Section Happenings Newsletter
edited by Tom Carrubba KA2D
NLI Section Manager
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July 2007 |
Welcome! This is the July edition of the New York City-Long Island Section "e-Happenings" newsletter. This newsletter is here to serve the Amateur Radio community in our area. We welcome and encourage all submissions. Help make this your newsletter. We especially encourage NLI Radio clubs and Organizations to submit their meeting announcements, guest speakers and any special events. Please submit any information for the August issue prior to the end of July. 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 * from Mike Lisenco N2YBB, Section Emergency Coordinator * from Steve Barreres K2CX, Technical Coordinator * Diane K2DO moves on * Hudson Division Awards Committee honor NLI members * UPCOMING Club Events * Other "stuff" [ARES] [DX] * NLI Section Website: http://hudson.arrl.org/nli HAPPENINGS * From Tom Carrubba KA2D, Section Manager Field Day 2007 in NLI was rockin'. The weather was great, except for those who setup on Friday in the windy conditions. Saturday morning we began our journey to visit as many NLI FD sites as time and traffic would permit. Mike N2YBB was assigned to cover the NYC District, he visited Wm. H. Pouch BSA Camp, HOSARC and KCRC. Mike spent most of his day/evening in traffic, while working a few stations from his mobile. Mike stated despite the hours in traffic, he had a good day and enjoyed his visits. Nassau County DEC Jim Mezey visited all the FD sites in Nassau County which included the NCPARC, WARC, NCARC and LIMARC. NLI ASM Len Battista W2FX along with NLI TC Steve Barreres K2CX were assigned Central to Eastern Suffolk County. Len visited the LIARS/STARC in Rocky Point and Steve visited BONARC in Montauk, they both later ended at PARC which is their home club. Myself, NLI SM along with my good friend Bero Pavlic KA2DZR, who gave up his FD operating time to drive the SM, started from my home and visited GSBARC/TOBARES, WARC, NCARC, LIMARC, GARC, OBONY/RCARC, SCPD/HBOARC and ESCARC. George Tranos N2GA NLI SGL joined us at OBOBNY/RCARC, SPPD/HBOARC, ECSARC were he traded CW qsos for dinner, and then we visited with LARC. We arrived home about 10:30 PM. On our visit at GARC, one of the first things I noticed when entering the GARC site was the absence of Marty NN2C (SK). We said farewell and thanks to Pat Materson KE2LJ who is a few months from his retirement. Pat is relocating to Florida and this was his last FD in NLI. Pat was always generous with his time, energy and knowledge, he will be missed. On our visit to SCPD/HBOARC our group was treated to a personal tour of the HBO facility by Bob WT0P. I want to thank all the FD groups for the warm welcome, hospitality, great FD eats and great eyeball QSOs. Sorry I could not visit all the NLI locations. Sunday morning Phil Lewis NLI ACC and myself headed to the OBONY/RCARC site as FD participates. I got to operate the last two hours on 40 CW. I see by our KW2O/W2RC logs we worked most of the NLI stations on one or more bands/modes. Also from KW2O/W2RC, Frank N2FF, our Hudson Division Director, worked a number of NLI stations on 6M. Don't forget to send in your FD scores via web for an additional 50 points. The web form is http://www.b4h.net/cabforms/. Hint, have the paper form completed as it will be easier to complete the online webform. You will receive a printable summary. You are not done. You also must submit supporting documentation for all claimed bonus points. Speaking of bonus points. The SM received NTS traffic from GSBARC/TOBARES and OBONY/RCARC via packet, LIMARC via winlink and RCRA via Nassau County VHF Net. I would like to post the NLI club scores on the web, so sent claimed score, called used and operating class. A few photos and maybe s few words about the highlights of your FD.. Thanks Tom KA2D *K2CX BPL and LIPA in Commack/Happaugue initial testing As many have already heard, the news in our Section with regards to "Broadband over Power Line" is GREAT. After consideration of their needs, LIPA made a choice that basically eliminates the possibility of interference in the Amateur Radio bands. LIPA's project management team, who will oversee the installation and testing of this new technology, has instructed their vendor to "steer clear" of the Amateur Radio Service allocations. MainNet Communications, normally would use 4 to 21 Mhz as their system bandwidth. As instructed, they will adjust their spectrum use to "notch out" potential issues in the 60, 40, 30 20 and the 17 meter amateur bands. That will insure "zero problems" in those bands that would most likely had been good candidates for interference. To ensure our ability to monitor the effects of the BPL system outside of the ham bands, ARRL Lab Supervisor Ed Hare, W1RFI and I made measurements in the proposed commercial and residential test areas. By taking these readings, we will retain an ability to examine what interference problems would have been encountered if amateur radio spectrum had been used. Operational testing of LIPA's BPL project is expected to begin this fall. On the home front ----- Many members in NLI have experienced another type of power line interference, the RF emission caused by an arcing high voltage insulator on primary lines. Members of the ARRL will find a good resource regarding this type of interference at: http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/powerline-FAQ.html Today, it has become rather common to find that other sources are the culprits when trying to track down this type of signals. Switch-Mode (Switching) power supplies are light in physical size and weight, but might create horrible RFI in the HF region and below. Most that are designed for amateur applications have been well bypassed and shielded. Buyer beware of the untested switching supply that will be used in the amateur radio shack. You may just bring home a lightweight RFI source that might cover the HF bands with S-9 + noise. Drop me a note, at my ARRL E-mail address, if you are having a difficult time with a RFI issue. Steve K2CX *K2DO NLI PIC moves on... I'm afraid I haven't been able to fulfill the obligations of ARRL PIC this year and I apologize to section you for not realizing that this was happening sooner. I find that it is only fair to the section to resign as ARRL NYC/LI Public Information Coordinator. I vastly underestimated how much time my new business would demand of me and thought I'd still have time to promote ham radio and the section. Unfortunately the business, and increasing family obligations have not left me very much time. Diane K2DO From SM; I reluctantly accepted Diane's resignation. I understand and respect her position, as I was close to resigning when my wife was ill and I had to help run your salon business and be her care provider. Family and work/business should be everyone priority. Ham radio will always be there. Diane, thank you for all your support of our hobby. I know you are not far away. Good luck with the new business and take good care of your mom. 73 de NLI * Hudson Division Awards Committee honor NLI members from Hudson Beacon For the Nomination of Grand Ole Ham the Nominations Committee chose: Van Field - W2OQI from Center Moriches, NY - Member of the Peconic Amateur Radio Club Nominated by: Robert Napoli - K2LGO from Riverhead, NY For the Nomination of Amateur of the Year the Nominations Committee chose two: Larry Lutzak - WA2CNV from Bellerose, NY - Member of the ARC-ECS Amateur Radio Club in Queens, NY Nominated by: George Sau - WB2ZTH of Huntington, NY Vincent Mattera - WB2AAP from Brooklyn, NY - Member of Kings County Repeater Assn. and Kings County Radio Club in NY Nominated by: Michael Patino - N2BMU of Brooklyn, NY, Laura Rudin - KB2VDV of Brooklyn, NY and Herbert Klein - W2NCM of Brooklyn, NY For the Nomination of Technical Achievement the Nominations Committee unanimously chose: Walter Legowski - WA1KKM from Schenectady, NY - Member of the Albany Amateur Radio Assn Nominated by: George Wilner, K2ONP from Troy, NY The committee also would like to give a special award, title and write-up to be from the Director, Frank Fallon and Assistant Director Jim Jackson, NS2K: to Tony Izzo - K2AMI for his work and service on the ARRL Hudson Division Awards Dinner. The committee recommended that the award be called the Hudson Division Special Achievement Award. A big thank you to the committee of six Assistant Directors who took one hour and 5 minutes during the conf call to pick the awardees. WA2MMX Fred Fitte ENY N2GA George Tranos NLI N2KBC Bob Chamberlain ENY W2GLA Jerry Agliata ENY KB2ENF Steve Saposnik NNJ NS2K Jim Jackson NNJ Now, they all have to go out and sell tickets and ads!!!! 73, Joyce KA2ANF, ARRL Vice Director, Hudson Division 2007 Hudson Division Awards Chairperson ka2anf@arrl.org BARA will once again host The 2007 Hudson Division Awards Dinner on Saturday night, November 10, at the Holiday Inn, Saddlebrook, NJ. Joyce KA2ANF *NTS Section and Local Nets: Net Name Abbreviation Sessions QNI QTC/QSP Net Manager NY STATE/MORN. NYS/M 25 121 82/74 KA2GJV NY STATE/EARLY NYS/E 31 256 132/125 N2QZ NY STATE/LATE NYS/L 31 117 71/32 W2YGW NY PUBLIC OPER. NYPON 31 401 175/174 N2YJZ NY PHONE NYP 31 181 105/101 K2MPE BIG APPLE VHF BAVHF 31 530 49/49 KB2KLH NASSAU CO VHF NCVHF 31 131 121/107 W2DSX SUFFOLK CO VHF SCVHF * ** EMPIRE SLOW SP. ESS 31 541 159/* WI2G * = report not received in time for posting. ** = position open, please contact w2dsx if interested in position ******************************************************************** NTS SECTION LEVEL and INDEPENDENT CW nets : PLEASE READ!!! The FCC R&O is mandating drastic changes to 80 meter CW NTS, and the NET Frequencies are changing weekly as everyone tries to find room in the first 100 kHz of 80 meters. I will post them as I get them, but by the time you read this, it probably will have changed. Through foresight and good planning of Bud W2RU and Jack W0UCE (among others), there is a frequency matrix which has all of the major nets and their meeting times/frequencies. (thanks to the folks at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NTS-EAN for this info.) The matrix is http://4rnc4.homestead.com/80mCWNETMATRIX.html NYS/M 10am local time daily NYS/E 7pm local time daily NYS/L 10pm local time daily Consult the above mentioned matrix for the net QRG's. Also, there is the daytime alternate freq. of 7042 kHz +/- and a alternate of 1812 or 1825 kHz depending if propagation on 80 goes long... INDEPENDENT CW NETS which maintain close association with the NTS. Empire Slow Speed Net (ESS) 6pm daily on 3576 kHz . (Freq subject to change!! Tnx Anne!) Hit and Bounce Net (HBN) 8:30am daily on 7042 kHz . Hit and Bounce Slow Net (HBSN) 7:30am daily on ???? kHz (Unsure now, waiting to hear from NM Sis WD8DIN. Try the alternate freq. 7114 kHz). NTS SECTION LEVEL HF/phone nets: New York Phone (NYP) 1pm daily Try 3925 kHz first during the winter months, but may also be on 7237 kHz. New York Public Operations Net (NYPON) 5pm daily on 3925 kHz +/- QRM, alternate freq. 3913 kHz 4)The NTS "local nets" are: Big Apple VHF Net 8pm daily on 146.430 MHz (1 MHz split) Nassau Co. VHF Net 7:30pm on 146.805 MHz (136.5/114.8 dual input) Alternate freq. of 145.290 pl 94.8 -Tnx Bernie NY4Z Suffolk Co. VHF Net Not meeting at this time, however if you're interested in participating, please let me know w2dsx@arrl.net ******************************************************************** * UPCOMING Club Events/Meetings The previous listing needs updating. Please submit your meeting information to ka2d@arrl.org NOTE - Always check with the club to verify the date, time and location of the events/meetings listed here. 575 Long Island Amateur Radio Simplex Club The LIARS Club meets on the first Wednesday of the month at Newfield High School in Selden, NY at 7:30PM. All are welcome. Our web site is www.lisimplex.org. Contact: Frank Peppe fpeppe@optonline.net ECS-ARC Meets at Queens Borough Hall, 120-55 Queens Blvd. Room 213, Kew Gardens, NY 11424 Meeting Time: 1st Tuesday Monthly 7:30 PM Home page URL: http://www.arcecs.org Please contact Leonard Smith (Director) at: n2ldv@arrl.net for information. Grumman ARC GARC) http://www.qsl.net/wa2lqo/ Meetings are held on the third Wednesday of each month at the Allen Ellsworth Park in Farmingdale, starting at 5:30 PM GARC VE sessions are held on the second Tuesday of each month at Briarcliffe College in Bethpage, Room: Long Beach #5, starting at 5:00 PM. Contact: Robert Wexelbaum w2ilp@optonline.net Great South Bay ARC GSBARC Monthly meetings are the last Thursday of the month, 8PM. Babylon Town Hall EOC, 200 East Sunrise Hwy, North Lindenhurst. GSBARC Monthly VE are the 4th Sunday starting 12:00 NOON For more information, see http://www.qsl.net/gsbarc/ The NY Hall of Science ARC has general membership meetings on the second Tuesday of each month, with the exception of July and August. The meetings are a time to take care of club business, listen to a great speaker regarding an interesting topic related to ham radio, and to make new friends and catch up with old friends. The club has its meetings at the NY Hall of Science in Flushing Meadow Park, Queens, NY. Please check the club's website at WWW.HOSARC.ORG for more detailed information. The following is the schedule of meetings for 2007: Town of Huntington ARES/RACES Meetings Meetings are held on the first Wednesday of each month at 7:30 PM at the Senior Citizens Center, 423 Park Avenue, Huntington, NY. The primary agenda for the meetings will be scheduling special events, training, and technical discussions. NY. For more information, see: <http://www.wb2lua.com/> http://www.wb2lua.com or contact John A. Allocca, WB2LUA at 631-261-3726 or via e-mail at <mailto:drjohn@allocca.com> drjohn@allocca.com Long Island DX Association (LIDXA) http://www.qsl.net/lidxa/ Regular meetings are at 8PM on the third Friday of the month at Briarcliffe College, 1055 Stewart Ave., Bethpage (Room 10 in the Huntington Hallway). For club details, see our Web site, or contact Ed Whitman, K2MFY, LIDXA Secretary at edwhit@optonline.net for further information. Congratulations to John W2GW, new president of LIDXA. NO MEETINGS IN JULY OR AUGUST. There are usually two ARRL DXCC card checkers present: Tom AG2A and John W2GW. Bring your new DXCC cards and paperwork to these meetings for official verification and credit. Long Island Mobile ARC LIMARC meets the second Wednesday each month, 8PM at Levittown Hall, 201 Levittown Parkway, Hicksville, NY. All are welcome. Bring a friend! Webpage is: http://www.limarc.org Club Contact: President, Rick Bressler, K2RB K2RB@limarc.org Club PIO: Eddie Muro, K2EPM K2EPM@limarc.org Long Island QRP Club The Long Island QRP Club will hold an LIQRPicnic at Sunken Meadow State Park, starting at noon on Saturday, July 14, 2007. Directions and talk-in details are below. However, if a significant amount of rain is predicted, then we'll announce that we're moving the meeting to Nicky's Restaurant in Centerport. For the latest on the meeting location, please check the club's web site, http://www.qsl.net/liqrp/meet.html , just before heading to Sunken Meadow. Long Island Transmitter Hunters (LITHARC) seeking new participants A group of Long Island transmitter hunting enthusiasts has been conducting hunts on Friday nights with an occasional Sunday event and we are seeking new participants to join in the fun. Anyone interested in learning more about the activity of radio direction finding and radio "fox hunting" is invited to come out as a hunter or rider. A LITHARC discussion group (Long Island Transmitter Hunters ARC) has been established on Yahoo Groups as a central information and communications site. You are welcome to sign up to keep informed about upcoming events. If you would like our group to conduct a hunt in your area that would include members of your radio club, please let us know. For more information, contact Larry, WA2SUH at wa2suh@aol.com Nassau ARC (NARC) http://www.nassauarc.org Meetings every Monday night at 8 PM in Eisenhower Park in East Meadow at the Senior Citizen's Center. The General meeting is the last Monday of the month at 8 PM. All are welcome. Contact Lance Aue, KA2EJD, President at vze3db97@verizon.net Suffolk County Radio Club (SCRC) Monthly Meeting is third Tuesday of the month at 8 PM Bohemia Recreation Center on Ruzicka Way, in Bohemia. Contact: Tim Clark KC2LIN, 631-418-5057 http://members.tripod.com/~parasca/index/scrcreve.htm The Town of Babylon Amateur Radio Emergency Services (TOBARES) meetings are on the third Thursday each month at 8:00 PM. Location is the basement of Babylon Town Hall in the Emergency Operations Center, 200 East Sunrise Hwy, North Lindenhurst, NY. For more information, see their Website: http://www.tobares.org or contact Babylon town EC Walter Wenzel, KA2RGI at 631-957-0218 or via e-mail at tobares@optonline.net * Other "stuff" This month, July 28-29 is the "Island on the Air" RSGB IOTA contest. Most of NLI with the exception of Manhattan and Staten Islands is IOTA reference NA-026, New York Island Group. Get on the air as the "DX" and have a great time. You can find the details at: http://www.contesting.co.uk/hfcc/iota.shtml The IARU HF World Championship, July 14, 1200 UTC to July 15, 1200 UTC. The Order of Boiled Owls of New York has the privilege to operate as NU1AW from the antenna farm of W2AX and K2LE in Vermont. NU1AW is a HQ multiplier. Many of the Owls are NLI residents. [DX] NLI 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 is available by appointment at his home in West Hempstead for card checking , and at all LIDXA meetings. 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 NLI DX Spotting Clusters AA2MF Staten Island-NY, dxc.aa2mf.net W2GSB West Babylon-NY, 24.185.125.244, RF 145.670 K2LS Greensboro- NC. dxc.k2ls.com *K2LS is still a popular spot for many NLI DXers. 2007 EASTERN VHF/UHF CONFERENCE W2 QSL Bureau Rate Increase The W2 QSL Bureau, run by the North Jersey DX Association, will be increasing its subscriber rates. Effective April 1st the minimum credit purchase will be ten postage credits for $6.00. The bureau has kept rates flat for several years absorbing four postage rate increases by cutting expenses and streamlining its operations as much as possible. Based upon news of more postage increases due this spring the Bureau felt it could no longer absorb rate increases without a change. In spite of the increase using the bureau option is still the best dollar value around as evidenced by the amount of QSL cards still handled. More information can be found on the NJDXA webpage: www.njdxa.org. It also lists meeting and program dates as well as other DX news and links. Thanks W2UDT for the info..... [From ARRL] 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 Norm Fusaro; 860-594-0230.[w3iz@arrl.org] League Rolls out Emergency Radio Public Relations Campaign, Web Site (Jan 30, 2007) -- "Ham Radio . . . Getting the message through for your family and community" is the theme of the League's 2007 public relations campaign. The "Emergency Radio" Web site debuted this week. ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP, says the 2007 emergency communications initiative pick up the momentum ARRL public information officers started during the just-ended "Hello" campaign. For the full story,goto http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2007/01/30/100/?nc=1 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. - ARES E-Letter, sign up now! The ARES E-Letter is an e-mail digest of news and information of interest to active members of the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and to hams concerned with public service and emergency communications ARRL members may subscribe to The ARES E-Letter by going to the Member Data Page at: http://www.arrl.org/members-only/memdata.html?modify=1 Check the box for "ARES E-Letter (monthly public service and emergency communications news)" and you're all set. Past issues of The ARES E-Letter are available at http://www.arrl.org/ares-el/. Issues are posted to this page after publication. [BPL] - 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 [Repeaters] - 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 - Section VE Sessions Section VE Sessions - available on the web at: http://www.hudson.arrl.org/nli/nlive.htm *New general question pool starts July 1, 2007 http://www.ncvec.org/page.php?id=333 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) New York City - ******* OPEN ******** Nassau County - ******* OPEN ******** Suffolk County - Len Battista W2FX (w2fx@arrl.net) Digital Communications - John Blowsky KB2SCS (kb2scs@arrl.net) NLI ARES SEC NLI - Mike Lisenco N2YBB (n2ybb@arrl.net) DEC New York City - Russ Logar KC2LSB (kc2lsb@arrl.net) DEC Nassau County - Jim Mezey W2KFV (w2kfv@arrl.net) DEC Suffolk County - Bill Scheibel N2NFI (n2nfi@arrl.net) |