In this issue:
-> ALLAN SEVERSON AWARD
WINNER ANNOUNCED
-> THE TECHNICAL
COORDINATOR
-> AFFILIATED CLUB
COORDINATOR REPORT
-> NATIONAL PARKS ON THE
AIR
-> THE SECTION EMERGENCY
COORDINATOR
-> THE PUBIC INFORMATION
COORDINATOR
-> THE SECTION TRAFFIC
MANAGER
-> OUT AND ABOUT
-> WHATS HAPPENING IN SOUTHWEST OHIO
-> GREETINGS FROM DFW
-> LET'S TALK
-> THE OFFICIAL OBSERVER
COORDINATOR
-> WEBSITE STATS
-> THE OHIO 2-METER
SIMPLEX SQUARES CONTEST RESULTS
-> THANK YOU TO ALL WHO
ATTENDED
-> SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS
IN OHIO
-> OTHER EVENTS HAPPENING
OF INTEREST
-> OHIO HAMFEST CALENDAR
****************************************************
ALLAN SEVERSON AWARD WINNER
ANNOUNCED
The Allan Severson Memorial
Award is bestowed on an amateur radio operator in the Ohio Section who has
demonstrated a continuing dedication to the advancement of amateur radio and to
the Ohio Section. Usually one Ohio Section member is awarded per year and
usually at the Ohio Section Conference in September.
The award had been
established in 1992 and was named "Ohio Ham of the Year" until 1999.
That year it was renamed after Allan, of Lakewood, Ohio, who had become a
silent key in 1997. The award winners listed here are all hams who, like Allan
Severson, have dedicated themselves to the advancement of the American Radio
Relay League in Ohio.
Although Allan had served the
Section as Section Manager and went on to a distinguished career as Great Lakes
Division Director on the ARRL National Board of Directors, the annual award
announcement only mentions one sentence about him which is part of every
memorial award certificate. That sentence quickly demonstrates the reason for
the renaming of this award. "Allan's devotion to serve amateur radio
inspired a whole generation of Ohio Section leadership."
The award this year goes to
none other than..
John Myers, KD8MQ
Congratulations John..!!
****************************************************
THE TECHNICAL COORDINATOR
Jeff Kopcak - TC
Hey gang,
As I’m beginning this month’s
article some nasty storms just ripped through Cleveland on the 11th. There were branches, trees, wires, power
lines down, and road closures on the west side due to those hazards, including
my QTH of Westlake. Luckily I’ve heard
of no injuries. If you’re not part of
the NWS Skywarn program, please consider joining as a spotter. Skywarn is a volunteer program that helps the
local National Weather Service office know what’s happening on the ground and
assists in warning people about dangerous weather conditions. Training typically happens in the early
spring for spotters. Check with your
local club or Skywarn organization.
The Republican Nation
Convention went off without major incident in Cleveland. I was working from home and had the scanner
on most of that week. Three major
trunked radio systems were utilized: MARCS, the new MARCS-IP (Multi-Agency
Radio Communications System), and GCRCN (Greater Cleveland Radio Communications
Network). If you didn’t set a wildcard
or use UniTrunker to watch those systems, you probably missed a lot of the
event communications. There were about
12 primary talk groups on GCRCN where most of the action took place. These were previously unidentified so they
were not in any lists or databases that use Radio Reference. A wildcard stops on any talk group whereas
programming specific talk groups into the scanner will only stop on
transmissions for those talk groups. The
“old” MARCS system was shut down immediately following the convention as it was
kept online largely for backup. It has
been replaced by the MARCS-IP system.
This month we learned the sad
news of Hara Arena’s closing. No more
Hamvention at Hara Arena after 52 years.
The Dayton Amateur Radio Association put into action their contingency
plans. It was announced that Hamvention
will still be in the Dayton area. The
new location is The Greene County Fair and Expo Center located in Xenia,
Ohio. Michael Kalter and Ron Cramer
talked about the new location on Ham Nation for about 30 minutes in episode
259. Couple of links worth visiting:
-Why we are saddened by the
loss of the Hara Arena: http://ad8bc.com/bc/?p=601
-Hamvention Announces Venue for 2017: http://hamvention.org/hamvention-announces-venue-for-2017/
-Ham Nation episode 259: https://twit.tv/shows/ham-nation/episodes/259, or YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_OaKmllEDY
-Hamvention Announces Venue for 2017: http://hamvention.org/hamvention-announces-venue-for-2017/
-Ham Nation episode 259: https://twit.tv/shows/ham-nation/episodes/259, or YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_OaKmllEDY
One of our Technical
Specialists, David KD8TWG, has been involved with setting up a DMR repeater in
Cleveland. The frequency is 442.0875 (+5
MHz standard offset) using Color Code 1.
The repeater is connected to the K4USD cBridge (http://www.k4usd.org/). On that
website is a listing of the “standard configuration” for repeaters connected to
the bridge. Right now, your code plug
should follow the layout listed on the site.
A cBridge is a feature that allows interconnecting of repeaters over the
Internet and a Color Code is equivalent to a PL tone or DCS on analog
repeaters.
When I picked up my DMR radio
at Dayton, I found a code plug that had repeaters in Dayton and Columbus for
the drive home. It was a nice opportunity
to quickly get on the air with DMR but I kept threating myself to write my
own. With the installation of the
repeater in Cleveland, I took the opportunity to do just that. What is a “code plug?” Some history I found online notes the origins
came from wire plugs, later jumpers, which were plugged into the radio to
enable certain options or features. Since everything is now processor based,
the term continues to stick with the radio world and is a fancy word for ‘radio
configuration.’ It contains transmit/receive
frequencies, tone selections, timeout values, IDs, configuration settings,
etc. I used the one I found in Dayton as
a reference. There is also a sample one
on K4USD’s site for my radio. I compared
the two and designed mine the way I thought worked best. Just because someone designed a code plug one
way doesn’t mean you can’t modify or do it differently. It’s analogous to one ham’s memory channels
are not the same as another. In the end,
it took about 3 hours to make mine! Keep
in mind that was a lot of learning and comparing, in addition I programmed all
65 possible talk groups so I don’t have to add them in later. From discussions on the air indications are
it took others a few hours as well. But
my code plug works! I couldn’t be happier. Well OK I could, apparently I’m just far
enough away that my 5 watts doesn’t quite make the trip. I took the radio to work and tested it from
there.
I am writing an introductory
series for the Wood County Amateur Radio Club on getting started in digital
modes. The first few articles were for
those who have never worked digital and want to upgrade their station. Remaining articles will focus on a specific
mode. I’ve completed 3 so far (starting
in February): an introduction, station setup, and working JT65/9. Published versions can be found at the club’s
website in the CQ Chatter newsletter: http://wcarc.bgsu.edu/. As I point
out in the second article, Technician class licensees can still
participate. All of these sound card
digital modes can be operated over FM simplex or even a net on a repeater using
an HT! There are clear downsides like
not being able to transmit as far as an HF station and occupying the full 10 to
15 kHz FM, even though the bandwidth of the audio generated by the computer is
less. Yes, this defeats the purpose of narrow bandwidth modes. Someone wanting
to learn and experiment with these modes may get bitten by the bug and lead to
a license upgrade. That’s how I did
it. I plan to write an article every 2-3
months.
My dad and I had the
opportunity to join the Toledo Mobile Radio Association (TMRA) on August
In addition to all the work
David KD8TWG has been doing to get DMR up and running in Cleveland, he’s been
helping repair and upgrade analog repeaters, and setting up APRS IGates around
town. He will be giving a presentation on
APRS at the Lake Erie Amateur Radio Association’s club meeting on August 30th. Dinner starts at 6:30pm with the meeting at
7:30, don’t need to have dinner to attend the presentation. Haven’t seen an official announcement on
location yet but it’s expected to be at the Play Arcade in Mayfield Hts (5900
Mayfield Rd, Mayfield Heights, OH).
Check the LEARA website for updates and for dinner reservations: http://www.leara.org/.
I will be giving my
introductory Raspberry Pi presentation at the Cuyahoga Amateur Radio Society
meeting, September 13 at 7:30pm. It will
be updated as there is new hardware and innovations available. Their meeting location is the Busch Funeral
Home, 7501 Ridge Rd, Parma, Ohio. More: http://www.2cars.org/.
Thanks for reading and 73… de
Jeff – K8JTK
****************************************************
THE AFFILIATED CLUBS
COORDINATOR
John Myers, KD8MQ - ACC
Hi everyone, as you can tell
from reading Scott’s column above, it’s been a wild month here. I’m definitely
going to need to clear some wall space in the shack. But, for now it’s back to
work.
Your club affiliation must be
renewed yearly. You do this by updating your club record at arrl.org. If there
are no changes to be made to your record, just log in to your record, then
click on submit. This resets the clock on your club record, and you are good
for another year.
However, if you are a Special
Service Club, your status needs to be renewed every other year. At this time,
your SSC status does not run concurrent with your club affiliation. We are
working to streamline this process, though. Unfortunately, at this time, the
only way to check your SSC expiration date is to contact your Section Manager,
myself, or the league.
Around the end of July, I
sent out the latest wave of reminders for clubs to update their club records.
Using the e-mail addresses on file with the league, I received only one bounced
e-mail. That is great in comparison to the first time I did this, almost two
years ago.
It’s been a bit over two
years since I became the Ohio ACC. It might be a good time to take a look
back. It took me a few months to settle
in, and get my bearings, but you were patient, and I appreciate that. I started
keeping statistics at the end of 2014, so let’s see where we were.
As of December 29, 2014,
there were 96 ARRL affiliated clubs in the Ohio section. Of those 96 clubs,
only 9 of them were current Special service Clubs.
As of July 31st,
2016, we have 106 clubs; 26 of them are current Special service Clubs. Can we
do better? Sure! We have a few clubs that still need to update their club
records, and special service club forms. I’ll be contacting you personally over
the next couple months to see if I can help out.
So, Scott, N8SY spoke at my
home club last week, and quoted some interesting numbers concerning the Ohio
Section. Using his info as a starting point, I downloaded some numbers from the
league database. Here are the results of that research.
There are almost 2400 ARRL
affiliated Amateur Radio clubs nationwide. Only 162, or 7% of these are Special
service Clubs.
Now, let’s look at the Ohio
section, with 106 clubs; 26 of them SSCs, for a total of 25%. I’d say we are a
bit above average. But, let’s think about that for a second. Only 162 Special
Service Clubs in the entire country and 26 of those are in Ohio. Lastly, at 106
clubs, the Ohio section is larger than two entire divisions. We have a lot to
be proud of in the Ohio section.
So, by now you’ve heard that
the Dayton Hamvention is moving to Xenia. There’s been plenty of doom &
gloom on the web, but personally, I applaud the Dayton ARA for having a
contingency plan in place. I’m excited to attend Hamvention 2017, and am
looking forward to the old friends I’ll see, and the new one’s I’ll make in May
of 2017. Do I think all will come off without a hitch? Naw, there will be
challenges, but they will be overcome. I submit that Hamvention is not as much
about the venue, but rather the friends, and relationships we’ve made (and will
make) there.
Don’t forget if your club is
making plans to operate the Ohio QSO Party this month, or next month’s Ohio
State Parks On The Air event, head on out, and lend a hand. Get involved!
And with that, I’ll say 73
until next month.
DE KD8MQ
****************************************************
NATIONAL PARKS ON THE AIR
John Myers, KD8MQ - ACC
Hi
everyone, we are in the dog days of summer for sure. There’s nothing like
kicking back in the air conditioned shack and working a few new parks. Or. . . How
about if we say “the heck with the weather”, and head out for some new adventures
as an activator? There’s still a lot of time left to get involved in the fun,
either as a chaser, or an activator.
Well,
the NPS centennial week is almost upon us. Again, if you are working with any
NPS locations for a activation between the 20th, and the 27th,
please get in touch with Sean, KX9X at League HQ. He is tracking them, and will
likely give you some PR on Social Media to boot. Also, don’t forget to take
pictures of your activations. Posting them to the Facebook would be great for
the rest of us to enjoy.
Speaking
about Facebook, maybe it isn’t your cup of Tea, but the Facebook NPOTA group is
now over 4000 strong, and is a great place to get your fix of breaking NPOTA
news. That’s right; all the NPOTA news that is news usually breaks on the group
first.
Add
to that the cast of characters that frequent the group make it well worth the
time spent checking in.
For
instance, we have Emily, KB3VVE who decided to learn CW because of
conversations in the group. I won’t give the story away here, since you can read
all about it on page 77 of the September issue of QST.
Another
local Facebook group member worth mentioning is Jeff, KE8BKP. I first met him
at this year’s Mansfield Hamfest. Jeff was pretty excited about NPOTA. A day
does not go by that Jeff is not posting spots to the Facebook group. According
to the Stats page (npota.arrl.org), Jeff has over 370
NPS units worked, and is number 6 on the leader board in Ohio (#72 overall). 
And
lastly this month, let’s give a shout to Bob Voss, N4CD. An avid County hunter,
Bob edits the County Hunter News. Residing at the #2 spot overall, he currently
has NPOTA activations to his credit (This number will increase once he returns
home from his current trip to the NE US).
So,
if you are on Facebook, check out the ARRL
National Parks On The Air group. I bet you’ll be glad you did.
As
of the morning of August 14th, the number of contacts listed are
just shy of 563,000. This is from a bit more than 9900 activations. It looks
like we may break the 10,000 activation point in the next few days.
A
big thank you goes out to all the activators out there. Thanks for all you do,
and stay safe!
73,
John,
KD8MQ
****************************************************
THE SECTION EMERGENCY
COORDINATOR
Stan Broadway, N8BHL
Important notice: The Ohio ARES Annual Conference will be held
September 24, 2016 at the Marion Technical College (co-located with OSU Marion). We’ll talk in detail about RNC activities,
we have some top-notch training on HIPAA that you can take back, and we’ll talk
about how you can keep your ARES team active and growing! Check out
for meeting registration online, and more
information! This is a very important
event - we have a great, larger, facility and we need YOU to attend!
(Akron/Summit is excused, you have a small group of people who want to run –
Akron Marathon.)
I hope to see you there- and
we’re going to make sure there is information worth your trip!
The ARES activity meter was
pegged last month. ARES not only completed a “once-in-a-career” series of
events, but completed them with glowing reports from the agencies we served.
Actually, we had completed my goals before the events really started: ARES was
recognized and invited to play at the highest levels of government. We were on the team with top Secret Service,
Homeland Security and other agencies all on “active duty” for a National
Special Security Event, the highest level event to be managed. The reasons amateur radio was brought onto
the team were important:
* We could verify our
qualifications through FEMA certificates for our operators
* We demonstrated the ability
to plan, cultivate and organize our
resources
* We had positive
relationships with county and state HS/EMA directors and agencies
* We formed even closer
relationships once active with our agencies- showing amateur radio to be
creative technical advisors
Toledo
The first weekend kicked off
with a party in Toledo for 100,000 to watch the Toledo Air Show. While
spectators were looking up, officials were looking at monitors to watch the
cameras set up by ARES. Using MESH technology, amateur radio provided for
advanced security monitoring of the entry gates. Because ARES was involved in
preplanning meetings, EC Brenda Krukowski, KB8IUP, and her team including ADEC
Steve Ashenfelter, N8XFS, were able to demonstrate the potential of MESH video.
“You can do that?” became an
often-heard response from our agencies.
DEC Brent Stover, WD9PNZ,
said it for all of us:
In an after action telephone
conference with the Hospital Council of NW Ohio, they were extremely impressed
with the professionalism and expertise of all the amateur radio personnel they
interacted with. The Hospital Branch Director commented the “ARES people were
incredibly organized”.
A special thank you to Lucas
County EC, Brenda Krukowski KB8IUP for attending all the meetings in the months
prior to the Air Show and setting in place the organization needed to
accomplish all that was asked of LCARES. Also a special thanks goes out to
ADEC, Steve Ashenfelter, N8XSF for his extraordinary accomplishment of putting
together an amateur radio MESH network in just a couple weeks with no equipment
to a working video network at his own expense. The hospital command was
extremely impressed with this capability and want to see it expanded in the
future.
Again, a hearty thanks to all
the operators that helped out and volunteered their time. As the days and weeks
go by we will learn more from the different agencies that participated in the
form of after action reports on what went right and what things could be
improved upon and I will put together a report on the amateur radio side on
what we can learn from such a large event. So far, it looks like the Toledo Air
Show will return in 2 years.
** Cincinnati **
Beginning Thursday evening
with a Reds game, the NAACP national convention launched its session in
Cincinnati. EC Bryan Hoffman, KC8EGV,
used his excellent rapport with the ROC (Regional Operations Center) personnel
to keep amateur radio on their planning sheets. The well-appointed amateur
station was kept in service throughout the event, maintaining contact with “The
Sarge” at the Ohio EOC-DJF.
Due to our prominent location
adjacent to the ROC lobby, we were able to make frequent contact with EMA
related staff from many local agencies. This gave us an opportunity to ‘show
and tell’ to administrators as they entered and left the building without
getting in the way of EOC operations. If the incident required the assigned
NCOs to become very busy, the door could have been closed to prevent these
interruptions. However, the time was available and was taken advantage of.
While the ROC Radio Room was
active no formal net was activated. However, other operators allowed us to
conduct business as needed without interruption. The cooperation of the people
who regularly use the repeaters and DMR TGs was outstanding.
OH-KY-IN ARS, club owner of
local repeaters used, was notified that the repeaters may need to be used for
directed nets during this period.
A WebEOC Board was created by
the EMA and a positon log was maintained by the HCARES EC and NCOs.
Additionally, we were able to
conduct tests over this extended period using DMR digital radio between The
Sarge and ROC. This proved to be very successful.
Anson Turley, Assistant Fire
Chief and Emergency Manager for Cincinnati wrote:
“Throughout the event,
Hamilton County ARES volunteers, let by emergency Coordinator Bryan Hoffman,
were on hand to provide communications assistance amongst all partners at the
local and state level.
With the high-profile and
very large RNC event also in our state, it is gratifying to know that Ohio ARES
was able to provide our community with valuable assistance in support of our
local event. Thank you again for the services of ARES, specifically that of our
local ARES volunteers. We look forward to working with you all in the future.”
** Cleveland **
And then there was a little
gathering in Cleveland. EC Matt Nickoson, KC8NZJ, and DEC Eric Jessen, N8AUC,
started meeting with agencies nearly a year prior to the event. These meetings
included the highest management of Homeland Security, and planned for ~every~
possible outcome. Because ARES had the
four basic FEMA certificates in hand, we were recognized as part of the team.
Those who were granted admission to the Cuyahoga County EOC during the event
actually had to take three additional courses (701, 704, 802). The amateur station was located right in the
back of the EOC, and operators were alerted a few days prior to RNC that the center
would be active 24-7 during the event. That brought some scrambling for more
personnel. Hourly roll calls were
initiated by Cuyahoga County’s station with surrounding counties, the Red Cross
in Cleveland and Akron, and The Sarge.
Walter Topp, Administrator of
Cuyahoga County HS/EMA wrote:
As the first National Special
Security Event (NSSE) ever conducted in Ohio, the 2016 RNC was a new experience
for all members of the Greater Cleveland public safety community. Throughout
the planning phase and during the actual event, ARES members distinguished
themselves by their thoroughness, professionalism and their unrelenting
dedication.
As a coordinating agency, the
Cuyahoga County Office of Emergency Management relies completely upon the
expertise and assistance of the many public safety and emergency management
agencies throughout the region. The Cuyahoga County Amateur Radio Emergency
Service has demonstrated time and again an overarching commitment to public
safety and public service.
** Akron **
It was scary to even think
about the mission of Red Cross during RNC, but there it was. Months prior, Jim
Sage called me to ask for amateur assistance. Red Cross was tasked with setting
up one operational shelter, and having a large number on two-hour call around
Akron- a likely evacuation point should Cleveland need to be ‘emptied out’
after some type of event. Red Cross set up a complete operations center at
Akron, including satellite uplinks, the
This came before RNC even
started:
I am impressed and excited to
work with Matt and Ken. They have, so far, demonstrated the best organization
and willingness to work with Red Cross that I have seen in the past 20 years of
disaster work. Looking forward to an exciting venture.
** Columbus **
We had a little problem at
the Ohio Emergency Operation Center – Joint Dispatch Facility. It seems
remodeling left the Sarge with NO STATION at all! Our new radio room was not complete, and our
station was on storage shelves. I was
able to bring “Canned Ham” to the rescue- and the EMA was gracious in providing
an operation spot with power and our own satellite uplink for Internet/WebEOC
access from the trailer. We were just outside, so we could walk into the EOC
and check regularly. EMA communications directors were able to sit with us in
the trailer, and we got some really great time and discussions with them. We were able to check into the northeast Ohio
area using the linked repeater in Mt. Vernon, 444.100. That allowed us to talk
with Akron, Medina, and Cuyahoga counties easily.
Because it wasn’t a
‘communications emergency’ we were free to test other methods – having decided
to operate solely on VHF/UHF links. (It would have been impossible to hold an
HF frequency with ~no~ traffic being passed.)
We were able to use the RF links as our backbone but were also very
successful in IRLP and Echolink comms to the north! Thanks to Kevin Walsh, W8KHW, of Central Ohio
Digital Interface Group (CODIG) we were able to work with a DMR radio not only
with Cincinnati but with a successful test to Cleveland. The bad news is DMR won’t pass fldigi
messages. Even with that, there’s plenty of room in our “toolbox”. 
What does it mean to me?
Chances are someone in your
organization or general area was involved- even if it was to be on the long
list of “stand by” operators who were ready for one phone call to move into the
operation. Their time was just as important as those who travelled across
several counties to be there. The key is we were able to gather a very large
group of trained, ready ARES volunteers!
It should show you beyond a shadow of a doubt that ARES is able to play
on the big teams, in the big events in Ohio!
Perhaps the best summary is
from Grant Nichols, KC2RCU EC of Williams County, who drove to the area not
once but several times.
The RNC was the experience of
a lifetime. Seeing ICS actually put to work using all of its
possibilities to manage such a huge undertaking was something I will never
forget.. I worked three 12 hour shifts in the EOC and one in the Dist One
ARC EOC. I'm exhausted! 12 hours for four days is really too much
(my fault for scheduling myself that way). You would not believe the
accolades Amateur Radio received from the senior staff at the "Hot
Wash" at District 1ARC yesterday afternoon. They couldn't say enough
about ham radio it's capabilities to support the ARC mission and the courtesy
and professionalism of the Hams that tirelessly staffed the District 1 radio
room from Sunday through 2300 hours last evening. It also provided us an
opportunity to tell them how our digital technology could make some of their
jobs easier- digital messaging, APRS, shelter lists via FLMSG, pictures via
SSTV or Fusion. They assured me personally, that at least as far as
District 1 and the NE Ohio ARC Region goes, amateur radio was going to be
written into all their planning documents for the future. When I said
goodbye to the many friends I made in the Cuyahoga EOC yesterday, every agency
representative shook my hand as they commented how impressed they were with
Amateur Radios' role in the operation- from HHS, Cuyahoga Sheriff, the FBI,
Coast Guard, National Guard, RTransit etc, etc. it was truly
humbling. The last 6 days in Cleveland come on the heals of another
spectacular display of Amateur Radio at the Toledo Air Show. There are
two key unsung heroes who organized the Ham radio deployment that can't be applauded
enough- Brenda (Lucas County EC) and Matt Nickoson (Cuyahoga ARES) and their
staffs. They did an impeccable job of planning and organizing and were an
absolute to joy to work with. Although Brenda is a bit closer to Williams
County, I would drop everything in a minute to go back to assist Matt in
Cuyahoga. I am proud to say I am an Amateur Radio Operator and a trained
Ohio ARES member!
And I am so proud of everyone
involved in making this a success! You all were excellent, you brought praise
to ARES and most important you reflected amateur radio in general in the most
positive way possible. Countless hams
worked tirelessly to make this happen, and I can’t thank you enough!
73, Stan, N8BHL
****************************************************
THE PUBLIC INFORMATION
COORDINATOR
John Ross, KD8IDJ
2016
Newsletter Contest Post Script
Congratulations to all of the
2016 Ohio Section Newsletter Contest winners…and to every club that
participated.
This is, I believe, the
longest running newsletter contest…some 27 years! There are always great
newsletters and the judging has always been difficult…and I would not want it
any other way!
I know I’ve said this before
but the newsletters are a good indication of just how knowledgeable and
experienced our members are and how prepared they are to put amateur radio to
use for any situation. It’s also an indication of just how active amateur radio
is throughout Ohio and how the hobby continues to grow and change.
Again, congratulations to
all…and here are this year’s winners:
1st Place
The
Mike & Key...Greater Cincinnati Amateur Radio Association, INC.
2nd Place
The
RADIOGRAM...Portage County Amateur Radio Service
3rd Place (TIE)
The
Voice Coil...Mahoning Valley Amateur Radio Association
ATCO
Newsletter...Amateur Television in Central Ohio
Honorable Mention (TIE)
CARA
COMMUNICATOR...Cambridge Amateur Radio Association
The
Spirit of '76 and '88...Lake Erie Amateur Radio Association
** OSSBN Waives American Flag **
Hats off to the Ohio Single
Sideband Net group.
I sat in on their meeting at
the Columbus Hamfest a couple of weeks ago.
They like to start their
meetings with the Pledge of Allegiance…but no flag was available. One of the
members did some fast thinking…grabbed his smart-phone and dialed up a picture
of the American Flag! He held it proudly in the air and the pledge went on as
scheduled!
Nice work guys! Finally a
good use for digital phones!!!
** The
RNC and Amateur Radio **
The Republican National
Convention in Cleveland was an historic event for Amateur Radio and the Ohio
Section. Stan Broadway and the ARES crew did a great job and the importance of
what they did...no other political convention had Amateur Radio participation!
The RNC was "real" not a training exercise and opportunities like
that don't come along too often. Congratulations to the whole crew for a
tremendous display how Amateur Radio, working together with federal, state and
local organizations, can help keep things safe and running smoothly. By the
way, Stan's After Action Report make great reading.
** Columbus
Hamfest and New Location **
The Columbus Hamfest was a
great event this year at the new location...the Aladdin Shrine Center in Grove
City. Attendance was up and the facilities were incredible. A large indoor area
for the flea market and, alongside, a companion outdoor flea market. While I
only bought a doughnut and sloppy joe, I did give some serious consideration to
several pieces of boat anchor equipment!
The indoor facilities were
just as nice. A great meeting room and rooms for testing.
Thanks to the Voice of
Aladdin club for a great day. Already looking forward to next year.
That's all for this
month...73
John, KD8IDJ
****************************************************
THE SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGER
David Maynard, WA3EZN - STM
** DELIVERING THAT RADIOGRAM
**
One of the most enjoyable
things that you as an Amateur Radio Operator can do is deliver good news to the
general public, like birthday greetings, birth of grandchildren and so on.
Delivering these messages to other active Amateurs is easy as you are speaking
the same language to another ham.
The most important first step
is making sure you copied the message accurately, requesting fills as needed
and making sure the check in the preamble matches the number of words in the
text. Make sure you have the sending person’s
name and phone number correctly.
To those who are new to
message handling, delivering messages is one of the more important aspects of
traffic handling since it is an interface between amateur radio and the general
public and provides a chance of educating people on the public service ham
radio provides. Messages to other hams also provide an opportunity to introduce
message handling and traffic nets to those who may not be familiar with this
aspect of our hobby. It is also fun meeting new people, sharing messages to
them from family, friends and other hams around the country. In the case of
delivery to other hams the chance to meet and talk with them about their
interests in the hobby as well as yours. This is a skill however that improves
and becomes more comfortable with practice.
You do however need to keep
in mind that when you are dealing with the general public that has had little
to no exposure to Amateur Radio, or our message handling system, it’s all
different. Don’t try to explain how the NTS operates, unless they specifically
ask. Most generally they don’t care and won’t ask anyway.
But, it also can be a very
embarrassing moment too. If for example, you get a birthday greeting to deliver
and call up the person thinking you’re going to be delivering great news to
someone. Then you find out that the person you’re talking to is the widow of
the person you want to deliver that good news to. This can be very hard for
them (and you) to handle, especially if this is a person hurting. Your phone
call is not one that they want to hear. They may even feel that you’re being
very insensitive. So, to avoid this situation it’s advisable to do a quick
check to be sure that the addressee is in fact alive.
How can you do that? There is
a website that you can look up people from all over the country that have
become Silent Key’s. http://www.genealogybank.com/gbnk/ssdi/. Unfortunately
I have head that this website is not always being updated so other sources
should always be checked.
You can also go to www.qrz.com and enter the call.
If the ham is a silent key it may be shown there. To use this website
and get the information you want you will have to log-in. Creating an account is as simple as entering
your call and creating a password.
You can also do a Google
search by using the person’s name, town, state an the word obituary. Something like this: Joe Ham Troy Ohio
Obituary. This could bring up an obituary from a newspaper. You will have to
check carefully that you have the right person.
These are good sources of
information that can be counted on. But, like anything, don’t count on it too
much. There just listings, and like every list that’s ever been produced it’s
outdated as soon as it gets published.
Now to delivering the
message. Your approach on how you contact the general public can also be
important. Be careful when making calls to people that you don’t know. When you
start to explain to those people about your Radiogram, please be sensitive to
the fact that they may be confused as to why you are calling them. You never know what sort of response you are
going to get on the other end. Be
prepared!
Just how do you approach
this? Simply explain to the person answering the phone that you are an Amateur
Radio Operator and you have received a radio message for the individual you
asked to speak with. It helps to tell them who the message is from especially
if it is from a family member.
The response from the person
answering will guide you as to how to proceed. Listen carefully. Be sympathetic
and end the conversation quickly if it is revealed that the person is deceased,
or if there is a bad situation (divorce, person left, etc..) don’t go into it
any further. Apologize for disturbing the person and end the call quickly. If
requested, service the message back to the sender explaining the situation.
If the person is just not
available, then you have some choices. You can leave the message with the
person answering, if they are agreeable, or you can ask when a better time to
call would be. This last option may be met with some opposition since the
individual may be concerned for safety reasons (remember, unless you know them,
you are a stranger to them.)
So, be prepared to leave your
phone number with them, so they can return your call.
If you get an answer machine
leave your name and phone number and a brief explanation why you are calling
and that you will call back. Some will call you back. If you don’t hear back
try again another time. If after three tries you still get no response, send a
service message to the originator.
When delivering a message you
will only read the text and signature. Remember most people will not know about
ARL numbered radiograms, so make sure you are prepared to read the
corresponding text for the specific ARL number. (For a list of these texts see http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Public%20Service/FSD_3.pdf
Notice any handling
instructions (HX’s in the preamble). If there is an HXC send originator a
radiogram with date and time of delivery. If there is an HXE, attempt to get a
reply to send back to the sender. An HXF followed by a number means hold
message for delivery until that date. This is frequently used for birthday
messages.
If a message is undeliverable
send a service message back to the originator explaining the reason it was not
delivered. If the phone number was incorrect, disconnected or not in service,
you should include the number you called in the text of your service message
since sometimes phone numbers received may have been garbled along the way.
Sound complicated? It really is not. The important thing is to relax and have fun, and know that you are getting practice in performing a public service.
Sound complicated? It really is not. The important thing is to relax and have fun, and know that you are getting practice in performing a public service.
But where do you get the
messages to deliver? They come into your area on an HF or VHF traffic net. The Ohio Single Sideband net is the Ohio
statewide HF SSB traffic net. There are
VHF FM traffic net throughout Ohio that you can join to receive radiograms to
deliver. More information on this can be
found at http://arrl-ohio.org/stm/stm.html and www.arrl-ohio.org.
RESOURCE FOR TRAFFIC HANDLING
AND NET OPERATION
Looking for information on
message handling and net operation? Check this out.
There are resource document
on the ARRL's website called "Methods and Practices Guidelines" or
"MPG". It was compiled with the help of very experienced traffic
handlers and contains many examples of the best operating practices. The MPG
Table of Contents can be found at http://www.arrl.org/table-of-contents-nts-methods-and-practices-guidelines or search for PSCM (Public Service Communications
Manual) Appendix B on www.arrl.org.
For phone numbers and SK
info:
Here is a source of
information to check for phone numbers and silent keys. This system is called
CALLWIN from WB0TAQ at http://wb0taq.reyware.us/. You need to update this database every Sunday (or
Monday) to get the changes. Other resources are available.
The following can be used to
find phone numbers if people finder does not find it:
And the following is
sometimes used to get silent key info:
73
David WA3EZN
Ohio Section Traffic Manager
****************************************************
OUT AND ABOUT
Lyn Alfman, N8IMW - Assistant
Section Manager
Personally July was a trying
month. My computer documents and photo
files were encrypted with “cerber ransomware.”
I want to thank CARA VP Nathan Roe, N8ROE, for helping me find a way to
use my computer despite of the ransomware (unfortunately, he was unable to
remove the encryption of my files). So,
I lost literally over a thousand files including those for W8VP’s Field Day
that I had been working on. Fortunately,
most of the files were saved on flash drives or on my camera’s card. So, I just started over and asked fellow club
members for photos. But I managed to get
the W8VP Field Day information submitted on time. Lesson learned was to backup my files onto my
external hard drive more often.
I, unfortunately, lost two
friends within a week and a half; one of which was a fellow club member: Jennie
Owens, KD8QYV, who did everything she could to support the club. She will be sorely missed.
On a good note, Sonny and I
had a short-notice family reunion with six of the seven “kids” in attendance
when his younger daughter came to visit from South Carolina.
I attended two radio club
meeting, one officers’ meeting, one ARES meeting, one parade committee meeting,
and one Guernsey and Noble Long Term Recovery Committee meeting this
month. As for my various Public
Information Officer duties, I put club notes, meeting announcements for the
Cambridge Amateur Radio Association, the Guernsey County ARES meeting, and the
Long Term Recovery Committee meeting in the local paper and on the local radio
stations and their respective web sites.
I am looking forward to
attending the Ohio Section Conference in conjunction with the Columbus Hamfest
at their new location in Grove City on August 6.
’73 Lyn, N8IMW
Remember to be Radio Active!
****************************************************
WHATS HAPPENING IN SOUTHWEST
OHIO
From: Kitty Hevener, W8TDA -
Assistant Section Manager
After a wonderful vacation
followed by some unexpected surgery, I’m finally back in the shack and getting
caught up! Two notable events during
that time were field day and the beginning of Queen City Emergency Net’s (QCEN)
celebration of its 75TH anniversary.
Like you, I had a wonderful
field day. I operated CW from my home
station until the weather began to cool down.
Then, I was off to OH-KY-IN for a fantastic feast, camaraderie and
blissful brass pounding. Amidst those dulcet CW tones, I was busy swatting bugs
and comforting my dog who was having issues with the distant sound of pre
fourth of July fireworks. After Field
Day was over and the gear safely stored for another year, Nathan Ciufo, KA3MTT,
talked about what it was like for him to operate with me. He, like most people, was uncertain about how
it would work. See how things went from
his perspective.
I have operated Field Day
using CW close to 100% of the time for many years now. The SSB ops have their way of getting us
points, and CW ops have a different way.
I have my small pool of ops that I like operating with, while trying to Elmer
new people if they show any interest in CW at all. If Sunday afternoon came around and I was
exhausted, it was a great Field Day.
Then came the year when they
said, “Hey Nathan, we have another CW operator for you guys this year! You may have to log for her - she’s
blind.”
My jaw dropped. You can imagine the thoughts going through my
mind. I was nervous, worried,
apprehensive, and just plain concerned.
I don’t know HOW to operate with a blind Amateur Radio operator! They said, “Her name is Kitty, and her call
is W8TDA.”
I cannot express how lucky I
feel to have worked with her at Field Day for the past two years. As soon as we sat down together, Kitty at the
key, and myself at the computer, we both knew this was going to work out very
well. We were both able to operate
comfortably around 25wpm, and neither of us needed pen and paper. We quickly assembled pileups that seemed to
have at least 10 stations sending CW at the same time.
This is where it gets
interesting…
When the pileups ensued, I
instantly got nervous and thought, “Are the wheels going to come off of this
bus? How do I operate pileups with a
blind ham?” We made it through the first
pileup, and then the second, and the third.
We soon realized something really neat - BOTH of us were able to focus
on the SAME frequency tone of CW, and we BOTH copied that same tone flawlessly.
You can imagine how seamless
the CW operations went once we realized this!
If I’m not mistaken, I think the CW station ended up with approximately
750 contacts last year, and about 700 this year.
The bottom line when it comes
to operating with a ham who has a disability,– do NOT sell yourself or the
other operator short! You may be very
pleasantly surprised, particularly if you’re operating a contest under less-than-optimum
conditions! Also, don’t just assume the
operator at the other end of your QSO is sitting there with a pen, paper, or
computer with multiple software windows open!
He or she may be sitting at a brail machine, watching a screen capture
of audio, or using foot pedals to key the radio because of a handicap. All these being said, I have realized the
word “handicap” is simply another term for “gifted”, when it comes to the world
of Amateur Radio!
Kitty proved to me just how
important EVERY amateur radio operator is, and if you THINK any operator is
“handicapped”, it just may be the one you see in the mirror!
Since the number of people
with disabilities is increasing, chances are good that you will soon have an
opportunity to work an event with a ham that has a disability. When that time comes, I urge you to be like
Nathan – be open minded.
If you were around on July 1,
1941, do you remember where you were or what you were doing at 9:00 PM? If you were a member of Queen City Emergency
Net, (QCEN) perhaps you were checking in to the club’s first net with AM on 160
meters. On the same date 75 years later,
QCEN held a commemorative net with a couple twists. A.M. gave way to Lower Sideband. And, prior to this net, the club held a
special session of its weekly net on the VHF/UHF linked repeater system with Echolink
capability.
QCEN plans to further
celebrate its 75th birthday and rich history with a special August picnic.
73, Kitty, W8TDA
****************************************************
GREETINGS FROM DFW
Jim Yoder, W8ERW/5
Texas is quite warm this time
of the year and if you've been here just under a year like I have, you won't be
accustomed to it yet. The way I handle
it requires plenty of cool liquid and the necessity to complete outdoor
activities early before it becomes unbearable.
Antenna work is always done outside of summer here. It is just too hot to attempt in the heat of summer.
The Dallas-Fort Worth
Metroplex, as they call it here, is large beyond my imagination. I could not get all of the local and
surrounding repeaters into the rig's memory.
And without a GPS, I would still need an escort to manage my way in all
this traffic. Before it sounds like I am
complaining, I must tell you that I saw just a few snowflakes one day last winter,
the coldest day was 27 degrees and only 7 days were below freezing. No need of a snow blower and if it does snow,
everyone and everything comes to a halt until it melts.
Let me bring up a more
serious subject, ARES Training. I am
still amazed at the amount of training being completed by the Ohio
Section. The certificates continue to
arrive in my inbox. I am still catching
up on entering all of the data that came in while I was traveling in the RV
earlier. A quick summary indicates
nearly 250 Ohio Amateurs have submitted certificates for all four Core FEMA
courses. I have nearly 500 individual Hams
now listed in the data with almost 2500 courses completed in total. I expect that number to increase
significantly as I add data that was provided to me earlier in a different
format.
Some of the issues that I
have discovered and that you may be able to help with are changes to calls via
upgrade or utilization of the Vanity program.
If you have submitted training certificates and later change your call,
let me know and I will update your record so that your courses can be
identified correctly. Don't forget to
include your call when you email your certificates. We do have quite a few Hams with the same
name and sometimes in the same location.
Your call is the key upon which everything is stored and sorted.
Certificates can be handled
much easier if they are sent as individual .pdf files. A FEMA Transcript works as well, although
when we need to look up and provide verification the entire transcript will be
rendered rather than individual files per course. The certificates are kept in folders
electronically by county, the county you reside in as per QRZ.com. I have noticed several that are not listed
correctly there. You may want to check
your information on QRZ and verify accuracy.
Understandably, many of you support ARES in a county other than your
residence or in addition to. The data
can be retrieved by county or by call in that case. The format I use to store the certificates
is as follows: W8ERW-IS-00100.b.pdf If
you submit yours that way, I will grin and spend much less time getting
everyone entered so that your information can be retrieved quickly when necessary.
As always, I am open to
suggestions, questions and to help whenever possible. Thanks again for all the effort to complete
the FEMA training and to submit your certificates to be included in the Section
database.
Thanks & 73
Jim W8ERW
****************************************************
LET'S TALK
Scott Yonally, N8SY - Section
Manager
Hey Gang,
Wow.. Did the weather ever get miserable!! It’s so
hot that I haven’t even been out on the motorcycle in a long while. It’s just
too hot to put the helmet on!!
Well, after last month’s
little flurry of exhausting exercises (two national conventions and a national
air show, all within the same week) things are starting to settle back down a
bit. I hope that you all enjoyed the Columbus Hamfest / ARRL Ohio Section
Conference this year. The new location was great, and so was the weather. Wow..
We couldn’t have asked for better weather for sure, warm, sunny and just a nice
breeze coming through the building to keep things somewhat comfortable.. The
forums were inside where there was very good air conditioning, so there
definitely wasn’t anything to complain about there.
** Now, switching bands to
another subject.. **
Have you seen the NEWEST
“Handbook Giveaway” drawing on the website yet? It’s there..!! To enter the
drawing all you need to do is fill in a couple of boxes on the form.. (your
name and email). That’s you need to do to be entered into a drawing to win a
2016 ARRL softcover Handbook. There’s nothing else required (Oh.. You do need
to be a resident of Ohio to win..) The
winner will be mailed the Handbook at my cost. This is being offered just to
see how many folks are really checking in on the website. Got the idea? Best of
luck to you!!
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.
** 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!!
** One last spin of the
dial.. **
Lastly.. I’m always available for you, whether you’re
an ARRL member or not. 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 Official Observer (OO)
program has been sponsored by the ARRL for more than 85 years to help
Amateur Radio operators assist each other to operate their stations in
compliance with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations.
Official Observer appointees
have assisted thousands of Amateur Radio operators to maintain their
transmitting equipment and comply with operating procedures and regulations.
The object of the OO program is to notify amateurs of operating and technical
irregularities before they come to the attention of the FCC and to recognize
good operating practices.
The OO program serves as the
first line of "eyes and ears" for the FCC. It is the backbone of the Amateur
Auxiliary. OOs are certified in the
Auxiliary by passing a mandatory written examination.
The OO performs his/her
function by observing rather than transmitting. They keep watch for such
things as frequency instability, harmonics, hum, key clicks, broad signals,
distorted audio, over deviation, out-of-band operation and other potential
problems. The OO completes their task once the notification card is sent.
OO Ohio Total Hours for July
= 1,097 hours
No *Good Guy* OO cards sent
1 - OO card sent to a
"2" station for overdriving an amplifier
73, John, W8RXX
****************************************************
WEBSITE STATS – ** arrl-ohio.org
**
JULY 2016
Pages
|
Hits
|
Bandwidth
|
225,158
|
379,971
|
4.3
GB
|
****************************************************
THE OHIO 2-METER SIMPLEX
SQUARES CONTEST RESULTS
The Second Annual Ohio 2
Meter FM Simplex Squares Contest, held in late April, is history. After reviewing logs and totaling scores, we
are proud to announce the individual and Club winners of this years contest.
All participants who
submitted at least one valid contact will receive, via e-mail, a Certificate of
Participation (in PDF format) suitable for printing and framing. The award and prize winners listed below will
receive their award certificates or prizes in the mail sometime in early
August.
The 2016 Ohio 2MFMSS winners
are:
Individual Achievement
Awards:
Highest Score – Jim Berry,
WA3JAT with 400 points
Greatest Contact Distance –
Jim Berry, WA3JAT with 43.3 miles **
Most Contacts – Kim
Swinehart, KE8CSX with 48 contacts
Most Grids Activated - Kim
Swinehart, KE8CSX with 9 grids activated
** Normally, there would be a
pair of winners for this award, however the Ham on the other end of the winning
contact did not submit a log.
Club Participation Awards:
KC8AAV, The Sunday Creek
Amateur Radio Federation - whose club members activated a combined total of 7
Grid Squares and earned their club the Most Grids Activated Award.
KC8AAV, The Sunday Creek
Amateur Radio Federation – whose club members had the highest participant count
and earned the Most Club Member Participants Award.
In three random drawings from
all points submitted, the following prize winners were chosen.
Random Drawing Prize Winners:
#1 ($75 gift card for DX
Engineering) – Ted Jacobson, W8KVK *
#2 ($50 gift card for DX
Engineering) – John Grazulis, WO3X
#3 ($25 gift card for DX
Engineering) – Jim Berry, WA3JAT
Prizes are courtesy of the
sponsoring Club, The Cuyahoga Falls Amateur Radio Club, and an anonymous club
member.
The contest will be back in
2017, as The Ohio 2 Meter FM Simplex Squares Contest. There will be minor revisions to the rules,
the most notable of which will be declaring the sponsoring club’s Officers and
Trustees (in addition to contest committee members) ineligible for the random
drawing prizes. We are also considering
a points multiplier for new hams (perhaps those who have been licensed for two
years or less).
We are actively soliciting
feedback from participants about what we can do to improve the contest for 2017. Please send email to O2MFMSS@CFARC.ORG with
your suggestions and ideas. We expect to
have the rule revisions published by January 1, 2017, and tentatively the
contest is scheduled for the weekend of April 29 and 30, 2017. We hope you enjoyed the contest this year,
and hope to see you back next year.
In closing, I would like to
thank Anthony Luscre, K8ZT, for the original contest idea and to all the
Cuyahoga Falls Amateur Radio Club members that collaborated to help make this
contest a success.
I hope to see all of you in
the 2017 Ohio 2 Meter FM Simplex Squares contest!
73
- Frank, W8EZT
Frank Tompkins, Contest
Chairman
The 2016 Ohio 2 Meter Simplex
Squares Contest
The Cuyahoga Falls Amateur
Radio Club, Inc
****************************************************
THANK YOU TO ALL WHO ATTENDED
All,
The members of the Voice of
Aladdin ARC and I would like to thank all of the ARRL leaders, Volunteer
Examiners, forum speakers, vendors, volunteers, and attendees of the
Columbus Hamfest for helping make our hamfest very successful on August 6th,
2016. Even though this was the first hamfest at our new facility and
we recently lost our hamfest coordinator, everything went well. We
have a few issues to work out for next year, but it is a learning experience.
Again, we really appreciate all the work done and assistance in making our
hamfest a success.
--
--
Best Regards,
John S. Lehman, K8PJ
VOA President
W8FEZ License Trustee
****************************************************
SPECIAL EVENTS STATIONS IN
OHIO
08/20/2016
| Carnation Festival
Aug
20, 1600Z-2000Z,
W8LKY, Alliance, OH.
Alliance Amateur Radio Club.
14.250 14.035 7.240 7.035.
Certificate & QSL. John
Myers, 910 W Mill St,
Alliance, OH 44601.
Other frequencies & Modes
as circumstances permit.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
09/04/2016
| 194th Great Geauga County Fair
Sep
4-Sep 5, 1600Z-0000Z,
W8G, Burton, OH.
Geauga Amateur Radio
Association.
7.250 14.250.
Certificate & QSL.
W8G Special Event, Attn:
Jackie Williams,
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
09/08/2016
| Darrtown Fall Festival
Sep
8-Sep 12, 0000Z-2359Z,
N8D, Hamilton, OH.
Butler County Amateur Radio
Association, Inc.
21.320 14.320 7.250.
QSL. BCARA, PO Box 18968,
Fairfield, OH 45018.
CW frequencies too. Event
will show and tell Ham radio
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
09/17/2016
| North Country National Scenic Trail /Salt Fork State Park
Sep
17, 1300Z-2100Z,
W8VP, Lore City, OH. Cambridge Amateur Radio Association.
7.230.
Certificate.
Cambridge Amateur Radio
Association,
PO Box 1804, Cambridge, OH
43725.
In conjunction with the 100th
Anniversary of the founding
of the National Park System,
W8VP will be activating the
North Country National Scenic
Trail which runs through
Salt Fork State Park and
coincides at this place with the
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
** OTHER EVENTS HAPPENING OF
INTEREST **
OHIO QSO PARTY - Starting at
noon on Saturday, August 27 and continuing until midnight is the annual running
of the Ohio QSO Party. This is the time
when an effort is made to have all 88 Ohio counties active on the air and a
time when as many stations as possible take to the air to activate their
respective counties. Unfortunately often
many South Central Ohio amateurs do not get on the air during the event to
activate their county and thus some of our counties are “rare”. Therefore you are urged to put some time
aside to active your county. Those few
minutes you spend may run into several hours.
You will make a lot of people happy regardless of the county you live
in. Counties anticipated to be active
will be Athens, Brown, Clermont, Clinton, Fairfield, Highland, Jackson, Pike
and Vinton.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
The ninth annual OSPOTA - will
be Saturday, September 10. “For hams
throughout the State of Ohio, this is your opportunity to visit and enjoy the
amenities offered by the 74 beautiful State Parks here in Ohio”. With luck, all authorized State Parks will
have activity. Only Lake White will not
be active because of the continuing dam construction activity. The event starts at noon and runs until 8
pm. A number of South Central Ohio State
Parks still do not have planned activity posted to the www.ospota.org web
site. A number of clubs use this as a
mini-Field Day as it is shorter and more laid back. What better than a club picnic and playing
radio at one of Ohio’s beautiful State Parks at the same time!
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
2016 ARRL SEPTEMBER VHF
CONTEST - Just a reminder that September 10 is the annual running of this
event. It starts at 1800 UTC Saturday
and runs until 0259 UTC on Sunday, September 12. Any station that can operate on six meters
and up is urged to participate. The
exchange is your grid square. It is an
interesting event and it is amazing the distances that can be worked when a lot
of stations are on the air.
****************************************************
OHIO HAMFEST CALENDAR
08/21/2016 | Cuyahoga Falls
ARC's Eighth Annual Tailgate Hamfest
Location: Stow, OH
Sponsor: Cuyahoga Falls
Amateur Radio Club
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
08/21/2016 | Warren ARA
Tailgate / Swap Meet
Location: Cortland, OH
Sponsor: Warren Amateur Radio
Association
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
09/11/2016 | Findlay Hamfest
Location: Findlay, OH
Sponsor: Findlay Radio Club
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
09/17/2016 | OH-KY-IN Hamfest
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Sponsor: OH-KY-IN Amateur
Radio Society
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
09/25/2016 | Cleveland
Hamfest and Computer Show
Location: Berea, OH
Sponsor: Hamfest Association
of Cleveland
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