|
Enterprise Amateur Radio Society
December 2002 Newsletter |
||||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||
| Happy Holidays! | ||||||||
|
14 Dec - Saturday at 6:30pm: EARS Christmas Dinner at Po Folks in Enterprise
16 Jan - Thursday at 7:00pm: EARS Meeting at Enterprise State Junior
College, Room S-100
25 Jan - Saturday at 8:00am: Troy Amateur Radio Club Hamfest at the Pike
County Fairgrounds on US 231 (see complete info in this month's EARS
newsletter)
07 Feb - Friday thru 09 Feb - Sunday: Orlando Florida Hamfest (see complete
info in next month's EARS newsletter)
20 Feb - Thursday at 7:00pm: EARS Meeting at Enterprise State Junior
College, Room S-100
15 Mar - Saturday at 9:00am: Fort Walton Beach Hamfest
20 Mar - Thursday at 7:00pm: EARS Meeting at Enterprise State Junior
College, Room S-100
Each Wednesday at 11:00am: Lunch at the Deli in Daleville
Each Saturday at 7:00am: Breakfast at the Enterprise Restaurant on North
Main Street
Each Saturday at 8:00am: Breakfast at Ann's just off Hwy 231 in Ozark
Amateur Exams are given after each monthly EARS meeting. Note that you must
contact Tom/WA4YQT at 763-0532 at least 24 hours in advance to schedule an
exam.
|
The Troy Amateur Radio Club and Butler County RACES present the South
Alabama Amateur Radio and Computer Fest Show to be held on Saturday January
25, 2003 at the Pike County Fairgrounds on US 231 just 3 miles south of Troy
(on East side of highway).
|
|||
|
IMPORTANT: There will be no meeting or amateur testing in December! |
||||
|
Please note that the following member's annual dues of $20 ($5 Associate)
are due:
Please add Charles K. Arnold, KG4VBM to your roster. He lives in Ozark and
is a Tech.
Actually, he should have been added back in October, but someone
(no names YQT!) just recently gave me the application and check! Sorry about
that, CK.
Also, please drop KE4AYM and KG4IXC from your roster.
The Boll Weevil Net meets every Tuesday evening at 8:00pm on the 147.24+ repeater frequency. Recent activity has been as follows:
Date Net Control QNI Total
----- ------------ ---------
11/19 W4UZR/Jack 16
11/26 N4RYC/Jerry 7
12/03 KD4IDG/Sonny 11
A few folks have inquired about the desktop publishing software now being
used to create the printed copy of the EARS newsletter.
(An oldie-but-goodie ... just like me!) |
DX'ing on the HF/CW bands has been great the past few weeks! November's CQ WW DX Contest certainly provided some really good catches, but non-contest DX QSO's have been obtained also. A few of my favorites from the past couple of weeks:
9J2BO 15 Meters CW Zambia
9L1AB 20 Meters CW Sierra Leone
3V8BB 10 Meters CW Tunisia
XT2DX 20 Meters CW Burkina Faso
V51AS 10 Meters CW Namibia
C56R 20 Meters CW Gambia
CU/DJ9RR 15 Meters CW Azores
V31JP 40 Meters CW Belize
DL4NAC 40 Meters CW Germany
LX5A 10 Meters CW Luxembourg
RU1A 40 Meters CW Russia
JA1LZR 10 Meters CW Japan
D88S/VP8 10 Meters CW Antarctica
The Alabama Area Navy-Marine Corp MARS needs a few good operators. Navy MARS
is a group of highly trained operators with the primary emphasis on
emergency (HF) communication. It is probably more structured than the NTS as
military operating procedures are followed. This is also a good way for
Technician Licensees to operate HF.
If you want to know more, please contact:
tayer@ala.net
Contributions (articles, stories, equipment ads, tidbits, etc.) to the EARS
newsletter are definitely welcome! Please Email your creative works to:
... or catch Gary/WA9WZV on the Boll Weevil Net. |
| December 2002 Online Bonus |
A Ham's Night Before Christmas
Twas the night before Christmas, He tightened loose fittings,
And all through two-meters, Resoldered connections,
Not a signal was keying up Cranked down modulation,
Any repeaters. Installed lightning protection.
The antennas reached up He neutralized tubes
From the tower, quite high, In my linear amp...
To catch the weak signals (Never worked right before --
That bounced from the sky. Now it works like a champ).
The children, Tech-Pluses, A new, low-pass filter
Took their HT's to bed, Cleaned up the TV,
And dreamed of the day He corrected the settings
They'd be Extras, instead. In my TNC.
Mom put on her headphones, He repaired the computer
I plugged in the key, That would not compute,
And we tuned 40 meters And he backed up the hard drive
For that rare ZK3. And got it to boot.
When the meter was pegged Then, he reached really deep
by a signal with power. In the bag that he brought,
It smoked a small diode, And he pulled out a big box,
and, I swear, shook the tower. "A new rig?" I thought!
Mom yanked off her phones, "A new Kenwood? An Icom?
And with all she could muster A Yaesu, for me?!"
Logged a spot of the signal (If he thought I'd been bad
On the DX PacketCluster, it might be QRP!)
While I ran to the window Yes! The Ultimate Station!
And peered up at the sky, How could I deserve this?
To see what could generate Could it be all those hours
RF that high. that I worked Public Service?
It was way in the distance, He hooked it all up
But the moon made it gleam - And in record time, quickly
A flying sleigh, with an Worked 100 countries,
Eight element beam, All down on 160.
And a little old driver I should have been happy,
who looked slightly mean. It was my call he sent,
So I thought for a moment, But the cards and the postage
That it might be Wayne Green. Will cost two month's rent!
But no, it was Santa He made final adjustments,
The Santa of Hams. And left a card by the key:
On a mission, this Christmas "To Gary, from Santa Claus.
To clean up the bands. Seventy-Three."
He circled the tower, Then he grabbed his HT,
Then stopped in his track, Looked me straight in the eye,
And he slid down the coax Punched a code on the pad,
Right into the shack. And was gone - no good bye.
While Mom and I hid I ran back to the station,
Behind stacks of CQ, And the pile-up was big,
This Santa of hamming But a card from St. Nick
Knew just what to do. Would be worth my new rig.
He cleared off the shack desk Oh, too late, for his final
Of paper and parts, came over the air.
And filled out all my late QSLs It was copied all over.
For a start. It was heard everywhere.
He ran copper braid, The Ham's Santa exclaimed
Took a steel rod and pounded What a ham might expect,
It into the earth, till "Merry Christmas to all,
The station was grounded. And to all, good DX."
1996 Gary Pearce KN4AQ
Permission granted for any print or electronic reproduction.
kn4aq.gary@mms.net
|
