Excerpts from the latest Scuttlebutt issue.

There are some important club-related financial issues listed in the latest printed copy of the Scuttlebutt newsletter. Please carefully read your copy, check out the various options, and decide which way you prefer we go.

The Commodore Needs Input From All Members By September 1st!

Please email your comments, ideas and preferences to secretary@ waterwayradio.net. Or tear off your Scuttlebutt mailing label, write your comments on it, and mail it to the Palm Coast address.

Two special offers for members , good until September 30, 2007:

Announcing the 2007 Membership Drive, Commodore Ron Knaggs said, "The person who sponsors the most new members in 2007 will receive one year's free membership and a burgee."

Do you know someone who might want to join? How about newly licensed hams in your area? Make sure they know about the fun, fellowship and value of our Club, and extend an invitation to join.

Here's a membership promotion aid: Go to the Home page of the WRCC website. Download the Recruitment Flyer, add your name and phone number, print it out, and post it at your nearest marina, marine supply store, yacht club or even Radio Shack. You could also use it as a handout at your local ham radio club.

Do you know any recent retirees who are going cruising? Encourage them to get licensed and add ham radio to their boat. Think about why you became a ham and a WRCC member, and pass it on!

Vice-Commodore Tom Rader suggests another promotional aid: a home-made WRCC business card like the ones shown below. Let Tom, K4WJC, Bill, N4UMS or your editor, K3PKC know if you want help making your own.

Whether we're middle age or successfully past it, we need to be aware of the health hazards of "metabolic syndrome." Its characteristics are fatness of the trunk of our body that comes on in middle age, and the consequences that go along with it.

Most folks 30 to 40 pounds over their ideal weight begin to acquire hazardous changes in their body make up: a tendency to elevated blood sugars, elevations in blood pressure, elevations in blood fats (both total cholesterol and LDL), and more rapid progression of arteriosclerosis. In plain language, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.

The concept of metabolic syndrome is only about 15 years old. Prior to that, medical science measured diet, genetics, and sedentary life style to predict the problems of cardiovascular ageing and diabetes. Now it is recognized that truncal obesity in-and-of itself is a syndrome with its own risks and consequences.

OK, so you're 35 lbs. overweight and wonder how much it can affect you and what you might do about it. Here are a few guidelines.

If you have it, what can you do about it? It's not just a simple matter of "lose weight." Several things work together to help turn the problem into a solution. The major ones are diet changes, increased exercise, and resolution of stressful problems. One of our "netters" had a mild heart attack 15 years ago. He had an angioplasty of his coronary arteries and changed his life style. Now he's in his 80's, doing well, and has had no more heart trouble. He gave up excess sweets, began to eat complex carbohydrates and salads, began to exercise regularly (one hour each day on a bicycle) and was able to reduce stress in his life.

Resolution of stress is a good thing in itself, but also makes it easier to say "no" to comfort foods, like pie and ice cream.

Regarding diet: Eat less high calorie food, but that's only part of the story. If you're doing mostly the right things, eggs can be included. My friend, Arthur Aggeston, wrote the book, "The South Beach Diet." He pulled me aside one day and whispered, "Jim, I can prove eggs are OK to eat!" Well, he did! As long as one is losing weight and avoiding sugars and processed carbohydrates like Instant Oatmeal or instant mashed potatoes, eggs actually help. Eggs are a complete protein and very low in fat and sugar. Oh yes, they have cholesterol in them, but your liver can make 6-8 times more cholesterol that you can eat in an egg or two.

Well, good luck with your metabolic syndrome. Most of us have a touch of it. The degree of involvement depends on how round we are in the trunk, how long we have had it, and our family history. The good news is that you can manage it, if you want to.

Jim Hirschman, K4TCV - Fleet Surgeon, WRCC

For about $1995, the ICOM M-802 marine single sideband transceiver includes full Digital Selective Calling (DSC) emergency, red button capability, with a simple tie-in to an on board GPS data stream, and a digital signal processor chip designed for operating email.

Email providers like marine SailMail and ham radio AirMail require an additional external $999 modem, allowing the equipment to run Pactor III signaling to send and receive emails all over the world.

For ham radio buffs, we were delighted to see a straight forward, three button maneuver to engage ham radio transmit capability.

From the beginning, I detected the M-802 as feeble on average voice transmit output. Close talking the noise canceling mike and raising your voice would help. Also, a peculiar cut out problem was associated with running the radio on certain bands. This clipping problem was at first attributed to a likely intermittent antenna connection to the backstay, or a ground fault somewhere in the bilge ground foil run.

SailMail expert Shea Weston and I conducted bench tests with our own ICOM high frequency base station systems, and the fault would regularly occur on the equipment we tested when the standing wave ratio (reflected power from the tuner) exceeded 1.8:1 – a modest "backwash" of RF energy, not resolved by the ICOM AT-140 antenna tuner input circuitry.

The automatic antenna tuner will snap in various amounts of coils and fixed capacitors in an L match network to present the radio with the lowest SWR possible. Most radio experts agree that modern relay switching automatic tuners are miraculous in all they can do, but cannot necessarily achieve the absolute lowest SWR if the internal coils and capacitors don't add up to the right combination. Anything BELOW 1.8:1 would be ideal, and readings of 2:1 only resulting in a 12% return of reflected power well within reason for a broad band radio.

The ICOM M-802 has a built-in SWR protection circuit that will activate instantly at around 1.8:1, resulting in clipping out the transmitter for VSWR protection, then instantly coming back at the higher power level. This makes the cut out extremely noticeable and aggravating to the receiving stations.

Because every vessel installation has unknown sea water grounding potentials and unknown backstay and lead in lengths, the automatic tuner, with thousands of relay combinations of inductance (L) and capacitance (C), won't necessarily bring every single frequency on any one band down to a perfect 1:1. If it could, there would be no "ICOM clipper" problems!

Here is your cure:

I have heard several remarks lately about CW Morse code being antiquated and not advanced. In fact there have been far more advances in CW Morse (and other digital modes) in the past 30 years than there have been in SSB. Following are a few examples.

• New filters are great on CW but not for SSB, which is 60 times broader in frequency.

• Thirty years ago, full break in (you can hear when someone is doubling with you) was experimental; now it's available on most new rigs. It can't be used on SSB.

• Morse code signals can be easily heard, seen on a display or put in memory, all inexpensively without a computer. Sam N4UAU wrote the first articles on this in QST with Uncle Albert's Unique Keyer in 1994.

If you want to enjoy the mode with the most technical advances, join us on 7050 MHz 7AM Eastern time. Fridays are slow day (QRS) and Sundays fast (QRQ). If you want our roster and info sheet go to www.waterwayradio.net , in the left hand column click on CW Net, then near the top of the first page in blue is "CW Net Roster". Click on it - Wow, that's almost as easy as Morse Code!

The following members or their families have received cards or flowers from the Sunshine Fund recently.

May

The Sunshine fund is not funded through your dues, but is supported by donations collected over the year.

If you are aware of a club member in need of some Sunshine, please contact me via phone (correct in the roster), new email address kc4bgq@earthlink.net., or sunshine@waterwayradio.net.

Please provide me with as much information as possible and a point of contact. This especially holds true if someone is in the hospital. When you receive flowers, please let me know, so I can confirm they were received.

I want to thank the members of the WRCC for your support. I could not do it without you.

Jean Freeman, KC4BGQ - Sunshine Fund Chairman

Ninth Annual Wickham Park Picnic

At the large covered pavilion on Brevard Community College Campus

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Location: 3845 N Wickham Road, Melbourne, FL 32935

Provisioning: Please bring a covered dinner dish to share. The following will be provided: soft drinks, water, beer, ice, paper plates, cups, napkins and utensils. Drinks in cans are permitted, but no glass bottles.

Weather: This is a large covered pavilion. Foul weather gear would only be required to get to the pavilion from your transportation in case of bad weather.

Cost: We are trying to keep things simple to keep costs down. We are asking $3 per person to cover expenses.

Call in frequency to request assistance in finding the picnic site is 146.55 MHz simplex. Cell phone 321-537-3167 will also be monitored to provide information.

Land Cruisers: Please make reservations for a campsite by calling 321/255-4307 during the daytime. If there are at least 8 campsites reserved, you will receive a 25% discount of $5 per day. Please advise them that you are with the WRCC. Discounted daily fees plus taxes, electricity and water are about $15. If there are not at least 8 campsites reserved, you will have to pay an additional $5 per day when you arrive. Ask for a campsite on Loop A. Please have your Visa or MasterCard ready. You will receive a confirmation letter in the mail.

Arriving by Boat: Transportation will be provided for WRCC members on boats at marinas or anchored at the Dragon on the east side of the ICW, or at the dock near the old Conchy Joe's restaurant (now closed) on the west side of the ICW. Contact Ned Buck, W4KS, for pickup at 321/725- 1591 or Email: nbuck@palmnet.net.

Arriving by Car: The pavilion is located on Wickham Road, between Post Road and Parkway Drive, .7 mile north of Parkway and .2 mile south of Post. This pavilion is on the northwest corner of Wickham Park and is around the corner from the entrance to Wickham Park. There is a large surfaced parking area to the north of the pavilion. Small signs will be put up near the location to help give you directions.

     GPS Coordinates: 28°10.00'    - 80°40.25' (Approx.)

Driving Directions to Wickham Park Picnic

From I-95 South Bound

Take Wickham Road, Exit 191. Turn left on Wickham Road East for 7.7 miles. Turn left at traffic light .2 miles after passing Post Road at entrance to Brevard Community College. On the right is a large parking lot. Turn right at second entrance to parking lot. Pavilion is at south side of the parking lot.

From I-95 North Bound

Take second Melbourne exit, Exit 183 (Rte. 518). At second light turn north (left) onto Wickham Road. Turn right at traffic light .7 miles past Parkway Drive. This is the entrance to Brevard Community College. On the right is a large parking lot. Turn right at second entrance to parking lot. Pavilion is at south side of the parking lot.

Motels:

Near I-95 Exit 180 on US Highway 192

Near I-95 Exit 191 on Wickham Road

Marine Flea Market

Our third Marine Flea Market was held last year and it was successful so we'll try it again. Our Commodore, Ron Knaggs, will be taking care of the flea market details. For those boaters that have recently changed boats or swallowed the anchor, this is a great opportunity to sell those items you no longer need. It is also a great place for boaters to look for items they would like for their boats.

Betsy, N1WWK, had trouble transmitting with our ICOM 706 on 7.268, though she never had complaints from the Maritime Mobile Service Net on 14.300. WRCC hams commented that our signal was weaker than those from hams near us and suggested that we work on our ground. Our 4-inch copper foil strapping travels from the tuner in a locker on the upper deck of our Krogen 42 trawler, down through galley cabinets to the engine room where it is connected to two fuel tanks and two through-hulls. We have tried cleaning connections and adding and removing series capacitors connected to the foil—all with no discernable improvement.

This winter Tom Elliot, KE3JO, reported from Georgetown, Exuma, that he could hear everyone in Marathon but could not hear Betsy at all. He suggested we try a new antenna from West Marine, which we could return if it didn't work. Seemed like a good idea, as the 23-foot Digital stick we inherited when we bought our used trawler was 14 years old. Its tip had broken, having been whacked by a bridge, but I had mended it and thought it would be OK as the internal wire was intact.

Before buying a new antenna, I decided to test the one we had. John Ferguson, AI4TO, lent us the Micro908 Antenna Analyzer (http://www.amqrp.org) he had made from a kit. I made a perfect ground, consisting of a long strip of 4-inch copper foil with a clump of aluminum foil clamped to the end. I lowered it overboard into the seawater. Using #10 wire for the antenna lead, I added enough solder to the bare end to contact the center part of the connector on the antenna analyzer. The other end of the lead was on the input of our old antenna. The copper foil was clamped to the analyzer connector with a hose clamp. Results: Resonant frequency: 8.162 MHz. SWR: 2.3. Impedance at resonance: 126 ohms. According to the antenna analyzer's instructions, a perfect ground should measure 50 ohms at resonant frequency; our 126 ohms was not even close. The foil going into the seawater is a perfect ground so I believed the problem must lie with the antenna.

John suggested another test: taping to our antenna a plain 12-gauge wire of the same length. Results: Resonant frequency: 6.629 MHz. SWR: 1.1 Impedance at resonance: 54 ohms

This looked much better. John said his 23-foot antenna resonates at a little over 6 MHz. Our antenna had a resonant frequency of 8.162 MHz, perhaps because its encounter with the bridge. This higher resonant frequency may explain why Betsy could communicate well at 14.300 MHz but not on 7.628 MHz.

We bought a new two-piece Shakespeare 23-foot antenna. Results with new antenna: Resonant frequency: 6.441 MHz. SWR: 1.1 Impedance at resonance: 51 ohms

Now Betsy can be heard about as well as anyone else on a trawler. Net participants report that she has a good signal. The ground on the boat was not modified in any way.

"On the hard" is Alan's (AD4HE) and Trish's (KD4LGZ) Passport 41 alongside their new 42' Allegro Bus diesel motorhome which they got in February. Alan and Trish have sailed extensively in Magic Moments. They discovered the pleasures of land cruising a couple of years ago and now have the best of both worlds. They plan to sail the Chesapeake for a couple of months this fall, then back to their motorhome for the winter.

At least 35 of our Waterway members now have some type of RV in addition to their boat, or have replaced their boat with one. Several plan to rendezvous for a week or more at a National Park campground at a cool 3500' on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina soon after July 4th. There are no electric or water "hookups" but water is available and a "dumping station" is handy. There are also many beautiful hiking trails, scenic drives and other interesting attractions to visit nearby. Great place for our motorcycle members (fondly known as "scooter trash") to ride and tent camp, too. For more info, contact Don Hughes, N4EOW (in the roster).

As most know, the "Land Cruisers" have a very informal net that meets each Wednesday immediately following the waterway net. Everyone is invited and encouraged to "check in."

Maintenance for the AICW will remain at inadequate levels again for fiscal 2008.

	Annual
AICW	Budget	2008 Proposed
Segment	Needed	Federal Budget
VA	4 M	2,353,000
NC	11 M	4,900,000
SC	6 M	539,000
GA	4 M	254,000
FL	8 M	400,000

Continual pressure on Congress is the only way to save the ICW. Please contact your Senators and Representatives.

Speaking of maintenance, there's a shifting shoal near Marker 110 at about mile 497, where the Dawho River enters the North Edisto. This spot is nearly as bad as Hell Gate, but isn't as well known. The bottom moves faster than the Coast Guard can change the marks. Best to avoid it at anything less than half-tide. Your editor speaketh from experience!

Claiborne Young, the rightfully well-known cruising guide writer, has a web site called Salty Southeast Cruisers' Net at www.cruisersnet.net. It's full of current info about the AICW, OWW and Bahamas, including posts from cruisers who have recently transited critical areas, found great anchorages, restaurants and marinas, etc.

As of mid-June, Lake Okeechobee is impassable to any vessel drawing more than 2.8 feet, and Ortona Lock is closed for maintenance until July 21. There's a link on the WRCC website to the latest official navigation depth.

Legal action regarding the Marco Island anchoring restrictions is plodding through the courts. The prosecution has until July 10 to answer certain defense motions, and trial is scheduled for August 14 at Collier County Courthouse. This is the test case which will determine the status of all municipal anchoring restrictions in the state.

Full-time cruisers Tom and Mel Neale are now affiliated with BoatU.S. Tom publishes regular ICW navigation updates at www.my.boatus.com/forum/ forum_topics.asp?FID=136.

Marti, KF4TRG

SB EDITOR: Many of the old Bahama hands remember Lou Kenedy, his 2 daughters Patsy and Rose and some of his boats including the charter boat Aquanaut and freight boat Pikes Arm. There is a new and fascinating book, The Last Schoonerman by Joe Russell, published by The Nautical Publishing Company 2006. The first 2/3 of this book is about the last days of commercial freight schooners and the schooners owned and captained by Lou Kenedy. One chapter tells about a German U-Boat sinking Lou's schooner Wawaloam in 1942 and how he was rescued. The last third of the book is about Lou, his charter boats and Freight boat in the Bahamas plus cruising from Canada. There are stories of smuggling, illegal trips to Cuba, Bahamian and U.S. officials, unlicensed marine radios, many of our favorite cruising spots and a lot more. Lou's daughter Rose married Marcus and owned and operated Sampson Cay, and his daughter Patsy Kenedy Bolling lived in Marathon for a while, now in New Smyrna. The book is well written and researched. It contains many photos, drawings and maps and is 254 pages. I highly recommend this book.

—Chuck ND7K

SB EDITOR: Regarding the article on CQ100 in the Spring Scuttlebutt,* we now simulcast the WRCC Net on CQ100 virtual frequency 7.268 Mhz. This now makes it seamless to tune in the Net on your Ham transceiver or the CQ100 site as the frequency is now the same. For those of you who have not tried CQ100 (free trial of 90 days) some of the benefits noted by users are: - Propagation from my Tampa location sometimes better than their location. - Waterway clubbers that have sold their boat and moved out of propagation range (west of the Mississippi generally) can follow their friends. - Members off boats visiting their children, relatives, friends, in hospital, etc. can keep up with the Club activities. - Deed restrictions or propagation don't interfere with the clarity of communications on the CQ100. - Works anywhere as no ports to open as you must for Echolink. Enjoy. Look forward to seeing you on CQ100

—Terry K1LCH

Check out Roy Philpott's "20 Yrs Before the (Antenna) Mast" for entertaining boating stories at www.seadolby.com/linkage/ linkage2/others/ roy-philpott.html

Thanks to Ron N1GYX for the tip!

Charles Darwin wrote, "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." And Bob Dylan said, "The times they are a-changin." So it goes. People come into and out of boating and ham radio as their desires and circumstances dictate. I haven't researched this, but I sense there are fewer hams (everyone's into computers), fewer cruising boaters (everybody's so busy) and fewer people offshore without satellite phones and weather systems. Our daily net is a great way to make friends and keep in touch, but isn't the only source of info except for those who (like myself) haven't thrown a fortune at on-board electronic systems and who happen to be out of cell phone, Wi-Fi and VHF range at any given time. In today's world, our best product may be comradery.

Technologically speaking, webmaster Bill N4UMS has done a great job advancing our Club. Now it's time for more of us to take another step forward by receiving Scuttlebutt through our computers instead of snail mail. Unless you specifically request a printed copy, the Fall issue will arrive in your email box in the form of a PDF document (whatever that means) which you'll be able to open and read using Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is probably on your computer already, and if not, it's a free download. Scuttlebutt will be in color, and will be long enough to include more of the interesting stories and articles you send me every quarter. You can print it out at home.

Assuming I can figure out how to do it.

—Peter K3PKC

Past Issues:     Spring 2007     Winter 2007     Fall 2006     Summer 2006
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