The Marinette and Menominee Amateur Radio Club GROUND WAVE Repeater Frequencies 147

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 January 2001

The first meeting of the new millennium (yes, technically 2001 is the first year,) will be held on Thursday, the 11th, at 7:00pm in the cafeteria of BAMC in Menominee. We hope to see you there.

Some items on the agenda ...
* ham class planning
* discussion of charter banquet and activities
* social activities for 2001 (fish fries, picnic, field day, special
event station, etc. )
* other topics as may come up...

There will be a BAWA meeting held at 6:15 prior to the January meeting of M&M ARC. The agenda will include upcoming contests, especially the WI QSO party.

CHARTER BANQUET UPDATE....

The annual Charter Night Banquet will be held Saturday February 10, 2001 at the Best Western Riverfront Inn in Marinette. ARRL Wisconsin Section Communication Manager Don Michalski, W9IXG will again be a special guest. Details are listed on the Reservation Form that is included with this edition of The Ground Wave. The deadline for reservations is February 2^nd.

After the counting of the ballots, no recount needed, the year 2000 award goes to Lynne Rynish. She certainly deserves the honor considering all the work she has done throughout the year for the enjoyment and betterment of the club. She will be officially recognized and receive her plaque at the charter dinner in February.

The 2000 holiday party was held on December 14th at Schusslers in Peshtigo. 39 were in attendance, and all enjoyed great food and companionship. Jim, AA9PB, did his usual trivia contest. Ham of the Year balloting was held, and Lynne, N8OSK, received this year's honor. Despite the wintry weather, Dave, W8DXX, drove all the way up from snowy Joliet, Illinois to attend the dinner. Many thanks to Schusslers for the super surroundings and excellent meal. See you all in 2001.

and includes everyone who has renewed or become a member up to December 31st. If you do not see someone's name that had been there before, it's because they have not paid their 2001 dues as of the above date. The list is updated regularly. Copies, for those without internet capability, will be available at the January meeting.

The new year 2001 autopatch code for the repeater has been activated, and the old code will be removed soon. Paid up members are being notified of the new code. Contact an officer if we missed you.

The Door County radio club has been asked to provide a demonstration to local 5th graders in Sturgeon Bay on January 9, 10, 11 from 10:00 to 10:30am. They will be using the 147.210 repeater. Anyone interested in taking to youngsters, and perhaps a comment or two on how what the hobby has meant to you, are welcome to join the on-air group. Or just simply, listen in as others are exposed to the magic of amateur radio.

Recently there was a series of postings on eham.net concerning how hams first got the “bug” for their hobby. We thought it might be interesting for club members to share stories of their earliest experiences in the hobby. Send your contributions to The Ground Wave Editor, K8IR at jcallow@mari.net and we’ll publish them. Bob, AA9GZ volunteered to go first, with the following:

My very first DX QSO happened on April 2, 1993 and is the first entry in my series of log books. I was N9PTV and a General at the time. I was using a mobile Radio Shack 10 meter transceiver in my car and this was also my first 10 meter contact. The rig is only capable of putting out 25 watts and I was quite happy to be able to work into the Caribbean on that power and to a hometown friend also making it all the more of an accomplishment for a brand new ham.

I had that QSO with a member of Marinette & Menominee Amateur Radio Club on that date. We were on 28,500 and the contact was with ZF2UO who happened to be in the Grand Cayman Islands on vacation with a bit of dxpeditioning included. N9JCL (Scott Francois) gave me an awful lot of Elmering and encouragement in the ways of amateur radio and a good basis on which to expand my knowledge of ham radio. He gave me a 5/9 and I got a 5/9 in return. I felt that it was a tremendous accomplishment and gave me a great sense of pride in it.

Since that time in 1993 I have gone on to the Extra level, gained my DXCC certificate, become a VE and had the privilege of going on the CY9 Dxpedition that M&M ARC sponsored. My country count is currently totaling 199 DX entities.

That’s my story of the first DX QSO and how with Scott’s help and assistance I went on to a life long hobby and interest in ham radio.

I was a USN Radioman 2nd class and served aboard ship as a radioman so the knowledge I gained with Scott’s assistance also served me as an entry into ham radio.

Thanks Scott for your interest, Elmering and encouragement into the great hobby of ham radio.

W8HKY IN THE NEWS…

Mike, W8HKY was the subject of a recent article in the Peshtigo Times. A picture and article is also scheduled for this month’s edition of Badger Smoke Signals. No surprise here that such an interesting subject is in the spotlight. Congratulations, Mike.

Anyone with ideas on the location for our monthly fish fry?? January is a good month for a social outing of this sort. We'll make a decision on one at the meeting.

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.

Anniversary congratulations go out to John and Rosemary Edquist on the 16th. The following celebrate birthdays this month... 7th, Joan Callow; 20th, Connie Bosselman; 27th Lisa Beardsley