Club Newsletter
The Voice Of 76
And The Santa Clara Valley
Santa Clara Valley Repeater Society
P.O. Box 2085
Sunnyvale, CA., 94087-2085
PHONE- 408-247-2877
Meeting Place: San Jose Red Cross
Cross Streets: North First Street and Plumeria- In No. San Jose
When: Third Friday of Each Month
Time: 7:30pm
Dues-- Dues-- Dues are due!
Well, it's that time again. Every MARCH is renewal time. We need your dues to keep WB6OQS system on the air. As a point of interest, dues have NOT been raised since 1981. Not too bad for a hobby group such as SCVRS. The board members, officers and trustee, Bill Walters- WA2IBM , have been able to "negotiate" things, and in some cases find alternate locations so we didn't have to assess the membership for increased dues. Show your appreciation for their efforts by continuing to support the WB6OQS system. Remember, it's a hobby organization, NOT supported by any commercial entity. Phone patch codes will be changed shortly after the March meeting. No pay, no play.
Speaker For Our March Meeting
At our March meeting, Wally- KA6YMD and Barbara- KD6QEI,have arranged for someone from NOAA to tell us about weather watching and what's happening in the atmosphere. It should be quite interesting, especially with our El Nino weather patterns. You might even get a chance to join the "Jr Weather Watchers" program.
Officers Needed for 98-99!
We are in need of officers for the 98-99 year. Please volunteer for one of these positions. Remember, this is a volunteer organization, run by Hams for the benefit of Hams. If you are interested, send an e-mail to the Treas, John- KA6LWC and let him know. You will be contacted and you will be invited to the next board meeting to discuss any concerns you might have. If you ever wanted to be a leader, now is your chance. "He who has the gold, makes the rules". Become a member of our "golden society".
A Word from the Press Box
Occasionally there are users of the system that seem to be afraid to give out their call signs clearly and distinctly. It's an FCC ruling that you must identify yourself clearly. In this way others can assist you if you need help or identify you if they just want to talk to you. Users of the phone patch seem to be the most reluctant. Are they afraid to clearly identify because they have received the patch codes "illegally"? If you hear someone who fails to identify clearly, advise them that there are control operators that must be able to identify users, in some cases for record-keeping, verifying membership status and offering membership information. We have had some illegal users of the phone patch. Yep, bootleggers!
Newsletter News
We have someone to put together a newsletter. His name is Mike Meyers, KF6IHL[mike@exodus.net]. Our newsletter, however is going to be an "electronic" newsletter. As they say in the trade, it will be "soft copy". The newsletter will be posted on our web site, HTTP://WWW.SCVRS.ORGeach month(?) for you to read or download. Details, such as showing graphics, remain to be worked out with the "webmaster" and our new editor. For those of you who don't have Internet access, you can advise the treasurer John, KA6LWC , and he will see that you will get a "hard copy" sent to you. Those of you with e-mail only systems, which won't handle graphics, can request a hard copy through the "snail mail". In going to "soft copy', it's hoped that the newsletter will be produced more often. I think that this will be the FIRST attempt by a club to "publish" an electronic newsletter for their members. It's going to be the "wave of the future" as this is one way a club will be able to cut expenses so that dues won't have to be raised.
Having an electronic newsletter will allow for the insertion of "new and late breaking news", any changes in speakers or presentations and important information which must be discussed at the next meeting. A membership listing will also be posted with current members names and phone numbers. Phone numbers will only be listed for those members who have indicated "yes" on their application form. No addresses will be given.
One thing that is needed is input from the membership. If you have ideas, compose them and save them as ASCII text files, not "word processor specific", eg: Word, WordPerfect, Works etc., and send them to Mike. In this way, the document can be merged more easily as the document won't have to be "converted" by the editor. Currently, you can submit them directly to Mike, the current editor. In the future, "we" hope to have an EDITOR@SCVRS.ORGaddress so that anyone who becomes the new editor, will get the e-mail information and users will have only one address to remember. In that way, Mike won't be bombarded with newsletter information, should he not be able to continue, due to changes in personal or business responsibilities.
I would like to stress, NO ideas will be refused and you don't need to be a "professional" writer. Just compose the ideas as clearly as possible and our editor will "massage" the "message". If you have drawings, make them in "black and white" with clear sharp lines and send them to the editor by "snail mail". These documents will have to be scanned and merged into the web site. If you are fortunate to have a scanner, scan the document at as high a resolution as possible and save it as a bit-mapped file[.BMP ]. This file can then be sent to the editor. If you don't have file transmission capability, arrangements can be made to get it on disk. Remember, this is a hobby and we want to spread hobby ideas to others, especially the new Hams. If you've submitted something in the past, re-submit it again as we have new Hams in the club that might not know about your previous submission. You must include you Name, Callsign and Phone Number in the document. In this way, the editor or others can contact you if there are any questions. You will also receive "bragging rights" as you had something published in our newsletter.
Interlopers/Freeloaders
Well, we have a few of them on the WB6OQS system as do other repeaters in the valley. If you hear someone consistently using our system, for testing or communications, ask them if they are members(I'm working on getting a list on our web site). If they are not, ask them to join and support the system since they find it convenient to use. Even a minimal membership fee by casual users will help support the system and keep it on the air as one of the few remaining high level systems. If they don't want to be a member, ask them to send a "donation" to SCVRS as a token of appreciation for the use of the system. Consistent queries will do one of two things, make them join or make them move.
ARRL Membership
If you are not a member, please join as the ARRL is the only Ham organization that is trying to keep Ham radio alive and organized. By joining, you will receive the QST magazine and receive other member benefits such as special rates for equipment insurance. The club also benefits if you join through the club. In order for our club to maintain it's ARRL affiliation and insurance, most of the members must be ARRL members.
Unless you read Ham magazines, such as QST, you won't be alerted to some of the happenings and other organizations that are trying to put our hobby into total disarray. Many people don't like the ARRL and are trying to form "splinter groups". These only weaken the ARRL's position on certain fronts. Remember, splinter groups are usually those who don't like what's going on and fight rather than work to "massage" the current situation into a workable solution. I've been told it's like a "spoiled child" syndrome.
Meetings And Speakers
As those of you know who have attended our meetings, we've not had a speaker for some time. Meetings are not just for entertainment, they are for exchange of Ham related ideas, resolve ham related questions and provide answers. They are also for camaraderie and a social evening where one can talk "ham talk". Break down, get away from the TV, now that the Olympics are over and come to our next meeting.
As this is a hobby group, you too could be a speaker. Many hams have several hobbies that might be of interest to others in the club. Just speak up at a meeting and things can be arranged. Don't be afraid. The first five minutes of "knocking knees" is always the worst. You could also describe a current project you are building or one that you've already finished. Maybe the club needs a "project night" whereby all members could bring in something. Just a thought!
March Tee Shirt Sale
We still have a few Tee shirts left printed with the club logo. Sizes are large and extra large. Current price for March is $10.00. They will be available at the next meeting. Checks will be accepted.
Web Sites Of Interest
Here's a few sites that might be of interest to you. I have capitalized the site names but they were all shown in lower case, when printed in the sources.
WWW.CLBOOKS.COM is the Computer Literacy book store site. If you can't find the book you want, discounted, you can check their site as a source. It will be a retail price as they don't discount.
WWW.BOULDER.NIST.GOVis the site for those Atomic Clock programs you "need" to keep your computer clock up-to-date.
WWW.MTNDS.COM/AF/ is the site the "dictionary of acronyms" or buzz words, related to the coputer technology.
WWW.3COM.COM/56K is the site for USRobotics modems to find out if your modem can be upgraded to the new 56k /V.90 technology.
WWW.SCVRS.ORG our own Santa Clara Valley Repeater Society site.
Webmaster Update
Gary Mason, WB6AHC, is our new Webmaster. Gary has cleaned up some of the links and format for the SCVRS site. In the future "we" hope to have a "WEBMASTER@SCVRS.ORG " address for your comments and suggestions for improvements.
Repeater Site
Our repeaters and antennas have survived El Nino, so far. The 440mhz machine is still the Motorola Radius, a loaner from Jim-KB6TPW- his personal radio. Jim is still "packaging" the 440mhz system that was purchased for a spare. When completed, it will be all Motorola. Our regular 440mhz system was a "home brew" hybrid.
73's For now
John, ka6lwc
Treasurer extraordinarie