Anderson Repeater Club, Inc.

Dale KV9W has just sent me a picture of his ham shack and it has been added to the gallery. He also included pictures of his portable setup and antennas.
If you send me a picture of your shack, I will add it to the gallery.
Click here to see the Ham Shack Gallery.

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Welcome to new members Jeffrey Dyer, K9DYR, and Tim Young, KC9GBL. Both were accepted into membership by vote of the members at the meeting on Tuesday. We look forward to their active participation in the Club and appreciate their support of the local repeaters.

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Tom KA9SYP has put together boxes for remote site operation. Tom says:
I take them to field day ever year. I started with the wooden box two years ago. I changed to the fishing box last year. Each drawer pulls out for maintenance, and each radio has lead out the back for antenna connection. This makes it easy to transport and set-up a radio station at a remote location.

Equipment Included;

1. IC-229 (VHF)
2. IC-208 (VHF/UHF)
3. IC-706 MKIIG (USB/LSB/CW/6m/UHF/VHF)
4. IC AT-180 (tuner)
5 (2)- Diwa SWR/Pwr meters
6. (1) "Watt's Up" meter (measures source power and load; mAh, Amps, V,W,Wh,Peak W,peak Amps, min V,
7. (10 Coax switch for two ant

Tom Ecker Click here to see Tom's remote site boxes.

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Brian KC9NCR sent in this link about climbing towers. How would you like to have this job?
Click here to watch video.

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The following article was submitted by Steve WA9CWE.
In support of Brian’s building of Dual Band J-Poles from twin lead I did a study of a purchased dual band J-Pole manufactured by N9TAX. I bought it at the Fort Wayne Hamfest in 2009. (He was there selling them again this year, by the way) Anyway, in our discussions of the SWR of an antenna of this type I decided to measure the one I have. As seen is the first two pictures I supported it with a piece of nylon rope from a tree limb so it was about 10 feet above the ground (to the feedpoint end). I measured forward and reflected power with my Bird Wattmeter and calculated the SWR. The third and fourth panels report those results. As expected the UHF portion is much flatter than the VHF. Be careful in evaluating the two graphs as the Y Axis scale is not the same for both. On VHF it’s flat and usable across the entire 2 meter band, but isn’t nearly as good in the commercial portion of the band. On UHF it’s 1.8:1 or less even up in to the high end of the commercial segment.
Click here to see the pictures and graphs.

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Brian KC9NCR constructed a rollup J-Pole antenna using the article posted by Steve WA9CWE earlier(see archived articles). Brian says "Everything went together easily with good readings from an antenna analyzer. When tested on air I received good reports from WA9CWE on UHF with 2 to 3 s-units higher than with a rubber duck. I have not tested it on 2 meter yet but suspect there will be an improvement."
Click here to see some pictures of his construction.

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At the September 7 meeting we had a presentation on Anderson Power Pole connectors. Subsequent to that presentation a couple of questions have come up. Here are the answers:

Most radios have a power connector attached directly to the back of the radio or on a short “pigtail” from the radio. That connector attaches to a connector and power cord with a fuse(s) and stripped wires for attachment to the power source, whatever it is. The Power Poles would be attached at the stripped wire location not as a replacement for the radio connector. In that way the power cord can be attached to any source that has the Power Poles, be it a battery, power strip. Now some AC to DC supplies are coming with Power Poles as standard output features on the cabinet. The benefit of this is that it’s easily disconnected so the radio can be moved to a temporary emergency site with immediate connector compatibility. Additionally, no screwdriver, crimper or other tools are required. In the case of EMA Communications our temporary power supplies have pigtails with Power Poles already attached, and as was shown our Mobile Communications Unit has Power Pole connectors for all DC power source locations.

Another clarification with regard to the Power Pole red and black terminal assembly…..The plastic parts “slip together” in a motion parallel to the axis of the connectors. There are tapered dovetail features molded into the plastic and they require “sliding together” not “snapping together”. Practice it once prior to putting a drop of SuperGlue on the connection.

Tom, W9EEL, has found the attached document with additional information on the assembly of the Power Pole connectors.
Click here to see Tom's document.

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Brian KC9NCR found this article about Ham Radio in the age of internet, smart phones, twitter, ect. Check it out it is kind of interesting.
Click here to read the article.

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On April 12, 2010 the new .82 antenna was installed. Dick K9FOI and Tom KA9SYP took pictures during the install. A few have been posted and more will be posted later.
Click here to see pictures from the Installation.

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During the time that the Indianapolis Colts conducted their Training Camp at Anderson University (July 26 to August 16), the Madison County EMA Mobile Communications Unit was utilized as the command post for security and safety activity involving the Anderson Police Department, Anderson University Police, Colts Security and MCEMA. A complete Incident Command data package was prepared, and reviewed for each Opeational period. The Warning Division provided real time weather reporting as needed, and the Incicent Command Team supported the necessary planning. The MCU Team members were responsible for proper functioning of the MCU. Several Staff members were present each day and interfaced seamlessly with the team/publice safety activities.
Click here to see some pictures from this detail.

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May 5 and 6th Madison County EMA coordinated the first phase of re-banding the State 800 safety radios. All safety radios in the state are required to be re-banded to a high frequency because Nextel purchased the existing frequencies from the FCC. First phase included all EF Johnson mobile and hand held radios.
Day one; we closed 5th street behind fire station #1 and ran all emergency equipment east to west. Departments scheduled the first day were Anderson APD and AFD, Pendleton, Ingalls, and Sheriff.
Day two; we moved to the EOC and working on radios from departments north of Anderson. Departments included Alexandria, Elwood, remaining Sheriff department, Richland Twp,, Community hospital, St Johns hospital and Elwood Hospital.

Each radio took about 20 minutes to update firmware and re-program. During the day and half we re-banded 117 EF Johnson radios. June 1 and 2 we will do all over again with all the Motorola radios we have in the County. - KA9SYP
Click here to see pictures from the Rebanding Exercise.

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On December 17, 2009 an H1N1 Clinc was held at the Anderson Wigwam.
Some pictures taken by Tom KA9SYP have been added to the website.
Click here to see the pictures of the H1N1 clinic at Hoosier Park, Elwood, Pendleton, and Anderson Wigwam.

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Steve WA9CWE sent an inquiry to INDOT asking about the article in the HeraldBulletin about the cameras along I69 north towards Anderson. Here is the reply that he recieved:

Dear Mr. Riley:
Thank you for contacting the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT). We appreciate your interest in our highway system and the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technology that we are deploying on heavily-traveled portions of the Interstate System.

It appears as if the article that you read in the Anderson Herald-Bulletin inaccurately reported that camera images are available on Interstate 69 in Madison County. In reality, we do not have any cameras north of State Road 238 at Mile 10 in Hamilton County. Currently, our camera images on our www.trafficwise.in.gov Web site only extend out to Mile 7 on I-69. In the future, we do plan on providing the additional camera images from Mile 7 to Mile 10 on the Web site. Furthermore, we do have plans in the future to extend our deployment of cameras northward on I-69 to State Road 9/109 (Scatterfield Road) in Anderson, as well as other Interstates approaching the Indianapolis area. Undoubtedly, this will be of great benefit to the motoring public and to emergency responders.

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On October 21, 2009, Steve Riley successfully upgraded his amateur licenese to extra. You might want to congratulate him when you see him. If you know anyone that is thinking about getting an amateur license or if you want to upgrade your licenese, the Chief Anderson ARC gives exams every month. The dates for the exams are posted on the calendar on this website. The next 2 dates are November 18 and December 16.

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On July 18,2009 the summer State RACES Test was held. The EOC was actvated and checkins were taken on the .82 Repeater. The results were reported to the State EOC, using several amateur bands and commumication modes.
Click here to see the results of that test.

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On Sunday July 19, 2009, the following email was received on the Anderson Repeater Club email address. If anybody can help Harold out, please send him an email at:
K9JYA@verizon.net

After high school in the 40s I went to the NYA camp in Anderson. Our instructor was Albert J. Titus who I believe was engineer for the Anderson PD. We learned the code and elementary electronics. The camp was close to where I think the airport is now. I remember we had to cross the river from the camp when we were taken to town in the morning. The camp joined the Mounds State Park.

I have forgotten Mr. Titus's ham call and hope someone there can let me know what it was. I remember he had a daughter who he called "Red".

I hope someone can refresh my memory.

Harold Marlette, K9JYA
Paoli, Indiana
K9JYA@verizon.net

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On Monday, June 29, the Mobile Communications Unit was dispatched to a Madison County Health Department "Point-of-Distribution" Exercise at the 4H Fairground in Alexandria. The purpose of the exercise was to determine how quickly the entire facility could be set up and operational for the distribution of Pandemic Flu medicines. This exercise was per the Operational Procedure developed by the Health Department and tested a number of times over the last year in both Table-top and functional exercises.

The MCU was dispatched and made fully operational at the scene as a supporting resource. We made radio contact with the State EOC in Indianapolis, The Madison County Sheriff Department, Indiana State Police at the Pendleton Post, Alexandria Fire Department, Alexandria Police department, and the Madison County Highway Department. We also dispatched our Operations Division personnel to the scene. Each of these agencies have a responsibility when this POD is established at the Fairgrounds building. On-scene we had members of the Health Department, Madison Co. EMA, Indiana State Dept. of Homeland Security and the Alexandria Fire Department. The other agencies were not requested to actually have personnel at the building.

As expected it took one hour from our notification to being fully (communications) operational at the scene. This is typical for a "non-Signal 10" run for the MCU. It takes about 10 minutes to get the MCU situated, leveled, slide-out, security barrier, all radios on, computers fired up etc. once we arrive at the scene.

For this exercise we did not request additional RACES Communications Division personnel. Had this been an actual event where the duration was long we would have requested added help and established an around-the-clock staffing calendar. Even though the "MCU Team" members hold primary responsibility for the MCU we count upon the remaining Communications Division members to provide the added experienced communicator skills as needed.

Steve Riley
Director of Communications

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On 04/18/09 Chesterfield Fire Department dedicated their new tanker, rescue truck, and ladder truck.
Click here to see some pictures from that dedication.

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The Anderson Repeater Club applied for and was assigned the call W9OBH. This call belonged to Burr Stephens and was done in recognition of the major contributions he was responsible for.
Click here to see the plaque honoring Burr Stephens.
Below is an email we recieved from Burr's daughter.
Hello everyone.

Just a short and gracious thank you from Burr's daughter.

My mom informed me of your choice to use Dad's call letters for the club. This is a very nice gesture and we feel very honored. Dad would be pleased.

I grew up at many of the repeater club meetings in Lynville(Linwood) with my dad and have many wonderful memories. I never thought about it, but I always felt so safe with the bunch of guys my dad chose to hang around with. Often when I think of him, the repeater club and all the call letters I knew by heart are in those memories. His time with the club was a time filled with zest and enthuesiasm. He loved being a ham.

Thank you again, and please tell everone thank you from my entire family.

Barbara Basalyga

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Steve Riley WA9CWE explained the new rules for narrow banding at the Anderson Repeater Club meeting on March 3, 2009. Below is a link on how the new rules will affect UHF and VHF commercial bands. Click here for more information on narrowbanding.

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This is a follow up to what Mike Dewey KC9AOM presented at the last meeting.

I have been running the Uniden BCD996T and the GRE PSR 600 scanners side by side with the same programming and here are the results that I have observed:

I have a base scanner antenna in my attic with RG-8 low loss coax and a low loss commercial grade splitter at my desk. Both scanners are fed with low loss RG-8 coax patch cord with BNC connectors from the splitter.

VHF band the Uniden picks up more and better signal quality than the GRE.
UHF band they both receive the city and county UHF very well.
800 mhz Madison County LTR system the GRE the signal is weaker than the Uniden.
800 mhz SAFE-T system both appear not to be much difference between them.
Overall the Uniden has better reception than the GRE on all bands.

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This link is from Doug Rose, N9DR, a past member of the ARC who is currently located in ElPaso, Texas. The amateur organization in ElPaso participated in the "SKYWARN Participation Day" and provided a number of pictures of the National Weather Service facility in ElPaso, and also of the Amateur operation on that day. They established low band stations in addition to VHF and IRLP. There was also a balloon launch!
Click Here to see some pictures from the El Paso SKYWARN Participation Day.

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Here are some pictures of the electronic equipment upgrade in the MCU. These pictures were taken by Jed Dye and submitted by Tom Ecker KA9SYP
Click Here to see some of the new equipment.

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Steve Riley WA9CWE has submitted an article on a portable VHF-UHF roll-up J-Pole antenna for Public Service.
Click Here to read how to make one.

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Do you remember the 50's and 60's? Here is a website that has a lot of nostalgia. Be sure to check out all the different sections on this page. Turn up the volume, lean back and remember how things used to be.
Click Here To Go Back to the 50's and 60's

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Take a stroll down memory lane. See how many you remember that you haven't thought about for a while.
Click Here  to stroll down memory lane.

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Here are some more pictures from the Hagerstown Air and Car Show taken by Dick Brown K9FOI
Click Here  for pictures.

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Here are some pictures from the Hagerstown Air and Car Show taken by Charlie Jones K9TZJ
Click Here  for pictures.
I hope to be getting some more pictures showing some of the 700-800 Model T Fords soon. This was the 100th year celebration of the Model T and Model T's of all kinds were there.

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Here is an article about the first President (and the Vice-President) of the ARRL...Hiram P. Maxim, W1AW....About early amateur radio and communications history.
This article was found by Tim Riley W9TCR. He passed it on to Steve Riley WA9CWE. Steve found it interesting and wanted to share it with others. Steve also notes "I also like the prose way that it was written. You just don't find writers like this today." This is a large file, please be patient and give it time to load.
Click Here to read: April 1936 QST.

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I just read the paragraph about the LST 325 and would like to add my experience. Shortly after the ship returned to the USA it was docked in Mobile, AL. and my wife and I toured it. It was still rough looking inside and out.

Then in June of 2005 I worked it on 20 meters while it was running up the east coast on a Memorial Cruise. The operator was W8AU, Perry.

Shortly after it moved to Evansville we were able to tour it again. It was looking better and better as the crew had a chance to work on her. The next year we escorted a high school classmate to tour it because her deceased husband was a Supply Officer on one in the South Pacific. Mary was glad to see where her husband Lou had served his time. If you want to see what Bob looks like go to "USS LST Ship Memorial". He is in picture #6.

Charlie, K9TZJ

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This letter was recently received on the club email address:

Hi KB9VE...
My call is WA9WCN...formally of Lapel, Indiana...I was a member for many years until retiring and moving to Henderson, NV during the Summer of 1998.... I was interested in your list of members. I knew several members such as W9EEL, K9IND, WA9CWE, Miller can't remember his call.... Due to living in a condo and the restrictions we have for antenna's I haven't been active since moving out here...But, of course there is plenty of other activities in the Las Vegas area...The hams out here are alive and well with several repeaters around the valley that are connected to various systems that reach up and down the West Coast....
I would like to hear from some of my former friends if they have the time to email....
My email address is: badams49@cox.net
Bob Adams WA9WCN....My address is in the callbook...

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Hams helping Hams

Last week our Club web site address got an inquiry from another Ham who had a problem that he hoped we could help with. Seems that his club repeater has the same RF package and Controller as our .82 repeater. He was having trouble with the interfacing of the two units. In an internet search he found our club information indicating that we had the same equipment. Tim received the message and passed it along to me (Steve). Due to the good documentation of the Technical Committee (WB9ZJR, W9EEL, WB9URL) when we installed our package I had the schematic and detailed information related to our programming. I forwarded it to him along with an explanation. Within two days the W9BFD/R 146.97 repeater in Peoria Heights, IL was on the air and operational. Bob Barbier, WD9IYS, reported back that our information had resolved their issues, and of course he was appreciative. A great example of how we amateurs work together.

As a side note I learned that Bob, (WD9IYS), is a member of the communications team that supports the LST-325 landing craft located at Evansville, IN. Dick, K9FOI, also a Navy veteran and LST radioman, has been on that Museum Ship in the past and will be again. Dick plans to look up Bob and have an eyeball QSO.
Submitted 3/28/08 - WA9CWE

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If you would like to learn HTML or to just play around with it, here is a sight that will show how to get started. http://www.w3schools.com/
You can see all the elements and their uses. It is a very good place to start learning how to do your own website. The question was aked how big is the complete website. I have 17 different folders, including ones for images, pdf files, pictures, and the clock. There are 30 separate pages, including a page for each newsletter and minutes, that total about 350kb of code.
Paul KC9BKZ

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