[SFDXA] A Message from Jeff

[Bill]

Greetings to all,

We had a great time at the Dayton Hamvention held on May 20-22. Ran
into a good number of SFL members partaking in the weekend festivities.
The WX mostly cooperated with some rain and moderate temperatures. The
ARRL Expo, where once again, Gold Coast DEC Charlie, WB2SSN and myself
were assisting at the Public Service booth, had huge crowds visiting
the various exhibits and the ARRL Store. If you have never been to
Dayton, you are missing out on one of the premier events in Amateur
Radio.

Our thanks to Kenny Hollenbeck, KD4ZFW for responding to the call we
put out on the Southeast FL Traffic Net for assistance in transporting
Ham Aid gear headed to Ecuador to support earthquake relief and
recovery.  Kenny picked up 5 boxes weighing 400 pounds at SW Air Cargo
at FLL and transported them to UTS in Miami for shipment to Ecuador.
Kenny was presented with a special SFL Section service award at the
recent Gold Coast ARA meeting by ASM Barry Porter, KB1PA. For more info
about the Ham Aid program, please visit http://www.arrl.org/ham-aid

SFL ARES units participated in the HURREX ‘16 drill on May 18th. The
drill was coordinated with the FL Division of Emergency Management and
county EOC’s. Six SFL county ARES groups passed traffic to
Tallahassee on HF and the SARNet UHF network.

June 1st marks the beginning of the Atlantic Hurricane season. I guess
Mother Nature can’t read the calendar as we have had 2 named tropical
storms in May. WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center conducted their
annual station test on May 28th. This should signal to all of us to
prepare for what might come our way this season. As the Florida DEM
often reminds us, “Get A Plan” And sign up with your local ARES
group to provide the needed communications support for our
communities.

At the May South Florida DX Association meeting, ASM Barry Porter,
KB1PA presented Kai Siwiak, KE4PT with the Feb. 2016 QST Cover Plaque
Award for his article “Radio Wave Propagation: How Waves Attenuate
with Distance” Congratulations, Kai !!

ARRL Reaches Agreement with Community Associations Institute on Parity
Act

After 2-1/2 months of intense negotiations, ARRL has reached an
agreement with the Community Associations Institute (CAI) — the
national association of homeowners associations — concerning amended
language of the Amateur Radio Parity Act. This will allow H.R. 1301 to
proceed to what is hoped will be passage of the bill in both houses of
Congress this year.
“We express support for H.R. 1301, the Amateur Radio Parity Act, as
proposed to be amended,” the CAI statement said.

ARRL, working with CAI and Congressional staff, agreed on an amended
bill that would allow every amateur living in a deed-restricted
community the ability to install an effective outdoor antenna.
“We are pleased with the agreement with CAI over new proposed
language in the legislation, and thank CAI and the Congressional
staffers who helped make this happen,” ARRL Hudson Division Director
and Legislative Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, said.
Lisenco stressed that, while the agreement with CAI is significant,
there is still much work to be done.

“This agreement with CAI is a big step forward, but getting the
Amateur Radio Parity Act signed into law remains a long process. ARRL
will still need to call upon the membership to contact their elected
officials and ask for their affirmative vote on this bill,” he said.

More information on the Amateur Radio Parity Act is available on the
ARRL website.

June events in the SFL Section:

June 2nd- The City of Palm Beach Gardens proclaims “Amateur Radio
Week” in in their community, June 20-26, 2016. PBC ARES and club
representatives  have been invited to the meeting to receive the
proclamation from city officials.

Proclamations have also been received from the Towns of Hypoluxo and
Juno Beach and the Village of North Palm Beach in Palm Beach County. If
your club or ARES group has requested and received local proclamations,
please let me know.

June 4th- Boca Raton ARA annual open house at their new clubhouse at
Delray West Park. The park is located at 10875 W. Atlantic Avenue,
Delray Beach.

June 18th-   Kids Day         Kids Day is designed to give on-the-air
experience to youngsters and hopefully foster interest in getting a
license of their own. It is also intended to give older hams a chance
to share their station and love for Amateur Radio with their children.
       For more info, please visit http://www.arrl.org/kids-day

June 25th & 26th- ARRL Field Day-  Field Day is the most popular
on-the-air event held annually in the US and Canada. On the fourth
weekend of June, more than 35,000 radio amateurs gather with their
clubs, groups or simply with friends to operate from remote locations.

Many clubs around the section will be participating. Find the club
nearest to you with the Field Day Station Locator-
www.arrl.org/field-day-locator

ASM Barry, KB1PA and myself will be on the annual SFL Field Day Tour
during the weekend and will be using the FD Locator to plan our visits,
so please list your club event on the locator map

Have fun, be safe and look for you during FD weekend.

For more info on Field Day, please visit http://www.arrl.org/field-day

ARRL Contest Advisory Committee Conducting Youth in Amateur Radiosport
Survey

The ARRL Contest Advisory Committee (CAC) has been looking into how to
attract more youngsters and youth into Amateur Radio contesting, and it
has invited all hams, and especially young people, whether or not
they’re already radio amateurs, to take the Youth in Amateur
Radiosport Survey.
“Please spread the word about the survey among your ham friends and
local radio and contest clubs,” said CAC Chair George Wagner, K5KG,
adding that the CAC would like to see more young people engaged in
“the thrill and challenge of competitive ham radio contesting —
also called ‘radiosport.’” Wagner said that he and fellow CAC
member Glenn Johnson, W0GJ, plan to hand out survey announcement cards
at Dayton Hamvention® — Johnson at the NCDXF booth and Wagner at
Carole Perry’s Youth Forum and at the ARRL Youth Rally.

“We hope to capture a lot of survey responses on the fly at those
events,” he said. “Some other CAC members will be at Dayton, and
they will also have survey cards to hand out.”
As an initial step, the CAC is gathering information about where and
how young people are currently involved in radiosport. It’s
contacting ham radio clubs, contest clubs, private schools,
international youth ham radio organizations, and the general public.
The committee is using surveys, focus groups, and even face-to-face
meetings to gauge “the lay of the land” about youth and radiosport
in today’s world, Wagner said.

Radio contests grew out of attempts in the early 1900s to transmit and
receive signals across the Atlantic, essentially the beginning of the
use of “the short waves” to span such long distances. Contests have
allowed hams to practice message handling — used during emergency
communication — as well as to gauge their own operator proficiency
and their station’s performance. Over time, contests grew and
flourished to the point where many hams today pursue them as their
primary ham activity.

“For those who participate in radiosport, it provides a thrill
that’s often compared to roller coaster rides or video gaming or big
game hunting,” commented CAC member Don Daso, K4ZA. “There’s just
something about contacting a great number of people all over the world
as fast as possible, or talking to someone — just like yourself, at a
station like your own — on the opposite side of the world, and doing
it without using a giant infrastructure or even a huge outlay of
money.”
Like many types of competitions, this “sport,” Daso said, can be
addictive.

The survey will continue to accept input until August 31.  Visit the
online survey to participate.

April ARES report from SEC Larry, W4LWZ

Total number of ARES members: 396

Change since last month (+, -, same): +4

Number of DECs/ECs reporting this month: 9

Number of ARES nets active: 9

Number of nets with NTS liaison: 3

Calls of DECs/ECs reporting: W9GPI, WA4ASJ, WA4PAM, AD4RZ, AC4ZM,
KK4ENJ, WW4RX, KB1PA, N4ZIQ

Number of drills, tests and training sessions this month: 47

Person hours: 370.92

Number of public service events this month: 4

Person hours: 86

Number of emergency operations this month: 2

Person Hours: 40

Total number of ARES operations this month: 53

Total Person hours: 496.92

Comments: We had 2 Skywarn activations and a walkathon to benefit
Service Dogs of Southwest Florida.

April Traffic report from STM Mike, KM2V


SAR - April 2016

CALL	TOTAL

WA4BAM	229
KE4CB	062
K9GZT	006
KK4KAH	005
K4KFF	091
KA3PYO	006
KR4ST	029
KM2V	155
W4ZE	016

PSHR - April 2016

Callsign	Total

WA4BAM	110
KE4CB	130
K4KFF	110
KM2V	130

NETS - April 2016

NET	ABB.	QNI	QTC	QND	SESS	MGR
All Florida CW Traffic Net 	QFN	223	71	274	30	WA4BAM
Florida Medium Speed Net	FMSN	224	60	485	30	AG4RJ/AB4XK
Southeast Florida Traffic Net	SEFTN	444	75	719	30	KM2V
Southwest Florida Traffic Net	SWFTN	415	44	1625	27	KE4CB/N9WS
Jupiter-Tequesta Repeater Group	W4JUP	28	0	115	4	K4VMS

Well, I guess that’s about it for now. My thanks for all that you do
for Amateur Radio. Get on the air, Elmer a new ham, support your local
club and ARES group but most of all, have fun.

Vy 73,

Jeff, WA4AW

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ARRL Southern Florida Section
Section Manager: Jeff Beals, WA4AW
wa4aw at arrl.org
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