FEBRUARY, 2008
FROM THE
PRESIDENT
The New Year is off to a great start for the Kimberling
Amateur Radio Club. We enjoyed a great
Christmas party at Nicole’s restaurant in December, where the new officers were
installed for 2008. Special thanks to
those who agreed to serve for the year:
Tom Martin KC0IBT Vice
President
Dean Bickford K0PHI Secretary,
ARES EC
Bob Lutte KD0AIL Treasurer
Jim Stetson N0IZJ Board Member, SC EC, Field Dir.
Paula Duple K0ONB Board Member
Debbie Ward KC8JRG Board Member
Ron Buzzel KC0VCL Membership Director, Webmaster
Gerry Edson WA0KNW Squelch Tale Editor
Operating activities have been frequent and well attended by
club members. Our ARES net at 8:30PM Sunday evenings has had between
20 and 30 check-ins each week. Thanks to
the net control operators, Jim N0IZJ and Gary K0JGS for your fine efforts to
keep this going.
The Early Bird net at 7:30AM weekdays
on 3.859 MHz is growing, and we occasionally have to hurry to get the net in by
8:00AM.
It is a real treat to be a part of this net and hear all the news from Illinois, Kansas, Arkansas and Missouri from our
dear friends. George K0EQ, Marge N0MCT
and Harvey WB0QKE do a super job keeping this net going and making it fun for
everyone. If you have not checked into
this net, give it a try some morning or at least listen in. You will enjoy it.
We’ve even had some rare winter storm spotting activities
that kept everyone on the weather net to all hours of the night. Net control operators Jim N0IZJ, Gary K0JGS
and Dean K0PHI do a yeoman’s job of keeping essential traffic moving, and 911
operators Paula K0ONB, Don NZ0A, Don NZ0L and Dean K0PHI keep the National
Weather Service and Stone County
dispatchers informed. We even have our
own official storm chaser, Kerry KC0VWY.
Kerry was heard on KY3 in the background, giving his tornado reports.
if you’ve missed out on any of these
activities, give them a try. We can
always use more net control and 911 operators.
Let someone know if you are interested, and we can put you into the
schedule. If net control is not your
thing, we’ll look forward to hearing you check in on the nets.
73,
Paul
KC8JRF
MINUTES OF OCT, 2007,
MEETING
The
meeting was called to order by president Paul, KC8JRF,
at 7:00 PM.
K0PHI
read the minutes for the Aug and Sept meeting.
The minutes were approved as read.
KC0VCL gave the treasury report of $3680.34. Joe, KC0VLB made the motion to accept the
report and Jack, KB0VOS, seconded. The
motion carried. KC0VCL gave an update on
the home page. N0IZJ gave the field
directors report. KC0VCL asked for input
for the squelch tale. The program was
given by Dean, K0PHI, on the new equipment in the emergency vehicle. The vehicle was present at the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 8:45
PM.
Submitted by K0PHI.
MINUTES OF DEC, 2007,
MEETING
The
meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by president KC8JRF. K0PHI read the minutes of the Sept and Oct
meeting. The minutes were approved as
read. KC0VCL gave the treasury report of
$3486.10. N0IZJ made the motion to
accept the report, KB0VOT seconded.
Motion carried. KC0VCL gave a
report on the web page and a new editor for the Squelch Tale. KB0VOS gave a report on the Christmas party –
38 hams had signed up. K0PHI gave a
report on the Christmas parade. Election
of officers followed. Nominations were:
President,
KC8JRF
Vice
President, KC0IBT
Secretary,
K0PHI
Treasurer,
KD0AIL
Board
member, K0ONB
K0JGS
moved and KC0VCL seconded to elect by acclimation. Motion carried.
The
program was presented by KC0IBT on the Stone County 911. Meeting adjourned at 8:45
PM.
Submitted by K0PHI.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Breakfast and Exams
The first Saturday of every month, 8:30 AM. Listen on the repeater frequency for
location, as it may change. All classes of exams given following the breakfast.
KARC Meetings
The third Tuesday of every month, 7:00 PM, at the Kimberling City Community
Center (next to City Hall and over
the Police Department).
Sunday
Stone County ARES Net: 8:30
PM
147.345 MHz
Monday
Taney County ARES NET: 8:00
PM
147.195 MHz
Tuesday
Christian County ARES Net: 7:30
PM
145.230 MHz
Bible Belt
Christian Fellowship: 8:00PM
146.775 MHz
CALENDAR OF EVENTS (cont)
Wednesday
Kimberling and Tri-Lakes
combined ARC Net: 8:00 PM
147.150 MHz
Weather Spotter Seminar
The
National Weather Service will present a weather spotter seminar, 7:00
PM,
February 7, at the Taney Center. For further information contact Don Birk, NA9X.
UPCOMING HAMFESTS, WITHIN
250 MILE RADIUS
Feb
2: Winterfest sponsored by Mine Creek ARC, LaCygne, KS, at the LaCygne Community Building. Contact: Ron Cowan, KB0DTI: kb0dti@arrl.net.
Talk-in:
147.285
Feb.
9: Ada Amateur Radio Club, at the Pontiac County Agri-Plex Auditorium, Ada,
Oklahoma. Contact: Charles Etier, KC5TGA: kc5tga@yahoo.com.
Feb
16: Arkansas Section Convention sponsored by Lawrence County ARC, Hoxie, AR, at
the Hoxie Community Center. Contact:
Carl Richardson, KB5FJX, carl@cwrnet.com.
Talk-in:
147.045/645 Repeater.
Mar
1: Arkansas River Valley AR Foundation, Russellville, AR, at the Hughes Community Center. Contact: Nick Kennedy, WA5BDU,
nick-wa5bdu@suddenlink .net.
Talk-in:
146.22/82 repeater (PL 131.8)
DeBunking the DeciBel
Manufacturers
of electronic equipment bandy about the specifications of their various pieces
of equipment. In doing
so they often use the decibel (dB) to specify gain or loss within a circuit or
of an antenna. The decibel is
also the basis for the S-meter readings on a receiver.
The
application of the decibel is not as difficult at it may seem on the surface, but
a bit of algebra will definitely be an asset in calculating power gain or
loss. For each 3 dB of change the power
changes by a factor of 2. For example,
if the power level begins at 50 watts and experiences a 3 dB increase, the new
power level will be 100 watts. If the
power is decreased by 3 dB, the level will be decreased by a factor of 2. With the beginning power level of 50 watts,
the new power level will be 25 watts. In
the case of the S-meter, each S-unit theoretically amounts to a change in signal
strength of 6 dB. I say theoretically
because all S-meters are not created equal and few are accurately
calibrated. 6 dB represents a power gain
ratio of 4.
Calculating
the power gain ratio is a two-step process.
First, divide the specified gain in dB by 3 (call this number variable
"B"). The power gain ratio
will be 2 to the power of B. As an
example, if a circuit has a gain of 12 dB, B = 12/3 = 4. The power gain ratio will be 2B =
24 = 16. To give a practical
example, let's assume you have just purchased a new super 2 meter beam antenna
that has a gain of 18 dB and you are using a transceiver that has an output
power of 50 watts. You want to know what
the Effective Radiated Power (ERP) from that antenna will be. First, B = 18/3 = 6. Next, ERP = PO * 2B, where
PO is the specified output
power of the transceiver. Substituting,
we get ERP = 50 * 26 = 50 * 64 = 3,200 watts ERP. WOW! What a signal! And it is perfectly legal, since the actual
output power of the transceiver is only 50 watts. This is assuming that the feedline
is perfect and has no loss. If the feedline has a 3 dB loss, the overall circuit gain of the feedline and antenna will be 18 –3, or 15 dB, thereby
making the overall ERP 1600 watts – still a respectable level. The apparent gain is due to the fact that
most of the signal is being concentrated into a narrow beam (uni-directional) rather than being sent in all directions
(omni-directional). We say apparent
gain, as the signal has not actually increased in strength, but the power has
been concentrated into a single direction.
It is somewhat like putting your finger across the end of a water
hose. The pressure is concentrated into
a narrower stream, making the water squirt out of the hose for a longer
distance. The actual volume of water has
not increased. Signal strength from the sides or back of the antenna will be
considerably less, depending upon the front-to-back ratio of the antenna.
This
is pretty simple, basic stuff, but if there is enough interest in this type of
information, we can expand upon it and other technical subjects in the
future. If you have any questions
concerning basic electronic theory (no questions as to specific
installations, etc, as I do not have enough resources to cover such material)
please pass them along and I will try to answer them. If no one responds to this request I will
assume no one is interested and will cease to offer this column.
Gerry, WA0KNW
ANNOUNCEMENTS
For
anyone wishing to learn more about packet radio, K.O. Higgs, N0KFQ, provides a
packet radio workshop at his home the first Saturday of every month from 2:00 to 4:00
PM. His address is 232 Lone Pine Road; Branson, MO. You can contact K.O. by e-mail at
n0kfq@centurytel.net, or by telephone at (417) 334-5670.
TRI-LAKES CLUB
The
Tri-Lakes Club (TLARC) has a luncheon meeting every Thursday at 11:00
AM
at the Golden Corral. The business
meeting has been changed to the second Thursday of every month, immediately
following the luncheon. Everyone is
invited to join in with the fellowship.
The
Tri-Lakes Club held an ARES orientation meeting on January 26, at the Taney County Ambulance District Training Center. Thirteen members attended the session. The program was presented by Don, NA9X; Ron,
AG1P; Larry, KC0M; and Cecil, AC0HA. The
program ended with a tour of the Emergency Services communications van.
The
147.195 / 147.775 repeater has been repaired and is now functioning well.