[OFARC] Fw: ARRL Club News for October 18, 2022

Wed Oct 19 14:36:20 EDT 2022

 just FYI folks ....

   ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: ARRL Web site <memberlist at arrl.org>To: "ke5hdf at sbcglobal.net" <ke5hdf at sbcglobal.net>Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2022 at 05:50:22 AM CDTSubject: ARRL Club News for October 18, 2022

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October 18, 2022Editor: Michael Walters, W8ZYARRL Club News ArchiveARRL Home Page  |
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   - Technician Blast Class is a Success
   - Cotton Hill VHF Group Activates Fire Tower
   - Volunteer Radio Network Takes Shape
   - West Central Texas Emergency PreparednessConference
   - Call for Instructors
   - Suggestions for Clubs
   - Club Station Update
   - Submitting Info for this Newsletter
   - How to Plan and Apply for an ARRL Hamfest orConvention
   - Important Links
Technician Blast Classis a Success
There is no "I" in the word "team."We proved this to be true over the weekend of October 8 in Bluefield, WestVirginia. 

The Appalachian Repeater Association andthe East River ARC, in association with ARRL and Icom, offered the first-everTechnician Blast Class. 
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Appalachian Repeater AssociationTechnician Blast Class of October 2022. Photo by WZ8E
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The instructors were: Nelson J. Linkous II, WZ8E; DavidSexton, AB8D, and Chris Hatcher, KC8AFH. 

This classhad a number of assistants that provided the classroom space, suppliededucational materials, ran errands, brought refreshments, and made a lunch run.Those assistants were Matt Morris, KC8LGS; George Dietrich, KF4YGL; JayBelt, K8CTI, and Michael Clemons, KM4UCR. 

The East RiverARC VE team scheduled a test session right after the class. A big thanks toKeith Jennings, AD8L; Gary L. Scott, WE3J; Gary Kadar, N8GK; BerlonRoberts, W8ZBR, and Andy Anderson, WD8OOR, for the testing help. 

There were students that came to the class from as far away asCharleston, Beckley, Oak Hill, and Monroe County. 

The classproduced a 91% pass rate.

Those that passed the test wereentered into a raffle for the chance to win a Yaesu FT-65 transceiver,provided the Appalachian Repeater Association. The raffle winner was JasonAnderson.

Thanks again to everyone who helped us make thisTechnician Blast Class a success!

-- Nelson J.Linkous II, WZ8E 
Cotton HillVHF Group Activates Fire Tower
Members from theSchoharie County Amateur Radio Association, along with members from theTryon Amateur Radio Club, got together the weekend of September 11 and 12 toput the Cotton Hill VHF Group, WB2UEE, on the air for the ARRL September VHFContest.
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Leonard Mountain Fire Tower and antennas. Photo by WU2M
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The group chose the Leonard MountainFire Tower site in Gilboa, New York, to operate, and they brought theSchoharie County ARA tower trailer along with them, as the fire tower isunavailable at this time. It's reported that the tower is undergoing anengineering review and may be available for use in the future. Their antennasconsisted of a 5-element M2 6-meter beam, an 11-element Cushcraft 2-meter beam,and a 23-element 70-centimeter beam. The group set up the operating positionat the base of the fire tower.

It was a fun time, butit was cut a little short when the rain started late Sunday morning. Eitherway, it was great fun, and it was nice to put WB2UEE back on theair. There has already been talk of doing more VHF contesting in the future.Other clubs and operators from around the area have expressed interest aswell. We look forward to seeing what this group can put together for nextseason!

-- Rocco Conte, WU2M, ARRL NNY SectionManager
VolunteerRadio Network Takes Shape
San Rafael, CA - During anemergency, being able to quickly send or receive accurate information canmake all the difference. However, most standard communication devicesrequire electric power, rendering them ineffective during planned outages, suchas the ones that Marin County, California, endured in October 2019.

The newly established Marin Radio Communications Volunteers(RCV), a pilot program under Marin County Department of Public Works (DPW), isworking toward a solution: organized ham radio communications.
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Skip Fedanzo, KJ6ARL, is the lead operator of theMarin Radio Communications Volunteers. Photo from the press release.
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The need was identified byseveral local amateur radio enthusiasts during the Pacific Gas and ElectricCompany's Public SafetyPower Shutoffs[External] (PSPS) in October 2019. During the PSPS, MarinCounty's branch of Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) notedthat various community-based organizations had technological problemscommunicating between each other and several local government agencies. The issuesincluded supply logistics and general assistance, which could have beenimproved by having a structured network of backup communications, specificallyfor local organizations.

The Marin Amateur RadioSociety (MARS) designated ham radio operators who could provide backupcommunications for the vulnerable community-based organizations. Utilizing mobileradio equipment, the ham operators began looking into effective ways toimplement the support network. Soon afterward, the Marin County DPW sponsoredthe initiative as a pilot program for improving public safety during futurePSPS events.

A seven-person planning team iscollaborating with 16 ham radio volunteers to develop a structured operational systemfor the pilot program. The guidelines would serve the needs of MarinCounty's community-based organizations, facilitating basic communicationspathways for them to provide their respective services.

"We'regoing for simplicity and functionality," said Skip Fedanzo, KJ6ARL, hamradio operator with Marin RCV. "We want to help local communityorganizations operate and communicate in an emergency, while letting them focuson doing what they do best: serving vulnerable residents." The pilot programis going through structured tests and simulations to determine which radiofrequencies and communications protocols are most efficient and dependableunder different situations. Such decisions are being made in conjunctionwith best practices developed over the 100-year history of worldwide hamradio usage.

The volunteers have been runningscenario-based drills with the selected organizations to provide proof of concept. Theresults of the drills and the general operational protocols are expected tobe presented to the Marin County Board of Supervisors. If the pilot issuccessful, the program could scale up to accommodate other communityorganizations in more locations around Marin County. 

--Andrew LeBlanc, Telecommunications Manager and Marin Emergency Radio Authority(MERA) Operations Officer, Department of Public Works
West Central Texas Emergency PreparednessConference
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(L to R) Jones County Assistant EC RichardWills, K5RAW; Jones County ECDavid Andrews, WB5VIH; Taylor County EC Michael Roche, KF5ZQB, and ARRL West Texas Section Manager DaleDurham, W5WI. Photo from W5WI

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Members of the Abilene area Amateur Radio EmergencyService® (ARES®) and the ARRL WTX Section ManagerEric Durham, W5WI, set up a booth at the West Central Texas EmergencyPreparedness Conference, held in the Abilene Convention Center on September 28,2022. The conference was hosted by the Central Texas Council of Governmentsand the Texas Division of Emergency Management District 7 DisasterCoordinators. First responders and other emergency personnel from throughout thedistrict attended. Excellent programs on many aspects of emergencyoperations were presented in breakout rooms.

-- Dale Durham,W5WI, ARRL WTX Section Manager
Call for Instructors
ARRL isembarking on a journey of training for club officers and members. The new clubdevelopment webinar series will include live Q&A, and the live sessionswill be available to everyone. The webinars will be recorded and available toARRL members through the ARRL Learning Center. We're looking for ARRLmembers to help us produce, create, and deliver the webinars.

The purpose of this program is to offer a series of short webinars thatoffer training for the skills needed to build and run a successful club.Topics will include leadership, activities, finance, and recruiting.Envisioned is a series of 10 or more webinars, all lasting from 20 to 30 minutes.

The hope is that club officers and members will view theseries as an opportunity to learn from others that have been able to putthose skills to use. To do this, we need the help of membership. We'relooking for instructors to help with building the training. We're also lookingfor members that can present in a standard format and have the skillsnecessary to do the training. If this sounds like something that you areinterested in, please contact Mike Walters, W8ZY, at mwalters at arrl.org for further details. We hopeto start this series in late January 2023.
Suggestions for Clubs
1. Offer afree year's membership to newly licensed hams, especially if they are kids.But they must show up in person to a club meeting in order to qualify. Ifthey attend a meeting, make sure a mature member is tasked with making themfeel welcome and helping them determine what they need to become radioactive. If for some reason they never come back, it will have cost the clubnothing but the time it took to process their membership form. But if they dodecide not to come back, you need to find out why.

2.There's no need to keep all of your print edition's of QST now thatyou can access them online. So, keep some of them in your car, and when youvisit the doctor, barber shop, auto repair place, etc., leave them withall of the other magazines provided at each business for others to browsethem while they wait. You should probably use a marker to cross out the nameand address, as you would not want to advertise that the addressee hasvaluable electronics gear at that residence. Better yet, get some Avery® labels to cover up that information. I suggest printing yourclub's information on the label, such as: "Compliments of the Podunk ValleyAmateur Radio Society (www.podunkars.org). We meet every third Tuesday at7:30 PM at the Podunk Rescue Squad Headquarters Building, 101 Main St.Visitors are always welcome!"

3. If your club conducts testsessions, make sure it has a promotional brochure that talks about theorganization. Make sure new licensees are made aware of the free membership offerand the assistance you provide to help them get on the air. Mostimportant: when they show up, smile!

-- Raymond "Woody"Woodward, K3VSA (AD, RK), an ARRL-trained Public Information Officer
Club StationUpdate
"Club Station," QST's newest column,continues to grow. In the coming months, clubs from around the country will sharestories about their activities and programs, such as one Florida club'sField Day operation that included a CW station operated by two blind hams, andan Ohio club offering advice and recommendations on how to successfully puttogether a club newsletter, among others.

"ClubStation" is intended to show the successes and contributions of clubs and tohighlight how many of them are overcoming the challenges of an ever-changingworld to thrive, and to help other clubs do the same. All clubs are invitedto submit their story. The details on how and where to submit are located onthe Affiliated Club Resources web page, under Club Station Author'sGuide and Form. You do not have to be a professional writer to submityour club's story, and QST editors will be happy to work with you. Welook forward to hearing from your club!
Submitting Info for this Newsletter
ARRL Club News is for radio clubs to show how they are working in thecommunity and the hobby to advance amateur radio. If your club completes aproject, supports an event, does an EmComm activation, or activates a park, wewant to hear about it. You can submit your newsletter article to us at clubs at arrl.org. We like to get them as textor Word files instead of PDFs. If you have pictures, please submit themwith caption information, as well as the name and call sign of thephotographer. We want to highlight the good work being done by the clubs and showothers in the community. Think of this as a chance to show off your club andyour programs.
How to Plan andApply for an ARRL Hamfest or Convention
If youramateur radio club is planning to host a convention, hamfest, tailgate, orswapfest, please consider applying for it to be an ARRL-sanctioned event.To learn what it means to be an ARRL-sanctioned event, and to get some ideason how to prepare for and conduct a hamfest or convention, visit www.arrl.org/arrl-sanctioned-events.

To have your eventsanctioned, complete the online application at www.arrl.org/hamfest-convention-application.

The ARRL Hamfests and ConventionsCalendar can be found online at www.arrl.org/hamfests. In addition, the Convention andHamfest Calendar that runs in QST each month also presentsinformation about upcoming events.
Important Links
ARRL Home: www.arrl.org

Find an ARRLAffiliated Club: www.arrl.org/clubs

Find your ARRL Section: www.arrl.org/sections

Find a license class in your area: www.arrl.org/class

Find a license exam in your area: www.arrl.org/exam 

Find ahamfest or convention: www.arrl.org/hamfests

Email ARRL Clubs: clubs at arrl.org 
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ARRL Club News ispublished every month (12 times each year). ARRL members may subscribe at nocost or unsubscribe by editing their Member Data Page as described at http://www.arrl.org/club-news.

 Copyright © 2022 American Radio Relay League,Incorporated. Use and distribution of this publication, or any portion thereof, ispermitted for non-commercial or educational purposes, with attribution.All other purposes require written permission.
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