1998

Monthly Newsletter

Dedicated to the Advancement of Amateur Radio November, 1998

THE PRESIDENT’S CORNER

Phyllis Dillman, NØMJB

Thanks to Professor Dwight A. Nesmith for a very entertaining presentation. We have his talk on video tape if you missed it or want to see it again.

The next meeting will be November 13th at 7:30 p.m. in room 152 Rathbone Hall on the KSU campus. John NØPVT will talk about short-wave listening tricks and experiences. We will also have the election of officers.

The nominations from the nominating committee are listed in this newsletter but nominations can also be made from the floor at the meeting. Remember that you have to pay your dues before November 1 to vote.

This will probably be our last meeting at KSU. In January we will hold our meeting at the Riley County Red Cross building on Poyntz in Manhattan.

Plans for a club station at the Red Cross building are moving along and it should be in operation before the end of the year.

There is no Friday night club meeting in December. The December meeting will be a Christmas Party on Saturday, December 12 at 6:30 p.m. at Fred (KØTCS) and Nadine (KØUHF) Stueve’s home just west of Wamego. It is a pot luck dinner plus you should bring a $5 unisex gift for exchange. Turkey and ham and drinks will be provided. If you don’t want to bring a dish you can give $5 to one of the officers. I don’t know the name of the gift exchange process but it’s a lot of fun. When your number is drawn you can pick a wrapped gift or take one away from someone else. It gets pretty wild. As usual, non-members and friends are welcome.

The XYL’s had a nice evening out at Harry’s Uptown Restaurant in October. The next XYL evening out will be on Wednesday January 27, 1999 at the Cowboy Cafe on I-70.

Our auction in October went real well. MAARS made $242.70 and KSUARC made $349.45. There is a free teletype machine at our house if anyone wants it.

NORM’S NOTES

Norm Dillman, NØJCC

REMEMBER THAT THE JANUARY MEETING WILL BE AT THE RED CROSS BUILDING.

Temporary VHF/UHF link to KC:

Thanks to help from Greg, WQØP and equipment from Chuck, AAØRI we were able to communicate with hams at the KC airport from Manhattan on October 8. The occasion was a national convention of the engineering honor society, Tau Beta Pi, held in Manhattan. They wanted to coordinate the transportation of over 300 people. Greg (in Belvue) monitored the 146.79 – repeater near the airport and automatically cross-band repeated on 70 cm simplex to our place on Gehrt Road. We used Chuck’s dual band rig to cross-band back to 2-meter simplex to the Holiday. It was an interesting experience and I think we’re better prepared for setting up emergency communication links when needed.

Club Station at the Red Cross Building:

We’re moving ahead with a club HF/VHF/UHF station. Several donations or loans of equipment have already been committed and several good ideas have been proposed. The club trustee, Chuck, AAØRI is applying for a club vanity call; either KSØMAN or KSØMHK.

SECRETARY’S MINUTES

Lenore Layman, NØTSN

Manhattan Area Amateur Radio Society
October 9, 1998

The guest speaker for the evening was Dwight Nesmith, “An Anthology of Insignificant Incidents of International Significance.”

Norm Dillman, NØJCC approached the club with several motions:

1. That the club consider holding our meetings at the Riley County Red Cross Chapter Building on Poyntz starting in January, 1999. The room is smaller than our current meeting room in Rathbone hall but, it will be easier for the public to locate and not require a KSU faculty member to arrange space. Norm noted that to meet in Rathbone the meetings are listed as joint meetings with the KSUARC.

Jon Held, NØRYQ made a motion that the club hold its January meeting at the Red Cross Building and if accommodations were comfortable for our needs we would hold our meetings at that location. All were in favor.

2. Chuck Carter, AAØRI will be the MAARS Club Trustee for MAARS HF/VHF/UHF Club Station at the Riley County American Red Cross Building using donated equipment.

Norm will supply equipment for one year and volunteer as station manager.

The club approved a budget not to exceed $100 for small items like ground rods, etc. A 440 radio will be needed for this location.

3. Chuck, AAØRI will apply for a club vanity call. The club voted on calls and agreed on KSØMAN as first choice and KSØMHK for second choice. All were in favor.

A revision to the Standard Operating Procedures shall be made under section Standing Committees – Officers and trustee may authorize emergency repeater repairs up to half the cost of a new repeater. A vote was taken and all were in favor. This allows repairs to be made to the repeater as soon as needed instead of waiting for the next club meeting to vote delaying this further. The cost for repairs for the repeater came to $101.55 and a tone board was purchased for $62.45. A motion to pay for these items was passed.

A thank you card was sent to Roger Carrender for his work on our repeater.

Dues are to be paid by October 31st in order to vote at the November meeting.

Nominating Committee consists of Jon Held, Chuck Carter and David Yoder. If anyone is interested in running for an office, please notify one of the committee members.

Christmas party will be on Saturday, December 12. Bring something for pot luck or a $5.00 donation. Start at 6:30 p.m. at Fred and Nadine’s house. There will be a $5.00 optional gift exchange. The Christmas party will take the place of our regular scheduled Friday night meeting.

XYL – Thursday – October 22 at Harry’s on Poyntz 7:00 p.m.

Myron passed out registration forms if anyone would like to provide emergency communications for AREA and/or RACES. Please contact Myron Calhoun, WØPBV if you are interested.

The next club meeting will be the annual election meeting held on November 13th.

REPORT OF THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE

Chuck Carter, AAØRI, Jon Held, NØRYQ, and Dave Yoder, KAØJPM

This year’s Nominating Committee took the easy way out and renominates the incumbent officers. PRESIDENT: Phyllis Dillman, NØMJB VICE PRES: Henry Bachman, KAØSWM SECRETARY: Lenore Layman, NØTSN TREASURER: Nadine Stueve, KØUHF

Nominations will be taken from the floor, and are encouraged.

ANTENNA TALK

Jon Held, NØRYQ

SWR

What is it and what does it really mean?

It’s a measure of reflected power. It normally is used to tell us if our antenna and feed line is operating well. It’s actually a shortening of the term VSWR, voltage standing wave ratio. It is the ratio of the maximum voltage to the minimum voltage measured at points along a transmission line.

If you picture a long, narrow swimming pool and make waves in the center, these wave will travel toward either end of the pool. These waves are travelling waves, they move away from the source at a certain speed. If you measure the amplitude of the waves at different points along the length of the pool the wave tops would reach the same height at all distances from the source, neglecting any energy dissipation in the pool. We’ll talk more about dissipation (line loss) later. This would give a SWR of 1, the amplitudes at all points are the same, therefore maximum equals the minimum and the ratio equals one.

When the wave hits the end of the pool, a reflected wave will travel backwards and constructively and destructively interfere with the incident wave. This will create standing waves. If the reflected wave is the same amplitude and frequency as the incident wave, absolute null points will exist, nodes. These nodes will have absolutely no wave motion, the water stands perfectly still at these points. The waves totally destructively interfere. The SWR will be infinity for this case. There is a peak amplitude, at the point of constructive interference, and that magnitude gets divided by the zero amplitude at the node, thus the ratio is infinity.

If we have the perfect antenna and impedance match, no energy is reflected back, all energy is radiated by the antenna. We then have an SWR equal to one. In practice we normally strive for an SWR between 1 and 2. A small amount of the energy is reflected back, some is absorbed in the antenna and most is radiated, hopefully in the direction we want (that’s another very big subject!). Most new solid state transmitters start to reduce output power to protect themselves if they see a tranmission line SWR greater than 2.

We mentioned line loss earlier, it actually improves the SWR that a transmitter sees on a poorly matched antenna. If we think back to the pool situation. We know that actually the waves get smaller as they travel farther. Thus when one is reflected back it is already smaller then the source, it also continues to decrease in amplitude as it moves back to the source. At the source the waves moving away have the largest amplitude and the waves coming back are much smaller in amplitude. Therefore the SWR at the input (transmitter end) is always less than the SWR at the output (antenna end). Therefore long, high loss lines will improve the SWR measured at the input end and could even cover up a very lousy antenna match.

A good SWR doesn’t necessarily mean the antenna is working well, just that the power isn’t coming back. A dummy load has an excellent SWR but makes a lousy antenna. When working with antenna tuning and matching, short transmission lines will help your SWR meter tell what’s really happening at the antenna end of the line.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Nadine Stueve, KØUHF October 1998

Cash on Hand, 9/30/98	20.00
Checking account balance, 9/30/98	141.42
Savings account balance, 9/30/98	2,186.70
Total on Hand, 9/30/98		$ 2,348.12
Receipts:
Dues	380.00
ARRL Dues	33.00
Auction – MAARS	242.70
Auction – KSUARC	198.60
Auction – Donations	20.40
Auction – Coffee and Tea	3.89
Christmas Party	10.00
Total Receipts	888.59
Total Money Available		$ 3,236.71
Expenditures:
Newsletter – copy	11.52
Telephone	23.13
Long Distance Reimb.	.14
Speakers’ Meals	14.65
Tone Board	62.45
Repeater Repair	101.55
Auction – KSUARC	198.60
Vanity Call Application	13.00
ARRL Dues	31.00
Total Expenditures		456.04
Cash on Hand, 10/31/98	70.00
Checking account balance,10/31/98	362.87
Savings account balance, 10/31/98	2,347.80
Total on Hand, 10/31/98		$ 2,780.67

Monthly Newsletter

Dedicated to the Advancement of Amateur Radio October, 1998

THE PRESIDENT’S CORNER

Phyllis Dillman, NØMJB

Thanks to Brad Guenther for an informative talk about Internet and Home Computer security at our September meeting.

Our next meeting will be Friday, October 9th in Room 152 Rathbone Hall at the KSU campus at 7:30 PM. Our speaker will be Dwight Nesmith. Everyone is invited to eat before the meeting at the Manhattan Sirloin Stockade at about 5:30 PM.

Mark December 12th on your calendar for the Club Christmas Party at Fred and Nadine Stueve’s near Wamego. We’ll give you more information later.

Reminder: Club dues need to be paid by the end of October so you can vote in the November election. The next XYL Outing will be October 22 at Harry’s Uptown Restaurant at 7 PM. Thanks to Brian, KCØDWX and Cindy Carter for helping cut the many, many overhanging branches from the road leading up to the repeater.

NORM’S NOTES

Norm Dillman, NØJCC

CLUB VANITY CALL SIGN

Some time ago we got a club call sign (KBØSRO) so we would be eligible to apply for a club vanity call sign. I propose that we all think about good calls and vote on a list to submit to the FCC at the November meeting. You can check the Internet to see if a call is available. Some that I like are KSØMAN and KSØMHK.

CLUB STATION

The Riley County Red Cross Director, Beryl Adams, has expressed some interest in having MAARS set up a club station at the Red Cross Center on Poyntz. We could use the classroom there for our meetings too. I think we can borrow enough equipment to get started with an HF station and 2-meters and then improve the station later if there is enough interest. There are many details to work out but I think it would be good to have a permanent club station and meeting place. Let me know what you think about the idea.

APRS DIGIPEATER

Steve, KBØYER installed a APRS packet repeater at the Gehrt Road Antenna Farm two miles south of Manhattan. The frequency is 144.39 MHz. Dust off your packet equipment and try it out. I’m told there’s GPS and weather information and other interesting stuff coming through. We’ll get more information to you later.

AUCTION AND SWAP MEET

Saturday, October 10, 1998 is the auction of surplus parts and equipment starting at 1 PM. It will be held two miles south of Manhattan on KS-177 and then west to 210 Gehrt Road. Coming from the interstate it’s six miles to Gehrt Road. Many items have been donated to the local clubs for the sale. In addition to the auction you are welcome to bring your own stuff to sell. There’s no charge but you’ll need to bring your own table. There is some good stuff and some junk but we always have a good time. Call NØJCC or NØMJB on 147.255+ or at 785-539-1039 for more information.

Here is a partial list of items received so far: electronic work benches, steel cabinets, filing cabinets, Tek 503 and other old scopes plus several Tek scope carts, precision voltage and current source, HP harmonic distortion analyzer, Gould controller with PC software, 286 computer (wow), Sun UNIX server and two work stations, Xerox LISP machine with software and documents, IBM 8086 & 8286, Xerox printer with windows driver, vacuum oven, medical instruments, laser printers, pyrometer, capacitance meter, gas chromatograph, Perk & Elmer and HP scientific computers with printers, disk drives, plotters, good technical books plus many other items too numerous to mention. We expect more Ham equipment later when people bring equipment to donate and items they bought at previous auctions that they never used.

MEETING INFO

Next Club Meeting
October 9, 1998
Friday 7:30 PM
KSU – Rathbone 152
Speaker: Dwight A. Nesmith

“An Anthology of Insignificant Incidents of International Significance”

Professor Nesmith is widely known for his humorous interpretation of scientific and historical “facts.” Don’t miss this one!

SECRETARY’S MINUTES

Lenore Layman, NØTSN

Manhattan Area Amateur Radio Society September 11, 1998

Thank you Norm, NØJCC for taking minutes in my absence.

The guest speaker for the evening was Brad Guenther, a KSU computer system administrator, talking about Computer and Internet Security.

The special event station at Brinkley Days in Milford will be on Saturday, September 19.

Norm, NØJCC will be working on a request for Amateur communication between the Kansas City Airport and the Manhattan Holiday Inn for the National Tau Beta Pi Student Engineering Honor Society from October 7th to the 11th. An attempt will be made to link a repeater near the Kansas City Airport to one of the local 2 meter repeaters with two cross band 2m/440 rigs. No operators or equipment will be required from our club.

Reminder – the auction and tail gate swap will be held on October 10th at 1 PM (210 Gehrt Road, Manhattan).

Dues must be paid in order to vote at the November election. A nominating committee will be formed and members are encouraged to run for an office.

There are many college scholarships for Hams. If you are interested, contact Phyllis or check the ARRL web page for more information.

Norm made a motion to authorize John, NØTOK to buy the necessary circuits to add PL tones to our repeater. The tones could be installed and implemented later at John’s discretion. Chuck, AAØRI, seconded the motion. After a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of the tones the motion was tabled without a vote.

Annual Christmas Party will be held at Fred, KØTCS and Nadine, KØUHF Stueve’s house on Saturday, December 12th.

The club recognized John, NØTOK and all the hams who helped track down and eliminate the repeater interference from a TV amplifier on the east side of Tuttle Lake.

Balloon launch – on Saturday, September 26th.

The next meeting will be on Friday, October 9th.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Nadine Stueve, KØUHF September 1998

Cash on Hand, 8/31/98	21.00
Checking account balance, 8/31/98	95.66
Savings account balance, 8/31/98	1,976.26
Total on Hand, 8/31/98		$ 2,092.92
Receipts:
Dues	290.00
Donations	15.00
Interest – Savings Account	15.44
Total Receipts	320.44
Total Money Available		$ 2,413.36
Expenditures:
Newsletter – copy	10.24
Newsletter – postage	32.00
Postage – Field Day reports	3.00
P. O. Box Rent	20.00
Total Expenditures		65.24
Cash on Hand, 9/30/98	20.00
Checking account balance,9/30/98	141.42
Savings account balance, 9/30/98	2,186.70
Total on Hand, 9/30/98		$ 2,348.12

Monthly Newsletter

Dedicated to the Advancement of Amateur Radio September, 1998

THE PRESIDENT’S CORNER

Phyllis Dillman, NØMJB

Our August meeting was our annual picnic on Saturday, August 8 in the Park below the dam at Tuttle Lake. We had a lot of good food and conversation plus a couple of games of “Hillside” croquet. It was good to see both old and new members and friends there.

Thanks to everyone who helped locate the source of our interference north east of the dam at Lake Tuttle. Terry, KC6YOU, suggested it would be a TV antenna amplifier gone crazy days before it was located. We’ll discuss this more at the September meeting along with the possibility of adding PL Tones to the repeater.

The September meeting will be about the Internet and digital video on computers. The speaker, Brad Guenther, is a computer engineer and system administration at KSU. He’ll also tell about recent experience with computer security and give us his opinion about the future of the Internet.

We’ll also be looking for volunteers for a nominating committee to find candidates for the November Election. That’s the second Friday, September 11, 1998 at 7:30 P.M. in room 152 Rathbone Hall on the KSU-Manhattan campus. Don’t forget the informal “Eating Meeting” at the Sirloin Stockade in East Manhattan that evening at 5:30 P.M.

Some time back I mentioned that Gary Johnson would like some hams to help with a Tesla Coil Convention near Manhattan on October 3. THAT MEETING HAS BEEN CANCELED!

The October meeting will be especially entertaining. Many of us have already heard Dwight Nesmith give humorous talks about technology and the people involved: past and present. Dwight is a retired KSU professor and will also tell us about his unique artwork made from SEEDS. You can often find him demonstrating this unique process at the Holiday Inn in Manhattan and Silver Dollar City in Missouri. His work is on display and for sale at both of these places. This program should appeal to everyone. Second Friday, October 9, same time, same place.

The next XYL dinner (for women hams and non-hams) is October 22. Let me know is you have a suggestion about where to go or some other XYL activities.

The November meeting will be our annual meeting and election of officers. Members who have paid for 1999 are eligible to vote. Our new year starts in October so be thinking about paying your dues to Nadine or to Box 163 in Manhattan. There will be a program (to be announced) after the short meeting and election. November 13, 1998, same time, same place.

The last meeting of the year has traditionally been a Christmas party with good food and a fun gift exchange. We’ll have more information about the later but it will be on Saturday evening, December 12 instead of our normal Friday meeting time.

NORM’S NOTES

Norm Dillman, NØJCC

“Tones”: YES or NO.

We’ve been talking about adding “tones” to the repeater for some time but have always voted to delay the decision in the past. Most of you know about “tones” but for those who don’t I like to review what they are, how they work and why many repeaters use them. Then, I’ll list what I see as the pros and cons for installing them on our machine.

“Tones” are technically know as the CONTINUOUS TONE-CODED SQUELCH SYSTEM, CTCSS or PRIVATE LINE, PL, which is the Motorola trademark for this system. The basic idea is to stop rf noise and other unwanted signals from causing the repeater to transmit. The repeater is fitted with a circuit that will not turn ON the transmitter unless the incoming signal has an appropriate subaudible tone plus enough signal level to be detected. Since we don’t have “tones” our repeater it also transmits when it detects any noise or a distant ham signal when we have ducting. We’ve had a lot of both in the past few months. These problems would not have occurred if we had CTCSS.

Now for the rest of the story. In order for CTCSS to work every one of our transceivers must have a little circuit that can be programmed to generate the correct subaudible tone. Newer transceivers come with this feature built-in but the “tones” are missing from most older radios (like three of mine). Several years ago I added “tones” to our sons Kenwood HT in California and I think it cost about $45, so it’s not worth modifying most oldies.

The CTCSS on many repeaters can be turned OFF and ON with publicly-known DTMF tones so everyone can still use the repeater with a little inconvenience. We had to do this when we lived in Colorado. Everyone in this area with a 440 MHz radio is already using the 88.5 Hz tone that has always been on the PAWS and KSUARC 70-cm repeaters.

ADVANTAGES: (1) It stops unwanted repeater transmission of interference and distance stations. (2) We can lower the squelch or even turn if off so the repeater range will be extended. (3) DX-ing repeaters during tropospheric ducting will be better because when we add the correct tone so we won’t bring up two or three repeaters at the same time. Also, people can hit our repeater by looking up our tone in the repeater directory. Actually, all the repeaters in this area will have the same 88.5 Hz tone. (4) We may be required to add CTCSS in the near future and phasing it in slowly will be easier for most of us.

DISADVANTAGES: (1) It costs money to add it to the repeater (but not much). (2) It will be a hassle to make the modification and publicize the change. The circuit doesn’t install itself and the controller has to be reprogrammed. (3) It will be inconvenient for people like me using old equipment. (4) People traveling through the area can’t use our repeater unless the know the tone or go on reverse and ask someone on “simplex”. We could add the message “88.5 Hertz PL tone” to ID’s, etc. (5) It adds complexity to programming your equipment.

I propose that we buy the equipment and install it but only use it when we have a problem for the first year or so. If local hams can turn it ON with DTMF tones when there is a problem then we can leave it OFF most of the time. That will give us time to publicize the tone in repeater guides also and some of us time to figure out what to do with our old radios.

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

Chuck Carter, AAØRI

Phyllis, NØMJB, says that she, Norm, NØJCC, and John, NØTOK visited the owner of the offending TV amp and he has pulled the plug.

Lenore wrote to tell me that as there wasn’t a regular August meeting there are no minutes to publish this month. She did say that PL tones and naming the “Newsletter” were briefly discussed.

Grace Ann and I just came back from a “campfest” in Colorado. These Colorado hams know how to have a good time with a hamfest! They start the campout on Friday afternoon and the vendor’s/tailgaters set up in one area and everyone else in another area. Everyone brings their favorite rigs/antennas and set up like field day.

I saw people working HF ssb, cw, and satellites. There were also people doing the same with 6 meters and higher. The antenna ingenuity was amazing.

Saturday evening we had a covered dish supper, there were some really good cooks also.

Lots of ham goodies were bought, traded, and sold as well.

73 de Chuck, AAØRI

TREASURER’S REPORT

Nadine Stueve, KØUHF August 1998

Cash on Hand, 7/25/98	21.00
Checking account balance, 7/25/98	141.09
Savings account balance, 7/25/98	1,976.26
Total on Hand, 7/25/98		$ 2,138.35
Expenditures:
Newsletter – copy	8.11
Emergency Calls	.42
Long Distance Charges	.29
Telephone	36.61
Total Expenditures		45.43
Cash on Hand, 8/31/98	21.00
Checking account balance,8/31/98	95.66
Savings account balance, 8/31/98	1,976.26
Total on Hand, 8/31/98		$ 2,092.92

Monthly Newsletter

Dedicated to the Advancement of Amateur Radio August, 1998

THE PRESIDENT’S CORNER

Phyllis Dillman, NØMJB

Our July meeting was spent going over Field Day. Our results were better than recent years, but we discussed many ways to improve things next year. There will be NO MEETING on our regular Friday evening meeting time in August. Our next meeting will be our annual picnic Saturday, August 15th. It will be held at Tuttle Creek State Park in Shelter #2 from 4 pm to 8 pm. It’s located south of the lake, below the dam, on the west side of the river. There is a good map on the MAARS web page. I hope we can have a big crowd. We will have a short business meeting to discuss the repeater interference and installing PL in the repeater.

NORM’S NOTES

Norm Dillman, NØJCC

Field Day results continued.

The information I gave at the July meeting had some errors. Here is a summary of the three stations operating as KØUHF operating 3A, totally on emergency power.

With the x2 multiplier for all CW contacts and an additional multiplier of x2 for operating all stations under 150 watts our contact total points were 1696.

We also got bonus points for (1) operating in a public place (100), (2) Media Publicity (100), (3) emergency power (300), (4) W1AW field day message (100), (5) Information booth (100), and (6) Natural Power – solar (100). Total bonus points = 800.

Grand total for 1998 field day was 2496.

It was fun to see everyone having a good time. As I mentioned last month, we had many problems and things we could have done better but we did a lot of things right and can fix the problems next year. Field Day really makes us get better prepared for emergency communication. Many people worked hard to get these good results. THANKS.

Next near during Field Day Phyllis and I will be on the east coast with the KSU solar car team in Sunrayce ’99. We’ll be looking for the MAARS stations to add some points so you can break 3000 next year.

Our search for the repeater interference has been narrowed down to a small area of 30+ homes on the east side of Tuttle Creek Lake just North of the Dam. Many people have contributed to this effort but at the time of writing we still don’t know exactly what or where it is. I hope we can spend some time discussing this problem at the August picnic.

(Since Norm wrote this the fault was found and has not returned yet. We think it will probably resurface and need a permanent fix at some later time).
Editor

The plans for the Fall Ham Auction have not been finalized but we already have many contributions.

	Contacts
Band	CW	SSB
20	124	28
15	62	176
10	26	100
2		33
	212	337

SECRETARY’S MINUTES

Lenore Layman, NØTSN

The evening’s agenda was a review of Field Day. Close to 2000 data entries were made for the club. A total of 633 contacts were made which included Novice 87, CW 153, Solar 303, #3 HF 57, and VHF 33. The club also received 100 points for each of the following: public place, information booth, emergency power, WIAW message, natural power, and publicity bonus. The day was a success, the location worked out fine total of 633 contacts and 2660 points were made. Thank you notes were sent out to Bill Dorsett for the use of his solar trailer, Rod Merideth from Riley County Parks, TCI, McDonalds, Flint Hills Computer and the Wamego Times for making our field day a success. Now would be a good time to think about next year’s field day and getting a committee and chairperson together.

The club’s annual picnic will be held on Saturday, August 15th at Tuttle Creek State Lake Park shelter #2 at 4:00 pm until 8:00 pm, bring your own meat and something to share. Grills will be at the shelter and ice tea and/or water will be provided. If you need directions, contact Nadine, KØUHF for a map.

Nadine passed around copies of an article on “The Power of Inc.” a discussion on our club becoming incorported. The possibility of ARRL knowing names of lawyers who we can contact if we any questions or concerns. Some questions: need directors liability insurance, tax exempt from IRS. More on this subject at the September meeting.

Programs – if anyone has any suggestions or knows of anyone that would like to give a program, contact Norm, NØJCC.

There will not be a regular scheduled meeting in August due to the club’s annual picnic. The next regular scheduled meeting will be Friday, September 11th.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Nadine Stueve, KØUHF June and July, 1998

Cash on Hand, 6/1/98	20.00
Checking account balance, 6/1/98	16.49
Savings account balance, 6/1/98	2,159.42
Total on Hand, 6/1/98	$ 2,195.91
Receipts:
ARRL Dues	20.00
Books	1.00
Interest – Savings Account	16.84
Total Receipts	37.84
Total Cash Available		$ 2,233.75
Expenditures:
Newsletter – copy	25.71
Newsletter – postage	32.00
Reservation for Picnic	20.00
Long Distance Charges	.35
Telephone	17.34
Total Expenditures		95.40
Cash on Hand, 7/25/98	21.00
Checking account balance,7/25/98	141.09
Savings account balance, 7/25/98	1,976.26
Total on Hand, 7/25/98		$ 2,138.35

Monthly Newsletter

Dedicated to the Advancement of Amateur Radio July, 1998

THE PRESIDENT’S CORNER

Phyllis Dillman, NØMJB

The last meeting was spent going over field day plans. I think we had a good field day. We had several visitors stop by. It gave us a chance to tell them about what we were doing and about Ham radio. Some people asked if we were storm spotting during the evening when the big cloud was up north. Can you imagine setting up all of that equipment to spot storms? A good time was had by all.

The next meeting will be on July 10 at 7:30 P.M. It will be held on the KSU Campus in room 152 Rathbone Hall. We will go over field day results and make some preliminary plans for next year. Come prepared to tell us your likes and dislikes about this one so we can make it better next year.

The August meeting will be the annual picnic at one of the shelter houses below the dam at Tuttle Lake. It will be on Saturday, August 15 from 3pm until ??. Stay tuned for more information. We also plan to have an auction in August or September but have not set the date.

NORM’S NOTES

Norm Dillman, NØJCC

Field Day 1998

This was the first Field Day I’ve participated in for three years and I really enjoyed it. It was good to see everyone working together to put up the stations and demonstrations and having fun on the air. It was also good to see people just sitting around and visiting and explaining amateur radio to visitors who dropped in and solving the world’s problems. We had some communication problems of our own that we had to solve and some we didn’t solve, but the majority of the activities went very well; thanks to all of the hard work and planning of the people involved. I thought the scenic overlook on K-177 south of Manhattan was a good location. We had plenty of room for everything, a good view, no power line noise, a good breeze and enough shade to keep from baking except during set-up and take-down. Everyone will have an opportunity to discuss things we might do at the next field day at the regular July meeting on Friday night. If you can’t be at the meeting just pass on your comments to one of the officers or to me. We had three HF stations using Nadine’s KØUHF call, a novice/tech station using NØPVU, a bicycle-powered station and some good results on 2-meter FM simplex. One HF station was totally solar powered; the others on Soldan’s or Fred’s generators. Kermit’s portable tower held an A3 HF beam, John, ‘TOK’s portable tower held the KSUARC R5 vertical, the novice/tech station used a 4-element, 10-meter Yagi and I had an R7 vertical on a 40′ pole plus a 250’ unbalanced, dipole. These antennas and others were far enough apart that we had less trouble with interference from each other (most of the time) than I remember from earlier field days. We didn’t have a 6-meter station and may have missed out on some fun. WØHLU make many contacts from his QTH all over the US and South America during field day. Perhaps we can work on the interference problems before next year.

Here are some my observations and opinions. Let us hear yours too.

1. Equipment must be tested before field day. (Example: the borrowed A4 antenna was missing a mounting plate and the coax balun lost a fight with a lawn mower last year some time). Setting up early is good on hot days and gets all stations on the air at about the same time.

2. The wind kept us cooler but was more than our awnings could handle. I think we should put most of the stations in vans or camper except one for “public display”. Air-conditioned campers would be great. My minivan with the center seats out worked good and wasn’t too hot. Aluminum foil taped to some of the windows would be even better.

3. There were two problems with logging:

(a) We couldn’t see the lap top screens and should have used the regular computers that were offered.

(b) The logging work sheets that I made to serve as scratch sheets didn’t have enough information for good records. We should always have good log sheets as back up. Computers work very well for logging at field days operations that I have visited but we still have not been totally successful. Next year!

4. Don’t check antennas with an analyzer when someone is transmitting next door. It looks like a bad connection.

5. I think a foot switch and a boom mike with earphones is very important to keep both hands free. Operating is much more efficient. With this equipment it’s easy for an operator to do their own logging on paper or on a computer. (I’m working on a system to send CW with my feet in the future so we have both hands free to log and tune. (see figure 1 below) Dave Soldan knows someone who can send CW with their left hand and log with their right hand.)

6. Even if you don’t use the foot switch or the boom mike it’s important to have earphones for all operators/loggers. An external speaker can be turned ON or OFF if other people want to listen.

7. The banners and posters were great to let people know who we are. And having “greeters” available to talk to visitors worked out very well. The publicity in many newspapers, radios, city council meetings and on Internet servers worked out very well with the except of our own Manhattan Mercury who just didn’t get around to it. Ask Lenore about her experience with them. 8. Dave ‘JPM had some great pictures on our web page before the sun went down the first day. Check them out.

9. It’s good to have some spare equipment. The 10-meter radio and amp was causing interference on all bands but the problem was solved by just changing to another rig.

10. We weren’t able to make any satellite contacts. Perhaps next year we can do more practicing in advance.

11. Using Nadine’s neat ‘UHF call drew attention and many jealous comments but I think a real short call like NØIN or WQØP (hint, hint) would be more effective and take less explanation.

12. The operator schedule really didn’t work. I think it might be better to have a few operators agree to keep a station running when the bands are alive and encourage anyone interested to try operating for awhile.

13. The porta-john was a good investment and fortunately it didn’t blow over.

I know I’m forgetting many things but perhaps this will stimulate you to add your comments or comment on mine. It would be impossible to thank all the people personally who did SO much to make the field day a success. We all appreciate your help. Phyllis and I will be on the 1999 Sunrayce during field day next year but we’ll be listening for you as we mobile down the east coast.

Figure 1

SECRETARY’S MINUTES

Lenore Layman, NØTSN

Minutes will be read at the July meeting.

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

Chuck Carter, AAØRI

The news letter is a little shorter than usual this month. Several of our contributors have been busy with company, the stampede, vacations, field day, etc. The minutes and Treasurer’s report will be read at the meeting and perhaps included in next month’s Newsletter if there is room.

Field Day has come and gone and lots of fun was had by all. I was reading over Norm’s article and pretty much concur with what he says. I don’t know how a boom mike would have helped Francis and I though. Please explain Norm (ha ha).

I would like to thank everyone who furnished equipment and helped with the club efforts. Kermit’s and John’s portable towers and antennas were a real plus. Kermit’s beam made lots of contacts in spite of the “Chuck” configuration. After battling the winds under our canopy Saturday, I sure enjoyed using Mike’s air conditioned trailer Sunday.

I would also like to thank Francis and Kenny for their help as CW ops. I stuck poor Ken on 10 Meters (dead) but he sure tried to find some contacts.

73 de Chuck, AAØRI

TREASURER’S REPORT

Nadine Stueve, KØUHF June, 1998

The treasurer’s report will be made at the July meeting.

Monthly Newsletter

Dedicated to the Advancement of Amateur Radio June, 1998

THE PRESIDENT’S CORNER

Phyllis Dillman, NØMJB

Thanks goes to Gary Johnson for his interesting program on Free Energy. His demonstrations and examples had all of us scratching our head. We’re looking to attending his Tesla Coil Symposium in October.

Our next meeting is June 12th at 7:30 p.m. in room 152 Rathbone Hall on the KSU-Manhattan campus. This meeting will be devoted to final Field Day planning and training for computer logging. Don’t forget the Eating Meeting at the Sirloin Stockade in Manhattan at 5:30 p.m. before the meeting.

Congratulations to Fred and Nadine Stueve’s daughter Nancy Dekat. She won the Paul and Helen L. Grauer Scholarship for the second year in a row. She’s studying Nursing at Washburn University.

NORM’S NOTES

Norm Dillman, NØJCC

Important two-meter repeater messages:

In May we received a call to come to Colorado because a good friend, Vic, was near death. He’s also the father-in-law of our daughter, Linda. As we neared Colby, Kansas we got a call from Bruce Frahm, KØBJ, on their 2-meter repeater. Linda, NØOYE, had called him on the phone from Florida to report Vic’s death just a short time earlier. Bruce was able to make a phone patch for us on the repeater to her husband Mike, NØOYD, who was already in Colorado. We told him that we had heard the news and would be stopping overnight instead of driving through. It was a sad but appreciated use of ham radio.

Now for the rest of the story. Bruce later got an email about a death in his family and somehow realized that it was the same person. Bruce’s sister’s daughter’s husband is a grandson of Linda’s husband’s father’s brother. Good detective work, Cousin Bruce.

A happier message was sent to us about ten years ago from the father of a new-born son from the delivery room in El Paso, Texas. He was using a 2-meter HT and we were mobile on the interstate just east of Sante Fe, New Mexico. We were using the ZIA net that links many repeaters in several states in the southwest. Many hams from several states joined us in congratulating him. Have you had interesting messages delivered by Ham radio?

SECRETARY’S MINUTES

Lenore Layman, NØTSN

Manhattan Area Amateur Radio Society
May 8, 1998

The guest speaker for the evening was Gary Johnson, KØHGJ a discussion on “Free Energy.”

Solar Car – Steve and Jason, K-State Students, discussed the solar power car with the club. The next sun race will be from Washington, D.C. to Orlando, Florida – they have named their car “Apollo” (Greek God of the Sun). They are raising money for the race by sponsoring “Adopt-A-Cell” program. They will need to sell 720 cells at $20.00 per cell. It was proposed and second that our club purchase a cell. The club received a “Certificate of Appreciation.” from the Solar Car Team. If anyone else would like to adopt-a-cell, see Norm, NØJCC for more information.

Newsletter – articles can be sent by e-mail to Chuck, AAØRI at aa0ri@kansas.net. Articles are due the 4th Friday of the month. Articles can be saved in DOS.Text or Word Perfect 5.1.

The possibility of a donation to the club for advertising in a classified section was discussed.

Web Page – If you would like to have an article on the web page contact David Yoder.

Field Day – will be discussed at the clubs next meeting in June. Henry will finalize plans for field day. A computer logging system will be used as you make contacts.

Proclamation for field day will be given out on Tuesday, June 16th. This will also be televised.

XYL – the possibility of touring the Columbian Theatre in Wamego, more to come at our next meeting.

Next meeting Friday, June 12th.

AMATEUR RADIO CLUES

Francis Sable, WØEVJ June, 1998

KNSP BALLOON FLIGHT 98 A

Two balloons were successfully launched from Gary Johnson’s, KØHGJ, site on the morning of May 16, 1998, located about 9.6 miles S.W. of Manhattan on McDowell Creek Road. Preflight preparations were done the preceding evening at the launch site. The next morning the final launch preparations were underway by about 6:00 AM. The balloons were filled with helium, the first to 17.6 lbs. and the second to 12.5 lbs. since one instrument capsule was heavier than the other. This gave the balloons approximately 1 lb. of lifting force after the payload was added. The first balloon was assembled and tested and then released at about 7:19 AM. The second balloon followed soon thereafter at about 7:25 AM. The balloons rose and began traveling in an approximately east direction. They were soon sighted and reported by Steve Kelly, AAØYF, as they passed over the radio relay post at the Konza observation point located about 3 miles south of Manhattan on highway 177. Steve had transceivers on both two meters and 75 meters at 3.990 MHz.

The weather on this day was very good, sunny and clear. This was ideal weather for balloon flights. The air was so clear that the balloons were visually sighted many times during the flight. One observer, Daryl, KCØATQ, whose QTH is located about 10 miles west of Mayetta, reported seeing them overhead near the position where they reached burst altitude.

The chase and recovery vehicles traveled east on Interstate 70 to the Topeka area. The original predicted landing area was in the Tonganoxie vicinity, but by the time the chase vehicles arrived in the Topeka area, it was apparent that they would not travel that far and that the landing would probably be in the vicinity of Mayetta, north of Topeka.

Our relay post at the Konza observation point was closed at 9:30 AM when the balloons were approaching the Topeka area. Communication with the Topeka repeater and the chase vehicles was very good from this location, and it also was with our flight position analyzer, Ralph Walio, WØRPK located in Indianola, Iowa on 3.990 MHz.

Radio frequencies used for this flight were: 144.390 MHz for APRS and instrument data telemetry from the balloons. 146.670 MHz, the WAØVRS Topeka repeater and 146.52 MHz for general mobile and base communications. 147.310 and 147.455 MHz were the frequencies for the low power backup beacons on the balloons.

Stations operating on 3.990 MHz were AAØYF at the Konza relay post, NØIN Manhattan , KØTCS near Wamego, KBØJYL Topeka (flight control station), NØLJK Topeka Mobile, and WØRPK Indianola, Iowa.

The following list of people were present or participated at the launch site: Lloyd KD4STH, Chris KBØWNK, Rob WN5HOO, Frank KBØUYF, Mike NØPVU, Chuck AAØRI, Nathan KC7JHO, Daniel KBØOTV, Jim KAØFEW, David NØIN, Gary KØHGJ, Dave NØLJK, Rock WØEFZ, Steve AAØYF, Mark N9XTN, and Francis WØEVJ. Others were involved in the chase and recovery. I will leave it to Chief Balloon Expert, Lloyd KD4STH, to report the technical details and results of the onboard cameras, instruments, and experiments.

CALHOUN’S CORNER

Dr. Myron A. Calhoun, WØPBV ARES Emergency Coordinator & RACES Radio Officer

What’s in MY “Grab ‘N Go” box?
===========================

To an amateur radio operator prepared for away-from-home emergency responses, a “Grab ‘N Go” box is an already-packed box/suitcase/trunk which contains ham-radio-related equipment that may be useful at the emergency site. In addition to the obvious things, such as radios!, your box should probably contain many maybe-not-so-obvious things, such as that one-of-a-kind antenna connector on top of your “handi-talki”.

My Grab-N-Go box has expanded from one original small wooden box until it now fills a very large briefcase (for VHF equipment), two large suitcases (for HF equipment), plus the original wooden box (for maps and other paper things). I use separate HF and VHF boxes because HF and VHF equipment can use very different antennas, power supplies, etc., and I’ve found that it’s nice to keep related equipment together. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough HT’s, transceivers, power supplies, etc., to have a spare set waiting in each box, but I do keep the smaller stuff (tools, wire and cable, adapters, etc.) in my Grab-N-Go boxes, and on top of each box is a list of other stuff I have to grab on the way out the door.

If I were to “take the whole nine yards”, here is what I would have:

High-Frequency Equipment

Five-band 100-watt transceiver (usually mounted in my pick-up truck) AC power supply Antenna tuner Two microphones (microphones seem to fail all too regularly!) A Morse key, and 80-, 40-, 20-, 15-, and 10-meter mobile antennas with a set-it-on-the-ground mounting base 33-foot vertical antenna made from 10-foot sections of TV mast with pre-attached “pulleys” (ceramic insulators) at the 20- and 32-foot points A Coke bottle (to insulate the vertical from ground) 8 pre-cut guy “ropes” made of baler twine 4 metal guy-stakes A push-it-into-the-ground rod All-band wire dipole antenna with open-wire twin-lead feeder Small-but-heavy weight (for throwing over tree limbs) and several hundred more feet of baler twine! (Two MILES of ~200# test only costs about $25)! For hanging antennas from really-high trees, a bow and several arrows are also always in my pick-up truck!

Very-High-Frequency Equipment

A two-meter transceiver (usually mounted in my pick-up truck, but, since VHF operation is so vital, I’ll also grab another rig or three from my “shack”), AC power supplies, and microphones As many Handi-Talkies as I can find, with spare batteries and both AC- and DC-powered chargers Two hang-from-anything-above-my-head foldable ground-plane antennas, each homemade by soldering five ~20-inch lengths of #12 or #14 house-type copper wire to an SO-239 connector A more-rigid two-meter ground-plane antenna that can be jury-rigged to the top of the 33-foot HF antenna mast

Miscellaneous Equipment in Both Cases

Riley County Emergency Preparedness Department and Red Cross identification badges and my FCC Amateur Radio License are ALWAYS in my wallet! Red Cross hard hat (good for long-distance visual identification, too) SEVERAL rolls of already-terminated coax cable, extra connectors (both male and female) and MANY adapters (PL-259, SO-239, N, RCA, and cable-to-cable unions) Miscellaneous 12-volt power-supply cables, some with LARGE “alligator clips” for connecting directly to automobile batteries Scanner(s)–one’s “working” radio should NEVER be used as a scanner, ’cause it’ll always be “hung” on some frequency OTHER than the one to which you should be listening! CB (Citizen’s Band) transceiver and microphone (any of the above-mentioned power supplies can be used) with a portable dipole antenna Stereo headset with multiple inputs which I can use to listen to THREE (left, right, and middle) radios at the same time MANY adapters for different audio plugs and jacks (1/4″, miniature, sub-miniature, mono-, stereo-, RCA, …. About 10 of them altogether!) Emergency batteries (several 15 Ampere-hour and at least one 60 Ampere-hour) and 120-volt chargers Gasoline-powered emergency generator (if it’s running!), with a spare can of gasoline, a funnel, and a 100-foot, 3-wire, heavy-duty extension cord (so the noisy generator can be located some distance away from the operating site — The third wire is connected as a “remote sensor” so the generator controller can supply a solid 13.6 volts AT THE FAR END of the cable!) Several shorter high-current (20 amp) low-voltage (12-volts) extension cords Small high-intensity lamp (mounts on my HF antenna tuner) with spare bulbs Tool kit with hammer, metric & inch wrench sets, several kinds of pliers, several kinds of screwdrivers, saw and hacksaw, soldering gun, soldering irons (both 120- and 12-volt, solder, hook-up wire, knives, strippers (wire, that is), electrical tape, VOM/DVM, AC- & DC-powered trouble lights …. Pads of paper Pencils or ball-point pens Amateur Radio signs Black markers (to make more signs) Scotch or masking tape Stickum labels Message forms and blanks (ARL 63) Emergency plan, lists of all amateurs in this area and their addresses Telephone book (ALWAYS in car & truck) ….

And, if I were called out of town, I’d also take

Extra clothes, sox, shoes or workboots, coats, hats, gloves Pillow, blankets and/or sleeping bag Canvas or plasticized tarpaulins (~$3 for 8′ x 10′ on sale) Food, drink, and eating utensils

–Myron A. Calhoun.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Nadine Stueve, KØUHF May, 1998

Cash on Hand, 5/1/98	20.00
Checking account balance, 5/1/98	63.61
Savings account balance, 5/1/98	2,559.42
Total on Hand, 5/1/98	$ 2,643.03
Receipts:
ARRL Dues	53.00
Total Receipts	53.00
Total Cash Available		$ 2,696.03
Expenditures:
Newsletter – copy	11.52
Donation – Solar Car	20.00
Speaker’s Meal	6.05
ARRL Dues	51.00
Liability Insurance	325.00
Equipment Insurance	68.50
Long Distance Charges	.70
Telephone	17.35
Total Expenditures		500.12
Cash on Hand, 5/30/98	20.00
Checking account balance,5/30/98	16.49
Savings account balance, 5/30/98	2,159.42
Total on Hand, 5/30/98		$ 2,195.91

1998 MAARS Field Day Committees and Job Descriptions

Chairman: Norm NØJCC

General Chairman and Solar-powered station #1

Co-chair: Henry KAØSWM

June meeting and arrangements

Novice/Tech. Station: Mike, NØPVU

Responsible for Novice/Tech. station set-up and operators

Pre-publicity: NØTSN

All publicity before Field Day signs

Information Booth: KAØSWM

Greeting and informing public during Field Day

Bike Power: Jon NØRYQ

Packet/Satellites: Daniel KBØOTV

Satellites, 2-meter packet for bulletins, messages, etc.

WARN: Phyllis NØMJB

Storm spotting information booth

WARN and message: Phyllis NØMJB

WARN publicity and Send message to Section manager

Computer logging: Mike NØPVU

Set up computers and software for logging and training

HF Station #1: Norm

Total Solar Powered

HF Station #2: Chuck/Francis (CW)

Focus on CW

HF Station #3: Fred KØTCS

Mixed CW and Voice

Generators: Fred KØTCS

Coordinate all generators and gas (Soldan gen. for shelter)

Lights/shelters: Jon NØRYQ

Set up gas or electric lights, tables, chairs and shade, etc.

Operation coordinator: Norm

Submit final form to ARRL/collect logs/schedule operators

Water, food: Phyllis NØMJB

Food, water, etc.

6-meter station

First aid: KØUHF

First aid, bug spray, sun screen

SWL/Night Security: John NØPVT

Shortwave listening and night security

W1AW messages, All HF operators

Copy message, accurate copy needed for report: ONE needed

Message Relays, All HF operators

10 points for each, up to ten (100 pts.)

Chairman: Norm NØJCC

General Chairman and Solar-powered station #1

Co-chair: Henry KAØSWM

June meeting and arrangements

Novice/Tech. Station: Mike, NØPVU

Responsible for Novice/Tech. station set-up and operators

Pre-publicity: NØTSN

All publicity before Field Day signs

Information Booth: KAØSWM

Greeting and informing public during Field Day

Bike Power: Jon NØRYQ

Packet/Satellites: Daniel KBØOTV

Satellites, 2-meter packet for bulletins, messages, etc.

WARN: Phyllis NØMJB

Storm spotting information booth

WARN and message: Phyllis NØMJB

WARN publicity and Send message to Section manager

Computer logging: Mike NØPVU

Set up computers and software for logging and training

HF Station #1: Norm

Total Solar Powered

HF Station #2: Chuck/Francis (CW)

Focus on CW

HF Station #3: Fred KØTCS

Mixed CW and Voice

Generators: Fred KØTCS

Coordinate all generators and gas (Soldan gen. for shelter)

Lights/shelters: Jon NØRYQ

Set up gas or electric lights, tables, chairs and shade, etc.

Operation coordinator: Norm

Submit final form to ARRL/collect logs/schedule operators

Water, food: Phyllis NØMJB

Food, water, etc.

6-meter station

First aid: KØUHF

First aid, bug spray, sun screen

SWL/Night Security: John NØPVT

Shortwave listening and night security

W1AW messages, All HF operators

Copy message, accurate copy needed for report: ONE needed

Message Relays, All HF operators

10 points for each, up to ten (100 pts.)

Monthly Newsletter

Dedicated to the Advancement of Amateur Radio May, 1998

THE PRESIDENT’S CORNER

Phyllis Dillman, NØMJB

I want to thank Jim DeVault for a very interesting program on Robotics. I think it was enjoyed by all. We also appreciated all of the KSU engineering students who stayed on campus to demonstrate their mobile robots.

Our next meeting will be on Friday, May 8th. Gary Johnson, KØHGJ, will be our speaker. He’ll be talking about a controversial topic: “Free Energy”. The meeting is at 7:30 PM in room 152 Rathbone Hall on the KSU-Manhattan campus. The Eating Meeting will be about 5:15 PM at the Sirloin Stockade on the east side of Manhattan.

The XYLs enjoyed a night out at the Gold Fork Restaurant. Our next outing will be in June. The date, time and place will be announced later.

John Best, NØTOK, has asked for someone to take over the newsletter and the web page. He has done a great job for a long time and we all really appreciate his work a great deal. David Yoder, KAØJPM is taking over the web page and Chuck Carter, AAØRI will edit and publish the newsletter. Thanks to all three of you.

NORM’S NOTES

Norm Dillman, NØJCC

I want to add my thanks to John, NØTOK for all of the work he’s done as Newsletter Editor and Keeper of the Web Page. He has devoted many hours behind the scene every month for years to get those important jobs done. He’s set a high standard for those who follow in his footsteps. THANKS FOR A JOB WELL DONE!!

Gary Johnson, KØHGJ will talk about “Free Energy” at the May meeting. Many of you are reading his new book on this topic. He’s been studying these “new” ideas for many years. Gary has given talks to the club before on Tesla Coils and Health Effects of Magnetic Fields, so many of you know this will be another good program.

Field Day is less than eight weeks away. We have the basic plans together but we have a lot of details to fill in. We’ll spend some time at the May meeting going over the plans, and Henry KAØSWM will lead the final planning and training at the June meeting.

For those of you interested in solar-powered vehicles, put May 30 and 31 on your calendar. The National Solar Bike Race will be held in Topeka at Forbes Field. The main races will be on Sunday, but there will be many things going on Saturday and a few people getting started on Friday. The bikes are power by a combination of solar-cells/battery and human power.

The KSU Solar Car for the 1999 Sunrayce finally has a new home after having our old lab condemned. We’re still trying to determine exactly what battery to use, but have ordered $7000 worth of (1000) individual solar cells that have to be tested, sorted, encapsulated and mounted on the car. For the first time we are allowed to use Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries which have twice the energy density of lead acid BUT the best price for an 8-pack is $40,000. I think we’ll go back to lead acid for less than $500 for an 8-pack. The new car is called Apollo and is number 11. You can adopt solar cells on the car for $20 each. There are only about 600 left, so you better hurry. We’ll even give you a certificate showing you where it is on the car. Make your checks out to the KSU Foundation – Solar Car or we even accept cash.

SECRETARY’S MINUTES

Lenore Layman, NØTSN

The guest speaker for the evening was Jim DeVault on “Robotics”creations and demonstrations.

Field Day – Norm suggested that the club would be in need of a Porta-Potty for field day. A motion was passed and all were in favor of this. Henry will look into porta-potties and the cost, the club will spend up to $90.00 on this. Also, check with K-State to see if they have any access to porta-potties.

Picnic – A club picnic will be held on August 15th. The cost of renting a shelter at city park and Tuttle Creek state lake will be checked into.

Check-ins on the Tuesday night net were of concern to Dona Rose. The club agreed to continue the nets – it seemed check-ins were low due partially to daylight savings time and summer vacation approaching. Don’t forget check in on the Tuesday net at 9:00 p.m.

XYL Dinner – Gold Fork, April 23rd at 7:00 p.m.

Code practice with Francis, WØEVJ on Thursday and Sunday night at 8:00 p.m.

Hamfests: May 15-17 Dayton Hamventon in Dayton, OH. Check newsletter for more hamfests.

April 18th – Earth Day at Sunset Zoo.

April 22nd – WARN has been cancelled.

May 14th – WARN meeting.

Mike, KBØFAX – “Kansas Sideband Net” needs someone to help take traffic. More details, contact Mike.

David Yoder, KAØJPM will now be handling the club’s web site. Any questions, contact David.

Next club meeting May 8th. Gary Johnson, KØHGJ will be our guest speaker on “Free Energy”.

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

Chuck Carter, AAØRI May, 1998

After several years of editing the newsletter, keeping the web page up, being repeater trustee, etc., John Best, NØTOK has decided to divest himself of the newsletter and web page. John runs a couple of businesses as well as being on the Fire/Rescue team in Manhattan. I don’t know where he found the time for all this, but he sure deserves a break.

I have never done anything like this before, so bear with me while I learn the art of being a newsletter editor. John is a professional in this business, I’m an amateur. I’m sure the quality will suffer.

If any of you have any suggestions on ways to improve the newsletter please let me hear them. I want you the members of this club to be satisfied with my endeavors.

73 de Chuck, AAØRI

TREASURER’S REPORT

Nadine Stueve, KØUHF April, 1998

If anyone has any questions about the treasurer’s report or anything on the report, please ask the treasurer, Nadine Stueve, KØUHF. Anyone desiring to join MAARS, see her for the information. Also, she has forms for anyone desiring to join the American Radio Relay League. ARRL membership includes a subscription to the QST magazine. For new ARRL members, MAARS may keep $5 of the fee so it helps our club if you join through MAARS. Renewals through the club allow MAARS to retain $2 of the ARRL dues. If doing so, you must make out the check to MAARS and then MAARS writes a check for the amount to be remitted. In other words we retain the amount allotted to the club as they do not send the amount back to us. A question was asked about someone who does not have a license joining ARRL – the answer: yes, that is permitted.

Cash on Hand, 4/1/98	20.00
Checking account balance, 4/1/98	149.42
Savings account balance, 4/1/98	2,498.94
Total on Hand, 4/1/98	$ 2,668.36
Receipts:
Interest – Savings Account	18.48
Auction – Books (Herb Bates)	8.00
ARRL Dues	34.00
Total Receipts	60.48
Total Cash Available		$ 2,728.84
Expenditures:
Postage	32.00
Speaker’s Meal	4.46
ARRL Dues	32.00
Telephone	17.35
Total Expenditures		85.81
Cash on Hand, 4/30/98	20.00
Checking account balance,4/30/98	63.61
Savings account balance, 4/30/98	2,559.42
Total on Hand, 4/30/98		$ 2,643.03

1998 MAARS Field Day Committees and Job Descriptions

Chairman: Norm NØJCC

General Chairman and Solar-powered station #1

Co-chair: Henry KAØSWM

June meeting and arrangements

Novice/Tech. Station: Mike, NØPVU

Responsible for Novice/Tech. station set-up and operators

Pre-publicity: NØTSN

All publicity before Field Day signs

Information Booth: KAØSWM

Greeting and informing public during Field Day

Bike Power: Jon NØRYQ

Packet/Satellites: Daniel KBØOTV

Satellites, 2-meter packet for bulletins, messages, etc.

WARN: Phyllis NØMJB

Storm spotting information booth

WARN and message: Phyllis NØMJB

WARN publicity and Send message to Section manager

Computer logging: Mike NØPVU

Set up computers and software for logging and training

HF Station #1: Norm

Total Solar Powered

HF Station #2: Chuck/Francis (CW)

Focus on CW

HF Station #3: Fred KØTCS

Mixed CW and Voice

Generators: Fred KØTCS

Coordinate all generators and gas (Soldan gen. for shelter)

Lights/shelters: Jon NØRYQ

Set up gas or electric lights, tables, chairs and shade, etc.

Operation coordinator: Norm

Submit final form to ARRL/collect logs/schedule operators

Water, food: Phyllis NØMJB

Food, water, etc.

6-meter station

First aid: KØUHF

First aid, bug spray, sun screen

SWL/Night Security: John NØPVT

Shortwave listening and night security

W1AW messages, All HF operators

Copy message, accurate copy needed for report: ONE needed

Message Relays, All HF operators

10 points for each, up to ten (100 pts.)

Chairman: Norm NØJCC

General Chairman and Solar-powered station #1

Co-chair: Henry KAØSWM

June meeting and arrangements

Novice/Tech. Station: Mike, NØPVU

Responsible for Novice/Tech. station set-up and operators

Pre-publicity: NØTSN

All publicity before Field Day signs

Information Booth: KAØSWM

Greeting and informing public during Field Day

Bike Power: Jon NØRYQ

Packet/Satellites: Daniel KBØOTV

Satellites, 2-meter packet for bulletins, messages, etc.

WARN: Phyllis NØMJB

Storm spotting information booth

WARN and message: Phyllis NØMJB

WARN publicity and Send message to Section manager

Computer logging: Mike NØPVU

Set up computers and software for logging and training

HF Station #1: Norm

Total Solar Powered

HF Station #2: Chuck/Francis (CW)

Focus on CW

HF Station #3: Fred KØTCS

Mixed CW and Voice

Generators: Fred KØTCS

Coordinate all generators and gas (Soldan gen. for shelter)

Lights/shelters: Jon NØRYQ

Set up gas or electric lights, tables, chairs and shade, etc.

Operation coordinator: Norm

Submit final form to ARRL/collect logs/schedule operators

Water, food: Phyllis NØMJB

Food, water, etc.

6-meter station

First aid: KØUHF

First aid, bug spray, sun screen

SWL/Night Security: John NØPVT

Shortwave listening and night security

W1AW messages, All HF operators

Copy message, accurate copy needed for report: ONE needed

Message Relays, All HF operators

10 points for each, up to ten (100 pts.)

Monthly Newsletter

Dedicated to the Advancement of Amateur Radio April, 1998

THE PRESIDENT’S CORNER

Phyllis Dillman, NØMJB

Thank you John, NØPVT for our program on 6-meters. See Norm’s notes about our next program. It will be on Robots. The next meeting will be on April 10, Friday at 7:30 P.M. It will be held on the KSU campus in room 152 Rathbone Hall. We will gather at the Sirloin Stockade at about 5:15 before the meeting. I hope you can join us.

Gary Johnson will give a talk about “Free” Energy at our May meeting. Several of you are reading his book on the topic. Norm still has some more copies. It should be interesting. His earlier talks on Tesla and Magnetic Related Health Effects sure were. Gary is organizing a meeting on Tesla Coils with demonstrations. It will last a couple of days in early October. Several Hams have already volunteered to help him. It will be at his lab south of Manhattan, where Lloyd’s balloons are launched. People from other states have already agreed to bring their “Coils” to the gathering. Gary will be writing about it in a later newsletter.

We are having another XYL dinner on April 23. We don’t know where or what time so give me any ideas you have. Listen to the repeater nets for more information.

NORM’S NOTES

Norm Dillman, NØJCC

The meeting this month on Friday, April 10, will be on Robotics. Professor Jim DeVault will tells us about what is happening with Robots these days and then several students will demonstrate their computer-controller mobile robot creations and explain how they work. They are all different and you’ll see some clever implementations. Perhaps Lloyd will bring his latest robot rover, too.

The 1999 KSU solar-powered car actually has a shape, and the students are making good progress. We have a computer generated model that we’ll try to have at the next meeting. We’ve been really excited about the possibility ofusing Nickel Metal Hydride batteries for the first time in the race. We’re not so excited now that we’ve learned that the eight required batteries will cost $40,000 and are only big enough to meeting 90% of the maximum energy allowance. We also learned that these “super” batteries do not work so well at temperatures above about 70 F. At 1OO F you lose about 10% of the charge and at 120 F you loose about 20%. The advantage is that these batteries weigh less than half as much as Lead Acid batteries with the same “nominal” energy level.

There are some minor changes to the rules for Field Day 1998; mostly dealing with points for packet and VHF/UHF contacts. The basic plans are in place and many people have volunteered equipment and expertise and operating time to make this annual event a lot of fun, and to score a lot of points. We’ll be at the scenic overlook south of Manhattan K-177. We’ll set up the stations Saturday morning and operate from mid-day until mid-day Sunday, June 27 and 28. The June meeting will be devoted to final plans and going over the rules and logging requirements. Let me know if you have any ideas or questions or suggestions or need a copy of the rules. The following is a tentative list ofwhat’s going on. Help fill in the gaps.

AMATEUR RADIO CLUES

Francis Sable, WØEVJ

The simplest radio filter could consist of a capacitor and resistor. A capacitor connected in shunt across the output of an alternating or fluctuating voltage source, together with the internal series resistance of the source, make up a type of low pass filter. The value of the capacitor would be determined by the value of the source internal resistance and the frequencies of the amount of attenuation needed.

Some practical examples of this type filter are shown in diagrams 2A and 2B.

2A is the circuit diagram of a basic crystal dectector (rectifier) radio receiver. As shown, the demodulation process is accomplished by both the rectifying action of the crystal diode and the filtering (smoothing) action of the capacitor C2 to smooth out the RF ripple after rectification to reproduce the modulation envelope of the RF carrier.

2B is the partial circuit diagram of a typical 60 cycle A.C. power source to 12.8 V DC filtered and regulated power supply. In this case the voltage source to the filter capacitor consists of the relatively very low impedance for the secondary winding in series with the low conducting resistance of the rectifier diodes. This low source impedance of the secondary winding in series with the low conducting resistance of the rectifier diodes. This low source impedance, together with the low frequency of 120 Hz (following full-wave rectification) as compared with the much higher impedance and much higher frequenceis of the circuit of 2A, requires a much higher value of capacitor for effective ripple filtering than does the circuit of 2A.

SECRETARY’S MINUTES

Lenore Layman, NØTSN

The guest speaker for the evening was John Skare, NØPVT, who presented to the club “everything you always wanted to know about six meters, propagation and antennas”.

Nadine, club treasurer, presented a review of the annual treasurer’s report – total on hand as of October 31, 1998: in checking $48.28, and in savings $2628.98.

Membership dues were addressed to the club by Norm, NØJCC: for a family dues are $30.00, single $20.00, and a student is $10.00. A suggestion of reducing the dues might increase the membership. The club’s normal expenses for one year are about $1,000.00. In evaluating our expenses and reducing the dues, we came to the conclusion this would not be feasible. A vote was taken and all were in favor of keeping the dues as they were, with no changes. Membership was down as of this date and a few suggestions were made that might remind members to keep their dues current.

1. The September or October newsletter would have a renewal form for membership at the end of the treasurer’s report.
2. A free newsletter would be sent out to previous members who have not renewed. Also, when there is a special activity, for example: field day, auctions and the picnic.
3. The possibility of giving new members (new to the club, not a previous member) reduced rates.
4. Include the name and address of who and where to send dues.

Coupon – a coupon would be given out to the VE’s at their testing locations to people who have passed their exams for $10.00 off our club membership. This would apply for anyone upgrading their license, providing they are not already members. A vote was taken and all were in favor of this.

Insurance – a letter was sent to our insurance company, Albert H. Wohlers & Co. regarding balloon launches and the club’s liability. Nadine read the response from Jeanette Evans, the Senior Account Analyst stating that our current liability policy does not specifically exclude liability coverage for the launching of the helium balloon, however this exposure is excluded within our underwriting guidelines authority for this insurance program by the CIGNA Insurance Company. In other words, if we had informed our insurance company that we would be involved in balloon launches, they would have declined to issue a policy for our club and our policy would be cancelled or non renewed. This issue was discussed in great length and it was decided and voted on that the “Manhattan Area Amateur Radio Society (MAARS) does not sponsor people participating in balloon launch/es”. A motion was passed and seconded. A copy of the club’s minutes would be sent to Albert H. Wohlers & Co.

Correction to the February minutes as stated Nadine will check with Pete Silas regarding his concerns about balloon launches. Change should say Nadine has already checked with Pete Silas regarding his concerns about balloon launches.

March 30th there is a weather spotters awareness class at the Fire Department on Denison and Kimball.

Next hamfest is March 14th at the Ararat Shrine in Kansas City, MO.
April 18th in Joplin, MO. Check the newsletter for more details.

The next meeting will be on April 10th.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Nadine Stueve, KØUHF March, 1998

If anyone has any questions about the treasurer’s report or anything on the report, please ask the treasurer, Nadine Stueve, KØUHF. Also, she has forms for anyone desiring to join the American Radio Relay League. For new members, MAARS may keep $5 of the fee so it helps our club if you join through MAARS. Renewals through the club allow MAARS to retain $2 of the ARRL dues. If doing so, you must make out the check to MAARS and then MAARS writes a check for the amount to be remitted. In other words, we retain the amount allotted to the club as they do not send the amount back to us. A question was asked about someone who does not have a license joining ARRL – the answer: yes, that is permitted.

Cash on Hand, 3/1/98		20.00
Checking account balance, 3/1/98	147.46
Savings account balance, 3/1/98	2,498.94
Total on Hand, 3/1/98		$ 2,666.40
Receipts:
Dues		40.00
Total Cash Available		$ 2,706.40
Expenditures:
PO Box Rent	20.00
Telephone	17.35
Emergency call	.15
Reimbursed Long Distance	.54
Total Expenditures		38.04
Cash on Hand, 3/31/98	20.00
Checking account balance, 3/31/98	149.42
Savings account balance, 3/31/98	2,498.94
Total on Hand, 3/31/98		$ 2,668.36

1998 MAARS Field Day Committees and Job Descriptions

Chairman: Norm NØJCC

General Chairman and Solar-powered station #1

Co-chair: Henry KAØSWM

June meeting and arrangements

Novice/Tech. Station: Mike, NØPVU

Responsible for Novice/Tech. station set-up and operators

Pre-publicity: NØTSN

All publicity before Field Day signs

Information Booth: KAØSWM

Greeting and informing public during Field Day

Bike Power: Jon NØRYQ

Packet/Satellites: Daniel KBØOTV

Satellites, 2-meter packet for bulletins, messages, etc.

WARN: Phyllis NØMJB

Storm spotting information booth

WARN and message: Phyllis NØMJB

WARN publicity and Send message to Section manager

Computer logging: Mike NØPVU

Set up computers and software for logging and training

HF Station #1: Norm

Total Solar Powered

HF Station #2: Chuck/Francis (CW)

Focus on CW

HF Station #3: Fred KØTCS

Mixed CW and Voice

Generators: Fred KØTCS

Coordinate all generators and gas (Soldan gen. for shelter)

Lights/shelters: Jon NØRYQ

Set up gas or electric lights, tables, chairs and shade, etc.

Operation coordinator: Norm

Submit final form to ARRL/collect logs/schedule operators

Water, food: Phyllis NØMJB

Food, water, etc.

6-meter station

First aid: KØUHF

First aid, bug spray, sun screen

SWL/Night Security: John NØPVT

Shortwave listening and night security

W1AW messages, All HF operators

Copy message, accurate copy needed for report: ONE needed

Message Relays, All HF operators

10 points for each, up to ten (100 pts.)

Chairman: Norm NØJCC

General Chairman and Solar-powered station #1

Co-chair: Henry KAØSWM

June meeting and arrangements

Novice/Tech. Station: Mike, NØPVU

Responsible for Novice/Tech. station set-up and operators

Pre-publicity: NØTSN

All publicity before Field Day signs

Information Booth: KAØSWM

Greeting and informing public during Field Day

Bike Power: Jon NØRYQ

Packet/Satellites: Daniel KBØOTV

Satellites, 2-meter packet for bulletins, messages, etc.

WARN: Phyllis NØMJB

Storm spotting information booth

WARN and message: Phyllis NØMJB

WARN publicity and Send message to Section manager

Computer logging: Mike NØPVU

Set up computers and software for logging and training

HF Station #1: Norm

Total Solar Powered

HF Station #2: Chuck/Francis (CW)

Focus on CW

HF Station #3: Fred KØTCS

Mixed CW and Voice

Generators: Fred KØTCS

Coordinate all generators and gas (Soldan gen. for shelter)

Lights/shelters: Jon NØRYQ

Set up gas or electric lights, tables, chairs and shade, etc.

Operation coordinator: Norm

Submit final form to ARRL/collect logs/schedule operators

Water, food: Phyllis NØMJB

Food, water, etc.

6-meter station

First aid: KØUHF

First aid, bug spray, sun screen

SWL/Night Security: John NØPVT

Shortwave listening and night security

W1AW messages, All HF operators

Copy message, accurate copy needed for report: ONE needed

Message Relays, All HF operators

10 points for each, up to ten (100 pts.)