E S S - Z E D W2SZ Amateur Radio Club Newsletter Volume 10-1993 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute October 27th, 1993 6 Sunset Terrace, Troy, NY, 12180 _________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Formal Meeting The next formal meeting will be at the shack on Nov. 6th at 1:00 pm. We do not expect this meeting to be very long. We will cover the club business, then break off into our regularly scheduled work party activities. Please try and attend, even if you cannot stay for the work party. Bring your ideas, questions, and concerns so we can hear what you think. President's Corner Lance Lascari WS2B Congrats in Order! Before I get down to business, I would like to congratulate John Barenys (VP), Jeff Markussen (Sec.), and Jeff Shykula on passing their No-code License exams at the last test session.... way to go eh! So, how many of you are going back to pass the code test next month ? I guess I should start off here by recognizing some of the progress that has been made since the last newsletter came out, and some of those who made it possible. I'm pretty sure you all know which direction were heading in, however this should help to answer the question "Are we there yet?". First I'll start off with what some of the officers are doing "behind the scenes". John (VP) should be proud of the excellent newsletter produced last month! As if you couldn't guess, that is a lot of work. In addition, John has been working on providing us a little more publicity, see the Poly for more details. Maybe we should rename him "Hancock" for all of the time and ink he's put into the constitution. Jeff (Sec.) has been doing an excellent job of keeping many of the details straight such as key distribution, retrieving mail and packages, Executive committee meeting minutes and agendas, and much much more. Jeff and John together have done some preliminary work towards restocking our tool chest and supply cabinets. Brett has also done a great deal of work with the constitution, organizing antenna projects, and working on the building planning committee. In addition to the above and performing his regular duties as treasurer, Brett has been doing a bunch of recruiting on the side as he informs everyone of the weekly shack events. Mat has been working on refining the "loaner" policies, as well as trying to maintain/setup as much of our equipment as is possible. The officers are a dedicated group as you can see, without whom the club would not function. My experiences have been all positive, with rewards that have justified any amount of work required. Over the next couple of months you should probably consider whether or not you would like to run for office in the next election (February). See the constitution for the officer descriptions. If you are interested in any of the officer-related projects or duties (my summary is far from complete), you should ask the appropriate officer if you can help. This will give you a chance to see what it might be like to be an officer. For the sake of the club, making the transition from one year to the next as smooth as possible is key, this would certainly help. Other Progress We have had a great deal of success with antenna projects due to the good attendance at work parties. I'm astonished at the number of comfortable climbers we have this year! { Myself WS2B, Jeff S., Pete KB2INO, Gary KB6UDY, Brett N1LAG, John KB2HEL, etc} Captain Petey and many others have been working a great deal on our 450 MHz repeater antenna. It's looking pretty slick, I can't wait until we can replace the 1/4 wave on the 120' tower with a real antenna! Many more antenna projects are under way, see Brett for the details. We will have a brief synopsis of "project progress" at our next formal meeting on Nov. 6th. We should also get to work on some of the other "inside" projects that I mentioned last month as the snow begins to fly. I believe that is all for now. Classes, work, and club activities have been keeping us all busy. I suggest you stop by and get the full "Shhhhhaaaaaaaccccccckkkkk" experience, since a newsletter can only touch upon all that is going on. As usual, give me a call if you want to discuss ANYTHING. I'll warn you, I'm poorly educated on modern origami technique, so I won't be able to help there. See you at the Shack! -Lance Lascari WS2B, Prez lascal@rpi.edu 276-4565 Voicemailbox# 4565 VP's Portion John Barenys Hello once again. As you can see the newsletter is actually something that is back in print. And will continue to be as long as there are people willing to contribute articles to it. So, please send them to me via e-mail. As I have said earlier, we will print almost anything (as long as it has something to do with ham radio or the club). On to better and bigger things.... the club constitution. For the past year (yes, I know that it took a while) I have been working with some other members of the club on updating our old constitution so that it meets the current demands of the Union. The new constitution also more clearly defines some of the club policies, and the way that we would like to see business conducted in. It is finally ready for the "general public" to look over. There will be a few copies available at the shack, and a text copy can be found in my public directory on UNIX (~barenj/public/zed/). I ask that the members please read it over and give me feedback on what they like, dislike, or are indifferent to. The constitution will also be presented at the next general meeting (see first page), and will then be submitted to the Union. Another topic of interest in the club is the fact that we are currently in need of QSL cards. This means that we have to either reprint one of the old ones, or we can design a new one and get that printed. Any one who might have interest in this project please contact me. Hope to see you all soon, and happy operating. 73's. -John Secretary's Section Jeffrey Markussen Keys If you are a member and would like a key there a few things you need to do. First show up to meetings regularly, and second participate in work parties. Those of you who already have keys (2C19, 8C12, and/or 2) please send me the key type and number to me (markuj@rpi.edu). Those of you who have keys but have not paid your dues please either return your keys to me or pay your dues. Thank you, Jeffrey Markussen. Treasury Notes Brett Mellor I'll begin this months column by giving a short summary of the clubs financial status. As I stated last month, we are budgeted about seven thousand dollars a year by the Union. This may seem like a lot at first, but operating costs take their share so we obviously don't get seven thousand dollars worth of radio equipment every year. We wish. To date, our total income is $441, due entirely to membership dues, and our total expenditures are around $60. This accounts for phone bills and small purchases such as license manuals. If you feel that the Shack is lacking a certain piece of equipment, please let me know. The shop and the radio equipment are there for you, let me know what you want and I will present your request at a general meeting where it will be voted on. For instance, if you think that the shop area is lacking in tools, or if you feel the club could use an EPROM programmer, be sure to let me know and I'll get right on it. If you have any interest in holding the office of Treasurer for W2SZ, please send me some email. It is very important for freshman and sophomores to get involved with the club and take officer positions. This is the only way a club can survive. And other Topics..... I'm extremely happy with the work that has been done on the 120' tower. I'd like to thank all the members who participated in all the work that's been going on up there. Thanks to the hard work of that crew, we didn't accidently bring a rotor down off the tower that can be repaired in place. Next on the list is Fred's Tower. The entire antenna assembly will have to come down for badly needed repairs. I'm hoping to have that project completed before it becomes to cold to start it. As far as building matters go, there is really no news to report. We have a Facilities Planning and Design employee working hard (hopefully) on our situation. He is currently trying to find a vacant location for the Field House Administration Office, so that we may have their present space. Field House Administration is now located in a modular trailer thingy connect to the side of the Field House. We are trying to commandeer it and move it to our present location. As the situation develops, you can find updates on the newsgroup rpi.union.ham-radio. And on a personal note..... I'd like to express a concern of mine. I am puzzled that only a few members are actually using club transmitters. This equipment is here for you to use, Please, feel free! You need only to be authorized by the Equipment Supervisor, Mat Maessen. There is no test or evaluation, just show him you won't break anything, that's all. I'd like to encourage each and every member to see Mat and get cleared to use the transmitters so we can get the W2SZ call back in the air! Don't wait for the club to get rolling again, HELP us get it rolling again. Equipment Supervisor's Blurb Mathieu Maessen Recently there has been some confusion regarding the equipment borrowing policy at the shack. In order to borrow a piece of equipment, you must: 1.) Clear it with me. If I am unreachable, ask one of the other club officers. I will work out the length of time and the terms of borrowing with you. HT's will have a borrowing time of one month. 2.) Sign it out on the equipment list in the shack. Make sure you put down everything you borrow, and when you plan to return it. The club currently owns three 220 HT's and one fully working 2m HT. These are available for borrowing. If you have one of these and have not seen me about it in the last couple of weeks, please contact me. As I said before, the loan period on HT's is one month. I will negotiate loan periods on other pieces of equipment with the borrower. -Mat Announcements TEST SESSION The next test session will be November 13th, here ar RPI. It is being held in room 3051 of the CII. This test is brought to you by the Troy and Albany radio clubs. Anyone interested in taking a license test, or upgrading their license class can attend. New Hams At the last VE test session, three of W2SZ's members became licensed hams. Congratulations to Jeff Shykula, Jeff Markussen, and John Barenys. Hope to see all of you upgrading soon. (Ed. note: don't you like how I write about myself in the third person???) ***** Letters to the Editor Editor and members of the W2SZ Community- First off, let me explain to you how fortunate I feel to be a part of the Radio Club. When I was considering RPI for graduate school, I thought long and hard about attending an rather technical school as compared to my undergraduate education at Reed College, a well known liberal and perhaps radical school. My concerns were along the lines of a loss of creativity, stifled by the drive of competition among the students. In my opinion, academic pursuit of knowledge suffers from the need to exceed a fellow classmate. I feel that the Radio club offers no such competition, in fact, the club offers a respite from the daily grind of classes. I would say that other clubs on this campus revolve around a complicated hierarchy which only serves to compromise the purpose of a student organization. I have experienced this "over-structure" in most of my dealings with undergraduate events. This is not so for W2SZ. The members, and in particular, the officers, are merely there to enjoy the art of amateur radio. Each member, whether he or she is an official member of the club or not, is made to feel welcome and desired, no matter how much or little technical background they might have. All members contribute to the gains of the club. The officers serve to organize our efforts, and as figureheads, but there is no rank, no initiation or pledge rights for W2SZ. I can honestly say that it is these facts that continually amaze and reconfirm my place in W2SZ. As far as I understand, this particular approach to club ethics is not the standard around the campus, and, although I wouldn't have guessed, has not been the standard for the radio club in the past. I maintain that much appreciation is due those members who are responsible for establishing this friendly, comfortable atmosphere. I would have found it difficult to continue my pursuits had this not been the case. Why is it then, that membership seems to be down? If the club is so appealing (and appealing to a broad range of students), then why don't we see people dropping by the shack on Saturdays? The answer to these questions does not lie in publicity, since our current Treasurer does a wonderful job of notifying all individuals about upcoming events. Perhaps, as is often the excuse, students feel that they have no free time left to dedicate to this club. Exploring this last idea for a minute, I think that this could be said of any club on campus. In fact, personally, if a student doesn't have enough time to recreate through clubs and organizations, then this student is dangerously overworked and could benefit the most from a Saturday off climbing around antennas. It is these students that we need to reach, need to attract. Why do I suggest this? I believe, in talking to Lance and in my own experience, that all too often, students at RPI tend to lose sight of the reason that they are pursuing their technical careers. What good is it, I ask you, for an Electrical Engineer to graduate and enter the work force if she or he has no experience working on circuits outside of an academic environment? There are no cooked-up labs in the outside world, no TA's ready to bail you out of a tough problem, or find that burnt out Op Amp for you. The Shack provides a wonderful environment in which people can experience electronics along with the personal thrill of communicating around this world (something which has admittedly lost its appeal throughout the years). I feel that the members of the club do not lack in pointing out this opportunity to prospective members to the club. I'm sure that the topic has come up in the little discussions that spur up during and after the club fair at the beginning of the year. So what is it that keeps people from stopping by? At this point, I would suggest that the shack itself doesn't lend to a desirable environment for stress-free experimentation. Before you argue with me, understand that I mean to attract new students to the club here. The shack, as I am aware, is full of personality, exemplifying the persona of a "ham shack." It has character, and it has warmth (not literally). But the recent collision has left the shack in a disarray, which on the surface, could discourage new students from attending. Perhaps we are too accustomed to say that ding in the wall just makes the place more homely. Perhaps we are content, as the owner of an old car, to accept the fact that the body is rusting out from underneath us. I ask you, then, would changing the image of the shack attract more students? I maintain here, that if we were to actually get the new building, put thought into designing the layout, and presented a slightly more technology up-beat atmosphere, that attendance would rise significantly. I'm not suggesting eliminating the shack "feel," just that we design it into a more receptive environment for experimental pursuit. Having a new building, with a new look, and having a sense of modern times with romantic overtones of world-wide communication would bring in people, if not just for a look-see. Once people see the opportunities within this new environment, they would consider the ham shack a place with class, one which serves to provide the intellectual with an electronic playground. It is time to move the dusty, gloomy atmosphere into the spotlight of student attention. Certainly, this would necessitate a new building, which has already been promised to us. But there is more here to consider. Careful consideration into the layout and overall design of the building must be a joint effort between architects and ham radio operators, in particular, club members. I do not want to discount the current shack, for I am sure it has a huge collection of fond memories attached to it. But I must emphasize the need to expand out horizons, to look to change as an overall beneficial process. Admittedly, ham radio in general has lost its appeal in recent years. Communication over great distances is much easier now, and this attractive point of amateur radio has faded from view. We can combat this change by changing our strategies. We can emphasize the convenience of an HT. We can emphasize the usefulness of hams in emergency situations. We can continue to emphasize the desire to build and gain experience without the direction and control of the academic environment. We can continue to foster feelings of equality and general friendliness to all who are interested in ham radio. And most of all, we can create a physical environment in which people feel comfortable and relaxed. I don't believe that these things are beyond our grasp. In fact, these are the qualities I have always associated with hams. So, to you I say congratulations for a wonderful organization, unlike anything I expected from RPI. And I also stress urgency, for we need to consider both the short and long term future of W2SZ. 73's Jeff Shykula Other News CONTEST CALENDAR The following calendar was posted on cq-contest by Bill Lunt (KR1R). _____________________________________________________________________ Tentative 1994 ARRL Contest Calendar JANUARY 1 Straight Key Night 8-9 ARRL RTTY Roundup 22-24 ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes 29-Feb 6 ARRL Novice Roundup FEBRUARY 14-18 School Club Roundup 19-20 ARRL International DX Contest, CW MARCH 5-6 ARRL International DX Contest, phone APRIL 18 (Mon) 144-MHz Spring Sprint 26 (Tues) 222-MHz Spring Sprint MAY 4 (Wed) 432-MHz Spring Sprint 14 (Sat) 902-MHz Spring Sprint 14 (Sat) 1296-MHz Spring Sprint 14 (Sat) 2304-MHz Spring Sprint 21-22 (Sat-Sun) 50-MHz Spring Sprint JUNE 4-6 ARRL June VHF QSO Party 25-26 Field Day JULY 9-10 IARU HF World Championship AUGUST 6-7 ARRL UHF Contest 20-21 ARRL 10-GHz Cumulative Contest SEPTEMBER 10-12 ARRL September VHF QSO Party 17-18 ARRL 10-GHz Cumulative Contest NOVEMBER 5-7 ARRL November Sweepstakes, CW 19-21 ARRL November Sweepstakes, phone DECEMBER 2-4 ARRL 160-Meter Contest 10-11 ARRL 10-Meter Contest _______________________________________________________________ Club Officers PRESIDENT Lance Lascari (WS2B) 3003 Hunt I x4565 VICE-PRESIDENT (editor) John Barenys 1001 Hunt I x4555 SECRETARY Jeff Markussen 3006 Hunt II x4579 TREASURER Brett Mellor (N1LAG) 1003 Church VI x4755 EQUIPMENT MANAGER Mathieu Maessen (N2NJZ) 3002 Church VI x4762 _________________________________________________________________ To contact W2SZ please send mail to: W2SZ Amateur Radio Club BOX 38, Rensselaer Union Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY, 12180-3590 or call: (518)276-6578