FARS - The FARS Relay -- Volume 30, Number 4

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Volume 30, Number 4 APRIL 2000

April Meeting

April 24, 2000 7:30

Mike Polkinghorn will be speaking on contesting.

Mike: I work at 3Com (where we make football stadiums). :-). I received my Technician ticket in 1992 just after graduating college. Originally, I was licensed as KD6PUD. I stayed a tech for a year and then went to my first Field Day. That is where I discovered contesting and DXing -which I do to this day. Casting about for a contest I could participate in I found the August UHF contest and I've been doing VHF contests ever since. Contesting gave me the impetus to upgrade my license and I got my Tech Plus. However that was at the end of the last sunspot cycle and so I had to upgrade to General to keep contesting. After a year, I decided to finally upgrade to Extra. That is when I acquired the K6 prefix.

May Meeting

I just received a confirmation email from Larry Pizella saying he will return for the Second Half of the Presentation on High Performance Crystal Radios and Contesting with Crystal Radios. Sounds like it will be a good follow-up to the first presentation.

Howard, KE6PWH

Training Corner News:

Steve Stearns, KF6OIK/AE, has replaced Paul Zander, AA6PZ, as club training officer. Many thanks to Paul for his dedicated service to the club. Steve is soliciting the members' thoughts on what training activities would most benefit the club and members. Current ideas include offering training for the new General and Extra class written elements and outreach Technician training for local youth. Please give Steve your ideas on what you want to see.

73 de - Steve, KF6OIK/AE

PRESIDENTS CORNER

The Flea Market is over and a big thank you to all who came and helped out. The market had only 103 sellers and not a very big crowd of buyers. We did make some money for the club but not the usual amount.

The next big event is Field Day and we will be looking for captains to organize the stations. It is important to sign up if you can help operate or set up and take down. This year if we do not have operators to man the station then we will not be setting up that station as of now we are hoping to have a RTTY, SSB, CW, VHF and perhaps APRS. We are encouraging the Novice and Techs to operate at the CW or SSB stations.

There was an interesting item in CQ magazine this month: A woman who was totally paralyzed but could blink her eyelids. She learned Morse code and learned to communicate by blinking. Through this means, she has been able to get a job and support herself. She communicates at 15 WPM.

Jack, WA6YJR

April FARS Board Meeting Minutes

The FARS Board held its monthly meeting on the evening of April 4, 2000. Present were Jack, WA6YJR, Howard, KE6PWH, Charlie, KF6CUU, Dick, N6ATD, Shel, N6RD, Herb, KF6BKL, Mikel, KN6QI, and Martin, KD6WJW. Final preparations for the upcoming flea market were the major topic. It was proposed that a work party be organized for station repairs. Field Day preparations was another topic. One point that was brought up several times during the meeting: the club needs more member participation if its activities are to continue as they have in the past.

- Martin, KD6WJW

CLUB INFORMATION

President: Jack Eddy, WA6YJR
Vice President: Howard Califf, KE6PWH
Treasurer: Shel Edelman, N6RD
Secretary: Martin Liberman, KD6WJW
Training Officer: Steve Stearns KF6OIK/AE
Radio Officer: Mikel Lechner KN6QI
Newsletter: David Wilkes KD6WRG

Board members: Dirk Thiele KE6ZUY, Dick Baldwinson N6ATD; Hans Neumann KE6TGA, Herb Davidson KF6BKL, Arv Hamer WA6UUT, Larry Moore KM6IU, Charles Arney KF6CUU, Steve Stearns KF6OIK.

K6YA Station Trustee: Stan Kuhl, K6MA

FARS Web Page: www.fars.k6ya.org

FARS announcement mailing list is moderated, so you cannot reply directly to the list.

fars-announce@svpal.org

Also, note you can contact the FARS board of directors at

fars-board@svpal.org

To subscribe/unsubscribe, send a message to:

majordomo@svpal.org

In the e-mail message (in plain text) put one of:

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The FARS Relay is the official monthly newsletter of the Foothills Amateur Radio Society Meetings are held at 7 PM on the fourth Friday of each month except January (Winter Banquet); and 3rd Friday in June, Nov. & Dec. Annual membership $20; family $25. Visitors are always welcome! Directions on the back page. Talk-in: N6NFI (145.23-, 100Hz) or W6ASH repeater (145.27 or 224.36). Contributions to the newsletter from members, family, and guests are earnestly solicited! Contributions subject to editing and/or compression. ASCII files via packet, Internet or diskettes preferred; but all readable forms welcome. Here is how to reach the editor:
Internet: dwilkes@svpal.org, davewilkes@aol.com

VHF voice: KD6WRG on N6NFI, 145.23- (100Hz PL) FARS net Thursdays 8 PM; Various other times. Mail: 1093 Kelly Drive San Jose CA 95129-3222 Voice: 408-996-1613 (Until 9 PM); Fax: 408-725-1036, and at FARS meetings.

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Calendar

Livermore Swap Meet - 1st Sunday of each month at Las Positas College in Livermore, 7:00 AM to noon, all year. Talk in 147.045 from the west, 145.35 from the east. Contact Noel Anklam, KC6QZK, (510) 447-3857 eves.

Foothill Flea Market - 2nd Saturday of each month from March to October at Foothill College, Los Altos Hills. FARS NET on 145.23 repeater Thursday nights at 8 PM.

Jim, WE6V is running W1AW code practice sessions on the 145.23 repeater every Tuesday evening 8:00 to 8:30.

Internet Site of the Month

Wacky WARN videos available: The Weather Amateur Radio Network's answer to Weird Al Yankovic--Rob Reider, WA8GFF, performs "Up on My Roof," a witty parody detailing the escapades of an ill-fated weather spotter caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Also, see "Twista," the Pink Flamingo-centric sendup of Twister. (The pink flamingo is the WARN mascot.) The performances were part of the fun at WARN's annual SKYWARN training session. Thanks to WARN Webmaster Brad McConahay, N8QQ, the latest batch of videos and audio files now is posted on the WARN site at www.warn.org.

Enjoy!--Mike Nie, KB8VMX/WARN

Icom announces contest

for clubs that promote Amateur Radio at showings of the movie, "Frequency. Details at:

www.qrz.com/news/articles/000414.frequency.html

Paul Zander

I looked at the site and we may have missed a deadline for one part of the promotion, but we may still be able to piggyback on other parts to promote amateur radio.

Radio used to play a big part in the adventure movies, including westerns. Neighborhood kids used to wish they could operate a radio just like the kids in the movies. I still remember the looks on their faces when I told them I could -and they could too. Frequently, I was the only kid in the neighborhood with a chemistry set. We had a lot of fun.

ACTION ITEMS

ARRL, both nationally and in the Pacific Division, is calling for letters, faxes, phone calls and email to legislators. In order to protect our frequencies and the right to put up a reasonable antenna, it would be a good idea to heed these calls for action. Communications should be polite, business-like, and informational. The best letters would be from amateurs who help in emergencies. Contact information for office holders is in the government pages of the telephone book.

It is also a good idea to attend candidate forums, city council meetings, county supervisor meetings, and appropriate commission meetings. All kinds of interesting things occur at these meetings and affect all of us in some way.

Following, courtesy of Dennis Paull, is one bill you should know about.

Antenna Ordinance

CURRENT BILL STATUS

MEASURE : S.B. No. 1714

AUTHOR(S) : Brulte.

TOPIC : Zoning ordinances: radio antennas.

Existing law authorizes the legislative body of any county or city to adopt zoning ordinances for various purposes. This bill would provide that any ordinance enacted by the legislative body of any city or county regulating the placement, screening, or height of antennas shall reasonably accommodate amateur radio antennas and permit radio antenna height to less than 200 feet or 75 feet, depending on the population density of the city or county.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1.

Section 65850.3 is added to the Government Code, to read:

65850.3. (a) Any ordinance enacted by the legislative body of any city or county regulating the placement, screening, or height of antennas shall reasonably accommodate amateur radio antennas and shall impose the minimum regulation necessary to accomplish the legitimate purpose of the city or county. (b) In a city or county having a population density of 120 persons or less per square mile according to the 1990 United States census, no ordinance shall do either of the following: (1) Restrict amateur radio antenna height to less than 200 feet above ground level as permitted by the Federal Communications Commission. (2) Restrict the number of support structures. (c) In a city or county having a population density of more than 120 persons per square mile according to the 1990 United States

census, no ordinance shall do either of the following: (1) Restrict amateur radio antenna height to less than 75 feet above ground level. (2) Restrict the number of support structures. (d) Reasonable and customary engineering practices shall be followed in the erection of amateur radio antennas. (e) This section shall not preclude a city or county, by ordinance, from regulating amateur radio antennas with regard to reasonable requirements relating to the use of screening, setback, and placement, and health and safety requirements.

How to get to meetings:

(Visitors always welcome)

FARS meets at the Covington School District building, 201 Covington Road, Los Altos. Take the El Monte exit (The same exit as for the Foothill Fleamarket) off of I-280 and go East on El Monte. Cross Foothill Expressway and turn right at the next light on to Covington (Note Saint William church on corner). Stay to your left as the road forks. Just past the fork, turn left into the school parking lot. Walk through the center hallway and turn right. The meeting room is the first door on the left. Talk in on 145.23 or 145.27, negative offset, 100 PL.