NewsLetter for April |
(Creatively rearranged by KC4GCK) |
SPRING - Time to fertilize that antenna farm |
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NORTH GEORGIA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB |
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CALENDAR |
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| Club Net: Thursday nights, 8:30PM, 146.835 + T100 Dahlonega Repeater |
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Reminder: Club dues of $10 are for the year Jan to Dec. The Secretary
or Treasurer will be collecting at the next meeting for 2005 for those
of you not already paid up. Also, please fill out one of the new NGARC
club application forms even if you are a long time member so we will
have your information for our records. Diana is working up a roster for
all the members. |
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Other April Ham Radio happenings: |
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| From the President: I hope everyone learned at least one thing from the program on GPS. Personally, I was very interested in the TinyTrak System that several members had in their vehicles. This little unit allows you to hook your GPS directly to your radio without a TNC or laptop. I was impressed enough that I have order a unit and am waiting for a rainy night to assemble it. With any luck, I will soon be visible on your APRS screen. If all goes well, I might even put my weather station on the air via APRS. Has anyone found any geocaches? We are coming up rapidly on the Tour de Georgia bicycle event. If you have not signed up yet, be sure to get with KG4TJJ and indicate your interest. Several of our members are signed up for Route Marshals and several are signed up for Route Reporters. Let's hope for good weather. I have been sketching up a few ideas for QSL Cards for our special event station during the Gold Rush Festival. I look forward to further discussions about how to proceed with this venture. I think finalizing the location of the station is our next item to tie down. I think, if we asked, the Chamber of Commerce would lend us a corner of the balcony or a place inside the chamber building for our station. Mrs. Pfeiffer has possibly offered the balcony over Caruso's as a possible station location. The routing of the antenna is the critical item. Bring your thoughts and ideas to the next meeting. I have no big programs scheduled yet for the April meeting. I think with finalization of the Tour de Georgia plans and further discussions on the Special Event Station, we ought to have a full evening. If anyone would like to add anything to the agenda, please give me a call. Tom Crowell KD4DK |
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| The NGARC Volunteer Examiners can probably remember how to administer an exam if asked!! We'd like to see at least three people looking for an exam session and we could schedule one. Contact K4SZ if you are interested and we'll see what we can put together. | |
| ARES News . April, 2005 I think that many of you know that Joan and I have finally sold our house in Cumming, and that we can now move to the new place in Dahlonega. That is scheduled to take place on May 13th. At that point, I can really assume duties as the EC for Lumpkin County. Over lunch on Monday, 3/28, I met with the folks in Dawson County - - ARES/RACES - - to discuss the use of the 146.835 repeater during nasty weather. Pete has it linked to the National Weather Service, which seems like a good thing. But if you were around for the recent state-wide tornado drill, you might be scratching your heads. Does every ham with a rig on 2 call in to tell Peachtree City that "Hey - it's not raining here"? That is not what they need to hear. Mac, KJ4P and I are working with Pete to see if we can move the link to the 440 machine. That way we can use the 146.835 repeater for use for "tactical" communications in the event of weather emergencies, for the two shared counties. Almost all us can communicate on 2, and the net control station on 2 would then relay key information to the NWS via 440. It's a work-in-progress right now, and I'll keep all informed. One other note . during the tornado drill I spent a whole bunch of time trying to check into the NWS net on 75 meters. I finally had to ask for a relay station, and eventually found one that could (barely) copy me. Sort of. I was running 100 watts from my FT-897, with a well-matched Hamstick, mobile. Give some thought to NVIS antennas and, if you have HF privileges, how you might handle low-band, state-wide, communications in an emergency. 'Just state-wide. (Hey - - I have talked all across the country with the same setup on 75. 'Just a lot of trouble getting into Peachtree City, during the day.) And a final note. Russ, W4YKF, and I are going to try to figure out how to pass on to you what we learned through the three ARRL emergency communications courses we have taken. 'More to follow on that. It's not too late to sign up for the on-line courses. 'Well worth the money spent. (Zero, for now.) 73 de Dave W9JWT Lumpkin County Emergency Coordinator (EC) |
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| A nice Swap and Traders Net list put together by our friend Jerry W3CDE from Snellville: | |
| Sunday 9AM 7275 Georgia Traders Net 10 AM 7245 Continental Traders Net 8:30 PM 3922 Texas Traders Net Monday 8 PM 3897 Gator Traders Net Tuesday 8 PM 3865 Old Tube Traders Net 3987.5 Arkansas Traders Net |
Wednesday 10 AM 7251 SouthCars Traders Net 8 PM 3938 Virginia group Thursday 7 PM 7251 SouthCars Traders Net 8:30 PM 3885 Friday 8:30 PM 3870 Texas Traders Net Saturday 8 PM 3938 Virginia Group |
| Special note: The club application form in .pdf format is now available
on our web page http://home.syclone.net/~kc4gck along with copies of
the club newsletters. Easy to download and print out and send in to
Diana. We hope some have tried it already. |
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