CHRISTMAS PARTY - HAM OF THE YEAR ...

 Don't forget to get your reservations in for our annual Christmas party no later than December 7th.  A reservation form was included with your November Ground Wave.  We will gather at Schusslers in Peshtigo for a 6 pm social hour, and 7 pm family style dinner.  Mail your RSVP to M&M ARC, P.O. Box 1082, Marinette, WI, 54143 with  a check for the amount of the meal....$12.00 per person, which includes tax and tip.

Ham of the Year nominations will be tabulated and the finalists announced at the Christmas Party. Members will then vote for the top 3 finalists.  The winner will be announced as the 2001 M&M ARC ham of the year.  Previous winners were:  Noel K8NB, Ed KG8CX, Jim KC8DOA, Jim AA9PB, Paul WC9E, Jim K8IR, and Lynne N8OSK.
No regular business meeting is planned, but we will update everyone withlatest club information and possible future activities.

CHARTER BANQUET SET FOR FEBRUARY...

Set aside the date of Saturday, February 2, 2002 for a gala evening.  Our annual Charter banquet is scheduled for that evening at Schusslers.  Don Michalski, W9IXG, the Wisconsin ARRL section manager will again spend the evening with us, and provide us with up to date amateur radio news.  A program will be planned and announced in the January GW, along with the reservation form. The official presentation of the 2001 Ham of the Year plaque will be made.

 

MEMBERSHIP DUES DEADLINE...

A reminder that dues for the current club year (October, 2001 through September, 2002) must be in by Dec. 31, 2001 to Lynne, N8OSK, club treasurer, for you to remain on our current active roster.  We will be printing out the roster and putting it on the club web page at that time.  Dues are $15 for individual memberships, and $22.50 for families.  You might also consider joining or rejoining the ARRL, especially if you have never been a member.  Our club gets $5 for each new member enrolled.  See Lynne for further information.

Also, keep in mind, that in order to maintain our ARRL club status, we MUST have 51% of our TOTAL membership as ARRL members.  We have had a tough time reaching that goal recently, as many of you, for one reason or another, have elected not to join the national organization.  Let's hope that we can continue to be an ARRL club for this upcoming year.  It would be a shame to
have our status dropped because of our inability to come up with the required membership percentage.  Please consider joining if you are not already a member, and give the club a $5 benefit for your decision. Perhaps we can make January and February, ARRL membership months.

Benefits of ARRL membership include the monthly QST magazine, access to the Members-only portion of the ARRL Web Site, the Technical Information Service which provides answers to your questions from Headquarters staff, an equipment insurance program, the outgoing QSL service, and more.  For more information on the ARRL, visit www.arrl.org.

 

REPEATER NEWS...

Both the 2 meter and 70 cm repeaters have been functioning normally.  We still have the wind static on the 147 machine, and the 444.075 remains mostly silent, except for one transmission or two every couple of weeks.  If you have 70 cm capabilities, and can reach the repeater, give out your call. You just might be surprised to find someone listening who will return your call.  The range is considerably shorter than the 2 meter because of the antenna only up 100 feet, and the characteristics of 70 cm., but a 10 mile range can be expected on a regular basis, with greater distances seen quite
often.

 

FROM THE ARRL LETTER…

The January 2002 editions of Wisconsin's Badger State Smoke Signals Amateur Radio newspaper for Wisconsin amateurs will be delayed in delivery due to the ill health of Editor Jim Romelfanger, K9ZZ.

 

VOLUNTEERS WANTED…

A reminder volunteers are being sought to help provide communications for the UP 200 and Midnight Run Sled Races in the U-P February 15-17^th.  Details appeared in last month’s Ground Wave.  If interested, please contact Greg Hanson KI8AF, by email at ki8af@up.net.

  

MORE FROM ARRL…

The National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators' Question Pool Committee has released a revised and expanded Amateur Extra class (Element 4) question pool into the public domain. The new question pool becomes effective July 1, 2002, and must be used to generate all Extra class written examinations administered on or
after that date. It replaces the Extra class question pool released April 15, 2000--the day Amateur Radio ''restructuring'' became effective. The new Element 4 pool expands the number of questions by more than 20 percent--806 questions--as opposed to 665 in the current Extra class pool, and it contains more technical material. More than half of the questions cover electrical principles, circuits, signals and emissions.

The 50 questions in an Extra class examination are drawn from the question pool consistent with FCC rules and according to a formula that specifies the number of questions to be asked from each of nine topic areas. Applicants must correctly answer at least 37 questions to pass.

The new Element 4 question pool is available on the ARRL Web site, http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/pools.html. The just-released Extra class question pool will remain valid through June 30, 2005.

The Question Pool Committee now will turn its attention to developing an outline for the Technician class (Element 2) question pool. A draft Element 2 syllabus is scheduled for public release and comment next spring. The QPC invites suggestions for the Element 2 syllabus and question pool revision.

Questions and comments about the QPC's work can be directed to, Chairman Scotty Neustadter, W4WW, w4ww@arrl.net; ARRL VEC Manager Bart Jahnke, W9JJ, vec@arrl.org; Fred Maia, W5YI, w5yi@w5yi.org; and
John Johnston, W3BE, johnston.john1@worldnet.att.net

 

BIRTHDAYS/WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES...

....Anniversaries:  Cheryl & Eric Janssen, 8th
....Birthdays: Eric Janssen, 5th,   Cindy Armstrong, 18th;  Nancy Buchholz, 21st;  Noel Beardsely, 22nd; Al Grenier, 23rd.
Congratulations to all !

Note to our newer members, we may not have your birthday/anniversary information for inclusion here.  Please send your information to K8IR at jcallow@mari.net.

LOOKING TO SELL?

Jeff , N9PQU is looking for any radio or test equipment that you may want to sell. You can call him at 920-897-4561, or email him at jrymer@ez-net.com.

 

CREDITS…

Thanks to Peninsula Office Equipment of Menominee for printing the Ground Wave.

Thanks to Jim, KC8DOA for hosting the W8PIF 147.000 repeater on his tower.