The Spark Gap
Newsletter of the
Mid-State Amateur Radio Club
Volume 19 MARCH 2002 Number 3
THE SPARK GAP HAS RETURNED
After a brief absence the Spark Gap has once again returned to keep our members informed of club meetings, activities, up-coming events, hamfests, etc. Bob LaGrange, N9SIU, is now editing the newsletter. Club members are encouraged to contribute to the newsletter. Articles concerning things of interest to amateur radio is needed to make the newsletter useful to our club and it’s members. If there are ideas of what you would like to see in the MARC Spark Gap please contact me. I am always open for suggestions and will try to make the Spark Gap a good source of information for club members and hams in and around Johnson County.
“4737
Alex Whitaker — AA9XY
Many of Amateur Radios classic models are closer to home than you might expect. Next Saturday Whiteland resident Alex Whitaker-AA9XY will bring some of his favorites and share the history behind these classic models. Join us for a trip back into the golden age of Amateur radios at the March 16" meeting. The fun starts at 8AM in the EOC.-W8ISH
LAST CALL FOR MARC 2002 DUES If you haven’t already paid your club dues for 2002 please do so by the our next meeting March 16". The dues are $ 18.00 per year and include all privileges for club members. Please see Emest Clark, KB9SKI before or after the meeting to keep you dues current.
VE TESTING RESUMES MARCH 16"
The VE team is ready to begin administering testing for ali amateur licenses and license up grades at the conclusion of the March MARC club meeting. The testing should begin about 9930. No pre-registration is needed. You will need to bring a copy of your license with you if are planning to up-grade. Good luck to all that are testing.
MARCH 2002
SKYWARN TRAINING MARCH 20° 7:00 PM Johnson County Emergency Management Agency
Emergency Operations Center Talk-in on the 146.835 —
Ham Radio License Class
The Mid-State Amateur Radio Club is sponsoring a license preparation class for the Technician
Class license starting March 11" at 7:00 PM. The class will be held in the EOC and should last about one hour. The classes are free but the student will need the No Code Technician study aid from your local Radio Shack store. Please contact Ernest Clark, KB9SKI at 317-889-1931 or e-
mail kb9ski@arrl.net.
Chikpnas A ng a Program "HRNEN ERNE RAK AUK AR RARER RE REL EEA. As all of you know, we are collecting each week for this program. By doing this, we won’t miss the money as much as we would at Christmas time. This should allow us to sponsor two families this year. To date we have collected $ 82.00. Any ideas on this program are welcome.
contact Barb, kb9nog
.... See copy of letter page 4 e ed
WHAT’S NEW????
Carol Osborne (xyl-kb9hse) and Barb Rogers (kb9nog) have joined Ladies Only. They have a “heavy” bet going on. Watch the pounds fly! (hopefully) Stay tuned ............. .... kb9nog
MARCH 2002
Prayer Corner + Please continue to pray for irene Gill. She is still unable to walk on her own and has trouble with her speech. She has been transferred to Homeview on Old US 31 across from the Masonic Home. Vernon could use a word of prayer for a speedy recovery from his knee surgery. He should be back with us very soon. Homer Keasley (wb9o0zz) and his wife, Lela is both in the hospital at this time. You can visit them at the Todd Aikens at Johnson Memorial. Homer is in room 280B and Lela is in room 233A. I’m sure they would appreciate a visit or a cail.
.... Kb9nog
HAMFESTS April 6" - Columbus ,
Bartholomew County Fair Grounds, 8 am to 2pm Talk —in: 146.790-
Ken Brewer, Weather forecaster for WISH-TV Channel 8 Indianapolis made a visit to the MARC February meeting. Ken spoke to us about severe storms and being prepared for them. He also showed a video tape concerning being storm ready the equipment used at WISH-TV weather room. Ken was very well received and it was good to have him as our guest again.
THE SPARK GAP Editor — Bob LaGrange, N9SIU n9siu@artl.net
MARC CLUB OFFICERS PRESIDENT VICE-PRESIDENT SECRETARY Jay Chrisman — AA9YP Joan Kemp — N9DON Ernest Clark - KB9SKI daisy@iquest.net lwkemp@tls.net kb9ski@arrl.net
RACES DIR. Jay Chrisman — AA9YP
daisy@iquest.net
REPEATER TRUS Matt Payne — KB9UJE
kb9uje@qsl.net
VE COORDINATOR Dave Wendt - KB9O00H wendt@indy.net
ACTIVITIES DIR.- Jack Parker -- W8ISH
jparker@iquest.net
TREASURER Vernon Gill — N9QBO
gillv@juno.com ARES Vernon Gill — N9QBO
gilv@juno.com
PUBLIC INFO. - Leroy Perry- KB9ZLC
Ipfe428@aol.com
cane eee
@ United Way
of Johnson County
2525 N. Morton Street, P.O. Box 153 Franklin, iN 46131 GI7)736-7840 © FAX GIT) 736-4449
E-mail: uwjc@netdirect.net Board of Directors Presidem ‘Trent McWilliams Heartland Community Bank Vice President Eric Fredbeck Deppe, Fredbeck & Boll Treasurer Bill Oakes Johnson Memorial Hospital Secretary Betsy Schmid Franklin College Directors Watt Aldorisio Center Grove School Corporation Mike Aldrich Community Volunteer Janet Alexander City of Franklin Rick Belses National City Bank Tom Brown Northwestern Mutual Financial Network Mike Crumbo Alpine Electronics Manufacturing, of America Ed Deiwert BANK ONE Indianapolis Tins Fearin IC Penney Ruth Freese Community Volunteer Keith Grant Nineveh-Henstey-Jackson Schoot Corporation Yvette Hauser Indiana Department of Education Marga Mastin Community Volunteer Jackie McNeclan Huntington Bank Jeff Owen Datly Journal Joe Pitcher Johnson County Attorney Joe Trucbload Franklin United Methodist Community Ken Wiliams Community Volunteer
Executive Director Nancy Lohr Plake
Teton gy
rary eae Ccarbied. ee vi bhe &? oe
January 17, 2002
Ms. Barbara Rogers Wenesday Supper Club 1472 S. Center Lane Franklin, IN 46131
Dear Barbara,
On behalf of the United Way of’ Johnson County, i want to thank you tor being an integral part of the 2001 Christmas Angels program. As a Christmas Angels Sponsor your organization truly made a positive difference in the lives of many Johnson County families and demonstrated the true meaning and spirit of the holidays.
During December, more than 1,100 children received toys and clothing through the Christmas Angels program. The United Way staff is currently reviewing this past year’s operation, if you have any suggestions or comments please send an email (gabell@uwjc.org) or call me at your convenience.
Again, thank you for your time and contribution to this important initiative. Your participation made a tremendous impact!
Cordially,
Gary il Chris! Angels Program
Tharks Sr all of your help, ¢
working wth you and nude that your
eny oye
group found the Experience te be valable,
Dlence let me know iE ue have Sugaestans
MARCH 2002
MARCH 2002
REPEATER NEWS
Repeater Trustee, Matt Payne — KB9UJE reported at the last MARC club meeting that the club repeater is getting nearer to a date for moving to a new location. The new site is located south of Greenwood off SR. 135 on a Bargersville water tower. Matt stated that the site is an excellent location and should give good coverage to the county and beyond. Help will be needed when the repeater is moved to the new site. See Matt and let him know if you can be of assistance with this very important move for our club repeater. With this new location the 146.835 repeater will once again be a high profile repeater to serve the Johnson County area.
.... NOSTU
POORER URUUORERCCCRCCECCOCCPOCTORC CCS ESTEE SSE URe eee ere ere
answer: 1. flag on balloon 2. three birds 3. window in van 4. tree 5. house 6. smoke from three stack’s
AMATEUR RADIO SUMMIT 3/2/02
In an effort to identify and develop a cohesive emergency communications plan the first ever- Amateur Radio Emergency Communications summit was held in Indianapolis this month. They came from the Red Cross, Salvation Army, ARES, RACES and even CB-radio’s REACT team. . Two dozen representatives of different Amateur Radio emergency communications groups met in a Federal Building training room to find ways of helping local and state emergency management organizations. Marion County ARES director Mike Palmer-N9FEB organized the summit. Palmer cited a need to develop better communications and cooperation between the different groups.
Many amateurs wear two or three different hats when it comes to providing public service. Palmer wants to identify those who are willing to help and to better utilize the voice and data communications available in the Marion County Amateur Radio Community. Many of the summit participants agreed this type of effort is long overdue.
Members of Army-Navy and Air Force Mars, as well as the Indiana Wing of the Civil Air Patrol offered their services during times of disaster. Everyone agreed this was a good start and look forward to future efforts to better train and organize Amateur Radio Emergency Communications in Marion County and Central Indiana. -W8ISH.
LABEL PROGRAM TO CONTINUE
Good ideas are worth continuing and MARC member/club Secretary, Emest Clark — KB9SKI is making available to all club members labels to put on your used QST, CQ & 73 etc magazines. You place the label on your old magazine and strategically place it among the other magazines at the doctor’s, dentist, or your favorite barber shop. Each label shows the club address, webpage address, e-mail and a telephone number for the interested person reading the magazine. Emest will have a supply of these self-sticking labels ready at the next club mecting.
MARCH 2002
em
Seca
Prana eae PTTL EA TTT am
oo fay > arta
Answers somewhere inthisissue. —...... Joe KF9LQ
6
MARCH 2002
Calling the Lonely Guys
By Peter Costa, WIZZZ March 8, 2002 Seeing ourselves as others see us can be a humbling experience. Describing our ham activities as others may view them is equally difficult. But if you did, would this club's charter sound the least bit familiar?
Some Amateur Radio operators participate in contests, design exotic circuits, handle emergency traffic, work DX, run QRP or pound brass. But many hams don't do any of these things. They are just plain Lonely Guys looking to talk to other Lonely Guys. After more than 100 weeks of meeting every Saturday moming at 8 Eastern Time on 3890 kHz, The Lonely Guys Amplitude Modulation Net can confirm there is definitely a need for an RF hangout where everyone knows your name.
lonelyguys-Irg.jpglonelyguys- The Lonely Guys AM Net boasts more than 90 certified Irg.ipg members. More than twice that number listen to the net
Lonely Guys attended the Marlboro, every Saturday morning. Lonely Guys live anywhere Massachusetts, flea market in from Maine to Michigan to Maryland and are from 28-86 : ra peek ae Bake ai an years old. There is even one female Lonely Guy. Steve Cloutier, WA1QIX; Peter. | - What makes one a Lonely Guy? Being a Lonely Guy Costa, W1ZZZ; Bob Albo, K1KBW; doesn't necessarily mean that one lives alone in the Rich Leverone, K1ETP; and, George wilderness--although several net members actually do. Cogswell, W1UAX. [Photos bythe = Many Lonely Guys are married or have girlfriends or author “significant others" and live and work in the heart of Manhattan or Baltimore or Boston--surrounded by millions of people. Nevertheless they all seem to exhibit classic signs of Lonely Guy behavior--excessive--almost compulsive--listening to 75-meter AM activity, talking into the small hours of the morning to other Lonely Guys whom they see at most twice a year at a hamfest or whom they never see, and working with a jeweler's skill and a mad scientist's intensity restoring rigs that reflect their childhoods. They all try to recapture times past when they sat in tube-lit shacks listening to their dad's friends, their uncle's buddies, or their Elmer's colleagues tossing signals into a forest of heterodynes. Lonely Guys talk about many things--from aviation to rock 'n roll, from baseball to philosophy, from push-pull amplifiers to pushy relatives. But primarily, Lonely Guys are Amateur Radio operators who spend Saturday mornings alonc in their shacks talking to other Lonely Guys. Net control poses a suggested topic for discussion each week, and these topics have included proposed ARRL band plans, modulation circuits, antennas, and non-electronics subjects, such as aviation, sports, ham etiquette, loneliness, relationships, current events, and philosophy.
A recent topic was 10 Ways to Know if You Are a Lonely Guy:
e You have more than three volt-ohmmeters in your shack. b-Irg.ipgb-irg.jpg ¢ You can name all the original cast members of Star Trek and ste rains mimic their accents. WAIGIN tecewad 4 : 3 Certificate of ¢ You arrive at a hamfest more than 24 hours before it opens. Appreciation for his ¢ You try to engage female toll collectors in conversation. work helping Lonely ¢ You still read all the classified ads in OST. Guys design and Yy. : than two fi : ti build high-power e¢ You monitor more than Wo frequencies at a time. solid state AM e You know the voltage ratings of all the capacitors at your local transmitters.
RadioShack store. ¢ You listen to The Lonely Guys Net each week but have never officially checked in. ¢ You say, "I don't really qualify as a Lonely Guy." (This is a dead giveaway--the first symptom of Lonely Guy-ness is denial.) ¢ The longest you have ever gone without being on the air or monitoring radio transmissions was ... So, if you are looking for a group to talk with about almost anything, join the Lonely Guys on Saturday momings. ARRL member Peter Costa, W1ZZZ, of Wellesley, Massachusetts, is the founder of The Lonely Guys Net and often serves as net control. He's been active on the HF bands since 1976. Costa works primarily AM using highly modified, vintage, tube-type equipment. His favorite rigs are the Collins 32V2 and the companion 75A2 receiver. His wife, Sara, is NIXXY. The recently launched Lonely Guys Web site - lists Lonely Guy members, news and commentary articles, and Saturday morning dis
Reprinted from the ARRL Website: http://www.arrl.org
VISIT THE MID-STATE AMATEUR RADIO CLUB WEBSITE http://www.midstatehams.org
Indiana QSO Party May 4, 2002
Sponsored by Hoosier DX and Contest Club Information on HDXCC homepage