F E E D - P O I N T
| March, 2009 | Vol. 19 No.3 |
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It is raining as I write this. I suppose it will add to all the ice that is already on the ground. The strong winds of the first half of March have been whipping antennas around. The snow is covered with plant litter--twigs, cones, bark pieces, and fir tips cut off by squirrels. The snow still has not come off the south side of the house. The nicest place to visit on cold sunny days is my little greenhouse. The temperatures are from 80 to 100 degrees. An instant journey to tropical temperatures! The K5D DXpedition on Desecho Island in February was elusive for me, but KB1OWW and K1FTK made contacts on several bands. It wasn't for lack of trying that I missed them. I just could never hear them. Time for an antenna improvement. | The Can-Am Sled Dog Races went well in spite of the heavy rain the day before. The communications were outstanding. Net Control, Rocky Brook and Maibec were very well equipped with HF radios and antennas as well as 2 meters. Instant messaging via HugesNet was used at Maibec and net control and Can-Am Central. They also had forestry radios. (Continued on page 3) Gale Flagg 108 Franklin School Rd Fort Kent, Maine 04743 Phone: 207-834-6670 E-mail: galeflagg@sjv.net Annual Meeting: Tuesday, April 10th 6:00 PM UMFK, Nadeau Hall, Alum. Conf. Room, Pizza Party |
| Schedule of Coming Events | ||||||
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| 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, March, 2009 |
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Start Time: 18:00 Members present: N1FG, N1JHD, K7GLR, KA7VNR, N1EVO, KB1OWW, NIFRX, KA1SJV, K1FTK, N1QMC Treasurer's Report: N1FRX:
N1EVO motioned to accept the treasurer’s report, seconded by KA1SJV, accepted by all. Old Business: 1. Rocky Mt.: Rocky Mountain still off the air. Question raised concerning moving the Rocky Mountain repeater to another location: Saint Francis Mtn. Concerns about interference to and from other organizations using the tower on the Saint Francis site. The Fire Lookout at Rocky Mt. is in great need of repair. and that location is not ideal because of the difficulty getting up to the site to check the repeater and keep it in good operating condition. In Saint Francis, we would have year round access to the repeater. 2. 146.640 Repeater: 13.99 volts at 08:45 hrs March 10th. Still having problems with 146.640 repeater. Noticed during Can-Am. Intermitent volume problems. Randy, K1XI, and Gene, AAIXD, have offered to work on the 146.640 repeater. They will need information on the entire system, like what type of antenna is used, what type of feedline, info on the duplexers, repeater, etc. They would work on the feedline and antenna if we believe that is the issue. They would also work on the Rocky Mountain repeater but would make that secondary. N1QMC motioned that we accept their offer of help, seconded by KA1SJV, accepted by all. |
3. More dues were paid and N1FG passed out membership cards. New Business: 1. Can-Am Races: N1FG gave a report on the Can-Am races. One problem was the lack of communication from the 60 mile checkpoint. KB1EBE was unable to make contact this year. AA1XD has discussed this with N1FG. We must send up a good antenna and radio next year. 2. Annual Meeting: Nominations: Charles Zafonte, N1FRX, motioned to keep the same slate of officers. KA1SJV seconded motion, accepted by all. 3. Annual Meeting: Decision made to have a pizza party for the April meeting. (N1FG will order and will contact members as to type of pizza they want.) K1FTK brought a copy of his certificate for first place, single operator SSB, Maine, in last February's 160 meter contest. N1FG showed her Skywarn certificates. The one for 2008 was the Whole Gale certificate. N1FG presented a very interesting movie on Birds and their Behavior and how to best appreciate birds. The DVD was made by the Cornell University Labratory of Ornithology. Meeting adjourned at 7:15. Annual Meeting: April 14, UMFK, Nadeau Hall, Alumni Conference Room. Submitted by Sandra Daigle N1QMC |
| Happy Birthday | |
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| Times Square I never would have thought of this! "Four Tennessee hams, Matt, KG4WXX, (driver); David, KG4WXW; Holly, KG4WXU, and Ted, WB8PUM, managed to negotiate Times Square traffic recently while Ted was operating 40 meter mobile." QST 3/09 | |
| Page 3 | Feed-Point, March, 2009 |
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Continued from Page 1 Special thanks to AA1XD, KB1JDN, NT1N, KB1MHH,
KB1EBE, and KB1CLC at NC, K1JJS and W1LWT at RB, and K1XI, N1HBY and KB1PCQ at Maibec for dealing
with those three modes of communication. I was at Net Control several times, and I know it got quite hectic at times.
N1WRX, N1WRY, and KB1OWU at Portage, and N1QMC and KB1HBD at Two-Rivers had a bit easier time with just two meters
and forestry. K1MJB, K1ACO (Black Lake), N1JHD, KB1OWW, and W1TCP helped with set up of antennas, Village
Street, and supplying equipment. Complicating things even more at Net Control, was the failure of the forestry radio at Central. Fortunately AA1XD had a good forestry-capable radio attached to a power supply. Allan Dow was in Net Control monitoring Gene's radio Sunday night. When it came time for Gene to leave Monday afternoon he said he couldn't because of the forestry radio. I asked if he could alter my Yaesu 2500M. He said yes, so I packed it up and took it in. My power supply was not charged fully, and KB1OWW offered a good one. We used my HT for .52 and KB1PCQ's HT for 146.640. Gene and Bill were able to leave at a reasonable hour in the afternoon. When Allagash shut down, we did not need 146.640 any longer. |
Grateful thanks to all who helped us. Stan helped make Certificates of Appreciation
and they have been sent or hand delivered to all participating hams. From QRZ.com: Still in Nebraska, a sad yet funny story out of Omaha. That’s where Police and a Bomb Squad have blown up a trap from a ham radio antenna because nobody could figure out what it was. It all happened on Thursday, February 26th. That’s when both agencies were called out following the discovery by a cleaning crew of a device that they thought looked like a PVC pipe bomb. The house in question belonged to Bob Rennolet, W0AEX. There had been an electrical fire in the house 2 weeks ago and he had hired the clean-up crew but it had no idea as to what it had found. So, rather than take chances, the Bomb Squad decided to blow it up. That’s when they realized it was not a bomb but a piece of W0AEX's ham radio gear. Ironically, W0AEX lives next door to a fire station, so they didn't have far to go to put out the fire or blow up the trap. (K0NEB, W0HXL) Thanks to K1FTK for sending this. |
Heavy duty 40' galvanized steel tower, 16" X 16". Includes mounting hardware. $200. 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, K1FTK, at 543-6033 | Shortcuts by Jeff Harris |
F E E D - P O I N T March, 2009
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 and June Despres, KB1OWW
| 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.
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