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SIERRA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB MEETINGS
Mondays SARC Emergency Net
Every Monday 1930 hrs
WA6YBN translator
146.64 MHz (- 600 kHz)
Visitors welcome
Mar 4 Board of Officers Meeting
First Wednesday Heritage Inn 1715 hrs
Mar 11 Membership Meeting
Second Wednesday Heritage Inn
Flight Deck Room 1930 hrs
Program: Six Meter Radio Control
by Chuck Pierce WA6QFD
Apr 1 Board of Officers Meeting
First Wednesday Heritage Inn 1715 hrs
Apr 8 Membership Meeting
Second Wednesday Heritage Inn
Flight Deck Room 1930 hrs
Program: Mars Pathfinder & NAWC
by Mike Herr WA6ARA
May 6 Board of Officers Meeting
First Wednesday Heritage Inn 1715 hrs
May 13 Membership Meeting
Second Wednesday Heritage Inn
Flight Deck Room 1930 hrs
Program: TBA
| PUBLIC SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES
Mar 14 Coso Bun Buster 50 mile horse ride
Call Hal Hazel KM6JM 371-3208 See article
May 9 & 10 Death Valley to Mt. Whitney Bicycle Race
Call Elvy Hopkins NØLV at 384-3589 to volunteer for one or both days
May 2,3 Northern California ACS Emergency Response Institute
Sacramento Calif. Dave Larton 408-778-7265 Home page
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THIS IS YOUR LAST ISSUE OF THE AIRWAVES IF HAVE NOT RENEWED YOUR SARC MEMBERSHIP BY 31 MARCH
FROM THE PRESIDENTS SHACK
by Charlie Hawthorne KE6WQR
The Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL), is it a blessing or a curse? Each Ham has his or her own ideas about the worth of the ARRL. Here is my two cents worth. I appreciate the fact that I can get a Ham oriented magazine, books, videos and information from the ARRL, but to me, that is secondary to what I think is their most valuable contribution to the amateur radio community. The ARRL involves itself in the politics of the nation and the international community to try and keep airwaves for you, as Hams, to operate in. This is a big, expensive and complex job. In this age of communications technology, everyone (industries, governments, etc.) wants frequency bands for their exclusive use. Frequency allocations, whether you like it or not, are mandated by the World Radio Conferences (WRC). The representatives at these conferences work hard to obtain frequency allocations that benefit their interests. Their interests are usually driven by the governments that sponsor them. The interests of the governments, as you all know, is driven hard by money and security concerns (defense). The money generally comes from industries that are trying to find frequency bands that they can co-opt (Little Leo and the Ham bands, for example). Finding frequencies can be a make or break for some industries, so you can bet that they are not going to quit trying to take what they need through hook or crook. The ARRL, so far, has been big enough and respected enough that it has been fairly successful in keeping us Hams on the airwaves without undue loss of spectrum. We would not have any frequency bands to ourselves without their continual battling of competing interests.
The ARRL performs one other service that I see as being very useful. The FCC does not divide the Ham bands up into sections for special interests, such as QRP, EME, CW, repeaters, etc. If there were no recognized sub-bands though, the low power community would never be able to operate. Whether you believe it was done logically, or fairly, or not, at least the ARRL tried to divide the Ham bands up into parts where various interests can operate without undue interference. Those sub-bands are published by the ARRL so that there is no reason for a Ham not to be familiar with particular operating frequencies. If any of you have used your VHF radios in the Los Angeles or San Diego areas, you have probably heard persons that do not follow the rules (informal as they may be) and it was probably quite irritating to you. Just try to imagine how chaotic the airwaves would become if there were no rules to follow. For my part, I am thankful that we Hams have such an aggressive organization as the ARRL looking out for what we want to keep.
MEETING PROGRAMS
Six Meter Radio Control Wed. 11 March
A walk through the history of six meter model aircraft radio control (RC) and current developments will be the subject for Chuck Pierce WA6QFD in his March program. Chuck started controlling model aircraft when home built, vacuum tube transmitters and receivers were state-of-the-art. He will trace the development of equipment and the application of solid state technology and it's complexity to modern RC. Samples of equipment and aircraft will be on display.
Mars Pathfinder & NAWC Wed. 8 April
NAWC, China Lake was very much involved with the development of the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft which landed on Mars 4 July, 1997. Mike Herr WA6ARA was deeply involved in testing, problem solution and hardware fabrication. Mike will also brief us on Pathfinder radio resources and future plans to explore Mars. A Ham transponder on Mars? Attend the April meeting for this interesting program.
PUBLIC SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES
Coso Bun Buster Sat. 14 March
If you have not ventured into the fun of this kind of thing, try it. The Bun Buster horse ride starts early in the morning. Sometimes a pickup truck is a good thing to have. Some check points are on paved roads. Let Hal Hazel KM6JM at 371-3208 know your vehicle and radio capabilities and a check point at which your combination will suffice will be your duty point. Check in early so Hal can best organize the crew.
Lloyd Brubaker has plans to set up the portable packet network at this horse ride for on-the-job RACES training. If you have never used packet or want packet experience this is your opportunity. Are you interested in writing logging and record keeping software for horse and bicycle rides? Call Lloyd.
Rim of the World Car Rally 8, 9 May
by Paula Gibeault N7OQQ
It is time for the 1998 Rim of the World Pro Rally. This event, organized by Mike N6PYM and Paula N6OQQ Gibeault, is in its fifteenth year and once again promises just about every type of adventure a special event can provide. Pro Rallies are definitely not your tame street rally. These are flat-out time trial competitions on twisty, cliffy, dirt fire roads.
The majority of amateurs working the rally or tracking the cars get a front
row view of the rally racers blasting down dirt roads. Others work net
control for their own stage and some get to ride along in the organizers'
cars. And then there is the intrepid packet crew who do a beautiful job of
sending all scores from the field to headquarters, thereby allowing the rally
scores to be final before the cars even get back to the finish.
Rim of the World will take place May 8 and 9 starting in Palmdale and running
in the Angeles National Forest south of that city. If any of the various
positions sound interesting to you, please give Mike and Paula a call at
375-8704 or e-mail them at
Death Valley to Mt. Whitney 9, 10 May
Now is not too early to begin thinking about this two day, nationally known
bicycle race from Stovepipe Wells to Whitney Portals. It is an early and long
Saturday and ninety miles from home on Sunday. There is a free picnic in Lone
Pine on Saturday. Call Elvy Hopkins NØLV at 384-3589 for information.
RENEW SARC MEMBERSHIP NOW
All SARC memberships expire on 31 December. Please use the enclosed
membership application to renew your SARC membership. Payment by check to
"SARC" sent to the PO Box 1442, Ridgecrest CA 93556-1442 is the preferred
method. Treasurer, Mark Rosenthal N6BVP, says that no payments will be
accepted without a completed application (which he uses to keep the
membership list current). Members for 1997 will receive THE AIRWAVES through
March 1998. If not renewed by 1 April, you will dropped from the SARC
membership roll.
Now is also a good time to order a SARC badge which will identify you at
meetings, field day, public service events and emergency operations. Use the
order form on the bottom of the membership application.
SARC PATCHES NOW AVAILABLE
Mark Rosenthal N6BVP has received our order of SARC patches. The price is
$4.00 each. See Mark at a meeting for purchases or use the order form on the
bottom of the membership application.
RECENT SARC ACTIVITIES
Boy Scout Troop 291, sponsored by the VFW, was wanting to go "camp in the
snow." With all the wet and snowing kinds of weather lately, it looked like
either Walker Pass camp ground or Kennedy Meadows could be locations for
camping. Bill Burns WA6QYR contacted Ann McMillan WD6AYI for information on
the the Kennedy Meadows area. Ann put Bill in contact with Cliff Caplinger
W7PFC who lives in the Kennedy Meadows area. Several two meter contacts and
updates indicated that roads to up Nine Mile Canyon and into Kennedy Meadows
area were suitable for an outing on 14 February. The troop, noting the
weather front moving in, opted for a one day outing of sledding and snow
boarding. Thanks to Ann and Cliff for the support and monitoring radios
during the outing. The Scouts had fun, got wet and came home in one piece.
Bill and Scoutmaster Cass had fun too, with snow chains.
Twenty Mule Team 100 Mile Horse Ride
The twenty-first of February began much the same as all horse rides. Stations
calling in, assignments, horses and riders bouncing around in the early, cold
and breezy sunrise. We had enough Hams for the event even though the night
before there was, as usual, some doubt. Jacky Bumgardner KC6IFG had found her
handheld, found out how to turn it on and how to turn to the frequency she
was supposed to use. This organizational phenomenon lasted all day!
The new route that resulted from not using any of the trails within Red Rock
Canyon State Park caused general approval from the Hams since water check
points and vet checks were generally closer to base camp. Also using the fair
grounds as base camp gave us much more room and better facilities. Three
loops were used. The map was a fascinating illustration of graphic geography.
The most distant loop was used only by the forty or so hundred milers and
could be abandoned by late afternoon. This brought everyone even closer
together.
There was the usual number of pulls, briefly lost horses and other such minor
emergencies. We were greatly appreciated by the riders who saw fit to mention
it often. The loops were closed at about midnight. A party gradually
developed at check point 3, 5 and 7 just above the college and did not close
until about daylight. I believe that's the first time we had a check point
that refused to close after all of the horses were in.
The packet stations and rider data base were given a good workout again and
finally proved that using such a data base was not as profitable as we
thought it might be. Hal Hazel KM6JM worked packet until about noon then
decided it was not worth it. We closed the RACES communications trailer and
put it away. Again, the smaller, closer loops made it possible to use the
146.64 MHz repeater. The police van was installed at the fair grounds and
used the whole time. Power is available there, however we used the generator
for much of the time. Whether or not packet is useful at a horse or bike ride
is still controversial. It does work, and works well. It seems better adapted
for what we set it up for and that is shelter and medical nets. It was used
this time and will be used for the Fire Mountain Fifty ride to give training
to packet novices and it was well worth the effort in this regard.
We did come up with a problem that needs to be given some thought. Lloyd
WA6KZV hit the volume knob on his portable while attending the trestle water
check point and went off the air as far as the rest of the net was concerned.
All else was going along just fine so he had no cause to transmit. Several
stations tried calling him and got no response and became mildly alarmed. The
riders from his check point were not aware of any problem, of course. Finally
Greg WA7IRW drove out to see what the problem was. Meanwhile Lloyd finally
became aware of the long silence and discovered the error. He checked in
again and was properly chastised. Lloyd certainly appreciated seeing Greg
show up. The trestle check point can be awfully dark and lonely in the middle
of the night. The net was run informally most of the time. This worked well.
When activity stepped up Dave KC6UUR exerted control and kept things running
smoothly. Judy KC6UTF suffered from battery problems and went off the air for
about an hour but nothing resulted from the hole in the net except her own
sense of concern. It may be that a formal roll call be initiated about every
thirty minutes or so especially during the night hours just to be sure that
all is OK. It could be as simple as the NCS checking everybody off on a
special sheet and then calling those remaining to be sure they are all right.
Mike Cash KN6IS is working on a program to make maps of the ride area and
routes. GPS readings have been taken of all check points and junctions
(waypoints) and it is hoped that we will be able to come up with better, more
accurate maps along with the ability to make changes as needed. A good map
has been long in coming.
Stations that helped with the net and not mentioned above were Jerry Brooks
KK6PA, Jack Bitzer NL7SX, Bill Burns WA6QYR, Alan Hugo KD6IQB, Mike Gallagher
KF6BCN, Ron Higgins KD6ZUV and Tim Lyons KF6LCH. I apologize for any I might
have missed.
Volunteer Exam Session
The Valentines Day Volunteer Examination Session provided valentine licenses
for several persons. Technician licenses were earned by Roger Sellinger
KF6PLD, Steven Martin KF6PLE, Bruce Johansen KF6PLF and Perry Diaz KF6PLG.
Ralph Frasier KF6LCG upgraded from Tech Plus to Advanced and has a new Group
B call sign on itıs way. Marie Thompson KE6ZLN upgraded from General to
Extra. Eight candidates took seventeen tests and all got at least a CSCE.
Congratulations to all. These Hams will receive two free issues of THE
AIRWAVES with membership applications enclosed.
Inyokern Parade
I would like to thank the Hams that arrived in Inyokern at the early hour of
9:00 am on 21 February to work the Inyokern Celebration and Parade. I never
got to see some of them, since I dispatched them by radio. Novel idea, Huh?
The parade went off without a hitch and most of us were home by eleven
o'clock. Thanks to Rosalie Barber KF6CMZ, Mack Hope KD6IPN, Greg Roush
WA7IRW, Judith Rogow N7TTH, Bob Huckins W6UPI and Bob Rose KC6YYT. I'll see
you at the Desert Empire Fair Parade.
TREASURERS REPORT
Below is an e-mail received on 20 February.
I just want to compliment your club on the very nice SARC web page. Please
convey my best regards to the membership of your club and contact me anytime
if I can be of assistance. Very 73, de Donald W. Costello W7WN, Section
Manager, ARRL, Pacific Division, San Joaquin Valley Section
(Ed. note: The SARC web page is the work of Larry Jenkins KN6WI and is at
http://www.ridgecrest.ca.us/~jenkins/HAM/SARC.html.)
Maggy Pladson Memorial Scholarship
"Maggie" Pladson WA6RFJ, a long time Ridgecrest resident and Ham, became a
silent key recently. His family has established the Magnus K. Pladson
scholarship for engineering and communications with the Fire Mountain
Foundation, Cerro Coso Community Development Office. Proceeds from the sale
of Maggie's Ham equipment will go to the scholarship. Bob Huckins W6UPI is
assisting the family with the sale. See the For Sale section for listing of
equipment available through Bob.
Cerro Coso License Class
The spring semester CCCC Amateur Radio (Technician) License class has eight
members. The instructor, Tim Lyons KF6LCH, is asking for IWV Hams with
special interests or skills, applicable to the class, to volunteer to make a
presentation in the class. You may contact Tim at 375-9886.
Field Day 1998 will be June 27 and 28. Mike Cash KN6IS has jumped at the
invitation to head up the effort to hold SARC Field Day at the Leroy Jackson
park in Ridgecrest.
The object of Field Day is to work as many stations as possible on any or all
amateur bands (excluding the 30, 17 and 12 meter bands) and, in doing so, to
learn to operate in abnormal situations under less-than-optimum conditions. A
premium is placed on skills and equipment developed to meet the challenge of
emergency preparedness and to acquaint the public with the capabilities of
Amateur Radio.
The SARC tower trailer with it's three element, tri-band beam will dominate
the park skyline. Wire antennas will burden the trees. Weird concoctions of
wire, rope, coax and strange little boxes will be strung from poles of
various materials. Computers, gas lanterns, tents, not to mention
transceivers and the full gamut of Ham gear will live in the park for
twenty-four hours of attack on the RF spectrum. A Saturday evening picnic and
BBQ is in the planning stage. We wouldn't want to let MacDonalds bring any
civility to this all out assault on the either.
Contact Mike Cash, 375-4441, if you would like to be an operator, be a
logger, help set up, help tear down, kibitz, cook, take pictures, take videos
or participate in any manner. Experience is not required. Field Day is where
experience is gained.
RF Exposure Errata
For those of you using the January 1998 QST article to compute RF exposures,
Table 6 in "FCC RF-Exposure Regulations - The Station Evaluation" (January
1998 QST, page 54), contains three incorrect numbers in the 30-foot
height-above-ground column. Table 6 is reproduced correctly on page 72 of the
February issue of QST.
Table 6 was reproduced on the handout for the RF Exposure program by Bill
Burns WA6QYR at the February meeting. The corrections may be pencilled in.
OLD BUSINESS
February 4, 1998. Those present: Pres. Charlie Hawthorne KE6WQR, 1st VP David
Stone KC6UUR, 2nd VP Larry Merwin KE6YLG, Secy. Tom Ingram WB6EPD, Treas.
Mark Rosenthal N6BVP and AIRWAVES editor Elvy Hopkins NØLV.
Due to a change in the general meeting programs, tables were requested for
the Flight Deck Room for the March meeting vice the February meeting. The
Flight Deck room will be used for February and March. The time for the Board
of Officers Meetings was changed from 5:30 pm to 5:15 pm. New membership
applications which include a patch order are now available. Three members
paid dues twice. These members were contacted and all three requested that
the extra dues be placed in the repeater fund. Need to thank those who have
donated money for repeater and general funds.
We have not paid any fee for the phone at the 147.00 MHz repeater site. Dave
will check with Ed Tipler. The need for a financial audit was discussed. THE
AIRWAVES editor announced that he may need to combine two newsletters or be
late with one in the near future due to his schedule. Three hundred and
sixty-nine February AIRWAVES were mailed out at a cost of $338.58. If sixteen
pound bond is used for large newsletters (7 pages) only one thirty-two cent
stamp is needed. A SARC membership card was discussed. The board decided that
a card is not needed.
Standing committees were discussed. The board decided not to take any action
on these committees at this time. Field Day was discussed. This will be
mentioned in the next newsletter and in upcoming general meetings. Charlie
will check with Mike Cash to see if he is interested in leading a Field Day
effort this year. Past general meeting programs were discussed. No ideas for
future programs were presented.
Minutes of the General Meeting
The 11 February meeting was called to order by the president at 1930 hrs at
the Heritage Inn. SARC patches are available. The cost is $4.00 each.
Announcements were made. Inyokern Parade on 21 February. Twenty Mule Team
horse ride on 21 February. Coso Bun Buster on 14 March. Amateur Exams on 14
February. Second VP Larry Merwin KE6YLG discussed upcoming programs and
announced that he is looking for additional programs. Anyone with an idea for
a program should let Larry know. There were two guest at the meeting, George
Schrems WAØTEF and Jim Kusznir's mother.
Tim Lyons KF6LCH who is teaching the Ham class at the college announced that
he wouldlike some program presenters for the Ham class. Anyone interested
should give Tim a call at 375-9886. Bob Huckins W6UPI announced some HF radio
gear was for sale. A list will be in the next AIRWAVES. The evening's program
was presented by Bill Burns WA6QYR on the new FCC RF Exposure Rules. Bill had
a copy of the latest RF bulletin which is available on the internet. The new
610 form requires amateurs to state that they are in compliance with this
bulletin.
Twenty seven members attended. Gene Chun KF6CMV won $9 in the 50-50 drawing.
The meeting adjourned at 2110 hrs.
Transceiver, HF, solid state, Kenwood TS440S with matching PS30 power supply
$650
Oscilloscope: 25 MHz, dual trace, solid state.
Contacting THE AIRWAVES Editor
If you have an article for The AIRWAVES or an idea for one, contact the
editor Elvy Hopkins NØLV at 384-ELVY or e-mail
ehopkins@ridgecrest.ca.us.
Boy Scout Winter Outing
by Bill Burns WA6QYR
by Lloyd Brubaker WA6KZV
by Mark Rosenthal N6BVP
from Mark Rosenthal N6BVP
As of 24 February
Share account $2,444.09
Draft account 1,978.51
Total $4,422.60
Obligated funds
Relocate 147.00 repeater 1,200.00
Balance $3,226.60
IN THE MILL
From the ARRL Section Manager
Field Day Field Day Field Day
Board of Officers Meeting Minutes
by Secretary Tom Ingram WB6EPD
FOR SALE FOR SALE FOR SALE
Antenna tower, fifty-five feet, three section, crank up, free standing,
Tristao TX455 (18 sqft at 50 mph), $600
Desk microphone, Shure 440D $50
Low Pass filter, 1000 Watt $25
Power supply 14.4 VDC, 16 cont. 20 ICS AMP, Astron RS20A $85
Tube tester, US Govt. surplus, nice one, $45
Collectors item, HF transceiver, vacuum tube (Remember DeForest valves?), 100 Watts, Yaesu FTdx560, with matching speaker $125
Box of miscellaneous new and used vacuum tubes, $25
All items very clean and undamaged. Call Bob Huckins W6UPI
760-375-7655, e-mail
w6upi@ridgecrest.ca.us.
WANTED WANTED WANTED
Function Generator: sine/square wave to 500 kHz, solid state.
Freq. Counter: 10 Hz to 50 MHz, solid state.
Transceiver: dual band 2m/440, all modes, DTSS and CTCSS
encode/decode, memory must include sub-audible tones, need not be cross band.
Prefer Icom IC-207H.
Contact Claude Wood WA6YSQ 377-5558, e-mail
cmwood@iwvisp.com.
See ya in the funny paperz de NØLV