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SOUTHERN MICHIGAN AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY
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THE CLUB
There is little doubt that an organization can offer
activities that can not be as successfully accomplished with ease by individuals. Within radio clubs such as SMARS, the building and operating of repeaters for instance is far less laborious or expensive when shared by the members of the club than for the individual. Of course, the repeater is the most obvious activity of the club, but there are many other activites that might
function better in a club setting.
A recent discussion on the web on why clubs exist listed many activities. Let's consider some of those activities:
* Clubs often sponsor license exam classes
* Presentations at meetings often introduce new ideas
* Clubs provide a way to introduce yourself to other
hams
* help individuals reach goals such as WAS, DXCC,
etc.
* Equipment can be offered for sale to others
* The amateur radio hobby is given visibility in the
community
* Clubs help by organizing activities;
** hamfest
** community and emergency preparation
** facilitating scout radio merit badge sessions
** hosting scout JOTA
** coordinating ARRL Field Day
** helping each other; antenna parties
* The club is a place to get, and give, help.
* It provides contact with local radio amateurs.
* What a great place to get an introduction to ham radio.
* You hear other people's ideas.
* Members help new people learn what to do in an
emergency.
* Many would not have gone for their licenses without a
local club.
* Help building a station.
Can you name other reasons to join an amateur radio club?
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E-MAIL MISSING?
Several members have requested that Feedback be sent e-mail rather than by "snail" mail. There is a problem with this in
that several emails are being returned. There is a variety of reasons given. Sometimes the email is refused, or the address is not accepted, unknown, can't find IP address, not our customer, or maybe the electrons got up on the wrong side of the bed. But what ever the reason for the rejection, please make sure that SMARS has the correct email address and that you haven't put a rejection switch on "Feedback."
Send your correct address to:
wa8mfl@arrl.net
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ECHOLINK
What and How
Echolink is software written for amateur radio use only and runs on the internet. There is no charge for its use. It will run well on a clunky old 100MHz computer with minimal memory. It
will even run on a dial-up internet connection. When Echolink is
running, it presents a window of all stations, by call sign, currently running Echolink. There are usually about 4700 stations
world-wide on the list. These stations are known as USERS, LINKS (-L), REPEATERS (-R) and CONFERENCES . All stations on Echolink are assigned a NODE NUMBER upon registration. Just like a social security number, this node number will never change and may be four, five or six digits long. W8DF-R is 360014.
A USER is an individual amateur that may have his computer
running in the ham shack. A LINK is a computer running Echo link and interfaced to a transceiver on a simplex frequency. This allows amateurs access to Echolink by radio. A REPEATER is a computer running Echolink and interfaced to a repeater. W8DF-R is an example. Repeater users have the ability to use Echolink anywhere within range of the repeater. W8DF-R has been interfaced to the 224.24 MHz repeater for over two years. With the 443.95 link activated, it too has the Echolink interface usable. Echolink is ALWAYS on the repeater. Any amateur anywhere in the world can place a call on this repeater. Using Echolink by radio is quite simple.
The following applies to W8DF-R. For example, if one anted
to call W8RVT, while pressing PTT enter C356801. The repeater will respond with "Connecting to W8RVT" or, if my computer is off, "W8RVT not found." To terminate the connection, press # while pressing PTT. If one has a favorite list of USERS, LINKS or REPEATERS, it would be necessary to have a list of NODE NUMBERS for those stations. Echolink works very well and is quite easy to use.
Don-W8RVT
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DUES
This is the last mailing for members whose memberships have expired. The membership year is from Jan 1 to Dec 31. Look in the top right corner of your mailing label. It needs to say 10 R or 10 F or 10 A. If there is a 09, pay up!
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