The NewsFuseThe NY Hall of Science Amateur Radio Club Newsletter
November 2004Next meeting Tuesday November 9th 8pm
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Club News
We have a new club web-site and our own domain name thanks to Peter W2IRT. The new domain name is hosarc.org, and the web-site URL is www.hosarc.org We have an unlimited number of e-mail addresses that we can assign to club members, so if you would like an e-mail address ie. <your call sign>@hosarc.org please contact Peter Dougherty. We want members to logon to the site and give us some feedback so we can make a decision to make the web-site permanent.
Tom Golero donated a RigRunner to the club station. Anderson power poles are now being installed on all 12VDC station equipment. Cables have been pulled into the shack and the terminations have been started. Look for more work partys to be called in the future. Our goal is to have the HF station back online by the grand re-opening of the Hall of Science in November (Thanksgiving Weekend).
The repeater has been performing well with the new duplexer. A mysterious blown fuse has been the only recent problem. The fuse was replaced 3 weeks ago and has been fine ever since. The repeater committee is researching the possibility of linking our club repeater with IRLP. IRLP (The Internet Radio Linking Project) go to www.irlp.net to learn more about IRLP. The IRLP mode is enabled and disabled via touch tone codes sent over-the-air.
Terry McCague KC2JOJ has recently returned home from the hospital. Give him a call and wish him a speedy recovery. Terry's home number is (718) 898-8611.
Word on the street is that Joe Hernandez K2MVR has passed his code test! Congratulations Joe and welcome to the world of HF communications.
Art Breen has received a US Island number for Columbia Island. The number is NY038. Look for future DxPeditions to Columbia island this spring/summer.
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President's Corner
Tom Golero KC2CBA e-mail: tomflushing3@aol.com phone: 718.886.3175 (Evenings Please)
Hello to all
As always I want to thank all club members who attended the October meeting. We again had no guest speaker due to the difficulties in obtaining speakers whos schedule fits ours however at our November meeting Pete W2IRT will be our guest speaker. His topic will be QSL'ing
I am surprised at the lack of response the nominating committee is getting from the membership. If you have been contacted you should respond even if you don't want to be nominated for any elected position.
I would like to thank again, everyone who attended the September General meeting. The turnout was low but I know that as we get back into the swing of things attendance will increase at our General Meetings. Unfortunately there was no scheduled guest speaker
At the October meeting we passed a motion to purchase a gently used Kenwood TS-850 with 2 Inrad filters (CW, Sideband) to replace the TS-440S. We also voted to have the repeater duplexer which was swapped out during the hamfest to be purchased by the club for permanent installation. I hope you have heard a difference in the repeater, I know I have. So congratulations are in order for all the repeater committee members. Also at the meeting a discussion on a proposed motion to increase dues was undertaken and tabled. So far the consensus is to raise the dues no higher than $30 for adult members and senior and youth membership still open for discussion. Our constitution calls for this vote to take place at the December meeting. Please have your opinions ready for the next meeting either in person or via e-mail to me.
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Your options are no increase, increase from the present $20 up to $30 max. The final vote will take place right before the holiday party which by the way is quickly approaching, so be on the lookout for a special mailing about the party.
On Thursday October 20th we held a work party at the Hall and I want to thank Steve WB2KDG, Pete W2IRT, Tom N2YTF, Bernie K2ZIR, and Joe KC2MVR for their help with some much needed work.
Remember to please feel free to approach me in person or by mail if you have any ideas for upcoming meetings and activities.
Hope to see you all at the November meeting.
73's Tom Golero KC2CBA
Tech Tips
A good site for electrical calculations can be found at www.altronix.com/html/calc.html This months tech tip was sent in by Rich Vogel KC2GSK who "built" his own seperation cable for his Yaesu FT-8800R mobile radio. He used a 6 line inline phone coupler connected to the jack behind the remote head and he used a 6 condutor phone base cord to the main body of the radio. Rich says he spent about $10 in parts from Walmart to build his seperation cable. The Yaesu part is about $50 not bad!!! If you have any TechTips that you would like to pass on to the membership please send them to kc2hev@hosarc.org.
Need a lift to a club meeting?
Please contact Tom Golero if you can give a ride to the HOSARC meeting, or if you need a ride to the general meeting. Tom will match drivers to riders.
HOSARC Membership
Where were you?
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DX at the shack
This months selection is a 10m sideband contact with ZK2GB
Niue Island is one of the worlds smallest self governing states. The island has a population of 2100 people and a surface of 259 sq kilometers (1.5 times the size of Washington DC) Niue is an elevated atoll and it's one of the largest coral islands in the world. The island is located in the south pacific ocean east of Tonga. The Niueas are related to Samoans and Tongans. The name Niue is derived from Niu (meaning coconut tree) Niue was colonized by the Samoans in the 9th or 10th century AD, but Tongans invaded the islands in the 16th century. Later in 1774 captian Cooke visited the islands 3 times, but was not well received by the Niuean warriors. British missionaries arrived in 1861 to spread Christianity to the islands. There is not much of an economy on the island, industry consists of small factories to process passion fruit, lime oil, honey, and coconut cream. The sale of postage stamps to foreign collectors is an important source of revenue. Niue has tried it's hand at offshore banking but the plan has been shutdown. All information gathered from cia worldbook of facts. www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ne.html
By Tom Golero KC2CBA
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