Harvard Wireless Club Bulletin May 4, 1999

The meeting this evening was largely taken up by exam testing. No problem! It was fun and we all feel good about being back in the exam business again. Before, during and after we informally attended to business. So, here are this week's items of note:

1. Mary Ellen Nagle passed her Element 1a (5 WPM) and was astonished to have done so! Although she didn't quite grab a PASS for element 2, everyone was quite pleased that she got the Novice code under her belt. It's back to "Look Who's Talking" for more theory and then, without a doubt, she'll earn her license next time around. VE's KO1O, K9HI and K3UOC were on hand to administer the exams. President N3OQB was also in attendance and inspired by Mary Ellen's effort. Frank now has his eye set on crossing that 13 WPM hurdle. Look for the next round of W1AF exams in mid to late October of this year. Those HWC who are lingering somewhere below the Extra level should certainly shoot for an upgrade this fall.

2. As you know, Tower #2 is now up and both beams are proving solid performers. XX certainly did the job correctly and we are very pleased with this setup. We await Matt's final bill for five hours of installation work this past Wednesday.

3. The 1999 MAQP is now history. We chatted about the contest this evening and shared battle stories. Conditions notwithstanding, it was great fun and an excellent opportunity to put ALL of our equipment through the paces. From early indications, it looks like we have a lock on first place Multi-op! N1TYH from FARA has promised to let us know how other club scores shape up.

4. Our web site is rolling along and expanding daily. Look for a new QSL Gallery with images of QSLs received by the HWC back in the 1920's. There are lots of interesting stories about these cards. Ever hear of the Hamilton-Rice Brazilian Expedition of 1925? HWC has a QSL confirming a contact with the explorers, mailed from Belem, Brazil in June 1925. Also coming on-line soon is a new HWC Archive section and first up in this electronic archive will be the excerpts from the 1920 Dept. of Commerce Call Book as well as the complete 1912 "Directory of Amateurs within 20 Miles of Boston" published in 1912 by the Harvard Wireless Club. This publication predates the founding of the ARRL by three years. In this work, the station at Jefferson Physics Lab (undoubtedly Professor George W. Pierce's project) was know by the call letters "HDU" and reportedly capable of transmitting 5KW! Not too hard to see "Harvard University" in that acronym. Interestingly, there is no station listed at MIT in 1912. Incidentally, in 1920, the MIT club was known as the MIT Wireless Society and was recognized by the call letters "1AN."

5. We have a copy of Morse Academy (DOS) at the club for anyone who would like to improve their CW skills. This is the same program the ARRL VEC uses to generate exams and it is freeware. We can easily copy the program to disk for anyone interested.

6. We now have a new mailbox in a new place (our 5th in recent months) and hopefully we have finally settled on a home for HWC mail delivery. Facilities Maintenance intends to put a latch on the box and we'll get a lock for it.

7. KC6TAH put his legal skills to work and came up with an excellent draft of the HWC Articles and Bylaws. Nick was also able to successfully merge the three sets of officer duties into these documents. He has done a masterful job -- give a look on the Members Only site. Let's discuss these newly revised documents next meeting.

8. So far, for the May Flea on May 16, we have N3OQB, N2JWQ, K9HI, N1EXQ, K3UOC and Mary Ellen signed up! KYFC we can do so well in June-July-August. Frank will be postering the Yard this week. There are still posters and flyers available for distribution. Check the white table in the outer room.

9. The UC Finance Committee will do an electronic funds transfer of $350 to the HWC very shortly.

10. Only four more meetings this school year. May 11, 18, 25 & June 1. And that June meeting is kind of iffy as a number of you will be gone then. It's been a busy year at the HWC -- let's all hang tough and finish the year on a high note.

Hey, that's all the news there is!