[HIham] SM Report

Thu Oct 6 03:39:49 EDT 2011

This report covers Mid-Aug through Sep 2011

What we know about the Kona Amateur Radio Society (KARS) solar array being stolen:

In May and June there were electrical storms around the Big Island of Hawaii.  The news media said the UH88 telescope on Mauna Kea was damaged.  At about the same time the Mauna Loa Amateur Radio repeater and the Hualalai Amateur Radio repeater failed. The natural assumption was that all three had lightning damage.  The Hualalai repeater had indeed been destroyed by lightning in the past.

The trip to Hualalai is quite difficult.  It involves getting keys and permission from Bishop Estate, going through four locked gates and a “difficult” 4WD road followed by a steep hike to reach the site.  Because of the difficulty of getting to the site, it took several weeks to assemble a crew from KARS with proper vehicles and equipment to respond.  It is such a rough trip that one of the vehicles was disabled on the way out.  Imagine the surprise when the repair crew finally got there and found three solar panels, two 80 pound batteries and the charge controller removed.  It was devastating to say the least.

A police report C11020797 was made.  Bishop Estate, the land owner, was notified and an insurance claim was made.  The police officer in charge of this investigation is Officer Bryan Ellis with badge #181794 and the Supervising Officer is William Souther with badge #187978.  KARS Vice President, Tom Daniel,   AH6KW, is the contact person for the Kona Amateur Radio Society at 808-989-0171.  The KARS website is:  http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/~veillet/hwars.html.  The website shows a picture of the repeater before the theft.  Two batteries model VRB-31, three solar panels model M75 and one charge controller and the associated fuse block were all stolen. 

 This was one of the main sites for the Big Island Wide Area Repeater Network (BIWARN) system.  It has been used many times in emergencies in the past and provides communications even when power fails, since it is solar powered.  The BIWARN system is part of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service and supports many government and non-government emergency responders such as Hawaii County CD, American Red Cross, Salvation Army, CERT teams and the many organizations that are part of the Volunteer Organizations Active in disasters (VOAD).   It is also the only site covering most of West Hawaii and South East Maui for normal two meter band amateur communications and emergency preparedness exercises. 

We believe this theft had to have been well planned and carried out by a well-equipped gang.  The equipment is most likely not going to be replaced at the same location until the perpetrators are caught and put out of circulations.  Obviously, the fear is that if it is rebuilt, the same unthinking creeps will only do it again. Of course the high cost of replacement is also a factor.   It puts everyone on the West side of Hawaii Island at greater risk in times of emergency because this vital communications link has been disabled. Anyone with knowledge of this crime is asked to report it to the Hawaii County Police Dept.  

Kona ARS next meets Sun, 15 Oct. from 2 to 5 PM at the south end of Wawaloli Beach Park at NELHA. This month's club meeting will be a Scandinavian (including French and German) food theme in celebration of Oktoberfest.  This is just south of the Kona Airport.

The Hawaii QSO party was August 27/28.  There were stations at Kalaupapa on Molokai and other rare locations on the air that weekend.  According to Joe Speroni, AH0A, it was very successful with one station (KH6LC) coming close to working DXCC during the contest.  Next year should be even better.  Joe and four others were able to operate and give exams using the same remote technique as was used to exam candidates in Antarctica.  The team was able to charter an airplane so it was not necessary to ride the Mules to get down to the site.  The Hawaii QSO Party is an event to promote HF operation from the unique Hawaii destinations in the Pacific.  Hawaii is an ARRL DXCC entity as well as the nation’s 50th state needed for the ARRL WAS award.  For results go to:   http://www.hawaiiqsoparty.org/

The Koolau Amateur Radio Club (KARC) holds its monthly meeting on the second Saturday.  The last meeting was September 10th, at its usual room in Ho’omaluhia Gardens.  The next meeting will be Sat October 8.  Last month’s meeting was presided by VP Kimo, KH7U.  Bev Yuen, AH6NF, gave a talk and slide show on the Kalawao County DXpedition of 25 to 29 Aug.

The DXpedition comprised two (three?) major projects:  One project was to establish backup EMCOM in the Kalaupapa community. The Japan earthquake and tsunami was a wake-up call. All residents of the low-lying Kalaupapa community were evacuated to the higher spine of the peninsula, but there was no capability for communications to the outside. After HI QSO activities, the crew helped install UHF/VHF radios into National Park Service (NPS) trucks.  Another project was the DXpedition/HI QSO Party itself.  It provided desirable contacts with hams in the outside world. Approximately 700 contacts were made.  The “third” project was to administer Amateur Radio exams.

Memorable contacts included resident "Boogie" 's two-way to Oahu, and the contact with ON5CD in Belgium, just five miles from Damien's birthplace.  All projects served to involve Kalaupapa residents and staff in amateur/emergency radio.  There were three new licenses earned.  The NPS was very pleased with the experience and results and has extended an invitation to come back.

HI QSO PARTY / BELLOWS: Martin KH6MB reported that the Bellows HI QSO activity had its problems but still got two stations on the air and made some 1300 contacts.

Respectfully submitted, Mike, WY3B

Koolau ARC has an updated webpage.  It includes a lot of information about the Hawaii QSO party and other things.  It is:  http://www.karc.net/ Koolau normally meets on the Second Saturday at 9:30 AM.  Some recent news on their website is:

KARC member (Colonel) Dan W0CN retires after 25 years in the military.  http://www.karc.net/CyclingImages/W0CN.htm

KARC member Jerry, N4EO is now YI9EO in Iraq. http://www.karc.net/CyclingImages/YI9EO.html

EARC gets a communications van donated. http://www.karc.net/CyclingImages/HamVan.html 

KARC administrator Joe Speroni, AH0A, has been appointed Affiliated Club coordinator.  His main duties will be to service and visit ARRL affiliated clubs and encourage ARRL affiliation for those clubs that are not ARRL affiliated. 

The following are the ARRL affiliated clubs in the Pacific Section followed by a web address and the date of their last update to ARRL.  Updates should be sent once a year.

Kona Amateur Radio Society   http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/~veillet/hwars.html  03-27-09

Koolau ARC  http://www.karc.net/   3-14-11

Kauai ARC   http://www.kauaiarc.org/   01-04 10

Honolulu  ARC  http://aditl.com/ham/harc/  12-20-07

EARC  http://www.earchi.org/   02-05-10

Maui ARC  http://www.kh6rs.org/  11-15-07

Big Island ARC  http://www.biarc.net/  1-5-10

Hilo ARC http://www.arrl.org/Groups/view/hilo-amateur-radio-club-hilo-arc/type:club7-2-8

Kohala Hamakua Radio Club    http://www.hamradioandmore.com/khrc.htm  09-27-08

Marianas ARC  https://sites.google.com/site/ah2gmarc/home 1-6-10

Pacific Radioamateur Transmitting Societ  9-15-08

Waikiki ARC http://www.arrl.org/Groups/view/waikiki-amateur-radio-club/type:club 8-14-9

Honolulu DX Club http://www.arrl.org/Groups/view/honolulu-dx-club/type:club  12-20-07

Hawaii DX association   http://hawaii.dx.tripod.com/  6-15-09

Hawaii QRP Club  http://hiqrpclub.homestead.com/  6-30-09

To update your clubs information at ARRL go to:  http://www.arrl.org/club-update

Kauai Amateur Radio Club meets on the first Monday of the month at 7 PM. at KIUC Office, 4463 Pahee Street in Lihue.  They will be giving a one-time lecture on Intro to Amateur Radio especially for new ham on Tuesday Oct. 18th from 6PM to 7:30PM at the Lihue Civic Center in Planning Room 2A/B.  Contact Tad Miura at ZSSQ at hotmail.com.  

Their new breakfast venue is at The Feral Pig (formerly The Tiki Room and Main Street Diner) located in Harbor Mall at Nawiliwili. Folks begin arriving around 0730. Remember to get your parking ticket validated (while the attendant is hardly ever there for Saturday breakfast, it's a good idea to validate just in case).

The Honolulu ARC meets on the third Saturday of odd month at the SIZZLER in Pearl Ridge, on Moanalua Rd. It is across the road from First Hawaiian Bank.  The next meeting is November 19 from 8:30 to 10:30AM.  

There will be one more exam session in 2011 (in conjunction with the HARC meeting).  It will be on Saturday November 19th.  There will be no exam session in December 2011 due to the Holidays.  Both FCC commercial exams will be given if you pre-register between 9AM and 9PM with a deadline NLT 9PM the Thursday prior to session.  MOPA (Commercial Element One), GROL (Element One and Two) and Radar Endorsement (Element 8) may be taken back to back but PRE-REGISTRATION is a must.  This is to insure enough certified exam proctors are available.  Procedures and examinee’s requirements will be explained.  All Amateur Class licenses will be offered on the same dates but in different exam groups. Pre-registration is a must between 9AM and 9PM by phoning 247-0587.  Two I.D.’s are required to be brought to the session.  One picture ID and one ID with your Social security number.  Two number 2 pencils, one black ballpoint pen and a pocket calculator may be brought.  Each FCC Amateur Element taken will be $15.00 cash, no checks, no credit or debit cards as I am not a bank.  Neighbor Islanders are welcome, but must pre-register.  For questions call Oahu 1-808-247-0587.  Good Luck on your studies.  Any questions?   Lee Wical, KH6BZF.   

It is also advisable to have photo copies of your current license which will be turned in with the paperwork.  Bob, AH6J

The next Emergency ARC meeting will be Tuesday October 18th at 7PM at the Fleet Reserve Association Branch located on Valkenburgh St.  Pizza will be provided so bring a Potluck dish.  There will be elections and Joe, AH0A, will give a brief report on the Hawaii QSO party.

Wayne, KH6MEI, reports the Hamfest/swap-meet on Aug 6 was successful however the one problem was left over junk and equipment left in the facility trash bins.  Trash pick-up is a service that they have to pay for.  Here are some pictures:  http://photos.earchi.org/GalleryThumbnails.aspx?gallery=977679 

EARC has a new communications van. 

The Maui ARC meets on the second Wednesday (Oct 12) at the Maui County Civil Defense Emergency Operating Center in the basement of the County Building.  The December meeting will be a Christmas Party.  

The Maui VE team will have exams on December 3, 2011. The sessions begin at 9AM at the Mahaolu Elua community hall at 200 Hina Ave in Kahului.  Contact Mel, KH6H, at 808-250-4591 or kh6h at arrl.net  for more info. 

BIARC has cancelled its October 8th meeting as most members will be going to the Big Island International Hamfest in Waimea.  

There was a combined club picnic in at Coconut Island in Hilo on August 27.   Hilo ARC and HI QRP club were the host clubs and AL0HA was on the air for the Hawaii QSO party.  (BIARC had cancelled its August 13 meeting.)   Website is:  http://hiqrpclub.homestead.com      

 The next breakfast meetings of Hawaii Council of Radio Clubs (HCRC) will be Nov 5 at the 50's cafe and Dec 3 at a place to be determined.

During the ARRL Simulated Emergency Test (SET) conducted October first, Big Island hams were great participants.  The Hilo EOC station at Civil Defense headquarters was staffed by Bob Schneider, AH6J, Pacific Section Manager, and Milt Nodacker, AH6I, East Hawaii District Emergency Coordinator.  Twenty-three area hams participated in the exercise, seven of them licensed since 2007.  The SET scenario was a tsunami from a 9.0 earthquake.  Message traffic originated by the participating hams was quite creative, including California falling into the ocean.  It was excellent training all around.  Thanks to all who participated.  

Milt Nodacker, AH6I, has been appointed as the District Emergency Coordinator for East Hawaii.  He follows in the footsteps of Harvey Motomura, AH6JA, and Tom Thornton, AH6ZZ, who have moved on.  He is a welcome addition and will work directly with Kevin Bogan, AH6QO, the Section Emergency Coordinator and your SM.  

A Technician class started Sept. 13 at Orchidland LDS meeting house.  It is every Tuesday at 6:30.  Testing will be at the Hamfest in Waimea on Oct. 22.  Milt, AH6I, is the teacher.

The Kohala-Hamakua Radio Club (KHRC) next meeting will be Wednesday, October 12, 2011 7PM at Tutu's House, Blue Room, in Waimea.

The Marianas Amateur Radio Club on Guam meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 7PM at the KSTO radio studio on Nimitz Hill.  

Every Tuesday 7AM - The Waikiki Amateur Radio Club along with Honolulu ARC, QCWA Chapter #206 and Battleship Missouri Radio (BMARC or Mighty Mo) club members informally meet at the Pearlridge Sizzler Restaurant.  After breakfast some people go to BMARC, KH6BB to operate. Join their breakfast group at 07:00 HST for "eye-ball" QSO's and lots of radio talk. The Mighty “Mo” was on the air for the Hawaii QSO party.  Visiting hams are welcome on the ship however contact Bill Kendall, KH6OO at kh6oo at arrl.net or 808-949-1228 for more information.  

The annual Heart Walk was held Saturday August 13 at Kapiolani Park.  Thank you to all who participated.  Tnx Wayne, NH6K

The Oahu Civil Defense Amateur Radio Club's will test on the third Wednesday of November.  Their next test is Wednesday November 16 at 6:20PM.  The testing site is the American Red Cross at 4155 Diamond Head Rd in Honolulu.  IT IS NECESSARY that you register in advance in order to pass building security and insure sufficient supplies are available.  Contact Ray Moody, AH6LT, at moody at hawaii.edu  or ah6lt at arrl.net or phone 808-941-9239. 

The HealthComm net is on the 1st Saturday of each month.  November 5th at 9AM is the next one.  They “usually” start on 3.888 MHz SSB, then go to 7.080 MHz SSB and last 5.371.5 MHz (USB 50w).  They operated during the SET on October first but mostly on 40 meters.  Your SM recently received their annual report and it shows an active net. The report also shows that four hospitals are conspicuously absent.  They are Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital (Maui), Molokai General Hospital and Lanai Hospital.  Jack is also looking for someone at Kahuku Hospital.  If you are in these areas and able to participate contact Jack Tsujimura, KH6DQ,  at  tsujimur at hawaii.edu 

October 14 to 16 is Pacificon 2011 at the Marriott in Santa Clara, CA. Website is:

http://www.pacificon.org/ 

October 22 will be the Big Island International Hamfest in Waimea (Kamuela).  Web URLs: www.biarc.net  & www.arrl.org/sections/PAC.html

Nov. 12-20 is the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation aka APEC.  That is only one month away.  Expect increased security especially as the VIP front people arrive to prepare for the dignitaries.  

We need to emphasize that one of the major reasons Amateur Radio exists is to backup emergency services.  Two major programs are RACES and ARES.  RACES is primarily a CD or government responding group.  It was RACES people that were first with responders during Hurricane Iniki on Kauai.  ARES is an ARRL sponsored program that supports numerous emergency agencies.  While some responders have their own programs, some have letters of agreement with the local ARES group and/or ARRL national.   The official head of the ARES program is the elected Section Manager (SM) with the Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC) being the action person. Appointments such as District Emergency Coordinator, Emergency Coordinator, assistant DEC, assistant EC and Official Emergency Station are available.  Contact your SM, SEC or consult the ARRL webpages for more information. Organizations such as ARES, VOAD, CERT, RACES and others need help however training and equipment upgrades are very important.  If you haven’t completed the basic ARES and ICS courses, now is the time to take them. ARRL offers several courses.  The basic Course is EC-001.  EC 016 is the new course and is a combination of the old EC-002 and EC-003.  EC-016 requires you to complete the following:  ICS-100, ICS-200, ICS-700, IS-800, IS-240, IS-241, IS-250, IS-1, IS-288, IS-244, IS120, IS-130 and IS-139.  It is also recommended that classroom course IS-300 be taken however it is not a requirement.  ARRL charges $35 each for its courses.  The good news is the FEMA/ICS courses are free and take only a couple hours each.

Ron Hashiro, AH6RH, has an extensive website with information on many subjects including descriptions of EMCOM in Hawaii, the Hawaii QSO party, Cell phone laws, and much more.  Ron was featured on Newsline report 1740 on December 17.  Some of the direct pages are:

http://www.qsl.net/ah6rh/am-radio/emcomm/makani-pahili-11.html - Makani-Pahili 

http://www.qsl.net/ah6rh/am-radio/in-hawaii.html . - Coming events list

http://www.qsl.net/ah6rh/am-radio/cellular-phone-ordinance.html  - Cell phone

http://www.qsl.net/ah6rh/am-radio/hawaii/fd.html – Field Day

Examples of news from Ron Hashiro’s website:

Old KHON2-TV 55 MHz signal DX'ed to Darwin, Australia in Sept 2001

The Darwin, Australia VHF DXpedition in September 2001 received VHF TV and FM radio signals from.  With the uptick in solar activity, get ready for VHF openings.

Three Kalaupapa residents are now hams!   Steve WH6DTS effective 8/30/2011 (General). Lionel WH6DTZ effective 7/27/2011 (Tech).  Rafael WH6DUP effective 8/30/2011 (Tech).  

ARRL recapped the first testing session in this web article.

There were nine logs submitted for Field Day in the Pacific Section.  Field day was in the last part of June but results just recently came out.  They will be printed in December 2011 QST.  It is estimated that 35,000 people participated worldwide.

Ham Radio and Scouting:  JOTA 2011 – October 15 - 16

This international event is getting a big push this year from the Boy Scouts of America, which, in cooperation with the American Radio Relay League, has been promoting not only participation of Scouts, but ham mentors who have a great opportunity to become Elmer’s to the next generation of potential radio operators.  "Jamboree on the Air is the largest Scouting event in the world.  Last year, the World Organization of Scouting Movement reported just over 700,000 Scouts participated in the event from just under 6,000 stations around the world.  "NA1SS, which is the International Space Station, is going to be on the air throughout the JOTA weekend.  Astronaut Mike Fossum (KF5AQG), who is also a Scoutmaster, is going to be on the air during breaks from his work schedule.  They think he is going to be available most of the passes around the world. The uplink is 144.490 and the downlink is 145.800 Mhz

The best resource on JOTA is the BSA's website.   www.scouting.org/jota."

Barbara Darling, NH7FY is the overall QSL manager for Hawaii however distribution takes place at many club meeting.  Check your local club for details.  If in doubt send several SASE envelopes directly to Barbara.  Remember the postage rate just went up.

FCC Launches Complete Overhaul of Website.  See this article for details: 

http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-launches-complete-overhaul-of-website

The repeater listing for Hawaii can be found at:  http://www.hawaiirepeaters.net/coordinated.htm 

The ARRL web site is: http://www.arrl.org/ 

More information about the Pacific section:   http://www.arrl.org/Groups/view/pacific-section .  

Congratulations to the following people have been appointed as Emergency Coordinators during the year 2011.  They will work with the DEC, SEC and SM.  Their job is to be prepared.

Clement Jung, KH7HO, will help cover East Oahu.

Tad Miura, NH7YS, will work on Kauai.

Paul Ducasse, WH7BR, will work with Volcano, East Hawaii and CAP.

Tom Thornton, AH6ZZ, former DEC for East Hawaii is moving to Honolulu.  He will help there.

Jack Tsujimura, KH6DQ, will work mostly with Healthnet.

There are other EC’s however their appointment all started before 2011.

73,

Bob Schneider – AH6J

ARRL Pacific Section Manager

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