The meeting began with a visit from La Salle County Board Member Tom Mowinski who attended with N9PIB and N9UMT. Mr. Mowinski talked to us for a while telling us about the current plans for the La Salle County two-way radio system.

The QSL contest was won by Jesse. KB9TMA with a card from KD1XP Sunderland Mass. Next months target is KB7DZ, Port Orchard Wash.

We have the signed contracts for the Bureau County Fairgrounds for this year AND NEXT YEAR! We can sell tickets to the 2001 ‘ fest at this year’s event.

We talked about Field day, and the need for the big generator. It was pointed out that almost all radios operate from 12 volts, and that it is legal to re-charge them from AC lines ( or car generators ). We can of course still run fans, lights and whatever from the local AC outlets. Our picnic grounds are reserved.

It was agreed to purchase an Alinco 2 meter set from N9OWP for use as a packet base radio at the clubhouse.

It was reported that the La Salle County weather spotter seminar will be on March 1. The Wheaton \ Du Page EMA advanced seminar is scheduled for March 3/ 4.

It was moved, seconded and passed to change the trustee of the club license to KF9NZ.

Our President, KB9JTL has been in touch with a representative of Archer-Daniels-Midland. They are still interested in acquiring our property. It sounds as if they may really come up with something that will benefit both us and them. We SHOULD have a representative visit us at our March meeting.

The e-mail reflector was discussed. The address is "srrc@qth.net". These are the samefolks that host our web site (qth.net and qsl.net are run by the same man) and this is all for free. If you have e-mail you can subscribe to the list and get all the latest goings-on at the club, and send messages to everybody on the list by just typing one address. Send an e-mail to kf9nz @arrl.net if you need details on how to subscribe.

Discussion on the proposed constitutional changes went on for some time. At length the motion to put the question to a vote next month failed 9 to 12. The constitutional revision committee will meet again and re-consider matters.

WB9VLW discussed the Insurance. We now have theft insurance.

73 AR de KF9NZ

The repeater committee met January 10Th. A few technical points were discussed and some possible changes in configuration were looked at. It was decided to place all plans on hold until we get what we have working right.

The following weekend I and KB9TMA worked on the voter adjustments. I think we finally got it working very well. I don’t think we can get it any better. All seems to go well for about a week, but then we began to have problems with poor reception on the fringes of the north receiver area. It was not a marked problem, but it looks to me like either the preamp or the receiver itself has a problem.

On Sunday, the 6Th, I rewired the PL board that had been idle, to decode PL on both receivers. In spite of a circuit arrangement that was not the best, it seemed to work for awhile, but by Monday morning it was very weak and distorted. To make a long story shorter, what happened was that the filter that is supposed to eliminate the incoming PL tone so it isn’t retransmitted went blooey. I removed the entire PL system. This changed the audio levels. I tried to readjust it, but, as I write this, we are experiencing over modulation causing distortion. I hope to get this corrected over the next few days. If the club had the needed test equipment, it would be a lot easier and quicker. You can’t fix or adjust equipment like this with nothing but a screwdriver. I have been in touch with N9JNK, and he will help out.

I understand a lot of the frustration and unhappiness. If you want to know frustration, come help me beat my head against the brick walls of the radio room at Etna road sometime.

We will have another repeater committee meeting this month. Lets try the 28Th. at 7:00 PM at Leonore.

AR 73 SK de KF9NZ CL

MARCH 19,2000 At the Sterling, Rock Falls Ham Fest which will be located at the Challand School which is located two blocks east of the High School. Tickets are $3.00 for advanced and $4.00 at the door. For more information contact Sterling Rock Falls Radio Society at PO Box 521, Sterling IL. 61081-0521,or call Lloyd at 815/336-2434. E/Mail isherman@essex1.com. Advanced tickets must be ordered by March 6th.

APRIL 19,2000 In Ottawa at the County Farm Bureau Office, time is 5 to 8 PM.

There will be several VE Testing sessions during the year 2000 at the Morton Public Library. Setup begins at 11:30 AM , with exams to start at noon. Registration is from 11:45 to 12:30. For more information contact Bob Davis (AA9MY) at 309/263-8620 (Day) or E/MAIL to redavis@dpc.net.

An Amateur Radio Class will be offered in Ottawa starting March 2nd. The 7 week course will run from 6 to 8 PM Thursday evenings at the La-Salle County Extension Unit, 3101 N. Route 23. Pre- Registration is required, You may register by calling the Extension office at (815 433-0707). The class is free and Enrollment is limited, so register early. Joe Tokarz will be the instructor, You may contact him by Phone at (815) 433-2347 or by E/Mail at tokarz@waldo.ivcc.edu The study book"Now Your Talking "is available at most local libraries or can be purchased at most Radio Shack Stores.

On the first Saturday of every month a dinner is held at Chippers Bar & Grill located on Route 23 North in Streator. Order from the menu, payment is DUTCH and reservations must be in by Wednesday evening prior to the dinner. Reservations may be made by calling Jesse Risley KB9TMA at (815) 673-1023 or on the air. If he is not available contact Jim Morris N9PLM. It is sponsored by the Streator Radio Club. However anyone is welcome to attend. In case the Dinner should fall on a Holiday, it is canceled.

The Illinois State ARES tornado drill will be held at 10:00 AM on Tuesday March 7, 2000. The Starved Rock Repeater on 147.120 Mhz will be the primary check-in net for our area. You may also monitor 146.520 Mhz, for High Frequency users, 3.905 Mhz will be in operation with the state ARES net.

On Wednesday March 1, 2000 at 7:00 PM the annual National Weather Service SKYWARN will be offering a severe weather spotter training seminar at Illinois Valley Community College in Oglesby Illinois. The seminar is free, so if you wish to become a SKYWARN weather spotter or refresh your spotter skills, Everyone is welcome.

I feel assured that everyone knows about the new Amateur License restructuring that will take effect on April 15, 2000. The Novice, Tech+ and Advanced Class licenses will no longer be in effect, however any privileges that you have at present will not be altered. The FCC has also lowered the MORSE code requirements to 5 Words per minute for all license classes. Therefore the only licenses that will be issued after April 15Th. will be Technician, General and Extra. The Technician examination will consist of 35 multiple-choice questions, the General examination will also contain 35 multiple-choice questions, the Extra Class examination will contain 50 multiple-choice questions.

The Ottawa Chapter of the American Red Cross will offer a class on Damage Assessment Saturday April 8th. at 1 PM. The purpose of this course is to prepare Red Cross volunteers to serve as Damage Assessment workers to obtain and report assessment information and provide operational support on disaster relief operations.

For-Sale Heathkit Model SB-102 Tranceiver including combination Power Supply and External Speaker also including Hand Mike and Original Manual. This radio is in perfect shape and receives very well, as to Transmitting I do not Know. If interested contact Fred at 815/672-8173 or E/Mail to fredieb@crtelco.com.

Wanted: A Three or Four Element Beam Antenna in good condition for TWO-METERS. Contact Whitie at 815/795-4714 or E/MAIL to kc9nl@yahoo.com.

It has been brought to my attention from a member who prefers to remain anonymous that in order to upgrade or renew your license you must register into the ( Universal License System) ULS.

In order to do this you must submit your Social Security Number to the FCC. This is to be done on form 606, which can be obtained over the internet, by bringing up (www.fcc.gov/wtb/uls). Then click on TIN/Call Sign Registration. You can then fill in the blanks to send it in electronically or print it out so that you can mail it in.

I ran into a few problems in mailing the January copy of STATIC to some of our members. Part of the reason for this was, that I took your mailing addresses from the QRZ.com website. Therefore if you had moved since the last time you advised the FCC as required by them, this may have been the problem. I would suggest that everyone check to see if their current address in registered with the FCC.