The Indianapolis Radio Club Newsletter Founded 1914 “The oldest continuously operating Amateur Radio Club in the United States” July/August, 2007 Newsletter [][]Upcoming Meetings: September 14: “Home brew antennas”, moderated by Tom Chance, K9XV October 12: “D-Star Digital Radio Systems”, by Dale Schieman, WB9YCZ [][]Highlights of the August 4, 2007 swapmeet/picnic: This was the annual K9OOA/Indianapolis Radio Club tailgate hamfest and picnic. As always, thanks goes to Joe and Betty Lobraico, K9OOA and K9OOB, for their allowing us to make use of their lot for this event. The event was well attended, and those that attended were able to look over the many “treasures” that were available from the tailgates and tables of the folks willing to part with their stuff. Of course, one of the highlights of the day was meeting up with old friends, and making some new ones. We were able to partake of some grilled goodies, that hit the spot on the warm summer afternoon, as more stories were swapped. Due to Kenwood's discontinuing the TS-570D, that was going to be one of the prizes of the blind draw donation drawing, we were able to make the chances better for those that entered the drawing, limiting the participants to 150. The winner of the Yaesu FT-857D was Cecil Bryant, KE8MD of Cincinnati. Gordon Hileman, WA9NMH of Frankfort, IN won the MFJ 269 Antenna analyzer. Congratulations to both of these lucky guys! [][]Ham Radio News: []VE Testing Schedule modified for the rest of 2007 This is the remaining schedule of testing sessions for the year 2007. Calling in advance to ensure testing availability is suggested but not mandatory. SPONSOR: Indianapolis Radio Club (W9JP) LOCATION: Indianapolis Training Center 2820 N. Meridian Street. CONTACTS: Liaison: Gale Wuollet, AA9WU (h) 317-849-8449 COORDINATING VEC: American Radio Relay League (ARRL) VEC, Inc. SCHEDULE: For Dates: Sept 1st; Oct 6th; Nov 3rd; Dec 1st All testing at the Indianapolis Training Center starts at 9:00 am and the last test will be administered no later than 11:00 a.m. []2007 ARRL Great Lakes Convention Coming up Mark Saturday, September 22 on your calendar as the date for 2007 ARRL Great Lakes Convention. The convention this year will take place at the Sheraton Independence Hotel in Independence, OH. The featured speaker at the evening banquet will be the ARRL President, Joel Harrison, W5ZN. There are many seminars scheduled, as well as card checking for DXCC, WAS, VUCC Low Bands & VHF. Tickets for the Seminars are $25.00 advance sale, or $30.00 at the door. A full ticket that includes the banquet is available for $50.00 advance sale only. For more information, you can call (216) 524-7711 or go to http://www.2007gldc.org. []IRCC OUTSTANDING AMATEUR OF THE YEAR 2007 NOMINATIONS DUE SEPTEMBER 30, 2007 Thanks to Jack Parker, W8ISH, for sending this in: The Indiana Radio Club Council is now taking nominations for the 2007 Outstanding Amateur of the Year award. Each year one Hoosier Amateur Radio operator is selected to receive the award for outstanding service and dedication to Amateur Radio. The award will presented during the Ft. Wayne Hamfest in November. Nominees will be judged on years in Amateur Radio, years in a service role, active in public service and active as a mentor to new hams. Also considered is participation as a ham radio instructor, volunteer examiner and whether this person actively recruits new hams, especially young people. This is a basic criteria and your application should not be limited to just these areas. The more information the better. Please include your nominees email address or telephone number for followup notification. Nominations are due by midnight September 30, 2007. E-mail your nomination to: w8ish@arrl.net Jack Parker, W8ISH IRCC Chairman [] An Explanation of the word “ROMEO” Thanks to Bob Northern, W9VCS, for contributing this: Recently the word "Romeo" was brought to my attention.  One of the definitions was "Respectable Older Men Eating Out"  That sounds like one of the radio groups that gets together every Friday for lunch and sometimes during the week for breakfast at various places.  Just who are we, the ROMEOs' ? It's not an easy question to answer, because we are such a vast group of individuals with a multitude of backgrounds and experience that it takes more than a few words to tell our story. Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers, Electricians, Corporate CEOs, Professional Law Enforcement, Fire Service, Computer Techs, Communication Experts, Government Employees & Retirees, Artists, Pilots, Sail Boaters, Marathon Runners, Bicyclists, Motorcycle Riders, Humorists, Writers, and the list goes on. With all the vast and diversified experiences, one would wonder what we have in common? Now that is somewhat easier to answer. HAM RADIO. From the newbie to the oldest Extra Class, we share our experiences, knowledge and information about Ham Radio in general. We tell strange stories about things from the past. Give opinions on what is happening in the world. Rib each other for some of the goofy things each of us have done. We never boast about being better than anyone else in the crowd. Most of all, we cherish our camaraderie and in general we enjoy sharing the life we have. Being called a ROMEO or a HAM is really not exceptional, but to be called a ROMEO HAM, now that is extraordinary. [][]7268 GROUP GETTING TOGETHER IN GREENWOOD Thanks to Bob Osterhous, W9PSE, for sending me this: Bob often listens to the 7268 group, that meets on, you guessed it, 7.268 MHz on 40 meters daily from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. It is primarily a mid-west net. Bob says it has been announced that these guys are getting together in our neck of the woods on Saturday, October 6th, at noon, at the Jonathon Byrd Cafeteria at exit 99, I-65 in Greenwood. Point your web browser to http://www.68group.net/ for more info and pictures. [][]ZULU TIME ARTICLE Thanks to Wade Kingery, W9JGZ, for sending in the commentary on Zulu Time: Wade writes that QST has had at least two feature articles on “Coordinated Universal Time”, or Zulu Time. “Zulu” is the military phonetic for “Z”, therefore the military put that following UTC time, such as “2143Z”. Wade notes that one of the QST articles, “Do you do Zulu?”, from the February, 2004 QST, written by J.D. Harper, K6KSR, is pretty much complete. However, he notes that the Canadian government operates a time service on three frequencies (3330 KHz, 7335 KHz, and 14,670 KHz) under the call sign of “CHU”. Every minute, just like WWV, they announce the UTC time. In the QST article, there is a handy conversion chart to convert Zulu time to various US time zones. If anyone would like a copy of the article, let me know. [][][]SEND ME YOUR HAM RADIO NEWS If anyone has any items for the newsletter, please send them to Ken Bandy at kc9glq@arrl.net [][]Signals from the Past: From the January/February, 1954 Indianapolis Radio Club Amachewer: Shortridge High School now has a ham radio club and has applied for a club license. They are getting ready to build their transmitter using some of the parts from the old SHS radio club rig, which was on the air in the ‘30’s. The club has about 5 members….. [][] Upcoming Area Radio Events: []* Greenfield Hamfest Sunday, September 23, 2007 at the Hancock County 4H Fairgrounds. Go to http://www.W9ATG.org for more information. []* Hoosier Hills Hamfest (Bedford) Sunday, October 7, 2007, opening at 6:00 AM Go to http://www.w9qyq.org/hamfest/ for more info. [][][] Current IRC Officers: · President: Tom Chance, K9XV - ..EMAIL k9xv@arrl.net · Vice Pres.: Dave Miller, K9RTT - ..EMAIL dmiller@ivytech.edu · Secretary: Ken Bandy, KC9GLQ - ..EMAIL kc9glq@arrl.net · Treasurer: Judy Gardner, AA9GW - ..EMAIL aa9gw@juno.com · Chief Operator: Dave Craig, N9QVO - ..EMAIL slough@svs.net · Dir. at large: Bob Osterhous, W9PSE - EMAIL rosterhous@iquest.net · Dir. at large: Tom Price, WB9UNG – EMAIL pricetr@comcast.net · Dir. at large: Hank Wolfla, K9LZJ – EMAIL hwolfla@insightbb.com