President Gordy Bello K1GB opened the meeting about 7:30. 24 members were present and signed in.

It was good to see Martin Bayes, who has just returned from China.

Tom N1FTB -- -- Review of  previous meeting (Oct. 4, 2007), 28 members present. The following items were addressed:  JOTA at FARA,  James to host Framingham scouts; FARA 75th Anniversary Planning Meeting Oct. 10, all invited, ideas needed for T-shirt and Pin; Contest for best T-shirt and Pin design, winner gets free 1 year FARA membership; License Upgrade Courses Ed will run General and Extra crash courses Oct. 20 and 27;  Net Control  needs one more person; Our speaker was Paul Wade W1GHZ, who spoke about Microwave Communications.

 

Gordy K1GB: -- -- Opened the current meeting  with introductions all around and  a review of future speakers and events, including the following that will take place in the next few months.

            Nov. 14  VE Session

            Dec. 06  Rick Zach on 6 meter repeater network in NH and MA

            Jan. 03  Show and Tell night and a QLF contest.

            Feb. 07  Bill Ricker N1VUX on VHF propagation

 

          Other Business: Toys for tots: Bring a toy to the December meeting.

 

Peter: KA1AXY -- -- Not present. Communicated the following to Gordy:

            Treasury balance: is about $4700

            Dues: Send check for dues to:

                        Framingham Amateur Radio Association

                        P. O. Box 3005

                        Framingham, MA

            Repeater: Peter recruited MMRA help to fix repeater. Their next meeting (Nov. 14) is                        at the MEMA site where our repeater is located. While there, they will try to determine                       why the repeater's output is so low.

 

Our Speaker: Rich Crissafulli AB1HD, spoke about PSK31, a mode of operation that uses very low bandwidth (32.25 Hz), which enables one to operate at very low power (typically 25 watts) and still communicate over long distances. Rich talked about the hardware and software that can be used for this type of operation. There is an abundance of software (much of it free). The additional hardware needed is minimal, and requires just a couple of connections to interface your rig to the sound card of your PC. The PC need not be very new or fast. For detailed descriptions of how to implement such a system, a good place to start is at wickipedia.org.

 

            Submitted by Tom Malloy N1FTB, FARA Secretary