[NLRS] CENTRAL STATES VHF CONFERENCE 2014 --- T-MINUS 7... (ACT NOW!)

Wed Jun 25 13:18:23 EDT 2014

A forward from the CSVHFS President.

73, Jon
W0ZQ

You've all heard the familiar "tee minus 10... 9... 8..." countdown that
proceeds every successful rocket launch.  As your Central States VHF
Conference 2014 Flight Director, I'm here to ask: *are you GO FOR HOTEL?*

*We are now at T MINUS SEVEN DAYS to hotel cutoff*.  What happens at hotel
cutoff? Well, the hotel is empowered to increase flight fuel charges (your
hotel rate) and they may even deny you a room if they are full.  You
wouldn't willingly give up your seat on the Space Shuttle, would you?  We
have already increased the hotel block size once so don't be late!  Hotel
cutoff is July 2nd at 5PM central time.

You know the guy at the conference where you innocently ask "how was your
trip?" and you get the long horrifying itinerary followed by "and I'm
staying at the LOCAL FLEA BAG because the conference hotel was full!"  You
do not want to be that guy! To get your hotel reservations now, click here:

*http://csvhfs.org/2014conference/lodging.html
<http://csvhfs.org/2014conference/lodging.html>*

If you have not registered for the conference yet, here's the link to do
that as well -- we've reserved you some Texas BBQ and a copy of the
proceedings, but you have to click here to get them:

*http://www.csvhfs.org/2014conference/2014Registration.html
<http://www.csvhfs.org/2014conference/2014Registration.html>*

 In all seriousness folks, the heart of Central States VHF Conference is
YOU.  We would very much like to have you at the conference this year and
so would all of your VHF friends.  Please join us!

Here's all the details about the conference repeated for convenience:

Registrations for CSVHFS 2014 (July 24-27) are proceeding nicely and I want
to point out a few deadlines to everyone so no one is caught off-guard.
 First, the boat trip on Thursday night is very popular and we're a little
concerned it will sell out.  If this is something you want to do, *please
register soon so you do not miss out on the trip*.

Second, if you are bringing a spouse it would help us to know a rough count
on the trips on Friday and Saturday so we can arrange the right size
busses.  While we have not formally listed a cut-off for these, we really
need to make a decision on the bus size in the next couple of weeks so it
would be a big help to know a rough count for these activities.  If you're
brining a spouse, registering soon would help us out!

*Finally, the hotel discount cutoff is JULY 2 at 5PM*. In order to get the
hotel rate, you must have made your hotel registrations by this date.  As
you know from previous years, the hotel releases our block to the general
public at that time and often folks end up forced to other hotels if there
is anything significant going on in town that would cause the hotels to
book up.

We've now added a page showing who is coming to Austin so that you will
know who you can rub elbows with while you are in town.  The list can be
found here:

*http://www.csvhfs.org/2014conference/regfiles/CSVHFS%20Registered%20List.htm
<http://www.csvhfs.org/2014conference/regfiles/CSVHFS%20Registered%20List.htm>*

We'll update this about once a week so don't panic if you register and
don't immediately see your name on the list.

In case you, didn't see our original message on all that the Austin
conference has to offer, here's a recap:

This year's conference theme is QRO, or making high power on the VHF and up
bands.  We have an impressive list of speakers supporting this topic and
many other topics including oscillator design, antenna construction and
station design and construction.

We've poked, prodded and twisted arms to get *THREE* unique speakers this
year:
- *Gerald Youngblood, K5SDR*, from FlexRadio Systems presents an analysis
of system noise and it's effect on station performance at the Friday
luncheon
- *Jim Klitzing, W6PQL*, from Klitzing Electronics will discuss component
selection for projects at the Saturday luncheon
- Our banquet speaker is *Jimmy Treybig, W6JKV*.  Jimmy has done over
SEVENTY six and two-meter DXpeditions to *over 50 countries*.  Jimmy will
be sharing his perspectives on family and DXpeditions.

The conference will feature noise figure and gain measurement, sun noise
measurement, prizes, a rover and dish bowl, a swap fest and an excellent
lineup of vendors.

The family program starts off on Thursday evening with a chartered boat
tour including a meet-and-greet with a catered Texas BBQ dinner and an
opportunity to watch one of the largest colonies of Mexican Free-Tailed
bats emerge for their evening dinner run.  Not to be missed!

On Friday, the ladies program ventures out to Fredericksburg for shopping,
wine tasting and to soak up the culture and then on Saturday on to the
Natural Bridge Caverns for a tour of the underground caves and on to the
San Marcos Premium Outlets for more shopping.

The RMG team has worked hard to make sure you and your family will have a
blast in Austin this year.  But we know that even with all the fun and
education we've lined up, *the big draw is you*:  your fellow VHFers will
be traveling to Austin to get an opportunity to talk with you about your
exciting projects and plans.  Please join us for the fun!  To find out all
the details on everything I've mentioned, visit the link below:

*http://www.csvhfs.org/2014conference
<http://www.csvhfs.org/2014conference>*

Then, register today for the conference:

*http://www.csvhfs.org/2014conference/2014Registration.html
<http://www.csvhfs.org/2014conference/2014Registration.html>*

It's important to register early so we can have adequate transportation for
the family events.  Also, be sure to make your hotel reservations (details
on website) for the conference.

If you have any questions, please feel free to drop us an email and we'll
get right back to you (austin2014 at n5ac.com).

73's and see you in Austin!
Steve
  Hicks
 , N5AC
2014 CSVHFS President