Founded 1933 The Marin Amateur Radio Society Monthly Newsletter June 2010 Page 1 Pres’ Msg. MARS Website at W6SG.NET Board Meeting, 13 May 2010 Phone 415-389-6630 Communications… When the amateur For ARRL SF Section news, go to Board Members present: Curtis Ardourel, radio service was created, C.W. was it. www.arrl.org/sections/?sect=SF Dave Hodgson, Phil Dunlap, Rich Carbine, Augie Koehler, Now we have available any number of technologies and methods of transmit- MARS member present: Randy Jenkins POBox 6423, San Rafael, 93903 The meeting was called to order by Pres. ting content to others. Personal commu- nications have become ubiquitous. Mil- Curtis Ardourel at 19:32 hours. MARS Picnic Sunday 12 September lions pass traffic using text messaging on The printed Agenda was approved. their phones. Increasingly, people are At Sam Taylor Park Randy Jenkins was appointed as temporary sending messages out to the world on recording secretary. blogs and tweets, looking for a response. Someone took the time to gather their The minutes of the March 11 and April 8 By any other name these messages are thoughts and put them down on paper. The Board of Directors meeting, as published in CQs. thrust of the letter was to request a presen- QSA-5, were approved. We however are Amateurs. We will tation about the digital communication Communications: A Survey from Alto not settle for the packaged messaging modes now available and the software and Sanitary District was received and discussed. systems using cell networks or the Inter- hardware needed to get on the air with Treasurer: Treas. Hodgson presented his net. These systems require a vast infra- them. This strikes me as a very good sug- monthly report, and it was discussed by the structure and the technology is type ap- gestion and we will organize at least one, if board. proved and locked down. As amateurs not a couple, of presentations on this topic. Committees: we have always been tinkerers, and al- No column in a newsletter produced by Membership: Board member Dunlap re- though we tend to chew the rag a bit, and an amateur radio club, for publication in ported that membership was about the same perhaps more QSOs revolve around de- June would be complete without an exhor- as last year. scriptions of our stations than not. We tation to come out to Field Day, on the Recreation: Board member Carbine re- set up those stations if not built them fourth full weekend of June every year. ported that our usual spot in Sam Taylor Park ourselves. We also have a long tradition This year we will be setting up the site was reserved for 12 September's Picnic. of public service and accurately passing starting on Friday 25 June at 11:00. Con- Public service: Jenkins discussed the up- traffic for others. test operation will begin at 11:00 Saturday coming Dipsea on June 6. That legacy of tinkering has not been and continue, including take down, through Comm Truck: Jenkins reported that the lost. There is a whole new world of ex- the weekend ending at around 2:00 in the truck had started when tested last Sunday. perimentation and adaptation involving afternoon on Sunday. Our location will be Education: Hodgson reported that we were computers and communications. Hams at the Marin Rod and Gun club as usual. ½ way through General Class. A “Now that I are developing software to enable reli- You can come out to make contacts or just have my license, what to do with it?” class able (error checked) transmission over watch some serious contesting. Field Day was tentatively scheduled for July. unreliable media. We are using computer is a social event as much as a contest. VE: Jenkins reported that the next session sound cards and DSP software to modu- Many of the digital modes and technolo- was scheduled for June 19. late and demodulate signals. We are de- gies now a part of amateur radio will be in RACES: Carbine reported there would be a veloping packet level protocols, com- use at our site, so you can see first hand communications test next Saturday. pression software and advancing the what is involved. Please come out and Building: Carbine reported that the con- state of the art in digital communication have some fun. crete for the bathroom floor had been poured, technology. We are inventing an entire water and gas piping had been run overhead, new lexicon of Acronyms, OK perhaps Curtis Ardourel WA6UDS and that the bathrooms should be ready in that is not so laudable, but we have been 510-655-2032 time for use as a Polling Pl. on 8 June. doing it for years HI HI Field Day: Hodgson and Carbine discussed I recently received a message in a No general meeting in the interface with RedX, and organization mode that predates even CW, to wit a and food plans for Field Day. letter. I was a little taken aback. I could July. Speakers: Ardourel reported that Jerry Fos- not recall the last time I got a letter in an ter was in contact with Denice Stoops, about envelope, on paper, albeit printed using a Friday 7/2 will be part of a program. computer. It had a preamble, a body and Apt Repairs: Jenkins reported that Stanton the July 4th weekend for Gleason had the door and frame painted, and a conclusion. Column two. many. was moving toward installation. Page 2, col. 2. Page 2 “We’re typical hams, with the usual complement of redeeming idiosyncrasies.” K1NSS QSA-5 Board Meeting, cont. THE WAYBACK MACHINE ISSUE #27 K6GWE Repeaters . Fire Extinguishers: There was a question by Bill Continelli, W2XOY Big Rock Ridge 147.330 + reprinted with permission. 2 meters INPUTS for John Boyd, who was not present. pl 203.5 Big Rock Shack Operations: Carbine reported that new feed lines would be run, and be labeled. If there was a buzzword to describe pl 179.9 Mt. Tam west pl 167.9 Mt. Barnabe Online Dues: Tabled. amateur radio in the first three months pl 192.8 Tiburon Public Service Online Sign up: Ardourel of 1958, it was "satellite". The Russians San Pedro Ridge 147.330 + reported that he was working this item. had launched Sputnik in November pl 173.8 off-line - reserve status. PubServ Events calendar: This was dis- 1957. Thousands of hams tuned in the Mt. Tamalpais 146.700 - cussed and approved by the board, for inclu- weak beacon from the satellite on 20 sion as a link on the website. pl 179.9 Mt. Tam input and 40 MC. Amateur Radio received a 440 Clubhouse Internet Access: Ardourel re- ported that he was still researching this lot of publicity, as across the nation, San Pedro Ridge many local papers ran articles on the 443.525 + pl 82.5 item. hometown hams and the "signals from Mt.Tamalpais Marin Electric Utility Option: This item 443.250 + pl 179.9 was discussed, and the board unanimously space". Many amateur operators were voted to opt out. also busy building converters for 108 Join the Elderfahrten Net Mondays Website Redesign: Mainly, present items MC, as the U.S. Army Signal Engineer- and Thursdays at 0800 on 3892kc simply need to be updated. Contact Hodg- ing Labs in Fort Monmouth, N.J. had a son with any updates needed. 50kw transmitter on that frequency to Dipsea Documentary: The board dis- bounce signals off the moon. The an- cussed and approved participation in this For those who keep watch on tenna was a 60 foot dish. Those lucky sun spots and HF propagation, project. Public Service Events Postmortem: This enough to hear it received a special try this site: QSL. Also on 108 MC was the first U.S. item was discussed, and will be acted on at satellite, Explorer, launched in February http://www.hamqsl.com/solar.html a subsequent meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 20:15 hours. 1958. Hundreds of reports were re- Respectfully submitted, Randy Jenkins, General; Meeting, May 7, 2010 ceived by the ARRL from those who KA6BQF, acting Secretary. President Curtis Ardourel called the meet- heard it. ing to order at 1930 hours. There were 22 Amateur Radio was growing in 1958. Randy Jenkins, KA6BQF members and guests in attendance and in- The total number of hams was over [email protected] troductions were made. The agenda for this 160,000, with predictions that we would 510-526-4089 evenings meeting was approved. Also the Secretary, Education, & Public Events go over 200,000 by 1960. ARRL mem- minutes for last month’s meeting was ap- East Bay Amateur Radio Club bership was also at its highest ever, proved. Curtis brought up items that were www.eastbayarc.org 60,000. In fact, there were so many discussed at our last board meeting, includ- VE Liasion & Public Service Co- hams, the FCC was running out of call- ing the passing away of long time member Coordinator Ben Sawtelle, N6PJZ. signs. The traditional 1x3 calls begin- Marin Amateur Radio Society Membership is approximately 110. ning with "W" or "K" were almost com- www.w6sg.net Randy Jenkins discussed upcoming Pub- pletely used up, especially in the 2nd lic Service events. and 6th call areas. To alleviate the prob- MARS Sunday morning check-ins are Doug Slusher gave an update on the pur- lem, the FCC began the 2x3 format. held at 10:00 on 3915kc for HFers and chasing of new repeater equipment for, and at 10:15 on the 147.330 repeater for all Henceforth, new Technician, General work being done at Big Rock.