2000 - Palomar Amateur Radio Club

want to work!
For those of you with two cars, you
can mount an HF antenna on it, tune it a
little lower in frequency, park it the
right distance from your HF mobile
transmitting antenna, and you have a
vertical beam!
Those who are really into HF can
use a third car with its HF antenna
tuned to a slightly higher frequency and
you would have a director although I
imagine that your neighbors might start
to suspect what you are up to when they
suddenly see three cars lined up pointing
in odd directions in your driveway.
To your editor's knowledge, most
antenna restrictions apply to your physical
property and not to the cars you
drive.
(ps. Be sure 10 unplug the coax from the car
before leaving in the morning! -Ed)
PARe Strange?
At one of the recent PARC Board
meetings one of the board members remarked
that he "thought PARC was
one of the strangest dubs be bas ever
known." This idea has been suggested
in one way or another over the years by
several other club members.
Somehow your editor inwardly objected
to bearing that PARC was a
strange dub!
The American Heritage Dictionary
says this about the word strange ­
strange - 1. Previously unknown; unfamiliar.
2. Unusual; extraordinary; striking.
3. Peculiar; queer. 4. Not of one's
own or a particular locality, environment,
or kind; exotic ....
So, is PARC a strange dub?
Well, you can form your own opinion
as to whether we are strange.
We are one of the largest true basic
clubs in the world (excluding repeater
associations) with over 600 members.
We are one of the oldest radio clubs
in the world having been established in
1936.
We are one of the oldest ARRL
affiliated clubs (since 1936).
We are one of the very few clubs
that have won class 5A Field Day competition
three years in a row out scoring
the club that "owned" the spot (tox
N6Kl and many helpers).
We are one of the few clubs that
were able to have two 40 meter beams
operating during FD! (SSB/CW). How
many club members even have a 40m
beam?
Think of all the club members that
have participated in Field Day over the
years!
We own seven unique portable
crankup towers constructed by club
members (tox N6QVW)
Almost no club owns its own repeater
site and at the site we have two
towers (80' & 40') with over 25 antennas
on them, operate five 2 meter transmitters
on the same tower with little to
no interference, own 381,680 amp-hour
cells, and have 5 buildings on the site.
We operate a unique autopatch system
available to four repeaters, three
phone entry points into the SDCo phone
system covering almost 2,000 square
miles of phones FREE and all on battery
backup. There probably is no other
system like it in the world. (tox
WB6FM1)
Operate 17 nets on our repeaters
while most clubs can only operate one
or two nets.
We have produced a 12 page
newsletter for years. The nearest group
to our size in SDCo produces a 4 page
newsletter.
We have a 40 foot cargo container to
store club equipment.
The club owns 3 licensed trailers.
Finance - what club do you know of
that has almost $14,000 in the bank
with about $8,000 available for projects.
San Clemente Island - the April
Fool article on the club obtaining San
Clemente Island for its own use was a
strange story BUT members have become
used to all sorts of strange things
being donated to the club or strange
things done by the club such that many
members were more than ready to
beleive this strange story.
Your editor from time to time hears
remarks to the effect that "PARC has
over 600 members and no one will do
anything" or "you would think pg.7
that with over 600 members that I-Xi;
someone would volunteer for my july
project."
Your editor does not know why YOU
joined P ARC. But he does know that
many of YOU do volunteer and do a lot
of work for the club and your community.
Board Members - the President runs
two meetings each month, listens to suggestions
and complaints; the Treasurer
has to write checks, pay bills, attend
meetings; the Vice President has to come
up with 12 outstanding program each
year; and the remaining Board members
all have various assigned tasks.
FOLD and STAPLE: this group
meets every month to fold, staple, sort,
box, and mail the Scope to our members.
NETS - We have II active nets. In
most cases this takes 1-4 net controls
plus participants. Sometimes there are
lots of check-ins and sometimes very
few.
Where can you find more long time
dedicated net managers than ­
N6TEP - Charles has been running
the evening traffic net for years through
busy and lean times.
Others "old timers" that have been
dedicated net chairmen are N61ZW
(Kerry -Microwave Net), W6QCA
(Larry - boaters Net)
WB6IQS - John was technical chairman
for years(20+) and all of our repeaters
and systems were set under
John's supervision and his dedicated
crew of helpers. It has taken a lot of
effort by many in his crew of technical
helpers to put up such an extensive
amount ofrepeaters.
Repeater Tecbs - and how about the
countless hours spent by KC6UQH,
WB6FMT, AB6QT, and others who
modify, fix, convert, and adjust repeaters.
K6HAV - Ralph (who now lives in
Salt Lake City) for years was able to
direct many groups with many participating:
fold/staple, Scope, traffic net,
Field Day, and helping in emergencies.
W60LQ - Badges - John has been
producing the round red and white