2006 03 13 Meeting Notes

2006 03 13 MEETING NOTES

PLEASE VISIT THE IMARS WEB SITE AT

http://www.imarsflorida.com

Hi all,

I'm really late getting to these notes this week. (insert all of the usual excuses ;-) I scribbled some notes and will try to remember what all went on.

We had an excellent meeting at Hank (N4TJOs) house. Hank and Dottie were gracious hosts. Dottie made some excellent Brownies, we saved half the donuts, put them into the freezer and will bring em back next week. My XYL(Margot) has volunteered to supplement with some cookies.

Hank has a porch that makes a wonderful meeting place, the day was bright and sunny and 17 people found his QTH without any trouble, well maybe a little. Hank put an orange ribbon on his mailbox that helped.

The question of the day, hastily put together on the fly was: Hopalong Cassidy (Wm. Boyd) was a famous cowboy. What was the name of Hoppy's ranch?

The donut fund stands at $417.22.

There wasn't anything mentioned for DX worked, help, parts and equipment wanted or for sale.

We were very happy to see Frank KK4RW, a little tired perhaps, but back among us. We wish him a speedy return to full strength. WELCOME BACK FRANK.

Bill Maxwell, W2WM made the meeting. Bill will talk about his life and times at our next meeting. This is sure to be very interesting.

We were honored by a visitor and, we hope, new member. George Charlick, K2NM, came and, we hope, enjoyed the meeting. George gave us a quick run-down. I was trying to keep up but only got part of it. Here, in a nut shell, is what he told us: He came down to Central Florida in 1979, built a house (two houses? '83 & '84.) His wife passed away in 1987 and he didn't do much with ham radio for a while. One day he got a package of QSL cards from the ARRL Bureau and realized someone was using his call. He worked for Emerson/Harris Corp. in Government Support in Orlando then for UCF repairing analytical equipment in the chemistry department. He retired the first of last year. He lives in the 3rd Area of Deltona on Norvell Court where he has two towers with beams and a couple of G4RVs. He works mainly 40 and 80 meters. WELCOME GEORGE.

Dick, K4ANT was not among us but he had sent some very interesting information about the early history of IMARS. Dick learned some more information in a conversation with John Weber, WB2JIR when he visited John who is presently recuperating from surgery and is undergoing rehab at RidgeCrest nursing home in Deland (800 Stone Street Rm 340.) John would enjoy a visit from his old friends. Ridge Crest is a short distance north on Stone St. from the intersection of Plymouth and Stone, about a half a mile north of the hospital on Stone. Their phone number is 734-4334. Afternoons are best. They keep him busy in the mornings. The history has been revised with the new information added and Joey has posted the updated version on the IMARS web site (http://www.imarsflorida.com)
Please check it out and let Joey know that you appreciate his efforts. A slicker web site will not be found.

We discussed several possible permanent meeting places. Bob Stone KG4GFA mentioned that his church has a room that might be available. Tonight I received a message from Bob saying that his pastor had agreed that we can meet there and Bob has the key. He will tell us more on Monday.

After all of that Hank, N4TJO, our host, spoke for about 30 minutes on Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity (or is it Theory of Special Relativity?) We discussed the theory, and several people volunteered examples. A big subject to swallow all at once. Hank had even constructed an easel up on which to illustrate his points. Thank you Hank for volunteering to speak to the group.

I hope more will be encouraged to step up. Please think of something you are interested in that you could use to spin a 30 minute yarn for us. We will promise (means try hard) not to talk over you or amoung ourselves while you have the floor. If you can't think of anything grab a neighbor who would do 30 minutes in return for some coffee and donuts.

DONATED QUESTION OF THE DAY – WHAT'S THE MESSAGE?
(eMail me for the answer)

Walt told this one:



A little later I was working on a project to make an eBook of my old hometown's little newspaper and I came across the same story, almost word for word!

I sent an invitation to everyone, please come and hear Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak speak about DNA and genealogy. It's free. See the R&B BLOG at http://rnbdeland.blogspot.com/

Have a good week, see ya on Monday.

73 & 88

Jerry KØJH

ANSWER TO QUESTION OF THE DAY: The Bar-20