[South Florida DX Association] Monthly Southern Florida Section News Summary

[Bill Marx]

Hi everyone,

As I complete this news summary several items keep rising to the top of the
list for needed discussions.

The news that we will no longer have to prove CW proficiency for any amateur
radio license causes rejoicing for some and sadness for others.  I am
reminded of a passage from a novel that was popular in the 1960s. Herman
Hesse in Sidartha said: Nothing is constant except change.  (That may be a
paraphrase but many of you will recall the book.)  Change is a good thing,
whether or not you like the idea of no more CW testing. We need to be 
mentors
to the newcomers to HF and we need to realize that HF operating is not like
talking on local repeaters.  Here is a great PowerPoint program, is a good
intro to HF operating and a good refresher for the rest of us:
www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/materials/HF-Radio.ppt
Why not show it at an upcoming club meeting?

The other news item is the two recent train accidents in Kentucky.  We need 
to
remember that as emergency communicators we need to be ready to do more than
operate a radio at a hurricane shelter.  Every county in the section has a
major railroad running through it and many of these rail lines are in
critical commercial and hospital areas, not to mention residential areas.
Encourage discussion about this at your next ARES meeting and don't wait for
the EC to bring it up.  ARES is YOU.

For those with interest in working DX or just a curiosity about DXing:
SMOM Soverign Miltary Order of Malta video on you-tube 1A4A
check it out.... http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=1a4a
Here is the link to the photos of several local hams on a trip to NP2B 
during
the CW WW SSB contest. http://picasaweb.google.com/eromagni/KP2 click on the
slide show section and enjoy.

If you are experiencing line noise problems ( this is for FP&L customers but
it may apply to others) go to their website and initiate a complaint. The
term they use is TVI for this category. This gets the ball rolling and 
you'll
be contacted within five days.

QFN has moved to 3547 at 7 PM and 10 PM EST. All interested in learning
traffic handling are welcome.

REPORTS
SAR DEC 2006: KA4FZI 541, NY4E 145, WA2YL 110, N3OZP 83, K4FQU 74, AA4BN 57,
WA4EIC 28, KI4OUD 14, W4WYR 12, KI4KQQ 9, KI4MGF 1
SFL PSHRs for December 2006
KA4FZI 120, K4FQU 117, WA2YL 100, NY4E 90, AA4BN 86, N3OZP 70, W4DKB 17

NET ABB. SESS QNI QTC MGR
All Florida CW Traffic Net QFN, 62, 759, 365, NY4E
FL Amateur SSB Traffic Net FAST, 31, 236, 31, K4SCL
Florida Medium Speed Net FMSN, 31, 253, 70, AG4RJ/AB4XK
Jupiter-Tequesta Rptr Group JTRG, 5, 58, 18, AG4BV
Palm Beach County ARES PBCAN, 4, 30, 10, KG4PFY
Saint Lucie Repeater Assn SLRA, 6, 46, 7, KE4UEI
Southeast Florida Traffic Net SEFTN, 59, 649, 76, AG4RJ/AI4GE
Southwest Florida Traffic Net SWFTN, 26, 350, 43, K4FQU

Bulletin Report from David Smith KE4UEI: Recd 21, Sent 5, Total 26

ARES Report for December 2006
There are 1235 ARES members in the 10 counties reporting. There were 16 
nets,
5 with NTS liaison, holding 57 net sessions.
ECs reporting: WA4GUK (Lee), AD4RZ(Okeechobee), AA4BN(Hendry), N1XC 
(Martin),
WA4ASJ (Indian River), N4QPM (Palm Beach), KF4MJJ (Collier), KF4IHX (St
Lucie) & N4LEM (Brevard). Net Manager KF4CUP reported for Miami-Dade.
There were 3 drills, tests and training sessions and 42 total ARES 
operations.

Reports from Technical Specialists
KI4QJL, our newest TS from Brevard county reports helping local hams with
antenna work and doing some experimenting with a 20 meter NVIS antenna
system.
KF4KDO has been working on a mic project with a local ham and helping with
licensing classes.
Reports also received from N4TZH, K9KB, and WB9JTK.

There will be two hamfests in the section in March -- 3/17 in Stuart by the
Martin County ARA and 3/31 in Oakland Park by the Broward ARC.

Many Palm Beach and Broward county hams are manning an information and NTS
message booth at the South Florida Fair.  Several groups hosted young folks
for Kid's Day.  Send me photos of those and other events for the web page.
(Please send photos as soon as possible after the event.  If you have event
photos already posted on a web site, send me the link and I will include 
it.)

The web page is updated and rearranged a bit. Please visit it for more
information about upcoming club programs, public service opportunities, and
in-depth information. www.arrl.org/sections/SFL.html

There is a new emergency-radio.org site coming soon. Notice, there is no 
link
to this since it is under construction as of now. Look for it soon and
remember that www.hello-radio.org is still going to be around and you can
still use it as a site for prospects to visit for simple information about
our hobby. In case you haven't been reading a lot of the Amateur Radio
related postings, EmComm is going to be a big push this year and the new
website will be like Hello for emergencies--simple, non-tech talk, but good
information.

May 2007 be a year of Peace, good health and prosperity for each of you. 
May
you have Gud DX, many multipliers, NTS check agreement, and may your signal
report always be Five-Nine.  Stay safe and stay on the air.

73,
Sherri, W4STB


--------------------------------------------------------------------
ARRL Southern Florida Section
Section Manager: Sharon T. Brower, W4STB
w4stb at arrl.org