December 2000 President's Message We are again fast approaching the Holiday Season. I would like to express my thanks to all the club members, club committee members, and club officers. Your collective efforts are what make Warminster Amateur Radio Club successful and I am thankful I am able to be a member of such a great club. If you have been monitoring our 147.09 repeater, you may have noticed a different courtesy tone, and voice announcements. Yes, the new repeater controller is up and running. This is the first of several upgrades planned for the ".09" machine. The enhanced capabilities will benefit all members who use the repeater. Special thanks goes out to members of the repeater committee and all who helped with this project including: George, N3HBT, Mark, N3GNW, Brian, N3EXA, and Tom, KA3FQS. Our elected secretary, Ron, NY3J, has made a request to step down from that office due work responsibilities. Jack, W3NTD, has volunteered to take on the duties. Election of a new secretary will take place at the January meeting along with the election of two directors whose term has expired. The December meeting will of course be our annual member Holiday Dinner social. Mark, N3GNW and Burt, N3YVH have planned a nice social evening without a formal program. Fred, WA3KIO, will provide music. The meal has been planned and organized by Berni, N3RJD and Doug, N3RJE and should again prove to be excellent! In closing, I would like to wish you all a joyous Holiday Season with best wishes for the New Year! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at the WARC Holiday Dinner. 73' Rocky, N3FKR December Meeting Program Annual WARC Holiday Dinner It is hard to believe that a year has gone by already and it is time for another Holiday Dinner. They are always a lot of fun with great food and especially great friends. It is also a chance for us to remember those members who are no longer with us. The 2000 WARC Holiday Dinner will be the main focus of our meeting on Thursday, December 7. But please remember that this meeting starts one hour earlier than usual, 6:30 PM. This will allow us to spend that extra time with all of our friends and still get home at a decent hour. Bert N3YVH has acquired a number of very nice door prizes. And once again this year, we will be collecting non-perishable food items for donation to a local food bank to help those less fortunate than ourselves. A hearty thanks in advance to Doug, Bernie and Bert for putting in that extra effort to make this a great evening. I hope to see all of you there. January brings us not only a new year (and arguably the start of a new millennium) but also the ARRL's January VHF Sweepstakes. This is one of two contests that the club pools the talents of its members to submit a club score. To help prepare us for this effort Brian N3EXA will be giving a talk about VHF contesting including strategies for the small VHF/UHF station that many of us have. Brian is an avid contester and a member of the Packrats. While we may never beat them in a VHF contest, concentrated participation from our membership will help the scores of both of our clubs. Finally, February will be our annual auction with Tom WA3TQJ as our esteemed auctioneer. The auction gives you a chance to clean out those items you no longer need and donate to the club for sale. The bidding wars on some items can be truly vicious. But watch out, even if you sit on your hands, Tom may just have to declare you the winner of an item. I look forward to seeing you at all of these meetings and until then; 73, Mark N3GNW Warminster Amateur Radio Club November 2, 2000 General Meeting Minutes Meeting called to order at 1742 by Rocky N3FKR. President's Report - Rocky N3FKR Tonight is ARRL night. Congratulations to Rich N3HSV as our Feedback editor for the past 4 ½ years. Jim WA4YWM is our new editor. Our Secretary Rom NY3J is not able to fulfill the requirements of the office due to work commitments. If you are interested in accepting an appointment from the Board to complete his term please see Rocky or any other member of the Board. Elections in January are coming for the two elected director positions. Mike W3MJP is heading the nominations committee. If you are interested in running for one of these director positions, please contact Mike. Introductions were bypassed this evening. We do have two visitors: Russ KB3FMY who is new to amateur radio and Chris N3XPW who is a returning member. The annual Thanksgiving Turkey Trot road race has been cancelled this year. Instead bring a non-perishable food item to the club's Holiday Dinner. Certificates for participation in the 5 Ponds Golf Outing were handed out. Vice President's Report - Mark N3GNW Kay Craigie WT3P, Vice President of the ARRL, will be letting us know what is going on in amateur radio from the ARRL's perspective. December is our annual holiday dinner. Bert N3YVH will be Master of Ceremonies. Doug and Bernie are collecting reservations. This meeting starts at 6:30 PM instead of our usual time of 7:30 PM. I am attempting to have someone from the Packrats speak to us at the January meeting about VHF contesting in preparation for our annual entry in the January VHF Sweepstakes. February will be our annual club auction with Tom WA3TQJ as auctioneer. Please bring your surplus items for sale. All proceeds from the sales are donated to the club. Secretary - Stu K2QBU Stu is filling in for Ron NY3J this evening. Treasurer's Report - John N3ZMJ John presented the club's current finances. Membership - Burt N3YVH Before Chris N3XPW signed up we have 144 active members, 57 inactive and 3 renewals this evening. Active membership is required to receive the club membership price for dinner. Classes - George KA3WXV Two new classes start January 8 will be a General class and the second Monday in March will start another No-Code Technician class. Adopt-a-Highway - Hugh N3SOQ The new clean-up date is November 4. Meet 8:00 Am at Warminster Diner for breakfast and at 9:00 AM at Wal-Mart for the clean up. Sunday is the rain date. Repeater - George N3HBT Have not received any feedback from Brian N3EXA as to when the new controller will be ready for installation. When it is ready it will be hooked up. Public Service - George N3HBT Warminster Craven Hall Run on Saturday, November 11. Meet at the District Justice office behind Craven Hall at 9:00 AM. Pennsylvania QSO Party - Marty NR3Z Everyone who participated had a great time. Look forward to seeing you in the contest next year. Nominations Committee - Mike W3MJP Need helpers on the committee. In January we will have elections for two board positions. In summer we will be looking for officers for next year. If you want to be on the committee, see Mike. ARRL/RACES - Mike W3MJP & Bob KA3VKU Meetings with Emergency Management Office were cancelled. They want a scaled down emergency drill on November 19. No word yet. There will be a program at Willow Grove next Thursday evening on domestic terrorism. Must be a member of ARES/RACES to get in the course. No planned events for the rest of November through January. Skywarn training probably will be held in March or April. National Weather Service is having meteorology course November at the Mt. Holly office. Holiday Dinner - Doug, Bernie & Burt N3YVH Our annual holiday dinner will be at the next meeting. There will be plenty of good food. Anyone who wants to go needs to send in an application with a check. Bert has has obtained several great door prizes; two $100 gift certificates for dinner at The Inn on Blueberry Hill, two VCR's and other prizes. We will also have our Silent Key plaque updated. Fred Rice WA3KIO will be our DJ. Please bring a non-perishable item for donation to a local food bank. Old Business - Rocky N3FKR Al WI3Z won the contest for the new QSL card design. New Business - Rocky N3FKR If you look at page 7 of Feedback you we will see a large number of people who take an active role in making this club work. Lets have a round of applause for these people. Tom WA3TQJ made a motion to adjourn at 2014. Respectfully submitted, Stu Simon K2QBU Craven Hall Run On Saturday, November 11, the following members of the WARC participated in the Craven Hall 5K run: Stu K2QBU, Hugh N3SOQ, Rich KC2EFA, Mark N3GNW, Bill K3MFI, Denise KB3ANO, Paul N3MXT, Tony N3YNH, Doc W3GAD, Gail N6LUL, Horace K3KT, Don N3RAH, Bob KA3TSJ. The weather was cool and windy, but the 3 dozen runners and 1 walker completed the course in under an hour without incident. I want to thank all of the club members who helped make the event go off without any problems. The race organizers were very appreciative of our efforts. 73 George N3HBT I would like to thank the following people for making our adopt-a-highway clean up a huge success on November 4th. George N3HBT Elaine N3TMP Rocky N3FKR Alan KA3YCG Russell Edwards Mark N3GMP Randy N3LJE Frank KA3FBP Richard Housgl A few of us gathered at 8:00 for breakfast, and then moved on and met up with the rest of the grope in the Wal Mart parking at 9:00 in the midst's of conversations we got organized and were under way by 9:30 and had the entire road complete and looking pretty good in about two hours. Our next clean up will probably take place in the spring, and I look forward to seeing all the formulary faces as well as a few new ones Hugh-N3SOQ DELAWARE VALLEY 2 METER FM SIMPLEX CONTEST ANNOUNCED! (Philadelphia, PA) The Holmesburg Amateur Radio Club of Philadelphia is pleased to announce the first Delaware Valley 2 Meter Simplex Contest to be held February 3, 2001. The contest is open to all radio amateurs. Stations within a 60 mile radius of Philadelphia's City Hall will exchange their zip code and contact number. Stations outside of the 60 mile radius will exchange their state and contact number. Stations from New York to Maryland will be able to participate in this evening event. According to HARC President Bob Josuweit, WA3PZO, the contest is designed for hams to have fun over a 4 hour period from 7-11 PM on a Saturday night. The contest allows hams to meet their neighbors on the air as well as give many the opportunity to experience something else besides repeater contacts. The 60 mile radius reaches just about all of the county boundaries surrounding Philadelphia. This also opens up an opportunity for approximately 60 clubs to participate in the event. When choosing City Hall as the center of the contest, Josuweit noted the statue of William Penn on top of City Hall. "What better center point for the contest and the sponsoring organization whose club call is WM3PEN." The contest gives individuals as well as clubs to participate in the event. Bonus points are being allowed for contacting club stations/callsigns. "We realize that everyone will not be able to contact WM3PEN so we're giving clubs a chance to put their club callsign on the air." This could be from a club station or an individual's home. "We don't know what the weather will be in February, but this gives everyone the chance to operate from home." Clubs wishing to enter a club callsign as a bonus point contact station in the event are asked to send a note to WM3PEN@HARCNET.ORG by December 16, 2000. A complete list of all bonus stations will be published by December 22, 2000. Contacts can be made on any 2 meter FM voice frequency provided there is no interference to repeater, digital, satellite, or other activities taking place in the two meter band. Contacts on 146.52 will not be permitted. HARC members are excited about the event. Here's a contest where they can spend a few hours on the radio, participate in a contest, and not be tied up for an entire day or weekend. The idea of a 2 meter simplex contest originated in Western Pennsylvania with the Wireless Society of South Hills. They will be holding a 2 meter simplex contest in January. Awards will be issued to individual top scores in a high and low power category. Club station awards will also be issued in the high and low power category. There is also an opportunity for Clubs to sponsor awards for their members in a high and low power categories. An award will also be issued for the highest mobile score. For further information contact WM3PEN@harcnet.org or WA3PZO@harcnet.org. SAMPLE CONTACT EXCHANGE 1. If you live in the 60 mile radius of William Penn (Philadelphia City Hall) KB3AKK de WA3PZO Pse copy Nr.1 zip 19136 2. If you live outside of the 60 mile radius WA3PZO de N3EFN Pse copy Nr. 1 PA. 3. If you work HARC's club call WM3PEN exchange your information and make a note that it is the sponsoring club call and worth 3 points. Other club calls will be worth 2 points. All other contacts count as 1 point. Final score will be the number of contacts X the number of zip codes/states in high (10W or more) and low power (less than 10W) categories. Individual, club station, and mobile awards will be issued. Clubs can issue their own membership awards. A list of zip codes up to 60 miles from Philadelphia's City Hall is available. New Repeater The repeater is located on 1294.950 MHz with an input down 20 MHz on 1274.950. PL is 77.0 Hz but it is usually in open carrier. It is located in Center City in grid square FM29KX. It is running approximately 20 watts. Try hilltops and the upper floors in buildings near windows for best coverage. BACK