In this issue:
-> SPECIAL - HANDBOOK
GIVEAWAY
-> SECOND ANNUAL OHIO ARES
VHF SIMPLEX CONTEST
-> THE TECHNICAL
COORDINATOR
-> AFFILIATED CLUB
COORDINATOR REPORT
-> NATIONAL PARKS ON THE
AIR
-> THE SECTION EMERGENCY
COORDINATOR
-> THE PUBLIC INFORMATION
COORDINATOR
-> THE SECTION TRAFFIC
MANAGER
-> FROM THE SCOUTING ASM
-> OUT AND ABOUT
-> CENTRAL OHIO HAPPENINGS
-> ARES TRAINING UPDATE
-> LET'S TALK
-> THE OFFICIAL OBSERVER
COORDINATOR
-> WEBSITE STATS
-> SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS
IN OHIO
-> KIDS DAY
-> OHIO HAMFEST CALENDAR
****************************************************
SPECIAL - HANDBOOK GIVEAWAY
 It's Christmas, and I'm in
the Christmas Spirit for sure! This month we will be doing a very special
giveaway just for Christmas. I'm not going to spill the beans on just what is
going to be given out, but I will tell ya' that it's going to be more than
just a 2017 ARRL Handbook!!
Just go to: http://arrlohio.org and look for the big red arrow on the left side of
the page. Click on the arrow and complete the form, that's it! If you enter
before 11:59pm December 24th, you'll automatically be entered for a second
chance at a Handbook at the end of the month too! Yup, I'm going to give
another Handbook out on New Year’s Day!!
Please, only one submission per person. The first drawing will end on December 24, 2016 at 11:59pm EST and the second drawing will end on December 31st at 11:59pm EST.
The Christmas winners will be announced on Christmas morning - December 25th and you'll find out then what all the other prizes were. The next drawing for the 2nd Handbook will be announced on New Year’s Day. Each winner will be notified by email, so PLEASE use a valid email when completing the form, this is the only way I have of contacting you if you win.
73, and good luck to all.. MERRY CHRISTMAS!
|
****************************************************
SECOND ANNUAL OHIO ARES VHF
SIMPLEX CONTEST
ANNOUNCING >> The
Second Annual Ohio ARES VHF Simplex Contest! January 14, 2917.
After a lot of requests, we
are opening this up to 6 meters as a part of your score as well! There is
a lot of potential for wide-area coverage on that band, and we need to cultivate
some interest- so, for the sixers out there, burn eggs on your beam!!
Some questions, and answers:
- On the bonus situations,
the EOC bonus is exactly what it says- operation must be from an EOC, not a
nearby trailer or remote
location. EOC ops, add 50 points to your total contact score. Operation from
any portable location
(trailer, tent, park bench, igloo) is 100 points added to your total contact
score. Contact an ARES
officer of any type, add 5 points to that contact (in other words, if your
contact says he’s an EC, it’s worth 6
points.)
- On digital. All modes are
open, we’ve had some questions as to ‘which’ mode. Any of the modes
commonly accepted for NBEMS
work!
- Frequencies haven’t been
mentioned. Grab any you like- if your district has a prescribed simplex
frequency, try that first.
Anything except a repeater. Make sure you get the county or location of your
contact- the whole point is
to be able to plot your best coverage area. Look for ‘real’ signal reports.
- You know what? If you get
bored and want to fry some eggs on your six-meter antennas, go for it. DO INCLUDE your six contacts in
your score!
- HAVE FUN!
Here are the rules again!
Purpose
ARES is tasked with being
able to provide communications “When all else fails.” Local communication is critical and typically takes
place on the VHF or UHF amateur band. In order to improve our ability to perform on these bands, Ohio
Section ARES is sponsoring the ARES VHF Contest (Yeah, we know, but calling it the Ohio VHF / UHF
Contest got a little long-winded). Participants in the contest are encouraged to make as many
contacts as possible within the time-frame of the contest, with as many different geographical
locations as the bands permit. The contest is open to all amateur operators,
ARES members are strongly
encouraged to participate. How else are you going to win the ‘bragging rights session of your next ARES
meeting?
When did you say it was?
The contest is January 14,
2017. The start time is (for those of us who sleep in) 10 AM through 6 PM Eastern. Yeah, a civilized
time-frame that doesn’t rob sleep, and allows time with the family. Why, you can even watch a few cartoons
in the morning!
Where you gonna be?
You may operate this contest
from anywhere. There are certain benefits for venturing out from your
warm, comfortable home
station. EOC stations can gain extra points. Portable stations can gain even
MORE extra points – that is,
if your frozen fingers will still be able to operate a keyboard. Portable
stations MUST use portable
antennas, nothing permanently attached…kind of like Field Day on ice. We are not going with any mobile
operation this time. The image of a bunch of vehicles running around with portable towers, 150 pounds
of antenna hardware and an occasional grounding anchor is best left to the ARRL contesters.
Da Bands – a la’ Mode
Because local emergency
communication takes place primarily on the two meter and 70 centimeter
bands, the contest is limited
to those two bands. Within each band, we will have these modes: FM
Simplex, “Everything else”
Simplex; DIGITAL simplex contacts will make up a third mode on each
band. Contacts with a station
count once per mode- if you can talk the other guy into abandoning “his
frequency” and meeting you on
SSB or CW, more power to ya! NO REPEATER CONTACTS WILL
COUNT. If you get bored, you
certainly are welcome to chat amongst yourselves on repeaters, or
simplex, or cell phones, or
smoke signals.
Da Contacts
The goal is to contact as
many different stations in as many different counties as possible. You can make as many overall contacts as
you like, they will then be multiplied by the number of counties you’ve reached. Extra points will be
available for contacting an EC, AEC, DEC, ADEC, ASEC or SEC. Pretty simple- any more complex and
we’ll confuse the scorekeepers.
Da Score
Each FM Simplex contact
counts as 1 point.
Each non- FM simplex contact
counts as 1 point.
Each digital simplex contact
counts as 1 point. (Detect a pattern here?)
Contact with EC, AEC, DEC,
ADEC, ASEC or SEC adds 5 points.
Contact with an EOC or with a
portable station adds 5 points.
Operation from an EOC add 50
points to your total contact score.
Operation from a portable
location add 100 points to your total contact score.
Total contact score (all
bands/modes added together) will be multiplied by the total number of counties you contacted.
Da Logs
Please use any of the
appropriate computer logging programs, paper dupe sheets, a well-worn slide
rule or rusty abacus. Just keep
all that to yourself, we can’t find anyone with the time to go through all the detail contacts. Submit an
email to: contest@delares.org with the
following:
Your name:
Group name:
Location: (City, county)
FM Simplex Contacts:
“Everything else” Simplex
Contacts:
Digital Simplex Contacts:
EOC bonus:
Portable bonus:
Total Contact Score (Add
above together, but you figured that out already):
Multiply by total number of
counties contacted (include your own!):
Bask in the glory of a well
thought out, well executed effort!
Definition of acronyms..
EOC = Emergency Operations
Center
NBEMS = Narrow Band Emergency
Messaging System
ARES = Amateur Radio
Emergency Service
SM = Section Manager
SEC = Section Emergency
Coordinator
ASEC = Assistant Section
Emergency Coordinator
DEC = District Emergency
Coordinator
ADEC = Assistant District
Emergency Coordinator
EC = Emergency Coordinator
AEC = Assistant Emergency
Coordinator
CW = Continuous Wave
SSB = Single-Side Band
FM = Frequency Modulation
****************************************************
THE TECHNICAL COORDINATOR
Jeff Kopcak – TC
Hey gang,
In October, I was invited by
Medina County ARES to see a presentation about Winlink. I had heard of it as a way to send email
messages over the HF bands. There were
rumors around whether specialized hardware was needed and I really wanted to
see what it was all about. Rick - K8CAV
gave a great presentation on how it all works and some tips that really helped
me get operating on Winlink.
Winlink, in short, is a way
to send email via radio circuits frequently used by RV campers, boaters, and
mariners where the Internet may not be available or reliable. It is a store and forward system meaning your
messages will be held and delivered when you call into a gateway, much like the
dial-up or BBS days. There are a number
of ways the software will operate: connect to a remote gateway station over the
air, operate peer-to-peer over-the-air, connect via the Internet using Telnet
(yeah, yeah ‘telnet isn’t secure’ but neither is your email going out over the
air), or webmail. Winlink has regional
Central Messaging Servers (CMS) which connect to the Radio Messaging Servers
(RMS) over the Internet. The RMS is the
gateway your client connects to for sending and receiving messages
over-the-air.
There is little privacy as
other stations can read your messages but the intent is to have a worldwide
emergency email messaging system.
Messages can be exchanged with any email address (Gmail, your ISP) on
the Internet using the assigned callsign@winlink.org email address. Stations conducting business will likely get
blocked from the RMS gateways. Attachments
can be included with messages but due to bandwidth, these should be kept to
small files like CSV or TXT files – no multi-megapixel images or videos.
There are three pieces to the
Winlink client software: RMS Express is the ‘90’s looking email client, Winmor
- the modem, and ITS HF Propagation is a third party software program that
works with Winmor to determine propagation for connection reliability. I got Winlink setup and working with my radio
and SignaLink so no specialized hardware is required. A lot of back-and-forth transmit and
receiving happens between the client and gateway. The TX/RX turn-around time needs to happen
quickly (under 200ms), longer will require a high number of
retransmissions. One tip to help
minimize the delay: set the SignaLink delay control no further than the second
hash mark (8 o’clock position). To get
started, go to ftp://autoupdate.winlink.org. Click “User
Programs.” Download and install “Winlink
Express Install,” and “itshfbc” to their default locations. To get an account created on the system, you
need to send one email to an Internet address such as your personal email. In addition, Winlink has an “APRSLink” where
you can check for messages, read, compose, forward, and delete all by sending
APRS messages. Feel free to send me a
message to “my call” at winlink.org.
More: http://www.winlink.org/
I’ve also been playing around
with a new device from Shark RF called the OpenSpot. It’s a small company with two guys in Estonia
(South of Finland). Production is done
on a batching basis so there is a waiting list.
It seems like they’re shipping units close to once per month. Once I got the shipping notice, I had the
device within a week. They say 3-6
business days shipping time and it arrived certainly within that range. The OpenSpot is a standalone digital radio
gateway otherwise known as a hotspot. It
currently supports DMR (Brandmeister, DMR+), D-STAR (DPlus/REF, DCS, XRF/DExtra,
XLX), and System Fusion (FCS, YSFReflector).
If the mode or network isn’t supported, they do take requests and will
make additions available via firmware upgrades.
Since it is a hotspot device a transceiver capable of operating that
mode is required. They are doing
something cool since DMR and Fusion use the AMBE2 codec. A DMR radio can be used to access the Fusion
network and vice-versa (DMR Talk Groups with a Fusion radio).
The OpenSpot has a lot of
flexibility, very well designed, and is superior to the DV4Mini. It doesn’t need different Raspberry Pi images
for different modes like the DVMega. The
device comes with everything: the OpenSpot hotspot, Ethernet cable, USB cable,
USB power adapter, and antenna. It runs
an internal webserver for device configuration.
I even like how they do the firmware update process. The OpenSpot shows up as a drive to the
computer and using the copy command - copy the firmware to it and voilà -
done. For DMR, it will operate like a
DV4Mini with the radio configured in TG 9 (talk-group) or it will operate like
a repeater (my preference) where the Talk Groups are push-to-talk. All the TAC groups are available (310, 311,
312, etc) and call routing works. I
could not get these to go on the DV4Mini.
D-STAR works great too. You can
link and unlink to reflectors using radio commands. It does not have a drop down for linking
directly to a D-STAR repeater on the network.
The only systems listed are reflectors.
Forum posts describe how to link to a D-STAR repeater (like a DVAP or
DNGL would do) using the “Advanced Mode” screens.
It’s not great for
portability as it comes (in a car, for example). I have not tried any of the USB to Ethernet
adapters with my smartphone or tried a Raspberry Pi as a Wi-Fi to Ethernet
bridge. OpenSpot requires an Ethernet
cable connection meaning no Wi-Fi though there are plans to add this and uses
USB for power and firmware upgrades. As
with these devices in DMR mode, they do not transmit a valid call sign. The radio ID is not valid identification. If you listen to a repeater in FM it will ID
in CW. Unfortunately, the cost is about
twice that of the DV4Mini 182.50 € which, when I ordered, was about $235
including shipping. More: https://www.sharkrf.com/
Other new tech (Christmas
gifts?). With advancements in Software-Defined
Radios (SDR) I’m seeing a new breed of devices hams can use as radios: your
smartphone. Well, at least something
that resembles a smartphone or tablet – still need the additional hardware. A device out of the UK called “MyDel Hamfone
Smartphone Transceiver” is available. It
offers a 3G cellphone, 70cm transceiver (500mw/1W) with camera, expandable SD
card, and GPS. The few reviews are
positive but there is some question if its FCC certified in the US. More: http://www.hamradio.co.uk/amateur-radio-handheld-radio-mydel-handhelds/mydel/mydel-hamfone-smartphone-transceiver-pd-6093.php
Bob - W2CYK and the guys over
at RFinder (the online repeater directory of the ARRL) have released the
“RFinder Android Radio.” Their device
integrates 4G LTE & GSM cell technologies alongside FM (DMR is also
available) radios into a device with the RFinder repeater directory
database. The directory offers coverage
maps and switching repeaters is a point-and-click away. They also boast the elimination of codeplugs
for DMR. This is great as finding
codeplugs, or the information for one, is not always readily available. More: http://androiddmr.com
This past month, the Parma
Radio Club invited me to their meeting to give the Raspberry Pi
presentation. There was a lot of good
discussion and questions. This is always
good to hear because you know the audience is engaged, thinking, and ultimately
providing real-time feedback on the presentation. Thanks for having me at your meeting. More: http://www.parmaradioclub.com/
Don’t forget, National Parks
on the Air will be wrapping up at the end of the year. According to Tom Gallagher - NY2RF, NPOTA is
getting closer to #1MillionQSOs: https://twitter.com/hashtag/1millionqsos. Look out for
those NPOTA stations to get your score up for your wallpaper (that is
certificate if you don’t operate special events and contests).
Starting this past fall with
the kickoff of new TV seasons, the CW is airing a show called “Frequency”
loosely based off the 2000 Sci-Fi thriller of the same name. It starred Dennis Quaid and Jim Caviezel as
father and son, Frank and John Sullivan.
This was big with hams because the movie incorporated something that
resembled ham-radio which allowed the father and son to talk 30 years into the
past and future. The TV show has gotten
positive reviews with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 74% with the biggest criticism
being the back-and-forth between now and 20 years in the past. It airs Wednesday nights at 9pm (Ham Nation
time so it gets the DVR treatment here) with the last couple episodes available
on the CW website and on Netflix streaming. More: http://www.cwtv.com/shows/frequency/
Finally, don’t forget the HF
Santa Net through Christmas Eve. Starts
at 8:30 pm Eastern and can be found on 3916 kHz for the little ones to have a
chance to talk with Santa! More: http://www.3916nets.com/santa-net.html
Thanks for reading. Happy
holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!
73… de Jeff – K8JTK
****************************************************
THE AFFILIATED CLUBS
COORDINATOR
John Myers, KD8MQ - ACC
Hi everyone,
Unfortunately, it looks like
this year’s winter weather will be a bit more "seasonable". I had
intended to do some demo work on my front stoop, so I could begin replacing it
in the spring. But, that project will need to wait until spring. In the last
month, I’ve been attacking my to-do list. Some of my list items are Amateur
Radio Related.
One example is to contact the
local hospital where we hold our club meetings. It's time reserve our room
meeting room for the coming year. In the change of club leadership, this is one
of those tasks that sometimes get overlooked.
One of my favorite movies is
the "National Treasure" series. in the sequal, part of the plot
revolves around the "President's Book". A book written by Presidents,
for Presidents eyes only. The concept is an interesting one. When I was club
President, I stole the idea. The result was the President's "Letter";
a word document which contains tips and advice for our Club President.
Among items in the letter are
notes of what tasks need to happen, and when. These are things such as meeting
room reservations, insurance renewal information, who to contact for various
things, etc. I believe it makes for a smoother transition for the incoming
President.
What systems do you have in
place to assist your new officers as they transition into their new jobs?
I’m happy as I look at the
club numbers for the Ohio section. As of the beginning of the month, we have
108 ARRL Affiliated Clubs. 27 of those are Special Service Clubs. We are still
not at 100% on filing our paperwork with the league. But, I’ll be contacting
some of you in January about updating your club record.
I’d like to extend a welcome
this month to the Geauga ARA; our newest ARRL Affiliated club.
While we’re at it, I’d like
to extend a well-deserved shout to our newest Special Service Club; The
Silvercreek ARA, in Wadsworth. I attended their November meeting, along with
our Division Director, Dale, WA8EFK, and Section Manager, Scott, N8SY. It was a
great evening!
This holiday season, let’s
not forget your members who can’t attend your club meetings, or banquets.
That’s right, I’m talking about those Hams who are either Homebound, or perhaps
are in the hospital, or nursing home. Especially at this time of year, a visit,
or even a card can really lift one's spirits.
Also, it’s not too early to
begin planning for your club activities in the coming year. How about group
builds, park activations, Field Day (both Winter, and Summer), field trips,
etc.? You get the idea; any event that gets your members together outside of
the meeting room is a great thing.
With that, I’d like to wish
all of you a Very Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year.
73 all and I’ll see you next
year.
DE KD8MQ
***************************************************
NATIONAL PARKS ON THE AIR
John Myers, KD8MQ - ACC
Well,
it’s almost over! The ARRL National Parks On The Air event officially ends at
2359Z on December 31st. All contacts need to be uploaded to the
system no later than 2359Z on January 31st, 2017. What a wild ride
it’s been, huh?
As
the year progressed, folks realized that one Million QSOs was an attainable
goal. As I write these words, we are nearly there. The number of NPOTA contacts
that have been loaded to LOTW totals just shy of 995,000. By the time you read
this, the million contact goal will be surpassed. There is talk about setting a
new goal of either 1.1 Million contacts, or 20,000 activations.
As
the operating phase of NPOTA ends, we move on to the next phase. This is where
we peruse our logs for any missed confirmations, or “Orphan QSOs”. That is,
those contacts that you worked, but never got credit for.
So,
how do you go about getting credit for that QSO? An e-mail to the operator (or
holder of the callsign) will normally get you that sought after
confirmation. Courtesy of the folks on
the NPOTA Facebook group, Here are some tips on inquiring about missed
confirmations.
*
Be patient; especially if the activator is doing a lot of activations, they
might take a couple of weeks to upload.
*
Before writing the activator, check LoTW to see if the activator shows a log
upload after the activation date
*
But, If an activator has done multiple activations he may have just uploaded
another log from a different activation, or uploaded a chaser contact. So, if
it hasn't been at least two weeks, sit tight.
*
When e-mailing the activator, a screenshot of your log entry attached to the
E-Mail would be very helpful.
*
Be polite! Thank the person for activating and taking the time to check the
log. Some chasers have reportedly been impatient and rude to activators.
So,
what to do when NPOTA is over? Well, may I suggest the Parks On The Air (POTA)
program? All Ohio State Parks are
now
included in the POTA database. The rules are similar to that for NPOTA. i.e.
you must be in the park you are claiming, and must make minimum of 10 QSOs to
qualify for activator credit.
Oh
yes, they have a Facebook Group! Do a Facebook search on parks on the air.
And
that wraps it up for this month. Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year to all of
you, and I’ll see you on the bands.
73,
John,
KD8MQ
****************************************************
THE SECTION EMERGENCY
COORDINATOR
Stan Broadway, N8BHL
Ohio ARES: 2016 in review
It’s time to present a
summary of ARES in Ohio for the year 2016.
I couldn’t be more proud of your accomplishments this year! ARES, indeed Amateur Radio, proved itself as
a professional and technically proficient operation able to meet the highest
federal standards. We played in the “real world” of national security and
preparation, and by all accounts we won.
We not only solidified our relationships with many agencies including
EMA’s and Red Cross but also gained the respect of Homeland Security and other
high level divisions. Credit belongs to
our local and district Emergency Coordinators for long meetings, intense
preparation, and executing with great success!
I don’t need to go through
the statewide activities during July’s RNC and related events, you all know how
many people were involved and how much time was invested.
As for the yearend report
(including projected numbers to fill out December) Amateur Radio operators
nearly doubled the number of public service and actual emergency events.
Here are our end-of-year
projections for 2016, 2015 numbers are in parenthesis.
Public service events: 790
(414)
Public service hours: 19,240
(16,070)
Emergency events: 290
(101)
Emergency hours: 2,200
(2,138)
Training events: 1,725
(2,490)
Training hours: 21,800
(22,168)
Total events: 2,805
(3,005)
Total hours: 43,240
(40,376)
Assuming the most recently
reported hourly value of a volunteer to be $23, not including fuel or supplying
our own radio equipment, this leads us to conclude that ARES provided $994,520
in volunteer service to our communities, counties, and state. Estimating cost of equipment at a low of $300
per volunteer, the value increases to over $1.5 million.
Our training hours were down
from last year (perhaps because we were busy actually ~doing~ things) but the
number of members who’ve completed FEMA 100, 200, 700 and 800 has steadily
increased. Although we aren’t confident we have all your records, our state
database shows over 500 members carrying 3,263 course certificates. 303 have
completed the four NIMS courses, many more are still on their way. We continue
to press for completion, and we have set a standard that ARES volunteers who
report to an EOC or emergency operation must have the NIMS courses. Make sure
we have your certificates (scans or jpg’s) for the database, and your EC has a
printed copy for a log at your EOC.
In addition to the obvious
activities during July, ARES members did a lot more. Some groups are working on MESH (2.4 GHz
digital networking) while others are developing applications in Winlink
(RF-based email systems). Because
emergencies don’t provide prior notice, and because the ability to rapidly
communicate is absolutely key to handling an event, EOC’s need to maintain the
presence of amateur radio gear! In
several counties, ARES organizations are upgrading, expanding and further
developing stations. The same is true at the Ohio EOC/JDF, where an entirely
new station has been designed with all new radio equipment. Completion of the
remodel and installation is expected before the end of this year. Many other
groups were busy upgrading communications trailers for emergency response, some
in cooperation with CERT.
ARES members again
participated in “NVIS Antenna Day” testing the ability to communicate within
the state using HF radio frequencies. In 2015, ARES members participated in our
first “ARES VHF Contest”, designed to test and improve our local communication
capabilities for those times when everything (even our own repeaters) has
failed. It was a great success. Amateur Radio’s “Field Day” event is always a
big draw. And it is very rare to find a
marathon or large ride/run that doesn’t depend on ARES volunteers. Weather systems bring out trained spotters,
relaying accurate ground reports to National Weather Service stations. From bringing aid to a stricken hunter
outside of cell phone range to being a standing backup during the RNC to
activating to help at an EOC, our ARES volunteers won the confidence of EMA
directors, and assumed a higher position of trust.
The ARES VHF radio contest
will be held in 2017 on January 14th! Look for more information in your emails!
I’ll send it to county coordinators who can forward to their members! It should
be a great time. With the decreasing sunspot cycles, we will need to evaluate
alternate means of getting the message through- and I know you can do that!
Well done, and I truly
appreciate each and every one’s time and efforts!
For the latest Section
Emergency Coordinator’s monthly report go to:
73, Stan, N8BHL
****************************************************
THE PUBLIC INFORMATION
COORDINATOR
John Ross, KD8IDJ
FROM THE PIC
WOW what a year!!! More and
more we hear and see Amateur Radio in action in places where we never thought
we would be. It’s all good and it’s all because you take this hobby and use it
in new ways every day. It’s how we grow and how we show how much we respect
Amateur Radio and all of the adventures it has to offer.
One of the best things we do
is write about Amateur Radio and here in Ohio we have the best cadre of Public
Information Officers and newsletter editors. We show that every month
with a round of newsletters that keep our clubs and communities informed.
So the 2017 Ohio Section
Newsletter Contest is about to open for business on January 1st.
The rules for the coming year
are the same…I need two copies of your newsletters to make it official. Most
clubs send me one every month and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that.
I really do read them all and them file them neatly away so the judges can make
their decision in early July. Believe me, the competition is great and judges
work hard to pick the winners.
The official rules are on the
Ohio Section website: http://arrl-ohio.org/pic_page/pic.html If you have a
question or concern just send me an email or call anytime.
Thank you for all of the
submissions over the past three years and I know this year will be just as
great.
COLLEGE
RADIO CLUBS
I know first-hand just how
important college radio clubs can be and the rich history they share with
Amateur Radio. I wasn’t a member of the OSU Radio Club when I was student (wish
I had been) and the stories that club members tell about their experiences are,
to say the least, riveting, and show just how important membership can be. My
research on the OSU club revealed some documents, stories and logs that go back
almost 100 years!
If you’re active with a
college radio club, or know of one in your area, shoot me an email and I’ll
make contract. If you have stories about your experiences…I want to hear about
those as well. I think we have a lot offer college radio clubs and I’m sure
they can help us keep Amateur Radio moving forward.
Here’s the official ARRL
article from the December 1st ARRL Letter:
ARRL Expands Initiative to
Fire Up Collegiate Amateur Radio Clubs
A growing number of campus
radio clubs and student radio amateurs have begun to share ideas and
suggestions on the ARRL Collegiate Amateur Radio Initiative (CARI)
Facebook page, which is aimed at sparking renewed participation, activity, and
idea-sharing among this special sector of the Amateur Radio community. The
now-expanded initiative stemmed from two well-attended ARRL New England
Division Convention forums for radio amateurs attending college, one hosted by
the Amateur Radio clubs at Harvard (W1AF) and Yale (W1YU). As the forum
explained, the activity level at campus Amateur Radio club stations can vary
wildly from one year to the next, as students graduate and newcomers arrive.
"The most common
difficulty stems from uneven interest over time," said ARRL CEO Tom
Gallagher, NY2RF, in his "Second Century" editorial, "Cheers for
College Amateur Radio: Sis-boom-bah!" in the December 2016 issue of QST.
"Even the strongest leaders in college Amateur Radio graduate every 4
years, sometimes leaving their clubs without adequate continuity or leadership
succession."
Gallagher pointed out that
"recognized" student activities require students in order to
maintain that status. However, even officially recognized college club stations
may find themselves at the mercy of administrations in terms of space for a
station and antennas, and some clubs have had to move more than once to
accommodate their schools' space requirements. Issues involving safety and
security can also affect college radio clubs.
In a recent post, Kenny Hite,
KE8CTL, a graduate teaching assistant at West Virginia University, said the
university's Amateur Radio club, W8CUL, has been unable to participate in
recent on-the-air events "due to lack of working equipment and
questionable antenna setups," as he put it. Another poster, Dennis Silage,
K3DS, who's associated with the Temple University Amateur Radio Club (K3TU), said, "A key to a successful and long-running
college club seems to be faculty involvement for stability and
recognition." He invited other CARI participants to check out the club's
website.
"It occurred to us that,
if college Amateur Radio could galvanize [mutual interests], then colleges
might just provide the ideal bridge between youthful interest in the subject
and lifelong participation in our community," Gallagher wrote.
FINAL
WISHES FOR 2017
Thanks
another great year…for the nice comments, for the emails and for the stories of
Amateur Radio. I know that 2017 will be even better.
I
hope you and you families have a great Holiday Season!
73,
John, KD8IDJ
****************************************************
THE SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGER
David Maynard, WA3EZN - STM
First let’s start off with a correction. Last month I listed the times and frequencies for several CW nets. The Hit and Bounce slow net frequency was wrong. The Hit and Bounce slow net meets on 7.112 at 7:30 am local time. Also the Hit and Bounce net meets on 7.112 at 8:30 am local time. Both nets meet on the same frequency an hour apart.
Here is a list of Ohio NTS HF
daily nets, frequencies, times and net managers. All licensed hams are welcome to check in
with or without radiogram traffic.
BN(E) Buckeye Net Early – CW – WB8YLO NET MANAGER – 3580 at 6:45
BN(L) Buckeye Net Late – CW –
WB9LBI NET MANAGER – 3590 at
10:00 pm
OSN Ohio Slow Net – CW – W8OLO NET MANAGER – 3.53535 at 6PM
OSSBN Ohio Single Sideband Net – Phone – KC8WH
NET MANAGER –
3972.5 at 10:30 AM, 4:15PM AND 6:45 PM
If you not going anywhere on
New Year’s here is something fun to try.
The ARRL Straight Key Night is coming up on January 1, 2016. Why not dust off that old straight key and
give it a try. Who knows you may like it
and have some fun. Straight Key night
starts at 0000Z and ends at 2359Z (UTC). More details can be found at www.arrl.org/straight-key-night .
Using CW Abbreviations and Q
Signals Abbreviations are very
commonly used in CW. They save time and are one reason why CW is so cool. Once
you have learned some of the abbreviations as well as CW operating techniques,
you are "in", you're a member of the CW using fraternity. Knowing and
using CW correctly is kinda’ like belonging to an exclusive club. Anybody can
pick up a microphone and talk on the ham bands; doing CW requires skill and
finesse.
Here I've listed some of the
more common abbreviations and Q signals used on CW. There are more abbreviations
available in many places, I will just mention a few of the most commonly used.
ADR address GN
good night RIG station
equipment
AGN again GND
ground RPT repeat
BK break GUD good SK end
of transmission
BN been HI
laugh SRI sorry
C yes HR here SSB single
side-band
CL closing HV
have TMW tomorrow
CUL see you later HW how
TNX-TKS thanks
DE from N no TU thank
you
DX distance NR
number UR
yours
ES and NW now VY
very
FB fine business OM old
man WX weather
GA go ahead PSE
please XYL wife
GB good bye PWR
power YL young lady
GE good evening R received 73 best regards
GM good morning RCVR receiver 88
love and kisses
And the International
"Q" signals, recognizable in any language:
QRL is frequency busy? QRT
stop sending
QRM interference QRX wait, standby
QRN noise, static QSB fading
QRO increase power QSL
acknowledge receipt
QRP decrease power QSY
change frequency
QRS send slower QTH location
I hope you have recovered
from your Thanksgiving feast. However, not to spoil the mood but shortly after Thanksgiving
comes Christmas.
How are you doing on your
Christmas shopping? More important how
are you doing on your Christmas hinting?
You know the hints you leave for other so they know what to get you for
Christmas. By the time you read this you
will not have much time left before Christmas if it hasn’t already come and
gone. I think a review of my Christmas
Hint list is in order. Here is a list of
places to leave that hint so your significant other will be sure to find it.
I doubt that many of you will
get them to buy you that $2000 HF rig but maybe a new mobile rig or a Heil
headset with microphone or an ARRL membership with subscription to QST. How are they going to know what you want if
you don’t “hint” them?
Here are a few suggestions
where to leave him or her you hint so you get the ham radio items you want for
Christmas. You can use a page from a
catalog or magazine to be:
Taped to their car steering
wheel.
Taped on their cereal box or
coffee cup
Taped on the bathroom mirror
Leave the store catalog on
the coffee table open to the right page
Clipped to the lamp on the
night stand
Taped to the door going to
the garage or outside
Put a hint in her underwear
drawer. Note: this doesn’t work for men
Put one on his or her
computer monitor
Pin one to their pillow
Talk about it every chance
you get
I am sure that if you think
real hard you can come up with some good “HINT” places of your own. Good luck
and I hope you get what you want for Christmas.
How about the winter weather?
Starting with lake effect snows from lake Michigan and Lake Erie? I was raised in Pennsylvania about one mile south of Lake Erie so I know a little about lake effect. Then there was the snow storm out west with a large amount of snow in some areas with road closures and many vehicle accidents. Here in Ohio we had some snow but not like the other areas have been hit.
This is a good time to think
about winter safety. It doesn’t matter if you are just heading out the door to
work or taking that trip to grandma’s house for Christmas you should be
thinking about car safety. Here are some
things you should do to prepare for that snow emergency.
For the car or SUV check your
tire conditions, battery, anti-freeze and check your lights. Also have window
scrapers, shovel, cat litter, a working flashlight and clear your car lights of
snow just to name a few items. For
personal safety you should have blankets, winter coats, boots, hats and gloves
for everyone in case you get stuck and have to walk your way out. You should
have food and water for everyone in the vehicle so if you can’t walk your way
out you can at least wait comfortably for help to arrive. If you do get stuck
and run you vehicle for heat make sure the exhaust pipe is open and clear and
remains that way. It is also a good idea to keep your gas tank at least half
full on a daily basis and to fill up before leaving on the ride to grandma’s
house for Christmas. After all we need
you and yours to remain safe and have a happy holiday.
Remember if you not going
anywhere on New Year’s here is something fun to try. The ARRL Straight Key Night is coming up on
January 1, 2017. Why not dust off that
old straight key and give it a try. Who
knows you may like it and have some fun.
Straight Key night starts at 0000Z and ends at 2359Z (UTC). More details
can be found at www.arrl.org/straight-key-night.
This 24-hour event is not a
contest; rather it is a day dedicated to celebrating our CW heritage.
Participants are encouraged to get on the air and simply make enjoyable,
conversational CW QSOs. The use of straight keys or bugs to send CW is
preferred. There are no points scored and all who participate are winners.
Results from previous contests and events can be found at http://www.arrl.org/files/file/ContestResults/2016/SKN_2016.pdf
"We can't help everyone,
but everyone can help someone"
Ronald Reagan
To you and yours, have a Merry
Christmas and a safe and happy New Year.
73, David, WA3EZN
Ohio Section Traffic Manager
****************************************************
FROM THE SCOUTING ASM
Scott Hixon, KC8ITN
As 2016 comes to a close, a
lot of people want to reflect on the year and what they have done. At the end
of the year, I like to look at the year ahead and think about how I can make it
better than the previous.
I’m not saying that you
should just forget about what you have done throughout the year. It’s just that
some people spend so much time looking back, they forget to look forward.
Alexander Graham Bell said it best, “When one door closes another door opens;
but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we
do not see the ones which open for us”.
It’s good to do an end of the year “debrief” to figure out what worked
and what didn’t, but the best thing is to continually improve.
One of the things I found
that I can improve on at future events is to have more kid friendly flyers and
brochures available. The ARRL used to have a tri-fold flyer called “Leap Into
Ham Radio” that they put out back in the early 2000’s, but I think they have
since discontinued it. When they came out, I ordered around 1000 of them to
hand out during scout and youth events. A recent look on the ARRL website shows
that they do have a “Ham Radio Youth” flyer that you can download or order from
them. Another option is to be creative and make your own! By making your own,
you can personalize it to fit your area, group or event.
Another area I found that I
can improve on is involving more ham operators. One of the worst situations to
be in is to have a lot of scouts wanting to get on the radio and not having
enough radios to put them on. Now, this doesn’t mean you should have one radio
for each scout. But, you should have enough so that there are not long lines
waiting to get on the radio. About the only line a scout is willing to spend a
lot of time in is a food line! Showing
amateur radio to a large group of scouts cannot be a one man show. Involve your
friends, radio clubs and emergency communications groups. By involving other
people to help they may, in turn, get others involved. That’s how we grow our
hobby!
So, as the New Year
approaches, try to look ahead more than you look behind. There’s nothing we
change about the past because it’s already happened. But, we CAN make the
future better!
I would like to wish everyone
in the Ohio Section a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. As you’re out and
about during this season, drive carefully. My loved ones may be in the car next
to yours.
Remember to lift someone up
that is feeling down, help your fellow man and lend an ear to someone who needs
to talk. You may be that one person who can make a positive difference is
another’s life.
I will talk to you all next
year! Take care and make a difference in
someone’s life!
73, Scott Hixon
KC8ITN
****************************************************
OUT AND ABOUT
Lyn Alfman, N8IMW - Assistant
Section Manager
I attended three amateur radio club meetings this month: The Zanesville
Amateur Radio Club (ZARC-W8ZZV), the Cambridge Amateur Radio Association
(CARA-W8VP), and the Amateur Radio Club of American Legion Post 641 Belle
Valley (AA8AL). I also attended the Guernsey County Amateur Radio Emergency
Service (GCARES).
I attended the CARA officers’ meeting, two Cambridge Main Street
Christmas Parade Committee meetings, and the Guernsey & Noble Counties Long
Term Recovery Committee meeting, six amateur radio meals. I also helped provide
lineup and communications for the Cambridge Christmas Parade. And, I will also
be helping with the first annual Byesville Christmas Parade.
The Cambridge Amateur Radio Association, W8VP, operated a Special Event
Station on November 5 from the Waller-McMunn building celebrating the 175th
anniversary of the Cambridge City Band-the oldest continuous community band in
Ohio. I had fun operating and logging. Needless to say, we brought enough food that
day to feed a group five times our size. Hams like to get together and eat and
play radio!
December will be a slow month for meetings because most of the amateur
radio clubs locally do not have meetings.
CARA will have an Awards Banquet on December 10.
Unfortunately, my e-mail was hacked on November 30, and they stripped
the contacts out of my address book. So,
I have to rebuild the contacts in my address book. So, if you normally get the CARA Communicator
from me, and you did not receive it on December 1 and what it, please send me
an email requesting the newsletter.
Thanks. Remember to be “Radio
Active”!
’73 Lyn, N8IMW
****************************************************
CENTRAL OHIO HAPPENINGS
From: Fritz Tender, WD8E -
Assistant Section Manager
Good Morning All,
Hebron had its first
measurable snow fall reminding me why I dislike shovels. This is my last
article as Central Ohio Assistant Section Manager. As such, I want to
thank everyone who allowed me to have more fun than I deserved. I am planning
my hamfest itinerary and barring foul weather I look forward to seeing many of
you very soon.
73, Fritz, WD8E
****************************************************
ARES TRAINING UPDATE
Jim Yoder, W8ERW/5
Many of us have now felt the
chill of the winter season as we quickly approach the holidays and the
beginning of a new year. I am not sure
that I am ready for it, but it has arrived here in Texas with some frost and
below freezing temperatures. Now this
might not be nearly as harsh as it is for Ohioans but, I fear I have begun to
acclimate to Texas weather. As I walked
outside this morning I decided that I was indeed cold. The local media seems to be making a huge
deal of what would be rather normal back in Ohio. I am told that if it snows, not to even think
about venturing out on the roads. Good
advice I am sure that is. Driving here
can be an adventure in good weather.
Ohio Section Hams have been
busy all year working on and completing FEMA NIMS courses and other related
training to support ARES. The
submissions to the ARES Training Database have been steady and continue to grow
with over 500 Ohio Amateurs currently included in the training numbers which
are now at over 3,300 classes recorded.
Over 300 have completed the FEMA core courses, ICS-100, 200, 700 and
800. Many others have also documented
additional FEMA training and the ARRL Emergency Communications courses EC-1,2
& 3. This is an impressive amount of
activity and a serious measure of the dedication and interest being given to
the program by Ohio Section Hams.
So now that the chill of
winter is upon us and we all have those antenna projects completed for the
year, there is time to grab a hot cup of coffee and knock out one or more of
these informative FEMA NIMS courses. I
think you will find that they are not difficult and you will learn some
interesting facts and procedures concerning how a disaster situation may be
handled. You will also learn how your
Amateur Radio skills would be used and what to expect when it happens. These courses are put together with input
from all of the significant players including business, local responders and
the Federal Agencies tasked to support communities when necessary. The training is updated regularly to included
lessons learned and the latest methods and technologies.
Information on how to get
started is available on the arrlohio.org website. Your Emergency Coordinator is also a great
resource as is your local EMA. The
courses are free and available online and don't take a lot of time to
complete.
Let's all have a wonderful
holiday season and be safe if you plan to travel. I look forward to the onrush of training
certificates that will be in my email soon after the new year.
73 and thank you,
Jim W8ERW
****************************************************
LET'S TALK
Scott Yonally, N8SY - Section
Manager
Hey Gang,
OK, now just who left the
freezer door open! Really? 2 degrees here in Lexington on December 15th? I
guess I have to report that it’s winter outside now, even though on the
calendar it says that we have another week to go. Oh well, I’m going to look on
the bright side of things, at least the beer and pop are staying cold out in
the garage now!!
Did you read the segment above about the Christmas Special “Handbook Giveaway” drawing on the website yet? It’s there..!! AND.. I’m definitely sure that you’ll want to get in on this. Just go to the website and click on the big RED arrow on the left side. Here’s a link: http://arrlohio.org
Be on the lookout for my
annual End of the Year report coming very soon. I’ve got it almost completed
and wow, we did a lot this year for sure. I know that you’ll find it very
interesting for sure.
The Amateur Radio Parity Act,
H.R. 1301, has died. The bill stalled in the Senate due to the intervention of
only one member, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL). Over the course of the past year,
Sen. Nelson has received thousands of e-mails, letters, and phone calls from
concerned constituents asking for his support of H.R. 1301. After numerous
meetings were held with his senior staff in an effort to move the legislation
forward, it became very clear that the Senator just didn’t want to have this
legislation pass. So, we now have to start all over next year with the 115th
Congress. So, with that in mind, I’m sure that there will be even more of a push
for letter writing campaigns, and contacting your Legislators to get them
on-board to pass this next year. I’m very sure that the Florida Senator has already
gotten an ear full from the 44,000 plus Amateur Radio operators that reside
there! Maybe the next time he won’t be quite so obstinate!
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, gets 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 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.
On that same subject, 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@n8sy.com I’ll be happy to call or write to you. We can
even meet and have coffee if you’d like, and I’ll buy!!
I’m sure all of you have
heard me say that I’m always available for you, whether you’re an ARRL member
or not. It’s true, and you can feel free to write or call me anytime. If you
have any questions, concerns, or would just like to sit and chat awhile over a
cup of coffee or something cold to drink, feel free to call or write me (419) 512-4445 or n8sy@n8sy.com
That’s going to do it for
this month. I hope to see you all at your hamfests, club meetings or on the
air!
73, Scott, N8SY
****************************************************
THE OFFICIAL OBSERVER
COORDINATOR
John Perone, W8RXX
The hard working Ohio OO's
monitored a total of 1149 hours in November.
Only 1 OO card was sent.
73, John, W8RXX
****************************************************
WEBSITE STATS – ** arrl-ohio.org
**
November 2016
Pages
|
Hits
|
Bandwidth
|
42,738
|
91,162
|
2.30 GB
|
****************************************************
SPECIAL EVENTS STATIONS IN
OHIO
01/28/2017 | 2nd Annual Cabin
Fever Special Event
Jan 28, 1700Z-2300Z, K8PRC
Loudonville, OH.
Pedestrian Amateur Radio
Club.
14.250 14.050 7.250 7.050
QSL. K8PRC, 1661 Manor Ave NW
Canton, OH 44708
*********************************
KIDS DAY
The first Saturday in January
is Kids Day. This is the time to get youngsters on the air to share in the joy
and fun that Amateur Radio can provide. Kids Day gets under way on Saturday,
January 7, at 1800 UTC and concludes at 2359 UTC. Sponsored by the Boring
(Oregon) Amateur Radio Club, this event has a simple exchange, suitable for younger
operators: First name, age, location, and favorite color. After that, the
contact can be as long or as short as each participant prefers.
Kids Day is the perfect
opportunity to open your shack door and invite kids over to see what Amateur
Radio has to offer. Details are
on the ARRL website.
****************************************************
OHIO HAMFEST CALENDAR
01/15/2017 | Sunday Creek
Amateur Radio Federation Hamfest
Location: Nelsonville, OH
Sponsor: Sunday Creek Amateur Radio Federation
Website: http://www.qrz.com/db/KC8AAV
Location: Nelsonville, OH
Sponsor: Sunday Creek Amateur Radio Federation
Website: http://www.qrz.com/db/KC8AAV
01/29/2017 | TUSCO Amateur Radio Club Hamfest
Location: Strasburg, OH
Sponsor: Tusco Amateur Radio Club
Website: http://tuscoarc.org
****************************************************
A final – final.. Christmas
is upon us. A time of joy, peace and love to ALL. Keep in your thoughts and
prayers those who aren’t as fortunate as we are, and those who are serving to
preserve our freedom.
Janie and I do want to
express our sincerest THANKS to YOU and YOURS for everything that you have done
to make the Ohio Section great! May you all have a Very Merry Christmas and a
Fantastic New Year!
eof..
