May Meeting Report

We had 20 members at last night’s meeting.  Here are some highlights:

Barry, W4IBI, told us a bit about his early days in Amateur Radio, then made a presentation on lightning protection and grounding.

There will be no PSK-31 net this week.  For future sessions we may consider trying other digital modes, and maybe even SSTV.  On a related note Barry suggested that SSTV or one of the other digital modes might make a good topic for a future program.

Some of the folks who are working on the trailer and mast project had a very productive side meeting relating to some of the mechanical details of the setup.

Field Day preparations were discussed.  Based on Field Day Rule 4.1.1.2, we don’t believe we would have anyone to operate a GOTA station, so we will probably just operate as a regular 3A station this year.  Folks are encouraged to bring lawn chairs if they find the picnic table benches uncomfortable for long operating sessions.

There was considerable discussion, both during and after the meeting, of what will be needed to improve our severe weather net operations.

May Meeting

Don’t forget the meeting next Monday at 7:00 PM, Room 142, Anderson Technical Building, WKCTC.

Barry says he will have a short presentation for us. For the business meeting, we will look at how Field Day preparations are coming along, and discuss other issues including the trailer and mast project and the severe WX nets.

Please think about volunteering to get up and tell everyone a little about your participation in Amateur Radio, including how you got started and what kind of activities you enjoy now!

Armed Forces Day Crossband Test — May 10th

The annual Armed Forces Day test will be held on May 10th, one week ahead of the actual date of Armed Forces Day in order to avoid a conflict with the Dayton Hamvention.

The schedules and frequencies of participating military stations are published on the Army MARS Web site, with the exception of the following changes and additions (the columns don’t line up too well in the following cut and paste, but I don’t think it is too difficult to follow):

STATION: AAZ (HQ Army MARS Gateway, Fort Huachuca, Arizona)
Frequency Mode Date/Time
6988.0 kHz RTTY 11 May 0110Z
PACTOR FEC 11 May 0130Z
MT63 11 May 0220Z
PSK-31 11 May 0250Z

14402.0 kHz RTTY 11 May 0110Z
PACTOR FEC 11 May 0130Z
MT63 11 May 0220Z
PSK-31 11 May 0250Z

STATION: WAR (Pentagon ARC/MARS Station, Arlington, Virginia)
Frequency Mode Date/Time
6988.0 kHz RTTY 10 May 1700Z
RTTY 10 May 2300Z
MT63 10 May 1715Z
MT63 10 May 2315Z

14440.0 kHz PACTOR FEC 10 May 1730Z
PACTOR FEC 10 May 2330Z
Olivia 10 May 1745Z
Olivia 10 May 2345Z

More from WHERE

I had another nice note from the guys at WHERE.  Turns out they are a relatively new, regional Amateur Radio club.  Their center of activity appears to be around Fairfield, IL, which is east of Mount Vernon, IL.

They have an interesting web site.  Just click on the link to check it out.

NWS Support

(Well, I’ve had this information on hand for two weeks now, but managed to lose track of it.  Thanks to Paul, KI4GKW, for resending it to me.)

NWS has been asking for greater support from us in the form of more operators who are willing to report to the NWS office to staff the radios during severe WX.  Many thanks to the following club members who have stepped forward to offer their services:

Dave, WB5YYA

Steve, AI4ZL

Tracy, N4IL

Garry, KD4GCY

Request from WHERE (who?)

I received an interesting request from Keith, KB9HOC recently. Keith is a member of the Wayne, Hamilton, Edwards Radio Enthusiasts (WHERE) Club and a co-editor of their newsletter. Keith indicated that they are running a series of articles highlighting area Amateur Radio clubs, and asked for information about PARA.

I was glad to get this, as it shows that our web presence in the form of our web site, blog, and club E-mail address is getting us noticed and is helping people to find and contact us.

I sent Keith some information about PARA, and several links to more information about us on the Internet, including our listing on the ARRL club pages and the ARRL Field Day Locator.

What’s that? You didn’t know we have a club E-mail address? Check out the Contact Info page on this site!

New Amateur Radio Satellites

I just picked this up from the W1AW bulletin service. It’s not my normal practice to repeat information here that you can read elsewhere, but in this case I am assuming that most club members are not regular subscribers or listeners to the W1AW bulletins, and that many of you have probably not seen this yet.

Please follow the link here to W1AW BULLETIN ARLS004.

If you’re not yet active in satellites this may be your chance to get involved.  Do some reading and studying now, and then see if you can succeed in hearing some of our new birds.

ARRL Legislative Action Program

I recently heard from John Meyers, NB4K, the ARRL District Legislative Action Chairman. John asked me to pass along some information about the program to the club membership. Here is John’s message:

“As the newly appointed DLAC (District Legislative Action Chairman) I would like to familiarize you with what we are doing, where we’re going and how you may help. This process has been proven in the field and at the present time seems to work the best as it is laid out.”

[Please refer to this link for the ARRL Legislative Action Program FAQ, which was included in John's message.]

“So, as you can see there is nothing too hard to do and it doesn’t take a lot of time when we work together on legislation.

“If you are interested in helping in this area here is whom you may contact. In Kentucky the Legislative Action Coordinator e-mail for your information is Patrick R Thrush, N4PRT at n4prt@hamtechtalk.com, in Ohio send it to Brent C Stover, WD8PNZ at wd8pnz@yahoo.com, and at this time we are in need of a Legislative Action Coordinator in Michigan. Until one is seated e-mail me NB4K with your information at nb4k@arrl.org.

“If you have any questions on this feel free to call or e-mail me. We need our frequencies and this is just one avenue that we have to protect them.”

73

John D. Meyers, NB4K DLAC
nb4k@arrl.org 859.472.6690

Trailer and Mast Project — Additional

I was both amazed and impressed at the turnout we had to support Mike (KY4OEM) with the trailer and mast project. Mike sent a list of participants and a whole bunch of pictures.

I picked out just a few of the pictures and sent them to the webmaster to be posted on the W4NJA web site.

Here are the names names of the participants as provided by Mike:

Jerry Foland - WA4TTL

Beth Gupton - KI4ZAK

Steve Gupton - AI4ZL

Ed Pfleuger - AB4IQ

Ken Wontor - WA9WJL

Dave Dewey - WB5YYA

Katherine Thomasson - KI4NXE

Mike Thomasson - KY4OEM

Paul Thomasson - KI4GKW

Bill Humm - KU4RC

Tom Emerson - Assistant Chief DES Rescue Squad

John Kubrick - Friend of KU4RC

Trailer and Mast Project

I received the following note from Mike (KY4OEM). Thanks to all who helped out to get the project moving along! If Mike gets time to send me the pix and a list of participants, I will try to make some of them available for everyone to see.

“Had our first work session tonight [Wednesday, 4/16] on the tower/trailer project. Great turn out and I was very impressed with the progress made. 8 club members and 2 friends helped on the project. I have photos if you want I can forward them later— Thanks Mike”

My understanding is that the trailer and mast belong to and will be stored and maintained by DES, but will be available to the club for Amateur Radio use whenever DES is not using them.

Think: Field Day!