Have a great time in 2013, and keep in touch (assuming that Doomsday, see below, does not come to pass, HI.)   Thanks and 73.

 Dan Ostroy  K2UL,  '71E

 

                    N0D - - Special Event Station celebrating The End of the world!

That’s right, the end is finally near. According to one of the three Mayan Calendars, the End of the world will occur on Dec 21, 2012. To celebrate this literally once in a lifetime event, Special Event Station N0D (Now Zero Days) will be activated on 10-80 meters and on several satellite passes for three days during and after(?) the end of the world. December 20; is a celebration of the end of the world. December 21, the day of destruction, we will be on the air as long as possible. December 22^nd, that is a little iffy right now.

Amateur radio stations around the crumbling globe are invited to contact N0D, who will be operating from a secret, undisclosed location. Our operating schedule may be a little erratic as destruction rains down upon us and as long as our antennas hold out. Those who may be looking skyward for the end of the world, N0D will be operating on several satellite passes.  

This will provide cosmic, maybe even intergalactic coverage for the end of the world as we know it.  Our Doomsday Special Event has been picked up by the Amsat News Service and will be carried in a future bulletin.

You can celebrate Doomsday by contacting N0D directly on the air. Amateurs can also become an official Doomsday station by registering on our website. You will be given a registration number and the authority to identify yourself as "Official Doomsday Station" followed by your Doomsday number.

QSL with SASE to KK5W. If  Doomsday actually does happen, we regret that a QSL will not be possible so hold on to your SASE until the 22^nd at least. Check out our website for a preview of the N0D QSL card.

Amateurs can also become an official Doomsday station by registering on our website. You will be given a registration number and the authority to identify yourself as "Official Doomsday Station" followed by your Doomsday number. Official Doomsday stations will receive the Doomsday Station Certificate.

It is not entirely clear exactly how it will happen. Will it be a cataclysmic shift in the earth’s magnetic field, Global Warming on steroids, earthquakes, volcanoes floods, global thermonuclear war, meteor collision, the 10 plagues of Egypt UFO invasion who knows ? There are scientists, soothsayers and philosophers on both sides of the question. Either way it will be an event worth remembering.. . .or maybe there will be no one left to remember it?

More information is available on the Official N0D website, www.nowzerodays.com

You can also e-mail the N0D team at [email protected]. Check our website for the latest updates. www.nowzerodays.com