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STATIC
The official newsletter of the Starved Rock Radio Club
June 2000

President: Mark Gebhardt (KB9JTL)
Vice President: Jerry Hagemann (N9ZJK)
Secretary: Frank Carraro (KF9NZ)
Treasurer: Francis Kmetz (WB9VLW)

The Starved Rock Radio Club (SRRC) meets on the first Monday of every month, unless otherwise scheduled, at 7:00 p.m. at the SRRC clubhouse in Leonore, IL. Weekly club nets are held on the SRRC repeater (W9MKS) every Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m. The W9MKS repeater operates on a frequency of 147.120 MHz (+ 103.5 PL). The Starved Rock Radio Club is an official ARRL affiliated club. ________________________________________________________________________
A Warm Welcome to Two New Club Members

A very sincere welcome extends to two new club members who joined at out June meeting. Pat (KC6VVT) and Brian (KB9IDW).
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The Presidents Corner

73's for now. This KB9JTL and I will be listening
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May Meeting Happenings

TABOR GRAIN REPRESENTATIVE ATTENDS MEETING

The big happening at Leonore last night was Jeff Mauck, the representative from Tabor Grain. He explained that what his company wants is a better access road into their property. Their PLAN A is to get an easement ( legal right to use for specified purposes) from the club to build a road behind the clubhouse. It would be about 15 feet south of the south (rear) wall of the clubhouse. They are willing to give us a few things in return. One thing that was discussed was an antenna on top of their conveyor. That would put it at about 130 feet above ground. Another matter was their willingness to keep the (remaining) grass cut. That has been costing us about $230.00 a year.

After considerable discussion and questions, as well as an adjournment outside to look at the proposed road area, we voted that the club is willing to negotiate the matter. It was emphasized that time is important. The elevator needs to have the new road and scale operational by the end of August. A committee was appointed with authority to negotiate with Tabor Grain. PLEASE NOTE - WE MAY HAVE A SPECIAL MEETING SOMETIME IN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS TO VOTE ON THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE MATTER. STAY TUNED!

W9DON told us about a Mosely TA-33 antenna (HF Yagi) that is for sale for #275.00. This is a new antenna - never been in the air. We voted to acquire it.

KB9EZZ told us about Field Day. In case you don't know, it will be held at the same place as last year, Chief Shabbona Park, north of Harding. Setup will commence at 8:00 AM Saturday June 24th. We will Eat at 5:00 PM. Burgers and dogs will be provided. Bring your own drinks, and side dishes to pass. Joe has it all planned out. I hope it works out as planned! Anyway, come on out Saturday and have some fun. This is the club social event of the season.

As for the hamfest.......The money part was OK. Gate numbers were down, but dollars were a little higher. Combined with better advance sales and over 90% table occupancy, it looks like we will do a little better than last year. If only it hadn't rained.....
There was a hamfest attendee injured. He tripped over a hayrack tongue - on of them used to store and move the tables. The Fairground representative came, and the man was taken to the emergency room and treated. His injuries were not serious, but it has been reported to our
insurance agency also.

The drawing for the hamfest workers was held. Craig Wagner, WB9ZJK won the first prize, a dual band handheld. Eldon, KB9PZA won the 2M mobile, and both AA9R and KB9VFX won AES gift certificates. Several other smaller prizes were drawn for and distributed. Tim, KB9UPR won the QSL contest, and next month's target is NE1I, Nashus NH. I gave the repeater report, and proposed that the club buy a Motorola Service monitor for $750.00, and this was passed.

Mark appointed the negotiating committee to work on the Tabor Grain proposal. Mark will chair the committee, and N9ZJK, KC6VVT, N9PLJ and N9PIB are the members. Express your ideas, objections and questions to these members.

AR de KF9NZ
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REPEATER REPORT

     The repeater appears to be working pretty well on the Ottawa receiver, but I have been trying to get the remote receive site working as time has allowed. Construction of the new jail has made access to the radio room more difficult than ever.   I did get the receiver on-line a few days before the hamfest. The voice levels of the two receivers were not equal, and this caused the signal to jump up and down rapidly when a moving mobile was transmitting. After a couple of days, I disabled the remote. The good news is that it votes properly.   There was a problem
with the adjustment of the PL tones which I can't measure.   There is an "oddball" PL tone used by the link to keep anyone from breaking in to the system via the link, and to mute the remote site ID. At present it looks like the only problems with the repeater are all adjustment of                  voice and PL tone levels. Once I get these set up properly, it SHOULD work.

     Now to mostly repeat what I said at the meeting about buying the Service monitor. A service monitor is capable of numerous measurements. Trying to work on a radio system such as the repeater system without such a piece of equipment is like trying to work on your 2000 model car with a screwdriver and a crescent wrench. There are some things you can do with very little test equipment, but there are lots of things you can't.
A service monitor can do the following:
1. Measure transmitter frequency.
2. measure transmitter modulation (FM, SSB, AM, TTY, PACKET etc)
3. measure PL or similar coding systems - frequency, level, etc.
4. measure receiver sensitivity - both RF and PL
5. measure receiver frequency
6. measure receiver distortion
        ...and a few more tricks, depending upon options.   I am familiar with this model of monitor as I used it, and the tech-s who worked for me used it too. I talked to the person who had it for sale with a $750.00 price on it. I MAY be able to get him to trim that price, but that's a good price for a working service monitor any day. More to follow later!
AR KF9NZ
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Upcoming Calendar of Events

*** Reminder again that our SRRC Field Day 2000 will be held during the weekend of June 24-25th at the Chief Shabbona Park. The park is located in northern La Salle County. Take route 23 about 7 miles north of Ottawa to the intersection of US route 52. Instead of turning onto route 52 at the intersection of route 23, go straight-ahead north past the stop signs, this will be La Salle County Highway 1. Take County Highway 1 north approximately 7 miles, until you reach La Salle County north 42nd road. Turn left on 42nd road, go down 2 miles, and you'll have reached SRRC field day events! Set-up begins at 0:800 hrs on the 24th, and stations will be in operation until early Sunday afternoon. There will also be a Field Day hosted by the Illinois Valley Radio Association (IVRA) at the Putnam County Conservation Area near Mc Nabb, and by the Streator Amateur Radio Club at the Streator city park in downtown Streator.

*** The La Salle County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) will assist with a bicycle race that will be held in Ottawa on July 1st. We could still use plenty of help with this race, and everyone is welcome to assist. If you would like to help, please come out to Etna Rd. and Cherie Drive (west of the La Salle County complex) at about 8:00 AM on the 1st.

*** The next monthly dinner for the Streator Amateur Radio Club will be held on Saturday, July 1st at 5:30 p.m. The dinner will be held at Chipper's Grill, route 23 north in Streator. This dinner is open to everyone to attend. Reservations to attend need to be made on or before Thursday, June 29th. To make reservations, contact KB9TMA on the air, or by telephone at (815) 673-1023. You can also make reservations by contacting Jim (N9PLM).

*** The Streator Amateur Radio Club has been asked to provide assistance for the annual "Run for Glory" marathon, to be held in Streator on July 4th. The race will kick off around 8 a.m., from the Streator City Park located in downtown Streator. Everyone is welcome to come over and help, please bring your HT's!! Anyone wishing to volunteer, as workers are still needed, can contact KB9TMA on the air, or by telephone at (815) 673-1023. You can also contact Jim (N9PLM) on the air, or by telephone at (815) 673-1752.

*** There will be a VE testing session again in September during national VE Test Week. The testing site will be at the Ottawa 4H building. Stay tuned, as more details will be forthcoming from Joe (KB9EZZ) at a later date.
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Editorial

Well, hello again to everybody. I have made it through round two, my second issue as "Static" editor. This months layout went much smoother than "rocky" round one, although I have made less progress than anticipated with the e-mail conversions. My goal, by next month, is to obtain the 2000 membership forms, and then generate a list of everyone who asked for "Static" via e-mail only. Once this is done, a master list will be created, and this list can be transferred to the new editor(s) in August. The anticipated goal is to have a simpler, smoother way of putting together "Static" for future editions. By maximizing efficiency in both creation and distribution of "Static", everyone will benefit with a more timely and accurate document.

If you have any questions, concerns or complaints regarding my performance as editor, or with "Static" in general, please feel free to contact me. My phone number is (815) 673-1023, and my e-mail address is kb9tma@yahoo.com.

That's all for this month,
73's
Jesse L. Risley (KB9TMA)