Tuesday, August 18, 2015

August 2015 Edition of the Ohio Section Journal






In this issue:

-> THE TECHNICAL COORDINATOR

-> AFFILIATED CLUB COORDINATOR REPORT

-> THE SECTION EMERGENCY COORDINATOR

-> THE PUBIC INFORMATION COORDINATOR

-> THE SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGER

-> OUT AND ABOUT IN SOUTHEAST OHIO

-> FROM THE “SARGE” (W8SGT) STATE OF OHIO EOC

-> HAPPENINGS FROM CENTRAL OHIO

-> FROM THE EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH ASM

-> LET'S TALK

-> THE OFFICIAL OBSERVER COORDINATOR

-> OHIO QSO PARTY RULE CHANGES    

-> SUMMITS-ON-THE-AIR

-> SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS IN OHIO

-> OHIO HAMFEST CALENDAR

-> HELP WANTED

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THE TECHNICAL COORDINATOR
Jim Yoder W8ERW - TC
w8erw@arrl.net 

Here it is the middle of August and it seems although our summer just began, it will soon be over. From my vantage, fall is the best of our Ohio seasons. Complete with nice warm days and cooler nights, a lot of sunshine and of course those beautiful fall colors to enjoy, fall is my favorite. This year, I'll not be enjoying an Ohio fall season, but rather a new experience for me from a new location as I move to the North Texas Section and take up residence in the Fort Worth area.

This does mean of course, that I must step down as your Technical Coordinator, a decision that was not taken lightly. During my tenure over the last 5 years, I have been very fortunate to meet up with many of you as I attended club meetings, Ham Fests and other gatherings that we as Hams enjoy. Our Ohio Section is well represented with dedicated Amateurs who not only enjoy this great hobby of ours, but also take a special effort to support ARES and share freely the experience and knowledge of Amateur Radio. Being a part of the largest of ARRL sections has been the most enjoyable for me and I will miss this fine organization and the many fine fellow Hams who call Ohio home. Thank you all for your support and friendship. These are memories that I shall never forget as I leave Ohio and head to Texas in September.

Before I leave, I would like to encourage each of you to support the ARRL effort to pass the Amateur Radio Parity Act in congress. I have been fortunate while being an Ohioan in not having to deal with antenna restrictions imposed by Home Owners Associations and Deed Restrictions. The vital and important services of ARES in support of local public service agencies does however on occasion come into conflict with these often unreasonable regulations that deny adequate and necessary antenna structures. Your support is necessary to get this legislation passed in Congress and put a stop to the disadvantage many Hams are required to live with because of where they live. Antenna restrictions are the norm in most new housing developments and although you may not have an issue now, you may in the future as you choose to downsize and/or relocate. The ARRL website has all the latest information and now that both houses of congress have bills pending, it is important that we all make our Senators and Representatives know our desire to gain relief from unreasonable antenna restrictions. Please take time to have a look at the information and take action on this critical issue. Here is the link to the ARRL page with all the details: http://www.arrl.org/amateur-radio-parity-act  

The link is also available on the ARRL Ohio website along with all the current information on happenings in the Ohio Section http://arrl-ohio.org/  This is a great resource for all Ohio Amateurs and I encourage you to visit the site regularly. SM Scott Yonally N8SY does a super job of keeping the site current and you will always find a treasure of information there.

As this will be my final report and contribution to the Ohio Section Journal, let me again say thank you for your support and wish everyone continued enjoyment of our Amateur Radio Hobby. Please feel free to contact me at any time. The following contact information will continue as I leave Ohio for Texas.
73,

Jim Yoder W8ERW
w8erw@arrl.net 
(419) 930-8544 VOIP
(817-692-7455 Cell

73, Jim, W8ERW

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THE AFFILIATED CLUBS COORDINATOR
John Myers, KD8MQ - ACC

Hi everyone, how’s your summer going? After a bit of a wet and rainy start, it’s actually turned out to be a pretty nice summer. I hope you’re still finding time for Amateur Radio, even though the beautiful weather beckons us outside.

Some clubs kind of go on hiatus during the months of July, and August. There’s nothing wrong with that, mind you. After Field Day, we all need a bit of a breather, but, it’s not the only game in town during the summer. there are still plenty of opportunities for club activities in the summer.

Besides the obvious, club picnics, how about setting up an information booth at a County fair, or local festival? By the way, I just read a great article in the September QST. The Road Show ARC set up a special event station at the North Carolina Mountain state Fair. It’s a great read, and if you aren’t careful, it may get you fired to do a SES (Special Event Station) of your own.

If your clubs not tried this, I encourage you to give it a try. There’s usually something going on in your area that warrants some on the air recognition.

Here are some examples:

• The Thomas Edison Memorial ARC who puts on a SES each February, celebrating the birthday, and birthplace of Thomas Edison.

• This October, the Cambridge ARA will be doing a SES commemorating Zanesville’s famous Y Bridge.

• In November, the Scioto Valley ARC will be commemorating the end to Daylight Savings Time.

So, for a very low cost, you can get some club members together, and have some on the air fun. You can use your club Call sign, or reserve a 1X1 call sign. The Call sign is free, and is a real attention getter on the air. More information on the 1X1 call signs can be found at http://www.1x1callsigns.org/ QSLs & certificates are dirt cheap. If you have someone in your club who is good with Microsoft Publisher, then it’s real easy to “Roll Your own”.

Here’s some other club events that are a lot of fun.

• How about an Amateur Radio Cruise-In? The Portage County ARS (PCARS), hes been doing this for several years now, and it’s absolutely not what you think it is. It always seems to be well attended. Cars are judged on such categories as “Best Mobile Installation”, and best DX from a mobile during the cruise-in.

• Soon after you read this, we’ll have the Ohio QSO Party, and then the Ohio State Parks On The Air contest. I know, I can hear you grumbling. “There he goes, trying to make us into contesters again”. But, these are both fun contests, not cutthroat, and perfect excuses for a club social event. Throw in a few pizzas, maybe a bonfire, and before long, you won’t care how many contacts you did, or didn’t make.

It won’t be too long at all before a lot of us will be holding club elections. Please don’t forget to update your club record with the league.

Let’s take a moment to congratulate the following Special service Clubs:

Alliance ARC –Special Service Club renewal

Canton ARC –Special Service Club renewal

Mahoning Valley ARA –Special Service Club renewal

Also, it looks like we have a new Special service Club in our midst. Congratulations to the Mound ARA, from Miamisburg.

I see a lot of you who are already qualified for SSC status, the upgrade is usually just paperwork. If you have questions, just get in touch with me, and I’ll be glad to help.

And with that, we are going to tie the ribbons on it for tonight.
73 everyone, see you next month. DE KD8MQ

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THE SECTION EMERGENCY COORDINATOR
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Stan Broadway, N8BHL

DRILLS and HIPAA

I have thoroughly enjoyed some visits around Ohio this past month. I was able to watch EC Dave Schultz, AD8WSA and some real “pros” do their thing at the Cleveland VA/Burke Lakefront disaster drill. The new computerized tracking program apparently failed shortly into the exercise, and hams picked up the duties like normal. The hams even managed to track ~all~ the “victims” while the official method lost four. Great work to Cuyahoga ARES!

By the way, there was a very interesting item there which can affect all of us across Ohio- I know, we’re talking here in Central Ohio right now about the same issue. That is, patient tracking and what information HIPAA allows over the radio. I did a study and worked up some training on HIPAA, and the whole crux of the issue is that NO portion of our transmission may personally identify a patient. So, as Cuyahoga did, a message such as “Patient 234, Red, en-route Cleveland VA” is perfectly acceptable. Vitals, other details might be included if necessary. I figure if all that got past the Cleveland Clinic’s immense law review, it ought to fly pretty much anywhere else! So imagine a major medical emergency with lots of victims. Put a laptop-carrying ARES communicator at the Transport Command, and send lists of information to each hospital (you DO have radios in the hospitals, right??) about what patients they’re getting. This MAJOR improvement and a great backup even for areas with computer or bar-code tracking can be worked out with your EMA/hospital directors. And these days, we don’t have to wait for a tornado or natural disaster to get into a mass casualty event. (I’d be glad to bring the HIPAA training with me on a visit to your ARES group.)

Summit ARES was faced with a technical dilemma in their planning for a major foot race. The new event envisioned placing Incident Command inside a nice conference room at Goodyear…only problem was the room was deep in the interior, with no functional access to the roof or outside. Guess what that does to RF signals, not only ham but police and fire? EC Ken Dorsey KA8OAD, and DEC Dennis Conklin AI8P were puzzling over that during a pre-meeting dinner. Their site research ~prior~ to the event saved a catastrophe come setup time!

I have to tell you about a meeting in Cincinnati to do a turnover for a new EC! DEC Steve Lewis, N8TFD, and several others involved had scheduled this meeting at a nice pub close to downtown for 1PM. At about 11, the prosecuting attorney announced a press conference to reveal his actions on the case where a UC police officer shot and killed a civilian. First, that squashed my tour of the EOC, which was fully activated to watch the situation. Second, as I found out on arrival, the pub we’d picked was DIRECTLY ACROSS THE STREET FROM UC!! Oh….my. UC immediately closed, and basically everybody just evaporated from the area. Except for the police. I parked in an empty garage, and walked into the pub to find a dozen police officers (all getting carry-out) and NOBODY else. Turns out our little group was the ONLY group in the place, which was airing the press conference on TV’s all over. At least we had good attention from the wait help. I was seriously considering a rear entrance for a quick exit, but as it turned out the streets stayed “spooky quiet”. When the meeting ended, I was very happy to make tracks!

PERSONNEL NOTICES

In any large organization there is regular turnover of members. ARES is no different. I simply don’t have words to express my appreciation to those who have served (most for a number of years) and who are still supportive of ARES in Ohio! You are my heroes and champions!  I have amassed several turnovers in Ohio counties, and I want to keep you up to speed with “who’s on first”. Again, these are my friends and I just want to say a heartfelt “Thank you!” for your service.

First, as you who know me will attest, I need lots of help!  I am thankful that several key performers have accepted Assistant Section EC responsibilities. I have one existing AEC, Gary Stephenson WW8O in Portsmouth.

Gary Hollenbaugh, NJ8BB, has championed the Ohio Digital Emergency Net since its inception. You all know this in my opinion is our strongest suit to play for safety agencies. Gary has agreed to become ASEC for OHDEN, in order to spread the ‘gospel of digital’ across Ohio. This is a great fit!  And, the EC changeover in Licking County has freed up former AEC Eldon Peterson, W5UHQ, to accept Net Manager duties for OHDEN. Eldon’s a subject matter expert on digital, and he’ll do a great job managing the daily operation of OHDEN!  
Another key initiative is ARESMAT! A great deal of credit for the organized formation of this program goes to Matt Curtin, KD8TTE. Matt finally acquiesced and accepted the ASEC rank to formally manage and place into operation the Ohio ARESMAT program.

The ARES NVIS Antenna Day was a huge success, and the reason for that goes to ADEC Tim Price, K8WFL. Tim has agreed to an ASEC position (while continuing ADEC duties in Dist. 10) to manage NVIS activities. Tim is our “Idea Guy,” and if we launch a new, fun program in ARES you can figure Tim has been involved!

With huge thanks to the outgoing, retiring EC’s and with grateful appreciation to the incoming EC’s who’ve picked up the challenge, I have a list of county changes.

Dist 3, Miami - Dave Robinson, WB8PMG - incoming: Dave Stein, KC9NVP
Dist 4, Hamilton - Aaron McKnight, KD8ILV - incoming: Brian Hoffman, KC8EGV
Dist 6, Crawford (vacant) - incoming: Matthew Miller, KD8OHN
Dist 7, Licking - Weldon Matthews, K8NQ - incoming: Bret Stemens, KD8SCL
Dist 7, Madison - Paul Yackey, KD8RMV - incoming: Keith Hughes, KD8UFD
Dist 8, Gallia - (correction) Bob Adkins, KE8EC
Dist 8, Meigs (vacant)
Dist 8, Ross (vacant) - incoming: Todd Johnson, KD8UND
Dist 9, Noble - Larry Mason, N9RAF - incoming: Gary Oliver, KD8OSI

Give them your cooperation, and a hearty “Thank you!” when you see them!

GREAT LAKES CONVENTION
Thanks for your attendance at the Great Lakes Division Convention in Columbus! We were welcomed in our ARES and NVIS sessions. Thanks to “ARES-MATT”, KD8TTE, and “The Sarge” operator Richard Wynkoop, KD8PHG for bringing their expertise to the sessions.

S.E.T. IN OHIO

The weekend of October 3 and 4 is the national Simulated Emergency Test by ARRL. Ohio was number 3 in points last year, and we hope to do more this year! Our exercise will center on a “Grid-down” power outage that affects the eastern U.S. We hope you will be able to flesh this out into a really large, effective event! We’ll activate and deploy (re-read your OSERP!) and then begin dealing with message traffic that might be seen in such a disastrous event. I will be emailing a more detailed account (minus the curve-balls which will be thrown!) so you can ready your groups! To give you the riveting, scary truth behind this event, check the Ohio ARRL website for a video. This is REAL information that you might find disturbing. Remember that feeling going into October.

Don’t forget your county can file its own S.E.T. any time. I know several counties (such as Licking and Dayton Metro) have had huge exercises, so feel free to make use. But, I hope you’ll participate October 3 because this is about as real a threat as it gets!

As always- thank you for everything you do! Let’s keep the enthusiasm going - and PLEASE consider registering as an ARESMAT operator!!


73, Stan, N8BHL

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THE PUBLIC INFORMATION COORDINATOR
John Ross, KD8IDJ

Newsletter Contest Post Script..

This year's newsletter contest is worth at least one more mention. The entries were all winners and the effort to produce, edit and publish monthly newsletters is outstanding.

Not in any other hobby will you find this much dedication and knowledge. At the award ceremony I said that many of this sections' newsletters are better that some of the commercially produced publications that call themselves newspapers! I really believe that. Unlike my local daily newspaper, your newsletters arrive on time and are full of good, new information.

Keep up the great work and congratulations to this year's winners. We keep setting the bar higher each year and all of you are up to the challenge.

Public Information Education

Even experienced PIO's, and old journalists, need a refresher now and then just for a reality check of the basics to compare them to today's new trends.

I have the great opportunity to be able to meet with a group of current and former journalists and PIO's and we discuss just that...changes in our profession.

The ARRL has an outstanding course...PR-101...that reviews all of the basic PR skills as well as some advanced material for websites and video work. You can learn more about it on the ARRL website...just search for the keyword Public Information. You can download the course from the ARRL website and once you've completed the study materials you'll be directed to a location for the final exam.

This is great stuff presented in an adult learning format. I'm a big fan of this kind of learning especially when it's put together for a more "mature" audience!! Take a look next time you're online. I think you'll like it.

I've saved all of my PR and journalism books from college and occasionally dust them off to see if there is anything I missed. The PR-101 course is much easier and won't make you sneeze!

Helping Old Hams

If you remember several issues ago, we talked about the Veterans home in Sandusky helping resident hams start up a new club. That program was a great success and there are hopes of extending it to other Veteran's facilities.

I've been talking to the Ohio Department of Aging to see if there is any possibility to help older hams at other facilities around Ohio. The department supports programs for music and memory as well other important programs for older adults. I know from personal experience over the past three years there are hams in nursing homes that are capable, and qualified, to get back on the air but lack the help, support and facilities they need. I would like to help change that if possible.

I'll have more info next month and you're welcome to send me any suggestions and ideas.

That's all for this month. I've got some catching up to do on a couple of other ideas. Hopefully I can share those with you in a few weeks.


73, John, KD8IDJ

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THE SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGER
David Maynard, WA3EZN - STM

The Great Lakes Convention at the Columbus Hamfest and was well attended. Thanks to Great Lakes Director Dale Williams, WA8EFK and Great Lakes Vice Director Tom Delaney, W8WTD for all their efforts to organize such a great event for the distinct.

Congratulations to Dick, N8CJS, who received the OSSBN Garlock award for his outstanding service to the OSSBN and National Traffic System. Dick is a regular net control station and does most of the Eighth Region phone liaison work for the OSSBN. Congratulations again Dick and thank you for all the work that you do.

I would like to remind our traffic handlers about handling instruction HXC. If you deliver a radiogram with this instruction you are to send the originating station a delivery report. This can best be done by using ARRL routine messages forty seven and sixty seven.

In ARRL forty seven you are to report the message number, who it was to and the date and time of delivery. In ARRL sixty seven you are to report the message number and the reason for non-delivery. It is also very helpful when reporting non delivery to include the phone number if it was not a good number. This allows the sending station to know that the correct number was received by the delivering station

Do You Have Emergency Power for your radios?

In a major wide spread disaster the power will probably fail. In turn the communications infrastructure will crash. There will be no am/fm radio, television or cell phone use unless backed-up by emergency power. Only hams with radios which are capable of or are running on emergency power will be able to communicate. As an emergency communication amateur radio operator, you need to have at least two sources of emergency power.  Three sources are even better.

List of possible sources of power:

1. power generator
2. extra handheld battery packs and charger
3. Alkaline battery pack
4. car battery
5. charged gell cell
6. solar power source
7. wind power source

Whichever emergency power sources you pick, you need to know the limitations and problems of those sources. All sources are explained quite well on the internet and this is intended to be a brief introduction.

For some hams, their emergency plan is that they will respond to a call from the amateur radio emergency communication organization. They intend on letting the organization worry about emergency power.  This is all right as long as it is in the plan for that organization. What if there is an emergency, no call is received, there is no call up or the organization has no back-up power?

Some hams emergency plan is limited to only the battery power left in the existing charge of their handheld transceiver. Their ability to respond is very limited and their hours of operating will be even more limited. It is not that hard to have a back-up battery plan for you HT.

It does not necessarily have to be a duplicate of the HT battery. Some larger hamfest have good used batteries for a few bucks that will extend the use of you radio or HT for emergency communication. Even better would be the ability to run or charge the radio from the car 12 volt system.

Some hams have older handheld radios and are not in a financial position to afford something newer. Older radios may have more current drain. Also older handhelds ni-cad batteries fail. There are hams who have handhelds who bought extra ni-cad battery packs but over the years as those packs were rebuilt they reached their rebuilding limit, of one or two times and they may be down to one ni-cad pack for a twenty year old handheld that has been out of production for 15 years. Some of these older handheld radios do not have the necessary CTCSS tones to access the repeaters and many organizations will not open up the repeater when necessary for those radios to work.

These hams should not feel guilty over being financially challenged in an economy as volatile as the present one. Nor should hams who have emergency communication manage responsibilities gave them a hard time. Managing hams should in fact be aware of the fact some hams cannot afford to go out and spend several hundreds of dollars on new equipment to use only during an emergency that they cannot foresee coming.

Some hams have an emergency power plan of using their own and whatever car batteries they can get their hands on in an emergency. These hams are advised to have jumper cables made up before hand in case they drain their batteries. Some hams store charged car batteries as their battery backup. This can be dangerous for they out gas hydrogen gases which are very explosive. Car batteries must be kept in a well ventilated place while charging. If hams live in a condominium or in rental housing they should confer with their CC&Rs or rental agreements. Some CC&Rs prohibit storing car batteries.

Other hams have gone and bought their own generators. It is commendable that these hams have gone to this expense. When using a generator it must be kept in the open so carbon monoxide fumes may safely dissipate.  Running a generator in an apartment's balcony or courtyard is unsafe. Never run a gasoline generator inside a house, building or garage unless it is properly and professionally installed as the exhaust fumes are deadly. Never connect the generator to the house electrical system without professional help as this could cause damage when the electricity comes back on or it could back feed into the power grid and cause death or injury to an electric company employee fixing the power lines.

The gas powered generator presents a gasoline storage problem. Again, hams in condos or rental may be prohibited from storing gasoline. There may even be municipal ordinances in some jurisdictions outlawing residents from storing gasoline. Gasoline is highly explosive. It could be a bomb even in small quantities. Terrorists and criminals use small containers of gas to make Molotov cocktail bombs. You stored gasoline may become such a bomb accidentally.

Even leaving gasoline in the generator in between uses is a problem - a spark may cause a fire or explosion in some cases. Now with the E10 and E15 gasoline the generator can be damaged if you leave gasoline with ethanol in the generator tank.

There are propane gas generators that use the propane tanks like you use on you gas grill but these are hard to find and very expensive. Some generators are specifically made to run on natural gas and can be professionally installed in a permanent location, some may even have automatic start system attached.

Solar panels are a clean energy source. They offer low power output. The problem with solar power is it usefulness diminished when the sun is not out or it is an overcast day. Another disadvantage of solar power is you have to have storage (batteries) and a charging regulator. Solar panels are an expensive solution but new technologies have made them more efficient and in some cases less expensive. They are worth the effort to checking them out for your power needs.

That is enough for now. Until next time find a local or state traffic net to check into and learn how to handle formal written traffic. It come in handy during an emergency.

73 and 88 if appropriate, David, WA3EZN

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OUT AND ABOUT IN SOUTHEAST OHIO
Lyn Alfman, N8IMW - Assistant Section Manager (SE)

In the last month I attended the Cambridge Amateur Radio Association (CARA) and Zanesville Amateur Radio Club (ZARC) meetings, the Muskingum County A.R.E.S. meeting, and the Guernsey County Emergency Management Agency Long Term Recovery Committee, and I participated in an amateur radio test session.

Section Manager Scott Yonally, N8SY, attended the July 25 CARA meeting and presented President Sonny Alfman, on behalf of the club, its new Special Service Club certificate. Scott also talked about the changes in the Vanity call sign fees and the reason for the new ARRL membership fees starting next year. Thanks, Scott, for the visit and presentation!

I also attended the Great Lakes Division Conference in conjunction with the Columbus Hamfest. I did check out the indoor vendor tables, but I didn’t have time to check out the outdoor vendors because I sat in on the A.R.E.S., NVIS, and HF Digital Sound Modes forums.

I also attended the GLD ARRL Forum where I enjoyed listening to the keynote speaker, Debra Johnson, K1DMJ, who is the ARRL Education Services Manager. I very was surprised and pleased to learn that I had received Honorable Mention as Editor of the CARA Communicator in the Ohio Section Newsletter Contest. I also took part in the ARRL Wouff Hong Ceremony. It was fun! After the Conference, we stopped by Universal Radio aka the Candy Store for some supplies.

I am typing this with just one hand since I had carpal tunnel release surgery on my left hand on August 5. Hopefully, I will be completely healed by the time the next report is due.

On a local note, several CARA members are planning to carpool to DX Engineering to check out their in store only August Hot Deals on August 15 and 16. I am looking forward to participating in the Ohio QSO Party on August 22. My husband, Sonny, and I are hosting a QSO party from our home in Muskingum County. We will be operating under W8FHF. Other members of CARA will be operating from AB8P Jim Shaw’s home in Guernsey County under the club call W8VP. Also, on August 23 at 2 PM, CARA is having a picnic at Jackson Park in Byesville, which is open to hams, “wannabees”, their families, and guests. Attendees are requested to supply a covered dish, their own place settings, and beverages. After the meal, new members will be paired up with a seasoned member for a Fox Hunt because most have never seen or participated in one. I look forward to having a good meal and a fun time with great friends—old and new! Come join us.

Until next month, remember to be Radio Active!


73, Lyn, N8IMW

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FROM THE “SARGE” (W8SGT) STATE OF OHIO EOC
By Gayle Adams, W8KWG
w8kwg4@gmail.com 

When was the last time you participated in a drill? What was the scenario and what did you learn from it? Was there an after-action meeting or report?

Think about these things the next time you participate in a county or statewide drill. We can participate in drills until we are blue in the face, but we never know what we will face when we do the real thing. Drills are great for honing your skills and can prove to be great eye-openers.

Have you ever planned an exercise for your local club or county EOC? If not, now is the time to start putting on your thinking caps and pull out some pencils and paper and bouncing off ideas in your club.

Think of a scenario. This needs to be as realistic as possible. You don’t have to have a complicated scenario in mind, but it needs to be real. You could have a drill in which a cyberattack takes place in your state, which disrupts 9-1-1 services, the Internet in general, and maybe even the power grid. You could even have a scenario where bio-terrorism plays a major role.

Assign roles. Everyone needs to know his/her role in the exercise. Everyone needs to make use of specific talents; for instance, being an NCS or handling incoming traffic using ICS 213 forms.

Set a date and time. You can be spontaneous if you like, but also keep in mind that club members might have day or evening jobs and/or families to attend to. Set a date and time everyone agrees to. We all know disasters can be spontaneous and can happen at any time.

Keep communication logs. Logs must be clear and concise. When a drill is in progress, this usually falls in the hands of the NCS. Keep records of any inbound/outbound traffic, if necessary. You don’t need to write down every little thing that happens, but if it’s important, jot it down. Take this information to the debriefing.
Hotwash. This is the time when all members who participated in the drill can sit down and discuss what went wrong and what went right, as well as what members learned during the drill. The communications log can be shared during this time. You may ask yourself “What if this had been the real thing?” Could we have done things differently? The hotwash should also take place after a real disaster, so that all those who volunteered their time and talents can not only share ideas but learn from the exercise or disaster as well.

What do you hope to achieve during your next drill? SET is not very far off, so let’s start thinking about that as well. You will be hearing more about SET in an upcoming article from W8SGT. 

See you all on Tuesday night. Speaking of which, we had only Four check-ins this past Tuesday, (8/4) all on 75 meters. Hopefully, fall will be here soon, and the check-ins will increase.

73, de W8KWG   

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HAPPENINGS FROM CENTRAL OHIO
Fritz Tender, WD8E - Assistant Section Manager (Central)

Dateline August 2, 2015

I had the pleasure of attending the Columbus Hamfest / Great Lakes Division Convention hosted by the Voice of Aladdin (VOA) Amateur Radio Club (W8FEZ) at the Aladdin Shrine Center 3850 Stelzer Road Columbus. It is my understanding that Amateur Radio was the last activity and demolition has begun.

A tip of my hat to everyone involved in the planning and operation of the event. I recall a time when the Columbus Hamfest was on the mat but, through hard work the event has seen a steady resurgence. I do not have official figures but, I did hear a ticket numbered in the 600’s pulled from the prize drum.

This year I had an inside table where I sold excess equipment. You know the stuff we accumulate through the years for a project we are sure to complete someday. The best part of having a table was the opportunity for eyeball QSO’s with old friends as they walked by. Again, a testimony to the growing popularly of the “fest”.

Let’s not forget the forums, presentations, and ceremonies that took place. The Wouff Hong was a hit. If you never attended a Wouff Hong I encourage you to do so. It’s a fun event with a serious message the goes all the back to “The Old Man”.

However, in this case the end of one era is the beginning of another. A new Shrine Center has been procured and renovations are taking place. Watch for updates as this project move toward the 2016 Columbus Hamfest / Great Lakes Division Convention.

C U Down the Log, 73, Fritz, WD8E

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FROM THE EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH ASM
Anthony Luscre, K8ZT
k8zt@arrl.net 

Back to School with Amateur Radio..

As usual, I really need your help in identifying schools and/or individual teachers that are interested in bringing Radio Technology into their classroom instruction. If you can let me know of interested parties, I will be happy to work directly with them.

A few tips on contacting potential teachers/schools, “Education Speak” can go a long way to breaking down normal barriers to accepting new things in their schools:

• Stress the phrase “Radio Technology in The Classroom” as your description, not Ham or Amateur Radio in the classroom. This often scares them away. Don’t worry I will work on the Amateur Radio aspects of the project once I have them “hooked”.

• Let them know that this includes “free standards aligned curriculum and lesson plans”

• Let them know that “this works very well in conjunction with new or existing STEM programs”


• Tell them there is “free professional development available” for interested teachers/schools.

• Have them email me at my “work/school” email anthony.luscre@apps.sparcc.org not my usual k8zt@arrl.net.

• Do not limit your solicitation to High Schools, teachers/schools at middle school and younger are often the prime targets.

Please also send me an email, so I can watch for and/or remind them of your conversation with them. Thank you for your help.

73, Anthony, K8ZT

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LET'S TALK
Scott Yonally, N8SY - Section Manager

Hi Gang,

Wow, can you believe it, summer is almost over already! Some schools have already started, and that means Friday Night Football and all sorts of school activities are resuming. This has been one of the busiest summers that I can ever remember. I’ve traveled all over the state visiting with all of you at your hamfests, club meetings, picnics and breakfast’s. It’s been fantastic! I’ve enjoyed every minute of it!

Being the editor of this journal I get to read every article before it gets sent out.. By now I’m sure you are aware that Jim Yoder, W8ERW is stepping down. Jim is moving to the big state of Texas where he’ll be taking up residency. I’m sure that everyone would agree when I say “Jim, we wish you the very best of everything and we will miss you for sure! Texas is getting a really super guy!! Thanks for your friendship and service to the Ohio Section over these many, many years.”

Columbus Hamfest / Division Convention wrap-up.. What can I say, it was a “GREAT DAY.” The attendance was great ( way over 500 ), the forums were great, and attended extremely well. The vendors were great, lots of neat things to buy and swap. The flea market outside was great. Heck, even the weather was great. It was the absolutely perfect hamfest/convention! We even had over 40 people stay way after the hamfest was wrapping up and go through the Wouff Hong. By the way, even that was great. The Wouff Hong was the very last performance to be given on that stage, as that the building will be coming down very shortly to make way for more shopping. Everyone that I have talked to at the fest and afterward has said the same thing, it was great!! Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together like that!! I do want to thank the Director and Vice Director of the Great Lakes, as well as the guys from the Aladdin Shrine Amateur Radio Club for bringing this all together like they did.  

Newsletter Contest results..

What can be said that hasn’t already about the quality of newsletters in the state of Ohio!! Joe Phillips, K8QOE would be extremely proud of all the editors that work so very hard to get each edition of their newsletters out. It truly is a testament to Joe and the work he did as PIC and SM over his many years in wanting/demanding that the quality of our newsletters improve every year. 

So, without further Aude, here are the results straight from John Ross, KD8IDJ - our PIC / Newsletter Contest Manager..

“WOW! What a night. I just came from one of the liveliest discussions/debates that journalists have had since Watergate!!!

All of the talk was about the Ohio Section 2015 Newsletters. It was increditable, insightful, and unpredictable.

At the end of the night, almost simultaneously, the judges used the word...EVOLVE! They were surprised that, in just a year, our newsletters were changing, evolving and adapting to both their audiences and to technology. They all thought that after last year the judging would be easier...but our folks made it harder...in a good way by raising the bar and showing why Amateur Radio is what it is...the greatest hobby in the world!

The newsletters reflect what hams do every day...evolve with the technology, experiment with new ideas and concepts, and push the limits of communications to new heights. It's a great explanation point for our member's efforts and a reflection of their passion and dedication.

So, here are the 2015 ARRL Ohio Section Newsletter Contest winners:

1st Place...DELARA NEWS. Great graphics, easy to navigate, draws you in and easy to read.

2nd Place...The TM&K. Informative, unique, "smooth" graphics and easy to find special sections. One of the judges commented that if he were looking to learn more about amateur radio, the TM&K would be a great start.

3rd Place...a three way tie!!! The MVARA Voice Coil, the Mount Vernon Radio Club and the PCARS Radiogram. All slick publications, well organized, great layouts and easy to read articles and information.

Honorable Mention...The CARA Communicator. Well thought out, well laid out and good use of BOLD headlines to separate stories and articles.

After tonight, it's easy to see why the Ohio Section has the best and most talented crop of editors, writers and newsletters. There was no doubt in the judge's minds that Ohio newsletters win hands down against any other section! I knew what to expect. I read every newsletter and it was hard to hide my enthusiasm and joy watching the judges actually get excited about this contest!!!

That's it for tonight. It's been a blast and an honor to be a part of this process.”  Thanks John..

Now for my part in all of this. I was asked to manage the Great Lakes Division Newsletter contest. My judges had even a harder time of picking a winner since they were judging the “Best of the Best.” But, they did choose one, and I’m proud to announce “DELARA News” from Ohio was the winner. Stan Broadway, N8BHL is their editor. Congratulations Stan and the Delaware Club for the outstanding job that you all do each month! 

As many of you have noted in your newsletters, I’m making a very conscience effort to get to as many club functions and meetings as I can all around the state. As you know, the Ohio Section is the largest Section in the country. It’s even bigger than a Division or two. So, with that in mind, it’s only fair to say that Ohio also deserves to have a full time Section Manager. So, don’t be surprised when I just “pop-in” at your meeting or function.

I have four Boy Scouts that have been studying very hard over this summer and will be taking their Technician Class license exams very soon. I figure as hard as they all are studying and asking questions of me, and a number of other folks proctoring them, they will ALL pass with flying colors. Keep your fingers crossed for them. They will be taking their exams at the end of this month.

Now, if you’ve never visited a Boy Scout Troupe meeting, I would encourage you to do so. It’s a lot of fun and wow.. are these kids ever bright! I am working on scheduling more visits with the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, and YES, even the Girl Scouts this next coming fall/winter. There’s a lot of potential there that needs tapped for sure.

CLUB LEADERSHIP.. You need to make sure that your club is involved with youth groups. Make sure that you have a contact with the local Boy Scouts / Girl Scouts as well as a teacher or teachers from the middle schools involved with your club.. Don’t forget, the youth of today will be taking over this great “hobby” of ours, but not without your support and willingness to bring them along. These kids are out there, YOU just need to take the first step forward and approach them on it.

**Club Presidents.. Are you passing along that vital information that needs to go to your successor?? I’m finding that the reason for a lot of clubs being behind on their club record updates to not only the League, but also to the State of Ohio and the Internal Revenue Service (for those who are 501 (c) (3) organizations) is primarily because the newly elected club president wasn’t informed that this was something needed to be done. Let me make a suggestion here.. Put a paragraph or two into your by-laws that state ALL club records are to be reviewed at least once each year, and definitely when a new president takes over. This will help not only the president, but the club members as well. Everyone looking out to see that the club records have been updated is a good thing. You might also want to make sure that it states somewhere who’s supposed to be responsible for making sure that the records are completed as well. This way everyone knows who is responsible for what.

Are you getting those emails from the Great Lakes Director or Section Manager? Now, for those of you who may not want to go to all the bother of checking your account with the League, or you are just not League members, you still have a chance to get these important emails. All you have to do is to “Opt-In” to receive them. There’s a link to do this on the Ohio Section website, it’s on the bottom left corner.. For your convenience, here’s a direct link to it: 
http://arrl-ohio.org/forwarder/forwarding.html   I urge all of you to make sure that everyone, regardless of whether they are a League member or not, get signed up for one of these options. You can always “Opt-Out” at any time if you feel this is not what you were expecting. But, who in their right mind would want to miss out on anything coming out of the Great Lakes Director or the Ohio Section Manager?

Switching gears a bit.. I want to talk to all of you about the Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015 -- H.R.1301 in the US House of Representative and S 1685 in the US Senate --  It would direct the FCC to extend its rules relating to reasonable accommodation of Amateur Service communications to private land use restrictions.  Now I do want to stress this, even if this passes, it doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be able to construct an antenna farm on top of your 20 story apartment building. What it will do however, is at least give you a voice to the HOA’s for something everyone could live with!

The Amateur Radio Parity Act would require the FCC to amend its Part 97 Amateur Service rules to apply the three-part test of the PRB-1 federal pre-emption policy to include homeowners association regulations and deed restrictions, often referred to as "covenants, conditions, and restrictions" (CC&Rs). At present, PRB-1 only applies to state and local zoning laws and ordinances. The FCC has been reluctant to extend the same legal protections to include private land-use agreements without direction from Congress.

Everyone.. whether ARRL members or not, I want to urge you to write to your members of both the House and the Senate, asking them to sign on to the bill as a co-sponsor. Please, route your letters for your member of Congress to:

ARRL
Attn  HR 1301 grassroots campaign
225 Main St
Newington CT 06111



Remember - a big bag of letters from the constituents is always more impressive than ones trickling in day after day. 

The Ohio Section Website.. You can find the Ohio Section Website at: http://arrlohio.org. If you don’t have this website set as your home page, I urge you to do so. This website is one of the exceptions to the rules.. It changes all the time. It’s never stagnating, and I would highly recommend that you check into the website at least 3 times per week or more if you can. Yes, it does change that much! Now, how do I know so much about the website?? I’m the webmaster for it!

Ohio's Speaker Bureau.. Need a speaker for your club meeting? I’m available. Please, feel free to give me a call. I’ll do my very best to be at your function.

Yes, there’s another NEW – one question – questionnaire on the Ohio Section Website. I’ve been changing the questions about once every couple of weeks or so. It only asks one question and it will take all of about 2 seconds for you to answer it, and you can see how your answer stacks up with others instantly. If you haven’t done it yet, please do.. I really want to hear from you.

Are you a member of the ARRL?? If you aren’t a League member, this is a great opportunity to become one. Want more information on how to join? Here’s the link: http://www.arrl.org/membership-levels. There’s even a 90 day FREE trial that you can apply for if you’ve never been a member.. Got questions about being a member or what the League is all about? Send me an email.. n8sy@arrl.org I’ll be happy to call or write to you or even call you if you’ve given me your phone number. We can even have coffee if you’d like.. and I’ll buy!!

Ok.. I know that I push the website and website edition of the Ohio Section Journal a lot.. I’m even sure some of you think it’s way tooooo much. But, the main reason for pushing this so hard is that it’s where all the news is.. Yes, I know that there are some who don’t even own a computer and won’t own one either, and that makes me very sad. Not that they won’t own a computer, but they are missing out on so much that’s going on because of it. These a lot of very good and exciting news and happenings on the Ohio Section website.. If it isn’t your home page on your browser, it should be!!

Do you follow us on Facebook or Twitter? Many folks have started picking us up on Facebook and Twitter now. Yes, we definitely have a presence on both of these social media areas! Why, well that’s an easy one to answer, it’s because that’s where the younger folks are hanging out these days.. It’s also a very quick way to post a short blast to everyone following us when something is happening. So, with that in mind, there’s a lot going on up on Facebook and Twitter for the Ohio Section. Right now, we have over 1,300 followers from all over the world, with that number growing every day. So, do you follow us? On Facebook just type in:
https://www.facebook.com/ohio.section On Twitter type in: @arrlohio

There’s a new link on the left side of the main page of the Ohio Section Website “Follow The Section Manager” Come on, follow me as I go around the state visiting with all of you folks. I post pictures of where I am and have a lot of great folks commenting and liking my posts. Hey, I even have Kay Cragie, the President of the ARRL following along with me. It’s a lot of fun and you’ll get to see all the places I go and the folks I meet along the way. Not on Facebook? It’s easy to join in and the best part of it is, it’s FREE!!


73, Scott, N8SY

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THE OFFICIAL OBSERVER COORDINATOR
John Perone, W8RXX

If you have a complaint about something you’ve heard or observed on the air, please contact me and we can discuss it. You also have the ability to file a complaint directly with the FCC as well. Go to:  https://esupport.fcc.gov/ccmsforms/form2000.action?form_type=2000F and complete the on-line form, it will then be forwarded to the appropriate person for follow up action.

Here’s the stats for July in Ohio..

Total Ohio OO Hours monitored = 920
OO Cards sent = 2
Good Cards sent = 2


73, John, W8RXX

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OHIO QSO PARTY RULE CHANGES..
Jim Stahl, K8MR

The Mad River Radio Club and Ohio QSO Party Committee are pleased to announce significant changes in the Ohio QSO Party, effective for the 2015 event which will be held on Saturday, August 22.

We have decided to replace the serial number in the contest exchange with a signal report. While it was fun to watch the competition in real time, we believe the confusion caused with an exchange format different from that used in other concurrent events caused people to avoid participating in the OhQP if they were also involved in one of the other contests. So now, one can just treat the multiple contests as one big one covering several states and work everybody with the same exchange.

Secondarily, keeping track of serial numbers made things difficult for mobiles while in motion, and often caused confusion for multi-operator efforts using several operating positions.

We will be contacting software developers to update their software to the new OhQP exchange. While we hope all will be able to get updated logging software in time for the 2015 OhQP, for now we will still be able to process logs showing a sent serial number; just log the received RS(T) in the received number field.

In a second, relatively minor change, the use of CW Skimmer and similar automated spotting tools will be allowed for single operator stations. (Note - the use of the regular spotting networks by single operators has been allowed for many years). We do hope that stations using Skimmers will share their bounties of cool OhQP stations found with the rest of the world via the regular DX Clusters.

We're looking forward to seeing lots of you in the 2015 Ohio QSO Party, Saturday, August 22, 1600Z to 0400Z August 23!

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SUMMITS-ON-THE-AIR
Elliott Pisor, K6EL

North America SOTA Activity Weekend 2015 (September 12th & 13th) is a casual event involving tiny battery-powered radios on mountain summits. It is not a contest but is intended to introduce "Summits on the Air" to newcomers with home stations who try to work summit operators during one or two days. There are no rules regarding power levels, modes or number of bands worked, but please be courteous when more than one station is trying to talk to a SOTA operator on a summit. The SOTA operators have just climbed mountains as high as 14,000 feet; they use low power; and they don't receive on split frequencies.

Check SOTAWATCH.org to spot who is on which mountain. Summits are numbered, and you can hover your cursor over the number to see the name and point value for each summit. Expect the website to show activity near 7.032, 7.185, 10.110, 14.342, 18.095, 18.155, 21.350, 24.905, 24.955, 28.420, 146.52, 446.00, and 61 Khz up from the bottom of 20, 15 and 10 meters CW. Participants are invited to collect points toward certificates and trophies offered by the thirteen-year-old international SOTA group (SOTA.org.UK). As we learned in past years, this is a barrel of fun for both hill climbers and home operators. See you then.

The folks at http://NA-SOTA.org

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SPECIAL EVENTS STATIONS IN OHIO


09/03/2015 | 193rd Great Geauga County Fair
Sep 3-Sep 7, 1500Z-2200Z, W8G, Burton, OH.
Geauga Amateur Radio Association.
14.280 7.245. QSL. 
Jackie Williams, N8JMW
PO Box 192
Windsor, OH 44099.

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09/12/2015 | The 164th Annual Wyandot County Fair "Worth Crowing About"
Sep 12, 1400Z-2000Z, KD8BNV, Upper Sandusky, OH.
Wyandot Area Ham Operators Organization.
28.360 21.360 14.260 7.260.
Certificate & QSL.
Ron Wilch
6497 County Highway 61
Upper Sandusky, OH 43351.

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OHIO HAMFEST CALENDAR

08/23/2015 | Cuyahoga Falls ARC's 7th Annual Tailgate Hamfest
Location: Stow, OH
Sponsor: Cuyahoga Falls Amateur Radio Club

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09/13/2015 | Findlay Hamfest
Location: Findlay, OH
Sponsor: Findlay Radio Club

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09/19/2015 | OH-KY-IN ARS Hamfest
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Sponsor: OH-KY-IN Amateur Radio Society

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Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds
09/27/2015 | Cleveland Hamfest and Computer Show
Location: Berea, OH
Sponsor: Hamfest Association of Cleveland

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HELP WANTED


As you know, we have a Cabinet level position to fill, Technical Coordinator. I am taking applications for the position through the end of August. If you have what it takes to fill the position, please apply. You’ll find the job description for Technical Coordinator just below. Please send me your Amateur Radio resume along with your contact information to: n8sy@arrl.org to be considered

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Technical Coordinator (TC)

The ARRL Technical Coordinator (TC) is a section-level official appointed by the Section Manager to coordinate all technical activities within the section. The Technical Coordinator reports to the Section Manager and is expected to maintain contact with other section-level appointees as appropriate to insure a unified ARRL Field Organization within the section.

Requirements: Novice class license or higher; Full ARRL membership

Responsibilities:

Supervise and coordinate the work of the section's Technical Specialists (TS).

Encourage amateurs in the section to share their technical achievements with others through the pages of QST, and at club meetings, hamfests and conventions.

Promote technical advances and experimentation at vhf/uhf and with specialized modes, and work closely with enthusiasts in these fields within the section.

Serve as an advisor to radio clubs that sponsor training programs for obtaining amateur licenses or upgraded licenses in cooperation with the ARRL Affiliated Club Coordinator.

In times of emergency or disaster, function as the coordinator for establishing an array of equipment for communications use and be available to supply technical expertise to government and relief agencies to set up emergency communications networks, in cooperation with the ARRL Section Emergency Coordinator.

Refer amateurs in the section who need technical advice to local TS.

Encourage clubs to develop, and TS to serve on, RFI and TVI committees in the section for the purpose of rendering technical assistance as needed.

Be available to assist local technical program committees in arranging suitable programs for ARRL hamfests and conventions.

Convey the views of section amateurs and TS's about the technical contents of QST and ARRL books to ARRL HQ. Suggestions for improvements should also be called to the attention of the ARRL HQ technical staff.

Work with the appointed ARRL TA's (technical advisors) when called upon.

Be available to give technical talks at club meetings, hamfests and conventions in the section.

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