TROJAN
ARC HARMONIC
|
Editor Bruce Frahm KØBJ Send articles to k0bj@arrl.org |
Publisher Mike Albers KØFJ Subscription requests to k0fj@arrl.net |
MEETINGS 2nd
THURSDAYS
HAM LUNCH
WORK NIGHTS AS
SCHEDULED
WØWOB
REPEATERS
146.22/.82
444/449.65
156.7 PL
WØWOB IRLP
Node #3608
145.65
156.7 PL
KØFJ-1Ø APRS I-Gate
WØWOB APRS Weather
Node
NØOXP APRS Weather
Node
NO CLUB MEETING IN
COLBY ON 11TH The Trojans are signed up for helping out at
the Smoky Hills PTV pledge night in
Date and time for any March makeup
meeting are undecided at this time. Stay tuned to .82 and trojanarc
remailer.
NEW REPEATER
CONTROLLER INSTALLED
WX SPOTTER TRAINING 23
MARCH
If you can’t make the Colby
training but are interested, here’s the nwKS rundown:
Kansas
Date Day
Time County City and Location
-----------------------------------------------
Mar 11 Thu 7 pm CST Norton
Norton Library
Mar 15 Mon 7 pm CST Logan
Oakley Palace Theatre
Mar 17 Wed 7 pm MST
Sherman Goodland Armory
Mar 18 Thu 7 pm CST Gove Grainfield 4-H
Mar 23 Tue 7 pm CST Thomas
Colby Community Building
Mar 24 Wed 7 pm CST Graham
Hill City Courthouse
Mar 29 Mon 7 pm CST
Cheyenne St Francis High School
Mar 30 Tue 7 pm MST
Greeley Tribune EMS Building
Apr 1 Thu 7 pm CST
Sheridan Hoxie Bowen Scout House
Apr 5 Mon 7 pm CDT
Rawlins Atwood Prairie Dvlpt Ctr
Apr 6 Tue 7 pm CDT
Wichita Leoti Firehouse
Apr 19 Mon 7 pm CDT
Decatur Oberlin - Decatur
Community Jr-Sr H.S. Cafeteria
OXP/XNJ/BJ-xyl AT NWS
K0YO BEATEN IN
This is a long and horrendous, but
interesting story.
OLD WD0AVA REPEATER
AND CONTROLLER TO SUNFLOWER ARC S wx***
Mike can you complete this??.
EX-TROJAN WILL SPROUT
WINGS… Anthony Johnson KC0ARB*** is
heading into the Air Force after graduation. His OM David N0SEG says he listed
5 field preferences; the bad news is he got #5 – the good news is it’s COMMS!
David figures if nothing else he can get some troubleshooting out of Anthony
when he’s on leave….. Anthony isn’t
really interested in a
*******IRLP NODE NEWS
K0BLU/K3RRY ANTENNA PROJECT We still need to help Gil and Char get their A3S over to
the tower at their Oberlin QTH. We’ll continue to look for a suitable wx-day to complete this project.
APRS
CAPERS - DE KØFJ –
SWAP SHOP I am selling my Kantronics Kam Plus interface, including all cables, books, software. I am also including the PC (no monitor) to run the darn thing. Asking $125.00 for the lot. Dave Carter N3HQ
BANDSCAN Knowledgeable
hams have been telling K0BJ that his Beverage will be quiet. Well, it got TOO
quiet after the big winds of early March. Bruce discovered the wire had pulled
off the transformer’s terminal strip, just in time to use the rx antenna in the ARRL DX Sideband contest. Oh – he’s also
got to pin his HF yagi mast to the rotator – it
slipped in the wind and headings are now bogus…
BT If you’ve been monitoring
145.80, you know the ISS is back on the air running APRS with their TM-D700
second rig in the crew quarters. They’ve also been on FM voice occasionally.
RS0ISS is the call on APRS. It’s always fun to hear the space station on. BT K0BJ
has a new job description -- LoTW manager for KM9D.
Bruce will apply for digital certificates on ARRL’s
Logbook of the World for yachtees Mike and Jan. He’ll
then take CD-mailed log files from Mike and Jan’s Pacific DXpeditions
and upload them to the LoTW database. Bruce and Mike
agreed to the idea during a landline call from
NO MEETING MARCH 11 WORK NIGHT AT SMOKY HILLS PTV IStand by for
possible reschedule. IRLP and tower climb are the hot projects.
The Trojan Amateur Radio Club is a general interest
educational and public service ham club. We maintain 2M and 70cm FM repeaters, APRS packet digi and I-Gate and
IRLP link. Dues are $15/annually, payable to Mike Albers KØFJ
K0YO STORY – the fund purchase info is out of date. Mike’s eyesight continues to
improve – slowly.
Some of you
know Mike, K0YO, who lives near Steamboat Springs. He's active
in contests and enjoys DXing as well.
Unfortunately, he was recently savagely beaten and robbed then left for dead
in the Baja area of
sleeping in his truck. Three people have been arrested for other
robberies
and beatings in that area and the three were probably also responsible for
Mike's injuries and the theft of much of what he owned in life.
They would
have killed him but Mike remembers them saying, in Spanish, that he was
already dead so not to keep beating him. Mike doesn't remember too
much
but he does remember watching them beat, then kill, two young Canadian
surfers who were camping nearby. I don't have all the facts and
some that
I do may be incorrect. It is my understanding the bodies of the
young
surfers were thrown into the ocean and have not been found. At the
present
time, a local Steamboat friend of Mike's, Marty, WO0Q, is in Baja trying to
learn more and if the three that were captured are also being charged with
injuring Mike. Also, for humanitarian reasons, Marty is trying to
discover
if the murders of the two youngsters was even reported. Mike was
discovered the next day by another surfer (Mike is not into surfing as far
as I know) believing he had discovered a dead body on the beach.
After
some time, it became apparent Mike was still (barely) alive. He had
multiple skull fractures as well as other injuries. His injuries
left him,
essentially, blind. He was robbed of his truck and everything he
had.
Since his identification was also stolen, even getting him back into the
condition. After a relatively short hospital stay in
released but with no funds and no one to turn to. He eventually
remembered
his son (Travis) and was able to reach him by telephone. Since Mike
still
had no identification, was still mostly blind, certainly not clear of mind
and had no money, he was unable to buy an airplane ticket. He
couldn't
have boarded an aircraft anyway since, as I say, he had no identification.
Travis wired him money for a bus ticket and Mike made it back to Steamboat a
few weeks ago. Since then, he has been slowly regaining his health
and his
eye sight.
Mike was originally a coal miner in the Steamboat area. He was forced to
retire at a young age due to several medical problems that precludes him
from holding any type of regular employment. For a number of years,
he has
lived on the small disability checks he receives. He lives in a
converted
truck trailer in a rural area near Steamboat. I believe he
discovered ham
radio about eight years ago and it's been for him what ham radio is really
meant to be -- "a window on the world" to those who need it
most. Those of
you that know Mike, know you'll never meet a nicer, more friendly, person in
the world. That's what makes this even more tragic. Each
year, he's
pretty much cut off from the world each winter since his tractor/trailer
home is located down a several mile normally unplowed road. The
winters
finally became too much for him a few years ago. But he wanted to
remain
in
a warmer climate. Travis works as a motorcycle mechanic in
Steamboat.
For the last few years, Mike has spent winters in northern
the isolation of being snowed in for months at a time. Since he has
little
in life and no source of funds other than his small disability checks, he
sleeps in his truck and camps in the desert or on the beach. Mike
has told
me he really enjoys it and doesn't sleep in a bed indoors even when one is
offered.
Mike is now trying to put his life back together. And those that
know him
are trying to help. Bob, K9MWM, has already donated a two-meter
radio to
Mike to get him back on the local repeaters. Next on the list
is a laptop
computer to get him back on the Internet on a regular basis. I'm
obtaining
a late-model used Toshiba laptop at cost from someone who doesn't know Mike
but just wants to help. It looks like it will cost about
$600. I'm
loading it with software this weekend. I'll then either deliver it
myself
to Mike in late February or ship it to Mike's son, Travis and he will
deliver it.
I've established a bank account for Mike at the bank located in my office
building. If you would like to donate to help Mike, anything you'd like
to
give would be most appreciated. We're trying to keep this fund a
secret
from Mike but, when the account is eventually closed, I intend to give Mike
a list of all those who donated. Amounts will not be included and,
if
anyone wishes to donate anonymously, just note that with your donation and
your wish will be honored. Donations from clubs or charitable
organizations are also encouraged. If you're a member of such a
group and
feel they might wish to contribute to help Mike, please give a copy of this
e-mail to those in your club who make such decisions. If additional
information is needed, I can be reached during business hours at
800-844-9860.
Right now, we already have donations of $300 in the account toward the $600
laptop. After that, we'll ask Travis what he thinks his dad wants
next.
I'm guessing a bicycle to replace the one that was stolen. If he
never
regains his sight enough to regain his driver's license then he'll still
have some means of getting around at least in the summer. I'm sure
he
wants to buy another truck, be able to drive again and regain his
independence. Only time will tell. If we're able to
collect enough in
contributions to help him toward buying another truck, that would be great.
At any rate, whatever is in the account when it is closed will be turned
over to Mike after we purchase him the laptop computer and any other items
his son believes he most wants to put his life back together.
Should you
wish to make a contribution, please include your e-mail address.
You will
be sent an e-mail verifying your check has been received.
Here is the information on how to make a donation:
1. Make your check payable to "Michael Newbold
Fund"
2. Mail it to my office:
Midtec Associates, Inc.
11900 West 87th Street, Suite 220
Lenexa, KS 66215
attention: Ms. Dana Grayson
3.If you wish to send money via PayPal, you can send
money to my address
gyantis@midtec.com and I'll transfer it
to Mike's account. Just make sure
you e-mail me in advance so I watch for it.
4. If you included your e-mail address but do NOT receive a "check
received" e-mail from Dana within ten days, please e-mail her at
dgrayson@midtec.com
5. FYI -- the account is at the Premier Bank (same address as above)
account number 70216468 -- "Michael Newbold
Fund". The Federal EIN number
of the account is 86-1093872
Note that I did not do all the (time delaying) paperwork to make this a
tax-deductible charitable account. Should this be important to
anyone for
any reason (such as a large donation), I can make arrangements to have the
donation run through a non-profit tax-deductible charity. Just let me
know
in advance.
Thank you in advance to anyone who wishes to donate to assist a fellow ham
in his time of need. If you've never had the pleasure of meeting
Mike, I
hope you do someday. In fact, right now, visitors are what he wants
and
needs most. If you're going to be in the Steamboat area for any
reason in
coming months, let me know and I or someone else can put you in touch with
Mike. For a photo of Mike go to www.qrz.com
and enter k0yo in the "Get
Callsign" blank.