Well, you know the saying...March comes in like a Lion, and goes out like a Lamb...  But this year, it seemed to come in like a Lion and leave likewise!  Moreover, April followed suit what with April 3rd  overnight winds gusting to 55+ mph at my house!  The next morning the XYL said "Hey!  Our beam is gone!"  Sure 'nuff, our HF Hy-Gain 3-element Thunderbird beam was not where it usually was...up in the air.  I found it upon going outside.  It was dangling within inches over my VW Van...held up only by the co-ax.  The winds had whipped it so badly, the mast holding it snapped into.  Two elements were badly bent when it hit the ground.  Sigh... GPS (global positioning system) units are fast becoming a way of life.  Many auto manufacturers are now offering "OnStar" (see last month's editorial!) and the price of small handheld units are now competively priced in the $100-$150 range.  In addition, the Motorola cellphone, Model V-60X, has a built-in GPS (call 911 and you can be pinpointed to within 300 yards)...much better than the older "nearest tower" concept which could be up to 10 miles distant!
     New Car-Jacking                         Scheme! Our Mailing address is:  Lenoir Amateur Radio Club,  P.O. Box 3276, Lenoir, NC, 28645. ARRL Affiliation Membership dues for the Lenoir ARC are due & payable after the 1st of January for the coming year.  Individual dues are still just $12. for the year with a Family Membership at $20.00.  Associate member dues are $7.00...but carries no voting rights. The club's Constitution and Bylaws requires that you be  dropped if dues are not paid by March 31st.
Joining our ranks at the Mar 10, 2005 meeting was James Snell, WA4TNG, and David Roberts.  No new visitors were present.  (Note: James  is a "returning member"). Welcome to
all !! Please note! Speaking of Addresses... The LARC now has a brand-new web domain identity - thanks to Gary, KD4YTU!  He has secured for us the domain address of Lenoir-ARC.org (and .net) .  Gary will set up a number of email addresses using this domain and later will host our very own website on his server free of charge!  Add ti onally, this newsletter will be available on the website for viewing and/or printing simply by clicking on one of the several "tabs".  Work will begin shortly on the design and implementation of the new website!! The editor reserves the right to edit and/or paraphrase articles or "news" submitted for inclusion into the LARC newsletter due to time and/or space constraints. Submit articles, etc. to Jim, N4EUX, at bozo38@charter.net    tnx! GPS
     Our Newsletter
GPS
Our Mailing address is:  Lenoir Amateur Radio Club,  P.O. Box 3276, Lenoir, NC, 28645. Website Address... Our official website address is http://www.lenoir-arc.org  Be  careful when typing it in to your address window of your browser...that's a hyphen (some refer to it as a dash) between "lenoir" and "arc" - not an underscore! Dues are Due!!!
A "Tech" class is tentatively scheduled for April/May 2005!  
Global Positioning System Jim N4EUX The Newsletter is prepared all through the month, adding a little here and a little there.  So if you have something you would like to see printed in this, your Newsletter, please submit it to the editor no later than the 1st of the month.  Thanks!
                **********************
Want to see changes in the Newsletter?  Your suggestions for new topics and/or columns are both encouraged & welcomed. Let the editor know!!!
Since we are still in the process of reorganizing, we tend to cram a lot into our meetings.  We are trying to take care of business...and have some programs too.  New business is taking up a lot of time, robbing us of some "good clean fun".  I am aware of this, but the business has to be addressed.  Hopefully, it won't be much longer before we can use more of the meeting time for interesting programs and ARES training.  Hang on--the fun stuff is coming!    -73,  Tom, KA4HKK
Most of our club members are aware that our club repeater (147.195)  is off  the air...waiting for the weather to moderate before doing major  work at the repeater site.  In the meantime, most members can be found either on 147.33 (Hibriten Mtn) or 145.21 (High Peak Mtn).  The access tone for 147.33 is 141.3 mhz and 94.8 mhz for 145.21. Back Next