[K6BW] Current Events

[Bill Smith]

I guess this is something akin to a newsletter.  What do you think, =
should we have a mailed club newsletter ?   Negatives are it is a lot of =
work and is surprisingly expensive.  Positives are it is something "in =
hand" and tends to bring the membership together.  Is there anyone who =
would like to work on this project?

MARS Conference

Our clubhouse was the site of the 2003 Northern California Mars =
Convention again this year.  We had about 25 Navy MARS members from all =
over Northern California in attendance.  Of special mention was the =
participation of HWA member Doug Sekishiro.  Doug has recently returned =
from Kuait (did I mean Kuwait?) and stated the need for MARS =
communications in the Gulf Region.  That message has been routed up the =
chain of command, and could have an impact on the whole system.

TOWER

The tower update:  Jack Troup has been working very hard on the project =
and we are seeing real results of his efforts.  We have determined a way =
to erect the tower, it will be positioned on the ground parallel to the =
north side of the building, and nearby trees (that is saying a lot!) can =
be used to first hoist the antenna from horizontal, then pulled into a =
vertical position.

Jack has built and installed a base plate.  With that major hurdle =
overcome, we are now looking at digging one hole and installing a guy =
anchor.  The other two guy points are in place, one at the top of the =
driveway, the other the telephone pole at the back of the building.  We =
think we can use an old cement support that used to hold steam-heat =
piping as an anchor to guy the back of the telephone pole.

We had a good work party last Saturday.  Alan Best, Jack Troup, Lars =
Williamson and myself were there.  Several members indicated they would =
like to help, but couldn't meet the schedule.  Lots of things were done =
in preparation of the "big event" - raising the tower, which is now much =
closer in sight.  If we can trim the trees, we have a good chance to get =
it up before the rains start this fall.

Jack has taken the crank on the tower for cleaning and repainting.  He =
also discovered the rotor contains several badly damaged internal parts. =
 Thankfully, we have two others.  Jack plans to carefully inspect each =
and choose one to put back on the tower.

We estimate we need nearly 200 feet of rotor cable.  We need the same =
length of coaxial cable.  Jack is planning a trip to Mike Quinn =
Electronics to see if there is any surplus rotor cable, and will be on =
the lookout at the next Livermore Swap.

CIVIL AIR PATROL

Separately, I attended a Civil Air Patrol meeting last night.  A new =
Novato chapter has been formed, replacing an older one, and is active in =
search and rescue.  At the meeting, also met a Commander with the Coast =
Guard Auxiliary.   I was delighted to discover the Commander is studying =
Morse Code!

Each group has specific activities for which they volunteer.  They =
primarily use VHF and have extensive repeaters on government frequencies =
they use for communications.  The CAP uses HF frequencies also, and the =
Novato chapter is looking to acquire that capability.

We discussed the possibility of establishing links between our groups.  =
At the moment it seems that we could best help each other by offering =
our ability to volunteer for special projects as they occur.  At the =
moment, that luxury (volunteer resources) seem a bit limited, but with =
the enthusiasm shown last night to work together, am sure something =
positive will come out of our correspondence.

73 de Bill, AB6MT
billsmith@ispwest.com





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