VOLUME 23 NUMBER 2 FEBRUARY,1999
WEST TEXAS AMATUER RADIO CLUB
Presidential Ponderings I'd like to thank all of you that attended the January WTARC club meeting. We had a full house for the first time in years! I am looking forward to a great year for the West Texas ARC! We had a lot of news to pass along at the meeting. We are finally, after nearly 20 years, just about to obtain our own club house. If everything goes according to plan, (knock on wood) the March meeting will be in a building we can call our own!!!
I should have news and updates at the February meeting at the Red Cross.
Here's some of our agenda for February that we will talk about at the meeting: A Club vanity callsign. The clubhouse. JOTA & FieldDay (it's never too early). News & updates on the EOC. Updating the club's inventory of equipment...bring any information you have. The clubhouse.."sounds like I'm repeating myself.. doesn't it?"
And lots of other news that is still breaking at this time. Come join us and have a good time.
Yes, I'm excited. 1999 looks to be a banner year for the WTARC. With luck, we will have a good club vanity call, a nice clubhouse, and the highest membership we've seen in years! I've said this, and I'll say it again. I think the West Texas Amateur Radio Club is just what it is named! The WEST TEXAS amateur radio club! This means that we want to encourage any amateur or interested potential ham throughout the West Texas area to come visit and join us.
Thanks for your support of the club over the years. Now, come & help us grow!
FROM THE SECTION MANAGERDear Affiliated Club,
In 1997, we debuted an ARRL Web page that assisted hams in obtaining basic information about affiliated clubs they might want to join. Information could be found by ZIP code, state, ARRL section or club name.
Club officers began to check this popular Web page to easily review their information and quickly send updates to us, also on-line! As a result, we expanded this club service on the Web. We added fields for more club information, and included new ways to sort the data -- by a city, annual report date (oldest first), affiliated date (oldest first) or change date (most recent first).
Now, when your club elects new officers, or their addresses change, you can quickly update your record. We, in turn, can revise our database and Web site on a daily basis! Point your web browser to http://www.arrl.org/field/club/biglist.html -- you'll find instructions for updating your data at http://www.arrl.org/field/club/forms/fsd2/.
The next logical step is to permit you to easily file your Annual Report with us via the same method - it's quick, accurate, timely, eliminates the necessity of you filling out quadruplicate forms and saves you the postage costs. We hope you will try out this new club service on the Web, rather than filling out and returning the enclosed paperwork (the 1998 version is the current form). As you try it, please take a moment to tell us about your experience, problems and benefits. We anticipate that this is the last year we will mail out the enclosed paper version of Annual Report forms, unless you must have paper copies.
Thanks! 73, Tom Hogerty, KC1J
Field & Educational Services"
CODE PRACTICE Warm up your HF equipment. Midland Club is having on air code practice.
This will be on Tuesday evening at 7:00 on 28.310. Larry Nix N5TQU, Ted Harwood W5WTX, and Mike Smith W5MLS will be running the practice sessions.
Maybe we can listen and learn code, get our speed up and go General.
WEST TEXAS AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
MINUTES
01-07-1999Meeting started off on a bad note----The Red Cross has changed leadership and the person in charge had all the locks changed on the buildings and we could not get in and had to wait for some one to show up with key. In the mean time Rev Craig Martindale WA4WBU said we could use the meeting room at his church which was the Cumberland Presbyterian Church at corner of Oakwood & Grandview. So everyone preceded to this location for meeting.
Meeting was called to order at 8:00 P.M. by 1998 President Gary Peek N5XXF. First order of business was swearing in the 1999 President Robert Jordan N5RKN as the 1999 President. He then intern inducted all the new officers and the ones staying in office from 1998. These were Jerry Naylor KB5THR as 1999 Vice President, John Clement KF5NI as the 1999 treasurer, C.A. Hildebrand KC5ELQ as 1999 Secretary, Mark Ingram N5MI as Director, Joe Detiveaux WA5VYK as 1999 Director, And Rick Sohl KK5RIC who was not Present will have to be sworn later as other Director. OLD BUSINESS: First was a discussion about Net Control Operator contest for 1998. It was decided that John Clement was the winner and was awarded a free year of dues for having the most check ins for 1998. It was then decided to have this contest again for 1999. Gary Peek N5XXF said he would be the January net control operator, These decisions were made and seconded from floor but I failed to get motions makers name but there were voted on and passed by majority vote. There were no minutes for December 1998 as we had no meeting and as the 1998 Treasurer was absent we had no Treasurer report.
NEW BUSINESS: First new business was the notice from President that the April meeting will be an (Advanced SkyWarn session) instead of a regular meeting. Next was noted that there was a radio at the EOC site that was made available to be used for Packet use . This unit needed an antenna and a TNC unit. It was discussed and several agreed to come up with antenna and a TNC. Out come of this will be reported on later. Then Ray Fagin KC5JHC said that a computer that was at NWS site was being use in Sky Warn was being upgraded with newer and faster operation and also with more memory. Robert Jordan then gave a report on the profit of the 1998 Ham Fest. It was noted that though not exact it looked as it was one of the most profitable we have had. This will be noted later with a final data report from Treasurer. Next was a suggestion from floor that we have a Club Chaplain .It was agreed on that as we had some one that would do the job and was surely qualified that we should do so. It was then agreed to do so. Crag Martindale WA4WBU agreed to be the Chaplain. It was then noted by President that we needed to start getting together Committees and committee heads for all the projects for the 1999 . These being Ham Fest, Field Day, JOTA, Fire Warn and others. President noted that at this time club was a non profit status but with the state of Texas only. Still working on this status with the IRS. The great news that he had was the possibility of a new home for the club. This being a building for the club to use by permission of the city of Odessa. All the possibilities were being checked out and when we get to the point we know we are satisfied with all the requirements and such the info will be brought to the club meeting and we will go from there. It looks real good at this time. If any one would like to have any answers to any questions or offer any suggestions please contact Robert Jordan N5RKN or Jack Cunningham W5JLC and they will try to help. It was noted by the West Texas Section Manager Charlie Royall WB5T that there were some grants possible for help in taking care of any repairs and such that we might be liable for on this building if we get it. Also that there is a company in Midland that might help get grant and also do the work. Motion was made to pursue this building situation. Motion was made by Dan Pearson WD5CWJ and seconded by Craig Martindale WA4WBU. Motion passed by a majority vote. Next was an appeal by both the President and Secretary to any club member that has or knows of any club property and where it is located . please make a list of such property so an inventory can be made so we can better operate club's business and also be able to produce any inventory if needed in any future audit. We had the great presence of the West Texas Section Manager Charlie Royall WB5T and his XYL Nancy KC5YTG at this meeting. They offered club several good suggestions and Charlie presented some info about the state and national info on amateurs as per gains and losses of numbers of licensed operators. This was by license class and reasons why the loss and gain. He also noted things that ARRL was doing in change makings. He had some other info and he expressed his and ARRL's for John Clement's being available to be of service to this W.T. Section in handling traffic for the community and the section's amateur community. Club members also expressed the appreciation to John. Motion was made to adjourn and was seconded. Vote was taken and by majority meeting was adjourned at 9:30 P.M. At this time Craig Martindale WA4WBU was thanked for the use of the meeting room and the Royall's were thanked for making the drive from San Angelo to be at our meeting. And can you believe that we had 23 members and 5 visitors present at meeting.---Great.
C.A.
SKYWARN
THE SKYWARN CONNECTION
January 11, 1999
Reflecting back to 1998, we had a quite unusual year in West Texas. Warm and dry was the rule as we experienced the second driest year on record (5.14" total rainfall) and 51 days of triple digit high temperatures (the record is 52 days). Our last freeze in 1998 was March 21st and our first autumn freeze was on December 7th (the latest first freeze on record). This amounted to a lengthy growing season of 259 days (record longest is 265 days, the average growing season is 229 days). Most unusual was the record 9.8 inches of snow that fell on December 11th.
Our most active week in 1998 was not last spring, but during the last week in October, when 90 severe weather warnings were issued across the Permian Basin. The addition of the Doppler weather radars and new forecaster workstations have translated into improved severe weather warnings nationwide. A few statistics -- Lead time for flash floods improved from 22 minutes in 1993 to 52 minutes in 1998, while accuracy for flash floods increased from 71% to 83%. Lead times for tornado warnings nearly doubled from six minutes in 1993 to 11 minutes in 1998, while tornado warning accuracy increased from 47% to 67%. The NWS continues to rely on its partners, the amateur radio community, emergency management and the media to help get out severe warnings and keep communities safe. Yet the cost to each American for these weather services is about $4 per year -- about the same price as a hamburger, french fries and a shake.
With last autumn active with severe weather, we are anticipating a more active spring this year as compared to the last two springs. Thirty-one SKYWARN spotter training sessions are planned, including two Midland sessions on March 19th and 22nd, and a session in Odessa on April 1st. Other upcoming SKYWARN spotter training sessions include:
Sheffield -- 1/25/99 Snyder -- 1/26/99 Eunice -- 2/4/99
Rankin -- 2/8/99 Mentone -- 2/10/99 Sanderson -- 2/11/99
Andrews -- 2/22/99 Lamesa -- 2/25/99 Seagraves -- 3/1/99
Hobbs -- 3/9/99 Pecos -- 3/11/99 Big Spring -- 3/15/99
We are excited about these upcoming spotter training sessions and looking forward to seeing many of you at these SKYWARN sessions. These training sessions are free of charge with most beginning at 7 PM local time. Please visit our Home Page at www.srh.noaa.gov/maf or listen on NOAA weather radio (162.400 Mhz) for updated locations and times. We truly hope that you will enjoy the new materials and presentations that we are currently piecing together.
Ray Fagen, KC5JHC, NWS
THE GRANDFATHER OF
AMATEUR RADIO
by Berj / KI3U
Copyright 1998 by Berj N. Ensanian
(Permission is granted to duplicate for truly non-commercial purposes.)
Part three of twelve
Nevertheless, Hertz settled the matter of the existence of the electro-magnetic spectrum so thoroughly in 1886-87, that physics then knew beyond doubt that certain engineering accomplishments were inevitable, for example: long-distance wireless communication.
But for physics there was now something even bigger to deal with - Maxwell's wave equation, now experimentally bolstered, had implied that electromagnetic propagation velocity was constant, somewhat independently, of reference frames. So here was a possible direct and stunning revelation about the near-ultimate question: "What is measurement?". In 1887 Michelson and Morley, with their famous ether-drag experiments, produced results consistent with Maxwell's wave equation. These developments in physics grew into the startling "relativity", one of the major divisions of "modern physics". So, at the time of Miller's article, pure science saw itself a good ten years past any fundamental mystery of wireless electric signaling, and the field was in the hands of variously motivated experimenters, many of them undoubtedly "amateurs" in the truest sense, seeking a practical system based more or less on the well-publicized Hertz work.There must have been then around the world many amateur wireless experimenters, doing it purely for the love of it, in this immediate post-Hertz period. For example, Thorn Mayes (W6AX) in his 1989 "Wireless Communication in the United States", mentions Professor Henry Russell of the Muncy, Pennsylvania Normal School giving wireless signaling demonstrations in 1894 (nineteen years after Thomson at Central High, on the other side of the Appalachian Ridge), and inspiring his student (later a radio pioneer) Harry Shoemaker to build and operate his own systems. It is entirely reasonable to suppose that since there were amateur experimenters back then, that some of them cooperated and perhaps even interacted regularly, perhaps even along the lines of a club, or even just a clique.
Information would have been available to interested experimenters in the 1890s, or earlier, even in remote parts like the Appalachian Ridge. After all, isn't it characteristic of experimenters to find information they need? And, institutions like the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia are strongly committed to dramatically publicizing technology, old and new, through demonstrations, lectures, publications, etc.But no matter, a real experimenter, like a real researcher, recognizes valuable information even if it is propagated in disguise. Benjamin Franklin, who was keenly sensitive to symbolism, and who thought the turkey would be a much better symbol for the United States than the eagle, could have chosen most anything, a piece of jewelry say, to tie on his lightening experiment kite string, but he chose a key. Surely in a mind as intensely driven as that of Mahlon Loomis, the symbolism of a key linked to a flying kite-cross in a lightening storm would tap open at least a subconscious door to a suggestion of something useful in addition to lightening arrester rods. Similarly, Leslie Miller in his article carefully injects the symbol of the radioman in the free balloon for his readers to identify with. I can't help but feel that LM was consciously insuring that his readership, if it did not get his message logically, would get it subconsciously by symbolism.
At the time of Miller's article, excepting Tesla for the moment, the reliable wireless two-way DX by the world's best experimenters, like Guglielmo Marconi, was less than 20 miles, and usually a lot less. So, at the time of Miller's article, wireless spark telegraphy, from which would evolve radio as we know it, had about the same DX as Mahlon Loomis had achieved with his naturally-excited slow-signal-speed aerial-kite circuits in the mid 1860s. Marconi's world-electrifying feat of signaling across the Atlantic Ocean was four years in the future.
And what about Tesla in January, 1898? Tesla was giving high-frequency-phenomena demonstration lectures in the 1891-93 period in major European and American cities. Reading Tesla's own words and diagrams from those days I am convinced that by the end of 1897 he had developed what was needed, both in knowledge and in scalable instrumentation, to send and receive wireless signals around the globe. He had the exquisitely radio-frequency-sensitive triode gas-tube detector, and he had the tuned Tesla coil transmitter, with which later in 1899, in its barn-sized version, he tuned up ionospheric standing waves around the globe. But Tesla didn't single-mindedly pursue practical commercial long-distance wireless signaling, as Marconi did. Tesla pursued a path in life which becomes clearer with the passage of time: he pursued becoming a mythological figure, a multi-faceted kind of Promethius, a patron-saint to wild, vision-possessed, completely uninhibited dreamers, experimenters, and inventors. Writes Leslie Miller: "An induction coil or a Tesla transformer is best..."
ARRL BULLETIN
Problems Reported with On-Line FCC Renewal Form
NEWINGTON, CT, Jan 12, 1999--The ARRL has received reports from some amateurs who have experienced recent problems using the FCC's on-line Form 900 Amateur Radio renewal form.Today, the FCC confirmed that possibility in a carefully worded reply to the ARRL. "It appears as though we are having a problem with the Form 900 presently," said a spokesperson in the FCC's Gettysburg office, who added that the FCC has been receiving applications steadily each day since December 31, 1998.
"Therefore, it appears as though this problem just arose, or has happened intermittently throughout this time period," the FCC spokesperson said.
The ARRL received a handful of reports in early January indicating problems getting Form 900 to work properly. The FCC advises anyone who has a problem with any FCC electronic form to contact the Technical Support staff in Washington to resolve it. The telephone number is 202-414-1250.
Access Form 900 on the FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau's Electronic Filing and Software Page, http://www.fcc.gov/wtb/electcom.html. Click on Electronic Renewal Form (Form 900) under Electronic Forms."
Those experiencing problems with Form 900 are asked to to alert ARRL/VEC of the circumstances via e-mail to [email protected].
1998 FCC Amateur Stats: Good News and Not-So-Good News
NEWINGTON, CT, Jan 12, 1999--There's good news and there's not-so-good news in the 1998 Amateur Radio statistics from the FCC as analyzed at the ARRL. The good news is that the number of new licensees exceeded 1000 every month of the year andapproached or exceeded 2000 during three months. The not-so-good news is that the total number of new amateurs was 17,956--down 6341 from the 1997 total. The number of upgrades also was off from the previous year, but not so sharply.
The analysis was based on FCC licensee data from which alien reciprocal licensees, club stations, grace-period licensees, and additional known silent keys have been deleted. As of December 31, 1998, there were 1184 alien reciprocal licenses on the books, plus 6283 clubs. Another 48,210 licensee records had expired but still were within the two-year grace period for renewal. The FCC's raw total of amateur license grants as of year's end was 729,339. The total number used in the ARRL's analysis was 667,481 licensees.
During 1998, 11,119 hams upgraded their license class, down from 13,380 in 1997. The total number of US amateurs in the FCC's database declined by 1121--a drop of 0.2% and about the same as the decline recorded between 1996 and 1997. On the other hand, there were nearly 10,000 more hams in the FCC database at the end of 1998 than there were at the end of 1995.
FEBRUARY BIRTHDAYS
Happy birthday to all the hams.
Enjoy your day!
Happy Birthdays To All!!
THE GPS WEEK 1024 ROLLOVER
GPS System Time will roll over at midnight 21-22 August 1999, 132 days before the Year 2000. On 22 August 1999, unless repaired, many GPS receivers will claim that it is 6 January 1980, 23 August will become 7 January, and so on. Accuracy of navigation may also be severely affected. Although it appears that GPS broadcasts do contain sufficient data to ensure that navigation need not be affected by rollover in 1999, it is not proven that the firm-ware in all receivers will handle the rollovers in stride; some receivers may claim wrong locations in addition to incorrect dates.
Some manufacturers have already solved the problem, but some have not. This is how the precise rollover date is computed: The timescale origin (time zero) of GPS System Time, 00:00:00 UTC 6 January 1980, is Julian Day 2,444,244.500. A GPS Cycle is 1,024 weeks, or 7,168 days, so the first GPS rollover will occur at Julian Day (2444244.5+7168)= 2,451,412.5, which is 00:00:00 UTC 22 August 1999 AD, which is the midnight between Saturday night the 21st of August, and Sunday morning the 22nd of August, 1999.
Section 3.3.4(b) (page 33) of the ICD-GPS-200, Revision C* (25 September 1997 issue) states that the "GPS Week" count starts at midnight 5-6 January 1980 UTC, and that the GPS Week field is modulo 1024. This means that the week count will roll over 7168/365.25 = 19.6249 years from then, or in 1980+19.625 = 1999.638 (August 21, 1999), only a few years from now.
In the July 1993 update of ICD-GPS-200*, a note was added (also on page 34) saying that the week number *will* roll over, and that users must account for this, but no way to accomplish this is mentioned. I take this note as further evidence that there is no way to tell, given only the signal-in-space definition as of July 1993.
Section 2.3.5 (pages 18-19) of the GPS SPS Signal Specification, 2nd Edition, issued on 2 June 1995, repeats the words and warnings of ICD-GPS-200. The GPS SPS Signal Specification may be obtained from the web as an Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) document, at the US Coast Guard's site at http://www.navcen.uscg.mil/gps/geninfo/gpsdocuments/sigspec/default.htm
The firmware in all affected (mostly older) receivers will have to be replaced. This will involve replacement of PROMs; some are socketed, some are soldered. As a technical matter, the solution is quite simple. It's the logistics that will take some effort.
Without a GPS Simulator, there is no way for users to test a GPS receiver for this problem. Users are encouraged to contact their receiver manufacturer to determine if their receiver will be affected, in particular if a failure of navigation could put lives or property at risk."
Has shown an interst in the WTARC and amateur radio . Mike Ferrini (hostmaster) is offering a special discount to any and all amateur radio operators which are or become members of the WTARC.
The discount is a monthly fee of $16.95 instead of the regular price of $19.95.
As a added bonus Caprok will give the WTARC, $2.00 of each month for each WTARC member account.
Phone is 915-580-8848
HAVE LIGHTS - WILL TRAVEL
Are you tired of guessing what frequency you're on? If the lights in your mobile rig have gone out, call EG-MI LIGHT SERVICE. We have replaced the display lights in several mobile radios. Call K5EG or N5MI.
._._.
West Texas Amateur Radio Club meets the first Thursday of the month at 7:30pm. The meetings are held at the American Red Cross building.
120 E. 2nd. Corner 2nd and Grant.
Midland Amateur Radio Club meets the 2nd and 4th Monday of the month at 7:30pm, at the MARC club house by Angel Stadium.
NETSWTARC net - Each Monday evening at 9:00pm on the WTARC club repeater at 145.470.
MARC net - Each Tuesday evening at 9:00pm on the Midland club repeater at 146.760.
Bend Emergency Net Sunday 8:30 am 3922khz lsb Packet frequencies in use locally:145.010, 144.970, 145.050, 144.930, and more. Space Shuttle Audio444.500mhz
Section manager: Charlie Royall WD5CJIE-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 915-944-0469
1999 WTARC CLUB OFFICERS
President Robert Jordan N5RKN
335-7980 [email protected]
Vice-President Jerry Naylor WB5THR
580-4343
Secretary C.A. Hildebrand KC5ELQ
362-4542
Treasurer John Clement KF5NI
366-0207 [email protected]
Director Mark Ingram N5MI
362-8613 [email protected]
Director Joe Detiveaux WA5VYK
366-2196 [email protected]
Director Ric Sohl KK5RIC
"The RELAY" is edited by Tom MCain KC5ETW
E-mail: [email protected]
WTARC dues are:
$15.00 annual per member
$25.00 annual for family membership
updated 02/04/99