THE LIVE WIRE

A Publication of the Blue Ridge Amateur Radio Society, Inc.
June 1998
 
President: William (Buddy) Rodgers-KA4END, 19 Wintergreen Ln., Taylors, SC 29687
Vice President: Mitchell Hawkins-KD4VXP, P.O. Box 41, Pelzer, SC  29669 
Treasurer: Carroll Smith-WA4WYE, 202 Agewood Dr., Simpsonville, SC 29680 
Secretary: John Chism-ND4N, 139 Mustang Circle, Simpsonville, SC 29681
 

        Notice: The next meeting of  BRARS, Inc. will be Monday evening, June 1, 1998 at Greenville Technical College, Room CE-350 (Auditorium).  Coffee, etc. will start around 7:00 pm. and the meeting will start at 7:30 pm. Our guest speaker will be Ed Grooms-K4KK. Ed’s topic is “Contesting-fun and educational" ( AT THE SAME TIME!)
This is an excellent topic with Field Day just a few weeks off. More about Field Day later
in the newsletter.


        Silent Key: E.R. (RAY) CARROWAN - W4WAI died recently at the age of 60
years. Ray and his wife Grace resided in the Simpsonville area. Ray was a well
experienced Amateur first licensed in his early teenage years and was a long time
member of BRARS Inc..  His most recent activity was on HF cw operation. An Engineer
by profession, Ray was employed with the South Carolina Manufacturing Extension
Program at the time of his death. Besides his wife Grace, he is survived by his daughter, Alecia of  Ft. Lauderdale and his son Ray Jr. of Columbia.

        BRARS Inc. To Participate in ARRL Field Day Contest: Field Day will be on
Saturday, June 27 and Sunday, June 28. Johnny Allison-WD4DYH  says that we
already have a core volunteer team but need more operators, loggers, and work team
members.  He will be looking for volunteers at the next meeting. If you want to
participate and cannot make the meeting, please contact one of the officers, directors, or Johnny. Current plans include setting up antennas on Friday afternoon/ Saturday morning and possibly a family meal Saturday evening.  The station will be set up in Dacusville, on highway 186, between Marietta and Pickens. The location is the Farm Day site. We will use a picnic shelter for the main operation. Camping sites are available for $14/ night. Electricity and water are available at the campsite.
 
 
Highlights of 1998 Field Day Rules:

( Those expecting to participate should read the complete rules found in the May QST, pp108-109 and the General Rules for ARRL Contest in Dec. 1997 QST )

Objective: To work as many stations as possible during the allocated period on any amateur band ( excluding 30, 17, and 12 meters bands ).

Date and Field Day Period.  Begins 1800 UTC on Saturday, June 27 and ends  2100 UTC, Sunday, June 28.

--Class A ( clubs, portable power) stations who do not begin setting up until 1800UTC   on Saturday may operate the entire Field Day period of 27 hours.
--Others must begin their setup no earlier than 1800 UTC on Friday and may operate no more than 24 hours once the station is “on-the-air”.

 Entry Categories:
 Class A   Club stations, portable power, 3 or more operators.
 Class B   Club stations, portable power, 1 or 2 operators
 Class C   Mobile
 Class D   Home stations, commercial power
 Class E    Home stations, emergency power

 Exchange:  For a club station, 3 or more operators, portable power, the exchange
would be (1) the maximum number of transmitters operating (2) station category (3)
ARRL section. Example, for our club station with 3 transmitters we would answer
“3A South Carolina” or on CW  “ 3A SC “.

 Other Rules:

Once a transmitter is used on a band, it must remain on that band for 15 minutes.

Operators participating in Field Day may not, from any other station, contact for point credit the Field Day station of a group with which they participated.

Each phone, cw and each digital ( non cw) segment is considered as a separate band. A station may be worked once on each band.

The use of more than one transmitter on a single band at the same time is
prohibited ( except for novice/tech.).

No repeater contacts!


Scoring:     -Phone contacts count 1 point.    -CW and Digital contacts count 2 points.
 

Power Multipliers: -5 watts or less, battery power,  X 5
                                - Less than 150 watts,  X 2
                                - More than 150 watts,  X 1

 Bonus Points  -Emergency or portable power, 100 points per transmitter.
                          -Public Relations, 100 points for media publicity.
                          -100 points for locating in a public area.
                          -100 points for message origination for SM or SEC.
                          -10 points for each message received and relayed. A  maximum of 100 points for messages received.
                          -100 points for satellite QSO. ( one satellite transmitter does not count as an additional transmitter.)
                           -100 points to copy a special ARRL bulletin from W1AW.


Report on 61 Repeater:
        Ray Allison- K4SUG reports that we are operating with a substitute transmitter and a temporary low gain antenna following a failure of  unkown cause. The antenna is
located much lower on the tower and performance is poorer. Many people using low
power or HT’s cannot get into the repeater. It will be necessary to climb the tower and
determine the amount of damage to the antenna and to the coax system. Then
replacement materials will be obtained and installed.  Ray’s priority for the immediate future is to take good care of his wife who is scheduled for surgery soon.   We all wish her the best during this time.


Hurricane Watch Net Exercise:
        The following anouncement from ARRL was sent to me from Les-K4NK, with a
request to include it in the newsletter. Stations with 20 meter capability may wish to take
part in the exercise on May 31.

From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT  May 8 1998
To all radio amateurs
SB QST ARLB031
ARLB031 Hurricane Exercise

The National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, has asked amateurs to participate in a communication preparedness exercise to kick off the 1998 hurricane season.

Amateurs are asked to check into the Hurricane Watch Net on 14.325 MHz on Sunday, May 31, 1998, between 1600 and 1800 UTC. Stations are requested to provide a real-time report of their current weather conditions, including wind speed, wind direction, and barometric pressure. Measured conditions are preferred, but estimated wind speeds will be accepted.

These reports will be forwarded to W4EHW at the National Hurricane Center. W4ENZ will be on the frequency. Stations do not need to continue monitoring the net once their
reports have been forwarded to the National Hurricane Center.

“We look forward to talking with you on the 31 st and hope that the only time that we have to do so this season is during exercises,” said Hurricane Watch Net Manager Jerry Herman, N3BDW.
 

Editor of “The Live Wire”  Carlisle Rogers - WA4ULE
  56 Oak Crest Ct.  Greenville SC  29605


 

Minutes of the  5/4/98  Club Meeting
 

 
KF4WVC M.A. (Majorie) Smith 403 Piedmont Park Rd. Greenville SC 29609
KF4WVD T. (Teri) Hawkins PO Box 349 Tigerville SC 29690
 
 

 NOTE that the July and August meeting place may be moved.  More on this at the June Meeting
 

John E. Chism, ND4N
Secretary, BRARS Inc.

If you received this by “snail mail” and you have  E-mail or Internet capability, please let us know if you would like to get your copy by E-mail.  We need to reduce the cost of duplicating/ mailing the hard copies. Please notify Jonathan using the E-mail address found on the BRARS Inc. website..Many thanks...Carl- WA4ULE

 

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    ©1998 Blue Ridge Amateur Radio Society, Inc.