President (1 year term) – Kevin Sanders, K0KDS
Vice President (1 year term) – George Noble, KK7FM
Secretary (1 year term) – Mark Globuschutz, K0MJG
Treasurer (1 year term) – Bill Claypool, NU0Q

Board members (2 year terms)
Select only three candidates
Ron Hobbs, N0XWI
Scott Kirstein, N0OOD
Dennis O’Brien, KA0DOS
Ian Walmsley, KD0PPI

The following board members have one year of their two-year term remaining: Bruce Brumm, KC0ZMT; Craig Rose, KC0YHU; and Ben Sinclair, KC0ZMX.

MFJ 269B antenna analyzer and antenna adapter kit
Steven Arey KD0ORB, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Wouxun KG-UVD1P dual-band handheld radio, dual-band gain antenna, Cason multi-functional clock
Len Quelland KD0USA, Ankeny, Iowa

$50 ARRL gift certificate, 3-watt LED headlamp, two tickets to Southeast Iowa Hamfest
Ryan Butler NF0T, Conrad, Iowa

$50 ARRL gift certificate, Cason multi-functional clock, ARRL 2012/2013 calendar
Gordon Segelke KD0OJL, West Des Moines, Iowa

$25 ARRL gift certificate
Mike McQuiston WA0OMM, Urbandale, Iowa

CQ 2012/2013 calendar, ARRL book “From Spark to Space: a Pictorial Journey Through 75 Years of Amateur Radio”
Dave Berry W0DDW, Hudson, Iowa

Those who did not claim their prizes at the hamfest will be contacted with information to obtain their gifts.

Check this out! W0AK is featured in the 2012 ARRL Handbook for their Field Day section. The photo by Kevin Sanders K0KDS includes, from left, Dave Johnson N0LVA, Dean Madsen N0XR, George Noble KK7FM, and a visitor from our 2010 Field Day at Big Creek State Park. (via Mike Waldron AE0MW)

The equipment is now located in a climate controlled room, running on the hospital’s emergency backed up power system and the antennas are at a higher elevation then before. Dean Madsen, N0XR went through the
equipment and it has been cleaned, serviced and upgraded in some cases. On Saturday March 10th Dean Madsen, N0XR, Bob Jimmerson, KA0OMM Bill Spencer, KC0LUL and Kirk Nelson, WL7CLI hoisted and installed the equipment.

It is now operating on 147.555, 145.010 and 446.025. Dean Madsen, N0XR is still trouble shooting 147.450 and the 9600 port.

Known as Charlie to his family, Corky to his sisters and Chuck to everyone else, Chuck Corcoran died February 11, 2012, at Mercy Hospice in Johnston following a long illness.

He was born January 22, 1942, in Evanston, Ill., the son of Charles Robert and Ruth Finnegan Corcoran. He grew up in Huntington, Long Island, and attended college at Hofstra University and the University of Kansas where he studied journalism. He was a member of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves.

In April 1967 he married Judith Kathryn Farrell when both were reporters for the Topeka, Kan., Capital-Journal and married between afternoon deadlines. In 1970 he became managing editor of the Hannibal, Mo., Courier-Post and in late 1973 moved to Des Moines as a reporter for The Des Moines Register and Tribune where he covered law enforcement and the court system.

After the Tribune’s closing in 1982 he moved into consumer electronics, working for Commtron, Atari and Racom before returning to his first love, journalism, as communications director of the Iowa State Bar Association in 1997. He retired from the Bar in 2005.

His greatest achievement was his two children, Megan Kathryn Corcoran, and Sean Finnegan Corcoran.

He was a member of St. John the Apostle Catholic Church where he was a lay reader, Eucharistic minister and member of the Apostle Choir. He was a 4th Degree member of the Knights of Columbus Pope John Paul II Assembly 3030.

Chuck was a long time amateur radio hobbyist with the advanced class license of KD9UD. He was active in the Des Moines Radio Amateurs Assn. and related ham organizations, leading to a cluttered garage and basement “ham shack.” He was an early adopter of consumer electronics technology and a tutor for family and friends.

He is survived by his wife Judy; daughter Meg Corcoran of Minneapolis with her fiancé Austin Gullixson; son Sean Corcoran and his wife Sonja Anderson of St. Louis Park, Minn.; four sisters: Mary (Frank) Ehmann of Winnetka, Ill., Jean (Paul) Schott of Christiansburg, Va.; Ruth Ann Howley of Jackson, N.J., and Lu Buergers of East Quogue, N.Y., and brother-in-law Stephen (Judy) Farrell of Overland Park, Kan.; and one very devoted cat Murphy.

Heartfelt appreciation from the family to the indomitable Dr. Carol Horner, D.O.; neurologist Dr. Heike Schmolck, M.D., the nurses and staff of Mercy 6N Neurology, the Mercy NeuroTrauma ICU and Mercy Hospice and Arbor Springs as well as the parishioners of St. John the Apostle, neighbors in Greenbrier and Judy’s teammates at Wells Fargo.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to the building fund at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church in Norwalk, Iowa, or the Iowa State Bar Foundation in Des Moines.

The class will teach the fundamentals of amateur radio and students will learn the requirements to gain the entry-level “technician” amateur radio license. Learn how you can use radio equipment for enjoyment, experimentation, and public service. Testing will be held at the end of the course.

To enroll: Visit the Waukee Community Education website, click “online registration,” and then click on “special interest.” You can register for the class by clicking the link on the right-hand side. The name of the course is “Ham Radio Basics” and the course number is W1240.

Textbook: The ARRL Ham Radio License Manual (2nd Edition). Books will be available for purchase at the first class session for $25. The DMRAA does not profit off the sale of these books.

WCSD enrollment fee: $10

Location: South Middle School, 2350 SE La Grant Parkway, Waukee.

Schedule:
Thursday evenings, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

• Feb. 2
• Feb. 9
• Feb. 16
• Mar. 1
• Mar. 8
• Mar. 15
• Mar. 29
• Apr. 5
• Apr. 12 (last class and testing)

Questions? E-mail the DMRAA at info@dmraa.com or Ron Hobbs N0XWI at rwhobbs@aol.com.

He was selected by the nomination committee for his activity in Polk County ARES, his role as a board member of the DMRAA, contributed hours for VE testing, and other activities. Most recently, he served as a co-chair for the Polk County ARES activation for the Polk County Marathon. As a DMRAA board member, he is a chair for the DMRAA Hamfest and W0AK Field Day committees.

The award was presented by Wynell Mager-Kisner, the daughter of the late Rev. Winthrop Mager, for whom the award was named after, at the annual DMRAA Christmas Party on December 6 in Des Moines. The purpose of the Winthrop Mager Award is to perpetuate the memory of the Rev. Winthrop Mager W0MJH, and to stimulate the activity in all fields of amateur radio in the central Iowa area. Any radio operator with any class license who is a member of the Des Moines Radio Amateurs’ Association is eligible. Nominations are due by the end of the November meeting each year. Nominees are those amateur operators that have shown outstanding support for amateur radio, promotion of the amateur radio service and have done so with the utmost respect for the community and fellow operators.

Look for more information on the award and the DMRAA holiday events in the upcoming issue of the Static Sheet.

While it’s not a formal contest, stations should try to contact as many other NWS offices and other non-NWS stations as possible. The Des Moines NWS office, using the station call sign K0DMX, will be operating on the 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meter bands as well as on the linked MISA repeater system on VHF and UHF, including D-STAR. Around 100 NWS stations are expected to participate this year.

Even if you’re not able to make it to the Des Moines NWS office to participate in the event, all amateur radio operators within the range of a repeater on the MISA linked system is encouraged to make a contact on the linked system. If you can make a contact on both a VHF repeater and UHF repeater, please do! That would count as two contacts since it was made on two different bands.

Skywarn Recognition Day was created in 1999 by the National Weather Service and the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) to recognize the importance that amateur radio provides during severe weather. Many NWS offices acquire real-time weather information from amateur radio operators in the field. These operators, for example, may report the position of a tornado, the height of flood waters, or damaging wind speeds during hurricanes. All of this information is critical to the mission of the NWS which is to preserve life and property. The special event celebrates this special contribution by amateur radio operators.

The 2011 Skywarn Recognition Day in Des Moines is organized jointly by the Des Moines National Weather Service staff and the Mid-Iowa Skywarn Association. Contact information, as well as details and updates will be available on the Mid-Iowa Skywarn Association website at http://www.midiowaskywarn.com.

For this first session, the focus will be on Chapter 2 of the ARRL Extra manual since there are no test questions for Chapter 1.

Hope to see you on the radio!
Dennis, KA0DOS

The Collins Amateur Radio Club now has D-STAR repeaters operating in the Cedar Rapids area: “N0CXX C” on 147.405 MHz with -990 kHz offset; and “N0CXX B” on 442.050 MHx with +5.0 MHz offset.

Note the odd split, and two spaces between “N0CXX and C”. These may be linked through through the local KD0IAN D-STAR repeater.

Users may register to the N0CXX gateway at https://n0cxx.dstargateway.org

You can now stay in contact with the home boys while you visit the ARRL Midwest Regional Convention in Cedar Rapids August 5-7!