October’s Meeting Was A Success

Dr. Bob Chapman gave an enthusiastic lecture on the subject of Savantism to a packed house of members and guests. All toll, there were forty-nine attendees. Though the subject did not involve radio, it clearly was of general interest to the group.

Our October Speaker, Dr. Bob Chapman with Al, W4ZSC, chatting about his topic, “Savants”.

Congratulations – Job Well Done! The world now has four new Techs, and one, soon to be be reinstated, General. Five candidates took tests, and all five passed. Congratulations to all. You deserve a break, after all the hard work that goes into preparing for the exams.

 From left to right Ron, Tim, Gary, Peggy, Bob, Philip, Rich, Justin, George, and Glenn

October Meeting Guest Speaker Dr. Robert “Bob” Chapman On Savants

Savants can be defined as persons who, despite significant mental disability, demonstrate exceptional mental capabilities in limited areas. Perhaps you have seen the movie Rain Man, or have been exposed to savants on several of the 60 Minute programs. At the October meeting, Dr. Robert “Bob” Chapman will discuss the history of recognition of the disorder and focus on three “megasavants” who show extraordinary abilities. He will also discuss acquired savantism in persons who sustain brain injury. This is a rare opportunity for us, and you won’t want to miss this meeting.

Roy Bucher’s Wife, Mary, Passed Away August 1, 2016

Mary L. Bucher, 83, Berlin PA

  • Aug 1, 2016

BUCHER
Mary L. Bucher, 83, Berlin, died August 1, 2016 at Memorial Medical Center, Johnstown. Born April 17, 1933 in Washington, daughter of the late William and Amelia (Carter) Lash. Survived by her husband of almost 60 years, Roy C., whom she married on Nov. 23, 1956; and cousins: Larry Carter, Jamestown, NY, and Rob Adamson, Sandy Lake. She was a graduate of Bethlehem Center High School and a 1955 graduate of California University of Pa. She taught school for 31 years in the Berlin Brothersvalley School District and was a substitute for many years. Member of Trinity United Church of Christ, Berlin, Pius Spring Woman’s Club, and the Berlin Lutheran Church needlepoint group. Life member of the National Education Assoc. and the Pennsylvania State Education Assoc. Family will receive friends from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday atDeaner Funeral Home, Berlin, where service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday. the Rev. Tom Sprowls officiating. Interment Berlin I.O.O.F. Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be given to the Berlin Lions Club, P.O. Box 255, Berlin, PA 15530 with a notation for the Berlin Leo Club Scholarship Fund. DeanerFuneralsAndCremations.com

August 1, 2016 General Meeting

This Meeting Was All About Digital

Left to right, we have Jeff Goldensoph, K4JEW, and our guest speaker Chris Bloxsom, AA4CB. The topic for this evenings program was digital communications world wide using hand held, mobile and base stations.

Liam and his dad Leon, KM4STU look at one of the new digital capable radios from Yaesu. Ilam, KM4STS just earned his General License. He is very proud of this accomplishment, and that he will be entering the third grade next year. 🙂 Mom, Aimee KM4STT is equally proud of her son’s accomplishment.

And People
Happy Birthdays to Norma and Don

For more images taken at this meeting Click Here

August Meeting – All About Digital Past, Present, And Future

The August 1st 2016 LARC meeting will have guest speaker Chris Bloxsom, AA4CB. Chris is a member of EPARS, East Pasco Amateur Radio Society, GCARC, Gulf Coast Amateur Radio Club, and ZAARC, Zephyrhills Area Amateur Radio Club. He will have several rigs on display for you to look at and ask questions about at the end of his presentation as well as some information directly from Yaesu. Chris is one of the EPARS people that have a great understanding of digital modes,C4FM, Wires X, and many more. A DV4Mini operating regularly from his tablet that affords him operation on several different types of digital repeaters C4FM, D-Star, and DMR. 

We will be exposed and enlightened to all of these and more with the ability to ask questions of a fellow ham that can answer your questions about several modes available to all of us. The new hams with Technicians will find a wealth of information that will allow them to communicate around the world on just their handheld.

Please come out to the August meeting and take part in this interesting presentation. If all of that is not enough, then look no further, there will be cake too.

Rich Kennedy – N4ESS

President

Lakeland Amateur Radio Club

LARC Supports The Lakeland Warrior Walk

Once again, LARC supported a charitable Lakeland event. This time it was the Lakeland Warrior Walk. LARC members and Amateur Radio proved to be a valuable asset. We helped insure an orderly parking of cars, and were able to assist an injured walker while patrolling the route. Service is one of the three legs of the stool our club rests on.

Wounded Warrior Walk Saturday July 23, 2016

7th Annual Warrior Walk Lakeland

Saturday 23 July  2016 8:00 AM    Saturday 23 July  20163:00 PM 
First Presbyterian Church of Lakeland, Florida
175 Lake Hollingsworth Dr, Lakeland, FL, 33801, United States

7th Annual Warrior Walk Lakeland. The purpose of this event is to honor our U.S. Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines who have been killed in action while serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

All proceeds this year will be going to the Global War on Terrorism Freedom Memoiral.

July 4, 2016 QRP And More

 Badges
All new members get a name tag. If your wife is a ham, or would occasionally like to attend meetings, and would like a badge, we will have one made for her as well. In the picture below, Rich is handing a badge to new club member, Sam Shaver.

John Leahy On QRP
We had two presenters this evening. The first, John Leahy, spoke on his approach to QRP. John demonstrated his QRP Go Kit, which included radio, tuner, power/swr meter, battery, a rather unique pair of antennas, and an unusual Morse Code key.

The power source for John’s radio is a small emergency battery located at the bottom this innovative adaptation of an ammo case. 

 John uses three different techniques for matching the the impedance of the various antennas he uses, to his radio’s impedance. There is an MFJ tuner inside the case. This is used for a simple dipole and for for some experimental antennas like the loop he demonstrated. The vertical John demoed has a built in adjustable loading coil at its base. I works much like the motorized versions found on many mobile rigs, except it is manual. The third matching device is the matching transformer shown below. This is used in combination with an end-fed long wire antenna. You can find instructions for winding one of these at http://www.zaarc.org/Endfed6_40.pdf
It might be worth you time to give John’s site a visit. It contains lots of interesting information. 

ZAARC

 Don Jeerings On Electromagnitism
Our second speaker of the evening was Don Jeerings. Don needs no introduction. Tonight’s demonstration was the magnetic field generated around a conductor. The thing that made Don’s demonstration unique is that he chose a carbon filament light bulb as his conductor. By placing a strong magnet near the current carrying filament, he was able to demonstrate the interaction between the magnetic field of the filament, and a strong external magnet. Sure enough, when the magnet was brought close to the lit bulb, the filament started to oscillate at 60 cycles per second.  
As will all Don’s presentations, they are great photo ops. Here George is recording for posterity the the effects of electromagnetism in action.