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 Member Indiana Repeater Council

December, 1994 Newsletter


The 1994 Evansville Hamfest is about to happen! Commercial vendor setup will be available from 6 to 9 pm Central on Friday evening. We still need volunteers for selling tickets, security, and talk-in on Saturday. Contact Neil if you can help. Setup begins on Saturday at 6 a.m. Doors open at 8 a.m. This year's grand prize is a Kenwood TH-22AT 2m handheld, thanks in part to Kenwood and the Ham Station. Door prizes include U.S. & Int'l callbooks; subscriptions to Worldradio and Amateur Radio Trader; an ARRL repeater directory, handbook, and antenna book; a "Tiger Tail", and more! Extra prize tickets are $1 each at the door.

WORK ON THE 145.25 LINK is coming along! We've been waiting on a preselector to arrive from repair for the Indianapolis side of things. Most of the work at Vincennes has been completed. Look for the link to appear in the near future. For autopatch codes for 5.25, contact Marty KA9PCT at (317) 387-9667 or write Marty Hensley, 6426 Maid Stone Rd., Indianapolis 46254 or the EARS address. Autopatch codes for 5.25 are $20/year. (SASEs are appreciated!)

The next E.A.R.S. eating meeting will be held at Wolf's BBQ on First Ave. in Evansville on Monday, December 5 in the meeting room at 6:30 p.m. All hams,



potential hams, and families thereof are invited to attend. CALL WITH YOUR RESERVATION TO NEIL BY FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2 at 479-5741. We need an exact count for this meeting. The Christmas party will include a buffet, for $11.95 which includes tax, tip, and drink. We need 20 reservations to get the room for free! Other features at the meeting will include: hamfest report, 5.25 link report, and follow-up of the Red Cross disaster plan site selection.

UPCOMING HAMFESTS:

Evansville, IN Nov. 25, 1995 Vanderburgh Co. Fairgrounds. $5 admission, tables $10. Vendor setup 6 a.m. T/I 145.15 - and 146.925 - Call (812) 479-5741

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT... Kathy, director of Disaster services with the Evansville Chapter of the American Red Cross gave a brief presentation of their major disaster plan. Amateur radio operators are needed to assist with communications at several mass care facilities, as well as around 150 shelters in the Evansville area. Kathy would like to have one person assigned to each post if possible. You may choose one in the vicinity of your home. If a disaster does strike, you would be asked to provide communications at this location as soon as things at your own home are secured. If you are interested in signing

up for this service, Neil has a master list of shelter sites. After reviewing the list, choose one and pass along your information to Neil and he will give Kathy the entire list. If you have questions about specifics, call Kathy at the local Red Cross office.

HAM TESTING INFORMATION:

Saturday, November 19 Evansville Red Cross 8:30 a.m. ARRL/VEC

Monday, December 12 Red Bank Library (Lloyd Expwy. & Red Bank Rd.) W5YI/VEC 7:30 p.m. (after commercial exams) $5.75

COMMERICAL TESTING INFO:

Monday, December 12 Red Bank Library NRE $35. per license 6 p.m. PRE-REGISTERATIONS ONLY! Call (812) 479-5741. FCC filing fees also apply to all licenses EXCEPT the General Class Radiotelephone License (GROL).

LICENSING NEWS... The FCC has apparently caught up with the backlog of paperwork. My recent address change took about 3-4 weeks. Upgrades have been about the same from what I have been hearing. W5YI/VEC recently announced that the FCC will begin accepting all testing information via modem. This means that the FCC will





E.A.R.S.

1506 S. Parker Dr.

Evansville, IN 47714

















simply spot-check each applicant and immediately issue a new license. The electronic information transfer will eliminate mail time from W5YI/VEC and the FCC. Thus, upgrades should take about two weeks. A new service will soon be available where NEWLY LICENSED HAMS may have their application sent electronically by the local Contact VE to the VEC office directly. Thus, the FCC would have the necessary information to process the new license and assign a call within 24 hours. New hams could then obtain the callsign by phone the next business day after the exam. Quite a change from 8-16 weeks isn't it?

THE EARS NEWSLETTER is a monthly production of Electronic Applications Radio Service, Inc., a non-profit organization. Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, editor. Subscriptions are available for a $10 donation to EARS. Donations for the repeaters are also welcome. Send checks, articles, comments or information to EARS 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.