2003 OFFICER CANDIDATES NEEDED THINK ABOUT IT
FROM THE PRESIDENT'S SHACK
Ramblings The bands have been doing great. HF is still perking along nicely with openings on seventeen thru ten meters. VHF is also doing good business with some six-meter openings and the satellites are spicing up everything. One area of recent explosive growth is in what is called "HF Pack." Folks are taking their rigs out and doing mobile and portable operations on HF. This includes bicycle and pedestrian mobile. Look for them on 18157.5 KHz. Earlier I mentioned a group meeting to look at the future of SARC. We have held one meeting so far and got a lot of ideas aired out. There is still a lot to do. If you are interested in participating please let me know. While on the subject of participating, we are still looking for a couple of club officer candidates. Bill Burns, WA6QYR, is canvassing the club. If you can help out please give him a call or say yes when he calls you. This past month I had the pleasure of being at Jamboree-On-The-Air. It turned into a mini-field day with Boy and Girl Scouts coming and going most of the day. There is interest in Ham Radio among the younger folks. They just need a helping hand. Afterwards there was discussion about next year, perhaps having the scouts do a project or two. This is something SARC can put its teeth into. On a side note, I have been too busy to schedule a T-Hunt. If someone would like to put one together please let me know and I will get the transmitter to you. 73 es vy gud DX NOVEMBER MEETING PROGRAM The Shrinking RF Generator will be presented by Phelps TerHeun W6PTH. You saw Phelps' concept demonstrator last year. Come to the November meeting and see how that twenty-five pound monster, its external signal generator and power supplies all imploded into a single package two-thirds the size of the original. Now it is hand held on a pistol grip and weighs less than eight pounds. See how putting three pound antennas on a diet shrinks them to a mere seven ounces and eight inch apertures are reduced to four inches. Already tested against real aircraft, the test set is about ready to be shipped, this one included. So, if you do not see it at the November meeting, there will not be another opportunity. PUBLIC SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES Coso Jam Sat, Sun 9, 10 Nov This will be a two day event on 9, 10 November 2002. There is always something weird going on at this one. Join up and find out what the goblins are doing this year. You may work Saturday, Sunday, both days, even stay overnight. Please contact Lloyd Brubaker WA6KZV at 375-7245 or wa6kzv@ridgenet.net to sign on for this one. NOMINATION COMMITTEE RESULTS The SARC constitution states that a three member nominating committee shall present a slate of officer candidates at the November regular meeting. This year there were only two volunteers, Bill Burns WA6QYR and Phelps TerHeun W6PTH. They are canvassing the membership to find 2003 officer candidates. Most of the current officers have been in their offices several years and would like a break. Unless there is a change of heart by some club members the club is headed for serious difficulty and may fade from existence. Please reconsider you position and volunteer at the 13 November meeting. Bill reports "Currently we need a volunteer for club president and one for program chairman, second vice president. If you have not gotten our call yet, be prepared to answer the phone in a few days. Hopefully someone will come forward to help the club out in the coming year." Contact information is: Bill Burns 375-8566 bburns@ridgenet.net, Phelps TerHeun 375-4905 terheun@mchsi.com
RACES
Three RACES operators Dennis Farrell W6DWF, Jerry Brooks KK6PA, and Lloyd Brubaker WA6KZV attended the Kern County training session in Bakersfield this last month. The session was SRO, the largest attendance we have seen. The subject matter was a review of SEMS, which we have all had before, but it was presented by Power Point and moved along at such a clip that it was interesting. Also, we got a booklet of the slides with spaces to take notes. Charles Conner did a fine job. After the break most of us got new material on how to prepare for reimbursement of funds for disaster damage and recovery. A bottom line is to document everything so that you have the receipts, logs, messages and anything else that legitimizes your claim. Although we only receive and take messages, they are documents. Keep a log and copies of the messages. Another interesting subject was the authentication of message senders and receivers, a most interesting subject. This was a worthwhile trip.
VOLUNTEER EXAMINATION SESSION
John Denson AI6A, one of the local volunteer examiners and a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, has asked for volunteer exam sessions not held on their Sabbath, Saturday. Bill Maraffio N6PR, the local VE coordinator, has scheduled a second sitting of the Saturday 14 December session for Sunday 15 December in the Seventh Day Adventist Church at 1400 hrs. Pre-registration is required before noon on 14 December. Walk-ins will NOT be seated. To register for all Ridgecrest VE sessions, call Elvy Hopkins NØLV at 384-3589 or ehopkins@ridgenet.net. RECENT SARC ACTIVITIES Volunteer Exam Session 12, 13 Nov The 12, 13 October Volunteer Exam sessions resulted in four new Technician licensees, one upgrade to General and two CSCEs for the General written. The new Techs are Robert Gould KG6NPL, Filiberto Ortiz KG6NPM, Jack Thompson KG6NPR and Herbert Swett KG6NPS. Jeannine Warkentin KF6UFA upgraded to General. Gould and Swett received CSCEs for the General written and will return in December for the code test. Congratulations to these folks. The new Hams will receive The AIRWAVES for November and December with several data sheets and a membership application enclosed. The VEs for the two seatings were Hal Hazel KM6JM, Bill Maraffio N6PR, Keith Clark W6SIY, John Denson AI6A and Bob Huckins W6UPI. Thanks guys.
Jamboree On the Air Sat 19 October
About twenty-two local Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and their leaders participated in the 45th Boy Scouts of America Jamboree-On-The-Air. The event was held on a wonderful day at Pearson Park at Downs and Vicki streets on Saturday, 19 October from 0900 to about 1500 hrs. Phelps' HF transceiver was used to feed the SARC three-element beam at about 30 feet above the tower trailer. The 100 watt HF station logged nine QSOs, including Nevada, Arizona, Kansas, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Texas, Alabama, and North Carolina. Two of the HF highlights were a conversation with the aircraft carrier USS Lexington in port at Corpus Christi and a DXpedition ZK1ASQ in the Cook Islands with an operator who had once worked at China Lake. We had a map on which the scouts could place a map tack where the station contacted was located. A battery with solar cell augmentation powered the entire HF system, including the beam rotator. Mike and Paula Herr, WA6ARA and N6VGW, had Mike's QRP rig set up with his new, portable HF antenna. Several contacts were made with his gear. A Morse code table seemed to attract the most attention. The boys and girls found sending and decoding simple messages to be an interesting challenge. Six of the Girl Scouts indicated they would be interested in working towards a Ham license. Murphy made an appearance and caused both direction finding units, which had both checked out fine earlier in the week, to act up. But, they worked well enough to give some of the scouts some t-hunting fun. Hams participating were Mike Cash W6PM and son Philip KG6JEL, Phelps TerHeun W6PTH, Bruce Ornsten N8RXJ, Mike Alamo KF6WSR, and Greg Roush WA7IRW. Other Hams, Jerry Brooks KK6PA and Jack Bitzer NL7SX, stopped by to visit and provide comments on our operation. Jerry took some photos during setup. They may be viewed at www1.iwvisp.com/kk6pa Observations: While we had lots of help this year, some of the Hams were codeless Techs and could not help with the HF or the Morse code. This problem was noticed when the Cashes and Phelps took a break and I realized that the helping hands did not have the required experience. The guys thought Pearson Park worked out well for the event. We parked the tower trailer partially up on the sidewalk so the outrigger did not project too far into the street. A few local residents came to see what we were doing. The issue was getting to a bathroom. We did not have any problems from anyone else using the park. As we were shutting down, a couple of kids asked for some of the orange punch that was left over. In hindsight, we could have done without Phelps' tent trailer and set up refreshments on the park table nearby. IN THE MILL Nominating committee The SARC Nominating Committee composed of Bill Burns WA6QYR and Phelps TerHeun W6PTH will be contacting SARC members looking for volunteers to fill an election slate of officers for 2003. Be kind. Be courteous. Tell them "Yes, I will volunteer" and join the fun. COMING SARC ACTIVITIES Transmitter Hunt Sat 12 Oct Transmitter hunts are held in the IWV on the Saturday immediately following the SARC monthly meeting. We meet in the Heritage Inn parking lot at 0900 hrs. Usually the fox is out hiding by then and the 146.565 MHz transmitter comes on every four minutes thirty seconds with a thirty second message. Now that we are using an automatic transmitter, the fox may or may not be in the area. Typically the it takes about forty-five minutes to locate the fox. Equipment is easy. A small beam with an attenuator is ideal but the fox has been found with just a hand held and a rubber duck. For more information, contact Mike Herr WA6ARA at 375-5324 or herr@ridgenet.net. OLD BUSINESS
Minutes, Board of Officers Meeting
Oct 9, 2002 Those present: 1st Vice Pres Phelps TerHeun W6PTH, 2nd Vice Pres Todd Evans W6TOD, Treas. Pam Evans KC6UUS, Secy. Tom Ingram WB6EPD and AIRWAVES Editor Elvy Hopkins NØLV. The meeting was called to order at 1906 hrs. Membership lists were provided to the Nominating Committee. Elvy announced that there was a trailer for sale that the club could buy to have on hand for members that might need to move a tower. Phelps announced that he had an old glider trailer that he would give to the club for that purpose. It needs new tires and a license. The metal enclosure would be removed to allow for hauling of towers. Items for the General meeting were discussed. There have been no signups for the upcoming VE session. The meeting was adjourned at 1921 hrs.
Minutes, Membership Meeting
The 9 Oct 2002 meeting was called to order by the 1st Vice President, Phelps TerHeun W6PTH at 1930 hrs at the Heritage Inn. Fifty-fifty tickets were available for the meeting. The sign-up sheet was started around. There was one visitor, Mark Swett HR2MS. Announcements: On 19 October there will be a Boy Scout Jamboree-On-The-Air at Pearson Park from 9 am to 3 pm with two operating stations and a T-hunt. The SARC antenna trailer will be used during the jamboree. Phelps has a glider trailer that he will donate to the club. The trailer would be available to club members to haul any antenna tower they need to move. It needs new tires, a license and the metal top removed. Dennis Farrell W6DWF reminded everyone about the upcoming Sidewinder 50th Anniversary. RACES members may be asked to participate by manning the EOC and keeping their HTs handy during 1,2 and 3 November. The Nominating Committee was discussed. Erich Muschinske KA6AMD announced that there was an ARRL e-mail questionnaire about ARRL contests. He placed a copy on the table at the back of the room. There will be a T-Hunt this Saturday if there are enough participants. There will be a VE sessions on Saturday and Sunday this weekend. Public service opportunities: 9-10 November Geo Bun Buster horse ride. Todd Evans provided the program. The subject was emergency preparedness and a video on Amateur Radio operations during the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait. Gene Brewer KI6LO won the 50/50 drawing. Twenty-two amateurs signed in at the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 2025 hrs.
TREASURERS REPORT
As of 28 October 2002 Share account $6,344.83 Draft account 85.20 Total $6,430.03 Obligated funds Relocate 147.00 repeater 1374.86 Balance $5,055.17FOR SALE FOR SALE FOR SALE Kantronics KPC-3 TNC $35, Astron RS-20 Pwr Sup $35, HP Desk Jet 600 printer Make an offer. All items are in good shape. Bob W6UPI 375 7655 FOR SALE FOR SALE FOR SALE HyGain Tail Twister T2X antenna rotator. Rebuilt. No control panel. $225.00 Ray Stevens KC6UTC 760-378-3746 kc6utc@myexcel.com FOR SALE FOR SALE FOR SALE Astron RS-50M power supply, 13.8 VDC, 37 AMP continuous, 50 AMP peak, current and volt meters $125. Mark Ball KE6IFD 371-9095 WANTED WANTED WANTED Tower 40-65 feet Good condition. Claude 377-5558 FREE FREE FREE Sealed lead-acid batteries, 6 V-4 Ah & 12 V-7 Ah. 50 to choose from, various manufacturers. Mark Ball KE6IFD 371-9095 You call. You haul. No return. FREE FREE FREE One 5 ft. high and two 3 ft. high 19 in. racks full of Ham AM transmitter hardware. Lots of parts and pieces to scrounge. Might even be made to work again. Bushel basket full of various transformers. WW II Govt. surplus test equipment and RF units. Many small boxes of hardware etc. Going to dump soon. U see, U like, U haul, U wife no like, U dump. Elvy Hopkins 384-3589 ehopkins@ridgenet.net See ya in da funny paperz. de NØLV
Posted Fri Nov 8 21:26:37 PST 2002 |