MEETING NOTICE

The next meeting of the JPL Amateur Radio Club will be held on June 9, 1971, at 12 Noon in 238-543.

The featured speaker will be Bill Bergman, our Propagation Committee Chairman. In preparation for the Field Day activities to take place on Table Mountain, Bill will discuss HF propagation prediction and field expedient antennas that can be used for the contest.

Since Bill has extensive experience in antennas and propagation, a longer-than-usual period of time will be allotted for questions and answers, especially because this field of discussion is so broad.

FIRST NEWSLETTER GETS WIDE AUDIENCE

W6VIO CALLING, the JPL Amateur Radio Club's brand new Newsletter will get wide distribution throughout the Lab -for the first issue only. We are sending out this "Collector's Issue" to everyone that has expressed an interest in the Club's activities, but has not yet become a full member.

Future issues will be sent only to Club members who are currently active and are up to date in their payment of Club dues. Therefore, if you like what you have seen so far, and would like to support the Club's activities, rush $1.00 to our Club Treasurer, Jay Bastow/WB6NFN, at 233-301 which will cover your 1971 dues. Then, you will be assured of receiving all of the forthcoming Newsletters.

W6VIO CLUB UPGRADING REPORTED

The next big milestone in our station upgrading project is to conduct a high voltage transmission line test to determine (1) whether to spend a large amount of money to reduce the radio noise coming from these lines that crisscross the Laboratory (it affects other services on-Lab beside our station) and (2) whether our new proposed trailer site at the Bailey Bridge is satisfactory from a noise level consideration.

This test will be performed in the near future, and we should be able to draw some conclusions shortly thereafter.

If the Bailey Bridge site is satisfactory, we plan to place a trailer there with a complete station for NASA, with RTTY and AMSAT, with an antenna complex near the water tanks up the adjoining hill. A log periodic beam for 6-30 MHz will enable us to operate on Amateur, MARS, NASA and HF RACES frequencies without a high SWR at the band edges.

Oh yes. There's one reason for concern: The feedline will be 900 ft long!!

CLUB OFFICER LIST

President Walt Ross/W6VPN
Secretary Merv MacMedan/W6IUV
Treasurer Jay Bastow/WB6NFN
Trustee Jay Holladay/W6EJJ

The above officers, plus the immediate Past President, constitute the Board of Directors. Administrative meetings are held once a month, between regularly scheduled Club meetings

FIELD DAY ACTIVITIES PLANNED

Field Day can be variously classified as organized pandemonium, sheer agony, self-induced torture, or a real blast, a big bore, too much QRM, a gigantic fiasco, but a heck of a lot of fun!!

To put it simply, Field Day is designed to get the average Ham out of his comfy, cozy, heated/air conditioned shack into, literally, the field. There, he has to set up a radio rig, using only an emergency source of power, a makeshift antenna, and what little else he can devise to get on the air and win a contest for the most contacts in a given time.

Avid Field Day participants tend to overlook the less-than-ideal accommodations, the leaky tents, the cold food, the balky generator and the burned-out final tubes that seem to let loose like a bag full of hot popcorn. Rather, they like to dwell upon the chance to make more different contacts in one day than they usually make in a year of normal operating. They also like to tell about the really rare ones that only seem to show up on a Field Day, and are never heard from again. The biggest kick, though is to total up the points at the end of the marathon and suddenly realize you're one of the winners!! Everyone has an equal chance to catch that elusive brass ring and, by golly, you've come out on top of the heap!! THAT'S what Field Day is all about!!

Naturally, the JPL Amateur Radio Club is going to be right in there, with all of the best tricks its members can think of to squeeze out that extra QSO. The Field Day is scheduled to start at 1100 PDST on June 26, and run until 1400 PDST on June 27. The Club will be operating from Table Mountain, which should give it a big advantage .

Preparations are currently under way, and questionnaires were sent out to all paid-up members of the Club. However, if you were not polled as to what your plans might be, contact Dave Hubiak on Extension 6896 for further information. The more participants we get, the better our chances of winning!!

W6VIO AT JPL PICNIC

Plans are being made to operate a hot dog stand at the upcoming JPL annual Employees' Picnic. This is an excellent opportunity for the Club to bolster its improvement fund and volunteers are needed to help man the stand during the day. Club members are urged to contact Dick Baugh (Ext. 3684) and sign up for the days activity.

The picnic will be held at the Soledad Sands Park on July 10th, and close to 3,000 are expected to attend. Hopefully, we are planning on selling at least 1,600 hot dogs and, perhaps, a few new Club memberships.

MEMBERS RECEIVE AWARDS

Jay Holladay/W6EJJ, our Club Trustee, has received the coveted Five Band DX Century Club (5BDXCC) Plaque No. 70, on March 16th. This confirms that Jay has worked 100 countries on each of the 5 bands!! Whew!! You can see the plaque on Jay's office wall in 126-100.

Chuck Krinke/WA6LWB recently received WAC-TTY Award No. 156, issued by RTTY Journal for two-way contacts with all continents using RTTY. That's an awful lot of RY's, Chuck!!

CQ ALL NOVICES

Just in case you thought that the JPL Amateur Radio Club was strictly for hams that hold Extra tickets, please note that the Club owns a Heathkit HW-16 transceiver, covering the CW portions of 80, 40 and 15 meters. It has an unusually selective receiver filter (500 Hz), is crystal-controlled, and has full 75 watt input power capability, with full break-in.

This "Hot Water-16" is available for Club members' use at the station. Drop by sometime with your favorite crystal and put W6VIO on the Novice Band. Just remember that regular use is the fastest way to General Class!!

CODE AND THEORY COURSE GIVEN BY CLUB

As one of the first efforts in community service, the JPL Amateur Radio Club gave a General Class Code and Theory course, recently, at La Canada High School. The course ran for 18 weeks and was well received by all students that attended. Certificates of Completion were issued, as were Code Proficiency Certificates.

Course Coordinator was Gordon Crawford/ WB6DRH; Code Instructor was Glenn Berry/ K6GHJ and Jay Bastow/WB6NFN taught the theory portion.

Plans are being made to make a report of the operation to amateur radio journals and to publish certain of the course material that was generated. Meanwhile, the entire Club membership extends its thanks to these tireless volunteers.

EDSEL MURPHY LAYS DOWN LAWS

1. Anything that can possibly go wrong on a Field Day exercise - will!!

JPL NOVICE NET IS QRZ

The JPL Novice Net meets every Monday evening at 2030 local time on 3703 kHz. The Club has crystals available for Novices who wish to participate in the Net. We've worked out an arrangement where you can buy the rocks now, and then sell them back to the Club when you upgrade your license.

Maurice Piroumian/WA60PB acts as Net Control from La Crescenta, and he keeps an ear cocked for his former Novice Code Class members, as well as any others who may drop in on the frequency. Many times, some rare DX pops in, too; so, why not tune in, load up, and say HI to your JPL buddies?

CLUB EQUIPMENT LISTED

NASA Gear

Collins KWM-2A Transceiver
Collins 30L1 Linear Amplifier
Collins 516F2 Power Supply
Collins 312B4 Station Control/ Phone Patch
Waters Dummy Load & Wattmeter
Foldout Antenna Rack

JPL Surplus Gear

Collins 75A4 Receiver
Collins KWS-1 (less power supply*)
Collins R390A Receiver
National HRO-60 Receiver
Kleinschmidt TTY
Teletype Corp. TTY

Club Gear

Heathkit HW-16 Transceiver
Craig Cassette Tape Recorder
Heathkit HD-10 Electronic Keyer
Vibroplex Speed Key

*This project needs some help!

CLUB STATION OPERATING RULES

The Club policy on operating W6VIO is outlined in the following set of rules:

1. Only paid-up members who have been checked out by a competent W6VIO operator will be issued a key to the operations room. This is to protect very expensive NASA equipment from being abused, perhaps innocently. We have an obligation to minimize downtime on our Emergency Station.

2. A visitor who is a licensed Amateur may operate W6VIO if accompanied by a member with a key.

3. Anyone operating the station must have a valid license in his possession, and operate only within the privileges granted by the Class indicated on his license. W6VIO is licensed for Extra Class operation, but the operator's class of license governs his privileges at the station.

4. Use only the call sign W6VIO (not your own) unless special conditions dictate an exception. Under these circumstances, secure permission from the Station Trustee, Jay Holladay, FIRST!!

5. Log all contacts. GMT is used in the log and a GMT clock is available on the wall of the station.

6. QSL cards are available for all logged contacts. Request blanks from Hans Weber, fill them out and return to him with a handling fee of 4¢ per card.

7. W6VIO is a member of a QSL card handling bureau. We may receive cards and can send cards through this bureau for 4¢ each. This service is available for operators from your home station also.

8. Maintenance problems are to be brought to the attention of the Station Facility Chairman, Bill Harris. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FIX PROBLEMS YOURSELF!! Most of the operating gear is NASA-OWNED, not Club owned.

9. Use good operating procedures and help make W6VIO a respected call on the air.

CLUB COMMITTEES AND CHAIRMEN

Emergency Communications: Bruce Kelly
NASA Net: Merv MacMedan

RACES: Rex Edwards

AREC: Bill Carpenter

Mountain Rescue: Gene Thom

JPL Novice Net: Maurice Piroumian

AMSAT Corp.: Norm Chalfin

TVI/Interference: Jay Bastow

By-Laws Review: Maurice Piroumian

Yacht Race: Jesse Ball

Picnic: Dick Baugh

Station Facility: Bill Harris

Newsletter Editor: Stan Hench

JPL Emergency & Disaster: Nash Williams

Hospitality: Maurice Piroumian

Field Day: Dave Hubiak

PROPOSED PHONE BAND EXPANSION

Members of the JPL Amateur Radio Club were polled regarding their opinions of the provisions included in FCC Docket 19162, which would expand most of the existing phone bands. Jay Holladay/W6EJJ compiled the results and has sent a letter to the FCC. Here's how we voted:

In favor of proposed changes: 12

Retain present allocations: 4

Favor Docket with some changes: 7

Total responses: 23

Jay will be happy to furnish additional details for the price of a phone call.

CLASSIFIEDS

FOR SALE

HALLICRAFTERS SX-62A RECEIVER
 550 kHz - 108 MHz continuous coverage, AM-CW-SSB-FM

HALLICRAFTERS AIRCRAFT RECEIVER
109-140 MHz continuous, plus 2 crystal-controlled channels, with crystals for LAX Twr and LAX Approach Control.

Lou Divone X2360 or 246-9426

2 METER FM HAM RADIO (1953 Motorola, modified)

Has 80-100 w output & transistorized power supply. Xtals alone worth $49.00. Rig includes: control head (w/10 colored lights for xtals), spkr, mike, casing (w/lock & key), "A" relay, all necessary hdwe, 4 xmit, 3 rcv xtals. Needs about $15.00 worth of work done. Price: $100.00, or offer.

Pat O' Bryan X2269 or 289-7458

HOMEBREW 90W TRANSMITTER

With plate modulator, power supply. $20.00

HEATHKIT VFO $10.00

DX150 RECEIVER

All transistor, gen'1 coverage, 12v & 110v supplies,
like new, added micrometer dials, w/manual. $75.00

ISOPHON 8-in HiFi speaker, new $10.00

ISOPHON Bedroom speaker in housing, new $10.00

HI-FI SOUND COLUMN

4 x 10" Isophon, sturdy housing, 41"x12"x8", 100 w, new, 4 available $95.00 each.

Hans Weber X5744

WANTED

COLLINS POWER SUPPLY, Model 516F2, for 32S3/KWM2 series xmtrs..

Merv MacMedan X2112

SOMEONE has borrowed the Club's copy of the Radio Amateur's Handbook for an extensive period. Others need it, so its prompt return will be appreciated. All that is needed is to mail it to "Radio Room", 171-B8. --And, thank you.

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