NEXT MEETING: January 9, 1998 at 0930 at Ho`omaluhia Park Visitor's Center- Be there! Our January Guest Speaker will be anounced in the January Newsletter, rumors range from an Exotic Dancer, famous author or a computer technician.
At the Next Meeting the Exchange Box full of magazines, catalogs, parts and books will be there. Come and take some of these magazines and items home or donate some for others. "Show and Tell" needs you to bring something from your shack to show those attending, while you tell about it. Remember, you can not win the prizes, contribute your special ideas and catch up on the latest from your ham friends if you do not attend.
Walt, AH6OZ, will bring the coffee, and Greg, WB6FZH, the donuts. See you there!
Treasurer's Report: Balance 9/30/98, Income= $94.52, Expenses= $00.00, Balance 10/31/98= $482.89
New and old faces were at the meeting, it was good to see some folks that have not been able to come for a while. We also had several new visitors, some of whom were interested in joining the club.
Mike Wiley, WH6CSB, ARRL ARES Oahu VOAD and KH6AB, Charlie Lum Kee, from HEALTHCOMM were in attendance. Gus MacFeeley, NH7J(former-AH6DR), Linsey, K4LRB, WH6CVZ, Albert Kaopuiki, Eddie Boswell(no call) and AH6MS, Lloyd Yamase were some of the new and returning attendees.
Clem Jung, KH7HO, reminded KARC members that the Crime Prevention Group that he works with is still looking for volunteers for patrol duty. It is not a contact enforcement group, just the eyes and ears for the Police.
Rolly Jones brought the donuts and was added to the 1999 potential speakers list. Thanks for the Donuts Rolly!
Greg, WB6FZH, reports that the 3 band HF transceiver donated has a severe drift problem and is not useable as is. The unit is not worth spending any time on to correct the problem. The consensus of those present is that it should be sold to highest bidder for parts. It will be listed for bids until the January Meeting where it will be sold.
A suggestion to contact HPD for tour of 911 facililty by KARC members will be followed-up on for a 1999 lunch and tour outing.
Our speaker was Alan Lloyd who gave a great slide show and talk about the U.S. Navy vessels he has visited as a member of the Navy League of the US here in Hawaiian waters. The USS Missouri was on of the ships highlighted. A very informational talk on the vessels, their capabilities and the fine men and women that serve in the Navy and Marines.
KARC President, Greg, WB6FZH asked the members of the KARC BOD to review tax status of the Club. This would be helpful for future donations to the club.
There was no interest in a Holiday Project this year. It was suggested that members consider bringing a "Toy for Tots" to the November 1999 Meeting.
The stellar prizes this meeting were provided by the mystery donor again. A 1940s 1625 tube (12 type 807), tools, tool box and keyring were all won by guests and members.
Please contact Greg, WB6FZH, with your additions or corrections to the minutes.
The Military Affiliate Radio System has been serving our country and it's armed forces for many years. It's purpose is to relay morale message traffic to service members far from home. You may be familiar with the "Phone Patches" that connected a service person with their family from the field via MARS radio sysem to a members home or a military station via the telephone. In Hawaii the Navy-Marine Corps, Army, and Air Force have their individual programs and a cooperative program. As a member you stay up on procedures and participate in networks that are on frequencies near and removed from the amateur bands. The idea is to keep your skills and equipment in readiness for disaster or support of the armed forces or FEMA. If you are interested in finding out more about ARMY MARS contact....
Howard, WH6CLV, has a new web page, it's URL is... http://members.tripod.com/howardandrus/
WB6FZH confered with World Radio Magazine by email and they said they mailed the subscription cards we use as prizes at the meeting to the wrong address. New cards arrived at Jerry, WH6BKQ's KARC club address last week. You will have a chance to win one in January.
KARC Members with email addresses on file with the KARC NEWS were emailed a bonus this month. The times that the new Sputnik tossed out of the door of MIR Space Station would be heard were made availiable. A chart with dates and times was posted as a separate page at the KARC Website. The page URL and a computer file were sent so anyone with a 2 meter fm radio could hear the digital voices. The little satellite had no solar panels, so it sent it's 200mw 145.815 fm voice signal out until the battery went dead 12/10/98. No special antennas or equipment was reqired to hear this special event. If you would like to be notified of similar information that is between issues, KARC Membersmay send their Name, Call and email address to Greg, WB6FZH/KH6 at greg6fzh@aol.com today.
DECEMBER- RAC Winter Contest
JANUARY- NA QSO PARTIES
In an effort to find times and frequencies more convenient to the members there is now a 2nd Windward Net. It is Wednesdays at 8:00 PM on 145.150 (-600).
Members that need help with their VCRs to record favorite TV programs at that time are refered to their respective instruction booklets. Come by and visit, see where your signal is heard and participate in some of the fun and learn net participation for operating skills. the Net is sponsored by the Kailua Amateur Radio Association the sponsor of the 145.15 machine.
KARC Board Member, Sid, AH6HH and his team will be testing immediately after the KARC meeting. Testing Period: 11:30AM to 2:30PM. Contact Sid at 261-7916 for further information.
FOR SALE: DONATED KARC RADIO EQUIPMENT- ADEN 103- Transistor SSB/CW XCVR (80/40/20) Needs Work! (VFO drifts) Minimum Bid $10.00 Information- Radio tested 10/98 RF output & RX works..but VFO needs stabilization. 12dc power supply required, No Diagram. This radio was donated to the club, but is not in good enough shape to use as a loaner. Minimum Bid $10.00(WB6FZH) Send your offer to Greg, WB6FZH by mail, phone or e-mail. Sale to be completed at January meeting the money goes to club. The radio will be there for your inspection.
FOR SALE- WB6FZH, Greg- 236-4449
In 1999 it would be great to have a Special Event Station set up and have an announcement in the Ham Magazines, with a certificate and/or QSL printed for the event. Perhaps even sponsor an award, it could be made self-sufficient with SASE for QSL and SASE & $1.00 to cover certificate, or we could find a sponsor,etc.
Does anyone have any interest in any of these ideas? Perhaps we could form a group, or appoint a chairman to report back on a working group's ideas,etc. The Koolaus would make a great backdrop for the QSL or Certificate!
Frequencies, Networks, Repeaters, Simplex Area Frequencies, MARS, RACES, ARES, Civil Defense, Public Safety, CB and other Communications will be addressed in this new section as a resource with links to other sources of Emergency Communications Information. Look for it in December.
Recently Utilized Emergency Frequencies(1st Draft)
Perhaps some consideration should be given to requesting Tom's call KH6OS for the KARC club callsign if there are no family members that wish to obtain it. It is nice to have a 2 letter call, and it is good for CW and Voice. KH6OS has been the traditional callsign at KARC Field Days, and perhaps we should carry his call into the year 2000. Presently, KH6J is the present KARC callsign with Joe Keola as trustee. Please let WB6FZH or any of the club officers know your thoughts on this, and we can discuss it at the January meeting.
MIR Space Station will be testing Slow Scan TV transmissions soon. The exact frequency and mode compatibility will be on the LATEST NEWS section of the KARC Website when availiable. If you do not have the internet, but would like information emailed when available, contact Greg,WB6FZH. MIR's R0MIR-1 1200 AX25 packet is still in use, listen for the beacon.
KARC Member NH6VB, Peter, is contacting stations all over the world on AO-10 satellite currently, while it is in a good position and functioning well. Sid, AH6HH, is making Western North American hams happy with contacts on AO-27 satellite as it goes by each morning. Fred, KH6BI reports hearing the "little Sputnik" on 2meters as it went by.
Satellite Times magazine has ceased publication and will revert to it's earlier configuration as part of Monitoring Times Magazine from Grove Publications. This is a great magazine for SW, AM, Lowfer, Satellite, Monitoring and much more.
December 5th & 6th was the ARRL 160 Meter Contest. This year I fired up the 1944 WW2 Navy radio equipment powered by a homebrew AC power supply.
The Collins TCS-12 Transmitter was set at 5 watts output on the 1.8 mc, and the National HRO-W Receiver plug-in coil drawer covering 900kc to 2mc calibration was checked and away I went.
The band was full of signals, KH6CC over on the Big Island was there as usual, I heard Jack in the late afternoon working stations on the Mainland. I called him, but my low power needed more favorable conditions. As the grayline edged to Hawaii I heard more stations, but conditions were not all that great, with no really strong signals. I waited for strong signals that never came, calling the many with no results throughout the evening. I went into a monitoring mode, working on the desk full of papers and listening to a few kilocycles of the band all at one time (due to the wide bandwidth of the 1930s receiver technology).
The next night I continued my quest for what I have previously in this column called "miracle contacts". Well, I decided to call KH7R up at Northshore that was working stations like the "Energizer Bunny", all the time. I called them when their signal strength came up at my location, and made contact #1. Later that Saturday evening, I heard KL7Y, in Alaska, he was not very strong, but I thought that is the nearest landfall, give it a try. After a few calls, I heard "/?", the rest is history, a brief exchange of information with KL7Y pulling my signal out of the noise(QSO#2). Then, I heard a strong signal, but did not get it tuned in quickly, and it was gone... I waited...It was John,KH6U, in Kailua!, we exchanged contest info, and had a brief QSO (John turned his 200W down to 10 or so)-QSO#3.
I tuned the big mechanical marvel "PT" dial to the corresponding reading for 1530kc, and listened for the Sacramento,CA AM station, KFBK. It was there, but not very strong. I figured if 50,000 watts was not doing all that well coming to Hawaii, perhaps 5watts would not do all that well to the West coast either...
I tried to call many other stations through the evening, but no luck. I removed the WW2 era heaphones I was using to not wake the XYL, and marveled at the soft rubber and the leather headband buit 50+ years ago. Then I unclamped my J-37 leg key, rubbing the area to restore circulation, and thought about how many times the keying relay inside the TCS transmitter must have been pulled closed with a clunking sound through the years, and is still working fine.
At 2 AM, based on previous years of experience, I decided to call it a night and for this year's effort. I filled out the contest entry form, made a duplicate log page, and turned out the radio that glows in the dark.