[GVARC] July 2002 Newsletter
Tony
[email protected]
Tue, 23 Jul 2002 20:06:33 -0700
************************* Garlic Valley ******************************
Volume 17 Jul 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:
NEXT CLUB MEETING
GVARC MEMBERSHIP
FREE WORLD RADIO SUBSCRIPTIONS
KG6FZL'S FIELD DAY 2002
CC&R BILL HR 4720 GAINS ADDITIONAL COSPONSORS
VOSS CITES ARISS' VALUE IN SENATE TESTIMONY
ARRL FOUNDATION GRANT AIDS SETI LEAGUE
HAM RADIO STATS: NO GROWTH
AUGUST 2002 CONTESTS
COMING EVENTS
***GARLIC FESTIVAL THIS WEEKEND
-------------------------------
GVARC again volunteers to run communications, etc. Brian Woodson,
KE6SVX, this year's Communication Chairman has already sent out the
survey for who's working when. And with Woody Woodruff, W6MUG, as the
co-Chair, the theme this year _must_ be WOOD - hi hi.
***NEXT CLUB MEETING - Saturday, 27-Jul-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
---------------------------------
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/.
***KG6FZL'S FIELD DAY 2002
--------------------------
CQ FIELD DAY, CQ FIELD DAY this is WHISKEY 6
GOLF GOLF FOX.
To most hams this is a familiar sound, however to me it was the
beginning of an eventful and educating weekend. You see, Field Day 2002
was my first.
I had been waiting anxiously for field day. It seemed to make the week
of go by faster. After packing, NJ6L and I set out for Fremont peak and
the GVARC. We arrived in time to get the full fill of field day,
station set up. We helped out with a couple dipoles and a 2m beam, and
put down some chicken wings. Then it was off to the tent to start the
QSOs.
As I sat in front of the Kenwood HF rig, I tried to run through the
procedure of calling CQ in my head. Once I had the microphone in my
hand my mind went blank. With the help of a few Elmers I was on 40m SB
calling CQ and making contacts.
By the close of field day I had more QSOs than I've had being licensed
as a technician for a year. I would like to extend the best of 73 to
NJ6L, AD6ID, & N7FF for all of the help and enjoyment of 40m SB. After
participating in an event such as this, it certainly sparks one's
interest to upgrade. So for me it's off to the code practice tapes. See
you down the log 73 KG6FZL. dit dit dit da dit da
***CC&R BILL HR 4720 GAINS ADDITIONAL COSPONSORS
------------------------------------------------
The bill now in Congress aimed at providing relief to amateurs faced
with private deed covenants, conditions and restrictions--CC&Rs--in
erecting antennas has gained additional cosponsors. Freshman Rep Steve
Israel (D-NY) introduced the "Amateur Radio Emergency Communications
Consistency Act" on May 14. The measure--HR 4720--would require private
land-use regulators--such as homeowners' associations--to "reasonably
accommodate" Amateur Radio communication consistent with the PRB-1
limited federal preemption. PRB-1 now applies only to states and
municipalities. Rep Greg Walden, WB7OCE (R-OR) and Rep Pete Sessions
(R-TX) signed on as original cosponsors of HR 4720.
Since its introduction, the bill also has attracted several additional
cosponsors. These include Repentatives J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ), Patrick
Tiberi (R-OH), Patsy Mink (D-HI), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Rick Boucher
(D-VA), Joseph Hoeffel (D-PA), John Duncan Jr (R-TN), Dennis Moore
(D-KS), Charles Stenholm (D-TX) and David Price (D-NC).
Visit the US House of Representatives "Write Your Representative
Service" Web page, www.house.gov/writerep/ for information on how to
contact your representative. The ARRL requests those writing or
e-mailing members of Congress--whether or not they are supporting this
legislation--to copy ARRL on their correspondence--via e-mail to
[email protected] or via US Mail to CC&R Bill, ARRL, 225 Main St,
Newington, CT 06111. Correspondents should include the bill number, HR
4720, as well as their name and address on all correspondence.
-- ARRL
***VOSS CITES ARISS' VALUE IN SENATE TESTIMONY
----------------------------------------------
International Space Station Expedition 2 crew member Jim Voss got in a
few good words for Amateur Radio when he appeared June 19 before the US
Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. A retired US
Army colonel, Voss cited the value of the Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station (ARISS) program in helping to inform and
educate youngsters about space exploration and life aboard the ISS as
well as to demonstrate scientific principles. ARISS is an international
project, with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT and NASA.
Voss said ARISS "offers the opportunity for students to experience the
excitement of space flight by talking directly with crew members of the
ISS via Amateur Radio." Voss also cited the enthusiastic comments of
Allen White, WB4MIO, who helped to coordinate Voss' ARISS contact with
Admiral Moorer Middle School in Alabama. "There is no way I can
adequately describe the excitement this created in our school and
community," White wrote in a letter to Voss. "I think this was the most
exciting educational event of the year for these students."
Although not an amateur licensee, Voss participated in several ARISS
school QSOs from the controls of NA1SS, the ARISS station, during his
duty tour aboard the ISS. The other Expedition 2 crew members were Crew
Commander Yury Usachev, RW3FU, and Susan Helms, KC7NHZ. The crew spent
167 days in space aboard what Voss called "a permanent orbiting
classroom that brings education and research out of textbooks and into
real life."
Voss said the in-flight education programs like ARISS "use the unique
environment of space to inspire the next generation of explorers."
Taking advantage of technological tools that include Amateur Radio, he
concluded, "students are able to study and explore Earth from space,
learn about life aboard an orbiting laboratory, and conduct
demonstrations that illustrate scientific and mathematical concepts."
***ARRL FOUNDATION GRANT AIDS SETI LEAGUE
-----------------------------------------
The ARRL Foundation has issued a $3000 grant to the SETI League to
design and construct a next-generation radio telescope prototype. The
SETI League says its Very Small Array (VSA), now under construction,
will combine eight standard satellite TV dishes to form a radio
telescope of unique flexibility. The 1296-MHz antenna system is slowly
taking shape in the backyard of SETI League Executive Director H. Paul
Shuch, N6TX, in Pennsylvania. It will be used to test reception of the
SETI League's ham radio moonbounce beacon
<http://www.setileague.org/eme/index.html>. Once the array becomes
operational, Shuch says he hopes its success will enable the SETI League
to attract major corporate funding for a much more ambitious radio
telescope array. The VSA will be used in the meantime to test
engineering concepts, Shuch said. The SETI League promotes and supports
a privatized search for extraterrestrial intelligence. For more
information, visit the SETI League Web site <http://www.setileague.org>.
***HAM RADIO STATS: NO GROWTH
------------------------------
The numbers are in and the word is -- stagnant. That about sums up the
growth in ham radio since the introduction of a restructured United
States Amateur service April of 2000.
The numbers come from the interpreter of the numbers. And W5YI Report
Editor Fred Maia in Dallas Texas says that growth in ham radio is at a
standstill. Maia has been right on the money in his predictions over the
years, and he looks back at the past two years in his newsletter. And
in it, Fred says that there are just about the same number of Amateur
Radio operators under FCC license now as there were in the spring of
2000. That's when the service was restructured.
In April of 2000 there were 678,539 holders of Amateur licensees in the
United States and its possessions. In June of 2002 the number was
680,342. Taking into account attrition from people not renewing for
any number of reasons, that's a net gain of only 1803 new hams over the
past two years. Not allot, but there is a good reason. Keep
listening.
Maia breaks the numbers down by license class. In April of 2000 there
were 50,077 holders of Novice tickets. In June 2002 there were only
39,930. A loss to the license class of 10,147 but not necessarily gone
from ham radio. Why? The numbers for General and Extra kind of tell
the story. General is up by 27,037 and Extra by 20,282 since
restructuring. Chances are that most of the new holders of General
class are probably the results of upgrades by Novices and Technician's
wanting a wider range of high frequency operating privileges. This is
born out by looking at the numbers for the Tech license which is also
down by about the amount General and Extra are up. So its really been
two years of ham radio musical chairs and that was not unexpected. It
takes time for as massive a change as the restructuring of 2000 to
settle in. It will be the next set of numbers a year from now in 2003
that will really tell the story.
-- newsline 19Jul02
***August 2002 CONTESTS
-----------------------
Date Time (UTC) Mode Contest
----- ---------- ---- -----------
04-05 1600-2359 CW/SSB W/VE Islands Contest
04-05 2 periods CW/SSB Georgia QSO Party
05 0000-2000 CW/SSB YO DX Contest
04-05 0001-2400 SSB Ten-Ten Summer QSO Party
04 1000-2200 CW/SSB EU HF Championship
04-05 1800-0600 CW North America QSO Party
05 0100-0300 CW Inernet CW Sprint Contest
11-12 0000-2400 CW WAE DX Contest
11-12 2 periods CW/SSB Maryland-DC QSO Party
18-19 1200-1200 CW Keyman's Club of Japan Contest
18-19 Multiple RTTY SARTG RTTY Contest
18-19 0000-2400 SSB SEANET Contest
18-19 1800-0600 SSB North America QSO Party
18-20 2 periods CW/SSB New Jersey QSO Party
19 1800-2359 CW/SSB CQC Summer QSO Party
25-26 1200-1200 CW TOEC WW Grid Contest
25-26 1200-1200 RTTY SCC RTTY Championship
25-26 1600-0400 CW/SSB Ohio QSO Party
25-26 1600-2200 CW/SSB Hawaii QSO Party
25-26 1600-2200 CW/SSB South Dakota QSO Party
-- http://home.online.no/~janalme/hammain.html
***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
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