after the Livermore swap meet!
The program for the meeting will include a talk by Bill Rausch (AA6PA), who recently attended the AMSAT annual symposium. We will as usual include discussions of band activities, and the ever popular swap (before/at breaks/after).
The meeting place will be the Lockheed Auditorium in bldg. 202 on Hanover St. in Palo Alto, California. Access Hanover from Page Mill Road (between 280 and El Camino). Follow Hanover as it curves right and up the hill. Watch for the Lockheed sign indicating Bldg. 202 on the left side, about 2/3 of the way up the hill.
This mailing is being sent to all who have expressed interest in The 50 MHz and UP Group. Starting with the next newsletter, it will only be sent to paid up members. This newsletter will continue to be published on the web at our website address. If you haven't sent in your dues yet, don't wait! A special enclosure has been included for all those who have not yet paid up.
So far we have had about 30 people sign up as of 11/13!
President Jeffrey Pawlan, WA6KBL 408-371-0256
Vice President Bill Rausch, AA6PA 408-637-0622
Treasurer Will Jensby, W0EOM 408-296-6071
Secretary Bill Ogilvie, KQ6FY 415-968-3707
Board Member George Badger III, W3AB 408-476-3563
Board Member Jim Moss, WB9AJZ 408-746-2789- (and newsletter editor)
The meeting was held at Lockheed-Martin's auditorium on Hanover Street, Palo Alto, commencing at 1:00 PM. The directors and club officers present were: Jeffrey Pawlan, WA6KBL, President; Will Jensby, W0EOM, Treasurer; Bill Ogilvie, KQ6FY, Secretary; Jim Moss, WB9AJZ, Director, and Art Lange, W6RXQ, Director. There were 29 people in attendance.
The meeting was called to order at 1:00 PM, by Jeffrey Pawlan, the President. Discussion was opened concerning the incorporation of the club under non-profit status 501-3C. A copy of the proposed Club Bylaws and Constitution was distributed by the Secretary. It was suggested, by Art Lange, that the mention of Club Dues (Article I-5) should be removed, because the amount may change. Bill Ogilvie suggested that this may be necessary, and that it could be amended in future. The membership was asked if the meeting time was agreeable to everyone. There was one objection to the meeting time on the basis that it made it difficult for Caltrain riders to get to it on time. A suggestion was made to add the word "proxy" to the first line of Article XII. Another suggestion was made that the following line be added to the constitution: "If any part is found invalid, all remaining parts stay in effect." Another suggestion was made that the statement about books, records, etc., in Article VIII, be applied to all club officers. These suggested amendments to the constitution are summarized at the end of these minutes.
A request was made to members at large for articles to place in the club newsletter. A vote was taken for the current meeting time; 1:00 PM on the first Sunday of each month. There was one Nay, and the rest were all in favor of that meeting time. A discussion was had about the meeting room. Most were in favor of the Lockheed-Martin Auditorium, but some felt a restaurant setting would be good from time to time. It was agreed that the meetings would be at the agreed upon time, but may move to other venues, such as the National Semiconductor Credit Union meeting room. The club newsletter would serve to notify the membership of the meeting location. A subcommittee to select meeting sites was formed, to handle this business. On the committee are: Jim, WB9AJZ; Bill, KQ6FY; Art, W6RXQ; Rich, KD6BQ. The suggestion was made that some meetings could be held as social functions, and that those meetings could be held in a restaurant. Ken Kitlas, KD6OBU, offered to check out Harry's Hofbrau.
The next order of business was a report on Microwave Update '96, attended by Jeffrey and others. It was reported that there were people at this event from all parts of the world, and that there were technical seminars on such subjects as: 10 GHz repeaters, the construction of offset parabolic antennas, DSP, 24 GHz and 47 GHz stations. It was also reported that there were 57 people in attendance at Microwave Update. There was some interest in having the club host this event next year, but the next possibility will be in four years time. It will be held in Ohio next year, then Colorado or Virginia in the following years. Despite this, it was suggested that the club could still host an event in the upcoming year. It was also stated that the purpose of the club was to support a newsletter, and to host an event like Microwave Update. As an example, the Western States Weak Signal Conference was brought up. This yearly conference is now defunct, but could be resurrected by the club. Finding money is a problem, but a co-sponsor could possibly be found. One suggestion was to co-sponsor an event like this with SCARRA. It was stated that club meetings would have a small swap meet of RF / microwave items (no computer junk please), when the venue permitted.
Art Lange, W6RXQ, gave a very interesting talk on GPS receivers, focusing on the Trimble units which he donated to the club. He mentioned some Web pages where members could access more information:
The GPS units donated to the club were sold to 12 paid-up members for $50.00 a piece. These units were donated with the understanding that no calls would be made to Trimble for help. The meeting then ended, at 4:00 PM.
de KQ6FY, Bill Ogilvie, Secretary.
ARRL Frequency Defense Fund
Just after our last meeting, the WSWSS (Western States Weak Signal Society) sent out a reminder that the ARRL is seeking donations for the frequency defense fund. Here is an opportunity to reduce your 1996 taxes, while supporting your hobby! (Talk to your tax advisor for official input.) You can either give directly to the ARRL , or the WSWSS will take your donation and group it with theirs. You can send your donation to the ARRL at 225 Main St., Newington, CT 06111-1494. Be sure to tell them how you feel about preserving the amateur bands, and how you feel about VHF+ WEAKSIGNAL operation.
11/23-24 ARRL International EME competition.
12/2 The Northern Lights Radio Society would like to announce the 3rd annual
VHF/UHF All-Band Sprint. The Sprint will take place on Monday, December 2nd
from 7-10 PM local time. Last years event drew activity from coast to coast!
Rules are the same as the ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes. This is a great way
to check out your rigs and antennas and to check out the scoring for the
January contest.
Send logs to Rich Westerberg, 17500 Cherry Drive, Eden Prairie, MN 55346 or
e-mail them to n0hjz@aol.com. Logs need to be sent by December 10th. Scores
will be published in several VHF/UHF newsletters and will be sent out via the
VHF reflector in mid to late December.
Questions? Send them to Jim, N0HJZ
VHF+ WeakSignal NETS
Sunday: 8PM 144.240 Southern California WSWSS
8PM 144.250 Central California WSWSS
8:30PM (about) 432.100 Central California WSWSS
Tuesday: 8PM 144.250 Northern California SWOT
Wednesday: 8PM 144.240 Southern California WSWSS SWAP
Thursday: 8PM 144.250 Northern California SWOT SWAP
Feel free to submit your ad to the newsletter editor for inclusion in the next newsletter!
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