From W1AF, in lovely downtown Harvard Square, USA, here's the HWC news brought to you via <hwc-list@hcs.harvard.edu>. Another busy week at the HWC, as you might expect. Spring is descending upon us and there's a lot to report:

1. One of several large stories this week is the Gazette article on the HWC that showed up on-line this past Wednesday and then hit the streets on Thursday. The story turned out very well, we think, and the feedback has all been positive. K1ZZ from the ARRL sent his congratulations and the QST folks have picked up on the story. Look for a reference to the article in QST soon. The article also elicited several queries from the Harvard community regarding membership and licensing. All-and-all, a nice piece of journalism that may work for us for some time to come as it occupies a long-term spot on the Gazette web site. You probably also know that an article link and photo has been up on <www.harvard.edu> for the past week. Good stuff!

2. Competing for the hot story of the week is the fact that nearly $6,500 has been deposited in the HWC account in the past week. We received our flea payoff from W1GSL to the tune of $4,953.87, a check from Casali Group for $1,000.00 and a $495.00 check from K3USC for the sale of IRC's and those Russian tubes we've been trying to peddle for years. Now we can start breathing again! So, what's still outstanding? Another check from Casali for $181.00 and the UC Grant monies. We're in pretty good shape now to fund the antenna project, pay for the new QSLs, and finally reimburse your suffering Trustee for his many nickel-and-dime, out-of-pocket expenditures over the past several months. And yes, there will be $$ left over.

3. The deal on the $181 is that we got charged by Bell Atlantic for installation of the two new telephone jacks! Whoa now, that wasn't part of the original agreement with Casali. Anyway, Tom Murray saw the point, so next week we'll get a check from them covering these installation charges.

4. Back to hot story mode: KC1XX & sidekick Andrew were here on Monday doing tower and antenna work. They installed the first two sections of Rohn 25 for the new tower and will return next week to finish most of the job. Matt also installed anchors at the ends of the two wire antennas and moved both around on the tower. For a better understanding of what they did, take a hike up on the roof and have a look. Access is through the new hatch right outside the clubroom. Eventually the hatch will be locked and we'll have a key. For the time being, it is unlocked.

5. K9HI and N1EXQ offered to help with antenna pre-assembly work. I'll let you know when Mr. XX is due to return. We still need to get a quick order in to Cushcraft for some missing 6 M beam parts. If I can ever get off the computer I'll figure out what we need & call in the order.

6. From last week's lead story, the HWC web site continues to be expanded and refined almost daily. We discussed page content at the meeting last night and kicked around some new ideas. With the new scanner, we're moving toward an extensive photo collection of W1AF throughout the years for the site and also toward a collection of club historical documents. Check the page often: there's always something new being added. BTW, to get into any Members Only section, drop Phil a note. He'll let you in on the username and password if you don't already know.

7. And yet another hot story: We're getting back into the license exam business here at the HWC. KO1O, K9HI and K3UOC's ARRL VE credentials are in order (we all checked) and I have been in touch with Wayne Irwin and Bart Jahnke at the VEC about starting up the program again. Today we received a stack of new VE manuals (on the table in the outer room) and starter kits to apply to become a VE. We encourage K1XQ and N1EXQ to grab a kit, take the open-book exam and get your credentials too. You can never have too many VE's. . . We're looking at Tuesday, May 4 as our first exam session. Mary Ellen tells us she will be ready by then. Phil will get us postered on the web about the scheduled date and I'll order a field stock of materials next week. We'll certainly take walk-ins, so spread the word!

8. Speaking of new members, HWC welcomes Mary Ellen Nagle to the club. She is hard at work on both code and theory (no Codeless Tech for this YL) and looks forward to earning her ticket soon.

9. Contest news: Phil and I worked the WPX SSB this past weekend (low power) for a total of 7 hours and 351 contacts =240,620 points. It was tough to find much time for the contest but we did our best to get W1AF "out there" once again and we did beat those W1AF weenies who only did 308 contacts in the ARRL SSB :-) See HWC > Events > WPX SSB > Log for our band breakdown and soapbox comments. The log is in a folder on the operating table, the score has been submitted to CQ and also posted on 3830. To our benefit, there actually was a lower MS score posted on 3830, so at least we're not in the basement in this contest. . .hi.

10. Don't forget to carve out some time for the MA QSO Party, May 1 & 2. Let's bring the multi-op award back to W1AF! Phil is working to track down this year's rules. This year, the CT QSO Party runs concurrent with the MA so that should be good for business. MA QSO Party is an excellent way to promote W1AF during our 90th year. Also, both SSB and CW operation are encouraged.

11. We're doing pretty well on gathering information for the swipe cards. I still need university ID numbers from Mary Ellen, Frank & Nick. Info on all other members has been passed on to Scott Haywood, the building property manager.

12. Steve, W1GSL was supposed to come to the meeting last evening but he got hung up at work. So he stopped by today and we spent several hours talking Flea. He passed on the checks to us for our fair share and then walked me through the flea organization as it is these days. Steve promised to pay promptly in the future and I promised increased HWC participation this season. I'm going to put the details of our chat in a note and send it to all HWC as a separate message. With a little organization, I believe we can earn an even more sizable chunk of flea monies this year.

13. I sent out a draft of the duties of HWC officers yesterday. A couple people had trouble opening the file, so I sent it to those folks in RTF. We spend quite a bit of time talking about these sort of structural issues last evening. Phil is going to draft a set of bylaws and a constitution based on the BARC model and then we'll get that out to everyone. I'll take a shot at a HWC Statement of Purpose and will work on an update of the HWC Procedures Manual (last revised in 1989). These are all important documents that the HWC should have. To have input in this process, bring your ideas to the meetings, express your views to the group on hwc-list, or send me a note.

14. In one of those long overdue issues, I finally got PSI over here to service the Sanyo heater/air conditioner. No more soot and ash spitting out and it runs no louder than a whisper now. The technician tells me the unit is still in good shape, the water pump works fine and the fan continues to whir right along. Not so bad for a ten year old piece of hardware. This work cost the HWC $170 (ouch!).

15. We talked about HWC QSLing last evening. Since Bill will be moving his workplace out of Cambridge soon, he won't be able to check regularly for incoming or outgoing QSLs. However, he doesn't mind answering cards when he has the time. All pretty much agreed that we'll brainstorm some new system of dealing with QSLs when they really start to roll into HWC in the future. MA QSO Party and Special Even will be our two peak periods. For the time being, I'll attend to the dribs and drabs.

16. Speaking of QSLs, Matt has 65,000 outgoing KC1XX cards that need labels and then must be shipped to the bureau. Sounds like torture. . . If interested in helping him out, contact Matt at .

17. Phil is going to ask K1TWF, our NE Vice-Director to come to the April 27 meeting for a little presentation on ARRL and amateur radio happenings. Stay tuned -- more to follow on this item.

18. The old telephone jack in the shack had to be pulled out. I got the word that it had been deactivated -- for good. So anyway, I ripped it out and ran a permanent cable from the new jack in the outer room into the shack. Works fine. Not a problem any longer.

19. The old electrical panel (the rat's nest) will be pulled out this coming Monday & Tuesday. I expect on Tuesday, we'll be without juice in the shack as our own electrical lines will be switched over to a new utility box to be located on the hallway wall. The rat's nest failed to pass inspection. Good for the inspector! We've been trying to get that mess out of here for years. They tell me our electricity will be back on by Tuesday afternoon.

20. We each got new keys for the clubroom last evening. If you didn't get yours yet, don't forget to pick one up. I'll send Maury's off to him when the swipe cards for we alums come in.

21. N1EXQ offered to score some OCR software for us and to teach a code and theory class if we can ever get geared up in that direction. Nice to have Dave back in attendance at meetings.

22. Last, but not least, the new W1AF license came in the mail this past week. The wallet size is framed downstairs and the larger one is framed upstairs. We're good until 2009, our 100th anniversary!

Next meeting, Tuesday, April 4, 7:00 PM. CU there.