From the President February 2019

From the President,

So the February meeting came off without hitch. Except for starting a half an hour late, we had some spirited discussion. Talk consisted of field strength meters, contesting, Emcomm, and imaginary numbers i = (√-1)  or more simply i2=-1. Simply stated an imaginary number is a complex number that can be written as a real number multiplied by the imaginary unit. Needless to say, nothing was settled. The only reason it came up is because we use the imaginary numbers when calculating antenna and feedline impedance. Many of us have seen the calculations on the Extra class exam looking something like this: Z=50+j*0 with “j” being the imaginary number.

The question did come up of how many members were looking to upgrade from Tech to general or General to Extra. The answer was nobody. Maybe this is the time that we should upgrade. Go out on Amazon and get a Gordon West book and study for an upgrade while it’s cold outside. At a minimum you gain access to bands you have never been on. I dare anybody to memorize 462 questions in the FCC General class pool and not learn something, or perhaps the 716 questions in the Extra class pool. The more we “advance the radio art”, the stronger the hold we will have on the airwaves that have been granted to us by the US government to take care of.

See you at the next meeting

Geoff Stevens