Hello fellow club members, I hope all is well. I want to start off this article by thanking all of the Tech crew. They have been spending a lot of time on the repeaters and the tower projects at both the Stone Castle site and up at Lost Eden.
As most of you know, we have been trying to go full duplex with the repeaters. We are having some trouble with this and we are not sure why. There is a squelch noise on the signal when we transmit from UHF to VHF that we can’t find. We suspect that it is in the controller but we are not sure. We have phone calls into Arcom to see if they can offer some help. If we cannot figure this out in the next week or two, we will go back to the way it was before, and revisit full duplex at a later time.
As for the Stone Castle tower, we are waiting to get some parts for the base. Some have to be fabricated so we can adapt the new tower to the old base. This tower will be 45 to 50 feet tall. Then the coverage of UHF should come back. Stick with us though, it is starting to get, well it is already, hot. This project may be put on hold until Fall.
The club was donated a very nice Yagi antenna that the team is going to try to get installed at the Lost Eden site in time for Field Day. If things go right, that will be a nice addition to Field Day operations. Dan, KC7MSU has purchased and donated a rotator and controller for this antenna. The Team is planning a trip to Lost Eden on June 15th to do the installation, so that it is ready a week later for the event.
Speaking of Field Day, I hope to see a lot of people this year. Last year was a blast. There were no fire restrictions because of all the rain in the weeks before and we sat around at night and told a lot of lies. It looks like this year will be different. There are already fire restrictions in the area. So unless it starts raining soon, there will be no open fires. We will still sit around and lie to each other though, so don’t miss out on all the great fun, and that includes making contacts. Everyone can participate. Oh, and we will have some great raffle prizes as well.
Following Field Day, on July 13th the club will have the annual get-together at Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa. This is one of the club’s most attended events and we have great fun. There will be awesome organ music and there will be some awards given out to deserving folks. The event starts at Noon and goes to 2:00.
Please take time to answer the survey in your email to let us know how many people will be in your group. This is so that we can let Organ Stop know how many people will attend so that they have enough food for everyone. The Cost is $10 per person, and that does not include drinks. I hope to see a lot of folks there this year.
Several club members have been asking me when we will be back at the Charles K. Luster building for our meetings. The last time the City Of Mesa contacted me, they told me that we are still on the list for the room and that they are on track to finish the remodeling at the end of June. So we should be back there for our meetings in July. However, I know how construction goes, as I deal with it all the time. It could change. If so, we will have zoom meetings until they are ready. We have no other place to meet and I do not want to spend more money on the Rec center. Of course, I will let everyone know if there is a change for July.
73 for now and I will catch you on the air.
Steve, KB7KWK