THE SPARK GAP Bible
Verse
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on,
however, it produces Hebrews 12:11
Wow, what a great turn out from the Meridian area that drove to
Jackson for the Capital City Hamfest. Everyone I talked to had a
wonderful time. I visited with several friends, some of which I
had not seen since last year and others that I have not seen for
nearly 3 years. Club members that bought a table report selling
nearly everything they took to sale. CONGRATULATIONS to the Jackson
Amateur Radio Club on a job well done!
In the January issue of The Spark Gap, I asked a couple of questions
regarding upcoming events. In reply to those questions, I only received
one via email. Thank you for taking the time to write your suggestions
down. Effective starting in March, MARC voted
to try a Thursday night meeting for a 3 month TRIAL period. The next
Meridian Amateur Radio Club (MARC) business meeting will be held Thursday
evening March 3rd 7 PM, at the Western Sizzlin on North Frontage Road.
There is a smaller room behind the cash registers that has been
reserved and should hold about 20 people. If we fill this room up,
next month I will reserve the larger room. Please remember, this will
not change our Saturday morning coffee and breakfast at Queen City
Truck Stop.
Next was the issue of the phone patch. To my surprise, it was overwhelming
approved to have the line dropped. Our treasurer called the phone
company at the end of the billing cycle and had the line disconnected.
I personally thought the phone patch offered a good service but realistically
the cost each month was putting a real strain on our financial resources.
With the office of Vice President now vacant, the club opened nominations
for this position. Nominated was KD5GWM, Donna. Nominations will remain
open until the election is held on March 3rd.
Following up on Field Day preparations, I asked Charlie (KB5SZJ)
and Jim (W5ED) to head a committee to organize this year's field day
event. I hope by doing this some of the confusion and hard work that
we had last year can be eliminated. If you have any suggestions or
would like to volunteer to help out, please contact Charlie or Jim.
I am happy to report that our friend C.P. (W5OQY) is now back at
home and also back on the air. He is also planning to attend the next
business meeting!
Have a great month. 73, Darrell W5MAV
PS: Be sure to register for the door prize to be given away Thursday
evening at the business meeting.
Upcoming Events DIXIEFEST 2005 March 5th
& 6th Hello Meridian ARC, I would like to pass along some information on our local hamfest
here in the Mid-South area, coming up on March 5-6, 2005. Please pass
this information along to your members and if you can spread the word
on any local nets, it would be greatly appreciated. Flyers will be
mailed next week but due to increased mailing and postage costs, it's
possible that the mailing may not extend to your area. I'm including
a web version of our flyer for your use. Please feel free to copy
and distribute if you will. DixieFest 2005 is in its 6th year and has moved to a new home on
a new date. Since 2000, we were located at the Fairgrounds in Memphis,
TN on the second weekend of February. We have moved to a larger facility
just South of Memphis in Southaven, MS. It is known as the Southaven
Expo and is actually started life as one of the original Wal-Mart
stores. It's easily located just two blocks East of I-55 at Exit 291, immediately
South of the TN/MS state line. More information on the hamfest can be found on our website - www.dixiefest.org.
You can reserve flea tables or dealer booths online as well as get
information on forums, VE Testing, Prizes, etc. There is a campground
right across the street for those that want to camp or if you are
completely self contained, you may camp in the parking lot on the
West side of the building. There are numerous hotels, motels and restaurants in the area. Some
are even within walking distance of the hamfest. At least one hotel
has offered a special discount to DixieFest patrons and more information
on that will be placed on the Hotels page of the site once it's finalized.
Thanks very much for your time and assistance and I hope we will
see you at DixieFest 2005 73, Tommy Thompson, KD4TJO Lauderdale Repeater Group As some of you already know that it is the time of year for both
the Lauderdale Repeater Group and Meridian Amateur Radio Club to jointly
pay for Liability Insurance to cover both groups and repeater sites.
This year's premium remains the same price or $325.00 for a one year
policy. Both groups will pay half of the premium ($162.50 each). I
urge everyone to help pay for this expense. If you use any one of
/ or both repeaters just remember these things do not stay on the
air all by themselves. The LRG has just purchased a new controller and remote base radio
to make the UHF 444.500/R have frequency agile linking capabilities
as the VHF 146.970/R has. This equipment totaled nearly $600.00. I
urge everyone to invest in a UHF / 440mhz radio in the future. Take
advantage of the 440 Repeaters. There are advantages to having a UHF
repeater available in an emergency situation. We are still hoping to have another site available to separate the
146.970/R and the 444.500/R. Both of these repeaters with remote bases
capable of linking to other repeaters in our area will be a great
plus. All donations will greatly be appreciated. --... ...--, Dennis ki5fw Contributions can be mailed to: Lauderdale Repeater Group w5LRG Have a great month
February 2005
a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained
by it. (NIV)
During the February Business meeting MARC voted on the items in
question.
DixieFest Webmaster
w5LRG
146.970 - ki5fw/R (pl 100hz)
444.500 + w5LRG/R
GE to all:
c/o: Dennis Carpenter
7760 Vanzyverden Road
Meridian, MS 39305
