The Starved Rock Radio Club
November 2002
STATIC
President: Mark Gebhardt – K9ZQ
Vice President: Jesse L. Risley – KB9TMA
Secretary: Frank Cararro – 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,
Illinois. Club nets are held on the SRRC repeater (W9MKS) every Wednesday
evening at 7:00 p.m. The W9MKS repeater is located at the SRRC clubhouse
in Leonore, Illinois, and it operates on a frequency of 147.120 MHz (+ 103.5
PL). The Starved Rock Radio Club was organized in September of 1934, and
has remained an ARRL affiliated club since 1934.
The mission of the Starved Rock Radio Club has continually been to give faithful,
co-operative service and assistance for the betterment of amateur radio,
in the promotion of interest in amateur radio communications, for the advancement
of the radio art, for the use of amateur radio for public service and welfare,
and for the maintenance of fraternalism and the promotion of good fellowship
along with a high standard of conduct. Visit us on the web at www.qsl.net/w9mks
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New Members
The following new members have joined the Starved Rock Radio Club within the past two months:
1) Mark MacKay, KC9CIN, of Utica.
2) Paul Bottomley of Utica
3) Matt Gula, KC9CIQ and Barbara Gula, of Wenona
4) Brian Dagraedt, KC9CIP, of Streator
We wish all our members a very warm welcome to the Starved Rock Radio Club!
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November Meeting Happenings
The meeting was very well attended by 24 members and 7
guests. It was announced that Craig, WB9ZJK donated a refrigerator
to replace our dead one. Thanks a lot Craig! There was a request
from the Building and Grounds to clean up your coffee pot mess
Even though "grounds" are part of the committee name, they don't want
to have to clean them up especially when they are a week or two old.
We have some more notebook type computers, as well as
keyboard lamps that plug into the mouse port. The purchase of an ICOM
48000 dual band FM rig was approved. The Field Day results are in,
and we had a banner year. See elsewhere in this newsletter for
results. Activities of the hamfest committee were slowed by family
health problems in Matt's family. In case you haven't heard,
Amber gave birth to a pound and a half preemie recently, and he is in the
Peoria hospital., but coming along OK we hear.
We talked about the repeater. KF9NZ looked at the
situation at Joe Elzer's QTH, and found it to be possible, but needing work.
We need to erect our antennas on Joe's tower where it will provide the best
isolation, and then a climate control housing needs to be built.
The Committee will work on it Improving the existing antenna
line-up at Leonore was also discussed
Nominations and elections were then held, with the following results:
PRESIDENT.............…………....KB9TMA
VICE PRESIDENT.....................N9OUW
SECRETARY...............…………KF9NZ
TREASURER..............…………WB9VLW
STATIC EDITOR................……W9QA
DIRECTORS...............………….KB9UPS, K9ZQ, KB9RKU
The new Illinois Section Emergency Coordinator Pat
KC6VVT gave a very encouraging and informative talk to the members regarding
the emergency role of amateurs. KF9NZ announced at
the end of this talk that the membership of the LaSalle County ARES was open
and anyone and everyone who is interested in ham emergency communications,
is invited to register with Frank. KB9EZZ announced that enrollment
for the ARRL EMCOMM I course was to open Wednesday.
UNDER NEW BUSINESS it was moved to change the wording of by-law 25 to the following:
25 MEMBERSHIP DUES
A. Regular membership dues are twenty dollars per year
B. Non-licensed member dues are ten dollars per year
C. Family membership dues are twenty-five dollars per years
D. Associate membership dues are ten dollars per year
E. Honorary membership will be free.
This motion is tabled, and will be voted upon at the December meeting!!
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Amateur Radio Emergency Service enrollment opens
ARRL rules require ARES memberships
to be periodically renewed, and the period has arrived. Any amateur
operator, regardless of class and ARRL member or not, is welcomed.
If you are interested, please let me know - by e-mail, phone, mail on the
repeater, or in person. I will soon be mailing out application forms.
I hope to upgrade the training of members over the next few years, and there
is FREE training available.
DE - KF9NZ
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Training Report – Upcoming VE Sessions
VE Session
SRRC Leonore
Saturday November 30, 2002 - this is the Saturday after Thanksgiving. 3 to 6 PM.
Please register my calling Joe at 433-2347 or kb9ezz@arrl.net
I am looking for 4 volunteer examiners to assist with this session.
Other Area Exam Sessions:
19-Nov-2002
Sponsor: FOX RIVER RADIO LEAGUE
Time: 07:30PM (Walk-ins allowed)
Contact: DOUGLAS A RENEKER
(630)355-0190
VEC: ARRL/VEC
Location: NORTHGATE SHOPPING CENTER
BASEMENT OF FORMER BANK BLDG
900 N LAKE ST
ROUTE 31
AURORA, IL 60506
21-Dec-2002
Sponsor: BOLINGBROOK ARS
Time: 12 NOON (Walk-ins allowed)
Contact: DALE J ONDERISIN
(815)723-3332
VEC: ARRL/VEC
Location: FIRE STATION #4
1111 WEST BOUGHTON ROAD
BOLINGBROOK, IL 60440
Joe Tokarz, KB9EZZ
SRRC Training Chairman
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Additional Noteworthy Items Concerning the Club
The new door lock is currently inoperable.
The door is locked by the dead bolt of the old lock, and the only way to
get in is to use the key at the west door. If you need to get
in, there are a few keys available. Contact kf9nz if entry is desired.
Also, the club will be participating in the annual ARRL-NWS
Skywarn Recognition Day on December 7, 2002. The 2002 SKYWARN Recognition
Day will be held on December 7, 2002 from 0000 UTC - 2400 UTC.
The National Weather Service and the American Radio Relay League developed
SKYWARN Recognition Day in 1999. It celebrates the contributions that volunteer
SKYWARN radio operators make to the National Weather Service. During
the day SKYWARN operators visit NWS offices and contact other radio operators
across the world. It looks as if we may have several groups of members
car-pooling, so stay tuned for further details, which will be finalized at
the December meeting.
Matt, KB9VZH and Amber Weaver wish to extend their thanks
to everyone in the club for the generous donation that was given to them
recently, in order to help defray the costs that have been associated with
the recent premature birth of Matthew Jr. We wish Matt and Amber the
best of luck with their current situation.
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Activities Report / Calendar of Upcoming Events
¨ The Allen County Amateur Radio Technical Society (ACARTS) will host
their annual Fort Wayne Hamfest and Computer Expo on November 16-17, 2002.
The hamfest will be held at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum Exposition
Center, 4000 Parnell Avenue – corner of Coliseum Blvd (Ind 930) and Parnell
Avenue – N 41 06.878 W 85 07.388. TI: 146.88(-).
This year’s guest speaker is Riley Hollingsworth, FCC Counsel for Amateur
Radio Enforcement. For more information, visit www.fortwaynehamfest.com
or call 260-484-1314.
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¨ 2002 ARRL November Sweepstakes (Phone). Date and Contest Period:
Phone: Third full weekend in November (November 16-18, 2002). Contest
Period: Begins 2100 UTC Saturday, ends 0300 UTC Monday. Operate no more than
24 of the 30 hours. Off periods may not be less than 30 minutes in
length. Times off and on must be clearly noted in paper logs. Do not indicate
off times in electronic log files. The log checking software calculates it.
Listening time counts as operating time.
Object: For stations in the United States and Canada (including territories
and possessions) to exchange QSO information with as many other US and Canadian
stations as possible on 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meter bands.
For more information visit http://www.remote.arrl.org/contests/rules/2002/nov-sweeps-rules.html
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¨ 2002 ARRL International EME Competition. Date and Contest Period:
November 23-24 (0000 UTC on Saturday through 2359 UTC Sunday).
Object: Two-way communications via the earth-moon-earth path on any authorized
amateur frequency above 50 MHz. For more information, visit http://www.remote.arrl.org/contests/rules/2002/rules-eme.html
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¨ The next regular meeting of the Starved Rock Radio Club will be held
on Monday, December 2nd 2002 at 7:00 p.m. at the SRRC clubhouse in Leonore,
Illinois. Everyone is welcome and encourage to attend the meeting.
There is a “pre-meeting” over dinner, held prior to the regular meeting,
beginning at 5:00 p.m. at Schmitty’s Grill. Come on over for some casual
chat, and enjoy the evening steak dinner special!
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¨ The Illinois Valley Radio Association (IVRA) will host their next monthly
meeting on Tuesday, December 3rd 2002 at 7:00 p.m. at the Hennepin Town Hall
in Hennepin, Illinois. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend
the meeting!
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¨ 2002 ARRL 160-Meter Contest. Date and Contest Period: First full
weekend of December. Starts 2200 UTC Friday, ends 1600 UTC Sunday (December
6-8, 2002). This is a forty-two hour period with no time limitation.
Object: For Amateurs worldwide to exchange information with W/VE amateurs
on the 160-meter band CW only. DX-to-DX QSOs do not count for contest credit.
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¨ The ARRL-NWS Skywarn Recognition Day is December 7, 2002 from 0000
UTC - 2400 UTC. Make plans to attend and show your support for the
Skywarn program!!
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¨ Special Event Station - Quincy, IL: Western Illinois Amateur Radio
Club, K9C. 0001Z Dec 1-2359Z Dec 10. Quincy Illinois Christmas Avenue of
Lights. 28.350 21.350 14.250 7.250. Certificate. Robert G. Mitchell, AB9DU,
816 Long Dr, Quincy, IL 62305.
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73’s DE
Jesse L. Risley, KB9TMA (Activities Chairman)
Around the Hobby – Stray Items Relating to Amateur Radio
Saturday Mornings
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet
solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the
unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few
hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable. A few weeks ago, I
was shuffling toward the basement shack with a steaming cup of coffee
in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday
morning, turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from
time to time.
Let me tell you about it. I turned the dial up into the phone portion of
the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net.
Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal
and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be
in the broadcasting business. He was telling whomever he was talking with
something about "a thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen
to what he had to say. "Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy
with your job. I'm sure they pay you well, but it's a shame you have to be
away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow
should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too
bad you missed your daughter's dance recital. He continued, "Let me tell
you something Tom, something that has helped me keep a good perspective on
my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory
of a "thousand > marbles."
"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person
lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less,
but on average, folks live about seventy-five years. Now then, I multiplied
75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that
the average person has in their entire lifetime. "Now, stick with me,
Tom, I'm getting to the important part." "It took me until I was fifty-five
years old to think about all this in any detail"; he went on, "and
by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got
to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand
of them left to enjoy!" "So I went to a toy store and bought every
single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores
to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside of a
large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear. Every
Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away." "I
found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focus more on the really important
things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth
run out to help get your priorities straight."
"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my
lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble
out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then
I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is
a little more time." "It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend
more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band.
75 year Old Man, this is K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"
You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off.
I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the
antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to
work on the next club newsletter. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife
up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast."
"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special, it's
just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. Hey,
can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles...
Anonymous
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TWO HAMS IN US HOUSE, HR 4720 SPONSOR, MOST COSPONSORS SURVIVE ELECTION
The only two Amateur Radio operators in the US House of
Representatives as well as the sponsor and most cosponsors of the CC&R
bill, HR 4720, were returned to office in this week's mid-term election.
HR 4720 sponsor, Rep Steve Israel--a New York Democrat--beat back a challenge
from Joseph Finley in that state's second congressional district. An original
HR 4720 cosponsor, Texas Republican Rep Pete Sessions, of the 32nd congressional
district, defeated Democratic challenger Pauline Dixon.
Elsewhere, Rep Greg Walden, WB7OCE, an Oregon Republican, handily won re-election
in a three-way race in that state's second congressional district. Also re-elected
was Arkansas fourth-district Democrat, Rep Mike Ross, WD5DVR, who defeated
Republican Jay Dickey for another term. Walden and Ross are both HR 4720
cosponsors and the only hams in Congress.
Of the 34 HR 4720 cosponsors signed on to date, only three won't be back
in January when the new Congress convenes. Although Rep Patsy Mink, the Hawaii
Democrat died September 28, her name remained on the ballot, and she defeated
Republican Bob McDermott. A special election will be held to fill the vacancy.
Another cosponsor, Rep Bob Schaffer, a Colorado Republican, did not seek
a new term, and a third, Maryland Republican Rep Constance Morella, was defeated
for re-election by Democrat Christopher Van Hollen.
Although at least one "lame duck" session of Congress is scheduled between
now and the time the new Congress convenes, action on HR 4720--"The Amateur
Radio Emergency Communications Consistency Act"--is considered highly unlikely.
Technically, the measure remains alive until Congress formally adjourns.
ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, has called HR 4720 "probably the most important
thing the League has done in a long time." The League's effort to secure
a congressional solution to the issue of CC&Rs--deed convenants, conditions
and restrictions as they affect the ability of amateurs to
erect outdoor antenna systems--will re-start after the new Congress is gaveled into session in January.
The measure was referred to the House Telecommunications and Internet Subcommittee,
to which Walden was appointed. It would require private land-use regulators--such
as homeowners' associations--to "reasonably accommodate" Amateur Radio communication
consistent with the PRB-1 limited federal preemption. PRB-1 now applies only
to states and municipalities.
For more information, visit the HR 4720, The Amateur Radio Emergency Communications
Consistency Act of 2002 page <http://www.arrl.org/govrelations/hr4720>
on the ARRL Web site.
From: The ARRL Letter, Vol. 21, No. 44, November 8, 2002
From the Editor’s Desk
Well, I feel that it has been a great year in publishing this newsletter
and keeping everyone informed of the club happenings. I’ve accomplished
the task of publishing and distributing a newsletter for this club on a regular
basis, something that had previously been a concern. However, the next
issue will be my final newsletter that I will publish as editor of “Static.”
I have additional roles to fill, as I will be assuming the office of club
President, effective January 2003. The “Static” editor for 2003 will
be Dirk Wolgast, W9QA. Let’s wish him good luck in his tenure,
and be sure to keep those submissions coming this way for the December newsletter!!!
The deadline for submitting items for publication in the December edition
of the newsletter will be Sunday, December 8th, 2002. Do not
submit any additional items to my attention after this date, as a new editor
will assume responsibility for the January 2003 newsletter.
Regards,
Jesse L. Risley, KB9TMA
Kb9tma@yahoo.com; 815-673-1023 (home phone)
SRRC “Static” Editor