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A Brand New Year, and a Brand New Plan !
My Grandfather used to say “You should always plan ahead, that way everyone knows just how badly you messed up when your plan falls through”.
Following his advice may be a mistake, but we’ve laid out a plan for the 2002 monthly meetings. One of the things that we have been trying to do a better job of is to have a program that’s interesting and educational to the members at each meeting.
Owing to that, there’s a plan in place (well… more of a thought really) of what we’ll be doing this next year at the regular club meetings. I’ve solicited input from the members who have been attending the regular meetings, put that together with comments from people who are showing up for the club breakfasts (when I am able to go and listen to them), coupled that with some ideas of my own, and tried to line up people who are interested in giving a presentation.
Each month we’ll try to focus on a different aspect of Amateur Radio, and try to generate interest at all levels of license class. As with any year-long plan, this is a living document. What that means is that we may switch things around, or delay a presentation if another comes along.
If you have not yet renewed your membership, or are reading this thinking about joining us, I would like you to know that PARC is open for business in 2002!
ARES MEETING Thursday, January 24th at Fire Station 2 4800 NE 122nd at 7PM
All hams are invited to attend!
(ARES is the Amateur Radio Emergency Service which provides vital communications during natural and man-made disasters.)
January’s Guest Speaker: Rachel Jacky, Portland Fire Bureau and the NET Program
Rachel Jacky from the Portland Fire Bureau will be the guest speaker at January’s meeting. Rachel is the Community Services Manager, and is in charge of amongst other things, the NET teams. For those of us in the NET teams, ARES/RACES, and the other related organizations, Rachel is a familiar name, and an outstanding speaker. Topics will be on Portland’s NET teams, operation during time of disaster, an overview of the communications plan for the city, and how the ham community can get involved.
For those who are not familiar with the NET program, this will be a great opportunity to learn about what your neighbors are doing to help out our city during time of emergency. The NET program is comprised of ordinary citizens who volunteer to serve their local community during natural and man-made disasters. Those volunteering to become NET trained will receive 8 weeks of class time (25 hours) in the skills and knowledge necessary to help their neighbors, and keep themselves safe during their activities.
Although much of the focus is geared toward Earthquakes (Yes we have them here in the Pacific Northwest, 8+ about every 300 to 350 years), much of the training can be used during any type of disaster.
NET teams have responded to flooding, have been stationed at pumping stations, filled sand bags, built dikes against flooding, responded during windstorms, have been stationed at strategic locations during the Rose Festival Parade, as well as other civic related activities.
Please feel free to come and listen to Rachel present the information on the NET team, on how ham operators can get involved in the training, volunteer to be available as a communicator for a NET team, and offering your services as a ham operator during a disaster. Also, there will be upcoming round of basic classes offered in March by the Portland Fire Bureau for those interested in becoming a NET member. Following her presentation there should be ample time to answer questions.
In This Issue:
PARC Frequencies
January Meeting Additional Program:
In addition to our guest speaker, our January meeting will be an opportunity to learn about the upcoming calendar year of planned meetings, projects, and operating activities.
One Liberty Center 650 N Holladay Street Portland, Oregon (A few blocks SE of the Lloyd Center)All hams are welcome to attend. Updates and changes will be announced on the PARC net, Monday at 7 PM on the 146.840 Repeater. All hams are encouraged to check in!
Radio Nets
Here is a Schedule of Nets for all interested.
All Nets are handled on the 146.840 repeater.
All Hams are welcome to check in or listen to any Net
Hey, I think I got it right this time!
January 5th “Kids on the Air Day”
Scouts Learn about their Crystal Radios during Kid’s Day
January 5th marked the annual ARRL “kids on the air day”. This year was my first operating experience with this event, and I was able to share it with a group of 10 6-year-old Tiger Cub Scouts at my home. Before we operated, I explained a little about how radio works, and showed them the basic parts of an amateur station. We also covered a little of the history of radio, how Amateur radio differs from using a Cell Phone (one of the questions I got asked by a 6 year old). And how far we can talk. Let me be the first to say that most of the time, 6 year old boys are about as interested in sitting and listening to someone teach as herding a bunch of worms. This time seemed to be a little different, especially when we started talking about our upcoming cub scout project. A quieting effect seemed to come over them when I passes around a 1 ½ pound chunk of Galena Crystal and told them that using a safety pin and a piece of this “special crystal” that they were going to hear radio stations. I might as well have been wearing a Harry Potter costume, or speaking in some strange “Lord of the Rings” language. Each of them sat silently looking at the rock and thinking about hearing a radio station on radios that they are going to build this coming Thursday evening. I’ve built up 10 kits, and plan to talk about what each of the parts do as we put them together. I really enjoy teaching radio stuff, especially to kids.
After we finished with the description of the crystal radio, I pulled out an old Atwater Kent battery radio, and showed them the same type of wire coils inside that we’re going to wind. The parents seemed to get as much out of the discussion as the scouts (which is part of the point). I explained how amateur radio operators use their radios during time of emergency, how we don’t rely on power from our homes, and a little about field day (camping with radios). Needless to say, in a few years, we may have some more help in stringing wires and antennas at our operation! I was able to call a Ham in San Diego on 20 meters, we exchanged information about our hobbies, the museum he’s helping to restore, and how he got started in ham radio by looking through the basement window of a neighbor’s house as a kid, seeing lots of tubes glowing, open coils, and wires strung everywhere. 6 year olds can sometimes lose interest in the finer things in life, and finally opted out in favor of a new computer game. Oh well, there’s always Thursday…
-Ed KC7GFX
PARC Meetings and Ideas - Tentative 2002
Each of the above topics are subject to change. If we get a chance at good guest speakers, or events dictate that we need to change the monthly program, that will most likely happen. Since each of these topics take a lot of work, I’m going to be soliciting help. If you see one that you have a particular interest or talent in assisting in the presentation, please let me know. If we get a lot of volunteers helping out, we’ll have a very good year of presentations that I think everyone will enjoy. If not, I’m prepared to lead a year-long discussion (in painful detail) of the often overlooked and underrated method of tube biasing known as the “grid leak” circuit.
Be forewarned. – KC7GFX Ed
If you have an article of interest to the club, we’d love to print it. Drop me a line, or hand it to me at one of the meetings.
You can always reach the Editor of the sPARC gap at:
kc7gfx@arrl.net
OK, I goofed. I guarantee it’s not the only goof I’ve done regarding the club, but some of you caught it, and it’s too late for me to hide.
In the December issue of the sPARC gap, I mentioned that I would be sending out renewal notices along with the sPARC gap. It didn’t happen. I had written the article 2 months prior, with the intention of sending out the letters and the return envelopes to make it easier (and more likely) that we would get early renewals from our club members. That was the plan. For various reasons, the plan was changed so that the members would be contacted by other methods, and I forgot to delete the original plan from the article.
So, If you’re looking back through the December, 2001 issue of the sPARC gap, or looking through the garbage for the envelope, or even sitting there waiting for one to show up, well all I can say is…sorry….you can stop waiting now. I’m hoping that all of you will send in your renewal notice anyway. Your membership makes the club’s projects, this newsletter, the repeaters, and field day operations as a club possible. I already sent mine in, and are hoping all of you will follow. [Find a membership form here. –Webmaster]
I think that this next year is going to be a lot of hard work, a lot of fun, and a great learning experience for all of us. We have a pretty diverse group of folks that have explored various aspects of Amateur Radio, and I’m hoping that all of you will step forward at some point to share what you’ve learned, what mistakes you made, and what you learned from them.
73, Ed KC7GFX
A friend of mine forwarded an article from the Bremerton, Washington Sun newspaper. It seems that back in March of 2001, locals numbering in the thousands were reporting that their remote keyless entry devices were failing to lock or unlock their car doors. Government officials were contacted, and an investigation began. Cars in the Bremerton – Port Orchard area were affected, and it was thought that the interference was most likely due to communications gear at one of the local military facilities. Assistant chief of the FCC’s enforcement bureau in Washington DC, John Winston said that his inspectors began investigation on Friday, March 23rd. On Monday the 26th , they had narrowed the cause of the interference to two possible sources and had contacted them. The interference stopped as abruptly as it had started, and the FCC had received assurances that it would not happen again, they however, declined to pinpoint the source.
http://www.bremertonsun.com/news/2001/march/03271keyless.html
Old Radios Find New Home at PARC
Thanks to a word-of-mouth source, the club was able to acquire 20 surplus radios from a scrap dealer before they were melted down for the metals content. John White (K7RUN) and I went to see what we could salvage from the pile, and came back with my explorer loaded with Motorolla Syntor’s, SyntorX’s and even four 110 Watt Micor Mobiles. We also hauled out a pile of control cables, remote heads, speakers, touch-tone microphones, and various other radio-related items that seemed to be of use to us considering the somewhat low investment.
The plan for these items is to be used in our various club related repeater and digital mode projects as spares. Already, one of the Micors will be pressed into service helping out another group who came up short a set of spare transistors for their repeater. – KC7GFX Ed
The winners of the January Bunny hunt are; Regan (KC7PDF) & Allen (KD7JET) with 2.1 Miles..... 2.1 Miles times 10 (Advanced) for a score of 21. Held in Clark County this time, a Non-Ham, Tom Tarbett, who was riding with Randy - WB7OZM, almost won the "Bunny" hunt after using the Novice multiplier, 3.6 Miles times 6 (Novice) for a score of 21.6. The Hunt ended at a Taco Bell, where the Hunters got a chance to sit in a dry location and talk in person, after they found Larry - KJ7U. A New Bunny hunter, Ron - KD7LAG showed up and rode along with Steve - KC7LOO and learned about "Bunny" hunting.
The February Hunt will be in Oregon, on the Eastside, on Sunday the 3rd. Hope we see you there... The Bunny Frequency is (146.560)....Regan (KC7PDF) will be the "Bunny"
NOTICE: If there is at least 5 people responding back expressing interest in a Saturday "Bunny" Hunt, then on the Third Saturday of Month, Februrary 16th, we will hold a second "Bunny" Hunt for the month, in the Westside in Beaverton. If interested in the Saturday "Bunny" hunt, just send an email here to: PDXBunnyHunt@aol.com before the February 3rd Eastside "Bunny" hunt and I'll notify you when we have sufficient interest.
Time To Renew That Membership!
To become a member of PARC, or to renew your annual membership, please complete and mail the following form. Thanks!
Portland Amateur Radio Club
4110 S.E. Hawthorn Blvd. PMB #211
Portland, Oregon 97214