IMARS Meeting Notes – 20 January 2006
LAST MEETING AT STATION 43
Please check out our web site at:
http://www.imarsflorida.com
Hi All,
Today was a momentous one for IMARS, a sad day in many respects. The club has met at Volusia County Fire Station 43 now for, as near as I can tell, 16 years! It was a great meeting place and very comfortable for us. About six months ago Volusia County began to man the station 24 hours a day. We then experienced a rearrangement of the furniture which upset us a little but we made the adjustment. We were aware that the fire station was primarily for the firemen and we were kind of walking on eggshells and hoping there wouldn't be any changes that would make it impossible for us to continue meeting there.
After last weeks meeting (Jan 23rd) I was the last to leave. After the everyone else left two of the firemen came in and I heard them discussing a problem they were having. It seems that some of the guys would want to stay up, watching TV or playing games, while another wanted to turn in. Their lockers were located out in the truck garage and one guy mentioned that the diesel fumes were making his clothes smell like diesel fuel. They thought they could solve both problems at the same time if they brought the lockers into the meeting room and arranged them to form a room divider. They asked if that would cause us a problem. I said that, yes, it would, but that it was their fire station and we would accept whatever they decided to do.
I intended to check on the place on Wednesday but it wasn't until Sunday afternoon that I finally made it by there. My worst fears were confirmed. I was on my way to Sanford but thought I should try to give the rest of the club a heads up. I picked up my cellphone and realized that I didn't have anyone's number! When I got to Providence I stopped in the shopping center and searched through my day planner. I used to carry the roster but it had somehow gotten lost. After searching my brain for a minute or two I thought of a solution. I called my Granddaughter in Charlotte, NC. I knew she would not be very far from her computer. Sure enough, she was online when she answered the phone. I asked her to go to the IMARS web site and had her read off several phone numbers. Success! Bill N4ZZO answered and I was able to have him start the process of finding a new meeting place. He called Bud NØIA who, we knew, was working with the DeBary Volunteer Coordinator. We decided to go ahead with the meeting at Station 43 this time and discuss our options.
Bud was able to get an answer from Alan Williamson, the DeBary Volunteer Coordinator by meeting time and we are invited to meet at the DeBary EOC every Monday. I went to the DeBary City Hall and met with Mr. Williamson after our meeting. Alan was very cordial and wholeheartedly invited us to meet there. I looked the place over and it will be ideal as a meeting place. Alan even offered to make coffee. I thanked him but said that Joel would arrive with the club coffee pot, if that was OK, and make the coffee. Alan opens the EOC at 8:30 a.m. So Joel will have access about as early as he did at the fire house. At first it will be a little strange but I think we will be very happy at our new home.
There are a few issues we will have to deal with: 1) most important, it IS the EOC so, when there is a crisis the place will be manned by the emergency coordinators. At that time we will have to find another place to meet. Perhaps we would be able to move to the big room where the city coucil meets. Several club members have offered their homes so, if we have to move on short notice, we can meet at Hank's place, or mine or at Bob Waterson's (KC4LXW.) 2) When Monday is a holiday the place is not open. Alan said he could come and open for us anyhow. That's great but I expect there may be a time when he cannot do that. I told him that if he could give us as much warning as possible we could make other arrangements.
Those are the only to problems I see right now. Being a pessimist however, I am a little anxious that some city official may decide, at some time in the future, that letting us meet there is not the right thing to do. We should be thinking about where we would move if that should happen.
I stopped at the Deltona Community Center today and spoke with the man in charge. I told him that we were a community service organization. He wasn't impressed ;-) He said that the city had as many groups meeting as they had room for. He was friendly but firm in stating that any group meeting in any Deltona spaces would have to pay $15 / hour for the space. He suggested that a church might be an alternative. Please be on the lookout for a fall back position, lets not wait until something happens to start.
So, I'll see you all at the DeBary City Hall next Monday morning. I will send Joel a map and post some pictures of the place so you will all find it without any problem. Remembering Joe's (N9ZGU) question I measured the distance from the intersection of Highbanks and US 17/92 to Colomba Road where the City Hall is. It is 0.5 miles. The landmark for your turn onto Colomba Rd is the flags at the fire or police station on the east side and the truck sales lot that Bill (N4ZZO) mentioned, on the west side of 17/92. After you turn east the City Hall is about ½ block on your left. Go just beyond the building and turn in to the large parking lot just east of the building. There is a door at the far end (north) of the building but you can enter through the large glass front doors, bear right past the dias in the main meeting room and up 4 steps into Alan's office. The door to the EOC is on your left, but you'll smell the coffee by then ;-)
Russ, (W4ZIP) suggested that we write a letter to the fire chief expressing our thanks for the many years of accommodation that they have shown the club. Russ agreed to compose the letter. We don't want to burn any bridges.
One of the things that occurs to me is the Christmas party. The setting at the fire station is so beautiful that we might want to consider asking to use the site for our party. We could also have the party in a local park. The parking lot beside the City Hall doesn't look like a good choice ;-)
I completely forgot to thank Jean Maxwell. Last week she gave me two coupons for donuts at the local Dunkin' Donuts shop. I went by there and looked over the situation. Unfortunately they want more for ½ dozen donuts than we pay for a full dozen at Wal-Mart. With the coupon I could get a dozen donuts for $4.99. We're currently paying $3.96 a dozen at Wal-Mart. If you all think the better quality donuts at Dunkin' Donuts would be worth the extra cost let's consider it. After the coupons run out (I've got two more for a total of 4) we would be at about $10 / dozen, still cheaper than we were paying at the shop in DeBary. That reminds me to ask whether anyone would like me to select a certain kind of pastry? I just pick up one of as many different kinds as look good at the moment. I seldom eat them myself so let me know what you like.
73 / 88
See ya on Monday ;-)
Jerry KØJH
PHOTOS OF THE LAST MEETING AND OF THE NEW MEETING PLACE
Link starts here => http://www.photoworks.com/share/shareLanding.jsp?shareCode=A3291F1C013&cb=PW <== Link ends here
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Thursday, January 12, 2006
2006 01 09 Meeting Notes
VISIT JOEL’S IMARS WEB SITE, he works hard to keep it updated and looking very professional, do him the courtesy of taking a look. Send him any corrections but especially additions. We need more personal stories, write a short summary of your life, we’re all interested in the varied background of our members. IMARS is a VERY talented group, let’s make the most of it. SHARE
http://home.iag.net/~gretencort/imars/
Hi guys and gals,
I’m late with this, as usual, plug in the routine excuses.
Monday was a beautiful day. My first day back after the Christmas Holiday. Margot and I had a wonderful time in Concord, NC (just north of Charlotte) with both daughters and their families. Although my grandson did not make it he sent a video tape and I could see my 3 year old great granddaughter for the first time. What a little beauty and looks just like two of my sisters when they were 3. (Why the first time? It’s a long story, you don’t want to hear it!)
I’ll start with a little grousing. I was amazed to find NO DONUTS available on Monday. Wal-Mart and, I believe Publix, sells a dozen donuts for $4.00. Surely SOMEONE could have fronted the $4.00 to be sure the other members had the donuts they expect. Refer to my “Theory of Shakers and Movers,” this is EXACTLY what I was talking about. To have a successful organization you have to ADD something to the mix, not just come by and take advantage of what others have provided. Joey has been a rock in IMARS for a long time, what happens when he can no longer handle the coffee pot every week? Who will step up? If nobody does IMARS will probably cease to exist. It that what YOU want to see happen? I certainly don’t, I very much enjoy the meetings, this is a unique club but you all have to support it if it is to continue to survive. (STEPPING DOWN FROM THE SOAPBOX, HOLD YOUR APLAUSE PLEASE ;-)
Aside from that it was a good meeting. Walt and Jean brought Walt’s son Bill Maxwell of DeLand. Bill is W2WM (Wm Maxwell?) and he is former 5A4TY. He has recently retired and we can expect him to be a regular I think. He will make a presentation to let us know about his life at a future meeting.
Bud NØIA brought us up to date on all of the local EOC activity. He mentioned that there is a new paid volunteer coordinator at DeBary, Allen Williamson. Perhaps Allen will come and talk to us about what he sees as the future for the DeBary EOC.
We had no speaker but we had a good collection of jokes and all had a good therapeutic laugh. Here is how I remember them:
Walt told us about the woman who took her little boy to the doctor. As they were in the waiting room a pregnant woman came in. The little boy said to his mother “why is she so fat?” The mother replied that the woman had a baby in her stomach. The little boy was amazed. He turned to the pregnant woman and said “My Mama says you have a baby in your stomach!” “Yes, it’s true” said the woman. “Is it a GOOD baby?” asked the little boy. “Yes,” replied the pregnant woman, “it is a VERY good baby.” “Well then,” asked the little boy “why did you EAT IT?”
Tom Golding then told about Sean O’Grady who went to confession. He entered the confessional and said to the Priest, as is routine in the Catholic religion, “Bless me Father for I have sinned.” “What have you done?” asked the Priest. “I have been very bad,” replied O’Grady, “I have had sex with a girl.” “Was it Marie O’Shannahan?” asked the Priest. “I cannot reveal her name,” replied O’Grady. “Was it Delores O’Shonnesy?” asked the Priest. “No Father, I cannot tell you her name,” insisted O’Grady. “Well son, was it Megan O’Roarke?” asked the Priest. “I cannot tell you,” replied O’Grady. “Very well son, your penance is that you must say 10 Hail Marys every day and you cannot come back to church for three weeks.” Said the Priest, dismissing O’Grady.
When Sean came out of the confessional his buddy asked him how he had made out. “Great,” said Sean, “I don’t have to come to church for three weeks and I got three new leads.”
Someone else told about the guy who went into a public restroom and occupied a stall. He was sitting and thinking when the guy in the next stall said “Hey, what are you doing?” He thought it was very strange to be addressed while in this position but pleasantly replied “I’m just taking care of business.” “Is everything alright.” Asked the voice from the other stall. “Yes, everything of fine.” Was the reply. “Can I come over?” aked the voice from the other stall. “Certainly NOT!” he replied. Then the other voice said “I’ll have to hang up now, some idiot in the next stall keeps answering everything I say to you, I’ll call you back later.”
Then we heard from Jean Maxwell. This guy was flying and heard a female voice on the intercom welcoming everyone to the flight. At the end of the announcement she said “This is your Captain Judith Campbell, I hope you have a good flight.” The guy was surprised and didn’t quite believe his ears. “Hey,” he called to a passing flight attendant, “did I hear right, is there a woman Captain in the cockpit?” “Yes there is,” replied the foxy stewardess, “and the First Officer is a woman and all of the flight attendants are women . . . and by the way, it is no longer called the cockpit, now it is called the BOX OFFICE.”
Please keep your eyes and ears open for interesting people you could invite to speak to our group. There are no programs scheduled at any time in the future, we need your help to find speakers or other activities.
Margot was cleaning up in the garage and came across a box of VERY old pictures. I scanned some of them and put them up in a photo album on PhotoWorks. Here is the link:
Link starts here => http://www.photoworks.com/share/shareLanding.jsp?shareCode=A1DC9F2BFD9&cb=PW <== Link ends here
There are some photos showing the Air Farce MARS station in the barracks in Bremerhaven in 1957. I didn’t have my license but hung out over there while I was waiting for my “CONDITIONAL” license to arrive and tried to learn something. Another picture shows the homebrew radio station a guy built into a table in his room. I was one of the disc jockeys. On Easter Eve I stayed up the whole night, fending off invitations from Margot’s family. I played all kinds of music and said all kinds of clever things. I knew I was going to be a big hit with the guys at work who were listening. At the mess hall in the morning, red eyed and about to drop from exhaustion, I asked them what they thought of the programming I had provided. They informed me that the signal disappeared at 2200 (10 p.m.) and the rest of the time was wasted!
I put in a picture of Margot and I at our wedding reception in 1958. We’ll be married 50 years in 2008 and it looks like we may live to see it! Sad to see how much we’ve changed though.
Another picture shows my Moroccan license CN8IF, my QSL card and a photo of me operating CW from the Navy’s club station on the base at Kenitra (formerly Port Layhatey.) I had learned to copy code on a “mill” so I carried my old Olympus typewriter to the station every time I wanted to operate there. That’s the club that had the Telerex beam on the top of an old broadcast tower. Nobody spoke up when they called for volunteers to climb the tower and fix the antenna. I put up my hand although I had never climbed higher than a hay mow in my life and knew nothing about a safety belt. I showed up on Saturday morning in tennis shoes and went to the top of the tower, jamming my feet between the tower legs and the diagonal cross pieces. My feet were already sore when I reached the top. When I got above the guy wires the top of the tower was moving around in the wind. I was a little frightened but tried not to let on. When I finally got to the top I put my belt around the tower but didn’t trust it and also held on with one hand. It became apparent that I could not do the work with one hand so I made myself let go and rely on the belt. I leaned straight back, reached up and back with both arms and when I looked up the clouds were moving across the top of the tower. I immediately knew the tower was falling and I panicked! I dropped my tools and grabbed onto the tower with both arms as tight as I could (as if that would save me if the tower was falling!) As it turned out it was an optical illusion and after a while I realized that and sheepishly put my head up and looked around. My tools were all on the ground so I had to climb all the way back down, gather my tools, find a messenger line, and go back up the tower. I fixed the antenna so I guess that’s why nobody ever mentioned my panic attack and I was then accepted into the club and made welcome to operate the equipment.
We were at the peak of the sunspot cycle in 1958 and whenever I signed on as CN8IF I had a deep pileup. I remember one of the phone guys having a round table on 10 meters which included all continents. Ahh, the good old days.
Although I could tune and operate the Collins station on base (75A3 and 32A2?) I bought a Heathkit DX-35 from some guy and acquired an (Hallicrafters?) SX-38E cheapy receiver. I never could get that rig to work and finally burned up the transmitter trying, I’m sure, to tune it into a bad wire antenna. How I longed for the Hammarlund SP-600 I used at work. That was, of course, far out of reach for a 3rd class petty officer. Many years later, on Okinawa (KR6BQ) a departing Air Farce officer offered to trade me my National NC-300 (remember the ham’s “Dream Receiver”) which I was still paying for on the installment plan, for a Collins R-390! He was going home and was afraid they would bust him for stealing it. I didn’t say anything, just pulled the plug on the NC-300 and carried it out to his car. Margot about had a fit when she saw me lug that R-390 back into the house. To her it was an ugly boat anchor, to me it was the best receiver that had ever been constructed! The Navy retired their frequency measuring equipment when that receiver (commissioned by the Army Signal Corps) became available. That receiver was absolutely magnificent, trouble is it had 33 tubes and it became prohibitively expensive to maintain so I reluctantly sold it at the same time I got rid of all my teletype gear. I said I didn’t want anything with tubes or gears. The computer had arrived and so who needed a big noisy teletype machine any more?
The last picture is of me as DJ at the AFRTS broadcast station WNAA where I had two programs a day, strictly volunteer without any pay. I was trying to experience any thing that had anything to do with radio.
December 9, 2005 (CNN)
While interviewing an anonymous US Special Forces soldier on his sniper skills, a Reuters News agent asked the soldier what he felt when shooting members of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. The soldier shrugged and replied, "Recoil."
73 88
See ya Monday
Jerry KØJH
Check out http://www.jerryhale.com it’s very outdated, the pool is now beautiful. I’ll try to get the site updated soon.
http://home.iag.net/~gretencort/imars/
Hi guys and gals,
I’m late with this, as usual, plug in the routine excuses.
Monday was a beautiful day. My first day back after the Christmas Holiday. Margot and I had a wonderful time in Concord, NC (just north of Charlotte) with both daughters and their families. Although my grandson did not make it he sent a video tape and I could see my 3 year old great granddaughter for the first time. What a little beauty and looks just like two of my sisters when they were 3. (Why the first time? It’s a long story, you don’t want to hear it!)
I’ll start with a little grousing. I was amazed to find NO DONUTS available on Monday. Wal-Mart and, I believe Publix, sells a dozen donuts for $4.00. Surely SOMEONE could have fronted the $4.00 to be sure the other members had the donuts they expect. Refer to my “Theory of Shakers and Movers,” this is EXACTLY what I was talking about. To have a successful organization you have to ADD something to the mix, not just come by and take advantage of what others have provided. Joey has been a rock in IMARS for a long time, what happens when he can no longer handle the coffee pot every week? Who will step up? If nobody does IMARS will probably cease to exist. It that what YOU want to see happen? I certainly don’t, I very much enjoy the meetings, this is a unique club but you all have to support it if it is to continue to survive. (STEPPING DOWN FROM THE SOAPBOX, HOLD YOUR APLAUSE PLEASE ;-)
Aside from that it was a good meeting. Walt and Jean brought Walt’s son Bill Maxwell of DeLand. Bill is W2WM (Wm Maxwell?) and he is former 5A4TY. He has recently retired and we can expect him to be a regular I think. He will make a presentation to let us know about his life at a future meeting.
Bud NØIA brought us up to date on all of the local EOC activity. He mentioned that there is a new paid volunteer coordinator at DeBary, Allen Williamson. Perhaps Allen will come and talk to us about what he sees as the future for the DeBary EOC.
We had no speaker but we had a good collection of jokes and all had a good therapeutic laugh. Here is how I remember them:
Walt told us about the woman who took her little boy to the doctor. As they were in the waiting room a pregnant woman came in. The little boy said to his mother “why is she so fat?” The mother replied that the woman had a baby in her stomach. The little boy was amazed. He turned to the pregnant woman and said “My Mama says you have a baby in your stomach!” “Yes, it’s true” said the woman. “Is it a GOOD baby?” asked the little boy. “Yes,” replied the pregnant woman, “it is a VERY good baby.” “Well then,” asked the little boy “why did you EAT IT?”
Tom Golding then told about Sean O’Grady who went to confession. He entered the confessional and said to the Priest, as is routine in the Catholic religion, “Bless me Father for I have sinned.” “What have you done?” asked the Priest. “I have been very bad,” replied O’Grady, “I have had sex with a girl.” “Was it Marie O’Shannahan?” asked the Priest. “I cannot reveal her name,” replied O’Grady. “Was it Delores O’Shonnesy?” asked the Priest. “No Father, I cannot tell you her name,” insisted O’Grady. “Well son, was it Megan O’Roarke?” asked the Priest. “I cannot tell you,” replied O’Grady. “Very well son, your penance is that you must say 10 Hail Marys every day and you cannot come back to church for three weeks.” Said the Priest, dismissing O’Grady.
When Sean came out of the confessional his buddy asked him how he had made out. “Great,” said Sean, “I don’t have to come to church for three weeks and I got three new leads.”
Someone else told about the guy who went into a public restroom and occupied a stall. He was sitting and thinking when the guy in the next stall said “Hey, what are you doing?” He thought it was very strange to be addressed while in this position but pleasantly replied “I’m just taking care of business.” “Is everything alright.” Asked the voice from the other stall. “Yes, everything of fine.” Was the reply. “Can I come over?” aked the voice from the other stall. “Certainly NOT!” he replied. Then the other voice said “I’ll have to hang up now, some idiot in the next stall keeps answering everything I say to you, I’ll call you back later.”
Then we heard from Jean Maxwell. This guy was flying and heard a female voice on the intercom welcoming everyone to the flight. At the end of the announcement she said “This is your Captain Judith Campbell, I hope you have a good flight.” The guy was surprised and didn’t quite believe his ears. “Hey,” he called to a passing flight attendant, “did I hear right, is there a woman Captain in the cockpit?” “Yes there is,” replied the foxy stewardess, “and the First Officer is a woman and all of the flight attendants are women . . . and by the way, it is no longer called the cockpit, now it is called the BOX OFFICE.”
Please keep your eyes and ears open for interesting people you could invite to speak to our group. There are no programs scheduled at any time in the future, we need your help to find speakers or other activities.
Margot was cleaning up in the garage and came across a box of VERY old pictures. I scanned some of them and put them up in a photo album on PhotoWorks. Here is the link:
Link starts here => http://www.photoworks.com/share/shareLanding.jsp?shareCode=A1DC9F2BFD9&cb=PW <== Link ends here
There are some photos showing the Air Farce MARS station in the barracks in Bremerhaven in 1957. I didn’t have my license but hung out over there while I was waiting for my “CONDITIONAL” license to arrive and tried to learn something. Another picture shows the homebrew radio station a guy built into a table in his room. I was one of the disc jockeys. On Easter Eve I stayed up the whole night, fending off invitations from Margot’s family. I played all kinds of music and said all kinds of clever things. I knew I was going to be a big hit with the guys at work who were listening. At the mess hall in the morning, red eyed and about to drop from exhaustion, I asked them what they thought of the programming I had provided. They informed me that the signal disappeared at 2200 (10 p.m.) and the rest of the time was wasted!
I put in a picture of Margot and I at our wedding reception in 1958. We’ll be married 50 years in 2008 and it looks like we may live to see it! Sad to see how much we’ve changed though.
Another picture shows my Moroccan license CN8IF, my QSL card and a photo of me operating CW from the Navy’s club station on the base at Kenitra (formerly Port Layhatey.) I had learned to copy code on a “mill” so I carried my old Olympus typewriter to the station every time I wanted to operate there. That’s the club that had the Telerex beam on the top of an old broadcast tower. Nobody spoke up when they called for volunteers to climb the tower and fix the antenna. I put up my hand although I had never climbed higher than a hay mow in my life and knew nothing about a safety belt. I showed up on Saturday morning in tennis shoes and went to the top of the tower, jamming my feet between the tower legs and the diagonal cross pieces. My feet were already sore when I reached the top. When I got above the guy wires the top of the tower was moving around in the wind. I was a little frightened but tried not to let on. When I finally got to the top I put my belt around the tower but didn’t trust it and also held on with one hand. It became apparent that I could not do the work with one hand so I made myself let go and rely on the belt. I leaned straight back, reached up and back with both arms and when I looked up the clouds were moving across the top of the tower. I immediately knew the tower was falling and I panicked! I dropped my tools and grabbed onto the tower with both arms as tight as I could (as if that would save me if the tower was falling!) As it turned out it was an optical illusion and after a while I realized that and sheepishly put my head up and looked around. My tools were all on the ground so I had to climb all the way back down, gather my tools, find a messenger line, and go back up the tower. I fixed the antenna so I guess that’s why nobody ever mentioned my panic attack and I was then accepted into the club and made welcome to operate the equipment.
We were at the peak of the sunspot cycle in 1958 and whenever I signed on as CN8IF I had a deep pileup. I remember one of the phone guys having a round table on 10 meters which included all continents. Ahh, the good old days.
Although I could tune and operate the Collins station on base (75A3 and 32A2?) I bought a Heathkit DX-35 from some guy and acquired an (Hallicrafters?) SX-38E cheapy receiver. I never could get that rig to work and finally burned up the transmitter trying, I’m sure, to tune it into a bad wire antenna. How I longed for the Hammarlund SP-600 I used at work. That was, of course, far out of reach for a 3rd class petty officer. Many years later, on Okinawa (KR6BQ) a departing Air Farce officer offered to trade me my National NC-300 (remember the ham’s “Dream Receiver”) which I was still paying for on the installment plan, for a Collins R-390! He was going home and was afraid they would bust him for stealing it. I didn’t say anything, just pulled the plug on the NC-300 and carried it out to his car. Margot about had a fit when she saw me lug that R-390 back into the house. To her it was an ugly boat anchor, to me it was the best receiver that had ever been constructed! The Navy retired their frequency measuring equipment when that receiver (commissioned by the Army Signal Corps) became available. That receiver was absolutely magnificent, trouble is it had 33 tubes and it became prohibitively expensive to maintain so I reluctantly sold it at the same time I got rid of all my teletype gear. I said I didn’t want anything with tubes or gears. The computer had arrived and so who needed a big noisy teletype machine any more?
The last picture is of me as DJ at the AFRTS broadcast station WNAA where I had two programs a day, strictly volunteer without any pay. I was trying to experience any thing that had anything to do with radio.
December 9, 2005 (CNN)
While interviewing an anonymous US Special Forces soldier on his sniper skills, a Reuters News agent asked the soldier what he felt when shooting members of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. The soldier shrugged and replied, "Recoil."
73 88
See ya Monday
Jerry KØJH
Check out http://www.jerryhale.com it’s very outdated, the pool is now beautiful. I’ll try to get the site updated soon.
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