MDC Section News September 2024

* MDC SECTION OPEN POSITIONS *

* MDC SECTION-WIDE ECHOLINK NET

* SECTION MANAGERS NOTES

* DIVISION NEWS

* UPCOMING HAMFESTS & CONVENTIONS

* EXAMS, ACTIVITIES, OPPORTUNITIES & SPECIAL EVENTS

* ASSISTANT SECTION MANAGERS REPORT

* AFFILIATED CLUB COORDINATORS REPOIRT

* 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 September 20 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

ARRL -Section wide member email is still not available. I will continue to post the Section News on our website ARRL-MDC.ORG. Also will distribute to affiliated club reps.

I was very fortunate to be able to attend the ARRL Section Managers Workshop in Newington. We had presentations by many of the ARRL staff including Dave Minster. I found the staff to be very competent and passionate in their area of expertise. We got a tour of W1AW, the ARRL lab and several other areas. Thanks to Mike Walters, Steve Ewald and the ARRL staff for a great day.

We have moved forward with our Groups.IO email solution – MDC.Groups.IO.

A new feature of the Section News will be staff reports. Please see the included reports in this issue.

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

Atlantic division page has been updated with new information:

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

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.

TECHNICIAN CLASS:

Free weekly 2 1/2-hour Google Meet sessions providing

info necessary to pass the FCC's Amateur Radio, Technician License Exam, along with a wide variety of information on Amateur Radio in general, will begin on Wednesday January 15, 2025 and run through March 5. Classes will be held 6:30 PM to approximately 9:00pm Eastern Time.

Preregistration is required, and may be completed at
http://www.w3vpr.org/preregister

For questions contact Keith Miller, AE3D,

at [email protected]

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.

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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*ASSISTANT SECTION MANAGERS REPORT – NH7C

Hurricane Debby

Participated/Presented on the Mid Atlantic ARES Mutual Assistance Team (MA-ARESMAT) Hurricane Debbie Conference Call
Monitored Situational Reports and Conference Calls

FEMA
Department of the Interior
State of Maryland
State of Virginia

Checked onsite generators, fuel, radios, batteries, and logistics cache
Coordinated with National Capitol Region SKYWARN
Provided weather related situational awareness to MDC Section Leadership

Participated on the MDC Section Leadership Conference Call

Contributed to the 2025 Inauguration Planning Call – MDC Section & DC ARES

Participated/Monitored On-Air Nets and Meetings

Montgomery Amateur Radio Club (MARC)
Montgomery County Auxiliary Communications Service (MCACS)
SKYWARN

Reviewed/Renewed Draft MDC Section Emergency Management Plans

ES Chat Communications System

Loaded and tested
Participated on a conference all regarding the operation and administration of the MDC Section ES Chat account

Rockville Science Center

Montgomery County Fair Amateur Radio Demonstration

Coordinated/collaborated with the MDC Section Leadership Team

Hurricane Debby
Groups.IO email groups and collaboration platform
ES Chat
2025 Inauguration

Monitored Hurricane threats to Hawaii

Lessons Identified – Lessons Learned research
Hurricanes Hone, Gilma, and Hector

Big Island Amateur Radio Club
Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense Agency

Public Information Coordinator (PIC) Activity

Heritage Emergency National Task Force (HENTF)

As the Co-Chair of the HENTF Communications and Resource Development Working Group, presented on the Working Group’s recent activities to improve recruitment and retention of HENTF members

Quick briefing “Elevator Speech” written guidance
Outreach related presentation slide deck
Enhanced use of QR Codes and focused website direction

Reviewed notifications, emails, and newsletters

APRS Foundation
Big Island Amateur Radio Club (BIARC)
Potomac Valley Radio Club (PVRC)
Montray Bay Amateur Radio Club (MBARA)
Quarter Century Wireless Association (QCWA)

Reviewed notifications and publications from ARRL headquarters

ARRL Letter
ARRL Contest Update
ARRL Member Bulletins
ARRL Club News
ARRL The Current
ARRL DX News

Reviewed notifications and publications from served agencies and other partners

Maryland State Police
Maryland Department of Emergency Management (MDEM)
The National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security (NCS⁴)

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*AFFILIATED CLUB COORDINATORS REPORT – K2EJ

If you have student members in your club (age less than 21 years old) they qualify for free ARRL membership. See https://www.arrl.org/student

The Marine Corps Marathon Hams are seeking volunteers to help support the race on Oct 27th. Signup entails a two-step process:

First, sign up w/ the Marine Corps Marathon Organization, and state you wish to serve as an Amateur Radio Operator (ARO) at: https://www.marinemarathon.com/volunteer/
Second, finish the volunteer sign up process by going to https://hamvolunteers.com/

From Rol Anders, K3RA - Free On-line Technician Class Course starting Sept 5

A free, weekly, live, Amateur Radio Technician Class Licensing course on Zoom will begin on Thursday, Sept 5, and will run through Thursday, October 17 (7 sessions). The three-hour sessions will start at 6:30 PM Eastern Time. These are the classes that we have been holding for years sponsored by the National Electronics Museum. Please publicize this with anyone you know that you think would be interested. Those wishing to sign up should email me at [email protected].

From Pete Hiltz, WV3S - Carroll County Amateur Radio Club

The Carroll County Amateur Radio Club will be hosting a Technician Course on September 14 and 15, in Westminster. Details are at https://k3pzn.net/course/.

73,
Steven Fook
K2EJ
[email protected]
[email protected]
Ex: N2PIF, AC3AZ
ARRL Affiliated Club Coordinator for Maryland-DC Section
ARRL ARES Emergency Coordinator for Harford County, MD

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* SKYWARN REPORT AI0K

August wasn’t overly busy as far as SKYWARN goes, but we have had

some severe weather. Many reports were sent from nets all over the Baltimore/Washington NWS coverage area, resulting in warnings being issued. The NWS is very grateful for these reports.

Autumn comes to us on Saturday, September 21st. And while the hurricane season so far has not lived up to projections (which is good), it is waking up. Francine came up the Atlantic coast and as I right this is dumping several inches of rain in North Carolina. It is due here later this week and while we shouldn't get as much rain, it will bring some much need precipitation to our area. At the same time, Tropical Depression George is out in the mid-Atlantic but is headed away from the U.S. But we will have two and a half months to go. Now is the time to ensure you are ready should a hurricane come up this way.

The most dangerous threat is flooding, especially along the coast but even inland heavy rains can push rivers out of their banks and flood roads. More people die from floods each year than any other weather phenomenon, most of them in vehicles trying to cross flooded roads. It only takes a few inches of water to float a car off the road. Even if

you have driven a road hundreds of times and think you know it, the road may have been washed out. A good rule is if the water is too deep for you to see the pavement, stop and turn around.

The next most dangerous threat, of course, is the wind. Both straight line winds and tornadoes can cause significant destruction, blowing down trees and taking out power lines. Have a backup plan should you lose

power - either your own generator or a shelter you can make it too. And remember roads may be blocked and impassable.

Should a dangerous hurricane be headed towards the DC area we will activate WX4LWX at the NWS office and active on both VHF (Bluemont 147.300 MHz repeater) and HF (14.325 MHz Hurricane Watch Net). If you

don't have HF capability you can pass your report on the WX4LWX, either directly or through your SKYWARN Subnet Coordinator and we will pass it on to both the Baltimore/Washington NWS office and the National Hurricane Center.

We have two SKYWARN Basics classes coming up. One is in Hagerstown

(Washington County) on Tuesday, September 24th and the other in McHenry

(Garrett County) on Wednesday, October 9th. Previous classes this year

have been well attended, and I'm happy to report that the majority of

most classes are hams. I hope this continues. Everyone is welcome to

attend these free classes - see

https://www.weather.gov/washington/skywarn to sign up. The same page will have additional classes as they are scheduled.

All of our nets can use additional net control stations. The position isn't hard - but it is very important. If you are interested, please

contact your Subnet Coordinator. You can find your subnet at https://wx4lwx.us/Frequencies.php and your coordinator at https://wx4lwx.us/leadership.php.

Butch Eignbrode NI2W, our SKYWARN Subnet Coordinator for Washington County, has notified me he will be stepping down as of the first of 2025. Butch has done a fine job and we'll miss him. But he is also the county EC and with that and other commitments he feels he's trying to wear too many hats. I would like to personally thank Butch for the fine

job he has done building the SKYWARN program there. But it also means we will need a new Subnet Coordinator. Butch already

has an active SKYWARN program on the W3CWC repeater (146.94- pl 100.0)

in Hagerstown which is the hardest part of the job. Your job as Subnet Coordinator would be to promote the program in Washington County and encourage people to attend the SKYWARN classes. You will also want to

recruit additional Net Control stations to help when severe weather strikes. The requirements for this position are SKYWARN Basics training (other classes will definitely help, especially Winter Weather) and

previous Net Control experience on a directed net. How you run the program there is up to you, as long as the NWS gets the information they need. We have the scripts we use on the main net available on wx4lwx.org which you can adapt to your needs or you can create your own. Additionally, we have monthly Google Meet meetings for all coordinators and I'm always available. If you are interested, you can email me here at [email protected]. I will also be at the Hagerstown class if you would like to discuss it there.

That's all for this month. Enjoy the cooler weather that is coming and stay safe.

Jerry, AI0K

SKYWARN Amateur Radio Coordinator

National Weather Service Baltimore/Washington

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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 2408:

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

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

MEPN 2408 W3YVQ QND/31 QNI/392 QTC/34 MINS/572

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 2408 N3FQC QND/31 QNI/357 QTC/39 MINS/587

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

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

MDD 2408 AA3SB QND/50 QNI/138 QTC/8 MINS/178

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

Liaisons: MDD, CW

MSN 2408 N3AEA QND/22 QNI/63 QTC/13 MINS/298

PSHR 2408: KK3F 160, W3YVQ 135, NI2W 109, WB3FTQ 75;

TFC 2408: KK3F 881, WB3FTQ 52, W3YVQ 42, NI2W 14.

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HF PROPAGATION JUN 2024

MEPN NVIS propagation (2130Z to about 2220Z) was poor in August due to the late-afternoon high-sun-angle 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 4 X-class and 118 M-class X-ray flares with subsequent sub-solar, continental, and/or polar blackouts. High-energy particle arrivals from flare-related CMEs continued 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 25MHz, and 40M NVIS remained viable most days. Signals early and late on both MDD/4 and 3RN/4 were acceptable throughout the month except marginal on days with late flares. We are enjoying late summer conditions with little QRN so far.

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.

- - - - - - - - - -

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

Aug. 2024

Applications in Process:

K4AIU – Received on air confirmation of 441.7000+ at Bluemont, Va.

The Mid-Atlantic Repeater Council, Inc.

http://www.tmarc.org

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Chris Van Winkle

AB3WG

MDC Section Manager

[email protected]

240-755-4257