February 2013

The Greater Wheeling Chapter of the Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) will hold its Wednesday, February 13, 2013 meeting at the White Palace at Wheeling Park, Wheeling WV. White Palace is located inside Wheeling Park at 1801 National Rd, Wheeling, WV 26003 (map via bing).

Speaker and Topic

Amateur Radio Operations in the Digital Age – Jerry Fankhauser

The speaker for the February 13th, 2013 meeting will be Jerry Fankhauser. Jerry has been a ham radio operator for over 50 years, and his call sign is WA8HTO. Jerry is an Extra class operator, the highest level which can be obtained through the Federal Communication Commission. Amateur Radio Operators were first licensed in 1934. In 1999 and 2000 the FCC issued major changes in the regulations to streamline the licensing system and bring the Amateur Radio service into the digital age. Since 2007 the agency discontinued the requirement that Morse Code be used in proficiency test.

Jerry has a wealth of experience in the electrical/electronic "arts”. While the focus of the presentation will be ham radio operations and equipment, don’t be surprised if Jerry goes off tangent and talks about his toaster oven at home that he modified to include a parallel port. A what????....Yes, a parallel port! He connects the toaster oven to an old computer, then through an EXCEL spreadsheet, regulates the temperature for reflow soldering. Jerry will provide our group with a wealth of information, not to mention an entertaining story or two.

Education Session

Our Education Session for February will be John Parkinson demonstrating online video websites, YouTube, Vimeo, and live streaming site Ustream.

We also will have a special treat, offered by Luke Rapp, which happens to be his current science project. Luke will present us with a demo on an arduino controlling a light, servo motor, and a TV via IR. Please welcome Luke Rapp to this month’s meeting.

SIG Session

Scott Petrock will lead the SIG session on the Mac OS X Operating System.

Event Schedule

We will meet on the first floor of the White Palace. Social time, SIG groups, and registration will be from 5:30 – 6:00 p.m. The buffet style dinner will begin at approximately 6:00 p.m. and the Ed Session and Main Presentation will start after the meal. Cost for the evening is $18.00 for AITP members, $10.00 for AITP student members, and $23.00 for guests. We will have our 50/50 drawing and door prizes for those in attendance.

RSVP to Join Us

E-mail Karen Kovacs at kkovacs@dwc.org to RSVP, or make your reservation at the AITP portal at http://www.aitp.org/events/event_details.asp. Reservations are essential to ensure there is sufficient food and seating available for our group. Please respond early to give the restaurant ample time to prepare. No shows will be billed for the reserved meal.

To find out more about the Greater Wheeling Chapter of AITP,
visit our website at http://aitp-wheeling.org.