[K3CAL] Fwd: FW: LEGION BIRTHDAY SPECIAL EVENT, FUTURE NET SCHEDULE FIRMED

[John Mumper]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John Mumper <mumper at hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, Jan 31, 2012 at 6:15 AM
Subject: FW: LEGION BIRTHDAY SPECIAL EVENT, FUTURE NET SCHEDULE FIRMED
To: jmumps at gmail.com




"Mumps"

------------------------------
From: jmarch at legion.org
To: k9tal at legion.org
Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:46:41 -0500
Subject: LEGION BIRTHDAY SPECIAL EVENT, FUTURE NET SCHEDULE FIRMED

 *A Word or Two from the Prez*

*LEGION BIRTHDAY SPECIAL EVENT, FUTURE NET SCHEDULE FIRMED*

        To commemorate the 93rd birthday of the Legion, the Legion's
Amateur Radio Club station [K9TAL] will operate as a special event station
Thursday to Saturday, March 15 - 17, from 1000 to 1600 hours Eastern (1500
to 2100 UTC) each of the three days on or about 14.270 MHz.  A special
commemorative certificate will be issued to stations that work K9TAL during
that time period.  TALARC members in the Indianapolis area are invited to
operate the headquarters station during the event.  Contact Joe March –
KJ9M – to sign up or get more information (jmarch at legion.org).

        On the heels of our first net – in December – members reported high
noise levels on the 40M band. Net control [W3CRR] on the east coast was
able to reach eastern states reliably, but got only sporadic reports from
those west of the Mississippi River.  We looked at many member's
suggestions and there seemed to be some consensus to move to the 10M band.
With that determination, the Club will operate its next nets on the second
weekend of February.


    - *Saturday, February 11* will be devoted to our inaugural IRLP* *net
   using the Crossroads Reflector (9205) at 1400 EST (1900 UTC).  Bill,
   KC9ANG, will be net control.
   - *Sunday, February 12* will be devoted to a *10-meter TALARC net*, 1400
   EST (1900 UTC) on or about 28.610 MHz.  This presumes Solar Cycle 24 will
   continue to cooperate.  Craig, W3CRR, will be net control and may call on
   regional assistant net controls to get everyone checked in. If you would be
   willing to serve as a regional net control, please contact Craig at *
   croberts at legion.org* <croberts at legion.org>.

        Nothing would please the headquarters group more than to have
TALARC members visit the Legion's National Headquarters and see "their"
station, and as time and proximity to downtown Indy allows, volunteer their
time and talents to assist with routine net operations or with special
events, like the Legion birthday event in mid-March.  As much as possible,
let us know in advance if you want to visit, or if you are able to help
with a scheduled net, by contacting Club Station Trustee Joe March, KJ9M  (*
jmarch at legion.org* <jmarch at legion.org>).

*Communications within the Club*
        Those in the know at National Headquarters tell me that the TALARC
forum is the most popular one on the Legion website.  [You folks make me so
proud!]  Let's keep it that way by visiting the forum regularly, register a
comment or concern, "work" other members, or tell us all about the best
practices of your club or group.
        Watch for the March 2012 edition of your Legion magazine for a
brief mention of the Club and information on the Legion birthday special
event.  You'll find it in the "Rapid Fire" section of the magazine.

*K9TAL Shack*
        The Club operations center is about as complete as can be – given
space available – to be a fully functioning radio room.
        The latest equipment donations to the Club include an AT-250
antenna tuner to match our secondary rig, and an electronic keyer for CW
mode.  Now, for those of you who have a special appreciation for Samuel
Morse,  don't go getting too terribly excited about this innovation.  At
least not just yet.  Several of the headquarters staff copy code well, but
most of us are in need of substantial keying practice in order to keep the
frustration levels low – yours and ours.

*Establishing a Post amateur radio station*
        *The following item is a distilled email message issued recently by
K9TAL Club secretary Bill Sloan, KC9ANG, to one of our members.  It's both
interesting and informative.  It addresses the question of post
participation in emergency management, with a touch of history rolled in.
The email carried the subject: "Establishing Post Amateur Radio Station."*

Hi Larry,

The Legion's initial purpose in forming TALARC was to encourage posts to
consider establishing amateur radio stations and advance a hobby thought to
be popular with our members.  But it has become very apparent that many
posts are light-years ahead of National.

Some decades ago, and as early as the 1930s, The American Legion's National
Security Commission encouraged posts to become part of The American Legion
“Amateur Radio Network” in support of civil defense.  We even published and
distributed a radio instructional course in the 1950s ... and posts around
the country formed groups for ham radio operations.

Today, many of those groups have survived.  More to the point, with the
passage of Resolution 97, passed by National Convention delegates in Salt
Lake City in 2006, which stated national encouragement for American Legion
posts to become involved with Homeland Security, our organization resolved
to encourage all posts and departments to develop emergency kits and plans,
work closely with the Citizen Corps and local FEMA offices and public
safety agencies, and generally become involved with emergency disaster
planning.  Soon after, we developed and published a pamphlet on Disaster
Preparedness and Response, outlining steps any local post can take to be
ready to respond effectively during civil or natural disasters.

Ham radio is a natural fit, and we've seen a resurgence among our members
who have been licensed hams for many years, and a great deal of interest
from members interested in getting a ham license.  Many are
military-trained but have had no reason until now to pursue a ham license.

If you haven't already gotten a copy somewhere, let me send you the *Disaster
Preparedness and Response* publication ...  I'll put it in the mail today.
Very useful for setting up a post program inclusive of both hams and
interested members who would like to start setting up a community emergency
response plan.  Hopefully you can help many members get their license, and
also bring in local hams to assist, even join, the post's new station.

Bill, KC9ANG

TALARC Club Secretary
–– 30 ––

        Thanks to Bill for this brief overview of how the Legion came into
amateur radio and what we are, and definitely should be about, as an
organization.

73s,

Marty Justis, W9WMJ, President
The American Legion Amateur Radio Club
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/k3cal/attachments/20120131/c1ccd19c/attachment.html