ARRL Hudson Division January 2004 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.hudson.arrl.org ARRL Members Please continue to spread the word to others who may wish to receive this information that they will need to access the ARRL members only web site. After becoming a member they must edit their profile and elect to receive bulletins from the Section Manager and Director. If you are already a member on the ARRL site (http://www.arrl.org) from the "Members Only" box click on "members data page" and then under email notification options set "Division/Section notices" to YES. You will receive the next bulletin sent. Past Bulletins are available at http://www.hudson.arrl.org * BEST WISHES for 2004 My wife Kathleen and I returned from England on January 6th after a three and half week visit over Christmas and the New Year with the family. I did manage to get on the air as M/N2FF in both the ARRL Ten Meter Contest and the ARRL RTTY Roundup and work a few of you in those contests. My wife and I attended a holiday party the Worthing and District ARC held and had a great time. We also managed a one-day ferry trip to Calais, France for some pre Christmas shopping - great prices on French wine and champagne. Back in the US on January 6th and a bit sad after saying goodbye to granddaughters Georgia and Delilah. Meanwhile we await the Spring Thaw and the first February Hamfest. See the listing at the end for a cure to cabin fever. * ARRL BOARD MEETING REPORT It was my pleasure to introduce new Hudson Division Vice Director, Joyce Birmingham, KA2ANF, to the ARRL Board at the January 2004 meeting. Joyce was a real hit with the board from Jim Haynie as well as other members of the ARRL Board family. There were a number of big decisions made at the meeting: A membership contact campaign to alert senators and congressmen about BPL starting in March. You will be asked to contact your congressional representatives. Stay tuned. The ARRL Board of Directors approved the development of a four-level set of Amateur Radio mentoring programs to help new licensees and those seeking to expand their horizons and get more out of Amateur Radio. See http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/01/22/2/?nc=1 ARRL Board of Directors in a historic move overwhelmingly approved a three class Amateur Radio license plan during its Annual Meeting in Windsor, Connecticut. The proposals--developed by the ARRL Executive Committee following a Board instruction last July--are in response to changes made in Article 25 of the international Radio Regulations at World Radiocommunication Conference 2003 (WRC-03). The ARRL plan will ask the FCC to create a new entry-level Amateur Radio license that would include HF phone privileges without requiring a Morse code test. The League also will propose consolidating all current licensees into three classes, retaining the Element 1 Morse requirement--now 5 WPM--only for the Extra class license. See http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/01/19/1/?nc=1 and http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/01/28/100/?nc=1 for details. This is the ARRL Board reaction to deletion of the Morse requirement for HF operation in the ITU treaty language. I support the plan as I see it as the only possible way to continue our Morse code tradition. It is widely believed that the FCC wants to eliminate the Morse requirement entirely for all licenses. I view this plan as the only hope that there will be Morse testing at any level. Some of the other plans already offered to the FCC have no chance, in my mind, of being adopted as public policy by the government agency. I feel other plans seeking to "increase the code speed" have absolutely no chance of acceptance by the FCC. Yes, it was obvious from the survey I sent out last September that the majority of members in the Hudson Division wanted to continue CW testing requirements but they also wanted an entrance level license that allowed HF access with no CW or minimum CW knowledge. I view the plan developed by the ARRL EC as the only chance of preserving our Morse testing tradition at any level. Looking at what has already happened in Europe and Australia I can see the handwriting on the wall in the FCC office. Yes, this is a very emotional, almost religious issue, for many hams. The directors realized full well that not all ARRL members were going to be happy with the decision. There is no way to keep all our members happy over this issue. I have thought long and hard about this issue for the last seven years and feel we are taking the wrong path in attempting to continue to force Morse code on those entering our great hobby. It has not worked. While I will continue for many years, God willing, to work CW DX and enter CW contests, I no longer see any wisdom in forcing those entering our ranks to take a CW test. It is certainly not going to help us grow the ranks of Amateur Radio. I am interested in doing just that. Please note the issue here is CW testing and not CW sub-bands. Those who want us to dig our heels in here and fight for higher code speed testing and CW testing at all levels are failing to take into consideration what the FCC told us back in 2000, when it lowered the code speed to 5 WPM. At that point the FCC said the sole reason they were keeping the test, at all, was because of international treaty requirements. Those requirements were dropped on July 4th 2003 and no longer exist. In the FCC's mind there is no longer a reason to give a Morse test. We, ARRL, hope to be able to give them a number of reasons to keep the test for the Extra Class license thus preserving the tradition. We hope therefore that the great majority of you will support the ARRL proposal and let the FCC know that during the comment period. When the FCC assigns a number to the petition you will have a chance to make your feelings known to the FCC. Both Joyce and I realize that there are many of you are not happy with the ARRL position. When the process is over, probably some time before May 2005, it will be the FCC that decides the issue for us all. * HRU 2004 A SUCCESS DESPITE BAD WEATHER HRU 2004 was another success. Held on Sunday, January 18, 2004 at Oyster Bay, New York and sponsored by Long Island Mobile Amateur Radio Club; the event was a success despite a snowstorm. Local clubs had exhibits and there were many forums. The ARES forum and Ed Hare's BPL forum had big crowds. There were also some nice prizes given out at the end of the event. Well done all who worked to make the event a success in the NLI Section! * HUDSON DIVISION AWARDS DINNER EARNS $1070 for BPL EFFORT The 10-70 Repeater Association, Inc. presented Mary Hobart, K1MMH, Chief Development Officer of the ARRL with a check for $1070.00 on January 15, 2004. This check represents a donation by the repeater club and monies raised during the Hudson Division Awards Dinner, where 10-70 was the host club. The presentation was made at the ARRL Board of Directors meeting in Hartford, CT by ARRL Hudson Division Vice Director, Joyce Birmingham, KA2ANF; who also serves as 10-70's Vice President, and ARRL Hudson Division Director Frank Fallon, N2FF. This donation will go to the ARRL Spectrum Defense Fund to support the fight against BPL. A BIG thanks to the 10-70 Repeater Association, the host club for the event, for their efforts and to all who took ads, attended and made contributions at the event thereby making it successful on all levels. * HUDSON DIVISION CABINET AND PRESIDENTS MEETING SET FOR FEBRUAY 7th Saturday February 7th there will be a joint Hudson Division Cabinet and Club Presidents Meeting starting at 9:30 at the Paramus Congregational Church. Bagels and coffee will be served at 9 AM. Assistant Directors and Club Presidents or their representatives are invited to attend. Please let Joyce Birmingham, KA2ANF, Hudson Division Vice Director know you are coming. Send e-mail to: ka2anf @arrl.org Coffee and bagels will be provided and I plan to start the meeting promptly at 9:30. We will provide pizza for lunch. The meeting will end by 2 PM. Please bring your ideas and input. If you have any items for the agenda please send me an e-mail at n2f@arl.org All division affiliated clubs should send a representative if the president is unable to attend. Paramus Congregational Church Entrance is the basement on the side of the church. 205 Spring Valley RoadParamus, NJ 07652 1) From New York City GWB to NJ. Take Route 4 West to the Paramus area. Exit at the Spring Valley Road Exit (go right, toward Oradell/River Edge). Go through the light and the church is the second one on the left almost across from the Middle school. Entrance is the basement on side of the church. 2) From Route 17 North and South, Take the Century Road Exit and go East toward River Edge. Go up hill thru light, down hill to next light and turn Left. Paramus High School is on your left. Go to second church on the left. * FAR SCHOLARSHIPS ANNOUNCEMENTS THE FOUNDATION FOR AMATEUR RADIO, INC., a non-profit organization with headquarters in Washington, D.C., plans to administer fifty-nine (59) scholarships for the academic year 2004 - 2005 to assist licensed Radio Amateurs. The Foundation, composed of over seventy-five local area Amateur Radio Clubs, fully funds seven of these scholarships with the income from grants and its annual Hamfest. The remaining fifty-two (52) are administered by the Foundation without cost to the various donors. Licensed Radio Amateurs may compete for these awards if they plan to pursue a full-time course of studies beyond high school and are enrolled in or have been accepted for enrollment at an accredited university, college or technical school. The awards range from $500 to $2500 with preference given in some cases to residents of specified geographical areas or the pursuit of certain study programs. Clubs, especially those in Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin, are encouraged to announce these opportunities at their meetings, in their club newsletters, during training classes, on their nets and on their world wide web home pages. Additional information and an application form may be requested by letter or QSL card, postmarked prior to April 30, 2004 from: FAR Scholarships Post Office Box 831 Riverdale, MD 20738 The Foundation for Amateur Radio, incorporated in the District of Columbia, is an exempt organization under Section 501(C)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. It is devoted exclusively to promoting the interests of Amateur Radio and those scientific, literary and educational pursuits that advance the purposes of the Amateur Radio Service. * The Big Project's Ranks, Enthusiasm Expand (Jan 27, 2004) -- Since coming onboard as ARRL Amateur Radio Education and Technology Program Coordinator some six months ago, Mark Spencer, WA8SME, has seen the number of "Big Project" pilot schools rise from 50 to 70. Fourteen schools came aboard last fall, while another three schools already in the program received progress grants of up to $500 to help them continue their Big Project activities. http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/01/27/2/?nc=1 * DXCC DEADLINES Just a reminder that the deadline to be shown in the next DXCC Honor Roll list is March 31, 2004. Submissions must be postmarked March 31, 2004 for your submission to count for this listing. The DXCC Honor Roll list will appear in August 2004 QST. There are 335 entities on the DXCC list and you must be within the numerical top 10 DXCC entities to qualify. The current minimum requirement for Honor Roll is 326 current entities. de Angel M Garcia - WA2VUY DXAC Member, Hudson Division
* SIX METER MILLENNIUM NET The 6 Meter Millennium Net is moving from its usual spot, Friday 9:30 PM local time 50.135 Mhz to Wednesday 9:00 PM, 50.135 Mhz. This change becomes effective 1/14/04 http://www.qsl.net/w2rjj/6meter/welcome6.htm The net is now all USB, the cw portion has stopped since all the participants passed the code exam and we spend our cw operating time on HF. De Dave White KC2ICA * RARITAN BAY RADIO AMATEURS CELEBRATE FIFTIETH YEAR Just wanted to mention that our radio club, the Raritan Bay Radio Amateurs, Inc. (RBRA) will be celebrating our 50th anniversary in 2004. We were founded in 1954 and our original club call was K2OML, but this was quickly changed to K2GE in 1956 when one of our original members became a silent key. The RBRA currently has 53 members, we have monthly meetings, alternating between "on-the-air" and face-to-face meetings, dinners, and pizza parties. We're a general purpose radio club (Field Day, VHF/UHF Contests, VE Testing, etc.) and we're also an ARRL Special Service Club (SSC). Our K2GE VHF/UHF repeater has been on the air for over 30 years - it has multiple repeater sites with outputs on 146.76 MHz. and 443.200 MHz. In addition, we have VHF/UHF packet repeaters and are also active on APRS. Walt Kapica WA2NXK RBRA Club Treasurer * METROPLEX ELECTS 2004 OFFICERS The Metroplex Amateur Radio Club, serving the New York City Metropolitan Area, has elected its officers for 2004. Tom Bennett, N2IMG, will continue his second term as the group's president; John Acovino, KB2VVO, has been elected vice-president, Armand Lucchesi, WA2SHA, the club's trustee, will serve as secretary-treasurer. M.A.R.C. directors for this year include: Acovino; Dominic Benjamin, AB2BW; Bennett; Nick Bernice, W2NAB; Frank Ferrer, KB2VVP; George Lafasakis, N2ROI; Walter Lange, WA2BHU; Lucchesi; John Ludewig, KB2VJM; and Paul Lynch, KB2WEE. The Office of Emergency Management Team is headed by Michael Adams, WA2MWT, OEM Coordinator and Public and Government Relations Director. He is assisted by John Ludewig, Bruce Greenwood, KB2UJN; Steve Goeller, K2BTP; Marc Monda, N2ZNP and Jon Burchfield, NJ2N. Matt Alfano, W2NIW, is chairman of the Membership Committee. "After two years of re-building, we have recently surpassed our goal of fifty members," President Bennett commented, "We offer weekly technical support sessions, a VE team, and public service and public safety participation through Emergency Management and the National Weather Service's SkyWarn program." The Metroplex Amateur Radio Club, operating as W2MPX, operates on 145.450, -.600KHz, with a PL of 100.0 Hz. The group meets at the Red Oak Diner, in Fort Lee, NJ, every Saturday from 1:00 - 5:00 PM. The website is www.metroplex.org Submitted by Michael Adams, WA2MWT Wa2mwt@arrl.net * DIANA DAY in WALL, NJ The OCEAN/MONMOUTH ARC (OMARC) had a special event called Diana Day, at the Diana site of Camp Evans in Wall, NJ on Saturday, Jan 10th. The event commemorated the 58th anniversary of project Diana which initially took place on Jan 10, 1946. Project Diana was the first time that radar signals were sent to the moon and successfully received back on earth. This historic event opened the way to space communications as we know it today and proved that the ionosphere could be penetrated in both directions with little attenuation. For more info on project Diana go to www.infoage .org There were fifteen OMARC members in attendance and the event was opened to the public. Communications was made on HF with 65 amateurs throughout the U.S. and commemorative QSL certificates are being sent to the stations that requested them. 73/ RON OLENDER/ WA2HZT PRESIDENT OMARC * HAVING A HOOT ! The Owls were active in this month's NA QSO Party CW Members of the Order of Boiled Owls were active in this weekend's NA QSO Party CW. The NAQP began Saturday, January 10, at 1 PM (EST) and ran for 12 hours. The following callsigns were active: KW2O (operated by Dennis K2SX), W2OWL (operated by Frank N2FF), NA2M (Bill), W2YK (Frank) and N2GA (George). Some of these members will used the name "HOOT" in celebration of the Owl's 50th year. Contact with any of these stations will count towards the Owls' "OBO 50 Award". See http://www.obony.org for more information. (de George Tranos N2GA) * Announcing The First Annual Mid-Atlantic QSO Party We're pleased to announce the first annual MID-ATLANTIC QSO PARTY. It's a good old fashioned QSO Party, focused on Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District Of Columbia. It will run from May 8th 2004 at 1600 UTC until May 9th 2004 at 2400 UTC on all HF bands except WARC, and on VHF/UHF from 50 to 450 MHz. The MAQP seeks to provide a competitive challenge with a low-pressure atmosphere. In short, the purpose is to have fun, enjoy the event, and find your own desired level of participation. The MAQP committee will offer certificates and plaques, including categories such as Top Scorer in each Mid-Atlantic state, the entire Mid-Atlantic region, each DX country, state, or VE province from which an entry is received, and more. All stations are welcome - fixed, mobile, rover, single or multi-operator, clubs, QRP or standard power. Contest logging software designers are already preparing MAQP modules. Information will be published on our website as available. Please visit the MAQP website at http://www.qsl.net/maqso for full details, rules, maps, and all forms, available for downloading, as well as a current list of plaques and awards. In New Jersey, please contact: Walter O'Brien/W2WJO at w2wjo@earthlink.net and Mike Clarson/WV2ZOW at mclarson@rcc.com >>>>>APPROVED HAMFESTS: The Division's first hamfest of 2004 is: 29 Feb 2004 + Long Island Mobile ARC http://www.limarc.org/fest.htm Contact: Diane Ortiz, K2DO PO Box 392 Levittown, NY 11756 Phone: 631-286-7562 Email: hamfest@limarc.org Hicksville, NY Sect: New York City-Long Island 6 Mar 2004 x Splitrock ARA http://www.splitrockara.org Contact: Michael Greenfeld, K8BQ PO Box 610 Rockaway, NJ 07866 Phone: 866-457-6687 Email: hamfest@splitrockara.org Parsippany, NJ Sect: Northern New Jersey 13 Mar 2004 + Cherryville Repeater Association http://www.qsl.net/w2cra Contact: Cherryville Repeater Assocation, W2CRA PO Box 308 Quakertown, NJ 08868 Phone: 908-788-4080 Email: w2cra@qsl.net Clinton, NJ Sect: Northern New Jersey 14 Mar 2004 + Orange County ARC http://www.bestweb.net/~ocarc/ Contact: Ed Moskowitz, N2XJI 123 Harold Avenue Cornwall, NY 12518 Phone: 845-534-3492 Email: n2xji@arrl.net New Windsor, NY Sect: Eastern New York -------------------------------------------------------------------- ARRL Hudson Division Director: Frank Fallon, N2FF n2ff@arrl.org