DIXIE AMATEUR RADIO CLUB

MAY 2005 NEWSLETTER

MAY 2005 CLUB MEETING

Everything you wanted to know about Anderson PowerPole Connectors (the ARES standard) but We're Afraid to Ask

Gary Zabriskie, N7ARE, will be the presenter at our May 2005 meeting. Gary will present some background on the Anderson PowerPole connectors and how they came to be the de-facto standard in use now by the Amateur Radio Emergency Service across the country.  There is a bit of Utah history in this. A "how to" demostration will be provided to show the proper care and feeding of the connectors as well as some "do's" and  "don'ts".

If you have Anderson PowerpPoles or equipment you want to add the connectors to, please e-mail me prior to the meeting date w7drc@arrl.net  to RSVP that you will be bringing your rig's cable(s).  We will use your cables to demonstrate the use of a ratcheting crimper tool.

Also to be demonstrated will be the West Mountain Radio PWRgate simple backup 12 volt power system with  float charge and the use of  a West Mountain Radio RigRunner for power distribution.

Following the demonstration we will watch some short videos courtesy of Icom America.  Hopefully you will find this meeting to be interesting and educational.

  Wednesday, May 18, 2005
7:00 P.M.

 AT THE 

FIVE COUNTY ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTS
Tonaquint Center Office Building
1070 West 1600 South, Building B
(Just off of Dixie Drive)
St. George, Utah

Click HERE for a map and driving directions to the meeting.

V.E.TESTING

A Volunteer Examiner (VE) test session will be held on Wednesday, May 18, 2005
at 6:00 P.M.  at the FCAOG Office building location:
1070 West 1600 South, Building B
Tonaquint Center Business Park
St. George, Utah

The FCAOG building will be open at 5:45 P.M.
 for those coming for the test session.

The tesing will be held in the Small Executive Conference room.

  If you are a person desiring to take an Amateur Radio test or a ham wanting to upgrade this month,
or are a Volunteer Examiner who would like to help out, please contact Dan Farwell at 668-2436

Message From the President:

Ever wonder how quickly time flies? That is how this month and this year seem to be going.  Before long this year will be 1/2 over and I am just getting out of the winter  mode and somehow have missed out on spring. 

I am strating to get the itch to get my antenna system up at my new QTH (actually moved there six months ago but I blinked and suddenly iot was May).  One thing I first noticed after getting a new mobile HF rig is the differences in areas of the city in regards to background noise levels. Some of the noisiest areas I have found are near the Dixie Center and the intersection of Sunset Boulevard with Dixie Drive. Fortunately the Santa Clara area is one of the more quiet areas I have found.  I don't know if the problem is the power lines themselves or the concentration of businesses and their associated equipment. Needless to say, it gives me an idea how bad the situation would be if we added BPL (Broadband over Power Lines) to the mix.

One of my goals with my home station is to be independent of commercial mains as much as is possible. To that extent I invested in one of the solar arrays mentioned in earlier newsletters and at the Club Meeting.  My goal is to have 80-10, 6 meters,  2mtr FM/SSB/CW all available in the event of a power outage or major event, i.e an earthquake.

As I could tell from some of the activities takingplace during the January flood situation, some of the communications systems were being stressed to the near breaking point. In even a modrate areawide disaster I believe that cellular phones will be for the most part useless. I hope I'm wrong, but September 11 in New York should the usefullness ends when the dial tone doesn't work.

I believe each of us have similar goals in ham radio. As I mentioned time flies past quicker than a hummingbird's wings. I realized a few moths ago that I have been a ham operator now for 27 years - and I am still learning. That is the part I hope I never loose- the wonder of why "the secret smoke" inside a radio makes it work and why, if the "secret smoke" is somehow let out of the radio it stops working.  I appreaciate those of you in the club with much more knowledge in many of the intricate realms of electronics, antenna design, and operating skills. Hopefully you will continue to be willing to have people like me ask questions and ask the same question again until it sinks in.

Please come to the Club Meeting. Participate and volunteer! This Club is YOUR club.  Thanks for everything you do!

73,
Gary N7ARE

        

Please help support the club!

Dues for 2005 are being solicited. Dues are $15.00 per member ($20.00 per family for multiple ham families).
If you know you havent paid, please make your check payable to "DARC" and bring it to the meeting or mail it to the club address:

Dixie Amateur Radio Club
P.O. Box 422
Santa Clara, UT 84765

DARC IS AN ARRL AFFILIATED CLUB

2005 Board of Directors
President: Gary Zabriskie, N7ARE
Vice President: Dan Hinkle, KD7RSR
Secretary: Hal Whiting, KD7TKP
Treasurer: Leila Horne, KF7HW
Board Members:
Casey Lofthouse, KD7HUS
Dave Owens, K7VNH
Dan Farwell, W8EQA

 AREA REPEATER INFORMATION:

It's the only organization that represents hams at the government level. The current resources available to us through the ARRL are astounding. Check out their web site and find out what's going on!    Click HERE for the ARRL website.

ARRL Trademark and logo courtesy ARRL

Amateur Electronic Supply Swapmeet
 4640 S. Polaris Ave., Las Vegas, Nevada
First Saturday of every month
Starts at 7:00 AM Pacific Time (8:00 AM Mountain Time)

Don't forget the DARC Sunday evening net!

THE SUNDAY NIGHT NET   MEETS AT 7:00 P.M. MST ON THE 146.91 REPEATER

In the event that the 146.91 repeater is not operational we will conduct the Sunday evening net on 145.49.
If none of these repeaters are operational we will conduct the DARC Sunday net on 146.91 Simplex.

PLEASE NOTE THAT BEGINING ON SUNDAY APRIL 3RD THE NET
 TIME WILL CHANGE TO 8:00 P.M. MOUNTAIN DAYLIGHT TIME