December
2002 Newsletter
Congratulations
to Andrew, KG4OTL, who has received an ARRL Field Organization appointment
as the Net Manager for the Virginia Slow Net, a slow-speed CW, section-level
National Traffic System (NTS) net.
I’m
looking forward to the cold clear nights of winter for good conditions
on 80 meters.I’ve never worked DX
on 80 and that is my goal this winter.Andrew
and I may also investigate some sort of antenna for 160 meters.In
27 years of hamming, I’ve only made one 160 meter QSO.
I’ve
not heard much on 6 meters this fall, but I’ve made a number of 10 meter
FM QSO’s.I worked a station in California
through a 10 meter FM repeater in Texas.The
interesting thing about this QSO was that I could hear him through the
repeater and also direct on the repeater input frequency!I
also worked Dempsey, KB4MCP, on 10 FM simplex and he had a nice sounding
signal from Onancock.
FM
is permitted on 10 meters from 29.0 - 29.7 MHz.The
calling frequency is 29.6 MHz.Repeaters
are on 29.62, 29.64, 29.66, and 29.68 MHz.The
repeater shift is -100 KHz.Some
repeaters use a “PL” tone, but most do not (see the ARRL Repeater Directory).I
use an A99 CB vertical for 10 FM (it also loads and works well on 17 -
10 meters).
I
usually scan 10 FM during the day and 6 FM in the evening.
It
is my sincere hope and prayer that each of you have a Merry Christmas and
a healthy and prosperous New Year.Remember
that wise men still seek Him.
Hope
to hear you on-the-air!
73,
Steve, KV4AN
Technical
Article
Maryland
Slow CW Traffic and Training Net
By
Andrew, KG4OTL
For
anyone that has passed the code exam but is frustrated because they just
can’t improve their code speed, that knows the code and just hasn’t been
on the air in a while, or just wants to participate in a CW net, the Maryland
Slow Net is the net for you!
The
Maryland Slow Net meets daily on 3717 KHz at 7:30 PM local time 365 days
a year. This net not only offers the fun and excitement of checking into
a CW net, but it will also train you to handle ARRL formatted radiograms,
teach you how to properly check into a net, train you how to give instruction
to otherhams, train you how to be
a liaison, become a net control station, and much more.
They
do this by sending you off frequency with a personal instructor who will
send you ARRL formatted messages each with a training message from the
course.A typical message looks
like this:
NR
6 R KG4OTL 24 ACCOMAC VA OCT 28
JOHN
DOE AA
234
WOODLAWN DR AA
WINCHESTER
VA 23590 AA
540
567 2345
BT
WHEN
NCS SENDS QNI HE
IS
INVITING STATIONS TO CHECK
IN
X YOU MAY CHECK
IN
BY SENDING ANY SINGLE
LETTER
OF THE ALPHABET
BT
ANDREW AR N
This
message and the other 187 messages that MSN has to offer will not only
give you the experience, but will improve your code speed.
On
average the course takes about three months and is organized into five
groups.The Basic Coursediscusses
basic net procedures.The Advanced
Course is essentially Part II of the Basic Course, but gets a little more
in-depth. TheLiaison
Course teaches you all you need to know on how to be liaison between nets.Next,
the Instructor Course teaches you how to conduct student training. This
course is important because all MSN trainees become instructors after they
graduate and will one day train other operators just as your instructors
trained you.The last course MSN
offers is the NCS course. This course will train you to become a Net Control
Station.
I
hope to hear you on-the-air sometime and who knows, when you check in (QNI)
and the NCS asks you if you want training, I may get the pleasure of being
your Instructor.
Don’t forget my net, the Virginia Slow Net (VSN), where you can practice everything that you learned on MSN!SEE U ON MSN ES VSN 73 SK
Accomac
and Eastville Repeaters
Use
the club repeaters often!Make it
a habit to take your handi-talkie with you, turn your mobile rig on when
you’re driving and monitor at home.Since
9/11, I don’t go out the door without my handi-talkie.
Accomac
Repeater:
147.255 MHz, TX Offset +600 KHz, CTCSS “PL” Tone 156.7 Hz
Mappsville
Remote Receiver:
PL 162.2 Hz
Cradockville
Remote Receiver:
PL 151.4 Hz
Eastville
Repeater:
147.345 MHz, TX Offset +600 KHz, PL 156.7 Hz
Accomac
440 Repeater:
444.3 MHz, TX Offset +5.0 MHz, PL 156.7 Hz
XYL’s
Recipe of the Month
Apricot-Cheese
Turnovers
12
oz. Cream cheese, softened
1/2
cup chopped dried cherries
3
Tbs. sour cream
2
Tbs. sugar, divided
1
pkg. (17.3 oz.) puff pastry sheets, thawed
3/4
cup apricot preserves
1
egg, beaten
Heat
over to 400º F.In mixer, beat
first cream cheese, chopped dried cherries, and sour cream and 1 Tbs. plus
2 tsp. sugar until smooth.On well-floured
work surface, roll puff pastry into a 12-inch square.Cut
dough into 16 3-inch squares.Spread
2 tsp. cream cheese mixture diagonally down the center of each pastry square
(from top left corner to bottom right corner).Top
with 1 tsp. preserves.Brush top
right and bottom left corners of pastry squares with beaten egg.Pull
egg-coated corners over filling.Press
to seal.Brush each turnover with
beaten egg and sprinkle with remaining sugar.Bake
10 to 12 min. or until golden brown.Serve
with coffee to traffic handlers after they are QNX from net.
Virginia
National Traffic System Nets
The
Virginia National Traffic System (NTS) Nets are a great way to get training
and experience in net operation, traffic handling, and making on-the-air
friends.Hope to hear you check-in
or “QNI”.
Eastern
Shore Emergency Services Net
Monday
2030 EST 147.255 MHz FM Repeater
Virginia
Traffic Net (VTN)
Daily
1300 EST 7262 KHz LSB
Virginia
Side Band Net (VSBN)
Daily
1800 EST 3947 KHz LSB
Virginia
Net Early (VNE)
Daily
1900 EST 3680 KHz CW
Virginia
Slow Net (VSN)
Tuesday
1900 EST 3680 KHz CW
Virginia
Net Late (VNL)
Daily
2200 EST 3680 KHz CW
Virginia
Late Net (VLN)
Daily
2215 EST 3947 KHz LSB
Maryland
Slow Net (MSN) – On-Air Traffic Handling Training Course (contact Andrew,
KG4OTL, for more information)
Daily
1930 EST 3717 KHz CW
Club
Calendar
15Club
Breakfast (0800, Cove Restaurant, Melfa)
25Christmas
January
1
New Years
11
Club Meeting (1400, Moose Lodge, Nelsonia)
Presentation:
19
Club Breakfast (0800, Cove Restaurant, Melfa)
February
15
Club Breakfast (0800, Cove Restaurant, Melfa)
Humor
[sic]
A
language instructor was explaining to her class that French nouns, unlike
their English counterparts, are masculine or feminine.Things
like “chalk” or “pencil”, she said, would have a gender association in
French, although they are neutral in English.
Puzzled,
one student raised his hand and asked, “What gender is a computer?”
The
teach wasn’t certain, so she divided the class into two groups by gender
and asked them to decide if a computer should be masculine or feminine.Each
group was told to come up with four reasons for their recommendation.
The
young women concluded that computers should be referred to in the masculine
gender because:
1.
To get their attention, you have to turn them on.
2.
They have a lot of data, but are still clueless.
3.
They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they are
the problem.
4.
As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you waited a little longer,
you could have had a better model.
The
young men decided computers should take the feminine gender because:
1.
No one but their creator understands their internal logic.
2.
The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible
to everyone else.
3.
Even your smallest mistakes are stored in their long-term memory for later
retrieval.
4.
As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half
your paycheck on accessories for it.
Club
Public Service Attire
Reasonably
priced public service attire, in yellow with the ESHARC club logo, are
now available from R.A.G.S, here are the prices:
Hats$3.75
(one
size fits all)
T-Shirts$5.00
(specify
size--they run small and will shrink)
Polo
Shirts$15.00
(specify
size)
Jackets
(unlined)$23.50
(lined)$25.50
(specify
size, callsign, and name or “handle”)
Order
from:
R.A.G.S.
Lois
Hawk
PO
Box 543
Onley
VA 23418
(757)
787-2216
Monthly
Club Newsletter Submissions:
Members
wishing to submit articles, calendar events and information of interest
to other club members for the monthly club newsletter.Send
your submissions (MS Works or text format) to Steve, KV4AN, at kv4an@arrl.net
or call me on the repeater.Deadline
is the Club Breakfast.
Many thanks to Ben, KD4NVK, for printing the newsletter each month.Eastern Shore Printers in Onancock can print 250 quality QSL cards for your station for $40.Contact Donna at 787-4646, ask for the “Standard QSL” and give her your callsign, name, address and choice of cardstock color.