September 26th, 2008 - Near Vertical Incident Skywave (NVIS)
Notes Posted By Sheila Clarke on September 29th, 2008
The Vienna Wireless Society
Friday, September 26, 2008
It was a dark and damp evening, creating a great atmosphere for “Shamu The Whale Day” as our President Jim W4JTP shook our turkey gobbler with all his might and opened at 7:34 pm our last meeting at the Vienna Elementary School. :(
ATTENDANCE: 43
NEW VISITORS:
Bruce Carlson N3PQT
Reed Bumgarner KJ4GOI – who just got his call sign 2 weeks ago.
Congratulations!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
1. Jim W4JTP, Our President announced:
(a) The annual President’s Picnic has been delayed until
Sunday, October 5 (11:00 am) at Glyndon Park pavilion in Vienna. Pete K6BFA is organizing this. If you
have questions or want to help, contact Pete Hadley.
(b) We lost our regular meeting location! This was our last meeting at the Vienna Elementary School because it’s going to have 2-year construction. As a result, we will be meeting for the rest of the year at the Vienna Community Center.
But, … EMERGENCY!!!! Come January 1, 2009 we need to find a new location! Anyone with some suggestions about a new meeting place should contact any Board Member ASAP.
2. Pete KG4OJT, our Treasurer, reported that the contract is all set for our winter North American QSO Party, SSB 1800Z January 17 to 0600Z January 18, 2009 at Camp Highroad. More details about this will follow, as we get closer to the event.
3. Tom, N4ZPT announced:
(a) It’s time to sign up for the Marine Corps Marathon! They need 120 Ham FM voice operators (located at mile and ˝ mile markers) with HTs and so far they only have 90 to help with this event. By October 1, the list of helpers has to be turned in.
If you want to sign up, go to http://www.ncacdc.com. Make sure you get an email confirmation!
The assignments, for all who signed up, will be sent out mid-October. One week prior to the Marathon, volunteers meet to have a practice/question exchange. Navy Medics also attend.
(b) The next VWS-7 Balloon Launch is planned for November 15. If weather is poor, then November 16 or December 6. The theme of this year’s event is a photography challenge. We still are in need of a Team Launch Planner. Volunteers are also invited to help with payload preparation, electronics, cameras, tracking, and recovery.
The first club meeting in October will have a presentation about our Balloon Event and explain how to track it at home, and other interesting balloon information.
4. Dennis WA4QMS , Our Veep and Winterfest Boss, announced that our 2009 Winterfest will be held on February 22. And, that he needs someone to volunteer for Table Sales this year. The duty is to co-ordinate the sales of tables and help drum up vendors to buy the tables. You keep track of what tables are sold, and which ones are left. Last year Bernie N4JDG and Ann W4JDF Wimmers did a great job doing Table Sales. If you have any questions about this responsibility, please contact them.
We will also need volunteers for other things like Security, Set-up and Take-down, Tailgating, Book Sales, Ticket Sales, etc. This activity is done by our club for others. So we need as much help as possible from our club members.
5. Mike K3MT said that a possible meeting place for our club is the Smith Chapel United Methodist Church in Falls Church, VA. It is also having a picnic tomorrow, September 27 starting at 4:00 pm if anyone wants to drive over there and check this location out.
6. John KA4YMA asked:
(a) If any member has a metal detector he could borrow. He needs to hunt for nails in his yard after doing some roof repair.
(b) If anyone could help him with using a Sony handi-cam.
7. Ed KC4NUD asked if the Field Day results were in yet. Rick N6CY responded and said that they would probably be in the November QST magazine.
8. Mike AE4R once again reminded everyone of his Home Brew building challenge, in which the transmitters are to be judged the first week in July.
9. Kurt WA4SMI announced that he had a Model 28 Teletype machine with paper, etc. for anyone who wanted it.
10. Tim KI4PVF, announced for those who are interested in DX-ing, that sometime in 2009 there will be a big DX-ing adventure at Desecheo Island National Wildlife Refuge, located a little north and west of Puerto Rico. If you’re interested in knowing more details about this, contact Tim.
11. Jim AG4MA said that there is a free 9913 coax cable for anyone who wants it.
PRESENTATION:
Mike AE4R did a presentation on NVIS (Near Vertical Incident Skywave) program that was created by Norm Fusaro W3IZ. This is used for antennas with very high radiation angles approaching or reaching 90 degrees and not much power. This presentation is available for downloading at the ARRL Website. If you’re interested, contact Mike to get the link.
REFRESHMENTS:
Steve N5SK outdid himself this week with fantastic goodies and munchies, especially apple and pumpkin pie; plus, refreshments.
And, so we bid farewell to whatever our favorite table and chair was in the Vienna Elementary School cafeteria.
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