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Excerpts from the latest Scuttlebutt issue. |
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Commodore's Column:
C6ALD
Greetings from C6ALD A quarter of a century ago, I was sitting on my sailboat in Pipe Creek in the Exumas, miles from anywhere, listening to two Waterway netters discussing my whereabouts. One thought he'd seen my boat in George Town, the other had heard I was in Staniel Cay. My wife and I were jumping up and down, yelling "We're here! We're here!", but to no avail - all we had was a multiband receiver. There and then, I decided it was time to get a Ham license. Little did I think that, 25 years later, I would be Commodore of the Waterway Net. I can only hope that the coming year will give me a chance to repay, in some small way, all the kindness, friendship, encouragement and help that I have received from Net members over the years. As Churchill once said, "Never was so much owed by so many to so few", and surely this applies equally to the Waterway Net. I am hoping that the "few" who currently fill the roles of net control, relay, fleet captain, weather co-ordinator or reporter, will be willing and able to continue their invaluable good work. But we are always in need of more volunteers for these positions, so please - don't just sit on the sidelines for another year. Help us out, and become one of the "few" who keep this Net of 1000-plus members operating so well. Finally, I think my motto for the coming year could be "If it ain't broke don't fix it". I have no wish to make any major changes to the Net. My main goal is to keep it running smoothly, and to keep everyone happy with the way it is run. Let's always keep in mind that amateur radio is meant to be FUN, and try to run a good, efficient net without taking ourselves too seriously. With many thanks and best wishes to everyone for the year to come, Commodore, Bob Ball C6ALD |
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CW Net News:
K5GP
The Waterway CW Net is an active group of hams who enjoy talking in Morse Code. CW offers better long and short range communications at lower power levels and with less interference than on ssb. Winlink e-mail also has weak signal capabilities, but CW has another fun feature. CW allows hams to directly talk with each other. Its a fun way to rag chew. Did you know that Steve Waterman, K4CJX, (one of the developers of winlink) is a good cw operator and is a member of the Waterway CW Net? Also, Dr Jim, K4TCV, the Waterway ssb net physician, is a regular CW Net checkin. The CW Net gang gets going about an hour and a half before the ssb net starts. The frequency is 7050 kHz and meets daily. More information about the CW Net is given on the new Waterway Net web page. The net has several boaters and land mobiles that meet daily. All hams are welcome. If you think Morse code is hard to learn, here is the fun way my daughters learned the code. At the time, they were little kids that mom and dad put to bed each night. They would say, but we don't want to go to bed! And we would say, well if you lie in bed and talk on your walkie talkies to each other in the secret code, then you can stay up as late as you wish. We had bought them the Fisher-Price walkie talkies that have Morse code printed on them and there was a little button that you would use to send the code. So they would lie in bed (they had separated rooms) and send code to themselves. At first it was very slow code. They had to look up each letter as it was being sent and received. After a couple of weeks they didn't need to look it up. They had memorized the code just by playing with the walkie-talkies. Dad and mom didn't do a thing other than put them to bed. Now they are adults and they say, "dad, you tricked us. If we had been older, we wouldn't have fallen for that little trick." Now they are both hams and were very active in the University of Texas radio club when they were attending the University. They both have graduated. The CW Net has a new net manager, Rich, WB2WGX, in Buffalo, NY. Rich enjoys CW and wants the CW Net to continue as it has done for several years. Chuck, ND7K, and I have agreed to help Rich fill the role as net manager since Rich works weekdays and checks into the net before it starts at 7 a.m. eastern time. We do hope that you will give CW a chance and check into the CW Net some time in 2005. I hope everyone has a good and prosperous and healthy new year in 2005. 73 es 88 de K5GP, Gene Preston, outgoing CW Net manager for 2004 |
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Report From the Dismal Swamp:
The Dismal Swamp Canal Welcome Center, the only one in the continental US greeting visitors by both a major highway and historic waterway, opened in the spring of 1989. Approximately 2,000 boats transit the Dismal Swamp Canal annually. Our unique facility offers free overnight dockage at a 150' face dock, fresh water, book exchange, educational videos, and friendly staff. As you can imagine, we are thrilled that our "grass-roots" organization was able to successfully lobby for full funding of the Dismal Swamp Canal in the federal budget for Fiscal Year 2005. This historic waterway is not only an effective tool in flood control but a valuable source of local revenue, attracting recreational boating traffic and tourism to our region. In fact, the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway is a valuable resource for the entire coast of our state. Unfortunately, funding for the US Army Corps of Engineers has been continuously cut for several years now, creating a dangerous backlog of dredging and maintenance problems. If we continue to lose much-needed budget allocations for the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, we will eventually lose it. This is why we are supporting Rosemary Lynch, Executive Director of AIWA (Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Association) in her efforts "to encourage the continuation and further development of waterborne commerce and recreation in the Intracoastal Waterways of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida through the promotion of adequate dredging, safe navigation, and maintenance." Please visit their website http://www.atlintracoastal.org/ for more info. We encourage your members and all those interested in recreational boating, marine-related industry, or waterway commerce, to "get on board" and help us convince Congress to fund maintenance and operation of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. Support AIWA with your membership and involvement. And … "DO THE DISMAL" IN 2005. You'll be glad you did! Thank you. Penny Leary-Smith, Director 2356 Highway 17 North |
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WRCC Secretary-Treasurer's Report:
N4WFM
This has been a great year and I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the 2004 slate of officers and I anticipate another great year for 2005. We are a club full of dedicated volunteers that make our day to day net work so well. It is an honor to be a member of such a super group. As of this writing we had only 45 new members join our ranks during the calendar year 2004. That is below the average we've seen since we've been keeping track in the late 90's. We normally have been averaging around 100 new members a year. I have no idea what to attribute this to as it appears that Ham Radio is going strong and Winlink has been a major player. We currently have around 900 members (I'm sure it's really higher as some of you have yet to renew for 2005) comprising almost 700 member families. Check your mailing label on the newsletter and see if the database has you paid for 2005, if not, please contact me ASAP! I also want to thank all of you who sent little notes to me in your Bill & Ballot. It's nice to know you care and it makes opening up all of those envelopes a little more interesting. And, thanks to all of you who included a little something for the Sunshine Fund along with your dues. As a result of your generous contributions, we have been able to recognize those of our members who need a little cheering up and well wishes on occasion. If you would like an extra copy of the roster for your boat or summer home, please let me know. It is only $5. And, if anyone wants a second copy of the 2004 Roster, I have quite a few left over. They are yours for the asking (as long as you don't use them for mass mailings!) And, last but not least, if you have a picture you think would look good on the cover of the 2005 Roster, please send it to me right away so I can select something to dazzle the troops when the new roster is published in February. Looking forward to another great year. 88, Jeanie - N4WFM, WRCC Sec-Treas |
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The Sea Chest
Here are some photos of Ham gear that Ron, N1GYX is offering from a Silent Keys estate. If interested, please contact Ron direct for more information. 
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Past Issues: Fall 2004 |