E.A.R.S.

1506 S. Parker Drive

Evansville, IN 47714

(812) 479-5741

"Because a frequency is a terrible thing to waste"

April, 1994 Newsletter

The next EARS "Eating Meeting" will be held on Friday, April 1, at Noble Roman's Ross Center Location, near Washington and Boeke in Evansville. Meeting time is 6:30 (Central). See all your ham friends and enjoy a night out! Don't miss it!

A special eating meeting will be held at the Salem Mall food court in Dayton, OH on Saturday, April 30 at 12 Noon Dayton time. Check in on 145.15 simplex.

THE NEW SATELLITE RECEIVER for the 145.15 Evansville repeater will be coming online shortly! The additional "satellite" receiver will expand the wide area coverage of the repeater network, just as the Petersburg, Evansville-East and Evansville-West satellite receivers. The new receiver is scheduled for launch on April 1 by NASA. This new satellite receiver, in geostationary orbit, should provide tremendous handheld coverage for North America. Thus, continent-wide autopatch will be available! The receiver was made possible by some fine engineering work by Brian Esche WB9QVR and Joe Salee KB9GMC who developed the battery-powered solar cell for this project. Many thanks, guys, for those long hours! (Happy April Fools' Day!)

THE 443.925 Vincennes repeater is experiencing some minor squelch problems. A new receiver will be installed shortly. The Farmersburg (Terre Haute) remote receiver is still in the testing mode at 50 feet. The 146.925 main transmitter finally came back online March 13.

The FCC has announced that ONLY the November 1993 version of Form 610 will be allowed after March 1. All 610s sent in to the FCC or used at test sites effective immediately MUST be on the NEW form 610!

HamVention calendar:

April 29-May 1 Dayton, OH

Hara Arena, Admission $14 (at door)

ARRL/VEC testing available

(513) 276-6930

Don't miss the Dayton EARS

Eating Meeting! Official EARS simplex

freq. at Dayton: 145.150.

Several problems have been noticed on various repeaters in the local area with amateur operating practices. One in particular seems to be common place on VHF and UHF. Often times, people break into conversations when two people are trying to relay information and made contact perhaps 30 seconds before. The proper procedure is to WAIT TO CALL SOMEONE UNTIL THEY SIGN OFF WITH THE OTHER PERSON! Break-ins should ONLY occur when 1) there is an EMERGENCY; or 2) if there is important, PERTINENT information that you can provide. Simply wait until the station you want to talk to has idenified as "clear" and then call. Let's set an example on the EARS network for the entire region by following standard operating practices!

Your help would be tremendously appreciated! For more information, consult the EARS repeater users guide, or the ARRL publication "How to Operate an Amateur Radio Station".

HAMVENTION UPDATE! Many rumors have been flying lately about bus service at Dayton. Here is the offical word, according to the latest edition of the W5YI Report. Apparently, free bus service has cost the DARA folks about $94,000 a year. So, free bus service to the HOTELS has been dropped. Some hotels have volunteered their own transportation to and from Hara Arena. Free bus service WILL continue to run to the campgrounds and the remote parking areas (the malls). Most hotels will run vans, but some have not yet decided.

We have also heard that some vendors will not attend this year's hamvention thanks to the Ohio Dept. of Revenue. Supposedly, all vendors at the hamvention this year will be asked to register with the Dept. of Revenue and...

E.A.R.S.

1506 S. Parker Drive

Evansville, IN 47714

provide financial information from the last 5 years. Back taxes must be paid in order to return to Dayton. Not only will this cost many companies a lot of dollars, but also a lot of paperwork!

The EARS display and coverage maps will appear at the next Old Post ARS meeting in Vincennes on Wednesday, April 6th. The meeting will be held at the Civil Defense office at 5th and Hart.

NRE COMMERCIAL TESTING:

$35.00 per license (GROL or MROP)

April 23 - Vincennes University

Technology Bldg. 10 am

THE EARS NEWSLETTER is a monthly publication produced by Neil Rapp WB9VPG. If you have any questions, comments, or contributions for the newsletter, please send them to Neil Rapp, 305 Sequoia Lane, Evansville, IN 47712 or call (812) 424-1506 or leave E-mail on Prodigy to Neil Rapp or on Internet at neil.rapp @ evsc.cld9.com.

Newsletter subscriptions are available for a contribution ($10 minimum annually) to EARS to cover expenses. Send donations and/or subscription info to: EARS, 1506 S. Parker Dr., Evansville, IN 47714. (Contact Tom Bozikis KE9ZV for Braille newsletter info.)