THE LOCAL OSCILLATOR - June 2005 NOTE: An HTML version is available at www.mvrc.qzxservices.com. A pdf file of the web edition is available at www.mvrc.qzxservices.com/pdf/LO0506.pdf. It will be easy to print that edition. If you do not have the free pdf reader, you can get it at www.adobe.com TABLE OF CONTENTS COMING EVENTS PRESIDENT'S CORNER JUNE 25 and 26 FIELD DAY BEAN FEED CW GROUP THANKS FOR BEAN FEED SUPPORT QRP FIELD DAY BEAN FEED WINNERS ROCKY MOUNTAIN DIVISION HAMFEST INCOME/EXPENSE BACK PAGE COMING EVENTS M-F 6 m FM net 52.540 6:00AM Mon WTRA Swap net 146.88 8:00PM Wed Net 146.64 6:45PM M-F round-table 52.525MHz 8:00PM Weekdays Informal get together Mon Wed Fri Munson Center 10AM Tue Thur Wal-Mart E 10AM June 4 Breakfast 8 AM Club House June 4 Business meeting 9:15AM Club House June 4 Pot Luck Hamfest Camp Chimney Spring June 3-4 Ham Com Arlington, TX June 8 1st Wed after 1st Sat Directors at Club House 7:00PM June 25 - 26 Field Day July 29-31 Rocky Mountain Division info at www.utahhamfest.org PRESIDENT'S CORNER N5PK First, a special congratulations to the eleven folks who passed their Technician test at our last class and test secession. They are Daniel Califf, Melissa Glasscock, Erik Montoya, Melvin Barlow, Randy Adamson, Aaron Forrester, Albert Wilken, Leslie and Jonathon Morrell and Pat Bryant. We all welcome you to the Mesilla Valley Radio Club (MVRC) and into the fraternity of Amateur Radio. We pledge to assist each of you in finding your "nitch" within our hobby and within the MVRC. Welcome back to members Norman Remley and Shelton Pricer and to new members William and Madeline Patterson. Next event of major importance is Field Day "2005". If you will be available for set up, logging or operating, please call George Kopp at 525-1956 or send an e-mail to the address listed under officers. We need lots of volunteers for all areas if we are to have a competitive and fun field day. I am still looking for general class and higher operators to volunteer to open the club station to provide an opportunity and assistance to those interested in getting on the air who either do not have a home station or those Technicians without privileges on HF to do so Call me at 526-9428 if this interests you. There will be a "pot luck" tail gate fest at the Chimney Springs Camp ground near Mayhill NM. The turn off to the camp ground is opposite the entrance to Cloud Country. Meat will be provided, bring a covered dish. June 4th,meal to be served between 12:30 and 1:00. HamCom, Arlington Convention Center, Arlington TX, June 3rd-5th, See web page for details. JUNE 25 and 26 FIELD DAY KD5OHA This is a time when Amateur Radio operators from all over get together and set up stations in outdoor area. They set up portable antennas and operate from emergency power sources. They compete for points for number of c0ntacts and other awards. The purpose is to demonstrate that amateur radio is a fun and functional service for emergency and long distant communication. This year field day will be held at the vacant lot at the corner of Missouri and Don Roser streets. We need help with set-up/take-down, cw operation and logging, phone operation and logging, 2 m and 6 m operating and logging. If you would like to help with set-up/take-down, contact George (525-1956) or e-mail geokd5oha@yahoo.com or Henry (526-1922) or e-mail hschotzko@zianet.com. To help with cw contact Richard (524-9322) or e-mail kc5kwi@aolcom. To help with phone contact Rodney (522-6833 or e-mail rod@davis-domain.com. To help with 2 o 6 meters contact George (525-1956) or e-mail geokd5oha@yahoo.com. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions contact George (525-1956) or e-mail geokd5oha@yahoo.com or Jack (526-9428 or e-mail n5pk@zianet.com. BEAN FEED K5XY The annual been feed was a big success. But it did not start out that way. It rained. But, fortunately, not heavily. The commercial vendors were able to set up inside, so everything got off to a good start. Our president predicted that the rain would stop at 8AM and by 8:30 no drops were falling. People came from three states and two countries, keeping the boy Scouts busy directing traffic into the parking lot. And speaking of lots, lots of boat anchors were exchanged. The club was fortunate to have two large commercial vendors selling equipment at the hamfest. It is the only time that many of us can get to see new ham gear up close and not just in pictures. I was personally the beneficiary of the Rad-Com visit. I was coming back form the Albuquerque hamfest and had pulled over to the side of I 25 to work a little 20m mobile when the Rad-Com vehicle putted to a screeching halt in front of me. He had seen my 20 m whip and stopped to see if I needed any assistance. The Southwest Antenna people were quite pleased with their reception. They said that it was a better (and more profitable) hamfest that the Albuquerque one the day before. Beans were served as usual and the club sold a lot of donated equipment, which will certainly help our finances. Pictures of the 2005 Bean Feed are available through a link on the Local Oscillator web site, www.mvrc.qzxservices,com CW GROUP K5DI This Group meets the first Monday of each month at 7PM at the MVRC Clubhouse. The purpose of the Group is to get people who like CW together. It is OK to like SSB and other things too. We talk about ways to get your CW speed up and nice CW radios. There is a QRP contest that last month we participated in. It was fun and used real fast CW. I will bring some of the cd-rom's with the good CW learning method and all you need is a MP-3 player. They are cheap at Wal-Mart. So if this sounds interesting show up next month. By the way, if the night driving bothers you let me know and we can bring you and take you home. Karl Larsen, 3310 East Street, Las Cruces, NM 88005, 505-640-1383 THANKS FOR BEAN FEED SUPPORT N5WQ Thanks for all the donations of equipment and supplies for the Bean Feed sale and another big thank you to everyone who made a purchase. We had a good sales year. It helped meet our goal for the budget. Also, thanks to all for helping to control the blue tarp for weather protection. This also helped in the sales for the club. We are almost sold out of items so as you find things that can be sold next year, please bring them to a meeting or call Jack to arrange for someone to pick up at your convenience. QRP FIELD DAY K5DI I am going to have a Field Day at the location the Club has used several years near Sun Spot NM. all the transmitters will operate at 5 watts or less. My trailer will have the radio used for CW and the antenna will be a 88 foot zepp that works all bands from 80 to 10 meters. The radio. a Yaesu FT-817. does cover 6 meters and also 2 meters and 70 Cm. We will try these bands as well. If no-one brings a SSB station then the station in my trailer will be used for SSB as well. What I need are Hams who would enjoy operating the station(s) during the FD period which is from 12 noon on Saturday June 24 to 12 noon on June 25. Meals will be prepared in my trailer and will be good food. Please contact me at 524-3303 if you are interested. BEAN FEED WINNERS Winner of 50/50 = N8DBC, Marie Sinden, Club Member Winner of Fire Extinguishers = AB5FG, Doug Ream, Club Member KA0HPK, Rusty Landes from Deming, NM Thanks to Dimar Systems (N7CYY, Marty and KD5ZHI, Tres Campbell) for the contribution of the fire extinguishers. ROCKY MOUNTAIN DIVISION HAMFEST N5ZGT The 2005 ARRL Rocky Mountain Division convention, sponsored by the Utah Hamfest, will be held on Friday, July 29 thru Sunday, July 31 at Ruby's Inn, just outside of Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. Rooms reserved by July 1 are discounted as low as $53 per night. RV camping is also available. Features include FCC's Riley Hollingsworth K4ZDH, exhibitor and vendor displays, ARRL forum and meetings, a multitude of special interest sessions, plus: - Wouff Hong ceremony - Transmitter Hunt - Mobile installation and homebrew contests - CW copying and transformer tossing competitions - QLF contest (how good are you at keying CW.with your left food?) - VE sessions - RV Camping - Activities for non-Hams - Prizes - Friday evening Eyeball QSO Party BBQ dinner hosted by the organizers - Saturday evening Dutch oven cook-off - Sunday morning Breakfast Banquet - And more! Come on out and enjoy the beauty of Bryce Canyon, as well as the fun of a great Hamfest. Help us spread the word, and book your room now at a special rate. Don't miss the 2005 Rocky Mountain Division convention! For more information, including registration forms, swing by http://www.utahhamfest.org INCOME/EXPENSE KJ5Q Below is the summary of all the club accounts including reserves. For a more complete report see the web or pdf forms of the newsletter. (http://mvrc.qzxservices.com) April 30, 2005 Beginning Balances – Checking, Savings, and Education 8157.00 Total Income 2903.60 Balances & Income 11060.60 Total Expenses 942.58 Balances on hand, April 30, 2005 10118.02 BACK PAGE The newsletter is always looking for articles and notes of interest to the members of the Mesilla Valley Radio Club. Please send them to Alex. F. Burr, K5XY, Editor, MVRC Local Oscillator, 695 Stone Canyon Drive, Las Cruces, NM 88011. Small personal ads from members will also be published. It would be helpful if submissions would be made in a machine readable form. MSDOS disks are welcome. Files can also be sent to the Internet address k5xy@arrl.net. The club has a web site maintained by WA2NIJ at http://www.zianet.com/mvrc. OFFICERS Pres Jack Lemons N5PK 526-9428 n5pk@zianet.com VPr Tres Campbell KD5HZI 373-2008 trscam@netscape.net Sec Judy Davis W5JRD jhughes@nmsu.edu Tres Sandra Hempfling KJ5Q 373-1166 kj5q@arrl.net BOARD Communications George Kopp KD5OHA 525-1956 geokd5oha@yahoo.com Education Joe San Filippo WZ5R 521-7574 sanfilippo@zianet.com Special Events Cash Olsen KD5SSJ 382-1917 KD5SSJ@zianet.com Newsletter Alex Burr K5XY 522-2528 k5xy@arrl.net Repeaters Brad Sacca KD5SKE 382-4380 sheikyerbouty@msn.com Clubhouse Bob Bennett AD5LJ 382-0148 rbennett@zianet.com JOIN THE CLUB To join the Mesilla Valley Radio Club, renew your membership, or to support the repeaters, please complete the form below and send it with dues ($35 single, $45 family per year) to: Treasurer, MVRC, Box 1443, Las Cruces, NM 88004. Name: Address: Call: Class of License: Phone: E-Mail Address: ARRL Member? Yes? No?