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N.O.R.M.A. NEWSLETTER THE NORTHERN OHIO REPEATER ASSOCIATION, INC. P.O. BOX 562, GATES MILLS, OHIO 44040 October, 2002 NEW MEMBERS: AB8Z, K8NFF
RENEWED MEMBER: K8LP, K8CP, W4EU, KB8ROP, N8DJG, N8KGG,WA8GOI, W8VRJ, N8ISS, W8UMA, W8UDG, KB8PED, K8BLB, N8MZJ, N8ZNE, W8ZB, K8VZX, W8OZM, N8WJW, W8DDD, K8EVB, N8HWE, KG8DN, K8NI, KB8VMV, K8BXY, N8UPZ, KB8DX, W8ETR, WB8ROK, AM8MO, K8XJV, N8MZJ
MEMBERSHIP: by WA8TPP
We want to thank all those that financially supported our efforts on the maintenance of the Newbury machine. Your generous dues contributions, over the normal amount, are greatly appreciated. Welcome new member AB8Z, John from Parma Oh. John is regular check-in on the Monday night net on the Newbury machine. Also welcome K8NFF, Doug. Doug is also a regular on the Newbury and Chardon machines. He also is net control for the Lake County ARA’s Thursday night net on the 147.210 machine at 7:00 p.m. Doug does a great job. For those of you who haven’t made a dues donation recently, the date of your last contribution is on the mailing label.
REPEATER UPDATE: by WA8TPP
As you all know the Newbury repeater on 147.015 MHz has had problems lately. The final in the repeater and the last driver went -- don’t know why but they did. The necessary parts were acquired and the repeater was repaired like new. The amplifier after the repeater was not affected. The antennas seem to be functioning properly so all seems OK. The Chardon machine on 146.940 is working fine. Locally there has been some interference from the Toledo 94 machine but there is not much we can do about that. Propagation is out of our hands. We will do whatever we can to maintain the machines at top working condition. We would appreciate any reports of poor coverage, etc. Thanks for your understanding when the machines are down for maintenance and/or repair. The Newbury repeater site now has standby power (120V) available. If the old electric company fails we have a generator backup available and if that fails we still have our battery operation. Power wise we now seem to have all bases covered. The Chardon machine has had for some time standby generator power so any power failures will not interrupt operation. However, we do not have any battery backup on this machine. We are looking into placing the spare 147.015 MHz Newbury repeater in a standby location ready to operate in case the Newbury machine goes off the air. It would only require sending some control codes to turn the Newbury machine off and turn on the standby repeater. It would be operating at the same power level but the antennas will be much lower. Obviously the coverage will be limited compared to the current operation.
QUIZ & OpEd: by W1HEO & WA8SAJ
On the second page you will find an interesting quiz composed by Dee Logan, W1HEO. Now, no peeking at the answers. Enjoy and thanks to Dee Logan and QCWA for allowing the incorporation of the quiz. Also attached is an article by Jeff Covelli, WA8SAJ, entitled Receiver Performance: Is It Better After 25 Years. Ironically it compares two Kenwood transceivers, a TS520S and a TS570D(G) both of which I own. I agree with his statements about both units and am happy with both of them. If you enjoy the article let Jeff know. Both items were from the QCWA newsletter and reprinted with permission.
NEWSLETTER: by WA8TPP As you surely realize there has not been a newsletter for some time. I have run out of things to write about and have asked repeatedly for some things that you would like to see/hear about. This is a request again for some help in putting this together. I really don’t like just copying things from the ARRL’s weekly letter or QST magazine. I would like this newsletter to be more local in nature. I’d like to keep this a quarterly publication but will extend the intervals to six months if necessary. Also, please let me know if you like having the roster updated and included with the newsletter. I personally think it is nice to have the list available for reference. Please help.
NETS: by WA8TPP
Just as a reminder please check in on the local nets. We need to use the frequencies or we might loose them. It also encourages those running the nets that there is interest in them. A few of the nets are as follows:
Monday, 9:00 PM, 147.015 MHz, Geauga County Net; Tuesday, 7:30 PM , 147.015 MHz, Swap-N-Shop Net; Thursday, 7:00 PM, 147.210 MHz, Lake County ARA Net; Thursday, 9:00 PM, 147.015 MHz, Handi-Ham Net; Daily, 9:00 am, 146.940 MHz, Trivia Net.
Your directors, W8NIE, Norb, Director Emeritus W8OKE, Ed KA8YNO, Ron WA8LOB, Nick N8EQT, Ray WA8TPP, Dick
Information for the newsletter may be sent to: Dick Ingraham, WA8TPP 7366 Crossfield Ave. Mentor, OH 44060-7540 email: reingraham@stratos.net phone: 440.946.4879 |