The Repeater (electronic version)
Newsletter of the Arkansas River Valley Amateur Radio Foundation
Russellville, Arkansas
April, 1999



Officers:
     
President: Nick Kennedy,  WA5BDU                               
Vice-President - Margaret Alexander,  KC5MCS                       
Secretary-Treasurer - Charles Hall,  KC5CVG

ARVARF Board:
John Evans, WB5BHS
Dick Koski, W5VUB
Tom Hughes KC5VRI
Les Hendrickson KD5DKL
Dennis Schaefer W5RZ


Newsletter staff
Dennis Schaefer W5RZ
Melissa Schaefer KI5QJ
John Evans WB5BHS
Jonathan Setcer KC5BRY
Charlotte Stockton KC5CKQ


CALENDAR OF EVENTS:

April

20 - ARVARF meeting, Ryan's, Meeting at 7:00, those who want to eat, come
at 6:00.

23-24 - Little Rock Hamfest -Little Rock Expo Center

27 - RACES meeting, 911 building.  7:00 p.m.

May

8 - VE test session, ANO Training Center
9:00 a.m.

Every Saturday  at 0700-0800 - breakfast meeting at Perkins Restaurant.

ARVARF Net - Every Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. on 146.82 (except club meeting night)


SHORTWAVE WINDOW TO YUGOSLAV ACTION

You don't have to tune very far from the amateur HF bands to find different
perspectives of the current crisis in Kosovo. NATO air strikes against
Yugoslav targets resumed March 26, and many overseas correspondents have
been expelled from Yugoslavia by the Milosevic regime.

Larry Magne, editor-in-chief of International Broadcasting Services Ltd
which publishes Passport to World Band Radio, says Voice of Russia World
Service, Radio Tirana, Radio Yugoslavia, and the BBC World Service offer a
variety of points of view on the current happenings in the Balkans.
International Broadcasting Services keeps an ear on world shortwave
broadcasts from its primary monitoring site in Paraguay.

"Voice of Russia is interesting because they've sort of taken up the Serb
cause," Magne explained. "In a way, their reaction is more important
because they have some clout." Radio Tirana, from the Albanian capital,
supports the other side of the conflict in which ethnic Albanians in
Yugoslavia seek some degree of independence, while Radio Yugoslavia will
offer the perspective of the Milosevic regime. Magne said it's hard to beat
the BBC World Service for a more neutral position.

Magne said he considered it a bit odd that Radio Yugoslavia, with powerful
transmitters installed under the Tito regime, still was on the air as of
March 25, but IBS monitoring indicated the station was active on 7115 kHz
0100-0130 UTC. The shortwave station is "typically, the first thing they go
after" when bombing, he said.

Voice of Russia and Radio Tirana both can be found evenings within the
amateur 40-meter band (the 41-meter international broadcasting allocation).
IBS monitored Radio Tirana on 7160 kHz between 0245 and 0400 UTC. Russia is
available on 7125, 7180, and 7250, as well as other frequencies. IBS has
monitored Voice of Russia on 12,000, 12,020, 12,040, and 15,595 kHz during
the last 24 hours. Magne said the economic crisis in Russia has made that
country's international broadcasting schedule a bit more unpredictable than
in the days when it was known as Radio Moscow.

Magne says 5975 kHz is the best spot for the BBC World Service. Croatian
Radio also has been heard evenings on 9925 kHz.

"Radio France Internationale, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and others
are adding transmissions to the Balkans, so it is not inconceivable that
some of the international broadcasters with access to large transmitting
facilities may add frequencies because of the Balkan situation," Magne said.

(From The ARRL Letter)


DON'T BE LEFT OFF THE ROSTER!

This is your last chance to pay your dues and be included on the official
1999 ARVARF roster.  Those not paying by May 1 will be left off and you
won't get your newsletter in May.  Please check your expiration date, just
above your address.


PRESIDENT'S CORNER

The Fort Smith hamfest had the feel of an ARVARF event, with about thirteen
of our members in attendance.  Although it seemed small compared to ours
(OK, I'm a little biased ... ), it was pretty enjoyable.  The QRP Forum was
the tail that wagged the dog in Fort Smith and I was pleased to see two
ARVARF members walk away with sophisticated QRP transceiver kits as door
prizes.  We talk of going to these hamfests to support neighboring groups,
but I'll confess to a more selfish motive: I go because I enjoy 'em.  Hope
to see you at the Little Rock hamfest in April.

I can't restrain myself any longer!  It's time to talk about Field Day.
Early input I'm getting from members makes me believe we're going to have
good participation and some good ideas about maximizing both our enjoyment
and our score.  Last year we had quite a dialog going via email, the
repeater and other channels that worked well in getting ideas out and
reaching consensus.  You can join in by making your suggestions and
questions and desire to participate known to me or to any of the other big
field day enthusiasts. (You know who they are.)  As in past years, we'll
hash things out face to face at the remaining three club meetings before
the event.

Our April program will be presented by Allen Bradley of the Russellville
Police.  Hope to see you there.

73,

Nick, WA5BDU


LAWRENCE WILSON, KB5BSA, SILENT KEY

Lawrence Wilson, KB5BSA, of Russellvile, passed away on March 17.  Lawrence
was a cousin of Ben Hillis, W5HH.


NEW VCR SETTING FOR 2000

With all the junk about Y2K flying around, here is something I bet you
hadn't thought would be problem. Some, if not most, VCR's won't be able to
use the programmed advanced recording feature.  Do not throw away your VCR
in the year 2000.  Set the year on 1972 because the calendar days of the
week and month will be the same as the year 2000. The manufacturer will
likely not share this information. They will want you to buy a new one that
is "Y2K compliant".
A "Y2K compliant" VCR! Isn't this getting ridiculous!?!

 73,  KC5BRY


MARCH MINUTES

Meeting called to order at 7:00 PM 16 March 1999 at Ryan's by Nick Kennedy,
President.  February minutes approved as printed in newsletter.  Margaret
Alexander gave a recap of the hamfest. Approx 500 attended.  Melissa
Schaefer recapped the forums. All were well attended.  John  Evans gave a
salute to Les Hendrickson and presented him a repeater  manual for going
above and beyond the call of duty.  All vendor tables were sold.  All flea
market tables were sold, and more were needed by some of the tailgaters,
but were not available.  Financial report was  approved.  Hamfest report
was approved.  Dennis Schaefer gave a report of the prize winners. Upcoming
field day was discussed.  The possibility  was brought up of presenting a
scholarship to an area deserving youth.  Further discussion will be at the
next meeting.  Upcoming hamfests are:
Tulsa & Jonesboro 3/20, Bentonville 4/24, Little Rock 4/23-24.  Thirteen
(13) ARVARF members attended the Fort Smith hamfest.  Charles Hall and
Steve Mercure won SW-40+ QRP transceiver kits.  The Grady Hudlow family
donated items that were sold and the proceeds donated to ARVARF. Net
controls discussed.  Ben Hillis will finish out March, Margaret Alexander -
April, Melissa Schaefer - Sept.The other months are open for  volunteers.
Jim Einert KA5CHP was a visitor. ***********CLUB EQUIPMENT ******DO YOU
HAVE ANY? ***************IF YOU DO PLEASE NOTIFY ONE OF THE OFFICERS OF
ARVARF.  WE DO NOT WANT IT TURNED IN TO THE CLUB, JUST NEED TO KNOW WHERE
IT IS LOCATED.  Meeting adjourned at 7:22 PM.

Charles Shingleur KF5JH presented a program on EMWIN.

Charles Hall, KC5CVG,  Secretary


FOR SALE
Lots of computer parts:

Club 14" Monitor - up to 800x600 ni
CTX CPS-1560 15" Monitor - up to 1024x768 ni (has a bit of ghosting)
NEC 4D 15" Monitor - up to 1024x768 ni
IBM 345Mb IDE hd
Sony 1x External CD-ROM
Mitsumi 6x Internal IDE CD-ROM
Acer 24X Internal IDE CD-ROM
Promise Ultra/33 Controller

SGI Indy: 100Mhz R4600, 32Mb RAM, Extra S-BUS network card, Mouse, IndyCam
, Irix 5.3 media, No keyboard, but it uses standard PS/2 keyboard. System
has something wrong with either the power supply
or the motherboard. 

Motherboards - (All include specified processor(s):
Dual Pentium 100Mhz Intel Motherboard.  Comes with 16Mb Ram
Octek Rhino-9 Motherboard with Cyrix 166+
2 486-33 Motherboards each with 8Mb RAM

Network cards: 3Com 3c509 10Base2 + AUI, WD8003 10Base2 + AUI, NE2000 Clone
10Base2 + 10BaseT.

Video (All ISA) Unknown VGA, CGA/Mono + game port, Trident VGA 256k ,Everex
VGA

Misc: Golden Sound Card + Sony, Mitsumi, Panasonic CD-ROM control (ISA),
MFM HD Controller (ISA), Parallel/Serial/Floppy IO (ISA), Floppy Controller
(ISA)

Make an offer on any or all!

Andy Schaefer  AA5DL    ams@engr.uark.edu


NEW REPEATER FOR 146.820???

You may have heard me talking last fall about: "We need a new repeater.
Ours is antiquated and doesn't work like it use to".  Well, after
consultation with Charles Shingleur and Tom Neumeier,  our present and past
 repeater Technicians (the guys that actually work on the machine), I was
convinced that our repeater is as good as a new one in some respects, and
better than the new ones in other respects. Things like : Tough-lightning
resistant.  Paid for. Spare parts on hand. Familiar to the guys that work
on it.

I HAD TWO REASONS FOR WANTING A NEW REPEATER.  First, we don't have the
ears we use to have. ( I believe this is a big part of why our Tuesday
night net is not well supported. The HAMS from the surrounding area can't
get in to our machine like they use to could).   However, Charles assures
me that our receiver is "2 db hotter than factory specs.". Tom Neumeier
says: "The antenna Harness and connectors are probably corroded. If someone
will take it down, I will
clean the harness and connectors." (Any Volunteers?)

My second objective was to have a nicer controller on our repeater. One
that would make voice announcements, (i.e.: "NET TONIGHT AT 8 PM" or " CLUB
MEETING TONIGHT AT 7 PM AT RYAN'S"), tell the time, etc.   I was of the
understanding that a "fancy" Repeater controller would not interface with
our "antiquated" repeater. However, Charles assures me that we CAN connect
a "fancy" controller to our "antiquated" repeater, no problem. There were
concerns that a "fancy" controller is much more susceptible to lightning
than the old battle ax of a controller that we have now. That should not be
a problem since Charles, and whomever helped him with the project,
installed the "lightning protection stuff" nearly 2 years ago, we have not
had any lightning trouble. I have confidence that the "lightning protection
stuff" will also protect a new "fancy" Repeater controller.

CONCLUSION:   I am convinced that with a cleaned antenna and a "fancy" new
Repeater Controller we will again have a repeater that will serve us well,
and satisfy our needs and wants.

Here is a web site that is dedicated to Repeater Controllers. There are
links to several Manufacturers and lists of features etc.
http://www.kc.net/~bryonj/page3.html  If you are a web surfer, check them
out, educate yourself.  Then when I finally get around to bringing up the
subject at a club meeting, you will be well informed, and ready to give
your input.

73,  J. Setcer, KC5BRY


APRS EMERGENCY CALL BRINGS HELP

When Scott Ratchford, KC5JGV, witnessed a bad accident during a snowstorm
on Pennsylvania's I-76 recently, he immediately grabbed his cell phone and
called 911. When that--and several other possible combinations--failed, he
tried an emergency call on 2-meters. Again, no luck. Two people were
trapped inside an overturned vehicle, and Ratchford was getting desperate.
"Here I am in the middle of who knows where, a huge snowstorm, a serious
accident, folks needing help, no one answering on .52!" he said in a March
8 posting about the incident on the APRS Special Interest Group. "So, I
switch the MIC-E to 7, and hit the button." This sent an emergency
mike-encoder signal out over the Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS).
Anyone with a packet station and a computer can access a real-time map
display of participating stations.  When used with a GPS receiver it is
ideal for tracking moving stations.

Ratchford's emergency beacon was spotted by several stations who
immediately contacted the Pennsylvania State Police. But the cops "don't do
latitude and longitude," said Dan Velez, W4DJV, in Virginia, one of the
stations monitoring the call. Clay Owen, AA3JY, in Pennsylvania, had better
luck. He also called the state police and was able to give them references
to exits and route numbers, thanks to APRS+ and the Delorme Street Atlas.
"I also gave them the name of the individual to be contacted, thanks to QRZ
built into this program," he reported.

APRS developer Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, was among those noting the emergency
call in the Pennsylvania-Maryland-New Jersey area. Bruninga notes that
APRS-DOS will display the nearest mile marker on interstates but
"apparently I missed I-76 in the database." Unknown to Ratchford, the
message was received and understood. "Little did I know that the APRS
message was received, as a trooper had arrived within minutes of my
transmission," he said. Only when the trooper asked for him by name as he
was about to leave did Ratchford learn that APRS had delivered the message
and that someone had called the police. "I left the scene feeling very
happy about our hobby and especially our interest in APRS," he said.

(From The ARRL Letter)


TEXAS WEATHER EMERGENCY PROMPTS FCC DECLARATION

At the request of South Texas Section Manager Ray Taylor, N5NAV, the FCC
ordered all but emergency traffic cleared from 3873 and 7290 kHz for
several hours March 12 and 13, because of a weather emergency. Taylor
reports the New Braunfels weather station alerted him to severe weather on
March 12, and SKYWARN nets were activated on VHF and, later, on HF because
of the wide area involved.

"We had large golf ball size hail, and nine confirmed tornadoes touched
down," Taylor said, adding that some property damage as well as phone and
power outages occurred, but no injuries. Flash flood warnings were issued
as a result of the violent and slow-moving storms. He said the HF circuits
worked fine until malicious interference erupted, and he contacted the FCC
on behalf of the Texas Emergency Net. Based on the circumstances, the FCC
resident agent in Houston supported the issuance of a declaration.

"The Net tried working without the declared emergency but received
intentional interference and requested FCC assistance," said the FCC's Jim
Laraway. "We assisted." Taylor said that once the FCC issued its
declaration--which was disseminated via a W1AW bulletin--the interference
problems disappeared.

More than 150 hams in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas participated
in the emergency nets. The FCC declaration expired at sunset March 13.--Ray
Taylor, N5NAV

(From The ARRL Letter)

Editor's Note: It's this ham's opinion that it's a real shame that people
have to have an official declaration from the FCC before they will desist
bothering an emergency net.  Maybe the new FCC emphasis on enforcement will
take care of some of these problems.


 HAM TRADER YELLOW SHEETS QRT

After 38 years in business, the Ham Trader Yellow Sheets will cease
publication. The twice-monthly classified publication is being absorbed
into the Amateur Radio Trader, according to an announcement in the last
edition of the Yellow Sheets. "It has been increasingly difficult to
continue to provide the reliability and low cost that we always have in the
past," said a statement from Founder and Editor
Al Brand, and Publishers Dave and Barbara Brand Wixon. Yellow Sheets
subscribers will automatically get an Amateur Radio Trader subscription,
while the subscriptions of ART subscribers who also subscribed to the
Yellow Sheets will be extended. Amateur Radio Trader of Crossville,
Tennessee, is published by TAP Publishing.

(From The ARRL Letter)


LITTLE ROCK HAMFEST

The Little Rock Hamfest ("The Big One") will be held on April 23 and 24 at
the Little Rock Expo Center, Exit 126, Interstate 30.   There will be over
50,000 sq. Feet of flea market space, over 100 tailgate spaces available,
and many equipment dealers. 

For more information, contact Jim Blackmon, K5VZ, at 870-246-7833.  The
hamfest web site is www.aristotle.net/~ares/lrh99.html

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