Members of ARRL since 1957

The Victor Valley Amateur Radio Club Newsletter THE SPECTRUM June 2006 Come one, Come ALL¼ June Club Meeting: The VVARC Annual Picnic. .......Tuesday, June 13 approx. 6:15 - ?? .......14081 Driftwood, Spring Valley Lake .......Yes, it’s time for the annual club picnic. It’s the same date as usual, the second Tuesday of the month. Notice that the time is earlier, and the place isn’t the Lewis Center. The picnic will again be held in the backyard of the Halls, in Spring Valley Lake. .......Directions: Turn onto Spring Valley Parkway from Bear Valley Road, and go the very end of the parkway, over 2 miles. At the stop sign, turn right onto Driftwood and look for the house with the club banner over the garage. .......The club will be providing hot dogs and hamburgers with all the trimming, baked beans, and drinks (some sodas, water, lemonade, and coffee) Please bring along a small salad, desert, or chips or other munchies to share. Bring your family and , please bring your chairs, too. We invite you all; the more the merrier. Lots of door prizes and a chance to catch up on the plans for Field Day. A Message from Your VVARC President, ....... We thought it would be a great idea to include interviews of our members each month, to include their thoughts on communication, a picture or two, and a little history. To start us off, I asked Ray Terry to spearhead the new addition to the spectrum, to which he stated: “You bet your bippy!” (whatever that means ;). So without further ado.... Ray Terry / KF6QJP ....... Our esteemed Ray Terry is known to us as KF6QJP and was elected Vice President of the VVARC in 2002. After which he served our club as President for three years (2003-2005), bringing to our club a sense of history and community. ....... On radio communications, he said, “I don’t have a favorite QSO. The most memorable one was when I accidently told someone the repeater was on a different mountain.”(Ray gave a small chuckle at this). “I don’t have an HF ticket because the code is pretty hard for me. I went through sonar school in the Navy, and I have a certificate somewhere that certifies me in morse code at 8 words per minute. I’ve tried to get them to take it at the FCC, but they won’t have anything to do with it.” ....... Ray served on the USS Epperson Destroyer Between 1951-1953, and turned 21 years old between Okinawa and Midway. When asked if he saw any action, he said, “You bet your bippy I did. The Koreans were firing on some troops and the Epperson was ordered to make a demonstration of power. We fired all of the big guns, filling the air with a dark cloud. The Koreans stopped firing.” ....... “Not by choice I take it.” ....... “No, not by choice.” ....... Ray spent most of his life working in various positions of purchasing and safety inspecting for North American Aviation. He mostly worked with electronic components of communication radios on fighter aircraft. A smile wandered across his face and he said “Once I really @*&! up. I accidently declassified all communication components for the ARC-100 (radio) for the A-10 Warthog.(thanks Ray!). When the manager got back from vacation, he was a little angry.” ....... “They decided to get rid of me, moving me to the Space division of the company. There I inspected blueprints and did purchase orders for the Saturn II rocket for seven years. It was the best promotion I ever had.” ....... When asked about his favorite memory, he didn’t hesitate. “Jan. You wouldn’t know it now, but Jan can climb some mountains. I remember her doing an upside down repel off the top of Mt. Little Picacho (20 miles north of Yuma). It was only forty feet off the ground, but I tell you what. That’s plenty enough for someone to get into trouble during repel.” ....... When asked what he liked most about radio and being president, he said, “I like the comradery. I really like how nice hams are.” 73 OM, Jonathan September: Looking ahead .......First, this is the month that our club is doing Route 66 on the Air, from September 9 –17. We will have the special event callsign W6M for this event. Members can work HF out of their own homes, all using this special callsign. There will be suggested frequencies listed later. We need to have a number of hams working at least part of each day. So plan to participate; it’s fun to be the one that hams from all over are looking for! .......Second, this year the annual ice cream social on Sept. 12th will be a celebration of the VVARC’s 50th birthday. We will be servicing ice cream, cake, and memories. Join us, and bring along new members as well as old members. Make a note on your calendar not to miss that meeting. ISS ASTRONAUT HONORED FOR WORKING ALL STATES, INSPIRING OTHERS FROM SPACE .......International Space Station Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, has been honored as the first astronaut to work all states from space and for inspiring others through his ham radio activities from NA1SS. McArthur, who returned to Earth in April, received an ARRL Worked All States (WAS) plaque during a May 25 ceremony at Johnson Space Center in Houston. During his six-month duty tour, McArthur became the most active radio amateur ever to serve aboard the ISS. His track record from NA1SS is impressive: In addition to WAS, he handled a record 37 Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school contacts, worked all continents, including Antarctica, on both VHF and UHF--and racked up QSOs with some 130 DXCC entities. ......."The Amateur Radio on the ISS program was developed to inspire students--our next generation of explorers--through Amateur Radio communications with the ISS crew," remarked ARISS International Chairman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, who presented the WAS plaque to McArthur. "Using Amateur Radio, the Expedition 12 crew took the worldwide community of radio amateurs, the school students and the general public to unprecedented heights." Earthquake Reminder .......The recent earthquake in Asia should serve as a reminder to check your Earthquake supplies. Be sure that you have lots of water and a supply of food that won’t spoil. We can figure that we might have to survive without power for quite a while. If you have camping equipment, organize it so that it can be easily reached. It might be wise to have some cash around, as ATM’s might not be working and banks not be open. Review your family plans with everyone; don’t forget to have a supply of food for pets, as they are part of your family, too. And of course, be sure that you have batteries for your radios, for both an AM/FM radio to listen to public emergency announcements and for your ham radios, too. K6QWR- Victor Valley Amateur Radio Club, PO Box 869, Victorville, Ca 92392