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THE SPECTRUM June
2007 Come one, Come ALL !
! ! The VVARC Officers for 2007:
June General Meeting: Tuesday, June 12 Program: Annual Club BBQ at the Hall residence. Be
sure and read the section, Annual Club BBQ, for more information It
always is a lot of fun, so be sure and join us! The Annual Club BBQ is
a social event with minimal to no usual Club business. We still will be doing
door prizes and membership drawing. Annual Club BBQ It’s time for the
annual club picnic. The picnic is
again at the home of Bob and Virginia Hall,
in Easy directions: Turn
off Remember to bring chairs
for everyone in your group, as otherwise we will quickly run out, and you may
want to bring a jacket. The Club will
provide hot dogs and hamburgers with all the “fixings,” baked
beans, and drinks--sodas, coffee, lemonade.
Please bring along a salad, desert, or chips to share. We’ll have some door prizes, of
course. If you have any questions, you
can call us at 245-0123. We look forward to seeing YOU at the picnic Sunday Night Net: Remember that every
Sunday at 7PM the Club conducts a Net on the 146.940 repeater. Get the latest
club announcements and reminders. Also, our Club needs volunteers to help run
the Net. If you are interested, please contact us. In the event that the
repeater is down, turn to 146.5350 simplex. Club Member News
HAPPY
BIRTHDAY TO ALL
Keith Iverson 6/23 If anyone is missed, let us know. Our records
probably need to be updated. Please
let Sandi DeWeert, sdeweert@verizon.net, know if you hear of any of our
members that may be under the weather or just need a little lift from
friends in the Club. Welcome to New Club Members Want to welcome some new
members to our Club, Clint Bradford and Chris Holmgren. Let’s all make them
feel welcome and say hello. To our new members Are you aware of the
ARRL? QST magazine? In order for our Club to
be an affiliated organization, we need to maintain 51% membership to the
ARRL. The ARRL pays our Club a commission for new and renewing memberships. If you have any
questions, feel free to contact your Board members. Name Tags Our Club is starting to
grow and we are getting some new members that don’t know everyone. We
have made up name tags for all our members, but need to know if we have
missed anyone. Try and wear your name tags during Club functions so everyone
can put a name with a face. If we have missed anyone or you need a
replacement, email Sandi (sdeweert@verizon.net
) and let her know. ELMERS Huh? Some of us neebies may
not be aware what an Elmer is. An
Elmer is kind of like a mentor for amateur radio operators. As new operators,
we need the experience, knowledge, and guidance passed on to us by those that
have been practicing for some time. Thank you to those members
that have stepped forward and volunteered to help members with questions.
Feel free to contact anyone on our ELMER list when you have questions.
Map Displaying HAM Locations This is fun! Visit the
link below and look up HAM locations by different search criteria. Thanks Randy http://www.vanityhq.com/cgi/hamlocator.cgi?http://www.ae7q.com 2007 Membership Drawing: Our membership drawing
only reflects 2007 members. Be sure and renew your membership and attend the
general meetings. This entitles you to a chance of winning the drawing and
receiving a copy of the Spectrum by email. The June drawing is $10.00. May’s winner was Craig
Ebright in the amount of $10.00 Thanks to those who have renewed
this year; your continued support is appreciated. If you haven’t yet
renewed, a membership form is located at the end of this issue. Additional
membership forms can also be found on our web site, www.VictorValleyARC.com. Dues for 2007 remain the
same: $18.00 for individuals, $23 for families, and $10 for youth and all new
members. Remember new HAMS get a year membership free! Volunteers Needed: YOUR INPUT
IS VITAL!!! Your Board is always looking
for volunteers to help out with Club business. Please step forward and give us a hand.
Contact any of the Board members. If you have any ideas for
programs, activities, club projects, etc. speak up. Pass your thoughts along
to the Board members. WE are open to any suggestions. Remember, without your
input, we have no idea what interests you or what you would like to do. VE Testing in the The first Saturday of
every odd-numbered month there is a GLAARG (Greater Los Angeles Amateur Radio
Group) test session in Hesperia. Tests are held at the Fire Station at the
corner of Olive and H. Registration starts at 8:30 AM. The cost is $4.00.
Walk-ins are welcome. Testing is available for all classes of license. All
candidates must bring a picture ID, and if you are upgrading, you need the
original and a copy of your amateur license and any CSCEs you hold. For more
information, you can contact Jim MacRay, KW6V, at 244-1396. Directions to
test site: From I-15 take Also, the Inland ARC
tests on the 4th Thursday of each month, at 5 PM at Web Site Update If you have any
suggestions on what you would like to see, feel free to let Steve know, steve.ostrander@dcma.mil. From the ARRL: Address
or phone number change??? “The
FCC requires you to maintain a valid current mailing address in their
database at all times. This is so that they can contact you by mail if
needed. If you move or even change Don’t forget if you need to renew your
membership or join the ARRL, contact Sandi DeWeert (sdeweert@verizon.net) and pay your
dues through the Club. VVARC receives a commission for each renewal or new
joining fee. Band chart in
color Submitted
by Bob Hall New band chart in color is attached to the end of
this newsletter. We will try and get it posted on the web site. Thanks Bob My
Favorite Radio Memory from Reminisce Magazine, Oct 04 It
all started when Dad and Uncle Nels carried in the console radio, the one
with the big dial. As we huddled
around the big cabinet, that radio brought the family together and helped us
through the Depression years.
Fascinated by radio, I played with the knobs, discovered short wave,
and wondered how it worked. That led
to a job at the radio shop of Uncle Nel’s friend Harold Christenson, a
kindly man with no children who took a liking to me and had the patience of
Job. Just starting high school, I had
my first real job. At
the radio shop, we were busy. Our
neighbor Dean Rossitor was a radio operator with the airlines. What I found interesting was his HAM radio
transmitter and rotating antenna in the yard, and how he was able to send and
receive Morse code while holding a conversation with me. Mr. Rossitor offered to loan me his
Instructograph. Looking like a windup
phonograph, it moved a perforated paper tape through contacts to simulate
Morse code. The tone was picked up by
the earphones and the tape had five letter code groups for practice. By
the time I was 16, confident of my code speed and having memorized the
license manual, I went to the FCC office in Radio
changed dramatically when by John
Hanson, Hurricane Season is HERE! By
Randy Hatfield. AG6RH June 1st marks the first day of
hurricane season. That season officially closes November 1st but Mother
Nature has changed her mind over the last few years. It's this time of year that I start
looking for interesting websites and frequencies to observe for hurricane
information. I find it helpful for my personal knowledge to learn from other
emergency operators and systems. This article will lead you to various
sources I have found over the years. As a general rule hurricanes that
develop early in the season tend to travel a southerly track toward the
island countries of Over the years linked repeaters have
been established along with Echolink. There is radius coverage of over 125
miles on 2 meters and 440 Mhz from 14.325 Mhz is a good start for
hurricane nets. I used to listen to
this net from the If you want to know all there is to
know about HAM radio and hurricane nets, you might want to start here, http://www.wx4nhc.org/. I hope you have found this article of
some benefit to you. I find that as my
island of knowledge grows, so does my shoreline of "wonder". Then, I find that time is my enemy. 73s Randy Hatfield Field Day 2007 Not much longer and Field Day will be here. Don’t forget to mark your calendars and come down and join the fun. This is a great opportunity for Techs to operate HF. Come down and give it a try. J-Pole Antennas Last month we talked about building your own J-Pole.
But what about those of us that are “building your own” challenged??? Have I got an answer for you? Our very own James
and Joyce Pike. James
Pole Antennas A James
Pole for Every Event Contact information: www.jamespole.com (760)
780-6484 Brochures are available. See Sandi at any of our
general meetings. Route 66 on the Air It
is now official! The Victor Valley ARC will be participating in the 8th
annual “On-The-Air” event this September, using the special event
call sign W6D. This
event is hosted by the CBARC, Citrus Belt Amateur Radio Club. Their website is www.w6jbt.org.
The
event runs from Sept 8-16. Remember that members who participate can
work from their own “shack” picking the dates, times, and bands
that they wish. We will be asking for
more operators to be sure that we have someone(s) on air every day during the
event, so expect to hear more about this later. From World Radio On
the inside of the front cover of the June issue, the heading of one story
is: Victorville HAM Receives Volunteer Service Award
from President Bush. Quoting
part of the story: “President Bush has recognized a Victorville,
Not So Top Secret! By
Randy Hatfield, AG6RH This
article is a follow up to the Top Secret article of last month. It’s for those who have less faith in
their GPS unit. And, it’s for
those who may be a little less adventurous.
The view is just the same. I
suggest you leave on this trip about 90 minutes before sunset. You’ll know why when you get there. You
need to drive a high-centered vehicle in good working order. While on this adventure you must take a
camera, binoculars, or a small telescope.
If I were you, try to do this on a less-windy day. If you go in the fall, winter, or spring, I
would take a jacket and a warm drink.
If you take VHF radio, be careful that you don’t overload the
front-end.
Your
first objective is to drive west on old Route 66 toward Oro Grande. When you come to the narrow railroad track
underpass slow down and enter the dirt road straight ahead.
You will drive
approximately 1.3 miles on this winding road. Stay on the road and don’t be
tempted to drive inside a fence opening that parallels the road. You will
gain about 300 feet in elevation. You will come to a T-intersection.
You will see a stop sign on the right that may be lying down. And, you will see a “Truck Crossing” sign on the left. Turn left onto that wider road. Now
you will drive about 1 mile and gain about another 300 feet in the
process. As you near the next turn you
will see a gate that could be open or closed.
There
will be a sign that reads “TXI Riverside”. You will turn right about 2 football field
lengths before that gate.
This
road will expose your objective. About
.4 of a mile down this road you will make another right turn. This road is much narrower and will appear
kind of rough. It isn’t all that
bad. Drive
slowly up the hill. On blind turns
sound your horn.
Use low gears on the way down. Calendar
of Events June 4 - Board Meeting:
6:30 p.m., June 12 – Annual
BBQ June 23-24 – Field
Day July 2 - Board Meeting:
6:30 p.m., July 10 – Annual
Ice Cream Social August 6 - Board Meeting:
6:30 p.m., August 14 – No
meeting this due to vacations September 3 - Board
Meeting: 6:30 p.m., September 11 - General
Meeting: 7:00 p.m. October 1 - Board
Meeting: 6:30 p.m., October 9 – General
Meeting: 7:00 p.m. November 5 - Board
Meeting: 6:30 p.m., November 13 –
General Meeting: 7:00 p.m. December 3 - Board
Meeting: 6:30 p.m., December 11 –
Installation Dinner Radio It’s magical! That’s
what I say To know that a radio may Turn spouses to exes Or sweethearts to
sexes By just dit-ing and daw-ing all
day! By
Barbara LaGrange, KF6AJT Are you really one of our Club? Would you like to get some of our
grub? If you’re never
around And can rarely be
found, We’ll miss you for sure,
that’s the rub. Submitted
by Virginia Hall,KD6YLT Sharpen your wits and your pencils and write
one. E-mail to |
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