SQUELCH TALE
Central Missouri Radio Association KØSI 146.76(-) PL 127.3 October 2005
The Central Missouri Radio Association is a not-f or-profit Mo. Association. Check out our web site: http://www.qsl.net/cmra .If you have ideas for Web content, see Jim, WY0B. To submit articles, for this newsletter, contact N0AXZ, Bill at the next club meeting, or at N0AXZ@arrl.net . If you have any changes in your mailing address or E-mail, send it to N0AXZ at: N0AXZ@arrl.net .
CALENDAR for September
Our regularly scheduled monthly meeting will be held at Boone Electric Coop on October 13 at 7:00 p.m.
Each Monday evening (except the Monday preceding the meeting or holiday) join with the members at the club station on Worley St in the Red Cross building basement.
Each Wednesday is Club Net at 9:00 p.m. If you're interested or willing to volunteer for Net Control or if you have questions, contact WM0H, Dewey.
If 2005 appears on your address label, your dues have been paid for this year.
To renew your membership for 2005, see the treasurer, N0EG, at the meeting, or mail a check for $20.00, ($25.00 per family) to: CMRA P.O. Box 283, Columbia, MO 65205.
Announcements:
15 Oct 2005 Octoberfest '05
South-Side Amateur Radio Club Grandview, MO
29 Oct 2005
Saint Louis Halloween Hamfest
St. Louis ARC Kirkwood, MO
6 Nov 2005 Hamfest/Computer Show Davenport Radio Amateur Club Davenport, IA
For more info see: www.arrl.org/hamfests.html
September Meeting Minutes
Meeting opened at 7:01 PM. Minutes were read and approved. Introductions went all around.
Treasurer’s Report:
Savings: $2,228.54
Checking: $3,640.88
Old Business: Twenty people took the survey that was provided during the Columbia hamfest. That is about 10% of the total attendance. Of those 20, 75% had been to one of our hamfests previously. Seventy-five percent of those surveyed were 40 years old or above (10% were under 20). Sixty percent of those surveyed heard about the hamfest by word of mouth. The average rating for this year’s hamfest, with 10 being the best and 1 being the worst, was 6.25.
Memphis Amateur Electronics was very pleased with our hamfest, and say that they’ll be back next year. They gave out $5 and $10 certificates for their store as prizes, and that was nice.
All in all the Ashland Optimist Club was a great venue for the hamfest. The only major complaint was that the stage area was too loud for forums.
Hamfest license testing was down this year. There were only 3 people that took tests.
The club brought up the subject of advertisement for the hamfest next year. One option is to advertise that Memphis will be there, so that could bring more people. Second, pamphlets could passed out and tickets could be sold at other hamfests or ham events beforehand. More discussion on the hamfest will be available at upcoming meetings.
The response by amateur radio operators during the recent hurricanes has been tremendous. Some hams have manned shelters, and Winlink has been used to help with communications in the affected areas.
MS-150 went very well this year. There was a good showing of volunteers. Day 1 was a little rougher for the bikers (with more injuries and accidents), but both days went very well. The APRS setup was good and the trackers all worked great. Also, the net control stations did an awesome job. The MS-150 staffers were very pleased with the hams’ performance this year. Thanks to everyone who volunteered and helped make the MS-150 a great event.
The club has voted for the treasurer to make a $1,000 C.D. for 9 months. This will help make better use of the club funds in the bank.
The nominating committee for club officers will soon be put together. So far there are 3 members in the committee, the president (Bob, KØYBN), the past president (Don, KMØR), and Bill (KCØACS). This will continue to come together, and within the next month or so we will have nominations for officers.
September 17th will be set aside for emergency power usage. For our region it will occur from 8 AM to 11 PM. An emergency power net will be held at 2:00 PM on 146.470.
New Business: Another member has been voted into the club. He is Andrew Turner, WØAPT. Congratulations to Andrew for joining the club!
The meeting was adjourned at 8:14 PM. Afterward, Victor (KCØBYE) talked about a recent hamfest that he visited in Mena, Arkansas. It was very interesting.
Hope to see everyone at the next meeting!
73’s, Nathan KCØLCS
-- End Minutes ---
ARRL Handbook 80th anniversary edition arrives:
A truck convoy of 18-wheelers rolled up to the ARRL warehouse September 28, delivering thousands of copies of the newest ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications. The 2006 edition marks the Handbook's 80th anniversary, and the publication's arrival at the ARRL warehouse means copies will be shipping very soon.
Federal Grant Augments "Ham Aid" Fund
From the ARRL Letter, Vol24, No38 September 30, 2005.
I noticed this article makes reference to "container" Ham Stations (N0AXZ)
"Ham Aid" also will strengthen the role Amateur Radio can play in disaster response by funding the preparation of complete "containerized" Amateur Radio HF/VHF stations that include radios, antennas, feed lines, repeaters and more, Hobart added. These are designed for deployment to disaster areas where the Amateur Radio infrastructure has been compromised or additional equipment is required.
…and I immediately thought "I have seen one of these before. It was in the well-endowed shack of AE0S.
Long before Katrina, Dale had built one of these "containerized" complete HF/VHF Amateur Radio station
The station is contained in three filing boxes: Radios; Power; and cable/antennae.
Box-1 contains the Radio Station, including HF and 2M transceivers, TNC, and antenna tuner.
Box-2 contains another automatic antenna tuner, coax, and a loop antenna, which fits on a "quad" form, which expands from a 2 inch pack containing telescoping fiber glass poles for the vertical and sidearm.
Box-3 contains a laptop, power supply, and cables for ac power and phone cables for a modem, PSK card and Gel-cell batteries.
Here is how it looks with the contents of Box-1, the complete station, on the bench, ready to roll.
Dale, thanks for sharing.
WØSMI Link Frequencies:
Columbia 444.425 pl 77
Jefferson City 443.175 pl 77
High Hill 444.025 pl 77
Foristel 444.475 pl 77
St. Louis 443.425 pl 77