MEETINGS 2nd THURSDAYS C.C.C. GOVE ROOM 7:30 CT

MAY ,MEETING FIELD TRIP TO NNS GOODLAND The May meeting will be

held at the normal time, May 11 at 7e3s:$pm CDT. However vie will be

meeting at the NNE office south of the Go<adlana airport. Members can

drive directly there, or carpool from the north Thomas Hall parking

lot at CCC in Colby, at Eso4t%FCDT. Dennis Hull KB0NYC will be

conducting the tour/meeting. He will distribute software to anyone

interested -- it will download radar files in graphics format on

packet, the latest addition to the WX-related info available an

BBSGLD. Trojans who attended the last NWS field trip can attest to

the interesting NEXRAD equipment, and this will be a great

opportunity to see the W0WOB voice and N0SEG packet NWS stations.

NAF3DAV IS SILENT KEY Dean Strain, WA0DAV of Brewster became a Silent Key April ?4. Fighting

declining health, Dean graciously donated his gear and TH3 antenna to the club aver a year agar the beam

helped take us to a super Field Day scare last ,Tune and the numerous items sold at our first swapfest netted

us ALOT of cash and gave many hams an appreciated piece of dear. Although not active in the hobby in recent

years, Dean visited our FD site and enjoyed keeping track: of activities. Old Wheat Belt Radio Club members

will fondly remember WAs3DAV as one of the club's "colorful characters". Oldtimers recall Dean's stories of

Army Air Carps exploits in, around and over the Zuider Zee, and still chuckle at the thought of Dean's "before &

After Christmas" pictures with Santa. The Before shot shows DAV eagerly pointing out rear in the Heathkit

catalog to St. Nick, while the After reveals Dean disgustedly giving Santa the 'middle finger salute'! !ale will miss

Dean's presence and interest.

TROJAN REPEATER RISES UP FROM THE ASHES Our cool spring has nonetheless provided some lightning,

including a devastating hit at the Liberty Cellular power mains which took:: the Kansas Cellular node out far

many days, and played havoc with the 22/82 machine. Our poorer supply was virtually vaporized, the Motorola

t;; was nearly ruined and the r;; damaged. It was discovered that the 'spare' rigs c,uar ded by KFOMJ a=sere

designed far the high end of the i5r,%; Mhr business band and not easily modified. After on-.air and phone

consultations with most members, it eras decided to replace the damaged gear with a Motorola M1^0 t:; and

Ml!.-,l rx, provided by F::-hI s_omunicat :ion=. Thanks to Greg KBOMErT far the lion's share of tuning '..

installation work. We also intend to install PolyPhaser protection an the mains. Early problems with bossy audio

.are better but still persist. his%t00 in assistance was provided by Thomas Co. Emergency Preparedness funds.

A full update will be provided at the meeting.

HORSE f &NUMANaPONER NEEDED FOR PROJECTS With Field Day coming up,

r=re have alot going on and there are a few projects to complete which

are labor-intensive. To be done are repair welding and painting of

the crank-up tower; climb and around detail for the repeater

hardline strapping; master production, duplication and assembly of

the new scanner directories: and radio installation in the mobile

command past. Planning work directories; will be covered at the meeting.

TROJANS TRAVEL TO DAYTON Darel WA0GBN and Pat drove to Ohio to see Pat's relatives and Darel

made a first trip to the Dayton

HamVention. Jim KG0PI and Bruce KOBJ drove straight through to the event and all C added to the

4s%s0s%10+ cro;=rd. Among the bargains to be had ware a new MFJ 2M Data Radio and iambic keyer kit

for Jim ?< computer software for Bruce. Bruce indoctrinated Jim into the weird ways of DX through the DX

banquet Friday evening and the DX forum, while Jim introduced Bruce to the fun of QRP throu4h forums and

observing a homebrew construction `race' at the hospitality suite where teams vied to see which could be first

to get a signal, then a QSO, out of a i :; 2" 15 component Ss%f meter cnr transceiver'. PI and BJ got caught up

in the excitement and spent a whopping $3 on PC boards and crystals to make their 80m Russian-designed

mini transceivers.

SUNRAYC£ '9S WILL FEATURE NAM LINKS The solar poi=rated car race June ^7 on USES has requested

communications assistance from us. The area north of us is a tricky spot repeater-coverage t=rise and this will

be a major item for our June meeting.

BANDSCAN BT Ham Lunch last meeting day included a rare visit by

Darel WA0GBN and Butch WAOVJR. Conversation reached new all-time

records and the B-Hive is considering an expansion after Butch

pushed a;=ray from the table. BT K0BJ and KB0MBS are enjoying the

digital VOM they 'stole' from Pete WOCM and Marty K0EPE Wessel of

Liberal at the swapfest. BT The latestwcord from German ham Gunter

Ressel DG0OKJ is that he and his XYL will arrive in Colby sometime

around June 12 for a couple days' stay. They will visit KOBJ `s

family as part of a van tour of the Midwest and Rockies. ST Allen

K0MXU often does genealogy research at the LDS church in Colby early

on meeting evenings. One recent trip to the microfiche files

produced a significant "hit" -- he extended his family line from

ia5c%$ to 135r%i! THEN he rechecked the info and ' lost' his newfound

relatives -- such is the life of a genealogist. BT Congratulations

to Bob Walstrom W0EJ of Cedar Rapids IA who is the 1995 ARRL Midwest

Division Ham of the 'fear. Bob was selected for his diligent work in

reducing city regulation of homeowners` toy=tars. BT Some of the local

HF types are planning crossband contacts with the military Saturday,

May ?in Armed Forces Day. This is the one time of year we can

contact non-hams, and all you need is NF privileges and a 2nd

receiver or 2~ VFOs. Details on p.18 of May QST. BT P:aOBJ brought up

the repeater one night recently then suddenly disappeared. No, it

wasn't a dead battery, but a dead final transistor in his trusty old

IC! Fortunately he and KF0MJ are trained in IC2 final repairs,.

having helped Greg NOXNO change his out last year. HST Jim KG0PI got

his Oak Hills 30Meter QRP transceiver back: from the factory with

an A-1 rating on construction. The problem with his rx audio was

mismatched impedance on headphones! The rig works great. BT If

you're out at Radio Shack:, take a look: at their Belden 3t%1i%F ohm twin

lead. Its molded plastic dielectric gives the impedance, then says

"BELDEN" in both letters and Morse code dots and dashes! BT KGOPI

and Ka%FBJ stayed "radioactive" on their trip to Dayton. The outbound

trip was spent working 'gym FM with an Alinco and 1I4 wave vertical,

and coming home they used the same antenna but SWLed the HF bands

with a TSSi%t. BT Many Trojans !hill be attending the Salina hamfest

Sunday June 4. It's at the Bicentennial Center, starting at $:3t3,

with early-bird activities at 7pm Saturday at the Red Coach Inn.

This is a great 'close' hamfest. BT Tibi, exchange student brother

of f:Bi%1MBS, is studying Now You're Talking anti has passed a Novice

sample exam. Will he get licensed before leaving for Hungary July G^

NEXT MEETING MAY 11 *** NWS OFFICE IN GOODLAND *** Field Day plans

and other club projects, and an update on the X218^ recovery

process, will be on the agenda. The big event will be KB0NYC's tour

of the NWS facility and briefing on packet bbs opportunities.