THE LOCAL OSCILLATOR - May 2006 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/LO0605.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 PRESIDEBT'S CORNER FIELD DAY BATAAN DEATH MARCH TECHNIGHT MS WALK MAY PROGRAM VE SESSION HORSE RACE CLASS MINUTES OF APRIL 2006 BUSINESS MEETING INCOME/EXPENSES BACK PAGE COMING EVENTS Sun CW net 7.142 MHz 4:00PM M-F 6 m FM net 52.540 6:00AM Mon YL Rise & Shine 449.9 8:30AM Mon WTRA Swap net 146.88 8:00PM Wed Net 146.64 6:45PM M-F round-table 52.525MHz 8:00PM MWF Informal get together Wal-Mart W (Valley) 10AM TTH Informat get together Wal-Mart E (Walton) 10AM Apr 27 Technight (networks) Club House 7:00PM Apr 29 Albuquerque tailgate Apr 30 Bean Feed Club House May 6 Breakfast 8:00AM Club House May 6 Business meeting 9:15AM Club House May 6 Grant county hamfest Motel 6 Silver City May 10 Director's Meeting Club House 7:00PM May 11 Technight (FD) Club House 7:00PM May 25 Technight (loggong) Club House 7:00PM June 9-11 Rocky Mountain Hamconvention www.hamconcolorado.org June 24-25 Field Day Aug 25-26 Duke City hamfest Sept 8-10 Technician Class Club House Oct 27-29 General Class Club House13 PRESIDEBT'S CORNER N5PK The past week marked the passing of a faithful member of the MVRC, a sometimes confidant of mine, long time good friend and character, Art Trout. Art always mixed, mingled and moved among us in a quite and gentlemanly manner and we will miss him sorely. Those of you of Faith need to continue to keep Jody in your prayers. By the time you receive this months Local Oscillator, the Bean Feed will be upon us. This will be the 40th anniversary of the Bean Feed and I encourage everyone in the Amateur community member and non-member alike to support this event. There will be 40th anniversary coffee mugs and a few special tee shirts offered for sale to commemorate the occasion. Bring your treasures and let's do some trading and swapping, Hope to see you here, on the 30th of April, "y'all come, hear". You may know already but just in case you didn't get the word, the classes for General Class upgrade has been canceled as was the earlier Tech class. On the current schedule, there are only two other opportunities for classes which will be offered if there is sufficient interest. Those being first a class for Technician early this fall followed a bit later by a class for General. We of the MVRC do this as a service to our members and the community as well, so if you have interest in these classes, sign up for them as soon as the dates are announced so planning to accommodate you can begin. We've got to do better in this area of training and enlisting volunteer communicators There are some members from last year who for one reason or another haven't paid their dues for 2006. Please be prompt in sending your dues in so we can continue those activities deemed important to the life of our club. We need your help in reaching out to new members as well, I'm sure you have ham friends you could encourage to join with us, some may have been members in the past,let's try real hard, OK! Thanks for your support to the MVRC and its Officers and Directors. FIELD DAY WA5DJJ Field day on June 24th and 25th 2006 are continuing. I still need more operators and loggers to get signed up and still need some equipment. I have one camper for the CW station but need one for the Phone station, VHF/UHF Station, and GOTA Station. Generators are still in short supply and hopefully that will get solved as we get closer to June. There is planning in progress for a display area in the front of our operation for visitors to sign in and look at our displays, both static and active. This usually gives our field day site a wider appeal. I am looking for some folks to be the "Greeters" and also some to shepherd people in the GOTA station. CW operators are also in short supply. But hopefully we can overcome this before June. Special operations like a Natural Power station and the Satellite station also have to be manned and setup. So, there is still a lot of work to do and A lot more folks needed. To get your name on the list Contact me at 505-532-1351 or on email at dhassall@zianet.com. Let's all get behind this effort to make it a great field day. BATAAN DEATH MARCH KD5OHA On March 26 twenty members of the Mesilla Valley Radio Club met at the White Sands Missile Range at four o’clock in the morning to proceed to their assigned station to help provide for the seventeenth annual Bataan Memorial Death March. This year there were two different routes as commemorative 15-mile route had been added. The regular route went the usual 26.2 miles. The event started at 6 AM with the call to Colors followed by the Star Spangled Banner. Some of the survivors of the real Bataan Death March were introduced. A cannon was fires and the marchers were off at 6:30. There were approximately 3900 participants. Two hundred eighty took the 15-mile route and the rest took the 26.2-mile route. A big thank you to Tres, KD5ZHI, who helped me at the start finish line. Also a big thanks to Marnie, KA2FVO, and Jim WA2NIJ at water point 1; Steve, WM5Z, Val, KD5ZGY at water point 2; Dennis, WB5TPV at water point 2A; Sandy, KJ5Q, and John N5WQ at water 3 and 9; Charlotte, KC5KWI, and Bill, W5UMQ, at water point 4 and 8; Henry, AD5FE at water point 5; Dave, WA5DJJ, and J. O., KE4ALO, at water point 6; Dave, W7DZG, and Mel, KE5EMO at water point7; Brad KC5SKE, and Jenny at water point 10; Karl, K5DI at water point 11; Jack, N5PK, at water point 12. The first runner crossed the finish line in 2 hours and 31 minutes. The last two teams came across the finish line a little after 9 PM. Thanks to all for putting in such a long day. Also a big thanks is sent to all from Sue Staab, who coordinated this event for White Sands. TECHNIGHT WA5DJJ On May 11 we are starting our countdown to Field Day Operations on Saturday June 24th and 25th. This first meeting is to talk about the Rules and Operations of our field day operation and the special point getting tactics to help us raise our score. There are also some things we as a club can do to reach out to the public and attract new Amateurs to our club. It is also a time when we are out in the public to show what we can do and what we are about. So we want to gear our operation to do this along with operating for 24 hours under emergency conditions. We will be going over the field day rules which can be downloaded from the Arrl Website at: http://www.arrl.org/contests/forms/06-fd-Rules.pdf and it will be very helpful if everyone involved read over the rules and other information in this file. As many people that want to be involved with field day need to plan to attend this meeting and the next three tech night meetings. Tech Night May 25, 2006 7:00 PM at the clubhouse. This is the meeting that we learn how the field day logging program works and try to iron out any glitches as we try to learn this new Windows Software. I have disks available with the new to us logging software on them or you can download the program from the website at http://www.n3fjp.com/, clicking on field day log on the left side menu and download the version 2.8 program. Install this on your computer and it will allow you to log 28 items. So you can practice and see how the program works. It has a good help file and it is easy to use and should help us with our logging. The reason we use a computer program to log is the field day manager (ME) doesn't have to decipher everyone's different handwriting when he is trying to do the paperwork after the field day. You don't have to do extensive typing to use this program so you "Hunt and Peck" typers are excellent candidates to do the logging function. If you have a WINDOWS Laptop bring it with you to the Meeting. I am hoping we can scare enough up to get a good practice session in before the contest starts. MS WALK KD5OHA The M, S. Walk was held on Saturday, April 8. George, KD5OHA; Brad, KC5SKE; Dennis, KB5TPVJ; O.,KE5ALO; Henry AD5FE; Karl; K5DI; and Jack, N5PK all met at Young Park and then took positions along the bike path beside Traviz from Nevada to University avenues. They provided communications coverage for the 119 participants of the M, S. Walk. Thank you everyone for your excellent help. MAY PROGRAM KD5HZI Hello all and hope everyone who can attend the bean feed does so. I hope the weather will be good for this.I know the beans will be great. The presenter for the May business meeting will be Karl Larsen, K5DI. He will have a presentation on Anderson Powerpoles. There was a good write up on this in the April QST. This is a very good type of connector. Karl will demonstrate how to make them, where to purchase them and how they work. Looking forward to it, Karl. VE SESSION K5DI There was a VE Session held on 4-5-6 at 6:30 PM. The VE's are Sandy and John Hemphing, David Hassal, and Karl Larsen. It was a pleasure to see that the number of people to take exams exceeded the number of VE's. Everything went smoothly and all 5 people passed all the tests they tried. One guy who had let his license expire passed the code test, the Tech, and the General written exams. Like the CW class, the VE Session was held at the Messilla Park Recreation Center. HORSE RACE KD5ZHI I just wanted to tell everyone about the Binn's horse race and how things went. I had a great time, this was a lot of fun. My son, Cash, Perry, and I meet on Friday. We checked in at the control trailer and meet some of the other hams. The Binns had the course laid out and we received our location (Cowboy Camp). We set up camp there and returned for a great spaghetti dinner. The next morning was early, with the first riders in camp at 6:00 am. The day was a blur. This location is were several different races came to water and rest. With so many thing to do, we all ate our sandwiches standing up, no time to rest. Once all of the horse's were done in our area, we were reassigned to the last check point. We headed back to the main area for another great dinner, pit BBQ pig. We were done at our check point at 9:00 pm. A very late but fulfilling day. It was great being outdoors, camping out, radio work, and horses. All of my favorite things. I was very impressed with the number of hams that attended. Seventeen to be exact. And from Silver City, Deming, Las Cruces, and T or C. A very good turn out. And the traffic handling was very good also. All in all, I will be back next year. CLASSES K5DI I do not see the Technician, General and Extra classes as being viable any more. I did hold a CW class last month that was an experiment that worked. As a result of that class, we held a VE exam and had people taking both General and Technician written exams. Everyone passed and everyone used the qrz.com web page to learn to pass the 35 question written test by TAKING a test. This method appears to work well if the person is interested. I told them they had to get a consistent 80% right. Some people had to study both the code and the theory. This worked out just fine. When we started the classes, they made sense because they were an inexpensive way to use the ARRL TV series to learn the information needed to pass the tests. Now there is the qrz.com free way to learn the information which appears to work very well. The last of this letter is what we need to tell people who want to become hams or upgrade their current license. "How do I become a Ham?" You must learn enough about Ham radio to pass a 35 question exam. You can learn this by working with the software on the web page http://www.qrz.com. Look down the right side of the busy page to where you can read "Practice Tests". Click on that and you go to a new page and there read what it says and click on the level of license you want to study. Now you know what you want to study. When you are done, you need to take the test which is given in Las Cruces when needed. MINUTES OF APRIL 1, 2006 BUSINESS MEETING KJ5Q The meeting was called to order by Jack Lemons N5PK at 9:15 am. A quorum was present. Visitors were welcomed and members introduced themselves. The minutes, as circulated in the Local Oscillator, were approved by consensus. The treasurer’s report was also approved by consensus with a total balance of $13,985.71. There was no new business. The antenna party was discussed. Bob Bennett AD5LJ, Building Chairman, announced a cleanup of the club house to be on April 15 at 8:00 am. George KD5OHA and Jack N5PK volunteered to help. Dave Hassall WA5DJJ reported on tech nights and field day. On April 13, repeaters and their operations will be the topic. On April 27, networks will be discussed. The logging software is available for practice. Help is needed with the antenna crew.A tour guide for the site and leaders for the special stations are needed. Karl Larsen K5DI reported on the CW class. A VE session for testing will be held on April 5 at 6:30 pm at the Mesilla Park Recreation Center. The fee to take a test is $14.00. Jim Leverett WA2NIJ suggested that the club consider carpeting for the meeting room. After discussion, it was sent to the Board. Marnie Leverett KA2FVO proposed that the bylaws be changed to remove term limits for club officers. This also will be discussed by the Board. It was announced that Art Trout WA8FBN has been moved from the hospital to the Rehab Center on East Lohman. Phone calls and cards would be appreciated. Jack N5PK reminded everyone that the Bean Feed is on April 30 and workers are needed. Donations of equipment and supplies to sell would be greatly appreciated. The meeting was adjourned at 10:05 and several members shared their stories of how they came to live in Las Cruces. Sandra Hempfling For Judy Davis, Secretary INCOME/EXPENSES Mesilla Valley Radio Club Income/Expense March 1 through March 31, 2006 Beginning Balances MVRC Checking Account 2158.12 MVRC Savings Account 9110.13 Education Fund Account 2491.03 Cash on Hand 50.00 Balances Total 13809.28 Income Breakfast & Drinks 92.00 Contributions 225.00 Dues 105.00 T-shirt sales -49.68 Interest Income 2.10 Total Income 374.42 Balances + Income 14183.70 Expenses Breakfast 80.80 Club House 30.00 Misc 19.95 Utilities Electricity 29.71 Telephone 26.32 Water 11.21 Total Expenses 197.99 Balances on hand, March 31 13181.88 Ending Balances MVRC Checking Account 2332.45 MVRC Savings Account 9112.23 Education Fund Account 2491.03 Cash on Hand 50.00 Balances Total 13985.71 Sandra Hempfling Treasurer 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 522-6833 judy@davis-domain.com Tres Sandra Hempfling KJ5Q 373-1166 kj5q@arrl.net BOARD Communications John Beakley WK5C 522-7078 wk5c@arrl.net 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 Clubhouse Bob Bennett AD5LJ 382-0148 rbennett@zianet.com Repeaters Brad Sacca KC5SKE 382-4380 shiekyerbouty@msn.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?