HEMARC August Meeting Minutes
These minutes were approved at the September meeting.
Minutes of the meeting of August 14, 2003
The meeting was called to order by President Ed Myerson AA3XY at 6:00 PM
Present on the sign in sheet were (21): Ed AA3XY, Les WR3X, Jim N3ZPS,
Steven WA3ZWC, Gary W3GMY, Jim N3GOO, Gary W3DTN, Bruce WB3BMI, Charles
AA3FB, Gary N3BYN, Jim KB3GSA, Bill KB3JJS, Heru W3WVV, Sam KB3CYL, Alan
N3IKI, Nick K3NY, Emigdio WP4HJF, Norman WA6ABD, Bob K3FQP, Chip W4PBG,
Mike KB3CPV
Minutes
A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of the July 10, 2003
meeting as published. The motion was approved by voice vote.
Treasurer's Report
No Treasurer's Report was available.
RF Survey
Jim N3GOO reported that Kevin O'Connor from NG Industrial Safety
Department made field strength measurements on the roof of the Museum on
every band and antenna. The 10m dipole was the only concern. No
other
problems or issues were found. NG provided 5 warning signs at no
cost. They will be installed at the roof hatch and at the four corners
around the antenna farm. Jim circulated a copy of the report containing
the measurements. The Club will send a letter of appreciation.
Operations
Les WR3X said that the Bird antenna switch has been installed and that he
is pretty sure that we cannot reach California on this switch. He also
said that thanks to Nick a larger monitor has been installed for SSTV,
PSK31, RTTY, etc.
Antennas
Heru W3WVV found that someone had pulled the connector apart on the ATV
antenna cable. He repaired the connector. Heru thinks that the
antenna
on the tower has a problem because there is background noise. Les said
there is intermittent AC line noise. Nick K3NY said that during the QSO
contest there was an S7 noise floor last Saturday during the day and an S2
noise floor at night using the beam on 20m. Less said that they were
having a problem with an air conditioner motor on the roof and that
finding the source of the noise will take some work.
Training
Les reported that only 20 people would be registered for the Amateur Extra
Class due to space limitations. No registrations will be accepted after
August 29, 2003. Students must hold a General or Advanced class
license. Since Rol is not going to be here, Les will be looking for help
teaching the class. Testing under the Laurel VEC will be available at the
end of the class.
Maryland QSO Party
Nick said the Club station recorded 45,510 points during the contest. The
contacts included 14 club stations, 30 mobile, 8 QRP, 10 standard CW, 263
phone, 11 counties, 42 states, and 21 countries.
Nets
Les said that band conditions have been very poor, especially
East--West. More retirees are needed on Wednesday afternoon. Chip
W4PBG
has been filling in for Les on Wednesday afternoon. On Saturday Les works
the SSTV net and has been having good luck with that.
Les reported that he sent several messages to Rol asking when he would
return, but he has not received a reply. Rol may be back in October.
W3HEM/W3GR
Jim N3GOO said that Rol wanted more information about Charlie Hartman, the
original holder of W3GR. Jim agreed to move the committee along in Rol's
absence. Jim N3ZPS will send a list of committee members. Heru said
that
local people know W3GR is the Historical Electronics station while distant
people might get more out of W3HEM. Gary suggested looking for
information in old AutoCalls from the 50s and 60s. Jim will send an
inquiry to Gene. If you have any information on Charlie Hartman or any
ideas about use of the call signs, please send them to Jim at
N3GOO@ARRL.NET
FAR
Chip reported that there were 730 paid AutoCall issues for the previous
month. The subsidy was less than $300 and AutoCall may break even with
additional advertisers. John King of CARA is chairing the Fall-Fest
committee this year. There is a very good lineup of speakers including
Astronaut Dr. Ron Parise. See the Website www.fall-fest.com
for more
information. Volunteers are needed on Saturday and Sunday for the gates,
etc. Checks for $500 to $2,500 have been sent to 59 FAR scholarship
winners. HEMARC will staff the test table. Les said that there will
be
testing on both days of the Fall-Fest at 12 Noon. John Creel of the
Laurel VEC may need VE help.
Jackets
Sam will bring a list of the jacket orders to the September meeting.
Programs
Nick said that Bill Cross who is in charge of the Rules Division of the
FCC will speak at the September meeting. He is a local resident and a
member of the Anne Arundel club.
Old Business
QSL Cards
Nick displayed a collection of recently donated QSL cards from the estate
of a Silent Key. Nick wants to use the old QSL cards for use in station
mockups.
New Business
Gift from Riley Hollingsworth
Les showed the Hallicrafters T.O. keyer that Riley sent to HEMARC as a
gift. Riley offered the keyer after viewing the Club station during a
tour of the Museum. It will replace the homebrew keyer currently in
use. The club will send a thank you letter.
Passes to the Maryland State Fair's Volunteers' Day were distributed.
Heru and Gary displayed a microwave power amp built by TRW that may have
been a spare for a satellite. When they asked if anyone had any
additional information about it, a member suggested that they ask Rol who
was working at TRW.
Adjournment
A motion was made and seconded to adjourn. The motion was passed by voice
vote at 7:53 PM.
Technical Program
Nick organized a Radio Trivia quiz. During the game members selected
questions of various levels of difficulty from a list of radio related
topics. A correct answer earned points based on the difficulty of the
question. The members played enthusiastically until Nick ran out of
questions.
Respectfully Submitted by Jim, N3ZPS, Secretary