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The WECAgram
WESTCHESTER EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION
Public Service Events:
• Nov. 24th - Turkey Trot - Harbor Island, Mamaroneck
• Dec. 17th - Santa Claus at Blythedale Children’s Hospital - Valhalla
Inside this issue:
Public Service 1
WECA History Project
1
From the President 2
Meeting update 2
DX Node Update 3
Technician Class Update
4
WECA Fills the Month with Public Service Events
Volume 27, Issue 4
November 1, 2002
WECA members had a busy month supporting a variety of public service events - from the American Diabetes Walk, to JOTA (Jamboree on the Air), and wrapping up with the New York City Marathon (more on that next month).
Saturday, October 19th started out as a beautiful morning for JOTA. More than 2,000
WECA History, How did we get here?
At a recent Board meeting the subject of how we came to be came up.
I began to wonder who were the hams instrumental in the founding of WECA. As a result I thought it would be great idea to research our archives and find the answer. The Board of Directors has asked me I would be willing to start and recruit club members who would be willing to try to research our history. I thought that it is a great endeavor to find out a little of our history and try to get this out to our membership. Eventually I hope space on our website will
And Now, a Little Bit of History...be able to be dedicated to this project.
While this is a project that will take months and maybe more, it will offer us a chance to learn a little about amateur radio here in Westchester County, and about many of the hams who began this organi-zation. Along the way I will undoubtedly learn about the people who had the vision and dedication to use our hobby for the good of the public at large. This will also allow us to honor those hams by not only remem-bering them in printed words but also maybe even memorial-izing those who are now gone. Many of our founding members have moved on to other areas or have become silent keys. I
can’t think of a better way to thank them than gathering and documenting WECA’s history.
I ask that anyone who has documents or old photographs that may assist me to please share them with me. All documents and photos will be returned since I am interested in only copying and perhaps
continued on page 3
Boy Scouts were at Pound Ridge that weekend. Many stopped by WECA’s vans to check out amateur radio and get on the air with Scouts all around North America. Thanks to N2TJE, KC2CLZ, KC2FYY, KC2ESU, KC2IRK, KC2KIX, K2ZVI, WB2NHC, and WB2IAE for showing the Scouts amateur radio.
Thanks goes to N2AMP, N2CAV, N2WQG, N2TSE and KC2HZW for their help at the American Diabetes Walk.
Remember, we have the Turkey Trot and Blythedale coming up in the few weeks!
73Robert, N2TSE
WECA participated in JOTA
Page - 2
The WECAgram
By the time you read this, the New York Marathon will have been run and WECA will have another great public service effort to be proud of. A hearty thank you to all who volun-teered, you are also winners in this year’s run. I will be thinking of you from beautiful Champaign, Illinois and wish-ing I could be there as well.
The reports are in about this year’s JOTA and from all ac-counts it was a great success. Thanks to Tom, WB2NHC, for taking on the project so Robert, N2TSE, could go on vacation. I hear that Wires, KC2FYY, did a fantastic job as both a Scout and a Ham. Do we have a fu-ture Eagle Scout in our midst?
At its November meeting, the Board of Directors was brought up to date on the ongoing WECA equipment audit; voted to cancel WecaFest for 2003; voted to do away with the WECA loan closet (the disposi-tion of the equipment is to be determined at a later date); voted to update the informa-tion packets distributed to new members and passed out at VE sessions; decided to investi-gate gathering historical data about WECA; and decided to investigate putting the meeting minutes on the WECA web site.
Just a reminder, the WECA Board meetings are held on the fourth Monday of each month at the Fire Training Center in
Valhalla. They start at 8:00 PM and all members are welcome. If you have an item or ques-tion you would like brought before the board, and you cannot make the meeting, Stan, WA2NRV, is the Member-at-Large and is your representative to the board. Pass the infor-mation on to him and he will bring it to the meeting.
Jay Klinsky, NE2Q, the President of the Greater Norwalk Amateur Radio Club (GNARC), which meets month-ly in Norwalk, CT has invited all WECA members to their Holiday Party on Wednesday December 11th. The party will be held at the Italian Center on RT 23 in Norwalk. Jay says there is no work required for attendees. The charge is $30 per person and $45 per couple, which includes a buffet dinner and a gift for everyone. Check their club website for details. Jay has also issued an open in-vitation to all WECA members to drop in on any of their meet-ings. November’s guest speaker is Hiram Percy Maxim Jr.
Russ, N2AMP, has some great meetings planned for the future. You can find the details elsewhere in this newsletter. Don’t forget about the new start times for the meetings, 7:00 pm social time and 7:30 pm meeting time.
Keep up your training by partaking in the various public services events and by han-
dling traffic on the Southern District Net each night at 9:30 pm. You never know when you will be called upon to use those skills during the next emergency.
“73’s” Bob, KC2FYZ
From the President…
Remember that the Decem-ber meeting is going to start at 7:30 p.m. instead of 8:00 p.m. This is being done to help alleviate the time con-straints that wenow face at the County Center Building.
The December meeting will be about APRS. Alan Crosswell, N2YGK will be the speaker. The meeting will be December 9, 2002 at 7:30 p.m.
The January, 2003 meeting will feature Frank Fallon, N2FF who will bring us up to speed on League topics.
73Russ, N2AMP
Member meet-ing events
Wires, KC2FYY, hard at “work” at JOTA - showing how it’s
done to a fellow scout.
Do you want to make someone feel great around the holidays?
Make a tax deductible contribution to the Blythedale Children’s Hospital. Send your contributions to: WECA Box 831 Sleepy Hollow, NY 10591-0831
Page - 3
Volume 27, Issue 4
From Stan, WA2NRV, our Director-at-Large
Using the DXNode
BOO! Happy Halloween and
Thanksgiving!
Congratulations to Emily AC2V and Paul AC2T Maytan on the birth of their grand-daughter Alexi Rose. She was born on Sept 23, 2002 to their daughter Karen WD2AHI.
WECA sends get well wishes to Chris N2VMN who is home recuperating.
Fran N2OLU asked me to remind all members about our WECA “ELMER” program. If you have radio related
questions, contact Fran and he will set you up with an elmer to guide and help you. There is also equipment available for loan in the WECA loan closet.
Jay NE2Q, President of GNARC has invited our mem-bership to join them for their holiday party on December 11th at the Italian center RT 123 in Norwalk. The cost is $30.00 for one or $45.00 for husband and wife.
If you have know of members who are under the weather or have items you would like to bring to the attention of the WECA board or membership
contact me on the air or at WA2NRV @ WECA.ORG.
73Stan, WA2NRV
There have been times when the DXNode (WB2ZII-14) hasn’t been available. These occurrences have been caused by failure of the software.
The software is in a Beta-test phase and has not been 100% reliable. I have been work-ing towards a solution with John, WB2CIK, who has been running the same software in Huntington, LI. Our current solution is to do an automatic reboot of the computer run-ning the DXNode software daily at 0900 GMT. If you are connected at that time, you will be dumped off. You should be able to reconnect within a few minutes. Some-times, however, the FlexNet node “forgets” where WB2ZII-
14 is located on the system and you may have to walk through the steps manually.
First connect with the FlexNet node, either WB2ZII-9 (on 145.09) or WB2ZII-5 (on 145.05). Then connect with WB2ZII-13. The next step is to connect with WB2ZII-14. This is not as cumbersome as it may seem and I hope in the long run that the software glitch is solved. Please give the DXNode a try. Right now we have about 4-5 steady users who are on it every day. There are plenty of DX spots been announced on the node.
73Rich, WB2QJA
asking a few questions. If you don’t have any documents your memories are just as if not more important! Stories that you may have and can relay to me will certainly fill in the gaps and give me a clearer prospec-tive. I hope that this project will not only be fun but also educational. I ask if any one wishes to help me by making a few notes, reading through old WECAgrams or articles let me know.
Anyone who is interested in helping with this project please contact me at [email protected]
73Efrem W2CZ
...continued from page 1
Ron, N2TJE, shows ATV to an interested Scout and Parent
HappyThanksgiving!
Serving the Public through Amateur Radio and Serving Amateurs since 1972
WESTCHESTER EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION
P. O. Box 831Sleepy Hollow, New York10591-0831
Phone: (914) 741-6606E-mail: [email protected]://www.weca.org
Editor:Lyle Anderson, [email protected]
The WECAGRAM is the official news-
letter of the Westchester Emergency
Communications Association, Inc., a Special
Service Club affiliated with the ARRL,
ARES, the Westchester County Office of Di-
saster and Emergency Services, RACES, and
the American Red Cross, and is a member of
the Westchester County Emergency Medical
Services Council.
Any questions, comments, items for
Swap and Shop, commercial advertis-
ing, suggestions, contributions and let-
ters for inclusion should be sent to the
editor at [email protected] or via postal
mail at 45 Hamilton Road, Chappaqua,
NY 10514. Submissions via E-mail to
[email protected] would be greatly appreci-
ated. Submissions may be edited for style
and space.
The deadline for inclusion in the newslet-ter is the third Monday of the preceding month. Timely publication relies on prompt submissions.
All submissions are expressly the opinion of
the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the
official position of WECA, its officers, direc-
tors or the editor.
Copyright © 2002 Westchester Emergency
Communications Association, Inc. The
WECAGRAM may be quoted without prior
permission, provided proper credit is given to
WECA, the WECAGRAM and the author
of the quoted article. WECA would appreci-
ate receiving a copy of all publications that
include quotes from the WECAGRAM.
WECA wishes to exchange newsletters with
other clubs. All clubs wishing to receive the
WECAGRAM in exchange for copies of their
publications should contact the editor.
WECA gladly accepts donations of equip-
ment in new or used condition (e.g. from es-
tates). Please contact WECA by E-mail, postal
mail or telephone for further information.
WECA operates the following repeaters
under call sign WB2ZII/R. All repeaters use
PL 2A (114.8 Hz).
147.060(+), 224.400(-) and
447.475(-) MHz
President Bob Muller KC2FYZ
Executive VP Russ Stevenson N2AMP
General Counsel
Michael Weitzner
N2EJI
Treasurer Andy Farber N4OOX
Secretary Milt Galamison KC2GWK
Trustee Paul Vydareny WB2VUK
Director-at-Large
Stan Rothman WA2NRV
Digital Modes Rich Benda WB2QJA
Public Service Robert Kantor N2TSE
Membership Ron Devenuti N2TJE
Public Relations
Efrem Acosta W2CZ
Newsletter Lyle Anderson K2LCA
Education Jeffrey Steinberg
K2MIT
Emergency Services
Tom Raffaelli WB2NHC
Engineering Robert Wilson N2DVQ
County Liaison
Raymond Albanese
N2FXU
Repeater Operations
Dwight P. Smith
N2FMC
Activities Jim Faulkner N2WQG
Offi cers and Directors 2002-3
Technician Review Course a success!WECA held its Technican
Review Course on October 20th at the Red Cross in-White Plains. Seven Students signed up for the course and we were lucky to have five Students show up. We had a VE session afterwards and 2 students passed their Techni-cian test. Students were sup-posed to have read the “Now your Talking” book from the ARRL prior to the 4 hour course. The two students that passed did this. The others came close in their test and will probably take it again.
I have since gotten two nice e-mails from the ex-
cited hams. One just got his call today, Jim O’Connell KC2KJR. The other student was Peter B. Schiff, M.D., Ph.D. who should have his call soon.
I want to thank all of the VE’s who helped (I forgot to write their names down—sorry but you know who you are). The lesson learned from this is to either have a longer course for one day of review or to be more proactive to make sure the stu-dents read the book before the course. I hope to hold another technican review course in the spring, probably in March or April.
I am also talking with Sandy, N2SF about having an on-the-air General Review course (his great idea), meeting 1 hour each week for several weeks. Once we nail down the schedule we will ask the board for permission to schedule the repeater for the time slot.
--Jeffrey, K2MIT
Mark your calendars!
Next member meeting - Monday, December 9th at the Westchester County Center, 7:00PM social time. Meeting starts at 7:30PM.