E.A.R.S.

1506 S. Parker Dr.

Evansville, IN 47714

(812) 479-5741

"Because a frequency..

..is a terrible thing to waste"

An ARRL Special Service Club KB9KBT/R Member Indiana Repeater Council

June, 1995 Newsletter

THE NEXT E.A.R.S. "EATING MEETING" will be at Noble Roman's at Old Country Buffet, Morgan Ave. & Green River Road in Evansville, on Friday, June 2 at 6:30 p.m. Come join us and see all your ham friends and enjoy a meal out together. If you have a prize to donate or a short program to present at a future meeting, contact Neil about scheduling. Topics of discussion include: repeater system progress, hamfest plans, and future meeting plans. Bring your ideas!

REPEATER SYSTEM UPDATE:

145.110 - Still no report

145.150 - An audio delay board was placed on the repeater on Tuesday May 16. This eliminated the annoying feedback "chirp" that was present every time someone in Evansville unkeyed. Because audio from Vincennes is delayed 50 ms, the squelch tail drop from Evansville is heard again in Evansville 50 ms later so there is still some noise as you unkey, but at least not the feedback. As soon as the S-Com folks get off vacation, we are ordering an additional delay board to delay the 5.15 audio so that this noise too will be gone. We also have plans to help the reciever overload problem which has been hampering receive coverage since the main receive site was moved last fall. The Petersburg remote receiver should be back on line soon, as a receiver has been tuned to a new link frequency. This frequency move was due to the presence of packet adjacent to the link frequency, which was interfering with the link from Petersburg.

145.25 - One of the amplifiers purchased at Dayton was placed on 145.25 on May 20,

along with the return of audio processing. The amplifier is not as big as the old one, but has proven nearly as effective so far. The link to

Vincennes has been re-established. The missing part is now a receiver at Seymour to pick up Vincennes and Evansville. Most of the required materials for this receiver have been obtained and will be installed as time permits.

146.925 - Thanks to Pete, WB9DRB for tuning a new UHF receiver and VHF exceiter for the Vincennes transmit site. We hope to have the 146.925 transmitter back on by the time you receive this newsletter. Keep listening for the return of the 2m transmitter. Listen on 443.925 or 145.15 until this transmitter is back. The inputs to 146.925 still work fine.

443.925 - A storm on May 20 left the repeater off overnight and thus drained the battery to the Digital Voice Recorder. This has since been recharged, and the DVR tracks have been replaced. The link radio was moved from the NWS back to 145.25. Plans are to make this radio switch to NWS as desired. Stay tuned.

UPCOMING HAMFESTS:

TARS (Evansville) Hamfest Sunday, June 4 Vand. Co. 4-H Fairgrounds - Opens 8 a.m. - Admission $4 - VE testing available - Setup begins at 7 a.m. (Thanks KF9DL for providing this information)

Milford, OH (Cinti) Saturday, June 17

8 a.m.-2p.m. Live Oaks Development

Talk in 147.345+ VE exams available

Indianapolis, IN September 2

Indy Armory (Holt Rd. & I-70)

8 a.m. to 2 p.m. T/I 145.250-

(Hoosier Hamfest) - by E.A.R.S.!

Shawnee (Harrisburg, IL) Sunday September 10 - 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Admission $4. VE Exams at 9 a.m., Southeastern Illinois College

Bedford, IN Oct 8 Lawrence Co. Fgdns.

Louisville, KY Oct. 14-15 KY Fair & Expo Center

Evansville, IN November 25

Vanderburgh Co. 4-H Fairgrounds

8 a.m. to 2 p.m. T/I 145.150-

Sponsored by E.A.R.S.!

Listen on 145.15 (107.2 PL) at hamfests!!

OLD RADIO DAYS will be held Saturday, June 10 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Thordarson-Meissner Co. in Mt. Carmel, IL. A parade will be at 10 a.m., followed by opening ceremonies at T-M Co. plant at 11:30 a.m. Tours are from 12 - 3 p.m. A special event station will be operated as well. (Thanks: RADIO newsletter)

VE TESTING INFORMATION:

Terre Haute, IN - Sunday June 4 - 1 p.m. Red Cross Bldg, Hwy. 41 North

(also see hamfests)

ARRL JUNE VHF contest is Sat. June 10 (1 p.m.) to Sun. June 11 (10 p.m.) A group near Alto Pass, IL sent us a letter stating that they would like to work some people in the Evansville area from EARS. Exchange is callsign and grid square. Evansville is divided between square EM-67 and EM-68. The group will be operating N9LAG from atop Bald Knob hill on 146.55, 146.58, 223.5, and 446.00 FM simplex, and 50.185, 144.225, 432.11, and 1296 MHz SSB.

UPGRADE/LICENSE INFORMATION is available from the FCC by calling 1-800-322-1117 or via Internet by ftp.fcc.gov, then cd /pub/XFS_AlphaTest/amateur. New license

Electronic Applications Radio Service, Inc.

E.A.R.S.

1506 S. Parker Dr.

Evansville, IN 47714

issues are listed by day of issue, mon.zip - sat.zip. W5YI/VEC examinees can also call 817-548-8200 9:30 - 4:30 Cental time if you get tired of the bust signal at the FCC.

DON'T FORGET THE E.A.R.S. WIDE AREA NET AND NEWSLINE....Every Monday at 8:30 Central on the EARS Wide Area Repeater Network!

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. E-mail can be sent via Internet to Neil.Rapp@evsc.com, or via Prodigy at CAEK86A. For the braille edition, contact Tom KE9ZV.

E.A.R.S. Information Sheet

What is E.A.R.S.?

Electronic Applications Radio Service, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization formed to "further public knowledge of electronic fundamentals associated with federally licensed radio services." Some of the goals of E.A.R.S. are to: 1) provide Amateurs with wide area repeater coverage; 2) provide oppertunities for alternative, experimental and new technologies to be used in repeater operation; 3) encourage cooperation between already formed local clubs and organizations; 4) provide the area with reliable, handheld, long-distance communications in the event of an emergency; and 5) promote fellowship and proper operating practices among amateurs. E.A.R.S. is NOT a club, at least as you would normally think of one. E.A.R.S. is not in competition with ANY club or organization; it is simply an alternative organization that supports wide area and experimental repeater projects specifically. "Members" of E.A.R.S. are also members of many, many other Amateur radio clubs and organizations.

What does E.A.R.S. do for me?

While the list is long and we don't have enough room to list everything that E.A.R.S. does for hams, these are some of the more obvious services:

Monthly "Eating Meetings provide oppertunities to meet hams and fellowship, as well as learn about associated topics and events

Provides FREE autopatch service to any licensed amateur upon request in Evansville and Vincennes

Provides FREE temporary autopatch service to hams traveling through Indianapolis for a short period of time

Provides low-cost full-time autopatch services in Indianapolis ($20/year)

Provides FREE access to amateurs to all repeaters, as long as proper courtesy and operating practices are followed

Maintains the 145.15 Wide Area Repeater serving Southwestern Indiana, Southeastern Illinois, and Western Kentucky, with up to four remote receivers around Evansville and vicinity, also linked to Vincennes and Indianapolis

Provides HAND HELD coverage across Evansville on 145.11 and 145.15

Maintains wide area 145.11 repeater serving Southwestern Indiana, Southeastern Illinois, and Western Kentucky, but not linked to Network for longer usage in the Evansville area

Maintains wide area 146.925 repeater, which transmits from north of Vincennes. Two remote receivers are available: one at Vincennes, the other at Farmersburg; also linked to Indianapolis and Evansville

Maintains wide area 443.925 repeater, at 400 feet in Vincennes; also linked to Indianapolis, Evansville, and 146.925

Maintains legendary 145.250 Wide Area repeater in Indianapolis; also 147.135 linked repeater in Corydon; also linked to Vincennes and Evansville

Sponsors Commercial license testing for GROL, MROP, and other commercial FCC licenses

Operates annual winter hamfest in Evansville; one of the largest hamfests in Southern Indiana (Saturday after Thanksgiving)

Operates annual Hoosier Hamfest in Indianapolis (Saturday of Labor Day Weekend)

Sends FREE reminders to amateurs whose licenses are due to expire, with FREE instructions as to how to renew

Provides monthly newsletter, which includes news about the repeaters, VE testing, hamfests, Amateur radio in general, and other related information

Operates weekly Wide Area Net Mondays evenings at 8:30 p.m. Central time on the Repeater Network to test coverage area (not a traffic net), offer announcements and swap shop items

Retransmits weekly amateur bulletins from Newsline each week during Wide Area net with 10-15 minutes of national and international Amateur news

Provides newsletter in printed, ASCII, on-line, or braille forms upon request

Provides information to new hams about repeater courtesy and operating practices

Provides Severe Weather watches and warnings as they are issued on repeater network

Full-service, repeater integrated real-time voice mailbox service on 443.925 and 146.925 repeaters

How can I help E.A.R.S.?

There are many ways you can help E.A.R.S. continue serving the VHF/UHF amateur community. Perhaps the most important help would be simply to make good use of the services provided. Monitor the repeaters. Help hams passing through town if possible. Use good repeater courtesy. Another way is to volunteer your talents. Perhaps you can help maintain some equipment, repair equipment, monitor the repeaters as a control operator, help put up antennas, sell tickets at the hamfest, or help with mailings. Whatever help you can offer will be appreciated. Of course, repeaters are expensive to purchase and maintain, as we must pay for electricity, phone lines, and maintenence of some sites. Your financial contributions are greatly appreciated. E.A.R.S. is recognized both by Indiana and the IRS as a not-for-profit, charitable corporation. We do not have "membership dues" since we are not a club. We do not recommend any amount for a donation, as some are able to give more than others. But, in order to pay for specific services, we do ask for a $10/year minimum contribution if you wish to receive the newsletter. For Indianapolis autopatch access, we ask for a minimum of $20/year. Otherwise, your donation is entirely up to you. If you need additional information, call (812) 479-5741 or (317) 253-7985.