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Amateur Radio Club Having been an amateur radio licensee since the late 1950s, I have seen many technologic advances in amateur radio. Currently, most new radios in use by amateur radio operators are entirely driven by computer micro processor logic. They are called SRD radios – Software Defined Radio. Software allows almost instant transformation of reception to insure solid communications. Even our voice is digitized and managed in current radios in order to provide more intelligence by removing atmospheric interference. Today there are many forms of digital radio in use. Virtually every country uses such schemes to facilitate communication in strictest privacy. Radios employ many forms of communications not common years ago. Yet one of the oldest forms of radio communication is the mainstay of how communities such as ours can communicate during emergencies. Called FRS radio — Family Radio Service — has expanded to those who need no license, little training and simple techniques to communicate. As Judie pointed out last month, all you do is charge the batteries, select a channel press the PTT button to communicate. We adhere to protocol standards in order to communicate effectively; after all we 34 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | MAY 2013 | clubs & Groups Discovery Club cannot see who is at the other end of our transmission. A staunch backbone to the FRS communicator is the liaison to our Licensed Amateur Radio Operators. While FRS can provide local communication, our amateur radios can extend our reach for distant contacts. We can contact personnel at the San Gorgonio Hospital, the FEMA supported R.A.C.E.S (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service) and ham radio supported A.R.E.S (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) volunteers as well as the local emergency facilities. With battery powered devices we are not tied to the electrical grid nor the cellular phone network to provide support. We practice communications weekly on radio nets. A net is akin to a telephone conference call, but distain everyone talking at once. Protocols are established to allow one communicator, called net control, to assign who is next to talk, or next to acknowledge someone with a message, announcement, or respond to a request. Thus, this is a good opportunity to see if we are prepared and all our radios are in good working order. We follow the FRS net with a Amateur Radio Net on a frequency that most ham radio emergency responders utilize. Most members regularly attend meetings with emergency communications personnel locally. This has included the local police and hospital personnel. Most important, in an actual emergency, we do report on types of injuries without providing names, adhering to the U.S. HIPPA rules regarding disclosure of individuals identity and health information. We communicate and relay messages to those individuals well suited to deal with the emergency. Many of our Amateur Radio Operators attend local radio club meetings and many major club activities. We also are active in the local radio nets, including the San Bernardino search and rescue net. Our website is w6frb.com, our meetings are on the last Friday of the month at 10 am in the Lodge Card Room. See you there! ~ Dick Van Bree What's in a name? Plenty, if you know where and how to look. Not every name from every country and ethnicity can be discussed in this short article. While the examples herein apply to surnames from Scotland, Ireland and England, the same process of identification can be applied to names from many other countries. PATRONYMS: A name derived from one's father's name. Such names can have a pre-name such as the Gaelic "Mac," as in MacAdam, or an after-name such as the English "son," as in Adamson. Both the pre- and after- name indicates "the son of." Sometimes the Mac was reduced to Mc, or the "son" was reduced to just an "s." So you could have McAdams, or just Adams. In any case, patronyms have been used for thousands of years in many countries and ethnic groups. LOCATIONS: Names were often derived from the land which a person owned. These names are more difficult to trace in that they can not only be of the place where a person lived at the time, but of where they originally came from. Also, tenants and workers for land owners would sometimes take these names. And surnames can come from rather vague natural areas, such as forests, streams, marshes, mountains, lakes and fields, or from man-made places such as castles, roads, walls and churches. OCCUPATIONS: Many surnames are derived from the occupations, or trades, of their original bearers, as in Shepherd, Mason, Fletcher, Smithy, Thresher, Reader, Farmer, Weaver, etc. TO-NAMES: Sometimes there were many people in the same place with the same surname, so "to-names" were added. To-names are often descriptions of a person's features, such as white, little, large mouth, big nose, tall, short, fat head, blue eyes, scar face, etc. For example, Campbell means "crooked mouthed." ETHNICITY: Some surnames came from where persons originated, a different country far from where they were living at the time. A few examples are Fleming, Galbraith and Scott. And a person living in, for example, Scotland, could have a French or Italian surname, thus that person's lineage leads to an entirely different, far-off country. So, tracing your family's surname is often an interesting study of history. And knowing the meaning of surnames can be very essential in finding your long lost relatives in far away lands. If you would like to be notified of Discovery Club meetings or outings, please contact us. Our next meeting will probably be in May – but we'll let you know. Info., Willis, (951) 769-4482, wefbev@verizon.net. ~ Willis Fagan Travel News Join us for a Travel Expo on July 20, at 11 am, in the Lodge Ballroom where you can hear and talk to representatives' from different travel groups and agents. I often wondered why people from the West Coast would take the time and spend the money to visit New England in the fall, and then I went. "The Colors of New England" Oct. 10. 8 days, 11 meals. $2,879 (save $100 if you book before May 1). "Be charmed by the colors of New England on this 8 day tour that brings you from the heart of historic Boston to the farms, coast and mountains of the north. Tour historic Boston during a two-night stay. Explore Woodstock, Vermont, a quintessential New England village. Tour Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory and sample some of its delicious creations. Watch apples transform into cider before your eyes a Cold Hollow Cider Mill. Learn about the maple sugaring industry of New England on a farm tour of the Rocks Estate. Relax as your cruise along Lake Winnipesaukee, admiring the splendid views. Dig in at a traditional New England lobster dinner. Admire Maine's dramatic coast and discover the seaside communities of Boothbay Harbor and Kennebunkport. This is New England." With this Collette experience you will enjoy a locally guided tour of historic Boston and visit to its famed Faneuil Hall marketplace, a two night stay in New England town of Stowe, VT, a cruise on Lake Winnipesaukee and a true taste of New England at a farewell dinner featuring fresh lobster. With Collette Vacations, you will enjoy pick up at Four Seasons, airfare and taxes and knowledgeable guides of all areas. There are now flyers in the Library at the Lodge to give you more information. The flyers are in a 3-ring binder on one of the shelves. For more information, please contact Cindy Bown at World View Travel at (760) 340-6661 or e-mail her at mailto.cindy@worldviewtravel.com. ~ Melody Seewoster CLUBS & GROUPS | FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | MAY 2013 35

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