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 December 1999
DECEMBER MEETING/CHRISTMAS PARTY…
By now, everyone who is planning to attend the last
meeting and social gathering of the century should have made a reservation.
Remember, it is set for Thursday, December 9th at the Sizzling Grille
Steakhouse (formerly Brass Lantern) on Hwy 180 just outside the city limits.
Cocktails at 6pm, and dinner at 7pm. A short meeting will begin around
7:45/8pm. At that time, all members will vote their choice of Ham of the
Year from a
ballot of 2 or 3 nominees. See you at the Christmas party.
1ST MEETING OF 2000...
The first meeting of the new century will be held back at BAMC, Menominee, at 7pm in the cafeteria on Jan. 13, 2000.
FISH FRY…
While many of us are still preparing for a busy holiday season social calendar, we thought it would be nice to get a head start on planning for January. So Lynne, N8OSK has already made arrangements for the next Fish Fry on Friday January 21, 2000 at the Riverfront Inn in Marinette. Social hour and ordering from the menu at 5:30pm, dinner at 6:30pm.
Please plan to meet in the lounge area at 5:30pm. Menus will be distributed upon arrival and our orders will be placed from the lounge. When our food is ready, we will be escorted to our dining area. Each party will be responsible for their bill for the evening. Reservations are required no later than Friday January 14th. Please contact Lynne either via the repeater, or at (906) 863-3573. And thanks to Lynne for arranging the past several Fish Fries.
MORE FISH FRY NEWS...
The last club fish fry was held at Berg's Chop House
in Peshtigo on November12th, with 17 in attendance. Everyone
remarked on the good food there.
CHARTER BANQUET NEWS...
Ed, KG8CX, reports that tentatively, it looks like our 50th anniversary charter banquet will be held on Saturday February 26, 2000 at Schusslers in Peshtigo. Menu choices need to be selected, since they do family style, which seems to work out very well with our group. Cost is unknown at this time. An RSVP form will be included with your January 2000 Ground Wave along with all the necessary info. That will give everyone plenty of time to free up several hours for what promises to be a very special evening. Some surprises are on the drawing boards, and all members will not want to miss the social event of the year for the club.
MEMBERSHIPS NEEDED...
Any one who has yet to file their year 2000 membership should do so by the end of December. Anyone not on our roster by then will no longer receive this newsletter, and not be listed on the "members page" of the club website. Single memberships are still only $15. Family memberships are just $22.50. The official form, mailed with your Oct. newsletter must accompany your dues. At this point we have 38 members, but are hoping to reach 50 by year's end. Can we make it? We greatly appreciate all memberships, new and renewals. Let one of the officers know if you need another membership form.
Y2K AND AMATEUR RADIO...
Marinette county emergency coordinator, Renelle Schaffer, is planning a "watch" on December 31st from approximately 10pm to 2am on New Years Eve in the Marinette city hall. She requested one or more radio club members to participate. Eric, KG9GH, has indicated he will be there with a 2 meter radio. Other city and county officials will be in attendance as well. Nothing catastropic is expected, city, county, or statewide, but being prepared is always a good thing,. Any club member at home, and awake as we pass into the new century may wish to monitor the repeater and other frequencies as well, including HF. It's possible fringe area reports may be needed as to conditions just like they are during a Skywarn situation. We'll probably treat this as a severe weather alert, open up a net, and just be available to receive and pass along reports as they come in. In the event there are some problems, we can alert the proper authorities. As of this writing, nothing has been heard as to what Menominee county will be doing, if anything.
FCC RESTRUCTURING SOON?...
According to the latest word, we should know the
details of the long awaited FCC restructuring proposal by end of the year or
sooner. Specific details will be carried on the "ARRL Audio News"
over the Sun. evening 2 meter net on the 147.000 repeater. We hope you are all
listening in.
CLEAN SWEEP AWARD...
Jeff, N9PQU, again made a "clean sweep" during the ARRL Phone Sweepstakes, the weekend of November 19. That was his 3rd in a row, meaning he made at least one contact with every North American section (79 in all). Tom, K0SN also achieved the sweep. Jim, K8IR missed only the Quebec section. He was in the pileup when Tom snagged VE2, but couldn’t get through himself.
As we approach the top of the sunspot cycle, the DX conditions have been exceptional this fall. Both N9PQU and K8IR worked well over 100 countries on 10 meters in a single weekend during the CQ Worldwide DX Contest at the end of October. The contesters are looking forward to the ARRL 10 meter contest the weekend of December 11th and 12th.
REPEATER UPDATE...
As most of you who listen to and use the 147 repeater
know, it can become quite noisy whenever it is windy. So much so, that
stations that are not full scale into the system end up barely copyable at
times. According to our repeater trustee, Noel K8NB,
Bill, our tower climber checked the antenna and connections within the
past several weeks, and
found everything in order. The hardline and connectors were checked
earlier and found to be secure. Since the antenna is a commercial
grade business band antenna that was cut down to the ham frequencies, the
culprit probably lies in the body of the antenna itself. The
solution....look for and purchase a new replacement, either one built
especially for the ham bands by one of the major antenna manufacturers, or a
commercial, heavy duty one that covers our particular frequency. Either
way, it will take club funds to do this, but since we have a good amount in
the treasury, and really no other major expenses, we might want to take a look
at antenna replacement by next spring or summer. That would than put our
system back on a 100% reliable operation status, which would benefit not only
the repeater users, but any law enforcement/emergency government entity that
we may work with, as well as weather reports during periods of severe weather
conditions where distant communications are reliably needed. We can start
discussing this need at the January meeting. Noel will
provide valuable assistance through this period, and lead us to the best
possible choice, if this is something we want to do.
WELCOME HOME, LOU
As many members are aware, Lou, AA9JH was hospitalized in Milwaukee last month for surgery due to injuries he suffered in a fall. Lou was back home in time for Thanksgiving, and reports on the net that he’s doing OK and spending a lot more time at the radio as he continues his recuperation. Glad to have you back, Lou.
DECEMBER BIRTHDAY/ANNIVERSARIES...
Congratulations are in order for the following: Eric and Cheryl Janssen who celebrate their wedding anniversary on Dec. 6. Birthday greetings go to Phil Eisenach, Eric Janssen: Dec. 6; Cindy Armstrong: Dec. 18; Nancy Buchholz: Dec. 21; Noel Beardsley: Dec. 22; and Al Grenier: Dec. 23.
CREDITS…
Thanks, as usual, to Peninsula Office Equipment of Menominee printing our newsletter on a Minolta Copier.