Tag: preview

Preview: February 25, 2020

The first QCWA Chapter 79 meeting of 2020 will be at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, February 25, at our usual place, Spear’s Restaurant, 4323 West Maple St., Wichita.

We will not have a program.

We will have an all-member forum to discuss the future of the chapter, its leadership, what members want in future activities and meetings, and how to improve both our membership rolls and meeting attendance.

We are hoping that we can elect three people to assume leadership positions in our chapter at this meeting. We need all three officer positions: president, vice president, and secretary-treasurer.

Will you please nominate yourself to help our chapter? You can nominate someone else who is willing to serve if elected.

All members are encouraged to attend this very important meeting and bring their thoughts and ideas on how to keep our chapter alive.

Preview: December 17, 2019

Please note: We will be meeting one week earlier than usual, due to the Christmas holiday.

Joe Pajor, KBØKFH, has lined up another great program for us for our last meeting of the year. It will be of general interest in connection with the Christmas season.

We need to elect officers for 2020 since we didn’t have time to do that at the October meeting. All offices are open for nominations: President, Vice President, and Secretary-Treasurer.

We hope to see you there. As always, you are welcome to bring your spouse or another friend.

Preview: April 30, 2019

At our next meeting, Shaun Halstead will tell us about recent changes and trends in amateur radio licensing.

Shaun is 41 years old, and has been licensed since April 1993.  Formerly NØWHG, he upgraded to General and changed his call to KØPER in 2013, then upgraded to Extra in 2014.  In 2015, the Wichita Amateur Radio Club decided to form a VE team under the Laurel VEC, and he joined the team under Frank Blake, AA4FB (formerly ADØNA).  With Frank moving to Florida, Shaun took over as team leader in 2016.  He is currently chair of the WARC Field Day Committee and owns MSI Tech Services, a computer services company.

Preview: February 26, 2019, meeting

Our guest speaker will be Ben Bogner. His topic will be “Systematic Biases in the Rapid Sky Localization of Gravitational Waves.” What are gravitational waves, how can we detect them here on earth, and why do astronomers care? Bogner will take you through a crash course on gravitational wave theory, detection methods, and how a budding astrophysicist from Wichita collaborated with international and NASA scientists to probe the most up-to-date methods for finding gravitational waves.

Bogner graduated in December 2018 from Benedictine College in Atchison with a double major in physics and astronomy. He participated in two NASA internships as an undergraduate: one with NASA Langley Research Center and one with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. He plans to use his research project and connections at NASA Goddard to support his pursuit of a Ph.D. in physics or astrophysics with a to-be-determined graduate institution. He plans to do research with NASA as a postdoctoral student for a number of years before going into academia as a university professor of physics and astronomy.


Preview: December 18, 2018

We will have a musical program for our last meeting of the year. Troy and Joy Pulver will perform Christmas music on acoustic instruments. They played for us last December with The 37 Mile Band. Troy plays guitar and banjo, and Joy plays the hammered dulcimer. As always, please bring your spouse or another friend.

Also, please RSVP to Secretary-Treasurer Larry Cannon as soon as you can so we can let Spear’s Restaurant folks know how many tables to set up. Tell him if you are coming alone, 1, and if you are bringing your spouse or a friend, that will be 2. If you see a former Chapter 79 member invite him or her to join us again, and ask them to RSVP, too.

We are still taking nominations for all offices.You may make nominations for each office, but please be sure that the person(s) you nominate will serve if elected. You may nominate yourself (i.e., volunteer) for an office. We really need someone to be the vice president as that office has been vacant this year. We appreciate your help so we can vote at the December meeting and get a good start for 2019.

Preview: October 30, 2018, meeting

QCWA Chapter 79 will meet at 6:30 p.m. October 30. Our speaker is expected to be someone from the Civil Air Patrol.

At this meeting we will have nominations of officers for next year.  Our officers are President, Vice President, and Secretary-Treasurer.  We need to nominate a complete slate of officers so we can function efficiently.

We especially need to nominate and elect a Vice President.  He chairs the meeting if the President is unable to attend the meeting.  He is also the person who secures a program for each of the meetings.  Throughout the year he will be happy to hear from members who are willing to present a program or who know of someone who will do a program for a meeting.

Self-nominations are allowed and even encouraged.  But if you are a bit shy, ask someone else to nominate you.  Please check ahead of time with anyone you wish to nominate to be sure they are willing to serve in an office.

Preview: August 28, 2018, meeting

Our speaker for the August 28 meeting will be Coy Terry, WØZWS.

After serving in the Army, Coy worked on oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. He performed maintenance and did all of the electrical work on the rig. While employed on the rigs, he experienced Hurricane Katrina; he was housed in the Superdome in New Orleans and then transferred to various states from there. He had an interesting experience while in Cheyenne, WY, which maybe he’ll tell us about.

In 1986 Coy earned his baccalaureate in astrophysics from Louisiana State University as a result of his interest in astronomy. He studied clusters and wrote articles for several astronomy magazines.

Coy’s eyesight started going bad in 2006, possibly related to his stay in the Superdome. It is a slowly developing condition which will most likely result in total blindness.

In 2013, Coy went for his first amateur radio license and tested through to Extra Class. About two weeks later, he traveled to Kansas City where he took the commercial broadcasting exam. By this time, Coy had to have someone read the questions to him as he could no longer see well enough to read. Even though visually challenged, he worked in the broadcasting field repairing broadcast equipment for a number of years.

In amateur radio, Coy has enjoyed reconditioning tube-type receivers and transmitters. Yes, he has even learned how to solder, after burning his fingers countless time. His other passion is in antenna design. Not content with only the technical aspects of amateur radio, he has earned several difficult-to-get awards. Coy is a very accomplished CW operator, which is his favorite mode.

No doubt, Coy will have some interesting tales to regale us with. Hope to see you there.

Preview: June 26, 2018, meeting

Jerry Kahn, ACØRL, has prepared a very interesting and informative program for our June meeting: “A Modern, Simple, and Safe Method of Reforming Electrolytic Capacitors.”

The DOD, NRC, and manufacturers of capacitors recommend periodic reforming to keep electrolytics ready for use and to restore electrolytics that have gone through extended periods of disuse.

Bring an old, undamaged, electrolytic capacitor (or two or three) to the meeting. Once they are smoked, the magic is gone.

Jerry is an Amateur Extra Class operator, first licensed in 1991. He holds a GROL with Ships Radar Endorsement. He served in the United States Navy as an avionics tech, working on FLIR, RADAR, flight, and weapons systems. He worked in marine electronics.

Jerry attended DeVry University in electronics engineering technology. He worked for Logical Devices in QA, test, and product engineering.

He started his current technology business, VeriStitch, Inc., and Stitch Dynamics, in 1993, serving the personalization and decorative industry. His customer list includes Lands’ End, Neiman Marcus, J.C. Penney, Vera Bradley, Disney, Michaels Arts and Crafts, JanSport, Taylor Made, Williams Sonoma, and other companies.

He is a commercial pilot and certified flight instructor with instrument and multi-engine endorsements. He is also a certified motorcycle safety coach, currently teaching motorcycle safety at Hutchinson Community College.

Preview: April 24, 2018, meeting

Joseph Pajor, KBØKFH, has lined up a guest speaker for our next meeting. Dr. Brian A. Coon will present a program titled “Traffic Signals: Look Who’s Talking Now.” This sounds like a program you won’t want to miss.

Dr. Coon brings his experience as an engineer, attorney, and police officer to bear on transportation-related problems. After graduating the University of Iowa, Brian was youngest elected representative to the Iowa House of Representatives. Going back to engineering from politics, Brian studied at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he worked with the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility, where the SAFER Barrier was developed to protect racecars during crashes. After earning his master’s degree in civil engineering, Brian was a Fulbright Scholar at Sweden’s premier transportation research institute, VTI, Statens väg- och transportforskningsinstitut.

After returning from Sweden, Brian earned his doctorate in engineering and then graduated law school with honors at the University of Nebraska and is licensed to practice law in Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska. Brian is a licensed Civil and Mechanical Engineer in Nebraska, a licensed engineer in Kansas, a Professional Traffic Operations Engineer, and an accredited Traffic Accident Reconstructionist. Brian is the chair of the Machine Design Exam Committee with NCEES and was a reserve police officer with the City of Maize for ten years. Brian also served as the sole technical expert in a whistleblower lawsuit, where a jury found that Trinity Industries had defrauded the Federal Government, awarding a $663M verdict. Brian is currently the Traffic Engineer and the Americans with Disabilities Act Coordinator for the City of Wichita, Kansas.

Bring a friend, and if you see a former Chapter 79 member ask him or her to join us again. If you have an idea for a program, or know of someone who will present a program for one of our meetings, let Harold Childress, WBØLFH, know.