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EMARC Relay -- Volume 25, Number 10 October, 1995

The EMARC Relay

The EMARC Relay is the official monthly newsletter of the Electronics Museum Amateur Radio Club. Club meetings are held at 7 PM on the fourth Friday of each month except January (Winter Banquet); and 3rd Friday in June, Nov. & Dec. Annual membership $20; family $25. Visitors are always welcome! Directions on the back page. Talk-in on the W6APZ (145.23-, 100Hz) or W6ASH repeater (145.27- or 224.36-).

Contributions to the newsletter from members, family, and guests are earnestly solicited! Contributions subject to editing and/or compression. ASCII files via packet, Internet or diskettes preferred; but all readable forms welcome. Here are the various ways to reach the editor:

Packet: AA6TA@N0ARY.#NOCAL.CA
Packet: AA6TA on the DX Cluster
Internet: omris@cup.portal.com
VHF voice: W6APZ, 145.23- (100Hz PL)
Mail: POB 1450, Los Altos, CA 94023
'phone: 415-948-4516 (8AM-6PM)
Fax: 415-948-9153
Eyeball: at EMARC meetings.

OUR NEXT MEETING!

Our next regular meeting takes place on Friday, 27 October. The meeting starts with general socializing at 7 PM; business meeting at 7:30 PM; program starts 8 PM. Visitors are always welcome. Directions on back page.

The topic for this meeting is Emergency Communications. This presentation will show how local hams are organized to respond to emergencies, and how you can participate and possibly help save lives. Two speakers will be presenting this month.

Ernie Iufer, WA6PVM, is the Los Altos Emergency Coordinator (EC), and a former member of the Los Altos Emergency Preparedness Committee. Ernie has written much of the communications plans and training materials used by Los Altos hams for emergency use. He will speak about the Los Altos emergency plan, the radio broadcast capability to alert residents, and the experience gained with the recent three-city drill. Ernie is active on 2 meter FM.

Rick Ellinger, KJ6NU, is the Los Altos Hills Emergency Coordinator. Rick is very active in commercial communications, having founded Omni Group and the Wireless Communications Alliance. He has also designed special-purpose digital communication systems. Previously, Rick worked at Hewlett Packard, and served as Planning Commissioner of Los Altos Hills. During his presentation, he will show a compact emergency radio station developed for local hams to be used during emergencies.

As usual, the meeting will be followed by the raffle for prizes and the Wish You Were Here drawing for all the cash in the jar! And, to spice it all up, Ginny's famous home-made cookies will (we hope) be there (Tnx, Ginny!)

Homebrew Contest

This year contest had a record number of entries and very good attendance. The projects, in order of their presentations, were as follows:

Mikel Lechner, KN6QI presented three antennas: a 2m vertical with ground rods; a 430 MHz Quagi (2-element quad combined with a 6-element beam; see CQ magazine, July 1994, p. 76); and a 2m Quagi.

Andy Fu, AC6GN demonstrated an S-band (2.4 GHz) receiving setup for satellite work, using a home-made 13 dB helical antenna with a 15o beamwidth. Andy expected to use a preamp/downconverter made from a kit, but it didn't work so the demo used an off-the-shelf preamplifier unit. A small beacon gizmo was used to generate a test signal. Andy also refurbished beautifully a $3 flea market dish.

Bill Rausch, AA6PA (guest) presented a bidirectional 1.2 <-> 5.7 GHz transverter.

Bill Ogilvie, KE6TGB presented a 4-watt wattmeter.

Floyd Carter, K6BSU (guest) presented several related projects: a CW keyer using touch contacts rather than paddles; a "Morse Meter" displaying the wpm rate; a CW IDer; and a 40m 3 watt transceiver.

Larry Moore, KM6IU showed pictures and discussed a series of modifications designed to improve operations and solve problems with the Henry Radio 3KW amplifier, including use of faster relays and adding a sequencer logic board.

Andy Korsak, VE3FZK showed his versatile home-made mast and support for his humongous, 8-element 2m beam atop his Subaru, used for direction finding. The contraption, projecting through the sunroof (which remains ajar), is operated by ropes and held together mostly with duct tape (and chewing gum, we suspect). It allows raising the antenna to operating height and vertical orientation; for "normal" driving the antenna is stowed nearly horizontally and low over the roof of the car. The beam itself was home made, but Andy did not claim credit for that.

Wayne Colliander, KE6AJE presented a direct conversion 1.8-2.3 MHz HF receiver with a converter for other HF bands. Both were nicely packaged and looked very professional.

Michael Colliander, KE6MDW presented his bicycle mobile 2m set-up.

Hans Neumann, KE6TGA presented a plethora of little projects, displaying remarkable workmanship; including: a power meter for optical projects; a WW II vintage CW key; an RF amp-voltmeter; a couple of electronic keyers, including one ensconced in a beautiful wood box; a couple of microphones encased in hand-crafted wood enclosures; and a reflectometer.

And the winners (by a vote of those present) were:

1st Place ($50): Hans Neumann, KE6TGA

2nd Place ($25): Andy Fu, AC6GN

3rd Place ($15): Wayne Colliander, KE6AJE

Also rans: Votes were also cast for the projects presented by Larry, KM6IU; Mikel, KN6QI; Andy, VE3FZK; and Floyd, K6BSU. A total of 41 (!) votes were cast.

Editorial. I was one of those who agitated for simplifying the voting by allowing only one project per vote; but the results of the contest convinced me there was much merit to the old system, where each voter picked the top three projects. The trouble with the "one vote one project" is that some very deserving projects get few or no votes at all. The previous scheme allowed a finer granularity than the all-or-nothing approach. And, it shouldn't be difficult to tally the votes: just assign a numerical weight of 3, 2, and 1 for each vote cast for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, respectively; then tally up the number of points won by each project. I would suggest that next year we return to the "one vote - 3 projects" system.

- Omri AA6TA

Secretary's Report

Minutes, EMARC Board Meeting
Omri's Office, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 1995

Present: Bob, KD6VIO; Bjorn, KN6IW; Shel, KM6GV; Stuart, KM7V; Dick, N6ATD; Omri, AA6TA, Mikel, KN6QI; Dave, KD6WRG

Next Year's Officers: All members of the board stated it was not their intention to continue in their offices with the exception of Shel, KM6GV who agreed to accept the nomination for Treasurer for 1996. Potential candidates for next year's remaining positions were discussed. Mikel Lechner, KN6QI agreed to be nominated for president. Larry Moore, KM6IU, will be invited to be Radio Officer. Dave Wilkes, KD6WRG, volunteered to be nominated as RELAY editor. Board members serve for 3 years. Additional nominations will be sought at next month's meeting.

Worldwide DX Contest: Mikel is looking for volunteers to help with the CQ WW DX Contest on October 28,29. Sat and Sun morning are open.

Homebrew Contest: There was a discussion on how this year's voting procedures compared with previous years. It was agreed that the new voting scheme did not give sufficient recognition to runners up to the winner. Next year we will revert to 3 points for the winner, 2 for 2nd place and 1 for 3rd place. It was agreed that the rest of the rules still seemed to be working well.

Treasurer's Report: Shel advised that EMARC continues to be strong financially and is well positioned for 1996.

Annual EMARC Banquet: Shel agreed to book the Blue Pheasant for the 1996 banquet. Stuart asked Bob to find a new person to organize the banquet so that new people had an opportunity to participate in club activities. (Note: the Banquet is booked for Sat., 13 January; please mark your calendar!)

Pacificon: Dick reminded everyone that next weekend is Pacificon and encouraged everyone to attend.

Respectfully submitted,
Stuart A. Fox, KM7V

Minutes, EMARC General Meeting
Covington School, September 22, 1995.

Present: Bob, KD6VIO; Bjorn, KN6IW; Shel, KM6GV; Dick, N6ATD; Omri, AA6TA; Larry, KM6IU; Ginny, KC6USW; George, K6OG; Steve, KD6PLD; Dave, KD6WRG.

Miscellany: Rich, W6APZ took a straw vote to see how many people would benefit from an amplifier and a wireless mike, to be used to soft-spoken program speakers and during the usual introductions at the start of the meeting. Quite a few members present thought it was a good idea... Mikel, KN6QI, is still looking for operators and second ops for the SSB contest on 28-29 October... George, K6OG is still looking for his missing bowl and implements that disappeared during Field Day... The rest of the meeting was taken up with the Home Brew Contest (see elsewhere in this issue).

Wish You Were Here: The "Wish You Were Here" drawing was up to $30 and was won by Robert Flemate, KE6TFU. Nice going, Robert!

Respectfully submitted,
Omri Serlin, AA6TA

EMARC - The Best!

Welcome New Members!
Talk It Up!
Participate!
Contribute to the RELAY!

Welcome New Members!
...and news of other members

Please welcome our newest members:

Michael J. Vandever, KE6HCG holds a Tech Plus license and joins us all the way from Oakland! He is a registered disaster service worker (DSW) with the city of Oakland Fire Dept. He is also interested in short wave and scanner listening and in antique radios. He is a member of the Mt. Diablo ARC and of PARC. In "civilian life", Michael is a gardener; he is sergeant-at-arms at SEIU Local 265 and is a Central Labor Council volunteer.

Floyd E. Carter, K6BSU received his call in 1955. He is interested in HF CW, QRP, design and home-brew. He resides in Los Altos. (We hope to bring you a more complete sketch later).

Strick is back! Our intrepid world traveler, Strick (Henry Strickland), KE6RFB, is back from a 4-month European trip. When last heard from he was in Beaver, Utah, working his way west. No doubt Strick will have lots of stories to tell. Welcome back, Strick!

WB6WSL News

Station "Open House". Following a tradition established by our 'steamed prez, QRP Bob, KD6VIO, the station will be manned (by Omri, AA6TA) between 7-9 PM on the following Wednesdays: October 18 and 25. This is to allow interested members to become familiar with the station. Please let Omri know if you plan to show up on any of these dates. You must be an EMARC member in good standing and be checked out on the rigs before you can operate the station. The Open House schedule beyond these dates will be announced on the Thursday night EMARC Net.

RTTY added to station's capability. The HF digital modes, including radio teletype (RTTY), AMTOR, PACTOR, and GTOR are now possible using our new FT990 rig at WB6WSL. Omri, AA6TA, operated the station in the last few hours of the CQ WW RTTY contest in late September, with approximately a dozen contacts logged, about half of which were good DX. The needed FSK cable is permanently installed, but the KAM+ multi-mode TNC and the laptop computer need to be supplied for each demo, so please coordinate with Omri.

DXCC progress. The confirmed country list for WB6WSL now stands at 58. Recent notable confirmations: S59L (Slovenia) and ZK1PNX (Rarotonga, South Cook Island). Both were recent contacts by Omri, AA6TA.

Satellite operations from WB6WSL are continuing, with the most notable recent DX contacts being CY0TP on Sable Island in the Atlantic and XR0Y on Easter Island in the Pacific. Both were Oscar 10 contacts. Contact Omri if you want a demo of satellite operations.

Carrier Detect
...Miscellaneous noteworthy items

New ham class. An accelerated, two-day class for new hams is being organized by Peter, KN6MO, our Training Officer. The class will run Saturday and Sunday, 28-29 October at our usual Covington School meeting place. The class will lead to the no-code Novice or Tech examination, which may be given on site (this is as yet undetermined and depends on the size of the class). Please direct anyone interested in this class to Peter.

EMARC to contest. EMARC will participate in the CQ Magazine World Wide SSB Contest on 28-29 October. We need operators (with General ticket or above) and second-ops (any grade, N/T welcome!). A great opportunity to get a taste of HF contesting, become familiar with our station, and rack up countries for DXCC for our club. To secure a 2-hour or 4-hour shift, contact Mikel, KN6QI.

Universal No-Code? A Newsline report said that at the ITU world conference this month, New Zealand will propose dropping the Morse code requirement from amateur license examinations everywhere.

Packet hate mail countered. An Italian ham, I3NXU, has started automatic monitoring of Nazi propaganda bulletins on the amateur packet system, according to a Newsline report. He is able to trace the ultimate sources of this garbage, and plans to post them for all to see. He has already posted 22 callsigns, mostly German with some Norwegian and French, of people who originated racist hate mail.

Sad news. Robert F. Jenkins, K6DHO, became a SK on 7 September. Robert had been president of FARS (Foothill Amateur Radio Society) and was active emergency amateur communications, as well as being a Calif. Dept. of Forestry VIP (Volunteer in Fire Prevention). Condolences go to his family. He will be missed by his many friends.

Go in style to Pacificon. Owen, KB6MER, our newly-licensed private pilot, is offering to ferry by air anyone interested in attending Pacificon. Owen will fly to Concord out of Reed Hillview airport on both Saturday and Sunday, the 21 & 22 of October (see Coming Events). Share expenses. Contact Owen.

Phase 3D launch set. After a number of postponements, the launch date for Phase 3D, the next-generation amateur satellite, has been set to September, 1996, aboard a new Ariane 5 booster. The back-up is a launch aboard an Ariane 4 rocket sometime between late 1996 and mid-1997. The cost of the launch: $1 million, of which an $800K non-refundable down payment has been tendered by AMSAT to ESA (the European Space Agency). Phase 3D will have several significant enhancements over the two existing high-elliptical-orbit ("Molniya") satellites (of which AO-13 is expected to crash in December, 1996) and, if all goes well, will bring hamsat operations within reach of most hams. AMSAT (850 Sligo Ave., Suite 600, Silver Spring, MD 20910) is accepting contributions to help defray the Phase 3D launch costs, as well as the $200K costs of building and testing the satellite itself.

EMARC Web page stats. It appears that accesses to the pages are increasing. It also appears that the most popular pages are the calendar, the flea market, other HAM pages, the W6APZ repeater, and the club station.

- 73 de Mikel, KN6QI

Page		Aug.	Sept.
Home		85	120	(Home page)
classes		12	13	(Ham classes)
calendar	8	18	(Club calendar)
aa6ta		9	10	(RELAY editor)
directions	2	8	(Directions to EMARC mtgs.)
fd95		4	10	(Field Day report)
foothill	12	19	(Foothill Flea Market and directions)
history		10	9	(Very short historical sketch on EMARC)
kn6mo		10	6	(Contact for classes)
meeting		12	17	(EMARC meeting information)
misc		15	16	(Links to other pages)
officers	10	10	(Roster of club officers)
others		12	28	(Links to other ham pages)
w6apz/r		10	26	(Info on W6APZ rptr)
w6ash/r		7	16	(Info on W6ASH rptr)
wb6wsl		16	23	(Info on club station)
relay_0895	5	13	(August issue of RELAY)
relay_0995 	0	3	(September issue of RELAY)
thursnet	3	17	(8:00 PM Thursday Night EMARC Net)
weekday		3	10	(10:00 AM M-F net)

Please Don't Forget!
EMARC Net - Thursdays at 8 PM, 145.230-

Relay Schedule (reflects new, 4th Fri. meeting date; exceptions marked by *):

Issue		Meeting		Closing Date
October		27 October	16 October
November	*17 Nov.	06 November
December	*15 Dec.	04 December
* 3rd Friday! To accommodate Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Elmer's Corner

"QSL via the Bureau". If you do any amount of HF DX, sooner or later you are sure to hear that statement from your contact. What does it mean?

The "Bureau" in this context is actually a reference to a world-wide system of QSL-card processing offices, usually maintained by volunteers and subsidized to an extent by the country's main amateur radio association. The aim of the QSL Bureau system is to simplify the task of exchanging QSL cards and reduce your financial burden, compared with international "direct" QSLing.

When you "QSL direct", you have to look up the address of your contact in your Callbook, write it on the envelope, enclose a SASE or an SAE plus "Green Stamp" (more on which below), stamp the outgoing envelope, and mail. If you are a fairly active DXer, this can be very time consuming and expensive.

The ARRL Outgoing QSL Bureau is an inexpensive and convenient way to QSL to international locations. This bureau is physically located at the ARRL headquarters, at 225 Main St., Newington, CT 06111. You have to be an ARRL member to use the Outgoing Bureau. When you have accumulated some number of outgoing international QSL cards, you simply arrange them in alphabetical order of call sign prefix; add a recent label from your QST (to prove your membership is valid); enclose either $1 for up to 10 cards or $3 for up to 1 pound of cards (about 150) and mail to the address above. The Outgoing Bureau takes care of the rest! You save the time and bother of looking up each contact's address and the cost of overseas mail.

What happens to your cards then is of some interest. Your cards will be sorted by the country of destination and placed in bins. When a particular country's bin gets full, the Outgoing Bureau will make a packet and mail (typically by surface mail) to the QSL Bureau in the destination country. There the cards will be re-sorted by recipients' callsigns. When there are enough cards for a particular callsign, a packet is mailed to that ham.

Procedures at the receiving QSL Bureau vary from country to country. In some countries only members of the national radio amateur association are eligible to receive cards via the Bureau.

In the U.S., there is a separate Incoming QSL Bureau for each call-area district. The address of the 6th District DX QSL Bureau is POB 1460, Sun Valley, CA 91352. Cards from QSL bureaus all over the world destined for the 6th Call Area arrive at that bureau. This bureau is maintained by an ARRL affiliated Service Club. There, cards are sorted by the first letter of the suffix; a particular person handles all incoming cards for callsigns beginning with, say, "T".

You needn't be an ARRL member to use the Incoming Bureau. But you must supply that bureau with either SASEs or funds for envelopes and postage. The latter is the preferred method, since that bureau uses a certain envelope size (5" x 7.5") that isn't common.

When enough cards have accumulated for you, or after some amount of time has elapsed, the cards will be mailed to you using an envelope on file with the Bureau. You will be notified when your account runs out of envelopes or postage.

A query to the ARRL will get you detailed instructions on how to use the Outgoing and Incoming Bureaus. The information also includes the addresses of all the U.S. Incoming Bureaus.

A quick review of the above will explain why QSLing "via the Bureau" is very slow! By the time your card winds its way through at least two bureaus to its final destination, and the reply QSL card makes the same tortuous route in reverse, several years may elapse. I have recently gotten confirmation of a contact made five years ago!

QSL managers. Often, DXpeditions and even individual active DXers will designate a U.S.-based ham as QSL Manager. The manager gets the DXpedition's logs and will confirm contacts in response to your QSLs, sent to the manager. This helps U.S. based hams get desirable QSL cards with a minimum of hassle and using domestic postage! QSL managers typically require you to provide a SASE. They also appreciate donations to help defray the costs of the DXpedition and printing of the QSL cards. A "Green Stamp" (a euphemism for a dollar bill) is usually in order.

Green Stamps. Green stamps are also appropriate when QSLing direct to overseas hams. This is to help defray the costs of international airmail and printing of the cards. Some hams frown on the use of Green Stamps, but if you consider that as a U.S. callsign you are not a desirable callsign to the DX station, but rather represent a burden and an expense, it seems reasonable to recompense the DX for his trouble.

Be aware that in some parts of the world, postal theft is not uncommon. To help your card get through (a) instead of dollar bills use International Reply Coupons (IRCs), obtainable from any post office (and, sometimes, at a discount on the DX Cluster); (b) do not put the addressee's callsign or other references to amateur radio on the envelope, since this may alert crooked postal workers to the possible presence of cash inside. Areas of the world where dollar bills are quite OK include Canada, Western Europe and Japan; IRCs are preferable in the former Soviet Republics, Africa, and some Asian and Latin America countries. In some countries possession of foreign currency is illegal. Your Callbook lists the recommended number of IRCs for a particular destination.

Overseas managers. Sometimes a foreign ham will mount a private DXpedition and specify a foreign-based QSL manager, or will say "QSL via home call", meaning he will accept cards via the bureau addressed to his manager or his own call. In such cases, you make up the QSL card as usual with the DXpedition's call; but at the top right corner of the card write: Send to {callsign} where {callsign} is that of the manager or the operators' own call. To make sure the staff at the Outgoing Bureau doesn't miss this, I also use a 3M Post-It note over the card, with the actual destination callsign. But do both, in case the stick-on note accidentally falls off.

AMSAT Bureau. The Amateur Radio Satellite Corp. (AMSAT) maintains a separate QSL bureau, c/o Walt Rader, WA3DMF, 3702 Allison St., Brentwood, MD 20722. This bureau handles only QSLs for satellite contacts. On the other hand, it does handles outgoing cards to domestic addresses, as long as there are #10 SASEs on file. Outgoing domestic QSLs are free and you needn't be an AMSAT member. Outgoing international QSL cards are 10cents a piece. (AA6TA)

ARRL Pacific Division Update

This is a somewhat-edited version of the most recent report from Brad Wyatt, K6WR, PacDiv Director, 18400 Overlook Rd. #5, Los Gatos, CA 95030-5850; 408-395-2501; packet: K6WR@N0ARY.#NOCAL.CA Internet: bwyatt@arrl.org

Telecommunications Reform and a Proposal to Eliminate the FCC:- Telecommunications reform is one of the key topics in Washington DC currently as Congress returns from its August Recess. Both the House and Senate have passed differing Telecommunication Reform Acts. Apparently these bills focus on broadcast TV, cable TV, telephone service and related matters. It appears that these bills do not affect the Amateur Radio Service directly, but there may yet be surprises. In September, a conference committee from both houses will try to reconcile the differences between S. 652 and H. R. 1555.

There are also various other proposals floating around Washington DC including proposals to eliminate the Department of Commerce and the FCC, as examples. This latter idea comes from the "Progress and Freedom Foundation," a "Think Tank" group consisting of folks with various political views. The proposal, essentially, is to eliminate the FCC and allocate the entire RF spectrum on a "property rights" basis.

The mood in Congress seems to be to enact some sort of telecommunications reform, but just what is unclear so far. The ARRL Washington Team continues to monitor these developments and be active on our behalf. See September QST page 50 and October QST page 53 for more details.

Wireless Technologies and the National Information Infrastructure:- The Office of Technology Assessment of the U.S. Congress has just published a 300 page document describing several concepts of a "fundamental restructuring of the U.S. communications and information technology infrastructure." Although targeted on the telephone, computer, cable television, cellular telephone, satellite and broadcasting aspects and how they might relate to the National Information Infrastructure (NII) concept, it appears to have ready application in the Amateur Radio Service. With the ongoing U.S. Congress efforts on Telecommunications Reform, this document would appear to be very important to the future of all telecommunications as it discusses various options and potential plans. There is some reference to Amateur Radio in side comments, but "between the lines" reading may suggest other more profound possibilities.

This document, "Wireless Technologies and the National Information Infrastructure," OTA-ITC-922, dated July 1995, can be obtained from the U.S. Government Printing office for $19.

Also note October QST page 9 for additional thoughts.

New Pacific Division Appointment:- Phil Kane, N6SP, has been appointed as a Volunteer Counsel and Volunteer Consulting Engineer in San Francisco and Redwood City CA.

Congratulations:- Dewayne Hendricks, WA8DZP, from Fremont, CA, with a team of 3 others, has just been awarded a $400,000 National Science Foundation grant to study the use of wireless communication in urban and rural schools in the state of Colorado. The study will seek to determine the usability limits imposed by issues of allowable range and radiated power, urban and rural electromagnetic, geographical, and building environments (interference, scatter, line loss), availability of field power sources (where retransmission is required), data types, and interoperability of wireless with wired networks using the ubiquitous general network protocols such as TCP/IP, local LAN, serial and Ethernet connectivity. The data collected over the one year period of the Project will be analyzed and placed in a publicly accessible network, as rapidly as significant findings are reached.

The significance of this research project is that the it will produce widely needed objective analysis of wireless as a general connectivity solution for public education beyond highly controlled, costly, commercial-service or limited environments. There currently is no such collected data. The accessible reports issuing from this project will serve the needs of those considering wireless - educators, public spectrum policy makers, developers, designers, researchers, and scientists.

Dewayne is a member of the Future Systems Committee of the ARRL. One of the other members of the team is Bob Buass, K6KGS, from Southern California, the holder of the U.S. national Amateur Radio Spread Spectrum STA from the FCC.

Good luck, Dewayne!

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3251 Firth Way, San Jose, CA 95121
408-322-3741 - Fax: 408-532-9362
Email: Owen@DeLong.COM

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408-747-1222

FOR SALE: (1) Yaesu FT-11R HT, "world's smallest", 144-148 MHz TX, 110-180 MHz RX, 110-136 MHz AM RX, touchtone pad, 150 memories. 1.5W w/supplied 4.8V batt., 5W w/optional 9.6V batt.; charger. $230.-

(2) Yaesu FT-41R; same as (1) above, except 430-450 MHz TX & RX. $280.-

(3) Yaesu FBA-14 Battery Case w/two sets of 4 AA alkaline batteries. $18.-

The above equipment was purchased new this year and has not been used. Contact George Raven, K6OG. (George is on a Red Cross Disaster Services assignment in the Virgin Islands, so leave a message).

EXAMINATION SCHEDULE

Cupertino: Walk-ins on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month, 9-11 AM. At Tandem, 19333 Valco Parkway, near Wolfe Rd. exit off I-280. Info: 408-984-8353 (recording).

Fremont: Walk-ins on the 1st Tuesday of each month, 7 PM. No-Code Tech and Tech-Plus exams only. Alameda County Water District, 43885 Grimmer Blvd., near I-880. Info: 510-791-6818; or Greg, KJ6EP@ N6QMY. Talk-in: 147.015+

Redwood City: Walk-ins on the 3rd Saturday of each month, 11 AM. 411 Broadway (Ampex Cafeteria), near Woodside exit off 101. Info: 408-255-9000 (recording); or Joe KB6OWG@ KA6JLT. Talk-in: W6APZ, 145.23- (100Hz PL).

Sunnyvale: Walk-ins on the 2nd Saturday and last Sunday of each month, 10:30 AM. 840 W. Washington St. Talk-in: W6ASH, 145.27-. Info: 408-255-9000 (recording), or Gene AA6IY@N6LDL, or Gordon W6NLG@ KA6JLT. Talk-in: W6ASH, 145.27-

ARRL License Class Hotline: 408-971-1424

FCC Inquiry Line: 717-337-1212

FCC Customer Assistance: 800-322-1117

FCC Forms Distribution: 800-418-3676

COMING EVENTS

Regularly-scheduled events:

EMARC Monthly Meeting: Fourth Friday of the month (except 3rd Friday in June, Nov. & Dec.) at 7 PM; Business Meeting, 7:30 PM; Program starts 8 PM. At the Covington School in Los Altos; directions on last page. See specific date listings below. EMARC events are also listed on packet (to EMARC@allscv); on the N0ARY event bulletin board (type EVENT or List Clubs); and on the automatic enunciator on the W6APZ repeater (145.23-). (Note: there are 5 Fridays in March & Sept., so the fourth Friday is not the same as last Friday!).

EMARC Weekly Net. Thursdays at 8 PM on the W6APZ repeater, 145.23- (100Hz PL is off for the net).

EMARC Board Meeting: Wednesday, the 16th day (2 weeks + 2 days) prior to the meeting date.

Foothill Flea Market: 2nd Saturday (starts pre-dawn), March thru September. Bring 4 quarters for the parking meters. At Foothill College, just west of I-280 at the El Monte/Moody Rd. exit in Los Altos. Talk-in: 145.27-

Livermore Flea Market: 1st Sunday (starts 7 AM) year round, rain or shine. At Las Positas College, Airway Blvd. exit off I-580 just west of Livermore. Talk-in 147.120+ or 145.35-(100Hz PL). NOTE: The NorCal QRP Club meets following the flea mart at 11 AM at the California Burger in Pleasanton, abt. 2 miles from the flea mart.

T-hunts: See the February, 1995 RELAY under Carrier Detect (page 6). Difficulty Levels: 1 - very easy; 2 - simple; 3 - average; 4 - hard; 5 - very hard; 6 - "never find it". For latest info and directions, call Rich KN6FW, 510-462-1467, or via packet at KN6FW@WA6YHJ. #NOCAL

10 AM net. Weekdays at 10 AM on W6APZ, 145.23- (100Hz PL). A very informal rag chew net with mostly EMARC members. Net control: Arv, WA6UUT.

Amsat net. Wednesdays at 19:30 on the WA6PWW repeater, 147.015+. Net control: Bill, AA6PA.

10-10 Net. The local net for 10 meters enthusiasts meets every Monday at 8 PM on 28.475 MHz; net control: Neal, WA6OCP.

Events by date:

20-22 Oct. Pacificon '95. Hilton Hotel, Concord, CA (same place as last few years). Sponsor for the Pac.Div.: Mt. Diablo ARC. Technical sessions, exhibits, small flea market, prizes. Info: Richard Schulze, AA6DL, 510-932-6125.

21-22 Oct. JOTA '95 (Scouting's Jamboree On The Air). EMARC will no doubt participate (again).

27 Oct. EMARC Monthly Meeting. 7 PM. Topic: Emergency Communications. Directions back page.

28-29 Oct. Novice/Tech- Class. No code due to short 2-day duration. Contact Peter, KN6MO, 408-747-1222.

28-29 Oct. CQ WW (SSB) Contest. EMARC will participate! Contact Mikel, KN6QI to secure a shift.

1 Nov. Board Meeting. 7:30 PM; 343 Second St., Suite A, Los Altos.

4-6 Nov. ARRL Sweepstakes (CW).

17 Nov. EMARC Monthly Meeting. 7 PM. Speaker (tentative): Tom Schiller of Force 12 antennas. (3rd Friday due to Thanksgiving). Directions back page.

18-20 Nov. ARRL Sweepstakes (SSB).

25-26 Nov. CQ WW (CW) Contest.

29 Nov. Board Meeting. 7:30 PM; 343 Second St., Suite A, Los Altos.

9-10 Dec. ARRL 10 Meters Contest.

15 Dec. EMARC Monthly Meeting. 7 PM. Speaker: Omri Serlin, AA6TA on Working the Amateur Satellites. (3rd Friday due to Christmas). Directions back page.

1996

13 Jan. EMARC Winter Banquet. Blue Pheasant Restaurant, 22100 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino. Preempts regular meeting (i.e., there is no regular meeting this month).



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