Indiana County Amateur Radio Newsletter for the Month

June 2008 News Letter

Prepared - May 10, 2008

By: Darrell R. Norris - WA3AJQ

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BREEZESHOTTERS HAM FEST IS SCHEDULED FOR SUNDAY JUNE 1ST AT THE BUTLER
FAIR GROUNDS. 8 AM to 3 PM
Web site: www.breezeshooters.net
Email: hamfest2008@breezeshooters.com

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MS Walk April 20th

An MS Walk was held in Indiana on April 20th. The following twelve amateur operators participated in providing communications. It started out to be a rainy day however, we had a break in the weather long enough to complete the walk, everything went well.

A special thanks to Rusty, WB3EUQ, for volunteering to take the lead.

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ARRL - (Excerpts taken from recent ARRL bulletins)

The ARRL Letter
Vol. 27, No. 14
April 11, 2008

==> ARRL EXPO AT DAYTON HAMVENTION -- THE COUNTDOWN IS ON!

With just over a month to go, the final details for the ARRL EXPO at the 2008 Dayton Hamvention are wrapping up and the secrets are being let out! This year's EXPO is meant to not only share in, but to embrace the Dayton Amateur Radio Association's (DARA) -- host of Hamvention -- theme of "Amateur Radio + People = Fellowship" . With more open-air areas and interactive booths within the ARRL EXPO, we hope to not only convey this message but provide easier opportunities for fellowship within the EXPO, offering more opportunities for interaction with the ARRL family. The Dayton Hamvention will be held May 16-18 at Hara Arena.

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William F. Buckley Meets Amateur Radio: In a personal essay published in the April 7, 2008 issue of "The National Review," the late William F. Buckley Jr described a fascinating story involving himself, Senator Barry Goldwater, K7UGA (SK), and of course ham radio. It seems that Mr Buckley was part of a 12 man trip to Russia's Vostok station, a very remote outpost at the magnetic South Pole. In addition to his brother, Senator James Buckley, their old pal Barry Goldwater and his son Barry Jr were also members of this expedition. Buckley described being in a crowded Soviet igloo, entertained with "trays of caviar and tumblers of vodka." After toasting his Russian host, he was suddenly taken aside by Barry Jr. "Dad wants to see you" he said, pointing to the door. Buckley was taken to another igloo, apparently the radio shack. "Thought you might like to talk to your wife," the senior Goldwater said. Buckley describes the prideful look on Goldwater's face, having maneuvered the Soviet radio to contact his wife back home in Arizona! Although he was a man famous for his complete control of the English language, Bill Buckley said he was "speechless" as he heard the telephone ringing and his wife answering the telephone! He said, "It's me darling" and his wife responded, "It's three o'clock in the morning!" Buckley exclaimed, "I'm calling from the South Pole!" This story reminded me of the many nights back in the late 1970s when I gladly helped with phone patches from the US Navy base at McMurdo, Antarctica. Just as Senator Goldwater did, I awakened many people in the wee hours of the morning with a phone call from their loved ones on the bottom of the world! -- Bruce Jackson, KA5ELC, Cordova, Tennessee

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Club Activities

Keep in mind ARRL Field Day is scheduled for June 28th and 29th A number of members expressed an interest in setting up and testing their skills. Setup generally takes place on Friday night with a picnic Saturday night.

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Thanks and 73's,

Darrell R. Norris - WA3AJQ

President - 05 / 06 / 07 / 08

Meeting Minutes - May 10, 2008

President Darrell Norris,WA3AJQ, called the meeting to order at __7:40__PM local time.

Minutes from last meeting: ( April 1, 2008)

There were no additions or corrections to the minutes.

Financial Report: Kim Frech: (Not at Meeting)

Darrell, WA3AJQ, gave the financial report on behalf of Kim. A check was sent to REA in the amount of $151.78. Kim took in $29.31. There were no questions or concerns.

Old Business:

ARES: E.C. Robert Zugates, KB3JOF

Robert reported that the ARES people to whom he reports, have changed. He also noted he's looking forward to the Simulated Emergency Test (SET) in October.

Net Coordinator:

Robert Zugates KB3JOFwill take the net on Monday June 2nd for Terry Carnahan, KB3JOD, who will take the remainder of the month.

Darrell Norris, WA3AJQ, will consider taking the net in July.

RACES: Rusty O'Donnell, WB3EUQ (Not at meeting)

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Repeater Operation: - Elmer Sorisio, KB3WG (Not at Meeting)

MS Walk - April 20th Rusty O'Donnell, WB3EUQ

Darrell, WA3AJQ, was contacted and asked to provide some communications help for the event. It was scheduled for Sunday April 20th with registration at 1:00 PM and the walk at 2:00 PM. The walk began at the Indiana High School.

Rusty O'Donnell, WB3EUQ, was in charge. Rusty was pleased to have the following twelve (12) people volunteer to help.

Meetings - Darrell Norris, WA3AJQ

All members are encouraged to consider items for the meeting agendas and bring a fellow ham / member or a perspective ham.

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The 50 /50 drawing was won by: _Dave Dzelsky_ Dave donated the money to the club. We had also included two tickets to the BreezeShooters Ham Fest on Sunday, June 1st.

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New Business:

Ham Fest 2008: Rusty O'Donnell, WB3EUQ (Not at meeting)

At the April meeting there was a motion made to either finalize plans or cancel the Ham Fest for this year. According to the by-laws, there weren't enough members present to officially vote on or pass anything.

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THE HAM FEST IS NO LONGER AN ITEM FOR DISCUSSION THIS YEAR

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The next several items will be discussed at the time there scheduled

VE Test - Bill McMillen, N3QM - April 5 th (Not at meeting)

Bill had reported he had only one person signed up to be tested therefore the session was going to be cancelled.

Torrance Walk - May - Jerry Kiehl, WB3DUD

Jerry Kiehl, WB3DUD checked with Torrance and was told there will not be a walk again this year. (2nd Year)

Field Day - June 28th and 29th

It was pretty much agreed that the club will participate in field day again this year. Set up Friday night and a covered dish picnic Saturday night.

Club Picnic - September ?

ARES Simulated Emergency Test - October ?

OPEN (Multi County) Breakfast - October ?

Christmas Party - December 14 th at Hoss's

DVD - Video presentation on amateur radio: Cliff Miller, KB3AGT (Not at meeting)

Darrell, WA3AJQ, checked with Eat*N*Park's general manager on Saturday April 5th and was told the DVD equipment should have been repaired by now and our club was welcome to use it.

Show and Tell (Anybody / Anything)

Notes or comments?

At the April 12th Johnstown Saturday breakfast, one of their members expressed an interest in touring one of the local power plants, preferably Conemaugh or Seward. Would anyone here be interested? If so, I can probably arrange it.

There was no interest by the members present.

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Robert Zugates , KB3JOF, expressed an interest in starting up hot dog nights again. This is up to Elmer Sorisio, KB3WG

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Darrell, WA3AJQ, informed everyone that the June meeting would be the last meeting for Kim Frech as our secretary / treasure. He asked Jerry Kiehl, WB3DUD to consider assuming the position for the remainder of the year.

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Darrell, WA3AJQ, was very disappointed in the number of meeting attendees. Very little of anything was discussed since we didn't have a sufficient number of members present to vote on anything.

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Motion to adjourn by: _Fred Maize, KM3M __
Second by: _Robert Zugates, KB3JOF_

The meeting adjourned at: _8:07_PM. (Local time)

-- ICARC Meeting Attendance - May 6, 2008 --

Respectively Submitted by:
Kim Frech, Secretary / Treasurer
05, 06, 07 & 08

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