NC4ML REPEATER. President s Column UPCOMING HAMFESTS. MOCARS Officers Hamfests need your support and attendance to survive!

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1 NC4ML REPEATER Vol XI No 4 April 2015 President MOCARS Officers Vice President Secretary PIO Treasurer ARES EC Skywarn AEC Moore County Amateur Radio Society Carthage, NC Charles Wackerman, W3CY w3cy@arrl.net J Hammond, N4BRD n4brd@arrl.net Dean Stockwell, K4ABD ncbmdr.k4abd@gmail.com James Johnson, KI4TAT ki4tat@arrl.net April Hammond, N4ALH n4alh@arrl.net Lionel Bryson, N4YYL n4yyl@arrl.net Raymond Arnold, KG4CPM Repeater Trustee Ernie Bryant, KR4W & Past President UPCOMING HAMFESTS 7/15/15 30th Ann. Firecracker Salisbury If you know of any hamfest that should be listed and is not, please let me know so it can be included in the next edition. Hamfests need your support and attendance to survive! President s Column It is so good to finally be out of the hospital and back home! For those who don t know, I have been in hospital most of the time since late February. Severe chest pains can do that! I had pains during the last week of February and went to the ER and was immediately admitted. Tests on top of tests and finally an angiogram and we found that I had twelve blockages on the heart, three were severe and were on the vein called the widow maker which I think pretty much describes the severity. Three days later I had six stints installed, three long ones and three short ones (and six more blockages ignored for the time being). Several days later I came home. Then, while playing with my cat I got a bite which quickly became red and swollen. Two days later I collapsed and could not get up. The rescue squad found that I had a fever of 104. That led to a longer stay in the hospital and a massive amount of antibiotics. So now I am home and taking it very easy. I cannot drive. I cannot lift anything heavier than a quart of milk. I have to be extremely careful about what I eat, and I have to rest a lot (not to worry, I am so weak I HAVE to rest). So that is my status. During my enforced vacation my office and radio room was mostly finished. I can now put the radios and computers back in there but I cannot run them quite yet because the antenna leads are not installed. I hope to be back on the air on HF by next month and maybe back on VHF a week or so later (there is a problem with the antenna leads and the rotator connections which the electrician is trying to trace). I am looking forward to being able to work radio again, finally. Right now my options are either the car radio or a handheld. I am particularly interested in trying out my three band low power transceiver which I got for Christmas. High power on that radio is 20 watts and it works on a battery. I will report on that as soon as it is up and running. Prior to the meeting this month the club will gather at Pete s in Carthage for supper and then to the Health Department for the meeting. I hope to be there if my doctor will let me and look forward to seeing you all again. 73, Charles Wackerman

2 2 MINUTES of Moore County Amateur Radio Society Meeting date: March 19, 2015 Call to order/pledge of Allegiance: The monthly meeting of the Moore County Amateur Radio Society, was held at the Moore County Health Department in Carthage, NC on March 19, The meeting convened at 7:00pm, Treasurer April Hammond presiding for President Charles Wackerman, who was out sick, and Dean Stockwell, secretary was out of town. Members in attendance: Belle Arnold, Raymond Arnold, Bob Biamonte, Jim Brock, Ernie Bryant, Bob Denis, Ben Griffin, April Hammond, Richard Hammond, Jim Johnson, Trip Johnson, Tom Kimball, Bob Mason, Chuck McDanial, Max Muse, Chuck Oswalt, Cindy Wackerman, Carl Williams, Robert Wittmann, and 3 Guests Approval of minutes: Motion was made by Max Muse, and seconded by Charles Oswalt to approve the minutes of the January 15, 2015 meeting. Motion carried. Treasurers' report: Motion was made by Tom Kimball and seconded by Bob Biamonte. Motion carried. Pre-Meeting Presentation: No presentation made at this meeting. Announcements: Cindy Wackerman updated the group on Charles condition. He is still in the hospital at this time. You can contact him by . J Hammond and Dean Stockwell are out of town attending a NC Baptist Mens Disaster Relief Training in Wilmington, NC. April Hammond relayed information from Charles Wackerman to the group antenna safety is critical, watch out for power lines! Any articles for the monthly newsletter would be greatly appreciated. RARSFEST will be held on Saturday April 4 th. Unfinished business: Jim Johnson briefed the members on the 2014 Uwharrie Fun Run. New business: There will be a discussion during the April meeting about the new Yaesu repeater. There will be a VE Session Saturday March 21 th at 9:00am. Springfest, Jim Johnson has sent an to the Red Cross in regard to this years function April 25 th. He has not heard back from them but he will continue to monitor the situation. Buggy Festival will be on Saturday May 9 th. Chuck Oswalt has negotiated to get the Club a higher traffic spot. It will be in front of Rob s Tire. Field Day on June 27 th -28 th, consensus was that the Club would be able to field a 4A station. This would allow more people to get on the air. Robert Wittmann asked if there was interest in activating a station on Saturday April 11 th for National Public Health Week. Erinie Bryant and Max Muse volunteered. The event will begin at 9am on April 11 th and operations will be conducted from the trailer which will be located at the Health Department. Additional volunteers are welcome. April Hammond announced she was taking orders for 2015 Field Day pins, price $6. Adjournment: Jim Johnson moved to adjourn, the move was seconded by Max Muse. The meeting was adjourned at 7:35pm.

3 3 Hams are smart. by KW1B You're a ham? In my book, that shows you're pretty smart compared to the average guy. Proof? Simple. The material one needs to learn to pass the license exam isn't all that easy. Some of it is fairly abstract and subtle. Things like the actual speed of light don't furrow the regular person's brow very often. But we do weird things like "phase" two antennas to achieve a specific radiation pattern by adjusting cable lengths and matching devices. Regular people don't do that sort of thing, and it would take a while to explain it to them because of all the baseline knowledge needed to understand it. So, take heart, Brother Ham -- you're a smart guy. So, why do our new rigs always make us feel so stupid? That's easy to explain, too. No two of the things "work" the same. When you "learn" one, and later buy another of a slightly different type, the instructions and the button-press sequences are different. While there are some commonalities, we (all) get confused when the methods for using or programming rigs differ -- we mis-remember the right sequences. Also, not using some secondary, rarely-used "feature" contributes to forgetting that particular odd set of instructions. Nested menus help a little, but the specific words and abbreviations used are often Very Mysterious and counter-intuitive. Big-caliber psychologists call that "Retro-Active Learning Interference." This simply means New Stuff you learn often is similar, but just different enough from the Old Stuff that the memories collide. And then there are the radios that are truly insanely designed. I have one where the Volume control isn't a little knob. No. First, you press the FUNCTION key, then the VOLUME key, and THEN you up, up, up, up or down, down, down, down with the little arrow keys. Now THAT'S really, really stupid. (Alinco DJ-195) If you're driving, this is dangerous or impossible, depending on your point of view. A little volume control knob can be operated by "touch" easily without having to look at the radio. Now, consider my treasured old Drake Twins: the R-4B HF receiver, and the T-4XB HF transmitter. ONE knob does ONE function -- for everything. Simple. Any ham can sit down to that pair and operate them perfectly with zero instructions. There are a few excellent performance "beginner's" new rigs around, such as the Icom IC-718 that are quite easy to use without fussing with all the menus and confusing stuff. The menus are there, they're just not barriers to normal, straightforward operation. Rigs like that are good for Emergency Operations Centers to acquire for that very reason. Another more minor factor in our confusion is that so many of the rigs are very small, with very small medium-grey labels on black. This is VERY hard for those of us who no longer in our forties of fifties in age. The stuff is too small, and too low-contrast. So, my Brother Ham, when your brand new little do-everything $650 radio makes you crazy and confused, DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED. It's the radio that's stupid -- not you. 73 KW1B

4 4 Statewide Traffic and Emergency Nets NET TYPE TIME FREQ. MODE NCAM Traffic SSB NCPM Traffic SSB Carolina Net (early) Traffic CW 20/22 wpm TarHeel Emergency ARES SSB Carolina Slow Traffic CW 8/10 wpm If you would like a purchase a club patch for $2.00 each see J Hammond. Carolina Net (Late) Traffic CW 15/18 wpm MOCARS Weekly Nets Sunday and Wednesday evenings at 8:00 on the NC4ML Repeater. The NC4ML repeater operates on (91.5) Club Jackets and Shirts are available from Chuck Oswalt. See him for pricing and availability. Club Auto Tags (for the front of your vehicle) are available from Dean Stockwell. Monday evening at 8:00 on USB Belle Arnold, KG4NEQ NEXT Meeting Thursday, April 16th,19:00 at Moore County Health Department Dinner at 17:00 At Pete s in Carthage

5 5 Test Dates: June 13, 2015 December 8, 2015 August 8, 2015 February 13, 2016 October 10, 2015 April 9, 2016 CARTHAGE, NC Location: Moore County Health Department, 705 Pinehurst Ave., Carthage, NC Test Dates: On the following Saturdays May 16, 2015 November 21, 2015 July 18, 2015 January 23, 2016 September 19, 2015 March 19, 2016 Time: 9:00am to 12 noon Individuals wishing to take the test must have a valid drivers license or other valid government issued picture ID, a social security card, (and a copy of the front and back of both documents on a single page). If the candidate currently holds an amateur license issued by the FCC they must also bring the original license and a copy. Time: 10:00am Bring a pocket calculator and a copy of drivers license or other valid government issued picture ID, a social security card, (and a copy of the front and back of both documents on a single page). If the candidate currently holds an amateur license issued by the FCC they must also bring the original license and a copy. Cost: $ CASH ONLY For further information contact Butch Simpson, WS4H at or butch@atomic.net No reservations needed but handicap candidates should call to assure that we are prepared to accommodate you. Cost: $ CASH ONLY For further information contact Charles Wackerman at or w3cy@arrl.net Tests administered by the Carthage/MOCARS VE TEAM ASHEBORO, NC Location: Randolph County Library, 201 Worth Street, Asheboro, NC (On the corner of Worth and Cox Streets) ** We meet in the ground floor meeting room. **

6 MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION MOCARS meetings are held at the Moore County Health Department, 705 Pinehurst Avenue, Carthage, NC each month (except December) at 7:00pm. Licensed Amateur Radio Operators and those interested in amateur radio are invited to join. Annual dues are $20 for an individual or $25 for a family membership. If you are not a member of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), we would highly recommend joining. Information about the ARRL can be found at To apply, please fill out the application form(s) and return it to the address below with a check or money order made out to the Moore County Amateur Radio Society. Membership type being requested. Individual $20.00 yr. Family $25.00 yr. Note: If applying for a family membership please fill out family member s information below application. Name First MI Last Address City State Zip Home Phone ( ) Cell Phone ( ) Date of Birth The best time to contact you is between the hours of Is it okay to contact you by your phone? Yes No address If you have an amateur radio license what is your Call Sign and your Class Are you a member of the ARRL? Yes No Date of expiration If you are not currently an ARRL member, have you ever been? Yes No Other Family Member Information Name First MI Last Cell Phone ( ) Date of Birth Age (If under 18) address If you have an amateur radio license what is your Call Sign and your Class Are you a member of the ARRL? Yes No Date of expiration If you are not currently an ARRL member, have you ever been? Yes No Please send the completed form(s) and your check / money order to: April Hammond Att: MOCARS Membership Request PO Box 550 Cameron, NC