RANDOMOscillations A Monthly Publication for the Members of the Radio Central Amateur Radio Club From the President Neil, KC2KY Are knobs and buttons toast? By Dan Romanchik, KB6NU Greetings from the KC2KY keyboard. October Meeting Our October meeting will feature Ed Newman, W2EMN, who will be giving a demonstration and tutorial of EZ-NEC antenna software. One component of a ham station that just about every ham has constructed himself at one time or other is the antenna. EZ-NEC is an excellent tool to optimize your antenna for your QTH and your limitations for space and height, and predict how well your antenna will perform. Radio Central Day On Saturday November 1 we will be operating two stations from the Marconi Shack to celebrated the 93rd anniversary of the opening of RCA Radio Central. Setup stars at 8:00 AM and we plan to be on the air from 9:00 AM to 3:00PM +/- propagation conditions. November Sweepstakes desn’t start until 4:00 so we won’t be impeded in the CW bands. The bands were hopping during the CQ World Wide Phone contest, and hopefully there will be good conditions for Radio Central Day as well. Hudson Division Awards Luncheon In a recent column on EETimes (http://www.eetimes.com/ author.asp?doc_id=1324283), an old colleague of mine, Martin Rowe, says, “Knobs and buttons are slowly on their way out. Get used to it.” He’s referring to the controls on oscilloscopes, but if he were a ham, he might just as well be talking about amateur radio transceivers, too. We already see this happening in amateur radio. FlexRadio, and a couple of other companies, already make transceivers with no front panel controls. You must have a computer to use them. Might we even start to see this with handheld and portable equipment? For example, how much cheaper could they make a Baofeng if to use See "Knobs", Page 2 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 The Hudson Division Awards Luncheon is on Long 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 Island this year, for the first time in a decade. The 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 luncheon will be held at the Towers On the Green 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 in Floral Park. If you’re thnkong about going, let me 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 know - it we get enough people I’ll reserve a table for 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 10 and we can get a discount on the admission. 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 The price of admission is $50.00 per person, but a 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 table for 10 is $470.00. If we get enough people for 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 a table, the club will contribute $100 from the 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 Treasury to bring your cost down t $37.00. But I 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 have to know at least a few days in advance to get 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 a table if there are any left. 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890 October Meeting Announcement Antenna Simulation with EZ-NEC Wednesday October 29 at 6:30 PM Presented By Ed Newman, W2EMN Middle Country Public Library in Centereach See "President", Page 2 October 2014 1 Vol XXXVII No. 10 President, from Page 1 September 28 Guide Dog Foundation Bike Ride Radio Central supported the 2014 GDF bike ride and dog walk with three club members: Net Control Operator Stan W2SCB; Stan, KB2QFT; and Yours Truly, Neil, KC2KY. Two more operators, Ed, KC2E and Ed, K2LCK, round the crew up to five. We were able to assist two pickups of riders with mechanical breakdowns of their bicycles. Fortunately there were no injuries or serious emergencies, but it’s good to know we did our part to be prepared. Articles Needed! If you're working on an interesting project or have an interesting story to tell, why not share it woth your fellow club members. The Newsletter editorial staff (in other words, me) iis always looking for interesting material to use in the Newsletter. When club members contribute, it makes it a pleasure to put a Newsletter together. A Century of Amateur Radio and the ARRL 2014 Club Officers President: ................. KC2KY Neil Heft Vice President: ......... K2CQK Charlie Fiore Treasurer: ... KC2KY (Acting) Secretary: ................. AB2UW Bill Lynch Editorial Staff Editor ......................... KC2KY Neil M. Heft (737-0019) Al Brogdon, W1AB Directors From the ARRL Letter, October 23, 2014 A first took place on Space Shuttle mission STS-37. SAREX (Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment) provided live communication from the shuttle into many school classrooms to teach the students about space exploration and Amateur Radio. In July 1991, N6CA and KH6HME set a new record on 3456 MHz between California and Hawaii. Each was running 5 W to a 4foot dish. In 1992, after 8 years as ARRL President, Larry Price, W4RA, declined to run for reelection. The League’s Board of Directors subsequently chose him as the next See "Century", Page 5 Stu Goodman K2RPZ sk Harry Lersner N2AWM sk Honorary Members Frank Kiefer, K2PWG sk Art Greenberg W2LH sk Warren Bogin W2GZA sk JoAnn Colletti N2IME sk TOPIC Logbook of the World CQ Magazine Editor Rich Moseson, W2VU, Live Via Skype An NE-602 Receiver for 30M D-STAR (Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio) Coolest Ham Shack Accessory RF Safety Test Equipment Race to Communicate Across the Atlantic September 24, 2014 Round Table Discussion: Antennas and Antenna Ideas October 2014 Serving until 12/16 . . . Bob Chandler ... WB2ETR Steve Sussman-Fort AB2EW Founding Members January 29, 2014 February 26, 2014 March 26, 2014 April 30, 2014 May 28, 2014 June 25, 2014 July 30, 2014 August 27, 2014 October 29, 2014 November 19, 2014 December 17, 2014 Serving Until 12/15 . . . Joe Cohen ............ KJ4ZW Stan Bryer ........... W2SCB N7FKI and W7ZOI reported in the March 1992 QST that they had built a one-transistor 10 meter CW transmitter and made contacts with it using lemon power — essentially a cell made by inserting appropriate electrodes into a lemon. If life gives you lemons, make contacts! Radio Central Amateur Radio Club's 2014 Meeting Calendar DATE Serving until 12/14 . . . Dick Pav............... K2RFP Richard Fisher .... KB2ZPB International Affairs Vice President, which provides liaison with the IARU, which Price served as Secretary. George Wilson, W4OYI, succeeded Price as ARRL President. Future Meeting Topics To Be Announced 2 Club Resources W2RC/R ............ 145.150 MHz, 4Z PL W2RC/R ............ 449.525 MHz, 2A PL Repeater Nets Tuesday at 20:00 EST : Club Rag Chew Net Club Web Page: http://rcarc.org Vol XXXVII No. 10 The K7RA Solar Update From the ARRL Letter, October 23, 2014 Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, Washington, reports: Solar activity is making a healthy comeback, just in time for the SSB weekend of the CQ World Wide DX Contest. A series of large solar flares erupted this week. The most powerful was an X1.6 flare on October 22. The sunspot is now directly facing Earth. Average daily sunspot numbers rose from 55.1 during October 9-15 to 83.9 this week, and average daily solar flux increased from 117.4 to 174. The predicted solar flux for this weekend is 220, higher than on any day since January 7. Prior to that, we didn’t see solar flux values this high since late October 2003. Accompanying the high solar flux back then was a great deal of geomagnetic activity. On October 29, 2003, the mid-latitude A index hit 199! Several 3-hour K index values were 9, the top of the scale. On the same day the daily sunspot number was 330. Predicted solar flux is 215 on October 23, 220 on October 24-27, 215 on October 28-29, 205 on October 30, 140 on October 31, 130 on November 13, dropping to a low of 110 on November 8, and rising to 180 on November 19-20. Along with that relatively high solar flux this weekend will be unsettled geomagnetic conditions. The predicted planetary A index is 15 on October 23-24, 10 on October 25, 12 on October 26-27, 10 on October 28-29, 8 on October 30, 5 on October 31 through November 3, 8 on November 4, 10 on November 5, 8 on November "Knobs", from Page 1 it, you had to also have an Android or iPhone app to act as the human interface? To be honest, I haven’t really thought about this much myself. I’m enough of a dinosaur to still prefer buttons and knobs, but having to use on-screen controls certainly doesn’t turn me off. Rowe claims, however, that “as the old-timers retire (or in our case as older hams become SKs), younger engineers (or young hams) will expect every user interface to function like a phone or tablet. Don’t believe me? Just wait.” I got several interesting replies to this idea on my blog. Bill, AD8BC says, “What would be fun would be an open-source mobile radio. I picture an RF deck with a Raspberry Pi and touch screen for control, the Pi would simply tell the RF deck where to tune and handle the interface and scanning functions, it would ship with a stock app, but you could make your own. Built in support for SDR stuff, packet, APRS, remote operation….” Most commenters, however, even the younger guys, still seem to prefer analog controls. Lucien, DH7LM, says, “I’m a newly licensed October 2014 3 6-7, 5 on November 8-9, 8 on November 10-11, then 5 and 8 on November 12-13, 12 on November 14-15, 15 and 12 on November 16-17, 15 on November 18-19, then 12, 10, and 8 on November 20-22, and 10 on November 23-24. This weekly “Solar Update” in The ARRL Letter is a preview of the “Propagation Bulletin” issued each Friday. The latest bulletin and an archive of past propagation bulletins is on the ARRL website. In tomorrow’s bulletin look for an updated forecast and reports from readers. Send me your reports and observations. ham and I like both – experimenting with advanced computer stuff like SDRs and the great feeling a real radio provides!” Grant, KJ6ZZD, says, “Knobs perform some tasks better than a screen can. Knobs provide some tactile feedback that a screen just can’t.” So, what do you think? Are knobs and buttons toast, or do you think there’s still some life left in analog controls? When not twiddling the knobs on his HF transceiver or relatively ancient Tek 2213 analog oscilloscope, you’ll find KB6NU working on updates to his “No Nonsense” study guides or blogging about amateur radio at www.kb6nu.com. Vol XXXVII No. 10 A Slip of the Tongue DX Humor by Paul Dunphy, VE1DX One of the Local QRPers came around the bend and beat his way up the hill. He flopped down in the chair and it was evident he felt he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. “What’s new?” we asked, not really sure we wanted to know. “There’s no DX” he said sadly and slowly, “and I really don’t think there will be any in the foreseeable future, either.” This got our attention! Any mention of less DX, let alone no DX, sent shivers of fear up the spine of all DXers. “What do you mean?” we asked. “Look at the way things are going”, he said with a disheartened look. “I spent four long years watching propagation fade and suffering through the bottom of the cycle. Why, I just got my tower and beam up when 10-metres closed and 12 and 15 weren’t far behind. And you kept telling me to be a believer. You said that the Great Days of DXing would return. And I was a believer, too!” He looked us straight in the eye and continued on, “I believed. And I waited. I watched as the Palos Verdes Sundancers finally brought on the new cycle. And here we are, on the upswing, the flux is 140 and where is the DX?” He stood up, sweat dripping from his face and he was starting to shake. “Where’s the DX?” “What do you mean?” we replied, following his beady little eyes as he paced back and forth, “There’s DX for all, although for some more than others. What about those three new ones out over the western horizon that are pretty much guaranteed to get the nod from Newington in September? You worked all three and you were here just last week showing us the cards. In a month or two you’ll have three brand new counters to add to your total. What more do you want?” “What more do I want!!??” he stammered. He stopped pacing back and forth and looked straight at us again. “Those stations are not DX today . . . they are DX that WAS and DX that maybe WILL BE! I want DX now. I want the DX that IS! You, of all people, should know this. You keep telling me I don’t understand the true meaning of DX IS! Well, buster, the bands are dead. Stone cold dead! And, as far as I can tell, they will stay that way. Instead of DX IS!, the way I see it, it’s DX ISN’T!” With this, he threw himself back down in the chair, wiped a bit of the sweat from his trembling upper lip and waited for an answer. We were silent for a moment, for we recalled the last time someone had uttered those same blasphemous words “DX ISN’T” . . . and that had been another QRPer over 25 years ago. That QRPer had been unsubscribed from the WCDXB, expelled from the local DX club and told never to speak of DX again! And while that had been 25 years ago, and times and DX standards seemed to be changing, such blasphemy like “DX ISN’T!” is not to be taken lightly. We were concerned that word might get out. So we looked the QRPer straight in the eye, raised our finger for emphasis and began, “Listen son,” we said in a firm and rather loud voice, “you’ve just uttered the one phrase that no true blue DXer may ever say. You’re lucky no one else is here. Never speak those words again! Never! Do you realize what you said? Surely it was a one time slip of the tongue, right?” The QRPer looked around a bit to make sure no one could hear, then replied, “Do you really think it’s that bad? I never thought about it until just now, but I think you are right. How could I have been so dumb!” He began to shake even more. We got the uncomfortable feeling that there might be more to this. We had seen QRPers in tight situations before and this one had the all too familiar look of hidden guilt. “Ahh . . . well . . . errr . . . you see” the QRPer began to stammer, “I was, well, you know . . . a couple of nights ago I was tuning 20metres.” He was in full confession mode now, so we just looked sternly on as he continued, “I came across this net. A DX net of some sort, I think. There was a guy who sounded like Elmer Fudd taking a list of some sort. So I muttered DX ISN***” Whap! We slammed our hand over his mouth before he could get it out and held it there until he nodded that he was OK. “Whew!” he exclaimed, when we let him go, “I almost said it again.” We just looked at him and he continued. “So anyhow, after I heard that list I moved on and came across another one. And I think I said it again. Yes, I’m sure I did. And then I noticed that the bands were not quite as good as they were a little earlier, so I said it again and See "DX", Page 5 October 2014 4 Vol XXXVII No. 10 Century, from Page 2 During the early 1990s, interest in digital communication grew, and QST published many articles on the subject that helped fan the flames. Also, hams became interested in the old concept of direct-conversion receivers. KK7B presented one of the best in the August 1992 issue of QST. Another old receiver circuit was also revived — the regenerative receiver. WJ1Z described one for 40 meters in the September 1992 issue of QST. By the early 1990s, digital signal processing (DSP) had made its appearance, and had begun to be used by both homebrewing hams and equipment manufacturers. A September 1992 QST article, “ABC: The First Electronic Digital Computer,” recounted the fascinating tale of the first real computer, the Atanasoff-Berry computer — a vacuum tube device — designed in 1939 and 1940 by university professor John Atanasoff and built by electrical engineering student Clifford Berry, W9TIJ. The Atanasoff-Berry computer used racks of vacuum tubes. DX, from Page 4 turned the rig off. And you know . . . I haven’t heard any DX since. “At least four times”, we answered grimly, “and over a two to What have I done?” He was starting to look more and more afraid. three day period.” The Leader of the Palos Verdes Sundancers shook his head slowly and then said, “we better get started.” “What have you done?” we roared, “What have you done? You He picked Do you realize that when you are told that the road might well have blown the entire solar cycle! That’s what you to understanding the Eternal Enigmas of DX is often crooked, could very well have done. Did you know that the Ap is 39 today that you must listen? And that DX knowledge only comes with and there are active sunspot regions everywhere . . . the type that experience? Do you now see that what may seem like an generates those killer X-ray flares? Did you know this?” The innocent slip could mean disaster?” QRPer looked at us in stark terror, “No. No I didn’t. Did I cause The QRPer nodded and replied, “I sure do. I never realized the it? Was it me? What can I do to fix it?” importance of protocol, or the significance of DX IS! before. We took a deep breath and looked at the QRPer who was shaking And it’s a good thing I told you about this. It’ll be OK now, won’t like a leaf and on the verge of tears. We had to admit to ourself it?” We took our time in answering. “Yes, probably so. If that, although he had taken out the bands for a lot of DXers, we anyone can bring on the DX, it’s the Palos Verdes Sundancers. did feel a bit of sympathy for him. Not a lot, but a little. So we told Even in the face of such terrible odds, they can pull off him to get a pencil and a piece of paper and come with us. We miracles. But tell no one of what happened. Not Sunspot made our way down to the barrancas of Palos Verdes country and Louie, his cousin Red Eyed Louie, any of the other QRPers found the leader of the Sundancers. “What can I do for you guys?” and especially not the Old Timer! Never mention this again. he said above the rattle of the tenor bongos. “There is an Understand?” The QRPer shook his head in agreement. “I emergency situation”, we replied, “and we need your help.” He won’t!” he said as he made his way down the hill and around looked at us and said, “How bad is it? Is the flux dropping a bit? the bend. We looked out over the bay and then down toward We’re a little short-staffed with summer vacations, but I was sure Palos Verdes country where the Sundancers were hard at it. that we had things covered. What is the problem?” We told the We decided that it wasn’t worth tuning the bands anymore QRPer to write down on the piece of paper what he had said and today, and probably not even tomorrow. For while there was to show it to the Leader of the Sundancers. One glance at the DX waiting over the horizon in the far reaches of those distant paper and his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. “You’re right!” lands, there would be no signals heard until things settled the Leader exclaimed, “this is trouble. I’ll have to call the folks down. And upon reflection, we decided that maybe this was a good thing, because it would give us time to see if we could back from vacation. How many times was this said?” find a QSL route for EP2MKO. DX IS! October 2014 5 Vol XXXVII No. 10 Items For Sale John, K1DWU, was generous enough to donate some equipment to the club. He's relocating to Colorado and did not want to drag the stuff to his new QTH. We are offering the following items for sale to any interested club member. All proceeds will go into the club Treasury. 1. Kenwood TS-570S with matching PS53 power supply and matching SP-23 speaker: $750 / package 2. Rigblaster PRO radio-computer interface with Kenwood cable: $100.00 ($75.00 if sold with TS-570 above) 3. Yaesu FT-7800 dual band mobile $175.00 4. ICOM IC-2100 2m mobile $150.00 5. Timewave DSP-599ZX Audio DSP processor $225.00 Contact Neil [email protected] if you are interested. Purchasing Parts for your Next Project? If we pool our parts orders together with Newsletter Articles Wanted Working on a new kit or homebrew project? Have you recently received a rare or interesting QSL card? Received a new DXCC award or band endorsement? Or just have a cool photo (ham radio related) or some soap box comments to share with other club members? Why not consider submitting an article for the Newsletter. We're always looking for material for the Newsletter and feedback from club members goes a long way towards keeping the Newsletter interesting as well as stamping the club "personality" on our monthly publication. Articles can be submitted electronically or on paper, whatever you feel comfortable doing. As RCARC's Newsletter editor, I particularly look forward to putting a new edition together when I have material submitted by members. October 2014 mail order suppliers like Digi-Key, Allied Electronics, or Mouser Electronics, we can defray some of the shipping costs and save some money. Bill, AB2UW, has set up an on line utility for members to order parts from Mouser Electronics as a group. To find out more, check out <http://editthis.info/ wiki/RCARCparts>. If you have a supply of junk box parts you want other members to know about - whether you want to sell stuff or give it away, Random Oscillations is a great way to let your fellow members know. Just drop me an emal or a snail mail with details and we'll put your items in the Newsletter to see if there are any takers. (limited to amateur radio or other electronics related items) 6 Vol XXXVII No. 10 Radio Central Amateur Radio Club 10-8-2014 RCARC Executive Board Minutes Board Members Present: President & Acting Treasurer Neil Heft, KC2KY; Secretary *Bill Lynch, AB2UW; Director *Richie Fisher, KB2ZPB; Director Dick Pav, K2RFP, Director *Steve Sussman-Fort, AB2EW, Director Stan Bryer, W2SCB Board Members Absent: Director Joe Cohen, KJ4ZW; Director Bob Chandler, WB2ETR; Vice President Charlie Fiore, K2CQK Guests Present: none Meeting started at 7:08PM in the ‘Lower Meeting Room’ of the Middle Country Public Library Wednesday, November 5, 2014 at 7PM sharp, in the ‘Lower Meeting Room’ (downstairs) at the Middle Country Public Library in Centereach. Future RCARC meetings: October – Neil has contacted Ed Newman, W2EMN, re doing a presentation on EZNEC – he will do about an hour presentation and then have time for questions. November – Neil will email Bruce Streger, WB2ADF, and ask him to do the November meeting presentation on lightning protection. Miscellamneous: Sat. Oct. 18th - Trip to Voice of the Twenties Museum with the LI Wireless Historical Society – let Connie Currie know if you are interested. <[email protected]> Adjourned at 8:07PM Radio Central Day: Radio Central Day will be Saturday, November 1, 2014.Setup start at 8 AM, operation starting at 9AM, expect to stay until about 3pm . Dick will bring his radio and a 40/20 fan dipole, Richie will bring FT897, a fan dipole and an electric heater. —Bill Lynch, AB2UW, RCARC Recording Secretary Ham Radio University: Neil will do a ‘fun with CW’ presentation there, Richie will contact Frank’s (K2PWG) widow and see if the family still has the giant wood key he made. Repeater: We recently tested the 440 repeater we bought near Fiskill, NY. Receiver sensitivity is to spec, and the RF power output is well within spec (73 watts). Still need the programming software. Neil will make the request for the software. Hudson Division Awards Dinner: Saturday, November 8th, 12noon to 4PM, Towers on the Green in Floral Park. Neil will email RCARC members to see if there is any interest. Next RCARC Exec Meeting: October 2014 7 Vol XXXVII No. 10 October Meeting Announcement Wednesday October 29, 6:30 PM at the Middle Country Public Library in Centereach Antenna Simulation with EZ-NEC Presented By Ed Newman, W2EMN Inside this issue From the President ............................................................................................................................... 1 Neil, KC2KY Are Knobs and Buttons Toast? ........................................................................................................... 1 Don Romanchik, KB6NU A Century of Amaterur Radio and the ARRL ...................................................................................... 2 Al Brogdon, W1AB - from the ARRL Letter, September 11, 2014 Meeting Calendar ................................................................................................................................. 2 Solar Update .......................................................................................................................................... 3 From the ARRL Letter, October 23. 2014 A Slip of the Tongue ............................................................................................................................ 4 DX Humor from Paul Dunphy, VE1DX Club Announcements ........................................................................................................................... 6 Radio Central Amateur Radio Club 10-8-2014 RCARC Executive Board Minutes ......................... 7 RANDOM Oscillations is published monthly by Radio Central Amateur Radio Club, PO Box 396, Centereach, NY 11720. RCARC, its officers and director, disclaim any responsibility for the accuracy or the content of articles published herein. The opinions expressed are solely those of the authors. RCARC neither necessarily endorses or opposes said opinions. Material may be excerpted from this issue providing credit is given to the appropriate source. Club members are encouraged to submit articles to the Corresponding Secretary for possible publication in this newsletter. The deadline for articles is the 10th of each month. October 2014 8 Vol XXXVII No. 10