As you can see by comparing this list to the list of officers on the first page, three of these candidates are incumbents. And one of the incumbents, Lloyd Brubaker who has been a SARC officer since it's beginning 132 years ago, is not running. The second vice president is responsible for monthly meeting programs. This task is made easier by the number of technically oriented Hams in the club and in the IWV. The SARC board helps with the task. January and February have been scheduled. July and August are non-meetings. So If you want an eight month job, volunteer for 2nd VP.

RUNNING FOR OFFICE WHY NOT ?

There is a North America wide organization of wild bird enthusiasts and bird watchers called the American Birding Association. They cover Canada, USA and Mexico. The membership is growing steadily and is very active. Recently the editor of their two publications was dismissed without notice or approval of the board. As you might imagine this caused quite a flap among the members. I recite all of this because we have seen similar sorts of things in some of our Amateur Radio clubs and societies. In the SARC we have a tight, not so little, club of Hams who have a real problem once a year to find a slate of officers to take the reins of leadership. Virtually the same old gang find themselves in charge again. The slate of candidates is made up of one candidate per office. In fact when we get five persons willing to run we often feel gratified and quit phoning members and twisting arms. You have only one candidate to choose from for each office. I propose that this is a failure. This is not the democratic process. Surely, a member can be willing to put himself up for a 50/50 chance of getting an office and thus give the members a choice. Nobody is going to take over the club. A club that has been taken over by someone is on a slippery slide to oblivion no matter how competent and well liked that person is. We have all seen that happen in clubs, leagues and churches. Anyone that wants to take over is suffering from an ego problem. It takes a team, a board, who give and take. It takes at least one or two new people on each board to make it work. We have been blessed with some new persons who have served in the past few years. Let's keep it up and improve on it. Volunteer for a SARC office.

PROGRAM FOR DECEMBER

The program for December will be a presentation on home brewed Amateur Radio equipment given by Bill Weiss N6YRV. Bill has been building electronic test equipment, six meter radio control transmitters and receivers, QRP hardware, CB-to-10 Meters SSB transceivers and other amateur radio gear for "more years than I want to admit." He specializes in cheap-as-it-can-get electronics. Be prepared to ask questions. He will have equipment to show and demonstrate including an HP Mod. 608 HF signal generator modified to cover 10-450 MHz and to operate on twelve volts DC.

PUBLIC SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

Over The Hill Track Club Sun. 7 Dec.
The Annual Run will be south of Cerro Coso Community College. Five Hams are needed from 7:00 am to about noon to provide safety and administrative communications for race officials. Contact Lloyd Brubaker WA6KZV at 375-7245 or on the Monday night net. To avoid past conflicts with motorcycle races, Chris Rios, OTHTC president, has scheduled this Annual Run with the BLM on the first Sunday in December for future years.

Fire Mountain Fifty Sat. 24 January
Contact Lloyd Brubaker WA6KZV 375-7245

Twenty Mule Team 100 21 February
Contact Lloyd Brubaker WA6KZV 375-7245

Coso Bun Buster Sat. 14 March
Contact Hal Hazel KM6JM 371-3208

These three horse rides start early in the morning. The 100 miler is twenty-four hours (It usually doesn't last that long.) so two relays of six Hams each are needed for it. Sometimes a pickup truck is a good thing to have. Some check points are on paved roads. If you haven't ventured into the fun of this kind of thing, try it. Let the Ham Radio organizer 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 Lloyd and Hal can best organize their crews. Lloyd Brubaker has plans to set up the portable packet network at all three of the horse rides 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.

RECENT SARC ACTIVITIES
Ridgecrest Balloon Festival
by Mike Cash KN6IS

The first annual IWV Balloon Festival and Celebration of the Sun has come and gone with the wind. While the wind virtually shut down the event on Sunday (Only four balloons were launched.), Saturday more than made up for it. Forty-seven balloons launched on Saturday and what a spectacular sight it was. Balloonists from all over the U.S. and a few from the United Kingdom and Australia where there.

The balloon committee initially told Hams that their support was not required. However, on Thursday one day before the balloon fest, Dwayne Powers, the Balloon Meister (translated balloon boss), asked Mike Cash KN6IS if it would be possible to provide communication support for any balloons or crews that might need assistance. Dwayne was concerned that some of the balloons might drift over navy property or become tangled in power lines. So, at the last minute, KN6IS called around and found several willing souls to assist for the 3:30 am start.

The Saturday launch went without a hitch, that is, until the balloons started landing. Mike Cash was at the Balloon Park two miles south of Inyokern when he got a call from Larry Jenkins KN6WI who had been roaming around in his vehicle with his wife Nancy checking on balloons that had landed to see if all had gone well. Larry spotted one of the crew vehicles that had become stuck in a sand wash while trying to retrieve their balloon near south China Lake Blvd. So, without further ado, Mike Cash raced out in his 4x4x4 (four wheels, four doors, four wheel drive) one ton truck and commenced "Operation Rescue." Mike Hugo KA6OIJ, who was returning from a photo shoot at the Balloon Park, also assisted Cash. (Hugo is a secret photographer for the News Review.) By the time the crew had the balloon ready to load, the rescue truck had arrived and was ready to pull them one mile out of the sand wash. The balloon pilot from the Los Angeles area was so impressed by support from the Hams that she made sure that the balloon committee knew about it. Maybe next year the committee will invite us to help and give us more than one day notice before the event. A special thanks also goes to Bill WA6QYR and Judy KC6UTF Burns for their assistance in keeping track of the balloons.

Volunteer Examination Session

The 8 November Volunteer Examination Session had five applicants take ten tests which resulted in two Technician, one Tech Plus and one Extra license. New Technicians are Christian Munson KF6OKG and Roxanne Quintana KF6OKH. Thomas Hager KC8ITW earned a Tech Plus and Richard Marvin KA6MQO passed the twenty word-per-minute code test to obtain his Extra class.

Volunteer Examiners officiating this session were Tom Ingram WB6EPD, Elvy Hopkins NØLV, Bill Maraffio N6PR and Bob Huckins W6UPI. The VE committee will meet soon to schedule VE sessions for 1998.

RACES & ARES
by Lloyd Brubaker WA6KZV

ARES communication assistance to hospitals is discussed in an excellent article by April Moell WA6OPS on page 83 of the December 1997 issue of QST magazine. This article has made me aware of our RACES lack of preparedness to support a local hospital communication emergency. Since our RACES members are also considered to be ARES members as well, it does not require a wide area emergency or even a formal call-out to activate us. Individual members may simply activate themselves when the need arises. Bob Kennedy, our medical planner, can call any of us out even if the emergency is only in one ward of the hospital. But it takes understanding and planning. Read the article. Do we need a core team of medical communicators? I have pagers, all they need is crystals. Let's think about it.

RACES to Practice 21 February

The Twenty Mule Team 100 mile horse ride will take place on Saturday 21 February. This annual event has been well supported by RACES members for a number of years and this year will be slightly different from those in the past. We will set up the portable packet stations (two currently - to be expanded to four) and operate the packet station in the communications trailer to cover a portion of the ride route. The purpose of this exercise is to give amateurs who have not yet been on packet an opportunity to get acquainted with that mode and get some practice in formal message writing under real conditions. Packet will be used to route net messages that are normally transmitted by voice. These are lists of horses that have been pulled out of the ride, lists of horses that have passed a given check point, names and locations of officials, check-points, lead riders and so on.

We are asking for as many RACES members as possible to take shifts of one or two hours at the packet station locations and learn the ropes. Between now and then read all you can about this specialized mode of communication and the instructions available in the RACES Manual. If you do not have this reference, see Lloyd and get one. Instruction will be provided on site by a qualified operator. We hope to have four packet sites by February. It would be nice to have from nine to twelve newly experienced operators for this 24 hour ride. Put these dates on your calendar and plan to attend.

Packet Practice for RACES Members

RACES members who have no packet experience may call Jerry Brooks KK6PA at 446- 2228 to borrow one of the RACES portable packet stations or to get access to the base station. In the event of an emergency, RACES needs Hams experienced with our packet system. Feel free to use the gear since that is the best way to learn about packet and the equipment used in a packet station. We don't plan on storing the portable stations in a closet. We hope to have them out in the field when needed. These loans are limited to RACES members only due to Kern County requirements.

TREASURERS REPORT
from Mark Rosenthal N6BVP

As of 27 November
	Share account			$2,428.98
	Draft account			$1,343.57
	Total				$3,772.55
	Obligated funds	
	Relocate 147.00 repeater	$1,200.00
	Balance				$2,572.55

IN THE MILL

Mike Cash KN6IS reports that The Sign Center in San Diego is still making the magnetic, 8 inch x 19 inch, "Amateur Radio Communications," signs that some SARC members purchased several years ago. These signs include the ARES logo and are displayed on Ham vehicles at public service events SETs etc. and held for when "the big one" hits. A call to 619-298-1102 and a $25 charge on your VISA card will have your mobile sporting two of these attractive and informative signs.

(Ed. note. These signs are good for only about sixty miles per hour without a strip of tape on their leading edges.)

OLD BUSINESS
Board of Officers Meeting Minutes
by Secretary Lloyd Brubaker WA6KZV

November 5, 1997: Those present: 1st VP Dave Stone KC6UUR, 2nd VP Larry Merwin KE6YLG, secretary Lloyd Brubaker WA6KZV, treasurer Mark Rosenthal N6BVP and AIRWAVES editor Elvy Hopkins NØLV. No contact by the balloon committee for assistance as of this date. (Contact was made two days later. Five Hams participated.) The status of the repeaters was discussed. Repairs to the 146.64 MHz translator are being made by Bill Maraffio N6PR. No prognosis as yet.

A roster of 1998 officer candidates is being made. It is not completed as of this date. The committee is working hard to fill the ballot.

An up to date copy of "Now You're Talking" is to be placed in the Kern County Library. WA6KZV will take care of this.

A financial audit committee must be appointed in December as per the constitution.

Minutes of the General Meeting
by Secretary Lloyd Brubaker WA6KZV

October 8, 1997: Twenty-three persons attended. The meeting was called to order by the First Vice President at 1933 hrs. The currently incomplete slate of 1998 officer candidates was presented and a sign-up sheet was passed around for anyone wishing to nominate or to run. SARC officers for 1998 will be elected at the December meeting. The officer installation banquet will be at Farris' Fine Dining on 14 January. Tickets will be available from Lloyd Brubaker WA6KZV for $13.50 no later than 9 January.

Lloyd WA6KZV reviewed the RACES table top drill scheduled for 21 November and the Over The Hill Track Club communications requirements. Mike Cash KN6IS recapped the Ham efforts at the Balloon Festival. Checks for $500 and $400 were received from the Eighth Desert Classic mountain bicycle race and the Kiwanis Club respectively. The money is to enhance our public service equipment. Thank you notes are to be written by the secretary. Dave Rosenthal N6TST gave a very interesting talk on the effects of solar activity on radio wave propagation. He also gave hints on the information available from internet which is a very powerful tool for the DXers. Terms were explained and also defined in a handout. An excellent presentation. Bob Huckins W6UPI won $9.00 in the 50-50 drawing.

FOR SALE WANTED FOR SALE

Tower, sixty foot, crank up, guyed, three sections with matching fifteen foot, thick wall mast. Old Tri-Ex (?), triangular section, lower section eight inches on a side. Some guy wire included. Good condition. All sections and mast are straight. Needs minor welding to reattach two lower leg guides. $100 (A mighty fine price these days.) Call Gene Roth 446-6265.

Heathkit HW-100 SSB 80-10m, 100w RF out, transceiver, power supply, manual, spare tubes, good condition $200 Bill Burns WA6QYR 375-8566.

Wanted Someone to help read and translate French microwave club monthly newsletters. Please contact Bill Burns WA6QYR 375-8566.

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 ehopkins@ridgecrest.ca.us.

RENEW  SARC  MEMBERSHIP  APPLICATION

See                      ya                      in                 da
funny                    paperz.                 de                 NØLV