[OFARC] Fwd: West Gulf Division Newsletter September 2016

[Ralph]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: ARRL Members Only Web site <memberlist at www.arrl.org>
Date: Sep 17, 2016 2:12 PM
Subject: West Gulf Division Newsletter September 2016
To: ke5hdf at sbcglobal.net
Cc: 

> West Gulf Division Newsletter September 2016
>
>
> ---H.R. 1301 “The Amateur Parity Act” Passes House
> ---West Gulf Division Legislative Plan 2017
> ---New Plan for Rapid Deployment Teams
> ---Jamboree on the Air Oct 2016
> ---Planned Events for K5RAV and N5AUS
> ---Upcoming Hamfests and Conventions
>
> ---H.R. 1301 “The Amateur Parity Act” Passes House
>
> “The bill is passed without objection." With those words, Amateur
> Radio history was made on September 12, when the US House of
> Representatives approved the Amateur Radio Parity Act, H.R. 1301 on
> a voice vote under a suspension of the rules. The focus of the
> campaign to enact the legislation into law now shifts to the US
> Senate. The House victory culminated many years of effort on ARRL's
> part to gain legislation that would enable radio amateurs living in
> deed-restricted communities to erect antennas that support Amateur
> Radio communication. The measure calls on the FCC to amend its Part
> 97 rules "to prohibit the application to amateur stations of certain
> private land-use restrictions, and for other purposes." While
> similar bills in past years gained some traction on Capitol Hill, it
> was not until the overwhelming grassroots support from the Amateur
> Radio community for H.R. 1301 shepherded by ARRL that a bill made it
> this far. The legislation faces significant obstacles to passage in
> the US Senate, however.
>
> "This is huge step in our effort to enact legislation that will
> allow radio amateurs who live in deed-restricted communities the
> ability to construct an effective outdoor antenna," ARRL President
> Rick Roderick, K5UR, said. "Thanks to everyone for their help in
> this effort thus far. Now we must turn our full attention to getting
> the bill passed in the Senate."
>
> ARRL Hudson Division Director Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, who chairs the
> ARRL Board's Legislative Advocacy Committee, has been heavily
> involved in efforts to move H.R. 1301 forward. "This has been a
> multiyear effort that is finally seeing some light," he said. "The
> passage of the bill in the House is a major accomplishment, due to
> the hard work of so many - from the rank-and-file member to the
> officers and directors."
>
> Lisenco said it's not a time to rest on our laurels. "We are only
> halfway there. The focus now shifts to our effort in the Senate," he
> said. "We are beginning a massive e-mail campaign in which we need
> every member to write their two Senators using our simplified
> process. You will be hearing from President Roderick and from your
> Directors, asking you to go to our 'Rally Congress' page. Using your
> ZIP code, e-mails will be generated much like our recent letter
> campaign. You'll fill in your name and address and press Enter. The
> e-mails will be sent directly to your Senators without you having to
> search through their websites."
>
> The "Rally Congress" web page can be found at,
> https://arrl.rallycongress.net/ctas/urge-senate-to-support-amateur-radio-parity-act
> .
>
> Lisenco said getting these e-mails to members' Senators is a
> critical part of the process. "Those numbers matter! Please help us
> help you by participating in this effort," he said.
>
> As the amended bill provides, "Community associations should fairly
> administer private land-use regulations in the interest of their
> communities, while nevertheless permitting the installation and
> maintenance of effective outdoor Amateur Radio antennas. There exist
> antenna designs and installations that can be consistent with the
> aesthetics and physical characteristics of land and structures in
> community associations while accommodating communications in the
> Amateur Radio services."
>
> During this week's limited debate, the House bill's sponsor, Rep
> Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), thanked ARRL and the Community Associations
> Institute (CAI) for reaching an agreement to move the bill forward
> "in a bipartisan and very positive manner." He pointed out to his
> colleagues that Amateur Radio antennas are prohibited outright in
> some areas.
>
> "For some this is merely a nuisance," Kinzinger said, "but for
> others - those that use their Amateur Radio license for life-saving
> emergency communications - a dangerous situation can be created by
> limiting their ability to establish effective communication for
> those in need."
>
> Kinzinger said that in emergencies, hams can provide "a vital and
> life-saving function" when conventional communication systems are
> down. He also praised the Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS), a
> US Department of Defense-sponsored program, comprised largely of
> Amateur Radio volunteers, that also supports communication during
> emergencies and disasters.
>
> Cosponsor US Rep Joe Courtney (D-CT) also urged the bill's passage.
> "This is not just a feel-good bill," Courtney said, recounting how
> Hurricane Sandy brought down the power grid, and "we saw all the
> advanced communications we take for granted...completely fall by the
> wayside." Ham radio volunteers provided real-time communication in
> the storm's wake, he said, saying the legislation was a way "to
> rebalance things" for radio amateurs who choose to live in
> deed-restricted neighborhoods by enabling them to install
> "non-intrusive antennas."
>
> Courtney noted that he spoke recently with FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler,
> and said that Wheeler "strongly supports this legislation."
>
> Leading up to the vote, Rep Paul Tonko (D-NY) also spoke in support
> of the legislation, calling it a commonsense approach that would
> build "fairness into the equation for Amateur Radio operators" in
> dealing with homeowners associations.
>
> The earlier U.S. Senate version of the Amateur Radio Parity Act, S.
> 1685, no longer is in play, and the Senate is expected to vote by
> unanimous consent on the version of H.R. 1301 that was adopted by
> the House on September 12.
>
> ARRL Website
>
> ---West Gulf Division Legislative Plan 2017
>
> If the Senate version of H.R.1301 is passed and signed by the
> President, there will be no effort made by the WGD Legislative Team to
> pass a Homeowners Association antenna/tower bill in the Texas or
> Oklahoma legislature in 2017.  Federal law preempts state law.  Passing
> a state law would have no benefit to amateurs living in HOA’s.  
>
> A plan has been made to file an enhanced PRB-1 bill in Texas similar to
> the one that was passed a few years ago by the WGD in Oklahoma.  An
> enhanced PRB-1 bill would affect municipalities/cities not HOA’s. 
> The intent of the bill is to place the “burden of proof” on the
> municipalities/cities thereby providing relief for the amateur radio
> operator.  A portion of the proposed text is list below.
>
> “Allow for the erection of an amateur radio antenna or an amateur
> radio antenna support structure at a height and dimension sufficient to
> reasonably accommodate amateur radio service communications, and shall
> only constitute the minimum practicable regulation necessary to
> accomplish the intent of this section; and
>
> Require that, upon denial of an application for approval of an amateur
> radio antenna or amateur radio antenna support structure, the authority
> denying the application state the reasons for the denial and on appeal
> bear the burden of proving that the actions of the authority are
> consistent with this section.”
>
> If a Senate version of H.R. 1301 is not passed, the WGD Legislative
> Team will file a HOA antenna/tower bill in the Texas legislature 2017. 
> Regardless of what happens with H.R. 1301, a generator bill like the one
> passed in the 2015 session of the Texas legislature will be filed in
> Oklahoma.  The generator bill prohibits HOA’s from restricting the
> installation of standby AC generators.  It is hard to believe that
> HOA’s would have such a restriction, but most do.  In Texas that
> restriction is no longer valid.  The Oklahoma bill, when passed, will
> prohibit HOA’s from preventing generator installations in Oklahoma
> HOA’s.
>
> ---New Plan for Rapid Deployment Teams
>
> In 2009 the Department of Defense held a communications
> interoperability exercise at Camp Mabry in Austin. It was called DICE
> 09. This event saw two things come to be that impacted how ARES might
> respond to large scale disaster events in the West Gulf Division.  The
> first was the inaugural kickoff of the Texas Department of Emergency
> Management  legislatively mandated Communications Coordination Group.  
> Amateur Radio was a major player in this group.  The second thing was
> that  Jack Colley, chief official of TDEM, created a series of Rapid
> Response Task forces.  Based throughout Texas, these task forces
> consisted of hundreds of response groups working together to provide
> well trained teams ready to respond anywhere needed on a very short
> notice.  ARES was asked to develop and provide a trained cadre of radio
> operators that would be available to respond along with each of these
> teams.
>
> In response to this request,  ARES put together four teams; Team
> Dallas, Team Waco, Team Austin and Team San Antonio to align with the
> state teams.  These teams were provided with specialized equipment
> provided to us by ARRL for this purpose and were given specialized
> training to prepare them to respond when tasked.
>
> Through the coordination of the CCG, several points of contacts were
> identified, and through the efforts of then STX SEC Tom Whiteside, N5TW
> and his assistant Jim Russell  NQ5L to lead this effort and coordinate
> recruitment, training and overall preparedness, there developed a
> strong showing of volunteers and a regular regiment of training was
> introduced.  From this we also developed the WGD Training matrix, a
> resource typing plan, and a series of response protocols.
>
> Time has moved on.  Chief Colley passed away and his replacement, Chief
> Nim Kidd, disbanded the State Response Teams, and the CCG has been
> reduced to a quarterly newsletter.  We in the ARES Field Organization
> know that there was, and still is, value in maintaining these teams and
> having the high level of ARESmat teams able to muster rapid response to
> requests for assistance during large disasters throughout the Division.
> That need still exists to this day.
>
> Unfortunately, Tom Whiteside has moved on to other tasks within the
> Section and Jim Russell has retired and is enjoying his new ability to
> travel.  Subsequently, we have lost the focused effort to maintain
> these teams.  At one point, we had a couple of dozen trained and ready
> responders, but lack of training events, real events and having someone
> focused on the teams, has caused us to lose trained members.  We still
> have it as a goal on the training matrix, but we are no longer
> identifying and recruiting for each of the teams.
>
> Another concern is the equipment provided to us by ARRL.  It came with
> the understanding that it would be used, through events and regular
> training, and would not be put into closets and forgotten.  The
> equipment should be deployed to team members and be kept up to date and
> fully functional.   Most of the equipment has been handed off to local
> ARES organizations that are, correctly, more focused on their local
> missions versus a statewide view.
>
> In order for us to retain our readiness teams, to grow and develop our
> team membership, and to ensure the equipment is ready to go at all
> times, I feel that we need  a Division level person who can coordinated
> and supervise all teams across all Sections of WGD and ensure the
> equipment is ready and that we have trained operators ready to respond.
> We have developed something special within the Division, let’s not
> lose it. 
>
> Lee Cooper, W5LHC
> Section Manager 
> South Texas Section
>
> ---Jamboree on the Air Oct 2016
>
> JAMBOREE ON THE AIR (JOTA) IS OCTOBER 14-16, 2016
>
> Scoutings’ largest world-wide event, known as Jamboree on the Air is
> coming up the weekend of October 14-16, 2016.  Over one million scouts
> participate in a typical year, along with more than 20,000 amateur
> radio operators staffing over 11,000 stations. 
>
> You may have been a participant in JOTA as a scout — perhaps your
> first QSO on the radio.  That fun and excitement may have been just the
> trigger that got you interested in Ham Radio.  Consider this your
> invitation to help a Boy or Girl Scout sample the magical world of
> amateur radio by volunteering your station and expertise to participate
> in JOTA. 
>
> We all know someone involved in scouting.  Talk with them about setting
> up a station on a campout (the weekend of Oct. 14-16), in a park, at a
> scouting unit’s meeting place or at your shack.  Details about this
> year’s JOTA are available at: http://www.scouting.org/jota,
> http://www.k2bsa.net, http://jotajoti.info, and
> http://www.arrl.org/jamboree-on-the-air-jota.
>
> The k2bsa.net site has information on registering your planned station
> with the World Organization of the Scout Movement and how to report
> your results.  To encourage participants who register to report results
> of their operation, ICOM has offered a series of prizes to be given to a
> lucky reporter — but, you must register and file a report in time. 
> Details in the September JOTA Newsletter available at k2bsa.net
>
> The West Gulf Division Section Managers have appointed Assistant
> Section Managers for Radio Scouting.  See
> http://arrlwgd.org/education/scouting/.   Let them know your planned
> activities and results.  The ASMs for Radio Scouting are your local
> resources for Jamboree on the Air and other Radio Scouting ideas.
>
> Frank K5HS
> Assistant Director for Radio Scouting
> West Gulf Division
>
> ---Planned Events for K5RAV and N5AUS
>
> Director Woolweaver, K5RAV and Vice Director Stratton, N5AUS plan to
> attend the following upcoming events in 2016.
>
> K5RAV
> ---ARRL Executive Committee Meeting, Chicago, IL Oct 21-22
>
> N5AUS
> ---Texoma Hamarama, Ardmore, OK Oct 21-22
>
> ARRL Convention and Hamfest events are a great place to visit with the
> Division and Section Leadership. Each event will also include an ARRL
> forum where you can receive additional insight into Division and
> Section matters.
>
> At any time that you have a concern or just want to say hello, contact
> Director Woolweaver at K5RAV at arrl.org
>
> ---Upcoming Hamfests and Conventions
>
>     Bell County EXPO Center
>     Hamfest/Convention
>     10/01/2016 | HamEXPO
>     Location: Belton, TX
>     Type: ARRL Hamfest
>     Sponsor: Temple Amateur Radio Club
>     Website: http://tarc.org/hamexpo/
>     
>     Ardmore Convention Center
>     Hamfest/Convention
>     10/21/2016 | Texoma Hamarama
>     Location: Ardmore, OK
>     Type: ARRL Hamfest
>     Sponsor: Texoma Hamarama, Inc.
>     Website: http://www.texomahamarama.org
>
>     Garfield County Fairgrounds - Hoover Building
>     Hamfest/Convention
>     11/05/2016 | Enid ARC Hamfest
>     Location: Enid, OK
>     Type: ARRL Hamfest
>     Sponsor: Enid Amateur Radio Club
>     Website: http://www.enidarc.org
>
>     Schertz Civic Center
>     Hamfest/Convention
>     01/14/2017 | San Antonio Radio Fiesta
>     Location: Schertz, TX
>     Type: ARRL Hamfest
>     Sponsor: San Antonio Radio Club
>     Website: http://w5sc.org
>
>     Forest Hill Civic and Convention Center
>     Hamfest/Convention
>     01/20/2017 | North Texas Section Convention (Cowtown Hamfest)
>     Location: Forest Hill, TX
>     Type: ARRL Convention pending Executive Committee approval
>     Sponsor: Cowtown Amateur Radio Club
>     Website: http://cowtownhamfest.com
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> ARRL West Gulf Division
> Director: David A Woolweaver, K5RAV
> k5rav at arrl.org
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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