MDC Section News June 2024

* MDC SECTION OPEN POSITIONS *

* MDC SECTION-WIDE ECHOLINK NET

* SECTION MANAGERS NOTES

* DIVISION NEWS

* UPCOMING HAMFESTS & CONVENTIONS

* EXAMS, ACTIVITIES, OPPORTUNITIES & SPECIAL EVENTS

* SKYWARN REPORT

* MDC SECTION EMERGENCY COORDINATOR’S REPORT

* MDC SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGER'S REPORT

* TMARC Report

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*MDC SECTION OPEN POSITIONS

The following positions are available on the MDC Section Staff:

Emergency coordinator in the following Counties:

Baltimore /Kent/ Queen Anne/ Somerset/ Talbot

Technical Specialists for the Maryland Hospital Program

Local Government Liaisons

Public Information Officer

Technical Specialist - Website Developer (Wordpress)

For more information, please send an email to me at [email protected]

* MDC SECTION-WIDE ECHOLINK NET

This month’s MDC Section wide EchoLink net will be held on Friday June 21 2024 at 8:00 PM ET on the EchoLink WASH_DC Node 6154. The MDC Section EchoLink net is always held on the third Friday evening of every month at 8:00 PM eastern local time. EchoLink Link Repeaters for Net If you would like to join in on RF the following repeaters are linked.

- KA2JAI-R to Millersville repeater 146.805- PL107.2

- WB3GXW-R, 147.225(+), PL156.7 Hz, Calverton, MD

- W3FDK-R, 146.73(-), PL141.3 Hz, Frederick, MD

- K3CAL-R, 146.985(-), PL156.7, Sunderland, MD

- K3ERA-R, 145.230(-), PL110.9, District Heights, MD

- W3SMD-L, 147.51, Simplex, St Mary's County, MD

- WA3DZD-R Maryland FM Association

Repeater owners are encouraged to join our MDC Section EchoLink Net group and link your repeater - TU! Everyone is encouraged to join in and give any updates on what is happening in your part of the ARRL Maryland-DC Section. You may download the free software from: http://echolink.org/register_data.jsp or your App Store online. Thanks John Creel WB3GXW for making the WASH_DC EchoLink server and his WB3GXW-R repeater available for the EchoLink nets.

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** SECTION MANAGERS NOTES

Well, It’s been difficult these last few weeks due to the IT issues at Headquarters. Please visit the following portion of the ARRL website for current information:

https://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-systems-service-disruption

You do not need to be logged-in or be a member to view this information. Updates are posted as they come out.

The Section News may always be viewed on the MDC website and will be sent to ARRL Affiliated Club reps.

I will be making several Field Day site visits this year. I will be starting on the Eastern Shore, and proceeding back to the central part of the state. Please remember to be safe on your FD Site – your safety officer is most important!

We are currently working on a Groups.IO email solution for the Section. More information will be forthcoming.

Let's continue working and learning together.

Tu es 73,

Chris Van Winkle AB3WG

Maryland / DC Section Manager, ARRL

240-755-4257

[email protected]

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* DIVISION NEWS

Please visit the Atlantic Division website

atldiv.org

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* UPCOMING HAMFESTS & CONVENTIONS

10/06/2024 - CARA Fest 2024

Location: West Friendship, MD

Type: ARRL Hamfest

Sponsor: Columbia Amateur Radio Association

Website: http://www.carafest.org

10/12/2024 - SMCARA Tailgate Fest (not yet Approved)

Location: Hollywood, MD

Sponsor: St Mary’s County Amateur Radio Association

Website: http://[email protected]

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* EXAMS ACTIVITIES OPPORTUNITIES & SPECIAL EVENTS

Please send me your upcoming ARC events, suggestions and comments. You may view upcoming Hamfests here: http://www.arrl.org/hamfests-and-conventions-calendar. I plan to attend your ARRL Maryland-DC Section events.

FCC AMATEUR RADIO EXAMS:

VEC website or Laurel VEC for details.

https://larc-vec.org/home.php

Laurel VEC License Exam Search: https://larc-vec.org

Test Dates in Essex:

Sept.21st

Nov.16th

Contact Pat Stone [email protected] for more information.

The Anne Arundel Radio Club will be holding a training class starting soon after Field Day.

Tech Class: A new class will be starting on July 10th and will run through September 4th. The class will be held from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm on Wednesday nights. Contact Keith Miller at [email protected] with questions or to register.

NET CONTROL OPERATORS NEEDED:

Baltimore Traffic Net - Contact Baltimore Traffic Net Manager, Don N3FQC [email protected]

MDC Section Nets:

Baltimore Traffic Net - 146.670 tone 107.2 Daily 18:30 more information at https://www.baltimoretraffic.net/

Maryland Emergency Phone Net - 3820 / 1920 & 7243 kHz LSB Daily 1800L

Maryland Delaware DC - MDD meets daily at 7:00 PM and 10:00 PM local time on 3.557 MHz. CW

Maryland Slow Net - MSN meets daily at 7:30 PM Eastern Time on 3563 KHZ. CW

HF Hospital Net - The HF Hospital Net is held on the Wednesday following the third Monday of every month. Start time is 1900L on 3820kHz

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* SKYWARN REPORT AI0K

So far it's been a pretty quiet season (knock on wood) and I hope it continues. But chances are it will not - our busiest time is June and July. Additionally, the NWS is predicting a very busy hurricane season this year, due to El Nino being replaced by La Nina in the Pacific and very warm tropical waters in the Atlantic (already at what is typically found in August). They are expecting 25 named storms, 12 hurricanes and of those, 7 major(Category 3 and above) hurricanes. This is the highest number ever for a May forecast by the NWS. It could even be a record year, surpassing the 28 named storms and 15 hurricanes in 2005.

One of the questions I am regularly asked is "The NWS has all this high tech equipment - is the need for spotters going away?" Nothing could be further from the truth. For instance, the WXR88D radar does provide a lot of information on what's going on in the clouds - if there's rain, hail, snow or rotation indicating a possible tornado. But what it doesn't show is the most critical information the NWS needs - what's happening on the ground. They may see a hail shaft, for instance - but is the hail hitting the ground? If so, is it pea sized, baseball sized or somewhere in between? Winds may be 90-100 mph at 6,000 ft. but what is it on the ground? This information is what the NWS needs when determining if a warning needs to be issued and the more reports they get, the more accurate their warnings are. There are over 840,000 licensed hams in the United States. We are the largest single group of potential spotters available to the NWS. We can supply the most information to the NWS and help them fulfill one of their main purposes - providing the information necessary to keep the public safe. Please consider taking a SKYWARN Basics class at a minimum. Other classes expand on this. All classes are about 2 hours long and totally free. Classes are always being scheduled, so keep an eye on https://www.weather.gov/washington/skywarn for a class near you. But even if you aren't a trained spotter, your reports are welcome. Please check https://www.wx4lwx.us/Frequencies.php for the net that covers your area.

And as always, thank you for your support.

Jerry, AI0K

SKYWARN Amateur Radio Coordinator

National Weather Service Baltimore/Washington

[email protected]

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*SECTION EMER COORDINATORS REPORT KG4WWH

League Reporting is not available at this time.

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* MDC SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGER'S REPORT W3YVQ

MDC NETS 2405:

MEPN/C2, MARYLAND EMERGENCY PHONE NET, 3820/2200Z-DY

Liaisons: 3RN2/WVA/DTN/MDD/BTN/DTS/WL2K/EL, LSB

MEPN 2405 W3YVQ QND/31 QNI/354 QTC/44 MINS/644

BTN/C4, BALTIMORE TRAFFIC NET, 146.67/107.2/1830L-DY

Liaisons: MEPN/MDD/DTS/WL2K, 6.805/107.2 bu1, 6.67S bu2

BTN 2405 N3FQC QND/31 QNI/336 QTC/46 MINS/618

MDD/C4, MARYLAND/DC/DELAWARE NET, 3557/1900L-2200L-DY

Liaisons: 3RN4/DTN/MEPN/BTN/MSN/DTS/WL2K, CW

MDD 2405 AA3SB QND/58 QNI/157 QTC/20 MINS/274

MSN, MARYLAND SLOW NET, 3563/1930L-DY TRAINING,

Liaisons: MDD, CW

MSN 2405 N3AEA QND/21 QNI/60 QTC/6 MINS/302

PSHR 2405: KK3F 170, NI2W 137, W3YVQ 123, KB3MXK 85, WB3FTQ 80, AA3SB 60;

TFC 2405: KK3F 676, WB3FTQ 78, W3YVQ 28, KB3MXK 25, NI2W 17, AA3SB 13.

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HF PROPAGATION MAY 2025

MEPN NVIS propagation (2130Z to about 2220Z) was poor in May due to the late-afternoon E and D layer absorption conditions, signals dipping down and becoming weaker temporarily some days around 2200Z, and a significant amount of solar activity which caused additional absorption. Solar cycle 25 continued in May with 21 X-class and 122 M-class x-ray flares with subsequent blackouts sub-solar, continental, and polar. High-energy particle arrivals from flare-related CMEscontinued the absorption losses and even caused functional blackouts for hours and days in some instances. The story is not all bad, however. All the excitation of the F layers allowed for great band openings up through six meters after the periods of disruption. The afternoon MUF for 3,000KM at 2100Z was often above 30MHz. and 40M NVIS remained viable. Signals early and late on both MDD/4 and 3RN/4 were acceptable throughout the month. We are enjoying early summer conditions with little QRN so far. We are looking forward to Field Day hoping that 80M and 40M stay open all night.

Stations may also use Echolink on the WB3GXW-L conference-server, if necessary. MEPN representatives check for Echolink check-ins starting at net call daily via the WB3GXW-L link node (or *WASH_DC* conference-server backup). The conference-server is available for MEPN, MDD, BTN, MSN, and 3RN stations during periods of failed propagation. Sincere thanks to John, WB3GXW, and John, WA3MNN, for continuing to provide and maintain the WB3GXW-L conference-server we use daily.

DIGITAL MODES

ICS form email-formatted content (upper and lower case letters, figures, and standard email punctuation symbols), exported from FLmsg(tm) to a text file, may be attached to a Winlink Radio-email for transport to any legal client; and that file also may be copied and pasted into a legacy Radiogram as the text between the Breaks. This creates a Hybrid Radiogram which may be posted on the RRI/DTN for transport to any legal Radiogram addressee. The RRI/DTN accepts the email-formatted text in the Text-block which may be recovered by the addressee for delivery to a client via digital means. RRI/DTN and WL2K reps regularly attend the MEPN, BTN, and MDD nets.

Emergency communicators, including ARES(r)/NTS/RACES and ARESMAT, will be using these modern digital modes to support served agencies and the public. Join up now - before the emergency happens.

MANNING

We continue to be in need of county liaisons on our nets to accept incoming welcoming Radiogram messages for newcomers for delivery by local hams who can help them get started. MEPN is looking for additional NCS stations and liaisons to MDD. MDD is in need of additional CW operators for daily NCSs and liaisons to the higher nets. Newcomers are welcome - we will train you on the job. The daily Maryland Slow Net (MSN, 3563, 1930L dy) can help you learn net and message skills on CW. The CW mode is used by both the NTS and RRI nets in the evening cycle. It is still a highly efficient and effective mode of messaging even after a century - and every message group is spelled out for you.

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Thanks to all the Section’s traffic-net NCS operators, RRI/DTN and WL2K stations, liaisons, and traffic handlers for the continuing effort to keep the nets running and traffic moving.

73, W3YVQ, MDC ASM, STM

w3yvq atsign arrl dot net

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* TMARC Report

May 2024

Applications in Process:

N8RAT – Received on air status of 224.9800- at Rio, W.Va.

Repeater Inquiries sent to:

Inquiries are sent to sponsors for various reasons: Suspected to be off the air, clarification of technical parameters (CTCSS, Mode, ERP, Lat/Long, Antenna AGL, etc.)

Systems are listed here even if a response was received from the sponsor or not.

Coordinations Cancelled:

Cancelled coordinations can be a result from sponsor relinquishing pair, repeaters being off the air for extended period of time (where ample time is given to sponsor to get a system operational), death of sponsor, system never constructed, etc.

Chris Van Winkle

AB3WG

MDC Section Manager

[email protected]

240-755-4257