PARA News

February 2010

PARA -- An Amateur Radio Orginization Serving Clearield and Centre Counties

In This Issue

1. Election Results

2. Repeaters: Voting Receiver

3. Baltimore Hamboree

4. Senate Bill May Effect Ham

5. Swap N Shop - for Sale

6. W3P Specail Event Station

7. February Special Events

Did you know that it's really easy to get your own PARA logo coffee cup, tote bag, shirt, or mouse pad? Just visit the PARA on-line store at http://www.cafepress/philisburgara/ PARA receives a commission on all purchases which is used to support club operations and activities.

The W3PHB Family of Repeaters

146.640-, Chester Hill Boro, Clearfield County

146.430+1MHz, Rattlesnake Mountain, Centre County

444.750+, Decatur Township, Clearfield County

PARA Weekly Net

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

PARA 2010 Officers

Pres. John N3SPW Vice Pres. Dave AA3EJ Sec. Dave AA3EJ Treasurer John N3ONE Repeater Trustee Filip AB3HK Inter-Club Liason Dick K3BIE

PARA Meetings

The PARA meetings are held on the second Saturday of each month at Bock's Dining & Tea Room, 429 North Centre Street in Philipsburg. There is no meeting in July or December. We meet in the back dining room and things get underway at 3PM sharp.

Important Date

February 16, 2010 -- 2nd anniversary of the 146.430 repeater being placed into service. The repeater was initially located at the Jim N3ONE’s residence on Front Street in Philipsburg. Eventually it was relocated to the Rattlesnake Mountain site which greatly improved the coverage area of this repeater.

PARA 2010 Election Reults.

At the January meeting the attending PARA membership held elections of club officers for 2010. The results were:

N3SPW - President

AA3EJ – Vice President/Secretary

N3ONE – Treasurer

AB3HK - Repeater Trustee/PARA Net Mgr/ARRL Liaison

K3BIE - Interclub Liaison

PARA Repeaters: A Voting Receiver for the .43

PARA 146.430 Repeater tower

Now that the 146.640 repeater is finally working properly PARA is now planning to turn its attention to improving the 146.430 repeater.

The first step will be the addition of receiver voting equipment at the main .43 repeater site. This consists of a UHF antenna, a UHF link receiver and a voter unit. The voter will identify which receiver has the least amount of noise in the signal and feed that receiver’s audio to the transmitter. All of this is transparent to the user and results in a much cleaner signial from weak coverage areas.

This is only the first step. Step two will be to locate a suitable site near Philipsburg and construct the remote receiver equipment. PARA is planning to have the main repeater site work accomplished by fall 2010.

Greater Baltimore Hamboree Trip.

The Greater Baltimore Hamboree in on March 27^th and 28^th this year and PARA members will members will be there again this year.

If you are not familiar with this hamfest, you should be. This is one of the largest hamfests on the east coast. It is sponsored by the Baltimore Amateur Radio Club and attracts visitors from Maine to Florida.

Plans are to visit the Hamboree on Saturday to take advantage of the best deals. Already we have one car driving with three of the four available seats reserved. If you would like to go please contact John N3SPW at n3spw@arrl.net.

State Senate Bill May Imapct Amateur Radio.

On January 26, 2010 the Pennsylvania House of Representatives voted on and passed HB2070(189-6). This bill deals with several subjects the most notable portion of this legislation for many people is the sections which deal with "Prohibiting use of interactive wireless communication device".

It is notable that there are no exceptions for Amateur Radio. However, Section 2 of HB2070 on page 5 lines 19 Thru 22 there is this:, "The term does not include a device being used exclusively as a global positioning or navigation system, or a system or device that is physically or electronically integrated into the vehicle.

The question then becomes are 2 way radios which are wired into a vehicle included in this exemption? Surely using a hand held radio could place you in jeopardy.

As it stands now the legislation may very well have an large impact on Amateur Radio mobile communications. If you would like to voice your opinion concerning this portion of HB2070. Please contact your Pennsylvania State Senator. Remember that the "Interactive Wireless Communications Device sections are only a portion of the proposed bill and your comments to your Senator should reflect this fact.

Link to PA State Web Site

Swap-n-Shop.

Kenwood TS440SAT

Jared N3THB, PARA’s newest member, has for sale a Kenwood TS 440SAT project radio. Jarid says that he wants to sell this rig to get more of a station going than just an HT. Pictured to the left is a stock photo (www.rigpics.com) of a TS 440 SAT rig. Please contact Jarid directly at n3thb@hotmail.com for pricing and details about this rig.

W3P Special Event Station Update.

Special Event Station W3P in 2009

The Philipsburg Heritage Days Special Event Station W3P is on track once again for the 2010 event in July. The call sign W3P has already been reserved and PARA is on the list of vendors for a vendor-style booth at the street fair. Dave AA3EJ spearheaded the effort to reserve the call sign and is working with borough officials.

This year we need replacement low band antennas as previous ones are not available. PARA is hopeful that our resident antenna expert (Lou WB3AAI) will step up to the challenge and construct suitable antennas for the event. W3P is a group effort and can only be a successful event if we have participation from the PARA membership.

The booth/station must be staffed with at least two people at all times to assure the equipment does not walk away. This is a public venue and things like that can happen if we are not careful. If you would like to help with or operate the special event station please contact Dave AA3EJ and aa3ej@live.com.

February 2010 Special Events.

Feb 1-Feb 8, 1900Z-1900Z, Washington, PA. Washington Amateur Communications, W3C. Washington County, Pennsylvania Sportsmen Show. 21.285 14.280 7.260. QSL. Ed Oelschlager, 60 Carl Ave B2, Eighty Four, PA 15330. wa3com@gmail.com or www.wacomarc.org

Feb 2, 1000Z-1400Z, Marion, OH. Marion Amateur Radio Club, WW8MRN. Celebrating "Buckeye Chuck Ground Hog Day". 146.550 14.240 7.240 3.860. Certificate. Jack Hale, KD8CUU, 437 Olney Ave, Marion, OH 43302. bjh4c22@verizon.net

Feb 4-Feb 10, 1800Z-1800Z, Honolulu, HI. United States Islands Awards Program, N7I. 16^th Anniversary of the US Islands Awards Program. 28.460 14.260. QSL. John Reisenauer, Jr, KL7JR, 3705 Arctic Blvd #1830, Anchorage, AK 99503. www.usislands.org

Feb 5, 1400Z-2300Z, San Angelo, TX. San Angelo Amateur Radio Club, W5QX. Celebrating National Weatherman's Day. 14.241 7.241. Certificate. SAARC, PO Box 4002, San Angelo, TX 76902. www.w5qx.org

Feb 5-Feb 7, 2359Z-2359Z, Istanbul, Republic of Turkey. TCSWAT, TC10VF. The 10^th Anniversary of the Volunteer Fire Department. All Bands. QSL. QSL Mang. TCSWAT / TA1HZ Tevfik A.K., PO Box 73 Karakoy, Istanbul 34421, REPUBLIC OF TURKEY. www.ta0u.com/2010/Eng/Calendar.html

Feb 6, 1500Z-2100Z, Virginia Beach, VA. US Coast Guard Auxiliary, W4Z. 18^th Annual Polar Plunge Benefiting Special Olympics. 14.254 7.254. QSL. Robert Dunnington, KI4VCT, 1110 Atlantic Ave, Virginia Beach, VA 23451-3549. qe@flotilla57.com

Feb 6-Feb 7, 1600Z-2100Z, Milan, OH. The Thomas Edison Memorial Radio Club, NI8G. Celebrating Edison's birthday in Milan OH. 21.340 14.240 7.240 3.840. QSL. Thomas Edison Radio Club, 13113 River Rd, Milan, OH 44846. ni8n1@yahoo.com

Feb 7-Feb 14, 0000Z-0000Z, Petal, MS. Petal Pow-Wow, W0W. Pow-Wow. Native American Event. 14.230 7.230 7.030 3.930. QSL. Petal Pow-Wow, PO Box 52, Petal, MS 39465. petalpowwow.webs.com

Feb 13, 1700Z-2359Z, San Diego, CA. USS Midway (CV 41) Museum Radio Operations Room, NI6IW. Women Marines Birthday and Presidents Day. SSB 14.320 7.250 CW 14.060 7.055 RSK-31 7.070 D-STAR 2m/70cm SOCAL rptrs. QSL. USS Midway Museum Radio Room, 910 N Harbor Dr, San Diego, CA 92101-5811. kk6fz@arrl.net

Feb 19-Feb 21, 2300Z-2300Z, Catasauqua, PA. TDF Radio Club, W3G. 278^th Anniversary of George Washington's birthday. 18.130 14.226 7.180 3.880. QSL. Elixander Valladares, 841 Poplar St, Catasauqua, PA 18032. www.ka3kdl.com

Feb 19-Feb 21, 2300Z-2100Z, Laredo, TX. LaredoHams Amateur Radio Club (W5LRD), W5W. Washington's Birthday Celebration Association. 14.325 7.260. QSL. LaredoHams Amateur Radio Club, PO Box 451708, Laredo, TX 78045. www.LaredoHams.com

Feb 19-Feb 22, 2200Z-2359Z, George, WA. Eastern Washington DX Club, W7G. George Washington's Birthday. 18.135 14.250 7.225 3.880. QSL. Brian Nielson, W7BJN, 11650 Road 1 SE, Moses Lake, WA 98837. w7bjn@nwi.net

Feb 20, 1400Z-2200Z, Leavenworth, KS. Kickapoo QRP Amateur Radio Club, W0EBB. 6^th Annual "Freeze Your Keys" Winter Operating Event. 14.285 14.060 7.285 7.040. QSL. Gary Auchard, 34058 167th St, Leavenworth, KS 66048-9473. w0ebb@juno.com

Feb 20, 1500Z-2200Z, Waterloo, IA. Five Sullivan Brothers Amateur Radio Club, W0FSB. 65^th Anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima & the Flag Raisings. 21.240 14.240 7.240. Certificate. Vernon Mc Nulty, 4015 Independence Ave, Waterloo, IA 50703. t-mc-nulty@msn.com

Feb 20-Feb 21, 1500Z-2100Z, Alexandria, VA. Mount Vernon Amateur Radio Club, K4US. Commemoration of George Washington's Birthday. 28.415 14.280 7.240 7.035. Certificate. Mount Vernon ARC, PO Box 7234, Alexandria, VA 22307. www.mvarc.com

Feb 21, 0100Z-0500Z, Olathe, KS. Marshall Ensor Memorial Organization, W9BSP/W9UA. CW - 1930s W9UA Transmitter built by MH Ensor, W9BSP. 1.904 1.896. QSL. Marshall Ensor Memorial Organization, c/o Joe Krout, W0PWJ, 514 N 83rd Place, Kansas City, KS 66112. www.ensorparkandmuseum.org

Feb 24, 1600Z-2200Z, Mesa, AZ. Sunlife/Venture Out Amateur Radio Clubs, W7Z. Third Annual Snowbird Field Day. 21.225 18.125 14.325 7.125. QSL. Paulette Thompson, c/o Venture Out Amateur Assn, 5001 E Main St - 1368, Mesa, WI 85205. billmaynard@mac.com

Feb 27, 1500Z-2300Z, Kent, OH. Portage County Amateur Radio Service, K8BF. 5^th Annual Freeze Your Acorns Off (FYAO) QRP Special Event. 21.283 14.283 7.183 3.883 EchoLink Node KC8RKV. Certificate. Al Atkins, KB8VJL, 12433 Chamberlain Rd, Aurora, OH 44202. www.portcars.org