Our 28th Horrifying Halloween! 1 The USECA Express

Utica Shelby Emergency Communications Association, Inc. Volume 28, Number 8, October 2012

Next Meeting: November 12, 2012 (Click Here for Map of Meeting Location)

H a p p y H a l l o w e e n ! By, Pete AA8GK

As anyone who knows me can tell you, Oc-tober is my favorite t ime of year! The leaves changing color, the trips to the local cider mil l, and especial ly…. HALLOWEEN! October is also a great t ime of year to get that last weekend of radio-camping in. At very least, it ’s a great t ime of year to have those last Larks-in-the-Park! With the approaching fall and winter, this is an ideal t ime to get outside, checking and weatherproofing those antenna and ground connections, too! Remember, it takes just a bit of moisture / frost / snow / corrosion in the right place to send an antenna into inf i-nite SWR (or a perfect match across the bands!). As always, read this Halloween edit ion of The Express carefully! You might be surprised by what you f ind!

72, Pete

CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW FOR A LITTLE

MUSIC TO GET YOU INTO THE MOOD!

Meeting called to order at 6:55 pm by N8KC Ken as acting president.

Ken thanked everyone present for their participation, time, and enthusiasm for the

Larks in the Park over the summer. It's a great way to keep the club members

'radio-active' and socializing during the summer months. We had great atten-

dance at a few (25-35) and as many as 9 stations at one (with a 10th SWL sta-

tion). You don't need a radio to play, just show up! All kinds of fun stuff goes on!

Motion to accept June General meeting minutes as published In the Express by

Chuck, seconded by Gary.

Gary gave his Treasurer's Report. Move to accept from Chuck, seconded by Ray.

Gary passed out a full accounting of our expenses and income. Our 2012 FD

expenses were $400 LESS than those for 2011. The Polish Century Club is still

holding our $200 deposit for the hall (swap) even though they were given several

month's advance notice of our pulling out and their own statement that the hall

would likely still get rented on the date we canceled. We will be following up on

this and likely visiting the hall to see if it is indeed in use on that day.

Membership count from Ray: 150 members, (76 undead –Editor)

Webmaster's report: Bob (N8ZY) has inserted the Swap Flyer and information

prominently on the USECA website. Also, Ken posted Swap info on the QRZ

Forums page. Chuck posted Swap data on the K8UO QRZ page and called local

club editors about putting our Swap in their newsletters and announcing it at their

meetings. If anyone knows of other ways to get the word out, please feel free to

take action on your own. Post a link to our webpage (K8UO on QRZ, or USE-

CAARC.com). A number of our swap vendors have already sent in their payment

for tables. We have ~144 tables total in our new venue.

Purchase of a "ticket barrel" was discussed for our radio raffle but quickly ended

when Ray produced a perfectly priced barrel (FREE) of adequate size and secu-

rity. Chuck has the OK to use the Elk's 'ticket barrel' for our swap-tickets.

Respectfully Subm itted ,

Rob ‘ the r ipper ’ L i fton , N Y8W ,

R e co rd i n g S ecreta ry

U S E C A B O A R D M E E T I N G M I N U T E S

C l u b b ed Off i c er s President, Lifeless Larry W8SOX

Membership Sec., D.O.A. Ray K8RDJ

Board Member, Wailing Walt WB8E

Vice President, Coffin Ken N8KC

Recording Sec, Rob the Ripper NY8W

Board Member, Chucky N8ZA

Treasurer, Gory Gary WA8FEA

Past President, Bogyman Bill N8SA

Board Member, Bad Luck Larry WB8SJD

NOTE: Name in RED indicates absent

Our 28th Horrifying Halloween! 2

VHF / UHF Nets VHF / UHF Nets

Click here for the ARRL audio

news.

DAYDAYDAY TIMETIMETIME NETNETNET FREQFREQFREQ

SUN 1:00 PM USECA / Information 147.180 +100 PL

SUN 8:00 PM USECA / Traders/Tech Support Net 147.180 +100 PL

SUN 9:00 PM HPARC / Info 146.640 +100 PL

SUN 9:00 PM Garden City ARC 146.860 +100 PL

SUN-SAT 10:15 PM S. E. Michigan Traffic Net 146.76 +100 PL

MON 7:30 PM SATERN 147.180 +100 PL

MON 8:00 PM MECA / Info 147.200 +100 PL

MON 8:00 PM GMARC 443.075 +123 PL

TUE 8:00 PM Digital 145.550 Simplex

TUE 9:00 PM Motor City Radio Club 147.240 +100 PL

THU 8:00 PM Macomb County RACES / ARES 147.200 +100 PL

THU 8:30 PM LCARC / Info 147.080 +100 PL

DAYDAYDAY TIMETIMETIME NETNETNET FREQFREQFREQ

MON 7:30 PM LCARC / 15 Meter CW 21.165

MON 8:30 PM LCARC / 15 Meter Phone USB 21.395

TUE 2300 UTC USECA / 75 Meter Phone LSB 3.830 +/- QRM

WED 7:00 PM USECA / 6 Meter Phone USB 50.140

THU 7:30 PM LCARC / 10 Meter Phone USB 28.435

THU 9:00 PM USECA / 15 Meter CW 21.140

FRI 9:00 PM USECA / 80 Meter CW 3.570

FRI 10:00 PM USECA / 10 Meter Phone USB 28.425

HF Nets HF Nets

VE Testing Testing will be the THIRD Monday of the month from September thru June. Alec, NF8X, is the Contact VE. Pre-registration is encouraged. Test fee is $14.00 cash (exact change only). Examinees need to bring Xerox copies of current license and un-expired CSCE's, if any. There is no copy machine at the test site. Official starting time is 7:00 PM. Walk-ins are welcomed. Test site is at the Mt.Clemens Elks Club (179 S.Main St. in Mt.Clemens). Other VE test sessions can be arranged. Email the USECA VE at NF8X@ARRL.Net, or call him at 248- 4-MY-TEST for details.

“You know you have a drinking problem when you have painted on the ceiling above your bed,

“STOP! DON’T PANIC! YOU ARE HOME!” - Dennis Miller, Comedian

BONES OF DIRECTORSBONES OF DIRECTORSBONES OF DIRECTORS President Larry Stocking / W8SOX (586) 294-7718

Vice Pres. Ken Coughlin, N8KC N8KC@ARRL.Net

Recording Secretary Rob Lifton / NY8W (248) 797-2264

Treasurer Gary Simms / WA8FEA ((586) 322-2134

Membership Sec. Ray Anderson / K8RDJ (586) 979-4456

Board Member Walt Gracey / WB8E (586) 596-9547

Board Member Larry Boggs/WB8SJD WD8SJD@ARRL.NET

Board Member Chuck Perushek / N8ZA (586) 557-4983

Past Assassinated President: Bill Chesney / N8SA

C O M M I T T E E SC O M M I T T E E SC O M M I T T E E S ARRL Liaison Bill / N8SA

Awards Manager Bob / N8ZY (586) 978-1682

Door Prizes –OPEN–

Editor Pete/ AA8GK (248) 433-7724 AA8GK@ARRL.NET

Field Day Electric Chair Bill / N8SA, Steve / N8XO

Death & Welfare Rob / NY8W (248) 816-2222

Historian Jerry / K8CFY (586) 791-4484

Net Manager Bob / N8ZY (586) 978-1682

Autopsy Photographer Wes / KD8DHS

Program Director Ken Coughlin, N8KC

Public Relations Officer Gary, N8WTT

Refreshments Walt / WB8E

Repeater Trustee Ken ’Coffin’ Coughlin / N8KC

Swap Director Larry / WB8SJD WB8SJD@ARRL.Net

Technical Director Jim / W1IK (586) 771-4135

Technicians N8SA, W1IK, N8ZA, K8RDJ, W1SKU

VE Testing Alec / NF8X (248) 4-MY-TEST, or via email at:

NF8X@ARRL.NET

Webmaster Bob / N8ZY (586) 978-1682

OUT OF CONTROL OPERATORS OUT OF CONTROL OPERATORS OUT OF CONTROL OPERATORS (*Phone #’s Above)

Jim / WY8I Rob / NY8W Chuck / N8ZA Jim / W1IK Alec / NF8X Dan / N8ZBA

Our 28th Horrifying Halloween! 3

A gre at Ha llo ween fli ck!A gre at Ha llo ween fli ck! Pete, AA8GK

Here’s a movie to get you in the mood for the Halloween season:Here’s a movie to get you in the mood for the Halloween season:

Trick ‘R TreatTrick ‘R Treat (Link) Instead of it being one movie with a handful of main

characters, it is comprised of several short vignettes, but each vignette is brilliantly…. Well, I don’t want to ruin if for

you! While rated ‘R’, the gore factor is pretty low, and thank-fully, NO SEX! Geeeezzzzz! Why can’t more horror stories just be SCARY! Trick ‘R Treat is available on

DVD, as well as Netflix.

D i d i Dah Dah d i d i t

Oh, fine, fine! It’s not enough there’s an outbreak of the living dead, but now they

expect me to start using metric !

A Dream Within a Dream

By Edgar Allan Poe

Take this kiss upon the brow! And, in parting from you now,

Thus much let me avow You are not wrong, who deem

That my days have been a dream; Yet if hope has flown away

In a night, or in a day, In a vision, or in none,

Is it therefore the less gone?

All that we see or seem Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar

Of a surf-tormented shore, And I hold within my hand Grains of the golden sand

How few! yet how they creep Through my fingers to the deep,

While I weep - while I weep! O God! can I not grasp

Them with a tighter clasp? O God! can I not save

One from the pitiless wave?

Is all that we see or seem But a dream within a dream?

Our 28th Horrifying Halloween! 4

It seems that our friends

at The Centers for Dis-

ease Control have either

monopolized on the pop

culture fad of the living

dead, or they’re trying to

prepare us for something!

Here’s an interesting

guide to help you get and

stayed prepared for any

disaster. Somehow, I

think they know some-

thing we don’t! Click on

the image to the left to

learn more!

BREAKING NEWS

Detroit—The law offices of Sam Bernstein have

won their federal lawsuit against the Michigan

Department of Transportation, insisting that

pedestrian crossing lights include those for the

living-impaired. When illuminated, the ‘zed

head’ crossing lights will allow greater time for

those at room temperature to cross a street.

The lawsuit was brought about by the zombie

advocacy group, Pedestrians Without a Pulse.

Our 28th Horrifying Halloween! 5

Do you believe in ghosts? Further, do you believe it’s possible to photograph one? Well, maybe you can and maybe you can’t. Skepticism hasn’t stopped photographic anomalies, however. Look closely at each of the photos. After examining them closely, click on them to learn the story be-hind the photograph.

Our 28th Horrifying Halloween! 6

Our Ghost Stories

y sister was 4 years old when our grandfather passed away in 1949. Our grandfather thought she was the greatest, especially since she was the first female grandchild to come into the family in several years. To him, she was his “Little Princess”. He thought the world of her and let everyone know it.

e lived into his late 80;s, and his last few days here on earth were spent in bed, and we all knew it was a matter of time, before we received the phone call. One night my sister woke up our mother with her cry-ing, and when she checked to see what was going on, my sister said there was someone in her room. Mother picked her up, put her over she shoulder with the intention of sitting with her to calm her down. As she left the bedroom, she saw what she described as a “large white mass of light” in our living room. It was obvious to her something was there. So as not to frighten my sister any further, she returned to the bed-room. A bit later she looked and what she had seen was now gone. She woke the family and said that she knew our grandfather had died, and a phone call later confirmed that he had passed away. . She felt he had come to see my sister before he went to wherever he was going.

om lived to be 94, and told the story often, and it was always the same. She knew what she had seen. She passed away 10 years ago, after being sick for a few months. Near the end, she didn’t talk much, but we knew she was listening. I spoke to her about the incident and asked her if it was possible, would she do the same for me when her time came. She never answered, but I knew she understood,. A phone call told us mom had passed on. I don’t know if she came to see me or not. I hope she did.

-Anonymous

I absolutely believe this story. I have variation of this numerous times in my life.

While the manifestation itself may vary from story to story, the bottom line ap-

pears to be that odd occurrences do seem to surround the death (or, so-called

‘death’) of a loved one. Thanks to the anonymous author. –Editor

Our 28th Horrifying Halloween! 7

hen I was about 12 or 13, I was doing some "treasure hunting," also known as thrift store/garage sale shopping. I was looking for some old jazz records to add to my collection.

s I was rummaging through various bins and shelves, I found an awesome ham radio. It wasn't in the greatest condition and the dial knob was missing,

but I had to have it. I thought it would be cool to display it among my record collec-tion. So, I bought it and took it home.

aturally, the first thing I did when I got home was plug it into the wall to see if it even worked. I was surprised to see that the radio worked fairly well. It picked

up a few AM radio stations. Of course it could only pick up AM radio stations as FM was non-existent at the time in which it was made.

hat same night, as I was going to sleep, the radio turned on by itself. It was still plugged into the wall, so I didn't get freaked out about it. Seeing as how it was so old there was bound to be something faulty

responsible for its turning on. I got out of bed and walked over to the dresser and turned it off. I crawled back into bed and went to sleep.

t about 3 in the morning I was awakened by what sounded like a garbled conversation. As I came to, I saw that once again the ham radio had turned itself on. But this time, the sound seemed different. In

between the spurts of silence and static I could hear breathing. I yanked the cord out of the wall and went back to bed. I would check it out in the morning to try and figure out if the power switch was faulty.

he next day, sometime in the early evening, I plugged the radio into the wall and began tinkering with it. Then, the most terrifying thing happened. The static faded completely. The silence came back on as

did the sound of breathing. Suddenly, the creepy voice of a man came on and said, "Hello, little girl."

froze in fear. The voice came back on and said asked if I was "ready." Hell no, I wasn't ready. Ready for what? I didn't want to know. I pulled the plug out of the wall and threw that possessed radio into one

of the dumpsters in my apartment complex.

hankfully, that was my first and only encounter with the paranormal, but even today it sends chills down my spine just thinking about it.

-Anonymous

Can the dead use electronic devices to communicate with us? Thomas Edison appar-

ently thought so. In fact, he was working on such a device shortly before his own demise. Since the invention of the telephone, there have been reports of human voices being heard on them that could not be accounted for. Later, on radio receiv-ers, and then on tape and digital recorders. –Editor

Our 28th Horrifying Halloween! 8

have always been a little skeptical about ghosts, thinking they were just things that other people saw and I never would. But after reading about the experi-

ences of some people on here, I discovered that a few of the experiences I have had were unusual and (I hope) worth posting. I'll write the two I chose in chrono-logical order just to keep it a little more simple.

y mother had been with the father of my brother for a very long time, and since my biological father lives in Norway, my step-father's parents became very close to me and my sibling (our 'Nanny and Grandad').

few of years ago, my Grandad passed away from cancer. We'd known he was ill for a little while, but my mother hadn't let us go to see him because she thought it would be too much of a shock for us

(he'd been having chemo and had lost some weight and hair). So we just tried to keep him company over the phone, tell him all about our day, even the small things mattered to him. After he passed I felt almost inconsolable with the sadness that I hadn't been able to say goodbye properly, or see him in his illness.

round a year ago I went to stay with my Nanny for a few days (she still lives in the bungalow her and my Grandad lived in). I feel like I need to keep her company, even though she says her little dog is

usually company enough, and I do love seeing her.

s it got later at night, Nanny locked the dog up in her crate and we both retired for the night. Later on I was woken by the sound of shuffling footsteps, as though someone was moving about in the living-

room. I went to the door to see if my Nanny had not been able to sleep and gotten out of bed, but all of the lights were off and the house was pitch black (there's a window in the wall of the hallway so you can see into the kitchen, and would see if any lights were on).

he noises were very clear, and not the kind of noises the dog (who was still in her crate) would have made. I was so afraid I went back to bed and hid under the blankets, eventually falling asleep. The

noises carried on for around three nights until I left to return home, but in some ways I regret not going to see if it was my Grandad wandering about the living room, he did love it in there.

y second story happened last week after a house-warming party of funnily enough, a magician friend of mine and his wife. There was a bit of spirit contacting in this party, as it was full of spiritualists, Wic-

cans, Druids etc.

n my lift back I looked out of the front window, it was very late but I clearly saw a little boy running to-wards the car. He was a little distance away, but I could still make out what he looked like, blonde hair

(almost like a bowl cut) a red and white t-shirt, and little jeans. He looked detached from reality... Almost like his feet weren't touching the floor, as though he was superimposed over the landscape I saw in front of me.

t took me a second to register what I was seeing, but by then he had vanished. I'm sure that if my friend who was driving had seen him, he'd have hit the breaks. I didn't mention what I'd seen, being sure it

was all in my head. It was a lovely experience though, very out of this -Anonymous

Our 28th Horrifying Halloween! 9

Larkin’ in the parkin’!

Have you ever heard of ANY club that is as radio active as ours? I think not! Larks in the Park are common in the spring, summer, and fall. Other clubs brag about emergency commu-nications. We practice it almost weekly! Way to go, USECA Larkers!

Our 28th Horrifying Halloween! 10

Larkin’ ( continued)

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Larkin’ ( continued)

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recently upgraded my phone to the Samsung Galaxy SIII. Wow! I will probably never exploit 10% of everything it can do, but I was curi-ous as to what amateur radio apps there were on the market for

Droids.

ne app caught my eye instantly: Droid PSK. This great little (2.1 MB) app can send and receive PSK ! The utility of this is self-evident: You can head out into the field with just a QRP rig, antenna, and cell phone, and enjoy digital communications. Does it get any easier than this? While listening in on PSK31 QSO’s can be accomplished by just holding your cell phone next to your rig’s speaker, an interface must be in place for 2-way communications. One such interface is found HERE, but there are others. The program itself installs in just seconds and works great with the Galaxy SIII. Bear in mind that not all smart phones may be fast enough to accommodate this app. Droid PSK is not free. It costs a whopping $5.49. Big deal. Did you really need all the fat and calories that come along with that Arby’s sandwich, anyway?

(Continued on page 14)

Our 28th Horrifying Halloween! 14

13

The editorial staff of The Express gives this great little app a 4 out of 5 candy corns, but only because we haven’t put it on the air, yet.

Our 28th Horrifying Halloween! 15

No tricks here! Just a No tricks here! Just a No tricks here! Just a great treat!great treat!great treat!

Once again, USECA will be raffling off a brand new FT-857D at our October swap! This wildly popular, full-featured mobile rig has many features as found in much larger (and more expensive) radios! Come to our swap on Sunday, October 7, 2012, buy a ticket (or two) for $20 each, and maybe walk away with this awesome rig!

Our 28th Horrifying Halloween! 16

Meeting called to order at 7:30 pm by club president, Lifeless Larry. He was pronounced dead at 7:32 pm. But, he got better.

Round of applause for Walt and the kitchen crew for really no good reason.

Larry took a moment to recognize visitors and new members. Sadly, because of his de-mentia, he didn’t recognize anyone.

We passed the microphone around for everyone to introduce themselves.

License upgrades were recognized.

Rob had no correspondence to report. Why? Apparently, no one likes us.

Larry asked for corrections to June general meeting minutes. With no corrections Bill made a motion to accept June General meeting minutes as published In the Express, seconded by N8TVI Scott.

As of tonight's meeting, Ray reported 151 paid members. In honor of the upcoming presidential elec-tion, however, thousands in the cemeteries have been registered as members, too!

Trustee's Report: Ken informed the members that the Detroit Receive site for the K8UO repeater is still in W1IK Jim's possession. Demonic possession, that is.

Field Day: Bill informed the membership that our score was 15,050 which is up from last years score of 13,800. Our GOTA station got 63 HF contacts. We ran 15 Alpha.

Swap: October 7th see www.usecaarc.com for details. This will be at a new location, Madison Place in Madison Heights near 13 Mile Rd and I-75. 6am is when we need volunteers. The event begins at 8:00 am. N8KAN John will be running a test bench.

K8LFE Jim gave his inter-club liaison report. Adrian Swap will be on September 16th. L'Anse Creuse Swap is to be held on December 2nd at L'Anse Creuse High School in Harrison Township MI. Macomb Community College holds their open electronics lab every third Saturday, starting in October, from Noon to 5. The campus is at 12 and Schoener. Look for Building S (it has a 3 element HF Yagi tower) Room 137. N8NXW John is the coordinator.

Health & Welfare: WB8SJD Larry just had a triple bypass; We passed around a get well card for every-one to sign.

Old business: None

New Business:

Packard Proving Grounds: K8HIZ (former KD8HIZ) Andy announced that their Open House is Sunday, Octo-

ber 21st. This event runs from 1-5. by 10 am

Walt offered a motion to approve $400 for food to be sold at the swap, seconded by Bill. The motion passed

without any objections.

Bill discussed the Packard Proving Grounds and what it all has to do with Amateur Radio.

Winter Field Day will be held over the weekend of January 26th 2013 at Camp Ozanam. The camp is

located at 7303 Walker Rd, Carsonville, MI 40419.

According to the sign in sheet we circulated, tonight's meeting had 56 members and guests.

Upon conclusion of the business portion of the meeting there was a short break.

Following the break, there was a presentation given by T32LJ/N8LJ Lee and T32TX/KB8TXZ Jim, about Their Winter 2012 DXpedition to Christmas Island. (VERY COOL PRESENTATION! -Editor)

Meeting concluded at 9:35 pm.

Respectfully submitted by NY8W Rob, recording secretary.

C l u b b ed t o D eath Off i c er s

President, Lifeless Larry W8SOX

Membership Sec., D.O.A. Ray K8RDJ

Board Member, Wailing Walt WB8E

Vice President, Coffin Ken N8KC

Recording Sec, Rob the Ripper NY8W

Board Member, Chucky N8ZA

Treasurer, Gory Gary WA8FEA

Past President, Bogyman Bill N8SA

Board Member, Bad Luck Larry WB8SJD

NOTE: Name in RED indicates absent

U S E C A G e n e r a l M E E T I N G M I N U T E S S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 2

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A Word from our Secretary Rob, NY8W

Don’t forget that club officer nomi-nations will take place during the November General Meeting. If you will not be attending Decem-ber’s meeting and participating in

the elections, please contact me, Rob, NY8W, at (248)-816-2222, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE FOR AN ABSENTEE BALLET. Absentee ballets MUST be received NO LATER THAN TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012. Lastly… DUESDUESDUES AREAREARE DUEDUEDUE, especially if you are think-ing about tossing your hat into the ring.

See our membership secretary, D.O.A. Ray, at the next meet-ing to pay your dues for 2013…. Muahahahahahaaaaaa!!!!

Our 28th Horrifying Halloween! 19

Hello! My callsign is

Annual Membership Dues: Regular: $25, Family $35, New Member applications may be mailed to the below address or hand carried to one of our monthly membership meetings

USECA, P.O. Box 46331, Mt. Clemens, MI 48046

MAKE CHECK PAYABLE TO: USECA Allow 4-6 weeks for processing

USECA reserves the right to accept or reject New or Renewal Memberships

Our 28th Horrifying Halloween! 20

Happy halloween

"From ghoulies and ghosties and long legged beasties and things that go bump in the night good Lord deliver us (Old Cornish prayer.)