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| Monthly Newsletter Supporting the Advancement of Amateur Radio April 2002 |
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THE PRESIDENT'S CORNER
Unfortunately, due to problems at work I was unable to make most of the March meeting. I thank those who attended and the officers who continued the meeting without my presence. Field Day was discussed at the meeting and a location was picked. Field Day is one week prior to the Country Stampede this year, and that allowed a broader choice of locations. Many locations were discussed and the most favorable was below the tubes at Tuttle Creek Lake. We will still need to decide how many radios we will want to operate for the event and the use of call signs. Many years we have used Nadine's call sign of KØUHF as it seems to attract people's attention. We have also used the repeater/club call sign of KSØMAN. There have been some complaints for it as people tend to think it is ???. Your thoughts and ideas will be welcomed at the meeting. The reason I did not make the March meeting until late was due to problems at work. I work at the Manhattan Mercury, and we had troubles with the controller for our printing press. The reason I bring this up is because I had a new experience while trying to solve the problem. While trying to troubleshoot the unit which caused our press to be inoperational, the gentleman on the phone requested we short across two terminals in the unit. He mentioned them by number and as we had measured the voltage there earlier, we double checked his suggestion. When the electrician I was working with stuck his needle nose pliers across the two terminals there was an immediate explosion of light and sparks. 480 volts can be quite violent. To make a long story short, the same numbers were used in two different places in this cabinet and were on different circuits. The end results were that we learned a bit about safety and maybe double checking isn't always enough. Our normal club meeting will be held April 12, at the American Red Cross Building, 2601 Anderson in Manhattan. All members and guests are welcome to attend the meeting, which starts at 7:30 P.M. Members of the club also gather for dinner at the Sirloin Stockade in Manhattan between 5:00 and 5:30 P.M. We welcome all members and guests for dinner as well. I hope to see you all then.
Brian Carter, KCØDWX
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VICE-PRESIDENT'S REPORT
Happy spring to everyone! I am so excited that the cold if finally and hopefully over. Now we can get outside with those new antenna projects, and of course do our annual spring cleaning. With the mild winter we had there was time to do some of that. Other than working on our fantastic hobby, it is also time to re-seed the yards, plant gardens, and basically just enjoy the out-of-doors. I am excited about the test session coming up on the 20th of April. We have a couple of folks that should be testing and when they pass their test, they will be WARN members and we will introduce them to MAARS and hopefully they will help increase our membership. I do enjoy watching the number of hams growing in this area. In the past few months the repeater has stayed pretty warm with conversations. Henry, KAØSWM may have to install a fan to help keep it cool. WARN has been active this past month not with callouts for severe weather, but with providing public education. Laurie, KCØKTY, Mike, NØPVU, John, NØPVT and I have been conducting classes to different organizations and businesses in Riley County. We have had several classes each week. Mike and I are also conducting classes to a few groups on Ft. Riley. We also trying to get spotters in Geary County to join WARN. We have had such a increase in the request for classes that we may need to get a couple more people to attend a Weather Service Train the Trainer class so we can have more people able to give classes if we have a big influx again next year. On April 13th there is a Severe Weather Expo at the Kansas Coliseum in Wichita. This is an all-day event and everyone is invited to attend. There will be different classes throughout the day along with plenty of vendors to sell their wears. Not all of the classes are weather related, so if you're not interested in the weather there will be something that you may learn. We have about 4 to 6 people making plans to go down to this event. So, if you don't have anything planned, make plans to come on down. The more the merrier. I think that is about all I have for this month, so enjoy the warm weather and we'll see you on the repeater.
Enjoy & 73
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SECRETARY'S MINUTES
The MAARS meeting for 3-8-2002 began at 7:30 P.M , opened by Vice-President Bob, KBØZWK. There was a discussion about participating in the Manhatttan HOME Exposition Event. It was voted not to participate. The next topic of discussion was selecting a site for the coming Field Day, which will be on June 22 & 23 this year. Some of the possible sites considered were: Stueve residence, Pottwatomie state lake #2, City Park, Cico Park, Warner Park and the Tuttle Creek Park area. The Tuttle Creek Park area was selected by vote of the members present. There were announcements of upcoming events of interest to MAARS & WARN members, including weather poster judging on April 1, and tornado watch training meeting on Saturday, April 13. There were 11 people in attendance at the meeting. The meeting was closed at about 9:30 P.M.
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TREASURER'S REPORT
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NEW FROM ARRL - Beginning October 1, 2001, our club will receive $15 for each new member joining the ARRL through our club. This is for new members or those who have not been a member for two or more years. There will be no commission for renewals but we still may submit your renewals, if you wish. 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.
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
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