Dear Fellow Hams,
     We are getting through winter with relative ease so far. No bad ice storms, not much snow, and not many below zero days. Did you hear the WAGM announcer say if you wanted to avoid snowmobile traffic, stay out of the St. John Valley? Our two -and-a- half feet of snow is the best in the state. Those who make money from snowmobilers must be very happy. 
     My HF experiences have been interesting. The 80-meter dipole seems to perform best on 20-meters. I made contact with a very patient ON4ANT in Belgium on Jan. 24. We were able to exchange quite a bit of information. One afternoon a gentleman from Barbados was making contacts for well over two hours and I never did get through to him. KC1SE did! 
      Between  13:00 and 15:00 Mon.-Sat., the IMRA traffic net is on 14.280 (International Mission Radio Association). This is a non-denominational traffic net. Net control swings his beam north, south, east and west. Wherever he can't reach there is usually a relay that can get to net control. Or sometimes there are net controls in different areas of the country that rotate through the net. I have been checking in for a couple of weeks now and seem to be the only one from northern Maine. Contacts come from Africa, Wales, Argentina, Canada, and many states. The check-ins are monks, nuns, ministers, missionaries, and ordinary people like me.
 

73/ N1UYA Gale
 

     Plans for the Can-Am Crown Sled Dog Races are going well. There is a record number of teams signed up for the 250 race already -- 18 teams as of Feb. 10. If registrations follow those of previous years, more teams can be expected to sign up. Of course, weather is a concern because of the unusual warmth. Also, sometimes teams cancel because of sick dogs.

       WA1YNZ mentioned he had cut a 16' pole in his woods to use for putting up an antenna at Portage. He and KA1CQX will be the operators at Portage. 

Called to Order: 18:59 EST by N1UYA.

In Attendance: N1WRV, N1FRX,N1UYA, N1CHF, N1CGV, KW1C, N1JHD, N1QMC, N1ZBY, N1PMS, WA1YNZ, W1BTP, N8VJM, N1QWT.

Secretary's Minutes: motion to dispense with reading of minutes by KW1C, second by N1PMS, passed.

Treasurer's Report (N1CHF): previous balance reported as $255.45 at last meeting; +$.50 (interest); $255.95 (current balance).  Motion to accept by N1PMS, second by N1QMC, passed.

Old Business: Rocky Mountain report by N1CHF: The repeater is working and the batteries are well charged. Today the batteries were at 13.71 volts. There was a discussion of factors affecting range and area of coverage.  The manual and crystals for the new radio have arrived and work is proceeding.

KW1C reiterated his discussion with AA1CN that he (AA1CN) would be willing to participate in the school project only if there was adequate equipment available.  W1BTB will look into surplus equipment at W1TCF's QTH.

KW1C stated that there have been no developments to report on field day 1999.

N8VJM reported that all is going well with preparations for the race.  N1CGV reported that operators were signing up for times.

KW1C will be checking on a room at the hospital for amateur radio licensing classes.
 

Thanks to Plourde and Soucy and Northland Frozen Foods for printing of July and August newsletters.

The harvest supper at Lakeview was discussed. Invitation to AARA and MARC will be sent.

New Business: N1QMC suggested that we have the archives of the club minutes and bylaws available on computer.

Further discussion of replacing the equipment for .64 was held.  W1TCF will be contacted about particulars concerning the Pinkham radios.

Next meeting will be MON 1 MAR 99 1830 EST at UMFK, Daigle Conference Room. 

Adjourned @ 2025 EST by N1UYA with no objection from the floor.

Programs: N1WRV (Scott Pinette) gave a talk about ARES and discussed our preparedness for a disaster.  N1QWT (Alan Susee) spoke on behalf of UMFK's Y2K Committee to ask if we would be willing to participate in  forming a communications preparedness plan and provide communications in the event of a Y2K related disaster.  KW1C made a motion that we provide primary and secondary communications, N1FRX seconded.  Motion passed. Secretary's note: While the "Programs" section of the minutes is in the traditional place, the actual time of occurrence was just prior to "New Business".

Submitted by N8VJM, secretary.
 

February

28   Very Good EME Conditions

Mona Doucette    3-15

Sandra Daigle      3-20
 

     K6STI is a ham whose income came from designing ham radio software and selling it. Recently he wrote a RTTY Radio Teletype Program.  He sent a demo version to an overseas ham who broke the copy protection and posted the program on the Internet.
      K6STI is so disgusted and bitter that he has quit the ham radio software business. He has no idea what he is going to do. Software was his main source of income. He will still sell the RTTY program if anyone else wants to buy it. But he will do no more designing and offers no technical support.
       So, a ham who thought he was being helpful to other hams, ruined one ham's life. A lot of work goes into programming, and people should be willing to pay for it. 

      CQ/VHF often has articles about 6-meter contacts. Six-meters is referred to as the Magic Band. When propagation conditions line up in a certain way, DX contacts of several thousand miles can be made. The Feb.99 CQ/VHF has an article called Mix 'n Match Propagation. WB2AMU attempts to explain the unusual contacts of New York to Argentina in Nov. 1991; Australia to Northeast U.S. in Oct.1991; and Florida to Australia, 1992. 

Heavy duty 40' galvanized steel tower, 16" x 16" x 16". Includes mounting hardware. Best Offer.

Pair of stacked 7-element beams for 10 meters. Best Offer.

Heil BM-10 microphone boom set   $35.

MFJ 451X  keyer  $35

Contact Charles Zafonte N1FRX  834-6273

Here are more questions asked of witnesses by attorneys during trials.

Q "Can you describe the individual?"
A. "He was about medium height and had a beard".
Q. "Was this a male or a female?"

Q." How was your first marriage terminated?"
A. "By death."
Q. "And by whose death was it terminated?"