Volume 59, Issue 11 November, 2012 NOVEMBER CLUB HAPPENINGS November Club meeting November 13, 2012 Program 10-meter contest on Dec 8-9 by Chuck Craven WB9PUB Join us for a pre-meeting dinner at Johnny V's Classic Cafe 1650 S 84th St at 5:00pm WARAC 2-meter net Every Wednesday at 8pm MATC repeater 147.045 standard offset 127.3 Hz CTCSS Club Happenings Reserve November 11, 2012 Annual Awards Dinner See Flyer inside on page 6 Pre-Sale of Donated equipment for Club members See pg 5 Reserve Jan 5, 2013 for our club Swapfest see Phil W9NAW for advance tickets and Posters NEW club jackets and hats! Go to club Web site and click on The GOLD MEDAL IDEAS block For more info 1
The President's Shack November 2012 Our club s Annual Awards Dinner is just a few days away! Eyeball QSO time gets under way at around 5:00pm with dinner scheduled for about 6:00. Entertainment is The Cream City Crooners, a barbershop quartet. If you need directions to the Machine Shed or other details, see the dinner flyer at http://www.warac.org/dinnerflyer.pdf Our annual election of officers went smoothly at last month s meeting except for one issue we don t have a Vice President because no one will accept a nomination. Déjà vu? Yes, we went through this last year. After a few months, Jim Wilkins, KC9KEQ, accepted the job and served out the 2012 term, but he is not able to continue. The bottom line is that we need someone to step up to take this important job. The duties are not demanding attend Board meetings on the fourth Tuesday, and fill in for the President in the event I m unable to do it. Please, someone, step up and take this job. The program for the November meeting will be Chuck Craven, WB9PUB, talking about this year s 10-Meter contest, which is coming up December 8-9. With improving sunspot conditions, it should be a fun contest this year. Chuck will also talk about our piggyback contest for WARAC members only. Our Midwinter Swapfest is Saturday, January 5, 2013. It ll be here before you know it! This is a big undertaking and we will need all the help we can get on that day. You can also help selling advance admission tickets. At $4.00, purchasing a ticket in advance saves a buck over the admission price on the day of the fest. See Phil, W9NAW, for advance tickets to sell. A bit farther in the future is our Wisconsin QSO Party on Sunday, March 10, 2013. It s not too early to start making your plans! 2 We have two new Generals in our midst Bill Spellman, KC9WQO, and Paul Hass, KC9JET have recently upgraded. Congratulations, gentlemen! Please give Bill and Paul a salute the next time you see them. WARAC promotional window stickers will be available at the upcoming meeting, thanks to Paul, KC9JET. They are roughly 8in. by 5in. with white lettering on a transparent background and they attach by static cling, so there is no adhesive involved. This should be a great way to advertise our club. Dues are due! Yes, it s that time of year again. If you haven t paid yet, see Howard, WA9AXQ he ll be glad to take your money (and sign you up for another year). By the way, we have a bonus this year a Renewal of Membership form that will help us keep our membership records up to date. These forms will be given out to members at the November meeting. Please fill it out and return it to Howard WA9AXQ with your dues. Howard will forward the forms to our Secretary Chuck Dellis. And don t forget our before-meeting dinner at Johnny V s Classic Café, 1650 S. 84th St. at 5:00PM. Everybody s welcome! See you at the Tom, K9BTQ meeting! Bring a friend! From the Editor Another month has gone by and the weather is beginning to look like we may have a winter this year. Of course it may be that it is just trying to fool those of us who like to play in the snow. Don't forget to check your antennas while the weather isn't too bad. It always seems that we must do antenna work when the weather is at its worst. Maybe that is when you remember doing it. One trick we tried to do on our VHF and UHF antennas was to have a couple spare ones on the towers. It was always much nicer to change antennas in a building than have to climb a tower in the middle of the night. However it is hard to have spare antennas for a home station. Some dipoles can be matched for multiple frequencies with a tuner. Think about this alternate to going out in bad weather! Bad weather work does give you some good stories to tell, if you're... lucky. Frank KA9FZR
WARAC General Meeting Minutes October 9, 2012 Introduction The meeting was called to order at 7:02 pm by President, Tom Macon, K9BTQ. Overall meeting attendance was 24 with one visitor. Elections The club elections results are: Tom Macon, K9BTQ, nominated and re-elected to office of president. No nominations for Vice President. Office to be elected at next meeting. Howard Smith, WA9AXQ, nominated and re-elected to office of treasurer. Chuck Dellis, W9WLX, nominated and re-elected to office of secretary. Frank Humpal, WA9FZR, nominated and re-elected as board member. Dave Schank, KA9WXN, nominated and re-elected as past president. Program The evening s program, ARRL Current Events in Ham Radio and Spectrum Defense by Kermit Carlson, W9XA, Vice Director, ARRL Central Division. Business Motion was made and accepted to approve the September meetings minutes as published in Hamtrix. WARAC dues are due. Please see Howard Smith. This year s awards dinner will be Sunday, November 11. The form is available in Hamtrix and Howard Smith, WA9AXQ, is accepting the form and funds. Next month s meeting will be presented by Chuck Craven, WB9PUB, 10 meter contest. Paul Haas, KC9JET, introduced newly printed postcards designed to promote the club. Please pick some up and use them as leave behinds at information centers/bulletin boards. A sample of a static poster for a vehicle back window was also evaluated. Fox Cities ARC will be holding their swapfest on November 4. WARAC Swapfest tickets and flyers are now available, see Phil Gural, W9NAW. Advanced ticket sales are critical to the swapfest s success. Announcements Johnny V s is the place for the WARAC pre-meeting dinner. The dinner starts at 5:00 and everyone is encouraged to participate. Reminder the Nut Net breakfast takes place on the 4th Tuesday of the month at Genesis restaurant, Highway 100 and Beloit Rd, 8:30 am. 3
Reminder the Wednesday night 2 meter net is at 8:00 pm on 147.045, + offset, PL 127.3. Join in! Meeting was adjourned at 8:56 pm. Respectfully submitted, Chuck Dellis, W9WLX Secretary WARAC WARAC Board Meeting October 23, 2012 Howard Smith called the meeting to order at 7:15 pm. Present: Tom Macon, K9BTQ, Howard Smith, WA9AXQ, Chuck Dellis, W9WLX, Leroy Haas, KC9NST. Vice President The office of vice president needs to be filled. Board members will reach out to potential candidates and solicit nomination. Wisconsin QSO Party The board reviewed its motion from the September 25, 2012, meeting regarding the WIQP. While the board has a strong opinion that there is an advantage to award a plaque for SOM and SOF high score, the final decision in this matter rests with the Wisconsin QSO party committee. It is the committee s choice on how to proceed. Club Operations Manual No significant updates to the club operation manual. The work continues. Audits Petty cash fund needs reconciliation. Tom and Howard to schedule time to close the action. Programs November: 10 meter contest/10 meter propagation. December: CW Mobile HF operation. January: N1MM logging. February: Digital modes demo. Miscellaneous Please continue to promote the 2 meter net on Wednesdays at 8:00 pm, 147.045, PL127.3 The meeting was adjourned at 8:36 pm. Respectfully submitted, Chuck Dellis, W9WLX Secretary WARAC 4
EQUIPMENT FOR SALE The following items have recently been donated to WARAC. All have manuals unless otherwise noted. All equipment is in excellent condition. Asking prices are included with each item. --Ameritron model AL-811 HF Linear amplifier with Ameritron ARB-704 Interface Buffer. Asking price is $600. --MFJ 962D rolling inductor Tuner. Asking price is $175. --MFJ 264 Dummy Load, 1.5 kw capacity. Asking price is $50. --MFJ 4245MV 30 Amp. switching Power Supply. Asking price is $100. --Hitachi Oscilloscope V650F, 60 MHz. No manual. Asking price is $150. --Heathkit SB401 transmitter with D104 mike. Asking price is $150. --Heathkit SB303 receiver. Asking price is $200. --Eldico SSB-1000F HF linear amplifier. No manual. Asking price is $500. All WARAC members are given first chance for these items. Please contact John, K9IAC, for additional information, except for the Eldico, please call Phil, W9NAW. Proceeds go to the WARAC Scholarship Fund. 5
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Puns I did a theatrical performance about puns. It was a play on words. They told me I had type-a blood, but it was a Type-O. PMS jokes aren't funny; period. Why were the Indians here first? They had reservations. We re going on a class trip to the Coca-Cola factory. I hope there's no pop quiz. I didn't like my beard at first. Then it grew on me. Did you hear about the cross-eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn't control her pupils? When you get a bladder infection urine trouble. FOR SALE WARAC has been donated a crank up pole tower, estimated to be 40 feet extended. The whole tower is rotated by a CDE HamM rotator mounted at the base. A winch system allows the tower to tilt also. Antennas mounted on this tower are a 430 MHz. ringo ranger, 9 element rotatible horizontal/vertical 2M beam and a 2M horizontal square-lo. Tower is in good condition and could be used for a digital TV antenna system up North, beam antennas or a trailer mounted emergency communications antenna system. Please contact Phil, W9NAW, for additional information and availability. Viewing pictures will be available at the next club meeting. Sale proceeds go the WARAC Scholarship Fund. Officers and Board President Tom Macon, K9BTQ Vice President Secretary Chuck Dellis, W9WLX Treasurer Howard Smith WA9AXO Directors Frank Humpal, KA9FZR Dave Schank, KA9WXN Leroy Haas KC9NST Newsletter Editor Frank Humpal, KA9FZR fhump@milwpc.com Webmaster Tom Macon, K9BTQ 7