The Indianapolis Radio Club Newsletter Founded 1914 The oldest continuously meeting Amateur Radio Club in the United States The AMACHEWER NEWSLETTER for January 2005 Reporting news from the Annual Indianapolis Radio Club meeting held on Friday, January 14th, 2005, and other items of possible interest to amateurs. The first meeting of the Indianapolis Radio Club for 2005 was held on Friday, January 14th, 2005 at the east end of the 13th floor of the Indianapolis Training Center. A large group gathered prior to the meeting to enjoy coffee, donuts, and good fellowship while catching up on the latest local radio news. Members did an excellent job of signing in on the member checklist and updating email addresses. The club president, Chuck Crist (W9IH) called the meeting to order at 7:30pm, and welcomed members to participate in the 91st year of operation of the Indianapolis Radio Club. He asked members to introduce themselves, and the introductions progressed in turn around the room. The total attendance for the meeting was 37. President Crist reminded members of the well-equipped radio room located on the first floor of the building, and indicated that a guided tour would be conducted for interested members following the club meeting. Other meeting notes of interest, including a brief description of the meeting program “The Linux Operating System and Amateur Radio Applications” by Brian Stone (KC9GSA) and Tom Price (WB9UNG), appear below. Dayton Hamvention Bus Trip : The club president announced that round trip bus transportation is being arranged planned for the Dayton Hamvention. Current plans call for the bus to leave at 6:00am and return at 6:00pm on Saturday, May 21st. The estimated cost of the round trip is $15. Club Station Report: The club Chief Operator, Trevor Fulk (N9YM), gave a brief report on the club station. The equipment is located on the first floor of the Indianapolis Training Center, while the antennas are located on the roof of the building. A rotor and directional beam for 10-15-20m is mounted on a small tower on the building roof. That makes its height about 150 feet above ground. Trevor offered to conduct a tour of the station following the club meeting. Next Meeting: Friday, February 11, 2005 at 7:00 PM on the 13th floor (east end) of the Indianapolis Training Center (ITC) for chats and coffee. The business meeting will begin promptly at 7:30pm. The program for the next meeting will be “Packet Radio Today ," by presenter and packet radio enthusiast Jerry Kutche (N9LYA). New Club Members: Action on the most recent club membership applications was postponed until the next meeting. Mike Palmer (N9FEB) applied for membership in the club. Engraved name badges for members are being prepared, and members were asked to check with Barbara Crist (KB9BSV), wife of the club president, to confirm eligibility. Other Announcements: -Paul Bohrer (W9DUU), one of the new club directors, has offered to serve as a collecting point for gathering health and welfare status information and moving information for our club membership. If you have any such announcements or information, please forward it to Paul. His email address is w9duu@juno.com. -Volunteers are needed to teach an express amateur radio class at the ITC. Another class is being planned—a no-code Technical license class—in the spring. It will be held at the Scottish Rite Cathedral. Interested volunteers should contact the club president, Chuck Crist (W9IH). His email is indytrax@core.com. (sse the IRC website under youth links for more info) -Steve Wendt (KB9RDS) announced Another YMCA event, Healthy Kid’s Day, will be held on April 2, 2005. Amateur radio will be part of that event and a special call sign, W9Y, has been secured to commemorate the event. QSL cards are being prepared. Steve indicated that a future amateur radio class at the YMCA is being considered. Club members who could help Steve with the class or the Kid’s Day event are asked to contact Steve. His email is kb9rds@juno.com. -Field Day exercises will be held the last week of June at several site locally; please check the website for more information. One location is Fort Benjamin Harrison, according to information supplied by Tom Frank (N9JQH). Meanwhile, please mark your calendar. -Severe Weather Spotters will hold their annual meeting on Saturday, March 19, according to Bob Blake (N9FIM). The meeting will host police, fire, and EMT workers, in addition to amateur radio volunteers. The approximate starting time for the meeting is 9:30 or 10am. More details can be obtained from Bob at 317-823-2171. Planning for Radio Commemorative to USS Indianapolis:JULY 16-17th 2005 On air event W9IND A committee has been formed to coordinate a radio tribute commemorating the 60th anniversary of the USS Indianapolis. Operation of a special event station during the July anniversary is being considered. More details will be announced at the next club meeting. Malcolm Mallette (WA9BVS) worked 35 stations in the 2004 radio commemorative effort. Life Members: Several recent Life Members of the Indianapolis Radio Club were introduced to the group at the January meeting, among which were our club vice president, Dave Miller (K9RTT), and a past club president, Bill Goodall (K9DBY). In addition to these two, Paul Bohrer (W9DUU), a new member of the IRC Board of Directors, was announced as a life member. The most recent Life Member is Steve Gregg (N9RKS). Congratulations to all of these new Life Members for their support and commitment to the Indianapolis Radio Club and its objectives. Club Webmaster: Brian Stone (KC9GSA) has agreed to apply his Internet skills and prowess to the management of our Indianapolis Radio Club web site (www.indyradioclub.org). He is now the official club Webmaster. Thanks for agreeing to help the club in this way, Brian. Monthly Club Traveling Awards Presented: -John Lee (W9GRE) won the traveling monthly club DX Award and trophy for December for his 40m contacts with Trinidad. -There was no QRP Award for the month of January. -Bob Osterhous (W9PSE) won the Digital Mode Award for his 20m PSK31contact with Antarctica. Congratulations to all of the monthly club traveling trophy award winners. IRC Marconi Award for Technical Excellence: This unique, physically substantial IRC award, in the form of a hefty 5KW transmitter tube, was presented for the first time this year, and was awarded to Jim Keeth (AF9A), in recognition of his amateur radio activities and his community service. Jim could not be present to receive the award at the Annual Club meeting in December because of other commitments, and perhaps due to inside information about the size and weight of the transmitter tube he was to be awarded. At the close of the January club meeting, Jim was seen struggling to move his prized trophy from the IRC Club meeting site on the 13th floor of the ITC to his car. How much would you estimate that transmitter tube weights, Jim? Club Hats Available: In celebration of the IRC’s 90th Anniversary, club hats with an embroidered club logo are available for purchase for $20. The articles seen by this reporter were baseball style hats in several available colors, with black lettering, and appeared to be very well made. If you wish to purchase one of these hats, be sure to come to the next club meeting and bring some extra money! You will be helping to support your club if you buy one of these hats. Amateur Radio Classes: -Indianapolis Radio Club is sponsoring a No-Code Tech license (express) class. Class dates are: April 11, 13, and 15th, 2005. That is, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The location for the class sessions will be the Scottish Rite Cathedral, 650 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis, IN. (For more details, see http://www.indyradioclub.org/indyclasses.htm). -The Red Cross of Indianapolis Radio Club is well into a 10-week class for prospective amateurs. See the IRC web site (www.indyradioclub.org) for more details. -Two amateur radio classes are in the planning stages: One will be an express class at the ITC; the other will be a No-Code Tech class to be held at the Scottish Rite Cathedral. Please contact Chuck Crist (W9IH) if you know of potential students. You can reach Chuck at his email address of indytrax@core.com. -A Radio Study Group has been meeting at 10:30 AM on Wednesdays at the McDonalds at 116th and I-69 to discuss questions and answers on amateur radio. For more information, contact Tom Price (WB9UNG) at 849-6550. Door Prizes: A number of fabulous door prizes, including another Sears Frequency Counter, a set of wrenches, and a small canvas HT bag were assembled by the club prize master, Bob Osterhous (W9PSE). These and other interesting prizes and were distributed to randomly selected members of the IRC who were in attendance using a timeless classical prize distribution algorithm perfected over time. Prizewinners included a meter, won by Bill Goodall (K9DBY); the wrench set that was won by Wade Kingery (W9JGZ), and the meter bag, won by Dick Frost (K9RWX). To learn more about the potential benefits of the door prize distribution process, be sure to attend the next IRC meeting! Bob Osterhous continues to do a great job locating interesting prizes for this portion of the club meetings. Puzzle/Solution #1 (As yet unclaimed): What is the longest rectangular board 1 ft wide that can be placed flat on the floor of a rectangular room that is 5ft. by 10 ft? If you can show why the answer is 10.439325+ ft, please contact the newsletter editor (Tom, WB9UNG) for a free lunch, or to participate in a free lunch drawing in the event there is more than one entry. SOLVED!! --Puzzle/Solution #2: (SOLVED!!) What is the diameter of the spherical ball that will just fit in the corner behind a 1ft. diameter ball that t ouches the two walls and floor that all meet at right angles? If you determine this answer, please contact the newsletter editor for a free lunch, or to participate in a free lunch drawing in the event there is more than one correct entry. This puzzle was solved by club member Robert Auble (WV9V), who correctly determined that the radius, r, of the smaller ball that will just fit in the corner behind the larger ball of radius R, is given by r = R*(SQRT(3)-1)/(SQRT(3)+1). For the case given in the problem, R=6 inches, so r=0.26794919243114*R = 1.6077 inches, so the diameter of the smaller ball would be 3.21539 inches. Bob and I talked while he enjoyed his free lunch award. He has been an amateur for many years and enjoys collecting and solving problems. He studied math and physics as an undergraduate at IU and later pursued these interests at other universities in the USA and abroad. He has worked for a number of companies in the Indianapolis area as an employee and also as a consultant. Congratulations on developing the correct solution, Bob! And thanks for sharing a most interesting conversation over lunch. Puzzle #3: (New): A fly is located in the upper corner of a rectangular room that is 5 ft. by 10 ft. with 8 ft. ceilings. The fly is injured and cannot fly. What is the length of the shortest path the fly can walk along the walls to get from the upper corner to the diagonally opposite lower corner of the room? If you are the first to submit the correct answer to this problem, the newsletter editor, Tom (WB9UNG), will invite you to lunch. Any Additional News Items: If you have news that should be reported in the next issue of club newsletter, please feel free to send it to your temporary newsletter editor, Tom Price (WB9UNG), at the email address pricetr@comcast.net. Program: The Linux Operating System with Amateur Radio Applications, by Brian Stone (KC9GSA) and Tom Price (WB9UNG): Brian Stone (KC9GSA) and Tom Price (WB9UNG) presented the program, using a laptop connected to a video projector to show examples of the Linux Operating System and its operation. Rather than repeat in this newsletter the information that was presented during the program, copies of the 24-page handout that was distributed at the meeting are available upon request, as are copies of the Mandrake 10.0 Distribution DVD and the Knoppix CD Distribution. To receive copies, simply send your request along with your name and mailing address to pricetr@comcast.net. Alternatively, copies of these materials will be made available at the IRC meeting on February 11th.