[GVARC] August Newsletter
Tony
[email protected]
Tue, 27 Aug 2002 19:12:38 -0700
************************* Garlic Valley ******************************
Volume 17 Aug 2002
******************* Amateur Radio Club Newsletter ********************
GVARC OFFICERS
President Frank Fahrlander, N7FF
Vice President Ed Vines, KG6WU
Secretary Mark Deger, KG6IFQ
Treasurer Tony Armendariz, AD6ID
Newsletter Editor Tony Armendariz, AD6ID
WEBster Claud Furnare, NA6W
Web Site http://www.qsl.net/gvarc
FEATURES IN THIS ISSUE:
PACIFICON 2002
NEXT CLUB MEETING
GVARC MEMBERSHIP
FREE WORLD RADIO SUBSCRIPTIONS
KEEP QTH.NET ALIVE
AMBER ALERT SAVES ANOTHER KIDNAPPED CHILD
FCC TO UTILITY; NOW HEAR THIS!
ARES ASSISTS RED CROSS
BIG UK 5MHZ EXPERIMENT
NO POWER LINE COMM IN JAPAN
HOMELAND SECURITY GRANT TRAINING STARTS SEPTEMBER 1
SEPTEMBER 2002 CONTESTS
CONTEST HAPPENINGS
COMING EVENTS
***PACIFICON 2002
-----------------
The 11th Annual ARRL Pacific Division Meeting and Convention
October 18, 19 and 20
Antenna Forum Friday
Plus the popular QRP Forum
Swap Meet Saturday, October 19, 6 AM to Noon, Hotel Parking Lot
Concord Airport Sheraton Hotel
-- http://www.pacificon.org/
***NEXT CLUB MEETING - Saturday, 31-Aug-2002
--------------------
GVARC usually meets on the LAST Saturday of each month, at the Little
House Restaurant in Gilroy on Monterey Avenue (near the car dealers in
front of Motel 6). From the North or South, take the Monterey St. exit
from highway 101 (south end of Gilroy) and head north. We trickle in
about 8 a.m. and eat at 8:30ish. The South County ARES net is held
each Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. on K6THR/R (147.825 -.600, no PL).
***GVARC MEMBERSHIP
-------------------
Dues for all members become payable each January. The annual cost is
only $20 per person and $10 for each family member in the same
household. Membership dues helps such things as the K6THR/R repeater,
this newsletter, emergency readiness, etc. Membership, not required for
general use of the repeater, adds autopatch and autodial privileges.
GVARC is a non-profit organization per IRS section 501(c)(4) - we
don't make any money, do service for the community, but are not a
charity.
To join or for more information, please contact the treasurer:
Tony Armendariz, AD6ID
11950 New Avenue
Gilroy, CA 95020
408-683-2025 home
Internet: [email protected]
***FREE WORLD RADIO SUBSCRIPTIONS
---------------------------------
Last month, a world radio subscription went to KG6FZL for his excellent
account of his 1st FIELD DAY.
We have eight 1 year subscriptions to World Radio to hand out to
club members. Since I have them, I thought I'd offer one to each member
who contributes a story to this newsletter.
The write ups don't have to be polished; I will do that (Editor,
right?). The best kind is something local and personal; something from
your own experience.
More about World Radio at http://www.wr6wr.com/.
***KEEP QTH.NET ALIVE
---------------------
QTH.NET is suffering from the present state of the economy. Al
Waller, K3TKJ, brought this wonderful service into being several years
ago. Individual Amateur Radio use was free, with donations encouraged.
As the number of users grew, operating expenses necessarily rose.
The system has been run in an exemplary fashion, better than most
commercial operations. Al was even given a special award at the Dayton
Hamfest last year for providing this valuable service to the Amateur
community.
A few years ago, I moved the GVARC email lists to QTH.NET. We
support QTH.NET with an annual donation of $100 - what a bargain for
such service!
Then the economy sagged. This sag eventually started to affect
donations to QTH.NET, making it impossible for Al to keep the system
alive (from his own pocket). The word went out and many additional
donations came in, including an additional $100 from GVARC.
QTH.NET now has a 6 month breather, enough for Al to figure out the
long term solution. Soon, we should be hearing of the new long term
plan.
For next year, we should probably consider increasing our annual
donation to $150 or so. Let me know what you think on this. Meanwhile,
let's wait to see what Al comes up with.
***AMBER ALERT SAVES ANOTHER KIDNAPPED CHILD
--------------------------------------------
Some hams in California are looking at ways to tie their
repeaters in after the states new AMBER Alert system has helped
to safely locate yet another kidnapped youngster. Nichole
Timmons vanished from her bedroom in Riverside California on
Monday night August 19th. She was found the following afternoon
in rural Nevada based on tips called in by motorists who
recognized the description of the girl, her suspected abductor
and the truck they were in.
A description was flashed on electronic road signs across several
South-Western states as part of a multi-state alert. At about
2:40 p.m. on August 20th, Nevada police spotted the girl's former
baby-sitter, Glen Park, and Nichole driving through the Walker
River Indian Reservation north of Reno. A tribal police officer
stopped the pair and Park was taken into custody. Riverside
Police Chief Russ Leach told reporters that the arrest came about
because Nevada state police used their AMBER Alert system and
received a tip from a passing motorist.
As previously reported, the AMBER Alert system is based on a
program developed by Dallas-area broadcasters and named in memory
of nine year-old Amber Hagerman who was kidnapped and murdered in
1996. It uses a combination of two-way radio, telephones, fax
and data communications to quickly spread word of a child
abduction. In theory it could also be interfaced to ham radio
repeaters and packet networking systems. More important, with
Nichole Timmons return, the AMBER Alert system is now credited
with safely recovering at least eighteen children since 1997.
-- ARNewsline from news reports
***FCC TO UTILITY; NOW HEAR THIS!
---------------------------------
Electric utilities must correct equipment problems that cause harmful
interference to stations operating in the Amateur Service. Following up
on a recent pledge to get tougher on electric utilities that fail to
promptly fix faulty gear that generates interference, FCC Special
Counsel Riley Hollingsworth made that point doubly clear August 9 in an
letter to Reliant Energy Company of Houston. The case involves
unresolved interference complaints from Edward J. Gerber, W5GCX, of
Houston.
"Reliant must do all things necessary, and bear any and all necessary
costs, to comply with its obligations as an operator of unlicensed
devices pursuant to the Commission's Part 15 regulations," Hollingsworth
reminded the utility's attorneys. He asked Reliant to provide a written
report in 30 days detailing steps taken to eliminate the interference to
W5GCX.
Hollingsworth said he'd hold off on enforcement action until he has the
report in hand but added that the FCC "expects a complete solution
without further delay."
In its reply to a May 23 letter from the FCC, Reliant had suggested
that the interference Gerber was experiencing had come from an otherwise
properly operating 250 kVA step-down transformer. The utility had
proposed to relocate the transformer at Gerber's expense.
Hollingsworth pointed out that the utility may not pass on the cost
of fixing the problem to the victim of the interference. "It is
exclusively the obligation of the operator of the unlicensed device,"
Hollingsworth wrote, referring to the FCC's Part 15 rules.
Responding to the initial FCC letter, the utility's attorneys--Baker
Botts LLP of Houston--had attempted to claim it was not obligated to
avoid interference to amateur stations. Hollingsworth called the
attempted distinction "baseless."
A copy of the letter went to the office of Texas Public Utility
Commission Chairman Rebecca Klein.
The League has worked with the FCC and utilities to resolve dozens of
interference complaints. ARRL Electromagnetic Compatibility and Radio
Frequency Interference Engineer John Phillips, K2QAI, applauded
Hollingsworth's tenacious approach to dealing with interference
complaints involving power companies. "Amateur Radio is very fortunate
to have someone like Riley Hollingsworth in our corner," he said. "There
is no way that amateurs could ever hope to resolve some of these
problems without the backing of the FCC."
-- ARRL
***ARES ASSISTS RED CROSS
-------------------------
ARES members provided communications support to the American Red
Cross July 15-16 after more than 100 people were evacuated from their
homes during a wildfire in Los Padres National Forest. North San Luis
Obispo County Emergency Coordinator Bob Alberti, W6TTX, issued a
preliminary announcement on the county wide ARES repeater, asking ARES
members to monitor for a possible cal lout. W6TTX also activated the
North County ARES telephone tree.
With 40 homes in the path of the fire, the California Division of
Forestry (CDF) began evacuating residents to an emergency shelter at the
Atascadero High School gymnasium the evening of July 15. ARES members
took part in various activities during the three-day fire, which
eventually burned some 1300 acres.
Amateurs staffed the Red Cross shelter at the high school and the
emergency communications center at the regional Red Cross office in San
Luis Obispo--20 miles away and over a mountain range. ARES members also
helped CDF and the county sheriff to redirect to the high school shelter
a number of confused residents who sought refuge at the nearby Santa
Margarita Elementary School, a shelter site during previous fires. One
especially grateful couple from Arizona was able to return from the
shelter to their evacuated RV about 10:15 the first evening, after hams
notified the shelter that CDF had reopened that road.
-- James K. Palmer, W6FOB
***BIG UK 5MHZ EXPERIMENT
-------------------------
The British 5 MHz propagation study using Amateur Radio is picking
up speed. This as an increasing number of U-K hams apply for a Notice
of Variation or N-O-V to let them take part.
During the first few days of the 'Fivemegs Experiment' a large
number of NoV holders have made contacts with each other across the UK.
Radio amateurs in other countries are showing great interest in this
experiment, but we must make it absolutely clear that this has been
authorized in order that we may carry out propagation investigations,
antenna experiments and some emergency radio training within the UK. At
the present time a very small number of US radio amateurs are
authorized to conduct similar experiments under the group call sign
WA2XSY. We know of no other amateur stations outside the UK who have
any authority to call in.
-- Jeramy Boot, G4NJH.
***NO POWER LINE COMM IN JAPAN
------------------------------
Japan refuses permission for power line communications systems: As a
result of strong opposition from the Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL),
Japan's government says it's too soon to allow power line
communications--variously called PLC or PLT--between 2 MHz and 30 MHz,
due to its interference potential to other HF users. JARL had expressed
deep concerns about PLC to the Ministry of Public Management, Home
Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications earlier this year.
Field tests last January looked into the potential for RF leakage
from power lines--specifically in cases where PLT was used to provide
Internet access to homes via power lines. "JARL is glad that the
Ministry's study group on PLC concluded that it is not suitable to allow
PLC between 2 MHz and 30 MHz," said JARL President Shozo Hara, JA1AN.
"However, we need to keep in mind that the future course of
environmental demonstrative tests, their direction and international
standards planning need to be watched very carefully."
JARL Director Masao Matsumoto, JA1AYC, is in Germany to research the
PLC situation in Europe. Meanwhile, the Radio Society of Great Britain
reports that it's continuing to press for tight limits on emissions from
wired telecommunications systems such as PLC and is working with other
HF users to try to ensure that the spectrum remains uncontaminated by
wideband noise. The JARL's Web site has more information
<http://www.jarl.or.jp/English/4_Library/A-4-1_News/jn0208.htm>
-- Newsline
***HOMELAND SECURITY GRANT TRAINING STARTS SEPTEMBER 1
------------------------------------------------------
Amateur Radio emergency communications training supported by a $181,900
federal homeland security grant will begin within a few weeks instead of
next year as reported initially. During its first year, the grant from
the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) special
volunteer program will reimburse the cost of Level I ARRL Amateur Radio
Emergency Communications Course training for up to 1700 volunteers.
"It will begin with the recruitment of additional mentors and trainers
for the national program," said ARRL Chief Development Officer Mary
Hobart, K1MMH. Hobart and Dan Miller, K3UFG--formerly ARRL Certification
and Continuing Education Program Coordinator and now the Emergency
Communications Course Manager--have been working with CNCS to expedite
the grant details.
As Emergency Communications Course Manager, Miller will manage the CNCS
special volunteer program and United Technologies Corp training grants.
Replacing Miller as program coordinator August 19 will be Howard Robins,
W1HSR.
The CNCS has accepted ARRL's proposal to commence the expanded emergency
training program September 1. The League was among several dozen
nonprofit organizations designated to receive some $10.3 million in
federal money to boost homeland defense volunteer programs.
Miller says that since the July 18 grant announcement, interest in the
subsidized training has been high. He urged those eager to participate
to stand by for announcements via the ARRL Web and other League news
outlets.
The first priority when the grant-supported training effort kicks into
gear in September will be to recruit and train at least 200 Amateur
Radio Emergency Communications course mentors/trainers. These volunteers
then will help to manage and train the student load for the first year
of the grant.
This week, ARRL section managers were asked to recommend up to five
students to sign up to take the Level I Amateur Radio Emergency
Communications on-line course starting in September. These individuals
also will receive additional training to become instructors and mentors
for future classes.
"Although we have a core group of wonderful mentors and instructors who
have helped students through the courses given to date, we need more to
help with the volume of students training under the CNCS grant," Hobart
emphasized. "With the help of the section managers, we will ensure a
good distribution of mentors nationwide who can advise students about
local ARES groups and activities in addition to helping them with the
course material."
Anyone who has already completed the Level I course is qualified to
become a mentor with some additional training. Mentor candidates should
contact Miller <[email protected]> for information on how to take part.
To comply with grant requirements, the ARRL also will survey served
agencies and certain segments of the amateur population, Hobart said.
The League wants to ensure that the course offered accurately represents
"what really happens in the field" during an emergency or disaster, she
said.
Once the ARRL members hand-picked by section managers to train as
mentors have completed the program, registration for routine Level I
training will open October 1, initially for ARRL field appointees.
Miller anticipates that the program will continue to handle
approximately 200 students per month. "As much as we'd like to, we can't
train everyone at once," he said. "Please be patient."
Students taking advantage of Level I emergency communications training
under the grant program will be asked to pay for the course via credit
card during the registration process. Upon successfully completing the
training and certification, students will be reimbursed the $45 fee.
Miller said the goal is to dramatically improve the course completion
rate from the current 68 percent to nearly 100 percent.
Level I course candidates from Connecticut will continue to be trained
under $33,000 grant from United Technologies Corporation to expand
Amateur Radio emergency communications training opportunities. Hobart
says the UTC Connecticut grant paved the way for success under the new
federal grant.
Hobart emphasized that community involvement is key. "It's not enough to
just finish the course," she said. "You're expected to join and take
part in your local Amateur Radio Emergency Service organization." The
grant training program is especially interested in attracting more
seniors--those 55 and older--and those for whom the course fee would
mean a hardship unless they were reimbursed.
-- ARRL
***September 2002 CONTESTS
--------------------------
Date Time (UTC) Mode Contest
----- ---------- ---- -----------
01-02 0000-2400 SSB All Asian Contest
01 0000-2359 PSK PSK 31 Contest
01 1300-1600 CW AGCW Straight Key Party
01-02 1500-1500 SSB IARU Region 1 Fieldday
03-04 2300-0300 CW Labor Day QRP CW Sprint
05-07 1400-0200 CW/SSB YLRL Howdy Days Contest
08-09 0000-2400 SSB WAE DX Contest
08 1800-2400 CW SOC Marathon Sprint
09 0000-0359 CW North America 'Sprint'
14 2100-2300 CW/SSB AGB NEMIGA Contest
15-16 0001-2359 CW/SSB Air Force Anniversary QSO Party
15-16 Periods CW/SSB Washington State Salmon
16 0000-0359 SSB North America 'Sprint'
16-17 1800-0100 CW/SSB Tennessee QSO Party
29-30 0000-2400 RTTY CQ WW RTTY DX Contest
22 1200-2359 SSB Panama Anniversary Contest
29 0000-2400 CW/SSB Louisiana QSO Party
29-30 2 periods CW/SSB Texas QSO Party
-- http://home.online.no/~janalme/hammain.html
***CONTEST HAPPENINGS
---------------------
Your editor, AD6ID, was found in the July QST for "playing" in the
last year's 10 meter contest. I had a whopping 28 QSOs for 988 points.
It was fun and only too an hour or so. Others had scores in the many
100Ks - hi hi!
Thanks to Paul, KM6LH, for spotting me it all that tiny print.
-- AD6ID
***COMING EVENTS
----------------
- Livermore Swap Meet - 1st Sunday of each month at Las Positas
College in Livermore, 7:00 AM to noon, all year. Talk in 147.045 from
the west, 145.35 from the east. Contact Noel Anklam, KC6QZK, (510)
447-3857 eves.
- Foothill Flea Market - may 2nd Saturday of every fair weather month.
See http://www.electronicsfleamarket.com more details and various
sponsors and specials.
***GVARC EMAIL LIST SUMMARY
---------------------------
[email protected] is the official list of GVARC members with
e-mail addresses. This is a closed list; Joining GVARC gets you on the
list. Anyone on the list can send to the list; no one else can.
[email protected] is a list of those interested in gvarc.
Anyone can join (with confirmation message) and any member may
unsubscribe freely. Members of the gvarc_cc list can send to the list.
No one else can send to the list. List administrators, Tony, AD6ID,
and Frank, N7FF. The list's web site is http://www.qth.net.
______________________________________
To leave GVARC list, Contact Tony Armendariz, [email protected]. If you're
a GVARC member with email, you must be on the list.