December 1999

 

President's Message

We are fast approaching the holiday season and the new millennium. 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.

December marks the 35th Anniversary of WARC. I hope we will be around for at least another 35 years! In celebration of this milestone, WARC will be giving to each current member, an attractive ceramic commemorative coffee mug. The mug will be maroon in color with gold lettering and include the club logo on one side and "Warminster Amateur Radio Club - 35 years of service" on the other. Make sure you have your dues paid up if you would like to receive a mug!

I can't let my last message of the year go out without at least some mention of Y2K! I'm hoping all the Y2K compliance issues are resolved by the end of the year and we don't have any problems. I don't think this will be a problem for most of our gear. I have heard that there may be some problems with packet bulletin boards and older logging programs. I know I'll have to update my TNC program. One thing is for sure, I will have all my batteries charged just in case! It's a comfort to know that if we do have problems we'll be able to depend on Amateur Radio to communicate.

In closing, I would like to wish you all a joyous holiday season and a happy new century! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at the WARC Holiday Dinner.

73'
Rocky, N3FKR


W.A.R.C. Alumni Info.


Hi to everyone at Warminster ARC. Just a quick note to bring you up to date on some nice developments down here. On Saturday, Nov. 6th, we're dedicated a new ham station at B.S.A. Camp Flying Eagle in Manatee County, FL (near Bradenton/Sarasota). We haven't received a callsign yet from the FCC, as they are very slow during transition to the ULS. However, we will be applying for K4CFE as a vanity call very soon.

The new station will be active on 160M through 450 MHz and on packet. We have two lightweight 40' crank-up tilt over towers and chimney mast support so a few small beams should be up in the near future. Right now we're using an R-7 and a 20-meter dipole. Modest beginnings; great potential.

We already have 5 boys (and one dad) who obtained their Certificates of Successful Completion for the Novice theory so a nice core group is forming for a youth centered radio club at the camp.

If anyone gets the new CQ Magazine 15 month Calendar; check out June 1999 (it has a pic of me and the Scouts operating CW in a Field Day tent. If you know my CW, you can be sure it was a mostly a "setup" shot. Hi The kids sure get a kick out of it.

On a personal note, I have been recently admitted to the Florida bar and will be shifting gears slightly to a new position as either a manager with another mortgage company or as a real estate attorney with a local law firm. Doing well and really enjoy the area. Terri and kids are doing great.

Say hi to the gang es Best 73's

Steve White, W4SNW
w4snw@aol.com

WARC Meeting Minutes - October 7, 1999

Program - Introduction (Mark N3GNW) - ARRL Night with Kay Craigie (WT3P)
Atlantic Division Director - Program started 7:50 - Business meeting started
9:45

Minutes - waive reading of minutes; additions / corrections? - Approved

Officer Reports

President (Rocky N3FKR)

Kay Peterson to be added to WARC silent key plaque
Next board meeting moved to Nov 18 due to Thanksgiving

Vice President (Mark N3GNW)

Future Meeting Programs

December 2, Holiday Dinner - Starting 6:30; January 6, tower installation; February 3, auction - WA3TQJ volunteered to be auctioneer; March 2, home brew

Treasurer (John N3ZMJ)
Report

Secretary (Ron NY3J)
Report

Committee Reports

Membership - (Tina KA3ECW or Burt N3YVH) - report - 131 active, 48 inactive, 8 lapsed

Classes- (George KA3WXV) - ending end of month in time for VE session

Holiday Dinner '99 - (Mark N3GNW, Burt N3YVH) Nonperishable food item

PA QSO Party (Marty NR3Z) - report/information - need logs

PA Adopt a Highway Program- Jacksonville Road (Hugh N3SOQ) Next cleanup in April - certificates were given out

Repeater- (Brian N3EXA / George N3HBT) - report 2 meter repeater ok - 440 has a receiver noise - going to work with controller would like help with the maintenance of the 2 meter repeater

Public Service events (George N3HBT)
October 11 - 5 Ponds Golf Outing
October 16 - Craven Hall 5K Run

November 25 - Turkey Trot (Doc W3GAD)

Old Business

MUGS! Bill (K3MFI) vote on expenditure
K3MFI made the following motion: To approve an expenditure of $600 for the purchase of 200 35th anniversary mugs that will be (1) given free of charge to all current club members and (2) distributed at the discretion of the club's Board of Directors - WA3TQJ 2nd the motion and club approved it unanimously

K3DN Special Event Station- Pearl S. Buck House (Bob K3SRO) Certificates handed out for the contacts

QSL card design contest

New Business
Rocky (N3FKR) proposed looking into a club event to help out in a telethon i.e. WHYY It would be good public relations for the club - club membership seemed interested in the proposal

MOTION to adjourn 21:35

Respectfully submitted by Ron Wenig, NY3J

Solar Update
Both solar flux and sunspot numbers were up this week, with average sunspot numbers rising nearly 37 and average flux up by nearly 25.
Activity took a big jump in the past few days, with a sunspot number of 343 on Wednesday and solar flux at 248.5. Unfortunately for HF operators, this was accompanied by rising geomagnetic activity, so conditions have not been ideal.
What is generally bad for HF is not the same for 6 meters. While HF experienced high absorption, 6 meter operators were working DX. A number of reports were received this week from Midwest hams who worked South America and the Caribbean on 6 meters.
The predicted solar flux for Friday through Sunday is 242, 245 and 245, and the planetary A index forecast is for 18, 10 and 8. So while the solar flux should rise to high levels, the geomagnetic indices should drop.
Beyond the weekend look for a declining solar flux, but it should only bottom out around 160 for November 18-21, then rise to 170 around Thanksgiving, then drop to 145 at the end of the month. Disturbed geomagnetic days include November 19-20 and 24, and the few days following December 4.
Sunspot numbers for November 4 through 10 were 108, 153, 188, 185, 232, 288 and 343 with a mean of 213.9. The 10.7-cm flux was 147.5, 160.5, 150, 173.9, 191.9, 229.9 and 248.5, with a mean of 186. The estimated planetary A indices were 5, 4, 7, 24, 33, 25 and 12, with a mean of 15.7.
ROSALIE WHITE, WA1STO, TO HEAD FIELD AND EDUCATIONAL SERVICES
Rosalie White, WA1STO, has been named to head ARRL Field and Educational Services, effective November 11. The appointment, announced by ARRL Executive Vice President David Sumner, K1ZZ, fills the gap left by departing Field Services Manager Rick Palm, K1CE. Palm is going into semi-retirement in Florida, and November 10 was his last day at ARRL Headquarters.
White has been serving as ARRL Educational Services Manager since the Field Services and Educational Activities departments consolidated last January 4. She and Palm have co-managed the combined units since then. As Field and Educational Services Manager, White becomes the main contact person for section managers as well as representing the League to the outside agencies it serves and promoting and supporting the field organization. She'll also serve as the primary staff contact for Amateur Radio in space issues.
White stressed that Amateur Radio public service will continue to be a high priority under the new F&ES management regime, and supporting field volunteers in disaster response efforts will get top attention. "It's one of the most important aspects of Amateur Radio and one of the main reasons why we enjoy the myriad frequencies we've been allocated," she said.
Since the inception of the combined department last winter, White says she's been ramping up her knowledge of the "Field Services" side of the unit and familiarizing herself with the issues and personnel involved. This past weekend, she was on the road to support both halves of the house, meeting on the West Coast with the Enforcement Task Force then jetting to Texas to confer on matters related to Amateur Radio on the International Space Station program.
"We have a good team in place in the department that values customer service and is capable of serving a variety of needs across the broad spectrum of field volunteers," she said.
The 1995 Dayton Hamvention Amateur of the Year, White, 50, was first licensed as WN9FJT in 1970 in her native Indiana. She holds bachelors and masters degrees in education. White began her career at ARRL Headquarters in 1973, and in 1976, she became the first woman manager at ARRL Headquarters when she was tapped to head the new Club and Training Department. She left the HQ staff in 1979 but rejoined it nine years later as Educational Activities Department manager.
White says she particularly enjoys operating Maxim Memorial Station W1AW for Field Day and during contests, Kid's Day and School Club Roundup. A private pilot, White also enjoys hiking and canoeing.
Courtesy The ARRL Newsletter

HAMS WILL GET TO HELP NASA WITH SPACE EXPERIMENT

If all goes well, Amateur Radio operators will get a chance to contribute to a NASA satellite project by recording the data.
The Plasma Experiment Satellite Test--or PEST--at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center will ride on the Joint Air Force-Weber State University Satellite, or JAWSAT, according to project scientist Nobie Stone. The launch is set for no earlier than December 2. The primary payload will be the US Air Force Academy's Falconsat. JAWSAT will serve as a bus for several deployable payloads and the attached PEST experiment.
The telemetry stream from JAWSAT--which includes data from PEST--will be transmitted on amateur frequencies. "Hams will be able to obtain data that characterizes certain aspects of the ionosphere above the D, E, and F layers where most of their signals are reflected," said PEST Project Manager Fred Berry, WA4IWY. "We're going to publish the data format in terms that everyone can understand."
Data from PEST will be using either a G3RUH modem or a GMSK modem. Data rates should be as high as 38.4 kb/s. Data will be transmitted on 437.175 MHz or 2403.2 MHz. NASA will publish instructions for sending in data so the PEST team can use it.
"It's an experiment," Berry said. "We're hoping that high school and college kids will get involved and learn something about the ionosphere and radio propagation."
Deployable payloads aboard JAWSAT are the Orbiting Picosat Automatic Launcher--or OPAL-- and ASUSAT provided by Arizona State University. ASUSAT itself will contain amateur packet hardware and a 2-meter/70-cm FM voice repeater. OPAL will release three tiny picosats--one of them, StenSat--will have a crossband repeater aboard that will operate much like the popular AO-27 satellite.
After JAWSAT reaches its desired polar orbit at 700 km (420 mi) altitude, it will be about two weeks before PEST is first powered on. PEST will acquire data for at least a two-month period. For more information, visit http://science.nasa.gov/ newhome/headlines/ast04nov99_1.htm. --NASA Space Science News

Courtesy The ARRL Newsletter

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