************************************************ * North Shore Repeater Association Newsletter * * Fall 92 Electronic Edition * ************************************************ º NSRA PO BOX 3724 Peabody, Ma. 01961 º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĽ Our repeaters: The NSRA meets on the second . monday of the month at the 145.47 Danvers CY TENNY CLUB in w/Peabody 146.88 Salem at 7:30 pm. Talk-in on the 145.09 Packet node Danvers 145.47 repeater. 224.38 Danvers 442.80 Danvers . WOMAN CRITICAL AFTER SHOCK . LYNN - A New Hampshire woman remains in critical conditon at Union Hospital after she received a near-fatal electric shock when the ladder she was helping to move came in contact with a high voltage wire. . Marcy Bergendahl was helping her brother Karl Bergendahl and David Bergendahl move the fully extended aluminum ladder when it fell back against the powerline. Karl was treated for burns on his left foot while David was treated for shock. . Marcy had one foot on the bottom rung of the ladder at the time of the accident and was reportedly blown out of her shoes. . Patrolmen Larry Wentzell, Michael Mageary and Michael Surrette arrived at the scene and found Bergendahl on her back. They were unable to find a pulse and immediately began administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation. According to another officer at the scene, "They brought her back, lost here and brought her back again." . Both her feet had minor scars from the exit wounds, indicating where the electricity escaped after passing through her body. . Please observe all of the safety warnings attached to your ladder, mast or antenna. If there is the slightest chance that these items may come in contact with electrical lines then let go and stand back. If it does touch powerlines then keep everyone away from the area and call the police. They will send someone to block off the area and also notify the electric company for you. . Late breaking news.... the above mentioned person did not survive her electric shock. . 2-METER PIRATE NABBED . A Washington state man faces a fine of 10,000 dollars for operating on a 2-meter amateur repeater without a license and for transmitting profanity and threats thereon. . On July 9 the FCC issued a Notice of Apparent Liability to one Gino A. Turrella, of Kent, Washington, a non-amateur and the target of what the Commission called ''numerous complaints'' for transmitting profane language and making threats ''on various amateur radio repeater stations throughout Western Washington.'' . The FCC's Kirkland, Washington Field Office said that on two occasions in September and November, 1991, it observed Turrella operating a radio transmitter in his pick-up truck ''simultaneously when radio transmissions consisting of profane language were observed on 144.73 MHz.'' . Citing Turrella for ''willful'' violations of Section 301 of the Communications Act, the FCC held Turrella liable for a 10,000 dollar monetary forfeiture, 2,000 dollars more than its ''base'' amount of 8,000 dollars for unlicensed operation because the transmissions were repeated and ''consisted of profanity and threats.'' . Turrella has 30 days to respond by either paying the fine or by sending a ''detailed rebuttal statement of facts and reasons'' to the Commission. ........ . GREAT FUN FOR ALL AT THE NEWBURYPORT GRAND PRIX . The Newburyport Grand Prix was again a great success. The weather was great and we had alot of fun. This is the third year that hams have coordinated the public safety/emergency communications for this event. There was a delay in the start time of the race due to one of the support boats catching fire while exiting the Merrimac river. According to Pete N1HGD, who was on that boat, it was an engine fire and was quickly extinguished by the US Coast Guard. One of the boats was damaged do to hull failure and ham radio was used to dispatch dive teams and rescue boats. The operators were quickly transported to the hospital and treated for minor injuries. . Amateurs who participated in the Newbury Grand Prix: . N1DFH Jaunita Simons N1EUM Ken Smith N1EUN Bob Nelson N1EVH Mike Naselroad KA1EXZ Joe Carty N1FMQ Bob Ward KD1FW Jim Cavanaugh KA1FW Walter Ellis N1HAA Rich Wilhelm N1HGD Peter Vasiliou N1HIJ Jeff Hopkinson N1HLK Keith Triplett N1HVK Dan Smith N1IIE Al Miller N1IVW Paul Bilodeau KD1JW Greta Jameson W1KVQ Herb Ryan KA1NCF Eric Horwitz KA1OFZ Kenny Lake KA1SSS John Sotiriou KA1WAM Steve Willams . Thank you all!! ........ . LAN-LINK 2.0 by Ken Smith . There are many packet programs available today for the IBM PC and compatables. In this issue I will talk about what I think is one of the best packet programs available. . Lan-Link is more than just a packet program. It is designed to be more of a 'packet user interface' with many powerful features that will make your packeting more enjoyable. From the easy to follow screen and function keys to its ability to automate common tasks you will find this package hard to beat. In past versions it was sometimes a chore to get the parameters set correctly but new with version 2.0 is an easy to follow install program which does most of the configuring for you. . The most common commands are all assigned to function keys (F-keys) which show across the bottom of the screen at all times. For example, to get a HEARD list you hit F5. This brings up a separate window where the heard list is displayed. Now you can move the cursor to any call listed and hit enter to connect to that station. . One really nice thing about this program is that you are always at the command prompt and therefore can either issue a command through Lan-Link or type the command as you normally would if you were just using a terminal program. This is nice if you have become accustomed to talking to your TNC directly. Beleive me though, after using this program for a while you will not want to. Most commands can be accessed through Lan-Links pull down menu system by hitting the escape key at any time. . Easy BBSing . How many times have you spent half an hour or more logged on to your favorite BBS reading and writing messages? With Lan-Link you no longer have to sit there at the keyboard to do this thanks to the ZAP BBS feature. . What this will do is connect to a BBS... read your mail and list the latest bulletins on the BBS, which will be saved to a text file for later viewing. Then it will upload any messages you composed ('offline' with the built-in split screen text editor) to the BBS. Now remember how it saved a list of the latest bulletins to a file? Well now it looks at that file for SCAN WORDS that you specify when you configure Lan-Link. For example if you have 4SALE as one of your SCAN WORDS then any message addressed to 4SALE or with 4SALE listed in the Subject line will automatically be read and saved by Lan-Link for later viewing. This is a big timesaver and also helps to keep the BBS less congested because this whole process takes only minutes to complete. You can even be off doing something else while this whole process takes place because you can have LAN-LINK automatically ZAP the BBS when it sees your call listed in the "MAIL FOR:" beacon sent out by your home BBS. Lan-Link will even allow you to set a time for the ZAP to take place in the EVENT menu. . What was that path? . How many times have you looked around your shack for that piece of paper with the path to a good friend scribbled on it? Never again thanks to the path directory file. This file contains all of the path information to any station you specify and will also allow you to assign aliases to any station. For example, say I wanted to connect to Pete N1HGD while he is at school in Syracuse. Normally I would have to manually connect to each of the nodes (four of them) and then connect to Petes' TNC. Thanks to this path directory file all I have to do is connect to "PETE". Lan-Link will do all of the NODE and DIGI hopping for me. . If the station you are trying to connect to requires a fairly lengthy path you can even intitiate the connect then go do something else. Lan-Link will sound an alarm when it completes the connect. . File transfers . Ascii and binary file transfers are also supported in Lan-Link. You can even download ASCII files from a Lan-Link station even if they are not present. The way mine is setup, anyone can connect to me and then issue the following command to get a directory listing of available files and directories that I have made available for download. :QBM: DIR To download a file the user would enter: :QBM: FILENAME.EXT Binary transfers using XMODEM, YMODEM and even ZMODEM are easily achieved using similar "Q" codes. A public domain implementation of Zmodem 'PCZ'is included with Lan-Link as well as a series of batch files to make Zmodem transfers really simple. . LAN features . Local Area Network featgwes are also included which allow store and forward of messages between Lan-Link stations without the use of one centralized BBS. A Lan-Link station that has mail for another will send out "LAN-LINK :QTC: 'callsign'" as its beacon. If another station running Lan-Link is listening on the frequency and that callsign in the beacon was his then a connect will result and the mail will be forwarded automatically. . Answering machine . Built in to Lan-Link is the ability to act as a "SMART" answering machine/mailbox. This allows you to leave messages for different stations on your hard disk. When someone connects to you, only they will get that message. If that station would like to leave a reply he can leave mail for you or any other station by typing ':QSP: callsign'. . CQ Contest . If you are into contesting then Lan-Link is perfect for you. Contest mode will do all of the work for you. Making contacts and logging them automatically to the built in dBase compatable logger. Lan-Link will even track your awards. . Call a Conference . With one command you can turn your packet station into a local chat area. Built in to Lan-Link is conference mode which allows all users connected to converse with eachother. . Elmer . This feature is a unique and very powerful idea. Elmer is like having a second operator that you program. This artificial intelligence will recognize certian words and respond by transmitting text files containing replies or further questions, just as if someone was at the keyboard talking with you. This feature can be used for educational and informational purposes and can even be programmed to recognize different languages. . And more.... . This is just a highlight of what Lan-Link is capable of. The other modes included are HF packet, Amtor, Baudot, Morse, Ascii (RTTY), and Navtex if your TNC is capable. This program has made my packeting more enjoyable and less time consuming. I hope you will give it a try. . You will probably find Lan-Link on your favorite landline BBS as LL200E.ZIP, size: 363363, date: 6-04-92 If you cannot find a copy then contact me about obtaining one. . Ken Smith AA1DR . LAN-LINK Copyright (c) 1988 - 1992 by G3ZCZ by Association of Shareware Professionals member Joe Kasser W3/G3ZCZ POB 3419 Silver Spring Md., 20918, U.S.A. ........ . REQUESTING A CALL MAY CO$T YOU . In a letter to FCC Chairman Alfred E. Sikes, ARRL President George Wilson III, W4OYI, has again expressed the League's support for a system to grant specific call signs to amateurs upon request. . The FCC recently received a letter supporting such a system from U.S. Congressmen Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Ralph Hall of Texas. . ''We wish to endorse,'' Wilson said, ''the creation of a system whereby the Commission could make specific unassigned Amateur Radio call signs available to its licensees, through a program that would be fully funded by applicant's fees'' (such as Hall and Markey advocate). . The letter particularly noted previous holders of call signs who had relinquished them when moving to another call area, under FCC rules no longer in effect. . The letter offered the services of the League in working ''with FCC staff in developing a fair, workable system for the assigning of specific, unassigned Amateur Radio call signs.'' . ED- What do you think about this proposal? Would you pay a fee for a specific callsign? Tell us here at the NSRA Newsletter what you think. Better yet tell your SM! ......... . LETTERS TO THE NSRA.... . NORTH SHORE REPEATER ASSOC August 25, 1992 . Once again this year, the Blackburn Challenge was a great success for rowers and paddlers from around the eastern half of the country and even from Canada. One hundred and three boats were registered (the most ever), and thanks in part to gentle weather conditions, four of them made the circumnavigation of Cape Ann in less than three hours. Ten new class records were established. but the course record of 2:55:17, set in 1989, remains intact for another year. All in all, participants enjoyed a safe and nearly perfect day. CARC's Board of Directors joins me in thanking you for the part you played in making the Sixth Annual Blackburn Challenge one of the most successful ever. With support like yours, this event enjoys an increasingly popular reputation, and has been termed by one of the boating press. "the premier open-ocean rowing event on the East Coast." Your generosity helps not only those who take part, but all of us at CARC, who are delighted to know-the effort we put into making the Blackburn Challenge so special is shared by folks like you. . Thank you again for your help and support. . John Spencer President . ---- As the Security Fleet Coordinator for CARC, I would like to add my personal thanks for your generous sharing of your time. skills, and equipment, particularly those of you who have turned out year after year to help. We are aware that there are expenses involved in spending a half day or more at sea. It may be helpful to you to know that CARC is a 50l(C)3 not-for-profit organization, and that any expenses you may have incurred in our behalf are deductible as a donation on your income taxes. Again. many thanks. We could not do the Blackburn without you. John M. Krenn Security Fleet Coordinator ....... . MANY MISSED A GOOD TIME AT FIELD DAY . Well field day has passed us again this year and just like the last, the operator turnout was poor. We have nobody to blame but ourselves. The people that were there to setup and operate are the people that need to be thanked for all they did. They took up the slack when no one else showed up to relieve them. . We moved the field day site to the front of Winter island park this year and it seemed to work out better. We were much more visible to the public. During the beginning of field day we had close to 75 visitors thanks to the Karate Workshop of Salem. They put on an excellent demonstration and I have already asked them to come back again next year. The clown that Otto (KB1EF) provided for us was very good also but due to the thunderstorms the clown and all of the visitors were forced to leave. . I want to say a special thanks to Juanita (N1DFH), Jim (KA1EFM) and his wife Carol for cooking all of the meals for the operators and helpers. The food was great. Speaking of food, sorry to all that had to be turned away because they did not lend a hand. Food for help only. . In general my committee and I were very happy with the way setup took place. We could have had a little more help with operating and takedown. Maybe next year. . Now it's time for me to thank everyone that helped. Your services were highly appreciated. Please read this list twice (it's not that large). Think about why you couldn't be there (vacations and previous engagements excusable). Hopefully we will all make up for this next field day. . K2AJY Gary Young N1DFH Juanita Simons AA1DR Ken Smith Linda Smith KA1EFM Jim Blanton Carol Blanton WB1EHL John Graves KA1EXZ Joe Carty N1FMQ Bob Ward KD1FW Jim Cavanaugh N1GIE Rowe Austin WB1HBU Eric Cottrell N1HGD Peter Vasiliou N1HIJ Jeff Hopkinson N1HLK Keith Triplett N1HVK Dan Smith N1IEQ Tabatha Carty N1IIE Al Miller N1JNU Jon Duprez KA4LIE Les Nieman Melinda Darrigo KA1RCP Eric Austin KA1USI Dave Carnevale KA1YBT Mike DeAleida . Sorry if I missed anyone. Next time we will have an official sign in sheet to avoid this. If I offended anybody.... I am just speaking the way I feel. . Mark Darrigo KA1YPR Field Day Chairman ........ . *** WORD SEARCH PUZZLE *** . D Y W V U E H G X F N Y Y J A L J J Y K O U N ANTENNAS B N A G L L R R E V I T P E N Q X O Y S Z Q Z E E R G O F P U R J E O G X Y P P E I E Z W C V F N O I P E T F W L J L H O G K C W L P L A POLO H Z P A K S U H Q E H M O H O U J R S R A C R PLIDEO L X G Y U S N T K O Z C G U N U N H W K E Z O EIRLATVC X B G F H L E G D E V Q X N C B E E Z A Q F L DUAQ V W B E M O L E P R T L P U B G N D J E H N I IAGY U R S W B P D P W D F Z E S N P R I W F V D N RMOHCBI V E Q V R E M S X Q Z Y R D V E R T I C A L A LPSEOR S V P T F R T R C C Z X I H S U Z U E T J Z S PEZP B G U K U A U S H Y K D O K B A U B N O N W W VEEBEGRA C E W T I T E J C O S U D G I X A N Z Q C Y I EOCDNIS O R V E N O C S I D M L I B V N H P E I K U N PEOLJ Q N K E D X H N D Q G B C V M F F I L H M U D GLO ECPIIROD M F Q Q R H Y E I G B E I D Q O C O K B R P O IRLAABOCP L H C F D A T J P X Y C D C G G B G Q B C G M CINAAROL NWODIM O Y X D R X G H O W F L M B M A C J I E R X B G A F A F R F E L R A B A L R G Y V D L Z J T T N J U Z P P T E O C S N A X D M V I I B C X N W S Q F L W Q W N U N P M C T W B U Z S D A B F S F C U E N K I J O H S H X E O O Z V I K . THE WORDS HIDDEN IN THIS GRID MAY RUN: HORIZONTALLY FROM LEFT TO RIGHT AND VERTICALLY FROM TOP TO BOTTOM HORIZONTALLY FROM RIGHT TO LEFT AND VERTICALLY FROM BOTTOM TO TOP DIAGONALLY IN ALL DIRECTIONS. [ONLY IN THE WORD LIST ARE SOME OR ALL OF THE WORDS SCRAMBLED.] ........ . YOUR SECRETARY THANKS YOU . I felt that as Secretary of the NSRA this would be a good place to personally, and on behalf of our club to thank all of you good people who thoughtfully have taken a portion of your lives and utilized it solely for the benefit of helping others. There is no need for rosters or fanfare for people of this caliber. They know who they are, and they deserve acknowledgement AT LEAST in general for their labors. It is a heartfelt thing to give of yourself for a good cause whatever it may be. It is with this meager paragraph that I humblely wish to again express my utmost thanks & respect. From one volunteer to others 73. . Jim Cavanaugh/ KD1FW ....... . ON THE NTS FRONT . Precedence and handling instructions. by Jeff Arnold N1FWV . The importance of Precedence in the header of NTS traffic is to prioritize your messages. The precedence goes after the message number. . EMERGENCY - Any message having life and death urgency to any person or group of persons, which is transmitted by Amateur Radio in the absence of regular commercial facilities. This includes official messages of welfare agencies during emergencies requesting supplies, materials or instructions vital the relief of stricken populate in emergency areas. During normal times it will be very rare. On CW, this designation will always be spelled out. When in doubt, do not use it. . PRIORITY - Important messages having a specific time limit. Official messages not covered in the Emergency category. Press dispatches and other emergency related traffic not of the utmost urgency. Notification of death or injury in a disaster area, personal or official. Use the abbreviation P on CW. . WELFARE - A message that is either a) an inquiry as to the health and welfare of an individual in the disaster area or b) an advisory or reply from the disaster area that indicates all is well should carry this precedence, which is abbreviated W on cw. These messages are handled after Emergency and Priority traffic but before Routine. . ROUTINE - Most traffic normal times will bear this designation. In disaster situations, traffic labeled Routine (R on cw) should be handled last, or not at all when circuits are busy with Emergency, Priority or Welfare Traffic. This precedence is used in our everyday traffic handling. . Handling instruction are optional and are used to assist the traffic handler, and person delivering the message about special directions that the originator is requesting. The handling instructions go after the precedence and before the originators call sign. . HXA -(followed by number) Collect landline delivery authorized by addressee within ____ miles. (If no number, authorization is unlimited.) . HXB -(Followed by number) Cancel message if not delivered within ____ hours of filing time; service orig identity of station from which received, plus date and time. Report identity of station to which relayed, plus date and time, or if delivered report date, time and method of delivery. . HXE -Delivering station get reply from addressee, originate message back. . HXF -(Followed by number) Hold delivery until ____(date). . HXG -Delivery by mail or landline toll call not required. If toll or other expense involved, cancel message and service originating station. . This information taken from ARRL FSD-218(585) This card may be obtained from ARRL HQ at 225 Main St. Newington, CT 06111 ....... . NEW PUBLIC INFORMATION HOTLINE . Looking for information about Amateur Radio? . Where are Ham Classes? When are Ham test sessions? Where are Ham Clubs? And any other Amateur Radio Related news or info? . Call the American Radio Relay League Eastern Massachusetts Public Information Officer, TOLL FREE in Massachusetts: . (800) 310-ARRL . You'll be in touch with Dave Dextradeur, KD1GH. Call 24 hours a day and leave your info request on the answerphone. . Outside the calling area call Dave at (508) 991-4291 ......... . NSRA CLUB STATION? . At the last board of directors meeting we discussed the possibility of setting up a club staion. We all agreed that this would be a great asset to the club and the membership. . This station would expose new hams or people without the proper equipment to the wonderful world of the low bands. This would also allow the club to participate in contests as well as running special event stations. . The toughest thing is going to be finding a good location. This location must have enough room for a complete "shack" and also have access to a roof where antennas can be mounted or even a place to install a tower. The location must be accessable 24 hours and will be a secured location when not in use. . The other things will come naturally. As a matter of fact a few people have already offered to donate equipment to the cause. . This proposal will be opened for discussion at the next general meeting (Sept 21). If you would like this organization to have a club station then please come to the next meeting and show your support. ........ . CLASSIFIEDS . FOR SALE . YAESU FP-757HD Heavy duty power supply with built in speaker. Excellent condition with original box and paperwork... AES sells this for $279 For $175 it's all yours... . MFJ-941D Versa Tuner II I have a good working MFJ-941D Versa tuner II for sale. This unit has jacks for 3 unbalanced antenna inputs and one balanced input and will handle 300 watts. I no longer need this for my shack. Included is the manual (with schematic). A few minor external scratches in the paint but the face is perfect. Make me a reasonable offer for this great working antenna tuner. . Heathkit 10 MHZ Model IO-4550 OCSILLOSCOPE Comes complete with: . OPERATION manual ASSEMBLY manual Model PKW-105 probe kit . This scope is in EXCELLENT condition. Not a scratch on it and it works great. Come and pick it up or I can meet with you in the local area. << $ 150. >> . Contact Ken Smith AA1DR (Ex N1EUM) at 617-581-9812 or approach me at the next meeting. ----- . For sale by Russ Small W1JJ 617-631-3223 . Hallicrafters Skyrider Model SX24 Circa 1939 totally restored and in excellent working condition. Comes with matching speaker, spare tubes and original manual. $90 . Tubes, tubes and more tubes.... . 800 Radio and TV tubes in a 5 drawer wood cabinet. Some new, some used and some antiques. $60 . NEW RG62A/U coax cable . This is 93 ohm cable for use in the computer field. Various lengths from 25 feet to 150 feet with stainless steel BNC's on each end. 20 cents per foot. No extra charge for the BNC jacks. ....... . WHERE ARE EXAMS? . October exams in the Massachusetts New Hampshire area. . P 3 Boxboro HMFST MA ARRL 146.610 Dexter W1TUM 508-774-1765 P 4 Boxboro HMFST MA ARRL 146.820 Dexter W1TUM 508-774-1765 P 4 Fort Devens MA ARRL 145.410 Tom WA1RHP 508-425-6672 5 Cambridge Lotus MA ARRL 145.230 Phil K9HI 617-327-5986 The Cambridge Lotus sessions use to be the Boston Red Cross Bldng sessions 5 Westfield MA ARRL 224.520 Jeanette WC1O 413-786-1463 5 Bedford MA ARRL 147.120 Chester K1CCL 617-271-7086 P 7 Acton\Boxboro MA ARRL 145.410 Towne W1QLT 508-263-3712 9 Holyoke CC MA ARRL ---.--- Charles ----- 413-545-2718 10 Falmouth MA ARRL 146.655 Geoffrey KA1IOR 508-548-0969 10 Brewster MA LAUREL 147.045 Henry KZ1V 508-255-2818 P 11 Fort Devens MA ARRL 145.410 Tom WA1RHP 508-425-6672 11 Gloucester MA ARRL 145.130 Al AG1F 508-922-3307 P 12 Shirley MA ARRL 145.410 Tom WA1RHP 508-425-6672 14 Billerica MA ARRL 147.120 Bruce W1LUS 508-851-2886 17 Melrose MA ARRL 147.075 Scott WB1F 617-322-7654 P 18 Fort Devens MA ARRL 145.410 Tom WA1RHP 508-425-6672 P 20 Chicopee WAFB MA ARRL 147.075 Jeanette WC1O 413-786-1463 21 Cambridge MIT MA W5YI 145.230 Nick KA1MQX 617-253-3776 21 Salem NH ARRL 147.165 Denise ----- 603-434-4490 23 Holyoke MA ARRL 146.940 Jim WA1ZUH 413-245-3228 P 25 Fort Devens MA ARRL 145.410 Tom WA1RHP 508-425-6672 25 Framingham MA ARRL 147.150 Dick WA1KUG 508-877-0563 P 26 Shirley MA ARRL 145.410 Tom WA1RHP 508-425-6672 31 Nashua NH ARRL 146.730 Don N1AKS 603-434-0554 . FROM THE KY1N MEMORIAL LIST VIA KC1OX ........ . ANNOUNCEMENTS . "Welcome back" meeting . The next general meeting of the NSRA will be on September 21 Traditionally there is no planned entertainment for this meeting as it is the first meeting since June. I hope to see you all there. . Mandatory board meeting scheduled . There will be a mandatory board of directors meeting on October 1 at Ken Schaffers (KA1CAQ), 4 Phillip Avenue Peabody at 7:30. All club officers, trustees and committee heads must be present for this meeting. This meeting is for the discussion of a proposed change to the by-laws. If you have any questions please call Ken Schaffer or Jim Cavanaugh. ...... . S P R E A D THE WORD... . Explicit permission is granted to reproduce or distribute by electronic or other means, in whole or in part, any material appearing herein provided credit is given to the author and this publication including issue date. ....... . Emergency speed dial numbers will connect you with the proper police departments. Please keep this for future reference. . 911 State 912 Salem 913 Beverly 914 Peabody 915 Danvers 916 Lynn 917 Marblehead 918 Swampscott 919 Metro ......... . REPORT OF THE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE . Due to other summer activities, little of a technical nature has been done to the repeaters. Also the prolonged rain has prevented any tower or roof work to be done. . At 6.88 we still have to resolve the location of the weather instruments. We also haven't had aa chance to do a field strength survey on all the repeaters so we can resolve the "dead spots" on 88, 47, and 447.200. . At 145.47 we expect to install the wind speed detector shortly. The temperature detector is already enabled. . At 442.800 there appears to be a sensitivity problem. Keith N1HLK has volunteered to climb the water tank. At that time he will check both the 47 and the 440 antennas to be sure everything is OK for the winter. Bob KA1EUK is going to recheck both repeaters for deviation, frequency and other good things. . You may have noticed that the 440 repeater is now on PL. Also, incase you haven't noticed, the frequency has been inverted to comply with the new band plan (442.800/447.800). The PL tone is 118.8 but if you don't have PL then just punch in "11" on your DTMF pad when on your first transmission. . This PL system has stopped alot of the false triggering that we were experiencing. We will shortly do the same with the 145.47 repeater and then we will be able to increase the sensitivity back to where it used to be. . 73 Art Russell W1VUO Herb Ryan W1KVQ Tech committee chairpersons ......... . PUBLIC SERVICE ON THE NORTH SHORE . The following is a list of events and the hams who volunteered to provide public safety and emergency communications. . Salem Heritage Road Race August 9th, 1992 . N1IEQ - Tabitha Carty W1TTQ - John Moore K1VZX - Nelson Dionne KA1LSJ- Dave Crawford W1VUO - Art Russell N1DFH - Juanita Simmons KA1EXZ - Joe Carty N1FMQ - Bob Ward ------------------------------- Salem Heritage Day Parade August 16th, 1992. . W1TTQ - John Moore W1VUO - Art Russell N1DFH - Juanita Simons KD1FW - Jim Cavanaugh K1VZX - Nelson Dionne W1RJS - Mac Erps N1DSB - Murray Phipps KE1V - Don MacComisky KA1EXZ - Joe Carty ND1G - Bill Skeffington W1VVI - Frank Fabellow W1FXX - Al Guenette N1IIE - Al Miller N1FMQ - Bob Ward ------------------------------------ Multiple Schlerosis Society Kick Start . This event was a 500 mile motorcycle tour which started at Revere beach on Saturday August 15 with 80 motorcycles. The tour covered 4 states with an over nite stop in New Hampshire. The return trip ended at the Brockton Fairgrounds on Sunday August 16th. . Al Hamilton - AG1f Tabitha Carty - N1IEQ . Tabitha rode with the MS director in front of the pack while Al took up the rear of the pack. . Joe Carty KA1EXZ ........ . "YOUR GONNA BE IN PICTURES". . Welcome to another issue of the NSRA newsletter. As you have already noticed we now have pictures. I hope you enjoy this issue as much as I have enjoyed putting it together. . Keep the articles and information coming. I like to write articles and I hope you like my writing style (hi hi) but I don't want this newsletter to be only filled with my articles. We need more input from our members. We need more than my viewpoint to make this a GREAT newsletter. Please be an active member of the NSRA by submitting anything you think might interest local members or hams across the country. Now you can even send pictures! . Well, I did it. I contemplated this since my upgrade 8 months ago and finally decided to retire the six year old call that I have probably said more than forty thousands times (no kidding). No more N1EUM. I went for one of those new fangled "AA" calls that many people seem to dislike. I hoped like heck that I wouldn't get a tongue twister and I guess I made out pretty good. Now to figure out some fancy phonetics.... . I have begun recruiting other newsletter editors to use packet radio to share articles, information and tips that we think might interest other amateurs across the country. This "EditorLink" will hopefully bring some interesting things to our newsletter in the near future. . This newsletter is our only member-wide communication. Take advantage of it! . Pictures can be submitted (B&W preferred) by mail or in person at an NSRA meeting. Articles can be submitted via: . packet: AA1DR @ K1UGM.MA . voice: 617-581-9812 . mail: On paper or on any size floppy in IBM ASCII format Ken Smith NSRA Editor Suite 115 PO Box 2001 Swampscott, Ma. 01907 . I hope to hear from some of you real soon. Ken Smith AA1DR ........ . DX NEWS- FIELD CHECKING FOR DXCC Patriot DX Association by Mel Cole WZ1Q . Field checking of first time DXCC is now a reality. As of January 1992 five members of the Patriot DX Assoc are authorized to be DXCC Field reps. They are: Mel WZ1Q, Ray NR1R, Dave KA1ED, Bill K1JKS and Rusty W1JJ. . QSL cards for your first ever DXCC award may now be checked locally by contacting any of the 5 DXCC Field reps listed above. The reps will make arrangements with you as to where and when the checking can be done. . You will need the following with you when you meet with the rep's. . 1. A completed DXCC form MCS-505. This form can be obtained by sending $2.00 to the ARRL DXCC DESK and requesting the latest countries list as well as the form MCS-505. This is necessary as only 245 countries are eligible for DXCC Field checking. The form must be completed when submitted to a Field rep. 2. Your QSL cards. You must have at least 100 cards and may have up to 245 cards. 3. A stamped No.10 envelope addressed to ARRL-DXCC DESK. 4. A check payable to ARRL in the amount of $10.00. . The DXCC Field rep's (2 must be present) will review your QSL cards for approval, sign and date your form MCS-505, and will mail it along with your check for $10.00 to the ARRL. Your cards will be returned before you leave the meeting. . At the present time the Patriot DX Association is making plans to have a room at the Boxborough Convention this fall with a staff member from the ARRL present. This will allow both DXCC and all endorsements to be checked for submission. . For more info call Mel Cole WZ1Q at 508-927-1953 .......... . NEW UHF REPEATER ON THE AIR . Maybe you have heard thru the grapevine... maybe not? The WB1GOF/R repeater is NOW on the air at it's final home! The repeater is a club project of The Police Amateur Radio Team of Westford-WB1GOF. After operating for 20 months out of the basement of N1AEW, we are finally on top of the highest hill in Middlesex County! Talk about a burn-in time! . The WB1GOF/R machine can be found on 442.450 MHz(+5 MHz input) and is currently not PL'd (but can be turned on - 88.5). The machine has been on the air since 8/24/92 and the signal reports have been very good so far. We are trying to evaluate what is our true range might be and are asking for your help. If you can tune us in once in awhile on your travels... try holding down the 8 key on your DTMF keyboard for at least a second and the repeaters "voice" will read back your signal strength. Not everyone has been ID'ing when they do the test... not that we care... the repeater ID's so it is doing it's job, but maybe you'll say on the air where you are so us that listen can hear your location! :) . These are the emergency autodial codes for the Police Amateur Radio Team repeater: . *910 is Westford PD - repeater says WPD Emergency *911 is MA State Police, Concord - repeater says MSP Emergency *912 is Littleton PD - repeater says LT Police Emergency *913 is Acton PD - repeater says AC Police Emergency *914 is Lowell PD - repeater says LO Police Emergency *915 is Tyngsboro PD - repeater says TY Police Emergency *916 is Groton PD - repeater says GR Police Emergency *917 is Chelmsford PD - repeater says CH Police Emergency *918 is Carlisle PD - repeater says CA Police Emergency *919 is NH State Police - repeater says NHSP Emergency . To HANG-UP after your call, use the # (pound) key. . We would like to thank the "thousands" of users of the WB1GOF 146.52 MHz station and hope that we can continue to provide you the services there as well as our new addition of the repeater. More infomation on PART can be heard at the NewEngland ARRL Convention on Oct. 4th (Sunday) at 10 AM. . 73 for now.... c u on the shortwaves Terry - KA8SCP/1 The Police Amateur Radio Team of Westford - WB1GOF .......... . ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· º This has been the FALL 92 ELECTRONIC EDITION of the º º North Shore Repeater Association Newsletter º º Your editor: Ken Smith AA1DR º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĽ For more information about the NSRA write to: . North Shore Repeater Association MEMBERSHIP SERVICES PO BOX 3724 PEABODY MA 01961 . }< E /(/ AA1DR @ K1UGM.MA.USA.NA