The PARA Weekly Net happens every Saturday at 9 PM on the 146.430(+1 MHz, PL 173.8 Hz) repeater.  You can also join in via EchoLink on node 385989.

Nominations are currently being accepted for the PARA 2009 Ham of the Year.   As has become our custom, the Ham of the Year is chosen from among nominations received from the PARA membership.  The club officers will consider all nominations and select the most deserving nominee.  Please consider who you believe is the most deserving and complete a nomination form.  The form can be found on-line at http://www.philipsburg-ara.org/hamofyear.pdf.  

Pictured in the accompanying photo is Dave K3MGC.  Dave was the 2007 recipient of the Ham of the Year award and is shown holding his plaque.  

Dinner will include roast beef, turkey, mashed potatoes, gravey, choice of two vegetables, dinner roll, salad, dressing, iced tea, coffee, Pepsi products, and fruit pie dessert.  Reservations and payment must be received by December 7, 2009. The cost is $22 per person. All ham radio operators and their families are welcome.

For a copy of the 2009 PARA Christmas Banquet Reservation form, click here.

According ARRL Assistant VEC Manager Perry Green, WY1O, the QPC reviews the three question pools every four years to ensure that the questions are kept current with the latest amateur practice and technology, as well as addresses information relevant to that particular license class. "In the case of the Technician pool, the question set should provide for the new Technician licensee to be able to establish his station and operate it legally, courteously and safely. The Technician question pool and exam are intended to be the beginning of the journey into the Amateur Radio Service. It prepares the person for the enjoyment of operating, and that of preparing to learn electronics, the cornerstone of the education needed to obtain the further enjoyment that can come with the higher license classes."

Green is a member of the NCVEC's Question Pool Committee. Other members of the QPC include Chairman Roland Anders, K3RA (Laurel VEC), Larry Pollock, NB5X (W5YI VEC), Jim Wiley, KL7CC (Anchorage VEC) and Tom Fuszard, KF9PU (Milwaukee VEC).

Green said that earlier this year, the QPC solicited input from Amateur Radio operators concerning the new question pool, accepting input for new question topics and new questions, as well as suggestions for changes or deletions: "The QPC must rely on members of the Amateur Radio community to suggest questions and answers in a responsible manner to preserve a high level of legitimacy for our radio service, so the NCVEC QPC seeks input from the amateur community concerning a revision.”

The new question pool will become effective for all examinations administered on or after July 1, 2010, and it will remain valid until June 30, 2014. The current Technician question pool that became effective July 1, 2006 will expire June 30, 2010. The new Technician pool contains approximately 400 questions, from which 35 are selected for an Element 2 examination. This question pool will contain graphics and diagrams, something new for this element.

The current General class question pool was effective July 1, 2007 and is valid through June 30, 2011.  The current Amateur Extra class pool was effective July 1, 2008 and is valid until June 30, 2012.

Home building your own QRP equipment is much easier to do if you have a good collection of references to guide you. Many periodicals are or will be available on CD-ROM which allows for the easy purchase of back issues. For example, Doug DeMaw wrote countless electronics-related articles for QST , however, the late 1980's was his peak period in my opinion. All of these QST articles are available on CD-ROM from the ARRL and are both invaluable and enjoyable references.

Here is a collection of great books and articles found in our QRP HomeBuilder library.

Books

1. W1FB's Design Notebook by Doug DeMaw , published by the ARRL.
2. Solid State Design for the Radio Amateur by Wes Hayward and Doug DeMaw, published by the ARRL.
3. W1FB's QRP Notebook, by Doug DeMaw, published by the ARRL .
4. Introduction to Radio Frequency Design, by Wes Hayward, published by the ARRL
5. The ARRL Handbook should be in any complete bookshelf.
6. VHF/UHF Manual, by G.R. Jessop, G6IP, published by RSGB, carried by the ARRL online bookstore.
7. QRP Power, published by the ARRL . Has many great QRP related circuits from QST, QEX and the ARRL Handbook.

Periodical and Handbook Articles

1. A high Dynamic Range MF/HF Receiver Front End by Jacob Makhinson N6NWP, QST for Feb 1993.
2. The Ugly Weekender: parts 1 and 2 , by Roger Hayward, KA7EXM and Wes Hayward, W7ZOI, QST for Aug 1981 and June 1992.
3. An Optimized QRP Transceiver by Roy Lewallen, W7EL , QST for Aug 1980.
4. High Performance DC Receivers by Rick Campbell, KK7B for QST Aug 1992.
5. A Progressive Communications Receiver by Wes Hayward and John Lawson, K5IRK for QST Nov 1981.
6. A QRP CW/SSB Transceiver for 14 MHz: parts 1 and 2 by Wes Hayward for QST Dec 1989 and Jan 1990.
7. How To Build Your Own 20 Meter CW Receiver by M.A. Chapman , KI6BP for CQ Nov 1994.
8. A Band-Imaging CW Receiver for 10 and 18 MHz by Dave Newkirk, AK7M in the ARRL Handbook since 1991.
9. A Single-Board QRP SSB Transceiver for 20 or 75 Meters by Dave Benson, NN1G for QST, April 1997.
10. Taking the Mystery Out of Diode Double-Balanced Mixers by Shankar Joshi for QST, December 1993.
11. The Double-Tuned Circuit: An Experimenter's Tutorial by Wes Hayward, W7ZOI for QST, December 1991.
12. Designing and Building Simple Crystal Filters by Wes Hayward, W7ZOI for QST, July 1987.
13. A Small High-Performance CW Transceiver by Rick Campbell, KK7B for QST, Nov 1995.
14. Build Your Own 30 Meter Transceiver by M.A. Chapman, KI6BP for CQ June 1996.
15. How To Build A QRP Transceiver for the Novice 15 Meter Band by M.A. Chapman, KI6BP, for CQ Nov 1995.
16. Multi-Band Direct-Conversion Receiver by Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, for Communications Quarterly Fall 1998.
17. A Rock-Bending Receiver for 7 MHz by Randy Henderson, WI5W for QST Aug 1995.
18. A Binaural I-Q Receiver by Rick Campbell, KK7B for QST March 1999.
19. Regenerative Receivers Past and Present by Charles Kitchin, N1TEV for Communications Quarterly Fall 1995.
20. Three-Watt Transmitting Converter for 6 Meters by Zac Lau, W1VT ARRL in the Handbook starting 1989.
21. Junk-Box Converters for 6 and 2 Meters by Rod Kreuter, WA3ENK for QST January 1997.
22. The Principles and Building of SSB Gear by Doug DeMaw, W1FB for QST September - December 1985.
23. A Three-Channel Emergency CW Transceiver by Doug DeMaw, W1FB for QST October - November 1988. In figure 7, Q11 is incorrectly labeled and should be a 2N5486. Also see Feedback in the May 1989 QST for further corrections to the original 2-part article.
24. The Micromountaineer Revisited by Wes Hayward, W7ZOI and Terry White, K7TAU for QST, July 2000.
25. An Ultra Simple W1AW Receiver by Charles Kitchin, N1TEV and Mike Murphy, WB2UID for QST May 1997.

Dec 4-Dec 7, 1400Z-1100Z, Fredericksburg, TX. Hill Country Amateur Radio Club, N5P. Opening of the George H. W. Bush Gallery at the National Museum of the Pacific War, and commemorating the hams that served in WWII. 14.255 21.275 7.275 3.940. QSL. Nimitz Foundation, 328 E Austin St, Fredericksburg, TX 78624. Also sponsored by the amateurs of Fredericksburg and Gillespie County, TX. info@NimitzFoundation.org or www.kerrhams.org

Dec 5, 1700Z-2359Z, San Deigo, CA. USS Midway (CV 41) Museum Radio Operations Room, NI6IW. Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. SSB 14.320 7.050 PSK-31 7.070 CW 14.060 7.055 D-STAR 2m/70cm SOCAL rep. QSL. USS Midway Museum Radio Station, 910 N Harbor Dr, San Diego, CA 92101. kk6fz@arrl.net

Dec 5-Dec 6, 1600Z-2000Z, Gates Mills, OH. Gilmour Academy Amateur Radio, ND8GA. Opening of new $18 million Gilmour Athletic Center. 14.265 7.265. Certificate. Gilmour Amateur Radio, ND8GA, 34001 Cedar Rd, Gates Mills, OH 44040. ganet.gilmour.org/faculty/kanek/AmateurRadio.aspx

Dec 7, 1500Z-2245Z, Baton Rouge, LA. Baton Rouge and USS Kidd Amateur Radio Clubs, W5KID. Pearl Harbor Day. SSB: 15 20 40 m Gen & above RTTY subband CW: QRP sub bands. QSL. W5KID, 305 S River Rd, Baton Rouge, LA 70802. Primary frequency is 20 meters. www.lsu.edu/brarc/uss_kidd.htm

Dec 12-Dec 13, 1700Z-0300Z, Fort Lauderdale, FL. Broward Amateur Radio Club, W4AB. Fort lauderdale Winterfest Boat Parade. 14.250 7.200. QSL. Steve Adams, 1017 SW 4th Ter, Pompano Beach, FL 33060. n4jrw@comcast.net

Dec 18-Dec 20, 1700Z-2200Z, Wheeling, WV. Northern Panhandle Amateur Radio Club, W8ZQ. Festival of Lights Oglebay Park. 75 40 20m Gen bands. Certificate. Joe McCready, WB8CTC, PO Box 192, Blaine, OH 43909.

Dec 19-Jan 3, 1500Z-0300Z, Cookeville, TN. The Upper Cumberland DX and Contest Group, W4T. Tennessee Christmas. SSB CW all bands. QSL. Bob Raymer, N2BR, 772 E Jere Whitson Rd, Cookeville, TN 38501.