Sun, 11/01/2009

November 2009
W5LM Repeaters:
146.820- MHz (PL 123.0)
444.700 MHz (PL 123.0)
www.tarc.org
November 2009
Officers
President: Cliff Williams,
KE5CTW, (254) 493-4189,
[email protected]
Vice President: Franklin
Baugh, KA5IHY, (254) 7785622,
Secretary: Al Howe,
N5AWH, (254) 773-3153,
[email protected]
Treasurer: Dale Duke,
W5DUK, (254) 217-6533,
[email protected]
Board Members
John Hobson, WD5BFS,
(254) 554-7705,
[email protected]
m
HamEXPO! was again a success in terms of
The second-place prize, a Yaesu FT-7900R,
attendance and receipts. We had paid gate
went home with W5JMD, Johnny Durham of
attendance of 819, had about 150 tailgaters and Shallowater, TX.
vendors, and sold 608 raffle tickets. It looks
Joe Peterson, KD5YCY of Ovala, TX, won
like gate admissions were up about 60 from last the Yaesu FT-60R third prize.
fall, and the table and tailgate space sales were
higher.
The big winner in the door prize drawing
See page 2 for an Opinion
was Mike Wisby, KA5HIA, of College Station.
article
on HamEXPO by KE5C
He took home the first prize, a Kenwood TMD710A.
Darwin Geiselbrecht,
K5DOA, (254) 487-3167,
[email protected]
At Our Next Meeting
Steve Bosshard, NU5D,
[email protected]
Myron Mesecke, N5TFK,
(254) 770-0529,
[email protected]
Committees
Programs: Board of Dir.
W5LM Trustee: Ron
Thompson, W5WRE, (254)
859-3000,
[email protected]
Technical Director:
Education:
Membership:
HamEXPO!: Mike LeFan,
WA5EQQ, (254) 773-3590,
[email protected]
Have a good one, y all !
Nov. 5 is the date for
our next TARC meeting. The program will
include the electing of
club officers for 2010.
This is a really important club event, so
please be there for
this one.
Plu s, you ll find
great camaraderie and
tasty refreshments.
Join us on Nov. 5 at
7:00 p.m. at Western
Hills Church of Christ
in Temple.
RACES:
Bulletin Editor: Mike LeFan, WA5EQQ
Webmaster: John Dvoracek, KE5C, (254) 7748376, [email protected]
In this issue
HamEXPO! Did Well
At Our Next Meeting
HamEXPO!: Too Many Golden Eggs?
DSTAR at St. Mary s
ARRL Membership
WWV and WWVH
Happy Thanksgiving, TARC
Meeting Info
1
Key Clicks from the Armadillo
2
3
4
TARC Bulletin
November 2009
page 2
H a s t he Goose La id Too M a ny
Golden Eggs? Opinion from John Dvoracek, KE5C
HamExpo made money! So what? The flyer
calls Belton a Hamexpo. Webster s does not
define either hamexpo or hamfest, but
en.wikipedia.org believes ...a hamfest is a
convention of amateur radio enthusiasts, often
combining a trade show, flea market, and various other activities of interest to hams. The
other various activities of interest to hams are
typically license examinations, educational
forums, group meetings, and the like.
No one would doubt that Belton is a flea
market, a type of bazaar where inexpensive or
secondhand goods are sold or bartered. A
trade fair (trade show or expo), however, is an
exhibition organized so that companies in a
specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products, service, study activities of rivals and examine recent trends and
opportunities. The retailers present at Belton
are not representatives from amateur radio
companies and do not showcase or demonstrate products; they simply sell them. Unlike
Dallas HamCom, YaeComWood and the like
are not in attendance. Thus Belton HamExpo is
not a trade fair (an expo ), and only rarely
includes various other activities of interest to
hams there is simply not the time, manpower, or facility to do so. Belton HamExpo is
functionally a flea market with a few dealers
present, a sellfest, not a hamfest.
much time to devote to the club, and time devoted to HamExpo is time not available for
Field Day, the Fourth of July, the Christmas
parade, etc. Is it time to steer TARC away
from the flea market business and back towards ham radio? Should HamExpo be at most
a once yearly event in the fall so as to not conflict with Field Day? In any case, Belton
HamExpo should not define TARC, amateur
radio activities should.
[Do you have an opinion on the status of
HamEXPO? Do you have a pro or con impression of the article above? Share your thoughts
with us.]
Did You Know?
WWV and WWVH
Today, most amateurs know that radio stations
WWV and WWVH broadcast time and frequency information 24 hours a day, seven days
a week to millions of listeners worldwide.
Administered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), WWV is located in Fort Collins, Colorado, about 60 miles
north of Denver; WWVH is located on the
Island of Kauai, Hawaii on a 30 acre site near
Kekaha at Kokole Point. Both stations broadWhat does HamExpo accomplish for
cast information that includes time announceTARC? How does HamExpo make TARC a
ments, standard time intervals, standard fremore fun club experience? Folks do not join
TARC so they can help at HamExpo. Nothing quencies, UT1 time corrections, a BCD time
consistently useful (altruistic, community im- code, geophysical alerts, marine storm warnproving) is done with the proceeds; it's not like ings and Global Positioning System (GPS)
the Shriners supporting the Children s hospi- status reports. Most hams today think of
WWV and WWVH as "time stations." Actal. On the other hand, TARC is not a service
club anyway, so why should the members ex- cording to QST Editor Steve Ford, WB8IMY,
that's only half-true: they are really time and
pect to be improving the community?
HamExpo is almost always successful as a frequency stations. "The time signals that you
hear are regulated by an atomic clock that uses
fund raising event, but why does TARC need
to raise funds, especially twice a year, with so the oscillations of Cesium atoms as its stanmuch already in the bank? As a sellfest rather dard -- 9,162,361,770 oscillations equal 1 secthan hamfest, Belton has become a burden on ond," wrote Ford in the June 1994 issue of
TARC's dwindling membership, demands time QST. [More information in the News secfrom members to support a twice yearly retail tion of the League s website at www.arrl.org].
business, diverts the focus from core amateur
via The ARRL Letter, Oct. 22, 2009
radio activities, and does nothing to increase
the attractiveness of TARC to potential members. Members of a hobby club have only so
KEY CLICKS
FROM THE
ARMADILLO
Here s hoping that your
Halloween was spooky,
fun, and safe.
...The Monday Night Net
has been short on checkins in recent weeks, but
there have been some
new participants from
DX locales. Join the fun.
...TARC s Christmas
party is tentatively set for
lunch on Saturday, Dec. 5
at Wildflower Country
Club. Stay tuned for details.
...TARC Bulletin is distributed to most members
in an online digital edition
in pdf format. If you need
a printed copy, notify
John KE5C or Mike
WA5EQQ.
...Most weekdays and
Saturdays, area hams
meet for coffee at
McDonalds at IH-35 and
Adams Ave. from 9:30 to
11:00 a.m. Everyone is
invited, so come on by
and add your 2-cents
worth.
...Dates to Remember:
Next year s spring
HamEXPO! is scheduled
for April 17, 2010. The fall
date is Oct. 2. Mark your
calendar.
...TARC Net
Mondays
at 7 p.m. on 146.820
MHz (PL 123.0). Get the
net habit.
...See you on at the
TARC meeting on Nov. 5.
TARC Bulletin
November 2009
A BIG thank you to Steve Bosshard, Hal Pagel,
Steve Stickley, Paul Molina, and Mike Sherrod for
making possible this DSTAR demonstration project
at St. Mary s school in Temple on Oct. 5.
It took only a few minutes to set up this very
functional, interference-free DSTAR station with all
page 3
digital clarity for making international contacts.
This really beats trying to string wires
between trees and listen to crackle and static,
said NU5D. And the kids really like being able to
have contacts with distant stations.
Happy Thanksgiving, TARC
Temple Amateur Radio Club, Inc.
P.O. Box 616
Temple, TX 76503
Temple Amateur
Radio Club meets the
first Thursday of each
month from 7:00-9:00
p.m., at the Church of
Christ in Western
Hills, 210 N. General
Bruce Dr., in Temple
across I-35 from Starbucks Coffee.
Refreshments are
served, and guests are
invited and welcome!
First Class Mail
Address Label
TARC Bulletin
November 2009
page 4