Because Brother Simon Jaworski, KQ2V, is leaving the area, the new station license trustee for W4AMC and W1VOA is Tom Parsons, W4TEP. Tom recently upgrade to Amateur Extra Class.

Marlin was born and raised in Pitt County and currently lives in Belvoir . He attended Chicod School and when he graduated in 1968 went full time with the Greenville Utilities. While there he worked in the Generation, Dispatch, Finance and Customer Relations departments until his traffic accident in 1992. That accident left him with nerve damage in his back and a disability. He has persistent pain, physical restrictions and a great deal of medication.

During his time with GUC he got interested in CB . He and Malcolm Green, N4KPM, started studying for the exam but Marlin didn’t get his license. Other hams pursued him. Walt, KA4WFS, gave him a home made code tape, Gary, KU4NQ, kept calling him to get his license. He got his license Sep 30, 1996 and is currently a No Code Tech. He has a Radio Shack HTX 242 mobile unit and a RS HTX 202 HT. Ray Brooks, KG4HMT, helped him put up a 2 meter antenna at home a couple of months ago. You can hear Marlin check into the BARC net most Monday nights. He is involved also in ARES and he contributed significantly to the Floyd Flood effort which fits in with being a Skywarn weather spotter. Marlin suffered extensive damage to his own house. Because of Marlin’s medical condition he stays at home a lot: the radio has helped being able to talk to others and keep him mind off his problems. He does have an interest in HF and is considering upgrading. Another ham, John, K4TZN, has been a real friend to him and has helped with radios, coax, because, "I want to keep you on the air."

Marlin and Linda were married in 1971. Their daughter Tanya Lynn was born in 1973 and was tragically killed Memorial Day of 1980. Marlin has his good days and bad days especially when reminded by other children. Their son Brian was born in 1983 and has health problems for most of his life, but has been a God send for Marlin and Linda. Brian, KF4MTL, got his ham license a couple of months after his dad and comes to various BARC activities with Marlin. Brian is a junior this year and last year helped out a lot during Floyd. Linda works at Sprint where she does a myriad of roles from secretarial to getting out into the field. She may retire soon.

Lil, KV4AW, handed me the mail at our last meeting and that’s how I found out that we had been awarded the Special Service Club certificate from ARRL.. The certificate state." This certificate indicates your commitment for the next year to improve the viability of Amateur Radio as a positive force in the community, assist in emergencies, provide and encourage training and to further club activities to the betterment of your members and the Amateur Radio Service." The application process required us to show the kinds of things that we are doing to promote Amateur Radio. Because of you, we were doing the activities that a club should be doing. This is an honor to the members of BARC.

Amidst this activity it is important to say your farewells to Simon, KQ2V who has been a resource to us all. Because he will be in Hawaii during our next meeting there won’t be a party, but it would be nice to do something. Simon’s responsibilities of club call sign trustee and VE liaison will be taken over by Tom, W4TEP, and Cliff, N3LEX, respectively - thanks for stepping forward.

Charlie, K4NBH, a life member of BARC, has just gotten out of the hospital after an operation on his leg. I had spent time earlier with Charlie when I purchased my TA-33 from him he has some great stories from the "old days." Take a minute to say, "Hi."

I’m sorry to see we have so many members very late on there dues. This club has a lot of mutual benefits as well is a resource to this community. Your active participation and your money are important to maintaining that role. I personally think we give too much time for people to pay their dues - we shouldn’t have to wait four months to see if people are interested.

Ham radio, pass it on.

Wow 113 contacts! About 4:00 I was counting the contacts and saw we were in the high 80's which made me think that 100 contacts were possible. I encouraged the folks to try a little harder to see what we could do. This is by no means a contest, but a special event station does take a lot of effort to make it work and the more we get out of our effort the better. Obviously we beat 100 - thanks to all who pitched in. Last year we made 60 contacts so this was quite an improvement. (The secret is to keep calling "CQ" as much as you can.)

Our theme was "Talking to the World, Serving Pitt County". We had a lot of people come by and some listed their name to contact when we do another class. It would be nice if we had pictures of our activities.

I had a lot of fun and I think a lot of other people did too. At the risk of leaving someone out, here’s who I remember helping: Brian, KF4MTL, Marlin, KF4MHV, Bernie, WA4MOK, Wayne, WD4JPQ, John, K4KBB, Tod, KG4CCX, Dave, KE4SQI, Patrick, KD4NNA, Paul, KS4YF, Wayne, KG4CCZ, Ken, N8FF, Juanita, KE4JWK, Bonnie, KG4CZW, Dave, KG4CZV, Bob, KE4UGC, Lily, KV4AW, and Tom, W4TEP. I really hope I didn’t miss any one because we needed all the help we could get.

It looks like the bands are getting very busy with all the new Generals signing temporary AG and new Extras signing temporary AE. I have heard them on all bands and have talked to a few on 75 and 40 meters. The Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club has had a number of upgrades but most are still waiting for their tickets so they can drop the temporary AG or AE. It looks like the VEC’s are several weeks behind because of the thousands of new applications. Those that have Internet service and upgraded with an ARRL VE session, can go to the BARC web site and click on a link at the top of the page that will take them to the ARRL VEC site. The ARRL-VEC is now posting the status of test session processing at http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/status.html.

By the time of the next club meeting there will only be 11 days before Field Day 2000. Since my appointment as Field Day Chairman, the time has really flown. A lot of time and effort have been donated by many people, and I want to take this opportunity to say "Thank you!" As many of you know, this is only my 2nd Field Day ever being involved with (last year being the 1st), and all your help and guidance has been instrumental in making all this work.

This year we are going to be set up at the SurgiCenter on Mosley Dr. The open field to the West of the building, at the intersection of Stantonsburg and Allen Road is where we will be. I felt we needed a change of location this year. The mall was a good site for the last few years, but it didn't provide the exposure I felt we needed. We will be easily visible from both roads, and will hopefully attract some more attention and interest. This site will also provide us with true "field" conditions. We will not have access to the building, so porta-johns will be available (Thanks to Ray Black, WB4FRB, for getting those donated from Jim's Liquid Waste.) Since we won't necessarily have running water there, I will make sure there is hand sanitizer for wash-up before dinner. We are going to be operating under the club callsign, W4AMC, and will be under category 2A, which means we will be running 2 stations, not counting the Novice/Tech station, using only emergency power (Mike Langley, KD4MTT's 10 KW generator). There should be ample shelter for us to get out of the sun by, plus we will be close enough to the Food Lion and fast food restaurants down Stantonsburg Rd for anybody to grab a quick snack.

Kim, KG4CCY, & Wayne, KG4CCZ, Lukhard, and Dave, KE4CZV, & Bonnie, KE4CZW, Pulver, have put their heads together for some more ideas about the dinner menu. We don't want them to spend all their time cooking (because we need all the operators we can get), so they are going to prepare only the main dish, which will be finalized at the next meeting by popular ballot. That means, as I understand has been the tradition in years past, for the members or their spouses to prepare and bring side dishes to complement the main course.

I would like to get kicked off between 6 and 7am Saturday morning June 24 to get a head start on setup before the sun gets too high in the sky. (All Early Birds are invited to attend!) I will have the operator signup sheet at the next meeting, so everyone please make some time over the weekend to come out and help man the radios and log. We are also going to need help moving the necessary equipment from the club trailer at Tom Parson, W4TEP's house to the site, as the trailer is not mobile at the moment due to a possible broken axle. I believe either 2 pickups or 1 truck pulling a long trailer would be sufficient.

That's about all I have for now! If anyone has any questions or comments, feel free to contact me by phone or by email (pcsutton@starfishnet.com). Thanks again to everyone who has or will be participating. LET'S ALL WORK TOGETHER, STAY MOTIVATED, AND MAKE THIS A GREAT FIELD DAY!!!

73's to all!

The Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club is having a fund raising for equipment. For a one dollar donation, you will qualify for a drawing at the BARC Field Day on June 24, 2000. Cash prizes of $250 for first, $100 for second and $50 for third place will be awarded. It is hoped that each club member will take at least 20 tickets or more.

The original Amateur’s Code was written by Paul M Segal, W9EEA in 1928. Every other month one of the six elements of the code will be covered. The Code is a good guide for good Amateur Radio practice and for other aspects of our life. The third element is ...

Progressive... with knowledge abreast of science, a well-built and efficient station and operation above reproach.

Amateur Radio is a technical activity. Many will use the word "hobby", but it goes much further than that. It originated with people wanting to transmit and receive radio signals more effectively - it was more of science and experimentation than just getting on the air and "talking". The progressive nature of AR is what in many professions is called continuing education. We as technicians should be aware of the progress of technology of AR and use the advances to better our operating practices and equipment.

Spark gap may be our heritage, but it would not be tolerated on the air waves today. Just as AM gave way to SSB, the inclusion of computer technology such as DSP, digital modes, and computer controlled radios are moving AR ahead. The BARC meeting programs are an effort to keep our members aware of advances in AR, and it is important that our members be part of that effort by giving presentations. Elmers should impart to their "Elmerees" the changes that are occurring. Professionals are expected to read the literature and so our reading of ham magazines such as: QST, CQ, 73, etc is a valuable way of keeping up even with some of the areas we don’t normally participate in. Take part in the training sessions at hamfests or upgrade your license to be more aware of the more complex technology. Progress may even include boning up on what we may have learned in the past. It sounds like ARRL is attempting to come up with formalizing the continuing education concept. The opportunities are endless.

Seventeen came in for the special "paper only" VE Session held by BARC VE's. Nine upgraded to Amateur Extra and eight upgraded to General.

Percy Lee "Bo" Pair, passed away May 22, 2000. He founded and was President of Pair Electronics in Greenville until 1995.

Besides his notable successes in business, "Bo" will be remembered most as a caring, compassionate and generous husband, father and friend. Some of the older BARC club members remember "Bo’s" generosity in his contributions to the club.

The ARRL-VEC now has seven fulltime, three temporary, and eight just-added volunteer staff members chipping away at the mountain of applications resulting from the April 15 license restructuring. ARRL-VEC Manager Bart Jahnke, W9JJ, reports his staff now is wrapping up April 24 receipts from VE sessions. The ARRL-VEC received nearly 23,000 applications between April 15 and May 26.

ARRL-VEC staff was able to submit some 5000 applications to the FCC this week, up significantly from previous weeks. On May 25 alone, 1453 applications were filed with the FCC. Jahnke still estimates it will take approximately six weeks from exam session to the time the paperwork is filed electronically with the FCC, although some grants have been showing up sooner than that. The key is when the session paperwork arrived at ARRL-VEC. The FCC typically grants applications overnight.

Jahnke says there were approximately 4000 applications in the April 24 receipts alone that include sessions as long ago as March 25 and as recent as April 18. ARRL-VEC processes applications according to the date the package arrives in the mail. "We have staff working over the weekend, and we will have staff working over the holiday weekend," he said.

Inquiries concerning the status of applications continue to impair the staff's ability to rapidly process the incoming stacks of applications. "You can't blame people for wanting to know what their status is, but when everyone wants to know, progress slows," Jahnke said. Another thing that slows progress is having to follow up on missing or incomplete information on the NCVEC Form 605 application from a test session.

Jahnke has estimated that the first 30 days of the restructuring surge--April 15 through May 15--will yield 17,200 new Generals and 13,100 new Extras.

BARC Minutes of 5/9/00

Site C--Requesting access to site from B. Burlingham prior to, during and following Strong Angel to test antennas, etc. Site C would be the primary backup for Strong Angel since there is a lot of noise around the Brody Building antennas. See end of minutes for more.

Special Events--TEDI BEAR Walk and International Festival were a success. 10-15 people participated in the Walk and the operators at the Festival made 113 contacts on the frequencies published in QST. Next big special event is JOTA on the 3rd Saturday in October.

Health & Welfare--James Eubanks, KD4JOV, is back at work full time and was at the meeting looking hale and hearty, though he says he still hurts some when he laughs. Charlie Knowles is having bypass surgery and JP Roy’s dad is having heart surgery in May.

Instructors Group--Murray, K4MHM, is scheduled to speak to the JROTC and 3 schools

Programs--tonight Patrick, KD4NNA, talked about Field Day and Doug, K4ROK, talked about Strong Angel. June will see weatherman Marvin Daugherty (first before business, so come early!) and a good-bye to Br. Simon (who may be in Hawaii by this time doing Strong Angel stuff). July will be a visit to Site A with the Kinston club.

VE--17 upgrades in the paperwork session. Next scheduled testing is June 16. The new VE liaison will be Cliff Kendall, N3LEX, who has done it before. He foresees no changes.

Equipment--Bernie, K4MOK, noted we need RG-8X coax and connectors for Field Day. Motion--Motion by Paul, KS4YF, seconded by Bob, KV4RF, to purchase coax and connectors for field day, not to exceed $300.00. Motion passed. Money to come from equipment fund.

John, K4KBB, will donate a sledgehammer. Thanks!!

Ham Chatter--Note compliment from D. Miller of ARRL on the electronic Ham Chatter. Dave, W4YDY, moved a $10.00 donation to qsl.net for expenses. Wayne, WD4JPQ, seconded. Motion carried.

NOTE: If the server goes down you can get Ham Chatter through the mirror site in Germany at http://www-dl.qsl.net/w4amc/. Notice that -dl is added after the "www" (that is "dash, Delta, Lima"). This will be approximately one week behind.

Fund Raising--tickets are available at $1.00 each from Juanita, KE4JWK. Drawing June 24, Field Day, at 7PM.

Trustee for club call sign--Tom Parsons, W4TEP, by acclamation.

Trailer--the agreement with the hospital should be in Murray’s, K4MHM, hands soon.

Special Service Club status has been awarded. Received certificate and manual.

ARES--Doug, K4ROK, reported that Reed Whitten has Helena Braun, researcher for Atlantic Productions of the Discovery Health Channel, working on disasters, victims of hurricanes and floods, rescue, relief and what to do, when to do it, how to do it. Contact Whitten if you have any information: Rwhitten@att.net or Doug for forwarding.

Automatic Position Reporting Service (APRS)--the digi is running at Farmville and Doug is working with the people in Raleigh NOAA weather center to get a station installed in Williamston tied into APRS. Equipment is coming.

Skywarn meeting at Wilson Community College, May 15, for spotter training.

June 3, 10AM at Kinston library for Eastern Branch meeting on procedures for disasters.

Program

Patrick, KD4NNA, chairman of Field Day exercises

1. Location--A-Surgicenter at intersection of Stantonsburg, Bethesda and Allen Rds. (Where Floyd helicopters landed).

B-May Museum in Farmville

Discussion on plusses and minuses of these sites: no facilities or AC at A; generator may be too loud for B. Porta-potties may be donated. Parking good at A, but may be hard to get to.

Walt Verdick, KA4WFS, will handle publicity.

Patrick will be on Channel 7, EARLY. He will also do Operator sign-up.

Juanita, KE4JWK, is in charge of Safety and First Aid.

Tom, W4TEP, is in charge of shelters and tents

Lukhards (KG4CCY (Kim), KG4CCZ (Wayne)) and Pulvers (KG4CZV (Dave), KG4CZW (Bonnie)) in charge of food

Bernie, WA4MOK, in charge of antennas and feed lines.

ARES is supplying the rigs.

Mac, KD4AFL, has agreed to donate the services of the Mobile Command Post.

Strong Angel--As of this meeting an Extra class operator was still needed to go to Hawaii, dates 8 June through 20 June. Tests of equipment using antennas on top of Brody not good - lots of interference. Site C is a great resource for ECU to be in contact with anywhere in the world through the existing antennas. A 100W base station deployed practically anywhere can be in contact with them.

VHF

• BARC Net, Mondays, 2000 on 147.09 MHz, W4GDF Repeater.

• Pitt County Emergency Communications Net, Mondays, 2100 on 147.09 MHz. (131.8 Hz Tone)

• Kinston Amateur Radio Society Net, 1,3,4 Tuesdays, 2000 hrs. on 145.47 MHz., W4OIX repeater in Kinston.

• Eastern North Carolina Traffic Net, Every night, 2030 on 146.685 MHz.

• New Bern Amateur Radio Club/Eastern NC 220 Association for the WD4JMS & WA4DAN Net, Monday, 2000 on 146.61 and 224.84 MHz

• Wilson Amateur Radio Club Net, Monday 2030 on 146.76 MHz.

• Piedmont Coastal Traffic Net, Nightly 2030 on 146.88 MHz.

• Newport WFO SKYWARN Net, Wednesday, 2100 on 145.21 MHz

• Coastal Emergency Linking Net, Wednesday, 2100 ET on Williamston 145.410 & 444.250, Columbia 146.835 & 443.300, Rocky Mount 147.120, Ahoskie 146.910, Franklin, VA 147.300, Farmville 145.270, (Buxton 145.150 Coming Soon)

• Beaufort County Emergency Communications Net, Thursday 2000 on 147.345 MHz. Preceded by Newsmen at 1930.

HF

• Tar Heel Emergency Communications Net on 3923 kHz Nightly 1930.

NTS CW Nets

Regular Meeting - 2nd Tuesday @ 7:30 PM
Board Meeting - Last Tuesday @ 7:00 PM