FEED-POINT

The Official Newsletter of the Saint John Valley Amateur Radio Association

July 2004                                                                                                                                   Vol. 14 No. 6

 

Letter From Our President

Dear Fellow Ham     
Every summer is different. We had an awful lot of rain between July 19th and August 21st  in 2003 (9.44"), and it did not seem to cause the trouble this year's July rain has caused.  The cold for so long, the strong winds, and now the over abundance of rain, have caused numerous garden failures in the area.
   
Up at the .64 tower site, the ground does not look nearly as bare as it did. Low vegetation is creeping in. Next year year we may want to brush cut it if we want to keep it reasonably clear.

The £60 British was given to KW1C to exchange at the Key Bank, where he has an account. He has said he will take care of the $10 transaction fee for the exchange of British Notes to American Dollars. It should amount to about $100. Thanks, KW1C,  for your help. I had no idea such an exchange would be so difficult when I was asked by the donator, G0LDK, if it could be done.

The Pioneer people have been out to check out the situation here again this week. This was in response to Stan saying he will run a wire from our power up the mountain to the site. The Pioneer people just could not get a good solution to solar power for their equipment. 

We are paying for the wire, and Pioneer will pay for the rental of a trencher to bury it. Stan has located the path it will take and will have to cut some trees.

We are awaiting a diagram with specifications for their set up for N1CHF to check over. We can discuss this at the August meeting.

Nobody has responded to the request to check the Rocky Mountain Batteries. We really need help. Also, there are downed  trees to cut. PLEASE, someone respond.

 Club Picnic: Bring food to share. Please tell me what so we can be a bit coordinated.  See box below for date and time.
 
Address comments, questions or suggestions to:
Gale Flagg, 108 Franklin School Rd.
Fort Kent,  ME 04743
Phone: 207-834-6670, email: galeflagg@sjv.net

Next Meeting: Sunday August 15th, Rain Date August 22, Cross Lake Picnic Area 11:00 AM 


 

Schedule of Coming Events

Date Event Place Contact Sponsor Local Time Frequency
Sunday Net NB VE1PIN IRG 20:00 145.13
Monday Net Fort Kent N1FG SJVARA 19:00 146.64
Monday Net Presque Isle WA1YNZ AARA 20:00 146.73
 



      

Page 2                                    Feed-Point, July, 2004
 

Report of July 13th  2004 Meeting

Called to Order: 14:10 hrs.
In Attendance:  N1FG, N1PMS

No Quorum - Agenda follows:

Secretary's Minutes:

Treasurer's Report: June Balance $801.07   + Interest $.70 = July Balance  $801.77

Old Business:
1. Rocky Mountain Report: 13.85 volts at 10:29 July 13th. Has anyone noticed any problems with Rocky Mt? Water needs to be added to the batteries. Trail needs chain saw work.

2. 146.64 Report: 12.75 volts at 10:29 July 13th. Damp Aid replaced.  Repeater building is 4 layers high  (will be ten layers). We will be needing  2" X 4"  pressure treated wood for above the door of the building up to the roof. Also 2" X 4" lumber for roof support and plywood and metal roofing for roof, and a door. If anyone has any amount of such material lying around that we can use or would like to donate any of it, it would be greatly appreciated,  or donations to buy those materials.

3. Other???

 New Business:

1. Shall We Plan a Picnic?

2. Loon Echo Bike Trek in Bridgton September 25th. Looking for hams to help.

3. G0LDK Donation: George has donated £60 British in appreciation for the 146.640 repeater and the EchoLink maintained by N7GLR.

4. Other??

Program: Static Diffuser - How to Build One
A static diffuser is meant to disperse static to prevent a build up that would attract a lightning bolt.   Suggested by EchoLink contact W3TGG. 

N1PMS and N1FG cut 160  pieces (10" long) of 19 gauge stainless steel wire at an angle for sharp points. N1FG held the wire and N1PMS applied the cutters.  We stopped at that point thinking the rest of you would like to help put it together.  (See page 3 for more information).
 Submitted by:  N1FG

Congratulations to Jennifer Boomhower, N1ZLA,  and Nathaniel BaRoss on their marriage, July 31. A lifetime of happiness to them.
 
 
 
In Case You Are Interested
 
Meteor Showers: Delta Aquarid: Max. July 30 Predawn, Origin in the South,  10 per hour

Perseid: Aug.11-13, Predawn, Origin NE,
75 per hour

 
       
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO:
 
Henry Nutting 8-1;
Gil Bourgoin 8-19
Cheryl Boomhower 8-26
Claudette Bougoin 8-31
                         






 

 
Page 3                                           Feed-Point, July,  2004
 
Static Diffuser
Static diffusers are used on commercial T-V towers, boats, buildings, etc.  Some towers that have been struck many times were outfitted with static diffusers and have not had a lightning hit since. A static diffuser is something like a stainless steel bottle brush mounted  and grounded.

Stainless steel brushes are quite expensive. W3TGG found the directions for making a static diffuser in a ham radio magazine. I have copied the instructions he sent me via e-mail and have copies for anyone who wants one. I expected to give them out at the July meeting.

The web site http://www.Ipsnet.com/marine/shtml explains the workings of static diffusers. I have copied a passage from the technology of Lightning Protection. It follows.
 
Ionic emission is nature's way of neutralizing a highly charged area, be it a cloud, an object, or the ground surface area. In order for nature
to neutralize a highly charged area (lightning) there has to be three conditions present:
 
1) a generally negatively charged thunder cloud,

2) a generally positively charged surface underneath it, and

3) a path between the two charges.

 The lightning rod, which uses the point discharge (corona effect) to attract the stepped leader of a thunder cloud, is constantly dissipating ions into the atmosphere. By multiplying the number of discharge points thousand of times, a static dissipater was developed to gather the static build up or electrical charge on an object and rapidly dissipate the charge into the atmosphere. The wind and circulation of air particles typically blow these accumulated ions into the atmosphere thereby neutralizing the charge of the object. On a continuous operational basis, the ground charge never reaches a high enough value to be attractive to a lightning strike.
 
 
 

For Sale

Heavy duty 40' galvanized steel tower, 16" x 16" x 16".

Includes mounting hardware. Best Offer - N1FRX
 

A Bit of Humor

Bloopers  from newspapers collected by Richard Lederer:
* Anchorage: The state board of fisheries is considering whether to impose seasonal catch limits on tourists. * In the head on collision of the two passenger cars, five people were killed in the crash, two seriously. * Nine presidential candidates exposed themselves in Washington D.C., before Democratic governors. 

 

 

Page 4        Feed-Point  2003

 

FEED-POINT: Published by the St. John Valley Amateur Radio Association and distributed free to members and friends of Amateur Radio.
Officers:
President: Gale Flagg, N1FG
Vice President: Sandra Daigle, N1QMC
Secretary: Rotating
Treasurer: Steve Boomhower, N1CHF
Public Information: Charles Ames, N7GLR
Technical Advisor: Steve Boomhower, N1CHF
Editor/Publisher/Printer: Gale  Flagg - N1FG / Stan Flagg   834-6670 
Associate Editor/Web Edition: Steve Boomhower, N1CHF 
Membership Information (Annual Dues): Regular Membership  $ 12 Associate Membership  $ 6
Articles:
Articles may be submitted by anyone with a good idea, and may be re-printed only in their entirety and with credit going to this newsletter. 

 

FEED-POINT
108 FRANKLIN SCHOOL RD.
FORT KENT, ME  04743