In this issue:
-> SPECIAL DRAWING TO BE
HELD AT THE DAYTON HAMVENTION
-> DAYTON HAMVENTION EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS UNIT
DISPLAY
-> FIELD DAY MESSAGES – AN
EASY 300 POINTS FOR SURE – PLUS MORE
-> 2016 OHIO FIELD DAY
PROCLAMATION NOW ON-LINE
-> SPECIAL STORY OF
INTEREST
-> THE TECHNICAL COORDINATOR
-> AFFILIATED CLUB
COORDINATOR REPORT
-> NATIONAL PARKS ON THE
AIR
-> THE SECTION EMERGENCY
COORDINATOR
-> THE PUBIC INFORMATION
COORDINATOR
-> THE SECTION TRAFFIC
MANAGER
-> THE STATE GOVERNMENT
LIAISON
-> OUT AND ABOUT
-> CENTRAL OHIO HAPPENINGS
-> WHATS HAPPENING IN SOUTHWEST OHIO
-> FROM THE SCOUTING ASM
-> REVAMPING THE OHIO
SPEAKERS BUREAU
-> LET'S TALK
-> THE OFFICIAL OBSERVER
COORDINATOR
-> FINDING A FOX
-> WEBSITE STATS
-> SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS
IN OHIO
-> OHIO HAMFEST CALENDAR
****************************************************
SPECIAL DRAWING TO BE HELD AT
THE DAYTON HAMVENTION
Hey Gang,
I wanted to do something
different and special for our Dayton Hamvention booth this year. Knowing just
how popular the Handbook Give Away has become with all of you, I’ve decided to
have a special drawing just for the Dayton Hamvention.
Yes, there will be a Handbook
given away, but there will also be some other items too. In particular there
will be a $50 and $25 ARRL Gift Certificate given away as well.
So, how do you get registered
for this “GIVE AWAY”? Easy, just stop by
the Ohio Section Booth Friday, Saturday or Sunday during the Hamvention and
sign up. We’ll have a registration form for you to fill out and drop in the
box, that’s it. The drawing will be held after Hamvention, so you don’t have to
be present to win.
The Ohio Section Booth will
be easy to find as that it will be located right across from the ARRL Membership
and Store at the end of the isle in the ARRL area of Hamvention.
How will I know who won?
Easy, the winners will be posted on the Ohio Section Website: http://arrlohio.org on Monday, May 23rd.. The prizes will be mailed out to the winners immediately
following them being posted on the website.
Everyone stopping by the
booth and filling out the form is eligible to win. Please, only enter once to
give everyone a chance to win.
Good Luck to everyone
entering.
****************************************************
DAYTON HAMVENTION EMERGENCY
COMMUNICATIONS UNIT DISPLAY
Emergency communications
groups such as ARES, RACES, MARS, CERT, SALVATION ARMY, DHS, NATIONAL GUARD,
CGAUX or any groups who have a sincere interest in emergency communications are
invited to display their emergency communications TRAILERS, VANS, TRUCKS or
other displays at Dayton Hamvention.
This is an opportunity to
show off working units and their capabilities to the 25,000+ attendees at
Hamvention. There are many groups that are thinking about building units and
would get beneficial ideas from displayed units.
Set up is on Thursday May 19,
2016. The order of arrival and parking depends on the type of displays and
their size.
General admission tickets are
provided for 5 people and two parking passes included. The coordinator will
require the names and calls of the display’s team to receive a ticket.
Please consider to have units
fully manned, functional and demonstrate its capabilities throughout the
show. Organizers encourage teams to have
flyers or handouts describing the unit its parent organization organization.
Remember, this is also about sharing information and ideas!
Organizers hope to hear from
interested parties as soon as possible as space is limited! Please contact
NJ8BB, Gary Hollenbaugh to reserve a space at the EMComm Display!
73,
NJ8BB, Gary Hollenbaugh
Ecomm display coordinator
937-503-7070
****************************************************
FIELD DAY MESSAGES – AN EASY
300 POINTS FOR SURE – PLUS MORE
Each year, hundreds of Field Day operations try and find every
advantage to earn as many points as possible. But many overlook bonus point
categories that can add a reliable 300 points to your group score: the group
participation NTS message to the ARRL Section Manager, the W1AW Field Day
bulletin, and the NTS traffic handling bonus.
Each Field Day group should generate a
formal NTS-style piece to their ARRL Section Manager and Section Emergency
Coordinator. This message should include the group’s name,
their location for Field Day, and the number of ARES members participating in
the event.
NOTE:.. Since I will be on the road visiting a number of sites for
Field Day, please send these pieces of traffic to me via OSSBN – www.ossbn.org for details about the net, or you can find
them on (3.972.5MHz.)
This may mean that your group may have to take one of your
stations away from operating normal Field Day contacts, your group is awarded
the 100-point bonus for taking the time to pass this piece of traffic. To claim
this bonus, you must submit a copy of the formal message with your Field Day
entry. Note: The Section Manager
message does not count as one of the 10 NTS messages for bonus points.
For more details about how to
handle these messages, please go to:
www.arrl-ohio.org/FD_Message.html
www.arrl-ohio.org/FD_Message.html
NEW FIELD DAY BONUS POINTS
OPPORTUNITIES
The
2016 Field Day has two new ways to earn extra points for your group's efforts.
One is a new "Safety Officer" position and the other is related to
promoting your Field Day via "Social Media."
Safety
Officer.. is a critical concern during Field Day. Every year the Field
Day packet contains a Safety Check List that all stations should follow.
Beginning 2016, all Class A entries can earn an additional 100 points by
designating a member of their group as "Safety Officer." This
person must verify that all safety concerns on the Safety Check List have been
adequately met.
The
Safety Officer position is to be taken seriously. Real oversight is required;
appointing a Safety Officer, affirming that all items on the Safety Check List
have been completed properly, must be included with a groups Field Day entry
with all other supporting documentation.
Social
Media.. There have been many PR and publicity bonus points available in
Field Day for a very long time. The addition of a social media bonus makes
promoting your Field Day event even easier than before.
Social
Media refers to any online platform that promotes being connected with friends
and family.. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn are five
examples of allowed Social Media platforms.
The
Social Media bonus points will only apply on recognized social media platforms
and NOT your clubs website.
For
more details on these two additional ways of earning bonus points please read
the full details in the June 2016 edition of QST (page 72).
****************************************************
2016 OHIO FIELD DAY
PROCLAMATION NOW ON-LINE
Hey Gang,
Just wanted to let you know,
if you haven’t already found it, that you can view and print the governor’s
Proclamation for the 2016 Field Day on-line. Go to:
www.arrl-ohio.org/SGL/sgl.html to get your copy for your Field Day site.
You can also find a sample Press Release for your Field Day activities as well.
www.arrl-ohio.org/SGL/sgl.html to get your copy for your Field Day site.
You can also find a sample Press Release for your Field Day activities as well.
Thanks to Nick, K8NAP our
State Government Liaison (SGL) for getting the governor to take time out of his
busy schedule and getting this Proclamation for us.
****************************************************
SPECIAL STORY OF INTEREST
From the ARRL website..
Missouri
Radio Amateur Petitions FCC to Designate “Symbol Communication” Subbands (05/11/2016)
James E. Whedbee, N0ECN, of
Gladstone, Missouri, has petitioned the FCC to designate Morse
(radiotelegraphy) Amateur Radio band segments as “symbol communication”
subbands. The FCC has invited comments on his Petition for Rule Making (RM-11769), filed on May 2. Arguing that retaining the current regime of
“legacy” CW subbands has proven to be grossly inefficient, Whedbee said he’d
like to see the FCC delete all privilege restrictions that limit any part of
the Amateur Radio spectrum to Morse code to the exclusion of other modes.
“Nostalgia for retention of Morse code telegraphy-only subbands is also an insufficient reason to avoid moving forward to [the] elimination of such subbands, because nothing about this Petition suggests the elimination of the mode itself, only that it not be the sole authorized mode in the subject subbands,” Whedbee told the FCC.
“Nostalgia for retention of Morse code telegraphy-only subbands is also an insufficient reason to avoid moving forward to [the] elimination of such subbands, because nothing about this Petition suggests the elimination of the mode itself, only that it not be the sole authorized mode in the subject subbands,” Whedbee told the FCC.
Whedbee characterized CW-only
subbands as “an excessive regulatory constraint, as well as a poor use of the
spectrum concerned.” He proposed that the FCC’s Part 97 rules reflect the
“ultimate form of communication reproduced at the receiving end.” As he
explained it, his regulatory scheme would break down modes into three
categories — “symbol communication mode” — for CW, digital, and other emission
modes that reproduce a discrete symbol on the receiving end — “voice mode,” and
“image mode.”
“[C]ontinuing regulation by
specific emission designator is proving to be onerous with changes to the state
of the art,” Whedbee said. “Accordingly, to continue developing the state of
the art in radiocommunications, Amateur Radio needs to clearly get away from
regulating in that fashion and return to consideration of what the receiving
end of the communication reproduces.”
He proposed that where the
Part 97 rules refer to exclusive radiotelegraphy allocations — or subbands —
privileges be changed to reflect symbol communication modes. Where the rules
prohibit voice and image modes, he would revise the rules to reflect symbol
communication modes. In situations where current rules prohibit symbol
communication modes other than Morse, that voice and image modes would be
permitted, “with an exception for manually keyed” radiotelegraphy.
For example, he would drop
the distinction between 75 meters and 80 meters, authorizing symbol
communication modes between 3.5 MHz and 3.65 MHz, and voice and image modes
between 3.65 MHz and 4 MHz, with manual radiotelegraphy authorized throughout
the band.
Whedbee told the FCC that, if
his Petition is
accepted for filing and put on public notice, he would submit an appendix
spelling out proposed service rules as part of his Petition.
Commenters have 30 days to
respond to Whedbee’s Petition.
****************************************************
THE TECHNICAL COORDINATOR
Jeff Kopcak - TC
Hey Gang,
I’ve wanted to do this
article for some time but kept putting it off due to more relevant and timely
topics. Ham Radio Podcasts. With Dayton quickly approaching, you’re
likely to see many of these hosts at Hamvention. If you’re not, you may have seen them in the
past and wondered “what’s a podcast?”
The creator or distributor
maintains a list of episodes known as a “web feed” which provides users with
updates. RSS (Really Simple Syndication)
is used to publish frequently updated information. The RSS rippling signal icon with headphones
or microphone signifies a podcast feed.
An app known as a “podcatcher” monitors the web feed for new
content. The app then notifies the user
or downloads the episode automatically.
Once the file is downloaded, it’s available offline where you don’t need
to be connected to the Internet. In this
way someone can download a number of episodes and listen to them at a remote
camping site with no Internet. This is
different than YouTube or Netflix where a connection to the internet is
required to view content on demand.
The first podcast was
believed to be released around 2003.
This technology really became popular with the growth of the internet
and portable media devices like the IPod.
Podcasts cover a vast range of topics including: movies, news, science,
comedy, interviews, storytelling, health, love, self-improvement, music, food,
business, sports, pop culture, and farming.
The list… goes on. There really
is something for everyone. Podcast
technology is considered disruptive because the radio business spends a lot to
provide content to wide-ranging audiences.
Podcasts have shown that preconceptions of audiences, production, and
consumption are no longer traditional.
Sure some podcasts are produced in studios with professional
equipment. The majority are recorded
using similar pieces of gear found in your ham shack: professional microphone,
mixer, computer, internet connection to bring in guests, and maybe a video
camera or webcam thrown in there too.
Anyone can do it!
On the flip side, since anyone
can do it, episodes depend on schedules of the host(s). Some release on a weekly schedule, some
monthly, others “as time permits.” Some
podcasters have been around awhile.
While others try it out and decide it’s too much effort.
I consume podcasts using my
phone. If you do the same, know the
limits of your phone’s data plan and use Wi-Fi when possible. Video files in particular can be very large
depending on quality (hundreds of megabytes to a gigabyte). Podcatcher apps are available on every platform. Check the ‘app store’ for your device.
PocketCasts is my
favorite. It’s available on Apple and
Android devices for about $4. I think
it’s the nicest looking app and it’s easy to discover podcasts. Stitcher is another popular app, and
free. Apple ITunes, Google Play, and
TuneIn have podcast directories.
Poddirectory (poddirectory.com) is great for desktop users. Also devices like the Roku, Chromecast, and
Apple TV allow for viewing on a TV.
Podcasts are free. Many are supported through sponsors. In the same way that podcasts are targeted
for special interests, the ads typically are too. Some ask for support and donations in lieu of
advertisements. Others don’t ask for any
support. If you find any podcast useful
or you regularly listen, show your support for the work they are doing by
throwing them a couple bucks or visiting their sponsors. It does cost money for equipment, bandwidth,
storage, projects demonstrated, and services needed to bring you a wonderful
podcast.
For content and podcast
creators, gain lots of exposure for your work.
Post new episodes and show notes on places where likeminded people hang
out (QRZ.com). Even though ITunes is a
terrible experience all around, nearly all podcatcher applications get their
directories from ITunes. Get listed
there so all the podcatcher apps pick up the show!
Below is a list of ham radio
podcasts I’ve found. It includes the
ARRL! I’m sure this list is not complete
because I’m constantly finding new ham radio podcasts. This list mainly came from headline posts on
QRZ.com or I discovered them in my podcatcher app.
Podcasts:
100 Watts and a Wire
(100wattsandawire.com) – Experiences of a new ham operator hosted by Christian
K0STH.
Amateur Logic and Ham College
(amateurlogic.tv) – Ham Radio and technology show hosted by George W5JDX, Tommy
N5ZNO, and Peter VK3PB. They do a second
podcast covering theory, history, and topics that appear on the Technician
exam.
Amateur Radio Newsline
(arnewsline.org) – News for Radio Amateurs.
You’re probably heard this newscast on a local repeater.
ARRL Audio News
(arrl.org/arrl-audio-news) – News of the week from the ARRL hosted by Sean
KX9X. Everything Hamradio
(everythinghamradio.com) – Ham radio topics hosted by Curtis K5CLM.
Ham Nation (twit.tv/hn) – Ham
Radio topics covered by Bob K9EID, Gordon WB6NOA, George W5JDX, Don AE5DW,
Amanda K1DDN, Val NV9L, and Dale K0HYD.
I host the D-STAR After Show Net for this podcast.
Ham Radio Now
(hamradionow.tv) – Covers ham radio topics, forums, and seminars with Gary
KN4AQ.
Ham Talk Live
(hamtalklive.com) – Call-in ham radio show with Neil WB9VPG.
HamRadio 360
(hamradio360.com) – Ham Radio topics hosted by Cale K4CDN.
ICQ Podcast (icqpodcast.com)
– Talk-radio style podcast.
Linux in the Ham Shack
(lhspodcast.info) – Covers Linux, Open Source, music, and food for the shack
hosted by Russ K5TUX (get it?) and his YL Cheryl.
PARP [Practical Amateur Radio Podcast]
(myamateurradio.com) – Operating with Jerry KD0BIK.
QSO Radio Show
(qsoradioshow.com) – Ham Radio talk show on WTWW shortwave hosted by Ted
Randall WB8PUM.
QSO Today (qsotoday.com) –
Interviews with Eric 4Z1UG.
SolderSmoke (soldersmoke.com)
– Radio-electronic homebrewers.
TX Factor (txfactor.co.uk) –
Professionally produced programs dedicated to ham radio.
Net casts (typically
online only):
DX Engineering Interviews
(youtube.com/user/DXEngineering) – Tim K3LR interviews guests.
Ham Sandwich
(thehamsandwich1.blogspot.fi) – “Off beat” show about Amateur Radio with Steve
KD0PXX and Greg OH2FFY.
Ham Sunday
(youtube.com/user/adafruit –then search “Ham Sunday”) – “Lady Ada” Limor AC2SN
of Ada Fruit learning ham radio.
K6UDA
(youtube.com/user/bondobob) – Bob K6UDA, the Elmer with an attitude. This one can be NSFW (not safe for work).
W5KUB (w5kub.com) – Tom
W5KUB, you know him as the guy who documents his trip to Dayton Hamvention
using the “Helmet cam.” He hosts
roundtable events on Tuesday nights.
YHAMRADIO
(w5mhg.com/yhamradio) – Interviews “Y” hams got into ham radio with Mark W5MHG.
I will see you at
Dayton! Stop by the ARRL Ohio Section
table at the ARRL Expo late afternoon on Friday and early afternoon on
Saturday. Hope you stop by and say ‘hi.’
Thanks for reading and 73… de
Jeff – K8JTK
****************************************************
THE AFFILIATED CLUBS
COORDINATOR
John Myers, KD8MQ - ACC
Hi everyone..
This first section of my
column is directed to the folks who are going to Dayton.
Since this is my final column
before Dayton (for sure, this time), I’d like to challenge you to push your
boundaries a bit. Do something you’ve never done before. Maybe attend a forum,
sit in on Contest University (if you can find a ticket, that is), get
interested in a new mode or stop & talk with folks at the ARRL Expo.
Here are some other things
that are going on this year (This is just a small list). There’s just so much to see & do in the area, that
you can never see everything.
* The W8BI open house is on
my list of do not miss items this year. They are holding an open house on Friday & Saturday from 6 – 8 PM (6619
Bellefontaine Rd, Dayton, OH)
* Another not to be missed
event is the Tour of the old VOA Transmitter site. Hosted by the West Chester
ARA, the site will be open ($5 admission). It is held on Saturday from 6:30 –
9PM. You can learn more about this at wc8voa.org/.
* The contest Super Suites at
the Crowne Plaza downtown go on each night. Note that on Friday, the Spurious
Emissions Band performs at 10 PM. I’ve never heard them live, but look them up
on You Tube. You might just be inspired to attend. You can learn more at www.contestsupersuite.com/
* Upgrade, or get your Ham
License.
* Visit the Air Force Museum
* Stop by the Dayton Aviation
Heritage Site, and get on the air with NPOTA. (More about this one elsewhere in
the OSJ)
NVIS Antenna Test – So, did your club participate in the ARES NVIS Antenna Test? Wow,
what a day that was! You’ll read more about it elsewhere in the OSJ, but I
everyone got out, and played. My local club learned a lot about how to deal
with Mr. Murphy. They did finally get on the air, but were not prepared for the
switch to 75 Meters. That won’t happen to them next year.
I was able to make a contact
or two from the mobile while I was on my way to Chillicothe. Conditions on 40
were not great from my location. Next
year will be much better. I didn’t know about the switch to 80 until later that
evening.
Jackson & Athens Hamfests – This was also the time of year for my annual trip
to Southern Ohio for the Jackson & Athens Hamfests. It’s always a great
trip. This was my second trip to Jackson, and it was again enjoyable. They have
a very friendly crowd. There. I had a good
time rag-chewing, and talking with some of the NPOTA Peeps who were in
attendance.
Athens was a bit smaller than
last year, but still well worth the trip. We had a full house at the ARRL Table
with a section Manager, two assistant section Managers, and me. We even had a
visit from Frank Piper, the former section Manager. What a day!
NPOTA – If
your club is planning to do any activating for National Parks On The air, don’t
forget to register your Callsign with LoTW (Assuming that you haven’t already).
A couple of local clubs are already planning to activate nearby NPS Units.
Field Day –
It’s coming up quickly folks. If you haven’t read the rules, please do so.
There are a couple of new bonus points categories this year. (1) Social Media
and (2) Safety Officer.
Speaking of Field Day, here’s
an idea I filed away from last year. The Clallam County ARC (http://www.olyham.net/) out in Western
Washington offers the following ticket to folks who get on the air at the Get On The Air station.
I think it’s a cool idea!
Give some kind of incentive to get willing participants at Field Day.
One of my greatest memories
of Field Day was the year that we hosted a pig roast at the Field Day site. The
local mayor came out and presented our proclamation in person, and a good time
was had by all.
One last thing
– to all you Field day Chair people, please don’t forget to get your site
registered on the ARRL Field Day station Locator page. You can find it at www.arrl.org/field-day-locator.
This is one way (hopefully not the only way) that folks find you.
So anyway, that wraps it up
for this month. Have fun at Dayton! .
73, DE KD8MQ
****************************************************
NATIONAL PARKS ON THE AIR
John Myers, KD8MQ - ACC
Hi
everyone! NPOTA seems to keep getting more & more popular with each passing
month. As of Friday Morning (May 13), the number of contacts reported on the
NPOTA statistics page is just shy of 335,000. The number of activations is at
5181. In this writer’s opinion, we are headed for 1.5 Million contacts by
December 31st.
NPOTA Forum – The
ARRL NPOTA forum at Hamvention will be on Saturday morning in Room 5. It begins
at 9:15, and runs till 11. Make sure to where your NPOTA shirts. Let’s have a “Sea of Green” in Room 5!
Dayton On the Air –
Are you travelling to Dayton, and want to participate in NPOTA, but don’t want
to mess with setting up a station? Well, have we got a deal for you! The ARRL
is sponsoring activation at HP11 (Dayton Aviation Heritage). We’ll be set up at
the Wright brothers Bicycle shop (22 S. Williams St). We are encouraging any
Hams who would like to get on the air from HP 11 to stop by. We are also
scheduling time on the stations in 15 minute slots. Just e-mail me (kd8mq1@gmail.com) to
get on the schedule.
There
is parking behind the site, or you can take the bus. That’s right, if you
bought a bus pass so that you could park at the Salem Mall, I have a surprise
for you. That bus pass is good anywhere
on the Dayton RTA system.
Getting there - Both
the Hara Arena and the bicycle shop are on the same bus route. According to the
Dayton RTA trip planner page (http://planner.greaterdaytonrta.org/),
the trip by bus takes around 25 minutes either way.
We
will be open at the bike shop from 9 – 5 on Friday & Saturday, and 9 – 12
on Sunday. We have a pretty good group
of volunteers scheduled, but can always use more. If you can spare some time
during the weekend, please contact me (kd8mq1@gmail.com),
and I’ll put you on the schedule.
Our
job consists of assisting Hams who are coming to use the stations, and also to
talk to the public about the National Parks On The Air Program.
It’s
going to be an awesome few days. I hope you can make it!
Newsletter for park folks –
This month, the league began publishing a newsletter aimed at the National Park
Service personnel. You can read the inaugural issue at
http://www.arrl.org/files/file/NPOTA-News/NPOTA-May2016.pdf.
WWFF – KFF Program expands!
Last
month, I gave a shout to the WWFF-KFF program. They assign designators to
parks, preserves, and natural areas around the globe, and encourage Hams to
activate them. Sound similar to NPOTA, doesn’t it?
Well,
in the last 30 days, I found that the program in the US had been expanded to
include a lot more of the NPOTA sites.
These
sites in Ohio are now listed.
Cuyahoga
Valley, Ohio KFF-0020 NP14
Dayton
Aviation Heritage, Ohio KFF-0732 HP11
Hopewell
Culture, Ohio KFF-0737 HP16
First
Ladies, Canton, Ohio KFF-0813 NS16
James
A. Garfield, Ohio KFF-0836 NS39
William
Howard Taft, Ohio KFF-0875 NS78
Perry's
Victory and International Peace Memorial, Ohio KFF-0787 NM20
Charles
Young Buffalo Soldiers, Ohio MN18
There
are also three more sites in Ohio which qualify for the WWFF-KFF program. You
can learn more about the program at http://wwff-kff.com/.
Light Up The Trail –
This event is still planned for the weekend of June 4 -5. Look for the North
Country Scenic Trail (TR04) to be on the air that weekend from several
(hopefully all) of the seven states that the trail passes through.
You
can learn more about the event at http://qsl.net/kd8dku/LightUptheTrail.htm. Information about the trail itself can be
found at https://northcountrytrail.org/.
NPOTA Upcoming Events Page – Are
you a chaser, but would like a heads up on planned activations? Did you know
that the league has an events page where activators can post their plans? You
can find the page at https://npota.arrl.org/nps-events.php.
And
that does it for this month. I hope to see a bunch of you at the big show.
73 all, DE John, KD8MQ
****************************************************
Stan Broadway, N8BHL
NVIS DAY
We don’t have the statistics
done for NVIS Day 2016, but we have collected logs and reports from everyone,
so it won’t be long. In a “Bad is good”
report, I remember being told by a respected EMA Director once, “It’s better to
blow up in a drill and fix it, than to think it works until the real
thing.” So it was.
As I reported earlier, I
missed the memo which directed that ~every~ licensed station in North America
should be on the air that same day, all working 40 meters. That’s exactly how
it sounded with odd band conditions bringing every “Good ol’ boy” net from
4-land across the band, every NPOTA station running pileups, and every local
station within Ohio completely erased from being heard. Even The Sarge couldn’t
find an empty hole to squeeze in! Well-
that brought some rapid changes and scrambling into the picture. Interesting
that – just as we might expect to see in a real emergency situation! Something
will ALWAYS go wrong.
So it was that only a couple
hours in, we passed around word that we were moving the whole thing to 75
meters. Most stations actually got the
word! So that worked fairly well, and it was exactly the kind of thing we might
anticipate. After the move, a lot of stations were heard!
We had over 50 counties (53
at last count) represented in the logs and that is very respectable. We’ll wait
on Marion County to tally up the information that should help guide us to the
best emergency antennas for Ohio! This
was an ARRL special operating event this year, and we had an encouraging
participation. A group in Texas worked within a 400 mile circle. We had
stations in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Indiana working with us. We also heard
contacts from Maryland/Virginia. Our push: make this a national operating event
next year!
And of course, the best
reports so far have included the secret ingredient!
Training..
Our Ohio DEC/EC training
program is well underway. This is some basic information that will help you do
your job in the ARES management team, whether an ‘old guy’ or new. We staged a
full day for District 7 in Central Ohio, and we’ve contributed to the District
3 (Dayton) and District 5 (Akron) meetings this month. We’re well on our way
toward finalizing our ‘volunteer operator’ training session as well. Once the
District sessions are done, we’ll start building up our volunteers! We don’t get wildfires, hurricanes, even
large-scale tornadoes here in Ohio- so it requires more effort on all our parts
to stay engaged with our agencies, and stay trained and ready!
Cleveland..
You all know there’s a little
gathering coming up in Cleveland this July. This is our chance to let Amateur
Radio really shine! EOC stations will be
operational, the Red Cross will have a shelter and several chapter offices open
for the event, and the Sarge will be running at OHEOC. In Cuyahoga County, the
feds require FEMA 100, 200, 700, 800 and additionally 701, 706 and 802 just to
get into the EOC. We are looking for
qualified volunteers to reinforce the manpower requirements. Cuyahoga EC Matt Nickoson has an online
volunteer application if you’re interested in helping: http://goo.gl/forms/MtgquV8jQq and Summit
County EC Ken Dorsey has an online application: http://www.summitares.org/rnc_signup.php
Please consider if you have
the time and the interest to help out. This is going to be BIG!
Most groups I’ve talked with
are gearing up for some big events this spring! No matter where in Ohio we
look, we’re going to need all the radio operators we can get…so get engaged!
It’s fun!
73, Stan, N8BHL
****************************************************
THE PUBLIC INFORMATION
COORDINATOR
John Ross, KD8IDJ
NEWSLETTER
DEADLINE...SHORT!
There is still time, but the
deadline for the 2016 Ohio Section Newsletter Contest is getting closer...one
more month...June 30th!
All entries need to be in by
the end of June...you need two...but everything that gets to me by midnight
June 30th will be in.
I've alerted the judges that
again this year they have a tough job ahead. Each year the newsletters keep
getting better (I knew they would!) and it will be tough to pick the best. But
they are ready and we will begin the process right before the 4th of July.
Call or email with any last
minute questions or concerns...and good luck to everyone. We'll present the
awards in August.
WOW….HAM-VETS
WOW! Last month I asked for
amateur radio operators who were also Veterans to shoot me a quick email. My
mail box almost instantly blew up!
Here's what I received almost
as soon as the Ohio Section newsletter hit the air. THANKS for your service!
WB5CVA Army 1968-70
K8VCE Navy
K8AOK, U. S. Air Force
KD8YZC USMC; 1984 to 1989
KC8SBB ARMY/Army Reserve 22
1/2 Years
W8HGW Army
WD8RIF Ohio Air National
Guard, retired
WB8TCB United States Air
Force
KB8DNA U.S. Air Force
K8AZW
Herb also MARS AFA5DY
WN8IIJ-Air Force
KD8OCW - USAF
K6HRU US Navy
KE8DRH (K8GEH applied for)
Air Force
W8VFP Army
Things I Didn't
Know...Morse Code Club
Just when I thought I knew it
all, I got a wakeup call when I read an article in the West Park Radiops
Amateur Radio Club May newsletter.
There is an official Morse
Telegraph Club! It was founded in 1943 to perpetuate the history of
telegraphy. Its membership consists of retired railroad and commercial
telegraphers, former telegraph industry employees, radio operators and others
with an interest in the history of telegraphy.
Check it out...very
interesting...and my membership application is already in.
If you're keeping up with my
personal life. You might remember my Great Grandfather was a railroad
telegrapher and one of the first graduates of a special school in Ohio that
taught Morse Code.
Things I Did Know…RTTY
club
I found a great RTTY club the
other day: RTTY.COM
This club is out of Auburn,
Washington and they have a nice website and some YouTube videos. Take a look if
you interested in the RTTY stuff...here's an address if you want contact them:
George B. Hutchison, W7KSJ
11224 S. E. 320th Street Auburn, Washington 98092-4832
Jim Leonard WD8MRT SK
Sad and difficult news to
report this month....the unexpected passing of Jim Leonard, WD8MRT on May 1st.
Jim as a good personal friend
and a great supporter and advocate of amateur radio. I worked with him when he
was Executive Director of Disaster Services for the Red Cross here in Columbus
and we shared may great ham radio moments and stories.
If you've ever been to the
Columbus Hamfest at the old Aladdin Shrine on Steltzer Road, Jim the guy
manning the prize drum. He was also an important part of helping the Ohio
Section get ready for our yearly meetings.
I looked forward to seeing
every year and catching up. Jim once told me his call sign was easy to
remember, "MRT...Mister T...just like the character on the A-Team TV
show."
Jim was laid to rest on
Monday May 9th in New Knoxville following a Masonic Ceremony at the Springfield
Masonic Home.
73 Jim.
DAYTON HAMFEST
If this makes it to you
before the Dayton Hamfest, stop by our booth in the ARRL section.
I'll be there Friday morning
until about noon and would like to meet as many of you as I can.
I'll also be back on Saturday
just to "shop" the flea market. I'll be the one hauling out all of
the old boat anchor gear!! On Sunday the XYL will have it all in our front yard
for sale!!!
That's all for now...73 until
next month.
73, John, KD8IDJ
****************************************************
THE SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGER
David Maynard, WA3EZN - STM
News from the Ohio Single
Sideband Net says that we have some changes in the leadership of the net. Mike Hayward KC8WH has been reelected to be
the net manager. Dave Krutsch, KD8MSZ
will be the new Assistant Net Manager. Don,WB8SIQ will move from Assistant Net
Manager to training officer. Stan Sutton, KD8KBX will replace Henry Koenig,
WD8Q on the Advisory Board for a three year term. The other two members of the
Advisory Board are Tony Baker, KC8PZ and Don Buehrer, K8OVO. I would like to
take this time to thank these men and all the members who check into the OSSBN
for their support of the net and handling traffic so efficiently. You can check
into the Ohio Single Sideband Net on 3.9725 starting at 10:30 AM , 4:15 PM and
6:45 PM daily More information and useful links can be found on the OSSBN
website www.ossbn.org.
While on the subject check
into some of these Ohio nets:
HF CW NETS NET TIMES FREQUENCY NET
MANAGERS
Buckeye Early 6:45 PM 3.580 WB8YLO
Buckeye Late 10:00 PM 3.590 WB9LBI
Ohio Slow Net 6:00 PM 3.53535 W8OLO
Now, to the Dayton
Hamvention. The general focus for many hams this month is the Dayton
Hamvention. This is the largest Hamvention in the county and draws participants
from all over the world. Hamvention will be held the 20-22 May at the Hara
Arena Complex at 1001 Shiloh Springs Road in Dayton, Ohio. There will be many
commercial vendors and hundreds of individual selling equipment and supplies in
the flea market. Inside the buildings you will also find a major presence of
the ARRL with many individuals from headquarters and many booths. There will
also be many presentations, forums and VE testing during this three day event.
There is just too much going on the cover it all adequately in this forum. For more information go to
this link.. http://hamvention.org/
The Dayton Hamvention hours are as
follows:
Flea Market
Friday: 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Saturday: 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Sunday: 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Saturday: 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Sunday: 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Inside Exhibitors
Friday:
9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Saturday: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Sunday: 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Saturday: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Sunday: 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM
The next big ham event after
Dayton will be Field day the last full weekend in June.
Field Day not only will test
and challenge an individual operator’s communication skills but it also will
test and challenge the participant’s ability and flexibility in mounting a
major effort on the magnitude that would be encountered in a major disaster.
Field day logistics and
location is another area where good planning really pays off. If you have not
reserved your favorite room, shelter or spot for operating it should be done
soon before someone reserves you spot for a birthday party. I know this happened to one club last year so
get cracking.
Antenna selection and location is another area where good
planning really pays off. The three most important considerations in antenna
selection are:
1. Locate antennas far enough from each other to avoid
station to station interference
2. Which direction to point the antenna’s peak radiation and
3. determining where the vast majority of contacts will come from. Strongly consider using simple wire antenna such as dipoles, which are light and easy to put up and take down. Dipoles work out very well even at QRP power levels.
Field Day is also a time to demonstrate new technologies to ourselves and to the general public. Bonus points are earned by presenting these public demonstrations of new technologies such as satellite communications, APRS, ATV, digital communications and solar power sources. Furthermore we are encouraged (with additional bonus points) to invite community leaders and the media. We might find ourselves on the front page of tomorrow’s paper.
Here are some of the potential benefits from your Field Day operation:
Find out what works in the field and who can bring it on short notice. Practice operating with field conditions and emergency power. Organized planning and execution of a sustained effort -- good for Public Service Events planning & coordination and possibly for fitting into Served Agency emergency planning.
Invite ARRL Section / Division officers to visit your FD site. Invite (potential) Served Agency & or Government officials to visit your FD site, good for ARES and bonus points. Invite the media to promote amateur radio.
Additional suggestions for a successful Field Day:
Appoint someone to be in charge to make sure things get done. A point to consider is location, location, location. Make sure you have it secured at least a month before Field Day. Have a plan in place for the person in charged to follow. The plan should cover operating techniques and modes, antennas, number of transmitters, media presentation and maximizing bonus points
Don't forget to go over the exchange with the operators. Stress keeping the exchange short, quick and effective, not being chatty and give examples of Dos and Don'ts. Plan ahead by arranging who is bringing what equipment – have back-up equipment available if possible. In considering equipment, the simplicity of its operation is important. Most new radios have a learning curve to operate efficiently.
Don’t forget the little things like short jumpers, barrel connectors, adapters, headphones etc. Document everything. Next year’s Field Day coordinator needs to have a starting place. Try to secure operators for a 24 hour operation. This can be the key to a big score if that is your thing.
Check the Field Day Rules for the chances to make extra points. Finish and follow-up. Record and discuss next years Field Day while everything is fresh in your minds.
Finally, don't forget to plan for Saturday’s dinner menu, good food makes for happy operators.
And most important is to HAVE FUN and enjoy the friendship
and fellowship of Field Day.
73, David, WA3EZN
****************************************************
THE STATE GOVERNMENT LIAISON
From: Nick Pittner, K8NAP –
SGL
What if…
…the Amateur Radio Parity
Act, now pending before congress were to become law?
Background. The Amateur Radio Parity Act, S. 1685 and HR
1301 is legislation sponsored by the ARRL and currently pending in
Congress. The legislation is “like”
PRB-1 (the FCC regulation that requires local zoning authorities to afford
“reasonable accommodation” for amateur radio antennas) in that if passed, it
would require the FCC to extend the “reasonable accommodation” requirements of
PRB-1 to land use restrictions created by contract, such as homeowner’s
association (HOA) regulations and deed restrictions (CC&Rs). In the House, the legislation has been
assigned to House Energy and Commerce Committee, which, according to ARRL
reports, will soon vote on moving the legislation forward.
Challenges. Unlike many of
the state-law versions of PRB-1 which, like Ohio’s antenna law, passed
virtually without opposition, the federal legislation has been met with strong
opposition from various lobbying groups and it appears that ultimate passage is
by no means certain. The ARRL has
essentially run a “grass roots” campaign, while the opposition appears to be
well-funded and vocal in their opposition to the legislation. In response, the League distributed a
memorandum to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee members
on November 11, 2015 in an effort to respond to some of the primary objections. That memo can be viewed on the ARRL web site.
Being Prepared. Other than
our personal support by communications to legislators and funds to the League,
there is little that we, in Ohio can do the advance the effort. My personal experience in working on Ohio’s
antenna legislation is that legislators don’t like discord and look for
consensus and compromise among their constituents. But, it’s hard to find a compromise between
antennas and no antennas.
However, our discussion here
is directed at making the Ohio Section, which is always on the cutting edge,
ready for the myriad of new issues that Ohio hams will face if, and when the
federal legislation passes. To this end,
I have in other articles, suggested that we need now, more than ever, an Ohio
version of the League’s “volunteer counsel” program -- whether or not the
Parity Act becomes law.
The volunteer counsel program
as sponsored by the ARRL simply makes available the name and address of
attorneys willing to consult with hams in need of guidance about antenna
issues. While formal engagement of the
attorney is possible, it is not required.
Under the ARRL program, the only commitment is that the volunteer
counsel be willing to do an initial conference, without charge. The plan I’m suggesting for Ohio would
include participants being listed as Volunteer Counsel under the ARRL program
but would also include the compilation and exchange of information unique to
Ohio. For example, the specific
timelines and processes for appealing an adverse zoning decision are unique to
Ohio law. Unless the attorney
specifically works in that area he or she would be required to do a fair amount
of research before advising a client.
The passage of the Parity Act
will add numerous potential challenges to hams seeking to enforce the
“reasonable accommodation”
provisions of the act and the amended FCC regulations that will follow. For
example, we know how to appeal zoning decisions, but enforcing antenna rights
against deed restrictions or HOAs is going to be an entirely different
animal. Hams will need the benefit of
counsel who have considered these issues.
In order to try to move
forward with an Ohio Volunteer Counsel Program, sign-in sheet at the Ohio
Section booth at Dayton. Those of you
who are attorneys and hams are encouraged to sign up. Those of you who know
attorneys who are hams, please encourage them to sign up. If you can’t sign up
at Dayton, please drop me an email at K8NAP@ARRL.NET with your
contact information. See you at Dayton?
73, Nick, K8NAP
****************************************************
OUT AND ABOUT
Lyn Alfman, N8IMW - Assistant
Section Manager
Here is a list of the amateur
radio related activities I participated in for the month of April:
April 1—Updated Cambridge
Amateur Radio Association’s (CARA) web site calendar for April events
April 2--helped get Scouts on
the air to earn their Radio Badges at the Merit Badge College in Dresden
April 2--helped with an
amateur radio test session in Zanesville
April 3—submitted CARA club
notes to the newspaper
April 4—attended the
preliminary Scoutfest meeting in Zanesville
April 5—attended the
Zanesville Amateur Radio Club (ZARC) meeting in Zanesville
April 5—checked into the CARA
Weather and ARES/NTS nets
April 6—placed CARA and
Guernsey County ARES (GCARES) meeting announcements on newspaper’s web site
April 6—placed CARA and
GCARES meeting announcements on local radio stations’ web site
April 7—attended the CARA
lunch in Cambridge
April 7—attended the
Cambridge Parade Committee meeting (We provide lineup and communications.)
April 12—atended the
Muskingum County ARES meeting
April 14—attended the CARA
lunch in Cambridge
April 14—attended the
Waller-McMunn Museum signage meeting
April 17—helped CARA members
with first Adopt-A-Highway cleanup of the year
April 17—helped spring clean
the future Waller-McMunn radio museum building
April 18—submitted article on
CARA’s Earth Day Adopt-A-Highway cleanup (in paper on April 21)
April 19—was net control
station for CARA Weather and ARES/NTS nets
April 21—attended the
Guernsey County EMA Drill orientation—we will handle all radio and phone
messages
April 21—attended the CARA
lunch
April 22—sent CARA and GCARES
meeting announcements to contact at newspaper
April 24—attended the Athens
County Amateur Radio Association Hamfest (where my husband District 9
Emergency Coordinator Sonny,
W8FHF, and I presented Section Manager Scott Yonally, N8SY,
With CARA’s history: A Century of Radio: W8VP Cambridge Amateur
Radio Association
1913-2013) **
April 25—attended the CARA
Officers’ meeting
April 26—checked into the
CARA Weather and ARES/NTS nets
April 28—attended the CARA
lunch
April 28—CARA and GCARES
meeting announcements aired on local radio stations
April 29—CARA and GCARES
meeting announcements aired on local radio stations
April 30—CARA and GCARES
meeting announcements aired on local radio stations
April 30—attended the
Guernsey County ARES (GCARES) meeting
April 30—attended the CARA
monthly business meeting
**There is a link on the home
page of the CARA web site (www.w8vp.org) to order a copy of the CARA history book mentioned
above.
If you attend the Dayton
Hamvention, and I hope you will, be sure to stop by the Ohio Section booth in
ARRL area.
I want to wish everyone a
safe Memorial Day weekend with family and friends.
’73 Lyn, N8IMW
Remember to be Radio Active!
****************************************************
CENTRAL OHIO HAPPENINGS
From: Fritz Tender, WD8E -
Assistant Section Manager
April brings the Athens Hamfest, one of my
favorite Hamfest in Ohio. This year was no exception. I tip my hat
to Eric WD8RIF and crew for doing a great job. The weather could not have
been better, the venue clean and well-kept and as always the workers are more
than helpful.
Spending a little time at the ARRL table did
afford me the opportunity to visit many friends that I don't get to see often
enough. Although I did not make any purchases, I did enjoy browsing the
tables, trunks and truck beds.
The next event is Dayton. Stop by the Ohio booth in the ARRL Expo area, I look forward to seeing many of you then.
The next event is Dayton. Stop by the Ohio booth in the ARRL Expo area, I look forward to seeing many of you then.
I hope to see you there.
73, Fritz, WD8E
****************************************************
WHATS HAPPENING IN SOUTHWEST
OHIO
From: Kitty Hevener, W8TDA -
Assistant Section Manager
Why contest?
If you are not a contester,
that thought has probably crossed your mind, especially when you just want to
chat with other hams. Perhaps you have
even been bold enough to speak your mind about freeing up the air waves by
banning contesting. Like many other
facets of our diverse hobby, contesting is a tool you can use to build and
enhance skills you will need to provide emergency communications, the reason
for our existence. In an emergency, you
will likely be asked to send and receive accurate information about conditions
at the same time that your adrenalin is pumping and controlled chaos is
erupting all around you. Under these
trying conditions, How long will you be able to stay on you’re a game? How tuned in to the little nuances of your
equipment are you? And, last but not
least, what’s the best way to get the information to its destination?
I think that contesting is
one of the best simulators of emergency operating conditions amateur radio has
to offer. It can help you learn the ins
and outs of your equipment and propagation.
Through repetition and practice copying contest exchanges on crowded
bands under less than ideal propagation, you will gain skill and confidence to
provide effective communications during an emergency. Working contests for as long as you can
without stopping will help you build the physical and mental endurance you will
need when the real call comes. Best of
all, it’s fun, especially if you like competing against yourself or your
friends for bragging rights!
So, with all that contesting
has to offer, perhaps the real question should be “why not contest”?
73, Kitty, W8TDA
****************************************************
FROM THE SCOUTING ASM
Scott Hixon, KC8ITN
A couple years back, some of
you may remember me writing about a Boy Scout Jamboree that was held just
outside of Chillicothe (in Ross County) called Thunderbase 2014. It was a large
event that was attended by over 5,500 scouts.
A team of amateur radio
operators from around central and southern Ohio got together and set up
multiple ham radio displays in a 40’ X 175’ building. Once the scouts entered
the building, they were treated to a variety of communication modes such as;
voice, Morse code, ATV, PSK-31, MESH network, and other assorted modes. Along
with the demonstrations the team also put on free license testing for scouts
interested in getting their license, and we had multiple Radio Merit Badge classes
for scouts wanting to earn a merit badge.
I have been asked to head up
the amateur radio side of the event. Over the next year or so, I will be
looking for any amateur radio groups that would like to participate and show
scouts what amateur radio is about. This would be a good opportunity to show
how amateur radio can be a fun hobby, and how it can help the community during
times of emergency. At Thunderbase 2014 we had ARES groups, ham clubs, and individual
hams all there showcasing their favorite modes of communicating!
Thunderbase 2018 is our
chance to shine and do it again. If you or your club/group would be interested
in helping out, drop me a line. We are two years away, but it’s never too early
to start planning. As I know from helping at the last one, the time will catch
up to us before we know it!
Speaking of helping scouts
get interested in amateur radio, have you been keeping track of your hours for
the Radio Scout “contest”? For those who don’t know what this is, it is a
contest I came up with (see 2/16 OSJ) for amateur radio operators in the Ohio
Section. .
If you are an
individual, a ham club or an ARES/RACES group and you set up ham radio at
scouting events, keep track of your hours. The individual and group with the
most hours accumulated at the end of 2016 will be the winner and receive an
award (one award for individual class and one award for group class)! You will
also get the bragging rights and the warm, fuzzy feeling that comes from giving
back to an organization that has given so much over the last 106 years. This
would also be a good time to operate your portable station and make sure it
still works in case you would ever need it during an emergency (ahem…ARES??).
Don’t
forget, BSA summer camp season starts next month! If you or your group is
interested in getting involved and setting up for a day or more, contact your
local Boy Scout council to see where a summer camp is in your area. I will have
amateur radio with me when my troop from Circleville goes to summer camp this
year! It’s more fun than a barrel of monkeys! I will be live tweeting the times
that the scouts and I will be on the radio on my Twitter account: @KC8ITN. So
look me up, listen for me and maybe talk to some scouts!
Until
next time, remember: Take care, stay safe and make a difference is someone’s
life!
73, Scott, KC8ITN
****************************************************
REVAMPING THE OHIO SPEAKER’S
BUREAU
Tom Sly, WB8LCD is collecting
information on club meetings. If you've had an interesting presentation at a
club meeting in the last 12 months, please send an email to Tom. He would like to know: 1) The topic or the name of the presentation,
2) the name and call sign of the presenter, 3) the name and location of the
club, 4) do clubs usually have interesting presentations (Y/N), 5) has your
club ever had a presentation done over Skype or some other internet service?
Tom stresses that he would
like this information from all club members - not just club officers! You can email Tom at: wb8lcd@portcars.org. All
responses will be confidential. This
will greatly help Tom with a project he's working on for the benefit of clubs
in the Ohio Section.
****************************************************
LET'S TALK
Scott Yonally, N8SY - Section
Manager
Hey Gang,
As the old adage goes.. “each
year the flamingo’s return to San Juan, Capistrano, the Buzzards return to
Hinckley and the Hams from around the world return to Dayton.” There’s now just
a few days until Dayton Hamvention® begins and already the repeaters all over
our state are welcoming folks to join with the folks from the Ohio Section in
this annual ritual.. !!
The Ohio Section has been
asked to man a National Parks on the Air station during the Hamvention.. I can
tell you for sure that we are going to need some help. Please, if you can give
just an hour or two to volunteer to help us out with this huge project it would
be great! A number of you have already volunteered, and that’s fantastic! You
don’t have to be an expert or anything like that, just have a friendly face and
willingness to help others for an hour or so. All of the equipment is being
provided by the League, so you know that it’s going to be first class stuff all
the way.. It’s going to be a lot of fun for sure and I’m sure that it’s also an
event that is going to get a lot of exposure with the press as well.. How’s
about it.. Got an hour or so on Friday, Saturday or Sunday to help out??
(Daytime hours only) We’d sure love to have ya’.. Contact John Myers, KD8MQ at kd8mq1@gmail.com for more details on this fantastic adventure!!
Now, switching bands to
another subject..
As July gets closer I am
seeing more and more of you in ARES being trained and certified in ICS-100,
200, 700 & 800, and some even going on with other ICS training as well. This
is great news, as that we’ve set a target date for the end of June for everyone
that’s going to be involved with FMEA, or any government run event, to have
your training completed by then. I really would love to see everyone in Ohio
have these 4 basic courses under their belts!!
For those of you who really
aren’t seeing the reason for this I want you to take just 10 minutes of your
time and read an article that was published in the March edition of QST. It’s
by Rick Palm, K1CE. Now for those of you who don’t get QST, I have this article
reprinted on our website http://arrl-ohio.org/QST.pdf I know that
once you read Rick’s views it will greatly help you better understand the in’s
and outs to all of this, and why this is so very important to YOU.
I do want to assure you that
if after reading all about why these ICS certifications are so very important you
still decide not to go through with completing them, it’s ok. There will still
be some things that you can do, just not as many of them. Probably the most
import item to remember, you most likely will not be asked to participate in
any activity within the FEMA organization or most government run operations.
But, there are other things, like bike races, parades and the like that won’t
require this extra training – unless something really breaks out.. Remember the
Boston Marathon started out just being another one of those typical foot races
that we’ve done so many times, then all of a sudden it changed. This can happen
at any time and anywhere.
Now let’s switch bands..
Are you getting those emails
from me? If not, all you have to do is to “Opt-In” to receive them. Heck, just
send me an email n8sy@n8sy.com, I’ll get you added to the mailing list. 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.
Let’s shift bands once
again..
Let’s talk about the Ohio
Section Website.. You can find the Ohio Section Website at: http://arrl-ohio.org If you don’t have this website
set as your home page, I urge you to do so. It changes a lot and it’s so
important for you to be kept up to date with the very latest information.
Switching bands once again.. HEY,
there’s another NEW – one question – questionnaire on the Ohio Section Website?
This question is really important for me to know.. It will only take 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. We can
even have coffee if you’d like.. and I’ll buy!!
One last spin of the dial..
Well, I think that’s going to
do it for me this month.. If you are going to Dayton please be sure to drop in
at the Ohio Section Booth and say “HEY” - and get registered for the “SPECIAL” give away
that we will be doing. I also have some cool items that you’ll definitely want to
pick-up and take home with you while you’re at the table as well.. And now to
spill the beans a bit, I will also have a very special banner that is going to be
rolled out for the first time at Dayton, I’ve been keeping it a secret, but I
will give you this hint.. It’s full of pictures from around the state. Yup..
You could be a star!! So, with all of that going on, you’ll definitely want to
stop by the booth for sure!!
Speaking about being a star…
Did you notice the article in this month’s QST about the ARRL Badges? If you
haven’t seen it, you’re going to want to take a look, one of the badges shown
is one of our own.. John, KD8MQ.
That’s going to do it for
now… Make sure that you stop by the Ohio
Section Booth and say “Hey”..
73, Scott, N8SY
****************************************************
THE OFFICIAL OBSERVER
COORDINATOR
John Perone, W8RXX
Instituted over 85 years ago,
the Official Observer program is sponsored by American Radio Relay League
(ARRL) and is intended to help amateurs help each other. Official Observer
appointees assist fellow hams maintain their transmitting equipment and correct
operating procedures in accordance with FCC regulations. The object of the OO program is to notify
amateurs, by mail, of operating and technical irregularities before they come
to the attention of the FCC. Some say that it is better to receive notification
from an Official Observer than to receive a letter from the FCC's Enforcement
Division.
In substantive rule
violations cases, OOs refer problems to ARRL HQ. After review by HQ staff, the OO may be
requested to provide additional information that may be forwarded to the FCC
for possible enforcement action.
During the month of April the
Ohio OOs spent a total of 947 hours monitoring and sent 2 OO cards and 2 Good
Operator cards.
73, John, W8RXX
****************************************************
FINDING A FOX
Want to have some fun at your
next club meeting? Try this.. At the last Central Ohio Repeater Club (CORC)
meeting they held a DF antenna building class. Then, after they got everyone
finished building the antennas, they held a Fox Hunt to put these newly
constructed DF antenna’s to good use.
It was really great fun, and
even rewarding to the first person to find the FOX. It was hidden pretty good -
inside a traffic cone that was on the grounds.
DF antennas are really easy
to build and take very little materials, so it can be done with minimal expense
to all participating.
Want more information on what
they did?? Contact John, W8RXX at w8rxx@arrl.net I think you’ll
be surprised how many people will want to do this at your next meeting.
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WEBSITE STATS – ** arrl-ohio.org
**
April 2016
Pages
|
Hits
|
Bandwidth
|
79,867
|
870,134
|
3.32
GB
|
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SPECIAL EVENTS STATIONS IN
OHIO
06/04/2016 | Gilmour Academy
Reunion 2016
1400Z-1800Z, ND8GA, Gates
Mills, OH.
Gilmour Academy Amateur Radio
Club.
146.52 14.270 7.270.
QSL. Ken Kane, KG8DN
Gilmour Academy
34001 Cedar Rd
Gates Mills, OH 44040
Having opened its doors in
September of 1946 by welcoming
students to Francis Drury's
"Cedar Hill Farm" in Gates Mills, Ohio,
Gilmour Academy celebrates
completion of its seventieth year as
the Class of 2016 graduates. Alumni
from classes ending in 1 and 6
are welcomed back, especially
the class of 1966 which observes the
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
07/02/2016 | Open House on
40th birthday of Bellbrook Amateur Radio Club
1500Z-2100Z, W8DGN,
Bellbrook, OH.
Bellbrook Amateur Radio Club
(BARC).
28.400 21.400 7.240; 14.070
PSK-31.
Certificate. Bellbrook
Amateur Radio Club,
PO Box 73,
Bellbrook, OH 45305.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
07/02/2016 | The Refugee
Tract
1400Z-1900Z, WE8DX, Hebron,
OH.
Central Ohio Contest
Association.
14.240 7.240. QSL.
Central Ohio Contest
Association,
1010 Blacks Rd SE,
Hebron, OH 43025.
****************************************************
OHIO HAMFEST CALENDAR
05/20-22/2016 | Dayton
Hamvention
Location: Dayton, OH
Sponsor: Dayton Amateur Radio
Association
06/04/2016 | Fulton County
ARC Outdoor Flea Market and Hamfest
Location: Tedrow, OH
Sponsor: Fulton County
Amateur Radio Club
06/05/2016 | Portage Hamfair
** NEW Date and Location..
Location: Ravenna, OH
Sponsor: Portage Amateur
Radio Club
06/18/2016 | MILFORD HAMFEST
Location: Milford, OH
Sponsor: Milford Amateur
Radio Club
****************************************************
eof..