F  E  E  D  -  P  O  I  N  T

The snow is going, but as usual it lingers on the north side of our hill. The ice is off the driveway, so we can drive to the house now. The big vernal pool is free of ice except for a couple of floating chunks. On April 19th some backswimmers (aquatic insects) were swimming around last year's cattail stalks in the noonday sun. Coltsfoot's bright yellow flowers pepped up the drab bank at the north end of the pool.

After three years of use, the twelve deep-cycle batteries for our house electricity would no longer hold a charge for any period of time. We needed to replace them and are doing so today (April 20th). KA1HOP says the twelve deep-cycle batteries used for the Seven Islands repeater are replaced every seven years. I wonder if seven years is what we can expect from the club's repeater batteries. Looking back, I think the Rocky Mountain batteries had to be replaced after five years. They did run dry one of those years, which may have shortened their life. The last battery replacement on Rocky Mountain was Nov. 22, 2003. We replaced the batteries for 146.640 in February of 2004.

One hundred years ago, voice over radio was first tried. The New York Times, Dec. 17, 1906, wrote: "There is something almost terrifying in the news from Germany that attempts at telephoning without wires have already attained such a success that a scientist as eminent and sober-minded as Prof. Slaby, well known for his experiments in wireless telegraphy, announces the approach of the time when a man will be able to speak without any connecting wire to a friend in any part of the world.... wireless telephony will not be a thing of tomorrow or next day.....Most of us will be gray-headed before anyone rings us up from China." One week later, on Christmas Eve, Canadian Reginald Fessenden made the first voice broadcast. Earlier voice attempts in 1900 were unintelligible, but Fessenden and his assistant Thiessen kept making improvements. By December 24th, 1906, they were able to transmit a nice Christmas program. Starting with "CQ, CQ". North Atlantic radio operators heard voice and music coming over their radios.

New Business:

1. Maine Emergency Frequencies: Everyone was given the new Emergency Frequencies list. Copies for the absent members are being held for the next meeting.

2. Weather Spotting Training May 2: Members should attend this session. New information and protocol to be presented. Grindle Conference Room, Cyr Hall, UMFK. Try to be early so the NWS can start at 6:00 PM. Spread the word. The public is invited.

3. Helpful Links: N1FG handed out copies of a list of helpful internet links for clubs. List was sent by W3IZ from the ARRL. Copies being held for absent members.

4.Other: N1EVO mentioned a very helpful web site on antennas. W4RNL antenna site. Type LBcebik into Google search. It has many W4RNL links.

Microphone Cleaning: N1EVO cleaned N1FG's sticking Yaesu Microphone. He took the back off. Then sprayed all lightly with windex and used a toothbrush to brush it gently. Thanks, Carl.

Program: Short video on The French Riviera. Scary rock climbing, gliding, and sail gliding behind a boat, which looked like fun. While we were still in winter, it was nice to see a milder climate with people in shorts. How do they rock climb in shorts without getting scratched? N1EVO and N1FG ordered pizza. No one else was hungry!

Adjourned: 19:30

Submitted by N1QMC

Hams "continued to be at the forefront of developing technologies years in advance of when they were rolled out to the public. FM, television, and even cellular telephones were all used by amateur radio operators many years ahead of the public."

The ARRL has launched the most ambitious public relations campaign on behalf of Amatuer Radio that has been done in many years. The program is called "Hello"...Celebrating 100 Years of Voice Over Radio Worldwide. It is to give the public a positive, friendly face for Amateur Radio, to provide basic information and to interest non-hams in exploring Amateur Radio, and to utilize the convergence of 100 years of voice over the air with expected license restructuring.

Hello is one of the most positive, emotionally linked words in any language to indicate friendliness. The ARRL would like the clubs to organize an open house with the theme of "100 years of Voice Over Radio". Our members would demonstrate their own particular passions, vintage radio, CW, satellite, emergency preparedness, or whatever your favorite aspect of ham radio is. There are suggestions for how to organize such an event in the April QST (see "Hello" on page 9). We should talk about this at our next meeting, or at the June meeting. Maybe we could combine such an open house with our annual picnic!