Happy Halloween!
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Happy Halloween! Voted Best Michigan Newsletter for 2011 by ARRL, Great Lakes Section! Utica Shelby Emergency Communications Association, Inc. Volume 27, Number 8, October 2011 U S E C A B O A R D M E E T I N G M I N U T E S S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 1 F r o m Y o u r Y o u r C l u b O f f I c e r s President, Lifeless Larry Memb. Sec., Rigor Mortis Ray Board Member, Wailing Walt W8SOX K8RDJ WB8E C o n d u c t o r Vice President, Putrid Pete Recording Sec, Wreaking Rob Board Member, Chucky AA8GK NY8W N8ZA Treasurer, Gory Gary Past President, Beelzebub Bill Board Member, Alec the Axe 13 WA8FEA N8SA NF8X NOTE: Name in DEAD indicates absent Meeting called to order @ 7:00 p.m. by Pete as acting President Walt offered a motion to accept the June Board meeting minutes as printed in The Express. Gary seconded and the motion carried. Rob reported no correspondence. Treasurers' report was read by Gary reetings, my pulse-impaired riders of The GG USECA Express! Fall is a great time to get out to Chuck moved that we accept the treasurer's report. Ray the park to play some radio as it‘s cooler and the seconded and the motion carried. mosquitoes and flies are rapidly disappearing. But, it‘s Ray reported that as of tonight's meeting we have about also one of the last chances to get your antennas 113 paid members. winterized, ready to brave the ice and snow that Michigan is sure to deal us. Perhaps, improve your Swap: Our flier is done, some vendors have reserved station‘s ground system before the earth freezes? This tables. There was discussion about table rental as well as is especially important if you are running a linear shopping around for a cheaper venue for 2012. We will amplifier, but if you‘ve ever been ‗poked‘ while push- bring this to the members at next week's meeting. ing 100 Watts into coax, you‘ll find this a great invest- ment in time, too! New Business: WD8IFL Dave presented a grill to the club for our larks in the park and other outdoor activities. By the way, as if you couldn‘t tell, Halloween is one of W8NIC Larry is heading up our 2011 Christmas dinner. my favorite holidays! Read The Express carefully!! You‘ll find many tricks and treats along the way! Click Walt made a motion to adjourn and Gary seconded. on the candy corn for a little Halloween music while Meeting Adjourned at 8:08 pm you‘re reading this haunted version of The Express 13‟s… Uh, I mean, 73‟s! Respectfully Submitted, Your Conductor Wreaking Rob Lifton, NY8W Pete, AA8GK Recording Secretary Next Meeting: October 10, 2011 (Click Here for Map of Meeting Location) Our 27th Spooktacular Year ! 1 T h e U S E C A E x p r e s s V H F / U H F N e t s DAY TIME NET FREQ SUN 1:00 PM USECA / Information 147.180 +100 PL SUN 8:00 PM USECA / Traders/Tech Support Net 147.180 +100 PL SUN 9:00 PM HPARC / Info 146.640 +100 PL SUN 9:00 PM Garden City ARC 146.860 +100 PL H E R E L I E S Y O U R SUN-SAT 10:15 PM S. E. Michigan Traffic Net 146.76 +100 PL B O N E S OF D I R E C T O R S MON 7:30 PM SATERN 147.180 +100 PL President Larry Stocking / W8SOX (586) 294-7718 MON 8:00 PM MECA / Info 147.200 +100 PL Vice Pres. Pete Matejcik / AA8GK (248) 433-7724 Recording Secretary Rob Lifton / NY8W (248) 797-2264 MON 8:00 PM GMARC 443.075 +123 PL Treasurer Gary Simms / WA8FEA (586) 322-2134 TUE 8:00 PM Digital 145.550 Membership Sec. Ray Anderson/ K8RDJ (586) 979-4456 Board Member Walt Gracey / WB8E (586) 596-9547 TUE 9:00 PM Motor City Radio Club 147.240 Board Member Alec Beardsley / NF8X (586) 873-8841 Board Member Chucky Perushek / N8ZA (586) 557-4983 WED 9:00 PM ARPSC / Info 145.490 Past President Bill Chesney / N8SA (586) 468-0106 THU 8:00 PM Macomb County RACES / ARES 147.200 +100 PL COMMITTEES AND CORPSES THU 8:30 PM LCARC / Info 147.080 ARRL Liaison Bill / N8SA Awards Manager Bob / N8ZY (586) 978-1682 Creaking Door Prizes –OPEN– H F N e t s Editor Pete/ AA8GK (248) 433-7724 [email protected] DAY TIME NET FREQ Field Day Electric Chair Bill / N8SA, Steve / N8XO Death & Welfare Rob / NY8W (248) 816-2222 MON 7:30 PM LCARC / 15 Meter CW 21.165 Historian Jerry / K8CFY (586) 791-4484 Mailers/Sorters Joe / N8KA MON 8:30 PM LCARC / 15 Meter Phone USB 21.395 Net Mangler Bob / N8ZY (586) 978-1682 Crime Scene Photographer Wes / KD8DHS TUE 2300 UTC USECA / 75 Meter Phone LSB 3.830 +/- QRM Program and Funeral Director Dan / N8ZBA WED 7:00 PM USECA / 6 Meter Phone USB 50.140 Public Relations Officer Ken / N8KC (248) 652-1187 Rotting Refreshments Walt / WB8E THU 7:30 PM LCARC / 10 Meter Phone USB 28.435 Repeater Trustee Ken ‟Coffin‟ Coughlin / N8KC Swap Director Larry / WB8SJD [email protected] THU 9:00 PM USECA / 15 Meter CW 21.140 Technical Director Jim / W1IK (586) 771-4135 FRI 9:00 PM USECA / 80 Meter CW 3.570 Morgue Technicians N8SA, W1IK, N8ZA, K8RDJ, W1SKU VE Testing Alec / NF8X (586) 873-8841 FRI 10:00 PM USECA / 10 Meter Phone USB 28.425 Spider Web Master Bob / N8ZY (586) 978-1682 C O W B O Y U P OUT OF CONTROL OPERATORS C O W B O Y U P Jim / WY8I Rob / NY8W Chuck / N8ZA Alec / NF8X Dan / N8ZBA Jim / W1IK “Do you know what „we‟ should do...?” P R O G R A M M E R S How often these words are heard! More often than not, the Jim / W1IK Brad / N8VI implication is ―Do YOU know what YOU should do?‖ The suggesting party then feels they‘ve made a contribution, is now important, and need do nothing more; all they do is suggest things. Far more rare is the person who says nothing, then does what needs doing. Which person are you? Click here for the ―You're my best friend. But, if the ARRL audio news. zombies chase us, I'm tripping you.‖ Our 27th Spooktacular Year! 2 The USECA Express By Pete, AA8GK do quite a bit of driving around the lower peninsula in both summer and winter. Because of this, I like to II know what repeaters are within range, especially if my truck breaks down. Sure, I could buy the Repeater Directory from the ARRL, but it‘s not very useful at 60 MPH (and NOT very safe, either!). I had also consid- ered the ARRL‘s computer program, Travel Plus, but again, it does nothing for you once underway. Further, I don‘t think I‘ve read one complimentary review of this (rather pricey) software. In fact, I‘ve heard some downright derogatory comments about it. Lastly, yes, I have a number of repeaters programmed in my IC-706MKIIG, but it‘s hard to know which repeaters are in range as I traverse through a given area. magine my delight when I came across K5EHX‟s website! Tom White, K5EHX, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, II really put together a great site! It allows you to search an entire state, a postal zip code, or call sign of a repeater or repeaters. The search return is graphically displayed on a Google map, showing the approxi- mate radius of the repeaters‘ coverage. Also, the left column lists the individual repeater‘s data. Lastly - and this is the best part– it is possible to download all of the general repeater information onto your Garmin Nüvi GPS ( and many other kinds of GPS units ) as custom Points of Interest (POI‘s) ! Then, as you drive, your GPS will keep you abreast of which repeaters are in the area, their distance and direction from you, as well as their frequencies and PL tones! The ARRL sells a similar database download for $25, but K5EHX has it available for FREE! Now that’s a Halloween treat! Mwaaaaaahahahahahahahh!!!!! quick note here: to download the database file to your Garmin GPS requires a free program (available AA from Garmin) called POI Loader. The Garmin Nüvi POI file format is really nothing more than a text file known as a CSV (comma separated values). Right, the results of your search can be downloaded in a number of formats that are very useful, including a CSV format for Garmin Nüvi GPS receivers. Click above photo to learn more about TravelPlus. Left, your search results imposed on a Google map. The colored lines show the operational range of the various repeaters shown. Our 27th Spooktacular Year! 3 The USECA Express U S E C A G E N E R A L M E E T I N G M I N U T E S S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 1 Meeting called to order @ 7:32 p.m. by Y o u r U n d e a d C l u b O f f I c e r s Lifeless Larry, W8SOX, which was quite a feat as he had been dead a while (and smelled President, Lifeless Larry Memb.