HAMFEST

As we approach the Hamfest, I want to take this opportunity to thank the Cherryville Board Members and especially Rob and his associates for taking a fledgling DATABASE and bringing it up to world standards. Susan your letter that was designed and implemented to cover the ARRL list of clubs is a godsend. Anyway the club has a lot to be proud of and deserves a pat on the back for an amazing turnaround from the Warren County Fairgrounds days.

A couple of things still need to be done and we are working on that everyday. Keep your chins up and your feet on the ground and lets do it together as the Cherryville Repeater Association has always done it before.

Hey by the way the way the SIGNUP 2000 is attached and if you do not see your name there I assume you will be out of town that day????? Get in touch with Mike (KC2CMC@earthlink.net) or myself (N2MQZ@aol.com) to put your name on the on the list. Vendor Reservations: KB5U (Keith) kb5u@arrl.net or N2MQZ (n2mqz@aol.com).

Randy (N2MQZ) 908 454-9560

1 888 379-2926 (beeper)

Club Info Line: 788-4080

FRIDAY SET-UP

4 PM (time to be confirmed)

Unload and set-up tables

Signs, Kitchen, etc

SATURDAY

Members Arrive by 5:30

6 AM Vendor set-up

Members help vendors to

move merchandise to tables

8 AM Doors open to public

2 PM End of show

2-4 Table tear-down & cleanup

Sunday Rest and say thank you!

ELECTIONS

Time again for the Cherryville Officer and Board member elections. Elections are held at the April meeting, with only those members in ‘good’ standing with dues paid eligible to vote. Ballots are mailed out after the March meeting. All officer positions are open for election as well as 2 Member-at-Large Board positions.

Here is the current slate of candidates for the upcoming election:

PRES:N3QDC

VP: KB2DDM

SEC: OPEN

TREAS: W2NCN

AT LARGE: KD2EL, KA2YYB

The Election Committee consists of those Board members not up for re-election (Board seats are two-year terms, alternating 2 or 3 open each election.) The Election Committee for this year consists of:

Ed Kita, N3MSK; John Crovelli, W2GD; Roberto Matos, K2PA.

Contact any of the above or a Club Officer if you are interested in running for a position or nominating someone.

UPLiNK

First of all, some of you may have noticed that you did not receive an Uplink in the ‘snail’ mail lately. To conserve on postage costs, all members with e-mail now receive the Uplink electronically. If you would prefer to receive the paper version by mail, let Keith or Marty know. If you have e-mail and are not receiving it electronically yet, please send us a note with your e-mail.

HELP WANTED: Uplink Reporter

In order to get more Club info into the newsletter on a timely basis, your help is needed. This would include info from the Board and / or Club meetings, as well as info on happenings during the month preceding the meetings. With the Uplink going out just before the meetings, some announcements made at the meetings are ‘old news’ or obsolete by the time the next Uplink comes around.

Especially, information on Club happenings, Public service events, repeater activities/repairs, member info and updates. If you would like to be the Uplink ‘Club Reporter’, contact Keith or Rob. And also, anyone can forward this type of info anytime!

Thanks, Keith

More ham websites

Here is a great site to find your exact latitude/longitude, works great and it’s free:

http://www.juggling.org/bin/un.cgi/map-find

For ham parts and supplies, check

http://www.jadeprod.com/

For a listing of available callsigns, and those about to become available (after the two year waiting period.)

http://www.carroll-usa.com/vanity/

And for Satellites:

http://users.erols.com/hheidt/

http://nasa.asu.edu/asusat/

POWER COMPANY ACTS ON AMATEUR COMPLAINTS

After prodding by the FCC, Pacific Gas & Electric Company says it's making headway in mitigating long-standing power-line noise complaints from several Northern California amateurs. Not all complaints have been resolved, however, and several new ones have sprung up in the interim.

The hams involved in the initial complaints had been unsuccessful getting the West Coast power company to investigate their reports of severe noise, so they turned to the ARRL and the FCC for help. In late November, the FCC wrote PG&E to remind the utility of its obligation to rectify equipment problems that cause harmful radio interference. The FCC requested that the company correct the problems "within a reasonable time" and report back.

The complainants were four hams in the Los Gatos/San Jose area and another in Berkeley. ARRL Lab Supervisor Ed Hare, W1RFI--the League's point man for RF interference issues--says the League has since received reports from additional hams in PG&E's service area. Those complaints were forwarded to PG&E for resolution.

In a letter to the FCC, PG&E Manager for Operations and Construction Robert Lipscomb summarized progress in clearing up the initial complaints. The work included replacing poles, guy wires, insulators, and transformers as well as installing radio/television interference "clips" at one site and re-routing a service drop at another. Lipscomb conceded, however, that the utility still has additional work to do. PG&E personnel continue to work with Hare in resolving the complaints. Hare says not all of the five hams who complained have been contacted by PG&E. One still has severe interference, he says, and another has intermittent interference.

The FCC's Part 15 rules obligate utilities and others that fall under their provisions to not cause harmful interference to licensed services and to cease operating a device that's causing harmful interference upon FCC notification. The ARRL Technical Information Service offers more information on how to deal with power line interference at http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/rfi-elec.html. Amateurs suffering from interference believed to be emanating from power generation or transmission facilities may contact Ed Hare, W1RFI, 860-594-0318; rfi@arrl.org.

Good bye Form 610

Forms 610 phased out: With a single exception, the venerable FCC Form 610 now is history. The FCC phased out the documents February 16. Amateur Radio applicants now must use the Universal Licensing System forms (Forms 605, 606) for all purposes. There is one exception: FCC Form 610B Club Station application continues to be valid until the FCC finalizes its privatized club station call sign administrator program.

SPECIAL service clubs

ARRL says "thank you" to exemplary Special Service clubs: Every two weeks, a Special Service Club will be featured in the ARRL Special Service Club Spotlight at http://www.arrl.org/field/club/sscspot/. The first ARRL Special Service Club Spotlight features Carl Hayden Community High School Amateur Radio Club of Phoenix, Arizona. This page is open for all to see and enjoy. If you'd like to suggest your SSC for the ARRL Special Service Club Spotlight, send your information, including e-mail and Web site addresses, to Dan Miller, K3UFG, at dmiller@arrl.org. Photographs, particularly those that highlight club activities, are especially welcome.

Dan Miller, K3UFG/Field & Educational Services

Note: Cherryville is a Special Service Club. We should have someone suggest CRA for the spotlight.

Enhanced DXCC

The ARRL DXCC Desk says that effective April 1, 2000, DXCC members may have their cards checked by local card checkers without having to mail cards to ARRL Headquarters. Under the new program, DXCC card checkers will be able to check all awards except 160 meter DXCC, as well as all QSLs from any current DXCC entity. This will apply to both new awards and endorsements. QSOs made up to 10 years prior to the current year will be eligible for field checking, while older cards and those from deleted entities still may be sent to ARRL HQ. The current DXCC Field Checking program ends March 31, 2000. Reappointment of DXCC Card Checkers under new criteria will be necessary. For more information, contact

Bill Moore, NC1L, dxcc@arrl.org; 860-594-0234. —DXCC

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There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

HAMFEST SIGN UP SHEET

BE SURE YOU ARE ON THE LIST

			Tables	Admissions	Parking	Fundraising

*Chairs:*	Mike & Randy		KB5U	N2UYV	WB2F	N2ZGG
*Co-Chairs:*	WB2NQV		N2MQZ	KB2RTS	KA2TOV	WA2JVK
*Treasurer:*	N3ODB		KC2CMC	N3ZSD	KB2WEX
*Quartermaster:*	N2WYJ		K2YSY	N2SUP	N2RDL
*Food:*	Lisa (no-call)		W2RIJ	KB2SQT	W2RIJ
*Admissions:*	N3ZSD		N2VEK		KB2EBL
*Publicity:*	KC2EVJ	KC2DWF	N2QOR
*Talk-In:*	N2VWL	W2CGX	N3QDC
*Prizes:*	KC2EVJ	KC2CXH	KB5U
*Tables:*	KB5U		KA2TOV
*50/50*	N2ZGG		KC2EVJ
*Parking:*	KA2TOV		N3ZSD
			KC2DWF

Food	Security	Club Table	Signs	Setup	Talkin	Medical	Relief
				Takedown
KD2EL	N2QOR	K2PA	N2VEK	N2MQZ	N2VWL	N2QOR	KC2DMM
N2WYJ		NU2W		KC2CMC	W2CGX		W2GD
		W2NCN