FARS - The FARS Relay -- Volume 26, Number 2

Site Map

Volume 26, Number 2 February, 1996

Copyright © 1996 by EMARC

FEBRUARY MEETING

Don Furgeson will talk on the latest techniques in fox hunting and direction-finding. Don is also involved in satellite communications. The two would seem to go together (Now where is that satellite?).

The topic is especially appropriate because there seems to be a new crop of jammers on the repeaters. Don't they have anything better to occupy their time? Suggestions anyone?

The March speaker will be Wayne Burdick.

CALENDAR

Regularly-scheduled events

The Station Open House program for 1996 is expanding! Omri, AA6TA, will host open houses on Tuesdays from 7 to 9 PM local time on an "as available" basis. The emphasis in the Tuesday open houses will be satellite operations and HF digital modes (RTTY, AMTOR, etc.). Please check with Omri (he is available virtually anytime on the W6APZ repeater, 145.230-, 100PL before coming. This is in addition to the Wednesday open houses, typically hosted by Bob, KD6VIO. The station open houses are for EMARC members and their invited guests only. Please do not discuss on the air the exact location of the station.

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: The 4th Friday is not necessarily the last Friday.

EMARC NET is held every Thursday at 8 PM on the W6APZ repeater, 145.230-; the 100 Hz PL is off for the net.

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

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, about. 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

Amsat net. Wednesdays at 19:30 on the WA6PWW repeater, 147.015+, as well as the W6APZ repeater, 145.230-, 100 PL. 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.

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: 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:			KD6WRG@N0ARY.#NOCAL.CA
Internet:		dwilkes@svpal.org
CompuServe:		71242,3255
AOL:			davewilkes
VHF voice:		KD6WRG on W6APZ, 145.23- (100Hz PL)
			10 AM net weekdays;
			EMARC net Thursdays 8 PM;
			Various other times.
Eyeball:		at EMARC meetings.

SECRETARY'S REPORT

Minutes: EMARC Board Meeting, February 7, 1996

Present: Mikel, KN6QI; Robert, KE6TFU; Andy, AC6N; Bob, KD6VIO; David KD6WRGG; Larry, KM6IU; Shel, KM6GV.

Robert, KE6TFU was drafted to take notes for which we thank him profusely.

The board confirmed the speakers for February and March and discussed a search for a regular location for board meetings. Our thanks to Shel for holding it at his home this month.

Bob, KD6VIO said he had found a Force 12 beam antenna as an alternative to our current tri-bander. He also reaffirmed his intention to hold open house at the club station on Wednesday nights.

Larry, KM6IU proposed taking a survey of the membership to assess the need for club station improvements, activities, and access.

Shel, KM6GV announced a proposal to determine a club budget. Shel has been notified that Foothill is raising the fleamarket fee from $400 to $900 and the state will require us to collect sales tax on the space sales at the flea market.

David, KD6WRG suggested we find a new site for our annual banquet because the noise from upstairs was annoying (Actually what David said was not that polite).

De Robert, KE6TFU & David, KD6WRG

1996 RELAY

For the March issue, we should be able to come up with a few stories of amateur radio inanity, March madness, so to speak. It's on the repeaters all the time.

For the April issue, there must be some favorite amateur radio April Fool jokes. If I don't get some, I'll have to create some.

For the May issue there is a problem with a theme: May 1st is sacred (so to speak) to the Pagans, the labor unions and the Communists. Since the pseudo-communist state in Russia broke up there aren't many admitted communists anymore. I do have some friends in the Pagan community, but they aren't hams. What's left: Labor unions and gardening?

BANQUET REPORT

The EMARC Banquet was a great success. The speaker was Stanford Professor Antony Fraser-Smith, who filled us in on earthquake prediction by monitoring low frequency electromagnetic radiation. Now we can answer some of those questions we have been getting from our friends.

The speaker was good. The food was good. The wine was good for those with designated drivers. The raffle prizes were useful (No complaints were heard). There is some unfinished business concerning the raffle: Thank-you notes to the companies which donated the prizes. See list below.

The only negative for the evening (Except for those without designated drivers) was the constant BOOM-BOOM from whatever nefarious activity was going on upstairs. Perhaps we can find a quieter place for next year.

The companies below showed their support for Amateur Radio and should be the first places to go when you need to buy something. If you won one of the prizes, here is where to send the thank-you note:

Zack Electronics,
2514 Channing Ave., San Jose, 95131;
408-942-5432.
Special thanks to Dennis Awad.

Weird Stuff,
1190 Kern Ave.,
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
408-746-1100.
Special thanks to Dave McDougal.

Ham Radio Outlet,
510 Lawrence Expressway, #102,
Sunnyvale; CA 94086
408-736-9496.
Special thanks to Ken Millman

EMARC Calendar of Events

Show somebody your transceiver today.

THE QRP LAMENT

Dedicated to QRP Bob, KD6VIO, who struggled diligently to work his hundred countries.

I'm a little peanut whistle
And my antenna's not so hot.
I can't compete with power
But I try an awful lot.

Refrain: QRP, QRP. Won't you
Listen, please, for me?

The big guys work the DX,
And leave the crumbs for me.
But I'm always in there calling,
Working for DXCC.

Refrain.

I never work the rare ones,
And pile-ups leave me out,
But I call the other countries
That are always all about.

Refrain.

It only takes a minute
To listen to my plea,
And I'll be forever grateful
If you'll stand by just for me.

Refrain.

I'm getting old and weary,
And the prop is mighty low.
I'd like to make my hundred,
Before I have to go.

Refrain.

But somewhere up in heaven
There's a place, I know, for me
Where the DX always says,
"Let's hear the QRP

QRP, QRP. Thanks for
Listening just for me.

Arv read this poem at the EMARC banquet. It is printed here by popular demand. This is just one reason it pays to attend the meetings and banquet. One never knows what those wild and crazy hams will do next.

ROMANTIC HAMS?

I am disappointed. Last month I asked for tales of romantic hams to celebrate Lupercalia *. Having received nothing, I can only conclude there is little romance in Amateur Radio. The current issue of QST does have a short piece on two astronaut-hams who got hitched. One does hear romantic chit-chat on the air from time to time. There is real drama when a lady of certain years who happens to have a youthful voice is chatted up by a young man who thinks he has found a possible love interest who would not object to his hobby.

Usually there is little romance on the air. Significant others seem to use the repeaters to stay in touch, update grocery lists, and other such mundane communications. It is probably better that way. Romance is a private matter and there are a lot of people listening.

There were a few couples who used to fight on the repeaters all the time, but they haven't been heard recently. Maybe someone told them how repeaters work.

* Before there was Valentine's Day, the Romans celebrated a similar holiday in ways best left to the imagination, or at least left out of this publication. Since Saint Valentine was removed from the roster of saints in 1962, it leaves us to revert to the previous holiday. Enjoy.

TELEPHONE NUMBERS - INTERNET ADDRESSES - WEB SITES

This column is for interesting and/or useful Internet sites. Henceforth, they will only be printed once. Keep your back issues for reference.

TVI booklet available on the World-Wide Web: www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Compliance/WWW/tvibook.html

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

ARRL PACIFIC DIVISION CONTACT

by Brad Wyatt, K6WR
Director, Pacific Division, ARRL
18400 Overlook Rd. #5
Los Gatos CA 95030-5850
(408) 395-2501 (Phone and FAX)
Packet: K6WR@N0ARY.#NOCAL.CA
Internet: K6WR@arrl.org
Web: pacific.arrl.org

In addition to a great deal of information on the ARRL Pacific Division, it contains links to other worthwhile pages, including the ARRL Home Page. The ARRL Home Page can be accessed directly at www.arrl.org, with links back to the Pacific Division Home Page and other sites.

Antennas, Towers and Ordinances

Please forward copies of all antenna, tower and related ordinances to Phil Kane, N6SP, who is collecting this data for the Pacific Division. Phil can be reached at P. O. Box 280192, San Francisco CA 94128-0192, (415) 369-7373 and commlaw@netcom.com. See the article by Chris Imlay, N3AKD. ARRL General Counsel, "But I Never Agreed to That", Dec. 95 QST.

CENSORSHIP

The recent flak about censorship on the Internet has caused a number of amusing scenarios. AOL decided to activate a program which would search out "dirty" words and reject any message to a forum which contained any of them. Unfortunately, one of the words was `breast" and the breast cancer forum was shut down. The same day, I received a request from Jim Warren, early computer pioneer and present day activist for digital access to government information, for a list of Bible verses which might be considered "dirty". The first search I did was for the word "breast' and I had 174 hits. That means 174 Bible verses could not be sent to an AOL forum for the use of that word alone. I considered asking some of the religious forums if any of their postings had been rejected and decided it might upset them too much.

This whole thing is a non-issue. There are cheap programs available which will censor any mention of "breast" or "baseball" or anything else a parent deems obscene. To shut down discussion on the Internet because someone might be offended is a crass violation of the united states Constitution.

It isn't just the blue noses being offended by mention of the sexual nature of humans or the sensitivity of the Germans to the mention of their Nazi past. As you go around the world you will find there is someone somewhere who will object to just about anything you can think. Is CompuServe about to shut down all of the religious forums because the Moslems object to any mention of any religion except their own?

What does all of this have to do with Amateur Radio? If they can censor the Internet, they can censor us. Just remember: Somewhere out there there is someone who is very concerned we might be having fun -and they will want to put a stop to that...

Diatribe by DW

NEWSLINE

NEWSLINE RADIO #962

FOR SALE

Hallicrafters SX-71 receiver - $90; Lafayette model HA 350 receiver - $50; Sideband Engineers SB-34 Transceiver - $60. Contact Norm, W6IQX, 415-961-5492

TRANSITIONS

Bill Ogilve, KE6TGB upgraded to general class. He put some of us KD tech pluses to shame by proving it could be done. Congratulations.

The Electronics Museum Amateur Radio Club (EMARC) of Los Altos
In association with The Mountain View Fire Department

Presents:

A two day Amateur Radio class

to obtain a Technician (no code) license

Cost:		Only $15 (And $15 for Now You're Talking
		Textbook reg $19)

Dates:		Saturday and Sunday, March 3Oth and 3lst, 1996

Time:		9:30 AM to 5:00 PM

Where:		Auditorium of the Police - Fire
		Administration Building
		1000 Villa St.
		Mountain View, Ca

Class will include video(s), multiple instructors, equipment demos, etc.

No technical background required!

The emphasis is on fun. Learn about the various activities of amateur radio, the possibilities, and the equipment. Discover that it really isn't too hard to pass the tests.

Students should obtain a copy of the text and read it prior to class.