JPL AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
1972 Officers
President: Al Chapman, W6MEO
Vice President: Maurice Piroumian, WA60PB
Secretary: Walt Williams, W6JSO
Treasurer: Jay Bastow, WB6NFN
Trustee: Jay Holladay, W6EJJ
Past President: Walt Ross, W6VPN
Club Mailing Address:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, California 91103
Mail Stop 114-104
Club meetings are held on
the 2nd Wednesday of each month, at noon, in 238-543. Everyone
is welcome.
Business meetings of the Club Board of Directors are held on
the 4th Wednesday of every month, at noon, in 180-102. Club members
are welcome.
Newsletter Editor: Stan Hench, WB6JMP, Mail Stop 169-214
Publicity Manager: Harold Wheelock
Emergency Communications Mgr: Bruce Kelly
Station Facilities Manager: Bill Harris
QSL Bureau Manager: Hans Weber
RFI/TVI Coordinator: Jay Bastow
Education Committee: Gordon Crawford
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEET
The JPL Amateur Radio Club Board of Directors met on February
23, 1972. This was the first meeting involving the newly elected
Club Officers, and President Al Chapman chaired the proceedings.
Jay Bastow, Club Treasurer, reported that only 26 members have
paid their 1972 dues so far. This is a far cry from the one-time
high of 90 that the Club enjoyed. No doubt, this lapse has been
pure oversight on the part of most active members interested
in the Club, and all that's needed is another reminder. Full
Member dues are $2.00; Associate Members (i.e. non-licensed)
dues are $1.00.
President Chapman announced that, because of scheduling and construction
activity in 180-101, the next three Director's meetings will
be held in 198-211. The meetings, as usual, will be held on the
4th Wednesday of each month.
Al Chapman reported that the general consensus among a large
number of Club members is that the content of our general meetings
should be of a more technical nature' as opposed to discussing
administrative matters. Correspondingly, the Board of Directors
has been given the responsibility to conduct the Club's administrative
affairs and will carry out these tasks in accordance with the
provisions set forth in Articles IV through VII of the Club By-Laws.
The Board then held an informal discussion regarding the viability
of the Club. It was generally agreed that the diverse interests
of the members, the pressures of work assignments' and widespread
QTH's make it difficult to sustain a high degree of interest
on the part of the entire membership. A number of ideas were
discussed that could conceivably involve the largest number of
Club members:
1. A Club project to set up a 220-MHz repeater on Mt. Wilson.
2. Hold a swap meet in Oak Grove Park.
3. Involve the CalTech Amateur Radio Club members in some of our ongoing projects.
4. Hold some Club meetings off-Lab, not during working hours (see Al Chapman article below for more on this).
The meeting closed on an encouraging
note, with numerous suggestions offered' all with merit. All
will be fully discussed by the Board and when the best suggestions
are chosen, they will be presented to the membership. All Board
members indicated that they would greatly appreciate hearing
from the members on this subject and will carefully evaluate
every suggestion.
MEETING TIME QUESTIONED
A number of members have remarked that' because of the pressures
of work' noontime meetings are difficult to attend.
For other reasons (e.g., time limitations on program, meeting
room availability' accommodations, etc.), it might be well to
consider having at least some meetings at times other than mid-workday.
On the other hand, so many members live so far from the Lab,
and from each other, that it might prove even more difficult
to get most of us together in the evenings. Some of the ideas
have been:
1. To meet from 4:30 to circa 6:00 pm.
2. Have an occasional meeting in the evening at various nice restaurants around the L.A. area--YL's and XYL's invited. Same idea for a Saturday, now and then. Mix these with the present noontime meets throughout the year.
3. Have a joint meeting occasionally with another amateur radio club in the area, during the evening.
4. Brainstorm this problem on the air, in one big round-robin one night.
Since it is the aim of your Club Officers to provide the best possible program for the greatest number of members, we need very much to hear from everyone on this matter, no difference how far out. So why not jot down your ideas and send them to Nash Williams, 169-414. He is our Program Chairman and is looking for suggestions.
73,
Al/W6MEO
WOTTA MEMORY!!
Dick piety is the reluctant recipient of a small windfall' and
he would prefer it wasn't like that at all. It seems that he
had a tower for sale a while back and a buyer eventually showed
up for it. The buyer gave Dick a check for the full amount and
said that he would be back to pick up the tower later. Dick cashed
the check (it was good) and sat back and waited. This was several
months ago, and Dick (and the tower) are still sitting
there waiting! The trouble is that Dick can't seem to recall
the buyers name' or whether a Club member brought him out there.
Does anyone happen to remember this little incident? If so' please
call Dick ASAP on X2298' because his conscience is bothering
him.
FIELD DAY ANYONE??
Although our Club has no official plans to participate in the
upcoming Field Day exercise' Jerry Hawkes would like to talk
with any other member who might have some informal plans for
entering this event in April. Jerry can be reached on X3362.
AMSAT/OSCAR NEEDS PARTS
Norm Chalfin reports that he needs some parts for the, AMSAT/OSCAR
AO/B encoder and wonders if anyone might have the following stuff
gathering duet in his Junk box:
SN7497N 6-bit binary multiplier SN74165N 8-bit shift register SN7405N Hex Inverter
2N3565 or 2N2484 (npn); need 9 2N3564 or 2N3646 (npn) 2N4121 (pup); need 2
10 mf tantalum capacitor
QST BACK ISSUES SOUGHT
Ed Jollie sent us the following IOM:
Here is a list of QST issues needed by the Library so they can
complete their collection from 1947 through the present. Our
vendors have great difficulty locating back issues of this publication.
We would appreciate receiving these missing issues because we
cannot bind incomplete volumes. Thus, we will have these years
missing from our bound collection.
Your cooperation in helping locate these issues, either in your
personal collection or that of a friend's will be greatly appreciated.
Year Month
1951 December
1952 August & December
1954 December
1956 February & December
1957 December
Tnx to Maurice/WA60PB; origin unknown.
Red Cross Listens
More Emergency Use Of Ham Radios Urged
From the Pasadena Star-News, March 9, 1972
Increased use of amateur radio operators in emergency situations
is being urged by Herbert Hoover III, head of disaster services
for the Pasadena Chapter of the American Red Cross, he told members
of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Radio Club Wednesday at a noon
meeting of the club.
Hoover said amateur radio activity in Red Cross efforts has been
negligible in the past, but since he took over as head of disaster
services a few months ago he has tried to remedy the situation,
Hams are invited to volunteer their services either to Robert
Richard, Red Cross employee in charge of disaster services, or
to John Dundas, WA6ZC0, San Marino. head of . the Red Cross amateur
radio organization.
Hoover, grandson of the former president, and son of the late
Herbert Hoover Jr., W6ZH San Marino, former president of the
American Radio Relay League, said the Red Cross has four major
responsibilities in a disaster: temporary shelter, feeding of
evacuees, medical assistance and communications.
He said hams are needed for the communications arm of Red Cross.
Their responsibilities, he said, include advance planning for
mobilization, setting up and running fixed and mobile radio stations
and assisting the Red Cross and other involved organizations
in communications matters.
PASADENA RADIO CLUB REORGANIZES
The Pasadena Radio Club/W6KA has elected new officers and is
undergoing a major rejuvenation. The 1972 officers are Harvey
Hetland/WA6KZI, President; Kim Bottles/WB6ZGL, Vice President;
Paul Ordon/WA6OJK, Sec'y-Treasurer. Jerry Newcombe of the Sierra
Madre Search and Rescue Team has been active in the reorganization
effort. The Club meets every 3rd Tuesday of the month at 7:30
PM, in the Republic Federal Savings Building, at 200 N. Lake,
in Altadena. Congratulations and best wishes from W6VIO.
MURPHY WASN'T FIRST AFTER ALL
Club member Jack Bobrow dug 'way back into his files of CQ Magazine
and discovered that Murphy's Laws were in effect s early as 1952,
but they weren't credited to this infamous person at that time.
Liscum Diven/W7PGX wrote up a group of rules and called them
IPOIO or, simply put, the Innate Perversity of Inanimate Objects.
To give an instance, try constructing an antenna that will not
stretch. The solution is simple if you take into account IPOIO.
Cut the antenna about two feet too short' to allow for stretching.
It is guaranteed not to stretch.
Another case: Design a feedback amplifier that will not oscillate.
Apply IPOIO and design it as an oscillator in the first place.
Nothing under the sun will make it oscillate. Conversely, all
oscillators should be designed as amplifiers.
Now for some homework problems:
1. Neighbor A is 5' 3" and weighs 115 lb. Neighbor B is
6' 6" and weighs 230 lb and is a former boxer. Which one
will have severe TVI?
2. You are running 1KW and have a four-element rotary. You work
a VK [who is] using a doublet and 15 watts input. His signal is 589. What
is yours?
So you see, from this April 1952 issue of CQ Magazine, that there
's really nothing new under the sun. We just give things a different
name.
CONVENTION PLANNED IN LA PAZ
The annual meeting of LMRE (ARRL of Mexico) will be held in La
Paz, on June 1, 2, 3, and 4. Regular Jet flights are available
for those who enjoy eyeballs and highballs enroute. Reservations
can be made through the Ensenada Radio Club. Contact Nash Willlams/W6HCD
for further details.
CLUB ORGANIZATION CHART DRAWN
In keeping with the new slate of officer' for 1972, a new Organization
Chart for the JPL Amateur Radio Club has been prepared and is
attached to this Newsletter for the information of the members.
As can be seen' the interests and activities of the Club are
numerous and varied. If anyone is currently active, or would
like to become more familiar with any aspect of our activities,
contact any of the respective Chairmen for more information.
ARRL NOTES 'N THINGS
At the recent SAROC convention in Las Vegas, A. Prose Walker/W4BW,
Chief of the Amateur and Citizens Division of the FCC, spoke
on matters affecting the Amateur Radio Service. These remarks
are Walker's personal views and should not be considered to be
the official FCC position. They are of interest to all hams,
however. Of course any such changes would have to go through
the normal FCC rule-making procedures before becoming effective.
1. Phone Band Expansion - The following appears likely:
a. A small expansion of the 75 meter phone band.
b. Expansion of the 40 meter phone band down to 7150; no U.S. phone operation in 7075-7100 kHz.
c. No expansion of 20, 15 or 10 meters.
d. Retention of 25 kHz Extra Class CW segments.
2. Excessive Power - Amateurs should
clean up their own house by eliminating use of power in excess
of the legal limit. If this is not done by the amateurs themselves,
expect more rules on the subject. This could include the FCC
specifying which tube types may be used. Over-power violators
will be prosecuted with suspensions and revocations.
3. Licensing Matters - Conditional and Technician licensees will
continue to be ailed in for re-examination. Other changes for
the Conditional Class might include a two or three year time
limit or upgrading to a higher class.
4. Call Sign Changes - A new call sign plan is being formed,
where the prefix would indicate the class of license held. all
signs under this arrangement would look like this:
Extra - Would get their choice of calls if licensed over 25 years; under 5 years would be assured of a two-letter all. 1 x 1, 2 x 1 and 2 x 2 calls (i.e. W6G, WB6R, WB6FX) would also be allowed.
Advanced - No specific proposal, but the prefix block AA to AL might be made available to Advanced Class.
General - Would be assured of a 1 x 3 call sign.
Technician - WT prefix
Conditional - WC prefix
5. Expansion of allocations - Amateurs
are faced with a golden opportunity' in the next few years, to
obtain additional HF bands, as the result of shift of much fixed
traffic to satellites and cables. Other services are preparing
requests and Justifications for this portion of the spectrum.
Preparations on behalf of amateur radio will be a big Job and
will take lots of time and money.
The 1972 Southwestern Division Convention will be held October
21-22 at Santa Maria and is going to be fun oriented and NOT
expensive. What's more there'll be a good western style barbecue
where you can have as much rare, medium or well-done beef as
you can eat. Mark your calendar.
As of December 31, 1971, the ARRL showed a gain of 5400 members
worldwide. Full membership increased 5.2%, the best since 1964!
Fifteen of the sixteen divisions showed increases, with the greatest
one being logged in our own Southwestern Division -- 11%. This
makes us the 5th largest in the League.
Cooperation by several amateurs in the Palo Alto area resulted
in FCC Violation Notices to two amateurs who had been generating
malicious interference to WCARS. Guilt was admitted, and the
FCC is on the trail of two other amateurs with action to be taken
soon.
73, Jay Holladay/W6EJJ
CLASSIFIED ADS
FOR SALE
2-Meter FM all solid state xcvr, Standard Model SRC-826M. Still in warranty. $260 - - Al Chapman 793-9513
Collins 32V-1 transmitter. Good CW rig. $75 - - Jay Holladay 790-1725
