|
|
| Monthly Newsletter Dedicated to the Advancement of Amateur Radio April, 2001 |
 |
THE PRESIDENT'S CORNER
The MAARS technician license classes have been going fairly well after a couple of weeks we have about 6 people who are interested in getting the license. Hopefully in a few weeks we will have a few new hams in the area. During this time we have also hooked up temporary coax to the club's HF radio and even made contact with a station in Holland. This was done on a brown bag lunch at the club station held by several MAARS members as well as an employee of Riley Co. Emergency management. It would be nice if we could make this a regular event, so if you have a time you would like to get together at the station please let us know and we can get together with a few other members. For our April 13 club meeting we will discuss several items in the near future and make plans. Several events are coming up which will give us the opportunity to show the public what we do and try to recruit new hams, if that is what we decide we would like to do. The first event will be the Home Safety Expo in Manhattan where MAARS has been invited, as well as WARN. This might be a nice place to set up an operating HF station and make contacts with other stations while demonstrating what we do to the public. This event will be held the weekend of May 5th. The next event will be the weekend of June 16th, and sponsored by the ARRL, is "The Kids Day Operating Event". It seems like this might be an excellent opportunity for us to get together with youth in the area and allow them to operate amateur radio and talk with youth across the US. This event as I read it is intended for both licensed and unlicensed youth and there is a printable certificate which clubs may wish to present the youth with if they operate on the air. The next big event in the month of June will be Field Day. Again we need to discuss where we would like to hold the event so we can reserve the area. Several locations have been brought up. I would like everyone to write down at least 2 ideas for where to hold Field Day and bring those ideas to the meeting. If you can't make the meeting please submit the ideas anyway for us to discuss. Several things to keep in mind for a location would be shelter (from sun or rain), facilities and public access as well as others. Mike NØPVU has mentioned possibly purchasing a balloon to fill with helium to raise an antenna and catch people's attention. Bring your ideas to the meeting and let's have a good long discussion. Something that has been mentioned many times before but is now getting to a point of serious concern is the fact that Chuck Carter (AAØRI) has played a major role in the MAARS club by being our newsletter editor and more importantly, our repeater trustee. As Chuck plans on doing some traveling in the near future, we need to be working seriously at finding a new editor and more importantly repeater trustee. Without a trustee the repeater cannot be left operating so you can understand the importance of finding someone willing to be responsible for the operation of the repeater. This person won't be alone on the task but they will be the one whose license is used and held responsible for proper operation of the repeater. As usual our meeting will be held on the second Friday of the month, April 13th, at the Red Cross building at 2601 Anderson in Manhattan, KS. Many members will also get together ahead of the meeting around 5 to 5:30 P.M. at the Sirloin Stockade near K-Mart in Manhattan for dinner. All members and non-members are welcome to both events. We hope to see you on Friday so until then,
73,
|
|
|
SECRETARY'S MINUTES
The MAARS meeting for March 9, 2001 began at 7:30 P.M. at the Red Cross building on Anderson Ave. with Brian, KCØDWX, presiding. The first part of the meeting was a lecture and demonstration of electronic voltage regulators by Francis, WØEVJ. This was followed with announcements and discussion of various items of interest to MAARS members. Nadine, KØUHF, announced that our insurance has been changed to a new underwriter; New Hampshire Insurance Co. (sponsored by ARRL) and will now include coverage on towers and antennas. Bob, KBØZWK, announced a weather spotter class and WARN meeting for Monday, March 12. Brian, KCØDWX, announced that he has been informed of the availability of an antenna tower near St. George. It is a Rohn free-standing about 50 ft. in height. The owner will look into the possibility of donating it to a non-profit organization. Brian and Mike, NØPVU, have inspected the tower and Mike has agreed to help take it down if we acquire it. Nadine, KØUHF, and Myron, WØPBV, discussed the subject of repeater site rent. Myron has previously written up an agreement with a KSU Dept. concerning the amount of rent and other details of MAARS use of the site. It is agreed that the MAARS Treasurer, Nadine, will write a check for the amount of $36.00 for this year's rent and Myron will present it to the KSU Dept. Fred, KØTCS, discussed possible Field Day sites for this year. No decision is made in selection of a site. The meeting is adjourned with 13 persons in attendance. OTHER ITEMS On Friday, April 6, several MAARS members, including Bob, KBØZWK, Brian, KCØDWX, John, NØPVT, Pete, KD7GBG, Mike, NØPVU, and others participated in a poster contest judging of posters made by area school children. On Tuesday, April 10, an advanced WARN weather spotting meeting featuring Mike Aculow of the Weather Bureau is scheduled at 7:00 P.M. at the Red Cross building at 2601 Anderson Ave. On Sunday, March 25 and Sunday, April 1, we held some beginning class meetings for introduction to amateur radio at our Red Cross location. These meetings have been conducted by Brian, Bob, Mike and others. It is expected that if there is sufficient response and interest in this activity the classes will be continued for several weeks. The scheduled times for these meetings is at 1:00 P.M. on Sundays and may be about 2 hours in length.
|
|
|
TREASURER'S REPORT
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
If you would like to become a member of or renew your membership in the American Radio Relay League and receive the monthly issue of QST, your treasurer has a form you may use to apply. If renewing, just bring along your notice of renewal to the club meeting. The club is allowed to retain $5 of each new member's dues and $2 of each full member who is renewing. Since the club retains the dues, it is necessary for you to write your check to MAARS, and then the treasurer writes a check to ARRL for the amount minus the $5 or $2.
Dues will be due by Oct. 31 and are: regular membership $20, full-time student $10, family $30. Please complete the following when renewing your membership, even if you did so last year. Return to the Treasurer, at a meeting or to MAARS, P. O. Box 613, Manhattan, KS 66505-0613. NAME _______________________________________ CALLSIGN ____________ MAILING ADDRESS____________________________________ DATE _____________ CITY _______________________________ STATE _____ ZIP CODE _____________ TELEPHONE # (____)_______________ E-MAIL ADDRESS _______________________ FOR FAMILY MEMBERSHIP: NAME _______________________________________ CALLSIGN ____________ NAME _______________________________________ CALLSIGN ____________ CHECK THE FOLLOWING WHICH APPLY: ____ ARRL member ____ It is alright to list my e-mail address on the homepage. It is alright to list my address and telephone number for distribution only to our members. ____ How do you prefer to receive your newsletter?
____ e-mail ____ U.S. mail ____ both
|