F E E D - P O I N T
| June, 2007 | Vol. 17 No.6 |
|---|
Summer is about to be here officially. Black flies and deer flies are pestering us
and the two new dogs. The garden is almost all planted. Tomato plants in the
greenhouse are loaded with flowers. Young ravens are about to leave their nest.
On June 16th I spoke with Howard, WA1CFX, on 146.640. He was pleased to find someone on the repeater. He was up here from Boston to do some fishing. Did any one else get a chance to speak with him? The River Fest Canoe Races on June 16 were supported by N1EVO, W1TCP, and N1FG. It was a beautiful day. There were about 38 canoes and kyaks. KB1OWW chauffered N1EVO down the river in a motorized canoe. |
Steve Kercel's brief history on the Popham Colony at our June meeting was fascinating. In 1607 a group of English people landed to start a colony at Popham Beach. Popham was at the same latitude as the French Riviera, so they assumed the weather would be similar. When the Kennebec River froze over they were surprised. The sturdy people did an amazing amount of work with few tools. They built buildings for shelter and constructed the pinnace Virginia, all in six months. The Virginia was the start of the New England ship building tradition. Those of you who missed the meeting missed a very special presentation by a dedicated ham. It would be fun to be part of the Special Event to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Popham Colony. We are invited to do so. The call sign will be N1P. Gale Flagg 108 Franklin School Rd Fort Kent, Maine 04743 Phone: 207-834-6670 E-mail: galeflagg@sjv.net Next Meeting: Tuesday, July 10,6PM UMFK, Alumni Conference Room in Nadeau Hall |
| Schedule of Coming Events | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Place | Contact | Sponsor | Time | Freq |
| SUN | Net | NB | VE1PIN | IRG | 2000 | 145.130 |
| MON | Net | Fort Kent | N1FG | SJVARA | 1900 | 146.64 |
| MON | Net | Presque Isle | WA1YNZ | AARA | 2000 | 146.73 |
| Page 2 | Feed-Point, June, 2007 |
|---|
Start Time: 18:05 Members and guests present: N1FG; N7GLR; N1EVO; KA7VNR; WB1FTK; KA1SJV, WA1CXA, and guest speaker AA4AK. Secretary’s Minutes: N7GLR made the motion to accept the minutes as posted. Seconded by WB1FTK. All present voted in favor. Treasurer's Report:N1FRX
Old Business: 1. Rocky Mt.: 13.78 volts at 10:30 Hrs June 12th. Bill Cobb previously asked if we could supervise if he can get materials and labor. He asked for a list of repairs. N1FG said that she sent Bill Cobb an email this morning about the building repairs needed. Listed were the need for a new floor and painting the cabin. She also mentioned the fallen Rocky Mountain sign. 2. 146.64 Report: 13.78 volts at 10:30 Hrs June 12th. N1FG said that it sounds good. 3. Senior Class Canoe Trip: W1TCP, N1EVO, and N1FG handled it. N1FG said it was a beautiful day and everyone had a good time. 4. Other: None |
New Business: 1. Field Day: There is a category for everyone. Class D at home with commercial power. Class E at home with emergency power. Class A for three or more. Class B for one or two. Class C for mobile operators. Read the rules and have fun. The AARA group would be glad to have you join them at the UMPI campus set up. N1FG mentioned it has always been a good event. 2. Next Program: N7GLR and KA7VNR volunteered to show pictures of their recent trip to Germany. 3. Other: WA1CXA talked about the usefulness of a doghouse repeater, and how it can be used to assist in dead spot areas during races. Program: Steve Kercel, AA4AK, Guest Speaker: Amateur Ham Radio Event, Phippsburg ME: AA4AK gave a brief history of the Popham Maine area; and talked about the Merrymeeting Amateur Radio Association, N1P, commemorating the 400th Anniversary of the Popham Colony. The event is from August 17-19, 2007. He passed out information and mentioned that they are inviting all Maine radio clubs to help operate during the event. They will be issuing a special certificate (he showed us a sample copy – very nice!) to those who meet the event qualifications. AA4AK also mentioned that the event information will appear in the August 2007 issue of QST. All present enjoyed his interesting presentation. A lively discussion of antennas took place afterwards. Next Meeting: July 10, 2007, Nadeau Hall, UMFK, 6:00 PM Adjourned: 18:45 Submitted by KA1SJV |
| Happy Birthday | |
|---|---|
| GLOBALQSL: GlobalQSL is an integrated, computer based system that allows hams to create, print, sort and forward QSLs to other amateurs around the world. Once registered, you upload the QSO information. They print and send cards to QSL bureaus. www.globalqsl.com | Peter Pelletier 07-23 |
| Page 3 | Feed-Point, June, 2007 |
|---|
|
As of 6/17 all 60 radials have been installed. As we didn't trust laying the radials in the grass on the ground and then affixing them with just garden staples, a lot of thought went into how to bury the wires. In order to EASILY install 3600' of wire we needed a fast and simple way. We ended up using an electric edge trimmer that had a 7 ½" serrated cutting blade with adjustable depth settings from 1" to 1 ½". With the grass having a deep and thick root system, the trimmer decision really turned out to be a life saver! Every now and then the ring of rock vs. the steel blade reminded us of the ground condition. In the end the blade won out. Large surface tree roots where also no match, the blade cut the nicest groove. Our initial plan was to use 16ga PVC covered copper wire but ended up using 14ga which was readily available from Lowe's in Presque Isle. It was "relatively" easy to lay the 14ga in the cut grooves. Each radial took approximately 20/30 minutes.
|
The radials are now grouped into two bundles of 30 each and will be soldered into two homemade bonding terminals that are to be connected to the ground rod. The bonding terminals are similar to a battery connector but made from ½" copper pipe crimped at one end where the mounting bolt attaches a Burndy ground clamp. We also installed 133' of LMR400 coax; ~60ft was installed in 1" polyethylene pipe which was buried from the house out to the antenna pier. Next will be the cutting and attaching the 3/16" Dacron guy ropes, thimbles, quick links and top loading wires in preparation for the initial raising ….. '73 WB1FTK / KA1SJV
|
Heavy duty 40' galvanized steel tower, 16" X 16". Includes mounting hardware. Best Offer. N1FRX. Force 12 EF-510, 5 ele 10m Beam w/balun New in the box, never installed Retails at $470/$480 ... asking $350 Call Don, WB1FTK, at 543-6033 | Answers from 16 year old students in the UK on GSCE exams |
F E E D - P O I N T June, 2007
Published by the St. John Valley Amateur Radio Association
| and distributed free to members and friends of Amateur Radio.
| President: Gale Flagg N1FG
| Vice President: Gil Daigle, N1JHD
| Secretary: Sandra Daigle, N1QMC
| Treasurer: Charles Zafonte, N1FRX
| Public Information: Charles Ames, N7GLR
| Technical Advisor: Carl Pelletier, N1EVO
| Editor/Publisher/Printer
| Gale Flagg - N1FG / Stan Flagg 834-6670
| Associate Editor/Web Edition
| Charles Ames N7GLR
| Membership Information (Annual Dues):
| Regular Membership $ 12
| Associate Membership $ 6
| 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.
| |
|---|