Our annual Christmas party will be held on Saturday, December 8th beginning at 1:30 p.m. until 3 p.m. at the home of Ross and Wanda Wingo, 3416 Causeyville Whynot Rd, Causeyville, MS (see directions below). Please call Wanda (601) 644-3777 or Debbie (601) 626-0053 if you have any questions.
We are NOT planning on doing any gift exchange this year. The club will provide a meat tray and drinks. You are asked to bring a potluck dish however this is not a requirement. If you are not sure what to bring, please call Wanda or Debbie for a few suggestions. We look forward to seeing all of you at the Christmas party.
Driving directions to 3416 Causeyville Whynot Rd, Causeyville, MS
At this point there are no nominations for new officers. I hope we will have a few step up to the plate for 2013 to give us old timers a breather. During this month’s meeting we will be electing officers to represent us for 2013.
I sincerely THANK the Wingo family for hosting our Christmas party again this year. If you plan on attending, please call Wanda (601) 644-3777 to let her know, so we can be sure to have plenty of seats for everyone.
Thank all of you that have stepped up to help me with various activities that were held this year. Without your help, support and participation the president’s job would have been a lot more difficult if not impossible. I appreciate each one of you. God bless you and have a very Merry Christmas.
Dear loved ones
As you well know, we are getting closer to my birthday. Every year there is a celebration in my honor and I think that this year the celebration will be repeated. During this time there are many people shopping for gifts, there are many radio announcements, TV commercials, and in every part of the world everyone is talking that my birthday is getting closer and closer.
It is really very nice to know, that at least once a year, some people think of me. As you know, the celebration of my birthday began many years ago. At first people seemed to understand and be thankful of all that I did for them, but in these times, no one seems to know the reason for the celebration. Family and friends get together and have a lot of fun, but they don't know the meaning of the celebration.
I remember that last year there was a great feast in my honor. The dinner table was full of delicious foods, pastries, fruits, assorted nuts and chocolates. The decorations were exquisite and there were many, many beautifully wrapped gifts. But, do you want to know something? I wasn't invited. I was the guest of honor and they didn't remember to send me an invitation. The party was for me, but when that great day came, I was left outside, they closed the door in my face .... and I wanted to be with them and share their table.
In truth, that didn't surprise me because in the last few years all close their doors to me. Since I wasn't invited, I decided to enter the party without making any noise. I went in and stood in a corner. They were all drinking; there were some who were drunk and telling jokes and laughing at everything. They were having a grand time. To top it all, this big fat man all dressed in red wearing a long white beard entered the room yelling Ho-Ho-Ho! He seemed drunk. He sat on the sofa and all the children ran to him, saying: "Santa Claus, Santa Claus" .. as if the party were in his honor!
At 12 Midnight all the people began to hug each other; I extended my arms waiting for someone to hug me and ... do you know ... no one hugged me. Suddenly they all began to share gifts. They opened them one by one with great expectation. When all had been opened, I looked to see if, maybe, there was one for me. What would you feel if on your birthday everybody shared gifts and you did not get one? I then understood that I was unwanted at that party and quietly left.
Every year it gets worse. People only remember to eat and drink, the gifts, the parties and nobody remembers me. I would like this Christmas that you allow me to enter into your life. I would like that you recognize the fact that almost two thousand years ago I came to this world to give my life for you, on the cross, to save you. Today, I only want that you believe this with all your heart.
I want to share something with you. As many didn't invite me to their party, I will have my own celebration, a grandiose party that no one has ever imagined, a spectacular party. I'm still making the final arrangements. Today I am sending out many invitations and there is an invitation for you. I want to know if you wish to attend and I will make a reservation for you and write your name with golden letters in my great guest book. Only those on the guest list will be invited to the party. Those who don't answer the invitation, will be left outside. Be prepared because when all is ready you will be part of my great party.
See you soon. I Love you!
Jesus
KB6NU builds an end-fed, half-wave antenna
I’ve always been interested in end-fed, half-wave antennas before, but until this recently, I’d never built one. One of the reasons for this is that most designs are for QRP antennas and not made to handle more than 5 – 10 W of power.
A couple of months ago, though, I ran across a design rated at 100 W. The design seemed relatively simple to build, requiring only a single toroid and a capacitor made with a short length of RG-174 coax. Well, it just so happens that I bought 100- ft. of RG-174 at Dayton this year, and I found the toroid cores online from the "Toroid King" for a very reasonable price, so I decided it was high time to build one.
All told, the parts cost about $10, the biggest part of that being a 4-in. x 4-in. x 2-in. plastic junction box (Carlon E989NNJ-CAR) I got from Lowe’s for $6.41. Compare that with the $60 that LNR wants for their end-fed antenna.
I put up the antenna about three weeks ago, on a beautiful fall Sunday, running 34 feet of wire up a trellis attached to a small deck in my backyard, then out to a tree near the back of my lot. With more than a little anticipation, I put the antenna analyzer on it, only to be somewhat disappointed with the readings. The SWR was 2.6:1 at 14.000 MHz, dropping to about 1.5:1 at 14.900 MHz.
Since the internal tuner on my IC-746PRO is supposed to be good to 3:1, I did use it and made a couple of contacts. A guy in MA even gave me a 599 signal report. So, while I was a little uncomfortable with an SWR so close to the limit of my tuner, it did seem to radiate pretty well.
I e-mailed the guy who published the design and asked why he thought the resonant frequency was so high, and he said that all I had to do was add a couple feet of wire to the antenna. I also did some more reading about end-feds and several websites suggested that adding a counterpoise might be a good idea, too.
A week later, I finally got back to playing with the antenna. I added 24-in. of wire to it, and it did indeed bring down the SWR of the antenna to below 2:1 in the CW portion of 20m. I’m happier with this. I made a couple of contacts that day, too, with both stations giving me good reports.
I still do plan to try a counterpoise. Not so much to improve the SWR, but to see if it makes the antenna a little more efficient.
Overall, this has been a fun project. I learned something about end-fed, half-wave antennas and saved a bunch of money by rolling my own. Isn't that what ham radio is all about?
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When he's not messing with antennas, Dan, KB6NU publishes the "No-Nonsense" series of amateur radio license study guides. The latest in this series is the No-Nonsense Extra Class License Study Guide. For more information, go to KB6NU.Com or e-mail cwgeek@kb6nu.com
December 2012 
