Picnic March 29, 2015

Please claim your coat. A Lands End, Men's M, Navy Blue.

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Stats

45 attendees
4o burgers consumed, along with
46 dogs, and 6 pounds of pastrami.

This was in addition to the selection of salads, chips, dips, spreads, beans, chili, and cookies.

March 2015 Picnic

Thursday Net March 19, 2015

HR-1301

HR-1301 The Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015 -- H.R.1301 -- has been introduced in the US House of Representatives. The measure would direct the FCC to extend its rules relating to reasonable accommodation of Amateur Service communications to private land use restrictions. US Rep Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) introduced the bill on March 4 with 12 original co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle -- seven Republicans and five Democrats.

HR 1301 would require the FCC to amend its Part 97 Amateur Service rules to apply the three-part test of the PRB-1 federal pre-emption policy to include homeowners' association regulations and deed restrictions, often referred to as "covenants, conditions, and restrictions" (CC&Rs). At present, PRB-1 only applies to state and local zoning laws and ordinances. The FCC has been reluctant to extend the same legal protections to include such private land-use agreements without direction from Congress.

 H.R. 1301 has been referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Rep Greg Walden, W7EQI (R-OR), chairs that panel's Communications and Technology Subcommittee, which will consider the measure.

ARRL members are urged to contact their US House members and ask them to sign on to the bill as a co-sponsor. We recommend sending the letter to your member of Congress to: ARRL Attn HR 1301 grassroots campaign 225 Main St Newington CT 06111

Click here for more information

New Net- 2 Meter Single Sideband

The weak signal presentation last month got a couple of us fired up about trying something new. So, starting this Thursday, March 12 at 6:45 PM we are going to have a first callup on 144.190 USB with the hope of carrying on a new local net. This will continue until further notice, same time, same day of the week. So tune in a bit early on net night and try your luck. Attached is a picture of a couple of homemade antennas for the UHF and vhf bands. They are easy and fun to make and will get you on the air if you have a radio capable on these bands.

Contact Gary K2OU for more information. (Blog contribution by Gary K2OU)

KE4UNO Becomes a Silent Key

John Hamilton, KE4UNO became a silent key this morning March 8, 2015. John was 52. Few people who traveled 2 meters did not know John. He will be sorely missed. Details of his service will be made public in the Lakeland Ledger.

Funeral arrangements for John W Hamilton, KE4UNO
Services: Hopewell Funeral Home
6005 South County Rd # 39, Plant City
Note: This is South of SR60 on the West side.
Thursday March 12th 2015
Viewing 10am to 11am with service at 11am (no other viewing mentioned)
Internment will follow at
Springhead Cemetery.. SE corner of County Line Rd and Medula Rd.

Information Source... Land Line Phone call "Hopewell Funeral Home" (813) 737-3128

Commemorative Guest Book 
www.theledger.com/obituaries

March Monthly Meeting Picaxe and Ham Radio

Small Chip, Big Performance

Our guest speaker this evening was Daryl Davis. Daryl is the ARRL West Central Florida Section Manager.

The evening’s presentation centered around micro-controllers; in particular, those in the Picaxe family.

Micro-controllers come in many sizes, mainly in a dual in-line configuration with the number of legs proportional to the power and capability of the chip. While this is a complicated subject we can simplify things a bit by making a few observations about all micro-controllers:

• They are powered by either a 3.3 or 5-volt power source.   
• These devices are programmable, in the sense that individual pins can be configured as either digital inputs, analog inputs, digital outputs, or pulse with modulated PWM outputs. 

Translating this a bit further,

• digital input is the equivalent of a switch. Apply a high voltage to turn the switch on, low, or ground, to turn it off. 
• Digital output is equivalent to turning a light on or off, perhaps in response to the voltage on a digital in pin. Pulse width modulation is a way of simulating an analog out. It behaves much the same as a light dimmer. 

The last way pins can be configured is as analog to digital converters, or A to D converters. Using an A to D converter, a continuously changing voltage can be converted to a series of discreetly changing numbers, which can then be manipulated further in the software.

Congratulations Are In Order

From left to right, Richard, Peggy, Glen, Andrew WX4AMS a new General, Kevin KM4IKJ a new Tech, and Matthew.

Field Day Is Just Around The Corner

It is that time of year again, and Fred is looking for volunteers to man the various stations on Field Day.

Some Images From The March 2015 Meeting

Thursday Night Net

Breakfast At The BrunchBox 

Though  not an official club function, some members have been meeting for breakfast on Tuesday mornings for many years, and in a variety of locations. The numbers attending have grown from around seven when I first started to attend, to as high as thirty plus. Good and reasonably priced good food and priceless comradary make this a very special occasion.

Happy Birthday John

Today is John's birthday. Let's all wish him a happy birthday.

John is still in rehab. Take a minute to give him a call. 813-839-6341 room 229.