MARANEWS

		    Monthly Newsletter of the Massasoit
			 Amateur Radio Association
		     PO Box 428,Bridgewater, MA 02324

	      VOLUME XXXIV, Issue 4              April 1995

			      Monthly Meeting

		Every 3rd Tuesday of the Month    8:00PM
		     St. Thomas Aquinas Church Hall
		       Central Street Bridgewater

	     Meeting on the Air: Every Tuesday, 8 PM, 147.180+

   Local telephone BBS's with MARANEWS and other Amateur Radio  files


	  SANCTUARY BBS (508) 587-4615  N81   1200-14.4K   baud

	  HAM SHACK BBS (508) 588-6242  N81   1200-14.4K   baud


			   MARA CLUB OFFICERS

	PRESIDENT:          Mark Greenlaw             N1NLR
	VICE PRESIDENT:     Steve Powers              WA1WED
	TREASURER:          Gary DeCoster             WA1CIM
	SECRETARY:          Bob Mandeville            N1EDM
	REPEATER TRUSTEE:   Jay Zappulla              N1FDX
	BBS TRUSTEE:        Steve Meuse               N1JFU

			     COMMUNICATIONS

	2-M  Repeater              147.180+ (Tone 67.0)
	440  Repeater              444.550+ (Tone 88.5)
	DIGI WA1ZUF-1              145.050  110 feet, BSC campus
	DIGI N1EDM-1               145.030  10 watts, Brockton
	NODE BRIDGE                145.030- @N1JFU PBBS

FATHER OF THE BRIDE
On Saturday, March 18, Dave Roscoe, W1DWZ,  got to play the part of
'Father of the Bride' as he marched his daughter Beth,  KA1OFO, down the
aisle.  This was reason enough to cheer, but Bruce Beaman, K1HTN, reports
that during the reception the photographer took a picture of Beth
Roscoe/Fisher with proud Dad's HT in her hand, and surrounded by a bevy of
world-famous MARA hams, such as Bruce, and Steve, WA1ZUF.  Several other
hams were part of the picture also (sorry, but we don't have their names)
and Bruce is trying to get the picture into the 'UP FRONT' section of QST
Magazine.  Sounds like a winning picture here!!

MARK AND SHERYL GREENLAW - OM & XYL
Another special event on April 8th was the wedding of Mark Greenlaw,
N1NLR, and Sheryl (Dupre) Greenlaw, N1QXY.  Their wedding was a very happy
event held in Bridgewater at T.J. Smith's.  Steve Meuse, N1JFU, was an
usher, and it was really nice to see Alan Nickerson, N1KBT, and his wife
Tracey at the wedding as well.

The affair couldn't have been nicer, nor could it have been for nicer
people.  Congratulations to both of you from all of MARA on the most
special day of your lives.

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nancy (Dupont) Kramer, N1RAG, called Dave Dextradeur, KD1GH, to report the
arrival of Aaron William Kramer on Thursday evening, April 6, at 9:01 PM.
Aaron entered the world at 9 pounds, 4 oz, after a 13-hour 'laborious
journey'.  Nancy reports that she, Aaron, 1st harmonic Daniel, and father
Athan, N1PYO, are doing fine, though Athan is still in shock.  Son Daniel
is looking forward to all the responsibilities of being a big brother,
such as helping Aaron take his nap, feeding him, and teaching him all
about the Easter Bunny, Halloween, and Santa Clause.

If you would like to send a card or your own personal message of
congratulations, Nancy's address is 1032 W. 8th St., Port Angeles, WA,
98363.  Her packet address is N1RAG @ VE7DIE.#SVI.BC.CAN.NOAM

Congratulations again, Nancy, from all of MARA to you, Aaron, Athan, and
Dan!

EOC TRAINING & DISASTER DRILL BEING PLANNED
by Carl Aveni, N1FYZ
There will be a MEMA refresher training course given during the April
club meeting.   All  members  who have participated in  the  past,  or
wish  to participate  in  the  future,  should plan on  attending.   These
are  the training  sessions  that prepare us to respond in the event  of
a  nuclear 'event' at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant which could cause
evacuation  of people  in  the affected area to the Bridgewater area where
MARA  would  be assisting in communications.

The  Brockton/West Roxbury VA Medical Center, in conjunction  with  Area
2 Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and the Morton Hospital
in Taunton, are planning a disaster drill for sometime during the end of
April or  the  beginning  of May (most likely the latter).  The current
scenario calls  for a severe earthquake to strike this region, overloading
the local hospitals.   Details are still being worked out, but one of the
prime  test parameters will be our ability to establish communication
between Brockton, Taunton, and West Roxbury.  More to follow.

VHFING
by Dave Bourque, WB1FLD
If you haven't tried VHF contesting yet then what are you waiting for?
You don't need the all-mode transceivers to do it but it sure helps if you
want to get all those points.  Try the FM simplex frequencies.  I visit
them often just to help get the QSO total up.  The last contest was lots
of fun for me and my helpers.  The band never really opened up but we sure
got the points.  I ran multi-operator again with a total of three
operators.  Bob N1NUM, John KA1FYB and myself.  We spent a great deal of
effort getting ready for this one.  Not to mention some money.  Our plans
started the week after the September 94 contest.  Here is how we did it!

In September we had used a dipole for the 6 meter station.  Now we wanted
to use a beam.  The search went out for someone to sell or loan us one.
Larry, K1MNS had all the material to build a 6M yagi but we had to cut and
drill everything.  He had designed it by using computer simulation and
with 6 elements, it would be a screamer.  December came and so did cutting
and drilling all the pieces to his dimensions.  Next, time to hook up a
feedline.  Oh NO!  We forgot about a matching section.  A call to the
local Cushcraft factory got us a gamma match at a very good price (yes, we
had to pay for it).  Two weeks to contest and the beam is assembled and
sitting on top of the picnic table in the back yard.  Thank God we didn't
get much snow this year.  Since I don't own a 6 meter rig yet I had Jim,
W1XR, come over with his and a Bird wattmeter and check out the antenna.
We wanted to tune the antenna for 50.150 MHz, but could only get a 2:1
SWR, which is not considered `ideal'.  52.0 MHz was a perfect match but
that's not where we wanted to  operate.  So, a little ham creativity, born
of necessity and desperation, came into action.  We modified the Cushcraft
gamma match and managed to get the 50.150 MHz SWR down to 1.5:1.  Still
not perfect but close enough.  Besides, it was  getting really cold
outside.  One week before contest and we still need to get the beam up on
the tower.  That's when we find out that our source for the 220 MHz beam
says he can't get it down from his tower for us to borrow.  Hmmm, trouble
brewing here.  OK break out the checkbook.  John KA1FYB to the rescue.
John makes a trip to HRO to purchase a Cushcraft beam for 222.  OK, now
we're covered.

The  weekend before the contest had mild temperatures so it was perfect
for tower  work.  The three spare tower sections were assembled and
hoisted  up with  rope guys to hold it in place against the house.  Up
goes the 6 meter beam on its 18 foot boom to the top at 35 feet.  Then the

222 beam gets put up  to  the  30-foot mark.  Half-inch hard line used for
the 222  beam  and RG213  is hooked to the 6 meter beam.  Now, we're
ready!  "Hey, what  about the  2 meter band?", you ask.  On 2 meters I run
a Rutland Array Yagi  with 12  elements on a 17 foot boom that sits nicely
at 80 feet and is fed  with half-inch hardline.  I also have a 25-element
432 Rutland Array Yagi  on  a 17  foot boom sitting at 75 feet, also fed
with half-inch hardline.  I  run about  170 watts on 2 meters and 100
watts on 432.  On 6 meters and 222  we run barefoot at 10 watts.

WALK FOR HUNGER HELP NEEDED
by John Adams, KA1HTG
[The following message was originated by Phil Temples, K9HI EMA Section
Manager]

Amateurs in Eastern Mass. are invited to participate in the 1995 Walk for
Hunger on Sunday, May 7th.  Tens of thousands of walkers will follow a
course beginning at the Boston Common to Newton Center and back into
Cambridge.

"Project Bread staff have requested amateur assistance in providing
communications for the vans and buses which shuttle people back to the
Common," says Bob DeMattia, AK1J, who coordinates the amateur radio
communications for the event.  DeMattia adds that eighteen new positions
are needed for these new functions, in addition to the usual checkpoint
and marshal functions which amateurs have provided in the past.

All operation will take place on 2 meters, so that's all you need to help
out.  If you or your club members can assist, please contact Bob at the
below-mentioned telephone number or email address.  For further info,
contact:     Bob De Mattia, AK1J Tel: (617) 698-4908 email:
ak1j@gpsemi.com.

[Ed. Note; Every year, John Adams, KA1HTG, helps out with communications
for the Walk for Hunger.  This year again, John is asking for your help.
He will help to arrange transportation if needed.  In some instances, if
you are covering one of the early stages of the walk, your job could be
over in a matter of a couple of hours.  Stations usually operate for about
an hour after the main body of walkers passes by, to help stragglers, then
they close up shop and are able to leave.  This is a worthwhile event, the
type of thing that Hams are known to help with. If you can volunteer a few
hours of your time on Sunday, May 7, please talk to John.]


INTERNATIONAL MARCONI DAY
by Carl Aveni, N1FYZ
Mark your calendars for Saturday, April 22, 1995 for the eighth annual
International Marconi Day. This year, there will be approximately thirty
Special Event stations around the world with the designation letters IMD
as part of their call signs.  Each station represents a significant part
of Marconi's experiments with transmitting radio frequencies over ever
increasing distances.  For instance, the K1VV/IMD station will once again
represent the Wellfleet, Cape Cod station where Marconi sent the first
message between the United States and the United Kingdom.

Working any twelve of the Special Event stations will earn the operator an
distinctive certificate printed on a reproduction of a Marconi stock
certificate.  However, be aware that contacting the same station on
several different bands only counts as one contact.  There must be twelve
different stations.  Confirmations of the contacts, in the form of your
log sheet, should be sent to the Cornish Amateur Radio Society in
Cornwall, England (see QST for the address).

Short-wave listeners can also earn a certificate by successfully copying
two-way contacts between any 12 Special Event stations and other hams
around the world.  Copies of your log sheets will also serve as
confirmation.

A new feature offered this year is a certificate for those who make
two-way contact with less than 12 stations but who are able to fill out
the numbers by copying two-way contacts between Marconi stations and other
mans, similar to the short-wave listeners' part of the event.  The
certificate for this part of the event will be similar to those issued to
short-wave listeners.  See QST for more information about bands, modes,
and times.

HAVE YOU HEARD THIS??
Have you received a postcard from a from a local area ham proclaiming to
be a  self-appointed  'radio policeman' asking for feedback and  donations
to scan  local repeater conversations and HF freqs for wrongdoing?  If so,
it is  presumably a practical joke.  This is just to let you know that
this is in  no  way  connected to the MASSASOIT ARA. It has never  been
discussed, condoned,  or  even  considered by the club.   MARANEWS  is
printing  this because post cards have been mailed to some members of
MARA.


LAST ISSUE FOR NON-MEMBERS
It's  April again, and that means that this is the last call for 1995
dues.  If  you have not sent them in to the club, please do so ASAP to
keep you on the  MARANEWS mailing list.  Otherwise, this will be the last
issue we will be  able  to send.  Send your dues to the club PO box, to
the attention  of Gary  DeCoster, WA1CIM, Treasurer.  Thanks a lot for
your cooperation,  and thanks for digging a little deeper this year to buy
that new repeater!

HOSSTRADERS HAMFEST
by K1RQG
MAY  13,  1995. The "HOSSTRADERS Hamfest is again located at the
Rochester fairgrounds, Rochester, NH.  Please continue to refer to this
function  as the  HOSSTRADERS".  There will be much larger commercial
areas, as well  as morning and afternoon VE testing.  Registration will
begin at 8:30 a.m. and will start at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday for Novice and
Tech.  General, Advanced and  Extra Class, will begin at 1300 with
registration beginning at  12:30.  Commercial exams will be available on
Saturday as well.   The only official word  is from the following three
stations: WA1IVB - W1GWU - K1RQG.  Packet replies to K1RQG @
K1RQG.ME.USA.NA..

The  Fairgrounds are located off Exit 13 of The Spaulding Turnpike (RT
16).  Head  East   towards  town.  Take 3rd right, Hoover St.,  and
follow  this around  to  main  gate.  Only one gate will be open this
year.   The  early surcharge HAS BEEN reinstated.  Gate times will be
Friday 9:00 AM  to  3:00 PM  to  include  the  Surcharge ($20/person),
then  the  normal  gate  fee ($5/person)  from 3:00 PM Friday through
Saturday.   For arrivals  after  3 PM,  the  cost  (as of this writing)
will be $5, and overnight  camping  on Friday  night is available.  No
word if there is an extra fee for  this  as yet.

UPCOMING VE SESSIONS
Two  sessions are in store for mid to late Spring.  The first  will  be
on Thursday  Evening, April 27, at the EOC room, downstairs at the
Bridgewater Police  Station.    This will be in conjunction with  the  CW
class  being taught by Dave Topalis, KA1TXO.

The second session will be at the Stoughton High School on Tuesday
Evening, May 16, room B207 for the students of the Novice/Tech class being
taught by Bob  Schillinger,  KA1PGU.  Both sessions will be open to
anyone  for  all classes of Theory or CW testing.

NEW SOFTWARE UPLOADS
Ham Shack and Sanctuary BBS have had the files Lan-Link Ver 2.30
(LANLNK23.EXE), and HyperLog Ver 2.25 (HLOG_225.EXE) uploaded to them.
Lan- Link is current as of October 1994, and HyperLog is current as of
early 1995.  Both programs support packet TNC/MPC's, and HyperLog also
supports logging for various contests as well.  Each has built-in .SYS
files for the PK-232 as well as several other popular TNC's and MPC's.
Additionally, look for file "ARRL_BBS.ZIP".  It contains a complete
listing of all files available at the ARRL BBS (phone number in QST on
Contents page).

I'M SO CONFUSED...
by Bob Mandeville, N1EDM
After so much cooperation with the electronic mailout of the newsletter,
we (meaning I) have lost track of who is receiving it this way. The list
was accidentally dumped in the latest PC housecleaning. I would appreciate
your help in replacing the list for future use.

Gil Follett, WA1GDJ, has volunteered to take over maintenance of the
electronic mailout list.  After uploading the newsletter to Ham Shack and
Sanctuary, Gil will now notify those users via Packet.  Currently, Steve
Powers, WA1WED, is on the BBS list.  I know there are more, but as I
admitted earlier...

Those receiving the newsletter via Internet include Steve Meuse, N1JFU;
Alan Nickerson, N1KBT; Jack Cassidy, WB1DSL; Harry Ketler, W1DGD; Dave
Bourque, WB1FLD; Norm Bliss, WA1CCQ, ARRL/editor of Key Klix newsletter;
Phil Temples, K9HI, EMA Section Manager; Elaine Chase, EMA Affiliated
Clubs Coordinator for the ARRL; Keith Leite, AA1JF; Gil Follett, WA1GDJ;
Gary and Maryanne DeCoster, N1SGW & WA1CIM; and Julie and Dewey Ratliff,
KB5YTL & N5ZPQ.

The actual Internet addresses are kept confidential, to be given out only
by the user, so we will not publish them here.

If your name is missing from this list, or if you would like to be added
to it, get info to me via any convenient means, with your preferred method
of receiving it, and your Internet and/or AOL address.  Please help to
update the list.  Thanks, de Bob, N1EDM @ N1JFU or maildrop at N1EDM-4.


CLUB CALL, UPDATE
by Bob Mandeville, N1EDM
The 610B form has been sent in to the FCC for MARA to receive its generic
club call.  A generic call is a prerequisite to getting any type of
'designer' club call.  Unfortunately, there was a hitch.  The fine print
said not to submit the club call before March 24.  If you have been
following this, you will recall that I mailed in the 610B well before that
date.  It has been returned with a note to resubmit it, and that has been
done.  According to the ARRL, club calls have not begun to be processed as
of April 5, so our club call will be in the first batch, anyway.

SECRETARY'S NOTES
by Bob Mandeville, N1EDM
ú  The meeting was called to order at 8:03 PM with 17 members and guests
  present.
ú  The Secretaries report was accepted as printed in the March MARANEWS
ú  Treasurers report: Opening balance $1474    Closing balance: $1524
ú  Repeater report (by Steve Belcher, WA1ZUF); The club has tested the
  repeater successfully.  However, reports that the new repeater was being
  tested in an illegal manner (i.e., without an ID) were false, that it
  was being ID's properly via Jay and Steve while they were testing.  The
  repeater is presently putting OUT 8-12 watts because the amp is down.
  Steve suggested that we fix the amplifier and sell it, or donate it to
  the N1JFU BBS if it could be used.  There has been some deliberate QRM
  which is being successfully tracked.
ú  Ron, N1PXX, gave a report on the CW class.  Several members have already
  upgraded.
ú  Maryanne DeCoster, N1SGW, reported that NOAA has told her that the
  Skywatch classes training should start 'soon' but would not commit to a
  date.
ú  Maryanne also reported that a NOAA hurricane hunter plane will be down
  at the Quonset airport in Quonset, RI, on Monday afternoon, May 22, for
  public viewing.
ú  On behalf of the club, Gary DeCoster, WA1CIM, thanked the club
  membership for their support of the new repeater by paying the badly
  needed dues assessment which has also left the club treasury in good
  shape.
ú  Dennis and Paul Foley discussed the possibility of a ham Auction.  See
  details elsewhere in this newsletter for more information.
ú  Paul Foley, N1KQR, won the 50-50 raffle for 50% of the $20+ pot.
ú  The meeting adjourned at 9 P.M. and the club surprised Mark and Sheryl
  (N1NLR and N1QZY) (who were married on April 8), with a basket of gifts
  for the home, as well as a cake decorated by Joe Deree, N1SGU.

FIELD DAY COMMITTEE
by Bob Mandeville, N1EDM
Field Day plans are already in the works.  A number of members have already
volunteered their time and equipment for the June 24-25 weekend.  Joe
Deree, N1SGU, has volunteered to be the chief chef for this weekend and is
looking for something different from the same old boring barbecue.  Any
ideas that won't take a well-stocked kitchen and 60 hours to prepare and
clean up will be greatly appreciated.  Talk to Joe!  Other members on the
committee are Carl Aveni, N1FYZ,  and Mark and Sheryl Greenlaw, N1NLR and
N1QXY.


AUCTION COMMITTEE
Paul and Dennis Foley, N1KQR and N1KXD, are interested in starting a ham
Auction for MARA.  They explained that the last one around was at
Honeywell, and that the Honeywell auction may be a thing of the past.  They
noted that the Honeywell auction netted about $1500 for the club (not
counting what they made in the food concessions).  They had the idea that
it would be a good financial move for the club to start an auction for
MARA.  But an auction of this magnitude takes work and people.  Paul and
Dennis are interested in forming a committee to get the planning done and
get the word out to area hams for an auction in the October time frame.
You can contact them on the repeater, at their home phone (508-583-8823) or
talk to Dennis after the trivia net on Thursday nights.

Speaking of the Trivia Net, make an effort to tune in to it at 8 PM on
Thursday for some fun!!!


RS-12 SATELLITES, REVISITED...
[This is a partial reprint from the February MARANEWS with more
information on  RS-12].   The  following information was edited from an
article  titled MORE QRP SATELLITE WORK, PART ONE by Michael A.
Czuhajewski WA8MCQ, Severn, MD,  written  for  QRP  Quarterly, journal of
the QRP  Amateur  Radio  Club International.

For  the  absolute newcomer who wants to get started right away and
doesn't have  immediate  access  to  any other articles  on  RS-12,  here
are  the frequencies:   15  meter uplink is nominally 40 kHz wide,  from
21.210  to 21.250  MHz.  You can use either SSB or CW.  In general, CW
tends to gather near  the lower end of the passband, but don't forget to
tune up into  "SSB country,"  since  I  occasionally  hear CW  up  there.
The  corresponding downlink is  29.410 to 29.450 MHz.  The telemetry
beacon, with 20  WPM  CW, is on 29.408, and the ROBOT is at 29.454.  (If
the bird is out of sight and you  get bored, you can always tune down to
29.357 and listen for the RS-10 beacon.  You need 2 meter equipment to get
into that bird, though).


RS-12 SCHEDULE
by Bob Mandeville, N1EDM
For interested readers without access to InstantTrack and/or a PC, here is
a list of predicted times and passes for the next several days:

DATE/TIME UTC  CPA (km)* Course
18APR95   0124 1861      SW-NW
	  0319 2900      W-N
	  1036 2303      N-SE
	  1221 1154      NW-S
	  1408 2900      NW-SW
	  2228 2228      E-NE

19APR95   0007 1961      E-NE
	  0153 1780      SW-N
	  0346 3539      W-NW
	  0920 3403      N-NE
	  1104 1635      N-SW
	  1249 1637      NW-SW
	  1438 3622      NW-W
	  2253 2761      SE-NE

20APR95   0035 1142      S-NE
	  0223 2454      SW-N
	  0947 2865      N-E
	  1132 1163      N-SE
	  1318 2359      NW-SW
	  2319 2261      SE-N

21APR95   0103 1252      S-NW
	  0253 2917      NW-N
	  1015 2305      N-SE
	  1200 1152      NW-S
	  1347 2899      NW-W
	  2208 3470      E-NE
	  2347 1967      SE-N

This schedule was generated on March 18 with ARRL Keps ARLK009.  The time
should all be pretty close, if it was done correctly.  This is my first
try, so go easy on me if they're wrong.  Satellite passes all start with
the bird on the horizon (i.e., elevation '0' degrees), so you probably
won't hear RS-12 until it clears the trees in your back yard, so give it a
few more minutes from the schedule.  The 'Course' column is for those of
you with yagis to give you an aiming point to track the orbit.  Try
tracking the CW beacon on 29.408 for the first attempt or two just to see
if you can find it (if the times were calculated correctly).  The
frequency should increase as the satellite approaches your station, then
decrease as it moves past due to Doppler.

*CPA(km) means 'Closest Point of Approach', or the nearest that the
satellite will approach this area during its pass.  Naturally, not all
orbits will pass overhead.  In fact, some will be quite distant, so you
may only have some moderate degree of success on these far-away passes.
If you attempt to track these passes, you can judge how sensitive your
radio/antenna system is and can avoid wasting time tracking ranges beyond,
say, 2500 km because your rig just won't hear it.  A really good pass
seems to be in the range of 1100-1200 km, with some as close as 950 km.  A
poor one seems to be in a range of around 3600 km.


DREAMERS ON-LINE
Larry Houbre, AA1FS, has a BBS system running in New Bedford called
DREAMERS ONLINE.  DOL features such items as online weather, with
satellite maps updated every few hours, conferences, satellite TV
listings, Single/multi-player games, and an Internet gateway with Usenet
news conferences.  It also receives four meg of sports news from one of
the leading sports wire services, and the most current shareware and
patches almost as soon as they are uploaded from the author.  Other
features include Amateur radio, Genealogy, cooking, travel search, legal,
and USATODAY Decisionline access.

Because of the extensive outside connection involved, there is a small
monthly fee involved with this system.  To find out more, contact Larry on
line at 508-991-6058, or via voice at 508-991-6055.

	    *** HAVE A WONDERFUL MONTH AND HAPPY DX'ING ***