[GVARC] Nov 2003 Newsletter
Tony
[email protected]
Tue, 25 Nov 2003 20:21:31 -0800
************************* Garlic Valley ******************************
Volume 18 Nov 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
HAM RADIO AT HOMELAND SECURITY CONFERENCE
SPECTRUM PROTECTION ACT PROGRESS
FIRST US QSO ABOVE 400 GHz
AUSTRALIA DROPS MORSE REQUIREMENT
NATIONAL RADIO EMERGENCY NETWORK
LOGBOOK OF THE WORLD PROGRESSES
CONTESTS DEC 2003
COMING EVENTS
***NEXT CLUB MEETING - Saturday, 29-Nov-2003
--------------------
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: [email protected]
***HAM RADIO AT HOMELAND SECURITY CONFERENCE
--------------------------------------------
ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, this month used the Amateur Radio
Today <https://www.arrl.org/catalog/?item=3D8861> CD presentation to
promote the potential of Amateur Radio as a part of homeland security at
the community level. Haynie served on a panel of national Citizen Corps
affiliates during a Volunteers in Homeland Security Conference November
4-6 in Austin, Texas. ARRL became an affiliate of Citizen Corps
<http://www.citizencorps.gov>--an initiative within the Department of
Homeland Security <http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/>--in June during the
ARRL 2003 National Convention. Haynie said Amateur Radio Today turned
out to be the proverbial picture worth 1000 words for the crowd of some
300 conference attendees.
"When it was finished and they turned the lights back up, everybody
applauded," he said. "I didn't have to say another word." Haynie said
several public officials on hand at the event also praised the
capabilities of their local Amateur Radio communities in providing
assistance during emergencies and disasters.
Citizen Corps is a federal volunteer effort aimed at enhancing public
preparedness and safety by bringing together volunteers and first
responders. In some localities, ham radio is being incorporated into a
Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)
<http://www.citizencorps.gov/programs/cert.shtm>, a Citizen Corps
program.
Haynie says the Citizen Corps affiliation is "part of the bigger picture
of getting emergency communications aligned with what our government
needs."
"Amateur Radio stands ready to serve the country as needed in times of
emergency," he said.
Citizen Corps Liaison to the White House Liz DiGregorio, headed the
three-day gathering and provided an overview of Citizen Corps. She has
urged Amateur Radio operators to explore ways to expand their role in
the community beyond being a last resort when other communication
systems fail.
Those attending the conference primarily represented agencies and
organizations serving Federal Emergency Management Agency
<http://www.fema.gov/> Region VI. FEMA now is a part of the Department
of Homeland Security <http://www.dhs.gov/>. They included
representatives of volunteer organizations as well as FEMA officials and
members of local law enforcement.
***SPECTRUM PROTECTION ACT PROGRESS
-----------------------------------
Encouraging news this week from Washington: The list of House cosponsors
for the Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act, HR 713, has reached 69.
ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, says he's pleased with the progress
since mid-October, when he'd expressed his frustration over a lack of
cosponsors. Since that time, the list has grown by 17 representatives.
The Senate version of the legislation, S 537, is holding at eight
cosponsors.
"I'm cheered up that we've got new representatives to sign on, but we
can't just stop," Haynie said. "We gotta keep at it." He said the League
has been concentrating its efforts on promoting HR 713 because the bill
has the best chance for success of any Amateur Radio-related legislation
now before Congress.
Haynie continues to encourage ARRL members to not only urge their
senators and representatives to cosponsor HR 713 and S 537 but to write
and ask them to actively support them. "This is something that's
important to the future of Amateur Radio," Haynie reiterated.
Sponsored in the House by Rep Michael Bilirakis (R-FL) and in the Senate
by Sen Michael Crapo (R-ID), the Spectrum Protection Act would require
the FCC to provide "equivalent replacement spectrum" to Amateur Radio if
the FCC reallocates primary amateur frequencies, reduces any secondary
amateur allocations, or makes additional allocations within such bands
that would substantially reduce their utility to amateurs.
HR 713 has been referred to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and
the Internet. Haynie testified before that panel in June. S 537 has been
referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
For the convenience of those writing their representatives and senators
to urge cosponsorship of the Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act of
2003, sample letters are on the ARRL Web site. For guidance on the best
methods of contacting your members of Congress, see "Communicating with
Congress," by Derek Riker, KB3JLF, on the ARRL Web site or in the April
2003 issue of QST (p 46).
Additional information--including the text of the Spectrum Protection
Act and information on how to write members of Congress--is on the
ARRL's "The Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act of 2003" Web page
<http://www.arrl.org/govrelations/arspa.html>.
Those writing their lawmakers on behalf of the Spectrum Protection Act
are asked to copy their correspondence to the League via e-mail to
[email protected].
***FIRST US QSO ABOVE 400 GHz
-----------------------------
Microwave enthusiast Brian Justin, WA1ZMS, reports what he believes is
the first QSO above 400 GHz in the US.
On November 11 at 0215 UTC, WA1ZMS/4 worked Peter Lascell, W4WWQ, on a
frequency of 403 GHz over a distance of approximately 1709 feet in
Virginia. WA1ZMS set new North American records on 241 and 322 GHz last
December, and he reports the pair used the same basic gear that had been
put into service for their then-record-making 241-GHz QSO last year
(recently beaten), but with new 30-cm parabolic dishes.
***AUSTRALIA DROPS MORSE REQUIREMENT
------------------------------------
Australia is the latest country to announce it's dropping Morse code
testing as a licensing requirement. The Australian Communications
Authority (ACA) <http://www.aca.gov.au/> says it will eliminate the
Morse testing requirement starting January 1.
"This decision was made considering public comments at the meetings and
initial analysis of submissions to the discussion paper," the ACA said,
adding that it would make interim changes to its rules to allow
immediate access to privileges previously available only to those
satisfying the Morse proficiency requirements. The change will give
holders of Intermediate and Limited Amateur licenses access to the same
frequency bands as Unrestricted Amateur licensees, and holders of the
Novice Limited Amateur license access to the same frequency bands as
Novice licensees.
The Wireless Association of Australia <http://www.wia.org.au> says
dropping the Morse requirement will mean no changes in existing licenses
or call signs. WIA President Ernie Hocking, VK1LK, urged hams in
Australia who don't yet enjoy HF privileges not to get on the air ahead
of schedule.
There's more information on the ACA Web site <http://www.aca.gov.au/>
(Click on "Review of Amateur Service Regulation.")
Ireland, Switzerland, Belgium, the UK, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands,
Austria, New Zealand, Luxembourg, Singapore and Papua-New Guinea have
already dropped their Amateur Radio Morse testing requirements or have
announced an intention to do so.
Radio Amateurs of Canada asked Industry Canada to drop the Morse
requirement at the 21st Industry Canada-Radio Amateurs of Canada Amateur
Radio Advisory Board meeting October 23 in Ottawa. US amateurs have
commented on 14 petitions calling for outright deletion of the Morse
requirement or changes in existing requirements. The FCC is not expected
to act on the matter until 2004 at the earliest.
***NATIONAL RADIO EMERGENCY NETWORK
-----------------------------------
The National Radio Emergency Network (NREN) <http://www.aa8vs.org/nren/>
will commence operations December 1. A cooperative effort of several US
CW net managers, NREN hopes to provide an alternative public service
network geared to low-power, portable and mobile stations. "Because CW
provides significantly more reliability for stations operating at low
power levels (QRP) or with compromise antennas, this will be a CW-based
program," said an announcement from Chuck Mabbott, AA8VS. NREN will work
on the "radio watch" principle, and member stations will maintain a
watch on one or more of three selected frequencies in the 40, 30, and
20-meter bands. A detailed description of NREN, along standard operating
procedures is available on the NREN Web page
<http://www.aa8vs.org/nren/>.
-- ARRL
***LOGBOOK OF THE WORLD PROGRESSES
----------------------------------
ARRL's Logbook of the World continues to grow and expand, and it's now
operational on the Macintosh OS X operating system. Mac enthusiast Steve
Palm, N9YTY, compiled a version of TrustedQSL to work with newer
Macintosh computers. The program was built using MacOS version
10.2--"Jaguar"--and was tested on versions 10.2 and 10.3, the new
"Panther" upgrade.
Palm, said he had a lot of fun porting the TQSL code to the Mac
environment, and was satisfied that he was able to help fill a real need
for Mac users. "There was a lot of discussion about this on the HamMac
mailing list. It was obvious that many Mac users were looking for
something," he said. Palm, the author of EchoMac, a Macintosh OS X
EchoLink program, said it took about a week of concentrated effort to
complete the port to the Mac platform.
"The base code developed by the TrustedQSL team at ARRL didn't really
have any issues that prevented it from being ported to the Mac, so kudos
go out to them for doing a good job writing portable code," Palm said.
He tackled a few Windows-Mac translation issues and made the Macintosh
program "more Mac-like," with configuration and help files embedded in
the program so it can be installed in drag-and-drop fashion.
ARRL Web and Software Development Manager Jon Bloom, KE3Z, said he's
also working on integrating Palm's MacOS changes into the official
source tree so that other Mac developers will be able to easily build a
library and their applications from the source code. The TQSL software
also runs on the Windows platform, and Red Hat Linux versions 7.2 and 8.
Palm, a ham since 1994 and a programmer since the early 1980s, said that
with the new program development tools Apple has recently released, he
believes that more Macintosh Amateur Radio software authors will now get
involved with porting existing ham programs and creating new ones.
In the six weeks the system has been open to the public, Logbook of the
World has accepted logs from 4,000 users from 158 DXCC entities. These
users--all with secure digital certificates--have uploaded nearly 21
million QSO records into the system, as of November 3. All of those
contacts have so far resulted in more than 350,000 records being
generated, Bloom said.
ARRL Assistant to the CEO David Patton, NN1N, said Logbook continues to
evolve, with the ability to claim confirmed contacts for ARRL awards
credit being just around the corner. He said the cost per credit would
be between 15 and 25 cents, making each credit far cheaper than the cost
of mailing a paper QSL card with a self-addressed, stamped envelope and
possibly an international reply coupon, as well.
For a complete overview on Logbook of the World, just head on over to
the LoTW Web page at www.arrl.org/lotw or check out the article by ARRL
Membership Services Manager Wayne Mills, N7NG, on page 46 of the October
2003 QST.
***CONTESTS DEC 2003
---------------------
------- (From-to) -------- -------------------------------------------
DATE WEEKDAY - TIME UTC CONTEST NAME - MODE
----- ------------------- -------------------------------------------
4- 5 Thu 6 PM - Fri 6 AM QRP ARCI Topband Sprint - CW/SSB
5- 7 Fri 2200 - Sun 1600 ARRL 160 Meter Contest - CW
6 Sat 0000 - Sun 2400 MDXA PSK-31 DeathMatch - PSK-31
6- 7 Sat 1800 - Sun 1800 TARA RTTY M=EAl=E9e - DIGI
6- 7 Sat 1800 - Sun 1800 TOPS Activity Contest 3.5 MHz - CW
7 Sun 2000 - 2400 QRP ARCI Holiday Spirits Homebrew Spr. - CW
13-14 Sat 0000 - Sun 2400 28 MHz SWL-Contest - CW/SSB
13-14 Sat 0000 - Sun 2400 ARRL 10 meter Contest - CW/SSB
14 Sun 0200 - 0400 The Great COLORADO Snowshoe Run - CW
14 Sun 1400 - 1500 SSA M=E5nadstest nr 12 - SSB
14 Sun 1515 - 1615 SSA M=E5nadstest nr 12 - CW
19 Fri 2100 - 2400 AGB PARTY Contest - CW/SSB/DIGI
19 Fri 2100 - 2300 Russian 160 Meter Contest - CW/SSB
20 Sat 0000 - 2400 OK DX RTTY Contest - RTTY
20-21 Sat 1400 - Sun 1400 Croatian CW Contest - CW
20-21 Sat 1600 - Sun 1600 International Naval Activity - CW/SSB
25 Thu 0700 - 1000 SSA Jultest (1) - CW
26 Fri 0700 - 1000 SSA Jultest (2) - CW
26 Fri 0830 - 1059 DARC XMAS-Contest - CW/SSB
27 Sat 0000 - 2359 RAC Canada Winter Contest - CW/SSB
27-28 Sat 1500 - Sun 1500 Original QRP Contest Winter - CW
27-28 Sat 1500 - Sun 1500 Stew Perry Topband Distance Challenge - CW
-- Jan-Eric Rehn - [email protected]
http://www.sk3bg.se/contest/text/c2003Oct.txt
=20
***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.
***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.