President’s Corner - Jerry Aceto K6LIEnm5hd.com/newsletters/HDARC_December_15_Newsletter.pdfHIGH DESERT AMATEUR RADIO CLUB , NM5HD December 2015 Editor, Jerry Aceto K6LIE HOLIDAY

HIGH DESERT AMATEUR RADIO CLUB , NM5HD December 2015 Editor, Jerry Aceto K6LIE HOLIDAY PARTY DECEMBER 12, 6:00 PM Email: [email protected]

Amateur Radio “only fail -safe system”

of communication K4ZDH

President’s Corner - Jerry Aceto K6LIE Greetings! I am looking forward to seeing many of you at our Holiday Dinner on the 12th. We have about 30 folks coming and I am sure we will all have a great time, as we always do. I want to wish all of you a very happy and healthy holiday season filled with family, friends and good cheer. May the new year bring you good health, and good DX! 73, Jerry K6LIE

HDARC on the Web: http://www.nm5hd.com HDARC NEWS

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The next High Desert Amateur Radio Club VE session will be held on Saturday, December 19 at noon, at the West Albuquerque Police station. Please bring the following: ♦ Photo ID (drivers license) ♦ Original Amateur Radio License ♦ Copy of Amateur Radio License ♦ Original CSCE's ♦ Copy of CSCE ♦ Test fee is $15.00 . ♦ Proof of Tech Plus if before 3/21/87

and doing paper upgrade to General.

♦ SS Number will be needed if you don’t have an FRN number.

* NOTE-NO WALK INS. PLEASE SCHEDULE. YOUR TEST WITH RICK.

Next VE Session

Happy Birthday We want to extend warm HAPPY BIRTHDAY wishes to our club members celebrating their birthday in the month of December:

HDARC NEWS IS PUBLISHED MONTHLY, JERRY ACETO, K6LIE , EDITOR 771-1323. NON COPYRIGHT MATERIAL CONTAINED HEREIN MAY BE REPRINTED WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION WI TH CREDIT GIVEN TO THIS PUBLICATION * PRESIDENT – JERRY ACETO, K6LIE, 771-1323 * VICE PRESIDENT – TERRY ZIPES, W4RCN, 771-7012* SECRETARY – JIM KAJDER, AF5FH, 298-9353 * TREASURER – JOHN SCOTT, KF5ROL, 839-7035 * CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD – FRED LETE, KC5IPK, 892-0380 * BOARD MEMBERS – TOM BOLDWAY, KE7PBB, 404-8215* DAVE JOHNSON, N0LVA, 296-2034 * BILL FIRTH, KE5TOB, 899-0950 RICK ROOD, KF5JAJ, 269-2416* LICENSE EXAMS – RICK ROOD, KF5JAJ, 269-2416 * FRED LETE, KC5IPK, 892-0380 * NM5HD REPEATER TRUSTEE – ADRIAN MIURA, W5ASM, 899-6916 * WEB MASTER - BILL FIRTH, KE5TOB, 899-0950. HDARC IS A 501C3 NONPROFIT.

December HDARC Birthday Greetings!

NO MEETING OR PROGRAM IN DECEMBER

We do not hold a regular membership meet-ing in December. Instead, we will have our club Holiday Dinner on December 12. Hope to see many of you at the dinner!

Fred Lete KC5IPK Bud Pelletier N6OCV Marie Swigert KE5JIV Curt Bramble N6FNK Rick Rood KF5JAJ Bill Kent N5UJC Kristin Gonzales KG5HSD Matthew Warren KF5CLS



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CLUB REPEATERS 145.370 Mhz PL 162.2 Hz IRLP Node 7706 224.480 Mhz PL 100.0 Hz IRLP Node 3285

In addition to IRLP, EchoLink is available on

145.370 Node 980760

Our club repeater systems, including our IRLP & ECHOLINK systems are open to our members as well as the entire Amateur Radio community.

For the month of November, we tested 9 people: 5 earned Technician, 1 earned General, 2 earned Extra, 1 did not. Congratulations to all who passed and thank you James and Patrick for you help. Rick Rood KF5JAJ FTL-OIFH HDARC VE Liaison

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS!

We would like to extend a GREAT BIG HDARC WELCOME to our newest mem-bers:

David Chacon, N5DGC

Clyde Marlin KG5GXH Jessie Gilbert N5YYF

We hope you will have fun learning and experiencing all that our great hobby of Amateur Radio has to offer.

VE Test Report for November

FIELD DAY REPORT Field Day this year was a disaster for us. We started operating at noon Saturday and by 6 pm, we were finished. Heavy rain, lightning and very high winds ended the weekend contest after about 6 hours of op-erating. We did manage to make 174 QSOs for a total of 1,546 points. We were lucky that we were able to have a nice BBQ. Then, all hell broke loose with the weather. On to next year!



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TWO MORE AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS BECOME SILENT KEYS

It is with great sadness that I must report the passing of Don Fenstermacher, K5OWL and Don Witschger, KC5VLV. Don Fenstermacher was a member of our club. He joined in December, 2012. I remember talking to Don several times on local repeaters. His call, K5OWL was a very distinctive call. Don passed away on November 4th at the very young age of 56. Our thoughts go out to Don’s family. Don Witschger was a well know voice on our ham bands. I worked Don many times on my 220 repeater as well as several other repeaters and on HF. Below is a note I received from Scott Witschger: It is with great sorrow that I inform you that Donald Witschger, KC5VLV, passed away Tuesday morning November 24th. We found him sitting in his lounge chair looking like he simply fell asleep. He has been in progressively failing health the last few months but he was mobile to the end and had been out doing errands the day before. Last week we took him to Chandler Arizona to see his Granddaughters new house and to make one last road trip. He had a great time but ap-parently that was the last item on his bucket list. He requested a party be held at the Commemorative Air Force hangar and that we distribute his ashes over the airport. We will be arranging this as soon as possible. If you would like to make a memorial donation they can be made to: Commemorative Air Force Lobo Wing PO Box 25765 Albuquerque New Mexico 87158 Sincerely, Scott Witschger [email protected] 505-235-7999



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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays From your Social Committee

Marcie Clark KG5DOO Karen Elkin

Kathey Meland WB6JAN Gloria Watts KG5IFJ

We are looking forward to seeing many of you at the club Holiday Dinner Party on December 12, 6 pm at the High Noon Saloon and Grill located in Old Town Albu-querque ~ 425 San Felipe Street SW.

There will be no 4 th Saturday Breakfast this month.

We hope that everyone has a safe and healthy Holiday Season.

SOCIAL COMMITTEE REPORT



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HDARC Annual Holiday Dinner 12 December 2015

6:00 pm Cost - $39.04 per person

(Dinner = $32.00 plus $7.04 gratuity; tax is waived; does not include alcoholic beverages) RSVP by 1 Dec 15

Please make checks payable to HDARC Contact Marcie Clark, KG5DOO, to RSVP with check or exact cash amount

In Three Courses

house salad with tomatoes, cucumbers and croutons, green chile-feta vinaigrette

Entrée Selection

the “plaza” platter

shredded chicken taquito, pork tamale, cheese enchilada and a stuffed relleno

bourbon chicken

mashed potatoes, baby carrots, natural jus

grilled salmon cilantro lime rice, red pepper lemon butter sauce and haricot vert

brown sugar-coriander cured beef tenderloin

6 ounce hand cut, wild mushroom enchiladas, demi

roasted vegetable napoleon zucchini, squash, mushroom, eggplant, mozzarella cheese stacked and served on roasted tomato sauce, bal-

samic glaze and fried spinach

Spanish style flan with toasted pine nuts

Or

brioche bread pudding with dried cranberries, white chocolate chips, cajeta sauce



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Ham Radio and Grids - What’s a Grid? by Ed Poccia , KC2LM

The use of Grid Locators being used by Hams to identify their QTH is becoming more popular espe-cially within the digital mode community. Indeed, JT65 sends so few characters the only way a station can report their location would be to use a Grid locator. Developed in 1980, Grids were initially used by VHF and UHF stations to clarify their location and thus be able to claim x number of Grids “worked” in lieu of States. The world is divided into a grid of squares that are ten degrees of latitude high by twenty degrees of longitude wide. Each square is identified by a different two-letter code. New Mexico is located in Grid DM.

Each of these squares is further divided into 10 on each axis, giving 100 sub-squares, each of which is one degree of latitude high by two degrees of longitude wide.

The greater Albuquerque area is listed as DM65.

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For higher precision, each grid square is divided into 24 blocks on each axis, giving 576 sub-squares, 2.5 minutes of latitude high by 5 minutes of longitude wide. These sub-squares are identified as letters written in lower case.

A Ham whose QTH is in the Taylor Ranch area of Albuquerque would be DM65pb.

Operators running the mode PSK-31, use Grids and a recent RTTY contest required an exchange that included the station’s Grid location.

I use the ARRL Grid Locator Map to check off the stations I have worked in the USA using their 4 char-acter Grid Square, well, rectangle actually.

(Sources: EI8IC web site "Introduction to the IARU Maidenhead Grid System" and the ARRL)

Continued from page 7



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All members are welcome to use this service. If you have any books related to Amateur Radio specifically or communications in general, please consider making a book donation to our club library. You are welcome to bring any books you wish to donate to our club meetings or any other club event. Here is a list of books we have so far:

HDARC LIBRARY

ARRL Handbook - 2011 Edition ARRL Handbook - 2012 Edition (Hard Bound) ARRL Handbook - 2013 Edition ARRL Antenna Book - 22nd Edition (Hard Bound) ARRL Operating Manual - 6th, 7th and 9th Edition ARRL General Class License Manual ARRL Extra Class License Manual (2) ARRL Instructor's Manual for Technician License ARRL - APRS - Tracks, Maps and Mobiles ARRL - RFI Book 2nd edition ARRL - Your Ham Antenna Companion The Mobile DXer

The Modern Amateur's Mobile Handbook Your Guide to HF Fun ARRL Stealth Amateur Radio ARRL Low Profile Amateur Radio ARRL Hints & Kinks 15th Edition Bureau of Naval Personnel- Basic Electricity Get on the Air With HF Digital Hints and Kinks For The Radio Amateur Lew McCoy on Antennas ARRL Handbook - 1999 Edition ARRL Handbook - 2015 Edition (Just Added) The Complete DX’er Understanding Amateur Radio

CLUB BADGES We have club badges available. If you would like to order one, go to our web-site, www.nm5hd.com and click “Ongoing Activities”. Scroll down to the bottom, where you will find a link to The Signman, where you can order your badge directly on line!

THE 220 MHZ BAND NEEDS YOUR HELP!

The little used 1 1/4 meter band is wide open. It is the perfect place for rag chewing, data work, linking, etc, yet no one makes an effort to even acknowl-edge this band. I have been an advo-cate for 220 for 30 years, having a re-peater on 220 for the past 30 years. We really should make some effort to use this band, otherwise, we risk losing it. You can purchase some very nice equipment for as little as $160, and I don’t mean a handheld. The TYT TH-9000 is a 50 watt base/mobile rig in this price range. Jet Stream and Alinco also make 220 base/mobiles. Questions? Let me know. The club affiliate 224.48 re-peater is up and waiting!



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When we think back, we sometimes wonder what made us change certain things in our lives, why we did certain things, what made us go down a par-ticular path, what began the “chain re-action”. Well, for my “amateur radio chain reaction”, I will have to say it was “ your guys in the white tent ” that

The HDARC is an ARRL Affiliated Club. To maintain this status with the ARRL, we must have a minimum of 50% of our membership in the ARRL. If you are joining the ARRL for the first time, please consider joining through our club. For every new subscriber that joins through our club, we will receive a $15 commission from the ARRL. For every member renewing their ARRL membership, the club will receive a $2 commission. Copy & paste www.nm5hd.com/documents/HDARC_ARRL_Application.pdf & fill out the form, bring it to the club and we will take care of the rest. Thanks!

PLEASE HELP THE HDARC MAINTAIN OUR ARRL CLUB AFFIL IATION

CLUB ADDRESS

High Desert Amateur Radio Club of NM 3705 B -1 Ellison Rd. Box 505

Albuquerque, NM 87114

Fred Lete has informed me that he has sold his 442.750 repeater. Therefore, it is no longer a club affiliated system. We will be looking to add a 440 club re-peater in the future. If anyone can help with this project, please let me know. Of course, our 2 meter and 1 1/4 meter re-peaters are available for all to use.

Ed Poccia, KC2LM, sent me this Digital Modes’ Frequency Chart to help those of you experi-menting with the various digital modes and need to know where to oper-ate on the HF bands. Should be a great help to anyone needing this information. Thanks to Ed for providing the chart!



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EXPLORA REPORT

The next Explora Adult Night will be on Friday, Janu-ary 15, 6:30 PM to 10 PM. The evening’s theme will be Beautiful Bubbles. HDARC will have a station on the air from the museum, as usual, to demonstrate Amateur Radio to the public and also to inform folks of our club. Adult Night is a fun evening devoted to adults having one evening every two months to explore the Science Museum without the kids. Come on down. Explore the wonders of Science and visit with us!

DON’T FORGET YOUR CLUB SHIRT!

How can you show others that you are a mem-ber of the coolest, most active Amateur Radio club in the Albuquerque area? By buying a club shirt! These beautiful club shirts come in ladies and men’s styles and sizes. We proudly wear our shirts whenever we are doing an activity that involves the public. It is a great way of pro-moting the club, not to mention that they look great! Contact Turbo Threads at 505 999-1234 or on line at www.turbothreads.com .

Display courtesy of the NM Amateur Radio Alliance GREAT BANNER!

December 2015

MEMBER TRANSPORTATION –Need a ride to club meetings or other club activities? Call Jerry Aceto, K6LIE at 771-1323 or Larry Elkin, NY5L, at 771-0391. We will arrange transporta-tion for you from your home to club activities. MENTORING SERVICES –If you are a new ham, or are interested in becoming a ham, or just have a question, we offer various services to help you along. Check out our website at www.nm5hd.com and click on the “Mentors, Education, VE testing” link. Here, you will find whom to contact for help with all your questions on various subjects. LICENSE CLASSES AND TESTING –If you are interested in becoming an Amateur Radio op-erator, or want to upgrade your license, contact Rick Rood, KF5JAJ, at 269-2416 or Fred Lete, KC5IPK at 892-0380. We provide VE testing every 3rd Saturday of the month at 10 AM or af-ter the Saturday morning meetings in the winter months. CLUB LIBRARY - This new club service al-lows our members to check out books relating to Amateur Radio and Communications. Anyone is welcome to donate books to our club library.

CLUB MEMBERSHIP SERVICES

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Luke’s Ham Shack 5101 Gibson SE

Albuquerque, NM 505 255-0759

http://lukeshamshack.com/ Coax, connectors, parts, antennas. Luke La Brake, NM5DL, has opened a Ham Radio store here in Albu-querque! Please support him in his efforts. He will be adding more stock as time goes on.

We now have PayPal on our website. You can pay your dues as well as make donations to the club if you wish. Got to www.nm5hd.com and click on Membership Application. Now, re-newing, making your initial dues payment or making a donation is easier than ever. Thanks to our Webmaster, Bill Firth, KE5TOB, for making this feature possible.

Documents

President’s Corner - Jerry Aceto K6LIEnm5hd.com/newsletters/HDARC_December_15_Newsletter.pdfHIGH DESERT AMATEUR RADIO CLUB , NM5HD December 2015 Editor, Jerry Aceto K6LIE HOLIDAY