DECEMBER 2003/JANUARY 2004
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HOLIDAY DINNER MEETING

After a scheduling conflict that cancelled our November business meeting, all will be made up bigger and better with the clubs annual holiday event.  The date is December 11th starting at 6:00PM (note this is ½ hour earlier than listed in the last SCAN).  The place is Eckerts Family Restaurant, 951 South Greenmount Road outside Belleville.  This is a bring a guest activity and order your meal choice from the house menu after arriving.  The program for the evening includes a drawing for door prizes and playing Ham Trivia.  This will be a fun evening.  No advance reservations are required.  So come out to eat good food, socialize and have fun as we start out the holiday season.

FOX HUNT RESULTS

The club sponsored fox hunt held October 12th was won by a team of Kurt Hoerz, N9PYM and Bob Riddell, KC9AEC.  The keepers of the fox, Bruce, N9MND and Karl, K9BGL challenged the skill of the hunters and kept them guessing.  The foxy hidden transmitter was located in a family members vehicle parked in a rear lot of Belleville’s John Laterman Park.  However, to add to the confusion of the hunt, a decoy vehicle with ham ownership adornment was parked near the entrance of the park.  With that fun completed, the hunters consisting of four teams, fox keepers, observing members and guests retired to Mel Price Park for refreshments featuring homemade chili made by Joyce, N9STL.  This again was a fun event which enjoyed good weather, challenging competition and great ham socializing.  The current run of club sponsored fox hunts started in April 2001 and so far five hunts have been held.  Keep the interest up and start preparing for a hunt next spring.  Past team winners of club fox hunts are:

  April 22, 2001: Bruce Allen, N9MND and Karl Bretz K9BGL.
  September 22, 2001: Joyce Wilhelm, N9STL, Ted Wilhelm, K9HUH and  Bob Pinkerton, KB9PNP.
  April 6, 2002: Paul Sanford, WB9IGB and Bob Pinkerton, KB9PNP.
  July 12, 2003: Bruce  Allen, N9MND and Karl Bretz, K9BGL.

BE PREPARED

Review the St Clair County ARES and RACES Operational Guide available by going to scarc.net.  For the St Clair County, the RACES coordinator is Ed, W9RQR and the ARES coordinator is Gene, WA9TZL.

The ARRL on line courses for emergency communications continue to fill up fast when open for enrollment.  There are three course levels.  To get started with level 1,  enrollment is opened the first Monday of each month.  A fee of $45 is required for ARRL members to enroll; however, this amount is reimbursed from Homeland Security related grants when a level is completed.
The fee for non ARRL members is $75.

Winter emergency preparedness includes for the ham community that communications
battery and generator power sources be charged and fueled along with regular monitoring and maintenance for winter severe
weather emergencies.

The Illinois Terrorist Task Force, through Homeland Security grants, is assembling seven communications vans for regional use within
the state.

NEWS BRIEFS

Nominations for your club officers in 2004 will be accepted at the January 29th club meeting.  The election will be at the February 26th meeting.  New blood is always needed to become a part of the club leadership and administration.  With this years turn over, your editor will no longer be a candidate for vice president.

Gateway Electronics has moved.  Their new location is further west towards I-270 off of Page Ave at 2220 Welsch Industrial Court,
St Louis, MO.

Know of anyone looking for a class environment to purse a Technician License.  If there is sufficient interest, the club will take on another class session sometime this winter or early spring.  If there are dedicated candidates, pass the information to Ted, K9HUH at 233-1313 or 235-6152.

Annual club dues for 2004 are payable now.  Pay the dues to the club treasurer, Bob Thurgood, WA9TUG in person or by mail to 5 Seven Iron Court Belleville IL 62220.  Dues are $25 for individuals and $30 for families.  Help keep our data bases current and don’t allow a temporary lapse in your dues.

The ARRL is our primary organized voice on issues affecting amateur radio worldwide.  There are many critical issues that require funds to work our requirements and concerns with policy makers.  If not an ARRL member, consider the need to join.  Also, consider a voluntary contributions to fight the big issues when they are hot like the current fund for the Defense of Amateur Radio Frequencies.

VE test sessions are available in the evening of the second Tuesday of each month provided at least one testing candidate makes a reservation well in advance.  Without a reservation, VE’s will not be scheduled and a session will not be held.  For information and reservations, contact Ted, K9HUH at 233-1313 or 235-6152.

A new Element 3 question pool for the General Class license becomes effective July 1, 2004.  At that time the pool expands to
432 questions.

The St Louis Repeater Club Winterfest is January 24th.  It starts at 8:00AM at the Collinsville, IL Gateway Center.  Based on the number of commercial vendors and flea market size, this is probably the best hamfest for purchases in the St Louis metro area.

The program for the January 29th club meeting will be on DX-ing 101.  The simple ways to find and work DX will be stressed by W9BP.

Thanks to Mallo’s Pastries for providing complimentary deserts for our club meetings.  Buy your holiday pastries and deserts at Mallo’s.

HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY SEASON
Bob, W9BP, Editor

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

After a friend got Steve Flach interested in ham radio, he pursued a license and became N9BPC in 1992.  Club membership followed in 1993.  As a club member and as time permits, Steve has enjoyed field day activity and communications support to community events.  Other operating interests have included SSTV, Packet and good old chatting on repeater systems.  Steve lives in Belleville where he enjoys using his FT101 base station.  When on the move, Steve has a Yaesu 8000R for mobile and a Yaesu 51R for his HT.  Beyond ham radio, Steve finds spare time for wood carving, fishing and family camping.