Circuits
January, 2005
| Short
Circuits |
TARC
Newsletter
January, 2005 |
|
Club Officers
Bud Hughes, K4CWG 629-2796 k4cwg@cfl.rr.com Jose` Ramos, KC4VIO 267-5892 kc4vio@yahoo.com Becky Lee, KF4HTB 267-9375 lees@titusvillearc.org Titusville, FL
32781-0073 Pike Abell, W4EPU 269-4208 pikeatal@digital.net John Renninger, KE4ZPA 267-9431 ke4zpa@gnc.net Mic Woltman, KI4CFA 632-4601 mjwoltman@mindspring.
com Bob Farrington, W4YBI 633-5664 bobandlinda3@juno.com Les Griner, K4SJC 267-1565 Warren Murray, W4CEL pager - 638-5476 Mike Hensley, W4LOV 639-1553 Ken Denman, KD4HNW 269-5711 January meeting on WEDNESDAY the 26th!!!!!! TARC will abandon our traditional Tuesday evening meeting time this month
only because of a conflict over our meeting room. All members are urged
to mark their calendars for 7 PM, Wednesday January 26th. We'll be
gathering at the Titusville Public Library at 2121 South Hopkins Avenue. There's a really good map to the library location on our website www.titusvillearc.org. The President's Page by Bud Hughes K4CWG There were several events that took place at our club's Xmas party on December
10th. Each year we select and vote on the person we believe to be worthy to hold the
prestigious title of "Ham of The Year". The year 2004 provided a bumper crop of
opportunities for the Ham of the year to stand up and be counted. We had more than
our fair share of storms causing wide spread damage and suffering to so many of our
citizens. During each of the storms many of our club numbers including the "Ham of
The Year" left their home and spent full time in evacuation centers, shelters,
hospitals, fire stations, and churches. Duties include providing communications to The President's Page Con't and from EOC as well as any other services needed within the facility. After the
storms the same volunteers donated their time assisting in the distribution of food,
water, and other necessities as needed by the affected storm survivors. We were
blessed to have such a great team serving during those trying times and are grateful
to have you on our team Bob Farrington W4YBI was awarded the distinguished honor of "Ham of The
Year". Our thanks and congratulations go to this gentleman who worked so hard for
our community. Bob's efforts mirror the true spirit of Ham Radio. Gary Johnson W4RBI won the "Soap-On-The Rope" trophy hands down. Some-what strange is the criteria for winning this award seemed to have been based on
who could tell the biggest and most convincing falsehood. The Soap-On-The Rope
has nothing to do with the fact that as a youngster every time I told a lie (only when
I was caught) I got my mouth washed out with soap. The biggest hit of the evening
was an audio-visual presentation by Carole Ramos KC4VIN. "The Ballad of Jake
McClusky" starred members of the Titusville Amateur Radio Club in roles you
never imagined. Our thanks to Carole for the many months of hard work she put
into the show. It was so good we had to play it twice! Hope to see all of you at the Orlando Hamfest February 11,12 and 13. For members
who have ham gear for sale, TARC has purchased two swap tables. Also the club
has advance tickets @ $8.00 each ($2.00 less than at the gate). If you wish to purchase an advance ticket contact Sherry at 269-2796. Best to all, Bud K4CWG Abell's Anecdotes by Pike Abell W4EPU Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous year, Looking back for a moment - Many
things happened in 2004, some tragic, some good and some downright disastrous. All
are well document by the news media. That is, except one. A new Morse code
character was created. Around the year 1837 Samual Morse figured out that taking two electromagnets with
sounder mechanisms attached, connecting them with a pair of wires and causing
electric current to flow though the coils, when the electric current was interrupted the
sounders would make a clicking noise. He also figured out that if the current
interruptions were in some systematic manner it could actually carry intelligent
information. With that in mind he developed the, what eventually became known as the
International Morse code. It is used by cw operators to this day. Not since the WW-II
era has there been any characters added. That is, not until the year 2004. Abell's Anecdotes con't OKAY, I'LL GET TO THE POINT! There is a particular character used in the English
language that goes by a number of different names. It's been called a mercantile
symbol, an arobase, a vortex, a whorl, a snail, a schnable and a cabbage, but most
people simply call it the "at" sign. It's the little "a" with the circle: @.. The @ occupies a very important place in today's society because it is used in
everyone's email address. CW operators have occasion to send e-mail addresses to
each other. Until the creation of this new character, there was no way to correctly sent
the "at" sign. The International Telecommunications Union, who has jurisdiction over such matters,
has created a Morse code character for the @. They have chosen "ac", an "a" and a
"c" run together. (The underline denotes that the two letters are sent as one character.)
In cw that's dit-dah-dah-dit-dah-dit. It is fitting that they chose those two letters. You
see, if you look closely the circle around the "a" is not a complete circle. It is more like a
"c". Therefore, "ac" is a very appropriate characterization of the @. In closing, isn't it amazing what useful, as well as useless, information one can get
simply by reading Abell's Anecdotes? Only you know which applies to you here. HEY,
"Trivial Pursuit" may make a big comeback one of these days! Bill Eppley is honored by ARRL
The ARRL has presented Bill
Eppley W2SDB with a special
certificate noting his 60 years of
membership in the organization.
Of course, we know Bill as the guy
who plays the harmonica at the
opening of our monthly meeting.
That's just a fraction of his busy
schedule. 90 year old Eppley
plays regularly at Publix Stores on
Merritt Island in order to raise
money for his faviroite charity, The
Children's Wish Foundation. Last
year his tuneful appearances
brought in more than $10,000. We
are very proud to count Bill as a
member of TARC. Youth Net There's a brand new net on the 147.135 repeater. At 7:30 each Saturday
evening young hams are urged to participate in the Youth Net. Senior operators are
welcomed to check in as well, but the net is designed for an run by our growing group
of licensed hams still enrolled in the public schools. We've been impressed how much
these young operators helped during the hurricanes. Let's wish them well. "Thank you" from the City of Titusville Silent Key Equipment In November President Bud Hughes named a new committee to handle family requests
to dispose of Silent Key equipment. The panel is headed by Pike Abell. Already it has
gathered items from two silent shacks which are available to members of TARC and will
be offered at the Orlando Ham Fest. Here is a list. Anything interest you? Don Klein KC3RQ Bill Karr W9IOS TEN-TEC Omni Six HF Transceiver Yaesu FT-575GX HF Transceiver power supply and accessories power supply and accessories Heathkit SB-200 Aplifier Yaesu FT-2500M 2 Meter Radio Heathkit SB-610 Monitor Yaesu FT-890 HF Xcvr w/mike ICOM 3210A 2 Meter Transceiver Radio Shack HTX 242 2 Meter MFJ Model 464 CW Reader HK-5A CW Keyer MFJ 1278 Multimode Data Controller 4 position antenna switch Bird 4300-400 Watt Meter (2 Slugs) Unidilla W2AU Lightning Arrester Radio Shack DX 394 HF Receiver CM-200 2 Meter SWR Meter Two 811A Vacuum Tubes Royal SW-40 SWR Meter This is just a partial list. We'll have a complete one at the next club meeting. There
has been a lot of chatter about these items on two meters in recent days and several
members have expressed interest in individual items. If you want to make an offer,
please call Bud at 269-2796. BEARS TAILGATE JANUARY 29TH The Brevard Emergency Amateur Radio Service (BEARS) will be hosting a tailgate sale
from 8 AM until Noon on Saturday, January 29th at the Florida Solar Energy Center at
the corner of Clear Lake and Michigan in Cocoa. The cost is $5.00 if you want to sell
from your tailgate, free if you come to buy. Parking is available next door at the Cocoa
campus of Brevard Community College. Everybody is invited! Secretary-Treasurer's Report By Becky Lee KF4HTB Treasurers report Beginning Balance $2101.09 Deposits 4560.50 Total Income 6661.59 Expenditures 4089.93 Bal 12/31/04 2571.66 January Birthdays 1/5 KG4VFF CHRIS SIMPSON 1/6 KI4GMB JAMES DEAN 1/6 KG4RFT CHARLES DAILY 1/7 KC2ENO ART SMITH 1/8 WW4G BRIAN VAN ALSTINE 1/18 W4MYD DONALD NELSON 1/19 KI4GMC ROB DESANTI 1/20 KG4KVO ED WIRTH 1/21 KE4MFX KAY JORDON 1/23 KD4GPF JOE MYERS 1/23 KC4VIN CAROL RAMOS 1/26 NT0Y KENNETH FARIA 1/26 K4SJC LES GRINER 1/26 W8VTB VIRGIL BIRCHFIELD DECEMBER MINUTES Our Christmas party was held on Dec. 5 at Claudine's. It was one of the best ever.
Clara KE4YQL did her usual good job, and the program was fun. The food was
good, and a good time was had by all. NEW MEMBERS (STUDENTS FROM ASTRONAUT CLASS) KI4FGH PATRICK CANFIELD KI4HVA NAOMI FARACE Membership Total - 171 KI4HVB BEN MARPLE 106 Regular KI4HVC JOSH MOORE 35 Family KI4HVD GEORGE MURPHY III 6 Honorary KI4HVE WILLIAM POWELL III 1 Other KI4HVF JOSH ULBRIK 23 Students Titusville Amateur Radio Club P. O. Box 73 FIRST CLASS MAIL Titusville, FL 32781-0073 Come to the January meeting on WEDNESDAY January 26th at the Titusville Library 2121 South Hopkins Avenue Talk-in Frequency 146.91
President
Vice President
Secretary-Treasurer
PO Box 73
Board Member
Board Member
Board Member
Board Member
146.91 Repeater Trustee
146.97 Repeater Trustee
444.15 Repeater Trustee
147.775 Repeater Trustee
73s es 88s. Pike
More than a dozen members of the Titusville
Amateur Radio Club were on hand Jan. 11th
when the club was honored by the Mayor and City
Council for their hard work during the 2004
hurricanes. One official described the storms
as a "city under seige." The club delegation
included Les Griner K4SJC, the oldest member to work as a shelter communicator, and
Taylor Woltman KI4GMJ, who at age 10 was the youngest.