[NLRS] Invitation to the 2006 CSVHF Society Conference

[W0ZQ at aol.com]

Hello NLRS land.   
 
Unless you have been stranded on a island, by know you now that the 40th  
annual Central States VHF Society conference is being hosted by us, the Northern  
Lights Radio Society, right here in Bloomington, Minnesota, on July  28-29.   
 Our conference hotel is the Ramada Mall of America  (formally called the 
Thunderbird).   
 
Via this email, I am formally inviting all NLRS members to attend this fun  
event.   Next year the conference will be in San Antonio, Texas, and  the year 
after that, we don't know yet.   This is THE year, with the  conference in our 
own back yard, for you to check out and see what a CSVHFS  conference is all 
about.   
 
What will you see ?   
 
Well first, on Thursday night, we have planned for the entire group to bus  
from the hotel to Harriet Island to ride the Jonathan Padelford & enjoy a  
buffet diner.  This will be an exceptional opportunity for you to relax and  meet 
many of the people that you have worked through the years.   I  can tell you 
from experience that you don't have to walk very far to get into  one 
discussion or another !     Please give attending our  Thursday night boat ride and 
dinner strong consideration.    
 
Friday morning will start with the antenna range.   It's much  like Aurora, 
only bigger !   In addition, this year we will have a  Rover Row for those who 
will be showing off our rovers stations, a dish pound  for those wishing to 
display their microwave dishes and systems, a preamp  measurement area, a poster 
session, and an indoor distributor  area.    At 1:00 PM we kick off the 
technical  presentations.   For family members, a day long trip to explore the  
Mall of America will be topped off by a scrap booking experience back at the  
hotel.   At 7:00 PM we will host the famous CSVHFS flea market along  with 
opening up the two hospitality suites for more eyeball QSOs.   
 
On Saturday the technical conference kicks in at 8:00 AM with presentations  
until 3:45 PM.   In the morning, the family program includes a trolley  ride 
of historic St. Paul followed by a trip to Fort Snelling in the  afternoon.   A 
social hour with cash bar starts at 6:00 PM with our  banquet at 7:00 PM.   
Regarding the banquet, our guest speaker will be  presenting a travelogue on 
the 3Y0X Peter I DXpedition.   Last, ....  and perhaps most importantly .... the 
banquet ends with the prize table where  everyone wins something.   This 
year, our prize table chairperson has  done an outstanding job so you will not 
want to miss your opportunity to score  big !    Last year I missed winning half 
off on a new SDR system  by one ticket number !
 
Detailed information about the conference can be found on the CSVHF Society  
web site at _http://www.csvhfs.org/CSVHFS2006.html_ 
(http://www.csvhfs.org/CSVHFS2006.html)    , or ask me.    
 
As of right now, here is a list of the planned presentations:

* Solar Cycle 24 - What can we expect for 6m Propagation - Carl  
Luetzelschwab, K9LA
* Building 24 & 47 GHz LNA's - Paul Drexler,  W2PED
* Upper Midwest Roving Experiences - Tim & Pat Sullivan, K0PG  & K9ILT
* AMSAT: Software Defined Transponders - Tom Clark, K3IO and Bob  McGwier, 
N4HY
* 10/24 GHz Beacon Project & Brief VHF+ SDR Update - Mike  King, KM0T
* EN52 Beacons, design and history - Gary Hess, K3SIW
* Recent  Experiences with WSJT - Bill Davis, K0AWU
* SETI League 1296 MHz EME Beacon -  Paul Shuck, N6TX
* High Efficient Feedhorns for Low f/D Dishes & Notes  for 13cm EME - Tommy 
Henderson, WD5AGO
* SDR Update - New Software  Architecture (Open Source) - Gerald Young, K5SDR
* 3Y0X Dxpedition & EME  - Gordon Hardman, W0RUN
* Microwave Equipment Ideas For P3E - Andy Flowers,  K0SM
* A Look Into The Auroral Zone After Ten Years of Study - Jeff Leer,  KG0VL
* Design of a 30" Dual Band Dish & Elevation System - Barry  Malowanchuk, 
VE4MA
* Technology: From Entry to Extreme Roving - Jim Froemke,  K0MHC
* 40 years of CSVHFS History - Bruce Richardson, W9FZ
* Twin Cities  Microwave Beacons - Dave Kleindl, N0KP


Here is an outline of the overall conference agenda:

Thursday, July 27
1:00 to 5:00 PM -  Registration
5:45  PM               Buses depart from the hotel to Harriet Island (St. 
Paul)
6:00  PM               Group boards the Jonathan Padelford
6:30 to 9:30 PM   Boat ride and  buffet dinner
10:00  PM            Buses  return to the hotel

Friday, July  28
7:30 AM to Noon    Registration
8:00 AM to  Noon    Antenna range, poster session, rover row, dish pound,  
preamp measurement, distributor area
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM   Family  Activity - Explore the Mall of America
1:00 PM to 5:30 PM    Technical Conference
7:00 PM to 10:00 PM  Flea market
7:00 PM to 9:30 PM    Family Activity - Scrap booking  in the Iroquois Room.
7:00 PM to  ??              Hospitality Suites Open
 
      Saturday, July 29
8:00 to 11:45 AM      Technical Conference
9:00 to 11:00 AM      Family Activity - Trolley  ride of historic St. Paul
1:00 to 3:45 PM        Technical  Conference
1:00 to 3:30 PM        Family Activity -  Fort Snelling 
6:00 to 7:00 PM        Social hour &  cash bar
7:00  PM                    Banquet starts


In closing, please give strong consideration to attending this  years 
conference.    If you did not receive a registration form  in the mail, you can down 
load the same form at the CSVHF Society web  site at  
_http://www.csvhfs.org/CSVHFS2006.html_ (http://www.csvhfs.org/CSVHFS2006.html)    and mail it in as 
instructed.   
 
I am looking forward to seeing all NLRS members there !     Again, if you 
have any questions, just ask.


73, Jon
W0ZQ
NLRS President
CSVHFS '06 Technical Conference Chairperson


Come and join us  here in Bloomington, Minnesota, home of the Mall of 
America, July 28 & 29,  2006 for the 40th annual Central States VHF Society 
Conference hosted once again  by the NLRS.