SECRETARY’S NOTES OF THE MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 21, 1998
OPENING: The meeting was held at Quonset Hut on Pine Street in Whitman. Members socialized outside starting about 7:15. Club Vice President, Chris N1WWI officially opened the meeting at 7:32 p.m. with the roll call.
ATTENDANCE: The total attendance was 20 and included 2 of the
elected officers and 2 members of the Board of Directors.
| Chris Tilden | N1WWI | Charlet Sherman | N1VQZ | |
| George Pedro | N1XXR | Gil Follett | WA1GDJ | |
| Walt Johnson | W1HA | Jim Gilbert | W5IRW | |
| Jeff Lehmann | N1ZZN | Tom Lehmann | N1ZZM | |
| John Murphy | N1TWI | George Davis | KC1FZ | |
| Bob Schillinger | KA1PGU | John Seamans | KB1CVN | |
| Bill Tracy | N1SON | Bernard Snow | N1OQW | |
| Joe Diloreto | N1FEE | Frank Hayes | N1OGP | |
| Vic Kairis | N1OEH | Roy Logan | KB1CYV | |
| Ed Meehan | N1NTZ | Walt Dolson | K1BZD |
Jeff N1SOM was absent due to his recent marriage (Congratulations!). He did however get a copy of the treasurer’s report to the meeting. Chris N1WWI reviewed the report for the members present. As of August 1st, 1998, the club had a beginning balance of $XXX.XX, income of $XXX.XX, expenses of $XXX.XX, leaving an ending balance of $XXX.XX as of September 21st. Gil WA1DGJ made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report as read, the motion was seconded by Ed N1NTZ, and approved.
NEW MEMBER
An application for membership was submitted by John Seamans KB1CVN of Hanson. He was a member of one of Bob KA1PGU’s classes. Frank N1OGP made a motion to accept John’s membership, Jim W5IRW seconded the motion, and John’s application was accepted. Welcome John.
OLD BUSINESS:
Jeff N1ZZN asked about the status of Mount Washington certificates. George N1XXR and Chris N1WWI have gotten together and discussed what they will do for a certificate, and Jeff will send Chris the link to the page to create a QSL card with the capabilities to add a photograph.
Skywarn has been slow still, but the season is coming upon us. Hurricane George is in Puerto Rico. Gil WA1GDJ reminded the members about the Skywarn Roundtable Net on 147.180 Saturday evenings at 8:oo. The National Weather Service will be starting their training sessions up again in the spring.
HEALTH AND WELFARE
Frank N1OGP reported that he has not received any recent reports concerning Yancee. Yancee had an operation, and was in serious condition at the Brockton Hospital.
NEW BUSINESS
Chris N1WWI mentioned that he found a web page for AntennaX magazine on the internet, which contained antenna articles and freebee downloads. (http://www.antennex.com)
Bill N1SON inquired to see who has received their newsletter, and explained that Jeff N1SOM was a bit preoccupied lately due to his recent marriage. Several of the members had received their newsletters today.
FOXHUNT UPDATE
Gil WA1DGJ reported on recent foxhunt activities. Last Saturday, Paul N1OTX was the fox, and hid in the Kennedy School parking lot in Brockton. Last Sunday the foxbox was out, in the Connolly School parking lot. Several members have been using some great homemade antennas, including John WQ1L, and Paul N1OTX. Paul was seen using a handmade cubical quad antenna with an attenuator.
A Foxhunt picnic will be held next Sunday, Sept 27th, at the Morton State Park in Plymouth. It starts at 9am on, and bring your own food and cooking equipment. Participants will include foxhunters and others from the Genesis, Mara, and Whitman clubs.
SCUTTLEBUTT
George N1XXR had his rig repaired by Yaesu. He sustained a lightning strike in his home which affected not only his radio equipment, but also several household appliances. The ham equipment was "protected" by a surge suppressor, which did not prevent the damage. George reported on how the smoke just rose from the radio when he turned it on. Yaesu did an excellent job on the repairs, and were very quick and helpful. A discussion took place among the members on the effectiveness of surge suppressors, cutoff switches, lightning arrestors, etc.
Joe N1FEE reports that he is still not on the air. His daughter recently moved, and the movers scattered his equipment to various parts of the cellar. Hopefully none of his equipment moved with his daughter. Joe also reports that he read an article in Spectrum magazine regarding the proposed changes in licensing requirements.
Jeff N1ZZN reported on his results using the G5RV antenna. It is working well on most frequencies, with a little trouble on 10 meters and 80 meters. Jeff is going to try putting together a 10 meter dipole. Also, Jeff has just recently upgraded to general class and is now active on HF.
Charlet N1VQZ has just recently passed the 20 wpm code and is working towards passing general theory.
ADJOURNMENT:
Ed N1NTZ made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:05 p.m., Jim W5IRW seconded the motion, the motion was approved and the meeting was adjourned.
WHITMAN AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
SECRETARY’S NOTES OF THE MEETING OF OCTOBER 19th, 1998
OPENING: The meeting was held at Quonset Hut on Pine Street in Whitman. Members started socialized outside before the meeting. Club Vice President, Chris N1WWI officially opened the meeting at 7:35 p.m.
ATTENDANCE: The total attendance was 13 and included 2 of the
elected officers and 3 members of the Board of Directors.
| Chris Tilden | N1WWI | Charlet Sherman | N1VQZ | |
| Tom Lehmann | N1ZZM | Bruce Beaman | K1HTN | |
| Ed Meehan | N1NTZ | Keith Lehmann | SWL | |
| Jeff Lehmann | N1ZZN | Bruce Hayden | NI1X | |
| Roy Logan | KB1CYV | Loren Pimentel | N1IQI | |
| Fred Roog | WA1LXP | George Davis | KC1FZ | |
| Bill Tracy | N1SON |
TREASURERS REPORT:
Jeff N1SOM was not available to read the treasurer’s report. Members will be updated at the next meeting.
HEALTH AND WELFARE
George KC1FZ reported that Joe N1FEE has been missing from recent meetings because he is under the weather. All the members wish him a speedy recovery.
NEW BUSINESS
Fred WA1LXP brought in the new Club Repeater’s license. Fred is listed on the license as the control operator of the repeater until the year 2008. It was noted that prior to this The Bruce NI1X held the title of control operator for 10 years, and before him it was Arnie KJ1X.
It was noted that tomorrow night, the MARA club will be holding a presentation on QSL card how to’s. There will also be several fox hunting beams on exhibit.
It was reported that on November 15th, there will be a ham fest at Cordage Park, on Rt. 3A in Plymouth. It will open to the public at 9:00 am.
OLD BUSINESS
The Plimoth Plantation special event station is coming along. Several members have seen the advertisements in various ham magazines. As a reminder, this event takes place at Plimoth Plantation the weekend after Thanksgiving, with antenna setup done on Friday, and stations operating Saturday and Sunday.
FOXHUNT UPDATE
The Bruce NI1X reported on last week’s foxhunt activities. Last week’s fox was Don K1DC, who was sitting off the road in a cornfield in South Bridgewater, using a battery powered radio. Bruce bumped into a bird watcher and borrowed his binoculars to look for the fox. The bird watcher ended up coming in 5th. Paul N1OTX came in first, and The Bruce NI1X was second.
Jeff N1ZZN made corrections to the prior minutes reporting of the MARA 444.55 repeater. The 440 machine will have a main link to 449.225 in North Providence, RI, which provides links to the rest of the network
Jeff N1ZZN reported on his participation in last weekend’s JOTA activities. He operated from The Salem, which was using the call W1BSA. Several groups of scouts came down, and they put them on the air. They operated using a dipole and a Yaesu FT840.
Chris N1WWI reported that Steve W1WSN is looking for a permanent location for his 440 repeater, possibly at one of the hospitals. He is working on the political side of the location now. The two of them have tightened his antenna connections, and cleared his swr problems.
The club Heathkit radio did not go to the Rochester flea market for sale, due to the weather conditions (very rainy). It will be held until the next opportunity presents itself.
Gil WA1DGJ has notified the area police departments of our foxhunting activities. Apparently there were a few calls to local departments regarding people pointing antennas at houses, etc. Gil hand delivered a letter explaining what we do, and that it is search and rescue training.
ANTENNA DEMO
The Bruce NI1X brought in a foxhunting Quad antenna designed by John WQ1L. He described how it was assembled and how to use it in the field. Ed N1NTZ showed his circular antenna which he uses on the handheld when close to the fox, and explained how to read the signal. When he gets even closer to the fox, Ed then switches to an L shaped paperclip for his final readings.
SCUTTLEBUTT
Bill N1FRE has his HF rig set up in Maine, and has made several contacts with local hams. A tentative schedule has been set on 10 meters, around 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday’s.
Bill N1SON reports that he has his 6 meter beam back up.
Jeff N1ZZN has returned the club’s G5RV antenna.
ADJOURNMENT:
Ed N1NTZ made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:16, the motion was approved and the meeting was adjourned.
WHITMAN AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
SECRETARY’S NOTES OF THE MEETING OF OCTOBER 5th, 1998
OPENING: The meeting was held at Quonset Hut on Pine Street in Whitman. Members started socialized outside before the meeting. Club Vice President, Chris N1WWI officially opened the meeting at 7:34 p.m. with the roll call. It was noted that several members of the latest class were in attendance as guests.
ATTENDANCE: The total attendance was 22 and included 3 of the
elected officers, 3 members of the Board of Directors, and several guests.
| Chris Tilden | N1WWI | Jeff Tracy | N1SOM | |
| Charlet Sherman | N1VQZ | Bruce Beaman | K1HTN | |
| John Murphy | N1TWI | Bill Tracy | N1SON | |
| Sara Rozecki | SWL | Walt Dolson | K1BZD | |
| Jonathan Rozecki | KB1DGK | Joe Rozecki | SWL | |
| Peter Rozecki | SWL | Gil Follett | WA1GDJ | |
| Loren Pimentel | N1IQI | Roy Logan | KB1CYV | |
| Tom Lehmann | N1ZZM | Jeff Lehmann | N1ZZN | |
| George Davis | KC1FZ | Bob Johnson | N1OFR | |
| Bernard Snow | N1OQW | John Coombs | WQ1L | |
| Bruce Hayden | NI1X | Frank Hayes | N1OGP |
Jeff N1SOM read the treasurer’s report for the month of September. As of September 1st, 1998, the club had a beginning balance of $XXX.XX, income of $XXX.XX, expenses of $XXX.XX, leaving an ending balance of $XXX.XX as of September 30th. Walt K1BZD made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report as read, the motion was seconded by The Bruce NI1X, and approved.
CONGRADULATIONS..
Were given to Jeff N1SOM on his recent marriage. Tonight’s handouts included photographs from the wedding.
NEW BUSINESS
Chris N1WWI brought up that there was a Heathkit HW101 available which was donated to the club by Mike Emonds. Paul N1VTI has offered to sell the radio at Rochester this coming weekend for the club. Bob WA1OFR brought up that it might be feasible to use the radio for a club station in the Quonset hut. A discussion went on about how a station in the clubhouse has, or has not, worked out in the past, the availability of other radio equipment for such use, etc. The end result was that the radio was to be offered for sale for $300, with $200 being the lowest price to be accepted on a sale. John WQ1L made the motion to do so, Tom N1ZZM seconded the motion, and the motion was approved.
FOXHUNT UPDATE
The Bruce NI1X reported on last week’s foxhunt activities. the fox, Arnie KB1CKJ was hiding in the Plymouth Registry parking lot, in the industrial park off of Route 3. There were quite a few hunters touring Kingston center in the morning. Paul N1OTX found the fox fair and square, the rest of the hunters were pretty much walked in. The Bruce NI1X explained a bit about what goes on during the foxhunts for the guests. The fox transmits on 146.565 simplex, and hunters usually talk on 147.18, the Mara repeater. Gil WA1GDJ was tied up over the weekend, so he missed the foxhunt and did not get the foxbox out on Sunday. He should be back in the action this coming weekend. There will be a foxhunt on Saturday, despite the Rochester ham fest.
This weekend, Friday Oct 9th and Sat Oct 10th is the Hosstraders hamfest in Rochester, NH. The rates are $10 on Friday before 3:00, and drop to $5 after 3:00, and all day Saturday. The vendors pretty much operate all night, many are in lighted buildings.
Jeff N1ZZN reported on changes to the Cape Cod Traffic Nets. The club lost their repeater location, so the nets are currently being run off of the Plymouth repeater, Every night at 7:30 pm, on 146.685.
George KC1FZ gave a report on this past weekend’s Incident Command Training, which took place in Bridgewater. The session was run by a former State Police Officer. The majority of the session covered the chain of command of the different agencies involved during an incident, i.e. the police, fire, highway departments. Apparently these agencies communicate on different bands, and there is a problem getting them to communicate with each other, and cooperate, both within a town, and between towns. Basically George felt he left totally confused on what an amateur radio operator’s role would be. He did get that we are not to handle their radios. RACES does not exist in half of the local towns, due to the difficulty in dealing with the towns, and having the person approved as the town’s races operator.
John N1TWI reported that he will be starting a new class at the hospital, and is looking for a back up person. Due to family commitments, he may need to miss a class or two. The class will run for 10 weeks, on Thursday nights, from 6:30 to 8.00 p.m. If you can help out, let John know.
The Bruce NI1X brought the new packet station in. This one is running on a tnc donated by Gil WA1DGJ, radio donated by The Bruce NI1X, and computer donated by Charlet N1VQZ. It is available for show and tell or try before you buy. The station will be on for the club mailbox, and links to the Whitman Node.
NET CONTROLS
Walt K1BZD reported that for the month of September, the Sunday morning nets had a total check of 64, with 10 messages. The net controls for the month of October are:
October 5 Charlet N1VQZ
October 11 Chris N1WWI
October 18 The Bruce NI1X
October 25 Jeff N1ZZN
There will be 5 Sundays in November, and running the nets are a great way for new members to become familiar with other members and sharpen their radio skills.
SCUTTLEBUTT
Jeff N1ZZN informed all that the MARA club plans to have the 440 machine running shortly, linked with 53.91 in Fall River (6 meters). The frequency will be 444.55, with an 88.5 pl.
It was reported that Bill N1FRE has found an apartment in Maine for the duration of his work assignment, and will be setting up his radios. Hopefully a schedule could be set up to contact Bill over the radio on a regular basis.
Bruce K1HTN noticed during his trip to NH that Mount Washington already has a snow cover.
ADJOURNMENT:
Walt K1BZD made a motion to adjourn the meeting., Bob WA1OFR seconded the motion, the motion was approved and the meeting was adjourned.
Jeff, N1SOM, our treasurer and newsletter editor, recently tied the knot. Here are some pictures of the happy couple. Congratulations to Jeff and his bride.
Looking for backup to teach Novice Class at the Mass Hospital School in Canton. The class meets Thursday nights from 6:30 to 8:00 PM. If you are interested in helping out please contact John Murphy N1TWI at (781) 828-0920 or ballygar@yahoo.com.
The SEMARA, Southeast Massachusetts Amateur Radio Association, Inc. is putting on a no code tech class that will run from January 1999 through April of 1999.
The course of instruction will prepare the student for the no-code Technician class amateur radio license following the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) study guide Now You’re Talking!. Students must have a copy of the study guide (available at Radio Shack stores for about $18.00). There will be a $5.00 fee for the class, or for $20.00 you can sign up for the class and also receive the study guide. At the conclusion of the classes, testing for the no-code Technician Class amateur radio license will be administered. All classes and testing will be conducted at the SEMARA clubhouse, 54 Donald Street, in South Dartmouth, MA. The clubhouse is easy to get to-from the corner of Rockdale and Dartmouth Street in New Bedford head south on Dartmouth Street. Take your first right onto West Bliss Street. The SEMARA Clubhouse will be on your left, look for the radio tower and antennas. For information or to register contact:: Brad Anselmo at (508) 991-5466 or by e-mail at n1vuf@amsat.org…. or write to Southeastern Massachusetts Amateur Radio Association Inc.: 54 Donald Street; South Dartmouth, MA. 02748-1902.
The Whitman Amateur Radio Club will have a No-code Technician license course. It will be held at Stoughton High School and run from January to April 1999. Students must have the ARRL book Now You’re Talking. VE exams (given by Massoit Amateur Radio Association (MARA) at the end of the class. Classes are now currently going on, VE testing will be on Tuesday December 8th at the last class. More information will be given in the next newsletter.
80-foot aluminum tower, 8 10-foot sections $200.00 or BO. Radio Shack HTX2 meter mobile transceiver $150.00. Contact Charlet N1VQZ 508-947-2176.
MONTEREY, CA. Oct 30, 1998---PANSAT, the Petite Amateur Navy Satellite, was launched today from the space shuttle Discovery. The 150-pound satellite carries a spread-spectrum communication package fabricated by student officers and faculty members at the Navel Postgraduate School here as an educational project and a means demonstrating spread-spectrum communication. It was originally scheduled to be launched two years ago from the space shuttle. It was launched from Discovery as part of the third International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker (IEH-3) experiment.
The NPS says the spacecraft will provide store-and-forward digital packet communication using direct-sequence spread-spectrum modulation with a center frequency of 436.5 MHz, a bit rate of 9842 bps and 9MB of message storage. According to the NPS Web site, "Amateur Radio ground stations will be able to utilize PANSAT via a bulletin-board type user interface."
PANSAT has 18 body-mounted solar panels and 4 monopole antennas that provide omnidirectional coverage, so it does not need an attitude-control system. It was expected to achieve a low-Earth orbit (300 nautical miles) with an orbital plane of 28.45. The satellite is expected to have a lifetime of up to six years.
According to the PANSAT Web site, the pseudo-noise (PN) code used for spreading is one of the already approved codes for Amateur Radio spread spectrum, using a 7-bit shift register with taps at 7 and 1; and one sequence length per bit of information. Details on specifications needed to communicate via PANSAT are not yet available.
For more information, visit the official PANSAT Web site or see http://131.120.25.103/pansat/danspans/dspansat.html.
---ARRL
QRA---What is the name of your station?
QRB---How far approximately are you from my station?
QRK---What is the legibility of my signals (1 to 5)?
QRL---Are you busy?
QRM---Are you being interfered with?
QRQ---Shall I send faster?
QRU---Have you anything for me?
QSL---Can you give me acknowledgement of receipt?
QTB---Do you agree with my number of words?
QTC---How many telegrams have you to send?
QTF---Will you give me the position of my station according to the bearings taken by the direction-finding stations which you control?
QTH---What is your position in latitude and longitude (or by any other way of showing it)?
QTO---Have you left dock (or port)?
QTU---What are the hours during your station is open?
QUJ---Will you indicate the true course for me to follow, with no wind, to make for you?
QUM---Is the distress traffic ended?
---courtesy of Leon Tzizik
Pictured:
Front row: John Logan N1ZZP
Middle row: Keith Lehmann SWL; Jason Anderson SWL; Jeff Lehmann N1ZZN; Chris Tilden N1WWI; John Coombs WQ1L; Charlet Sherman N1VQZ
Back row: Bruce Hayden NI1X; Paul Anderson N1OTX;Tom Lehmann N1ZZM; Paul Burbine N1VTI; Mike Marinucci N1FRV; Arnie Stenborg KB1CKJ; Ray Wall N1KXJ; Doug Wall SWL; Aaron Wall SWL; Roy Logan KB1CYV
Not shown; Don Tanguary N1BVZ
Special event station at Plimouth Plantation in Plymouth. Antenna party (set up) Friday November 27th . We will be operating on November 28th and 29h. New members are encouraged to join us on that weekend to get a taste of HF operating, maybe inspiring some to get an upgrade. It is great time enjoyed by all. So join us on Thanksgiving weekend.