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ELK COUNTY AMATEUR RADIO

ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER NOV.2008

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The Nov. meeting of the Elk County Amateur Radio Association will be held on Sunday, Nov.16th, 2008, at 1:30PM at the Elk County EMA Center, Boot Jack Rd, Ridgway, PA.

The Elk County Amateur Radio Association web page is www.n3nia.com. This page contains club information, email addresses, and the homepage addresses of members. If you would like have your page included, or have suggestions for the web page’s content, please send an email to:

ECARA OFFICERS

NETS OF INTEREST

Sunday Evening Nets

NOTE: The Emporium /Whittimore 147.180 has a PL of 123.0 , Grove Hill PL is 173.8

Eastern Area Net – 7.243 @ 2:30 p.m. – receives and gives traffic to other area nets and brings to and takes from region nets

Third Region Net – 7.243 @ 4:00 p.m. – receives and gives traffic to EAN and brings to and takes from section nets.

Western PA Phone & Traffic Net – 3.983 (7.243, 1.897) @ 6:00 p.m. – receives and gives traffic to 3^RD and brings and takes from local nets

Western PA CW Traffic Net – 3.585 @ 7:00 p.m. – receives traffic from the WPAPTN and passes to local hams for delivery.

Erie Area Mailbag Net – 146.88 @ 8:00 p.m. (M-F) – receives traffic from the WPAPTN and passes to local hams for delivery.

(Mon. – Sat.) – receives traffic from the WPAPTN and passes to local hams for delivery.

PA Traffic Training Net – 3.610 @ 6:30 p.m. – moves traffic while training CW operators in traffic handling.

Net Control for November will be Fred Siggins, KA3UVC; Net Control for December will be Connie Fannin, KB3MGY. If unable to do the net on Sunday, John Frantz, K3TMD, is the backup.

Time to renew your club membership. A renewal application is enclosed with this newsletter.

It’s also time to think about election of officers for 2009. A nominating committee will be selected at the December meeting. If you are interested in holding an office or would like to be part of the nominating committee, speak up at the November meeting. Nominations take place at the January and February meetings. Voting will take place at the February meeting and newly elected officers will take over at the March meeting.

The December meeting will be our annual Christmas party. Plans will be made at the November meeting so please plan on attending and bring some ideas for the party. The party is for members, guests, and family. We always have a good time, so plan on attending.

This month’s featured bio is Joe Lewis, N3UGB. I still need bios from the rest of the club members. Each bio that has been submitted has been very interesting. It doesn’t have to be long, just give us a few reasons why you got into ham radio.

I had not even heard of ham radio until my dad got his license. I then started hanging around him and his new group of friends from the club. Also being a youngster at the time, I bought a crystal radio kit. I assembled it and it did not appear to be functioning for some reason. I asked a friend, Pete Carr, WW3O, why it did not work and this is were the story takes a twist. He made a deal with me that he would tell me the solution to my problem provided that I get a ham ticket. This led to me taking a licensing course, along with my mother, that was sponsored by the club. I passed my Technician license in January of 1995. I can’t remember if I ever got that crystal radio to work, or what I did with it, for that matter.

A few years later, I decided it was time to upgrade my license. Along with several other club members, I took a Morse code class sponsored by Bob Plumskey, W6LAC. It was not too long after that I obtained my Tech Plus ticket. Some place in this mix of events, I got a shortwave receiver kit for Christmas. My dad and I assembled it and it worked beautifully. I still have that rig and it still functions to this day. Next, I decided to go after my General class license. After failing the 13 wpm code test that was a requirement at the time, another dear friend took me under his wing. That friend was the late John Miller, N3NIA, God rest his soul. The two of us practiced high speed code over 6 meters every night for about 3 months until I passed the test in 1998. A few months later I went after my Advanced class ticket, and got it. The final step was Extra, since I was only one step from the top. I tried the 20 wpm code test and failed that miserably. This did not matter, as I was grandfathered to Extra in the first license restructuring on April 15, 2000.

There is more to the story than what I have written so far. After obtaining my Advanced class ticket and Extra written, I turned the ripe old age of 18. My dad, on a mission to create a VE team within the club, did that very thing. I became an ARRL accredited Volunteer Examiner. When the club decided to go with a free test, I became a LARC VE as well.

This takes us to the present day. My most recent project is a 40 meter qrp transceiver in progress. Along with the help of Pete Carr, I assembled the radio and did some testing. It does not work at the present, by it will someday. I have also built and helped build several dipoles and ¼ ground planes along the way. The first ground plane antenna is still hanging from the ceiling in my bedroom. It is currently hooked up to my Heathkit 2036a two meter rig, with matching power supply. I have used the antenna for many years with my HT’s until buying the Heathkit about 2 years ago at the famous Butler hamfest. Also worth mentioning here is the fact that my first HF rig is a Kenwood TS520SE, which I still use on occasion. Those of you that know me, have knowledge that I bought an Alinco DX70, which I use both as mobile rig and base at Field Days. I also have some really old radios. These radios are an ARC 5 receiver with transmitter, and a Knight receiver that I received from Pete Carr. My current shortwave receiver is a Radio Shack DX 300.