| Short
Circuits P.O. Box 73 Titusville, FL 32781 |
TARC
Newsletter
May, 2006 Club Station Call K4KSC |
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Club Officers
Bud Hughes, K4CWG 269-2796 k4cwgbud@cfl.rr.com Ozzie Osband, N4SCY 321-Liftoff (543-8633) n4scy@amsat. org Becky Lee, KF4HTB 267-9375 beverly@peoplepc.com Cathy Johnson KI4GMF 268-2107 alncat007@netzero.net Pike Abell, W4EPU 269-4208 pikeatal@digital.net Jose` Ramos, KC4VIO 267-5892 kc4vio@yahoo.com Gary Johnson W4RBI 271-4500 GaryJay990@aol.com Bob Farrington, W4YBI 633-5664 bobandlinda3@juno.com Mic Woltman, KI4CFA 632-4601 Warren Murray, W4CEL pager - 638-5476 Mike Hensley, W4LOV 639-1553 Ken Denman, KD4HNW 269-5711 Meetings: 4th Tuesday of each month at 7 PM "Eating Meeting" Every Thursday 5:30 to at the Titusville Public Library 2121 S. Hopkins 6:30PM at a local restaurant. Talk-in 146.91 Ave. Next: May 23th or call Sherry KU4ZO at 279-2796. The President's Corner By Bud Hughes K4CWG Hey gang Jamie W9QY, his bride Kristina KB3FYE and their 2-year-old son Owen
just moved into their new home in the Imperial Estate subdivision. Would you believe that even before the furniture was unpacked Jamie had already had his
four sections of Rhone tower delivered and has staked out the exact location of where in his
back yard he plans to erect said tower. Let us hope Jamie has the blessing of Kristina in this
endeavor. We all wish Jamie and Kristina the very best. On Saturday May 6th from 9:00PM until 3:00PM Boy Scouts Troops from throughout the
county assembled at Whickham Park in Melbourne. Each Troop presented to the public
their most interesting assortment of Boy Scout Projects. The theme of Troop 497 of Port St John was very similar to last year's presentation and
introductory lesson in Morse code. Included in this hands-on operation of Morse code
sending devices each and every attendee had the opportunity to show his or her skills in the
operation the straight key, keyers, paddles and code oscillators. The Port St John Troop had
a steady flow of young scouts, their parents, grand parents and friends to attend the classes
and many exhibited surprising skills in sending Morse code. Since CW is my choice mode
you can bet I was on cloud 9. My thanks to Mic KI4CFA for letting me be a part of this
wonderful event. I hope all members are getting their portable gear all greased up and ready for the 2006 Field
Day event. As the club voted at the April meeting, we have reserved Fox Lake Park
Pavilion # 2 for the day on June 24th. Just as important are your picnic plans. It's a TARC
tradition to spread a wonderful table for all Field Day and you are invited. Following the club meeting May 23rd Sherry and I hope to hook our camp trailer behind our
pick-up and head for Cheaha Mountain in N.E. Alabama. The last week in MAY (Memorial
Day) brings on the Hughes' family reunion. For the clan that I belong to this is the
opportunity for me to re-establish the rights of being known as the most handsome "Hughes
of the hills." By the way, this feat never made the upscale mainstream headlines as appears
in the hollow.. Hope to see you at the TARC meeting May 23rd. Bring a friend Best wishes and 73s, Bud K4CWG Abell's Anecdotes by Pike Abell W4EPU THE BIGGEST OF THE BIG - SOME MIND BOGGLING FIGURES We earthlings are situated 92 million miles from the sun. Light travels at 186 thousand miles/second. At that
rate of speed, it takes light about 8 1/2 minutes to travel from sun to earth. Therefore, measured in "light
distance", the sun and earth are about 8 1/2 light minutes apart. That is a relatively short distance compared
to the diameter of our own solar system which is one light hour. Our solar system is a fly speck compared to
the 100,000 light YEARS diameter of our own galaxy. Going a step further, the diameter of our galaxy is a pin point compared to our universe - I don't know what
the diameter of our universe is but it is said that, as observed by Hubble telescope, the furthest away know
object is a galaxy located 13 billion light years from earth. Without boring you with the math, that is 76
septillion miles away. (Oh, what the heck -- 76,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles, or, 76 times 10 to the
21st power.) However, that galaxy is seen as it was 13 billion years ago. Who knows what is happening there
right now? Taking it to the next level - according to the Big Bang Theory, the universe is expanding like an inflating
balloon. Some speculate that it may eventually cease to expand and collapse upon itself, like a deflating
balloon. Others have it that it will forever expand. In order to do that, there must be infinite space into which
it will expand. If there is infinite space beyond our universe, who is to say that there are not other universes out there? In
infinite space, there is room for an infinite number of universes. In the event that there are others, some of
which may also be expanding, in a few trillion or so years they may all collide and intermix, creating a
colossal mess. Now that I have gone far beyond my very limited comprehension, by getting into something of which my
knowledge is extremely limited, perhaps it is best that I bail out here and simply say - 73s es 88s. Pike
W4EPU New Repeater on 145.25 Coming Soon The 2 meter Repeater, controller and cavities are on site at The Great Outdoors and preliminary testing
went well. We've installed a new 2 band stick (7 db gain) and have received good reports, however testing
and SWR readings still remain to be taken. We've ordered some additional cables to facilitate locating the
cavities in the garage out of the way. With the fire threat over the weekend at TGO we had to take the new repeater down and put our base
unit back in service to coordinate the "voluntary" evacuation orders on multiple days. Plans are to reinstall
the repeater and continue testing. We know we have an issue with the first Tx cavity, so there will
definitely be some ups and downs. We will send out an e-mail notifying TARC Amateurs of the initial
testing times. Please note the repeater RF is 145.250, is completely open, has the courtesy tone activated. All licensed
hams are encouraged to make use of this community service. This pair is FRC and ARRL coordinated RF.
The assistance in obtain this coordination is due to the outstanding support of many members of TARAC
and is greatly appreciated! EasyLyle KI4MYT 444.15 Will Be Back On the Air Soon! Club member Rob McKiness KI4DYJ has taken it upon himself to reactivate the 444.15 repeater which has
been off the air or operating on extremely low power for several years. Rob discovered and purchased a repeater and all the accessories from an individual in Miami. Now the job is
underway to have the machine set to the proper frequency pair and to tune the antenna cavities for optimum
operation. Two of the club's most talented repeater experts have volunteered to help with the job. John
K1KSC already has waved his magic wand over the cavities and Mic KI4CFA will tackle the job of getting
the repeater on the proper frequency. Titusville Amateur Radio Club PO Box 73 Titusville, FL 32781-0073 TREASURER'S REPORT Beginning Bal. 1/1/06 $4,173.31 Deposits 2006 $2,542.00 Total Income $5,715.31 YTD Expenses -$2,118.92 Balance as at 5/10/06 $4,596.39 April Meeting Minutes by Cathy Johnson KI4GMF The members enjoyed a special video presentation prepared by Jose` KC4VIO and Carole KC4VIN. The
program reviewed the special event celebrating the anniversary of the first NASA shuttle flight. After the
show, Carl AA4MI presented certificates to all of the club members who operated the special event station
N4S. Also before and during the meeting several club members received their ARES (Amateur Radio
Emergency Service) badges. The club voted to hold this year's Field Day June 24th at Fox Lake Park The meeting closed with a moving ceremony to remember three silent Keys - John KE4ZPA, Tom KC4RUF
and Gene W8OFR. HELP A HAM..... Clarence Bauer KV4BY has a Kenwood TM-701A 2 meter transceiver, but he does not have
a manual for it. If you have a manual you'd be willing to allow Clarence to copy, he
certainly would appreciate it. His number is 321-271-4645. Next Meeting is May 23rd, 7 PM at the Titusville Public Library
President
Vice President
Treasurer
Secretary
Board Member
Board Member
Board Member
Board Member
146.91 Repeater Trustee
146.97 Repeater Trustee
444.15 Repeater Trustee
147.775 Repeater Trustee