THE AMPLIFIER
P.O. BOX 267 SHARPSBURG, NC 27878
President Jim Lewis, N4PE 459-8003
Vice President Bobby Griffin, NF4C
443-6695
Secretary Wendell Peed, KC4UVT 237-8753
Treasurer Lonnie Pridgen, WB4BZZ 446-3389
VE Director Bill Thomas, N2BT 442-6131
Newsletter Editor Lonnie Pridgen,
WB4BZZ 446-3389
NEXT MEETING
The June meeting of the
Tar River Amateur Radio Club will be held Monday, June
5th at RYAN'S FAMILY STEAK HOUSE located
at 1968 Stone Rose Drive in Rocky Mount. The supper meeting will start
at 6:30 p.m.
CQ FIELD DAY
de W4DCG
Field Day: June 24th and 25th
Location: Bridgersville Campground, Bridgersville,
NC ( HWY 42 East of Wilson)
Setup: Friday, June 23rd 6PM
Setup: Saturday, June 24th at 9AM
Start: Saturday, 2 PM
Take-down: Sun, June 25th at 2 PM
This month at the meeting,
we will be putting the final touches on Field Day planning. Also collecting
orders and money for the Field Day Tee-Shirts. The Tee-Shirts price should
be the same as last year, $10.00 each.
CONGRATULATIONS
Chris Plumblee, KG4CZU,
graduates from High School. Graduation is this Saturday. Best wishes on
your future endeavors.
VE EXAM UPDATE
Bill, N2BT
The next VE exam session
will be held on Saturday, July 22nd at 9 a.m. Please contact
Bill, N2BT, at 442-6131 for more information regarding testing at other
nearby locations.
DX News
Bill, N2BT
Jim, N4PE and Fred, K4FMD now belong to the DXCC Club (that is 100 or more DX entities confirmed). Both had their QSL cards checked at the Dayton Hamvention and will soon be getting their certificates.
Congratulations!
CLUB ACTIVITY CALENDAR
June
24-25 ARRL Field Day
3 Tar River ARC Meeting 20 RMARC Meeting
Bill, N2BT
June 10 Winston-Salem Hamfest
July 15 Cary Swapfest
Sept 2-3 Shelby Hamfest
Contest Calendar
Bill, N2BT
June 10-12 ARRL VHF QSO Party
July 8-9 IARU HF World Championship
WEB SITE
Don't forget to check
out the Club's Web site. The new address is: http://www.TarRiverARC.com
DAYTON HAMVENTION REPORT
Story by Bill, N2BT ----Pictures by
Bert, WA4TLI
THE 2nd ANNUAL VX5R DXPEDITION Presented by the Castalia Island DX Association
Wicky W4WWT
Bill N2BT
Jim N4PE
Bert WA4TLI
Bobby NF4C
Fred K4FMD
Special guest appearance by Fred, KE4LXW
Dayton Hamvention 2000 (also the ARRL
National Convention) is now history.
After walking, walking, and even more
walking (there is really a lot to see) my legs now get a deserving rest.
The flea market was huge, as usual. Everything is there. Computers, ham gear, more computers, junk, more ham gear, more junk you get the picture. Drake C-lines, Collins S- lines, Drake TR-Ts, L-Ts, Kenwood TS-830S, Amplifiers, VHF and UHF equipment. Old commercial radios, cell phones, pagers, and accessories. There was even a mid- 1950's AM stations set up and operating using a Heathkit transmitter and a Hallicrafters receiver. There was even a goat, yes, goat roaming
the flea market and plenty of those crazy hams with
antennas mounted on their hard hats, with blinking lights, and 4 or 5 hand
helds hanging from their belt.
Inside, Yaesu, Kenwood, and Icom were well represented
with big display booths. Other manufacturers included Alinco, Alpha, MFJ,
Cushcraft, Bencher, Kantronics, Mosley, Ameritron, Commander, and Kachina,
just to name a few.
The best selling equipment .... based upon our partial
observations.... Icom 756 PRO HF transceiver, ICOM-706 HF/VHF/UHF transceiver,
Yaesu FT-90R VHF/UHF mobile transceiver, and the venerable Yaesu VX5R 6m/2m/400
hand held transceiver. Kenwood announced a new transceiver (model number
and price to be determined) that covered 160 - 10 meters, 6 meters, 2 meters,
440 MHz, and 1.2 Hz with all modes. The prototype model was on display
(under a clear plastic case)
Yaesu debuted with a new version of the FT-1 1000MP
HF transceiver, the MARK-V edition. lcom had a large crowd at all times with the new
IC-756 PRO HF transceiver and the beautiful women in black bikinis.
Just to think about a few prices .... lcom 2100H 2 meter radios $ 147 lcom 207H 2meter/440 radios $ 262. Prices on much of the gear seem too reasonable. In 1978, a Kenwood 2 meter radio (25 wafts, no memories) was $ 325 at a hamfest.
The weather was hamfest perfect. No rain and mostly cloudy and cool. You definitely do not want to do the outside fleamarket with 80 degree temperatures and sunny conditions.
Fortunately, there were no mishaps on this DX'pedition. Airline flights departed and arrived on time, hotel rooms were not overbooked, the dining was excellent (love that Chinese !). Jim could still not get sweet ice tea, but the beer was cold.
We all had a wonderful time, and highly recommend to all that you go to Dayton at least once in you lifetime. You will not regret the experience.
P.S. I am sure that each one of us will have more stories to tell over the next few weeks.
