Presidents Message for January
Welcome to 2012! Let me wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year on behalf of the Executive Committee of BARA. I think this is going to be a banner year for the club!
Upcoming BARA Meeting Programs for January and Beyond
We have two great programs lined up for this months meeting. At the December awards dinner we saw a quick year in review by Chuck Lemkin that was wonderful. While it only runs 4 minutes long it is a great way to start the year, so for those that missed the dinner, we will get to see Chuck’s efforts. If you were at the dinner, it’s short enough that a quick re-run will let you enjoy his production skills again.
The longer program will be a discussion of SDR’s, Software Defined Radios, by Gordon Beattie, W2TTT, NCS of our Thursday Technical Net, with several examples available to actually see. Gordon will talk about this fascinating new solution to radio programming and talk about the computer as an engine.
In February we will have Bill Hudzik, our ARRL Hudson Division Vice Director, who will bring us up to date on the January Board meeting doings.
March will feature our annual BARA auction with auctioneer extraordinary Pete, W2HP. Humor and hardware are the order of the day as Pete sells everyone’s equipment with lots of funny lines inbetween.
April will be Show and Tell time. Bring your inventions and let everyone see that hams still build and enjoy that facet of the hobby!
Congratulations
Due
Seems the BARA Babes YL net has been on the air for 2 ½ years. Congratulations ladies, you’ve made another BARA idea work and work well. Net Control Joanne, KC2QGH, and her assistants bring in anywhere from 6 to 15 YLs each Monday night at 8 PM prior to the BARA 10 meter net. I know a lot of OMs are listening in to hear what the ladies are doing and all appreciate the dedication and effort that the ladies put in.
Congratulations are also due to this year’s Bill James Award winner, none other than BARA Bulletin editor Phil Barber, WA2LXE. Bill was not able to attend the December Awards dinner so it will be my pleasure to present the plaque to Phil at this Sunday’s meeting.
This award is given by the BARA Executive Committee to recognize the club member who puts in a lot of overtime on the club’s behalf and nobody can argue with the decision as Phil puts in countless hours putting this Bulletin together as well as assisting with getting club member’s scores to those who organize contests.
January VHF Contest To Be Operated from Home
January time is a very nasty time to be up on Nike Hill where we operate in the VHF contests in June and September. So the BARA Board is asking every member to operate the contest from home on January 14/15, 2012 and send your logs in to Phil, WA2LXE, who will compile them and send them on as a BARA club entry to ARRL HQ.
Rules are on the ARRL website www.arrl.org and in QST. You don’t have to be a League member to operate, just get on the air and make a bunch of QSOs and submit them. Not much to do and it WILL help the club!
This is just the type of contest that newcomers to our hobby enjoy. It is slow enough for you to use a computer logging program or a paper log and still enjoy the feel of a contest without the rush of a DXContest or Field Day. It comes highly recommended for newcomers and old timers alike. Then, come June and September you are ready to go up on the mountain with our crew and see how a first class multiband-multioperator group does it.
Dues Are Due
Just a reminder to bring your checkbook to the meeting Sunday as yearly dues are due now.
Dues are $20 a year for regular members and $30 for families. Various other categories exist and if you go to the BARA website you will find them all listed.
Bob, WB2AIU, will be happy to take your money or check at the meeting Sunday. Please don’t forget. The club dues are very important to our continued success!
A Visit To N2RLI at ACE Hardware
As I continue to explore new parts of the hobby (for me) the current area of interest is building portable antennas out of various types of PVC. Using articles out of QST and found online, I’ve managed to put together a number of antennas that I will bring to Show and Tell night. The key item is that they must be inexpensive and easy to build, given my lack of mechanical ability.
I recently looked for some odd hardware at Home Depot and
came up empty handed and was resigned to ordering online when I happened to
pass an ACE Hardware store on
Going in was and adventure in hard-to-find-hardware. Lots of little pieces and one of a kind nuts, bolts and all kinds of things that I thought I’d never find. After wandering around for a half hour marveling at the stock they kept I was approached by an individual who asked if I needed help finding something specific.
I told him I needed several odd-sized nuts and bolts to go with an Amateur Radio portable antenna system I was building. I usually get a blank stare when I say something like that but this gentleman asked “for what band”?. This time I was the surprised one and described the system that would mount on a railing on a ship or hotel room.
Rather than ask what kind of antenna, he smiled and led me
to a huge array of hardware and went right to a bin that had everything I
needed in it. Prices were inexpensive
and quantities were plentiful. I asked
if he was a ham and he smiled and introduced himself as Bob Wilson, N2RLI, of
Turns out Bob is a former BARA member who got involved in the store and wound up working very long hours making regular visits to BARA rather difficult, but Bob did say he would be glad to help hams with their hardware needs and, having a license himself, he was aware of the odd needs hams have. He also mentioned that he and Tony, K2AMI, were good friends.
Ive been back several times with small parts requests and Bob is never to busy to spend a minute or two with me chatting about ham radio and his enjoyment of it, as well as helping me find the correct hardware. If you have the need and the time, drop by, get to know Bob and enjoy the huge hardware supplies that will make any ham or do-it-yourselfer’s mouth water. You’ll be glad you did.
Getting late here. Im back from the EC meeting tonite and the candle is burning down to the end of the wick, so I will wish each BARA member all the best for the New Year and hope that you know our EC is doing it’s best to make this the club you are proud to belong to!
Hope to see you Sunday!
-73- Steve Mendelsohn, W2ML
President,