Come help us kick out 2016 at the meeting, Tuesday December 27. Bring a party hat! 🙂
Attending: Jim AB5JK and Erik K5WW.
We had the meeting at the club shack for a change. An underutilized building!
The treasurer reports no change since October. But that will soon change.
K5WW sold more “old” Yaesu equipment on eBay that James WW5XX donated a few weeks ago. That sale generated around $350, before some minor expenses, and provided none of the buyers get a bad case of buyer’s remorse. Final report will come in December.
The club’s mailing address was changed to K5WW’s mailing address. This will allow faster turnaround of QSL requests, and official documents to be received without being held at the hospital for weeks.
The hospital’s IT crew seems to have made some drastic changes to their security settings, making life at the shack (using all things internet related) quite hard for the past week or two. But during the meeting we found things have improved a bit; perhaps they’re ironing out some of the issues we found.
A few issues brought up: the Echolink node has been down for a couple of weeks. The hardware still “works”; but the software may be fried. Jim now has his hands on the unit and will investigate. If it turns out to be toast then he suggested replacing it with the newer and faster Raspberry Pi 3 based machine. Everybody was in favor.
Also: we need to get a microphone for the Kenwood VHF repeater. Jim may have one (or 2 or 3); but if not they’re cheap enough for us to afford.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:46 PM coyote time. Next meeting: December 27.
More of James WW5XX’s Yaesu FT-101 equipment on eBay: click here and bid 🙂
The meeting was called to order October 25, 2016 at 7:09 PM Uvalde time.
Attending: Mary KU5Z, Jim AB5JK, Dave WA6YJW and Erik K5WW.
Jim reports that an amateur radio relative of his, Lee W5IG, quite unexpectedly became a silent key. Lee was known by some of his friends as “Inspector Gadget” because of some of the really cool projects he made. One of those projects is the cool transmitter, as seen here on YouTube. Cool!
Jim also reports that he recently had a QSO with Roger K0YY via the AllStar network, through node 27272. That node is linked to the W5IRP repeater in Lufkin, TX, which Roger monitors.
The treasurer’s report shows no changes from last month.
James WW5XX donated some more oldies but goodies to the club to sell on eBay to generate some more and much needed funds. Thanks James!! (I think he justs wants another baseball cap 😉 )
That’s all. More news next month!
The meeting was adjourned at 7:39 local time, same place.
The October 2016 meeting will be at the usual place, at the usual time, on October 25, 2016. You have been invited! 🙂
Attending: Jim AB5JK and Dave WA6YJW.
Several top secret items were discussed; more about this next month.
Hush.
It’s time to do your part and rally Congress! And it’s real easy – just click the (red) link below. But make sure you read the whole article so you understand how important your participation is. Thank you!!
Courtesy of the American Radio Relay League:
09/14/2016
“The bill is passed without objection.” With those words, Amateur Radio history was made on September 12, when the US House of Representatives approved the Amateur Radio Parity Act, H.R. 1301 on a voice vote under a suspension of the rules. The focus of the campaign to enact the legislation into law now shifts to the US Senate. The House victory culminated many years of effort on ARRL’s part to gain legislation that would enable radio amateurs living in deed-restricted communities to erect antennas that support Amateur Radio communication. The measure calls on the FCC to amend its Part 97 rules “to prohibit the application to amateur stations of certain private land-use restrictions, and for other purposes.” While similar bills in past years gained some traction on Capitol Hill, it was not until the overwhelming grassroots support from the Amateur Radio community for H.R. 1301 shepherded by ARRL that a bill made it this far. The legislation faces significant obstacles to passage in the US Senate, however.
“This is huge step in our effort to enact legislation that will allow radio amateurs who live in deed-restricted communities the ability to construct an effective outdoor antenna,” ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, said. “Thanks to everyone for their help in this effort thus far. Now we must turn our full attention to getting the bill passed in the Senate.”
ARRL Hudson Division Director Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, who chairs the ARRL Board’s Legislative Advocacy Committee, has been heavily involved in efforts to move H.R. 1301 forward. “This has been a multiyear effort that is finally seeing some light,” he said. “The passage of the bill in the House is a major accomplishment, due to the hard work of so many — from the rank-and-file member to the officers and directors.”
Lisenco said it’s not a time to rest on our laurels. “We are only halfway there. The focus now shifts to our effort in the Senate,” he said. “We are beginning a massive e-mail campaign in which we need every member to write their two Senators using our simplified process. You will be hearing from President Roderick and from your Directors, asking you to go to our ‘Rally Congress’ page. Using your ZIP code, e-mails will be generated much like our recent letter campaign. You’ll fill in your name and address and press Enter. The e-mails will be sent directly to your Senators without you having to search through their websites.”
Lisenco said getting these e-mails to members’ Senators is a critical part of the process. “Those numbers matter! Please help us help you by participating in this effort,” he said.
As the amended bill provides, “Community associations should fairly administer private land-use regulations in the interest of their communities, while nevertheless permitting the installation and maintenance of effective outdoor Amateur Radio antennas. There exist antenna designs and installations that can be consistent with the aesthetics and physical characteristics of land and structures in community associations while accommodating communications in the Amateur Radio services.”
During this week’s limited debate, the House bill’s sponsor, Rep Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), thanked ARRL and the Community Associations Institute (CAI) for reaching an agreement to move the bill forward “in a bipartisan and very positive manner.” He pointed out to his colleagues that Amateur Radio antennas are prohibited outright in some areas.
“For some this is merely a nuisance,” Kinzinger said, “but for others — those that use their Amateur Radio license for life-saving emergency communications — a dangerous situation can be created by limiting their ability to establish effective communication for those in need.”
Kinzinger said that in emergencies, hams can provide “a vital and life-saving function” when conventional communication systems are down. He also praised the Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS), a US Department of Defense-sponsored program, comprised largely of Amateur Radio volunteers, that also supports communication during emergencies and disasters.
Cosponsor US Rep Joe Courtney (D-CT) also urged the bill’s passage. “This is not just a feel-good bill,” Courtney said, recounting how Hurricane Sandy brought down the power grid, and “we saw all the advanced communications we take for granted…completely fall by the wayside.” Ham radio volunteers provided real-time communication in the storm’s wake, he said, saying the legislation was a way “to rebalance things” for radio amateurs who choose to live in deed-restricted neighborhoods by enabling them to install “non-intrusive antennas.”
Courtney noted that he spoke recently with FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, and said that Wheeler “strongly supports this legislation.”
Leading up to the vote, Rep Paul Tonko (D-NY) also spoke in support of the legislation, calling it a commonsense approach that would build “fairness into the equation for Amateur Radio operators” in dealing with homeowners associations.
The earlier U.S. Senate version of the Amateur Radio Parity Act, S. 1685, no longer is in play, and the Senate is expected to vote by unanimous consent on the version of H.R. 1301 that was adopted by the House on September 12.
© American Radio Relay League.
The secretary was late again; so the meeting was called to order at 8:08 PM.
Attending: Jim AB5JK and Erik K5WW.
Our trusty treasurer reports that we have $1,015 in our CARC sock.
Received in the mail: 2 beautiful certificates for our participation in the 2015 ARRL DX contest and the 2015 ARRL RTTY Roundup;
1st place STX section multi-op two transmitter
We’re gonna need more frames 🙂
1st place multi-op low power STX section
Not bad, thank you ARRL!
Also discussed: after a few unfortunate incidents with our mail we decided to have the mailing address changed to that of the club trustee; that will also speed up QSL processing.
The member list has been updated and will be posted on the outside of the shack door. It will be accompanied by a sign in list, as originally intended. This in an attempt to keep unauthorized persons out, which seems to have happened lately. We’ll also try to convince security to triple-check the identity of visitors.
The meeting was adjourned at 9 PM. It was a good one; join us for the next one, September 27!
Now that summer is over. Uh, wait.
The August meeting will be on Tuesday. Get your Butte over there 🙂
Attending: Jim AB5JK and Dave WA6YJW.
Both of them were too hungry to have an official meeting; so relocated to a local restaurant.
There, see? That’s what you all missed for not coming to the meeting!
See you in August, bring your appetite 😉
