Starved Rock Radio Club
Static
May 1999
 

Welcome to Jeanine KB9QNI, Dave KB9NPI, Tim KB9UPR and Nick KB9PUT

The Starved Rock Radio Club Needs YOU!!!!!!!!

What are you doing Sunday June 6th?  Hamfest workers are needed for these
spots.  Contact Buck 815.663-8891 or Rich 815.223-5032 and reserve your
spots and  become eligible for the OUTSTANDING hamfest worker prizes.

June 6th hamfest workers needed for:

Front Gate .6-8 (Need 1).8-10 (Need 2).10-12 (Need 6).12-2 (Need 1)
Pop.............6-8 (Need
2)......................................................12-2 (Need 1)
Parking.......................................................10-12 (Need 3)
Club Table..................................................10-12 (Need
2).12-2(Need 1)

Field Day \feeld day\noun:
1) Competitive event where hams set up in the field to compete for score;
2) An event to test the readiness of Amateur Radio Emergency Communications;
3) A chance to meet new friends and test the limits of your favorite hobby.
4) The annual SRRC 24 hour family picnic and overnight camping
     adventure at Chief Shabbona County Park  Saturday June 26th--setup at
     0800, Ops begin 1300 and eats from 1700 until the food runs out.  Break
     Camp at around 1300ish Sunday.  SRRC will purchase the burgers, dogs,
     buns and condiments. Let's talk this up on the nets .

Chief Shabbona County Park Take I-80 to IL 23 North to N 42nd Road (about 12
miles North of I-80).  Turn left (West) on N 42nd Rd and in about 2 miles
you'll turn left to the Park.  The park has a small fishing pond for the
little ones.

Things to bring:
--Your favorite cold (iced) beverages. Remember, this is a county park.
--Grill and charcoal (the park's grills have 'disappeared')
--A dish to pass around
--We plan on being a 4A classification--a 4 position club station.  You are
   welcome to bring your  favorite field day rig and antenna.

More Field Day details at the next meeting the SECOND Monday of June.
 

ILLINOIS POWER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR "BRIGHT IDEAS" GRANTS

Fifty $3,000 grants will be awarded For Community Enhancement Projects.  At
the next meeting, I will propose that SRRC applies for this $3,000 grant to
assist local schools use ham radio in the classroom, getting staff/faculty
licensed and setting up VHF voice-packet stations.  I'll be contact person.

73  de kb9ezz    contributions are greatly appreciated via disk or to
Tokarz@ivcc.edu
 

For Sale  Contact Dick WA9UHS, DICK From the estate of W4SPA.

Heathkit SB-102 w. Speaker.................Kenwood TS830S (with sp-930 spkr)
Lakshore p-400GG linear amp.............Gonset G-50  6 meter Communicatot
National NCX-3  w matching speaker...MFJ-949E deluxe versa tuner
Instructograph code teaching device (punched paper tape)
Heathkit HM-15 power meter................Heatrhkit IG 1271 function generator
Heathkit frequency counter  (model ?)..Heathkit Regulated Power supply IP-18
Turner 454C Mic...................................Radio Shack HTX-202
complete w acc.
Tektronix oscilloscope 531-A
 

May meeting Summary

JUNE MEETING POSTPONED TO SECOND MONDAY.
We voted to postpone next month's meeting to the second Monday of June
because the hamfest is the day before the first Monday.

WE STILL NEED VOLUNTEERS TO WORK THE HAMFEST!!!
There is still time to sign up to work our hamfest and get in the running
for some outstanding prizes.  N9PLJ will purchase the hamfest prizes at
Dayton.  There is supposed to be lots of price competition there this year.

The QSL Contest was won by Johnny, W9ZEN with a card from KC2AIO in New
Jersey.   Yes, the target station was in California, but there was only get
one entry.  Next month's target is KE3PP in Frederick Md.  John exhibited
his certificate for the Polish DX contest.  John won FIRST PLACE in the
U.S.!   That was good for eighth place world-wide.  Congratulations John!

It was noted that we have had music again on the repeater.  They are using
PL, so it is either from a rig with our old PL settings or from someone who
knows we went back to 103.5

The back room is progressing, and the new air-conditioner has arrived on
site!!!

We voted to re-join the Illinois Repeater Association too.

REPEATER  Your rig must transmit a 103.5 tone along with your voice whenever
you transmit, or the repeater will not repeat!. This tone is also being
retransmitted back out to you.  If your rig has "CTCSS DECODE" function -
meaning it can detect if the tone is there - you can set it up so that you
will hear only signals that have the tone and when the repeater identifies
itself it does not send tone!  Therefore, you will not hear it.

Here are other features we can use:

Paging--We can transmit paging signals in the DTMF, single tone, two-tone
and five/six tone modes.  Many 2M rigs such as my Kenwood handheld will act
as pagers, usually in the DTMF mode.  Many kinds of pagers are available at
hamfests that can be converted to our frequency.  This can be very useful to
the ARES group as well as in other ways.  Give me your thoughts on this.

"LiTZ" system - long tone zero.  This protocol works when someone is in need
of help, and the normal voice call for help does not bring a response.  They
send a DTMF ZERO for more than three  seconds.  The repeater then does
something to alert help.  I have installed this option on the repeater for
you to test and decide if we want it, and exactly what we want it to do.
Right now this does two things.  First it turns the PL access OFF.  If
someone doesn't have PL they can still get into the repeater if they really
need to.  Second it sends the voice message - "TO CALL POLICE TRANSMIT NINE
ONE TWO PLUS S-T-A-R."   We might want to also have this feature activate
the paging feature, thereby alerting some of us that someone needs help.

PLEASE let me know what you think, what you would like to see, and what you
don't want.  The repeater is NOT mine it's yours, and I want it to do what
you want if I can.

DE KF9NZ

Emergency Equipment Checklist (www.aresva.org/library/ checklst.htm)
Please cut this out and use it when preparing your next 'overnighter'.

___   Radio     (HT/Mobile/Base)  ___ 2m   ___ 440mhz  ___HF

___   Power     120V AC Power Supply    2V DC Car adapter plug  (if car has a
lighter) or alligators for direct connect.  12V Battery (Rig AMPS  X  72
hours of ops)    HT Batteries for 6-10 hour shifts    Inverter for 12VDC to
120VAC    Battery Charger (120VAC to 12VDC and charge HT batteries) Solar
cells, charger, regulator and cables   Gas, pedal or hand-crank generator
MOLEX universal power connectors

___   Ant.      Direct flexible antenna   Direct connect gain ( 1/2 or 5/8 wave,
j-pole)         Magnetic mount antenna    Antenna structure (antenna, cable,
adapters, mounting hardware,  eg camera tripod, free standing tower or with
base support and guywires, lightning arresters Grounding and wire   Cable
adapters ( a mix between BNC, N-type, and PL-259)  Intermod filter

___  Audio      Headset/earphone (for operator and logger)  Speaker mic  External
speaker packet TNC, connector

___ Misc        Weather protection    Carrying facilities (back-pack,
sea-bags)                    Manuals  ID  License   Stationary   maps
Flashlight/worklight   Watch/Clock  computer Printer and paper   Fax/Radio
Interface  Food and water for 72 hours field ops
 

Subject:  IP ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR "BRIGHT IDEAS" GRANTS
For release:                        May 4, 1999
For more information:               Molly Hall, Illinois Power
                                    217/424-6400

                                    Lori Sansoucie, Shandwick
                                    314/552-6707

                             ILLINOIS POWER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS
                                     FOR "BRIGHT IDEAS" GRANTS

                                     $150,000 To Be Awarded For
                            Community Enhancement Projects In 1999

     Illinois Power is kicking off its Bright Ideas program for 1999,
offering $150,000 in grants for community enhancement projects throughout
its service territory.

     Now in its second year, the program supports new projects to make a
local community a better place to live, work and play.  Fifty grants, each
$3,000, will be awarded for such initiatives as education, economic
development, redevelopment, beautification and others.

     Bright Ideas applications will be accepted through June 15, 1999.
Applications may be submitted by local community and business
organizations, schools and school organizations, non-profit groups and city
or county government agencies.  Local community leadership teams will
review the applications and select those to be funded.

     "Our local communities responded very positively to Bright Ideas last
year, and we are pleased to offer the program again in 1999," said Robert
Reynolds, vice president of Customer Solutions for Illinois Power.  "This
program is just one more way that we can support our local communities."

     Existing projects are not eligible for funding under the program.
Projects that cost more than $3,000 can use a Bright Ideas grant for seed
money.

     To obtain a Bright Ideas brochure and application, please call
1-800-551-5971.  For additional information, call 1-800/755-5000 and ask to
be transferred to your Illinois Power regional manager or customer
relations manager.