[GVARC] Aug Newsletter

[Tony]

************************* Garlic Valley ******************************
Volume 18                                                     Aug 2003
******************* 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
   HAMS INJURED IN BAGHDAD BLAST
   MORE COUNTRIES DROP MORSE CODE REQ
   HAMS SHINE DURING BLACKOUT
   NEW ZEALAND AMATEUR RADIO HISTORY
   CONTESTS SEP 2003
   COMING EVENTS

***NEXT CLUB MEETING - Saturday, 30-Aug-03
--------------------
   GVARC usually meets on the LAST Saturday of each month, at the
Sunrise 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 100Hz).

***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
   email: ad6id@qsl.net

***HAMS INJURED IN BAGHDAD BLAST
--------------------------------
The Daily DX <http://www.dailydx.com> reports that three Amateur Radio
operators were injured in the August 19 bombing of the UN Headquarters
at the former Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq.

The Daily DX Editor Bernie McClenny, W3UR, says he's received word from
Les Nouvelles DX <http://lesnouvellesdx.free.fr> Editor Jean-Michel
Duthilleul, F6AJA, that Ghis Penny, ON5NT, was at the UN Headquarters
when the bomb went off. He reportedly suffered a minor head injury and
was evacuated August 21 to Amman, Jordan. Penny expects to be back home
in Belgium in the next few days.

Robert Kasca, S53R, also was working at the UN offices when the
explosion occurred but apparently was not hurt. According to McClenny,
Kasca told Randy Hollier, WX5L, that he plans to continue working in
Iraq. Kasca also said that Michael Dirksen, PA5M (ex-PA5MD), was
hospitalized in Germany as a result of the bombing and was said to be
doing well.

The UN has indicated that it would move at least some of its personnel
outside Iraq as a result of the incident. At least 23 people were killed
in the bombing. The dead included widely respected UN envoy Sergio
Vieira de Mello, the UN's high commissioner for refugees who had taken
on an assignment in Iraq.
  -- ARRL

***MORE COUNTRIES DROP MORSE CODE REQ
-------------------------------------
Two more countries have joined the small, but growing, list of
administrations that no longer require Amateur Radio applicants to pass
a Morse code test to have access to HF. Others have indicated they will
do so soon. Affected countries also have granted HF privileges to their
amateurs who hold "no-code" VHF/UHF licenses.

Joining Switzerland, Belgium, the UK and Germany are Norway and the
Netherlands. Waiting in the wings are Austria and New Zealand.

The actions are in response to the World Radiocommunication Conference
2003 decision to delete the requirement to prove Morse code ability from
the international Radio Regulations, leaving individual administrations
to decide if they want to retain it or not.

The Norwegian Post and Telecommunication Authority <http://www.npt.no/>
reportedly has told the Norwegian Radio Relay League
<http://www.nrrl.no/> that the three former license classes--with LA, LB
and LC call sign prefixes--were combined into one class on August 19.
Those holding LC call signs have been issued new LA-prefix call signs,
and those holding LB-prefix call signs may apply for LA call signs if
they wish.

The Netherlands Radiocommunications Agency
<http://www.agentschaptelecom.nl/> announced this week that Morse
proficiency will cease to be a requirement for HF access as of September
1. The Netherlands' Class A and C licenses--which correspond to CEPT
Classes 1 and 2 respectively--will enjoy the same privileges, although
they'll retain their distinctive call sign prefixes for now. The change
does not affect the Class N license, which permits 2-meter and 70-cm
operation only. A letter to all amateurs was to go out this week to all
hams in the Netherlands.

Information from Austria's IARU member-society, the Austrian
Experimental Radio Transmitters Union (OeVSV) <http://www.oevsv.at/>,
indicates that country will grant provisional HF access to all CEPT
Class 2 licenses "sometime in September," pending formal changes.

New Zealand telecommunications authorities plan to remove the
requirement for Morse competency from the General class syllabus as part
of the next round of updates to that country's radiocommunications
regulations. The change is expected to go into effect later this year.

In the US, six unrelated petitioners have requested the FCC to delete
the requirement that applicants pass the 5 WPM Element 1 Morse code test
to gain HF access and make related changes in the Amateur Service rules
(Part 97). The FCC has not yet invited public comment on any of these
petitions.--some information from RSGB, No-Code International and Kees
Murre, PA2CHM
 -- ARRL

***HAMS SHINE DURING BLACKOUT
-----------------------------
When a power blackout struck at least a half dozen eastern states August
14, many Amateur Radio operators were ready and able to provide whatever
assistance they could. Hardest hit were metropolitan areas like New York
City, Detroit and Cleveland. In New York, residents and commuters found
themselves stranded in electricity-dependent elevators and subway or
rail cars while visitors ended up stuck at airports, which were forced
to shut down. With the cellular systems overloaded or out altogether,
the incident turned into a test of Amateur Radio's capabilities to
operate without commercial power.

"It was a good drill," said New York City-Long Island Section Emergency
Coordinator Tom Carrubba, KA2D. But, he adds, it was a cautionary tale
too. "The lesson is that everybody gets a little complacent," he said.
"Have emergency power backup and make sure it's working!"

By and large, Carrubba said, ARES members did what they were trained to
do. "It's going to show the worth of Amateur Radio," he said of the
blackout response. "There were people on the air immediately."

Diane Ortiz, K2DO, the Public Information Coordinator for NYC-Long
Island was one of them. When power went down in her Suffolk County
community, she started up an informal VHF net. Over the next 20 hours or
so, it passed some 500 pieces of what Ortiz described as largely
"health-and-welfare traffic."

"People are getting on and helping," she said. In addition to handling
messages for people stranded in the city, amateurs also relayed useful
information, such as which stores or filling stations were open and
operating. With many radio and TV stations dark, and hams were able to
help fill the information void, Ortiz said.

In the Big Apple itself, ARES teams provided communication support for
Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicles (ERVs) set up at main
transportation centers in Manhattan. ARES members also accompanied ERVs
on fire calls.

RACES activated in most Greater New York City area counties after a
state of emergency was declared. Some ARES teams--including a few across
the Hudson River in New Jersey--activated or remained on standby to help
if called upon. In New Jersey, a net linked the Red Cross lead chapter's
N2ARC in Princeton with other New Jersey ARC chapters.

Michigan Section Manager Dale Williams, WA8EFK, reports scattered ARES
activations. Williams, who lives in Dundee south of Detroit, was without
power August 15 and relying on his emergency generator. Some Michigan
ARES teams assisted emergency operations centers and the Red Cross.

In Ohio, Section Emergency Coordinator Larry Rain, WD8IHP, reports that
all ARES organizations in northern Ohio were activated after the power
grid went down. Still going strong at week's end were ARES teams in
Cleveland and Akron. "ARES is handling communication support for Ohio
Emergency Management in the affected cities and communities," Rain said.
Ohio VHF and UHF nets and the Ohio SSB net on HF have been handling
blackout-related traffic.

Nancy Hall, KC4IYD--who lives 20 miles west of Cleveland--said she's
glad she'd taken the ARRL Emergency Communications Level I class. "I
have to say that being a ham and knowing about emergency preparedness
did make life easier for me and my family," said Hall, who's now signed
up for the Level II class.

New England states were far less affected by the blackout. ARES/RACES
operators in the region were on standby after the blackout. Only
Connecticut and sections of Western Massachusetts reported significant
outages, and ARES nets activated in both states.

Bill Sexton, N1IN/AAR1FP, an Army MARS member, said his emergency power
capability permitted him to check into the Northeast SHARES (National
Communications System HF Shared Resources Program) net and maintain
e-mail contact after Berkshire County lost power.

"The experience proved once gain the great strength of ham radio in an
emergency," Sexton said. "It is self-starting, and it is everywhere."
 -- ARRL

***NEW ZEALAND AMATEUR RADIO HISTORY
------------------------------------
And bringing us to the present...

1991
NZART team attends Eighth IARU Region III Conference, Bandung.
Provisions introduced for visiting operators from countries having no
formal reciprocal agreement with New Zealand to operate here. Call-signs
issued to visitors to New Zealand to now be "(home call)/ZL".

1992
Ron Kingston ZL4MK awarded QSM for services to Search And Rescue and to
Civil Defence. WARC in Torremolinos, Spain, NZART paid for an Amateur
Service representative (Fred Johnson ZL2AMJ) to attend as a member of
the New Zealand delegation. Dave Brown ZL1HY hands in call sign after
becoming world=92s top DXer, having contacted all 323 countries on current
DXCC list and 375 out of 377 on the all-time list.

1993
NZART runs Morse testing for the amateur radio qualification for the
first time, at Conference at Pukekohe.
New Zealand General and Limited licences recognized by CEPT (European
Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations), first
non-CEPT country so recognised.

1994
Number of amateur radio licences peaks at 6613.
New Zealand amateurs compete at ARDF World Championships in Sweden.
NZART team attends Ninth IARU Region 3 Conference, Singapore.
Fred Johnson ZL2AMJ appointed Chairman of Directors, IARU Region 3.

1996
Raoul Island Dxpedition, ZL8RI, organised from New Zealand.
NZART web page established, by Jamie Pye ZL2NN and Steve Davis ZL2UCX.

1997
AREC re-named Amateur Radio Emergency Communications.
Rebecca Butcher ZL3URB youngest-ever licensed amateur, aged 8.
World record 10 GHz E-M-E contact between Greg Storz ZL1GSG and Joe
Fehrenbach DJ7FG.
NZART team attends Tenth IARU Region 3 Conference, Beijing.
NZART publishes NZ amateur radio history: Ham Shacks, Brass Pounders &
Rag Chewers.

1998
NZART Radioscience Education Trust established.
Young Amateurs of New Zealand formed.
NZART again makes written and verbal submissions to a Parliamentary
Select Committee (Radiocommunications Amendment Bill).

1999
The size of NZART Council reduced from President with 17 Councillors to
President with 9 Councillors.
NZART Business Management Committee established.
Break-In publication changed from eleven issues per year to six per
year. Campbell Island Dxpedition, ZL9CI, organised from New Zealand,
makes world record 96,004 contacts.

2000
Amateur Radio examinations 'by-appointment' commence using
computer-selected public domain questions, developed by ZL1AN. Study
Guide for examination preparation available, developed by ZL2AMJ.
NZART team attends Eleventh IARU Region 3 Conference, Darwin. ZM prefix
permitted for Millennium celebrations.
First 6m PSK31 trans-Tasman contact: 19 November, ZL3JT and VKEDB, 50.10
MHz.
First 6m PSK31 Western Pacific contact: 24 December, ZL3JT and JR9DGU,
50.09 MHz.

2001
NZART 75th Anniversary Year.
Headquarters Info-Line commences, Editor ZL2BHF.
First 6m PSK31 trans-Pacific contact: 4 March, ZL3JT and N6XQ, 50.29
MHz. New 50 MHz world record contact: ZL3VTV/1 and EH7KW, 19,921 km,
SSB, 3 April. The letter "Q" sent from ZL6QH on 184.4 kHz by ZL2BBJ and
ZL2CA in very-slow-speed Morse (dual-frequency keying: 1 Hz shift, 120
seconds per element) received by VE7SL, 11,709 km path, 30 June.
NZART 75th Anniversary Conference at Auckland, Lester Earnshaw
(ex-ZL1AAX) guest speaker. New Radiocommunications Regulations. 12
October, Novice grade removed, 5 words-per minute Morse speed for
General grade licence. Amateur Frequency Allocation Chart reviewed. 165
kHz band now entered on the chart, spectrum limit now extended from 400
GHz to 1000GHz.

2002
1 February: AREC receives the inaugural National Search and Rescue
Award, "The Award is presented to Amateur Radio Emergency Communications
in recognition of their outstanding performance and contribution to
Search and Rescue in the New Zealand Region particularly the skilled
communications personnel and technical capabilities that have
established them as the preferred provider of emergency communications
in support of Search and Rescue in New Zealand".
First trans-Tasman 2-metre band contact by random meteor scatter
propagation, by Bob McQuarrie ZL3TY Greymouth, and Rex Moncur VK7MO
Hobart, on Saturday 13 April, 1950 km.
Fred Johnson ZL2AMJ awarded MNZM in the Birthday and Jubilee Honours
List for services to Amateur Radio.

First 122.25 GHz contact, between Ralph Sanson ZL1TBG and Stephen Hayman
ZL1TPH,
25 August 2002.
  --  http://www.nzart.org.nz

***CONTESTS  Sep 2003
---------------------
------- (From-to) --------  -------------------------------------------
DATE   WEEKDAY - TIME UTC   CONTEST NAME - MODE
-----  -------------------  -------------------------------------------

 1- 2  Mon 2300 - Tue 0300  MI-QRP Club Labor Day CW Sprint - CW

 6- 7  Sat 0000 - Sun 2400  All Asian DX Contest - SSB
 6     Sat 0000 - 2359      Quick PSK63 Contest - PSK63
 6     Sat 1300 - 1600      AGCW Straight Key Party - CW
 6- 7  Sat 1300 - Sun 1259  IARU Region 1 Fieldday - SSB
 6     Sat 1800 - 2400      *?* SOC Marathon Sprint - CW
    7  Sun 0000 - 0400      North American Sprint Contest - CW
    7  Sun 1100 - 1700      *?* DARC 10 m Digital Cont. "Corona" - DIGI

10-12  Wed 1400 - Fri 0200  YLRL Howdy Days - All

13-14  Sat 0000 - Sun 2359  Worked All Europe DX-Contest - SSB
13-14  Sat 0001 - Sun 2359  *?* Air Force Anniversary QSO Party - All
   13  Sat 1300 - 1900      Swiss HTC QRP Sprint - CW
   14  Sun 0000 - 0400      North American Sprint Contest - SSB
   14  Sun 1400 - 1500      SSA M=E5nadstest nr 9 - CW
   14  Sun 1515 - 1615      SSA M=E5nadstest nr 9 - SSB

19-20  Fri 2000 - Sat 1600  *?* Coast-coast FISTS Clubs QSO Party - CW
19     Fri 2100 - 2400      AGB NEMIGA Contest - CW/SSB/DIGI

20-21  Sat 1200 - Sun 0400  *?* Collegiate QSO Party - CW/SSB/DIGI
20-21  Sat 1200 - Sun 1200  Scandinavian Activity Contest - CW
20-21  Sat 1600 - Sun 0700  Washington Salmon Run (1) - CW/SSB
   21  Sun 1200 - 2359      *?* Panama RC Ann. Cont. - Phone
   21  Sun 1600 - 2400      Washington Salmon Run (2) - CW/SSB
21-22  Sun 1800 - Mon 0100  *?* Tennessee QSO Party - All

27-28  Sat 0000 - Sun 2400  CQ/RJ World-Wide RTTY DX Contest - RTTY
27-28  Sat 1200 - Sun 1200  Scandinavian Activity Contest - SSB
27-28  Sat 1400 - Sun 0200  Louisiana QSO Party (1) - CW/SSB
27-28  Sat 1400 - Sun 0200  *?* Texas QSO Party (1) - All
27     Sat 1800 - 2400      *?* Alabama QSO Party - CW/Phone
   28  Sun 1400 - 2000      Louisiana QSO Party (2) - CW/SSB
   28  Sun 1400 - 2000      *?* Texas QSO Party (2) - All

 -- Jan-Eric Rehn - sm3cer@contesting.com
    http://www.sk3bg.se/contest/text/c2003Sep.txt
  =20
***SPOOFING ARRL.ORG
   Spam that appears to be coming from ARRL Headquarters e-mail
addresses is a result of computer worms capable of e-mail "spoofing" and
is not coming from ARRL.

   Durand said the worm programs can use arrl.org e-mail addresses it
harvests from others' machines to propagate and replicate itself. The
latest SoBig.f variant began circulating August 19. Durand said ARRL has
been receiving dozens of calls from victims of e-mail spoofing. "It's
everywhere," he said of the SoBig worm. "It's not slowing down." Network
Associates has upped its threat rating for SoBig to "high." NAI has more
information on the worm on its Web site
<http://vil.nai.com/vil/content/v_100561.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 - 2nd Saturday of each month from March to
October at Foothill College, Los Altos Hills. FARS NET on 145.23
repeater Thursday nights at 8 PM.

***GVARC EMAIL LIST SUMMARY
---------------------------
   gvarc@mailman.qth.net   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.

   gvarc_cc@mailman.qth.net   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, ad6id@qsl.net. If you're
a GVARC member with email, you must be on the list.