ARRL Hudson Division July 2004 Hudson Division Beacon - e-mail edition - # 40 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 * ARRL BOARD OKAYS VOLUNTEER GRASSROOTS LOBBYING EFFORT The ARRL Board meeting saw the roll out of two big ARRL projects - the ARESCOMM project and GRASSROOTS Lobbying effort. See http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/07/20/2/?nc=1 for details and pictures of both Joyce and I at the meeting. She's the cute one. As chair of the AD Hoc Grassroots Lobbying effort I am heavily involved in this pet project of mine and very happy that the Board saw fit to immediately incorporate the effort into our current BPL strategy. The committee has yet to complete the plan. The committee composed of Directors, Section Managers and ARRL employees including our Washington lobbyist plans to have our members contact key legislators who are members of the committees that deal with our issues. We hope to have the organization up and running and visits made by October. See http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/07/20/2/?nc=1 If you are interested in being considered for any of the three positions please let me know ASAP. The digital Winlink 2000 system for ARES is described in two issues of QST in the "Public Services" section. See page 82 of the August 2004, QST and watch for part two in the September issue in the same section. With this digital system in operation on HF, and UHF/VHF ARES is going to be in a position to offer an amazing seamless e-mail service to the agencies it supports in time of need. This is going to be a major step forward in what amateur radio will be able to offer the Homeland Security effort. If you are involved in ARES leadership these two articles are now required reading. If you are not yet involved with ARES but are well versed in digital communications such as explained in the two articles you may want to join ARES and help deploy the service. * FIELD DAY 2004 It's over, but it was a good one with great weather. It was even better than last year as it was not as hot. My own club, the Boiled Owls, decided at the last minute not to do Field Day in 2004, so I made a mini trip to three division clubs. It was a sort of eating out adventure. On Saturday morning I visited the Yonkers ARC as they were finishing their set up at Redmond Field in Yonkers. President Tony Lisnak, N2WIE with the assistance of Richard KC2HZW and Peter AB2RI had the set up team working hard raising a two-element forty meter beam into the air some forty feet above ground. It was quite a sight and many pictures were taken. Dan Calabrese, AA2HX, made sure I had my fill of hot dogs and hamburgers. But the highlight was to see Emily Maytan, AC2V, there this year, after being in the hospital last year. Her husband Paul, AC2T, was happy to have her back at Field day 2004 as were the rest of us. Lots of friendly people at YARC as always. This year they operated 3A & GOTA and digital modes (packet & PSK31). My wife wanted to be there but she had an appointment she could not reschedule. Saturday afternoon we drove up to Eaton's Neck Coast Guard station near Northport on Long Island. There are some great views of Long Island Sound as you approach from the south. ARCECS, Amateur Radio Club Emergency Communications Service, affiliated with the Queens Chapter of The American Red Cross has been at this site for years. It's a beautiful spot with great views of Long Island Sound as the sunsets. The club camps out there for the weekend amidst the Coast Guard just below the Eaton's Neck Lighthouse, eats very well and operates a little radio. George Sau, WB2ZTU, the club president and the second cook, has been a radio friend since his high school days in Queens. This year it was nice to see a visitor from SATERN, Jeff Schneller, N2HPO, a Salvation Army communicator. Visitors N2GA, KA2D and KS2G were also +on hand to make a few contacts for the club. Sunday morning my wife and I set off for the North Fork of Long Island. Once you get past Riverhead it's really another world with grapevines and fields of flowers and vegetables. Once on the back roads you could be back in the 1950's except for the cars. The Peconic ARC has set up at Horton's Point Light House for about the last ten years or so along with some visitors from Staten Island and the BEARS. Here thanks to a tour led by CQ columnist Ken Neubeck, WB2AMU, and digital mavin John Blowsky, KB2SCS, I was able to see the home-brew wind generator described in the July issue of CQ magazine. Roy Rakobitsch, KB2UHF, was there with his militarized jeep holding his wind generator in place along with a few solar panels and battery charger. This was real emergency power. It was nice to see John Rieger, K2JRR, and Warren Melhado, WM2Z and many other familiar faces. We had a few words with Waren Keppenberg, W2WGK, about fly-fishing and TGF. That was a coincidence meeting another ham fly fisherman on Field Day. Thanks to club president Roberta Keiss, N2RBU, and her crew for their fine hospitality. * KIDNEY NEEDED FOR KC2GLG Frank & Joyce I'm sure you have heard by now that George Sabbi (KC2GLG - DEC SKYWARN for NNJ) needs a kidney transplant. The best way I know to get this done is to publicize his need. We are communicators - lets communicate. Barring a close relative that will match him and will be willing to donate a kidney - there may be someone out there who would be a match and be willing to donate. I'm available to discuss this any time. Steve K2SO, SEC NNJ, Pres TCRA PS - I spoke to George about this and he said the publicity is OK with him * RADIO PIONEER W8JK SK According to my Radio Astronomy sources, Dr. John D Kraus, W8JK, passed away on 7/18. From the Bigear site: "It is with deep regret that I tell you of the death of Dr. John D. Kraus on Sunday, July 18, 2004 at the age of 94. He had been in failing physical health for the past few years, although his mind remained as sharp as ever." http://www.bigear.org/ 73, Art W6XD see http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/07/21/1/?nc=1 for details * HOW I SPENT MY SUMMER VACATION - Getting young people involved in ham radio. Here is an interesting project underway by the New Providence ARC. Those who want more exposure for ham radio, and don't we all, take note: On Tuesday July 27th we will start our summer program of "Ham Radio Camps" in New Providence. This Camp is being run in cooperation with the Recreation Commissions of the town. The schedule is: Tuesday, Thursday and Friday July 27/29/30 in Jaycees Park off Springfield Ave near the Community Pool. The Thursday session may be held at Oakwood Park, or it may not be held at all. FIRST: A flyer is attached. I am asking every member who will pass through New Providence this week or on Monday to post at least one copy of it on a Bulletin Board at supermarkets, and other public places. All you have to do is print one copy of the Flyer and post it. SECOND: Setup time is 9AM on Tuesday and we get on the air by 10AM. If we have a few members present, we can do our Morse Code thing and also use the Handitalkies on 2 meters. Otherwise we'll just be on 15 or 20 meter SSB. THIRD: The camp runs from about 10AM until about 2 PM. It would be nice to have at least one person who can go for Pizza at lunch time. If you can work at this event anytime during the scheduled days, please let me know. If you arrive wearing your Salt Brook Statics golf shirt and your ERT ID Tag (if you have one) the organizers will let you right into the Camp Area. It might be useful if you bring your 2 meter HT set up on 145.700 MHz. There is room for everybody, and we certainly could use some help and a couple more Elmers. 73 es CU at Camp de Barry K2JV Another New Jersey club is mounting an effort with similar goals: The Garden State Amateur Radio Association wishes to make a stronger effort in bringing Youth into our hobby. Some of our guys recently participated in Kid's Day, and we want to do more. We will try to arrange to have local Scouts and or School Kids visit the Mars station at Fort Monmouth some weekend later this year. Because of security reasons this may be tricky, so we'll keep you posted on our progress. Marty Szumera WN2DX * GETTING YOUR LEGISLATOR INVOLVED WITH HAM RADIO ISSUES http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/06/14/1/Senator-Crapo-clip.mpg Take a look at this video. Senator Crapo is the sponsor of our Spectrum Protection Bill. Have you written or contacted your representatives? See http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/06/14/1/?nc=1 * LATEST BPL VIDEO AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD Less than a half hour after I released the June "Beacon" for distribution the ARRL web site put up a video showing our problems with BPL. It is a professional quality production done by a group of hams in Virginia, another example of what hams are capable of doing. I plan to make it part of our lobbying package. Here is what Steve Hajducek, N2CKH of OMARC had to say about BPL and the video in his club bulletin: Without a doubt, Broadband over Power Line (BPL) has to be the biggest threat to Amateur Radio ever. It is becoming apparent that many folks don't understand the seriousness of BPL. Perhaps if more people, hams and non-hams alike, saw the devastating effect that BPL has on the HF communications spectrum then they would support the ARRL in its fight to stop the polluting of the spectrum. Clubs may be interested in downloading the latest BPL videos and showing them at the next club meeting. These are short 3 to 4 minute videos but they really drive the message home. It's a fairly large MPEG file, but any member with a broadband connection will have no trouble downloading it. See the story here: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/06/18/8/?nc=1 Here is another video that has the sounds of BPL: http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc/#Video BPL is an issue that all hams should be concerned about. Show these videos to your clubs and educate the membership and support the ARRL in its fight to maintain our radio spectrum. Read more about spectrum defense and BPL: https://www.arrl.org/forms/fdefense/ On Behalf of OMARC /s/ Steve Hajducek, N2CKH, OMARC Club Secretary/Membership Chairman http://www.omarc.org, home e-mail: n2ckh@n2ckh.com * DID YOU WRITE TO WASHINGTON ABOUT BPL? I know many of your did as you sent me copies of the letter. Thanks. This will help us get some protection or "notching" when the technology is implemented. It's important that the President and legislators hear from you on the issue of BPL interference to our emergency communications. If you did not check these sites for info: http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc/cta/ http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc/cta/grassroots.html Sample letter can be accessed from the sidebar on the above page. Please personalize your letter. Also, the following report from the NTIA regarding BPL needs to be read by all: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/fccfilings/2004/bpl/index.html Please keep the ARRL informed. * CHERRYVILLE HAMS PUT W4H RADIO ON THE AIR AT HUNTERDON 4-H FAIR Cherryville Repeater Association announces special event radio station W4H, honoring the 2004 Hunterdon County 4H & Agricultural Fair being held from Wednesday, August 25th, through Sunday, August 29th, at the new fairgrounds in Ringoes, NJ. The fair is the current incarnation of the historical Flemington Fair, which has operated in Hunterdon County since the middle 19th century. The public is invited to drop by the Cherryville Repeater Association booth, just outside the "Community Tent" area of the fair, and talk live on the air themselves. You might talk to a new friend across the country, or maybe even around the world. No license or experience is required, and each participant will receive his or her own personalized color certificate to memorialize their on air experience. Cherryville1s booth will feature showings of "Amateur Radio Today," a documentary film featuring world famous newscaster and ham radio operator, Walter Cronkite, showing how amateur radio comes to the aid of communities everywhere in all sorts of emergencies. Amateur television, satellite and automatic position reporting stations will also be demonstrated. Information on how to become involved in Amateur Radio will be available. Today there are more than 650,000 amateur radio operators in the United States and more than 2.5 million worldwide. "We are in the middle of a telecommunications revolution, and Amateur Radio is right in the middle of the action," says club vice-president Walter O1Brien, W2WJO "We are making friends around the world, getting young people interested in technology and helping our communities when disaster strikes. We hope that people will come out to our booth at the Hunterdon 4-H Fair and experience first hand what it's all about." W4H special event radio station will operate during regular fair hours, 10 AM to 10 PM, from Wednesday August 25 until Saturday, August 28, and from 10 AM to 6 PM on Sunday, August 29, on the ham radio frequencies of 7.275 MHz, 14.275 MHz, 21.375 MHz, and 28.375 MHz. Please send QSL requests to W4H, c/o Cherryville Repeater Association, PO Box 308, Quakertown, NJ 08868, 9x12 SASE required for non-folded certificates. The Cherryville Repeater Association is a non-profit organization of over one hundred amateur radio operators or "hams" dedicated to providing community service using their communications skills. They provide free communications services for many local events where the safety of both participants and spectators is a concern, including the March Of Dime Walk-a-thon, Skylands Triathlon, Lebanon1s 4th of July parade, equestrian events, scout jamborees, and the like. Several members are also active in state and local Radio Amateur Civilian Emergency Service (RACES), Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) and have provided emergency communication support to local authorities during disasters such as hurricanes, floods, etc. Club meetings are at 7:30 p.m. the second Friday of each month at the Flemington Baptist Church, at the corner of Church and Main Streets. All interested persons are welcome. Classes to teach newcomers how to become an amateur radio operator are offered by the association and are scheduled to begin in September in association with Hunterdon County Red Cross in Flemington. For more information call the club information line on 908-788-4080. The Cherryville Repeater Association web site can be found at http://www.qsl.net/w2cra. Cherryville Repeater Association II P.O. BOX 308 QUAKERTOWN, NJ 08868 Club Info Phone 908-788-4080 Press Contact: Walter O1Brien, W2WJO Telephone: 908-638-3401 E-Mail: w2wjo@earthlink.net * NEW PROVIDENCE CLUB OPERATES "KIDS DAY" NPARC held Kid's Day at the New Providence Centennial Park on Saturday. The WX couldn't have been much better. We were on the air from 2 PM till about 5 PM local time. I was very disappointed in the general turnout. Although we had three articles published in the Independent Press, a notice on the Berkeley Heights Public Bulletin Board, and I'm certain that each and every one of you club members did as I asked and posted a Flyer on a Bulletin Board in your local supermarket, library, bank, etc., we only had about four kids come to operate at the event. BUT -- I am very pleased to report that ALL OF THE KIDS were from the Salt Brook Statics Radio Club, and they all did great on the air. We worked a total of 11 QSOs and I'm now preparing custom QSL cards for each one with a photo of the Kid Operator. I'm sure that each kid will get a card from the stations he/she contacted. Our best DX QSO was NP2I on St. Croix US Virgin Islands, and another exciting contact was W5RRR the station at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The farthest west was a couple of QSOs with Michigan. I'm also pleased to report that we had a great turnout of NPARC members. More members than kids, HI!! But that made it possible to get our message across to the parents. The next Kid's Day will be in January, and we'll do it from the Berkeley Heights Community Center. Our champion "kid" operator was Nick Esposito who worked 6 QSOs. 73/88 de Barry G. Cohen K2JV
* TARA DIGITAL CONTEST SET FOR August 8 More contests on the way! The 2nd Annual TARA Grid Dip PSK-RTTY Shindig is close at hand. The test runs 00.00-23.59Z on 7 August. It is an all-inclusive affair (all digital modes, perhaps one or two we cannot identify) with Maidenhead Grid Squares as multipliers. If you are not out and about at the beach, join in! All the info is at www.n2ty.org/seasons/tara_grid_rules.html. This is the first of the four annual TARA contests, so don't miss it. HAMFESTS: No hamfests in the Division until September -- See http://www.boxboro.org/2004/index.html for details about the New England Division Convention at Boxboro, August 14 and 15. It's a good event I usually attend. A conflict with a family wedding will keep me away this year. 11 Sep 2004 + Saratoga County RACES http://www.wa2umx.net Contact:Darlene Lake, N2XQG 314 Louden Road, #84 Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 Phone: 518-587-2385 Email: dar@saratogaspringsny.us Ballston Spa, NY Div: Hudson Sect: Eastern New York 12 Sep 2004 + Long Island Mobile ARC http://www.limarc.org Contact: Diane Ortiz, K2DO PO Box 296 Bellport, NY 11713 Phone: 631-286-7562 Email: K2DO@limarc.org Bethpage, NY Div: Hudson Sect: New York City-Long Island -------------------------------------------------------------------- ARRL Hudson Division Director: Frank Fallon, N2FF n2ff@arrl.org