ARRL Hudson Division
June 2001
Hudson Division Beacon - e-mail edition
By Frank Fallon, N2FF, Director, Hudson Division, ARRL
30 East Williston Avenue, East
Williston, NY 11596
(516) 746-7652
n2ff@arrl.org
Hudson Division Home Page - http://www.arrlhudson.org

ARRL Members

Please continue to spread the word to others who may want to receive this
information that they will need to access the ARRL members only web site and
after becoming a member they must edit their profile and elect to receive
bulletins from the Section Manager and Director.

Field Day 2001 is one week away. I hope you will get a chance to get out
there with your friends, your club and/or family members for the fun
weekend. I will not be making my usual big FD Tour this year. In past few
years I think I have visited nearly all the division clubs at least once and
put over 500 miles on my jeep each Field Day weekend. While it has been
great fun and a real education, but I think I was given a sign last year.
On Sunday afternoon a mile from home after leaving the LIMARC site I fell
asleep at the wheel waiting for the light to change. Too little sleep, too
much driving and a real hot day took its toll. Fortunately, I never took my
foot off the brake. I viewed this as a wake up call (pun intended), so this
year I plan to enjoy Field Day with my club, The Boiled Owls, and do some
operating after visiting only the American Red Cross Emergency Radio Club at
Eaton's Neck. I have never been able to fit them into the schedule so I
will visit this year.

Please have a safe, fun filled Field Day and perhaps you will find some time
to introduce a friend and or a local politician to the fun of ham radio!
Governor Pataki, who we hoped would attend Field Day, has informed us that
he will be traveling and will not be able to attend this year.

ROYALTY VISITS N2FF and the Movie "MOMENTO"

Here's part of the reason why the "Beacon" is a bit late this month.

Princess Georgia Belmont of Arundel, Sussex, UK has arrived for a one-month
visit with Pawpaw (me) and Gima (my wife) while her father is leading a
Canada and the USA tour of Mathew Jay, an up and coming British singer. For
the younger set they will be at the Jones Beach Theater in late June as warm
up for Dido. For the older set, I can actually understand the lyrics and
the lad has a nice voice. Princess Georgia is a cute little blonde and
almost three years old with dual citizenship and a decidedly British accent
as she lives in England most of the year. If you must know she is our only
grand-child and, of course, a princess. My daughter, Megan, married an
Englishman, Alex, who is currently producer for the Mathew Jay Tour in
Canada and the US. So I have frequently been called away for hugs and
cartoon viewing.

If you are a movie buff perhaps you have recently seen "Momento" an
independent film which received an award at Sundance and is still playing in
some local theaters. My son Sean, KD6ZSK, was the Property Master on the
movie, which received three and a half stars. The polaroids are his
handiwork. It's a pretty interesting film you might want to see. Sean also
did props on the current MTV soap "Spyder Games." 

DAYTON REPORT

Despite some rain on Friday and early Saturday it was, as always, a fun
event of the first order. I drove out and back by myself arriving in Dayton
about 7 PM Wednesday evening. Thursday was a leisurely day at the Air Force
Museum where there is always something to see, again. Right off the bat I
met N2KI and W2KI (The KI guys) along with their friend Karl, KA2ZIK, who
was at Dayton for the first time. John and Tony are RTTY contest buddies
and I kept running into them all weekend wherever I went. When I broke for
lunch there they were. They were even at the RTTY Dinner on Friday night,
which I attended with friend Bill Hellman, NA2M. I spent most of Friday
indoors and out of the rain renewing subscriptions, updating software, and
talking to the many friends I met and spend some time at the ARRL booth. I
did buy a SO2R box (they will ship it to me) so I can work even more
stations in contests and an atomic clock that listens to WWV in the wee
hours to reset it self. Both items would have been considered magic devices
only 25 years ago! As RTTY Forum moderator I managed to keep everyone awake
thanks mostly to the panel I had arranged, WS7I, SM5FUG, and WB8IMY. I
also attended the ARRL Forum, the PR Forum moderated by K2DO, and Saturday
evening I attended the Contest Dinner and watched some very nice guys get
inducted into the Contest Hall of Fame and give really short but meaningful
speeches. Afterwards there was a meeting with the ARRL Contest Advisory
Committee and Wayne Mills and Dan Hennessy. The CAC members are putting
together an impressive suggested revision of the "club rules" for ARRL
contest to be presented to the MSC later this year. It's a big job and as
chairman of the ARRL Membership Services Committee (MSC) I wanted to thank
them for a really fine job. It is always impressive to see what a
professional job amateur radio operators do when called upon. After that it
was a tour of the contest suite and midnight pizza, and the NJDXA suite both
nights for a short time. On Friday night I spent about an hour at the RTTY
Hospitality suite meeting some of the guys I work in the contests. That's
always fun! 

NEW YORK TOWER LAW EFFORT CONTINUES - Assembly bill A.1565 and Senate bill
S.2893.

I was at the Rochester hamfest on June 1 through 3 twisting some arms to
write letters. It was a bit depressing to see how many New York hams still
had not sent letters off to their assembly and senatorial representatives.
I spoke to many western NY hams but not enough of them had written letters.
Legislators do not vote for bills unless they hear from their constituents.
You did write, didn't you? There is only a week left before this year's
session wraps up. We need to get the bill through this year before the
opposition wakes up. Please e-mail or telephone today and get other hams to
do the same. It's now too late for letters.

If there was ever a time when ham radio needed your help, it is now. The
2001 New York State Legislative session will end next week. Our antenna
bill has not yet been brought to the floor for a vote. We are very close,
but we need your help to make it happen. Please act immediately!
Phone and e-mail, now. Some 2,627 e-mail messages were sent out earlier
this week to WNY, NNY, ENY and NLI (New York State) ARRL Members alerting
them that it was time to act.

As the ARRL Web "In Brief" reported....

A call was issued to help with New York antenna bill: ARRL Hudson Division
Director Frank Fallon, N2FF, and Atlantic Division Director Bernie Fuller,
N3EFN, are asking New York amateurs in their respective divisions to express
support for the Amateur Radio antenna bills pending in The Empire
State. "The New York State Legislature will wrap up the 2001 legislative
session next week. We need your help now to get our antenna bills passed,"
the two directors said in a statement. Fallon and Fuller are urging
telephone calls or e-mails to three key decision-makers: Senate Majority
Leader Joe Bruno of the Senate Rules Committee (518-455-3191;
bruno@senate.state.ny.us); Assembly Ways and Means Chairman Herman D.
Farrell Jr (518-455-5491; farrelh@assembly.state.ny.us); and Assembly
Speaker and Rules Committee Chairman Sheldon Silver (518-455-3791;
speaker@assembly.state.ny.us). "Even if you have contacted them before,
please do so again. We must act quickly and flood them with calls. Please
encourage others to do the same," Fallon and Fuller said. Their suggested
message: "Please bring these bills - A.1565 and S.2893 - to the floor for a
vote so New York State Amateur Radio operators can continue to serve their
communities, at no cost to the state, in times of communication emergencies
like those now taking place during the Texas and Louisiana floods." Senate
Bill S.2893B is currently in the Rules Committee and can immediately be
brought to the floor for a vote. Assembly Bill A.1565B is in the Ways and
Means Committee and must be reported out or moved to the Rules Committee
before it can be brought to the floor for a vote before the session ends.
For additional information, visit the ARRL Hudson Division Web site at
http://www.arrlhudson.org for e-mail and telephone lists.

Please e-mail and telephone.

NEW ROCHELLE DOESN'T GET IT

Just in case you don't see a reason for state laws backing PRB-1 consider
recent events in the City of New Rochelle. This is the same city that
recently wanted to ban generators. The City of New Rochelle is unaware of
our pending state tower law and we want to keep it that way, but at the same
time we want to stop their latest brain child from being enacted. Please
don't tell them about our statewide effort!

For about thirty years the City of New Rochelle, some 20 miles north of New
York City, has had an ordinance on the books which allows towers to a height
of 75 feet with a special use permit hearing. Given today's anti tower
climate that is really pretty good. With about 100 hams listed as living in
New Rochelle by FCC database there are only seven ham towers within the city
limits. There has been no recent movement to put up more ham towers within
the city and no reasons to think the less than 10% trend will change in the
future. But now New Rochelle, which is currently in the process of revising
all of its ordinances, is seeking to limit Amateur Radio towers to 35 feet
with a 100% set back - the tower must fall on your property. That's not
really going to be an acceptable situation in which to erect an effective
antenna system. Fortunately we learned of this early on and we have already
been at two meetings with town officials in an attempt to get them to see
the light. Mike Arrow, K2NR, WECA Newsletter editor, and Gerry Agliata,
W2GLA, Assistant Director, who both live in the City of New Rochelle, and I
have made presentations to a city councilwoman, the city planning
commissioner, and the mayor in the past month. 

We have pointed out to them that they are going the wrong way with their new
ordinance. The proposed 35-foot height limit is going to put amateur
antennas at the same height as telephone and power lines increasing the
potential for interference; it's not an effective height for our needs, and
does not comply with the guidelines of PRB-1. We also stressed that towers,
which rarely fail, normally do so within 30% of their height as they twist
and crumple if they fall. We have asked the city to explain the problem
with the current ordinance. We felt the current ordinance had worked well
for thirty years and saw no reason to change it. We have asked the city to
maintain the "old" ordinance and assured them that there is going to be no
rush to put up new towers in the city. While the mayor seems to understand
our problem with the proposed ordinance he has not yet told us that the city
will scrap the proposed ordinance. I have had Chris Imlay, W3KD, ARRL
General Counsel, write to the mayor, city planning commissioner, city
council members, and the city attorney in an attempt to get them to
understand the FCC requirements. His fifteen-page letter is very
impressive.

I think it's time for all of us everywhere to mail a QSL card to Mayor Idone
& City Council, City Hall, 515 North Avenue, New Rochelle, NY 10801 with
the simple message, "Help ham radio operators help the nation, keep "old"
section 331.16B(4) in the zoning regulations."

Hopefully your QSL card will help them get the message.

NJ HANDS FREE - CELL PHONE BILL

Here is some good news. 

Senate Bill No. 1867 requiring cell phone use to be noted on traffic
accident reports passed the NJ Legislature on May 24th. The Bill, sponsored
by State Senator John Bennett (12th District), calls on the Division of
Motor Vehicles to modify existing traffic accident report forms. The new
forms are to include entries to note whether a cellular telephone was
present in the motor vehicle and whether the driver was using it when the
accident occurred. The intent of the bill is to provide factual information
regarding the use of cell phones in motor vehicles involved in traffic
accidents. 

At the present time there are no other bills pending regarding cellular
telephone use. Our group "NJ Hams For Save Driving" will continue to monitor
the state legislature and keep open our contacts with state officials. by
Bill Hudzik, W2UDT 

NEW JERSEY HAM RADIO LICENSE PLATE BILL

Look ashamed if you live in New Jersey and did NOT write to your state
assembly representative asking for support of A - 1593. If we can't get
this bill through there is NO WAY we are going to get a tower bill passed in
NJ. Please, let's write those letters or send a QSL with the message -
"Please vote for the Amateur Radio License Plate Bill!" It will not happen
unless you write.

There has been some progress here! Outgoing NNJ Section Manager Jeff
Friedman, K3JF reported in his May QST column, page 128, that the New Jersey
Senate passed the bill S -1341 on a 40 to 0 vote. While that is great news
indeed, we still must make a big effort to get passage in the Assembly and a
vote by the acting governor. Jeff reports, " We are only half way there.
Thanks to Senator Bruno, the first hurdle is complete. Unfortunately, we
still have the Assembly to deal with and the bill A-1593 still has not
cleared the committee stage." Jeff goes on to point out that NNJ SGL Ray
Makul, K1XV, has made it easier to make you feelings known to the committee.
Ray has developed a sample letter available on the NNJ web site
http://www.arrlhudson.org . The letters are also available via email at
k1xv@arrl.net or k3jf@arrl.org. Please help make this happen in New Jersey.


Background again: A-1593 was introduced into the New Jersey State Assembly
by Assemblymen Nicholas R. Felice (District 40 - Bergan and Passaic) and E.
Scott Garrett (District 24 - Sussex, Hunterdon and Morris) and will
modernize the law concerning Amateur Radio call sign plates. This is the
second year that NNH SM Jeff Friedman, K3JF, and ARRL State Government
Liaison Ray Makul, K1XV, have been working on passage of the bill. The bill
would allow plates on leased vehicles, add the words "Amateur Radio" to the
plates. There will be a $10 to $15 charge for the new plates which is in
line with fees charged in neighboring states for such plates. 

These new plates will help our recognition when we respond to emergencies
and it will also make Amateur Radio more visible.

NEW NNJ SECTION MANAGERS TO TAKE OVER 

NNJ SM, Jeff Friedman, K3JF, has decided not to run for another term. Jeff
cited increased business travel as the reason for his decision, but Jeff
wants to stay on until his term expires on July 1 to help push the license
plate bill through in NJ. Let's help him reach that goal! Thanks, Jeff and
good luck.

Bill Hudzik, W2UDT, who had filed a petition by the March 7th deadline will
therefore become the Northern New Jersey Section Manager on July 1. Bill,
who works for Johnson and Johnson Corp is a resident of Gillette, New Jersey
and is past President of the North Jersey DX Association, and a member of
the Raritan Valley Radio Association. He holds an appointment as an
Official Emergency Station. Let's welcome Bill and help him fill some of
the vacant NNJ Section slots.

DUES INCREASE - You have until the end of June to lock in multi year
membership rates. Time is running out.

A LAST reminder: ARRL dues go up effective July 1 to $39 for regular members
and $35 for senior members. You still have time to take advantage of the
option for 3 and 5 year memberships before the deadline. You can renew on
line with a credit card or see page 6 of April QST for details. Now may the
time to consider life membership in ARRL. Life membership is set at 25
times the current dues. Right now that fee is $850, but after July 2001 it
will move to $975. You have a chance to lock in the old rate of $850 and
pay it eight quarterly installments over two years. Look at it as a life
insurance policy. Knowing how tight fisted most hams are I guarantee that
were you to become an ARRL Life Member you would immediately begin to take
much better care of yourself. You would stop smoking, if you had not
already, loose weight and watch the saturated fat intake to say nothing of
doing regular exercise. You would want to make sure you got your money's
worth. When you look at it this way, an ARRL Life Membership can be a real
lifesaver.

SKYWARN SPOTTER TRAINING ON LI

The Peconic Amateur Radio Club will host the National Weather Service's
SKYWARN Spotter Training Program on Tuesday, June 19, 2001 at the Southold
School Auditorium, 420 Oaklawn Avenue, Southold NY from 7:30 to 9:30 PM.
This two-hour course, of particular interest to local high school earth
science students and people who enjoy the weather, is presented free of
charge and is open to the public.

To RSVP for the course or if you have any questions, please contact Don
Fisher at 631-765-2757 or email at n2qhv@arrl.net

Additional inquiries regarding the SKYWARN Program may be addressed to Mr.
Scott Reynolds at: National Weather Service, 175 Brookhaven Avenue, Building
NWS-1, Upton, NY 11973, phone 631-924-0517 

AMATEUR RADIO SPECTRUM PROTECTION ACT OF 2001 INTRODUCED

The Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act of 2001 in now officially HR 817.
Representative Michael Bilirakis of Florida introduced the bill on March 1
in the US House of Representatives. About a week later ARRL President Jim
Haynie, W5JBP, and ARRL First Vice President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, visited
the Congressman's office to thank him personally for his continuing interest
in protecting Amateur Radio frequency allocations. Earlier S 549 was
introduced in the Senate.

Press Release From The Office of Senator Bob Smith dated June 13, 2001

------ SMITH COSPONSORS BILL FOR HAM RADIO ACCESS

WASHINGTON, DC Senator Bob Smith has signed onto a bill to provide
fairness for the nearly 5000 amateur radio operators in New Hampshire.
Smith has joined with some of his colleagues in supporting the Amateur Radio
Spectrum Protection Act of 2001, S. 549, which requires the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) to provide an equivalent replacement
spectrum to ham operators
if it reallocates and auctions any of the current spectrum.

Smith said the legislation will not interfere with the ability of
commercial telecommunications services to seek the spectrum allocations they
require; but rather, provides the FCC with flexibility to manage the nations
communications infrastructure. Since the turn of the century, amateur radio
operators have been at the forefront of exploring radio frequencies. During
natural disasters or national emergencies, ham operators have provided the
world immediate access where traditional communications were unavailable,
Smith said. "However, I have heard from hundreds of New Hampshire operators
who are concerned about the loss of frequency availability. I believe this
bill is a good start that will provide protection for amateur radio
frequencies and allow ham operators to continue to hone their craft and
provide vital assistance during future crisis around the world."

N2FF comment: See what a few hundred letters from a small state like NH can
do! 

NEW FIELD DAY RULES for 2001

Field Day 2001 will run from 1800 UTC June 23 to 2100 UTC June 24 - as
always, the fourth full weekend in June. The ARRL Contest Branch has
complied a 24-page Field Day 2001 Information packet,
http://www.arrl.org/contests/forms/01fdpacl.pdf . 

AREA HAMFESTS

June 16, 2001 - Raritan Valley Radio Association
http://www.w2qw.com
Contact: Dough Benner, W2NJH
1020 Laurel Trail
Martinsville, NJ 08836
Phone: 732-469-9009
Email: wb2njh@aol.com

July 15, 2001 - Sussex County ARC
http://www.scarcnj.org
Contact: Dan Carter, N2ERH
8 Carter Lane
Branchville, NJ 07826
Phone: 973-948-6999
Email: n2erh@email.com