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The HOTLINE |
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“Homebrew” Night! |
by Terry Williams, KD5KJU |
It’s October and showing signs that Fall is finally here after a brutal summer. I believe we would have to go back to 1980 to find a summer that was hotter and drier than this one. The temperatures are actually pretty pleasant now, so we better enjoy it while we can! Winter may be following close behind. We are still way behind on rainfall, but it seems to be falling all around us—surely we will get our share of it soon!
The speaker for this month is…hmmmm…let’s see…oh, that’s right! It’s
ya’ll! That’s because it’s Home Brew night! That’s when you all bring
those great projects you’ve been cooking up and give us a “show ’n tell.” It
could be a custom-made special tool or even a story of your experiments,
successes, and failures. It’s just an informal night for anybody that wants to
tell us about something they have been working on. It doesn’t have to be big or
fantastic. It might even be something that didn’t work, but you know, sometimes
we learn more from our failures than we do from our successes. So, everybody
bring out your “Home Brew!” I’m looking forward to hearing about some nifty
projects this month!
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President’s Corner |
by Rodney Baden, K5YKC |
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Rodney, K5YKC |
eBay for Hams and Others
I have been on eBay since December 12, 2002. At the present time, I have made 98 purchases from sellers with a score of 100%. A lot of help has been requested—and given—from different ones since starting. I have meet other hams, firefighters, police officers and just some good old fashion people on eBay. But I have also had my “down” times.
One particular time comes to mind: when I bought 2 ICOM commercial radios from a gentleman in Virginia. I paid $110.00 for both radios. When received, I took both radios and tried to program them. One radio worked just fine, the other didn’t. I thought to myself that this seller was never going to believe me that the one didn’t work. But guess what, when I email him, he emailed me directly back and said that he had no way to check them out but had assumed they worked. Ten minutes later I had a $117.50 credit on my PayPal account. What a surprise! He even gave me back the shipping! I gave him a glowing review and emailed him again to thank him.
Another time I won a bid on 6 radios. One of the six didn’t program. They were so reasonable—and came with extra speaker-mic’s and earphones—that I didn’t even ask for anything back. I gave the seller a good review anyway.
The important thing about buying is to do your research on the seller. Read their reviews submitted by other buyers and see how they have done in the past. If you see a negative or even a neutral review, read the review and determine how long ago it has been or how many products they have sold. If it occurred back when they first started, and they have had 100%’s for the last year or so, or no more since then, then you might guess that they just didn’t realize at first how upset a buyer gets when the product is not as described or is slow getting to them.
There are a lot of other safeguard ideas that you can use. Everybody has different ideas of how to buy and that is ok. Wouldn’t this be a dull world if we all thought a like?
Remember, there is a dangerous world out there and we all have to be careful and try to make it better. If I can help, please call or email me. See you at this months meeting!
Rodney A. Baden, K5YKC
HOTARC President
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For the Record... |
HOTARC Meeting of Members
September 28, 2006
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Brady Taylor and Rusty Garret address HOTARC members prior to a tour of the studios |
The September meeting was called to order by President Rodney Baden K5YKC at 7:07 PM at the KWTX-TV studios in Waco. Present were eleven full members, two associate members, and five visitors. Visitors were: Larry Harrison K5LTH of Coolidge, Lynn Gustafson KD5DZU of Waco , Rowdy Smith of Waco, Dell Bredemeyer of Robinson, , and Dustin Lentwyler of Lorena.
Wayne Branscum KD5SMC opened the meeting with a prayer.
K5YKC suspended the business meeting to permit our hosts, Rusty Garret and Brady Taylor, to give us a very informative and entertaining tour of the KWTX television studios. We all found the weather station and the “set” from which the nightly weather reports were broadcast particularly interesting.
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Rusty Garret and Brady Taylor |
Following the tour, we resumed the September business meeting. The Minutes for the August meeting were approved as published in the HOTLINE, on a motion by Bill Feltenberger KD5UEW, second by Norris Martin KB5SLI, and unanimous vote by the members. The August Treasurer’s Report was also accepted as published in the HOTLINE following a motion by KD5UEW, second by KD5SMC, and unanimous vote by the members.
Announcements
· Thank You: K5YKC read a thank-you card from Mrs. Gafford for the flowers sent on behalf of the Club to the memorial service for John Gafford N5XAK.
Committee Reports
· ARES: No report.
· Trailer: David Bush KC5UOZ reported that the mini-trailer is not completed.
· Repeater: KB5SLI reported that the renewal form for the 440 repeater will be completed and mailed. K5YKC reported no progress on the DPS antenna site or the discussions with Channel 25 KXXV re the antenna height and cabling.
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The Treasurer Reports... |
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Heart O’ Texas Amateur Radio Club Beginning Account Balance $ 4,624.82 Income Interest 0.95 TOTAL Income $ 0.95 Expenses TOTAL Expenses $ 0.00 Ending Account Balance $ 4,625.77 Outstanding (as of 10-18-06) Submitted by |
· Web page: John Chamberlain AC5CV reported that the web server and email list are working well.
· ATV: David Bush KC5UOZ reported the ATV repeater is working well.
· Education: K5YKC reported that the HOTCOG interest in the Amateur Radio Training Class seems to have waned.
· Public Relations: AC5CV will try to get the W5JRM nighttime photo of the HOTARC trailer from Field Day to Allen Pitts for some sort of recognition. (It is an excellent photo!)
· Special Events: AC5CV summarized the preparations for the WWWC event. Bill Cox W5JRM agreed to pull the trailer into (and out of) position for the event.
Old Business
· None
New Business
· Nominating Committee: K5YKC formed a committee of the following members who graciously volunteered to serve: Terry Williams KD5KJU (representing the Directors), Ray Read AD5CK, and John Curry K5IMC.
Motion to adjourn heard from KD5UEW at approximately 8:48 PM.
Submitted by:
John Chamberlain AC5CV
HOTARC Secretary
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Another WWWC Under Our Belt |
by John Chamberlain, AC5CV |
My thanks to everyone who contributed to HOTARC’s support of another successful special event: the Waco Wild West Century (WWWC) bike ride, featuring events covering 10 miles, 25 miles, 50 miles, 65 miles, and 100 miles. Last year’s running of the WWWC had to be cancelled due to the unexpected interruptions of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, so the event sponsors—the Waco Bicycle Club—were especially eager to see this year’s event happen.
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The event this year came off “without a hitch,” with over 1400 riders participating! Riders, and radio operators alike, enjoyed marvelously cool, clear skies and light breezy conditions—perfect for a bicycling event like this.
While most of the energy expended during this event came from the bike riders, HOTARC members were very busy assisting communications between rest stop volunteers and event organizers, as well as reporting the progress and safety of the riders back to Net Control. We logged 8 pages of contacts to Net Control!
Of course, as always, our participation in the event was greatly appreciated by the Bicycle Club. Our radio equipment communicates where cell phones just can’t go, and in a much more efficient way—as we all well know. And events such as this are terrific opportunities to prove to ourselves and others that we (and our equipment) can do it! When disaster strikes our community, we will be expected to communicate in a way very similar to this event—spread out over the county (not just a few blocks), communicating messages and information efficiently with our radios (not cell phones), and relying on our own power (not commercial power).
So, again, to all those who participated: AC5CV, K5YKC, N5MVL, AD5CK, KD5UEW, K5ZZM, KD5GLM, AC5QQ, KC5WQE, W5JRM, KD5KJU, KD5MLY, and AD5JY—congratulations!! You exercised your amateur radio muscles and demonstrated to yourself and the rest of us that you really CAN do it! And be assured: you are very appreciated!
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McLennan County ARES Membership Status October 2006 |
by Ed Hynan, KC5KNI, |
I thought it was time to
give a recap on the membership of McLennan County ARES. We currently have 35
members who updated their membership information in April 2006. A snapshot
of our membership follows:
ARRL Members: 20 of 35 HOTARC Members: 20 of 35 Net Control: 10 of 35
Member Availability:
24 of 7: 8 of 35 Nights of Weekends: 18 of 35 General: 9 of 35
Weather Nets: 25 of 35 Exercises: 19 of 35 Disaster Response: 17 of 35
Training Status:
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FEMA, NWS, and ARRL courses completed |
100% |
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IS-700 |
National Incident Management System (NIMS) |
15 of 35 |
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43% |
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IS-100 |
Incident Command System Intro (ICS100) |
6 of 35 |
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17% |
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IS-200 |
Incident Command for Single Incidents (ICS200) |
4 of 35 |
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11% |
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IS-800 |
National Response Plan (NRP) |
5 of 35 |
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14% |
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IS-317 |
Intro to Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) |
9 of 35 |
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26% |
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NWS SKYWARN |
20 of 35 |
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57% |
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ARRL Emergency Communications Course ECC 1 |
6 of 35 |
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17% |
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ARRL Emergency Communications Course ECC 2 |
5 of 35 |
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14% |
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ARRL Emergency Communications Course ECC 3 |
2 of 35 |
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6% |
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All in all, this is a great improvement over 2 years ago. Based on the above there is still much room for improvement. I encourage all ARES members to continue to prepare for emergency communications support in time of emergency. Remember: If the emergency has occurred, it is too late to prepare.
As you complete additional training, please e-mail me with documentation and I will update the training listing on the back of your ARES ID Card.
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FCC “Omnibus” Report and Order |
from ARRL Letter Online |
While the FCC’s recent Report and Order (R&O) in WT Docket 04-140 seems to offer something for just about every sector of the Amateur Radio community, it’s not without its shortcomings. Most of these appear to be unintended consequences stemming from the FCC’s arguably too-generous allocation of 75 meter phone spectrum to Amateur Extra class licensees. Based on the record, the FCC said it was persuaded to authorize more 75 meter spectrum than indicated in its 2004 Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM). Read the full story. See the charts below for the proposed new band plan.
Below is a summary of the new amateur band plan proposed by
FCC on October 4, 2006. (See additional notes below.)
NOTE:
These changes to 80m, 40m, 15m, and 10m will become effective 30 days after publication in the Federal
Register.
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
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2006 Board of Directors |
HOTARC 2006 Board of Directors
President: Rodney Baden K5YKC, 857-9760, K5YKC@arrl.net
Vice Pres: Terry Williams KD5KJU, 662-2438, pumpman_rpss@yahoo.com
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 (2006): Scott Shafer KD5MLY, 848-5888, ScottShafer@clearchannel.com
Director (2007): Bill Feltenberger KD5UEW, 756-1397, bfeltenb@swbell.net
Director (2008): Wayne Branscum KD5SMC, 857-3964, wbscum@grandecom.net
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)
Next session is Saturday October 28, 10:00 AM. Location: Baylor’s Rogers Engineering and Computer Science Bldg (#63 on the map), 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 monthly meeting of HOTARC will be at 7:00 pm on Thursday October 26, 2006 in the Kultgen Automotive Center of the TSTC Waco Campus. Meetings generally last about 75 minutes consisting of fellowship, general Club business, and an interesting program. Visiting hams, family members, and prospective hams are welcomed! |
October is “Home Brew” month.
Invite a friend! J