The
Marinette and Menominee Amateur Radio Club
GROUND WAVE
Repeater Frequencies 147.00 MHZ & 444.075 Mhz
Club Net: Sunday 7PM 147.00 MHz
Simplex DX Spotting and Ragchew Frequency 146.55
Officers
President: Jim Callow K8IR
Vice President: Ed Engleman KG8CX
Treasurer: Lynne Rynish N8OSK
Secretary: Gary Luthardt KG9AD
The MMARC Newsletter April 2000
APRIL MEETING/WX
SPOTTING...
The meeting this month is combined with an official NOAA
weather spotters training session, and will be held on Thursday, April 13 at 6:00PM in the cafeteria of BAMC in Menominee.
This session was set up by Renelle Schaffer, Marinette County. Emergency
Government Director, and other public safety personnel from the county are
invited as well. A meteorologist/ham from the Green Bay office will instruct the
session, which will begin at 6pm and continue until approximately 7:30-7:45.
Following the training session, a short club meeting will be held. We
promise to have everyone out by 8:30pm or earlier.
We are looking for a sizable turnout of M&M Club members. Severe
weather season is fast approaching, and we will again be monitoring the Green
Bay NWS frequencies, and will initiate a spotters net when conditions warrant.
As always, keep your ears on the 147 repeater whenever severe weather is
forecast, and be prepared to help out with spotting reports from your home QTH,
or from a mobile location. All reports are appreciated, and of great value
to all of us, and especially to the NWS in
Green Bay and Marquette.
FISH FRIES…
The March FF was held on the 24th at the Sizzlin' Grille Steakhouse. Over 20 members and spouses attended.
Our next club Fish Fry will be Friday April 28th featuring a return visit to Berg’s Chop House in Peshtigo. The schedule is cocktails at 6:00pm, and then heading to our table to order at 6:30pm. We should be eating by 7:00pm. The event is for club members and their guests. Reservations must be made by the Sunday April 23rd net. Or contact Lynne, N8OSK, or Ed, KG8CX.
The May Fish Fry is set up for Friday May 19th at the Pullman Center north of Menominee. The schedule will be the same as for the April event. Registration deadline will be Sunday May 14th.
ARRL NEWS
EXPOSURE...
The March 22th ARRL "Members Only" edition carried a nice story of our club anniversary banquet along with several photos. This gave us nationwide and worldwide exposure. Check it out if you are an ARRL member and have access to a computer. The URL is
http://www.arrl.org/members-only/extra/news/2000/03/22/1/
VE SESSION
UPDATE...
The local test session held on March 11 served five
people. Four of them were successful upgrades. Congratulations to:
KG9BI who received a CSCE for an extra upgrade; KG8CX, who also received a
CSCE for his extra upgrade; N9JFC, who received his CSCE for a General
upgrade; and N9JKX, who traveled from Algoma and received his General
upgrade CSCE. All of them will need to turn in those CSCE's at a VE session on
or after the 15th of April, and receive their official upgrade authorization.
Paul, WC9E reports the next local VE Session will be held Tuesday April 18th
at the Wisconsin Public Service Building in Menominee.
Contact Paul if you wish to be tested or process your CSCE at this
session. Also we need VE’s to help run the session.
You can contact Paul via e-mail at pdrees@webcntrl.com.
TECHNICIAN
CLASSES ENDED…
Increased security at the Marinette High School forced the M&M ARC to suspend our Technician License Classes. School officials are severely limiting access to the high school building at night due to the recent string of bomb threats. Since there were only a couple of weeks left, the instructors decided to end the formal training sessions, but instructors are offering to “elmer” students who feel they need some additional help to prepare for the testing session on April 18th. We have a very enthusiastic core of students this year, and we hope to have several new licensees very soon.
DXCC MILLENNIUM
AWARD...
The following local members have contacted their required 100 DX countries since January 1st to qualify for this coveted award, which covers the period from January 1st to December 31, 2000. Jim, K8IR; Jeff, N9PQU; Arde, KA9WAR; Ed, KG8CX. The DXCC Millennium award does not require the submission of QSL cards. It’s a great way to have some fun and add to the wallpaper in your shack. As we approach the top of the sunspot cycle, it’s never been easier to work DX.
SUMMER ACTIVITIES
PLANNED.…
Many social activities are being planned for the coming months, some of which will help us achieve our goal of a new repeater antenna. Lynne, N8OSK, and Jim, AA9PB, have "cooked" up some plans that will have your mouth watering. In addition, plan on participating in Field Day in June, the picnic in August, and the corn roast/campout/picnic/swapfest in September. These are great times to be an M&M Radio Club member. Lots of fun activities in store for members and families. Listen to the 2 meter net on Sundays at 7pm for details and updates.
WEBSITE PHOTOS NEEDED...
KG8CX would like pictures of your hamshack with or
without you in it, to place on the club webpage. Send a picture to me via
a jpg file, or give it to me at a club meeting. I can also come over to
your shack and take a video which I can then upload to the website. Don't
be shy, any picture from the simple to the deluxe, is acceptable. Several
shack pictures are already on the KG8CX/M&M Radio Club website.
Speaking of the club website, several photos of the most recent VE session have
been posted on the club photo page. Check them out.
SUNDAY NET COUNT
UP....
The Sunday evening 2 meter net has been steadily
increasing station count. We have reached and surpassed 20 check-ins for
several weeks now. If you haven't checked in for a while, and are within
range of the 147.000 repeater, we would like to hear from you. Up-to-date
news concerning club activities and meetings, member news, and the ARRL Audio
News are featured each week. You may check in one of several ways:
(1) Give your call, "in and out" no comments needed, but we hope you
continue to listen; (2) Give your call, for one transmission; (3)
Give your call "....mobile" and you will be acknowledged immediately
for a transmission. We hope to hear from some of you that do not regularly
check in. Let's try for a record count of 30 sometime soon.
MICHIGAN SECTION
NEWS…
Dave Colangelo, KB8RJI the ARRL Michigan Section Public
Information Coordinator now has a Michigan
Section Newsletter on the Internet. Check out the latest Michigan Section
news at:
http://www.ameritech.net/users/dcolangelo/index.html
The Wisconsin Section news can be found at:
Both these links, and many more can be found on Ed’s M&M ARC page at:
http://community-2.webtv.net/KG8CX/EdsHamDelicaciesand/
CHEAP MOBILE
ANTENNA …
Spring is a great time to set up or update your mobile rig. Arde, KA9WAR, passes along an article on a very inexpensive way to build your own multi-band HF mobile antenna. You start with a 20 meter Ham Stick Antenna, about $25 from Lakeview Company, Inc. (www.hamstick.com). You also need to order two toroids, type F82-7 mix from Palomar Engineers (www.Palomar-Engineers.com). They run about $1.50 a piece, plus shipping. Buy three pieces of “Music Wire” 36 to 42 inches long, from a Hobby Shop. Also buy four different colors of plastic electrical tape, and allen-head stainless steel screws to replace the screw-driver set screws that come with the antenna.
The toroids should be slipped down over the base portion of the antenna and taped into place. These have been found to reduce the SWR of the antenna when it is side-mounted on a vehicle.
Tune the “stinger” wire on the top of the antenna to get an SWR under 2:1 across the 20 meter band. Use the colored electrical tape to mark the position of the stinger so you can quickly change bands.
Cut a piece of music wire to 23” and insert this “stinger” into the antenna base, tuning for best SWR on 17 meters. Mark with a different color tape.
Cuts stingers for 15 meters (13 inches) and 12 meters (7 ¾ inches) and tune and mark them. A nail can be used to tune the antenna for 10 meters.
You now have a multi-band mobile HF antenna for an investment of around $40.00. For more information, contact Arde. And thanks for the tip, Arde.
EARLY TORNADO
RALLIES WISCONSIN HAMS TO ACTION
(From the ARRL Letter)
Amateur Radio storm spotters were out all over Wisconsin Wednesday, March 8, when the earliest tornado on record hit Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. And Wisconsin's SEC says he thinks hams were first to report the phenomenon to the National Weather Service.
The storm hit around 6 PM near Mitchell International Airport. Several minor
injuries were reported, some vehicles were overturned, buildings lost roofs,
power poles and trees were downed, and some gas leaks were reported.
ARRL Wisconsin Section Emergency Coordinator Stan
Kaplan, WB9RQR, reports that hams regularly fed the National Weather Service at
Sullivan with hail and wind reports. The Weather Service rated the tornado as an
F1 category storm. It cut a swath between 50 and 75 yards long over a mile and a
quarter. Hail of up to 1.75 inches in diameter was reported at one point,
although most of the hail reported by hams and others was of the much smaller
half-inch variety.
Milwaukee Area SKYWARN Association Executive Director Skip Voros, WD9HAS, noted
that the March 8 tornado broke the old 1977 record of April for an early
tornado.
APRIL BIRTHDAYS
& ANNIVERSARIES....
Congratulations to the following who are celebrating special days this month: Lou and Tanya Parkansky, wedding anniversary on the 4th; Jim and Diane Mans, wedding anniversary on the 5th. These members celebrate birthdays: Tom Rynish, 10th; Dottie Staffeldt, 11th; and Bob Schrader, 14th.
MARINETTE AND
MENOMINEE AMATEUR RADIO CLUB MINUTES
The
March 9, 2000 meeting of the Marinette and Menominee Amateur Radio Club was
called to order at 7:00 PM by vice-president Ed KG8CX.
The
treasurer's report shows a balance
in checking of $58.32 and a balance in the savings account of $583.49. Total
assets of $641.81. Deposits: Dues $52.50 Antenna fund $140.00 and Banquet
$585.00 disbursements Marinette county parks $45.00 Peninsula Office Supply for
50th year Booklet Printing $123.35 Charter night banquet $660.80 A motion was
made by N9OSF Larry and seconded by N9PQV Keith that the treasurer's report be
approved. All in favor. Additional expenses for the banquet the covers for the
booklet, frames for two charters, and five frames and certificates for Life
Members Awards was $42.50. This was paid by
Tom N8LHB and Lynne N8OSK as a donation to the club.
The
minutes for the February 10, 2000 meeting were published in the March 2000
Groundwave. A motion was made by AA9GZ Bob and seconded by KB9URW William that
the minutes be approved as printed. All in favor.
A
letter of appreciation was presented to the club from Kurt K8BKA thanking the
club for the lifetime membership award.
Ed
reported the repeaters are up and running. Donations for the new antenna fund at
this time is $140.00. Checkins for the Sunday night net are on the average of
20.
OLD
BUSINESS:
The
Charter Night banquet was held on February 26. A total of 54 attended the
banquet and was planned for 55. A net loss of $15.80 resulted. One person made a
reservation without submitting payment and failed to show. The club paid for the
dinner. Six people showed up without prior reservations resulting in Schussler's
having to set up an additional table to accommodate the group. This problem was
brought up at the meeting that it is very important to get your reservation in
and money for any future gatherings. Reservations and money must be paid in
advance to help prevent these problems for the club members arranging the
outings and for the place it is held at.
Ed
reported that for the amateur radio classes there are about 13 students taking
the classes. A test session may take place on March 11. Another test session may
take place on the first Saturday in May with the new question pool.
NEW
BUSINESS:
The
Weather spotters session will be on April 13th here where we hold our ham radio
meetings and will start at 6:00 PM. This session should last about one and one
half hours and the ham meeting will start right after the weather spotters
session.
The
next fish fry will be on March 24 at the Sizzlin' Grille. Last day for
reservations will be March 19 the Sunday net.
Field
Day will be held on June 24 and 25 at K0SN's place located on 2 Mile road off
W heading towards Crivitz.
The
club may have some cookouts during the summer for fund raising
The
summer picnic is on August 13, Sunday at Lake Noquebay Park
Hamfests
coming up is the AES Superfest 2000 on April 7 and 8 and the Dayton Hamvention
on May 19-21.
A
brief discussion on the Amateur Radio Spectrum Bill and Club 2000 Achievement
Awards was presented by KG8CX Ed.
A
motion to adjourn was made by Lynne N8OSK and seconded by Jim KC8DOA. All in
favor.
Meeting
adjourned at 7:30 PM.
Submitted
by Gary W Luthardt KG9AD, Secretary
Persons
in attendance at the meeting:
Gary
Luthardt KG9AD
Ed Engleman KG8CX
Lynne Rynish N8OSK
William Peterson KB9URW
Randy Zandt
Bob Schrader AA9GZ
Jim Swanson KC8DOA
Nathan Luthardt KB9NNV
Larry Buchholz N9OSF
Nancy Buchholz KA9UZC
Keith Tonn N9PQV
Kurt Berge K8BKA
John Edquist W8NZV
David Arnold W8DXX
David Cunningham