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| Monthly Newsletter Supporting the Advancement of Amateur Radio June 2002 |
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THE PRESIDENT'S CORNER
Hello to everyone and I hope you have enjoyed all the wonderfully nice weather we have had lately. We've had some rain with few thunderstorms of any dangerous nature and lots of very moderate weather. Those who are members of WARN I'm sure wish for a little more severity to the weather, but mother nature hasn't seemed to oblige us. June 14th will be the next meeting of MAARS, and final discussions and suggestions for Field Day will be our main topic. To bring you up to speed if you haven't overheard, we currently plan to run as a Class 1A station. This means that we will have one HF rig for operators as well as what is now called a GOTA or "Get On The Air" station. This station by ARRL standards is meant to be a station for those who don't have HF privileges as well as those who have not been active in radio for some time even if they do hold a license for HF. KCØLKZ is in the process of working on both the club generator as well as a mounting bracket for the club's HF antenna. We plan on mounting the HF antenna in a bucket truck provided by NØYHJ and COX Communications. We will also run a dipole antenna provided by KAØSWM and a Butternut offered by KD7GBG. There are still plenty of options available for operating modes and VHF/UHF. If you have some input and think you can make it to Field Day, please feel free to attend the meeting and share your input. For those that aren't aware the location for the event will be Tuttle Creek State Park. The shelter location is the first turn to the left after coming around the tubes from the west. The MAARS repeater will be monitored for all who are interested and we can guide you in if need be. Keep in mind if you don't want to be on the air, Field Day is an excellent chance to get together with the group and just say hello to old friends as well as make new. Now down to serious business. Over the years MAARS membership, as with any group or club, has been up and down. Currently we are at a lower point in membership and participation. During a recent discussion it was mentioned that if something 'catastrophic' happened to the repeater that was not 'disaster' oriented, "meaning the repeater just wears out," our current funds could not replace it. What I hate about this myself is that we offer some really nice options out there for amateur radio operators in the area. Currently we have people who use the repeater very little and offer a lot of dedication and time/money/resources to the club, then a group who use the repeater who offer all the above, and last there is a group out there who use the repeater and its functions with absolutely no concern for the cost and upkeep of the service they use. If you use the autopatch more than once a month for personal use and aren't a member of MAARS or at least donate money to the repeater, then I'd suggest you purchase a cell phone. This opinion is strictly mine and not something the club has requested me to say. I just feel like it should be said. Another topic that affects us all is programs for club meetings. We all need to think of subjects that we would like to see. Our topics don't always have to be oriented to amateur radio, however it would be nice if we stay in that realm overall. When I decided to offer my time as president a couple of years ago, I did so knowing that it would be a challenge for me personally. I'm a basically shy and quiet person and felt it was a good opportunity to work on these areas. It seems I'm a little braver than most as when asked for opinions most people are very quiet out there. As far as programs go, we've had some excellent programs offered from time to time by different people. If you have a topic you think people are interested in please offer that to the club officers. If you have something you'd like to know more about, again ask the officers about it, or even better yet educate yourself on the subject and share it with the club. Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now and tell you that I really do enjoy hearing you on the air. Even more so I enjoy talking to you all and sharing our interests and what not when we get together. For a great chance to do this join us at the Sirloin Stockade in Manhattan around 5:00 t o 5:30 on Friday the 14th before our club meeting. All members, guests, spouses and such are more than welcome to join us both for supper and the meeting. As usual the meeting will be at 7:30 P.M. at the Red Cross building at 2601 Anderson Ave. in Manhattan, KS. I hope you'll be there.
Brian Carter, KCØDWX
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VICE-PRESIDENT'S REPORT
Well, it is time to gear up and get serious about Field Day. This year MAARS will have Field Day at Shelter #4 at Tuttle Creek River Pond Area. This shelter is located next to the Spillway. Unfortunately, I have not been able to attend the Field Day Committee meetings, but I am sure that the folks that did attend have things online and are ready to go. As always, Field Day is a great day where hams can get together and operate and/or just hang out with friends. No matter what your reason is to attend Field Day, make sure you come out and bring some non hams. See you there. WARN has been pretty quiet this last month. If my opinion meant anything, I would have the opinion that our severe weather season is basically over. I am sure that we will see more thunderstorms, but our frequency of severe weather callouts will be few and far between. I do always leave room for doubt. As we all know that living in the great state of Kansas the weather can change fast and without notice. This last Saturday, some of the WARN members went on a tour of the southern posts. We re-evaluated each post for its validity for being a good post. We did eliminate a couple of posts and changed a couple to new and better locations. Nothing drastic though. At June's WARN meeting we will be renumbering posts, so they make a little bit better sense and help make them easier to find. Our next WARN meeting will be June 11th, 7 P.M. at the Riley County Emergency Management Office at 115 N 4th St. Stop by and see us some time. Have fun with your summer activities and be safe.
Bob Bartholic, KBØZWK
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SECRETARY'S MINUTES
The MAARS meeting for 5-10-2002 began at 7:30 P.M. at the Red Cross Building at 2609 Anderson. Brian, KCØDWX, led the meeting. There is discussion about the MAARS beam antenna that needs to be repaired for Field Day. Field Day 2002 starts at 1800 UTC (1 P.M. local time) on Saturday, June 22 and runs through 2100 UTC June 23. This year DX stations in north and South America are invited to participate in FD. All rules and forms may be found on the web at: www.arrl.org/contests/forms , for this year's Field Day. (This includes non-ARRL members.) The meeting closed at about 9:00 P.M. with 10 members present.
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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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