March Meeting

The folks from the National Weather Service will be coming in this month for a weather spotting presentation. The weather spotting class will be beefed up a bit to interest those who have been through the class before. There will be some tornado pictures from last fall. It should be an interesting presentation so be sure make it if you can. For those of us who missed the last meeting, the business portion of the March 18, 2008 meeting has been moved to 7:00 PM to accommodate the presentation, which will start at 7:30 pm. The business meeting should be short anyway.

SAARC VEC

Here is the schedule of our test sessions for 2008. Please contact KG8JK, our test liaison, at least one week prior to the test date if you are planning on attending. We have several new VE's around so if you are one of them and would like to participate in the test session, give me a call. We would love to have you. Please call 231-348-5043 or email kg8jk@qsl.net. To save wear and tear on our small group of ve's, we will cancel a test session if no one signs up. We are also looking for someone to take over as the VE Liaison officer as I will be starting graduate school in the fall, which will require me to be gone most Saturdays. It is not a difficult or time consuming job and is a rewarding way to give back to the hobby

June 7th
October 4th
December 6th

These dates are subject to change so be sure to check "The Static" for updates

Remember to bring a photo ID, a copy of your license and, if applicable, a copy of your "Certificate of Successful Completion of Element" you received at your last session. You will also need $14, a pen and pencil, and a calculator if you think you'll need it.

SAARC Area Nets

MONDAY
08:00 pm EST - The Bill DeMay Memorial Two Meter Social Net
146.680- MHZ pl 110.9

TUESDAY
08:30 pm EST - TopOf Michgan Social Net
146.820 MHZ w/Pl 118.8

WEDNESDAY
08:00 pm EST - The Chain O' Lakes Net
147.280 MHZ w/Pl 103.5

THURSDAY
01:00 Z - Northern Michigan Amateur Radio Emergency Services Net
Primary net frequency 146.520 MHZ Secondary frequency 146.550 MHZ
Net Control - Jim Davis - KC8NTE 

SATURDAY
08:30 pm EST The Dip Net
146.680- MHZ pl 110.9 - Net Control - Cliff Rosebohm KC8NVI

DAILY
06:30 pm EST The Nothern Lower and Eastern Upper Pennisula Traffic Net
146.64- MHZ - Net Control - Marv DeWitt KC8MLD

22:00 UTC - The Michigan Upper Peninsula Net
3.921 MHZ - Pre-net at 21:30 UTC
Additional net on Sundays at 1700 UTC

Bill DeMay Memorial Net Controllers

Here are your net controllers for the Monday night net. Cliff KC8NVI and DeWayne KC8LJX will be taking the first and third Mondays of the month. On the other days we will have a "Wild Card" net controller. One of the people standing by will step in and run the net for the evening. It is not difficult (all you need is a pad of paper and a pen), it is great practice for controlling radio traffic during an emergency, and it is lots of fun. If you are interested in signing up ahead of time for a particular Monday night, just let me know and I can add you in whenever you would like to give it a try.

 

2008 Michigan QSO Party

Attention Michigan Amateurs!!!!

It's that time of year again! It's time to gear it up and get ready for the 2008 Michigan QSO Party.

The MiQP has something to offer for everyone and there is no shortage of reasons for joining in on the fun on April 19th, 2008.

Last year was a good year for the MiQP. Activity was up and we hope to do even better this year.

We hope to see an increase in activity within the traditional amateur radio clubs in Michigan. I think that most clubs are looking for special activities and the MiQP has some features that should be considered in filling this need.

This type of event is what it's all about. It is a group activity that can be a source enjoyment before, during and after the event! This year we will have the traditional categories such as Single-Operator, Multi-Operator and Mobile. But in addition to these, we are adding a new "Emergencies Operation Center" EOC category. This will provide an opportunity to brush up your clubs emergency operation skills and provide great training (and fun). This would also be a great opportunity to expose some of your newer members to emergency communications operations, but in a less formal environment.

As you can see from the rules listed below, this is only a 12 hour event. Please consider getting on the air for the whole thing, or any portion of the 12 hour period. You can operate from home, portable, mobile or at the clubs EOC. With the support of mobile and portable stations, we plan on having activity in all 83 counties.

Last but not least, we ask those of you that have participated in the MIQP to please help us get the word out and encourage other Michigan hams and radio clubs to participate and join the fun. See http://www.miqp.org for more details and the rules:

Date /Time: Michigan QSO Party, sponsored by the Mad River Radio Club, from 1600Z April 19th t until 0400Z April 20th. Stations may operate the full 12 hours. (12 noon to 12 midnight local Michigan time on April 20th )

Modes and Categories: Phone and CW on 80/40/20/15/10 meters. Single-op, multi-op, mobile and Emergencies Operations Center (EOC) categories. Single-op entries are categorized by output power, QRP (5W or less), Low Power (100W or less), and High Power (greater than 100W)

Multipliers: Work stations once per band and mode. Work other states and Michigan Stations. MI to MI QSO's are allowed. Work portables and mobiles again as they change counties, state or province.

Exchange: Exchange QSO number and location (county for MI stations, state/province or "DX" for others).

Scoring: One point per phone QSO, two points per CW QSO. Count multipliers once per mode. Multipliers are MI counties for all entries, plus states & provinces for MI entries only. Final score is total QSO points times total multipliers.

Freqs: Suggested frequencies: CW-3545, 7045, 14045, 21045, 28045; Phone-3800, 7200, 14250, 21300, 28450.

Log Submittal: Mail logs no later than 30 days after the contest to: Mad River Radio Club, c/o Dave Pruett, 2727 Harris Road, Ypsilanti, MI 48198 or via e-mail to logs@miqp.org

More Information: For complete rules, along with free logging software, log and summary sheets, see http://www.miqp.org

73 es cu April 19th 2008

Mark NU8Z

Straits Area Amateur Radio Club
Petoskey High School
Room 106
Petoskey, MI. 49770
Minutes for February 26, 2008

§ Meeting called to order at 7:30 pm. Introduction of 14 members and a guest. Tom KD8HOF…Welcome Tom.

§ Motion to accept last months minutes with no revisions. Motion made by Chuck (N8NXP), Seconded by Bill (KD8CNS). Motion passed.

§ Treasurers report by Dewayne (KC8LJX) for Maxine (KC8WXN). Motion to approve by Tom (WA8AA. Second by Bob (KD8CYQ). Motion approved. Savings: $79.33, Checking: $752.98, Total = $832.71

§ Old Business:

§ A special thanks to the CCESCPO group for delivering hand bills and vouchers to the Traverse City swap.

§ Cliff (KC8NVI) reminded everyone that the Chain O' Lakes repeater 147.280, PL 103.5 Wednesday night Net at 8 pm is active again.

§ Ham of the year plaque is not ready due to a large number of trophy requests.

§ New Business:

§ Motion to start the March meeting at 7 pm due to the length of the weather spotting program. Motion presented by Chuck (N8NXP). Seconded by Chuck (N8DNX). Motion carried.

§ Jerry (KC8FAR) discussed a program on SSTV for the April meeting.

§ A discussion for our upcoming swap. More 50/50 raffles, perhaps every ½ hour. More discussion at next meeting…time permitting.

§ General discussion of the D-Star capabilities and acquisition of new equipment presented by Chuck (N8NXP) and Chuck (N8DNX).

§ Motion to close the business portion of the meeting at 7:55 made by Bill (KD8CNS). Seconded by Jerry (KC8FAR). Motion carried.

§ The 50/50 drawing was won by Bill (KD8CNS). Of the $11 prize, Bill donated $5 back to the club. Thanks Bill.

§ Break time was enjoyed with cookies brought by Tom (WA8AA) and Culvers custard brought by Jack (KC8VXI). Many thanks for the refreshments.

§ The program was started at 8:10 pm. A PowerPoint presentation showing the history of the icebreaker Mackinac (WAGB83) was enjoyed by all. Chuck (N8NXP) and Chuck (N8DNX) did an outstanding job.

A special thanks to Cliff (KC8NVI) for recording these minutes during my absence.

Submitted March 1, 2008 at 10:30 pm.

Secretary Jack Staats (KB8RJ)

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FOR SAARC Dues: Regular - $10.00 Student - $5.00 Family - $15.00 Associate - $4.00 Help support this great organization and repeater system. Thank You.   Name - Call Sign   Address   City/State/Zip   Phone Email Send to: Maxine Holmes KC8WXN 4047 Quarter Mile Rd. Harbor Springs, MI 49740 Make Checks Payable To: STRAITS AREA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB Regular______ Family_______ Student_____Associate______TOTAL______

www.qsl.net/k4adl 

  The SAARC Officers

73 KG8JK