Tallahassee Amateur Radio Society

February 2011

________________________________________________________________

Next Meeting

February 3, 2011, 7:00 p.m. Publix at 800 Ocala Road

The Tallahassee Amateur Radio Society meets at 7:00 p. m. on the first Thursday of every month. Our primary meeting location is the conference room on the upper floor of the Publix at 800 Ocala Road (near Tennessee St.) in Tallahassee. Talk-in on the AE4S repeater 146.655 (down .600, tone 94.8), or 146.520 simplex, if you require entry into the building. _____________________________________

TARS Officers

President: Dan Moniz - KI4HGO Vice President: Alan Torledsky - W1ABT Secretary: Zulma Flynn – KJ4PVD Treasurer: Larry Pushor - KI4MAJ TARS Committees: Repeater Trustee #1: Randy Pierce AG4UU Repeater Trustee #2: Vacant Newsletter Editor: Elizabeth Zawrotny K4EAZ Historian: Vacant Equipment Manager: Steve Welsh AD4E Education: Phil Ashler N4IPH Testing Coordinator: Alan Terrell N4KGT Special Events: Vacant Webmaster: David A. Heupel WE4RA Public Information Officer: Vacant

____________________________________

Upcoming Events February 3 TARS Meeting February 6 Tallahassee Marathon February 11-13 HamCation 2011 February 17 Airport Exercise February 19 Get on the Air Day February 22 Hospital Exercise February 26 The Manly Man Feast

____________________________________

Club News ____________________________________

“Get On The Air” Update de Phil N4IPH

Our second “Get On The Air” will be held Saturday, February 19th starting around 9:00 AM at St. Francis Episcopal Church on Old Bainbridge Road. If you have received your license fairly recently or are one of the old timers on the air, come on out and participate in the event. If you received a new radio with all the new bells and whistles, how about bringing it out and show what it can do in a portable situation? We will have several HF and VHF/UHF rigs for you to make your first contact

using these modes. Tom will have a portable satellite system in operation and explain the proper method of locating, tracking and operating through the amateur satellites. The last event held last fall brought out 14 local hams, several who made their first contact on HF and VHF. Hopefully the weather will cooperate; currently my thermometer is reading about 25 degrees. We will have more information about the Get On The Air event at the February TARS meeting. _____________________________________

ARES News

New District Emergency

Coordinator Recently, Dan Moniz, KI4HGO, relinquished the Capital District DEC position due to medical reasons. Please give Dan your thanks for his past service as your DEC, and wish him Godspeed for a fast recovery.

Norm Scholer, K4GFD, has accepted the challenge and position of DEC of the Capital District. He has ample background in public service and management, and is well versed in NIMS protocol. Even though he has the experience, he will still need the help of every one of you to make the Capital District the ARES showcase it should be for our number one served agency: the Florida EOC. Norm's e-mail address is k4gfd@tds.net.

Airport Exercise The Tallahassee Airport will be conducting an Emergency Exercise on Thursday, February 17. This is an FAA mandatory exercise required every three years. There will be many agencies participating in this exercise including Fire, Law Enforcement, The Red Cross, Delta Airlines, both hospitals, the City of Tallahassee Airport Operations and many other evaluators and observers The event is highly structured and secure and will involve active rescue scenes and on site fire suppression activities with a burning plane simulator. It should be something people would find very interesting to take part in. Leon County EMS will be

involved with field triage and treatment and simulated transport to a receiving facility along with patient tracking and accountability and will lend their assistance to the airlines and the Red Cross for patient and family reunification efforts. ARES volunteers are needed to support many positions at this very significant event. Norm Scholer, K4GFD, the Capital District DEC has been assigned as the Airport Exercise Incident Commander. Please contact Norm at K4GFD@tds.net to volunteer for this important event. Non-amateur volunteers are also needed. Volunteers will not have to do much acting other than be moved about the scene on stretchers and some may be used as distraught family members in another portion of the exercise. Family members and friends wishing to volunteer should go to VolunteerLEON at http://www.1-800-volunteer.org/1800Vol/VolunteerBigBend/LoadOpportunityReview.do?opportunityId=14616203. The exercise will take place at the Tallahassee Regional Airport should run from 0700 to1300 or so. On the following Tuesday, February 22, the two Tallahassee hospitals will conduct an exercise where they will process the victims of the Airport Exercise. Details of that exercise are limited at this point, but volunteers will also be needed at that time.

ECHOLINK WEBINAR

The Capital District ARES is sponsoring an Echolink Webinar on

two Saturday evenings in early March. The precise dates will be announced later. Each session will last about an hour to 90 minutes. The meetings will be on the 146.655 repeater, and at the same time, participants will open the Echolink program on their computers and follow along as the moderator explains the various aspects of Echolink. The first session will focus on downloading the program and getting it set up, to include router and firewall issues. The second meeting will discuss Echolink communications and how the computer interfaces with amateur radio. We will use Echolink to establish various worldwide links. We will also discuss its use in emergencies. So, if you have wondered what Echolink is, and if you could use it, this webinar is for you. If you are interested let Dave Davis, WA4WES, Assist DEC-Operations, know at davedavis1@embarqmail.com. _____________________________________

New Newsletter Editor

With the appointment of Stan Zawrotny, K4SBZ as the Public Information Coordinator for the North Florida ARES Section, Stan will no longer be the newsletter editor. Elizabeth Zawrotny, K4EAZ has accepted the task as the new editor for the TARS newsletter. Elizabeth’s can be reached by email at K4EAZ.Elizabeth@gmail.com

_____________________________________

The Lunch Bunch

Many members of TARS get together for lunch every Friday about 11:30 a.m. at the Golden Corral on Monroe Street. Everyone is welcome.

_____________________________________

TARS to Display at The

Manly Man Feast TARS has been invited to participate in The Manly Man Feast on February 26. This is an outdoor event with vendor type displays and booths (boats, trucks, hunting, fishing etc. They are working on having some RC type aircraft, archery, off road, water craft vendors and more. It is basically a day for guests to experience outdoors and conservation themed interactions along with interesting hobby type stuff and a vast range of cooked wild type game and fish. It will be held on the grounds of Celebration Baptist Church located at 3300 Shamrock East in Killearn at the intersection of Centerville Road and Shamrock East. The event is expected to attract 400 visitors from the area. TARS plans to set up tables to share the Amateur Radio hobby with the attendees. We are looking for volunteers to demonstrate various HF and VHF/UHF

modes of Amateur Radio communications using either your own equipment or to operate from existing tables. Setup will be about 2 pm with the event running from 3:00 to 6:00. Please e-mail Stan at K4SBZ.Stan@gmail.com to volunteer. _____________________________________

Next Meeting - Speaker Topic: Amateur Radio Needs Public

Relations Stan Zawrotny, K4SBZ, recently appointed the North Florida ARES Section Public Information Coordinator, will speak about the need for public relations within the Amateur Radio community. He will discuss not only the role of the Public Information Officer, but also the public relations responsibilities of every Amateur Radio operator.

The meeting will be held on February 3 at 7 pm at the Publix at 800 Ocala Road. _____________________________________

Some Local Nets North Florida Amateur Radio Emergency Communicatons Net: Dailey, 9 a. m.: except Sunday, 3950 kHz Capital District EmComm Training Net: Sunday, 7:30 p. m.: 146.655 MHz Capital District ARES: Sunday, 8 p. m.: 146.655 MHz The first Sunday of every month, we have three special ARES nets. One on 75 meters, on or near 3958KHz (+/-) at 1930 hours Eastern time. At the conclusion of this net, most everyone moves to

7245KHz (+/-), and picks up the round table there. At 2000 hours Eastern, the regular weekly Capital District ARES net meets on 146.655MHz, and we are joined by station WX4TAE, at the National Weather Service Office in Tallahassee. During the first portion of this net, one of the staff meteorologists joins us on the air and provides a retrospective of the previous month's weather patterns, a brief forecast of what we might expect for the coming month, and also takes specific questions from stations who have checked in to the net. Please join us for these very informative ARES nets - the first Sunday of every month. Florida Phone Traffic Net: Daily, 6:55 am: 3940 kHz Florida Midday Traffic Net: Daily, Noon: 7242 kHz North Florida Phone Net: Daily, 2330Z: 3950 kHz, Thomasville Amateur Radio Club Thursday, 8:00 pm, 145.17 MHZ Duplex, PL 141.3, --600 Sportsman's Paradise Amateur Radio Club: Monday, 8:00 pm, 145.450 MHz, PL 94.8 Jefferson County Net: Monday, 8:00 pm on the Monticello, WX4JEF, 145.43 MHz, PL 94.8 _____________________________________

Our Neighbors Thomasville Amateur Radio Club (TARC) Meetings: The first Saturday of each month at 7:30 pm at the Plaza Restaurant in downtown Thomasville.

Net: Thursday night at 8:00 pm on 145.17MHZ Duplex Sportsman's Paradise Amateur Radio Club (SPARC) Meetings: Third Thursday of each month at the Wakulla County Emergency Management Facility at 7:30 pm Net: Monday Night at 8:00 pm on 145.450 MHz, pl 94.8 Jefferson County Net: Monday evening at 8:00 pm on the Monticello, WX4JEF, 145.43 repeater; PL 94.8. ____________________________________

_____________________________________

E-mail Addresses

Please forward any additions or changes of e-mail addresses for delivery of the Newsletter to K4EAZ.Elizabeth@Gmail.com . Also notify me if you do not wish to continue to receive the newsletter.

_____________________________________

Software Review WA0H and

MMSSTV De Phil N4IPH

Have you been looking for a simple logging program? You may want to check out the free version from WA0H available on the internet. It is easy to use and has most of the features of some of the more popular logging systems. The next program is MMSSTV which has been around for a number of years and one of the more popular programs for SSTV. It includes most of the SSTV modes and will automatically detect the mode being used as the first signal is received. You can receive SSTV by simply connecting the audio output of your receiver to the input of your computer sound card with a simple audio patch cord and launching the program. To transmit you need a connection from the output of your computer sound card to the microphone input on your radio. The SignaLink system is the easiest way to go!!

WA∅∅∅∅H Logging Software

WA0H is a great logging program you can download from www.WA0H.com

free of charge. I used it in a recent DX Contest and it worked without any problem. I didn’t use any of the additional features found in the “free” edition. If you wish to add some of the optional features (US and Canadian Callbooks, Radio Amateurs Callbook) you can pay the upgrade fee of about $12.00. MMSSTV Software MMSSTV by Makoto Mori, JE3HHT, is a “free” SlowScan Television (SSTV) software program you can download and within a few minutes of setup begin to receive SSTV signals on HF using your computer sound card. In order to transmit you must add an interface between your transceiver and your computer. This can be a “homebrew” or commercial package such as the Tigertronics “SignaLink” which also does a number of other digital modes (~$99.00 with one cable included, with optional cables available). You can check KE5RS’s website http://kantagree.no-ip.com:8080/sstv/archives/index.html and see the last 24 hours of SSTV images his station has received. There is also a link to some world wide SSTV image archives.

_____________________________________

"N6R" Special Events Station:

President Ronald Reagan's 100th Birthday

To celebrate President Ronald Reagan’s 100th Birthday, the Ventura Co. (CA) Amateur Radio Society (VCARS) will activate Special Events Station (N6R) from Thousand Oaks, CA during the period February 05, 2011 through February 07, 2011. Operation is planned continuously from 0800 PST – 1800PST, Sunday, February 06, 2011 and intermittently at other times Saturday through Monday. Further details will be available at www.qrz.com/db/n6r. Requests for schedules may be sent to n6rn6r@aol.com. QSL info: SASE to Peter Heins, N6ZE; No e-QSL or LOTW, please.

Probable frequencies for "N6R" Special Events Station: President Ronald Reagan's 100th Birthday:

SSB: 3820, 7260, 14255, 21320, 28490 KHz (+/- as needed for QRM) Twenty meters will be the workhorse.; Local repeaters & FM simplex VHF/UHF.

CW: 3545, 7045, 14045, 21045, 28045 KHz (+/- as needed for QRM)

____________________________________

FAA warns of ongoing GPS issues in southeastern US due to Defense

Department 'tests'

Don't panic, but anyone planning on using GPS in the southeastern US for the next month or so will likely want to make sure they have a fallback option. That's according to a flight advisory just issued by the FAA, which warns pilots that their GPS signal "may be unreliable or unavailable" due to "GPS tests" that the Department of Defense will be conducting between January 20th and February 22nd. Details are fairly light beyond that, but the FAA does note that when the "tests" occur they will be active for 45 minutes, and be followed by 15 minutes of off time -- additional notices to pilots will apparently be issued at least 24 hours prior to any test. Of course, while this particular advisory is directed at pilots, it will presumably will also affect all other GPS devices, as the FAA doesn't mention any GPS issues specific to aviation. The real question, however, is just what those mysterious "GPS tests" are -- if they're, in fact, GPS tests at all.. Source: FAA

____________________________________

Trading Post If you have personal amateur radio items that you would like to sell or need, we will publish short requests in the newsletter, subject to editorial review. Please send your requests to the newsletter editor at K4EAZ.Elizabeth@gmail.com by the 15th of the month. ____________________________________

Topics of Interest

Members are encouraged to submit items of interest for publication. Items should be brief and may be edited for spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc. The deadline for publication is the 15th of the month.

_____________________________________

Disclaimer

The Printed Circuit is not representative of the views or opinions of the whole organization, and such views and opinions expressed herein are of the individual author(s). _____________________________________

Minutes of the January Meeting TARS - Tallahassee Amateur Radio Society Thursday, January 6, 2011 The TARS January Meeting was held at the Publix on Ocala Rd. on Thursday, January 6, 2011. CALL to ORDER at 7:00 p.m. Alan Torledsky, W1ABT welcomed the members and guests who signed in. Everyone introduced themselves with name and call sign.

INTRODUCTION of GUESTS

Alan Torledsky, W1ABT welcomed Art (VE2AHH/W4) and Suzan Horovitch, who shared their experience of their trip to Israel. They visited historical, biblical, archeological sites, and some of modern Israel. They spent little time in the big cities Tel Avid, Haifa, or Jerusalem. Instead, they spent most of their time going through Galilee - Dead Sea – Eliat – Petra – Be’er Sheva; and hiking the Israel Trail and meeting with local people on the trail. A special side trip took them to Jordan for a guided tour of the ancient Nabatean capital of Petra, and a short tour of Aqaba opposite the Israel port city of Eilat. Art described the places they went through; he included some history and anecdotes of these places. Stan K4SBZ asked Art, what it takes to operate ham radio in Israel if you are not a national. Art responded that you have to leave the radio at the airport, go to the telecommunications bureau and show your license. There, they will give you another license and you can pick up the radio at the airport. You can use your call sign.

BREAK

We had the 50-50 during the break; Larry KI4MAJ was the lucky one.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Larry KI4MAJ reported the treasurer report during the meeting and in the Newsletter and it was approved.

MINUTES

Zulma KJ4PVD reported the Minutes in the Newsletter and they were approved in the meeting.

COMMITTEE REPORTS Testing:

• Alan Terrell N4KGT announced there will be a test next month, first Tuesday at 7pm in the St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church.

Training:

• Mike K4ICY announced another Get on the Air day coming up on February 19 in the St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church.

• David W4SKG announced the antenna building activity organized by David Davis WA4WES; who will demonstrate how to build copper J-pole and other antennas. This event will be held on Saturday January 22 at the St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church from 9am to 1pm.

Repeater:

• Randy Pierce AG4UU commented all repeaters are doing well. Newsletter:

• Stan K4SBZ announced he resigned as editor of the TARS newsletter and that Elizabeth K4EAZ will be the

new editor of the newsletter.

BUSINESS

• Chief WIPLF suggested leaving the old QST Magazines in the Doctors’ offices and Barbershops with an insert about the club, with the purpose of increasing the number of members and visibility of the club out to the public.

• Don W4DSW requested to send him the information about the TARS & FEATHERS awardees to complete the

list published in the past newsletter.

• Stan K4SBZ brought up unfinished business about giving the new hams a free membership for a year, so they will see how the club operates. Therefore, Stan proposed a motion to give the new hams (the ones that passed the test in the last three months) the free membership and it was approved by the majority of the members present after some discussion.

• Stan K4SBZ proposed to the TARS to participate in the Manly Man Feast event on Saturday February 26,

since the event organizers invited us. This is an outdoor event with vendor type displays and booths. The event is expected to attract about 400 visitors from the area. The event runs from 3pm to 6pm. Stan proposed a motion to participate in this event and the motion was approved.

• Stan K4SBZ commented that we are participating in the Tallahassee Marathon on February 6th. Mike K4ICY

and Alan W1ABT will organize this event. Fifteen hams are required.

• Stan resigned as a public information officer for the TARS because he will be the Public Information Coordinator for the North Florida Section. He will be also recruiting new hams focusing on youth.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was closed at 9:15 pm. Submitted by, Zulma Jiménez KJ4PVD TARS Secretary kj4pvd@gmail.com

Not Getting Your Newsletters?

Submit your e-mail address changes to Elizabeth Zawrotny, K4EAZ.Elizabeth@Gmail.com .

If you do not wish to receive the Newsletter,

let me know that too.

TARS Treasurer’s Report

February 2011

Beginning balance January 1, 2011 Checking Account: $ 194.89 Savings Account: 2288.85 $2483.74 Summary of month’s activities: Receipts deposited in Checking Account $276.00 Interest received for Savings Account .32 Expenditures for the month .00

Receipts into checking account derived from the following: $255.00 Member Dues 13.00 Member Donation 8.00 50/50 $276.00 Total Expenditures: None Outstanding Expenses: None Ending Balances on December 15, 2010: Checking Account: $ 470.89 Savings Account: 2289.17 Total $2760.06

17 Members renewed or joined since last report. 4 individuals

0 family members 0 students Dues are due as of January 1, 2011. Dues of renewing individuals, as well as family members are $15.00. Membership fee for new members joining in February is $13.75.

The Radio Amateur is...

CONSIDERATE... never knowingly operates in such a way as to lessen the pleasure of others.

LOYAL... offers loyalty, encouragement, and support to other amateurs, local clubs, and the American Radio Relay League, through which Amateur Radio in the United States is represented nationally and internationally.

PROGRESSIVE... with knowledge abreast of science, a well-built and efficient station and operation above reproach.

FRIENDLY... slow and patient operating when requested; friendly advice and counsel to the beginner; kindly assistance, cooperation and consideration for the interest of others. These are the hallmarks of the amateur service.

BALANCED... radio is an avocation, never interfering with duties owed to family, job, school or community.

PATRIOTIC... station and skill always ready for service to country and community.

-- The original Amateur's Code was written by Paul M. Segal, W9EEA, in 1928.

The Radio Amateur's Code

Repeaters

Location County Call Sign

For Emerg

Mgt Use D-Star

Output Freq

Encode Aux or Remote Site

1 Crawfordville Wakulla K4WAK Yes 145.450 - 94.8

2 Crawfordville Wakulla KD4MOJ Yes 444.000 None

3 Greensboro Gadsden K4GFD Yes 147.390 94.8 Tsq

4 Monticello Jefferson WX4JEF Yes 145.430 - 94.8

5 Monticello Jefferson KA3FZO Yes D-Star 444.050 None

6 Quincy Gadsden W4EAF Yes 147.165 94.8

7 Tallahassee Leon N4PG Yes 146.610 - 203.5

8 Tallahassee Leon AE4S Yes 146.655 - 94.8 Tsq

10 Tallahassee Leon K4TLH Yes 146.910 - 94.8

11 Tallahassee Leon K4TLH Yes 147.030 + 94.8

12 Tallahassee Leon KA4EOC Yes 147.285 94.8 Tsq

14 Tallahassee Leon K4TLH Yes 442.100 + 94.8

15 Tallahassee Leon K4TLH Yes 442.850 + 94.8

16 Tallahassee Leon KJ4G Yes 443.400 + 131.8 Tsq LK. TALQUIN; 147.495 smplx, Tsq 146.2

PANACEA; 146.505 smplx, Tsq 131.8

CRAWFORDVILLE; 147.555, smplx, Tsq 88.5

APALACHICOLA; 147.435, smplex, Tsq

100.0

17 Tallahassee Leon AE4S Yes 443.950 + 94.8 Tsq

18 Tallahassee Leon N4NKV Yes 444.400 + 131.8

19 Tallahassee Leon K4WAK Yes D-Star 146.835 DNA

20 Tallahassee Leon K4WAK Yes D-Star 443.450 DNA

21 Tallahassee Leon K4WAK Yes D-Star 1293.000 DNA

22 Tallahassee Leon K4WAK Yes D-Star 1253.000 DNA

23 Wacissa Jefferson K4TLH 147.000 94.8

New Membership or Renewal Form 2011 has arrived and so has TARS membership renewal. Make the form easy on yourself. If you have not changed any information from last year, merely make payment to TARS. Complete the form with your name and indicate your member type and ARRL membership status. For Family status, complete a form for each member. Name: _________________________________ Call Sign: _________ Address: __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ City: ______________________ State: ____ ZIP: ______-_____ Member type: Indiv. ____ Family ____ Student ____ (check one) Home Phone ( ) _____-_______ Work Phone: ( ) _____-_______ Cell Phone ( ) _____-_______ E-Mail Address: _____________________________________________ ARRL member (y/n) ____ TARS Van trained (y/n) ____ Membership dues for the Tallahassee Amateur Radio Society run $15 annually per individual or family. Students (with valid ID) can join for free! You need not be a licensed amateur radio operator to join the Society. An interest in radio communications is all that is required. New members pay pro-rata based on the number of months remaining in the calendar year ($1.25 per month). Renewing members pay $15 dues; except after July, dues become $7.50. Please make your dues check payable to the Tallahassee Amateur Radio Society (or TARS). Bring your check with the additional information to the next monthly meeting of the Society and give it to the Treasurer, or mail your check and information to the Tallahassee Amateur Radio Society, C/O Treasurer, P. O. Box 37127, Tallahassee, FL, 32315. If you are interested in becoming a member of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), their dues are $39 annually. TARS is an ARRL sanctioned organization. Go to http://www.arrl.org/join.html for more membership