The HOTLINE Official Newsletter for the Heart O' Texas Amateur Radio Club Waco, Texas
	Volume XXVIII, Number 11 December 2003

Annual Meeting Night!

by John Chamberlain, AC5CV

Position	Nominees
President	Ed Middlebrook KC5NT
Vice President	Rodney Baden K5YKC
Secretary	John Chamberlain AC5CV
Treasurer	Norris Martin KB5SLI
Director (term to expire 2006)	Scott Shafer KD5MLY
Director (term to expire 2004)*	Bill Cox W5JRM
*KD5IQ stepping down

According to our bylaws, as you are probably aware, the last meeting of each year is known as HOTARC’s Annual Meeting, at which we conduct the election of Officers and Directors for the coming year. Well, that would be the meeting this Thursday, December 4!

Our Nominations Committee informs me that they have secured agreement from several members to serve next year, if elected. The table here shows their names.

Your presence is needed for this most important of meetings. Please make plans to attend to contribute to the elections, as well as vote on other important Club business matters.

QRV? (Are You Ready?)

by Ed Middlebrook, KC5NT

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

The end of 2003 is upon us—and what a year it’s been! Field Day was another success and we retained our first place status in North Texas (2A). Our membership is up,and new hams are being trained to join our ranks. We continue to remain very busy in public service and HOTARC is now an ARRL Special Service Club.

But we still have much to do! The 2004 year will have us facing the challenge of Broadband Over Power Line and spectrum protection. We will be asked to work more closely with our area hospitals in providing emergency communication. The Salvation Army can benefit from our help in setting up a station in their local headquarters building. Another group of new hams is forthcoming from our new-ham classes and will mean an even greater chance for us to “Elmer.” And then, there’s the upcoming “storm season.” And, so it goes.

I want to take this time to say “THANK YOU”! While our organization is not as numerous as it was a few years ago, I think that all of you would agree that the current attitude and knowledge of the membership is as great as ever. It’s because of you—the old-timer and newbie alike, that our organization is truly great. I’m proud to say that I belong to an organization like HOTARC!

Finally, I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. May the blessings of this season be more numerous than the packages under your tree!

73
Ed Middlebrook, KC5NT
HOTARC President

For the Record...

HOTARC Meeting of Directors
October 23, 2003

President Ed Middlebrook KC5NT called for a brief meeting of the HOTARC Board of Directors prior to the meeting of Members. The meeting was called to order at 6:55 pm with attendance as follows:

Ed Middlebrook, KC5NT Mike Ross, N5MVL
John Chamberlain, AC5CV Ed Hynan, KC5KNI
Ray Read, AD5CK

Following a recommendation by the Treasurer, N5MVL moved that the 2004 dues structure remain the same as in 2003 ($30/yr for Full Members, $15/yr for Associate Members, and no charge for Family Members). KC5KNI seconded the motion, and the vote by those present was unanimous.

KC5NT heard a motion by N5MVL to adjourn the meeting at 6:59 pm.

HOTARC Meeting of Members
October 23, 2003

The October meeting of the Heart O’ Texas Amateur Radio Club was called to order by Ed Middlebrook KC5NT at 7:04 pm in the Kultgen Automotive Building on the TSTC campus. Present were thirteen full members, one family member, and one visitor (Scott Wilson).

The Minutes for the September meeting were approved as published in the HOTLINE, following a motion by Norris Martin KB5SLI, second by Ed Hynan KC5KNI, and unanimous vote by the members present. The September Treasurer’s Report as published in the HOTLINE was also accepted, following a motion by Otto Hackfeld KI5QT, second by Scott Shafer KD5MLY, and unanimous vote by the members present.

The Treasurer Reports...

Heart O’ Texas Amateur Radio Club
Treasurer’s Report, October 2003

Beginning Account Balance $ 2,982.25

Income

Interest $  0.55

TOTAL Income $  0.55

Expenses

New radios for trailer (Belton) $ 498.00

TOTAL Expenses $ 498.00

Ending Account Balance $ 2,484.80

Outstanding (as of 11-18-03)
Deposits: $60.00
Bank Fees: $42.50
Actual cash on hand: $2,502.30

Submitted by
Ray Read, AD5CK
HOTARC Treasurer

Announcements

· Annual Meeting: KC5NT noted that the next meeting will be our Annual Meeting, held on the Thursday following Thanksgiving, per our bylaws.

· ARCHES: KC5KNI reported that there will be a project meeting in early November.

· BPL Issue: KC5NT reported that he and Rodney Baden K5YKC had been presenting the BPL issue (and ARES) to several area clubs: Temple, Bosque County, and Lake Whitney.

· Rechargeable batteries: Bill Cox W5JRM shared a web site:
http://www.primecell.com
as a source for rechargeable cells to rebuild your aging battery packs.

· PC Users Group: W5JRM reported that this very informative and helpful group meets at 6:30 pm every 2^nd Tuesday of the month in the Waco Public Library basement.

· Boy Scouts: KB5SLI reported that the Scouts are planning to offer a communications-related merit badge (NOT intended to culminate in a ham license) this Spring and would like some volunteers to help deliver the instruction.

Committee Reports

N5MVL: FM Transmitter Kit

W5NCD: Homebrew Variable Load

KC5NT: Portable HF whip; 30-ft telescoping mast

· Trailer: Mike Ross N5MVL reported that two new rigs were purchased at Belton (as approved at the previous meeting): Icom-2720 and Icom-V8000.

· Repeater: KD5MLY reported that we are still waiting on a tower crew to remove the splitter from the 145.15 antenna cable (and hopefully restore the signal strength). KB5SLI will assume responsibilities as the trustee for the Club repeaters.

· Web Page: Justin Martin KC5KQL reports that all is well.

· ATV: David Bush KC5UOZ recommends discarding TV set in trailer, as it is broken from several falls. He offered to coordinate the ATV/SSTV presence in the trailer—an offer gratefully accepted by the members present.

· Education: AC5CV, on behalf of Phillip Crawford W9DQ (unable to attend), presented a plan to conduct a Technician training class at the Civil Air Patrol facilities in November and December, to culminate in about a dozen students hopefully ready to test at the December VE session. KC5KNI moved that HOTARC sponsor the classes as described by W9DQ, N5MVL seconded the motion, and the members unanimously agreed.

· Special Events: AC5CV reported that the Waco Wild West Century biking event went very well this year (except for the unexplained failure of the APRS tracking effort) and thanked everyone for the contributions.

Old Business

· Christmas Luncheon: John Chamberlain AC5CV reported that reservations were made at the Summer Palace (Bosque Blvd in Waco) for noon on Saturday, December 13, 2003, as recommended at the previous meeting.

New Business

· Nominations Committee: KD5MLY, KB5SLI, and N5MVL volunteered to serve on this year’s committee.

· Dues for 2004: KC5NT reported the recommendation of the Board of Directors to keep the 2004 dues the same as this year. Otto Hackfeld moved to accept the recommendation, W5JRM seconded the motion, and the members unanimously approved it.

KC5NT heard a motion by KI5QT to adjourn the meeting at about 7:42 pm.

This evening’s program was “homebrew night.” Projects presented:

· N5MVL: Ramsey kit—FM 100 mW stereo transmitter serving as a “cordless microphone.”

· W5NCD: homebrew variable load for testing power supplies up to 20 A.

· KC5NT: a) portable HF “hamstick” and counterpoise attached to a tent stake for quick set-up; b) a demo of his new portable telescoping fiberglass mast that extends to 33 feet!

Submitted by:
John Chamberlain AC5CV
HOTARC Secretary

A Ham’s Night Before Christmas
‘Twas the night before Christmas, And all through two-meters, Not a signal was keying up Any repeaters. The antennas reached up From the tower, quite high, To catch the weak signals That bounced from the sky. The children, Tech-Pluses, Took their HT’s to bed, And dreamed of the day They’d be Extras, instead. Mom put on her headphones, I plugged in the key, And we tuned 40 meters For that rare ZK3. When the meter was pegged by a signal with power. It smoked a small diode, and, I swear, shook the tower. Mom yanked off her phones, And with all she could muster Logged a spot of the signal On the DX PacketCluster, While I ran to the window And peered up at the sky, To see what could generate RF that high. It was way in the distance, But the moon made it gleam - A flying sleigh, with an Eight element beam, And a little old driver who looked slightly mean. So I thought for a moment, That it might be Wayne Green. Then, he reached really deep In the bag that he brought, And he pulled out a big box. A new rig? I thought!	A new Kenwood?  An Icom? A Yaesu, for me?! (If he thought I’d been bad it might be QRP!) Yes! The Ultimate Station! How could I deserve this? Could it be all those hours that I worked Public Service? He hooked it all up And in record time, quickly Worked 100 countries, All down on 160. I should have been happy, It was my call he sent. But the cards and the postage Will cost two month’s rent! But no, it was Santa, The Santa of Hams. On a mission, this Christmas, To clean up the bands. He circled the tower, Then stopped in his track, And he slid down the coax Right into the shack. While Mom and I hid Behind stacks of CQ, This Santa of hamming Knew just what to do. He cleared off the shack desk Of paper and parts, And filled out all my late QSLs For a start. He ran copper braid, Took a steel rod and pounded It into the earth, till The station was grounded. He tightened loose fittings, Resoldered connections, Cranked down modulation, Installed lightning protection.	He neutralized tubes In my linear amp... (Never worked right before— Now it works like a champ). A new, low-pass filter Cleaned up the TV. He corrected the settings In my TNC. He repaired the computer That would not compute, And he backed up the hard drive And got it to boot. He made final adjustments, And left a card by the key: “To Gary, from Santa Claus. Seventy-Three.” Then he grabbed his HT, Looked me straight in the eye, Punched a code on the pad, And was gone—no good bye. I ran back to the station, And the pile-up was big, But a card from St. Nick Would be worth my new rig. Oh, too late, for his final came over the air. It was copied all over. It was heard everywhere. The Ham’s Santa exclaimed What a ham might expect, “Merry Christmas to all, And to all, good DX.” ©1996 Gary Pearce KN4AQ Permission granted for any print or electronic reproduction.

Important Announcements

Mark your calendars:
HOTARC Annual Meeting: December 4, 2003
Christmas Luncheon: December 13, 2003, noon at Summer Palace, in Waco

Local 2-meter Repeaters Linked!

Submitted by Norris Martin, KB5SLI

Ron Bowden, AA5RT reports that he has linked his 146.66 repeater with the 146.82 repeater in Temple. Connecting with either repeater will activate the other with simultaneous transmissions. Both are using a 123.0 tone. Ron says this setup should give continuous coverage from Hillsboro to Georgetown. Ron put this link on the air Monday (October 27) and says it seems to be working fine. Give it a try!

AMSAT Seeks Donations

Submitted by Phillip T. Crawford, W9DQ

The Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) is seeking support for the upcoming ECHO satellite launch. I sent in a personal contribution yesterday and thought local club members might be interested in making their own contributions.

As you all may know the easiest of the FM LEO birds, UO-14, died last summer. The only other reliable FM-voice LEO is SO-50 and it’s orbit makes its availability pretty varied and it is a difficult satellite to communicate through as well. ECHO is sorely needed to keep amateur interest high in FM LEO satellites. ECHO has been on the boards for a long time and you can get the project status and information at http://www.amsat.org/amsat/sats/echo/article-03-11.html

One of the reasons I am supporting this effort is that I have noticed a big reduction in FM voice satellite availability and the traffic has dropped off considerably. This reduces amateur interest in satellites using other modes and a satellite is an expensive option. The FM LEOs are entry level and they keep amateur interest high so it is well worth a small investment.

Visit the web site above and think about supporting our fellow hams in this worthwhile effort!

The HOTLINE is the monthly newsletter of the Heart O’ Texas Amateur Radio Club (HOTARC), Inc., a nonprofit corporation, chartered by the State of Texas and principally located in Waco. It is permissible to use any of the original material contained herein, provided proper credit is given to the source.

Edited and Published by John Chamberlain AC5CV, AC5CV@arrl.net

HOTARC 2003 Board of Directors

2003 Board of Directors
Back: KD5RWX, KC5NT, AD5CK, KD5IQ, AD5JY
Front: KC5KNI, AC5CV, N5MVL

President: Ed Middlebrook KC5NT, 826-4053, KC5NT@arrl.net

Vice Pres (acting): Rusty Keyes AD5JY, 662-1461, rustedkey@aol.com

Secretary: John Chamberlain AC5CV, 855-7731, AC5CV@arrl.net

Treasurer: Ray Read AD5CK, 776-4059, AD5CK@arrl.net

Past-Pres.: Rusty Keyes AD5JY, 662-1461, rustedkey@aol.com

Director (2003): Mike Ross N5MVL, 836-1083, N5MVL@juno.com

Director (2004): Marshall Mabry KD5IQ, 772-1037, mabrym@aol.com

Director (2005): Ed Hynan KC5KNI, 666-4873, KC5KNI@arrl.net

Club Repeaters

145.15 MHz (input at –600 kHz, tone 123 Hz)

146.88 MHz (input at –600 kHz)

146.98 MHz (input at –600 kHz, tone 123 Hz)

VE Testing

Normal schedule resuming in December: 10:00 am on the third Saturday at Baylor’s Rogers Engineering Bldg, Room 107. You must bring: 1) testing fee of $12 (cash, please); 2) current license and photocopy of it; 3) a photo ID (two for first-time licensees), and 4) photocopy of any relevant CSCE. Contact: Linda Hynan, AC5QQ at 666-4873 or Linda.Hynan@UTSouthwestern.edu.

Meeting Notice

This month’s meeting of HOTARC will be at 7:00 pm on Thursday December 4, 2003 in the Kultgen Automotive Center of the TSTC Waco Campus. This will be our very important Annual Meeting at which we elect next year’s Officers and Directors. And conduct other important Club business.

NOTE: “Annual Meeting” Night:
December 4, 2003