THE NEXT E.A.R.S. EATING MEETING will be held at Sirloin Stockade, on Bellemeade near Green River Rd. in Evansville on Friday, FEBRUARY 20 at 6:30 p.m. THERE WILL BE NO JANUARY MEETING.
A GOOD TIME WAS HAD BY ALL at the annual Christmas party at Wolf's BBQ. Don't miss it next year!
REPEATER NEWS... A lot has been happening lately on the repeater work. Delays have continued getting 145.11 back on the air, but the work is completed. The two-way shop still hasn't installed the equipment. This should take place any day now. Also, the 145.15 Evansville main receive site will be located at this site just west of USI. The antenna is at 400 feet. Receive coverage on 5.11 and 5.15 should improve dramatically once this equipment is installed. The 5.15 receiver has been at my house since Nov. 22. On Dec. 22, Eric N9KDB and Mel N9IQG and myself removed the 443.925 repeater at Vincennes. We took it to Mel's house and removed the old controller, link receivers, and voter. All this has been installed into the new Motorola repeater cabinet. When 443.925 comes back on, it will be at the same site but now with 70 watts of power, with an all solid state system, and a new Link RLC-2 controller. This will greatly enhance the coverage area, features, and link signal to Indianapolis and Evansville. And best of all, all the strange intermod noises should go completely away! Look for it back on the air soon. You may hear it in the Farmersburg area as it is being tested before the permanent installation.
THE 5th ANNUAL EARS Winter Hamfest was another success! Congratulations to John Gatwood N9REN of Oakland City, who won the main prize, an Icom 2m HT. 450 people attended this year's hamfest. A BIG thank you to all those who volunteered to make this event another grand success. A special thanks to the Old Post ARS in Vincennes for operating the concession stand.
EARS IS ON THE INTERNET!!!
http://members.aol.com/earsham/
E-mail address: EARSHAM@aolDOTcom
UPCOMING HAMFESTS:
Cincinnati, OH Feb. 21-22, 1998 Cinti Gardens
VE TESTING INFORMATION:
EARS does not sponsor VE testing, but does list area testing dates
and times. If you know of a test not listed, please write, call, or e-mail
it to Neil ASAP!!!
Evansville, IN - Harrison
High School ARC, just west of Green River Rd. on the Lloyd Expressway,
Room 213 on Tuesday, January 13 at 7 pm. W5YI-VEC.
Contact Neil WB9VPG (812) 479-5741.
Evansville, IN - Dates TBA... Red Cross Bldg., Diamond and Heidelbach, by Tri-State ARS. ARRL-VEC. Contact Terry AA9MM.
Paris, IL - Sunday at 1pm at the Community Hospital on Jan. 4 and Mar.
1 Call John Welch at (217) 466-4315 or email jwwelch@juno.com.
VE TESTING, continued
Terre Haute, IN - Sunday at 1pm on Feb. 1 at the Terre Haute Red Cross on Hwy 41 North. Call Fred K9EBK at (812) 466-2122.
Indianapolis, IN - IPL, 37th and Arlington, at 6:30 p.m. BY APPT. ONLY. Call Tom N9LFU at 317-326-3168. Thomson ARC/ARRL-VEC
Franklin, IN - Walk-ins only. For more information, call 317-974-1488.
MidState
ARC (3rd Sat. March thru November)
THANKS TO ALL THOSE who have graciously donated to EARS recently. They include: Dean Wathen KF9DL, Mitchell Barnett N9TVJ, Robert Curry W9EO, Billy Morton KF4ROB, and Daniel Martin KA9ZHY. Your support keeps EARS running!
OUR BEST WISHES to Tim & Beth Staker (KB9FRR & KB9MXM), who are moving to Indianapolis in mid-January. They will most definitely be missed. Thanks for all of your help.
THE INDIANA REPEATER COUNCIL, the frequency coordinating group in Indiana, has an official home now for it's web site. The IRC can be found on the Internet at http://www.ircinc.org.
SAD NEWS FROM THE HAMFEST... I received an e-mail right after the hamfest involving a very sad situation. A Yaesu radio was sold to someone as working and with a warranty. When the purchaser got the radio home, he found the radio to be stripped of most parts, and completely inoperable. The name and address given for the warranty were found to be fake. After investigating the matter, we discovered that the person who sold this "radio" did not even pay for his table at the hamfest, so we have no record of him. Numerous people are on the lookout for this person at area hamfests. If you have any information, please contact Neil at (812) 479-5741 or at neilrapp@ comsource.net, and I will forward the information to the affected parties. The purchaser of the radio has asked to remain anonymous, as you can surely understand. I also have heard that someone else bought an item from this same person, with a similar result. Please be on the lookout for this person, and take extreme care when purchasing an item at a hamfest from an individual.
Below is a trimmed portion of the text of the letter.
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An individual, who identified himself as KB3ARY, took part in the Hamfest
as a vendor. This person had several items for sale on his table, one
of
which was a YAESU FT-736 radio. The individual stated the unit was
two
years old (it had the plastic covering over the display as if newly
purchased). Looked to be the original box, complete with Styrofoam, manual
in mint condition. When asked "What is wrong with the unit", the man replied,
"Nothing.". The man replied he was saving up for the new rig FT-847 which
will be released in Feb. '98.
... he replied he was working for "GE Medical" in Indianapolis and a friend told him about the Evansville Hamfest...
... an index card read "90 day warranty". Hewrote down his name, address
and phone number on the back of the 3x5 card upon my purchasing the FT-736
unit and a 6 meter module. He stated if
there was any problem with the unit, just send it directly to YAESU
andhave the bill sent to him. The individual stated the manager at YAESU
knew him.
Much to my dismay and utter disbelief, the FT-736 unit does not and
never
will work in the condition which it was sold to me. Upon opening the
unit,
I was astounded at what this individual had done and the great lengths
he
went to regarding selling these items.
This man is a very knowledgeable individual and spoke at great length about using the FT-736 unit and modules. His appearance (5' 8" white male, dark brown hair, age approx. 25-30, clean shaven and neat appearance, wore a YAESU cap) gave no indication of what he was capable of doing. This individual is a criminal!
The call sign information he gave, does appear in QRZ. However, the
phone
number does not work and all attempts through information and other
means
have proven futile to make voice contact. This person is VERY shrewd
and
it is questionable if this would even be his true identity.
I bring this information before you for the protection of the honest
and
reputable amateur radio operators. The Evansville group works hard
to put
on the annual Winter Hamfest at the each year, and for an individual
such
as this man to engage in such criminal activity is just beyond words.
The man identified himself as: Dave Burns KB3ARY, Gladwyne, PA 19035.
Phone: 610-591-1960
EARS Financial Report - 1997
Income: Expenses:
Donations: $ 1239.00 Repeater sites: $ 340.00
Donations for 5.25: $172.00 Repeater equipment and repair: $ 3489.58
Hamfest: $ 2893.00 Hamfest: $2619.73
Insurance claims: $ 1540.00 Newsletter: $295.11
Insurance: $613.93 Misc. (dues to IRCC, IRC, IRA, mailings, bank fees,
misc. mailing aids, etc.): $ 313.35
Total: $ 5844.00 Total: $ 7331.73
Net Loss: $ 1487.73
Amount on Hand 12/31/97 $498.02
Kenwood report here
The E.A.R.S. newsletter is a monthly production of Electronic Applications Radio Service, Inc., a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, editor. Send donations, articles, comments or information to the address above or call (812) 479-5741. Articles for the newsletter and/or E-mail can be sent to EARSHAM @aolDOTcom. Information contained may be reproduced, provided that credit is given to the EARS Newsletter. Visit our site on the World Wide Web at http://members.aol.com/earsham/index.html.
Electronic Applications Radio Service, Inc.
E.A.R.S.
1506 S. Parker Dr.
Evansville, IN 47714-3154