F  E  E  D  -  P  O  I  N  T

The Official Newsletter of the St. John Valley Amateur Radio Association

November, 2008Vol. 18 No.11
Letter From Our President


Hope everyone enjoyed our three days of Indian Summer (November 4-6). It certainly was pleasant. Now I guess we are waiting for snow and cold to settle in for the winter.


N1EVO and KB1OWW went up to Rocky Mountain on November 5th. They took the new antenna and installed it, along with a new cable. However, the repeater still is not working as it should. It was heard only from the base of Rocky Mountain.


The Harvest Get-Together at Lakeview Restaurant was very pleasant. There were nineteen people in attendance. The food was good. The three door prizes were a fall cornucopia decoration, an Oreck cordless iron, and an ARRL publication of choice.





Sky Warn Appreciation Day will be held on December 5 & 6. The National Weather Service in Caribou has contacted me and asked me to see if any of you would like to take part. The radio equipment and antennas are set up Friday late afternoon. The event starts at 19:00 and runs for 24 hours.

Our Christmas Potluck supper will be at the Northern Door Inn on Tuesday, December 9. Members, family and friends are invited. Some people have already told me what they will be bringing for the potluck. There will be a gift exchange, limit $5.00 on the gifts.



Gale Flagg
108 Franklin School Rd
Fort Kent, Maine 04743
Phone: 207-834-6670
E-mail: galeflagg@sjv.net


Christmas Potluck, Dec.9, 6:00 PM, Northern Door Inn
Schedule of Coming Events
DateEventPlaceContactSponsorTimeFreq
SUNNetNBVE1PINIRG2000145.130
MONNetFort KentN1FGSJVARA1900146.64
MONNetPresque IsleWA1YNZAARA2000146.73
Page 2Feed-Point, November, 2008
Report of November 11, 2008 SJVARA Meeting


Start Time: 18:12
Members present: N1FG, W1TCP, KB1OWW, and N1EVO.

Treasurer's Report: N1FRX:
Old Balance:$2884.25
Savings Account$2750.17
Interest on Savings:$2.34
Checking Account$134.08
New Balance:$2886.59


Old Business:
1. Rocky Mt.: Rocky Mountain:Putting the new antenna up at Rocky Mountain has not solved the problem. N1EVO and KB1OWW tried everything they could think of after they installed the new antenna on Nov. 5th. They believe the problem is in the radio. They will try to bring the radio down if the the weather allows. The old antenna was tested and found to be intermittent. There was a short in it. They think that the finals in the radio may be burned due to that short. There was discussion about the Can-Am dog races and what we can do if the Rocky Mountain radio can not be retrieved. It was suggested that a good amplifier at Maibec and a good antenna might make reaching 146.640 possible. Randy Lewis, at Maibec last year, says he did reach 146.640 last year.
2. 146.640 Repeater: 13.43 volts at 11:42 hrs November 11th. N1EVO and KB1OWW will put the charger on 146.640 and test the batteries. Anybody who can use 146.52 for long conversations, please do so.

New Business:

1. ARRL AUCTION: N1FG showed the Emergency Starter kit won in the ARRL auction. It included an orange vest, a big gear bag, a new repeater directory, an ARES Field Resources Manual and an ICOM V82 handheld radio, and a smaller bag for small items.

2.Christmas Party It was decided that we would have a potluck supper like last year, at the Northern Door Inn. Gift exchange with a $5.00 limit.


Program: Due to poor attendance, we decided to hold the Kingman Reef DXpedition video for another meeting. ( It is a very good video and not too long.)
Adjourned at 19:05

Next Meeting: Tuesday December 9, Potluck and gift exchange, Northern Door Inn, 6:00 PM
Submitted by N1FG

In Case You Are Interested
Happy Birthday
Geminid Meteor Shower December 13-14th. Best viewing is all night. 65 meteors per hour, originating form the NE. Hopefully, we will have clear weather. This is usually a spectacular meteor event.
Bert St. Onge 12-10 Diane Elrich 12/13
Page 3Feed-Point, November, 2008
The "Freer Men" of Ham Radio: How a Technical Hobby Provided Social and Spatial Distance. by Kristen Haring
This is an excerpt from the work available from the John Hopkins Press.

"'It would be shortsighted to ignore the personal cultural value of amateur radio. . . . Amateur radio gives to ordinary men, leading the circumscribed lives of ninety out of a hundred people, a release from humdrum existence and routine compulsions; it makes them freer men.' So might the amateur radio hobbyist -- often called a "ham"--of the mid-twentieth century describe his activities. But where some saw liberation, others saw escapism. In 1956 the wife of one ham radio operator called practitioners 'truly the lost souls of the hobby world, lost to all sense of time, responsibility or physical comfort.' The men described by these quotations used radio to gain social and spatial distance in the midcentury American home, and the discourse that grew up around ham radio practice provides insight into how tensions between personal identity and responsibility altered family dynamics, particularly marital relations. That discourse and its implications for the social geography of the middle-class, postwar American home are the subject of this article.

On a typical evening, the radio amateur passed hours at a cluttered worktable in the basement, attic, or garage. There he used two-way radio equipment to contact other amateur stations---speaking into a microphone, typing at a keyboard, or tapping out Morse Code on a telegraph key to enter into conversations with strangers around the world. During periods of tinkering with or contructing equipment that might last for weeks, the ham resembled the stereotypical solo inventer. Then a flip of a switch and a spin of a dial brought the many voices of amateur radio rushing into the home station..... "

Later in the article it states that 95 to 99% of hams were male. "Drawn together by their technical interests and skills, hams thought of themselves as a fraternity."

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!
For Sale

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
A Bit of Humor
Science Students collected by Richard Lederer
* "Hot lather comes from volcanoes, and when it cools, it turns into rocks." * "Some people say we condescended from apes." * "Marie Curie did her research at the Sore Buns Institute in France."

F E E D - P O I N T            November, 2008

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.




FEED-POINT
108 FRANKLIN SCHOOL RD
FORT KENT ME 04743