The Indianapolis Radio Club Newsletter Founded 1914 “The oldest continuously operating Amateur Radio Club in the United States” February 2009 Newsletter Upcoming Meetings: March 20, 2009: Direction Finding (Fox hunting) April 10, 2009: Antennas Highlights from the February Meeting: Club President Ron Cooper, WB9DKL, started the meeting out with self introductions. There were 55 present at the meeting. Ron announced that tickets for the bus trip to Dayton were on sale now. The date of the trip is Saturday, May 16. Tickets are $30 each, and there are only 44 seats available on the bus. Ron made mention of the program the ARRL is offering of rebates to local clubs when a member renews with or joins the ARRL through the club. The club gets $2 for every renewal, and $15 for every new member! See more information later in the newsletter regarding this. Chuck Crist, W9IH, introduced Andrew Rodgers, KC9HSW, to the group. Andrew got his license through one of the club’s classes several years ago. Since that time, Andrew has upgraded to Amateur Extra class. Chuck announced that Andrew has been accepted to one of the military academies, possibly Westpoint or the Air Force Academy. Chuck also spoke about the work being done on the radio museum room at the World War memorial. He is accepting donations of vintage radio gear for the room. Chuck stated that the War Memorial has made arrangements for cash donations to be ear-marked to go to the radio room. Bob Blake, N9FIM, announced that on Saturday, March 14, there will be a severe weather spotters training session held at the Indianapolis Training Center at 9:00 am. Dave Tuchek of the National Weather Service will present the program. Mike Sercer, WA9FDO, said that the 146.76 repeater had been getting progressively worse. There was a problem with the antenna. He announced that the antenna was replaced today. It is a 4 bay dipole antenna. He is encouraging those that want to make donations to do so by sending a check made out to CIRA (Central Indiana Repeater Association) to the Association’s treasurer, Dorthy Patton, KA9GNK, 8802 Frontenac Rd., Indianapolis, IN., 46226. Those sending in donations are asked to include your name, callsign, mailing address and e-mail address. (See more on the CIRA later in this newsletter). It was announced that the DXpedition to Desecheo, K5D, was QRV starting today. Greenfield’s own Dr. Gary Stouder, K9SG, is a part of that DXpedition. Dave Miller, K9RTT, announced that March’s meeting program would be on direction finding and fox hunting. Dave then gave an introduction to this evening’s program and also played a video from WFYI’s program “Across Indiana” that featured a section on the IRC’s hilltop event. Chuck took that opportunity to promote the next hilltop event, which will be coming up on September 19. “Legacy Night” was the program for the evening. Dave told of “hot testing” a pair of headphones. Talked about the testing procedures from days past, how a novice test was given by a General class license holder, also how the General class required passing a 13 WPM code test only given at certain times and in certain places, such as the Post Office in Indianapolis or in Chicago. Next, Jim, K9RU, gave a talk on things to look for and hints in restoring vintage radios. One the most important things he mentioned was to bring AC power up slowly, using a variac to show possible problems up early and to slowly charge capacitors. Next, Steve, N9OT, gave a demonstration of how to load a transmitter using a light bulb as a dummy load. Dave, K9RTT, demonstrated all of the separate components necessary to put together a novice station. Then finally, Bob Begeman, W9KVK, told of how he got on the air in 1950 with a class C license, then upgraded to technician. At that point, technician was basically only allowed to operate on 6 meters. He displayed his old 6 meter transmitter, a modified Motorola transmitter that originally was designed to operate in the public safety low band range. He also showed an old Regency 6 meter FM rig. Ham Radio News: HELP THE IRC WHEN YOU RENEW YOUR ARRL MEMBERSHIP The ARRL has a program where ARRL Affiliated Clubs (such as the Indianapolis Radio Club) receive a commission for every new ARRL membership and renewal they submit to ARRL Headquarters. To take advantage of this program, download and print the form available at http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/club/forms/clubapp.pdf (or print the last page of this newsletter) and bring it along with your cash or check (made out to the Indianapolis Radio Club) for payment. Then, the club will forward the application, along with a check for your dues less the club’s commission to the ARRL. This doesn’t cost you, the member, anything, but the club can make $2 per renewing member or $15 per new member by way of this program! For complete details, point your browser to http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/club/forms/club-commission-program.html. INDIANA QSO PARTY COMING UP IN MAY Received from INQP mobile/portable coordinator, Mel Chrichton, KJ9C: Every May, hams in Indiana are the target of contesters, county hunters, and other hams who just want to have fun....The Indiana QSO Party is a 12 hour event in which hams all over the world try to work as many Indiana hams in as many Indiana counties as possible... it's the Indiana QSO Party, to be held May 2 2009. INQP is sponsored by the Hoosier DX & Contest Club, and rules, scores, and activity information are posted at http://www.hdxcc.org/inqp. Take a look at the web pages, and plan to be on the air May 2 from your county. If you don't have an HF station, now's the time to line up a "guest op" position, upgrade your station or license, set up a mobile rig, or energize your club to put together a multi-op effort. Hope to hear a LOT of Indiana signals on May 2. INDIANAPOLIS VE Testing Schedule for First half of 2009 March 7, 2008 April 4, 2008 June 6, 2008 Calling in advance to ensure testing availability is suggested but not mandatory. SPONSOR: Indianapolis Radio Club (W9JP) LOCATION: Indianapolis Training Center 2820 N. Meridian Street. CONTACTS: Gale Wuollet, AA9WU (h) 317-849-8449, or Dr. Jay Wright, KK9L 317-203-3335. All testing at the Indianapolis Training Center starts at 9:00 am and the last test will be administered no later than 11:00 a.m. HENDRICKS COUNTY CLASSES PROGRESSING Classes started on Wednesday, January 28 in Hendricks County for new Techs as well as upgrades. Class meet from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Senior Services Building just north of Hendricks Regional Health in Danville. Classes will meet for 8 consecutive Wednesdays, with testing on the Saturday following the last class. Contact Dr. Jay Wright, KK9L, with any questions. CIRA REPLACES ANTENNA ON 146.76 MACHINE Mike Sercer, WA9FDO, reported at the February Indianapolis Radio Club Meeting that the antenna on the 146.76 repeater had been replaced, after the old antenna causing coverage of the repeater to get progressively worse and worse. This repeater is the repeater used for Marion County Skywarn nets, so it’s assured operation is very important. Following is some information about the Central Indiana Repeater Association (CIRA): The Central Indiana Repeater Association (CIRA) was founded in 1968 and sponsors the 146.76 repeater as well as the 443.75 repeater as a memorial to the late Paul Bohrer, W9DUU, who was one of the founding members of the CIRA. We hold one meeting each year, the 3rd Sunday in January. We offer 2 levels of support; an associate membership for $6 per year, and a full / family membership, which grants voting rights at the annual meeting, for $12 per year. If you would like to contribute to the support of the systems, please mail a check made out to CIRA to our treasurer: Dorothy Patton, KA9GNK, 8802 Frontenac Rd., Indianapolis, IN., 46226. Please include your name, call, mailing address and e-mail address. Thank you for your support of Indy’s oldest repeater system. POSTAL RATES GOING UP New US Postal rates will go into effect on May 11, 2009. Here is the link to the announcement http://www.usps.com/prices/pricechanges.htm Some of the changes that will affect the QSLing Ham community are as follows: First Class postage goes up to 44 cents; Postcards go up to 28 cents; US to Canada goes up to 75 cents; US to Mexico goes up to 79 cents; US to other International destination goes up to 98 cents; International Reply Coupons (IRC) will go up to $2.10 each NCVEC REVIEWING TECHNICIAN CLASS QUESTION POOL The National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators' (NCVEC) http://www.ncvec.org Question Pool Committee (QPC) is currently reviewing the Technician class (Element 2) question pool. According to QPC Chairman Rol Anders, K3RA, the review is part of a regular process: "Each question pool is reviewed on a four year rotation. The next Technician class pool will become effective on July 1, 2010." The current Technician question pool http://www.ncvec.org/page.php?id=349, effective July 1, 2006, will expire on June 30, 2010. The General class question pool http://www.ncvec.org/page.php?id=350 is effective July 1, 2007 and is valid through June 30, 2011. The Amateur Extra class pool http://www.ncvec.org/page.php?id=351 became effective July 1, 2008 and is valid until June 30, 2012. If you have any comments or suggestions on the current Element 2 question pool, please contact Anders via e-mail qpcinput@ncvec.org. W1AW CHANGING 160 METER FREQUENCY W1AW to QSY on 160 Meters: Starting Monday, March 9, the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station, W1AW, will begin using a new 160 meter frequency for its CW transmissions. According to W1AW Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q, there has been what he called "increasing activity" near the current bulletin frequency of 1817.5 kHz. "In order to reduce the possibility of interference, W1AW will move to 1802.5 kHz," Carcia said. K5D IS ON THE AIR! Due to some heavy winds that delayed helicopter relays onto Desecheo Island, the K5D DXpedition http://www.k5d.us got off to a late start. But according to reports received by the ARRL, as of around 12 noon (EST) on February 13, operators on the island are QRV on 17 and 20 meters; the team will be running CW, SSB and RTTY on 160-6 meters. The DXpedition, headed by Bob Allphin, K4UEE, and Glenn Johnson, W0GJ, is expected to be on Desecheo until February 26. Desecheo Island currently sits at #7 on DX Magazine's Most Wanted list; the island is the second most-wanted DXCC entity in Asia and third most-wanted in Europe. Desecheo is a small uninhabited island in the Mona Passage, 14 miles off the west coast of Puerto Rico. It is part of the US Fish and Wildlife Service's national wildlife refuge system administered by the Caribbean National Wildlife Refuge Complex (CNWR). Also don't forget that Greenfield's own Gary Stouder, K9SG, is one of the participants in this DXpedition! ANNOUNCING A NEW 2M SSB NET On Thursdays, at 7:00 PM ET (00:00z) is the 2 METER SSB NET. This net meets on the Freq. of 144.250 USB Net Control is Dan K9ZF. The purposes for the net are: 1. Increase 2 meter SSB activity in the Southern Indiana / Northern Kentucky Area, and Beyond. 2. To give area operators a chance to test their stations and their capabilities. 3. To give area SSB operators a chance to meet other active stations in the area. 4. Last, but not least, TO HAVE FUN:-) [Even though this net is based down in the Louisville area, I have seen some reports of operators in northern Indiana checking in. Editor] WELCOME NEW MEMBERS New members at the February meeting were: Bob Burns, W9RXR Pat Daily, N2DKB Dick Fisher, WB9TSV John McGinnis, KC9BRO IN SEARCH OF…. Dick, WB9LPU, is trying to get in touch with Stan Hails, W9WBL. If anyone has contact info for Stan, please get it to Dick. FEEL FREE TO SHARE OUR NEWSLETTER If you belong to any other radio groups, please feel free to share our newsletter with them. They can also sign up to be on our mailing list by filling out the form available at http://www.indyradioclub.org/rqstnewsletter.htm. SEND ME YOUR HAM RADIO NEWS If anyone has any items for the newsletter, please send them to Ken Bandy at kj9b@arrl.net Signals from the Past: >From the January - February, 1952 Amachewer: Last issue we stated that the actual date of the start of the Indianapolis Radio Club would appear in this issue. At the time of the last printing ye ed did not have the exact date, but contacting D. J. Angus, W9CYQ, he was supplied with the date. It follows. August 28, 1914. Yes, that is the date and we make the claim that we are the oldest radio club composed of amateurs to hold continuous meetings. We state this as being the oldest in the US, but maybe it could as well be the world! Upcoming Area Radio Events: * Running through March 18: Hendricks County classes. Classes available for all license classes. Class runs from 7:00 pm until 9:00 pm. Contact Dr. Jay Wright, KK9L, for more information. * March 14 at 9:00 am: Marion County Severe Weather Spotter Training Session at the Indianapolis Training Center. * March 14: Wabash Valley Amateur Radio Assn. Hamfest. Point your browser to http://www.w9uuu.org for more info. * May 2: Indiana QSO Party. Point your browser to http://www.hdxcc.org/inqp for more details. * May 15 – 17: Dayton Hamvention. Get your ticket for the IRC’s bus trip going over on Saturday, May 16. Only 44 tickets are available at $30 per person. 2009 IRC Officers: · President: Ron Cooper, WB9DKL - ..EMAIL wb9dkl@sbcglobal.net · Vice Pres.: Dave Miller, K9RTT - ..EMAIL dmiller@ivytech.edu · Secretary: Ken Bandy, KJ9B - ..EMAIL kj9b@arrl.net · Treasurer: Jay Willever, K9LJW - ..EMAIL k9ljw@arrl.net · Chief Operator: Steve Wendt, KB9RDS - ..EMAIL kb9rds@arrl.net · Dir. at large: Tom Chance, K9XV - ..EMAIL k9xv@arrl.net · Dir. at large: Bob Osterhous, W9PSE - ..EMAIL rosterhous@iquest.net · Dir. at large: Bob Begeman, W9KVK - ..EMAIL w9kvk@juno.com · W9JP Trustee: Don Hemenover, N9DOO – EMAIL don9doo@lightbound.com