GNARC Monthly Bulletin Newsletter

Club Repeaters: K1OF 147.390/ + 600 KHz (no PL) & K1UHF 448.075/ + 5 MHz (PL-114.8)

Request of change. The GNARC Bulletin will be located each month at: www gnarc.info/ .

Reason for request of change. The GNARC on Line Bulletin is very important to communicate club events and news to club members. It takes time and patience each month for me to gather club news and articles. I am sure the newsletter deserves its own link. News changes each month so it is important to keep the newsletter up to date. It is also important to keep it on one dependable link each month.

Other reasons, 1) One link which will remain the same each month. 2) I will be able to make updates or corrections each month. Announcements can be added anytime. 3) Members will receive the newsletter sooner when it is published. 4) Link will be reliable and fast. 50 MB of web space. Plenty of room for photos. 5) Saves me time. 6) Cost about $9.75 a month. We were spending $84.00 a month on postage. Members will be notified of updates.

Regular Club Meetings start at 8:00 pm and are held in the Community Room at the Shop Rite on Connecticut Ave. (Rte-1) in Norwalk. Talk in: 147.390 no PL.

Updated on 08/13/2004 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

President: “Ned” Bassick, KA1CVV / Vice President: Allan Valeo, NN1H (203) 762-9302
Secretary: John Sabini, WB1GRB (203) 348-3983 / Treasurer: “Zig” Fekete, N1ICL.
August 2004 GNARC on Line Bulletin: John Sabini WB1GRB. Questions (203) 353-8422.

GNARC Membership Dues Are Due For 2004!

Senior Membership: Individuals over 65 years of age……….....….$15.00 per year
Standard Membership: Individuals under 65 years of age…….......$20.00 per year
Student Membership: Individuals under 18 years of age………..….$10.00 per year
Family Membership:……………...………….………...……….....….$25.00 per year

Send your dues to: “Zig” Fekete ~ 45 Stoehr Place ~ Bridgeport, CT. 06606

Everyone on the GNARC Distribution Mailing List will receive this newsletter. Now that we are going to an all electronic Newsletter you will be informed by e-mail of the up and coming GNARC events. If you are not on the Membership Distribution List or if you have not been receiving the On Line Bulletin, please contact Ed K3EIN via E-Mail, and he will update the Membership Page on the GNARC web site. To make sure you receive this Newsletter make sure the Mailing List e-mail address is not filtered or blocked on your computer! Members will be notified of monthly updates.

Photo Archives. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Definitely OK to print, if you think it is of interest. Mainly wanted to thank the club for their contribution.
CU. Roger

I want to officially thank the club for the contribution made in Claire's name to the ARRL. This would have pleased her enormously. While not very active on the 2 meter repeater, her rig came on with the ignition in her red Saturn, license plate - W1AGQ. She was usually "lurking" and always ready to help, if needed.

As a little background, she was not crazy about amateur radio when we were first married. In 1955 we lived in Meadville, PA and the town, located in a valley had a cable television network. My alleged TVI-proof Alnico rig entered the town's cable setup and allowed the whole town to receive CW. As a result, I had to operate only after the television cable shut down for the night, around 1:30 a.m. This was not popular for a newlywed.

After some snide remarks from me about not having the smarts to get her license, she quietly got together with members of the local club (Crawford Amateur Radio Club) and unknown to me, passed her novice test (KN3GLE) the first time she took it. It had taken me two tries to achieve that. However, she never enjoyed or used Morse code.

A few year later, as I installed a mobile rig, she first learned to appreciate the hobby. We would drive to Florida for vacation and dump the kids on my in-laws. There, we were in touch on a daily basis with hams in her parent's home town. It was well before pay phones were widely available. This created may long term friendships and sparked her interest in the hobby. As we moved to the Buffalo area, Claire became active with the Large Erie County Civil Defense Net, acting a secretary. After coming to this area she even filled in as Secretary/Treasurer of GNARC for a little while. As the hobby became more technical and many of our friends joined the rank of the Silent Keys, she became less talkative but always listened.
I will miss her.

Officers then introduced themselves. President: Ned, N1CVV / Vice President: Allan Valeo, NN1H / Secretary & August Newsletter: John Sabini, WB1GRB / Treasurer: “Zig” Fekete, N1ICL.

Ned reminded everyone that before the meeting to join us at John’s Best Pizza on New Canaan Ave. at 6 pm. John's Best Pizza. 85 New Canaan Avenue Norwalk, CT 06850. Talk in on 147.390 repeater.

Fred K1FC announced that the next VE test session sponsored by SARA will be at 9:30 AM and the exam will start at 10 AM. Pre-registration is NOT required. Walk-ins are encouraged. The fee for the test session is $12.00. Location: Stamford Government Center. 888 Washington Bluv. Saturday at 10:00 AM. August 14, 2004. More information & directions.

Allan NN1H gave a ARES report. We have now added New Canaan to the Norwalk AREAS Group. "I was approached by a representative of the New Canaan town government representing the office of Emergency Properness at Field Day. This is still in the early stages. We will provide basic communications for New Canaan in a emergency thru AREAS."

The other announcement is that we will have the next Fox Hunt on Saturday, August 28. The Fox's lair will not be a site well known to GNARC and we do hope to have another prize to generate some extra interest. The same rules will apply and the format will be the same except that the Fox's power level will be more realistic. Keep watching for more information and updates.

This party is for open for swimming, boating, fishing and checking out the tailgate item’s . We will have flying via RC aircraft off the water and QRP operation. Come on out and enjoy the fun! Info via 147.390 repeater.

From Meritt Parkway North RTE 15: Take exit 44 (Hi-HO motel)

Turn left at bottom of exit then get in right lane and turn right onto Black Rock Tkp RTE 58 South. After passing Church and Gas station on Right look for Creconoof Road on left and turn left there. At bottom of hill (Stop sign) turn right and stay right and follow Winnepoge entrance to Lake on your right about ¾ of a mile!

From I95 North: take exit 22 (Round Hill I95 service area) at end of exit go straight across to Traffic light at bottom of hill turn left onto North Benson Road (Fairfield Univ.). Head up past Fairfield Univ. all the way to Black Rock Tpk this is RTE 58 turn left and go North after your 3^rd traffic light watch for Creconoof Rd turn right onto Creconoof and at bottom of hill at stop sign turn right and stay to your right and follow Winnepoge entrance to Lake on your right about ¾ of a mile! If we have Rain listen to Repeater for information.

Rich K1OF then gave the latest news on the repeater.

Update on the repeater:

We are currently using a temporary link between the hospital transmit location and the new receiving location on the "BIG" tower .

The audio quality has suffered a bit because of the linking. All of this will be corrected when the permanent equipment is installed. The new repeater was moved from Curt's house (W1FSM) to my basement last week. Curt set up and interfaced the station controller to the MSR - 2000 Motorola commercial repeater.

There are only two technical issues to overcome now; the PL squelch on using the combination of the new controller and repeater needs to be improved (it currently leaves a very long squelch tail) and the cavities which form the duplexer had to have some parts replaced in order to obtain the maximum isolation. I am
anxious to get the new machine on the air as I know the quality improvement is will be substantial. The increased range and reliability surpass our expectations. the move was definitely worth the long wait.

73, Rich, K1OF

Ned then reminded members that slated for tonight's meeting is Field Day rap up and to talk about some of the problems and fixes for next year.

Ned thank everyone that participated in this years Field Day.

Ed K3EIN then gave a rundown on this years points. (Copied form the GNARC web site.)

GNARC Field Day 2004 (SUBMITTED RESULTS)

See our Contest Soapbox on the ARRL WebSite

and	CW	SSB
80	195	106
40	192	416
20	7	638
15	123	104
GOTA	0	115
TOTALS	517	1379

CW QSO's      517  X 2 = 1034
Digital QSO's      0  X 2 =      0
Phone QSO's  379  X 1 = 1379
Total QSO Points:         = 2413

Total QSO points  2413  X power multiplier  2
  equals claimed score less bonus points:  4826

Bonus Points

100% Emergency Power                                  300
 Media Publicity                                                100
 Setup in a public place                                    100
 Information Booth                                           100
 NTS Message to ARRL/SM                                0
 Formal NTS Messages Handled                         0
 Satellite QSO Completed                                   0
 Natural Power QSOs Completed                    100
 W1AW Field Day Message                            100
 Non-traditional Mode Demonstrations            300
 Site Visit by Invited Elected Official               100
 Site Visit by Invited Served Agency Official.  100
 GOTA maximum achieved (100 QSOs)          100 

  Total Bonus Points                                    1400

  GNARC Total for 2004 (3A)                         6226

2003 (3A)           6640  
2002 (3A)           6204
2001 (3A)           5230
2000 (3A)           3314

Hugo then talked about some of the problems we had with the Kenwood TS - 430 and Yaesu FT - 980 at Field Day. Hugo explained in detail the problems with these radios. The bottom line is we simply need to check these radios out and repair them before next years Field Day. It was suggested that next year we should test all of the radios before Field Day. A discussion was made to check all the equipment including feed line and antennas prier to Field Day next year so we are better prepared.

Toy K1YQ then talked briefly about a upcoming public service event September 17, 2004. "We will need 12 to 15 volunteers." Sound Cyclists Bicycle Club's Annual Harvest Rides bicycle tour. More details at the September meeting. Also check future newsletters for updates.

Am-Com manufactures and sells a device called the ClearSpeech. This is a speaker that includes audio digital signal processing (DSP) designed to remove static, steady tone noise like carriers, and other interference.

ClearSpeech-Speaker is a digital speaker that removes up to 95% of the background noise from the receive side of any two-way radio communication for greater intelligibility of the incoming conversation. The most common complaint about mobile communications is background noise. ClearSpeech-Speaker is a high-tech, low cost solution that enhances the audio quality of car and truck fleet, emergency vehicles, marine and ham radio communications. Improves clarity and intelligibility of communications. Listen with less fatigue and greater concentration.

The adaptive noise reduction algorithm is remarkable and it just wipes away the noise from fuel pumps, ignition, etc., making working HF a pleasure. Continuous and adaptive removal of background noise from speech Improves the signal to noise ratio. It adds some digital artifacts to noisy signals, but they are very similar to what you hear on a digital cell phone and don't hurt intelligibility. The improvement made is worth the cost of the speaker.

Easy to use, activates automatically when connected into your mobile radio or base station with a 12-volt power supply. Easy to install, mounts like a standard external loudspeaker. The speaker measures 5.5” x 4.5” x 2.5”, and comes with a tough plastic mounting bracket and hardware.

ClearSpeech-Speaker needs 12 volts DC to operate, and it does have a steady current draw because it’s never off. The draw is said to be around 150 mA, which may not be of concern in mobile use if you start your car every day. If I were going to leave it parked for a week or more I would disconnect the power. I used Anderson Power Pole connectors so I could do that easily, and installed my speaker to the left inside wall of my car behind my left ear so it’s easy to hear while driving.

I bought mine because I was very impressed with a demonstration we had at one of our radio club meetings. I turned it on, and WHAT A DIFFERENCE! Barely copy able without it, it killed the static and brought in the weak station to where it was COMPLETELY copy able! I turned it on and off a few times to see if it was the speaker or if it was selective fading, and it was NOT fading, it was the speaker performing magic on a weak signal! I was very impressed! I have used the speaker on my Icom IC - R70 communication receiver which enhanced the audio quality and made listening a pleasure.

I hooked the ClearSpeech-Speaker to a 2 meter base station. I opened the squelch wide, then turned on the speaker. The noise vanished. Other results with other radios were also dramatic on 2- meters FM. It is possible to run with the squelch wide open on 146.52 and you can hear simplex QSOs miles away that were buried in the noise before. Truly amassing.

Excellent noise reduction. I am really amazed how effective it is. Dramatically reduced white noise and other static, and practically silences heterodynes on adjacent frequencies. Makes listening a pleasure. I enjoy working for long periods and it reduced fatigue by silencing constant background noise.

The tone quality with the DSP engaged sounds a little bit like a digital cell phone. I got used to it rather quickly, because it makes reception possible under noisy band conditions that would otherwise be impossible. There is one slight effect which some may not like too much, but when you transmit it cuts off your audio (or, if you listen to a repeater with the squelch normally set), each time the audio comes back it’s unfiltered for a second until the DSP kicks back in. I believe this is normal recovery for the DSP function, otherwise it would keep on filtering when the interference is long gone.

The ClearSpeech, unfortunately, puts out some birdies. One particularly bad one is right near 146.94 MHz. I have found 2-3 others but they aren’t as bad. This would be about the only downside if you want to use it on VHF.

Specifications

Dimensions: 5.5" x 4.3" x 2.5"
Power supply: 9 to 18V DC, 3 amps maximum
Audio input: Input impedance - 8 ohms
Audio output: Nominal power - 2W, Maximum power - 3W
Noise cancellation characteristics: 300 Hz to 3,400 Hz voice bandwidth, Single tone noise reduction - >50dB, White noise reduction - > 12dB

Hello to all,
This is a preliminary announcement of an ARRL Conn. Section sponsored ham class planned for some time this coming winter. The reason for contacting you at this early stage is to get feedback from you, your local club's) and your fellow hams on what you would like included in this class. This not a licensing or upgrade class. Instead, this will be a how-to class for any hams who would like to learn or improve their skills in areas such as but not limited to the following:

Soldering, feed line/connector installation, wire antenna building, home brewing (a broad area that needs further definition), and any other areas of interest that may come to our attention. Suggestions for the format, content, and even the duration of this class are all welcome. Tell us what those topics are that you want and if it is popular enough, we will try to get it in. Don't be shy about contacting us. We are doing this for you, our fellow hams.

We anticipate that this class will be held at some reasonably convenient and geographically central site. This is a Section level activity, but we will entertain offers from clubs or groups who would like to provide a suitable site for this event.

Please feel free to forward this to any and all interested parties and even club reflectors. We want maximum input. Thanks in advance.

Joe Wonoski N1KHB
ARRL Conn. Section Technical Coordinator
H. 203-457-9770 (decent hours) B. 203-785-2998. F. 203-785-4951

This interactive map will automatically plot the location of active storms. This page uses Macromedia's Shockwave plug-in. If you don't have it, you can get it free here.

New Canaan's OEP has asked the Norwalk ARES group to provide Emergency Communications Support. Their decision to use Norwalk is based on their ties with Norwalk Hospital's Ambulance Service and other emergency services in Norwalk. This development reflects new levels of activity in planning for Emergency Preparedness at the town level here in the State. We welcome this development and as always, though we hope we'll never be needed, we will be ready if needed.

The plan is to have the next Fox Hunt on Saturday, August 28 from 9:00 am to 11:00 am. The Fox's lair will not be a site well known to GNARC and we do hope to have another prize up to generate some extra interest. The same rules will apply and the format will be the same except that the Fox's power level will be more realistic. Keep watching the GNARC web site for updates.

If you have any Public Service Announcements please contact me at: (203) 353-8422.

SARA SUNDAY NIGHT NET We encourage people to check into the SARA net. This is a informal net on the Stamford Repeater every Sunday night at 8 PM. After about a half hour of friendly discussion, we play the “Amateur Radio Newsline” with the latest happenings in amateur radio. Make yourself heard, join the net. Repeater: 146.655. PL-100 Hz.

To help battle junk e-mail use your telephone number. Questions, (203) 353 - 8422. John WB1GRB.

Texas Weather Instruments 1-wire Weather Station. Comes complete with Wind Vane, Anemometer, Temperature/Humidity sensor, Radiation Shield and Rain Gauge. WeatherView 32 Software included. Note: This station does not use a console, all data is displayed on a computer monitor. $250.00. Cushcraft 11 element 2 meter beam $20 Contact Phil (203) 847- 0965.

30 ft. Antenna tower looking to donate to amateur radio club. just come get it! Posted. April 23, 2004

Wanted tri-band beam antenna.10m 15m 20m a 14ft boom would be great. 73's Louis. n1nq.

One IBM Think pad 560X WIN98SE P233 96megs, 4 Gig HD very light weight 4pds with all manuals, Restore CD's and license. $200 call days 299-0233 ask for Ned. o 1615 30 MHz Freq Ctr., $25; AEA PK-88 Packet TNC, $35 Call Marv, N1AWJ, (203) 438-7889.

Mobile w/o Microphone, $25; HP5301 10 MHz Freq Ctr. $25; Eldorado 1615 30 MHz Freq Ctr., $25; AEA PK-88 Packet TNC, $35; Leader LAC 897 2M Trans match, $20. Call Marv, N1AWJ, Posted by: WB1GRB

SB 102, POWER SUPPLY/ SPEAKER, AND HAND MIKE IN VERY CLEAN CONDITION. 80-10M. $150. (203) 531-9493. Andy KA1SLG.

Icom 706mkIIG, no box, in excellent condition, have all the small connectors it came with, asking 650$ or Best offer. (203) 748 - 7143.

ICOM T8A HT w/slow charger & 2 extra Batt's., $119; Radio Shack HTX 242 2m 10/45W Mobile w/o mounting bkt., $60 Call Chris, N1YNO at (203) 359-0570 evenings.

FT-8100B 2M/70cm Transceiver with factory CTCSS encode/decode, separation kit, and includes all schematics and manual. Recent o/haul at Yaesu - Installed new style transmitter board and complete alignment. Works and looks as new. $200.00 plus shipping - 203-975-8014 eves.

Quad, rooftop tower, and ham desk for sale. Lighting Bolt 5 band, 2 element Quad $40. Create 10' rooftop tower with thrust bearing and rotor plate. Make me an offer. Unique ham desk originally used in Heathkit store: Slight "U" shape. Desk is 25" deep x 7 feet (at widest part) , two adjustable 12" deep full length shelves, tan Formica, extremely sturdy and handsome!. It disassembles for moving. $350. Gary K3OS 203-762-8972 evenings.

HD-73 ROTOR w/CONTROL & CABLE, $50; Cushcraft 10-40M Vertical. Ant., $15; Heathkit Station Monitor Mod. 614, $50. 2 South Bend 7.5 HP Go-Cart Engines. Call for Info. Call Irv, N1ATS, 348-3425. Posted by: WB1GRB.

I have a HTX-202 with a cracked Case. I do not care if the radio works. I need the Plastic case. Jerry W1FHM, (203) 853-3969. Posted By John WB1GRB.

If any items above are sold or if you have any questions please contact me. John wb1grb.

203-353-8422. I will have a copy of this list at the next meeting to cross off sold items.

GNARC Club Web Site: www.gnarc.org/ A non-profit service oriented organization. By Laws.

Join us before the meeting at John’s Best Pizza on New Canaan Ave. at 6 pm.

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