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THE LED

OCOTBER 2007

NET 146.680 SUNDAY 9PM CLUB CALL IS: W8LRK NEXT KLUB MEETING September 13th 7:30PM at the EOC, Highlander Way, Howell, MI

Livingston Amateur Radio Klub PO Box 283 Howell, Michigan 48844 www.w8lrk.org

Published by the Livingston Amateur Radio Klub Howell, Michigan

BOARD MEMBERS President Van N8GVD Vice-President Dick W8KDR Secretary Mary KC8SER Treasurer Clairus KC8QQN Program Director Jon KC8VAB Tech Coordinator Jim WB8AZP Board Member Chuck W8CLK

COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSON’S 146.680 Repeater Jim WB8AZP LED Editor Jim WB8AZP VE Coordinator Jim WB8AZP PIO Officer Brandon KC8YHE PIO Officer Jim N8ENX SOCIAL EVENTS

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PREZ SAYS I hope that everyone that wanted to attend the training for the MCC did so, I’m sure that there will be more scheduled in the future if you weren’t able to attend. I found the training very informative, and the MCC a slick piece of equipment. And of course there were a lot of ideas being tossed around to improve it already. This months meeting will include a presentation by Tom KT8Y, who is one of the main characters of the SMART repeater system. Tom is a passionate CW operator and enjoys operating from one of his favorite vacation locations. This months Testing session will include ARRL VE Testing, ARECC Testing and Code Proficiency Testing. Why not stop by and earn an upgrade or try a Code test. Hope to see you at the next LARK meeting all are welcome.

Van N8GVD

LARK SOCIAL

“What you are is revealed by what you do. What you do reveals what you really believe.”

LARK Meeting Minutes 9-13-07 The meeting was called to order by Van N8GVD

LARK Dinner before the Meeting (DBTM) Check in on the 146.68 repeater. LARK Saturday Morning Breakfast Join us for Saturday morning breakfast, held on the first and third Saturdays of each month. Our current location is the Crossroads Grill, near the intersection of Oak Grove Road and M59 in Howell. (The restaurant is located near the south end of the Kroger plaza). This is a great opportunity to get together with hams that can’t always make our regular Klub meetings, and for hams just passing through! All are welcome!

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Introductions were made. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Tom AB8IT gave a very interesting talk on “Sound Card Mode” methods of operation. Secretary’s report was accepted as published in the LED. Treasurer’s report was accepted as printed. ARES/RACES: Bruce N8WWX gave thanks to Jim WB8AZP and Jon KC8VAB for their part in the D-Star Program meetings for the $85,000 equipment grant for the District. New Mobile Command Center vehicle operator training will be held September 26th at 7 pm at the EOC. Technical Director – Jim WB8AZP advised that the LED will need a new editor in January as his job is Consuming all his time. The work crews are struggling to find time to work on the remote site project on the repeater and the repeater repairs. Dick W8KDR Thanked the crew who built the wheelchair ramp at his home. His wife Barb brought a Thank You cake for all to share at the brake. Audit: The books are ready for the Audit. Operation Care was a huge success and brought in $915.12. 50/50 was won by Dave KC8ZKY Bob K8BPA made a motion to adjourn, Bruce N8WWX seconded. Motion passed. Respectfully Mary KC8SER, Secretary

Livingston Amateur Radio Klub Offers Code Testing -- for Fun The Livingston Amateur Radio Klub (LARK) began participating in a pilot study of an American Radio Relay League (ARRL) field code proficiency testing program in June. The fourth of the monthly sessions will be offered on October 9th at 7:00 PM. The location for the testing will be the Emergency Operations Center, 300 South Highlander Way, Howell, MI. Morse code testing will be offered from 5-40 wpm in steps of 5 wpm. There is no charge to participate. The pilot program is essentially an extension of the long-standing Code Proficiency program conducted over the air from station W1AW.

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The pilot program has been initiated in only four municipal areas in the ARRL Great Lakes Division of Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio. All area residents interested in demonstrating their ability to receive Morse code are invited to join in the testing. Test participants do not need to be Amateur Radio operators. Successful candidates will demonstrate one minute of perfect copy of the transmitted text at one or more test speeds. Persons who achieve solid copy will receive a receipt that confirms their accomplishment. Certificates suitable for framing are available from the ARRL for an additional fee. For further information on Livingston Amateur Radio Klub Morse code testing runs, contact Dick Renaud, W8KDR (W8KDR@arrl.net) 810-923-3600 or Jim Kvochick, WB8AZP (WB8AZP@arrl.net) 810-220-2098. Pre-register, or simply walk-in. Although knowledge of Morse code is no longer required to obtain an amateur radio license, you may be surprised to learn how easy it is to develop and demonstrate skills in using Morse code. You too, can talk on the air with amateur stations around the globe that use this mode exclusively.

Operation Care from Mary KC8SER

I would like to thank Clairus KC8QQN, Dick W8KDR and PAT W8LNO (formerly KD8DZB) for helping contact the merchants to obtain donation. Pat W8LNO did the running for donuts, water supplies and all our other needs. He also provided us with his beautiful camper trailer to house our supplies. Thanks to all the wonderful people who worked shifts during the weekend and all the people who worked set up and take down. A special thanks to John KD8CCR for bringing the generator and gas when we lost power.We had wonderful weather for the weekend. Several people of different nationalities stopped by and we had lots of interesting conversations with all sorts of travelers. Our efforts netted over $900. Thanks to everyone!

High Torque Motor

and

Oscilloscope

FOR SALE

The Oscilloscope:

99% Heathkit except for the case.

4 inch CRT in good shape, cathode still

has lots of poop. All controls in good

condition. Includes test probe and cables.

The Motor:

Capacitor start ¼ HP Howell Motor

115/230 Volt 4 amp 60 cycle

1735 RPM 1800 sync

Standard NEMA Frame A 142

High Starting Torque

Runs in either direction, bearing oil cup

Contact Doug W8OXQ at 517-546-1047

to Make an Offer

NEW Scanner to be released in October

GRE (the maker of many Radio Shack branded scanners) will release their

New PSR 500 Scanner to the US market in October. They will not be selling this

model through Radio Shack. You need to order it from regular vendors such as

Universal Radio or online from Scanners Unlimited.

The new radio will have all of the current features that are included in the current

top of the line Radio Shack (GRE) offering. It will also include many new

features including handling the 700 Mhz range when those frequencies are made

available. This is considered by many local and national scanner aficionados as

the best hand held scanner for most current communication systems. It will be

followed by a base/mobile version scheduled for release about December,

pending FCC certification. The expected price is $499. for the handheld and

most likely the same for the base/mobile version.

Visit the following links for more information on this scanner:

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/scanners/4956.html

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/scanners/2534.html

http://www.radioreference.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=117

http://www.scannersunlimited.com/

http://www.grove-ent.com/grepsr500.html

http://www.greamerica.com/products.html

The advance copy of the owner’s manual filed with the FCC can be found at:

https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/oet/forms/blobs/retrieve.cgi?attachment_id=826846

&native_or_pdf=pdf

The test results can be found at:

https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/oet/forms/blobs/retrieve.cgi?attachment_id=826848

&native_or_pdf=pdf

Dick W8KDR (thanks to Les W8MSP for all his input)

SET Exercise 2007

This year’s SET Exercise took place at Fire Station #62 at Parshallville Rd and

Old US 23. The exercise was designed to test the ARES/RACES team’s ability to

pass traffic to the state EOC using several different bands and using different

equipment. Both the Mobile Command Center (MCC) and the Chemical,

Biological, Radiological, Nuclear Emergency (CBRNE) trailer were deployed for

the Exercise. We utilized VHF, UHF, HF, Packet and internet, via a local area

network set up in the CBRNE trailer, in both the MCC and CBRNE trailer. This

year we also utilized Army MARS facilities set up in the MCC for HF. Different HF

antennas were deployed. A Buddipole at the CBRNE trailer and a ground

mounted antenna at the MCC. The CBRNE trailer had VHF, UHF and WIFI

antennas. Both units had video cameras deployed.

The SET Exercise is a nationwide annual test of different areas of emergency

communication skills and is used to determine strengths and weaknesses in all

areas of communications including equipment performance, appropriate band

use, operator performance and incident command function.

It is always great fun and prepares us for all types of possible disaster

scenarios. Bruce N8WWX and the District and Section Emergency Coordinators

always come up with interesting challenges for us to test our skills on.

Below are a few pictures of the set up and operation involved in this year’s SET.

Dick W8KDR

Pictures courtesy of Les W8MSP and Dick W8KDR

HURRY WHILE YOU WAIT! I always used to tell officers and employees that they should "Hurry while they waited". This simply means that we all have time where we sit and wait for appointments, our spouse, a customer or some event that is about to take place. We all have many hours each day that we waste while waiting for something to happen. If you use this time to do some small work tasks, return phone calls, read a book or write a book, the time will be productive instead of wasted. We also wait for something to change. How many of us have said "I will do that when the time is right" or "the weather is better" or 'when circumstances change". Here is a NEWS FLASH, THE TIME WILL NEVER BE BETTER! DO IT NOW! Sometimes the waiting without doing anything will leave you unprepared for

what will occur. This thought crossed my mind today as I was sweating away on my Bowflex. If I did not work out every day, building legs, abs and upper body strength, I would not be ready to start walking on my new feet. This was brought home to me last week when they fitted my new feet. They had me put on the foot/leg assembly, stand up and walk using parallel bars. After several trips up and down the bars and getting up and down as they adjusted and changed the leg assembly I could feel every muscle that I had not worked enough. At the end I realized that my endurance also needed to be greatly improved. Some of this will come from using the legs/feet everyday in increasing amounts. They did not let me take the feet home to start my fifteen minute a day starting work out on them because they need to recast the cups and change the feet to a different model. At first I was really disappointed, but after thinking about it, I now have seven days to get better prepared for those initial steps. I am hurrying while I wait! Exercising and building my endurance EVERY DAY. You can, too. Look for opportunities to HURRY WHILE YOU WAIT. DO IT NOW! Dick W8KDR