Newsletter - March 2005

Hey all you hamsters,

     This month you're getting a newsletter from N9KH because K9NOT is redoing the kitchen and is tired.  So here goes.  Bear with me, it's been a while since I did a newsletter.

 March Meeting News

 The big news from the March meeting is that member's are urged to bring recommendations for how to come up with a new 73 repeater.  As most of you know the 31 repeater continues to have problems.  The club is investigating the possibility of reprogramming the current 73 repeater to 145.310 to replace the current 31.  If this is done we need a new 73 repeater.  If you have any recommendations on whether to build or buy a new repeater  or purchase a used one bring it to the April meeting which will be April 5th at 7 PM at the clubhouse.  If you have a particular recommendation please bring documentation such as brand, price, specs, etc.  Once we decide what we want to do we will have special meeting to vote if it is over $500.  Hope to see you there.

 Ham Class in June

 The club has decided to hold Ham Radio classes in June for newcomers to get their Tech licenses.  The classes will start Saturday, June 4th and will run from 9 AM until 1 PM.  The plan is to complete the classes in 3 weeks and have them ready to see Ham Radio in action at Field Day.  A notice will be put in the Times-Mail in mid May.  We will be using the Now You're Talking book from the ARRL.  We hope to purchase enough books from the ARRL at discount for the class.  Class size is limited so if you know someone who is interested be sure to give them a heads up.  Depending on the success of this class a class for upgrade to General, including Morse Code may be offered later.

 April Fox Hunt Results

 The monthly Hoosier Hills Ham Club Fox hunt was held on March 19th.  Brandon, KB9SNP, was the fox.  There were four teams hunting the sly fox.  The hunters/teams were Mike, KF9NP; Larry, WA9FFZ; Ben, KB1AHR and Karen, K2ARI; and Keith, N9KH and Ann K9NOT.  I'm sorry, I don't remember the exact name of the road Brandon hid on (of all the things I've lost I miss my mind the most) but it was just north of the east end of the Devil's Backbone.  Larry arrived first, but as usual Mike showed up with the least miles and was the winner.  Larry and Mike to the northern route (north of the river) while Ben ands I took the scenic route (through Mitchell and Tunnelton).  The mileages varied from Mike with 23 miles and some change to my mileage of 40 miles.  Like I said, the scenic route.  It WAS a nice day.  Kudos to Mike for the win  and he will be the fox in April.  The April hunt will be  April 16th starting at 4:30 PM at the Calvary Lutheran Church (across 37 from Hubler Chevrolet). 

 73 de N9KH