[GVARC] October Newsletter
Tony
[email protected]
Wed, 23 Oct 2002 18:30:33 -0700
************************* Garlic Valley ******************************
Volume 17 Oct 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
FIRST 'eDX100' AWARD TO 4Z4DX
PERSONAL LOCATOR BEACONS
D.A.R.C. SUPPORTS CW
5 MHZ ON THIS SIDE OF THE POND
AMATEUR RADIO GLOSSARY
NEW ZEALAND AMATEUR RADIO HISTORY
C&R BILL PITCHED TO HOUSE COLLEAGUES
CONTESTS NOVEMBER 2002
COMING EVENTS
***NEXT CLUB MEETING - Saturday, 26-Oct-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 W6GGF/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 W6GGF/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]
***FIRST 'eDX100' AWARD TO 4Z4DX
--------------------------------
And finally this week, word that the first ever 'eDX100' award, issued
on the basis of electronic - or 'e QSLs' - was awarded on the 25th of
September to Dov Gavish, 4Z4DX of Ramat Hasharon Israel. The `eDX100'
award is billed by its sponsors as an electronic equivalent to the
ARRL's DXCC but is issued for receiving electronic QSL's from a minimum
of 100 DXCC entities through the eQSL.cc system.
eQSL.cc or the Electronic QSL Card Centre which sponsors the award is
operated by Dave Morris, N5UP, of Garland, Texas. It is supported by an
advisory board of volunteers around the world.
And true to the nature of electronic QSL'ing, 4Z4DX will be able to
print an `eDX100' certificate on his own printer. He will also receive
a full-color certificate and a walnut plaque in the mail.
-- eQSL.cc
***PERSONAL LOCATOR BEACONS
---------------------------
If you are a ham involved in search and rescue work, listen up. The FCC
has issued a report and order that provides for licensing individual
406.025 MHz personal locator beacons or P-L-Bs. The agency says that
it will require mandatory registration of these devices with the
National Atmospheric and Oceanographic administration.
According to the CGC Communicator, a 406 MHz digital P-L-B signal
contains information on the type of emergency, the country an
identification code of the beacon in distress and other information to
facilitate search and rescue operations. Even more important, a 406 MHz
distress signal can be received and stored on-orbit by the COSPAS/SARSAT
satellite and later retransmitted to the ground. That should eliminate
the so-called blind spots found in older 121.50 MHz and 243.00 MHz
devices.
-- CGC Communicator
***D.A.R.C. SUPPORTS CW
-----------------------
Germany's Deutscher Amateur Radio Club is that country's national
Amateur Radio society. As previously reported, the D.A.R.C. supports
the retention of Morse code testing as a license qualification. Now,
D.A.R.C. has put this position on the discussion agenda of the
International Amateur Radio Union's Region 1 Conference. Its slated to
be held in San Marino in November.
***5 MHZ ON THIS SIDE OF THE POND
OR NTIA AGAINST 5 MHZ PETITION
---------------------------------
Recall last month's item about the British 5MHz experiment. Things
are not faring too well on our side of the pond:
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration--the
NTIA--has recommended that the FCC not grant an ARRL petition for a
domestic-only, secondary Amateur Radio allocation at 5 MHz. The NTIA
regulates radio spectrum allocated to the federal government. The
last-minute recommendation followed hundreds of largely favorable
comments and reply comments from organizations--including the ARRL--and
from individuals.
In an August 21 letter, the NTIA's Fredrick R. Wentland said federal
agencies are making extensive use of HF for emergency services,
including communications support for the Department of Defense, the
Coast Guard and Department of Justice law enforcement activities.
''NTIA believes the Commission's current proposal does not adequately
provide for protection from harmful interference to these critical
government operations primary in the band,'' said Wentland, who is
NTIA's acting associate administrator for spectrum management.
ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, and ARRL President Jim Haynie,
W5JBP, plan to meet with representatives of the affected agencies to
address the concerns raised in the NTIA's letter.
In its recent comments, the ARRL called the 5 MHz allocation ''an urgent
priority of the Amateur Service'' and asked that the proceeding to grant
it be expedited. Wentland's letter arrived at the FCC beyond the cut-off
date for reply comments in the proceeding, ET Docket 02-98.
Wentland said that without a more complete understanding of the
interference potential to federal operations, the NTIA believes the
secondary amateur allocation would be ''premature.'' But he said that
NTIA would work with the federal agencies, the FCC and the amateur
community to determine whether ''some future accommodation'' for
amateurs at 5 MHz would be possible. That could include limitations on
power or emission types, a reduction in the size of the proposed band,
the use of discrete frequencies or geographical restrictions, he
suggested.
Imlay said that while he and the ARRL Board of Directors have been long
aware of the concerns registered by the US Coast Guard and the US
Department of Justice with the NTIA's Interdepartment Radio Advisory
Committee (IRAC), he was surprised by the tone of the NTIA letter.
''This is a lot worse than we were told to expect,'' he said, noting
that the FCC had cancelled a meeting to discuss issues expressed by the
NTIA several months ago and went forward with its proposal despite the
NTIA's concerns.
-- ARRL
***AMATEUR RADIO GLOSSARY
-------------------------
Abbreviations available on ARRL Web site: A glossary
<http://www.arrl.org/qst/glossary.html> of Amateur Radio and electronics
terms and a list of abbreviations
<http://www.arrl.org/qst/aguide/Abbrev_AWE.pdf> found in ARRL
publications now are available on the ARRL Web site. The glossary covers
the range of terms from "Alternating current (ac)" to "Yagi antenna" and
"73." The abbreviations cover the field from "a"--the abbreviation for
"atto," the prefix for 10 to the minus 18th--to the Greek letter Omega,
the symbol for ohm(s). Also posted is a list of corrections that will
appear as "Feedback" <http://www.arrl.org/qst/feedback/> items in QST.
The posting of the glossary, abbreviations list and "Feedback" came
about as a result of suggestions from members and should prove
especially helpful and convenient to newcomers to Amateur Radio.
***NEW ZEALAND AMATEUR RADIO HISTORY
------------------------------------
1888 - George Kemp attempts wireless experiments in Gisborne.
1899 - John Cooper demonstrates wireless telegraphy at Canterbury
University.
1902 - James Logan sends Morse code messages across Wellington Harbour.
W. P. Huggins in Timaru and Joe Passmore in Dunedin also send messages
short distances.
1903 - Establishing amateur stations without permission is outlawed.
1908 - Amateur stations in Dunedin send first official wireless message
between land-based stations.
1909 - Amateurs operating illegally interfere with naval communications.
1911 - Outside aerials banned.
1912 - First reported use of amateur radio in an emergency when a ship
is rescued at the entrance to Wellington Harbour after amateurs
operating illegally pick up a distress call.
1914 - All amateur activity banned. Amateurs continue to operate
illegally.
1921 - Provisional permits issued for amateur stations.
1922 - November 5, Ralph Slade first NZ amateur to receive US amateurs.
Wireless telephony used for first time.
...To be continued...
-- "A History of Amateur Radio in New Zealand", by Ian Dougherty, 1997,
available from NZART Headquarters: [email protected]
***C&R BILL PITCHED TO HOUSE COLLEAGUES
---------------------------------------
The sponsor of the CC&R bill, HR 4720, and the only two amateurs in the
US House of Representatives are pitching colleagues to sign on as
cosponsors. HR 4720 is aimed at providing relief to amateurs faced with
private deed covenants, conditions and restrictions--CC&Rs--in erecting
antennas. The letter went out last week to all members of the US House.
"Your co-sponsorship of this bill is an opportunity to show your support
for more than 670,000 licensed radio amateurs throughout the United
States," says the letter signed by representatives Steve Israel (D-NY),
Mike Ross, WD5DVR (D-AR) and Greg Walden, WB7OCE (R-OR). Israel
introduced the measure last May, with Walden and Rep Pete Sessions
(R-TX) as original cosponsors.
Visit the US House of Representatives Write Your Representative Service
Web page <http://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.
For more information, visit the HR 4720, The Amateur Radio Emergency
Communications Consistency Act of 2002 page on the ARRL Web site
<http://www.arrl.org/govrelations/hr4720>.
As of this week, HR 4720 has attracted 30 cosponsors, although one of
them, Rep Patsy Mink (D-HI) died September 29. The latest to express
support for the measure include representatives Jo Ann Davis (R-VA), Zoe
Lofgren (D-CA), Marion Berry (D-AR), John Olver (D-MA) and Dennis
Rehberg (R-MT).
The "Dear Colleague" letter from Israel, Ross and Walden points out that
hams "regularly provide emergency communication when regular
communications channels are disrupted by disaster" and support
governmental and private relief organizations. It further notes that
with the growth of planned communities, hams "have begun to fall under
an array of inconsistent regulations, making it increasingly difficult
to operate." The CC&R bill, called "The Amateur Radio Emergency
Communications Consistency Act," was introduced "to ensure the continued
viability of Amateur Radio through consistent application of federal
regulations," the letter said.
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. HR 4720 has been referred to the
House Telecommunications and Internet Subcommittee, to which Walden
recently was appointed.
- ARRL
***CONTESTS NOVEMBER 2002
--------------------------
DATE WEEKDAY - TIME UTC CONTEST NAME - MODE
----- ------------------- -------------------------------------------
2- 3 Sat 1200 - Sun 1200 Ukrainian DX Contest - CW/SSB/RTTY
2- 4 Sat 2100 - Mon 0300 ARRL Sweepstakes - CW
2- 4 Sat 2100 - Mon 0300 NA Collegiate ARC Championship - CW
8-10 Fri 2300 - Sun 2300 Japan International DX Contest - Phone
9-10 Sat 0000 - Sun 2359 Worked All Europe DX-Contest - RTTY
9 Sat 1800 - 2400 Anatolian (Turkey) ATA PSK31 Contest - PSK31
15 Fri 1600 - 2200 YO International PSK31 Contest - PSK31
16-17 Sat 1200 - Sun 1200 LZ DX Contest - CW
16-17 Sat 1800 - Sun 0700 All Austrian DX Contest 160 m - CW
16-18 Sat 2100 - Mon 0300 ARRL Sweepstakes - SSB
16-18 Sat 2100 - Mon 0300 NA Collegiate ARC Championship - SSB
16-17 Sat 2100 - Sun 0100 RSGB 1.8 MHz Contest - CW
23-24 Sat 0000 - Sun 2400 CQ WW DX Contest - CW
23-24 Sat 0000 - Sun 2359 CQ WW SWL Challenge - CW
23 Sat 1700 - 2100 LI/NJ-QRP Doghouse Operation Sprint - CW
-- SM3CER Contest Service http://www.sk3bg.se/contest/index.htm
***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.