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July 2015 QRZ

In this issue of QRZ

Table of Contents

President’s Message Page 1

Miles Newman, W3DRB SK  Page 2

Radio Lumiere  Page 2

Coming Events  Page 3

Editor’s Notes  Page 5

Six Metre DX Report  Page 5

ARES/RACES Information  Page 8

SPARC Officers, Nets, Etc.  Page 8

Lighting our Club Shack  Page 10

History of Crystals  Page 13

 

 

The Great Columbia Orator AA3C, SK

For all who may not have heard Jim Ibaugh, AA3C, is now a silent key. His obituary is posted on Lancaster Online.

Jim was an original member of the Columbia Ham and Eggers club and has seen 2 club name changes and 3 site location changes. Having received his ticket at the age of 12 he embodied the spirit of Amateur Radio. Through his experiences in the Air Force and at RCA he always maintained a positive attitude, even when his photo multiplier tubes told him otherwise those days in March of 1979.

I had the fortune to sit with Jim at Brethren Village. What started off as a half hour visit turned into 3 hours. Jim’s way of captivating his audience and his ability to spin a story into a great adventure is what I will always remember him by. No one but Jim could tell the story about his encounter with the bear and the dumpster, or the birds on the radar dish. He will be missed.

IRLP Node is Up and Going.

Sparc’s 449.975 repeater is connected to IRLP. To connect our UHF repeater to another repeater, find a node number, key the PTT and punch in the digits. Listen for the IRLP repeater on the other side to identify that the link is up. From there give out your call and see who answers.

Our node number is 8537, members out of town can use this number to connect in to the repeater to check into the net.

A good list to start with is the node summary by Country.

Another way is to use a phone app. Here is one for Android.

And here is one for IOS.

 

Some notable numbers to try are

8838  KC4AAC Palmer Station Antarctica

6050  VK2RCZ  Sydney Austrailia

8522  VP9RSB  Bermuda

6900  ZL3CAR  Christchurch NZ

7767  9Z4FZ  Trinidad and Tobago

6969  KF2GV  Armenia

8144  ZS1JEN  Cape Town South Africa

9070  REF9070  Alaska Reflector

 

Sparc October Meeting at F&M Observatory

The October 28th meeting of SPARC will be held at the Grundy Astronomical Observatory at the Baker campus of Franklin & Marshall College.

The meeting will be held at our regular meeting time of 7:00 PM.

Mr. Ed Cook will demonstrate the two instruments installed at the location.  On the floor is the historic 11 inch Clark-Repsold refractor, installed in 1886, and a 16 inch Boller & Chivens reflector.
These telescopes operate from their enclosed laboratory which is equipped with a retractable roof. Here we will share the commonalities of our two avocations with discussions about moon bounce, solar propagation effects, and the artificial amateur radio satellites.
The telescopes at Grundy are capable of resolving all of our solar system planets, and the distant galaxies including nebula.
Grundy is equipped with a classroom and lavatories.
Grundy is located behind the athletic fields at Harrisburg Pike and President Ave.
If you need to use your GPS to locate Grundy.  Either of these addresses are adjacent to the driveway that leads to the entrance to the observatory:
815 Wilson Dr. Lancaster, Pa. 17603 or 1401 Clayton Rd. Lancaster Pa. 17603

Directions to the Observatory:

  • From Harrisburg Pike turn south onto President Avenue.
  • Take President Avenue to Valley Road.
  • Turn right onto Valley and go straight until you come to Wilson Ave.
  • Turn right onto Wilson.
  • Go several blocks until you come to a chain link fence.
  • Go through the gate and follow the driveway to the parking area.
If you are traveling via Columbia Ave. turn onto Wilson Dr. Across from WGAL TV and continue straight on Wilson Dr. until you enter the gate at the observatory.