In this issue:
-> ARES TRAINING ROSTER
-> THE LIFE OF A BUREAU
LETTER SORTER
-> ARRL QSL BUREAU COSTS
ESCALATING
-> SUPPORT ARRL BY
SHOPPING AT AMAZONSMILE
-> THE TECHNICAL
COORDINATOR
-> AFFILIATED CLUB
COORDINATOR REPORT
-> NATIONAL PARKS ON THE
AIR
-> THE SECTION EMERGENCY
COORDINATOR
-> THE PUBIC INFORMATION
COORDINATOR
-> FROM THE SCOUTING ASM
-> THE SECTION TRAFFIC
MANAGER
-> OUT AND ABOUT
-> CENTRAL OHIO HAPPENINGS
-> LET'S TALK
-> THE OFFICIAL OBSERVER
COORDINATOR
-> TRAFFIC NETS TO
CHECK-IN TO
-> OHIO SPEAKERS BUREAU
-> OHIO AMATEURS IN ACTION
-> WEBSITE STATS
-> SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS
IN OHIO
-> OHIO HAMFEST CALENDAR
****************************************************
ARES TRAINING ROSTER
Jim Yoder, W8ERW/5
As I continue to log the
training ARES members are completing, a few issues have arisen that might have
an effect on how the data is reported.
One issue concerns the residence county and the county where the ARES member
serves. As I enter data, I verify via
QRZ, the county, call sign for updates and other information for accuracy. Often when I receive training documents,
these items are missing. I have seen
several instances of members serving in other than their home county and when I
pull a report for the serving county, they don't show up there, but would in
their county of residence. I have added
another field to the data to represent the county where these folks serve. This should help make the reports represent a
more accurate picture of the status of each county ARES participation. If you have any questions or concerns, please
don't hesitate to let me know.
Also, as time passes, members
move or retire from active service, calls are upgraded and changed and we have
a key go silent unfortunately. If this
involves your county, let me know and I will update your information. There is also some churn with regard to EC's
and other leadership positions etc. I
will update those if you let me know the details.
I am also going through all
the information that I have which originally came in several formats and am
comparing the data for any omissions that can be added or corrected. I am also adding a lot of training data that
had been recorded in previous formats and omitted initially, many times due to
the large numbers of miscellaneous courses which in several cases numbered in
excess of 100 courses. My initial effort
was to quickly log the FEMA core courses, leaving those others until later.
For those EC's who would like
to see a report of their county, I can provide that upon request. That would also help insure that we have
captured all the information and have not missed training completed by ARES
members.
When you submit your training
information, please include the full name and call for each member and your
county. I will verify with QRZ and
include any additional data.
Certificates are ideally presented in .pdf format and a FEMA transcript
is also acceptable. Individual
certificates should be in the following format:
W8ERW-IS-00100.b.pdf. As I log
each course completion, I enter the course both in the detailed format to
capture the version and the generic name, ISC-100. The course completion date is also entered
and a copy of the certificate or transcript is appended to each record.
As of now, there are 415
members in the database who have submitted training records. Of those 415, there are 271 who have now
completed all 4 of the FEMA courses, ICS-100, ICS-200. ICS-700 and ICS-800.
Please feel free to contact
me if you have any questions or need assistance.
Thanks & 73,
Jim W8ERW
w8erw@arrl.net
****************************************************
THE LIFE OF A BUREAU LETTER
SORTER
By: “Goose” Steingass, W8AV
I am the “R” letter sorter
for the 8th Area ARRL Incoming QSL Bureau. This means that I handle all of the DX QSL
cards that come into the bureau whose calls have an “R” as the first letter of
their callsign suffix. I have been doing
this for about 7 years now taking over the “R” letter after the previous sorter
K8VG became a silent key. It is a rather
daunting task handling cards for over 1000 “R” customers but I have always
viewed it as a way of giving back to the hobby that has enriched my life. Just as a sideline, I am also an avid
contester and DXer as well as a DXCC Card Field Checker, so my life is
busy. But, enough of that. Let’s walk you through what I do as a letter
sorter. By the way all letter sorters
are unpaid volunteers, although we do get to use the ARRL’s Outgoing QSL Bureau
for our personal cards free of charge.
About 4 times a year each
letter sorter receives bureau cards from the main W8 sorting bureau in West
Chester, Ohio. The cards arrive at the
main sorting bureau from overseas and are sorted there by the first letter of
the suffix. The bureau manager, in this
case Jack, N8DX, then mails the cards to the respective letter managers (26 in
the 8th Area) who then sort the cards by callsign. With the “R” letter, I usually receive about
15 lbs. of cards in each sort, although the W1AW Centennial QSL cards, I
received 24 pounds of cards! For me this
sorting usually takes about two to three days depending on the number of
cards. After the sort, I begin to stuff
envelopes to mail the cards to you, the recipient. Stuffing envelopes normally takes about a
week and a half before I can mail the cards.
Each envelope must be weighed to insure that it has sufficient postage
on it for mailing. My “heavy hitters”
get a lot of their cards mailed to them in boxes since it is cheaper that
addressing and mailing five or six envelopes.
This might bring up the
question on why do I have to address the envelopes? The answer to this is that many of us sorters
operate on a “cash credits” program in which you, the ham, sends the letter
manager money and he or she provides the envelopes and postage. By doing this I can affix a 21 cent stamp to
the envelope to cover the second ounce of weight without having to use and
additional envelope and 47 cent stamp.
Furthermore, I can buy envelopes in bulk so that I can try to save you
money and I do all the leg work of getting envelopes and postage so you don’t
have to. It also alleviates the problem
of someone sending me a No.6 envelope (the standard letter sized envelope) which
will not hold the larger cards without having to fold them in half or a No. 10
(business letter) envelope with $1.50 of postage on it. Over the years, I have seen a lot of
different sized envelopes with either not enough postage or an 8x10 envelope
with one first class stamp on it. Just a
note, an envelope larger than 6x9 cannot be machine processed so the postage
rate for these “oversized” envelopes is 92 cents for the first ounce of weight. This is why I prefer “cash credits”, it
prevents this kind of hassle. Contact your letter sorter to see if he or
she wants envelopes of cash to mail your cards. You can find the list of letter
sorters on the Great Lakes Division web site (http://arrl-greatlakes.org/8th_bureau.htm). If you
prefer to deal with envelopes, please use the 6x9 envelopes and put only one
first class “forever” stamp on each envelope so you don’t get caught with your
pants down when the postage rates increase.
The worst part of my job is
spending extra hours trying to track down hams that have QSL cards on file at
the bureau but no funds or envelopes.
This is a tedious process as a lot of them never list their e-mail
addresses on QRZ.com and many of them never reply when I try to contact them
via e-mail, the NTS, or with a postcard.
There are also others that simply do not want their cards. Bureau policy is to destroy them after 90
days if there is not response from the ham but some of us keep them for longer
periods in our “dead letter” files in case you change your mind and want your
cards. If you work DX, you should have
envelopes or funds on file with your letter manager so that the manager does
not have to keep trying to find you.
Also, if you move, please let your letter manager know so they can get
your cards to you in a timely fashion.
Remember, if you get confirmation for a QSO on LOTW, you may also get a
paper card through the bureau.
One final note, the letter managers
do not handle “outgoing” cards. We
simply do not have the time to process both incoming and outgoing cards. It is your responsibility to mail these to
the ARRL if you are a member or to one of the custom QSL services if you are
not a member. There is a processing cost
involved for sending outgoing cards it is not a free service.
Check the ARRL’s website for
the current fees.
****************************************************
ARRL QSL BUREAU COSTS
ESCALATING
DX'ers,
Do you have QSL's to send out
to DX Stations via the ARRL Outgoing Bureau? If you want to beat the big
price increase, you should get your Cards to the Bureau before 11/01/16!
The current typical prices
are as follows:
10 Cards or less = $2.00
20 Cards or less = $3.00
21+ Cards = $0.75 per ounce,
Example: 10 oz. (~100
Cards) = $7.50
Beginning 11/01/16, these
prices will be as follows:
10 Cards or less = $1.15 +
7.00 Fee = $8.15
20 Cards or less = $2.30 +
7.00 Fee = $9.30
21+ Cards = $1.15 per ounce +
7.00 Fee,
Example: 10 oz. (~100
Cards) = 11.50 + 7.00 = $18.50
So, as you can see, the price
per ounce goes up PLUS there will be an added Fee of $7.00 for each submission.
The cost of exchanging physical QSLs is shooting way up! At this rate, the days
of the paper QSL Card will be over in the near future.
GL/73,
Bob K8BL
****************************************************
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you’ll need to create one).
****************************************************
THE TECHNICAL COORDINATOR
Jeff Kopcak - TC
Hey gang,
Great to see everyone at the
Cleveland Hamfest on September 25th.
There was not a cloud in the sky.
As a result, I think more people were out in the flea market selling
their wares, which is good. The inside
vendors just weren’t there as in the past.
Last couple years they had a large vendor selling Raspberry Pi computers
and accessories. They were absent this
year. Many clubs and organizations came
out and showed their support by setting up tables and selling various junk
which others purchased as treasures.
In an effort to promote
Slow-Scan TV, digital modes, and the LEARA digital net, I put together a
presentation for The Lake Erie Amateur Radio Association on the topic. In researching the history, I found and
interesting connection to Ohio. The
developer of SSTV, Copthorne Macdonald, specifically mentioned Fair Radio Sales
in Lima, Ohio as a place he purchased surplus CRTs and components. That was a nice surprise! Slow-Scan was used a lot in early space
exploration as there was no effective way to transmit images back to ground
stations in the late 1950s early 1960s.
The concept of satellites in space as we know them today was just
starting to come around about the same time.
In talking about SSTV modes
and properties, it's great to have some technicals but it doesn't mean much if
the audience can't relate - especially if they have not operated that
mode. This applies to any topic. One idea I included in the presentation was
image comparisons. I took a test pattern
type source image and ran it through the loopback feature in MMSSTV. This eliminated any RF variability. The source image was compared to the received
image in terms of quality and clarity of the mode only. For one comparison I did use RF. This was to demonstrate the acoustic
interface (where you hold the radio to your computer). Point being that it is possible to operate
digital modes using an acoustic interface but it's clearly not the best
option. Having an interface between the
PC and radio is the best option for digital operations.
The presentation was geared
more toward operating SSTV in an informal environment. I did include a typical exchange and places
to look for SSTV activity on the HF bands.
Lastly as part of the meeting, we did Slow Scan TV live – a live
demonstration at the meeting! Well known
Ham Radio educator Gordon West – WB6NOA promotes the idea of doing things live
and hands on. I encouraged those who
wanted to play along to bring their laptops and radios. How-to configure and use MMSSTV was
shown. Then pictures were exchanged. This showed the audience what the application
looks like while sending and receiving pictures. Also the Android SSTV application was
available and demoed. Thanks to Joel
K8SHB and Carl KB8VXE for helping out.
The presentation is available on my site: http://www.k8jtk.org/2016/09/27/sstv-images-via-radio-presentations/
The following weekend on
October 1st was the State Emergency Test (SET).
I had been asked to participate as an HF digital station by Cuyahoga
County Assistant Emergency Coordinator (AEC) and Technical Specialist Bob
K8MD. I had checked into the Ohio
Digital Emergency Net (OHDEN) over the summer.
Watching and learning their procedures during the practice nets, I had
knowledge of how to check in and pass traffic.
This goes back to something I mentioned last month: regularly
participating in nets and public service events not only shows you're active
but you'll be familiar with the responsibilities you’ll be assigned.
That's about it for this
month. I'll be working to get projects
wrapped up and take care of end of the year requirements for clubs in the
area.
Thanks for reading and 73…
de
Jeff – K8JTK
****************************************************
THE AFFILIATED CLUBS
COORDINATOR
John Myers, KD8MQ - ACC
Hi everyone,
Statistics - Since I can
remember, statistics have interested me. In 1987, I began doing a breakdown of
the PA QSO Party results to per-county numbers, to help those of us who enjoy
activating rare counties. Now, almost 30 years later, I’m still enjoying it.
Each month, I download the
latest Section club numbers from the ARRL website, to keep tabs on who is
renewing their affiliations, and SSCs, and who probably needs an e-mail, or
visit from me. Overall, I’ve been pretty pleased with what I’ve seen over the
last two years. As I’ve heard Scott say on occasion, the Ohio section is one of
the most populous of the ARRL sections. According to the form letter I recently
sent to my senators, we have over 27,000 Licensed Hams in the Ohio section.
As of the most recent numbers
I’ve seen, we have 105 clubs in the Ohio Section, and 26 of them are Special
service Clubs. That’s not pretty good; it’s awesome! Let’s look at a national
level. As of August, we had 2401 clubs in the database, and 162 Special Service
Clubs. So, 162 SSCs nationwide, and 26 of them in Ohio! And we could have more SSCs.
Pretty much all of the clubs in the section are doing everything that is
required of Special Service Clubs, and then some. From there, it’s just filling
out the paperwork.
In reviewing an application
last week, I noticed one club that repurposes their old issues of QST, by
distributing them to various locations, such as Doctors’ Offices. The address
label area would be a great place to put a sticker giving a shout to your club.
Maybe it could steer readers to your website, or Facebook page. The label is
one of the ideas I read in Scott, W9WSW’s post which I plugged last month.
IVY+ Amateur Radio Campaign -
A few days ago, something came over the ARRL News feed which caught my
attention. The story “ARRL Acting as Catalyst in College Radio Club
Revitalization Campaign” tells about a campaign to revitalize the nation’s
college amateur Radio clubs. Though the name of the initiative is “IVY+ Amateur
Radio”, this is by no means limited to just Ivy League schools.
If your club is looking for
another project to get involved, maybe Partnering with a local college or
university is something you can take a look at. You can read more about the
IVY+ initiative at http://tinyurl.com/gmumw4t
On that subject, last month,
I gave a shout to a blog post by Scott, W9WSW entitled “Re-vitalizing Your
College Ham Club”. As I said then, not
all of his bullet points work for every situation. But I like a lot of what I was reading in
this post. You can read it at w9wsw.com/?p=950.
Election Time – Of course
with the changing of the seasons comes something else; club elections for some
of us. I’d like to pass along this reminder to you outgoing officers. Please
remind your replacement to update the club information. This is easily done,
and makes my job a lot easier when I need to contact the club. The club record
at the league is easier to update than ever before. If you have any questions,
or difficulties with the update, please drop me an e-mail and I’ll do my best
to help.
And with that, I’ll tie the
ribbons on it for another month.
73, until next month.
DE KD8MQ
****************************************************
NATIONAL PARKS ON THE AIR
John Myers, KD8MQ - ACC
Well,
according to the NPOTA website, we are over the 725,000 QSO mark, with over
13,500 activations under our belts. There’s still plenty of good weather ahead.
The Alliance club can add their name to the list of clubs who’ve activated NP14
(Cuyahoga Valley National Park). An activation of NS16 (First ladies Library)
is in the planning stages as well.
October
15th is the anniversary of NPOTA, I know, not the actual
Anniversary, but the October 15th, 2015 issue of the ARRL Letter
listed first mention of this interesting operating event that we now know as
NPOTA.
The
following was posted recently by Sean, KX9X on the NPOTA Facebook page: “Norm
Fusaro and I have been presented evidence that the Carl Hayden Visitor
Center at the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (RC10) also serves as the
Visitor Center for Rainbow Bridge National Monument (MN63). We agree
with the information presented; operations from September 29 onward from the
Carl Hayden Visitor Center will count for MN63”.
Sean
goes on to clarify that only the Carl Hayden visitor Center will count for
MN63, since the Monument itself is marked as Amateur Radio prohibited.
And,
while we are on the subject, Sean posted a few days ago that the Visitor Center
at Christiansted National Historic Site in the Virgin Islands (NS10) also acts
in an official capacity for the Buck Island Reef National Monument
(MN08).
Lastly,
if you are reading the web copy of the Section Journal, here are the Ohio NPOTA
top five activators, and chasers. You can also read this at npota.arrl.org.
That’s it for this month folks. Don’t forget to have some fun out there!
73,
John,
KD8MQ
****************************************************
THE SECTION EMERGENCY
COORDINATOR
Stan Broadway, N8BHL
We pause our normal program
for these ~real~ emergencies
Don’t look so surprised.
Amateur radio is back and in high demand for real life, high profile, actual,
bona-fide, holy-crap-lookee-there emergency situations all over the country.
There are (always, it seems)
articles regularly outlining exercises staged for amateur radio operators. And
there are (once in a while) accounts of amateur radio actually being of value
in those wild-west wildfires. But this year, across the board and across the
country, amateur radio operators were doing their stuff at the highest levels.
I should hope you’re aware of the groundbreaking work amateurs did during the
Republican National Convention in Cleveland and across the state during July.
(If you want to read about it, I highly recommend the October edition of CQ
magazine, available at Universal Service!) That was only a start.
Amateur radio was active
during extreme flooding across the southern states. A major power outage affecting nearly all of
Puerto Rico left amateur radio (when all else fails…) at the forefront.
More recently amateur
operators in a number of states were called upon as a historic hurricane
Matthew bore down on Florida- threatening the east coast as it hasn’t been
threatened in eleven years. Hurricane Matthew made landfall four times, in four
different countries. One of the worst reports came from Haiti, where nearly 300
were dead, and the headlines read, “Less than 1% of houses remain in
Haiti.” Like several other states, the
entire state ARES of Florida was activated as governments warned people to run
for their lives. Multiple shelters were opened in affected counties, and ARES
nets were running. The VOIP Hurricane
Net and the original Hurricane Watch Net (of which I am a member and on the
board) were operational from the initial threat. The HWN smashed all previous
records in several different categories- dedicating 24 hour nets, longest
operational period stretching almost 7 days, longest concurrent net operation
(20/40 meters). Reports varied from, “no
damage, moderate wind but a lot of rain” to C6AGG’s “First floor flooded,
second floor wind-driven rain, entire region is devastated and mostly
flattened,” at New Providence Island, Bahamas.
While the storm politely glanced off the east coast and avoided the dire
“Everybody’s gonna die!” warnings it was still major. Important to this
discussion, there was no hesitation on the part of officials to activate their
ARES partners. Why? Simple truth: it ~will~ work when the rest fails.
This goes way beyond just
cheerleading for ARES. This is all about amateur radio as a lifesaving,
integral part of a wide region, or entire island nation’s ability to protect
its residents by providing information before, and communication after a major
disaster.
And one insidious characteristic
creeping into our hobby can kill all the gains we’ve made: lethargy. “Let
somebody else do it”…”I’m really burned out on it”...~crickets~ instead of
responding. If we don’t do it, there’s
nobody left! We old heads who’ve been
through it a couple times are the most valuable element of ARES, and if we sit
back to “let the young guys do it” we quickly rob them of experienced teachers
who can Elmer, and we may find that there are no young guys out there anymore.
All through Matthew, I talked
with operators who were under stress: no power, damaged homes, many other
concerns beyond radio. Yet they were adept at putting a radio on the air,
re-hanging destroyed antennas, and patching their stations to provide help to
their community. Many who were providing reports to the Hurricane Watch Net
were simultaneously operating on their local ARES nets. Some were on their way
to shelters to operate with the Red Cross.
When the call went out and the warnings were issued- the stood up, got
busy, and got it done after putting in the time and effort to be prepared and
ready. They had participated in exercises, trained at regular meetings, and
worked with local agencies. Will you?
For the latest Section
Emergency Coordinator’s monthly report go to:
73, Stan, N8BHL
****************************************************
THE PUBLIC INFORMATION
COORDINATOR
John Ross, KD8IDJ
Hey Gang,
Just wanted to remind
everyone that the 2017 ARRL Ohio Section Newsletter contest will be soon
starting back up once again.
Entering the contest is
simple, just make sure that you include me and Scott, N8SY on your club mailing
and you will be automatically entered. That’s all there is to it. You do have
both of us included don’t you?
Anyway, if you don’t, please
make that your next priority and get it done. We want everyone that produces a
newsletter, whether in hard copy or electronic to be entered. Everyone has a
great chance of winning for sure.
That's all for this
month...73
John, KD8IDJ
****************************************************
FROM THE SCOUTING ASM
Scott Hixon, KC8ITN
By the time you read this,
the 59th annual “Jamboree on the Air (JOTA)” will be history. This
is always a great time to introduce scouts to ham radio. With JOTA events going
on all across the country and around the world, it is almost guaranteed that
scouts at your event will be able to talk to other scouts.
Even though JOTA is over,
that doesn’t mean that our work to promote amateur radio to the next generation
is done until next year’s JOTA. Look at it as the beginning of a new season of
amateur radio fun. Like I’ve said
before, there are scouting events and campouts throughout the year. Cold
weather campouts are among my favorite. There’s nothing like hearing the
crackle of a fire while listening to the crackle of the speaker when the radio
is turned on!
While I’m on the subject of
Jamboree on the Air, I would like to mention a radio manufacturer that has been
doing a lot over the last few years for the Radio Scouting program. They have
literally helped put amateur radio in front of thousands of scouts with their
generosity and assistance. The following
paragraph was taken from the k2bsa.net website: “In May 2012 at the Dayton Hamvention, Icom
America and the Boy Scouts of America announced a sponsorship agreement for the
K2BSA operation at the 2013 National Scout Jamboree. Icom is the exclusive
amateur radio transceiver and repeater sponsor for the Jamboree. In addition,
Icom America is sponsoring an amateur radio station loan program for local Boy
Scout councils beginning this year. In October 2015, Icom and Boy Scouts of
America announced a renewal of the sponsorship agreement and the associated
programs through 2018. This includes providing transceivers for the 2017
National Jamboree.You can find the 2015 press release from the BSA at Icom America Continues
Amateur Radio Support for Boy Scouts of America.” For a
manufacturer to step up like this to help the scouting program (and the next
generation of ham operators) says a lot!
The end of the year is coming
up. Have you been tracking the hours you spend showing scouts how fun ham radio
is? Don’t forget about the “contest” I have going. There will be an award for
the individual and the group that puts in the most hours getting scouts on the
air in 2016! Just email me the hours you or your group put in during the 2016
year. The deadline for submissions is January 15th, 2017. Good
luck!!
73, Scott, KC8ITN
****************************************************
THE SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGER
David Maynard, WA3EZN - STM
SET 2016 for Ohio has been completed
however the European SET continues for the rest of the month. The Central Ohio
Traffic Net and some others will continue to receive SET test messages for the
entire month of October. At least one of
the OSSBN nets ran for three hours of more.
It appeared that there was a fair quantity of traffic passed. If you didn't participate or originate
traffic you missed an opportunity to make Ohio really shine.
Each net and section is to
report there activity to the ARRL using forms on the ARRL website. The activity reports will be analyzed and a
report will be issued later as sort of a grade for each section. These forms for SET can be found at http://www.arrl.org/public-service-field-services-forms
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
The OSSBN meets three times
daily to handle traffic. Notice that there are three CW nets meeting daily to
handle traffic. I decided to try to listen to the OSN to see what it was
like. To my surprise I was still able to
recognize some of the characters after many years without using Morse code.
However I didn't remember enough to chime in with my call and join the net.
Then I got thinking is there really a reason we should be using CW when we have
voice privileges on the HF bands.
Why Morse Code?
If you can talk FM on two
meters, or SSB on HF, why should you be concerned at all about Morse Code, also
known as CW.
However, there are good
reasons why you should learn Morse code. Having a level of Morse proficiency
that is of real use on the air, meaning that you can copy at 12-13 wpm or more,
will add immeasurably to your enjoyment of Amateur Radio. Such rewarding HF activities as DXing,
contesting and QRP operating still rely heavily on CW. Thousands of hams enjoy
CW for its own appeal as a relaxing mode different from most other means of
communication. And even on VHF and higher frequencies, you'll find that
exciting activities such as Moon-bounce and weak-signal work still require
Morse skills for full participation.
Every day is a good day to operate on CW, but set some time aside on New
Year’s Eve and Day to enjoy Straight
Key Night (SKN). The annual event
gets under way a 0000 UTC on January 1, 2016 (New Year’s Eve in US time zones).
The 24 hour event is not a contest but a day dedicated to celebrating our CW
heritage.
Many newcomers exploring ham
radio were discouraged by the need to learn Morse code. In the United States,
that requirement to know Morse code to get an amateur radio license was dropped
in 1991, and completely removed in 2007.
Morse code used to be
required as an entry requirement to HF ham communications. The entry level
speed was 5 words per minute (WPM). That speed is slow enough to learn the
basics, get on the air, and increase your speed through practice. Yes, I
started as a Novice way back at 5 WPM, and could copy about 13 WPM to get my
General license.
I thought I'd want to get
enough code speed to get on SSB voice. I did that, but discovered something I
didn't expect. Sometimes, the band was so poor that I couldn't hear a single
voice station on SSB. But, when I tuned down to the Morse code CW portion of
the band, lo and behold, there were CW contacts going on.
I learned that Morse code
needs only about a tenth of the power of SSB to make a contact. Or, stated
another way, if you use Morse code, it's like getting an amplifier for your
transmitter for free! We all know that there are days you'd be desperate for a
contact with SSB, and it appears that you can make contacts with Morse code!
In the early days if you
lived in Ohio and wanted to test for a ham license you went to an FCC office in
Cleveland or Detroit. The test I took for my general was given in an office
setting with phone ringing and office type activity all around me. Since those
early days the FCC decided to use Volunteer Examiners to do their testing. This provided a more quiet and relaxed
atmosphere to take the test especially after the FCC dropped the code test
requirements
If you didn't have a buddy to
learn code with you had to use records like the Ameco code course like I
did. You supplemented you record course
by copying W1AW code transmissions over the air. At that time it was common to
count dots and dashed and mentally convert them to letters to write on paper.
Since then it has become
commonly known that the best was to learn code was not to count dots and dashes
but to learn the sound of each individual letter. Also available today are a multitude of
websites, clubs and computer programs to use to learn the code the proper way.
Why not slower than 15 words
per minute?
Because at a somewhat slower
speed you can count the individual dots and dashes rather than having your
brain treat each character as a distinct, integrated sound pattern. When
you hear Morse code sent at 5 wpm for learning such a slow speed is
counterproductive. You don't learn the sounds that lead to instantaneous
recognition. And, far worse, it programs the brain to count individual dots and
dashes — precisely what you don’t want it to do! This eventually has to be
unlearned and presents a formidable barrier to actually learning useful code.
To some degree, previous
government regulations are to blame: In earlier times the FCC imposed a Morse
code requirement of 5 wpm for the Novice Class amateur radio license, causing
legions of radio amateurs to get on precisely the wrong track. And to this day
there are well-intentioned individuals, clubs, and organizations that recommend
starting at 5 wpm!
You should start on your road
to success by throwing some time-honored ham-radio traditions onto the window
where they belong. These are:
Slow (5 wpm) code -- It ought
to be illegal to teach anyone code at 5 wpm. Every minute spent toying with
5wpm code is irrevocably wasted. In addition, as we'll see later, starting with
slow code is a virtually-guaranteed path to frustration and quitting. Morse at
5 wpm and Morse at 15 or 20 wpm are completely different critters, and you
don't want to waste time on the wrong one.
Charts, mnemonics, musical
cues and other "memory aids" -- These things make you think about
what you're doing while trying to copy code. That is deadly to proficient
copying.
Code tapes -- In very short
order, and unconsciously, you'll memorize the tape. This will lull you into
false confidence in your ability. That false confidence will be quickly
shattered when you hear transmitted text that you haven't memorized.
Copying QSOs off the air --
You don't know the speed of code you find on the bands, and much code on the
air is pretty badly sent. All this makes it useless for training purposes.
Formal code-practice sessions, such as those on W1AW, are OK, however.
Now that you know what you’re
not going to do, let's start examining just how you can best gain code
proficiency.
There are hundreds if not
thousands of websites available about Morse code. To get you started below here
are a few of the websites with information and programs to help you get started
on you adventure into the world of Morse code.
Remember that you are not going to count dot and dashes a 5 WPM but you
are going to want to start at a higher speed and learn the sounds.
Daily
Morse Code Practice QST Source
K6RAU Code Course
If you start now you can be
ready for Straight Key Night in January.
You could also be ready for that next CW DX contest. Check back next
month for more information
Until next time remember
without training you are not a part of the solution, you are part of the
problem.
73, David, WA3EZN
****************************************************
OUT AND ABOUT
Lyn Alfman, N8IMW - Assistant
Section Manager
This is my favorite time of
the year—cool, crisp, and colorful autumn!
September flew by especially fast, probably because I was busy having
fun. My OM, Sonny, W8FHF, and I took in
several festivals when we were not involved in local radio activities.
I was part of the W8VP team that operated from
Blue Rock State Park during the Ohio State Parks on the Air (OSPOTA)
contest. We made 73 contacts and talked
to 32 state parks. I also was part of
the W8VP crew that put the North Country National Scenic Trail on the air from
Salt Fork State Park the next weekend. We made 233 contacts that day from Iowa,
Minnesota, Arkansas and all points east and north into Ontario on a 40-meter
dipole up about 15 to 20 feet high at the edge of a corn field. What a blast!
I attended two CARA museum
planning meetings, eight amateur radio group meals, a Christmas parade
committee meeting, two club meetings, an antenna work party, and ran a weather
and ARES/NTS net.
CARA president Bruce Homer,
N8JMK, who is also an Assistant Emergency Coordinator for the Guernsey County
ARES group, attended the ARES Conference in Marion.
As Public Information
Officer, I placed meeting announcements in the newspaper, on the radio as well
as their websites, and had two articles published in the local newspaper.
October looks to be just as busy
since several events have already scheduled, starting with the Simulated
Emergency Test drill.
’73 Lyn, N8IMW
Remember to be Radio Active!
****************************************************
CENTRAL OHIO HAPPENINGS
From: Fritz Tender, WD8E -
Assistant Section Manager
First, as I write this I must
report that our furnace kicked on the last few mornings. Although fall is
my favorite time of year winter is not. Oh well find the snow shovel and
hope for the best.
I am looking forward to the
CQ WW SSB contest the end of October. I will be tuning 80 and 160 meter
looking for band fills. Let’s hope propagation improves.
Second, the XYL (Billie
N8LEL) recently underwent a tri-level cervical fusion and is currently house
bound which is restricting my travel. I did manage to make a short visit
to Ohio ARES Conference. The facilities were great, turnout was very
good, and the program top notch. Thumbs up to Stan (N8BHL).
That's all for this month.
73, Fritz, WD8E
****************************************************
LET'S TALK
Scott Yonally, N8SY - Section
Manager
Hey Gang,
Wow.. Did someone leave the refrigerator door open? It sure has gotten colder out.!!!
I want to remind everyone
that you’ll find the story about the RNC / NAACP Conventions in the NEAREST
OCTOBER ISSUE OF CQ MAGAZINE! We got 5 full pages of coverage! Nice
work everybody!!
** Now, switching bands to
another subject.. **
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
Here are the Ohio OO
totals...
OO cards sent = 2
Total hours monitored = 807
73, John, W8RXX
****************************************************
WEBSITE STATS – ** arrl-ohio.org
**
September 2016
Pages
|
Hits
|
Bandwidth
|
34,803
|
213,539
|
2.50 GB
|
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TRAFFIC NETS TO CHECK-IN TO
Ohio Local Nets
Burning River Traffic Net
(BRTN), 9:30 PM daily, 147.150 MHz, W8DJG manager http://www.qsl.net/brtn/
Central Ohio Traffic Net
(COTN), 7:15 PM (19:15), daily, 146.970 MHz (Columbus RPTR), KD8TTE
manager http://www.cotn.us/
Miami Valley Traffic Net
(MVTN), 7:00 PM Mon, Thurs, Sat, 146.640 MHz, KC8HTP manager
Northwest Ohio ARES Net
(NWOHARES), 6:30 PM, daily, 146.610 MHz, PL 103.5, N8TNV manager
Tri-County Traffic Training
Net (TCTTN), 9:00 PM Sun, Tues, Fri, 147.015 MHz, KI8U
manager http://tricountytraffic.net/
Tri-State Amateur Traffic Net
(TATN), 8:00 PM daily, 146.670 MHz, PL 123.0, WG8Z
manager http://www.tatn.org/
** Ohio Section Nets **
SSB
Ohio Single Sideband Net
(OSSBN), 10:30 AM, 4:15 PM and 6:45 PM daily, 3.972.50 MHz, KC8WH
manager http://ossbn.org/
CW
Buckeye Net (Early), BN-E,
6:45 PM daily, 3.580 MHz, WB8YLO manager
Buckeye Net (Late), BN-L,
10:00 PM daily, 3.590 MHz, WB9LBI manager
Ohio Slow Net (OSN), 6:00 PM
daily, 3.53535 MHz, W8OLO manager
**DMR**
First and Third Wednesday of
the month at 8:30pm local on the Ohio statewide Talk Group
Every Thursday at 8:00pm
local on the Kentucky statewide Talk Group
****************************************************
OHIO SPEAKERS BUREAU
Tom Sly, WB8LCD is continuing
to collect information on club presentations and is always on the look-out for
speakers that are willing to help out and do their presentations for clubs
around the Ohio Section.
You don't necessarily have to
travel. With the technology of today, you could easily do a webinar, Google
Hangouts, or Skype presentation right from the comforts of your own shack. Bob
Heil, K9EID does this all the time! You might be surprised just how easy this
really is now days.
If you've had or conducted an
interesting presentation at a club meeting in the last 12 months, please send
an email to Tom. He would like to know:
1) The topic or the name of the
presentation,
2) The name and call sign of
the presenter,
3) The name and location of
the club,
4) Do clubs usually have
interesting presentations (Y/N),
5) Has your club ever had a
presentation done over Skype or some other internet service?
Tom stresses that he would
like this information from all club members - not just club officers! You can email Tom at: tomsly29@gmail.com
Your participation in this
program will benefit all the clubs in the Ohio Section.
Our goal is to see this list
grow. The more presenters we have on the list, the more interesting your club
meetings will be.
****************************************************
OHIO AMATEURS IN ACTION
Hey Gang.. It was
suggested that we have a photo gallery of our Ohio Amateurs in action. So, we
now have a photo gallery just for this.. You can find it at:
http://arrl-ohio.org/action_pics/action.html as well as there is a link to this page
right from the main page of the Ohio Section website..
These pictures can include
any special event, activity and so forth that your ARES or Club has done.. I’m
sure you get the idea. Send your pictures to me at: n8sy@n8sy.com and include a brief explanation of the
event and I’ll get the pictures added to the gallery..
I’ve already got a number of pictures
up there, let’s fill up the Gallery with lots more..
I’m looking for great new pictures that I might
be able to use in the next Ohio Section Banner, so make sure that you get your
pictures to me.. I want a great representation of ALL of the Ohio Section.
****************************************************
SPECIAL EVENTS STATIONS IN
OHIO
11/05/2016 | 175th
Anniversary of Cambridge City Band
Nov 5, 1300Z-2100Z, W8VP,
Cambridge, OH.
Cambridge Amateur Radio
Association. 7.235.
Certificate. CARA, PO Box
1804, Cambridge, OH 43725.
This is a celebration of the
175th anniversary of the oldest
continuous community band in
Ohio--the Cambridge City Band.
Send SASE (9" x 12"
with $1 postage) to
CARA
P. O. Box 1804
Cambridge, OH 43725
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
TO: Region AF MARS
Directors
RE: MARS Information
Release COMEX 16-4 Information
Please disseminate downward
to all AF MARS Members and to Amateur Radio lists and service organizations
Subject: Military
Auxiliary Radio System to Conduct Interoperability Exercise with Amateur Radio
Community, COMEX 16-4
From 30 October through 1
November, members of the Military Auxiliary Radio System (both branches)will be
conducting a quarterly Department of Defense Contingency Communications
exercise. The purpose of this quarterly exercise is train on our ability to
provide communications following a very bad day scenario when traditional forms
of communications will likely be unavailable. While the simultaneous loss of
all communications nation-wide is not likely, for training purposes, we are
assuming there has been a massive nation-wide outage.
One of the objectives of this
exercise is to continue the partnership with the amateur radio community to
help provide information about local conditions and send this information to
the Department of Defense to help understand what is happening around the
United States. During this exercise, we will use 60 meters, local VHF and
UHF repeaters as well as HF NVIS amateur radio bands. Our goal is to have a
conversation about the local conditions in and around your county. During the
conversation, our operators will be asking basic questions such as the status
of commercial power, public water systems, and road conditions. These will be
person to person conversations you don t need to use any digital modes or know
any special messaging formats.
To kick off this exercise, we
are encouraging the amateur radio community to monitor 5,330.5KHz from
0300-0400 Hrs Zulu on 31 October. During this hour, we will be doing a high
power voice broadcast from a military station on the east coast and alternate
with a voice broadcast from the west coast. Amateur radio operators are
encouraged to submit a reception report as indicated in the voice
broadcast.
For the remainder of the
exercise, MARS personnel will be calling for amateur radio operators on the 60
meter channels as well as using already established amateur radio nets on HF
NVIS and VHF/UHF repeaters. Amateur radio operators are also invited to
attend the ARRL webinar scheduled for 25 Oct at 2000 hrs eastern time where
Dave Stapchuk, Chief AF MARS, and the Army MARS Program Manager will give a
presentation about the MARS program.
If you have further questions
about this exercise, please email: mars.exercises@gmail.com .
Jodie Rouse
Region Seven Public Affairs
Officer
Missouri State Director
Army MARS
Jodie Rouse
Region Seven Public Affairs
Officer
Missouri State Director
Army MARS
****************************************************
OHIO HAMFEST CALENDAR
10/23/2016 | Massillon ARC
Hamfest
Location: Massillon, OH
Sponsor: Massillon Amateur
Radio Club
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
11/05/2016 | GARC Hamfest
Location: Georgetown, OH
Sponsor: Grant Amateur Radio
Club
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
12/03/2016 | Fulton County
Winter Fest
Location: Delta, OH
Sponsor: Fulton County
Amateur Radio Club
****************************************************
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