|
|
The HOTLINE |
|
|
|
|
|
Computer Crime: Don’t Become a Victim! |
by Terry Williams, KD5KJU |
A growing reality in today's technological world is computer crime. The program at the February HOTARC meeting will be delivered by Ryan Holt KC5LEU of the Waco Police Department. Ryan manages criminal intelligence at the Waco PD. Ryan will raise our awareness of the many facets of computer crime, and provide some solid suggestions on how to protect yourself from becoming a victim.
Ryan has played a role in every recent technical aspect of the Waco PD: from mobile data terminals and software, to video camera systems, to the PD’s 800 MHz trunking system (which he discussed with HOTARC members in a past presentation). In addition, Ryan is a helicopter pilot, a hostage negotiator, a sworn U.S. Marshall, and a member of Waco’s SWAT team. And if that’s not enough, Ryan is also a licensed ham! Using ham radio skills, Ryan also built from scratch the “throw-phones” the negotiation teams use in barricade and hostage situations.
Time permitting, we also hope to discuss further with Ryan his offer to allow HOTARC to use the 80-foot antenna tower located at the Waco PD for a 2-meter repeater.
|
President’s Corner |
by Rodney Baden, K5YKC |
Using Acronyms
After the last meeting, a request came to me that makes a
lot of sense. Acronyms and other short cut terms are used frequently in ham
radio. This member said that our new hams have no idea what we are talking
about. They requested I should repeat the acronym and give the actually
meaning. Now, although I am sure that I won’t always remember this, I will try.
And I request that you, too, when making a statement that includes an acronym
or short cut, give the words that the acronym has in it. This may not only help
new members but may help someone else. I would hope we can all help so everyone
doesn’t feel left out.
I hope to see all of you at the February meeting.
Rodney A. Baden, K5YKC
HOTARC President
|
|
Sign up—and make plans
to attend: |
|
For the Record... |
|
HOTARC Meeting of Members
January 27, 2005
The January meeting of the Heart O’ Texas Amateur Radio Club, Inc. was called to order by Rodney Baden, K5YKC at 7:05 pm at the Kultgen Automotive Building on the TSTC Waco campus. Present were fifteen full members, one family member and three visitors: Allen Landen, KE5DHN, Stephen Tyler, and Roy Rabey, AD5KZ. The meeting was begun with an opening prayer given by JW Roach, W5AYX.
The Minutes for the December meeting were approved as published in the HOTLINE, following a motion by Ed Hynan, KC5KNI, second by Ray Read, AD5CK, and unanimous vote by the members present. The December Treasurer’s Report was also accepted as published in the HOTLINE, following a motion by Ed Hynan, KC5KNI, second by Ray Read, AD5CK, and unanimous vote by the members present.
Announcements
· Special Events: K5YKC reminded everyone of the upcoming special events which include SkyWarn on March 26 and the Race for the Cure in April.
· Email Contacts: K5YKC asked the HOTLINE editor to add Gary Woodall (Ft. Worth Weather Office) and Dennis Baker (newly appointed Radio Liaison Officer) to HOTARC’s email list.
· ARRL Business: K5YKC reported that Division Director, Coy Day, has announced that Dr. David Woolweaver would act as the Texas government liason.
Committee Reports
· Audit Committee: Rodney Baden, K5YKC, noted that the time was at hand to create the Audit Committee. Ray Read, AD5CK and Bill Cox, W5JRM volunteered to perform this service and they were approved unanimously by the members present.
· ARES: Ed Hynan, KC5KNI discussed the NIMS on-line course (NIMS-IS700) provided by FEMA and recommended everyone taking some time to complete it. Ed also noted that several ARRL courses are currently open and recommended these courses as well, especially considering that the $45.00 registration fee would be refunded upon successful completion. Finally, Ed informed the members that HOTARC “polo shirts” can still be purchased for approximately $25.00, and that he has 2 remaining HOTARC “Tee” shirts available for $7.00 each.
|
The Treasurer Reports... |
|
|
|
Heart O’ Texas Amateur Radio Club Beginning Account Balance $3,935.21 Income Interest $ 0.84 Dues 240.00 TOTAL Income $ 240.84 Expenses TOTAL Expenses $ 0.00 Ending Account Balance $ 4,176.05 Outstanding (as of 2-21-05) Submitted by |
· Trailer: Mike Ross, N5MVL reported that the door latch is in need of repair. Roger Miles, WB5MBO said that he will attempt to repair the door himself.
· Repeater: Norris Martin, KB5SLI reported that there has been no recent activity for correcting the antenna problems with the 145.15 repeater. Norris also stated that he received a letter from the Texas VHF-FM Society that HOTARC, Inc. has 6 months to have the 146.88 repeater back in service or surrender the frequency allocation. Norris has a HOTARC repeater that is currently acting as a backup unit and is capable of operating on 146.88 MHz. HOTARC also has a set of VHF duplexers that need to be tuned to this frequency. Norris will check on the availability of the Waco Police Dept. antenna site so that we can proceed with placing the 146.88 repeater on the air. Finally, Norris said that the FCC still has HOTARC’s old post office box number and he will complete the paperwork for a change of address.
· Web Page: No report.
· ATV: David Bush, KC5UOZ reported that the ATV repeater needs some minor antenna work, but overall, the system is working fine and is used almost nightly by local hams.
· Education: Rodney Baden, K5YKC noted that we are in need of an Education Chair, but no one volunteered at this time.
New Business
· HamCom: Rodney Baden, K5YKC noted that HamCom ’05 has their web-site now available at www.hamcom.org. Rodney will be participating in CERT and NIMS training preparation for this year’s June event.
· NTX Section Manager: The floor was yielded to Roy Rabey, AD5KZ – ARRL North Texas Section Manager. Roy discussed the following topics:
Ø Roy has noticed an increase in club membership around the NTX section. There is a new club forming in North Richland Hills and it’s origin is directly tied to CERT (Citizen Emergency Response Teams) formation in the area.
Ø The ARRL Board of Directors met in December and they are actively working on:
§ Getting PRB1 approved.
§ Gaining congressional support for the Spectrum Protection Act.
§ Beefing up FCC enforcement.
§ Supporting for a “grass-roots” political action plan. Roy is personally the Legislative Action Chair and will appoint local ARRL members to speak with our government leaders concerning amateur radio issues.
§ Creating an ARES team that will provide digital communications.
§ Continuing support of HSMM (High-Speed Multi-Media). This project is adapting off-the-shelf 2.4 GHz equipment for wireless Internet connections for amateur radio.
§ Analyzing a new spectrum band-plan based on bandwidth. Roy encouraged members log on to the ARRL web-site and submit your thoughts.
§ Creating a new “Triple-Play” award for working all 50 U.S. states with digital, cw and voice communication.
Ø The Texas VHF-FM Society has approved voting by mail during its recent WinterCom meeting in Arlington. This process should be in process by the August ’05 elections. It was also noted that HOTARC members that joined the Texas VHF-FM Society have not received membership cards or newsletters. Roy will personally look into this situation.
Ø FCC Chairman Michael Powell has resigned his post, but there are concerns about who will take his place.
Ø Roy offered a personal “thank you” for nominating him to the NTX Section Manager post and encouraged all ARRL members to vote.
Ø JW Roach, W5AYX stated that a prominent South Texas ARRL member strongly gave his support for Roy’s re-election to the NTX Section Manager post.
K5YKC heard a motion by Bill Feltenberger, KD5UEW to adjourn the meeting at 7:43 pm.
The program this evening was a presentation by Mark Metzer on Identity Theft.
Submitted by:
Ed Middlebrook, KC5NT
|
SKYWARN 2005: Saturday 26 March |
by Ed Hynan, KC5KNI, |
Make plans to attend
SKYWARN 2005 at the Waco Convention Center’s Bosque Theater on Saturday, 26 March 2005, from 8:30 AM to about 2:00PM. Gary Woodall and staff from the Fort
Worth office of the National Weather Service will travel to Waco to present
the annual severe weather training program. Both basic and advanced programs
will be presented. HOTARC will have the Club Trailer on display and “talk-in”
attendees on the 145.15 repeater. Coffee and donuts will be provided. Plan to
attend, even if you have attended in the past. A refresher on storm spotting
and reporting techniques will benefit everyone and will serve to prepare the
spotters of the Bakers Dozen Weather Net for another storm season.
Bakers Dozen Weather Net activation procedures remain the same. National Weather service will request spotter activation when potential or observed severe weather threatens the area. The net is automatically activated any time a severe thunderstorm or a tornado warning is issued for McLennan County. As the storm season nears, please be aware of conditions that could lead to net activation. Monitor local television, radio, and the National Weather Service Weather Radio for potential severe events. The net will be activated from the Waco-McLennan County EOC or by one of the ARES Net Control Stations until the EOC can be opened.
Things can happen fast when spotting. As activation is a result of a warning, reports should relate directly to the type of warning issued. For severe thunderstorm warnings: report winds of more than 50 mph and any size hail (using coins for size) with exact location and time of occurrence. For tornado warnings: report wall clouds, wall clouds with rotation, funnel clouds, and tornados on the ground, again with exact location and time of occurrence. In the case of an actual tornado on the ground, direction and speed of movement are needed. Report any visible damage and/or injuries associated with either type of storm. All other weather related reports should be held until requested by Net Control.
Good training and continued excellent spotter participation should see us through another severe weather season.
|
The Low Bands on the Cheap |
by Ed Middlebrook, KC5NT |
With the waning of the 11-year sunspot cycle, I’ve been listening more and more to the “lower” bands. Although the signals for 40, 80 and 160 meters have been getting better, they have been out of reach for me since moving into our home nine years ago. Well, with a little money and a little time, I’ve resolved that situation—and here’s how.
While I have no problem with my tri-bander (10-15-20m) and my 2m vertical, I seem to struggle with a suitable antenna for the lower bands, especially since we have no trees to act as end supports. That eliminated the 80m or 160m dipole—or even a G5RV. What next? Maybe an “Inverted-L?”
A lot of folks like the Inverted-L, based on books and Internet readings, but I’ve had some bad luck with the thing. The “random-wire” antenna was my first “sky-hook” back in 1977. Unfortunately, I found I was lucky to manage QSOs with my friends across town with it, so I stayed off of the low bands for quite some time. When we moved to our new home in 1995, I purchased an 80/40m Inverted-L from a commercial firm—made from 450-ohm ladder-line. But again, the results were less than satisfactory. So I ended up with an Inverted-V for 40 meters—but had no luck tuning it for 80m or 160m.
Recently, I tried an Inverted-L again—this time, a home-made version. This new aerial has performed much better, either due to the dip in the sunspot cycle, or my engineering prowess (ha ha). After putting up the new “L”, I immediately noticed louder signals and less noise than I had been receiving on the 40m Inverted-V. After switching my Kenwood TS-570 over to transmit and activating the internal tuner, it matched 30, 40, 80 and 160m perfectly. I couldn’t believe it!
So, how would it transmit?
Seeing that the ARRL RTTY contest was underway, I dropped the power to 40 watts
and promptly worked WA0SXV in New Mexico on 80 meters. After about 20 minutes,
I had worked RTTY stations in South Dakota, Florida, Ohio, and Tennessee—not
bad for being off of 80m for several years!
And how about 160 meters? I had NEVER worked 160m before! Hearing no RTTY signals, I switched over to CW, since the North American CW QSO Party was in full swing. How about these results? I worked Wyoming, Tennessee and Ohio on 160m with 40 watts CW! All came back on the first call! This is really cool!
What’s behind this antenna? Not much! I simply ran a 14-guage stranded wire from a plastic utility box ground-mounted near the base of my tower. I ran it up about 30 feet to the rotator plate on the tower, then directed it about 85 feet across the house to the far corner. I added three 65-foot ground radials, fanning them out in the yard. I added an SO-239 on the utility box: mating the vertical/horizontal element to the center conductor, and the ground radials to the flange. Total cost? About $14.00—and all of the supplies came from Home Depot!
You’ll need a tuner (internal or external) for this bird, but if you’re looking for a “cheap” antenna that, so far, seems to do well—try the Inverted-L…just for the “L” of it!
|
Frequency Coordination at Super Bowl XXXIX |
Paraphrased from account by Sandy
Ingle, KG4CQK |
The February meeting of the North Florida Amateur Radio Society (NOFARS) was treated to a report by Sandy Ingle KG4CQK and Billy Williams N4UF describing their role in frequency coordination at the recent Super Bowl in Jacksonville. You may be surprised to learn of the magnitude of such an undertaking.
Around twenty persons including ten local hams along with NFL representatives worked at Super Bowl XXXIX to coordinate frequency (channel) usage by media and others with transmitters in the stadium area.
Estimates indicate that
8,000 transmitters were in use during Super Bowl XXXIX week. If radio frequency
(RF) devices, such as transmitters and wireless microphones, are not
coordinated; signals are jammed and communications are disrupted.
Media Day was very busy for the frequency coordination crew. Busloads of photographers, radio and television personnel arrived and were very anxious to get into the stadium to produce reports and features for their viewers back home. As they passed through RF check-in, their transmitting gear was tested for proper operation and tagged. Time was limited with some buses arriving only minutes before the first team appeared inside the stadium.
When interference was reported, portable radio direction finding (RDF) units were used to track down the source which usually turned out to be an uncoordinated transmitter or a coordinated unit that had shifted frequency.
The crew assembled on game day, February 6th, around 0900 to check in and tag RF devices. They also watched the gates to the stadium for untagged devices or those with expired tags from Media Day or a previous Super Bowl. Crew members were stationed throughout the stadium and on the field during the game to be able to react quickly if an interference problem arose.
The game went smoothly. Only a few interference conflicts arose which were remedied quickly.
Participating were NFL Frequency Organization Group Manager Jay Gerber, N3AW; NFL Frequency Coordinator Karl Voss; Jacksonville Jaguar Frequency Coordinators Clayton Roney, KI4FWZ and Jim Bedore; Tampa Bay Frequency Coordinator Ralph Beaver and computer consultant Dan Collins.
Among others participating were Frank Ingle, KG4CQK; Dan Weisenberger, KW4T; Billy Williams, N4UF; Ben Bramlett, K7BEN; Wayne Chandler, N4KWC; Rick Oreair, WB4BSP; Rick Oreair III; Billy Gentilman, KD4KHN; Michael O’Rourke, W5MSO; Miller Norton, W4EMN; Paul Locke, KB4PML; Cameron Brubeck; Tobias & Alicia Bullocks (Philadelphia Eagles Coordinators); Joe Clary; Otto Shellin (Pittsburgh Steelers Coordinator representing AFC); John Swisher; Russ Harbaugh.
|
ARRL Tells FCC to “Get Real” about BPL |
from the ARRL Letter Online |
In a Petition for Reconsideration filed February 7, 2005, the League called on the FCC to “reconsider, rescind and restudy” its October 14, 2004, adoption of new Part 15 rules spelling out how BPL providers may deploy the technology on HF and low-VHF frequencies. The petition states, “It is readily apparent that the Commission long ago made up its mind that it was going to permit BPL without substantial regulation, no matter what the effect of this flawed application of old technology is on licensed radio services,” and accuses the FCC of sweeping “all interference complaints under the rug.” For more on this story, see the ARRL Letter Online at http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/02/08/100/. For the complete text of the excellently worded petition, see: http://www.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/et04-37/recon_petition/.
|
It’s time to renew
your HOTARC membership! Send in your HOTARC Dues and Membership Renewal
Form now and |
The HOTLINE is the monthly newsletter of the Heart O’ Texas Amateur Radio Club (HOTARC), Inc., a nonprofit corporation, chartered by the State of Texas and principally located in Waco. It is permissible to use any of the original material contained herein, provided proper credit is given to the source.
Edited and Published by John Chamberlain AC5CV, AC5CV@arrl.net
HOTARC 2005 Board of Directors
President: Rodney Baden K5YKC, 857-9760, K5YKC@arrl.net
Vice Pres: Terry Williams KD5KJU, 662-2438, pumpman_rpss@yahoo.com
|
|
|
Bill Russell K5WAR and son Ethan taking part in AMSAT’s Kid’s Day: contacting other kids via ham satellites! |
Secretary: John Chamberlain AC5CV, 855-7731, AC5CV@arrl.net
Treasurer: Norris Martin KB5SLI, 829-2138, KB5SLI@flash.net
Past-Pres.: Ed Middlebrook KC5NT, 826-4053, KC5NT@arrl.net
Director (2005): Ed Hynan KC5KNI, 666-4873, KC5KNI@arrl.net
Director (2006): Scott Shafer KD5MLY, 848-5888, ScottShafer@clearchannel.com
Director (2007): Bill Feltenberger, KD5UEW, 756-1397, bfeltenberger@bellmeadcalvary.org
145.15 MHz (input at –600 kHz, tone 123 Hz)
146.88 MHz (input at –600 kHz)
146.98 MHz (input at –600 kHz, tone 123 Hz)
ATV: 421.25MHz (Cable 57), input 439.25 MHz (Cable 60)
Date: Saturday, February 26; NOTE: There will be no testing in March. Location: Baylor’s Rogers Engineering and Computer Science Bldg, Room 109. Bring: 1) testing fee of $14 (cash only); 2) current license and photocopy of it; 3) a photo ID (two for first-time licensees), and 4) photocopy of any relevant CSCE. Contact: Linda Hynan, AC5QQ at 666-4873 or Linda.Hynan@UTSouthwestern.edu.
Meeting NoticeThe February meeting of HOTARC will be at 7:00 pm on Thursday February 24, 2005 in the Kultgen Automotive Center of the TSTC Waco Campus. Meetings generally last about 90 minutes consisting of fellowship, general Club business, and an interesting program. Visiting hams, family members, and prospective hams are welcomed! |
We’re making plans for 2005…Come join the fun!