E.A.R.S.

1506 S. Parker Dr.

Evansville, IN 47714

(812) 479-5741

"Because a frequency..

..is a terrible thing to waste"

April, 1996 Newsletter

THE NEXT E.A.R.S. EATING MEETING will be held on Friday, April 12, at 6:30 PM Central at Old Country Buffet, Morgan Ave. and Green River Road in Evansville, IN. Don't miss this meeting! Those people who attended the Christmas party can pick up their free world maps, courtesy of Kenwood. Also, we will GIVE AWAY a "Power System" unit donated by Barry Tate KE4OXZ. It is our hope to increase meeting attendance by offering some incentives to be there! Tickets are FREE...but you must be present to win!!!. Come see this versatile device! It is a small power supply, complete with built-in work lamp, battery charger, and multiple voltage supply. It will power just about anything!! At the last meeting, Gail KA0ZMF won an EARS Wide Area Repeater Network original sweatshirt, donated by Debbie Roush, XYL of KB9KCF.

THE 146.925 TRANSMITTER IS BACK ON THE AIR!!! On Saturday, March 16, David Lynch from Lyntronics climbed the tower at Paxton and placed the new 4-dipole array in place about 25 feet above where the 4-element beam used to reside. The project went very well. Thanks to Mel N9IZG, Eric N9KDB, and Mike M9JMT for their assistance on the project that day. Also a big thanks to Steve NO9N and Willie K9IHU for making those brackets for the antenna that made the project so much easier and sturdier! The antenna is on the southeast leg of the tower at about 250 feet. We had planned on going up to about 325 feet, but other antennas had already been placed in the spot we previously ran feed line to. Regardless, the signal has been excellent in all directions, even through the tower to the northeast. We now have a hand-held signal in the Terre Haute region. Mobile coverage on I-70 goes to about Putnamville. Folks to the south of Paxton may notice a slight drop in signal since we have less gain pointed south now that we have an omnidirectional pattern.

THANKS TO ALL THOSE who have donated to EARS since the last newsletter! I inadvertantly missed Willie Sage K9IHU of Vincennes last time.

WIllie has been a tremendous help to EARS both on and off the air. Thanks again, Willie! Others who have donated recently include: Alan Cox N9TCV and Matt Boggs KB9MXL.Thanks to contributions to EARS, more repairs and upgrades are under way on the repeaters!

REPEATER STATUS... It sure is nice to sit here and type this newsletter and know that the Evansville and Vincennes repeaters are working very well. It's been a long time! Winter just did not cooperate with us this year. The autopatch on 5.15 was off for a couple of days in early March due to phone line problems. A trip to the site revealed that a mole had eaten through a splice in the phone line! So a few pieces of duct tape later, it was back in business. No new news yet on 145.11 and 146.895.

VISIT THE E.A.R.S. WORLD WIDE WEB PAGE! Get E.A.R.S. history, information, and the latest repeater info by visiting us at http://members.aol.com/earsham/earsham.html on the internet! You can write to us on the Internet as well ! Our Internet e-mail address:

EARSHAM@aolDOTcom

MAKE PLANS NOW FOR THE DAYTON EATING MEETING... Saturday, May 18, 6 p.m. Dayton time, at Skyline Chili, I-75 and Sharon Rd., in Sharonville, OH (North side of Cincinnati).

UPCOMING HAMFESTS:

Dayton, OH Hamvention May 17-18-19, 1996

Evansville, IN November 30, 1996

VE TESTING INFORMATION:

Paris, IL - Sundays at 1pm Central at the

Community Hospital on May 5,

July 14, Sept. 8, and Nov. 3. Call John Welch

at (217) 466-4315 for more information.

Danville, IL - Sundays at 1pm Central at the

VCARA Club House on Apr. 14,

Jun. 9, Aug. 25, Oct. 6, and Dec. 8. Call

John Welch for more information. For

directions, call Wm. Wright at (217) 442-3916

TEST SESSIONS, continued...

Terre Haute, IN - Sundays at 1pm EST at the

Terre Haute Red Cross on Hwy 41 North on

Apr. 14, June 2, Aug. 4, Oct. 6, and Dec. 1.

Call Fred K9EBK at (812) 466-2122

CONGRADULATIONS to all those who passed tests or upgraded at the recent test session sponsored by the Harrison H.S. ARC. Beth Staker, KB9MXM, Matt Boggs KB9MXL, and Sylvester Johnson KB9MXK all received their new callsigns on Thursday, March 7, LESS THAN 48 HOURS after the test session. (The FCC is finally getting quick these days!) Also congrats to Nick N9WYG, Tim KB9FRR, Bruce Mabis, Tammy Couch, and Matt Shepherd who passed various tests that evening.

R&L ELECTRONICS is closing its INDIANAPOLIS store only. The original HAMilton!, OH store will remain open. You can reach them at 800-221-7735.

KENWOOD has announced the release of BACKLIT microphones and a new version of the TM-733A dual bander, now with an EXTERNAL duplexer. See your favorite Kenwood dealer for details.

TRI-STATE ARS (TARS) now has a site on the World Wide Web. Their address is: http://www.evansville.net/~wcook.

VANITY CALLSIGNS, continued.. Further delays in the vanity callsign program are being caused by further petitions to the FCC by amateurs to make changes in the program. By law, each petition must be reviewed before the program is implimented. The form 610-V is now available, but they will not be accepted until all petitions have been reviewed. Forms are available from your FCC field office or ARRL for an SASE, or electronically by fax at (202) 418-0177, ask for Form 006108. Forms are available on Internet on the WWW at http://www.fcc.gov/Forms/Form610V, or by FTP at ftp://ftp.fcc.gov/pub/Forms/Form610V. (Thanks Newsline and WVARA Bandspread)

Electronic Applications Radio Service, Inc.

E.A.R.S.

1506 S. Parker Dr.

Evansville, IN 47714-3154

The E.A.R.S. newsletter is a monthly production of Electronic Applications Radio Service, Inc., a non-profit, charitable, tax-exempt organization. Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, editor. Send donations, articles, comments or information to E.A.R.S. at the address at the address below or call (812) 479-5741. Articles for the newsletter and/or E-mail can be sent via America Online at EARSHAM@aolDOTcom. For the braille edition, contact Tom KE9ZV. Information contained may be reproduced in any form, provided that credit is given to the E.A.R.S. Newsletter.