Date: 9-15-04       Newsletter number 1

 

 

Our first fall meeting will be held on Saturday, October 9^th at the Szechuan Restaurant, 11751 Business Blvd, Eagle River.  694-9168.  This is our regular restaurant, and it is located just around the corner from the Eagle Rive r Post Office.  Please come at 11:30 so that you can order and receive your lunch by noon when the first speaker starts. 

Our Speakers will be:

Dale Hershberger – KL7XJ

on

“The Challenger Learning Center of Alaska (CLCA)”

The CLCA is our resident NASA sponsored space education program for Alaska. This will be not only an exciting program for Hams but also for families, including kids grades 7 and up.

and

Frank Hurlbut – KL7FH

on

“Contesting: or are contesters really a different species?”

Frank is one the world’s great contesters (along with XYL AL1G/Corliss that is).  He will share some of the latest developments and some “Hints and Kinks” and the all around weirdness of contesting.

 

 

·        ·         For those of us who still mourn UO-14 we are mindful of how grateful we are to G7GLY/Alex da  Silva Curiel and G7UPN/Chris Jackson and the Brit gang in all that they did in putting “14” up and keeping it up operational for so many years.  What a bird.  Tx guys.

·        ·         Thanks to our April speakers WA6ZAP/Reg Driscoll and KL6M/Mike Melum.  Reg did a great job bringing us back to the fundamentals of grounding.  Tx Reg for coming all the way from S. California to talk to us.  Can anything more be said to exaggerate Mike’s moon bounce antenna?  The stuff of dreams.  And XYL/Lana a saint.  Tx Mike.

·        ·         Thanks for the all-new 147.27/87 machine.  We appreciate all the work, dedication and money spent.  Glad you got off the mountain in time.  Tx guys.

·        ·        Thanks KL7AR/Mike for the great LEO programs during our 2003-04 year.

·        ·        Thanks KL7DR/Dan for keeping us up on the satellite information.

 

http://gahleos.obarr.net/  - Great LEO site with updated LEO orbits and valuable WEB links.

http://issfanclub.com/  -  For ISS Ham communications.

http://www.seti.org/  -  Looking for our relatives way out there.

 

Other space, astronomy, satellite and Ham satellite sites:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/tracking/index.html 

http://www.astrosurf.com/avl/UK_index.html  

http://www.amsat.org.ar/

http://www.ac6v.com/software.html#SAT

http://www.onsat.com/links/

http://www.qsl.net/kd2bd/predict.html

http://vkradio.com/sat.html 

 

http://511.alaska.gov/  -  Important for winter traveling with live cameras on Alaskan highways.

            

MARA.  9-24-04.  KL7AR/Mike.  Antennas.

AARC.  10-1-04.  KL7QZ/John.  Dayton-Hamvention.

 

SATELLITES: KL7DR/Dan at dan@obarr.net, AL7EB/Ed at al7eb@amsat.net and

KL7XJ/Dale at  daleh@alaska.net .

HF ANTENNAS: KL7AR/Mike at xtiger747@ak.net

 

• From our LEO Professor Emeritus AL7KK/VE1-Rob Wilson.  “John and everyone: Thought that I should write and let you know that everything is going well here on our small island in the Atlantic Ocean. Doreen just bought another cook book…the “South Beach” diet.  I have lost ten pounds so far in a little more than a week.  I yearn for a piece of mincemeat pie, or some equally forbidden sweet. Ham radio is also doing okay.  This morning I was able to talk to two old friends from 50 years ago, one in Chicago and another in Denver. I just need a bigger antenna to give me a bit more signal.  Otherwise the DX to Europe is fantastic and I hook new and strange stations all the time (like T99A). Doreen bought another small dog and she is trying to house train it, with little success.  The thing is a shih-tzu.  Real cute and cuddly, but full of poops.  Little Suzy is well trained and acts as our guard dog.  Maybe we need one since a bear has been reported wandering about town. Our best to all. Rob.”  kl1hg@ns.sympatico.ca   (Doreen reports that Rob has his helicopter and is very immersed in it. Ed)
• Dan Simmonds/KK3AN, President of AN Wireless Tower Co. of  Johnstown, PA, a long time friend of KL7AR/Mike and new friend of  KL7QZ/John offered at Dayton this May to deliver an AN tower to anywhere on Alaska “Rail belt” for a substantial discount in shipping cost and purchase price.  He can bring up to 3 towers at maximum of 60’ each (or less).  KL7AR/Mikes 60’ self-standing Ham tower was Dan’s first Ham tower before he went big time.  This is an outstanding yet inexpensive self-standing tower.  Check with Dan at dan@anwireless.com and at website http://www.anwireless.com/.  Also, check with Mike/AR about his tower at xtiger747@ak.net .

 

• Howaboutit--think about sending in a technical article for this newsletter and/or present a paper at one of our LEO get-togethers.  What’s this “presenting a paper”?  Some years ago this editor was at the FDIM or Four Days In May annual QRP meeting adjunct to the Dayton Hamvention and was impressed with the requirement that when you are a speaker, you put your remarks in writing to be sent out ahead of time, and then the speaker can present the paper in a more casual or specific way allowing for attendees to prepare some questions.  This FDIM model is really just an offshoot of how technical and scholarly presentations have been made for the last 100 years.  We do it a bit more casually.  When you come to speak, have prepared a handout of your remarks written formally, or in short outline form or with just data, tables, diagrams and Web citations or all of the above. Ideally a presentation should last no longer than 40 minutes leaving 10 minutes for questions. Our only proviso is that presentations or newsletter articles contain NO political comments whether it be about CW or Ralph Nader. Tx.
• At the last meeting we got stuck with an unpaid lunch bill from someone who forgot to pay.   Please be sure to pay, hopefully, no later than the 1 PM break.  Tx.  Also, this restaurant opens up especially for us on Saturday and they provide a full menu with table service.  Please leave a nice tip.  Tx.
• If you wish to be on our email list please send your address to KL7QZ at jbury@gci.net.

 

 

 

 

AO – 51, up, up and away!

 

73’s and 88’s to all Hams on our planet, in our solar system-galaxy –universe.

 

Keep listening for the “WOW”.