[SMCARA] MDC Section News for September, 2006

[J D Delancy]

See below

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "ARRL Web site" <memberlist at www.arrl.org>

Sent: Thursday, 07, September, 2006 10:04

Subject: MDC Section News for September, 2006


Upcoming Hamfests

FARFest

Saturday, September 9th and Sunday, September 10th are the dates for
this year's FARFest held at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in
Gaithersburg, Maryland. As always there will be two days of tailgating
and vendors.

This is also the site of our Maryland-DC ARRL Section Convention.

On Saturday at 9:00 am, there will be a safety talk by Heru Walmsley,
W3WVV. There will be some very interesting demos that you won't want to
miss.

At 10:00 am, we will hold the ARRL Forum, which is a gathering of
National, Division and Section leadership to give you updates on
current and future happenings.

At 10:45 am, we will host Harold Kramer, WJ1B, the Chief Operating
Officer from the ARRL Headquarters as our keynote speaker.

Harold will talk about the League's response to Katrina and
preparations for future major disasters.

At 11:30 am, Doug Lindsey, KB3HER, our SEC will hold a practicum on
digital/Winlink operations.

 From 12:30 pm until 2:00 pm, Bill Neeriemer, W3STG, will hold a
session on the NIMS ICS-100 course and from 2:00 pm until 3:30 pm will
have a session on NIMS ICS-700.

Both of these courses will review the information you will need to be
able to go on-line and complete the test to receive the
certifications.

Most Emergency Management Offices will need their Amateur Radio
volunteers to have these certificates by the end of the year.

On Sunday, Bill will run the courses from 9:00 am until 10:30 am for
ICS-100 and 10:30 am until 12:00 noon for ICS-700.

 From 12:00 noon until 1:00 pm, Doug will repeat his digital/Winlink
practicum.

For those who are interested in becoming amateur radio operators or
wish to upgrade their licenses, there will also be an amateur radio
test session administered by the Laurel Amateur Radio Club VEC on
Sunday morning at 9:00 am.

Bill Dobson, N3WD will be checking QSL cards for ARRL WAS, ARRL 5BWAS,
ARRL VUCC, ARRL DXCC and 3905CCN awards from 9:00 am until 12:00 noon
on Saturday and by appointment on Sunday.

Proceeds from FARFest support the Foundation for Amateur Radio's
Scholarship Program.

For more information, look at <http://www.amateurradio-far.org/>.

CARA Hamfest

On October 1st, the Columbia Amateur Radio Association will host their
CARAfest2006, an amateur radio and technology festival, at the Howard
County Fairgrounds.

Free amateur radio licensing examination testing will also be
available.

For more information, look at <http://www.carafest.org>.

ECHOLINK

September 15

The Section-wide Echolink net meets at 8 pm every third Friday of the
month.

Many repeater operators are linking their repeaters to the John Creel,
WB3GXW server, (*WASH_DC* node 6154) so that their regular repeater
users can check in via RF.

Learning to work with an Echolink connection will be good practice for
using it in emergency communications.

LEGISLATION

Amateur Radio legislation will again be introduced in the Maryland
General Assembly in January, 2007. The bills will be the same as in
2006.  Homeowners associations formed after the effective date will be
prohibited from restricting Amateur Radio antennas. Existing HOAs will
be prohibited from enacting antenna restrictions after the effective
date. Condos and coops are not affected. PRB-1 is incorporated into the
Maryland Code by reference. As you know, antenna restrictions over the
past 25 years have seriously injured Amateur Radio to the degree that
since April 2003, we have lost 30,000 nationwide. For more information,
go to the Baltimore Amateur Radio Club Legislative Affairs website,
<n3ij.home.comcast.net>.

The House and Senate committees that will conduct hearings on this
legislation need to be educated on the issue before the session
starts.
(We learned after the 2006 session that most of them prefer this.) A
half-hour meeting is sufficient, but it must be requested by a
constituent. Legislators are much more responsive to constituents than
to anyone else. Someone from the MDC State Government Liaison Team will
accompany you to handle as much of the presentation as you wish and
answer questions.  For this project to succeed, we need a constituent
from each of the districts represented by a committee member to request
the appointment. If you are represented by one of the legislators in
the lists below, you can help.

Delegates: James E. Malone, Jr., Elizabeth Bobo, William A. Bronrott,
Rudolph C. Cane, Virginia P. Clagett, Barbara A. Frush, Barry Glassman,
Patrick N. Hogan, Marvin E. Holmes, Jr., J. B. Jennings, Jane E.
Lawton,  Tony McConkey, Karen S. Montgomery, John A. Olszewski, Jr.,
Rosetta C.  Parker, Richard A. Sossi, Joan F. Stern, Paul S. Stull,
Michael H. Weir, Jr.

Senators: Brian E. Frosh, Leo E. Green, Jennie M. Forehand, Robert J. 
Garagiola, John A. Giannetti, Jr., Ralph M. Hughes, Nancy Jacobs,
Philip  C. Jimeno, Alex X. Mooney, Norman R. Stone, Jr.

Here's what to do: (1)Find out who represents you by going to
<mdelect.netand entering your address. (2) If you're represented by
one of the legislators listed above, click on their name to get the
phone number, call and ask if they're running for re-election (unless
you know).  If they are running, request an appointment to discuss
"Radio Communications -- Regulation of Amateur Radio Equipment --
Limitations,&quot; SB 75 in the 2006 regular session.  That's all there
is to it, but it's crucially important. If the legislator's scheduler
asks to hold the meeting after the general election, agree, but try to
get a specific date  and time, or at least a date (soon) when you can
get a date and time. If the scheduler tells you that someone else is
already scheduled on that topic, ask who it is, "so we can visit your
office together."  Then, coordinate with the other amateur; you might
offer to serve as backup.  Either way, notify Dave Prestel, the MDC
SGL, via <w8ajr at verizon.netas soon as you complete this call to
ensure that someone will be available to accompany you. Dave can
provide copies of the entire presentation and guidance on how to handle
it.

A few committee members may lose their elections. The MDC SGL Team will
monitor the situation, identify the replacements, and repeat the
process described above, on a much smaller scale. Two things NOT to
do: Do not discuss the election or any topic other than the Amateur
Radio bills. (See "It Seems to Us," in August QST for the rationale.)
Don't wait until after the election to initiate contact with your
legislators. There is less than three weeks between the election and
Thanksgiving, an extremely busy time for most politicians. They're more
interested in your opinions before the election. Being early is more
prudent.

Experienced legislators have told us two things, emphatically: We have
a strong case; and success in the 2007 session depends on educating
each individual committee member before the session starts. The success
of this vital legislation is up to you.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Please remember to check my Section Manager's web page often. The URL
is <http://www.arrl-mdc.net>.

I would like to thank ASM, Al Brown, KZ3AB, the webmaster, for keeping
it up-to-date.

I wish to again thank Al Nollmyer, W3YVQ, for his continued support by
acting as the ARRL MDC Section Traffic Manager (STM) since the
beginning of my appointment as the Section Manager.

But, we really do need a permanent MDC Section STM.

We also need volunteers as Local Government Liasons (LGLs) and Public
Information Officers (PIOs). If you wish more information or wish to
volunteer, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Finally, if you would like Al and me to attend your club meeting and
give a presentation, please let me know.

73,
Jim Cross, WI3N, <wi3n at arrl.org>
ARRL MDC Section Manager

--------------------------------------------------------------------
ARRL Maryland-DC Section
Section Manager: James E. Cross, WI3N
wi3n at arrl.org
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