[Hallicrafters] Fw: Chiefs Net (Part 1 of 2) 31 Oct 03

[jh7hc at juno.com]

---------- Forwarded Message ----------
CHIEFS NET COMMENTS  (Part 1 of 2)
31 Oct 03


Good evening Pat, Bob, James, Ron, Dick, Frank, Jim, Cindy, Chris,
Ed,    Dino, Eastern, and Western, Area GW and all others on or
monitoring this frequency tonight.

   Contrary to what was expected due to the solar activity last
Friday,
the total number of MARS stations recorded that checked into the net
was an outstanding two hundred thirty-six (236). This is the second
highest this year only surpassed by the 7 Mar 03 net with 243.
A great turn-out that is much appreciated.

   This week has been extremely busy for all of us here in the office
working on a number of time sensitive tasks and attempting to
complete some tasks before Mr. James Banks, AAA9W goes on a
well deserved leave for two weeks starting today. Have nine (9)
items to share with the net and membership tonight.

ITEM # 1: SILENT KEY(S): ): We are pleased to announce that for
the third consecutive week, there were no Silent Keys reported to
our office. Hopefully we can continue this trend.

ITEM # 2: EEI & OTHER REPORTS SUMMARY: The following
reports were received during the past  week.

A.  SUMMARY TOTAL OF ALL REPORTS SUBMITTED (Overall
Totals):
        69 Actual
         77 Exercise

               For a total of 146

B. NUMBER/TYPE REPORTS BY STATE:
AK: 1 Exercise
AL: 6 Exercise
AZ: 1 Exercise
CA(NORTH): 7 Exercise
CA(SOUTH: 33 Actual
DE: 4 Actual, 3 Exercise
FL: 2 Exercise
GA: 1 Actual
IN: 2 Exercise
MA: 1 Exercise
MD: 14 Exercise
ME: 2 Exercise
MI: 1 Exercise
NC: 1 Actual, 2 Exercise
NH: 9 Exercise
NJ: 16 Actual, 4 Exercise
NV: 8 Exercise
NY: 2 Actual, 3 Exercise
OH: 4 Exercise
OK: 3 Exercise
OR: 1 Actual
PA: 2 Actual, 2 Exercise
ROK (Korea): 8 Actual
TN: 1 Exercise
VA: 1 Exercise
WV: 1 Exercise

ITEM # 3: CALIFORNIA FOREST FIRES. Initial reports indicate that
Army MARS has been active in Southern California due to the many
Forest fires that have plagued California this week. Primarily EEI
reports have been received and other on-going efforts will be
covered upon receipt of their After Action Report.

ITEM # 4: HELPING HANDS. On the 7 November 1997, a new
program within Army MARS called Helping Hands. This was the
brainstorm of Cindy and Jim Rogers, AAA9HH and AAA9DEC
respectively. Over the years this program has continued to grow.

    As you may recall, Helping Hands is a program to help any
disabled member in MARS to be as independent, active and fully
functional as possible.  Its purpose is to enable any member to
function independently or with minimal assistance to be as fully an
active member for the MARS program as possible.  Assistance can
be provided by Cindy, Jim or any regular member. Check out the
Army MARS website for additional information.

ITEM # 5: ANTENNAS AND TOWERS. It's that time of year to
perform periodic maintenance on antennas and towers. The ability
to maintain efficient communications under all conditions depends to
a great extent on your adherence to standard maintenance
procedures.   It may not seem like it but the winter months are fast
approaching and now is the time to ensure that antennas and
towers are ready to withstand the coming winter weather.  Are your
connections free from corrosion, is it time to replace wire antennas,
are your cable connects clean and weather resistant, do your guy
wires need replacement?  This is also an opportune time to check
your antenna and station grounding system before the frost hits.

ITEM # 6: NET PARTICIPATION. With the knowledge that I am
preaching to the choir, the MARS  program does not run on its own
steam.  It needs that special effort and dedication on the part of
those involved. Our MARS  members are in this program for many
reasons and most are never lacking in motivation and dedication.
They are justly proud of their skills which they want to participate,
be
useful, and be proud of serving the Army and their country.  That's
what brings and keeps most of us in the MARS program.

Participation is a key factor.  It builds reliability which is
displayed
when members check into as many nets as possible with a high
degree of regularity.  Once checked into a net the member should
remain on frequency until the net is closed or they have been
excused by the NCS.  Let your NCS and State director know you will
be there when needed by consistent participation.  Set the example
for the newer members.  I suggest that participation in MARS
constitutes one of the most important areas of public service
available to the amateur operator community.  Additionally, net
participation is a measure of what the MARS program is
accomplishing.  Therefore, monthly reporting of participation, no
matter how small, is important.

ITEM # 7: OPERATION HOLIDAYS 2003. The holiday season is just
around the corner its not too early to start making plans to support
'Operation Holidays'  Army MARS has a long history of providing
morale and welfare support to our military serving overseas.  For the
past eleven years, Army MARS has been instrumental in promoting
a program called 'Operation Holidays'.  Operation Holidays is a
special MARS program that invites family and friends to send
MARSgrams to service members overseas during the Thanksgiving,
Christmas and New Year holidays.

   Its main purpose is to encourage as many individuals and families
as possible to send a MARSgram to our service members to bring a
little cheer and joy to those who will not be home for the holidays.
This year we are once again dedicating this special program to all of
MARS silent keys who have supported our service members over
the years.

ITEM # 8: COMPLETED TRAINING AND SERVICE AWARDS.
During this week, among the  documents placed on my desk for
signature were the following - Congratulations are in order for:

A. COMPLETED ARMY MARS TRAINING:
- AAR4VY, GA
- AAV4BE, KY
- AAR5RO, MI
- AAR5RB, IN
- AAR6MY, OK
- AAR6OQ, OK
- AAR6NQ, OK  & AAR0OH, WA

B. MARS SERVICE AWARDS:
- 20 Years: ACM4JU,  PR

- 15 Years: ACM4SI, and ACM4QL , both from PR.

- 10 Years: All of  the following are from PR; ACM4AA, ACM4BR,
      ACM4DB, ACM4DH, ACM4EX, ACM4GL, ACM4GM, ACM4GQ,
      ACM4GR, ACM4ID, and ACM4RB.

- 5 Years:  AAR1DT, VT and the remaining are all from PR;
     ACM4AC, ACM4AF, ACM4AK, ACM4AL, ACM4AN, ACM4AP,
     ACM4AR, ACM4BN, ACM4BV, ACM4BY, ACM4CH, ACM4EM,
    ACM4FL, ACM4FS, ACM4FZ, ACM4HT, ACM4HX, ACM4JC
    ACM4JW ACM4KC, ACM4KS, ACM4KT, ACM4KU, and
    ACM4LQ.

Note: Due to the large number, names were not included with the
above call signs.

ITEM # 9:  QUESTION OF THE WEEK.  Last week's 'Question of the
Week' was brought to us by Mr. John Halladay, AAA7KS, KS SMD.
The subject came up today at our state MARS meeting. Why do we
need to use upper case any more when sending messages on the
digital or e-mail? It was used because of the equipment we used
and it would not do anything but upper case. Some of the digital
equipment now would work better with lower case. Please clarify.

In response the following is provided. The simple answer is that 16
line formatted messages within DoD remain in upper case. In
looking back in time we recognize that it stems from the fact that
when the military (and coincidentally, amateur radio) community
standardized on Baudot code teletypewriters and there was NO
LOWER CASE in the code. Since there are only 32 possible code
combinations in the 5-level Baudot code, it was necessary to use
the letters/numbers shift mechanism to get sufficient code space for
punctuation and numbers!

   The early computer technology (punched cards and later models of
Teletypes) was also upper-case only.  The fact that technology has
greatly improved does not distract from the fact that it persists to
this
date due to some automated message parsing that is part of the
AUTODIN legacy. Hence, even with the advent of DMS email, the
message formatting is still uppercase as defined in Army documents
and MARS complies with that format.

    We are not aware of any software, TNC or other equipment use in
MARS that upper case causes a problem.  If there is, please advise.

    This week's 'Question of the Week' is brought to us by Mr. Frank
DeDoming, AAR5IC, IL. His question was " Is VOX now authorized
in Army MARS?  Unable to locate any info on this subject".

   As always, jot down your response and tune in on the next Chief's
net for the answer.  The 'Question of the Week' continues to be a
recognized method to obtain answers to questions raised in the
field.  We can always use and welcome new Questions of the weeks
keep them coming in.

                          ( STAFF NET ROSTER COMMENTS)

                       (GENERAL MEMBERSHIP NET COMMENTS)

                                (CLOSING COMMENTS)

   Appreciate all on frequency tonight and for all stations that
provided relays. Propagation at our location has been in and out all
evening with fast fading.

  We are pleased to report that there have been a steady flow of
individuals requesting applications to join MARS. EEI reports
received are very well received.  We wish James Banks, AAA9W
and his family a pleasurable vacation and it was great hearing him
mobile on the net tonight.

   MARS has made some significant progress this year and we have
more ambitious projects for the coming year as MARS continues
moving forward, "Proud, Professional, and Ready"

Until next time, God Bless and God Bless America, out


End of Part 1 of Part 2
Note: Part 2 Contains net participation and details of all OPLAN 4-02
 reports received.

This EMail distributed by:
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