HWC Shield Harvard Wireless Club Bulletin
February 9, 1999
Another productive meeting at the HWC this evening. Bill, Frank and myself went over quite a few subjects. Nick almost made it to the meeting (he called) but (we think) he found the front door lock jammed from the construction. Sorry Nick -- we should have propped-open the front door for you. It's increasingly difficult to get into the building these days. Now that the front of the building is *really* torn up, the best bet is to get in through the Adams Courtyard tunnel. No word from Dave Smith & Dave Allred this week. Here's the news:

  1. I talked with Matt Strelow this week and we're making plans for the new antenna project. Matt is pricing out towers and antennas and will get back to me soon with some prices. Timing is contingent upon when construction finally finishes the elevator structure on the roof. Initially, Matt's crew will install some anchors for the wire antennas, then we'll get down to the new installation. So far, I have collected a new Cushcraft X-7, a Hygain Tailtwister rotor, and ample RG-213 and rotor cable. And we have the 6 meter beam. This will be a FB installation, much better than what came down to make way for construction.

  2. Frank will approach the Undergraduate Council this week with our application for funding for this project. While the university has agreed to pay for the new antennas, rotor, cables & labor costs, they balked on replacing the mast with a tower. So we are seeking a sizable grant from the UC to cover new tower hardware. There is precedent for this, and this should work in our favor. We last approached the UC in 1988 for monies to build the very same installation that we now need to replace. They came through with an $800 grant then, so KYFC this time.

  3. The new carpeting is now in the clubroom upstairs. It looks great! Thanks to Trinkle Design for giving us a deal on this top quality carpeting and installation. Nick and I helped out with the project this past Saturday by moving all our stuff from one side of the room to the other so the installer could do his thing. Believe me, this is high quality carpeting and will last for years. And it was laid in 19" squares so any damaged section is easily replaceable. Trinkle left us with lots of extra carpet squares. Carpeting changes the whole room. This space used to be an echo chamber -- now, with the high ceiling and new threads, we have excellent acoustics. I hooked up the stereo system -- awesome sound.

  4. Frank and I worked on putting the room back together this evening. We got everything up and off the floor, but there is still much organizing to be done, especially in the parts boxes and with the @50 years of accumulated magazines. We've been doing a lot of cleaning too -- things were just thick with dust and dirt. Kind of a combination of years of benign neglect and as a result of the construction going on. I'm happy to report that most items are remarkably transformed with Fantastic and elbow grease. Even the disgusting microwave now looks like new. Wonder of wonders. . .

  5. I've been in touch with Dick Ross, K2MGA, publisher of CQ. He says the HWC photos are excellent and he will let me know soon what month the cover will run. Larry, WB2ZPI, has sent us a stack of photos and they will be arriving shortly. I can see some photo framing and a new clubroom display on the horizon.

  6. Bill & I made our tentative plans for putting W1AF on in the ARRL DX CW Test. This is going to be a lot of fun! We'll work out more details next week. We both feel kind of rusty at contesting. I'm sure it will come back to us. . .hi.

  7. The construction people are in the midst of installing the fire alarm system in the clubroom. It's a very neat installation & with a little paint over the conduit, it will be unobtrusive. We're still waiting to hear when the sprinkler system is scheduled for installation in the shack. Also, we'll be getting a phone jack in the clubroom and another in the outer room, courtesy of Casali Group, the Harvard renovation people. I also spoke with the construction people about getting a line in the Centrex system. Unfortunately, I am a little vague on why we need this line. Dave Allred, educate me on this.

  8. The new QSLs are at the printers. I found a place in PA that beat the Typotech quote by $600. These people did my 7Z5OO cards and they do very nice work. I've ordered 2500 cards and that should get us through the next several years. They just finished up the design work today and will send me the color proofs before going to press. I think we'll be very happy with this card. Frank, send me that crimson color code and I will forward that to the printer.

  9. N1EXQ, I hope you had a chance to talk with W1GSL. We're due for some positive cash flow. If so, e- mail me his telephone number. It's time we had a good talk about our continuing role in the MIT-Harvard Flea.

  10. I replaced the backup battery in one of the AEA Morse Machines. I have also programmed a number of useful messages in the A memory bank for W1AF. I will set up the B memory bank with messages for the ARRL DX Test.

  11. The next project is to get some real RF grounding in the shack. I purchased 3 eight foot copper ground rods to replace those wiped-out by construction. The university will eventually pick up the tab for these. I'll talk with the construction people this week about grounding. The entryway, as we know it, is off-limits for grounding because this whole area will be bricked-in. However, I think it is feasible to go through the front wall of the building (behind the VHF installation) and plant the ground there. I'll see what they say. We'll come up with something better than an overhead water pipe before the contest.

  12. DX worked this week - 0. We do hear, however, that Palestine (E4) now is a counter for DXCC. Packet was heavy on E4 pirates this evening. A major event such as this always brings out the wackos.

    Next meeting, Tuesday, February 16, 7:00PM. We'll prop open the front door next week.

    73, Mike
    K3UOC

     [Home]      [Intro]  [Roster]  [Archives]  [Photos]  [Meetings]  [Bulletins]  [Events]  [Contact Us]  [Resources]  [Guestbook]  

    ARRL Logo Harvard Wireless Club is Affiliated with the American Radio Relay League, Inc.

    © 1999 The President and Fellows of Harvard College.