W6VIO CALLING
SEPTEMBER 1992 Volume 21 No. 9
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- W6VIO CALLING M/S 264-419
- Attn: Eileen McKinney
- 4800 Oak Grove Drive
- Pasadena, California 91109
- W6VIO CALLING M/S 264-419
BOARD
- PRESIDENT: RANDY
HAMMOCK, KC6HUR
- VICE PRES: JIM KESTERSON, KA6IBF
- SECRETARY: DAVE SEIDEL, KC6NRL
- TREASURER: SCOTT BALZER, KC6NRP
- CLUB TRUSTEE: JAN TARSALA, WB6VRN
- EMERGENCY COMM COORD: WALT MUSHAGIAN, K6DNS
- DIRECTOR AT LARGE: ART ZYGIELBAUM, WA6SAL
- WB6IEA REPEATER TRUSTEE: WALT DIEM WA6PEA
- VICE PRES: JIM KESTERSON, KA6IBF
COMMITTEES
- FACILITIES: MARK
SCHAEFER, WB6CIA
- EDUCATION: GIL YANOW, K6TOS
- REPEATER: BOB DENGLER, N068
- STRATEGIC PLANNING: JON ADAMS, NW6H
- EDUCATION: GIL YANOW, K6TOS
EDITOR: EILEEN MCKINNEY KA6DQV
- LAARC REP: MARK
SCHAEFER, WB6CIA
- MEMBERSHIP SERVICES: RICK MCKINNEY, KA6DAN
- W6VIO Trailer: (818) 393-6312
- Voicemail & BBS: (818) 354-1751 (Future)
- MEMBERSHIP SERVICES: RICK MCKINNEY, KA6DAN
REPEATERS
- WB6IEA 224.08 MHz (-) Closed/Autopatch
- W6VIO 224.04 MHz (-) PL-5A Open/Shuttle Audio
- W6VIO 147.15 MHz (+) PL-1A Open
- W6VRN 51.86 MHz (-) PL-1A Future
- W6VIO-1 145.09 MHz (S) Packet Node/BBS
- W6VIO-1 223.54 MHz (S) Packet Node/BBS
- W6VIO 224.04 MHz (-) PL-5A Open/Shuttle Audio
Club Meetings:
- Everyone is welcome - Bring your lunch.
- 12 Noon
- Program - Second Wednesday of month in 238-543
- Business - Fourth Wednesday of month In 180-703B
- 12 Noon
Newsletter Article Deadline: The 5th day of each month. If the 5th falls on a weekend, the following Monday will be the deadline.
Your articles, ads, photos, diagrams, Letters to the Editor, or technical instructions should be submitted to Editor at address above.
EXCHANGE CLUBS: PLEASE NOTE ADDRESS ABOVE
Permission is granted to copy enclosed articles providing credit is given to "W6VIO CALLING".
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
By Randy Hammock, KC6HUR
As I sit down to write this article, I suddenly realize that it is time to nominate new officers for the coming year and that the banquet planning must got started.
When you are contacted by a member of the nominating committee, please consider taking a position as one of the officers of the club. Our elected officers consist of president, vice president, secretary and treasurer. As a brief description of what is expected of each officer, the president is responsible for the running of the club's general business and acts as the official contact for the club. The vice president is to fill in for the president in his absence and has the responsibility of planning the club's monthly meetings. The secretary keeps the minutes of the various meeting, sends out club notices and handles correspondence for the club. The treasurer, what more can be said, handles the club's finances. If you would like more information regarding the individual responsibilities of each officer, I urge you to look at the club's by-laws.
AND THE BEEP GOES ON...
I have tried to keep everyone informed as to the status of the " now" repeater for 224.080 and this is just another in the continuing saga. The new (about 4 years old now) repeater was installed about 2 months ago, only to fail within two weeks after installation. For those of you keeping track that was the third time it had been put on the air and the third time it failed. Not having time to pull it down, it's transmitter was switched off, the power was left on to get it burn-in time and the old repeater was put back on line.
Once I got back from vacation, I pulled the new repeater off the hill to start trouble shooting. The suspected defective cable was replaced and two defective transistors were replaced. The unit has been functioning on the bench for a week now. There are plans to place the repeater in an environmental test chamber to temperature cycle it to see if we can get it to fail on the bench where have the equipment to trace the trouble. (I'm getting real tired of "it works in the lab but not on the hill.")
PL ON THE OLD REPEATER
By the time you read this, the PL should have been activated on the old 224.080 repeater. The grunge is not going away, San Diego .080 repeater users keep getting into our repeater while using theirs and we are supposed to be PL'ed anyway. I don't want to hear any complaints about not being able to got into the repeater because you don't have PL. Everyone was warned that the system would be PL'ed over 9 months ago.
73, Randy KC6HUR
BOOK REVIEW
By Randy Hammock, KC6HUR
- Book: "Ham Radio Resource Guide"
- Author: Bruce Nolte, N6TFS
- Published by: Artsci, Inc.
- P.O. Box 1848
- Burbank, CA 90041
- Author: Bruce Nolte, N6TFS
Are you now to ham radio, now to Southern California or are you curious about some of those "new fangled" modes of communication such as packet? Well, there is a new booklet available which describes almost anything you would like to know about ham radio In the SOCAL area.
This booklet was written by Bruce Nolte, N6TFS and is published by Artsci, Inc. The best description of what this booklet is all about is by the author, "Southern California is rich in Amateur Radio operators, repeaters, stores, swapmeets, public service events, etc. ... This book is an attempt to bring all these resources together."
And bring these resources together, this book does. There are descriptions of radio clubs, repeater groups, Ham Radio classes, VE testing schedules, how to contact the FCC, Space Shuttle flight information, how to report highway emergencies, using repeaters, packet radio, ATV, maps to the stores and swaps and many other useful items too numerous to mention here.
A guide to most of the popular nets is provided so you can know when they meet and what frequencies are used. There are several maps, which provide locations of repeaters for the LA area as well as major repeater in the state of California and the Condor Connection.
A small glossary of Ham Radio terms is provided for most of the common terms heard over the air. For the beginner and old timer, there is a nice section on repeater etiquette.
For the packeteer, there is a rather extensive list of BBS' covering all of SOCAL. There Is other information for the packeteer such as nets and get togethers for those who want to learn more about packet or meet other packeteers to find out what face looks like that is attached to the keyboard at the other end.
The maps to the stores and swap meets are very handy. In fact, just to know what stores are out there is nice. Seems that trying to find a store is darned near impossible unless you have a ham friend direct you to one.
The book is easy to read and the Information is easy to locate. Some people have commented that the $6.00 price tag for the 60 + page book to be excessive, but I found it to be an exceptional bargain. This book should be a part each ham shack library or even kept in the cars glove box for ready reference. I find myself looking through it all the time, I think you will too.
BOARD MINUTES
By Randy Hammock, KC6HUR
(For David Seidel, KC6NRL)
Minutes of JPL Amateur Radio Club Board of Directors August 26, 1992 12:00 PM
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:
Randy Hammock Mark Schaefer Jim Kesterson Wait Mushagian Jan Tarsala Walt Diem Scott Balzer
GUEST: Greg La Borde KD6MSM
Jan reported that the Procurement Requests for the 2-Meter duplexer parts and preamplifier have been approved and are ready for expedition. Also, the amount of money that is budgeted for the radio club from Section 372 ($2000) is an arbitrary figure and with a reasonable request, the amount could be raised quite easily.
Jan has been in contact with the GSFC Amateur Radio Club regarding a complaint that was brought up at the FCC and ARRL forums at HamCon '92 regarding the retransmission of shuttle audio on 20-Meters. The complaint was that the frequency was used without checking to see if it was already in use and that complainant felt that retransmission of shuttle audio on the HF bands was a form of broadcasting that didn't belong there.
JPLARC HF operation during the up-coming SAREX mission was discussed. It was felt we should provide shuttle audio on HF beamed to Japan and the Pacific regions. Jan will be contacting Frank Bower and Pat Kilroy regarding this operation. The current plan is to provide the shuttle audio to the Pacific regions around times when the shuttle will passing over these areas at times where the SAREX may be in use.
The tower repairs have been completed with the exception of painting the repaired areas with a cold galvanizing paint. There has been some difficulty in locating the requisite paint. Also, it was reported that the tower base has been redrilled so as to allow the tower to be lowered between the two water tanks rather than on one of the tanks.
The final details for contacting Jim Young of the Goldstone Amateur Radio Club were completed.
Walt Mushagian reported that he was contacted by Gil Duke and was asked if we could support a national NASA emergency exercise. This would involve manning the station for a 30-hour period during September 1 and 2. He was informed that we could provide sporadic manning of the station for brief periods of time to provide some check-ins into the nets.
Respectfully submitted by, Randy Hammock KC6HUR
THE MYSTIQUE OF QSL BUREAUS - EXPLAINED!
(re-printed from article which originally appeared in "Repeater Journal" Southeastern Repeater Association, Inc. May, June, July 1992: provided by Randy Hammock KC6HUR)
Within the U.S. and Canada, the ARRL DX QSL Bureau System is made up of numerous call area bureaus that act as central clearing houses for QSL's arriving from foreign countries. These "incoming" bureaus are staffed by volunteers. The service is free and ARRL membership is not required.
The Bureaus Work
Most countries have "outgoing" QSL bureaus that operate in much the same manner as the ARRL Outgoing QSL service. The member sends his cards to his outgoing bureau where they are packaged and shipped to the appropriate countries.
A majority of the DX QSL's are shipped directly to the individual incoming bureaus where volunteers sort the incoming QSL's by the first letter of the call sign suffix. One individual may be assigned the responsibility of handling from one or more letters of the alphabet. Operating costs are funded from ARRL membership dues.
Claiming Your QSL's
Send a 5x7-1/2 or 6x9 inch self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) to the bureau serving your call sign district. Neatly print your call sign in the upper left corner of the envelope. A suggested way to send envelopes is to affix a first class stamp and clip extra postage to the envelope. Then, if you receive more than one ounce of cards, they can be sent in a single package.
Some incoming bureaus sell envelopes or postage credits in addition to the normal SASE handling. They provide the envelope and postage upon prepayment of a certain fee. The exact arrangements can be obtained by sending your inquiry and SASE to your area bureau.
Helpful Hints
Good cooperation between DXer and the bureau Is important to ensure a smooth flow of cards. Remember that the people who work in the area QSL bureaus are volunteers. They are providing you a valuable service. With that thought in mind, please pay close attention to the following DOs and DON'Ts.
DOs
