ARRL Hudson Division
July 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

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Field Day 2001 is now history. I hope by now those of you in NNJ and ENY
have dried out after the Saturday deluge. I visited only three sites this 
year but I did get to do some operating on both cw and ssb 
for the first time in many years during Field Day. I set out to visit a
newly formed club The Rockaway Emergency Coastal Weather Alert group in 
Far Rockaway but when I arrived there at noon I could find no 
one around. It looked to be a great site right on the beach. 
When I checked the directions I read the last line and saw that they did 
not plan to begin setup until 5 PM on Saturday afternoon. My, goof. At that 
point I set off for the Kings County ARC at Floyd Bennett Field and arrived
about 15 minutes before the official start. Everything was pretty much 
set up and ready to go in the Ryan Center (the old control tower) 
but there was no gas for the generator. Tony Catalano, WW2W, gets the
"sweat award" for hard work. Everyone was pretty cool but he was rushing 
around getting a sloper and a counterpoise in place and was 
dripping wet. The gas arrived just as the sky turned ominously dark and a
squall line moved in from the west and north. There were only a few drops
of rain at Floyd Bennett but we could all see lightning far to 
the north. This storm had probably already visited those to the west and
north with lightening and much rain. As planned I then drove to the American 
Red Cross Emergency Communications Services Club at 
Eatons Neck. George Sau, WB2ZTH, has been inviting me to visit for years.
The sun was out as I drove through Asharokhan, a narrow strip of land with 
Long Island Sound on one side and Huntington Harbor on 
the other, and on to Eatons Neck and the Coast Guard station. This was
great scenery on a one-lane road. The Eaton's neck site has easily the 
best scenery of any Hudson Division Field Day site. The site, located 
next to the tennis courts, looks up at the lighthouse a few hundred feet
away and in another direction is the main building. The site is just 
above a baseball field and to the west, a thousand feet away, is the Coast 
Guard dock with the beach just beyond. It's a perfect site for sunset
watching as you are in sight of the water all the time. I had a chance 
to chat with Lenny Smith, N2LDV and Larry Lutzak, WA2CNV, 
Hudson Division Assistant Director. I spent about four hours there and had
a great meal of steak and shrimp thanks to chef Stu. Before leaving I 
attempted to reserve a table for ten next year. (just kidding but 
it was a beautiful site with good food and friendly people.) Thanks for the
hospitality.

N2GA, who arrived while I was there, and I left about 8 PM and drove over to
the Owl's site at Lloyd Neck which is the just west of Eatons Neck. 
The only rain we had all weekend occurred while driving through 
Huntington to Coumsett State Park on Lloyd Neck. It was a downpour. After
visiting with the Owls for about an hour I drove home for some sleep 
but was back at the site at 7:30 the next morning for some ssb 
and breakfast. Later about noon I ran some cw and made about 30 QSO's. The
Owls, who have only fourteen members, run 2A using the call sign KW2O yet had over 2,000
contacts including a few satellite QSOs for the first time ever plus a some 
PSK 31 QSOs thanks to the newly addicted PSK and satellite operator N2UN, Tony Japha. 

In the last issue I advised everyone to "Please have a safe, fun filled
Field Day ..." Well it did not turn out that way for all. Al Bender, 
W2QZ, a NYC high school teacher and LIMARC VE leader, had a near death 
experience. He was part of a crew putting up a tribander on a 20 foot mast.
Just as the mast was moved into place a pin holding the boom to the mast 
snapped (apparently a second pin was missing) and the antenna fell to the ground. 
Al was hit in the nose by the boom and knocked out cold. As Al later told me a 
few more inches and it could have killed him had it hit him in the head.
Fortunately he was very lucky and suffered only a broken nose and a black eye. 
I saw him a few days ago and he looked none the worst for wear. A remarkably 
fast recovery! Al is now ready to enjoy a well-deserved summer vacation. Next year 
LIMARC will have a safety officer, hard hats for antenna and tower crews,
and they will all be using safety gloves. It might be a good idea for 
all Hudson Division clubs to look to the safety of their antenna raising 
techniques before next Field Day.

REMEMBERING TWO SILENT KEYS

We lost two local hams right after Field Day. Andy Borrok, N2TZX, former
President of Hall of Science ARC and Hudson Division Assistant Director, 
passed away Sunday evening after returning from Field Day. 
Andy, who had run unsuccessfully for NLI Section Manager a few years ago,
had been very ill about two years ago and had apparently never fully recovered. 
Andy was also Emergency Coordinator for Queens County. He was a tireless 
supporter of Amateur radio and ARRL and most helpful in arranging division 
events. It is extremely sad to loose him at only age 43.

John Erickson, KA2YMR, former LIMARC president and friend, suffered a
massive heart attack Sunday evening after spending all three days of 
Field Day with the Raritan Valley Radio Association in New Jersey. 
John had been in ill health for a number of years and had suffered
a series of very serious heart attacks recently moved to New Jersey 
to live with his daughter. The attack was so massive that John was 
severely brain damaged and was placed on life support. A few days after
the recent attack the family decided to remove John from life support 
and he quietly passed away a day or two later. W2ML and I had 
spent time at the Raritan Valley hamfest in Dunellen talking to John and his
son. John had seemed in great spirits and was looking forward to Field Day 
which he always said was, "...the most fun you can have in Amateur radio."

For both of these recent silent keys, Amateur radio played a very big and
important part in their lives. In short it enriched both them and us. 
Andy's brother told us at the graveside ceremony that the family was 
thinking about putting his call sign on the headstone. The minister at
John's memorial service spoke about how John had discovered ham radio 
late in life after his wife had passed away after a long illness. Both 
John and Andy gave much of themselves to those they came in contact with.
Both had become club presidents. John, a fellow fly fisherman, once told 
me that if I ever went back to Montana I had to fish the 
Missouri River. A few years ago when I did return to Montana with my son we
spent almost a week fishing the Missouri River as John advised and caught 
more and bigger trout than you ever see on those Saturday morning outdoor shows. 
It was a magic week of fly fishing and a memorable experience for both 
father and son and one that certainly never have happened if it had not been
for John's advice.

It is sad that they are both gone, one surely too soon, but we have fond
memories of them both and are glad that they helped us and enriched our lives. 
But that is one of great things Amateur radio does for us all.

JULY ARRL BOARD MEETING SET

Steve and I will be attending the ARRL Board meeting on July 19th through 21
at Rocky Hill, CT near Newington. Watch for reports on the ARRL web site 
that weekend and in the ARRL Letter. This is the time of year we give out 
awards and I hope there will be a few for Hudson Division hams. The 
Membership Services Committee may have some announcements about QRP DXCC
Awards, a new single band DXCC award and will probably set a date for implementing 
"Log Book of the World," which will be ARRLs version of electronic QSLing. 
The committee will also begin to look at the operations of the 
"incoming" QSL bureau with an eye to increasing efficiency and reducing
costs. Not all district QSL Bureaus function as well as our own W-2 Bureau.

The Board meeting is a very intense few days, much like a DX contest, where
many decisions are made to improve Amateur Radio and ARRL services. 

Check the web site - http://www.arrl.org late Friday and Saturday, July 20th
and 21st for the latest news.

NEW JERSEY HAM RADIO LICENSE PLATE BILL

Bill Hudzik, W2UDT, called shortly before he officially became NNJ SM on
July 1 to let me know that he had met with the chairman of the Assembly 
Transportation Committee. He related that he would be arranging a meeting 
with transportation committee staff to discuss the cost
of a license plate bill and ways to move the bill out of committee. 
Apparently the chairman has concerns about the cost of a new license 
plate design to New Jersey taxpayers. It appears that there will be no
movement on the bill until we can change the chairman's mind. I view this 
as a good opportunity to explain the importance of our ARES 
function and the vital part we have traditionally played in communications
emergencies while laying the ground work for justifying a future tower bill. 
Stayed tuned for more reports from Bill.

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. 

NEW YORK TOWER TAKES A STEP CLOSER TO PASSAGE AND THE EFFORT CONTINUES - 

Assembly bill A.1565 and Senate bill S.2893.

Because so many New York hams headed our plea and sent e-mails and made
telephone calls our Assembly bill was reported out of the Ways and Means 
Committee on June 20th and is now sitting in the Rules Committee. 
Although we were originally told that the legislature would do no business except 
budget when it returned on July 10th, this is not true. Our bills still
have a very good chance of passage.Please continue to mail, e-mail, fax and 
telephone your New York assemblyman and senator.

More than 2,600 e-mail messages were sent out to WNY, NNY, ENY and NLI (New
York State) ARRL Members alerting them that it was again time to act.

As the ARRL Web "In Brief" reported....on July 5th

New York amateur antenna bill is a step closer to passage: ARRL Hudson
Division Director Frank Fallon, N2FF, says that New York's Amateur Radio
antenna bill, Assembly Bill 1565, has been reported out of the Ways and
Means Committee. Both A. 1565 and the companion bill, S. 2893, are in the
Rules Committee, where they can immediately be brought to the floor before
the 2001 session ends. Fallon says the legislative session resumes July 10.
"The good news is that it's not over yet, but the bad news is that we have
to continue to make the telephone calls, write the letters and send the
e-mails," Fallon said. "We need to continue pushing for action on the
bills." Fallon urged New York hams to continue sending the same message to
Albany, "Please enact the Amateur Radio legislation." He said Senate
Majority Leader Joe Bruno bruno@senate.state.ny.us, House Speaker Sheldon
Silver speaker@assembly.state.ny.us and Gov George Pataki
gov.pataki@chamber.state.ny.us--a former ham (K2ZCZ) and a current ARRL
member--each have the power to bring these bills to the floor for a vote.
"We need to ask them to do so, now." Additional information on how to
contact key lawmakers is available on the Hudson Division Web site,
http://www.arrlhudson.org. "You may want to send QSL cards this time
around," Fallon said. "The governor knows what they are."

MORE GOOD NEWS: NEW ROCHELLE IS FINALLY GETTING IT

Apparently our efforts are starting to pay off. Some of you must have sent
letters and QSL cards. 

Gerry Agliata, W2GLA, and I attended a meeting with a New Rochelle
counsel-woman and an assistant planning commission on June 21st after 
a telephone call to Gerry requesting a meeting on short notice. We 
were informed that the city was going back to the original 75 foot height,
had downgraded their 100% fall down rule to 50% and wanted to encourage 
the use of crank up towers. We were delighted at the change in 
the city's plans and told them so. The purpose of the meeting was to work
out the details and answer the city's questions.

At the meeting we attempted to lower the fall-down or set back ratio to 30
or 40 percent pointing out that crank up towers in those rare instances when 
they fail do so usually within 30 percent of their total height. 
They twist and crumple as they fall. We pointed out that keeping a
restrictive 50% set back ratio would most likely encourage many local hams 
to place their antennas on top of their homes as few would have the 
lot size to place a 75 foot tower 37 and a half feet from the property line.
We felt few hams would want to go to the expense of erecting a 50 foot tower 
when they could more economically put a ten or twelve foot tripod on the roof of 
their 35 foot house and get very close to 50 feet in the process. While the city 
representatives understood the problem the meeting ended with no solution
agreed. 

We were told that there will be a public hearing on the entire set of new
ordinances in October. This episode underlines the importance of getting to 
local officials early on in the code revision process. Were we to show up in 
October without previous meetings the outcome would be very negative. 
Please stay alert to code revisions in your city, town or village so we can act in time.

Your QSL card may have helped them get the message. Thanks to those who
wrote.

NY HANDS FREE - CELL PHONE BILL

New York cell phone law does not apply to Amateur Radio operation: The
widely reported New York bill banning the use of hand-held cell phone 
while driving should have no affect on Amateur Radio mobile operation, 
according to ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD. "There is no
ambiguity in the bill," he said. The bill, A.9280, was signed into law 
recently by Governor George Pataki, a former amateur. 
It requires cell phone users to use hands-free devices when calling. The
measure specifies "mobile telephone" use, and defines a "mobile telephone" 
as a device used by subscribers to a wireless telephone service. That, 
in turn, is defined to specify a commercial two-way wireless telecommunications 
service that accesses the public switched telephone network. The bill also specifies
"using" as holding the mobile telephone "to, or in the immediate proximity of, 
the user's ear." The new law will be phased in starting November 1. It calls for 
fines of up to $100. The measure also calls upon the New York Commissioner of 
Motor Vehicles to study the effects of the use of mobile telephones "and
similar equipment" in conjunction with the operation of a motor vehicle and 
report back to the legislature in four years. The full text of the 
measure is available on the New York legislature's Web site. A similar
measure requiring hands-free cellular telephones recently passed the Rhode 
Island legislature. As reported in the July 5th "In Brief."

We hope shortly to have a link to the bill on http://www.arrlhudson.org so
you can see the wording. We can expect similar bills now in other states 
and we need to stay alert so that Amateur radio operation is 
clearly exempted. Shortly after the bill was signed Governor Pataki was on
a WCBS Radio call in show "Talk to the Governor" aired in New York City and 
was asked by a caller if the law applied to hams. The governor said, "NO" and 
went on to talk about his ham radio experience.

COMMENTS DUE AUGUST 1 ON ARRL PETITION FOR PRIMARY AT 2300-2305 MHz

The FCC has put the ARRL's petition seeking a primary allocation at 2300 to
2305 MHz on public notice. It's been assigned a rulemaking number, RM-10165. 
Comments are due by August 1.

The League's petition, filed in May, also requested that no commercial
operations be introduced in the band. The Amateur Service now is secondary 
at 2300-2305 MHz. There is no primary occupant.

Comments also are due August 1 on a petition from AeroAstro Inc-now
designated RM-10166--that seeks a new Miscellaneous Wireless Communication 
Service (MWCS) on the band and co-primary status with the Amateur Service. 
AeroAstro has called on the FCC to grant its request "subject to technical rules 
calculated to minimize harmful interference between the two services and to
protect NASA's Deep Space Network," which operates below 2300 MHz.

Acknowledging the petition in its initial filing, the ARRL said it would
impose "severe operating constraints on the Amateur Service" if the FCC were 
to grant it. The ARRL plans to file comments on the AeroAstro petition as 
well as on its own.

Last year, the ARRL opposed a petition seeking to include 2300-2305 MHz in a
list of potential bands sought by Microtrax for a personal location and 
monitoring service.

The petition this spring marked the second time the ARRL has sought primary
status on the band. The ARRL first asked the FCC in 1996 to upgrade the 
allocation there to primary, but the Commission never acted on the request. 

The ARRL has said that the segment 2300-2305 MHz is "of extreme importance
to the Amateur Service, especially for weak-signal communications and 
propagation research, including beacon operation, due to the low noise 
levels in that band." The renewed petition was prompted by increasing demands 
on that portion of the spectrum due to development of new telecommunications
technologies.

The Amateur Service has primary allocations in this part of the spectrum at
2390-2400 MHz and 2402-2417 MHz. The ARRL last year sought to have the segment 
2400-2402 MHz elevated from secondary to primary, but the FCC has yet not 
acted on that request either. The AO-40 satellite has been successfully 
using that band for downlink telemetry and transponder operation.

In earlier proceedings, the ARRL has asked the FCC to create a primary
amateur allocation in the 2300 to 2305 MHz segment and to maintain the secondary 
ham allocation in the 2305 to 2310-MHz band. The ARRL has called sharing 
of the 2305 to 2310 MHz segment with other services "distinctly problematic."

The ARRL has said that its latest petition would be "consistent with the
protection requirements for government and NASA operations immediately below 
2300 MHz and the MWCS operation above 2305 MHz." Amateur Radio weak-signal 
work is centered near 2304 MHz. ARRL also pointed out that is was 
necessary to "maintain flexibility in the amateur uses of the 2300-2305 MHz
band, so that some paired, point-to-point operation can be conducted, 
together with frequencies in the 2390-2400 MHz band."

Interested parties may comment on the proposal electronically using the
FCC's Electronic Comment Filing Service (ECFS) page.

SOME COMPUTER TYPES ARE NOW WAKING UP TO WHAT HAM RADIO DOES

Here is some good publicity for ham radio that showed up first in
Computerworld and then on CNN. The articles give a boast to ham radio 
and ARRL with quotes from ARRL President, Jim Haynie W5JBP. It 
is almost as if someone just woke up and realized that we can provide
emergency communications. But replace the Internet we can't. 
The publicity nevertheless is good for ham radio.

Check out the two sites below if you haven't already.

http://www.computerworld.com/storyba/0,4125,NAV47-68-84-88_STO62036,00.html

http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/ptech/07/10/sans.ham.radio.idg/index.html


MT. BEACON AMATEUR RADIO CLUB ELECTION RESULTS 2001-2002

The annual election of Mt. Beacon Amateur Radio Club officers took place on
June 29th, with the counting of the ballots at the club's Quarterly in-person 
meeting at the Poughkeepsie Galleria. All of the newly elected Officers and 
Directors terms begin on July 1st.

A total of 112 ballots, representing 56% of those eligible to vote, were
received in time to become part of the official count. The election 
committee headed by Andrew, N2FTR, also consisted of Jim K2JIM and 
Adam KC2DAA. Incumbent President Bob N2BZP had appointed these three as
committee chairpeople earlier in the year. The Officer results:

President - serving for 1 year term - Bob N2BZP
Vice President - serving for 1 year term - Walt K2DPL
Recording Secretary - serving for 1 year term - Peter KB2WJJ
Corresponding Secretary - serving for 1 year term - John AB2EP
Director of Engineering - serving for 1 year term - Lloyd K2KJ

Four Directors at Large also serve on the club's Board. Unlike the officers
above, their terms are for two years each. However, the elections of 
Directors are staggered, so that each year two of the four are elected. 
The newly elected Directors are Phyliss, N2UFO and Noel, KE2FI. Their terms
run from 2001-2003. They join the existing two directors Gregg, 
WA2JPU and Rob, K2ROB, whose two year terms are from 2000-2002 and 
they will be replaced in next year's election. Andrew N2FTR and Brenda 
N2TTO are the two Directors whose terms ended on June 30th and are 
replaced on the Board by N2UFO and KE2FI beginning July 1st.

Congratulations to all the winners, thanks to all who ran, and my sincere
thanks to Adam KC2DAA and Jim K2JIM for serving with me on the election committee.
By Andrew, N2FTR

ROYALTY VISIT ENDS AND THE MOVIE "MEMENTO"

Princess Georgia Belmont of Arundel, Sussex, UK leaves this week for her
return trip. We will miss her and may not see her again until Christmas time. 
I'll miss the hugs and the cartoons.

In last month's Beacon I misspelled the title of the movie my son worked on.
I should have been "Memento" which is still playing in some local theaters. 

12 METER DXCC AWARD - EFFECTIVE JULY 2, 2001

DXCC is pleased to announce the addition of the 12-Meter Single Band DXCC
award. Applications for this award will be accepted beginning July 2, 2001. 
12 Meter DXCC certificates will be dated but not numbered. Twelve meter 
credits will not count toward the DeSoto Cup competition until October 1,
2001, but they will be included in the DXCC Challenge totals. You will now
be able to use 12 contacts to apply for 5BDXCC.

If you do not know what credits you have on 12 meters, you may contact DXCC
for a copy of your record. Note: the 12-meter band was added to the printout
on January 1, 2001. If you received a copy since then, you already have a 
copy of your 12-meter credits. This will help avoid duplicates and additional
costs. If you have web access and can handle ADOBE (.pdf) files, contact DXCC at
dxcc@arrl.org for a copy of your record. If you do not have web access, please 
send a note to DXCC along with $2.00 for postage and handling. For further 
information, please contact DXCC at dxcc@arrl.org

IARU HF WORLDCHAMPIONSHIP CONTEST July 14th and 15th - 1200 to 1200 UTC

Members of the Order of Boiled Owls Contest Club will be operating NU1AW as
the official headquarters station of the International Amateur Radio Union on 
July 14 and 15. Operation will be on 10 through 160 meters on both SSB and CW. 
Contact with NU1AW will be counted as a special HQ station multiplier. 
Operation will be from Readsboro, Vermont at the stations of K2LE and W2AX. 
Some of the ARRL Hudson Division cabinet who are members of the Owls and participating
in this operation include Public Information Coordinator Diane Ortiz K2DO, 
NLI Section Manager George Tranos N2GA, Hudson Division Director Frank Fallon 
N2FF and Assistant Director Mel Granick KS2G.QSL NU1AW via ARRL 
HQ in Newington, CT. 

Sorry, but I will not be at the Sussex Hamfest. It's a good one!

AREA HAMFESTS

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

August 18, 2001 Ramapo Mountain ARC - Oakland, NJ
http://www.qsl.net/rmarc 
Contact: Steven Oliphant, N2KBD 
10 Glen Road 
Ringwood, NJ 07456-2331
Phone: 973-962-4584
Fax: 973-962-6210
Email: rmarc@qsl.net

August 19, 2001 Suffolk County Radio Club - Medford, NY
Contact: Les Quackenbush, KB2ZHF 
63 West Parkview Drive
Shirley, NY 11967 
Phone: 631-399-4041
Email: leskb2zhf@aol.com

August 26, 2001 Yonkers ARC - Yonkers, NY
http://www.yarc.org 
Contact: Tommy Monzon, W5ACT 
21 West Lane 
South Salem, NY 10590
Phone: 914-533-2892 or
203-794-2665
Email: w5act@arrl.net