January 1998
President's Message
One of the greatest pleasures I get out of being President of the Warminster Amateur Radio Club is to preside over
the December General Meeting. We transact a minimal amount of club business and virtually the whole evening is
set aside for our Annual Holiday Dinner and meeting program. This wonderful tradition of getting together
once a year to dine and socialize in the company of WARC members, their families and close friends, is a wonderful
way to remind us that the Warminster Amateur Radio Club is a meaningful and important organization. Club
members make significant contributions to the community - we've got a long history in providing communications
for public service events, encouraging the licensing of new hams by offering license preparation courses twice
a year and monthly license (VE) examination sessions, supporting youth participation in ham radio by donating time
and equipment for programs run by the scouts and in local schools, and preparing to be resources in our communities
if disasters (which we hope will never come) require our technical and communications skills.
I believe there is another important benefit to those who belong to WARC -and especially those who actively
participate - it provides a meaningful balance to our lives. We live in a world where everything is more complicated
and takes longer than it should; where additional stress is put on us at work due to corporate downsizing and the
instant replies demanded by overnight mail, faxes and e-mail; where the logistics of getting our children (and
sometimes parents) to their appointments and activities seems almost unsolvable; where both spouses, whether for
financial or other important reasons, have careers outside the home; and, where there often is not enough time
to do all the things we have to do, and almost never time to do the things we want to do. Call it "selfish
time" if you want, but despite our commitments to family, career and community, we all have to make the time
to do things we enjoy in order to make our lives complete. As a WARC member, we have a myriad of alternatives-
from attending meetings, participating in activities and events, holding leadership positions to help establish
and implement the club's goals, and just having a casual or technical conversation on the club repeater- to bring
some balance to our lives. Sure, there's an "opportunity cost" in taking time away from doing other
things, and each of us must determine (and redetermine, with the passage of time), what constitutes a fair balance
for our individual situation. Recognizing all former club members who have become Silent Keys at the December 4th
meeting was suggested after last year's program, where we honored one of our previous members, Pete Peterson, by
having the club call changed to K3DN. We tried hard- with 30 names / calls- to get a complete listing for
reading and sounding during the program and updating the club's Silent Key plaque. I'm sure that we'll find
additional former members that should be added to the plaque, which we will do when we get updated information.
And although it won't be our "program", many have asked to include reading and sounding of the names
and calls of those who pass away during the year as part of our Annual Holiday Dinner agenda. It's a nice spiritual
way to remember those club members who are no longer physically with us. Please let a Board member know (or better
yet, come to a Board Meeting) any ideas you have for next year's program.
The Annual Holiday Dinner meeting could not happen without the efforts of the committee members who put in many
hours of time and came up with great ideas to make a successful event for the club. A sincere WARC thank
you goes out to Berni Lindinger (N3RJD) and Doug Mahoney (N3RJE) who chaired the event for the third year; Lindinger
Catering for serving another outstanding meal; Burt Ludin (N3YVH) for putting the program together, coordinating
production of the club video, and securing door prizes; Al Folsom (KY3T) for his Morse code skills in sounding
call signs of Silent Keys; Smile Video for producing a terrific video from club pictures / memorabilia; all club
members who contributed photos for the video; Romeo Branson (N3GJL) for delivering a very meaningful
"spiritual grace"; a club member, who wishes to remain anonymous, for making the beautiful table centerpieces;
George Brechmann (N3HBT) for coordinating arrangements with the Wilson Senior Center; Alan Ash (KA3YCG) for taking
pictures and Al Konschak (WI3Z) for getting them up on our WEB site that evening; and to EVERYONE who came.
As I have observed before, despite our diverse backgrounds, religious / spiritual beliefs, career endeavors, family
status, age and degree of participation in amateur radio activities, there is indeed a common bond that unites
our club members. Best wishes to you and your families for a joyous holiday season and a healthy New Year.
de Bill , K3MFI
WARC Seeks '98 Grange Fair Chairperson
The Warminster Amateur Radio Club is seeking a chairperson for its
participation at the 50th annual Middletown Grange Fair in August, 1998. The successful candidate will be responsible
for coordinating the club's message handling activities, seeing that updated display material about ham radio and
the club is developed and selecting day captains who will oversee activities for each of the five days. This
annual event attracts over 30,000 visitors and provides club members with annual training in message handling,
an opportunity to increase the awareness of amateur radio in the general community, students for club sponsored
licensing classes and prospective WARC members. Contact a Board member if you are interested in this challenging
and important position.
UPDATED MEMBERSHIP LISTING
Available at the January 8 General Meeting- please check for accuracy and give additions and corrections to Membership
Chairperson Don McCunney (KA3N) or reach him by e-mail dmmccunney@njaost.ml.com or by telephone (215) 364-7891.
If you have a new or updated e-mail address, please let him know. An updated listing will be distributed in the
February FEEDBACK.
BATTERY BAGS
All sold!! We're putting together another order of "green bags" (which include 2.3 ah battery, charger
and cigarette adaptor and fused plug) at a cost of $15. Contact Stu Simon (N2QBU) at (215) 345- 9295
if interested.
Club to Elect Two Directors In January
In accordance with the club's constitution, the membership will elect two Directors who will serve one year
terms on WARC's Board at the January 8 General Meeting. Ballots are in this January'98 FEEDBACK edition-
please get yours to the January 8 meeting if you can't attend. Nominations will also be taken from
the floor at the January 8 meeting.
SCHEDULE CHANGES
It's hard to compete with New Years Day, so the January General Meeting will be held on Thursday, January
8.
Seeking WARC Alumni
Club Alumni Coordinator Burt Ludin (N3YVH) is putting together a listing of former members, who for geographical,
travel or health reasons can no longer be active members in the Warminster Amateur Radio Club. We anticipate publishing
a listing of Calls, Names, postal mail and e-mail addresses sometime later in the year. WE NEED YOUR HELP
in updating our records. Please contact Burt by telephone (215-441-4483), on the club repeater or at a Board or
General Meeting.
WEB Watch:
Where can you get answers? http://www.askjeeves.com. You give it a question, in plain English, and it does it's
best (pretty good) to find out where you can get the answer.
Ham Radio Contesting and DXing:
http://www.qth.com/ka9fox/
Amateur Radio Classifieds:
http://www.ring.com/trading/hamradio.htm
HELP WANTED:
ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLER/TECH needed for small contract manufacturer located in the North American Technology Center,
Warminster, PA. Flexible full/part time hrs. FAX resume to Component Technologies, Ltd., 215.444.9005
or call Steve White, WA3IAO at 215.444.9004.
THE FOUNDATION FOR AMATEUR RADIO, INC., a non-profit organization with headquarters in Washington, D.C., plans
to administer sixty-six (66) scholarships for the academic year 1997-1998 to assist licensed Radio Amateurs. The
Foundation, composed of over seventy-five local area Amateur Radio Clubs, fully funds nine of these scholarships
with the income from grants and its annual Hamfest. The remaining fifty-seven (57) are administered by the Foundation
without cost to the various donors.
Licensed Radio Amateurs may compete for these awards if they plan to pursue a full-time course of studies beyond
high school and are enrolled in or have been accepted for enrollment at an accredited university, college or technical
school. The awards range from $500 to $2500 with preference given in some cases to residents of specified geographical
areas or the pursuit of certain study programs. Clubs, especially those in Delaware, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin, are encouraged to announce these opportunities at their meetings,
in their club newsletters, during training classes, on their nets and on their world wide web home pages.
Additional information and an application form may be requested by letter or QSL card,postmarked prior to April
30, 1998 from: FAR Scholarships
6903 Rhode Island Avenue College Park, MD 20740
The Foundation for Amateur Radio, incorporated in the District of Columbia, is an exempt organization under
Section 501(C)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. It is devoted exclusively to promoting the interests of
Amateur Radio and those scientific, literary and educational pursuits that advance the purposes of the Amateur
Radio Service.
SPUTNIK PS2 KEEPS GOING AND GOING
More than five weeks after its launch by hand from the Mir space station, the mini-Sputnik PS2 satellite beacon
transmitter continues to beep away-the orbiting equivalent of the Energizer Bunny. Powered by just over three pounds
of lithium batteries, the spacecraft's transmitter, on 145.82 MHz has been heard around the world and already has
functioned longer than the original Sputnik 1 satellite did 40 years ago. The Sputnik 40 Years project that led
to the construction and launch of the satellite has been funded by private donations, and the program's sponsors
say they "still have some small debts to pay." The organizers are seeking six additional sponsors at
$6000 each. The satellite itself was built by students in Russia, while another group of students on France's Reunion
Island built the transmitter. A film and a book are in preparation, and Sputnik 40 Years expects to make
presentations about the project at many national and international meetings, including the annual dinner of Aero-Club
de France. Guy Pignolet, secretary of the Aero-Club of France and an engineer with the French Space Agency said
the project would very much like to have US companies or even individuals "share the adventure." For
more information, contact Pignolet at 2 place Maurice Quentin, 75039 Paris Cedex 01, France; e-mail pignolet@francenet.fr.
Reception reports go to The Radio Club of Jules Reydellet College FR5KJ, 103 Rue de la Republique, 97 489 Saint
Denis Cedex, Reunion Island. Requests will be processed after the satellite has expired.
For more information, see http://www.oceanes.fr/~fr5fc/spoutnik.html.
Courtesy The ARRL Newsletter SOLAR UPDATE
Solar soothsayer Tad Cook, K7VVV, Seattle, Washington, reports: Average solar flux was down, and average sunspot
numbers were up this week over the previous week. Solar flux on every day was above the 90-day average of 94, indicating
a continuing upward trend. Look for good conditions during the ARRL 10 Meter Contest this weekend, although solar
flux will not be as high as it has been lately. The predicted solar flux numbers for Saturday and Sunday are 94
and 96, and stable geomagnetic conditions are forecast. Following the weekend the solar flux is expected to go
above 100 for the rest of the month. Wire service stories this week reported from the American Geophysical Society
meeting in San Francisco that the two year old Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) is allowing better understanding
and prediction of coronal mass ejections and interplanetary magnetic and particle storms. Observations from SOHO
show that a particular buildup of magnetic fields on the Sun occurs before a mass eruption. You can visit the SOHO
Web page at http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov.
Courtesy The ARRL Newsletter
WASHINGTON POST: HAM RADIO REFUSES TO DIE
A recent Washington Post article lumped ham radio with mah-jongg, model rocketry, and something called squished
penny (technically "elongated" coins) as "The Hobbies That Refused to Die." The feature, in
the paper's Sunday edition, appeared November 14. The gist of the report was that there's still room for ham radio
and other "diehard" avocations in the age of "extreme sports and the Internet." The section
on ham radio focuses on the reporter's visit to Hamfest '97 in Gaithersburg, Maryland, sponsored by the Foundation
for Amateur Radio, and mentions the article on ham radio that appeared earlier this year in Forbes magazine. The
reporter, Dave Nuttycombe, touches on such ham activities as traffic handling, using H-Ts, and restoring older
tube-type equipment. He also quotes several hams, including Jim Parsons, WA4LTO, and Geoff Adams, N3QFX, and there's
a picture of Parsons at a ham station. Parsons told the reporter that part of ham radio's appeal to him is the
challenge that's lacking on the Internet. Some hams would balk at the article's overall premise that ham radio
(he calls it simply "ham") is among the hobbies that have fallen out of fashion and are "now carried
on by a valiant few." But Parsons-a graduate of Virginia Tech and an alumnus of its K4KDJ club station-said
this week that the article sparked a bit of interest in the DC area. "Reaction has been great. We've
gotten a few calls," he said. The article mentions The Vienna Wireless Society, the Mount Vernon Amateur Radio
Club and the Columbia Amateur Radio Association as contact points and gives a plug to Auto Call, the official journal
of the Foundation for Amateur Radio. The circulation of the Washington Post Sunday edition is more than 1.1 million.
Courtesy The ARRL Ne wsletter
GATE 4 ATTRACTS HUNDREDS
The FCC does not expect to begin processing Gate 4 applications until after the first of the year. A spokesperson
at the FCC's Gettysburg office said the current plan is to run the first-day applications on or about January 7,
1997, but emphasized that this is not a firm date.
The FCC has processed earlier vanity receipts through mid-November, including all work in process (WIPs) applications.
In November, the FCC reports it got 517 electronic applications and 149 paper applications. The FCC reports it
got more than 800 electronic applications on December 2, the first day of Gate 4. Another 120 electronic applications
showed up on December 3. A count of paper applications is not yet available.
Courtesy The ARRL Newsletter
CAROS PROPAGATION SERVICE TO DEBUT
Cary Oler at the University of Lethbridge in Canada relays word of a new radio propagation service known as CAROS,
or the Coordinated Amateur Radio Observation System. Oler says CAROS is based on the principle of amateurs contributing
radio propagation information for others to use. "We have, for several years, been planning to implement such
a service, primarily to test whether amateurs can supply sufficient information to make such a global service useful,"
he said in a recent e-mail posting. "Its success or failure will be directly dependent upon those who
use it and find it useful."
Oler says the project is interested in reports detailing normal, below-normal and above normal propagation on paths
with which you are most familiar. Additionally, the project would like to hear about unusual propagation (non-great-circle,
aurora-related, meteor-induced, etc) that you observe, as well as about rare contacts (both of which are routinely
reported already via packet-Ed).
Oler says there are no limitations on reports. "We will accept reports from anyone, at any time, and
on any frequency (from ELF to microwave and beyond). Moon-bounce communicators are welcome to join in the fun,
as are satellite communicators and anyone else." He asks those submitting reports to be as specific as possible.
Since there is a possibility that this service could generate data that might supplement types of future scientific
research, we hope all submissions will be detailed and complete." Reports will be archived.
Post CAROS propagation reports to http://solar.uleth.ca/solar/www/subcaros.html. The main CAROS web page at http://solar.uleth.ca/solar/www/caros.html
is updated every five minutes.
Direct questions or comments to coler@solar.stanford.edu.--thanks to Tom Frenaye, K1KI
Courtesy The ARRL Newsletter
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