It looks like most of the elected officers will be away for this meeting, please someone take some notes and send them along to the KARC News.
Remember, you can not win the prizes, contribute your special ideas and catch up on the latest from your ham radio friends if you do not attend. REMINDER- If you have email and did not get a message announcing that this issue was ready to read on-line, please send our request to be added to the KARC EMAIL LIST, you will get important notifications inbetween issues of KARC News.Thanks, Editor-
The gist of the presentation was that antennas have no gain, they have patterns. With caution and planning the computer models are currently the best tools we have for predicting an antenna's pattern in a more specific environment than available from antenna book examples. Since few of us have an antenna test range for a backyard and fewer can mount antennas high and clear of nearby objects as the books and theory suggests.
Thanks to Mike for sharing his expertise, and giving a talk at the meeting. If you have a topic you would like to share, radio or non-radio, please get in touch with Al Kaopuiki, AH6PT, akaopuiki@hawaii.rr.com our KARC Program Chairman. Thanks to Len, KH6NFN, for the photo for this article from his new camera!
Contact Walt, AH6OZ, 263-3872, walt@hawaii.edu to sign-up for any of the many committees to make the Hamfest 2000 a larger success that last year! More information and progress reports at the MAY Meeting. Review the MARCH minutes on this topic too.
KARC Field Day will be June 23-25, 2000, at Ho'omaluhia, probably the same camp site as in the past. The exits were blocked to the meeting room, and Jerry M. again volunteered to again be the Field Day Chairman.
KARC Ham Fest 2000 was discussed. Chair will be Walt N. and a signup sheet as passed around for volunteers to help in the various committees. Primary date is October 14, 2000 and secondary date as October 7, 2000. Shep W. volunteered to look into the Pearl Harbor Yacht Club for the location. It was reported that KARC did host a swap meet approximately 10 years ago at this same location. It was very successful. Hopefully we can get this site again. Seems to be a great location.
Show and Tell: Daniel McNece (KE6TKQ) passed around his Elecraft Transceiver Model K2. It was his second kit he has put together and I believe it took him approximately 30 hours to put together.
Guest speaker was our very own, Mike Burger (AH7R) who gave an interesting presentation on antenna and antenna mathematical modeling.
Next month guest speaker might be Kenn Hoppe who will talk about repeaters.
Mahalo & 73, Clem
Richard LaChance's repeater 147.240 (+) is being relocated from his home in Enchanted Lake, Kailua, to top of the commercial site on top of Wiliwilinui (the owner gave KARC a presentation about a year and a half ago that there is a ham repeater site reserve for a ham repeater). It should be operational (we hope) by Tuesday, 3/28/00. It will have great range covering majority of Oahu, except Waianae and North Shore. We are sure, Kauai, Molokai, Lanai, part of Maui, and probably Kona will be able to hit this repeater once the power amp of 100 watts is installed.
Another note on interest. The KARA repeater, 145.150(-) is now operating with a new Motorola repeater at high power (50 watts) on top of the tallest building in Kailua. It is now linked with the 444.825(+), p/l tone 103.5. the UHF repeater belongs to Roy, KH6HKL, and is located on Wilhelmina Rise. The 145.150 propagation range on Oahu is now increased from Hawaii Kai to Punchbowl area and parts of the Airport (waiting for Ewa/Barbars Point for propagation reports), besides Windward Oahu (to use the UHF link wait for two courtesy tones before transmitting). You only need 5 watts on a mobile to access the 444.825 repeater and the talk to any ham on the Windward side. Both repeaters are open repeaters and at times Roy will have the UHF side on I Phone so that one can talk with another ham on the Mainland via the internet using either 145.150 or 444.825 repeaters. All hams are invited to use the repeaters.
The 444.425(+) is now operational at 45 watts after being shut down a while. It is located with the 145.150 repeater using the same dual band antenna as the 145.150. Range is on the Windward Oahu and some parts of Honolulu.
John, K1ER, reports that the HARC KH6WO repeater is back on the air. A New unit, vastly improved, intermod rejection is much improved. Listen on 146.18/78 and hear the difference!
Last year,in Kailua KARC had a booth with a working HF and 2m Amateur Radio Station along with ARRL/KARC hand-outs, a Video Slide-Show of KARC activites and even a Satellite Tracking Display on a computer screen. KARC President Walt, AH6OZ, even installed an R5 Vertical to a STOP Sign for support. These opportunities for community exposure are important, Greg WB6FZH said that he spent some time talking to a man in a Police Uniform about Ham Radio. Turned out that he is a wheel in HPD, Greg had done Police Work in N.CA, but usually found the Police more interested in catching bad guys and eating donuts and usually had to do an end run through a city council to get any emergency communications projects considered. It is sure that KARC's presence had a positive effect on the community last year. Lets each do our part when we can.
Crime prevention specialist "McGruff" will be speaking at around 12 noon. With safety and security tips for all. The Oahu Civil Defense folks will also have a booth on Tsunami, since April is Tsuname awareness month.
KARC member, Richard LaChance, will also have a booth demonstrating Family Radio Service (FRS) and Amateur Radio equipment. Everyone is welcome to attend this annual event, stop by after the club meeting!
You might consider picking up a brochure that lists crime prevention tips. It is probably time that you walked around your home from the outside and noticed how easy it may or may not be to gain entrance, and when inside how easy it might be to remove your computer, radio, jewelry, cash, or other items in a matter of minutes, perhaps during a lunch break from school. Some basic Crime prevention tips will be in a future issue of KARC News if enough articles are not contributed by you all to fill up an issue with radio related stories.
The current projects include working on an iterim radio room layout, antenna and cable run planning. The present goal is to set-up an Amateur Radio Station on the ship, and operate during special events, contests and the like with guest and casual operation in the future.
The long-term goals is to help to restore and create the military radio and electronic equipment of an era that the Missouri was actively serving our country in. Because of the speed of restoration and availiable space for such an activity the project will move slowly. You are invited to contact Ned and see if it is something you would like to participate in. KARC News will have follow-up articles on this interesting group.
Income for this month also includes a member's donation from sale of excess ham radio items.Editor- KARC can always use your donations, remembrance in your will, and items for raffle!
FLASH!- Rumor has it Len passed his Element 4B at AH6HH's KARC Affiliated W5YI Testing Program after the MARCH KARC meeting, Thanks to Sid and the team of Testing VEs! Congratulations Len!
Thanks to Len, KH6NFN, Howard, WH6CLZ, Jerry, WH6BKQ and others who have been sheparding the printing until a new printer is selected. Thanks to those that are now checking the various instant printers for estimates to keep KARC News arriving in your mailbox. A special thanks to Chuck Issacson of Postal Connection USA that was located near Longs in the Windward City Mall for all he did for us.
It is his desire to continue with writing KARC News, and uploading it as he has the last 9 months from California. He hopes to continue to be a part of KARC as long as he can. However, if someone wishes to take over editing the online-print Newsletter he would understand that it is desiriable to have someone who is actually in Hawaii doing it. He will be resigning shortly from the KARC Board of Directors to make room for someone new that can attend meetings.
Greg said he was very thankful for the opportunity to have held all the KARC offices, and credits the help of those he termed the "KARC Faithful", the long-term members that encouraged him to help make sure the club not only survived but increased in membership and meeting attendance at a time when nation wide many clubs with similar situations are disbanding or merging. FZH was quick to point out if those members had not kept the club together through the years, it would not have been here for us all to enjoy today.
FZH says the combination of the impending disolution of his marriage, the battle to keep his small CA Alarm business going and some recent health concerns have made these last several months challenging. Greg he said that Ham Radio friends near and far had been helpful in boosting his spirits.
While present circumstances keep on-air time minimal, a couple hours in some recent DX contests were particularly rewarding. If you can imagine Greg speechless... he said he did not know what to make of a few comments during the heat of the recent contests when hams on 4 continents wondered where he had been..and where was the /KH6 in his callsign?
He said one KH6 Contest Station operator said it all.."Hey, aren't you supposed to be over here?"...(Silently, he answered.. yes..)
Greenwood said that he hopes to attend a KARC Field Day Weekend in a couple of years if all goes well. If you have ever visited his website, there are some pictures of the area and his radio station there along with the KH6 activities here.
Greg is staying in an 1840s Gold Rush Town he had hoped to retire to while he re-groups. A town of 3,000 at 2400' elevation in a large Northern California county populated by less than 15,000 folks. Snow-capped mountains of 5-6,000 feet are above, with trout and salmon in nearby rivers and lakes.
Greg said that he would very much would have liked to have said good-bye personally to you all, but the circumstances of his departure made that impossible.
One of the interesting learning experiences that any Amateur Radio Operator can have is to under average to good conditions, make some tests at various levels of output power levels. You can do this across town or across the world. You will be amazed! The key factor in this dramatic demonstration is a clear frequency. Without alot of QRM and atmospheric conditions, you will be amazed how clearly you can be heard at low power.
In previous QRP Columns I have championed the use of QRP power levels in contests for fun or a learning experience, there with persistance, you will be amazed at who hears you where. You can take advantage of the enthusiasm of the contesters to pull your signal through, but you must be persistant!
I can remember calling and calling a station on 20 Meter SSB, watching the QRP wattmeter peak to about a watt and a half by eye, knowing I was probably close to 3 or 4 watts output based on tone measurements, etc. I even was leafing through a magazine as I called, like some robot, saying one thing, doing another, and when the pile up finally seemed to be less intense the DX station caught me totally off-guard by actually answering me from Ascension Island ZD8...I mentioned the /QRP when giving his contest exchange and we traded actual signal reports as the world stood by with their 2KW Amplifiers, Beams, and towers while 3,000 milliwats headed for 100' of 9913 coax to a Butternut Vertical at the edge of Kaneohe Bay, half a world away from Africa.
I mention this not to show what I have done, it is to show you what you can do! I have had alot of fun using WW2 radio Gear, Hombrew Tube and Transistor projects, QRP from 50mw to 5 watts, for the last 37 years. I have used various antennas from lousy to great, but persistance will make the the difference. These days you do not have to use a 60 year-old semi-automatic "Bug" key that bounces a spring contact with your thumb for "dits" and closure made by your index finger for a "dah's" at any length you wish so you can develop a "fist" that is recognizable to radio pals as they tune across your signal if you like, but it is something I like to do. You also can key a radio with a modern PIC programmed computer microprossesor automatically or other chips that provides code so perfect that it is hard to tell if any human being is involved at all with the code sending process, I do that as well.
I think the important thing is to keep trying different things, there are many aspects of Ham Radio for you to discover or re-discover again. Give QRP a try, If it does not work out, lie to someone and tell them about the super DX QSO you had with 2 watts powered by a small solar panel, and some #24 plastic covered wire in a Coconut Palm in your yard. Inspire others, suprise yourself, you will never know unless you try! 72- Greg WB6FZH
Please send your QRP experiences and stories to KARC NEWS!
MEMBERSHIP CHAIRMAN- Jerry Mulherin, WH6BKQ, 235-3042,
email:jerham@aloha.net
MAILING ADDRESS- KARC c/o J.Mulherin, 45-145 Mikihilina St., Kaneohe, HI 96744
KARC WEBSITE & INTERNET INFORMATION