November Monthly Meeting

Well another year is almost gone and our turnout for the last regular club meeting of 2014 was pretty good at 23 attendees.  A reminder that the December 8th meeting will actually be the PARA Christmas Party.  The dinner will be held at Casa Mexican in Paducah at 6 PM.  The next regular club meeting will be January 12th.

Among topics discussed at the meeting were selecting volunteers to be on the officers selection committee.  Jerry Foland WA4TTL and Fred Carter AI4EY volunteered for the job.

Paul Smith requested a By-Law change in the mode to contact members. In the past it said members would be notified by mail and due to the advances in technology was suggested to say Email.  It was voted on and passed.

Bruce KS4V said he had a Mirage 10W in 80W out 2 meter amplifier that belonged to the club.  He suggested selling it for a donation to the club.  No response at this time.  Contact Bruce if you are interested.

Daniel KG4JXH reminded of us of to meet on the 147.060 PL 179.9 repeater on Thursday nights @ 9:00 pm (03:00 UTC) for a roundtable net.

Net Control Operators have been set all the way to January 11 because of the holidays.  To view the NCO’s click here.

We still need more submissions for our “Show Us Your Shack” page.  Email me a couple of pictures of your shack so we can add it to the website.  Be sure and include your call sign.

Congratulations to the 3 who tested and passed exams Monday night.  Our own Ken Wontor WA9WJL upgraded to Extra Class.  Way to go Ken!

Finally, Ken WA9WJL gave a presentation on End Fed Zepp Antennas and the theory behind it.  To view the video click here or watch the clip below.

Until next time….73’s

Rob KC9VFV

September Monthly Meeting

     We had a full house last night at the PARA meeting, with 23 in attendance, a fine looking bunch, HI. PARA President Mike Newman mentioned that the NWS Open House is coming up in two weeks, The NWS Open House website link is: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=pah&storyid=103700&source=0 . Looks like a great opportunity for Amateurs and the Community to rub elbows, and learn about our regional NWS site, near Barkley Regional Airport. Jeff Weilgos, KB9BVL is a contact person for more information on volunteering for the event.
     George Lankton, W4TPC, has some radio equipment, an Icom IC706MKII HF transceiver, a Mosley HF beam antenna and 45′ crank up tower for sale. Give George a call if you are interested in any those items.
     Several computer programs were discussed at the meeting last night, including the VE7CC Cluster program, which Ed Pflueger, AB4IQ, and other Club members have set up as a local “node”, W4NJA-1. This allows our Club members and others to connect to the VE7CC-1 node, and several others, which link together. These connections allow local DXers to be able to spot any stations heard from exotic locations, worldwide. Also, Ed has tied his DXbase2007 program into the local node, in order to process any spots which include DX entities he  made need for DXCC awards.
     Ron Cowherd, K4GYD, Discussed the six meter band, and that it was a new band for him to be able to operate on. Ron has found a good website, DXMaps2.6,http://www.dxmaps.com/spots/map.php?Map=NA   which shows propagation and spots on all the amateur bands, six meters included. This site is a great resource for DXers and those interested in propagation.
     Ken Wontor, WA9WJL, found some real gems once again, including; “Windom antenna build”, by W1GV, which describes the theory behind the Windom antenna. link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PbOfZYzCUE . Also, “Shortwave Radio from WWII, “Voice of Victory, part 2, 1944″, Hallicrafter’s SCR-299 HT-4 transmitter”. link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TURd_XVpwvk .
     We have five new Purchase Area Emergency Weather and Traffic Net, net controls for the month of September through October 12. To view the NCO’s click here. Be sure to mark you calenders for the next PARA Club meeting is October 13. See you there, 73.
Gene, N4FZ

W4NJA Field Day Computer Networking

W4NJA Network Site Overview

This is a very detailed article by Paul – ND4X about how to network the logging computers during this years Field Day.  It also is an excellent tutorial on how to install DD-WRT firmware for that old router you have laying around.  This is a really good read and a great learning tool.  Thanks to Paul and Ed for the contribution.  Click the link below for the article.

W4NJA Field Day Computer Networking 2014 – Version 20140405