QCWA Peach State Chapter 49 April/May 2008 Newsletter MEETING NOTICE: SATURDAY June 21, 2008 High Noon Good day all ye mates.. As we get into the wonderful summer hear and storm season, we will start it off with a bang! Mac, WB4MAK will be giving us a presentation of Software Defined Radios (SDR). Mac has a SDR5000 radio so he has "real firsthand experienced" with them! Mac has also graciously offered to host the August picnic meeting at his home this year. This should be a GREAT meeting with GREAT people and program. When you see Johnny Kludt, K7SYS, be sure to thank him for rounding up wonderful talent for the programs. As I compose this information, it is 95 degrees outside and I am enjoying air conditioning inside! It is getting to the temperatures outside that we need to use a little extra caution to take our time when working outside on radio stuff or other "needed" thing that need to be done outside. Ask Mike, K4HBI, about his "Moving" experience... A lot of heavy lifting... Mike, better you than me!!! Some city fathers and council folks wear square hats and have lightning bolts above them... I will be looking forward to seeing each of you at the meeting at RYANS at the regular time, 12 noon, and room. Try to keep cool and do not overextend your self outside!! 73, Jerry Lofstead W3CDE April Meeting: Fifteen Chapter 49 members and friends of Chapter 49 met at Ryan’s. In addition to the usual swapping of stories and tall tales we had a fascinating presentation by Marvin Moss on Vector Network Analysis. More on that later in this newsletter. Jerry Lofstead, W3CDE, called the business meeting to order at 12:50 PM. The treasures report from Dave, W4DTR, was read and accepted. We have a positive bank balance, which is a good thing. Jerry noted that for the next meeting we would use some of that to purchase some meaningful door prizes! Susan, AF4FO, had no report from ARRL. We celebrated Sunspot #1 of the new Cycle 24. Unfortunately as of this writing we are still waiting for Sunspot #2 of cycle #24. In time, in due time! As an Official Observer, Mike K4HBI, was asked if a contest could be classed as QRM. It turns out that if you are already on frequency and a contester jumps on top of you, that is sure enough QRM and is not acceptable amateur radio practice. We discussed the Wednesday night nets and decided to suspend them till the fall. Turnout has been very low and with summer here, we felt it would go even lower (less than one?). Watch the newsletter for resumption of this activity in the fall – and thanks to those who did turnout. We did one final round of “we missed you” cards. It was decided to no longer send these out. Thanks to Frankie for the effort to produce these cards over the years. Mack, WB4MAK, asked the members of QCWA as very senior and seasoned hams to consider checking in to the Technical Net that meets on Monday at 8:30 PM on the 145.470 repeater. This is a net to help the new hams: there are a number of Elmer’s in QCWA who could be of assistance. And that, my friends, is a lot of formal business for Chapter 49! Marvin Moss, W4UXJ, gave a very interesting presentation on Vector Network Analyzers. It was really interesting to see what a little black box and a computer could do, especially given the alternative of a piece of HP test equipment costing many, many thousands of dollars. Thank you Marvin, for a very interesting presentation. Upcoming programs: June 21, 2008 (Ryan’s) – “Software Defined Radio’s” Mack WB4MAK August 23, 2008 - QCWA Summer Picnic at the WB4MAK QTH October 18, 2008 (Ryan’s) – “Old Rigs I Have Known” Tom Koch W4UOC December 6, 2008 (Ryan’s) – QCWA Christmas Party and Annual Election of Officers 73’s and BCNU John Kludt K7SYS, Secretary QCWA PEACH STATE CHAPTER 49 Web address: www.qcwa49.org 2006-2007 CHAPTER OFFICERS President Jerry Lofstead W3CDE 770-979-5500 w3cde@arrl.net Vice President Doug Foos KT4XF bogeyman10@netzero.net Secretary John Kludt K7SYS 770.891.8091 johnnykludt@earthlink.net Treasurer David Bruse W4DTR 770-623-0149 w4dtr@arrl.net Director Frankie Womack W4BJT 404-767-5382 w4bjt@mindspring.com Mike Swiderski K4HBI 770-449-0369 k4hbi@arrl.net Net Manager Jerry W3CDE using the K4VN Chapter 49 Club Call Chapter 49 QCWA HF Net Saturday 0900 3.8575 Mhz. APR/MAY 2008 Newsletter John Kludt K7SYS Newsletter Editor 11165 Highfield Chase Dr. Duluth, GA 30097