[PVRCNC] NC-East April Meeting Summary

[NX9T at aol.com]

PVRCNC-East April Meeting Notes:

We had a tremendous turnout  (21) and an excellent program during our April  
gathering. It was  great to be back in our normal room and it was a good 
thing we had the  privacy as our meeting went on to around 9:30!   Thanks to all  
who made the effort to come out.  Those in attendance were: W0UCE,  Jack; 
N4CW,  Bert; W4TMO, Jim; K4CIA, Bill; NX9T, Jeff; N4TL, Tom; W4KAZ,  Keith; K4QPL, 
Jim;  W4MY, Marty; K1ZW, Larry, and XYL KA2SVC, Kathy;  NT4D, Jay; NT4Q, 
Jerry; AD4L, Pete; WW4M, Jim; K0BHC, Brad; K4CZ, Barry;  K2AV; AE4MN, Paul; and 
special guests KC4RI, Mike, and Marshall Kay.  

K4QPL welcomed the group and indicated that we had an full agenda for  the 
evening and would try to keep things moving the best possible.  NX9T  introduced 
AE4MN as attending his second meeting and confirmed his  desire to gain PVRC 
membership.  Paul was quickly nominated, a second was  offered, and he was 
welcomed to the fold.  Congratulations Paul...and  Welcome!

W0UCE conducted the regular “Paper Contest.”  This months  contest resulted 
in a four way tie for first, but after a "booth  review," the official win was 
awarded to NT4D who took home the 8" Torpedo  level.  
 
RARSFEST will take place on April 23rd.  Our group will have 3 tables  for 
members to use for selling their wares and using as home base.  An  informal 
gathering is scheduled for 11am. Please stop by if you can!

Pete, AD4L, and Mike, KC4RI, presented a very interesting and  informative 
program on Software Defined Radios (SDR).  Mike came in from  Atlanta for our 
meeting.  Both gentlemen had plenty of superb information  which was presented 
via a powerpoint slide show.  Pete provided a solid  overview, some history, 
current trends, and basic operation of SDRs.  Mike  touched on some of this 
information as well but focused our attention to his  rig, a Flex Radio SDR1000.  
Mike compared some specifications of the  SDR1000 against several well-known 
and respected rigs.  It was clear that  SDRs have tremendous potential.  This 
program will be available soon  via the PVRC website.
 
The program schedule for May is: "Working the Weak Ones-Part II--An  
Introduction to Receive Antennas"

Member Reports:

N4CW: Bert was  on during the ARRL DX and Russian contest.  He received a 
nice  certificate from last years New England QSO Party as well as a bottle  of 
maple syrup.

W4TMO: Jim was on during during the ARRL and WPX.  He is also  adding to his 
antenna farm at home and is having a blast after a 35 year absence  from ham 
radio.
 
K1ZW: Larry is getting active again and working on station automation  
projects.  We were graced with the presence of his XYL, Kathy-KA2SVC.   Kathy is a 
novice operator who gets on 10m from time to time.   

K4CIA: Bill placed 2nd in the Pesky Texan Armadillo Run and received a  very 
nice (and timely) certificate.  In keeping with his promise, K4QPL  assured 
Bill that he would receive a gift certificate for winning NC at the rate  of 1 
USD per watt employed.  Good thing for Jim that this was a QRP  contest.

NX9T: Jeff operated some in the ARRL DX and WPX contests.  He is  in the 
final stages of putting up an new inverted L for 160m and then will begin  
planning on a receive antenna.  Jeff reminded the group that the US  Championships in 
ARDF are taking place this weekend in Raleigh.

W4MY: Marty happily reported that his new job may lend itself to  making our 
meetings more often than originally thought.  He's enjoying  using the telnet 
w/ N1MM and placed 2nd in the fall FIST Sprint.  Great Job  Marty!
 
K4QPL: Jim advised that he participated in the ARRL DX contest and the  Pesky 
Texan Armadillo  Run.  He also reported that, due to his  multiple callsign 
operation during SS SSB, he may have been 1 AND 2 place in  NC. (We need more 
NC participation in SS SSB if this is the case!)
 
K4CZ: Barry has been pretty active these days.  He made a personal  best, 470 
Q's, in the WPX SSB.  Barry also received his WAS certificate the  other day 
and is planning to apply for DXCC soon.  Tower work remains in  the planning 
stages.
 
N4TL: Tom got on during the WPX to the tune of around 100 Q's.  Big  news is 
that he received a certificate and pin from the ARRL for 40 years of  
membership!  Way to go Tom.

W4KAZ: Keith operated some during the ARRL DX and WPX.   He reported how he 
provided a "mercy contact" to NX9T who was on 15m  calling CQ with little 
response (must have been after I got relocated from my  earlier run frequency).  
The faux Sri Lanka DXpedition, of which  Keith is a mover and shaker, has it's 
own homepage. 

W0UCE:  Jack continues to rebuild his station after the significant 
lightening damage  incident. He is very thankful for full replacement value  insurance!

NT4D:Jay operated in the ARRL DX SSB.  His current  project involves 
switching his rig/computer interfacing over to all USB  connections.

NT4Q: Jerry proudly described how he finally has 12 ft. of  tower planted in 
concrete and plans are to grow it much taller over the next  several weeks. He 
also operated in the ARRL DX contest with NT4D and  W4KAZ.
 
K2AV: Guy performed an autopsy on a burned up Carolina Windom.  He  showed 
the "secret" components inside those magic boxes that make the windom  work on 
multiple bands. Very interesting to say the least.  Contact Guy for  autopsy 
results.
 
K0BHC: Brad has returned following a one year tour serving our country in  
the middle east (YA). Welcome back!  Brad is putting his shack back  together 
and is planning to add to his tower and take it up to around 90  feet.
 
WW4M: Jim described how the NC State Univ. radio club (W4ATC) was  recently 
donated a FT990 and Alpha amplifier.  This has made a tremendous  difference in 
their station make up and seems to be igniting interest by club  members.
 
AE4MN: Paul, who was attending his 2nd meeting was welcomed in to  
membership.  He indicated that he recently purchased a new IC756PRO III and  has a roof 
mounted tower supporting a Force 12 C4.  
 
AD4L: Pete, who provided us an excellent program, reported that he was on  
for the ARRL DX contest.  He is working on a software project to address  QRM 
from adjacent SSB stations.  Good luck Pete!  Keep us posted on  your progress.

Thanks again to all who made this one of our best attended meetings in  
PVRCNC-EAST history!  We look forward to seeing you all and many others  next month 
in May.   Don’t miss  out...mark your calendars now  for May 4 and come join 
us and learn more about "How to Work the Weak  Ones-Part II."

73,
Jeff NX9T