OCTOBER 2012

T H E K E Y

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Repeaters146.970 PL 131.8 444.475 PL 131.8

RARC NetThe club’s weekly net is 8 p.m. Sundays on the 146.970 repeater.

Club meetings Club meetings are 7 p.m.,

Tuesday, at Gundersen/Lutheran in La Crosse. They will be in meeting room 1 on the lower level of the clinic.

“Meeting of Elmers,” advice, discussion and help is at 6 p.m. in the conference room in the Gundersen Clinic.

The Riverland Amateur Radio Club is a Special Services Club affiliated with the American Radio Relay League

RIVERLAND AMATEUR RADIO CLUB

InsideCalendar 2JOTAatTremplo 2K9ZVU,SK 3N0MKI,SK 3“Whatdoesittake?” 4

Mark your calendars for another great day of casual operation and food with the Winona Amateur Radio Club at the Third Annual National Wildlife Refuge Special Event Station K9P Sat. Oct. 20. Operations at the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge will run from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. with set up at 9 a.m.

We had a great time last year with plenty of hams bring their own rigs for some additional fun--SDR QRP operations, mobile rigs, and others.

There may also be a Jamboree On The Air (JOTA) station for some La Crosse area Boy Scouts. JOTA runs concurrently with the special event operations this year.

This is the third year the Riverland Amateur Radio Club has joined with Winona Hams for this national event. So far seven refuges will be activated in honor of National Wildlife Refuge Week. For details go to www.nwrweek-radio.info/

Licensed Hams are invited to help operate the two stations and, of course, to enjoy the camaraderie, chow and scenery. The stations will be located in the RARC trailer at the refuge’s maintenance shop, near the visitor center. The Trempealeau refuge is at W28488 Refuge Rd., Trempealeau, Wis. 54661.

SpecialeventstationK9PcontactsweremadebyLanceTagliapietra,KB0YJU,left,andRogerReader,KA9BKKduring2011operations.

Refuge special event station Oct. 20 SET set for Oct. 6

The national Simulated Emergency Test (SET) is set for Sat. Oct. 6. The SET is a nationwide exercise in emergency communications, administered by ARRL Emergency Coordinators and Net Managers. Both ARES and the National Traffic System (NTS) are involved. The SET weekend gives communicators the opportunity to focus on the emergency communications capability within their community while interacting with NTS nets.

Riverland members plan to combine the Trempealeau Refuge Special Event Station with JOTA, the club’s first linkage with the Boy Scout event in several years.

The Jamboree-on-the-Air, or JOTA, is an annual Scouting event that uses amateur radio to link Scouts around the world, around the nation, and in our community. This worldwide jamboree requires no travel, other than to the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge.

Len Litvan, KCØRSX, of the Winona Amateur Radio Club and Bob Seaquist, KC9IWE, of the Riverland Club,

plan to set up a special station just for participating La Crosse area Boy Scouts.

Scouts of any age can participate,

from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts and Venturers. Litvan and Seaquist plan on Scouts speaking into a microphone and listening on the station speakers.

The exchanges include such information as name, location, Scout rank, age, and hobbies.

The World Scout Bureau reported that the 2011 JOTA had nearly 750,000 Scout participants from more than 6,000 amateur radio stations. A participant patch is available, as is a certificate/log sheet that can also be used to fulfill a Radio merit badge requirement

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RIVERLAND AMATEUR RADIO CLUB OCTOBER 2012

CalendarSat. Oct. 6

Simulated Emergency Test (SET). Sat. Oct. 13

Central Wisconsin Swapfest, 8 a.m.-12 p.m., Colby Lions Pavilion, 103 W. Adams St., Colby. Sun. Oct. 14

SEWFARS Swapfest, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Richfield Chalet, 1271 Hwy 175, Hubertus.Sat. Oct. 20

National Wildlife Refuge Special Event Station, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Trem-pealeau National Wildlife Refuge, W28488 Refuge Rd., Trempealeau.

Jamboree On The Air (JOTA), 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge.Sat. Nov. 3

Milwaukee Repeater Club Hamfest 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Elks Lodge #46, 5555 W. Good Hope Rd., Milwaukee. Sun. Nov. 4

Fox Cities Amateur Radio Club Swapfest at Germania Hall, Menasha.Tues. Nov. 6

Riverland Amateur Radio Club meeting, 7 p.m., Gundersen Lutheran, La Crosse. Elmer session at 6 p.m.

Riverland Amateur Radio ClubP.O. Box 621Onalaska, Wis. 54650

President ............. Greg Miller, KA9FOZVice-president..... Roger Reader, KA9BKKTreasurer.............. Tom O’Brien, WB9BJQSecretary.............. Carl Thurston, KC9HDSNewsletter editor .. Bob Seaquist, KC9IWEAddress correspondence regarding the club to Tom O’Brien, WB9BJQ, wb9bjq@charter.netThis newsletter is sent by e-mail to current and past RARC members and others. If you wish to change your address or sub-scription, e-mail KC9IWE@arrl.net

VE testing for licensing The RARC will continue providing VE test-

ing for licensing. The fee remains $15. The next tests will be administered Sat, Nov.

10.Contact Roger Reader, KA9BKK, 608 783-

0723, to register.The session will begin at 9 a.m. at the Ameri-

can Red Cross office, 2927 Losey Blvd. S., La Crosse.

Jamboree On The Air held with Trempealeau refuge station

OperatingtipMilitaryradiomenknowthepropermeaningsoftheproceduralwordsRogerandWilcoare:Roger-messagereceivedandunderstood;Wilco-messagereceivedandunderstood,andIwillcomply.Therefore,saying“RogerWilco”isakintosaying“73’s.”ThetwoareNEVERusedtogether.Hollywoodgotitwrongonthisone.

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RIVERLAND AMATEUR RADIO CLUB OCTOBER 2012

Howard E. Hamilton, NØMKI, SK

Howard E. Hamilton, NØMKI, of Pleasant Hill Township, Minn. died Sept. 29. He was 64.

Hamilton was known to many area Hams for his unique and friendly voice on the ’97 repeater. He was an enthusiastic collector and user of “boat anchors” and participated on the air often on AM or CW.

Ernest J. Gershon, K9ZVU, SKErnest J. Gershon, K9ZVU, died Sept. 23. He was 97.Gershon was a renaissance man whose modesty and self

deprecation would have resisted the term “renaissance.” Among many Hams he was “Ol Ern” and on the UW-L campus where he taught, he was “a gym teacher.”

Gershon graduated from La Crosse State Teachers College in 1937 and later earned further graduate degrees, wrote a textbook on gymnastics, and taught physical education as well as coached gymnastics. UW- La Crosse was his life. His students meant everything to him, each being a product of his love for physical education and his desire for growth.

During World War II the Navy used his skills to train recruits.

As a college student he was a four-time letter-winning gymnast, and also participated in variety of intramural sports, drama and music. As a coach his teams won 30 team championships and 145 individual titles. He was WSU conference “Coach of the Year” four times, and NAIA District 14 “Coach of the Year” in 1966.

Gershon played violin in the La Crosse State Teachers College Orchestra, the Miami University Symphony, the Middletown, Ohio, Symphony, the National Symphony of Panama during World War II, and The La Crosse Symphony.

Other interests of Gershon’s were archery, badminton, baseball and softball, bicycling, bowling, camping, canoeing, Chinese and crossword puzzles, collecting butterflies, stamps and knives, using computers, deer hunting, fishing, fly-tying, fly casting, figure skating, golf, handball, harmonica playing, making walking sticks and cribbage boards, motor cycling, photography, pistol target shooting, racquet ball, reading, repairing and restoring violins, restoring motor cycles, swimming, tennis, volleyball, water skiing, whittling, woodturning and woodcarving, and, as he would say, “loafing.”

RIVERLAND AMATEUR RADIO CLUB OCTOBER 2012

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It is a rare thing when we can attract a presenter with the kind of knowledge, presence, and understandability that we were treated to at the October meeting of the RARC. It has been a real task to get people to do a presentation to add an interesting and educational end to the usual monthly meeting. Oh yes, we have had some very good presentations this year. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience within the ranks of the RARC, and the members who have done a program have always done a superior job. With that in mind, it is especially enjoyable and informative when some one from outside the RARC agrees to enlighten and entertain us with a presentation.

Our presenter last evening was Mitch

Schultz, WBØGKH, a well-known and highly regarded author, teacher, and long time Ham. Schultz presented a previous talk on linear power supplies, but he felt that this month was the time to do one on transmission lines.

It would be hard to find someone better versed on this topic than Schultz. He has taught electronics courses at Western Technical College and is the author of several text books on electronics. He is well aware of how to present a complex topic to listeners of varied experience and knowledge. He did it in a manner that kept everyone present focused and wanting more.

The purpose of this piece is not to reiterate what he said, but rather to peak the curiosity of the reader with a desire

to attend our meetings and therefore be able to enjoy such a fine presentation.

In addition to an upcoming talk on switching power supplies, Schultz suggested that he would be open to doing a series of talks on basic electronics: series circuits, parallel circuits, discrete components, etc. He emphasized that this would be a course conducted at Western and that it would be free of cost. More information will be available on the classes when the details have been firmed up.

Now if that doesn’t get a charge out of you Hams, nothing will, just make sure that your impedance is matched and you aren’t transmitting into a dummy load and you should be fine.

Here I am, the “Hapless Ham” wondering what it takes to have an amateur radio club that is actively engaging in Amateur Radio. Not to point a finger, but rather I’m just wondering what it will take to get things moving in a more positive direction.

There are many things that are positive about our club: participation in Field Day is steady, as well as the run/walks that we marshal, involvement in Rotary Lights, the special events that we do, our Christmas party and annual picnic, not to mention our Special Services designation with the ARRL, and our continued maintenance and operation of our 2 meter repeater, the Sunday night net, Elmering and the list goes on. These are all positive, healthy, thriving sorts of things for us to be doing.

The trouble lies in the things that we don’t do. Things like having an active presence in the community, the recruitment of new Hams, and the pursuit of new projects that are out of

the box. We are comfortable with the way that

things are generally. Once a month we meet and sit around and socialize with each other, discuss possible changes, and vote on new motions. This too is good.

The active involvement of our members in club events and projects continues to be acceptable, but we often are pressed to get enough members involved in some of the events to do more than a minimal effort. We have, as has been pointed out before, about 30 members, of which an average of 12 come to our meetings. Of the 12, there are six or eight members who consistently are actively involved with our events.

To be fair, having 12 members our of 30 attend meetings is not bad considering a large number of members who have limited mobility.

Those that do attend and take somewhat of an active part in the running of the club always seem to be the same six or eight members. This has

worked in the past, but these members are not getting any younger and the possibility of burn-out is ever present.

Takes a look at the club’s history and you will quickly realize that there is a cyclical pattern to its activity level. Over the short time that I have been involved with this club, I have seen many members, come and go. Some come for a short time, seem to become disillusioned and leave, others have tried to push for positive change and have become over loaded when they can’t get the support that they need to successfully make improvements. Some have tried many things in the past only to realize the futility of it all.

So I again ask; what does it take?

What does it take?By Carl Thurston, KC9HDS

Transmission LinesBy Carl Thurston, KC9HDS