Official Newsletter of the Philipsburg Amateur Radio Association  -- January 2010

IN THIS ISSUE
Lou WB3AAI Ham of Year
 Christmas Banquet
 Heritage Days
146.64 Repeater News
 Useful Resources      

January Special Events

PARA Officers

Pres.
 John N3SPW
Vice Pres.
 Filip AB3HK
Sec.
 Dave AA3EJ
Treas.
 Jim N3ONE
Rep. Trustee
 Filip AB3HK
Club Liaison
 Dick K3BIE
Net Manager
 Mark K3ITG
 The W3PHB Family of Repeaters

146.640+, Chester Hill Boro

146.430+1 MHz, Rattlesnake Mtn.

444.750+, Decatur Township

  PARA Weekly Net

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.

PARA Logo Merchandise

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 www.cafepress.com/philipsburgara/.  PARA receives a commission on all purchases which is used to support the club operations.

Lou WB3AAI is PARA Ham of the Year

WB3AAI 2009 Ham of Year

 The Philipsburg Amateur Radio Association has announced that Lou Trubiani, WB3AAI, is the recipient of the 2009 Ham of the Year award.

Lou has been active with PARA events and activities, helping out whenever possible. Lou likes to tinker with antennas and really helped out last summer when PARA moved the 146.640 repeater to its new location in Chester Hill Boro. This project would certainly not have gone as smoothly without Lou's planning and effort. Lou was also a big part of the Philipsburg Heritage Days Special Event Station W3P last July. Lou was there working with the antennas and taking turns operating the CW station. Lou has always made time to help fellow hams out and is very deserving of this award.  

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PARA Christmas Banquet

Jim N3ONE and Islo Warg at the PARA 2009 Christmas Banquet

On Friday December 18th the Philipsburg Amateur Radio Association held their annual Christmas Banquet. The location was once again the Moshannon Valley Superbowl. We had a private dining room all to ourselves for the festivities and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. The food was plentiful and nobody went home hungry.  Photos from the event have been posted to the PARA web site.  http://www.philipsburg-ara.org/banquet09.html

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Heritage Days Special Event Station Plans

PARA officials are already making plans for the now annual W3P Special Event Station from the Philipsburg Heritage Days festival held on Front Street in Philipsburg.  Planning is being headed up by Dave AA3EJ.  A listing for the event has already been submitted to QST Magazine.  Here is the text for the listing:

Jul 5-Jul 10, 1500Z-1500Z, Philipsburg, PA. Philipsburg Amateur Radio Association (PARA), W3P. Philipsburg 2010 Heritage Days Special Event. 7.027 10.117 14.248 146.520. QSL. David Runk, 887 Decatur St., Philipsburg, PA 16866-8335. aa3ej@live.com

W3P is a group event and cannot be properly staffed without participation from a large number of volunteers.  In addition to being a lot of fun, this is an excellent opportunity to get amateur radio in front of the public and community leaders.  In 2009 there were a number of people that expressed interest in the hobby.  Hopefully we will bring some new faces into the hobby through events like this.

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146.640 Repeater News

On Tuesday December 29th PARA officials traveled to Boswell Pennsylvania to pick up the finished 146.640 repeater equipment from Scott N3XCC.  This equipment replaces the borrowed repeater RF deck which we had been using.  Scott was also kind enough to retune the duplexers for us and everything was powered in his shop to assure the set-up was in complete working order.  The duplexers and the power supply at the 146.640 repeater are the only two remaining pieces of equipment that are borrowed.  Filip AB3HK is investigating the purchase of duplexers for this repeater.

Upon arrival at the repeater site Dave AA3EJ, Filip AB3HK, and John N3SPW re-assembled the repeater and powered it up.  It was at this point we discovered there was still a problem.  A few days later Dave AA3EJ and Filip AB3HK did some testing and determined that the antenna and / or coax cable has failed and is causing a high SWR.  Filip AB3HK is currently waiting for a calm, semi-warm day to bring his latter up to the site and work on the antenna system.  As soon as the antenna work is finished, this repeater will be placed back into service.  Watch the PARA web site for updates on this project.

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Useful Resources

Learn CW On-Line:

http://lcwo.net/

New to Ham Radio?  Need and E”Elmer”?

http://ask.elmershack.com/

The best on-line Ham Radio Classifieds:

http://www.eham.net/classifieds/

 

January Special Events.

Jan 1, 1300Z-2000Z, Northfield, MA. 72 Rag Chew Group, K1R. Celebrate and welcome in the new year - 2010. 7.272. Certificate. Robert Lobenstein, WA2AXZ, 1958 E 36 St, Brooklyn, NY 11234. www.ragchewers.net

Jan 1-Jan 31, 0000Z-2359Z, All US Call Areas. Straight Key Century Club (SKCC), K3Y. Celebrating 4 years of steady growth to nearly 6,000 members. 14.050 10.120 7.055 3.550. QSL. Dan Rhodes, KA3CTQ, 618 Seminole Dr, Erie, PA 16505. www.skccgroup.com

Jan 2, 1600Z-2000Z, Clinton, IA. Clinton Amateur Radio Club, WØCS. Eagle Watch on the Mississippi River Dam 13. 14.250 7.250. QSL. CARC, PO Box 1501, Clinton, IA 52733-1501. w0cs@arrl.net

Jan 2-Jan 10, 1400Z-0559Z, Newburgh, IN. Indiana Patriot Guard Riders, N9P. 5th Aniversary of Indiana Patriot Guard Riders. 21.300 14.265 7.210 3.825 SSB CW RTTY PSK. QSL. Rick Williams, 515 E Jennings St, Newburgh, IN 47630. Indiana Patriot Guard Riders first mission honoring Pvt Jonathan Pfender, killed in Iraq December 30, 2005. www.qrz.com/db/n9p or www.themmd.com/N9P

Jan 9, 1700Z-2359Z, San Diego, CA. USS Midway (CV-41) Museum Raido Room, NI6IW. USS Nautilus (SSN-571) Underway on Nuclear Power 1955. 14.320 7.250 7.070 D-STAR. QSL. USS Midway Museum Radio Room, 910 North Harbor Dr, San Diego, CA 92101-5811. kk6fz@arrl.net

Jan 15-Jan 18, 2359Z-2359Z, Istanbul, REPUBLIC OF TURKEY. TCSWAT, TC2010CC-. Opening of Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture. 15m 20m 40m 80m. Certificate. TCSWAT / Op. TA1HZ - Tevfik A.K., TCSWAT at PO Box 73 Karakoy, Istanbul 34421, REPUBLIC OF TURKIYE. TCSWAT will be QRV with the next callsign during all year 2010 for the " Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture"TC2010CCE (European side) TC2010CCA (Asian Side) TC2010CCI (Island side) www.ta0u.com/2010/eng/pdf/ACILIS.PDF

Jan 15-Dec 12, 2359Z-2359Z, Istanbul, Republic of Turkey. TCSWAT, TC2010. Istanbul 2010 Eurpean Capital of Culture Award. All bands. Certificate. TCSWAT/Op TA1HZ - Tevfik A.K., PO Box 73 Karakoy, Istanbul 34421, REPUBLIC OF TURKEY. www.ta0u.com/2010/eng/pdf/2010AWARDCatalogue.pdf

Jan 23-Jan 24, 1400Z-2000Z, Wilsona Gardens, CA. BioRem RAC, AL7LS. Release date for movie Hot Rods to Hell 27 Jan 1967. 14.105 7.243 7.105 3.952. Certificate. Bruce Rossi, 2127 Sierra Stone Ln, Las Vegas, NV 89119. bioremracnorthbase.club.officelive.com/Documents/hrth2010post.mht

Jan 29-Jan 31, 0001Z-2359Z, Fort Monmouth, NJ. Garden State Amateur Radio Association, K2USA. Farewell to Fort Monmouth from the Fort Monmouth MARS Station (AA2USA). 14.260 7.260 3.860 CW +50 PSK31 +70 W2NJR/R repeater. QSL. Garden State ARA, 8 Donner St, Holmdel, NJ 07733-2004. www.gardenstateara.org

Jan 30, 1400Z-2100Z, Punxsutawney, PA. Punxsutawney Area Amateur Radio Club, K3HWJ. Commemorating Groundhog Day 2010. 14.240 7.240 146.715 147.390. Certificate. Mike Miller, N3HBH, 1097 Wishaw Rd, Reynoldsville, PA 15851. www.qsl.net/k3hwj

Jan 30-Jan 31, 1700Z-1700Z, Saint Marys, GA. Camden County Amateur Radio Society, KB4CC. Activation of Cumberland Island USI# GA-002S IOTA# NA-058. 14.260 14.040 7.055 7.030. QSL. CCARS - USI#GA-002S, PO Box 2203, Kingsland, GA 31548. www.ccars.org

Jan 30-Feb 4, 1500Z-0400Z, Lubbock, TX. Buddy Holly Memorial, W5B. 51st anniversary of the death of Buddy Holly. 18.150 14.260 7.260 3.860. QSL. Bryan Edwards, 3801 68th St, Lubbock, TX 79413. www.amcrc.com/w5b

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