RADIO ACTIVE Newsletter of the Las Vegas Radio Amateur Club September 2005 Serving Las Vegas since April 1961 ---------------------------- Leadership Message By Howard Mark, K3HM The following is not going to be new or anything you have not heard before. However that does not mean it is inconsequential or trivial, or does not bear repeating. Volunteering and volunteerism have been a part of the amateur radio community's "psyche" well before the inception of the American Radio Relay League in 1914 and the evolution of organized message handling. In the early 1900s amateur radio operators routinely received and acted upon distress signals, SOS transmissions, etc., that were not detected by commercial radio services. These radio enthusiasts were volunteering their time and skills to help others. It is patently obvious that many amateur radio operators have not lost that admirable trait. The question is, "are there enough"? Volunteerism is a powerful tool that works as well as it does because, in most cases, the work to be done is divided among many hands. John Heywood (1497 – 1580) said "many hands make light work". The astute Mr. Heywood's observation is absolutely correct, but needs this corollary: "all the hands needed to make light work should not always have to be the same hands". We live in a world far different today than that of the early 1900s, but Heywood's observation should not go unnoticed – or unheeded. If you are reading this you are probably a member of the Las Vegas Radio Amateur Club (LVRAC). The LVRAC is an organization with just under 200 members. Like all organizations there have to be leaders, facilitators, and supporters willing to help when help is needed – the all-important "hands". Each year a Board of Directors (BoD) has to be elected. Many times existing members of the current Board chose to serve for more than one twelve month term. In the past some BoD members have served for three and four years, and in different Board positions. This dedication is greatly appreciated – but it is far too easy for others to just sit back and "let the other person do it". As a member of the 2006 Election committee I have been asking Club members to step forward and offer to serve by volunteering to run for office. I have spoken to a number of people who say they are just too busy to help – we understand that. But a wise man once said "if you want to get a job done, give it to a busy person" – that means if you're busy you qualify! Our current Board members were also busy but felt they owed the Club some measure of support and ran for office. In this newsletter you will find a short description of each elected BoD position. Please read them and see if you can find a way to help your Club. My phone number and e-mail address are as follows: 73 Howard Mark, K3HM "The Voice of Summerlin" (702) 256-3662 Pager 253-8492 hmark@earthlink.net Duties and responsibilities of Directors and Officers BOARD OF DIRECTORS Section 1. General Powers. The affairs of the corporation shall be managed by its Board of Directors. Directors shall be members of the corporation. Section 2. Number, Tenure, and Qualifications. The number of Directors shall be seven (7) with these seven (7) being President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and three (3) Directors-at-large. One of the Directors-at-large is automatically the Immediate Past-President, unless the Immediate Past President is elected to a board position other than Director-at-large, or if he/she chooses not to serve on the board. Directors shall be elected at the annual meeting, except for one Director-at-large, if accepted by the Immediate Past President. The term of office of each Director shall begin January 1st of the next year and continue through December 31st of that year. Section 3. Regular Meetings. A regular meeting of the Board of Directors shall be held at least every three months. The Board of Directors may provide, by resolution, the time and place for holding additional regular meetings without other notice than such resolution. These additional meetings shall be held at a place designated by the Board. All the Board of Directors meetings shall be open to the membership. Section 4. Special Meetings. Special meetings of the Board of Directors may be called by or at the request of the President or any three (3) Directors, and shall be held at such a place as the Directors may determine. Section 5. Notice. Notice of any special meeting of the Board of Directors shall be given at least five (5) days previously thereto by mail, electronic delivery, or delivered personally to each Director at his/her address as shown by the records of the corporation. Section 6. Quorum. A majority of the Board of Directors shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at any meeting of the Board. Section 7. Board Decisions. The act of the majority of the Directors present at a meeting at which a quorum is present shall be an act of the Board of Directors, unless the act of a greater number is required by law or by these bylaws. Section 8. Vacancies. Any vacancy occurring in the Board of Directors shall be filled by appointment by the Board of Directors. A Director appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve for the unexpired term of his/her predecessor in office. Section 9. Compensation. Directors shall not receive any salaries for their services as director. As a further note, the board of directors, which is composed of the officers and directors, meet once a month, usually on the 4th Tuesday to conduct the business of the directing the club affairs. Sometimes this is a good place to get experience, help give the club direction and follow up by becoming a club officer. Sometimes those that have served as club officers for several years become a director to continue serving the club. What ever your situation, please plan to help the club by serving. OFFICERS Section 1. Officers. The officers of the corporation shall be a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and elected directors. Section 2. Powers and Duties. The power and duties of the corporation's officers and board members are as follows: a. The President - The President shall preside over all meetings of the corporation and conduct them in accordance with the corporate Bylaws. He/She shall enforce due observation of all Bylaws; decide all questions of order; sign all official documents adopted by the corporation; perform all other duties pertaining to the office of President. b. The Vice-President - The Vice-President shall assume all the duties of the President in his/her absence or, if for any reason, the President is incapacitated and incapable of carrying out the duties of office. In addition, he/she shall plan and organize programs for the monthly meetings, organize other club activities, advance club interest and activities as approved by the club. c. The Secretary - The Secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings of all meetings, a file of all correspondence pertaining to the office, carry on all correspondence and read communications at each meeting. He/She shall maintain a historical file for the organization including photographs and news clippings of interest to the organization. At the expiration of his/her term he/she will turn over all items belonging to the corporation to his/her successor. d. The Treasurer - The Treasurer shall receive and receipt all monies paid to the corporation and deposit them in a depository of good standing, keep a roll of members based on dues receipts, and process membership applications. Payments must be approved by the board of directors. He/She shall promptly pay all properly approved obligations. Upon request from the Board he/she shall submit an itemized statement of disbursements and receipts and reconciliation of the bank account. At the end of his/her term, he/she shall turn over everything in his/her possession belonging to the corporation to his/her successor. e. All Board members shall attend all meetings and actively participate in the decision-making process and agree to take on special projects or chair committees as requested by the membership. Section 3. Election and Term of Office. Candidates for President and Vice-President shall have been a member of the corporation for at least twelve (12) months preceding the election for which they are running. All candidates must agree to appear on the ballot and, if elected, accept by the start of their term the responsibilities of the position as outlined in these bylaws. Full members shall cast his/her vote by secret ballot in person, by mail or delivered in a sealed envelope. Elected officers shall be those full members receiving the highest number of votes cast for the office they seek. Section 4. Removal. Any elected officer or board appointee may be removed by a three fourths (3/4) vote of the Full members of the corporation. Section 5. Vacancies. A vacancy in any office, for any reason, must be filled by appointment by the Board of Directors for the unexpired portion of the term. ---------------------------- Hurricane Katrina - Communications was the biggest failure. Are you ready? ---------------------------- Good News! By Tom Petrakis KE4ULL Lou Meiss WA6EPD, Jamie Gorr N3TOY and I spent Saturday morning at my home turning-up and getting the UHF repeater system ready for its reinstallation on the Trop. Lou completed a tune-up of the Micro Repeater and Link Controller. As you may remember, after being notified that we were invited back to the Trop, we replaced the antennas, lightning suppression systems, and placed a new cabinet back up on top. The plan now calls for us to move the repeater and other radios back to the Trop next Saturday morning, then both of our systems will be up and running. Everything was tested, including the autopatch system and everything worked fine! ---------------------------- Secretary's Report By Sandy Nelson, KD7WYD Las Vegas Radio Amateur Club, General Meeting, August 9, 2005 – 7:00 pm Welcome – Bob, KD7UHG Intros: Visitors 5 – Members 36 Reports: Secretary – Sandy KD7WYD – Members approved the July minutes from newsletter. Treasurer – Art K7ZE – Members approved the July report from newsletter. Repeater Committee – Butch WA0VJR Chairman, Bill WB0KSW Tech Lead, Pat N7QE Trustee, Tom KE4ULL: Nothing new to report. Newsletter Editor – Gary KK7LV: Absent Librarian – Mike, KM1KE: He's putting together a current inventory and will add it to the website as soon as possible. Communications Trailer Manager – Vern K0EGA: Gary, WA4PDM, donated a complete weather station for the trailer. PIO – Frank KL7IPV: Cal, KE6OEH, was appointed ARES/RACES Assistant Emergency Coordinator for Salvation Army. A photo will be in QST next month. NAB picture was in QST this month. Monthly meeting notices are now appearing in the Review Journal. Old Business: Sully KC6GLD and Dave WD6ZZY: Both absent. Silent Key Program - Bob Nelson KD7UHG: Bill Marple estate: Jason, KC0ERG, is taking the pictures and putting the items on eBay. New Business: Runaway with Cirque du Soleil, Sep 5 – Jason, KC0ERG: This is a 5K fun run, 10 volunteers needed to assist. Please let Jason know if you can help. Silver State Gold Rush, Sep 18 – Charlie: Let him know if you would like to volunteer. (Note: This has been cancelled due to the Mormon cricket invasion.) Silver State Classic, Sep 25 – Charlie: Let him know if you would like to volunteer. Bob, K7RJM, spoke on it in Charlie's absence. Speedway Fundraiser, Sep 23 & 24th – We still need a champion for this event. Frank Drake, KL7IPV, volunteered to make phone calls to the membership to enlist help. (Note: He has done a remarkable job!) MS150 Bike Tour, Nov 5 & 6 – Champion: Joe, N7XSD. Please start thinking about volunteering for this event. Silverman Triathlon, Nov 13 – Keith Lee, N0LSL has agreed to Champion this new event. We have been asked to assist with communications. This will require a large number of volunteers. Keith brought a guest from the event, Frank Lowry the race director. This will be the longest, toughest triathlon in the world. Any proceeds will go to the children's charity: Project Sunshine. They are hoping for 45 communications volunteers: 25 aid stations, 10 race coordinators, and 10 floaters. Elections, November Meeting – Champion: Howard, K3HM. Let Howard know if you are interested in running for office ASAP. Las Vegas Marathon, Dec 4 – Champion: Howard, K3HM. Start thinking on this – many volunteers will be needed. The marathon will run from Mandalay Bay down the Strip, through Fremont Street, and back to Mandalay Bay. Announcements: Vern, K0EGA: The noise issue with the 147.180 machine has been turned over to Bearcom by Andy at Clark County. The decision has been made to change the ARES/RACES frequency to 147.015 and move the 147.180 frequency to the new repeater on Spirit Mountain. The change should take place in mid-August. Frank, KL7IPV: The Pacificon Hamfest will be in San Ramon, CA on Oct 13 & 14th this year. He is planning to drive over if anyone wants to ride along. Fred, K9GAJ: The ARRL website has an article on the Utah Hamfest. Some of our local hams attended the event and provided assistance when there was a medical emergency. Reminders: Bob: The Club receives commissions for new ARRL memberships and renewals. Please pay through the club! Recycling of inkjet and laser cartridges –Pick up envelopes from Charlie or Richard AB7ZI for smaller cartridges, bring your laser cartridges to the monthly meetings. ARES/RACES – Vern, K0EGA: Next meetings are Saturday, October 1 & Saturday, November 19. Operation Loaded Dice, Oct 6 & 7th. This is a City of Las Vegas night exercise. Raffle Prizes – Tom, KE4ULL: (Held early so Tom could make it to another engagement.) AES $20.00 Gift Certificate – Bob, K7RJM Weather Radio – Fred, KB2CT Repeater Directory – Vern, K0EGA LVRAC Trivet – Dave, AB8TN 50' Coax – John, N7LWG AES $20.00 Gift Certificate – Joe, WH6CYB 50' Coax – Jason, KC0ERG LVRAC Mug – Bob, K7RJM LVRAC Trivet – Eric, KE7CCE Weather Radio – Howard, K3HM (Break & Refreshments) Program – AES – Julio: He brought in several items including the newest Garman TS330 GPS, the ICOM 1.2, the Yaesu VX160 and VX6, and the newest Uniden 246 Handheld Scanner. AES also donated 2- $20.00 gift certificates for our raffle. Great program! Fun to watch you all drool over the toys! Adjourned: 9:00PM Secretaries Note: The vest order has come in! They will be available for pick up at the next meeting. If you were a recipient of one of the 'lesser' quality vests, (with the Velcro closing and no pockets), please bring your vest to the next meeting and we will exchange it! Those still wanting to order a vest may now do so through Custom Clothiers. The link is on the club website. Thanks! ---------------------------- Hurricane Katrina – Could something this bad happen here? What would you do? ---------------------------- Treasurer's Report By Art Sheldon, K7ZE Beginning Balance $14,584.74 Dues $ 40.00 Raffle $ 107.00 Vest $ 70.00 ARRL Renewals $ 78.00 Total Deposits $ 295.00 Subtotal $14,879.74 Expenses Sprint $ 29.51 August AES $ 161.86 Raffle Prizes Field Day $ 183.99 Supplies Refreshments $ 39.11 August Meeting ARRL $ 111.00 3 Renewals Total Expense: $ 525.47 Ending Balance $14,354.27 ---------------------------- Silent Key By Clayton Hughes KB7PHB Francis Bertrum Hughes WB7AMR, my grandfather, became a Silent Key on the evening of 28 August 2005 in Salt Lake City Utah. Bert had been an amateur operator since he first received his license in B.C., Canada as VE5IA on 13 May 1933. He also received the "Old Timers" award in 1976 for more than 20 years of amateur service. Bert was a member of the Utah Amateur radio club where he served in many respects including net control operator where I gained much of my love for the hobby in watching for many hours as he would communicate with people all over the world. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends. ---------------------------- Coming Events September 23-24 Speedway Fundraiser September 25 Silver State Classic Challenge (Road Race) October 1 ARES/RACES Meeting October 6 – 7 Operation Loaded Dice (Emergency Exercise) November 5 – 6 MS150 Bike Tour – Las Vegas Motor Speedway to Mesquite November 13 Silverman Triathlon November 19 ARES/RACES Meeting December 2 LVRAC Holiday Party December 4 Las Vegas Marathon ---------------------------- Silverman Triathlon We have been asked to support the Silverman Triathlon at Lake Mead National Park. The event is scheduled for November 13, 2005 starting at 7:00 AM and ending at 5:30PM with a night run. The event features a 2.4 mile swim in Lake Mead, a 112 mile ride with over 9,200 feet of elevation gain and a 26.2 mile run. They will be using State route 147 and 167 as well as the lake. Cell phones do not work in that area or on the lake. They are asking for radio operators to be stationed at the 3 aid stations which will be 10 miles apart along the run route and on five Coast Guard Auxiliary boats and the Desert Princess which will be stationed in the water near the course. We are looking at an event of about 10 hours in duration. This sounds like a fun event, but we need your help! Keith Lee N0LSL will be talking more about this at the next meting. Be ready to lend your support! ---------------------------- ARES / RACES By Charlie Kunz, AA5QJ Vern Garman K0EGA attended the final planning meeting for Operation Loaded Dice. The multi- jurisdictional exercise, involving roughly 1,000 emergency workers and volunteers, will simulate simultaneous bombings at The Galleria at Sunset and Meadows malls. An unspecified site in Mesquite also will host some sort of staged attack. The drill will be from 11 p.m. Oct. 6 to 5 a.m. Oct. 7. ARES/RACES will be supporting several EOCs, hospitals, the Red Cross, CERT teams, and the Medical Reserve Corps. This will also be our annual Simulated Emergency Test (SET). Dan Starr AA7I, AEC, attended the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) meeting on Aug 17. ---------------------------- 2005 Exam Schedule License examinations are given on the second Saturday of each month. There are a couple of evening sessions at a different location. Alternate locations are listed also. The black dates are daytime events. The orange dates are evening test sessions. The red dates are test sessions held in Pahrump. The green dates are test sessions in Overton. Day Time Test Sessions at: All Saints Episcopal Church 4201 W. Washington Ave. Between Decatur and Valley View Evening Test Sessions at: Clark County Government Center, Training Rm 3 500 S. Grand Central Pkwy. Southeast of the spaghetti bowl (I-15 & 95) Pahrump location is held at the Masonic Lodge Overton see the map at www.lvhamtest.com 479 Rabee Court, 2:00 PM Time is 12:00 Noon Contact Ulla Hess, K6UDK at 702-397-2071 Please visit www.lvhamtest.com for updates, maps and further information. $14.00 Exam Fee Proper Identification, prefer a picture ID with your signature. Normally applicants provide a drivers license or student ID. Social Security Number (SSN) or Taxpayer ID number (TIN) if you are not eligible for an SSN. If you presently have an Amateur Radio License, we will need the original plus a photocopy. If you have a CSCE, we must see the original plus a photocopy. Pen and a pencil. You may bring a calculator as long as the memory can be "flushed" before you take the exam. More dates will be added as we receive them. September10 October 8 October 28 November 12 December 10 ---------------------------- Photo Gallery Tom KE4ULL, Lou WA6EPD and Jamie N3TOY aligning the Tropicana UHF Repeater in preparation for its reinstallation this coming weekend! ---------------------------- LVRAC Contact Information President Charlie Kunz, AA5QJ aa5qj@arrl.net 334-1196 Vice President Bob Nelson, KD7UHG bobnelsonlv@aol.com 228-2216 Secretary Sandy Nelson, KD7WYD snelson@newgen.com 228-2216 Treasurer Art Sheldon, K7ZE k7ze@arrl.net 255-1074 Director Clifford Brink, W9CRB w9crb@cox.net 363-3031 Director Butch Bussen, WAΨVJR butchb@shellworld.net 255-4388 Director Richard Stage, AB7ZI rvstage@yahoo.com 247-9424 Newsletter Editor Gary Hartman, KK7LV kk7lv@arrl.net 564-3792 Trustee Pat O'Gara, N7QE patogara@cox.net 804-6629 Public Information Frank Drake, KL7IPV kl7ipv@aol.com 838-3452 Librarian Mike Stratton, KM1KE km1ke@arrl.net 612-5696 Webmasters Jamie Gorr, N3TOY n3toy@yahoo.com 233-2479 Charlie Kunz, AA5QJ aa5qj@arrl.net 334-1196 Net Controllers Howard Mark, K3HM hmark@earthlink.net 256-3662 Frank Drake, KL7IPV kl7ipv@aol.com 838-3452 Bob Mathewson K7RJM k7rjm@yahoo.com 564-6263 Vacant ----------------------------------- LAS VEGAS RADIO AMATEUR CLUB P.O. Box 27342 Las Vegas, Nevada 89126 Membership Application Please Print Legibly NEW MEMBER (Please attach copy of license) RENEWAL UPDATE INFORMATION Name_______________________________________________ApplicationDate ____/______/_______ M D YR Call Sign _______________ License Class ______________ Expiration Date ____/______/______ Address _______________________________ City ___________________ State _____ Zip ______ Home Telephone (____)___________________ Work Telephone (____)___________________ Cellular/Pager (____)______________________ E-mail: ________________________________ Family Membership Name _____________ Call _______________ License Class __________ Name _____________ Call _______________ License Class __________ Name _____________ Call _______________ License Class __________ ARRL Member Signature ___________________________________ Your preference in receiving the monthly club newsletter - Club Web Page w/email notification The club operates on a calendar year (January through December) with dues presently at $20 per year. Dues are the same for an individual or family membership. Please send check or money order payable to the Las Vegas Radio Amateur Club (or LVRAC) and mail to the club's post office box listed in the heading of this application or pay by PayPal at www.lvrac.or Las Vegas Radio Amateur Club P.O. Box 27342 Las Vegas, NV 89126 Internet: http://www.lvrac.org/ Radio: 146.940 MHZ (K7UGE repeater) 448.500 MHz (K7UGE repeater) 146.730 MHz (QST machine) Las Vegas Radio Amateur Club September 2005