Monster Media 1993 #2/Image.iso/magazine/nsra0693.zip/SUM93.2

Text File | 1993-07-05 | 12KB | 277 lines

SUM93.2
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NORTH SHORE REPEATER ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER
ELECTRONIC EDITION   JUNE 1993
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EDITOR: Ken Smith AA1DR
PACKET: AA1DR @ K1UGM.MA.USA.NA
INTERNET: [e-mail]
TEL: [phone]
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JULY DINNER MEETING AT FANTASY ISLAND

It's almost time for the July meeting. As most of you know, we
don't hold a normal meeting for July and August but we do have a
social dinner on the second Monday of July  (July 12). The great
food and excellent service has brought us back to Fantasy
Island, Vinnin Square Salem. For those of you from out of town,
it's on Loring Avenue RT. 1A on the Salem, Swampscott line. If
you need more info you can call Ken Smith AA1DR at 617-581-9812.
There will also be talk-in on 146.88.

Along with the good food and interesting conversation we will be
doing something new this year. We have created a series of
awards to present to different lucky members of the club for
different achievements. Some of these are serious and some of
them are zany. Be sure to attend because you never know what YOU
might have been nominated for!
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1993 Andrews-Russell Award Winners

The Awards Committee of the NSRA has chosen two young women,
high school seniors, as this years recipients of the
Andrews-Russell Award in the amount of $100 each.

The award was established some years ago in memory of Warren
Andrews, W1MCX, and this year included the name of Art Russell,
W1VUO, both of whom were charter members of the NSRA and known
for their dedication to the principles of amateur radio, most
notably, service to the wider community.

The North Shore Repeater Association counts more than 200 radio
amateurs from around the North Shore as members, and is
dedicated to serving the communities of the area in times of
emergency with their expertise in radio communications.

MaryAnn Smith of Lynn was nominated by Ken Smith, AA1DR. She
will graduate from Lynn Classical High School in June and is
headed for Emerson College where she will study for a career in
the radio broadcasting industry. MaryAnn has been an outstanding
student both academically as well as socially and has been a
peer tutor while also working part-time after school.

Nicole McLaughlin, a senior at Cambridge Ringe and Latin High
School, nominated by Bob 'Mac' MacElroy, W1OMN. She will attend
either UMASS Lowell or North Adams State College. Her ambition
is to study child development and to work with mentally
handicapped youngsters. Nicole has also been a good student and
has lettered in swimming and played on the school softball team.
She, too, has worked part-time after school.

The NSRA is proud to encourage these young women in a small way
and to recognize their accomplishments as examples for other
young people in our communities.

Dick Calderone KX1N
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Gene Hastings, W1VRK, Elected to ARRL Foundation Board of
Directors.

From the ARRL New England Division News, Spring 93.

From the first gathering at Norumbega Park in Newton, MA in 1958
through the latest gathering of the ARRL New England Division
Convention in Boxboro, MA, Gene Hastings has been there. That
first Hamfest originator, Lew McCoy, W1ICP, and Ernie Coon,
W1JLN, convinced Gene to be treasurer for the "little gathering"
and one year later they graduated to the Massachusetts State
Convention. Not yet content, the following year the New England
Division Convention was held at the Ocean House Hotel in
Swampscott.

In the 60's, the Convention in Massachusetts was larger than the
Dayton Hamvention! Gene, and his "core group" of volunteers ran
the conventions every year for a short period of time and then
switched to alternate years to avoid "burn out" of the sponsors
(yes, putting on a convention is almost a full time job!).

But each alternate year, the Convention grew and with it, the
scholarship finds that were made available to the ARRL
Foundation. Over the past few years, FEMARA (Federation of
Eastern Massachusetts Amateur Radio Associations) has donated
over $50,000 to the ARRL Foundation. Your attendance at the
convention has allowed five people a year to attend the college
or trade school of their choice. As Gene puts it, "It's a lot of
work but there is a great source of satisfaction when everything
goes smoothly and you see so many people having a good time.
That's what it's all about. Ham Radio is a great hobby."

Gene first became a Ham in 1952 after graduating from Boston
University College of Business Administration. He joined the
ARRL at that time and later became a Charter life member. Along
the way he got his Extra Class License and has been involved
with most aspects of the hobby. He holds DXCC for 329 confirmed
contacts, in his words, he "still has a few left to work".

Gene's contributions to the ARRL Foundation will be invaluable
and we congratulate him and wish him the best in his new
endeavor.
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***CONNECTED to Packet Radio

The Packet Home Shopping Network    By Ken Smith AA1DR

When you connect to your local friendly packet BBS and type "L"
to list new bulletins, chances are , you will see many SALE
messages. Packet has become one of the most popular ways to sell
used ham radio items. The reason for this is that it really
works!

Think of it, with one message you get an audience of thousands
across the country who will probably read your message. If your
lucky, you will get the reply you were waiting for.

What seems to happen though lately is that people tend to think
that they are on a nationwide home shopping network and forget
that they are still on ham radio. Packet users still have to
abide by part 97 rules just as if they were talking voice on a
local repeater. You would be surprised at how many SALE
bulletins are violating part 97.

The people sending the ads out aren't the only ones breaking the
rules. When you reply to a message with an offer, or if you tell
someone you will trade your Hyundai for that

FT-1000 they advertised, you are overstepping the boundaries
that we are supposed to be abiding by. Bickering about a price
or completing the sale on the air is a no no. Besides, a Hyundai
isn't ham radio equipment.

Part 97.113 (a) states: A station may, however, transmit
communications to:
    (2) Inform other amateur operators of the availability of
apparatus normally used in an     amateur station, including such
apparatus for sale or trade.  This exception is not authorized
to any person seeking to derive a profit by buying or selling
such apparatus on a regular basis.

The key words here are 'Inform' and 'apparatus normally used in
an amateur station'. In the case of packet, it is perfectly
legal for you to send out that SALE bulletin for that antenna
tuner that's been sitting in your shack collecting RF, and maybe
even some dust. What you must remember is that you must include
a telephone number so the prospective buyers can make his offer
off the air.

If you are unsure of whether something can actually be
classified as 'apparatus normally used in an amateur station'
your best bet would be to ask your local sysop.

Computer equipment has evolved into this category since it is
usually a necessity for packet,  used for tracking amateur
satellites, a must for contest logging and more. Most computer
equipment like tape drives, floppies, and other accessories are
O.K. to advertise on packet. I have also seen quite a few modems
mentioned in SALE bulletins. I see nothing wrong with this as
some BBS's must rely on telephone links between BBS's because
there aren't enough packet resources in their area.

--Proper syntax of a SALE bulletin

Proper syntax of a bulletin is very important. Make sure the
subject of the message is descriptive as you can get it. Keep in
mind though that you should limit the subject line to 30
characters or it will be truncated. People are much more likely
to read a message that catches a potential buyers eye.
Something like "Rig for sale...." or "HT for sale" would do
better if you include the model number in the subject. Don't use
a deceptive subject heading either. I once saw a SALE message
listed as "Free radio". Sure the radio was free but you had to
pay $1100 for the microphone. People get turned off by this and
your mailbox may just get filled up with packet "hate mail".

Some PBBS sysops are complaining about all the SALE bulletins.
They believe that if you can't sell it locally then its not
going to sell at all. Some of these sysops have decided to kill
all SALE bulletins that come into their BBS from another state,
claiming that these messages take up "a lot of hard drive space
that we don't have".

First of all, SALE bulletins, if sent correctly, to other states
DO work. It is very common for someone to sell an item to a
buyer across the country. United Parcel Service, US Mail  and
others make this real simple.

Secondly, running a full service PBBS usually requires between 4
and 10 megabytes of hard drive space maximum. By full service I
mean a PBBS that doesn't limit bulletins from other areas like
those in the SALE category. As an example, the K1UGM PBBS in
Wakefield, Ma.. handles more than 1500 messages a week. The
entire packet setup including Desqview, W0RLI, G8BPQ, and all of
the bulletins and personal messages has never reached  7
megabytes.

Its not going to be easy to convince these BBS operators that
they should support all of the SALE bulletins but I have an idea
that may help. Read on....

--Checklist for sending a SALE bulletin on packet.

[] Make sure it's Ham related. Many people seem to forget about
this when on packet.

[] Try sending your bulletin locally first. Example:
SB SALE @ NEBBS (New England BBS's) If you don't get the
response you want in a few days then send it to USBBS and add a
line stating that you have tried locally already. This will
hopefully calm some of the SYSOPS and maybe prevent your
bulletin from getting killed.

[] Be descriptive on the SUBJECT line. You need to catch a potential
buyers eye. Don't over do it though with a deceptive description.

[] Don't use ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. You want your message to be easy
to read and flow smoothly. All capital letters will not help
here. Also, don't be afraid to use a few blank lines to make
your message easier to comprehend.

[] Limit the use of high ASCII characters. These may make your
bulletin look pretty but they spit out all kinds of weird things
when a sight impaired persons voice synthesizer reads it.

[] Include an asking price. Otherwise, you will be bombarded with
"How much?" messages from people who might not really be
interested anyway. Including this is completely legal.

[] Include a phone number and name. This must be done to keep it
legal so that the actual transaction doesn't take place 'on the
air'. Also, they won't have to repeat, "I'm calling about the
antenna for sale.", to everyone in your household before they
get to you.

[] Include your full packet address. If someone has a question
about your bulletin, you want to make it easy for them to reply.
Many people save bulletins as a file. Sometimes the headers on
packet messages can get confusing to weed through looking for
that address. Having a complete return packet address at the
bottom of the message makes it real easy to reply to.

[] Check for replies often. Don't let your packet mail sit for too
long. Someone might want that HT your selling for a public
service event that's coming in a week or so. Remember to kill
these after you have read them.

[] Don't send SOLD bulletins. This is frowned upon by many sysops.
You may get messages for a period of time after you sold your
item because your bulletin is still making it's way around the
country. Believe me, your SOLD bulletin will not catch up with
your SALE bulletin in most cases. For this you can write a
general reply stating that the item is sold and save it as a
text file. When you get a message about an item you sold last
week, respond privately to that party with the 'boxed' message
you wrote earlier.

And don't forget to...

[] Have FUN with Ham Radio!


     Ken Smith AA1DR.
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END OF SUM93.2
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