Newsletter of the Argonne Amateur Radio Club
| RADIOACTIVITIES
Newsletter of the Argonne Amateur Radio Club |
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| Volume XLII, Number 7 | July, 2001 |
The Everette Lee DeGolyer Elementary School in Dallas (http://www.degolyer.com) recently received some $2600 worth of equipment paid for through the ARRL Education Project Fund to equip its ham radio club station, K5DES. Plans call for establishing similar programs at other schools across the US, after The Big Project — formally The ARRL Amateur Radio Education Project — is fully in place and under way.
“Once we get a coordinator — an educational professional — at Headquarters, we’ll begin to develop additional curriculum and coordinate with additional schools across the country,” said ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP. Haynie proposed The Big Project shortly after taking office last year. The ARRL Board has adopted it as a League program, but it’s still under development.
The ARRL Education Project supplied a Yaesu FT-847 HF/VHF/UHF multimode transceiver plus Cushcraft HF, VHF and UHF antennas as well as other accessories for K5DES. As a bonus, the club station recently benefited from the generosity of Keith Pugh, W5IU, who donated an ICOM IC-706MkIIG that he’d won at the recent HamCom convention. Pugh is AMSAT-NA vice president for operations.
DeGolyer teacher Sanlyn Kent, KD5LXO, says that, so far, 14 youngsters — ranging from 10 to 12 years old and in grades 4 through 6 — have become licensed. Kent, an art teacher at the school, got her Technician ticket only last fall and says she’s been learning along with the kids.
The DeGolyer students plan to be active during Kid’s Day this weekend from K5DES.
Kent said the school has been able to integrate ham radio into nearly all aspects of the DeGolyer curriculum, from geography and social studies to science and math. In the art classroom, youngsters have been designing their own QSL cards.
While the program was initially intended to be aimed at middle school students, Kent says she believes it works better at the elementary level.
She said older youngsters often find themselves involved in too many other activities by the time they reach middle school. “One of the greatest things is that ham radio gets kids used to talking to other people,” she said. “We keep finding ways every day to make it fit in.”
With a group of largely Technician class operators at this point, Kent said she and the other K5DES members are looking forward to upgrading, so they can chat more readily with stations in other countries and learn more about different cultures.
Under the guidance of ARRL Vice President Kay Craigie, WT3P, the ARRL Amateur Radio Education Project will work directly with teachers who use Amateur Radio as a teaching strategy in the classroom. “The goal is to improve the quality of education for kids by providing educationally valid techniques involving Amateur Radio for teaching all sorts of subjects — science, geography, languages, speech,” Craigie said. “Kids get the hobby of a lifetime and preparation for good careers — that’s the ultimate goal.”
For information on donating to The ARRL Amateur Radio Education Project, contact ARRL Chief Financial Officer Barry Shelley, N1VXY, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111; bshelley@arrl.org; 860-594-0212, to discuss details.
The ARRL is a 501(c)(3) organization, and donations are tax-deductible.
9700 S. Cass Ave. Bldg. 222 - A253, Argonne IL 60439 —————
e-mail: http://www.bigfoot.com/~w9anl |
MEMBERSHIP is open to all who are interested in amateur radio. This club is sponsored by Argonne National Laboratory. Employees of ANL or DOE-Chicago are eligible for Full membership. Auxiliary membership is available to non-employees.
W9ANL/R is an open repeater, coordinated on 145.19 MHz (-600 input). The AARC repeater has been in operation on this frequency pair continuously since February 5, 1982. W9ANL Packet node runs MSYS on 145.09 MHz. CLUB NETS: 2 meter fm (1) Regular, every Monday evening at 9:00, and (2) the Night Patrol every night at 10:30, both on W9ANL/R. There is an open packet conference on W9ANL packet node every Monday evening at 8:00; type C at the BBS prompt. The Peanut Whistle Net (PWN) every Sunday at 1:30 p.m., and many evenings at 8:30 p.m. on 1932 kHz (cw/am/ssb), QRP. |
RADIOACTIVITIES is published monthly by the Argonne Amateur Radio Club as a nonprofit newsletter intended only for the use of its membership. Material appearing here does not represent the official position of Argonne National Laboratory or the U. S. Department of Energy. Please give credit to the author and to Radioactivities or the Argonne A.R.C., when using original material published here. Deadline for submissions normally is the fifteenth of the preceding month.
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I enjoy the challenge of either fooling the hunters with tactics such as varying power levels and turning the antenna or getting the fox to slip and give away a little scrap of info to help in the hunt.
If there are interested parties out there get in touch with me and we will set it up. Help coordinating would also be appreciated.
73 . ... . . .
The treasurer’s computer:June 12, 2001
Attendees:
Bruce Epperson (KA9JXU) President,
Dick Konecny (K9IB) Vice-President,
Joe Kilar (WB9THV) Secretary,
Jim Specht (W9GBL) Director,
Loren Thompson (KB9CTJ) Director.
Bruce stated that Field Day will be held in the east area near the model airplane field. The village (Downers Grove) denied him a permit to conduct it near his home because generators would be running overnight. The board unanimously voted to purchase pizza, soda pop, and donuts from club funds for Field Day.
Bruce mentioned that he is awaiting word from OPA about our participation in the September Open House.
The repeater has been basically up and running. Bruce mentioned turning it off for a short time during a brief 2-meter band opening.
Florida ARES group activates to cover 911 outage:This event knocked out all emergency radio and telephone traffic. All police and rescue traffic was diverted to the single UHF repeater normally used for routing private ambulances to area hospitals — resulting in an instant frequency overload.
JFRD officials turned to Amateur Radio. The ARES Quick Response Team was on-scene within 30 minutes of the call-up. In all, 21 hams assisted in passing continuous fire and rescue radio traffic over the 146.76 MHz repeater for nearly three hours.
Duval County Emergency Coordinator Miller Norton, N4RYX, told the ARES volunteers, “We are the last defense and simply cannot fail to respond when called. Job well done.”
Eleven year-old ham gets Life membership and 60-year plaque:This year at Hamvention he took out an ARRL life membership (thanks to his dad, Bob, AA3RR). Due to a vendor error, Ryan’s plaque credited the 11-year-old with 60 years of membership instead of Life Membership! The problem was corrected, and the correct Life Membership plaque arrived a few days later.
Indiana policeman receives first Radio Hero Award:Joining him on the International Space Station as part of the Expedition 3 crew will be cosmonauts Mikhail Turin and Vladimir Dezhurov, who will also have Amateur Radio licenses prior to launch.
Culbertson has logged over 344 hours in space. Shuttle Mission STS-105, scheduled to fly in August, will ferry Commander Culbertson to the ISS. It will return with Expedition 2 crewmembers Susan Helms, KC7NHZ; Yury Usachev, RW3FU; and James Voss who have spoken via Amateur Radio with students in 15 schools during scheduled ARISS QSOs.
GM creates Web link to aid mobile installations:WANTED: Almost any sort of amateur radio related Tube-Type radio gear which might yet be restorable and ultimately suitable for display. Numerous items to trade or will pay a fair price in cash. Also looking for keys, bugs, paddles, sounders, etc. FOR SALE: 90-foot Rohn 25 tower. Many accessories, including rotor plate, fold-over base, anti-torque arms, turnbuckles, etc. $250. FOR SALE: Astron RS-70M Power Supply. Separate Amp & Volt meters. 57 amps continuous, 70 amps intermittent. Fold-back current limiting & crowbar overvoltage protection. $175 Ron Hensel, K9ZE 630-365-0213 or K9ZE@aol.com. What was heard just the other day
03 NR9Z Robert Bellevue, IL 07 N9HQA Jim Park Ridge, IL 11 AA9BV Tim Oak Forest, IL 16 W9EHC Frank Lyons, IL 17 K9KPM Ken Lombard, IL 20 N8MZO Anne Western Springs, IL 20 KB9OOM Louis Melrose Park, IL 24 W9AVE Bill Burr Ridge, IL 28 K9REM Emil Chicago, IL 30 - Al Orland Park, IL 30 WA8KCW Fred Terrell, TX
By C. Ennit Meiwiegh
A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though they were a very large mammal their throat was very small.
The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale.
The teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was impossible.
The little girl said, “When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah.”
The teacher asked, “What if Jonah went to hell?”
The little girl replied, “Then you ask him.”
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It was a year ago when our club put on the “Nite Under the Stars”. This time we go cruising around S.A. (See previous page for a good description of that.) Walk among 50,000 penguins, then upstream to the world’s greatest waterfalls, 2 ½ miles wide....and much more. Tnx to Chuck V. W9BIO and Anne.
The Club’s Caps and Patches will be available. Caps are $8 and Patches are $3.
Welcome New Club Member: Phil Herman W9TUD from Arlington Hts.
We read in our congresswoman Judy Biggert’s newsletter that Argonne receives biggest funding increase in five years.
The Club Breakfasts: Saturday, July 14th and Saturday, August 11th at 8:30 A.M. at the OL’ Country Buffet, 75th and Lemont Rd.
Do you remember this?
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A VERY SPECIAL EVENT:
FEATURING A SLIDE PRESENTATION AND FINE FELLOWSHIP BY BY ANNE & CHUCK VESELY 630-964-5768 |
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| 17th ANNUAL “EVENING UNDER THE STARS - 2001” | ||
| FEATURING “CRUISING AROUND SOUTH AMERICA” | ||
Come and enjoy our 17th annual “Evening Under the Stars” with us. It will be an evening of fellowship, good eating, and our newest slide program. Please bring a favorite dish to pass, such as a salad, casserole, or desert. The potluck dinner AND program will be held at St. John Lutheran Church, 7214 Cass Avenue, Darien, Illinois. This is a NEW location which is large enough for everyone to bring guests, if they wish.
American Airlines flies us to Santiago, Chile, to visit the charming Spanish city, dating back to the days of the Conquistadors. We board our Celebrity Cruise Liner, the “Mercury” at nearby Valparaiso, and begin a twelve day cruise southward on the Pacific side of South America, stopping at Puerto Montt, a bustling fishing village; sail through the Magellan Straits; to interesting Punta Arenas, nestled under the snow-capped Andes Mountains; through the Beagle Channel to Ushuaia, Argentina, the most southern city in the world and the capitol of Tierra del Fuego. We continue through the wind-swept Drake Passage and view the bleak, cloud shrouded Cape Horn. Our cruise continues on the Atlantic side northward to Puerto Madryn and Punto Tombo where we observe wild giant rhea birds, guanacos, and walk among 50 thousand Magellanic penguins. Upstream we visit vivacious Buenos Aires and the magnificent Iguazu Falls, the world’s greatest waterfalls, 2 ½ miles wide, with 270 falls, many higher than Niagara Falls.
DATE: Saturday July 28, 2001 TIME: 7:00 P.M. — SMORGASBORD LOCATION: ST. JOHN LUTHERAN CHURCH 7214 Cass Avenue, Darien, Illinois PROGRAM: “CRUISING AROUND SOUTH AMERICA”