November WTARS Meeting

The monthly meeting of the West Tennessee Amateur Radio society (WTARS), met at 7 pm at Jackson State Community College on Nov 5, 2009.

The attendees enjoyed seeing other Hams at the meeting and were informed by an interesting presentation by John Smith (K9KA) of Lexington, TN on computer defined radios. He discussed the theory behind this technology and demonstrated the interface between a radio he built from a kit and a laptop computer using free software to tune to and receive radio transmissions.

In other business, election of 2010 WTARS officers was done by acclimation of the slate presented by the nominating committee presented at the October meeting as no additional nominees from the floor were presented.

2010 Officers for The West Tennessee Amateur Radio Society:

G. Michael Winslow (N4GMW) - President
Chris Wary (KD4MPN) - Vice-President
Tom Goodman (AI4DB) - Secretary
Phillip Julian (KD4NVN) - Treasurer

The December meeting will be held on December 3, 2009 and is the year-end Eatin' Meetin' and will be held at Cajun Cookers in Three Way.

November 2009 WTARS Meeting

The November meeting for the West Tennessee Amateur Radio Society will be Thursday, Nov. 5th at 7:00 p.m. at Jackson State. The program will be presented by John, K9KA, of Lexington on Software Defined Radio. The club will also be electing officers for the coming year at this meeting.

The slate of officers presented and accepted at the October meeting are as follows:

President- Mike Winslow, N4GMW
Vice-president- Chris Wray, KD4MPN
Secretary- Tom Goodman, AI4DB
Treasurer- Phillip Julian, KG4NVN

Nominations will also be accepted from the floor at the meeting.
The December meeting will, as usual, be an eating meeting. So be thinking of a place in Jackson you would like to eat. There will be a poll coming soon.

Thanks and 73,

David, N4JDN

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Three People Killed While Erecting Antenna

A man, woman and their 15 year old son were killed while trying to erect a 50 foot vertical antenna at the home of the man's mother, Barbara Tenn, KJ4KFF, in Palm Bay, Florida. The deceased were not licensed amateurs.

"It happened in an instant," Palm Bay Fire Marshal Mike Couture said in a statement. "It is an unfortunate set of circumstances that led to the most tragic result."

According to police reports, Melville Braham, 55, Anna Braham, 49, and their 15 year old son Anthony were putting up an antenna -- Tenn's second -- at night when they lost control of the antenna and it crashed into nearby overhead power lines. The impact sent 13,000 volts of electricity through the pole the three were holding. A family friend, a 17 year old boy, was on the roof at the time of the accident. He and the couple's daughter, who was in the house at the time, were not injured.

The mother was pronounced dead at the scene. When paramedics arrived, the father and son were not breathing; rescue crews immediately tried to resuscitate them. They were transported to a hospital where they later died.

Neighbor Jim Vallindingham told television station WFTV that he called 911 when he saw the fire in the back yard and then he ran over: "I had no idea it was electrical until we got over there and saw the three people laying on the ground. So I called 911 a second time to tell them there were casualties. You know, there were people on the ground. So [the 911 operator] told me that's electric, you back away don't touch anything."

Couture said that night was not the best time to be attempting to put up an antenna. "It wasn't the best time, meaning it was night time. Obviously, in darkness, and trying to do something like this and not being keenly aware of where the power line is in the backyard, [was not a good idea]," he said.

Neighbors said that Tenn, an ARRL member, used Amateur Radio to talk with her family in Jamaica. -- ARRL Letter

Jackson Lodge #45 Pancake Breakfast

All-You-Can-Eat

$5 Donation

October 31st, 2009

6:30 am – 9:30 am

Jackson Lodge #45

2911 Hwy 45 By-Pass

Jackson, TN 38308

In support of the

Wounded Warrior Project

Successful Bagels & Bluegrass Event

Thanks to all who participated in the 2009 Bagels & Bluegrass Century Tour event held last Saturday, Oct 3, 2009.

As in the past, WTARS ham radio operators provided communication services along the 100+ mile route covered by bicyclists in the event. Rider's numbers were recorded at each water stop along the way and relayed to the Net Control operator located at Tour HQ at Jackson State Community College.

Tour officials consider our services a valuable part of the annual operations. The efforts and skills of WTARS enables officials to keep track of the progress of the ride in real time and to alert them of any rider that may need assistance.

Once again, WTARS members have displayed and utilized their skills for the good of the hobby and the community.

Bagels & Bluegrass 2009 Event

Just a reminder to everyone that The Bagels-n-Bluegrass Ride is coming up this Saturday October 3^rd beginning at 8:00am.

As discussed at the last ARES/RACES meeting these are the assignments:

COM Trailer-Chris KD4MPN and Lee KF4NZV,

Deep Gap- Frank KJ4ETV,

Pinson Mounds-Mike N4GMW,

Hickory Corner-Randy W4RFB,

Chickasaw- Phillip KG4NVN and Mike N4GMW,

Malesus Park- Tom AI4DB and Greg N4GMF, and at the intersection

Parksburg and Bear Creek Roads -Jimmy W4JHO.

If there is anyone who was not at the last meeting that can help out please contact me at kd4mpn@gmail.com .I would like to get someone else if possible to help Frank at Deep Gap as that is a busy point and any extras can be floaters to relieve any others that might have to leave before the race is over. We will be using the 147.210 repeater primarily and the ARES/RACES simplex 147.42 as a talk around.

For Maps of Routes, go to the following link:

http://www.bagelsandbluegrass.tn.org/map.html

WTARS QSO Events

Members of the West Tennessee Radio Society participated in QSO Events during the past two weeks. Last Sunday, Sept 6th, members of the group met at the N4GMW "Compound" and set up operations in his shop. At least three different transmitters were in operation on multiple bands. Several contacts were made but the event was interrupted for about an hour with a severe thunder-storm and the Skywarn Net was activated from the contest location. Weather information was sent and received and, luckily, no damage or injuries. Good times, good friends and good food.



Saturday, September 12, members of the group met at KF4WNB's radio shack to participate in the ARRL VHF/UFH QSO Party.