Happy New Year from the RASON family

January 2002 Happy New Year from the RASON family If you have not paid your club dues, please do so as we need your support to continue to maintain the repeater equipment and make necessary repairs and upgrades. Like the new Digital Voice Recorder that was installed last month. Attached is a New Member/Renewal form to complete your support for this great club. ************************************************************** From the Editor: I am very concerned with the lack of stories for the newsletter. You all must have some great articles just waiting to be sent out to me. I guess if you want to save on publishing that s ok. Now I know you all are very creative people with lots of things to say, so say it in the Monitor. I would like to thank all those who contributed an article to the Monitor during 2001. Let s make 2002 more newsworthy! I hope 2002 is treating you all well so far. Best 73 Randy N1PTB H IGHLIGHTS INSIDE THIS ISSUE 1 Important News 2 The Voices of RASON 3 RASON Activities 4 RASON Activities (continued) 5 Classifieds, Contacts and Important News 6 RASON Application The RASON Monitor 1

The Voices of RASON By Mike Martell N1HFX During the month of the December, a new DR-1000 digital voice recorder was installed in the CAT -1000 controller used by the 146.730 repeater. This has resulted in a wide variety of voices identifying the repeater. We call this new phenomenon, the voices of RASON. The CAT-1000 repeater controller is capable of identifying the repeater via CW or the Texas Instruments sy nthesized voice IC. While the synthesized voice works well it has resulted in almost all repeaters sounding alike as was discussed at a recent RASON meeting. The digital voice recorder gives us the ability to identify the repeater by playing back a previously recorded voice. This gives the RASON 146.730 repeater a very unique sound. In the future, expect to hear a wide variety voices identifying the repeater. Normally, the voice ID will change about every week. All RASON members and their families (li censed or not) are cordially invited to have their voice recorded to identify the repeater. All that needs to be done is for a RASON member to record their voice using the Sound Recorder of their computer and save it as a WAV file. Email the WAV file to n1hfx@arrl.net and it will be put on the air at the next available opening. WAV files should be mono and must be limited to 6 seconds. The following are some sample WAV files: HELLO, THIS IS THE N1NW REPEATER WELCOME TO THE N1NW REPEATER THIS IS THE N1NW REPEATER. Virtually any greeting is acceptable as long as it ends with the words N1NW Repeater. If you are not familiar with the use of Sound Recorder or do not have a microphone, I will be bringing my laptop to t he next RASON meeting to record member s voices. Because the 146.730 machine is a club repeater, all RASON members should consider having their voice recorded to identify the repeater. Remember it is your repeater so you should be part of the effort to i dentify it. ID messages occur immediately if the repeater is activated after the machine has been at rest for more than seven minutes. After the machine is used or kerchunked, the ID will occur seven minutes later or between the next available moment whe n the machine is available which ever occurs last. The machine will not normally interrupt a QSO to ID unless the absolute 10 minute limit is reached. The reason for the seven minute setting is to allow for a 2 minute transmission near the end of the seven minute window along with an additional 1 minute for a possible repeater time out. The controller now switches to a CW ID during the traffic net and the weekly TIPS net. At most other times a voice ID will be heard. The repeater also identifies on the hour giving the time and at 40 minutes past the hour to accommodate any special messages recorded in the DVR. An additional feature that is available with the DVR is the ability to record a signal report. To do this, key up, identify yourself and enter 725* on your key pad. After unkeying, the repeater will respond with words Start Test Now. Immediately key up and the DVR will record up to a seven second message. The repeater will play back your recording immediately after unkeying. This is an exce llent way for RASON members to check the quality of their received signal into the repeater without having to ask for a signal report from another amateur. An additional feature is the ability to record hourly messages occurring at 40 minutes past the hou r. These messages can be up to 30 seconds and can be recorded on the repeater via any control operator. These messages can be anything amateur related, non business type messages. There is no need to identify because the controller automatically adds a synthesized voice ID at the end. If you are a member and not a control operator but need a message placed on the machine concerning a Fox Hunt, Contest or any other amateur event, record a WAV file and email it to me. The message will immediately be adde d to the repeater based on your instructions. If you do not have computer and just can t make the next meeting then call me at 860-546-9498. I can then set up my PC to actually record your voice directly over the phone. All you need to do is pick up the phone and I will do the rest. I will record your message or your voice identifying the repeater. The addition of the Digital Voice Recorder is another great enhancement to our repeater system and is another reason to support RASON through your annual du es. Enhancements like these are what make the RASON repeaters among the best in the area. The RASON Monitor 2

On-the-Air Activities FEBRUARY 2002 Activities by Bob Munro W1AMF January / February Contests North American SSB QSO Party is held Jan. 19 th - Jan. 20 th The contest will start on January 19 at 1800 UTC and end at 0600 UTC, January 20, 2001. The object is to work as many North American stations as possible during the co ntest period. ARRL January VHF S.S. is held on Jan. 19 th - Jan. 21 st The contest will start on January 19 th at 1900 UTC and ends at 0400 UTC on Monday, January 21. Using the VHF/UHF spectrum, you'll need to work as many grids as possible. This is the same as the September VHF QSO Party that the club entered this past fall from W1AMF's QTH. CQ W.W. 160 Meter DX Contest is held Jan. 25 th - Jan. 27 th **The contest will start on January 25th at 2200 UTC and ends 1600 UTC Sunday, January 27. The objective of this contest is for amateurs around the world to contact other amateurs in as many U.S. states, Canadian provinces, and countries as possible on the 160 meter band. Ten-Ten International Winter Phone QSO Party Feb 2 & 3 The Ten-Ten International Winter Ph one QSO Party will start at 0001 GMT on Saturday and end on Sunday at 2400 GMT. Sign up sheets will be at the RASON meeting and here at the web site. The Schedule will be updated via the Reflector North American Sprint Contest - Feb. 3rd - 0000-0400 GMT This is an interesting phone contest because it is only 4 hours long. The other interesting feature is that you work a station on a certain frequency, then the frequency is yours to work a station, then the frequency is his. Once you work your station, you go find another one to work. The CW North American Sprint will be held on February 10th. The time will be 0000 GMT - 0400 GMT CQ World Wide RTTY WPX Contest Feb 9 th & 10 th The object of the contest is for amateurs around the world using RTTY to contact a s many amateurs in other parts of the world as possible during the contest. The multipliers are the actual prefix of the worked station. The contest starts at 0000 GMT Saturday and ends at 2359 GMT Sunday. ARRL International DX CW Contest Feb 16th & 17th This is the contest were you work as many amateur stations in as many DXCC entities as possible on 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meter bands. The contest starts at 0000 UTC Saturday; ends 2400 UTC Sunday. The RASON Monitor 3

**CQ WW Club Competition only** **A Note on Club Competition: Any club that submits at least three logs can enter the Club Competition. The name of the club must be clearly identified under club competition on the summary sheet. Club competition is a for fun competition to foster more activity. There is a separate listing for the club scores For more information on contesting...follow the link below. One of the interesting pages in this site is the 3830 reflector. Lots of contesters post their scores to this site for everyone to look at. Most of the s cores are contributed to a club and usually don't go towards an individual station, unless there is no club listed in the club box. http://www.contesting.com/faq/cq-contest Clusters There are several different ways to access DX clusters. If you can us e the on-the-air method of connecting to a cluster, please do so. The closest cluster to the Norwich area is KB1H in Dayville, CT. The frequency of this cluster is 144.930 Mhz. Contest Sign-up If you would like to sign up for one of the Club sponsored contests, please e-mail w1amf at the following e-mail address: w1amf@aol.com. Please state which contest you are interested in and what times you are available to operate. Please give me at least 2 blocks of 4 hours to work with to get a schedule started. Ten-Ten Contest 2002 VHF Contest Ten-Ten Contest 2002 Field Day February 2-3 September 14-16 August 3 rd -4th June 22-23 Join in the fun 73 Bob W1AMF Anyone wishing to post his or her contest scores here just send me an e-mail. On The Air Activities of interest can be sent to: w1amf@aol.com. The RASON Monitor 4

RASON CONTACTS C ALENDAR OF E VENTS?? THE NEXT RASON MEETING WILL BE HELD ON FEBRUARY 20 TH AT 7:30 P.M. AT THE NORWICHTOWN MALL COMMUNITY ROOM. ALL MEMBERS AND FUTURE MEMBERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND. SHARE THE HOBBY WITH A FRIEND AND BRING THEM ALONG TO SEE WHAT WE RE ABOUT. TALK-INS WILL BE PROVIDED BEFORE THE MEETING ON THE 146.730 AND 449.725 REPEATER. Area NETS?? THE EASTERN CONNECTICUT TRAFFIC NET (ECTN) meets nightly at 9:00pm on the RASON repeaters. SHOW YOUR SUPPORT AND CHECK IN.?? RASON VHF CLUB NET, Thursday nights at 8:30pm 146.730/449.725?? HORIZONTAL ENGINEERS Nightly at 7:00 p.m. on 146.970?? AREA 4 ARES NET Every Monday Night at 8:00 p.m. on 146.670?? RASON Phone NET Every Thursday Night at 8:00 p.m. on 28.440 (+ -)?? CONNECTICUT Phone NET Mon.- Sat at 6:00 p.m. on 3.965 (+ -) and Sunday at 10:00 a.m.?? T.I.P.S. NET Every Tuesday at 7:30 on 146.730 (PL 156.7) and 449.725. Put your favorite net in this space. President: Bruce Adams, KA1ZMZ 860-886-1837 Vice President: Kevin Harkins, KA6PDG 860-886-0762 RASON Monitor Editor: Randy C. Gudeahn, N1PTB 860-886-0345 P.O Box 161 Taftville, CT 06380 n1ptb@arrl.net RASON Monitor Publisher: Mike Martell, N1HFX 860-546-9498 I have the following items for sale. Classifieds a) Swan 350 in working condition with power supply $200.00 b) RCI-2950 10 meter rig good working condition $100.00 c) MFJ Keyer works just fine-hardly used-have built in keyers on radios!! $50.00 d) Swan 350 with power supply for parts $75.00 e) Astron 25 amp power supply with meters $100.00 All items except Swan 350 for parts are in good to e xcellent condition electronically.the other Swan 350 could use a quick tweek & peek but works fine. I can be reached at w1amf@aol.com or you can call me at 1-860-642-7296 before 9:00 PM. Prefer pickup on items listed. Wanted Item: If you have a Cushcraft AP8 vertical that is in the attic or broken, but the base section is still good, well I need one, mine kind of broke. 73 Bob W1AMF The RASON Monitor 5

R.A.S.O.N. Radio Amateur Society of Norwich PO Box 329 Norwich, CT 06360 Application for Membership Name: Phone: Address: City: State: Zip Code: Callsign: License Class: Age: (Optional) Birthdate: (Optional) Are you applying for a Family Membership? If YES, Please list names and callsign if any: Yes No ARRL Member: Yes No ARES Member: Yes No Please describe any special interests you have in amateur radio: New Membership Renewal (Sept>) Annual Dues $15 Single $18 Family ******FOR CLUB USE ONLY****** Date: Dues Received: Accepted-Approved By: Membership Card Issued: The RASON Monitor 6