The Indianapolis Radio Club Newsletter Founded 1914 “The oldest continuously operating Amateur Radio Club in the United States” November 2009 Newsletter Upcoming Meetings: Saturday, December 12: Annual Holiday dinner/meeting at West 86th street MCL. January 8, 2010: Signal Propagation talk, plus annual chili cook-off. February: TBA March 12: Software Defined Radio developments. April 9: Homebrew night, with kit building. Highlights from the November Meeting: The meeting was called to order at 7:30 by club president Ron Cooper, WB9DKL. There were 52 present at the meeting. Tom Chance, K9XV talked about field day. The club’s W9JP station ranked 35th in the nation, and won the state. Nominating Committee report was presented by Don Hemenover, N9DOO. The slate of proposed officers was as follows: Pres: Ron Cooper, WB9DKL VP: Dave Miller, K9RTT Treas: Jay Willever, K9LJW Sec: Ken Bandy, KJ9B Chief Op: Tom Chance, K9XV Directors: Bob Osterhous, W9PSE, Bob Begeman, W9KVK, Jim Rinehart, K9RU. The annual Christmas dinner meeting was discussed. Members need to be paid up on dues to be eligible for the $10 meal ticket. The dinner will be held on Saturday, December 12, starting at 6:00 pm, at west 86th street MCL. Need special reminder Jay Wright, KK9L, announced that the annual Hendricks County Awards Ceremony was going to be December 9, at 7:00 pm at the Hendricks County Government Center. The American Legion will be doing a Silent Key recognition. There will be a special flag presentation for JR Osborne, KB9HSE. Ron requested an Elmer for a young man in the McCordsville area. Hank has already talked with him. Ron next recognized the veterans. Club vice president Dave Miller, K9RTT, talked about upcoming meetings: January Chili Cook off, with program on signal propagation March on SDR radio April will be Homebrew night, with kit building. May will be on antennas June will be the annual auction. Next, Dick Chance was introduced to talk about calibration. Dick has been in the calibration business since 1954. Dick operates Indiana Standards laboratory, and calibrates just about every type of instrument available. Dick explained that the definition of a second is based on the year 1900, due to the earth slowing down. He explained basic units and tolerances of calibration standards. There were very detailed explanations given of how various items are calibrated. Mark Cook, of Indiana Standards, explained some of the calibration gear that was on display. Door prizes were distributed following Dick’s presentation. The meeting was adjourned at 8:47. Ham Radio News: USS INDIANAPOLIS RADIO ROOM EXHIBIT UP AND GOING! After countless hours of painstaking work by numerous area ham radio volunteers, the USS Indianapolis Radio Room exhibit is operational. It was officially dedicated with an open house on November 7. It’s first event was a Veterans’ Day weekend special event, where 14 area hams operated for 30 hours on November 11th through 15th. There were approximately 290 visitors that came through the exhibit during this time period, including 140 veterans. The station will be on the air again Monday, December 7 from approximately 3:00 pm to 9:00 pm local time to mark Pearl Harbor Day. Point your browser to http://www.ussindyradio.org/ for more information. WELCOME NEW MEMBERS Rhonda Curtis, WS9H Jeff Skinner, NN7C David Williams, N9GZK Sherri Williams, WW5T NEW TECHNICIAN QUESTION POOL IN JANUARY 2010 The Question Pool Committee (QPC) of the National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (NCVEC) was scheduled to release the new Technician class (Element 2) question pool to the 14 VECs on December 1, 2009; it will be released to the public in January 2010. This new Technician class pool will become effective on July 1, 2010. According to ARRL Assistant VEC Manager Perry Green, WY1O, the QPC reviews the three question pools every four years to ensure that the questions are kept current with the latest amateur practice and technology, as well as addresses information relevant to that particular license class. "In the case of the Technician pool, the question set should provide for the new Technician licensee to be able to establish his station and operate it legally, courteously and safely. The Technician question pool and exam are intended to be the beginning of the journey into the Amateur Radio Service. It prepares the person for the enjoyment of operating, and that of preparing to learn electronics, the cornerstone of the education needed to obtain the further enjoyment that can come with the higher license classes." The new question pool will become effective for all examinations administered on or after July 1, 2010, and it will remain valid until June 30, 2014. The current Technician question pool that became effective July 1, 2006 will expire June 30, 2010. The new Technician pool contains approximately 400 questions, from which 35 are selected for an Element 2 examination. This question pool will contain graphics and diagrams, something new for this element. The current General class question pool was effective July 1, 2007 and is valid through June 30, 2011. The current Amateur Extra class pool was effective July 1, 2008 and is valid until June 30, 2012. FCC LOOKS TO REVISE, CLARIFY VANITY CALL SIGN RULES On Wednesday, November 25, the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) -- WT Docket No. 09-209 -- seeking to amend the Commission's Amateur Radio Service rules to clarify certain rules and codify existing procedures governing the vanity call sign system, as well as revise certain rules applicable to club stations. According to the FCC, almost 80,000 licensees have replaced their sequentially issued Amateur Radio call signs with a vanity call sign since the program began in 1996. When the program began, the Commission established what they called "the broad outlines" of the vanity call sign system, concluding that call signs generally should not be available for reassignment for two years following the death of a licensee, or expiration or termination of the license for that call sign. In doing so, the Commission made exceptions for former holders of the call sign, close relatives of a deceased former holder and club stations of which a deceased former holder was a member. The Commission did not, however, specify all of the procedures governing the vanity call sign system, but indicated that the procedures "would be set out in the Public Notices announcing 'starting gates' for the groups receiving initial priority and that the procedures would be adjusted from gate to gate as experience dictated." The procedures announced in the Public Notices announcing the gates are still in effect, but they are not set forth in the Commission's Rules. The NPRM states that the FCC "now believe[s] that certain provisions should be codified in our rules, and others added, so that the vanity call sign system will be fair, equitable and transparent to all amateur service licensees. The Commission also decided in the Vanity Report and Order [issued in 1996] to resume issuing new club station licenses. We believe that certain rule changes to the club station licensing rules may be appropriate." More information can be found at http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/11/25/11220/?nc=1 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 Upcoming Area Radio Events: * December 7, 3:00 to 9:00 Pearl Harbor Day Special Event Station at USS Indianapolis Exhibit. Go to http://www.ussindyradio.org/ for more information. 2009 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 2010 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: Tom Chance, K9XV - ..EMAIL k9xv@arrl.net · Dir. at large: Jim Rinehart, K9RU - · 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 ?? ?? ?? ??