THE LOCAL OSCILLATOR - June 2008 NOTE: An HTML version is available at www.mvrc.qzxservices.com. A pdf file of the web edition is available at http://www.mvrc.qzxservices.com/pdf/LO0805.pdf. It will be easy to print that edition. If you do not have the free pdf reader, you can get it at http://www.adobe.com TABLE OF CONTENTS COMING EVENTS PRESIDENT"S CORNER EQUIPMENT FOR SALE TECH CLASS STORAGE BUILDING UPDATE EXTRA CLASS QUESTIONS CHANGE VE SESSIONS DXING INCOME/EXPENSE BACK PAGE COMING EVENTS Sun CW net 3.565 MHz 5:00PM 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 52.525 MHz 8:00PM MWF Informal get together Wal-Mart W (Valley) 10 AM TTH Informal get together Wal-Mart E (Walton) 10 AM June 7 Breakfast 8 AM Club House June 7 Business meeting 9 AM Club House June 11 Directors meeting 7 PM Club House June 28 - 29 Field Day July 11-13 Rocky Mountain Division Convention (Bryce Canyon, UT) July 12 VE Test August 15-16 Duke City Hamfest & NM State Convention (Albuquerque, NM) Sept 13 VE Test Sept 20 Silver City Hamfest Nov 8 VE Test PRESIDENT'S CORNER KD5ZHI Sucessful Bean Feed? I think so. The annual Been Feed was held at the end of last month and it was successful in that we had lots of help to make it so. A commercial vendor, Darryl Clutter from Southwest Antenna, said it was successful for him as well. Darryl said the Albuquerque tail gate was the day prior and both were on par with each other for sales, attendance, but we had great food. Our New Mexico section manager attended as well. He also complemented the club for its organization and good attendance. I appreciate him traveling all the way from Albuquerque to make it. We had several other club hams as well and a few out of state guests.The club sold more of our donated equipment than we had anticipated. I thank all of those who made a donation to the club, it really helps. We also had great weather, we could not have ordered a better day for our event. In closing about the bean feed I want to thank all of those who helped make it a success. Our help comes from so many places both direct and indirect support. I thank all of you for you support in making it yet another success. Looking now to the summer, our next event is field day the last week in June. This is just around the corner. Henry, AD5FE, is making preparations and should have a plan for the club soon as to location and type of station the club will operate. EQUIPMENT FOR SALE AD5LJ The club has several items of equipment that did not sell at the Bean Feed. The items are being offered to club members at reduced prices until end of June. After that time remaining items will be listed on EBAY or otherwise disposed of. Kenwood HF station (AT-230 antenna tuner,430S HF transceiver , Astron RS-35M power supply and S-43S hand mic --$350. Astron VS35M power supply (new item) ---$150 PATCOMM PC16000 Transceiver (1997 software defined transceiver, all modes, 100 Watts out). This is a rare radio. --- $350. CENTRAL ELECTRONICS 200V Transmitter. (1961 vacuum tube 100 Watt transmitter, AM/SSB/FSK/CW modes, 80 thru 10 meters. This is a very complex and HEAVY transmitter). This is also a very rare radio. --- Best offer over $100. Six Radio Shack 5 Ft, 1.5 Inch diameter telescoping antenna mast sections ---- Best offer 50 Foot Aluminum tower. Consists of three 20-footl telescoping sections. --- Best Offer 10 Foot Diameter Parabolic Dish reflector. Best Offer If you are interested in any of the above items, please contact me at 382-0148. TECH CLASS KD5SSF A Technician Amateur Radio class will be held on the weekend of 13-15 June 2008. The class will start at 6 PM on Friday, June 13 and will conclude about noon on Sunday, June 15. The FCC exam will be administered about 1 PM on Sunday. The success rate for people taking the class is close to 100%. Please let those interested in taking this class know to contact Tim Linn (521-0486 KD5SSF@ARRL.NET) for more information. If you are interested in upgrading your license by taking an exam at the same time as the Technician Class students (June 15 at 1 PM) please also let Tim Linn know. STORAGE BUILDING UPDATE AD5LJ We had another work day on Saturday 17 May. We managed to complete painting the outside walls and the front doors. The building is finished except for some caulking and construction of shelves inside .I would like to thank the following for their outstanding work: George KD5OHA, Ron KE5KLK, Al K7ICW and Dennis KB5TPV. EXTRA CLASS QUESTIONS CHANGE N5WQ If you are thinking about taking the test to become an extra, please note that the test changes on July 1,2008. The question pool will be new and will have schematics. ARRL indicates that the new Extra Class question pool contains 12 schematic diagrams. The new question pool is available for download in either Word or PDF format at http://www.arrl.org VE SESSIONS N5WQ At the VE test session following the Bean Feed, seven people came to be tested. Four people passed the Technician test, one person passed both the Technician and General tests, and one person upgraded to an Extra. On the next Saturday, following the club meeting, one person passed the Technician test. The revised schedule for the rest of this year is: July 12, 2008, September 13, 2008, November 8, 2008 Sponsor: MESILLA VALLEY RADIO CLUB Time: 8:30 AM (call to schedule 2 days in advance -- no walk-ins) Contact: JOHN G HEMPFLING (575) 373-1166 Email: N5WQ@ZIANET.COM VEC: ARRL/VEC Location: MESILLA VALLEY RADIO CLUB HOUSE CORNER OF JEFFERSON & WILT LAS CRUCES, NM 88001 Additional tests may be scheduled at the end of classes and/or by request in advance. DXING Google Earth users: Check out an awesome display of near-realtime Maximum Useable Frequency (MUF) by clicking on the appropriate link at http://terra1.spacenvironment.net/~ionops/ES4Dintro.html. MUF essentially describes the highest frequency one can communicate from one point on earth to another by bouncing signals off the ionosphere. Of course, there's other factors at play but this is a great way to see how the bands are doing on a first order. Check it out! If you prefer to use DX spotting tools, the ever popular DX Summit has taken on a brand-new and improved look. Visit http://www.dxsummit.fi/ to see the latest DX postings on all bands, or choose a custom spot to display DX on just one particular band. INCOME/EXPENSE APRIL, 2008 N5CWW INCOME Bean Feed 310.00 Breakfast & Drinks 76.00 Dues 195.00 Equipment Sales 2881.79 Total income 3462.79 EXPENSES Breakfast & Drinks 27.94 Utilities - 191.80 Total expenses - 163.86 Cash and Bank Accounts as of 1May08 MVRC Checking 4433.03 MVRC Education Fund 2113.98 MVRC Savings Account 0.00 MVRC CD 5130.16 MVRC Petty Cash 50.00 TOTAL Cash and Bank Accounts 11727.17 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 Tres Campbell KD5HZI 373-2008 trscam@netscape.net VPr Dennis Shepan KB5TPV 522-7466 KB5TPV@zianet.com Sec Jack Lemons N5PK 526-9428 Treasurer Charlie Welch N5CWW 496-3901 cwwelch@usa.net BOARD Communications Henry Schotzko AD5FE 526-1922 schotzko@comcast.net Education Tim Linn KD5SSF 521-0486 KD5SSF@arrl.net Special Events Jeffrey.campbell-1.nasa.gov Newsletter Alex Burr K5XY 522-2528 k5xy@arrl.net Clubhouse Bob Bennett AD5LJ 382-0148 rpbennett1@comcast.net 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 s end 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?