If you’ve never seen Make Magazine before, it’s an interesting publication for homebrewing just about anything.  Their website is just as nice, giving step-by-step instructions for building things that either many people would just buy, or that don’t exist in the marketplace.  Definitely a neat read for any tinkerer.

Today they have a story up linking to someone who built their own loop antenna with copper & PVC pipe, which looks interesting.

The Second Saturday Series continues on May 10^th with the next episode of “This Old Shack”. This episode, to be run on Saturday May 10 at 9AM Eastern time, will feature Hy Gold AB2VG as he leads the club in learning how to do landscaping, painting, aluminum salvage and interior electrical and ceiling work. All who participate will earn valuable job skills and “sweat equity” credit towards their very own shack key.

Because of the enthusiastic turnout we had at the DVRA shack work party in March, we are planning a variety of ham radio related activities in Mercer County for the Second Saturday morning of each month. So block that time out each month on your calendar for some fun and fellowship. We’ll try to alternate between operating events and maintenance needs at the shack.  To kick things off, Steve Gingo, KB2RMS, will be organizing an Electronic Fox Hunt on Saturday, April 12th, meeting at 9:00 AM in the Chapin School parking lot on Princeton Pike in Princeton Township.

A 2 meter band “electronic fox” will be hidden within five miles of the start point. You need not have an amateur radio license to participate, but a two meter receiver and antenna is helpful and recommended, as is a map of Mercer County.

Youngsters of all ages welcome. We’ll give a quick class on the direction finding techniques used and then you can hunt it on your own or team up with a more experienced hunter. We’ll finish by noon and then those who wish might meet at the Stewart’s on Route 1 in Lawrenceville for lunch.

Call Steve at 609-890-8673 or e-mail him at if you need more info. And for more background on Fox Hunting in general ,visit http://homingin.com/

73

Gary Wilson, K2GW

So I’ve had quite a few people offer to “help” with the website here.  The problem is, the help being offered isn’t what is needed to do things - everyone is willing to help run the site, but the site runs itself.  So what do we really need?  Content!

As you can see, there’s a lot of articles on the front page.  As a new one is posted on the top, it pushes the rest down off the page until they’re only viewable if you follow the “Next Page” link at the bottom, or use one of the “Archives” links on the left.  So the fact that there’s an old news story on the page is only because there hasn’t been enough new news to post on here which would make it disappear off the front.

So how can you help?  Sign up for an account, and send me an email that you’d like to be able to post stories.  They could be about upcoming Walk-A-Thons, or a planned fox hunt, or even a link to an interesting article you read online.  Once I get your email, I can set you up to be able to write new stories (you’ll then login with the “Login” link on the bottom of the left sidebar, and if you’re already logged in use the “Site Admin” link to get to the dashboard).  Write a post and submit it, and more likely than not I’ll put it right up here.

The DVRA is please to announce our 2008 Hamfest for April 20th. Again his year, the event will be held at the Skating Center at Mercer County Park. There are plenty of great indoor locations still available. Locations with power drops will be assigned on a first registered basis. More information is available on the . We hope to see you there!

The next General Meeting of the DVRA will be on January 9th at Our Lady of Good Councel Church, West Upper Ferry Road, West Trenton, NJ. The meeting begins at 7:30pm. This month’s program will feature Bob Danielak speaking on tube amplifiers. Bob is a published author on tube amps, and will be giving about a 45 minute or so talk on how tube amps work and why (so he says) they are better than solid-state amps. All are invited.

The Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk will be held on Sunday, October 7 at ETS on the corner of Rosedale and Carter Roads in Lawrence Township. Please plan on arriving by 9 AM. The walk starts at 10 AM. We will need about 4 to 5 operators stationed at points along the route. We also need someone to ride in a security vehicle as a SAG. It would also be nice if we had someone on a bike to ride along the route. Of course, if you would like to walk along the route, you could do that too. We will operate 2 meter simplex, so make sure your batteries are charged. Breakfast, lunch and a T shirt will be provided. Please let Darryl (N2JVP) know if you plan to help out.

The American Diabetes Association Walk will be held on Sunday, October 14 at Forrestal Village on US Route 1 Southbound in the Princeton area. Please plan on arriving by 9 AM. The walk starts at 10 AM. This is a one mile route through the village, walkers having the option to walk it as many as 5 times. Again, we will need about 4 to 5 operators with
HT’s running 2 meter simplex. Please let Darryl (N2JVP) know if you plan to help out.

Just a reminder that the DVRA Annual Picnic & BBQ is this Wednesday 8/8 at 6:30pm.  The BBQ is held at the home of Steve & Stephanie Huston in Morrisville, PA.  All members are welcome to attend, and are encouraged to bring family & friends with them.  All we ask is that you bring a dish to share!

So far the menu includes:

• Hamburgers
• Chicken
• Curry
• Corn
• Tomato Basil Salad
• Cucumber Salad
• Tossed Salad
• Watermelon
•  Iced Tea & Soda

Please let Stephanie know if you can attend & what you are bringing so that we can make sure there is enough food.  To RSVP, or for directions, please email <>  Thanks & we look forward to seeing you this Wednesday!

The July 14th exam session, which would normally be held at the Pennington Library, have been moved to the Pennington Presbyterian Church due to the library holding their book sale this weekend. The time is the same (12:30, arrive slightly early to start on the paperwork) as other exam sessions. For more information, contact Don Wright: or 609-737-1723.

The photos I took during the overnight operations this Field Day are in the club gallery, viewable here.  If you have photos you’d like to see up there too, let me know!