Section Happenings Newsletter
edited by Tom Carrubba KA2D
NLI Section Manager
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January 2007 |
This is the January edition of the New York City-Long Island "ehappenings" Section newsletter! This newsletter is here to serve the Amateur Radio community in our area. I welcome and encourage all submissions. Please help make this your newsletter! I especially encourage officers of the area's Amateur Radio clubs to submit their meeting announcements, guest speakers and special events. Please submit any information for the February issue prior to the end of January. Section News Section News is available ONLY on the world-wide-web. See the NLI site at: http://www.arrl.org/sections/?sect=NLI IN THIS ISSUE: * From Tom Carrubba KA2D, Section Manager * FCC drops morse code requirement * UPCOMING Club Events Ham Radio University - NLI Section Convention Jan 7, 2007 ARRL HUDSON DIVISION CABINET & PRESIDENTS MEETING Jan 13 * Other "stuff" * NLI Section Website: http://hudson.arrl.org/nli HAPPENINGS * From Tom Carrubba, Section Manager Ham Radio University 2007 will be held on Sunday, January 7, 2007, at Briarcliffe College in Bethpage. For details goto: http://www.HamRadioUniversity.org The HRU 2007 Committee chaired by Neil Heft KC2KY has done a great job of planning a great day for you. As it is also ARRL Kid's Day, the special event station W2V will be looking for young people who would like to operate from HRU. I want to thank George N2GA for the great job he has done as SM since taking over in 1998. So, when you see him, give him a pat on the back and a "thank you". I also want to thank all the NLI ARES and NTS people who do the every day task of staying prepared, running nets, and submitting reports. I am confident this will continue under Mike N2YBB's leadership. We thank Adam Fine KT2H, former AB2IZ. Adam is stepping down from his EC position, but will remain active in the ARES program. Good luck with his new OES appointment. HNY Tom KA2D * UPCOMING Club Events -The previous listing needs updating. Please submit your meeting information to ka2d@arrl.org HAM RADIO UNIVERSITY - New York City-Long Island Section Convention Sunday January 7, 2007, 7:30 AM, Briarcliffe College, Bethapge See http://www.HamRadioUniversity.org ARRL HUDSON DIVISION CABINET AND PRESIDENTS MEETING SET FOR JANUARY 13, 2007 (9:30am - 2:00pm) Saturday January 13th there will be a joint ARRL 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. IMPORTANT: Please bring your ideas and input. If you have any items for the agenda please send me an e-mail at n2ff@arrl.org All Hudson Division affiliated clubs should send a representative if the president is unable to attend. Topics to be covered include Grassroots Political Action, BPL Strategy, and the Demise of CW Testing. The last hour of the meeting will be for club representatives to network and help develop strategies for issues facing local clubs. Paramus Congregational Church 205 Spring Valley Road Paramus, NJ 07652 - (GPS Coordinates: N 40.93140 W 74.05530) Entrance is through the basement on the side of the church - 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 through light, down hill to next light and turn Left. Paramus High School is on your left. Go to second church on the left. NOTE - As usual, please check with the club to verify the date and time of all events. CHECK with the CLUB! * Other "stuff" FCC to Drop Morse Testing for All Amateur License Classes From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT December 16, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB QST ARL ARLB030 ARLB030 FCC to Drop Morse Testing for All Amateur License Classes In an historic move, the FCC has acted to drop the Morse code requirement for all Amateur Radio license classes. The Commission today adopted a Report and Order (R&O) in WT Docket 05-235. In a break from typical practice, the FCC only issued a public notice at or about the close of business and not the actual Report and Order, so some details -- including the effective date of the R&O -- remain uncertain. The public notice is located at, http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-269012A1.pdf. Also today, the FCC also adopted an Order on econsideration, in WT Docket 04-140 -- the "omnibus" proceeding -- agreeing to modify the Amateur Radio rules in response to an ARRL request to accommodate automatically controlled narrowband digital stations on 80 meters in the wake of rule changes that became effective today at 12:01 AM Eastern Time. The Commission said it will carve out the 3585 to 3600 kHz frequency segment for such operations. Prior to the long-awaited action on the Morse code issue, Amateur Radio applicants for General and higher class licenses had to pass a 5 WPM Morse code test to operate on HF. The Commission said today's R&O eliminates that requirement for General and Amateur Extra applicants. "This change eliminates an unnecessary regulatory burden that may discourage current Amateur Radio operators from advancing their skills and participating more fully in the benefits of Amateur Radio," the FCC said. The ARRL had asked the FCC to retain the 5 WPM for Amateur Extra class applicants only. The FCC proposed earlier to drop the requirement across the board, however, and it held to that decision in today's R&O. Perhaps more important, the FCC's action in WT Docket 05-235 appears to put all Technician licensees on an equal footing: Once the R&O goes into effect, holders of Technician class licenses will have equivalent HF privileges, whether or not they've passed the 5 WPM Element 1 Morse examination. The FCC said the R&O in the Morse code docket would eliminate a disparity in the operating privileges for the Technician and Technician Plus class licensees. Technician licensees without Element 1 credit (ie, Tech Plus licensees) currently have operating privileges on all amateur frequencies above 30 MHz. "With today's elimination of the Morse code exam requirements, the FCC concluded that the disparity between the operating privileges of Technician Class licensees and Technician Plus Class licensees should not be retained," the FCC said in its public notice. "Therefore, the FCC, in today's action, afforded Technician and Technician Plus licensees identical operating privileges." The wholesale elimination of a Morse code requirement for all license classes ends a longstanding national and international regulatory tradition in the requirements to gain access to Amateur Radio frequencies below 30 MHz. The first no-code license in the US was the Technician ticket, instituted in 1991. The question of whether or not to drop the Morse requirement altogether has been the subject of often-heated debate over the past several years, but the handwriting has been on the wall. A number of countries, including Canada, no longer require applicants for an Amateur Radio license to pass a Morse code test to gain HF operating privileges. The list has been increasing regularly. The FCC said today's R&O in WT Docket 05-235 comports with revisions to the international Radio Regulations resulting from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Radiocommunication Conference 2003 (WRC-03). At that gathering, delegates agreed to authorize each country to determine whether or not to require that applicants demonstrate Morse code proficiency in order to qualify for an Amateur Radio license with privileges on frequencies below 30 MHz. Typically, the effective date of an FCC Order is 30 days after it appears in the Federal Register. That would mean the Morse requirement and the revised 80-meter segment for automatically controlled digital stations would likely not go into effect until late January 2007. The ARRL will provide any additional information on these important Part 97 rule revisions as it becomes available. NNNN The K2LS Node is back on line from Greensboro, NC. Same address. dxc.k2ls.com Spots from North America, Zones 1 -8 ONLY! No Chat from outside zones 1 - 8. Thank you for your Patience Larry K2LS k2ls@triad.rr.com - Finding ham radio classes a mouse click away! A new user-friendly feature on the ARRL Web site--the ARRL Amateur Licensing Class Search Page--lets prospective hams search for a licensing class in their area. It also allows ARRL-registered instructors to list their classes on the Web. Visitors can search for classes by ZIP code, ARRL Section or state. http://www.arrl.org/FandES/courses/ Registered ARRL instructors can list their classes by visiting the Volunteer Instructor Support page and completing a simple form. http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/instructor/ Listings will automatically drop from the list when the class is completed. The new page also links beginners and those planning to upgrade to various resources, including ARRL's Now You're Talking! studymanual and the ARRL Exam Session Search page. http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/examsearch.phtml Newcomers may also want to visit the "Welcome to Amateur Radio" page on the ARRL Web site. http://www.arrl.org/hamradio.html "We're very excited about this new feature that makes it easier for prospective hams to find a class so that they can earn their Amateur Radio license," said ARRL Affiliated Club and Mentor Program Manager Norm Fusaro, W3IZ. "ARRL also continues to support all of the instructors who give so much time and energy to teaching classes for new hams and upgraders." To become a registered ARRL Volunteer Instructor, contact Fusaro; 860-594-0230. [w3iz@arrl.org] - ARES E-Letter debuts, sign up now! The ARES E-Letter to debut (Aug 11, 2005) -- Licensed League members with ARRL Field Organization appointments involving emergency communication or public service will be the first to receive the debut issue of The ARES E-Letter! The premier edition of the monthly national newsletter is set for release Wednesday, August 17, and will publish on the third Wednesday of each month after that. Since 9/11, interest within the Amateur Radio community in emergency communication and public service has greatly increased. More than ever, hams are volunteering to help meet the communication needs of our nation, states and communities. The ARES E-Letter is a response to this expanding awareness. Anyone with an interest in emergency communication or public service activities can sign up online to receive The ARES E-Letter. Each issue will contain a wealth of after-action reports, editorials, technical tips, news and views--information you'd otherwise have to wait for in QST. Timeliness, utility and inspiration are the goals of this informative publication that's devoted entirely to Amateur Radio emergency communication and public service. Editing the first issue is former long-time ARRL Headquarters staff member Rick Palm, K1CE, who oversaw activities involving ARRL Section Managers, the ARRL Field Organization and the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES). We invite subscribers to share a copy with club newsletter editors or with friends who may not be ARRL members but still might be interested in receiving it. Those receiving the premier edition also may opt out of getting further copies if they wish. [from ARRL 08/11/05] - List of Frequently Asked Questions on BPL available I received this via e-mail from Jim N2ZZ, the ARRL Section Manager from South Carolina. It is an informative list of frequently asked questions about Broadband over powerlines. Check it out at http://www.qrpis.org/~k3ng/bpl.html - ARRL C-CE course advance registration opportunities via e-mail A service now allows those interested in taking an ARRL Certification and Continuing Education (C-CE) course in the future to receive advance word of registration opportunities via e-mail. To take advantage, send an e-mail to prereg@arrl.org. On the subject line, include the course name or number (eg, EC-00#). In the message body, include your name, call sign, e-mail address, and the month you want to start the course. To learn more, visit the ARRL Certification and Continuing Education Web page <http://www.arrl.org/cce/> and the C-CE Links found there. For more information, contact Emergency Communications Course Manager Dan Miller, K3UFG, <dmiller@arrl.org>; 860-594-0340. - MetroCor is coordinating body for the New York metro area MetroCor is the established coordinating body for the New York Metro area, inclusive of New York City - Long Island, Westchester County and the majority of Northern New Jersey. You must apply for coordination through MetroCor if: you have a system that has an expired TSARC coordination not yet registered with MetroCor, or wish to establish a new system on Amateur Radio Spectrum above 29.5 MHz, These and any other matters related to repeater systems' coordination are welcomed by MetroCor. They invite you to visit their website at: http://www.metrocor.net You can also direct questions to their e-mail at metrocor@metrocor.net - John Reiser, W2GW is the section DXCC card checker John Reiser, W2GW is the section DXCC card checker and is available for field checking of QSL cards for your DXCC Award. John will be available for card checking at all LIDXA meetings, and otherwise by appointment at his home in West Hempstead. If some lives far from him, John is willing to meet them half way at a diner or someplace. Contact John at w2gw@arrl.net - Section VE Sessions Section VE Sessions - available on the web at: http://www.hudson.arrl.org/nli/nlive.htm NLI Webpage: The Section Webpage will be redone and will contain LOTS of great information on section happenings, VE session, Education, Clubs, section staff, and much more! See http://hudson.arrl.org/nli A new webmaster is under consideration to replace the former webmaster, Tom Carrubba KA2D. NLI Section News is available at http://www.arrl.org/sections/?sect=NLI Please continue to help make this newsletter even more interesting and informative by sending me news about YOUR club and events. Assistant Section Managers NLI - Mike Lisenco N2YBB (n2ybb@arrl.net) Nassau County - Norm Wesler K2YEW (k2yew@arrl.net) Suffolk County - Len Battista W2FX (w2fx@arrl.net) Digital Communications - John Blowsky KB2SCS (kb2scs@arrl.net) NLI ARES SEC - Mike Lisenco N2YBB (n2ybb@arrl.net) DEC New York City - John Healy KA2ABV (ka2abv@arrl.net) DEC Nassau County - Jim Mezey W2KFV (w2kfv@arrl.net) DEC Suffolk County - Bill Scheibel N2NFI (n2nfi@arrl.net) |