Sun, 15 Jun 2008 21:42:31 -0500 http://www.nwham.com/ RSS news feed by nwham.com en-us http://www.nwham.com/images/logo.gif http://www.nwham.com/ admin@nwham.com http://www.nwham.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=266 Monday, June 9, 2008 11:07 AM PDT The Daily World Pacific County amateur radio operators ranked number one in Western Washington in the 2007 Simulated Emergency Test held by the North American amateur radio community. The tests are conducted locally each year in counties and states. The Pacific County win helped put the western section of the state in the top ten nation-wide of amateur radio users, according to QST magazine, the American Radio Relay League journal. The rankings are based on measures of amateur radio preparedness for emergency communications in coordination with public entities such as the Pacific County Department of Emergency Management and the Washington State Emergency Operations Center at Camp Murray. In Pacific County amateurs operated from the South Bend and Long Beach emergency operations centers. Operators in the field reported simulated emergency conditions while Stephanie Fritts, head of Pacific County emergency management, compiled simulated requests for aid from the state, which were relayed to Camp Murray. A variety of methods were used for sending and receiving messages such as voice and email via radio. The Pacific County amateur radio community works closely with county officials in these efforts and is proud of its top-ranked ability to fill the gap when all else fails. Sun, 15 Jun 2008 21:42:31 -0500 http://www.nwham.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=265 Associated Press - June 11, 2008 3:35 PM ET ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) - A HAM radio operator driving along I-5 near Roseburg picked up an unusual signal recently. It was the beacon from an Emergency Locator Transmitter from a downed aircraft. Sergeant Dave Marshall of the Douglas County Sheriff's office says the HAM operator also happened to be a volunteer for the Amateur Radio Emergency Services. He contacted 911 and followed the source to a hangar at the Roseburg Regional Airport. The signal was coming from the wreckage of a home built plane that crashed on a Roseburg street May 26th. The pilot, 70-year-old Clyde Floyd, amazingly walked away from the wreck. But on Saturday, he was showing the plane to some friends when 1 of them accidentally triggered the beacon. It was quickly turned off. If it hadn't been, the Air Force would have launched a search for the wreckage of the plane. Sun, 15 Jun 2008 21:40:36 -0500 http://www.nwham.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=264 Ham radio to the rescue where cell phones failed March 28th, 2008 @ 10:15pm Alex Cabrero reporting When a woman crashed her truck over a cliff in Logan Canyon, witnesses tried to call for help on their cell phones, to no avail. There is no cell coverage in the canyon. But one man was still able to call for help, using old-fashioned technology. Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:14:19 -0500 http://www.nwham.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=263 By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer The Department of Energy has notified 12 agencies, including the nonprofit that owns the Rattlesnake Mountain Observatory, that they must move from the mountain. Mon, 24 Mar 2008 10:09:41 -0500 http://www.nwham.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=262 See the video race between old vs. new messaging. Video. Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:21:18 -0500 http://www.nwham.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=261 Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1596 - March 14, 2008 Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1596 with a release date of Friday, March 14th, 2008 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a Q-S-T. The U-S championship Amateur Radio Direction Finding games are set for May in Texas, a former Novice is fined $4300 and a look back at ham radio taking to space on a commercial communications satellite. All this and more on Amateur Radio NewslineT report number 1596 coming your way right now. (Billboard Cart Here) ** Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:09:26 -0500 http://www.nwham.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=260 A new way to search the web has been added to the nwham.com site. Visitors may now search CQoogle from nwham.com. CQoogle is a search engine that returns only Amateur Radio related results. Give it a try! You can find the search box on the left side of the screen. Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:05:56 -0500 http://www.nwham.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=258 The World COOS BAY — Listeners tuning in to some of their favorite radio stations, including KTEE 94.9 and KOOS 107 this morning, found only silence and static. A fire Sunday night charred the stations’ transmitter in Englewood. Wed, 05 Mar 2008 12:12:31 -0600 http://www.nwham.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=257 News last updated: Tue, February 19, 2008 at 11:05 PM ET New CD "Tool Kit" for Club Public Information Officers ARRL Headquarters has a new CD-ROM -- “ARRL Swiss Army Knife – Basic Tools for Public Information Officers.” ARRL Santa Barbara Section Public Information Officers (PIO) and the Public Information Coordinator (PIC) interested in obtaining this new CD are welcome to contact Allen Pitts, W1AGP, ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager at ARRL Headquarters to request copies of the CD-ROM. Allen can be reached at: Allen Pitts, W1AGP ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager 225 Main Street Newington, CT 06111-1494 Telephone (860) 594-0328 e-mail: apitts@arrl.org. Latest from HQ Re: Field Organization Matters! The Minutes of the 2008 Annual Meeting of the ARRL Board of Directors have now been posted on the ARRL Web page at http://www.arrl.org/announce/board-0801/. There are two new official ARRL Field Organization Appointments: Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator (ASEC) and Assistant District Emergency Coordinator (ADEC). Minutes 29 and 30 introduce the appointments: 29. Mr. Bellows presented a progress report on the committee's study of Section Governance as directed at Minute 32 of the July 2007 Board Meeting. On his motion, seconded by Mr. Frenaye, it was VOTED that Rule 8 of the Rules and Regulations of the ARRL Field Organization is amended by adding "Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator" to the list of authorized section-level appointments. The Manager, Membership and Volunteer Programs is authorized to develop and implement terms of reference for this position. 30. On motion of Mr. Bellows, seconded by Mr. Leggette, it was VOTED that Rule 9 of the Rules and Regulations of the ARRL Field Organization is amended by adding "Assistant District Emergency Coordinator" to the list of authorized field organization appointments. The Manager, Membership and Volunteer Programs is authorized to develop and implement terms of reference for this position. The main ARRL HQ Field Organization data base has been updated to accept ASEC and ADEC positions, and the on-line Field Organization Appointment form (FSD-211) http://www.arrl.org/members-only/SM/fsd-211.html is also ready to accept these new appointments. Certificates for these two new appointments are ready to be printed on the ARRL Section Manager's Certificate Maker Web page: http://www.arrl.org/members-only/SM/certmaker.html. The certificate color for both ASEC and ADEC appointments is green. You'll find links to these two pages via the Section Manager Area Web page http://www.arrl.org/members-only/SM/. There are no restrictions on the number ASECs and ADECs that a Section may have. Please note that there are many references and resources about the ARRL Field Organization on the ARRL Web and in other ARRL publications and information that have yet to be updated and changed to show and include these two new appointments. The Assistant Emergency Coordinator (AEC) position continues, and there is no change to its status. Assistant Emergency Coordinators will continue to be selected and appointed by the Emergency Coordinator (EC). The AEC is strictly a local appointment (sometimes made on an ad hoc basis) and consequently does not require ARRL membership or SM/ SEC approval or notification to ARRL Headquarters. ARRL Teachers Institute Plans ARRL Education Services Manager Debra Johnson, K1DMJ, has announced the dates for the ARRL Teachers Institute for 2008. Six sessions will be offered this year. The earliest one is scheduled for April 7-10 at the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa Florida. The ARRL Web page with the updated information, a downloadable application and downloadable brochure and flyer is: http://www.arrl.org/FandES/tbp/ti.html. Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:45:45 -0600 http://www.nwham.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=256 News last updated: Tue, February 19, 2008 at 12:54 PM ET Welcome to the San Joaquin Valley Section. Section Manager Charles McConnell, W6DPD- Assistant Section Managers K6YK and N2NS, Affiliated Club Coordinator W6DPD, Section Emergency Coodinator N6ZFN, Official Observer Coordinator N1VM, Section Traffic Manager K6RAU, Public Information Coordinator KE6IGJ, and Technical Coordinator W6TE. The San Joaquin Valley Section extends from Kern County north to San Joaquin, Calaveras and Mono Counties in the central valley of California. Thanks for visiting this page. If you desire your club information and events to be listed in Section News, please send the information to w6dpd@arrl.org. I get very little information. If your club has a newsletter, please send it to me, email to w6dpd@arrl.org or via U.S Mail. MARK YOUR CALENDARS!! RadioFest is February 23-24, 2008, in Monterey CA. Check www.radiofest.org for information. Clovis Amateur Radio Pioneers Swap Meet Saturday April 12, 2008 at the New Hope Community Church in Clovis. Check www.k6arp.org for information. The International DX Convention is April 25-28, 2008 at Visalia CA. Check http://www.dxconvention.org/ for information. EMCOMM West 2008 will be May2-4, 2008, at the Circus Circus in Reno NV. Check www.emcommwest.org for information. The 65th Fresno Hamfest is May 31, 2008. Check www.w6to.com for information. Pacificon 2008 is October 17-19, 2008 at the San Ramon Marriott in San Ramon CA. Check www.pacificon.org for information. The Northern California Net (NCN), the Section Traffic Net, meets nightly on 3.533MHZ at 7 PM Pacific Time. The slow speed training session of the net meets nightly on 3.533 MHZ at 9 PM Pacific Time. Handling traffic on CW is a good way to improve your CW skills. The Daytime Region 6 Traffic Net meets daily at 3:30 pacific time on or near 7.275 MHZ. The California Traffic Net meets daily at 6:30 PM pacific time on 3.906 MHZ. The Noontime Net meets daily on 7.268.5 MHZ at Noon. There is a lot of traffic passed on this net. Need to take an Amateur exam? Check the ARRL web page, www.arrl.org for exam information. Need to find a class? The ARRL web page, www.arrl.org has a listing of classes. Check it out. Card Checking in the Section. You can get cards checked for awards within the section. W6XK and W6DPD can check your cards for DXCC in accordance with the rules for field checking. DXCC card checkers may now check cards dated from Nov. 15, 1945, but no 160 meter cards or cards for deleted entities. DXCC card checkers may, at their discretion, check cards for WAS and VUCC. W6DPD can check cards for the CQ Awards, WAZ, DX, and Prefixes. Special Service Clubs may appoint a HF awards manager for WAS and a VHF Awards Manager for VUCC. When your affiliated club elects officers for the next year, be sure to update your club’s information on the affiliated club area of the ARRL web page. If your club fails to update the information for 2 years, your club will be placed in the inactive file. SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY SECTION Report for the month of January 2008: SM Charles McConnell, W6DPD- ASMs K6YK and N2NS, ACC W6DPD, SEC N6ZFN, OOC N1VM, STM K6RAU, PIC KE6IGJ, TC W6TE. Greetings from the ARRL San Joaquin Valley Section. EMCOMM West for 2008 has moved to the Circus Circus in Reno. The dates are May 2 to 4, 2008. This is an ARRL specialty convention devoted entirely to emergency communications. Information can soon be found at www.emcommwest.org. If you are involved in emergency communications, this is an event you should plan to attend. Dennis Dura, K2DCD of ARRL, and Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, of the FCC are the featured speakers. ARRL Membership in the SJV Section increased in 2007 by 4.2% over the 2006 membership numbers. Keep up the good work in recruiting new and renewing ARRL members. KE6HCJ, Charles and W6ECP, Ernest are Silent Keys. They will be missed. Southern Sierra ARS 2008 officers are pres KD6RPJ, 1st vp KA6PTJ, 2nd vp W6TSP, sec KI6EOG, and treas N6MLD. The club meets the 2nd Thursday in Tehachapi. Tuolumne County ARES 2008 officers are pres WA6AWC, vp KBCEG, sec KE6RGP, and treas WA7MOB. Check www.lodelink.com/tcares for information. Clovis Amateur Radio Pioneers 2008 officers are pres AE6GE, vp K6OSX, sec KI6KRI, and treas KD6WAW. Check www.k6arp.org for information. San Joaquin Valley ARS 2008 officers are pres W6TTF, vp K6YRZ, sec N6EY, and treas KF6FGP. Check www.sjvars,com for information. Sierra ARC 2008 officers are pres WA7RIW, 1st vp KC6UMM, 2nd vp KG6STR, sec N6VGW and treas KC6UUS. Check www.qsl.net.wa6ybn for information. Club members provided communications support for the Over-the-Hill Track Club’s ultra marathon. Stanislaus ARA 2008 officers are pres KF6TEZ, vp KD6YWO, sec KF6TSY, and treas KC6TVE. Check www.saraclub.net for information. Traffic for January: K6RAU 17, W6DPD 0, and W6SX 35. Total 52. PSHR: K6RAU 79 and W6SX 72. Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:45:07 -0600 http://www.nwham.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=255 News last updated: Sun, February 10, 2008 at 10:53 PM ET SV January Summary, The March 8, 2008 Section Emergency Communications Conference agenda is taking shape. We have OES, Red Cross, and a speaker on OUTPOST already scheduled. Other planned presentations include Digital Modes, Packet, and the impact on EMCOMM activities of the PAVE PAWS/440 repeater loss issue. Each county EC is invited to bring a copy of their County Emergency Communications Plan to compare with others, and to help get a Section Emergency Communications Plan going. The last such conference was five years ago. The conference will take place at the U.C. Sierra Foothills Research Station, 8279 Scott Forbes Rd., Browns Valley, CA 95918. Our host for the day is Station Director Art Craigmill, K6ALC, EC for Sutter and Yuba Counties. Richard Cloyd, WO6P, SV SEC, will be in charge of the day’s activities. Agenda items you wish to see included should be sent to Richard at wo6p@charter.net. If you can attend this conference, plan to bring a bag lunch (water, coffee, tea, and soft drinks will be provided.) Contact WO6P or Ron Murdock, W6KJ w6kj@arrl.org if you can attend. We have more sad news to report. Lou Anne Keogh, KB6HP, SK, former editor of WorldRadio magazine, passed away at her home January 17, 2008. She had attended and enjoyed the North Hills Radio Club Christmas dinner in December. Lou Anne will be missed by many friends and family. In 1997, Lou Anne asked me to submit an article for WorldRadio on the Yuba and Sutter County ARES flood disaster response activity. I enjoyed working with her on that occasion. K6ZMG, SK, Gordon Lee Hutchings, 75, of Citrus Heights, passed away in early January. Gordon was born in 1932 in Utah. He was raised in Grass Valley, worked at McClellan AFB as an electronics engineer in ground communications for 34 years, and had been employed by Aerojet before moving to Citrus Heights. He was an avid ham operator and fell ill shortly after he retired. We hear from Bud Watkins, the son of former K6BJF, Bill Watkins, of Graeagle, CA, that Bill is a silent key. Bill was a very active ham (stations at home, and in his car) and the son of W6RV, who passed away in 1987. Bill spent over 30 years with the telephone company in southern California, moving to Oakland then retiring in San Francisco in the mid 1970's. During WWII, Bill was in the US Marine Corps and got his start in personal electronics as a field telephone man. Bill and his wife had three children, six grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. Bill passed away November 11, 2007, at 81, in Portola. George C. Lowell, Jr, AG6N, SK. George was a resident of Grass Valley, passed away January 2. He was 87. George was born in Richmond, served in the U.S. Coast Guard on the USS Leonard Wood. He worked as an electronics specialist for the FAA. He and his wife Lucille had four sons, seven grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren. Mertis Oliver, KC6PFT, SK. Mertis Oliver of Rocklin, passed away Tuesday, 5 February, at her home. For many years Mertis and OM Homer, KB6EJ, brightened our lives in Yuba City as members of the Yuba Sutter ARC. She took my license course at Yuba College passing the Novice and Technician without much effort. A major blow to UHF FM repeaters operating within 150 miles of the PAVE PAWS radar at Beale AFB, CA, fell on repeater owners, trustees, and clubs operating UHF repeaters at the end of January. FCC began notifying those in control of 75 more repeaters operating in the 440-450 MHz band that they needed to reduce interference to the radar—some by as much as 50 dB. When the repeater is already operating at 5 watts maximum transmitter output, this means taking it off the air entirely. Many are hoping that the real interference is outside the band and that when all the repeaters are off the air within the area around the radar, perhaps we will regain use of the repeater band there. Of course, USAF has to determine our repeaters are not the issue. No problems have been mentioned with the other amateur uses of the band, only repeaters. It is not a good idea to compile and publish a list of the repeaters, for obvious reasons. One repeater that has been operating at .5 watt output power is W6AK/R, which is used for the 440 side of the Sacramento Noon Net. FCC told the operators of this repeater they must reduce the interference by 22 dB, so this repeater will go off the air for a time. We must remember that amateur radio is secondary to radiolocation in this band. Major upgrades to the radar system at Beale AFB, CA, and Otis AFB, MA, have resulted in UHF repeaters being nominated as interfering devices. In California for many years now, our Department of Motor Vehicles has issued call sign license plates to amateurs holding an unexpired amateur operator’s license. Starting a few years ago, DMV put a space on the license plate (and on the registration document and in the data base) after the number in the call sign. My call sign thus would appear as W6 KJ both on the license plate and on my registration. Since my plates are 12 years old, only the registration appears that way. The plates are correct. But for people getting their plates recently, this ‘space’ issue has been an unnecessary irritant. Another aspect of the problem is if I was stopped by police and the plates were run against the data base. My registration says W6 KJ, but the plates don’t have a space in the call sign. I would need to tell the officer that it is an amateur radio plate and to make sure to insert the space or the data base search might show the plate was not issued. After several SV members complained about this I began researching the issue. I found online a letter from the director of the DMV in which he noted he could not correct the problem. The space had been inserted to differentiate between vanity plates and amateur plates. This was an arbitrary decision. So I wrote to my legislators requesting relief and advocated that others in the state do the same. Two days later, but after many letters had been written before I got into the act, an Assemblywoman in Lancaster, CA, got the answer from DMV for which we had all hoped. DMV will remove the space from license plates and our registrations. Thanks to many who acted on this issue, including our Division leadership who had been working behind the scenes at ‘various’ levels to correct the problem. There were also questions about the new hands free (cell phone use while driving) law going into effect in July in California. Confusion arose because of erroneous examples on the DMV website. These appear to have been resolved by DMV. Andy Oppel, N6AJO, our Pacific Division Vice Director, reports: ‘The Hands Free Issue appears resolved to me. The DMV reworded the example on their web page to say just the opposite of what it used to say. See for yourself at http://www.dmv.ca.gov/cellularphonelaws/. The specific example is: Q: May I use a dedicated two-way radio while driving? A: Yes. The use of dedicated two-way radios such as walkie-talkies and Citizen Band (CB) radios, which are not part of a wireless telephone, is not affected by the new law.’ Placer Amateur Radio Club qualified for and has been granted ARRL affiliation by Headquarters. Congratulations, PARC! Ham Crams, the short duration, highly concentrated licensing classes for Technician, have been successful in a number of cases in our section. Lassen Amateur Radio Club, LARC, conducted their examination January 12 after a Ham Cram. Seventeen new Technicians were successful, their licenses appearing on January 17. Congratulations LARC, and thanks to K6ME, Terry, for the good news. Several more should result in more new Techs in February. As always, we would like to hear you on one of the two section nets, the second Wednesday of each month. For February, that is February 13. We start with a VHF net on the WD6AXM/R (146.085 MHz, plus offset, 127.3 hz tone) at 1900L and then at 1930L we repeat the net on 3987 KHz. We try to have the latest ham radio news. Congratulations are due Tom Nelson, W6EO, of Davis, CA. Tom has been continuously licensed for 70 years! He is a member of Yuba Sutter ARC, Yolo Amateur Radio Society, and the Northern California Contest Club. Tom was first licensed as W6QVB in 1938. He has stations at home in Davis, and another at his farm near Robbins in Sutter County. Way to go Tom! Call sign W6BSA is available for use at short-term Boy Scout events as coordinated by the Yolo District BSA Radio Club based in Woodland,CA. Contact trustee Bill Ragsdale, K6KN, at or phone 530-867-6241. Bill says,'We even offer artwork for your event's customized QSL card or custom patch.' Special thanks are due to the people who send me the links to their club newsletters, who take the time and expend the effort to send in obituary notices for silent keys in this section, and who, in other ways, provide the information for the Section Summary. We appreciate your interest. 73, Ron Murdock, W6KJ, Sacramento Valley Section Manager Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:42:50 -0600 http://www.nwham.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=254 FIELD DAY Pat Roberson, N7PAT, Assistant Section Manager – Administrative, will be compiling a list of field day sites. Please let him know what your plans are. If he doesn’t hear from you, he will be contacting those who are likely to be aware of field day plans for a specific group. I would like to have it available to share with legislative members and others when appropriate. Please indicate whether you welcome visitors to the site. I have not decided yet what part the state I will visit but I will visit different sites than I visited last year. SALEM HAMFAIR I look forward to seeing everyone at the Salem Hamfair this Saturday. There will be an NTS (National Traffic System) meeting at 11:00 a.m. and an ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Services) meeting at 1:30 p.m. PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICERS NEEDED Steve Sanders, KE7JSS, needs more volunteers to function as public information officers. During the December floods, he spent a significant amount of time publicizing the activities. In a more recent minor activation he wasn’t able to do much since he was on the road going to jobs for his business. He needs to be able to call on others to help. He will provide training on submitting the news releases and contacts. Please contact him if you would like this appointment. It would be great to have more ARES groups designate a public information officer that he can work with. Those should come to him through the Emergency Coordinators. FLOOD POSSIBILITIES Vince VanDerHyde, K7VV, Emergency Coordinator for Oregon Emergency Management Amateur Radio Unit, passed an email on to me that said the snow pack in low to mid altitudes is similar to 1996. A lot of warm rainfall this season could cause flooding at the same scale as in 1996. So keep your go-kit ready and maintain your ARES unit requirements so we are ready to respond. SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGER REPORT See the Oregon Section website at http://www.arrloregon.org for the complete report from Scott Gray, W7IZ. Net Activity January 2008: District #1 ARES Net, QNI 1262, QTC 39, KC7ZZB Net Mgr Oregon Emergency Net, QNI 4510, QTC 19, N7RBO Net Mgr Northwest Traffic and Training Net, QNI 541, QTC 140, N7YSS Net Mgr Oregon Section Net/1, QNI 191, QTC 111, WS7L Net Mgr Oregon Section Net/2, QNI 90, QTC 60, KC7SRL Net Mgr Oregon ARES Traffic Net, QNI 524, QTC 114, WA7FXF Net Mgr Beaver State Net, QNI 638, QTC 32, N7CM Net Mgr Station Activity Report (SAR) Totals for January 2008: W7IZ 239, N7CM 116, W7IG 111, N7YSS 104, K7PMB 99, K7EAJ 87, N7DRP 62, KC7SRL 36, KD7ZLF 30, W7VSE 23, WS7L 19, KK1A 2 Public Service Honor Roll (PSHR) Totals for January 2008: K7EAJ 195, N7CM 160, W7IG 120, KD7THV 115, N7XG 110, N7YSS 110, N7DRP 90, KD7ZLF 80 NEW APPOINTMENTS At the last ARRL Board Meeting, two new appointments were approved. They are Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator and Assistant District Emergency Coordinator. Bill Morris, W7IH, has now been able to officially appoint Bruce Bjerke, K7BHB, as an Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator. He has been functioning in that capacity for some time. Scott Hampton, KB7DZR, was appointed as an Official Emergency Station. He lives in Wallowa County and the appointment was requested by Gary Cooper, N7ZHG, the District Emergency Coordinator for District 3. Doug Asay, WS3X, has been appointed as the Emergency Coordinator for Marion County. Doug replaces Dean Davis, N7XG, who is continuing with numerous other roles within ARES and the Section. New Official Observers who have passed the required open-book examination are Dana Nelson, KD7VMM, and Al Crotts, KF4LEC. EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS ACADEMY Western Washington is planning the TENTH Annual Communications Academy “08” which will be held April 5-6, 2008 at South Seattle Community College. The theme for this year’s conference is: “The Next Disaster is Ready for You – Are You Ready for it?” For more information see their website at http://www.CommAcademy.org. OFFICIAL OBSERVER REPORTS Ed Ewell, K7DXV, Official Observer Coordinator reports that the Oregon Official Observers reported 259 hours monitored for January 2008 by six observers. Ed continues to encourage the official observers to be visible and look for opportunities to educate people on good operating practice, including making presentations to clubs on the topic. NEW HAM CORNER I have become aware that there are some pieces of information related to licenses that some hams are not aware of. A recent item that has arisen a couple of times is related to club calls. These calls have a trustee designated who is responsible for the use of the call. The trustee needs to be aware of when and how the call is being used since that person is responsible for any misuse. The call also must be used within the frequencies that the trustee’s license class allows him or her to operate. A specific individual who is working with an agency does not have to be the trustee of the call sign in order to support that agency and use the call when appropriate. Although many times a person who is using a club call, also gives their own call sign, it is not required that they do so. The club call is sufficient. Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:41:43 -0600 http://www.nwham.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=253 News last updated: Sun, January 13, 2008 at 8:06 PM ET Section News, January 13, 2008 As of January 1, 2008 I officially became the Section Manager for New Mexico. Bill Weatherford has been the Section Manager for the past four and a half years and did an outstanding job. I know that he has made my transition much easier. I want to share with you my plans for the future. Our State is in very good shape for the most part, but the areas we need to work on are: ARES/RACES - we need more members and some new groups in counties that are not yet represented. Increased membership in ARRL and ARRL affiliated clubs. Spread education to young people. I believe that number 3 is the most important. We need more young people in our hobby. Once we get them in and licensed, we need to work with them and encourage them to get on the air and become active. As recommended by headquarters, I have e-mailed and sent letters to all those who are on the Section Staff for any changes in their contact information. Please reply to these e-mails and letters as soon as you can. Don't forget the Winter Tail Gate in Albuquerque on January 26. It will be held at the Del Norte High School North Student parking lot. It starts at "0 dark 30" and usually breaks up around 1:00 PM. Talk in is on 145.33 and 444.00 with a tone of 100 Hz. Dee, KC5JBO, will be the talk in host (as usual - thanks Dee). We had a small victory for amateur radio in Lincoln County. Wayne (W0ZW) sent out a notice that the Lincoln County WCF ordinance (their new antenna ordinance) was passed on 12/18/07. This has been in the works for the past year and could have had a big effect on ham antennas in the county. The great part is that "licensed amateur radio" facilities are exempt. Ed Ricco provided legal advice. Thanks again to Ed for all the work he does. NASA announced that Sunspot Cycle 981 has started, so 10 meters should start to come back. All the "10-10" folks should be happy about that. December net counts: NM Breakfast Club 1273/140 : NM Roadrunner Traffic Net 931/74 : Rusty's Raiders Net 699/65 : Valencia County ARA Net 62/15 : Yucca Net 782/35 : Four Corners Net 466/39 : SCAT Net 563/21 : Caravan Club Net 70/6 : High Desert ARA Net 47/3. I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible during the coming year. Best of 73. Don - W5FHA Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:38:54 -0600 http://www.nwham.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=252 - - - 2009 Convention Kick-Off Meeting - - - The kick-off meeting for the 2009 Rocky Mountain Division convention was held in Castle Rock on February 16th. Many of the delegates in attendance had worked on one or both of the previous HAMCON conventions and the first half-hour was filled with renewing acquaintances and welcoming newcomers. HAMCON Colorado was 'switched on' with the assembly of the delegates and the approval of the directors which consist of myself and committee Chair Steve Williams, KØSRW as ex-officio members, and Gerry Villhauer, WØGV; Jerry VerDuft, ADØA; and Larry Olson, W9INE also elected as at large members of the board. One of its first orders of business was to determine when and where to hold the 2009 convention. Although the vote for the date was unanimous, the committee's vote for "where" was not. The Committee approved the venue and date as the Estes Park Convention Center on May 29th, 30th and 31st, 2009. This is the same location as the 2003 and 2006 conventions. There was discussion about the possibility of moving the convention to a more heavily populated location such as Denver or Colorado Springs but after consideration and in spite of the fact that all but one of the committee members present are either from Colorado Springs or the Denver Metro area, the vote to once again have Estes Park as the venue was affirmed. The committee will meet monthly in Castle Rock for the next year and a half. Mark your calendars now !! - - - Next Hamfest - - - April 5th, 2008 LarcFest - Longmont Amateur Radio Club Boulder County Fairgrounds 9595 Nelson Road / Corner of S. Hover Street Longmont, CO Talk-In: 147.27 w0eno.org/node/217 Contact: Jeremy Haley, WG9T PO Box 86 Longmont, CO 80501 Email: admin@w0eno.org - - - Upcoming Contests - - - (See the ARRL Contest Calendar for the Rules) February 16 - 17 ARRL International DX Contest (CW) March 1 - 2 ARRL International DX Contest (Phone) June 14 - 16 ARRL June VHF QSO Party - - - 2008 Field Day - - - June 28 & 29. In mid-May, I'll send my annual questionnaire/bulletin asking all Colorado organizations about their Field Day plans, then I'll post the replies here. So if you want to know who's doing Field Day and where..... stay tuned! Field Day packages are now available on the ARRL web site (www.arrl.org) - - - 2008 Rocky Mountain Division Convention - - - The 2008 ARRL Rocky Mountain Division convention will be held in Utah-- at Ruby's Inn in beautiful Bryce Canyon July 11th thru 13th . See the web page at: www.utahhamfest.org for more information. Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:37:03 -0600 http://www.nwham.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=251 ARRL ARIZONA SECTION NEWS January 2008 NEW CALLSIGN After 32 years as WB7NXH, I broke down and applied for a vanity callsign that I really liked. Great news is that I got it. My new callsign is K7DF. Please update your address books to k7df@arrl.org. YOUTH AND SCOUTING In the last two weeks we were able to introduce 400 Cub Scouts and their parents to Amateur Radio. Amateur Radio was one of 16 activities at the Winter Day Camp at Double V Scout Camp in Tucson. The theme was space and the boys were able to talk on HF and VHF, solder two wires together, put together two snap circuit projects, practice Morse code, learn phonetics, learn about Earth-Moon-Earth communications and learn why astronauts become amateur radio operators. I would like to thank: Lloyd N7GV, Bill N7CHN, Sharon KA9GPY, Jack AD7NK, Gene W0KAD, Bob AD7FP, Ron Gross AD7FV, Tom W1HRO, Dee Gross AD7NM, Tom W8TK, Dave KE3HF, Brandon KE7ODY and Tom K7DF for their time making this possible. So far 15 scouts were very interested and wanted to know more. One of the scout leaders wrote it up in his blog at http://www.kr7rk.com/blog.htm His son thought it was the best activity. Jim Fagan KE7IDC Assistant Section Manager (ASM) Youth and Scouting ke7idc@arrl.net SOUTHWESTERN DIVISION CONVENTION 2008 The Southwestern Division Convention is plugging along. We need your support, if you haven't taken the time to register, please do and show your support for the convention and it's dedicated committee members. Check the website regularly to see what's new: www.azhamcom.org Rick Aldom W7STS EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS The Arizona ARES database has been slowly picking up members. We are up to 425 statewide who have added their names to the list. Thank you to all who have registered. The database is the easy part of ARES. It's electronic nuts and bolts. What makes ARES special is the people who volunteer. People with a wide variety of skills and knowledge. People who know how to setup and operate a digital HF station. Those who can link repeaters and those who will work when they haven't had any sleep. That's what ARES is about, and my hat is off to all who volunteer. Please go to: www.az-arrl.org/secure to register for Arizona ARES! www.az-arrl.org/secure Rick Aldom W7STS SEC Arizona SILENT KEYS Ronald G. Reynolds N7WTF passed away Dec. 24, 2007, at his home in Prescott Valley. He was a past president of the Scottsdale Amateur Radio Club. In 2001 he was named Amateur Radio Council of Arizona (ARCA) Ham of the Year. He was very active with ARCA as well as volunteering many hours as the ARRL District Emergency Coordinator of Maricopa County. Ron was also actively involved in public service events (MS 150) and training. NEW HAMS The following Arizona hams just received their FCC license, Congratulations! Douglas Viste KE7PZR, Thomas Traynor KE7PTV, Joshua Hoover KE7PQW, Peter Decker KE7PTY, Rhonda Eastin KE7PTW, Jose Medina KE7PQV, Mario Zepeda KE7PZT, Christopher Dreher KE7PZO, Theodore Donahue AD7QS, Patrick Burke KE7PZP, Steve Lepetich KE7PZN, Tiffany Picquet KE7PZQ, Ronald Zimmerman KE7PZS, William Heilman KE7PTU, James Lyman KE7PQY, Neva Lyman KE7PQX, Max Kartchner KE7PUA, Phillip Warner KE7PTZ, Maria Ngomba KE7PXW, Gregory Allen KE7PXX, David Wilson KE7PXZ, Donnie Kearbey KE7PYJ and Kimberly Smith KE7PYL. HAMFESTS/CONVENTIONS/SPECIAL MEETINGS January 12, 2008 WestFest hosted by the Thunderbird ARC will be held at the Thurderbird School of Global Management at Greenway and 59th Ave in Glendale. The first all indoor hamfest for Arizona. http://www.w7tbc.org January 20-26, 2008 Quartzfest 2008, A gathering of Amateur Radio Operators in RV's near Quartzite Arizona. For more information go to www.quartzfest.org February 15-17, 2008 Yuma HamExpo at the Yuma County Fairgrounds www.yumahamexpo.com March 2008 SpringFest hosted by the Scottsdale Amateur Radio Club, Scottsdale Community College, Chapparel & Hwy 101, Scottsdale, AZ, ARCA Meeting - 11:00 AM April 2008, AARC Hamfest, hosted by the Arizona Amateur Radio Club, DeVry University, Dunlap, Rd, Phoenix, AZ May 2008, CARA Hamfest, hosted by the Cochise Amateur Radio Association, Club Site, Moson Rd, Sierra Vista, AZ ARCA Meeting - 11:00 AM July 18-20, 2008 ARCA/Williams Hamfest hosted by the Amateur Radio Council of Arizona Williams Rodeo Grounds, 800 Rodeo Rd, Williams, AZ www.arca-az.org September 12-14, 2008 ARRL Southwestern Division Convention Mesa AZ Come check us out at www.AzHamCom.org Mesa Convention Center Rick Aldom W7STS 2008 SWD Chair natecf@gmail.com. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about ARRL. If your club or group has an activity or event that would be of interest to other hams throughout our section please email me with the specifics. 73, Tom Fagan K7DF ARRL Section Manager Arizona Tucson Arizona (520) 574-1129 k7df@arrl.org http://www.arrl.org/sections/?sect=AZ or http://www.az-arrl.org/ Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:35:50 -0600 http://www.nwham.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=247 RAC has become aware of increasing levels of interference to Amateur Radio operations on the 902-928MHz (33cm) band from wireless power meters and is calling on Radio Amateurs who use that band to provide any information to help identify the extent and nature of the problem. In a number of cities, electrical power utilities are installing wireless meters that operate in the 33cm band. Amateur Radio has access to that band on a Secondary basis, meaning we may not cause interference to, nor be protected from interference by licensed Primary users of that spectrum, which are stations in the Fixed and Radiolocation Services. However, these wireless power meters are operating legally, but as unlicensed devices and are therefore legally subordinate to Amateur Radio. Amateur Radio operations may claim protection from these devices. RAC intends to raise this issue with Industry Canada, but requires more information on the effect these meters are having on our operations. If you are active on the 33cm band, and you have suffered harmful interference from these devices, please provide details to RAC's Vice-President Industrial Liaison, Norm Rashleigh VE3LC of Ottawa. Norm may be contacted by e-mail at rashleigh@sympatico.ca or VE3LC@rac.ca . Tue, 29 Jan 2008 13:19:30 -0600 http://www.nwham.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=246 A second round of testing by US Air Force engineers has resulted in the identification of an additional seventy-five 70 cm repeaters in Northern California that must adjust their operations to eliminate harmful interference to the PAVE PAWS Updated Early Warning Radar (UEWR) located at Beale Air Force Base near Sacramento, California. As a result of these additions, new strategies for handling the situation are being put into place by the ARRL and the FCC. "While ARRL knew that there was the possibility of additional repeaters being added in the follow-up list of those requiring mitigation, we are surprised by the large number of additions to the list," said ARRL Regulatory Information Manager Dan Henderson, N1ND. "After our discussions with FCC officials, they are becoming actively involved in ensuring that the correct repeaters have been identified and that the mitigation being required is what is actually needed to resolve the ongoing problem in each case." Henderson continued: "From the discussions with the Air Force, it is clear that the PAVE PAWS issue is going to be a continuing process. The ARRL needs to be involved since there can be additional repeaters identified as the Department of Defense continues testing at their radar sites." To expedite any new mitigation actions needed due to the enlarged list, the FCC has now taken on the lead role of making initial contact with the owners of these newly identified repeaters. "The FCC has asked the ARRL to continue its work of aiding affected repeater owners with suggested mitigation actions," Henderson stated. "However, since any mandatory enforcement action would have to come from the FCC, it makes sense for them to take the lead at this point in time." The ARRL will continue to provide information to individual repeater owners on specific mitigation techniques as well as information to the general amateur population. "We are committed to continuing to work with the Department of Defense, FCC and the Amateur Radio community to meet the amateurs' responsibilities as secondary users. But we are not an enforcement agency. Our goal to ensure that the impact on amateurs in the 70 cm band is the least possible, consistent with those responsibilities," Henderson said. A teleconference was held between representatives of the DoD, FCC and ARRL on Thursday January 17 to assess the status of the repeaters on the initial DoD list, as well as discuss the strategies for working with repeater owners on the new, second, follow-up DoD list as quickly as possible. During this conference call, Riley Hollingsworth of the FCC confirmed he had been in contact with repeater owners from the first DoD list who had not indicated their compliance with mitigation numbers provided by the ARRL in early Fall 2007. Hollingsworth reported he has had a positive response from each owner with whom he had spoken so far. There were several who had to be contacted via regular mail (instead of e-mail or telephone) who have not yet responded. Hollingsworth also planned to start making contact with the owners of repeaters on the second list and begin the process towards amateur compliance within a short period of time. "Once a repeater owner has been contacted, the ARRL is ready to support their efforts in meeting the mitigation requirement," said Ed Hare, W1RFI, ARRL Laboratory Manager. ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, pointed out that any specific enforcement action or shut-down order from the FCC involving amateurs also provides for due process in those proceedings. He emphasized that even though amateurs have a secondary allocation status in the band, the DoD has the burden of proving that specific repeaters are causing harmful interference on a case-by-case basis. Fri, 25 Jan 2008 16:34:52 -0600 http://www.nwham.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=230 KGW.com http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_120407_news_ham_radio.6a6715bd.html 06:15 PM PST on Tuesday, December 4, 2007 Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- With communications down in much of the state smacked by the recent storm, state emergency officials are calling ham radio operators heros. When even state police had difficulty reaching some of their own troops, ham radio worked, setting up networks so emergency officials could communicate and relaying lists of supplies needed in stricken areas. A network of at least 60 volunteer amateur radio operators working along the coast and inland helped from keep crucial systems such as 911 calls, American Red Cross and hospital services connected. Amateur radio works on a set of radio frequencies above the AM broadcast band. Operators use their own equipment to communicate with other operators, using different equipment and frequencies than emergency responders. Sometimes it takes creativity and a lot of leg work, such as setting up a new link on the top of a mountain when no other options are available. Steve Sanders, a spokesman for District One of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, said the storm was a "poster child" for what his group does. Tue, 04 Dec 2007 21:49:45 -0600 http://www.nwham.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=225 On 16 October 2007, the RAC Board of Directors unanimously chose John Sluymer VE3EJ as the 2006 Radio Amateur of the Year. John, who lives in Grassie ON, is Canada's best-known and most accomplished Amateur Radio sportsman. Over and above his regular globe-leading scores in conventional contests, in July 2006, John and team-mate Jim VE7ZO won the gold medal at the World Radiosport Team Championship (WRTC) in Brazil, against 50 other teams of Amateurs from around the world. Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:50:56 -0600 http://www.nwham.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=221 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVlldW9FBH4 Redneck tower rasing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SkxOsjBJFE&NR=1 It helps to have a house you can drag a chain under. Fri, 09 Nov 2007 14:32:01 -0600 http://www.nwham.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=181 This is a story of how Ham Radio helped me out of a very dangerous situation. On March 3rd 2005 I broke down on Interstate 5 just North of The city of Gorman. It was late, around 11:00 PM. The road was dry and clear. My Big Rig had just come out of the shop with an engine rebuild. It was under the repair shops care for 3 weeks. I picked up the truck that morning and done my vehicle inspection. I found no safety discrepancies. However unknown to me there was a problem. It was early morning on March 3, 2005; I went to work with the intention to install my radio gear in my original truck from the one I was temporarily using. It took around 4 hours to transfer all my equipment and supplies into my assigned Big Rig. Once finished I picked up my cargo for the run to Modesto, California. I rested a while before heading out. I left at 7:45 PM and proceeded to head out of town. I followed the rout to Interstate 5 North and made a quick stop at a truck stop in Castaic, Ca. Mon, 23 Jul 2007 20:29:41 -0500