[SFDXA] A Message from Jeff

[Bill]

*Greetings to all, *

If you like hamfests, then November is your month in the SFL Section.
Please support the clubs sponsoring these events by your attendance and
participation.

The ARRL Florida State Convention at Melbourne last month was well
attended on both Friday and Saturday. The sponsoring club, the Platinum
Coast ARS, did a great job putting on the show.   At the ARRL Forum, I
was joined by SE Division Director Greg Sarratt, W4OZK and WCF Section
Manager Darrell Davis, KT4WX.

During the forum, I had the pleasure of presenting the 30 year ARRL Club
affiliation award to members of the Harris-Intersil ARC,  the Section
Traffic Manager appointment certificate to Ed Johnson, W2PH, and the SFL
Section Award to former Technical Coordinator Don Drennon, N4TZH for his
12 years of service to our section.  Congratulations to all


November events in the SFL Section


11/3-5/2017         Stuart Air Show

Members of the Martin County ARA will be operating special event station
N4A at the annual Stuart Air Show at Witham Field on November 3-5, 2017.
  Right across the street from the fairgrounds where the club will hold
their hamfest in March 2018. For more info, please visit
http://www.mcaraweb.com/


11/11/2017 | Palms West ARC Flea Market

Location: West Palm Beach, FL
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Palms West Amateur Radio Club
Website: http://www.palmswestradio.org



11/18/2017 | Flamingo Net / UMARC Free Flea

Location: Coral Gables, FL
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Flamingo Net ARC & University of Miami ARC
Website: http://flamingonet.8m.net


11/25/2017 | Okeechobee Hamfest in the Woods

Location: Okeechobee, FL
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Okeechobee Amateur Radio Club
Website: http://www.k4oke.com


On the October 21st weekend, the annual Jamboree on the Air (JOTA), a
nationwide campout and training activity of the Boy Scouts was held. Our
Section Youth team was on hand participating with the JOTA group at the
Tanah Keeta scout camp in southern Martin County.


Another ARISS contact is scheduled in our area for November 6th at the
South Florida Science Center in West Palm Beach assisted by members of
the WPBARC. I hope to be on hand for the event.


Communications Interoperability Training with Amateur Radio Community
Set

Elements of the US Department of Defense (DOD) will conduct a
“communications interoperability” training exercise November 4-6,
once again simulating a “very bad day” scenario. Amateur Radio and
MARS organizations will take part.
  
“This exercise will begin with a national massive coronal mass
ejection event which will impact the national power grid as well as all
forms of traditional communication, including landline telephone,
cellphone, satellite, and Internet connectivity,” Army MARS Program
Manager Paul English, WD8DBY, explained in an announcement.
  
During the exercise, a designated DOD Headquarters entity will request
county-by-county status reports for the 3,143 US counties and county
equivalents, in order to gain situational awareness and to determine the
extent of impact of the scenario. Army and Air Force MARS organizations
will work in conjunction with the Amateur Radio community, primarily on
the 60-meter interoperability channels as well as on HF NVIS frequencies
and local VHF and UHF, non-Internet linked Amateur Radio repeaters.
  
Again this year, a military station on the east coast and the Fort
Huachuca, Arizona, HF station will conduct a high-power broadcast on
60-meter channel 1 (5330.5 kHz) on Saturday from 0300 to 0315 UTC. New
this year will be an informational broadcast on Sunday, on 13,483.5 kHz
USB from 1600 to 1615 UTC. Amateur Radio operators should monitor these
broadcasts for more information about the exercise and how they can
participate in this communications exercise, English said.
  
“We want to continue building on the outstanding cooperative working
relationship with the ARRL and the Amateur Radio community,” English
said. “We want to expand the use of the 60-meter interop channels
between the military and amateur community for emergency communications,
and we hope the Amateur Radio community will give us some good feedback
on the use of both the 5-MHz interop and the new 13-MHz broadcast
channels as a means of information dissemination during a very bad day
scenario.


“Force of 50” Volunteers’ Puerto Rico Hurricane Recovery Mission
Ends


The 22 “Force of 50” radio amateurs who deployed to Puerto Rico
earlier this month as American Red Cross volunteers have ended their
mission and will be back on the US mainland by week’s end. They had
been in Puerto Rico for about 3 weeks.

“The Force of 50 volunteers demonstrated an extraordinary range of
skills possessed by this accomplished team,” said ARRL CEO Tom
Gallagher, NY2RF. “There was no task that they wouldn’t tackle. It
also demonstrated the generosity of these volunteers, who not only
performed their roles as communicators, but also engaged the population
with their many acts of personal kindness.”

Val Hotzfeld, NV9L, who filed situation reports documenting the team’s
activities, said the volunteers accomplished everything they went to
Puerto Rico to do, “and then some.” She said that the Red Cross felt
they had exceeded all expectations.
“We opened a lot of peoples’ eyes when we started going to the ESF-2
communications task force meetings. They had no idea of our
capabilities,” Hotzfeld told ARRL. “When they heard what we’d
accomplished, we were swarmed; everybody was wanting us.”
Hotzfeld said the volunteers’ initial mission was to provide a way to
gather outbound health and welfare messages and put them into the Red
Cross’s Safe and Well System using Winlink. However, the mission
changed once they were on the ground when they discovered the needs were
much greater.
“No one had any communications, so the mission morphed to
communications,” she said. “But, we did both.” She said the Red
Cross recognized the value of ensuring communication for hospitals, and
other volunteers handled Safe and Well messages.

She said the volunteers possessed a wide range of talents, from medical
to mechanical, not just communications. For example, Andy Anderson,
KE0AYJ, set up the helicopter landing pad at Guajataca Dam, Hotzfeld
said, and provided communications where there was none.
Ten SHARES (Shared Resources) HF Radio Program operators will replace
the Amateur Radio volunteers who had worked on behalf of the Red Cross.
These SHARES operators are federal employees who happen to be radio
amateurs and volunteered for the duty in Puerto Rico. Hotzfeld said they
will be stationed in four different zones, with two operators at
headquarters in the San Juan Convention Center. “The hospitals did not
want us to leave,” Hotzfeld said. “They were begging us to stay.”
She noted, though, that the hospitals also have access to satellite
telephones.
“I was so proud of our guys,” Hotzfeld said in summary. “They were
rock stars.”


New Ham Bands Spring to Life; Veteran LF Experimenter Denied Amateur
Access to 2200 Meters


Amateur Radio’s two newest bands came to life on Friday the 13th. Both
630 meters (472-479 kHz) and 2200 meters (135.7-137.8 kHz) now are
available to radio amateurs who have notified the Utilities Technology
Council (UTC) of their intention to operate and did not hear anything
back during the ensuing 30 days.
“Many of us filed notices with the Utilities Technology Council on
September 15, the day the notification procedure was announced,” said
Fritz Raab, W1FR, who coordinated the ARRL WD2XSH 630-Meter Experiment.
“We did not expect to hear from the UTC unless they were objecting to
amateur operation. Much to our surprise, on Friday, October 13, a number
of operators received ‘okay’ notices. So, the first amateur
operations commenced that night.”

Some Denied Access to 2200 Meters

UTC e-mails went out to an undermined number of US radio amateurs who
had notified the Council, but not everyone got the thumbs up. One of
those thwarted in his hopes of operating under his Amateur Radio license
on 2200 meters was John Andrews, W1TAG, a long-wave veteran with
thousands of hours on the band over the past 15 years or so under his
FCC Part 5 Experimental license.
Andrews, who also participated in the ARRL’s 630-Meter Experiment,
said UTC denied his request because he was within 1 kilometer of a power
line using PLC (power line communication). Raab said another who did not
pass UTC muster for 2200 meters was Alabamian Dave Guthrie, KN4OK, who
is hoping to give 630 meters a try. UTC also told Guthrie that he was
within 1 kilometer of a power line using PLC, and that operation on 2200
meters could cause interference, but added, “We encourage you to
reapply and select only the ‘472-479 kHz’ range, as it is much more
free of interference from utilities.”

Awash with Signals


Raab said a few operators reported making contacts on 630 meters the
first night, although noise levels were high, and a geomagnetic storm
was in progress. Saturday night, October 14, “was a bust,” he said.
The next evening, however, things broke open. “The band was awash with
CW and digital signals,” Raab said. “Operating modes included CW,
JT9, SSB, and WSPR. Many operators were new to the band and not
previously experimental licensees.”
Various Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) nodes heard W7IUV, AH6EZ/W7, N6TV,
N6LF, KB5NJD, AA4VV, WZ7I, WA1ZMS, K4EJQ, K4LY VE6WZ, VE6JY, VE7AB,
VE9WZ, and VE7CNF, among others. W0YSE/7 reported making JT9 QSOs with
W7IUV, VE7CNF, W7RNB, and VE7VV, and CW QSOs with W7IUV, K7SF, N6LF, and
VE7CNF.

WA1ZMS: SSB QSOs with NO3M and KL4Y. NO3M: CW: K4LY, K4EJQ, N4PY,
WA1ZMS, K9MRI, KB5NJD, W0RW, WA9ETW (cross band 1805) JT9: K4LY, K2BLA
FT8: K3RWR, VE3CIQ SSB: K4LY, WA1ZMS.
“Many were on 630 meters last night [October 15], and one highlight
for me was an SSB QSO with K4LY,” Brian Justin, WA1ZMS, told ARRL. He
and K4LY both worked NO3M, who also reported working K4EJQ, N4PY, K9MRI,
KB5NJD, W0RW, and WA9ETW on CW. He made some JT9 and FT8 contacts too.
On October 17, W7IUV and VK4YB completed a JT9 contact, possibly the
first US-to-DX contact between radio amateurs on 630 meters.


ARRL Expresses Gratitude for Outpouring of Ham Aid Donations


ARRL is thanking the Amateur Radio community for its generosity in
support of the ARRL Ham Aid Fund, which is making it possible to provide
relief and recovery communications in Puerto Rico. Overall, there have
been more than 600 donations to the Ham Aid program in response to a
call from ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, and nearly $125,000 has
come in from clubs and individuals. Several Amateur Radio retailers and
manufacturers also have stepped up to donate needed equipment. Roderick
said he was amazed at the overwhelming response, including those who
answered his call to join the “Force of 50” now deployed in Puerto
Rico.
“The Amateur Radio community really came together in providing
donations of equipment, funding, and personnel in response to the great
need in Puerto Rico,” Roderick said. “The scale of these efforts and
the response is making history. This has got to be one of Amateur
Radio’s greatest moments. Our sincere thanks go to all involved.”

The list of those offering their generosity and support is long and
growing. Contributors include International Amateur Radio Union Region 2
(IARU R2), which donated two Ham Aid kits in addition to a monetary
donation; the Yasme Foundation, which made a monetary contribution to
the Ham Aid Fund and donated critical equipment, and the Northern
California DX Foundation (NCDXF). Donations also came from the Orlando
Amateur Radio Club (OARC) and from Orlando HamCation®.
Amateur Radio dealers and retailers have made in-kind donations.
Quicksilver Radio (QSR) has contributed antennas and accessories,
Radiowavz has provided antennas, and Heil Sound Ltd. has donated
headsets with cables. Other corporate and retail in-kind contributors
include ABR Industries, AT&T, Icom America, Yaesu, Ham Radio Outlet
(HRO), and DX Engineering.

Monetary donations also have arrived from the CW Operators Club (CWops);
the SouthEastern DX and Contesting Organization (SEDCO), sponsor of
W4DXCC; the Northern California Contest Club (NCCC); the Fort Myers
Amateur Radio Club (FMARC); the Wahkiakum Amateur Radio Club; the North
Shore Radio Club (NSARC), and the Steel City Amateur Radio Club
(W3KWH).

Ham Aid was created in 2005 in response to the need for equipment and
resources to support the Amateur Radio response to hurricanes in the US
and the Caribbean, and Ham Aid kits are in use throughout Puerto Rico
for the Hurricane Maria relief and recovery effort.


Well, I guess that's about it for now. Hope you and your family have a
pleasant Thanksgiving. 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 with ham radio.

Vy 73,

Jeff, WA4AW

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