 |
Brightleaf Amateur |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ham Chatter Editor
|
Ham Chatter Volume 34 Issue 7 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
BARC News and Announcements KQ2V Receives Appreciation Plaque Departments Meet the Member, Bill Finch, W4EHF News and Features FCC Amateur Radio Enforcement Log BARC Links |
Next
Meeting- July 11 The Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club will have its next regular meeting on July 11 at 7:30 PM at St. Peter's School on 5th Street. Hurricane Preparedness will be presented by Mike Langley, KD4MTT. A nominating committee will be appointed for 2001 club officers. All members, families and guests are invited to attend. The next board meeting is set for July 25 at 7:00 PM. The meeting is open to all members.
KQ2V Receives Appreciation Plaque
Ham Chatter Online Special - Brother Simon Jaworski, KQ2V, was presented a plaque in Appreciation for his service and dedication to the Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club. Murray Merner, K4MHM, President of BARC, presented the plaque to him at the BARC Field Day site on June 26, 2000. Brother Simon was the BARC call sign trustee and the VE Liaison. He also was an "Elmer" to many new Amateur Radio operators in Pitt County by teaching license classes and offering any other assistance required. The plaque was to be presented to Brother Simon at the June 13 club meeting but he was in Hawaii on the "Strong Angel" mission. In his presentation, Murray read the plaque to Brother Simon and the crowd gathered around. It read, "Presented to Brother Simon, KQ2V, in grateful appreciation for his outstanding dedication and service and leadership to BARC. June 13, 2000." After a round of applause, Brother Simon stated, "When I came down here 12 years ago, I wanted to retire here and it almost worked! Due to circumstances beyond my control, I’m forced to return to "Yankee Land."(I think is the phrase I heard in the background.) To be honest with you, I really don’t want to go. The ham community has been good to me. When I needed antennas fixed, Bernie would be running up and down the towers. I had a fabulous antenna. I’ll never see an antenna like that again in my life. Nor will I ever see hams like you folks again. I’m sure because it’s going to be different. Thank you all very much." Brother Simon has moved from Greenville and in his first email back to club members, he said the move went smoothly.
BARC 2000 Field Day Pictures are now Online. Two pages of pictures of the activities at the 2000 BARC Field Day operations are online. There are a total of 25 different pictures on the two pages.
Well Wishes Anyone with information that should be in this column, please let me know. -W4YDY
New W4AMC & W1VOA Trustee Tom Parsons, W4TEP, reported that he had received the license for W4AMC and W1VOA from the FCC. Tom now is the BARC call sign trustee.
Meet The Member
Walt Ramsey, W4FHE, who worked for the telephone company first got Bill interested in Amateur Radio. He showed Bill his station and his QSL cards and that got Bill excited, besides he reminds us that there was no TV and radio was an emerging technology. Bill first got his Class C license in 1935 at the age of 23 in Marion, SC and has kept his original call since that time. In 1939 he got his Class A license which was grand fathered to Advanced which is his current license. He has been a life member of ARRL since 1946. From the beginning, Bill was an avid homebrewer starting with a 15 watt single tube 210 transmitter and a three tube battery receiver. He didn't get on phone until after a couple of years and then it was 160 meters. He remained an avid CW man until he left Fayetteville often helping the club there compete in 10 meter CW contests which they were number one in the world for many years. He has built many transmitters and built one SSB transceiver. He has built many kits including a subaudible tone generator which was surface mounted technology. He also built a 4-400 final of about 700 to 800 watts which included an automatic overload cutoff and a varactor he got at the Dayton Hamvention. Most recently he build a synthesized signal generator. Unfortunately, Bill gave away all of his homebrew equipment before leaving Fayetteville. He hasn't done DX in many years but did a lot before WWII. On HF he was the co-net controller for the Tar Heel Net in the late 1940's. He originally got interested in 2 meters in 1946 with his SCR (Signal Corps Radio) 522 and was able to contact Herman Jolitz, W4DCQ, (now an SK) a popular ham in Clinton. While Bill only had ten watts, Herman's 1000 watts and a 100 foot tower helped the QSO. He provided the first 6 meter and then 2 meter repeater which was take over by the Fayetteville club and he maintained the 220 repeater until he left. His current equipment consists of: an Icom 725 and a Heathkit 5400 transceiver he built (he estimates there were 10,000 parts). He gets on 80 meters each weekday morning on a net covering central North Carolina. His 144/440 rig is an Icom 207 with 50 watts. He has two older 2 meter rigs he doesn't use much. He has done packet, but hasn't hooked it up since coming to Greenville, but may do that yet. Bill was a member of three Amateur Radio clubs in Fayetteville. He and another ham, Sidney Purvis, WA4VBC, (now in New Bern) started a club in 1970. Sidney served as the first president and Bill was secretary. This was the fourth try to start a club and it is still going strong, He later served as president for a year. He wrote a history of the club just before he left. Bill went to college at the University of North Carolina majoring in Education. He got a job as a technical writer for the Army in 1946 at Ft. Bragg and stayed there until his retirement in 1975. His job on the Airborne, Electronics and Special Warfare Review Board entailed designing tests to see if communications and electronic equipment met Army specifications and reporting the test results. After "retiring", the next week he became the Director of the Cumberland County Civil Defense (now Emergency Management) and retired again in 1982. Bill is active in the Senior Games. He runs two miles three to four times a week. He wins most of his competitions, but he readily admits there are few others in the 85 to 90 age category. (I'm sure he could out run most of us in BARC.) His late wife Elsie died in 1996 of leukemia. They were married 56 years and he remarks that he misses her more now than ever. He lives in a house alone, but Amateur Radio has kept him company. Bill, Jr., his only child, is a pharmacist and while has expressed an interest in Amateur Radio does not have his license. Elsie may have had something to do with that when she said one ham in the family was enough. Bill has two grandchildren, one of whom just got married. I'm glad I got to know Bill better while doing this column. I hadn't spent much time with him before, but he has a wealth of experience and his Amateur Radio spirit goes deep. Now I've got to figure out a way to get to know him even better. Fayetteville's loss is BARC's gain - thanks for becoming a member. - K4MHM
President's Corner
Doug, K4ROK, and Paul, KS4YF, were the point guards on SA. It took a lot of preparation time and then of course time for the actual project. Simon, KQ2V, and Billy, N4ZTN, went to Hawaii and lived in fairly austere conditions - it was no picnic. Most of the mission was completed - propagation wasn’t great and there were some technical difficulties. Many members of BARC participated thanks to all. Then there was Field Day less than two weeks later! Patrick, KD4NNA, did a fantastic job, although by Sunday noon he was dragging a bit. Again, our members came forth and met the challenge from set up to take down. Each person played an important part in making it a success - it just can’t be done without you. The radios were always busy (except for the time we took off for supper) to the end. It was hot, but we missed the rain. I’ll leave the details up to Patrick, but I sure had a good time, I hope you did too. We made some money. Our raffle fund raiser netted about $300.00 (there may be more since there may be some outstanding ticket money). This money will go to the Equipment Fund. Thanks to Juanita, KE4JWK, John, K4KBB, and Bob, KV4RF,. Next year could be even bigger and better since we know we can do it. The winners are noted elsewhere. The May issue of QST had an article on Morse code (page 48). Actually of more interest were the internet references the author gave. The book by William Pierpont, N0HFF, titled The Art and Skill of Radio-Telegraphy ( www.joates.demon.co.uk.megs.N0HFF/indes.htm) is very interesting. The printed download fills a small 3-ring binder. It extensively covers the history of radio telegraphy and some land telegraphy and the Koch methodology of learning the code. A number of hams have upgraded and while there is only a five wpm CW speed requirement, it would be behoove them to be able to send and receive faster on the CW portion of the bands they now have privileges for. Consider upgrading your speed and think about the Koch method to do it. An interesting historical note is that the Morse code was actually invented in 1837 by Alfred Vail who worked under contract for Mr Morse. The contract was much like those with companies today - the things you develop belong to the company so Vail’s code became the Morse code.Ham Ads work. I’ve put in two desperate ads for manuals and have gotten a positive response (although I still need the one for Kenwood phone patch). Use this benefit of the club to buy and sell ham stuff. The summer doldrums are upon us. Propagation suffers, QRN is higher and the summer family act ivies get us out of the house, so we may not be on the radio as much. I hope you have a good and safe summer, but don’t forget the meetings. Ham radio, pass it on. 73, Murray, K4MHM
Another Field Day has come and gone. Pat Sutton, KD4NNA, is to be commended for the fine job he did as chairman. I think everyone enjoyed the new location and Bernie, WA4MOK, had plenty of room to decide where all the antennas would go. With completion of the equipment fund raiser, the club now has more funds for equipment. I’m sure everyone enjoyed the find food that was prepared by KG4CCY, KG4CCZ, KG4CZV and KG4CZW and the food that was brought in by the families. The weather was warm but there were no storms or rain. A big thanks go to all the other club members that participated with the activities. - W4YDY
BARC Field Day 2000 was a major success!!! Thanks to everyone who made this years event possible. Many of you have had several positive comments about this year, and I would like to share those with everyone who contributed time to make everything come together as well as it did. Again, this was only my second field day, so I can’t take all the credit. I have pulled from ideas of years past and utilized several of your comments and suggestions, so it was somewhat of a plagiarism. Everyone pat yourselves on the back for a job well done! It is impossible to mention every single person who contributed of their time and talents, and you know who you are. The results aren’t in yet, as the totals have not been counted, but I expect that all in all we made upwards of 1000 contacts versus last year’s 507. That should boost our points total drastically. The food was great, despite a small kitchen fire outside. The weather was nice, and no one got hurt. I learned a few things, mostly from mistakes, such as how to keep from getting wet under a saturated parachute, how to wear a climbing belt properly, and where to position yourself on the tower to erect an antenna by yourself, just to name a few. We got plenty of media coverage on Channels 7 & 9, and one fellow thought we were remote enough that he rode his horse out to the site! We will be getting the results out to ARRL within the next couple of weeks so that they can be tallied. Thanks to everyone for your help, and even though Field Day is over for this year, it’s not too early to start planning for next year. 73,
Equipment Fund Raising
The drawing was held on June 24 at the BARC Field Day site for the Equipment Fund Raising raffle. The $250 winner was Tom Bladen, Greenville, the $100 winner was Jim Morgan, Winterville, and the $50 winner was Nelda Ormand, Bath. Juanita Humbles, KE4JWK, supervised the drawing and presented the $250 prize to Tom at the Field Day site. Thanks to Juanita, KE4JWK, Bob McCoy, K4KBB, and Bob Fainter, KV4RF, for leading the fund raising raffle and to all the club members that sold tickets to make it a successful campaign to raise money for more equipment for the Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club.
Pitt County Amateur Radio Operators and "Strong Angel"
The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) (see: http://www.ncarrl.org/ares/) and Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club of Pitt County (see: http://www.qsl.net/w4amc/) worked to support RIMPAC 2000/Operation Strong Angel organized by the United States Navy Third Fleet. The exercise was conducted in Hawaii June 10-16, 2000 - a US Navy Exercise designed as a mock disaster drill. Operation Strong Angel formally involved the telemedicine arm of the Brody School of Medicine to provide medical support for this 8 nation (United Kingdom, Korea, Japan, Australia, Canada, Chile, South Africa, and the United States) effort (see: http://www.telemed.med.ecu.edu/strong/index.htm ). The amateur radio community of Pitt County came to the attention of Strong Angel planners during Hurricane Floyd and its aftermath here as these "hams" (68 participating) provided essential communications between Pitt County Emergency Center, Pitt County Memorial Hospital, Red Cross, and all county shelter sites continuously, during all phases of this emergency.
Pitt County ARES hams provided initial connectivity between Brody School of Medicine and the Strong Angel Base via Amateur Radio resources. An all-volunteer effort this exciting opportunity to demonstrate a grassroots resource utilized the mammoth antennas of the recently decommissioned Voice of America, Site C - Edward R. Murrow Memorial Greenville Relay Station between US 264 and NC 43 west of Greenville. This unique site is in transition between the U. S. Government and ECU where the main building is already being renovated to house an NIH-sponsored AgriMedicine research and training effort involving ECU. NCSU, ECSU, and NC A&T Universities. Because of this construction the communications were carried out in the Pitt County Sheriff Department Mobile Command Center located on the VOA Site C grounds and adjacent antenna structures.
The antennas were designed to provide extremely sensitive reception directed at all parts of the world to assure collection of national news broadcasts that were in turn assembled for broadcast at studios in Washington, DC, at the VOA transmitter sites in Pitt County and other parts of the US (Bethany, OH and Delano, CA). Imagine a 600+ acre site with more than 85 towers carrying miles of wire designed solely for radio reception - a "ham" radio operator’s heaven! Our operators are not merely listening. These antennas also facilitate low power transmissions characteristic of amateur radio - 100 watts - a mere candle flicker in comparison with the multiple transmitters of USIA’s VOA Sites A and B in other parts of Pitt County transmitting half a million watts apiece!
The Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club was recently assigned a second club callsign - W1VOA that we requested to honor the many club members active and retired who share their expertise with our hobby community. This callsign was used at Site C during this exercise. Voice communications was initiated between Site C and the Puu Paa, Hawaii site of Operation Strong Angel beginning Saturday evening, June 10. Br. Simon Jaworski, KQ2V; former Principal at St. Peter’s School accompanied the ECU Strong Angel team to Hawaii to lead the Amateur Radio communications team there. Doug Ferris, K4ROK; of UNC-TV and Pitt County ARES Coordinator has led efforts here in Pitt County with support from a core group of approximately 20 of the amateur radio community whose numbers exceed 300. Continuing communications commenced each evening through Wednesday, June 14. In addition to voice communications, digital file transfers and images via slow-scan television were used. All this is routinely carried out between Amateur Radio operators every day, but these exchanges become vital during emergencies. Even private sailors on their boats count on access to similar communications during transoceanic passages - far beyond the reach of cell phones and Coast Guard VHF communications.
Future exercises are already in planning stages that will target the Central American nation of El Salvador next spring. Pending successful amateur radio operations from VOA Site C to Strong Angel arguments will be strengthened for retaining some of these invaluable antenna structures - far beyond the economic resources of our amateur radio community - to provide an ongoing international telemedicine communications resource. Further benefits would possibly include meeting, training, and disaster communications center with modest space requirements. A small corner could even house VOA memorabilia - relics that led to the demise of the Iron Curtain without shots being fired. - Paul Fletcher, KS4YF Editors note: The above article was modified from the Press Release that Paul sent out. - W4YDY
Special Service Club As announced at our May meeting BARC received Special Service Club (SSC) recognition from the ARRL. This was the result of completing an application which identified our efforts in various areas: new ham development and training, public relations, emergency communications, technical advancement, operating activities and miscellaneous activities. We did exceptionally well in these categories because of the involvement of our members. It is implied that the SSC is to be renewed on a yearly basis, but the stickers that came with the certificate are embossed with "2000" and "2002" so it is a little confusing. However, the expectations is that we maintain our high level of activity - I’m sure that’s what our membership wants too. A manual is provided. While it is dated (1992) and redundant, it does list the benefits of being a SSC. The SSC may put the SSC insignia on their material (notice, Dave has already included it in our masthead of the Ham Chatter) and club members may also use the insignia; we will be listed in the special club section of the ARRL Repeater Directory; we receive a free subscription to the biweekly ARRL Letter; receive lists six times per year of new licensees in our area; receive lists six times per year of new ARRL members in our area; be listed in QST upon receiving and renewing our SSC status; receive ARRL Instructor’s Guide, Public Service Communications Manual and the Volunteer Examiner Manual; receive mailing labels of all licensed hams in our area; receive lists six times per year of prospective hams from our area who have contacted ARRL; and appoint an Awards Manager(s) to process VHF and UHF Century Club, ARRL Worked All States and 5-Band WAS Awards. There are separate VHF and HF Awards Managers - it doesn’t state that they can’t be the same person and in fact, gives little indication as to the qualifications beyond being a member of the club (the HF description does include sending in the call sign of the individual so it appears to be directed at a licensed ham). We may want to establish our own criteria for the Awards Manager(s). This will be put on the meeting agenda for discussion. - K4MHM
Next VE Session - August 18, 2000 The next Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club VE session will be held on August 18. Exams will be held at St. Peter’s School on 5th Street and will start promptly at 6:30 PM. Cliff Kendall, K3LEX, cpkendall@aol.comPlease bring the following:
Happy Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club members birthdays in July.
Please let me know of any additions or corrections. (I don’t have all the birthdays in my database) - W4YDY
Antenna Designer Louis Varney, G5RV, SK Louis Varney, G5RV, who invented the world-famous G5RV antenna, died June 28. He was 89. The G5RV multiband wire antenna for HF is among the most popular of all antenna designs. Varney first described the G5RV in the November 1966 issue of the RSGB Bulletin. He employed a full-size and a double-size G5RV, both fed with open-wire feeders, at his own station. Varney remained an active radio amateur until very recently and kept regular on-the-air schedules. He was an RSGB member for 74 years and served as life president of the Mid-Sussex Amateur Radio Society. His wife Nelida is among his survivors. Services were set for July 4 in Brighton, England. - via ARRL Bulletin ARLX010
ARRL-VEC "Completely Caught Up" The ARRL-VEC has made it over the restructuring application mountain and down the other side. "We're completely caught up!" ARRL-VEC Manager Bart Jahnke, W9JJ, exulted this week. All applications through June 16 receipts that were able to be "routinely processed" were set to be transmitted to the FCC June 22. ARRL-VEC staff members already have begun tackling receipts from this past Monday, June 19. Jahnke said he anticipated very shortly getting back to a "normal" 10-day wait between test session and FCC license grant. He emphasized that the length of any applicant's wait continues to largely depend on when the test session paperwork arrives at ARRL-VEC. Fred Maia, W5YI, of the W5YI-VEC reports he's closing in on being current and expects to be there by July 4. "This was the hardest spring period we ever had in our 16 years of doing this," he said. "We're starting to see daylight." As of week's end, W5YI-VEC had processed April and May test sessions and was working on session receipts of June 12. On the downside, Jahnke says, some applicants could be in for additional delays because of missing or problematic information on their paperwork. Applications are not transmitted to the FCC until all information is complete and problems resolved, Jahnke said. The same goes for applications where the information provided does not jibe with what's already in the FCC database. He estimated that fewer than 1% of the 25,000 applications filed since January 1 fall into the "problem" category, however. Among applications in the huge influx since the FCC announced restructuring last December, ARRL-VEC staffers have encountered incomplete or missing items, including element credit, proof of license, Social Security number, and even the applicant's or the volunteer examiners' signatures. The FCC's Universal Licensing System also has burped on applicants' attempts to upgrade and renew their licenses at the same time. Because of a ULS software problem, combining a renewal with an upgrade--or with an address or a name change, for that matter--will cause the ULS to reject the application altogether, Jahnke explained. As a result, the transactions must be filed separately. Upgrade applicants whose licenses turn out to be in the two-year renewal grace period also can expect delays. "You need a current license to get your upgrade granted," Jahnke explains, "so the renewal must be filed first, then the upgrade." Other applicants unwittingly have stumbled into problems by filing separate applications with the FCC via the ULS. For example, a few individuals with pending upgrade applications in the meantime have applied for and been granted vanity call signs via the ULS. "What happens is the person ends up with another call sign that doesn't match the one on their upgrade application," Jahnke says. He advises applicants either to wait until their upgrades have been processed before applying for a vanity call sign or to let the ARRL-VEC know that they have another application pending via the ULS. Jahnke advised applicants who attended an April or May ARRL-VEC test session and have not yet found the results of their earned upgrade on the ULS to contact ARRL-VEC by telephone (do not send e-mail) at 860-594-0300. He says the ARRL-VEC still is holding some applications with errors or missing information. - via ARRL Letter Online 6/23/00 Big Band Leader "Tex" Beneke, K0HWY, SK Big band singer and saxophonist Gordon L. "Tex" Beneke, K0HWY, of Santa Ana, California, died at a rest home in Costa Mesa May 30, reportedly of respiratory arrest. He was 86. Beneke took over the Glenn Miller Orchestra in 1946 after Miller's death during World War II, and he continued to capitalize on the Miller sound throughout his career. He later broke with the Miller estate and formed his own band, billing it as "Tex Beneke and His Orchestra: Playing the Music Made Famous by Glenn Miller." A native of Forth Worth, Texas, Beneke joined Miller's orchestra in 1938. Curiously, Beneke's role was omitted from the movie, "The Glenn Miller Story." Beneke himself appeared in films such as "Sun Valley Serenade" in 1941 and "Orchestra Wives" in 1942. - via ARRL Letter Online FCC Amateur Radio Enforcement Log EVANSVILLE, IN [UPDATE]: The FCC wrote General licensee David O. Castle, WA9KJI, on April 26, 2000, requesting his response to a complaint about the operation of his station on 3.950 MHz on March 18, 2000. FCC Special Counsel for Amateur Radio Enforcement Riley Hollingsworth requested that Castle respond to the complainant's attorney within 20 days. Hollingsworth said the FCC's High Frequency Direction Finding Center in Columbia, Maryland, has been monitoring the 75-meter frequency on Saturday evenings for the past several weeks. "While we have not found that you are directly interfering or jamming other licensees that attempt to meet in 3.950 MHz, your slander and harassment of them violates §97.1 and §97.101 of the Commission's rules," Hollingsworth said. "It is not only a disingenuous attempt to thwart the group's meeting on 3.950 MHz, but it also degrades the service for legitimate users and endangers the frequency allocations for the Amateur Radio Service." Hollingsworth said the group in question was The Liberty Net, which meets Saturday evenings. Castle has been the recipient of an FCC Warning Notice and an official Notice of Violation for allegedly engaging in malicious interference, and his operating hours have been restricted in the past. Hollingsworth told Castle that the April 26 letter would be the last warning he would receive before the FCC initiates an enforcement action. Hollingsworth said this week that he has heard from Castle and is evaluating the response. MOBILE, AL: The FCC sent a Warning Notice May 24 2000, to General licensee John A. Green Jr., KD4TTE, advising him that the Commission has evidence that the licensee has been deliberately and maliciously interfering with amateur operations on 20 meters. "This includes deliberate interference, interference to emergency communications and broadcasting," wrote FCC Special Counsel for Amateur Radio Enforcement Riley Hollingsworth. He advised Green that such interference apparently occurred at various times during the past month or so. "On May 11, you apparently deliberately interfered with maritime communications between an offshore vessel and the Maritime Mobile Net," he wrote. Hollingsworth said such operation would not be tolerated, and he gave Green 20 days to respond to the allegations. Hollingsworth requested that Green call him within 10 days if he had any questions about the matter. NEWTON, NC [UPDATE]: The FCC wrote Extra licensee John M. Yount, K4QIJ, on June 1, 2000, seeking additional information in its ongoing investigation into malicious interference that the FCC alleges emanated from Yount's home. Yount has told the FCC that his property contains seven homes and storage areas and eleven vehicles "ranging from a Rolls Royce to a Chevy Blazer and tractor." FCC Special Counsel for Amateur Radio Enforcement Riley Hollingsworth asked that Yount provide specific information on the homes, storage facilities, and motor vehicles within 20 days. On March 29, the FCC wrote Yount citing FCC and other close-in monitoring evidence indicating that Yount's station was the source of "malicious interference and jamming" on 20 and 75 meters. The FCC said part of its monitoring evidence resulted from work done by the FCC's High-Frequency Direction Finding facility in Columbia, Maryland. The Commission said its evidence indicated that Yount had made transmissions identified by the call sign "K4OKA" (assigned to another amateur) as well as "Captain Truth" and possibly other names. The FCC said its evidence in the "Captain Truth" case indicated that the malicious interference and jamming occurred at various times since March 1999--up to as recently as March 24 of this year. Hollingsworth again invited Yount to contact him to discuss the matter further. LUCAS, TX: The FCC wrote Extra licensee John F. Gammon, W5VYY, on June 1, 2000, enclosing a complaint signed by six amateurs concerning "deliberate interference" by the licensee on 3.819 MHz on March 15, 2000. FCC Special Counsel for Amateur Radio Enforcement Riley Hollingsworth requested that Gammon respond to the complaint within 30 days. "Operation of the type described in the complaint, if true, is contrary to the basis and purpose of Amateur Radio and degrades the service for legitimate users," Hollingsworth wrote. He said failure to respond "will lead to revocation proceedings" and he invited Gammon to contact him to discuss the matter. BRIDGEPORT, CT [UPDATE]: The FCC wrote Enrique G. Medina on May 25, 2000, canceling his Advanced class Amateur Radio license, KE1LH. On March 14, the FCC had requested that Medina retake his examinations under the supervision of an ARRL-VEC volunteer examiner team by May 20, 2000. The FCC says Medina did not appear for reexamination. As a result, it was canceling his Amateur Radio license. FCC Special Counsel for Amateur Radio Enforcement Riley Hollingsworth warned Medina that continued operation of Amateur Radio transmitting equipment after receipt of the FCC's letter would be a violation of federal law and could subject him to criminal penalties. NEPTUNE, NJ: The FCC wrote General licensee Jeff Coldon, K2RFI, on May 30, 2000, requesting that he respond to a complaint alleging a repeater identifying as K2RFI on 145.19 MHz is interfering with a coordinated repeater, N2ORM, on 145.170 MHz, in the same area. "N2ORM has been coordinated by TPARC, TSARC and ARCC," wrote FCC Special Counsel for Amateur Radio Enforcement Riley Hollingsworth. "Our information indicates that your repeater is uncoordinated, and that the interference has been brought to your attention but no action has been taken to resolve it." Hollingsworth noted that §97.205 of the FCC rules says the licensee of the uncoordinated repeater has the primary responsibility to resolve interference in such situations. Hollingsworth gave Coldon 20 days to outline the steps he is taking to resolve the interference problem. BARC Strays While operating W4AMC at Field Day on 75 meters, I contacted W2AMC in NY. Three days later while operating W4YDY, I contacted WA1VOA in CT on 10 meters. BARC club call signs, W4AMC & W1VOA! - W4YDY BARC Monthly Minutes BARC Minutes, 6/13/00 The meeting began with a presentation by Marvin Daugherty of WITN, Channel 7, on hurricanes. At the end of these minutes are some notes on his talk. Minutes of the last meeting were approved. Treasurer’s report Secretary’s report--BARC mentioned in press release by ECU Telemedicine as one of participants in Strong Angel. Committee Reports-- Site C (includes Strong Angel report)--(Paul, KS4YF) Sheriff’s Mobile Command Post will remain there through June, barring any sudden needs. Two radios and 2 antennas are in use for Strong Angel, with propagation poor early on but getting better. Voice transmissions are ok, but data transmissions are more difficult because of lack of expertise. Slow-scan TV sending was interfered with on 17 meters by outside hams, but has worked on other bands. The antennas at Site C may be made available to us if we can make a good case for using them. Special Events--JOTA coming up. Health & Welfare--no report Instructor Group--Murray, K4MHM, reported that he is still setting up talks. Programs--July--Mike, KD4MTT, and hurricane preparedness VE session--June 16, 6:30 at St. Peter’s. James, KD4JOV, noted that his paperwork for his extra upgrade has come through, so those who went to the "paper session" should be receiving their upgrades soon. Equipment--agreement with hospital for trailer signed by Murray, K4MHM, but the trailer will probably not be available for Field Day. MOTION by Bob, KV4RF, to spend the money we get from the hospital on a trailer speced out by the hospital. Seconded by Gene, KE4JZU. Approved. Publicity--no report Ham Chatter--check web site for Strong Angel pictures, reports & also for Site C. Field Day--Patrick, KD4NNA, passed the sign-up sheet for operating. Operators will use paper logs and dupe sheets, no computers. Club trailer is unmovable, so volunteers are needed to move the equipment in it to the site. Porta-potties and chemical hand washing facilities will be available. Food will be hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken (thanks to the Lukhards, KG4CCY and CCZ, and Pulvers, KG4CZW and CZV, for giving us the opportunity to vote on the selection). The Classic 33 antenna will be used this time since the 33 Jr. is in Hawaii. It is still in the box, so Bernie, WA4MOK, noted help will be needed to get it out of the box and set up. Mike, KD4MTT will bring 2 generators, with the club’s that makes 3. Monitor 09 on Friday evening to see what’s going on at the site. Patrick will be there at 6:30. Be there at 6AM on Saturday to start set-up in the "cool". ARES--no report Fund Raising--Juanita, K4JWK, said that 255 tickets not handed out yet as of the meeting. Drawing will be at Field Day, so turn in all your sales by 6PM on that day. Meeting Location--Suggestions so far for a new meeting location have been: church, Gaskins-Leslie Center (approved, but parking difficult), VFW on Mumford Rd., possibly fire or police department spaces (city or county), others? Think about this as we will most likely have to move at some time in the future now that Br. Simon is no longer here. Old Business--Byron, K4BMH, showed us the embroidered digitized BARC logo and gave some information on materials, prices, etc. The board will look at options and present them to the club at a future meeting. The meeting adjourned at 10:10. Program notes: Marvin Daugherty’s talk was on hurricanes. From March through May eastern NC is subject to tornadic thunderstorms. June is an in-between month and a bit calmer, although t-storms still occur. In the last 100 years, the only other place more vulnerable to a direct hit from a hurricane than eastern NC is the southern half of Florida. Texas/Louisiana is the third. Since 1984, the area from Charleston, SC to Manteo, NC is the most likely to get a hit. North and east of the hurricane’s center is the strongest area of wind and tornadic activity; during Floyd the heaviest rain fell to the left of the track. The closest analog Marvin could find to 1999 was 1955, when Connie, Diane and Ione came in a row. The heaviest rains did not affect Greenville, however. The faster a hurricane develops, the more likely it is to go out to sea. La Nina is a cold water phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean and appears to enhance land falling hurricanes in the Atlantic. This year it will probably linger on into the summer. The trends in warm to cold waters last over 25-30 years. When the cycle is warmer, we get more land falling Category 3,4,5 hurricanes (can be 8 times the probability). Since 1995 we are in a warmer Atlantic water cycle. The Outer Banks are evidently overdue for a major hit. The Category measured by the Safford/Simpson scale does not measure rainfall. Flooding potential may be determined from the size of the hurricane, its speed and the quadrant it is in. However, this is all very difficult to measure and predict. Since the 1970’s, the most deaths from hurricanes have been from flooding. This year the prediction is for 12 named storms, 4 of Category 3 or better and perhaps 4-5 hurricanes will make landfall (categories unknown). The greatest possibility is during the first week or so of September. How do they forecast?--They use computer models (sometimes several) and climatology (what happened in previous years). Respectfully submitted, VHF
HF
NTS CW Nets
HAM ADS Ham Ads will be run, free of charge in Ham Chatter for three months for each renewal. Deadlines are in the Calendar of Events. Send ads to: Ham Chatter, PO Box 8387, Greenville, NC 27835, ATTN: Dave Langley or email to: w4ydy@arrl.net For Sale: Wanted: Wanted: Alex Macklin, KC4PHJ For Sale:
BARC
Regular Meeting - 2nd Tuesday @ 7:30 PM
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bill has been in Greenville for three years and
while "young" to BARC he is "old" to Amateur Radio. While born in
Raleigh, Bill lived in Fayetteville fifty years before coming here. He moved to Greenville
after his wife died to be closer to his son, Bill Jr.
Congratulations
to all. June has been an active month with Strong Angel and Field Day.
- Lily Fainter, KV4AW,
Secretary
