Ham Chatter

Volume XXXI Issue 11---An Official BARC, W4AMC, Publication ---November 1997

Ham Chatter Editor - Dave Langley, W4YDY
w4ydy @arrl.net
(No spaces in email address)

The Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club will have its monthly meeting on November 11, at 7:30 PM at St. Peter's School on 4th Street. All members and guests are invited to attend. The program will be about the Coastal Emergency Linking Net. It meets on Wednesdays at 2100 on 145.11 MHz and linked repeaters.

One of the most active members of the Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club is being featured this month. Brother Simon Jaworski OSF, KQ2V, became interested in Amateur Radio in 1958 when he was 13 years old. His brother Tom, WA2NPU, was the spark (no pun intended) that fired the interest. Brother Simon was licensed in 1960 as WV2RFL. His Elmer was Walt Galicki, K2KCK. After upgrading to General in November 1960, he was assigned the call WA2RFL. In the Summer of 1968, he passed the Advanced and Amateur Extra. The FCC changed the Amateur Extra to Extra a few years later.

Brother Simon prefers operating HF CW but enjoys working the Shuttle. In March 1995, his school class talked to the Shuttle through his Amateur Radio station in his classroom. He is anxiously waiting for the Phase 3D AMSAT satellite to be launched. For HF operations, he uses a Paragon and an L4-B linear amplifier with a TH6-DXX beam up 80 feet high. His VHF station consists of a Yaesu FT-726R all mode 2-meter/70-centimeter transceiver, an 11-element yagi up 85 feet, 2m/70cm crossed yagi, computer driven for satellite operation and a packet TNC.

With a list of activities that would fill a small catalog, Brother Simon has been very active in Amateur Radio. He has belonged to the Brooklyn Amateur Radio Club, Nassau County ARES, Suffolk County ARES and Rip Van Winkle Amateur Radio Club in Hudson, NY. He is an ex-Trustee for WB2FWF, club station of St. Anthony's HS ARC and was a happy member of Vlamsde Vereninging von Radio Amateurs of Opwik, Belgium and a member of AMSAT, Belgium. He is a member of AMSAT, ARRL and the Old Timers Club. He holds DXCC and WAS awards and Ten-Ten # 51131. Brother Simon worked with SAREX and successfully had his students talk to the astronauts in the Shuttle (STS 67) in March 1995.

When it comes to activities in the BARC, more than one hundred Amateur Radio operators in Eastern North Carolina owe their thanks to Brother Simon for his efforts in teaching Novice and Technician license classes in helping them to pass the amateur exams. For more than ten years, he has been a Volunteer Examiner and liaison for the Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club. In 1997, he was co-chair of the Field Day Committee and he is Trustee for the BARC club station call, W4AMC. He is a past editor of Ham Chatter and is presently the Treasurer of BARC.

Brother Simon holds a B.S. degree in Chemistry from St. Francis College in Brooklyn and a MS Science Education degree from Long Island University. He is a MA candidate for Educational Leadership at East Carolina University.

A Member of the Catholic Religious Order, Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn, Brother Simon took life vows in August 1969. He has twenty-eight years teaching experience in New York State, Waterloo, Belgium and Greenville. He is presently Principal of St. Peters Catholic School in Greenville.

Last seen together at the BARC Field Day in June, the other half of the "dynamic duo" is his twin brother, Pete, KW2D. Pete's wife, Regina, WA2UYM, is a General Class and two of their children are licensed. Peter, Jr. is KC3KI and Chuck is KB2IBP. Tom, an older brother, is WA1MJE. There should be plenty of communications there.

Brother Simon has to be one of the most active and helpful members of the Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club. With his duties as Principal of St. Peters, it does keep him busy and the club is most grateful for all of his contributions. - W4YDY

The election of new club officers was held at the regular club meeting on October 14. The new officers for 1998 are President - Tom Parsons, KD4AFH, First Vice President - Murray Merner, KF4FQB,, Second Vice President - Gene Underwood, KE4JZU, Treasurer - Alex Macklin, KC4PHJ, Secretary - Juanita Humbles, KE4JWK, and Trustee - Gary Gasperini, KE4SMJ. In accordance with the By-laws, Paul Fletcher, KS4YF, the out-going president, will be the other Trustee. Since there were no nominations for Secretary, Juanita agreed to serve a third term.

The new officers will start their terms on January 1. The club thanks the hard work and dedication of 1997 officers Paul Fletcher, KS4YF, James Eubanks, KD4JOV, Brother Simon Jaworski, KQ2V, Byron Highland, KA4KGZ, Juanita Humbles, KE4JWK, Gary Gasparini, KE4SMJ, Ray Black, WB4FRB for their excellent service to the club.

Many thanks go to Murray Merner, KF4FQB, Mike Langley, KD4MTT, and Bob Fainter, KE4UGC, for serving on the Nominating Committee and selecting an excellent slate for 1998. - W4YDY

September and October came and went faster than I am willing to admit. The SET (Simulated Emergency Test) was a big success for Eastern North Carolina. Just how big remains to be determined, as results are still being collected and scores tabulated. A lot of hams, especially BARC members participated and excelled in their duties. The final analysis will determine what we can do next year to do even better! Please accept my thanks for any efforts you made on behalf of the SET. For those who did not participate, I ask that you Do So next year - Don't Miss All the Fun! Besides, it is good training and exercise for your network skills and traffic handling.

JOTA (Boy Scout Jamboree-On-The-Air) was on the same day and suffered mightily - mainly because weather forced cancellation of the Regional Camporee scheduled for Farmville's Waldron Pond. Col. Tom Parsons, KD4AFH and Mike Langley, KD4MTT had arranged for setup of BARC's Trailer W4AMC operations. Perhaps, next year we will not have JOTA and SET on the Same Day!

BARC carried out annual elections for Club Officers and the Executive Board for the coming year at the October Meeting. They take office as of the December Meeting. Traditionally, this meeting is (and remains) our Christmas Party. SO - Plan Ahead - Join the BARC Annual Christmas Dinner (Covered Dish) on Tuesday, December 9 at 6:30PM at St. Peter's School Library - supper served at 7PM. The ceremonies include recognition of the meritorious service of our membership and remembrances of the year's notable club events, so Plan to join all the BARC Crew and let's make a special effort to bring along as many fellow area Hams, especially those who are not BARC members (currently).

At our coming BARC meeting (Nov. 11, 7:30PM; at St. Peter's School) we will vote for honoring our Special Members. Please give careful consideration to those who YOU should name for these special positions:

These are very important positions that we will elect. In doing so, we encourage Others to also excel in these areas, because we recognize these individuals as special. You are special to BARC, so make BARC special for you, too!

The Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club Internet page has been in a constant state of change for the last several weeks. The bright green background is gone. The new white background with the BARC logo in a light green is much easier on the eyes and the content is easier to read. As suggested by email to me, a guestbook was added when GeoCities made it available. There have been several messages left on it. The first was by Pete Jaworski, KW2D. He said he enjoyed reading Ham Chatter on the Internet and passed his regards to his brother.

A change for the better (I hope) was made on the BARC members email address page. Each row has the callsign, name and email address. Click on the email address and an email form already addressed is ready for your message. Click on the callsign and the latest information from the QRZ FCC database is displayed. Click on the name and information from the WM7D FCC database is displayed. On the WM7D database, you can display a map of the persons QTH. It's a nice way to fine when someone lives. If the street address cannot be found, the location is set in the area of the Zip Code. If the member has a web page, click on Home Page next to the email address and that will take you to the member home page. So far there are only two that I know about. Over thirty club members have email addresses. That's over thirty percent of the membership. The only way I can keep it correct is for you to let me know of any changes and corrections. Future plans call for adding all club members to the list with or without email addresses. I guess in that case it would be a roster! The list is sorted by callsign suffix.

Somewhat of a milestone was passed a couple of weeks ago. The web counter on the BARC home page passed 1000. Probably 200 were my hits on the page but that is necessary because of updates and checking links to be sure it is still doing okay.

From information I have received via email, this column in last month's Ham Chatter might have done a little bit of good. The column was about profanity on Amateur Radio. I did mention a few of the frequencies and there has been some discussion on at least one about the column. From what I heard, they said they would try to clean up their act and think about others who might be listening. Everyone commends them for their concerns and thinking about making Amateur Radio a pleasure for all.

The Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club has announced the dates for VE Amateur Radio licensing sessions for 1998. The sessions are held on Friday nights starting at 6:30 PM.

The sessions were once held on the third Saturday morning of even months. It was changed to the Friday night before the third Saturday some time ago. The dates are:

The exam fee at this time is $6.25 if required for the license. Candidates for the exam will need to bring two forms of ID or a photo ID. Also, they must bring a copy of the CSCE or Amateur Radio license if upgrading. For more information, contact Brother Simon, KQ2V. - W4YDY

Christmas will arrive a bit early for General, Technician Plus, Technician and Novice Class hams. The FCC has announced that vanity call sign program Gate 4--the last vanity gate--will open December 2, 1997, for General, Tech Plus, Technician and Novice class hams to request a vanity call sign on or after that date. The potential number of applicants from these four licensee groups is huge--well over a half million hams.

Applicants may use either the electronic Forms 610V and 159 on the Web or hard-copy Form 610V and 159--but not both. Both versions--plus fact sheets and answers to frequently asked questions--are available at http://www.fcc.gov/wtb/amateur. The application fee is 50 dollars, payable by check (to ''FCC''), bank draft, money order or credit card. Do not send cash. The FCC gives processing priority to electronically filed Forms 610V for which the filing fee and Form 159 have been received. The FCC now requires all vanity filers to include a Form 159, which must be mailed to the FCC with your fee.

It's up to applicants to make sure that their applications do not arrive before December 2, 1997. The FCC will return all applications that arrive early. All other vanity call sign gates will remain open, and Amateur Extra and Advanced class operators continue to be eligible to file for vanity call signs under those filing gates.

Any call sign requested must be appropriate for the class of license you hold. This means that Technician, Tech Plus, and General class licensees may ask for a Group C (1x3) or D (2x3) call sign. Novice class licensees may only request Group D call signs.

Electronic filers must mail the Form 159 Fee Remittance Advice to FCC, Amateur Vanity, PO Box 358994, Pittsburgh, PA 15251-5994. The Form 159 and the fee must be received within 10 days of electronically filing your Form 610V or your application will be dismissed.

Those filing on document Forms 610V and 159 must mail the application package containing a completed Form 610V with a copy of your license attached, Form 159 and the proper fee in a sealed envelope to FCC, Amateur Vanity, PO Box 358924, Pittsburgh, PA 15251-5924.

Application packages via courier or delivered by hand must be prepared in the same way, sealed in a second, outer envelope, and addressed to Federal Communications Commission, c/o Mellon Bank, 525 William Penn Way, 27th Floor, Room 153-2713, Pittsburgh, PA 15259, ATTN: Wholesale Lockbox Shift Supervisor. This address should only be used for applications delivered by hand or courier.

For general information, call the FCC's toll-free National Call Center, 888-225-5322 (CALLFCC). via ARRL Bulletin 64 - 10/30/97

The BARC VE Session was held on October 17. Nick Pantelidis returned from the August session to pass Element 3A and get the Technician license. On October 22, 1997, the FCC assigned KF4UJY to Nick. David Jasper, KF4CUK, passed the 13 WPM code test.

Volunteer Examiners were Liaison Brother Simon, KQ2V, Gerry Clayton, K4IDD, Joe Aleksa, KQ4BN, Murray Merner, KF4FQB and Dave Langley, W4YDY.

The next Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club VE Session will be held Friday evening, December 19 at St. Peter's School. The exam fee is $6.25 if required for the license. Candidates for the exam will need to bring two forms of ID or a photo ID. For more information, contact Brother Simon, KQ2V. - W4YDY

The FCC announced this week that as of January 1, 1998, Amateur Radio applicants may only submit FCC Forms 610, 610 A and 610B that carry an edition date of September 1997. After the first of the new year, previous editions of Form 610 will not be accepted for filing by the FCC or by Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (VECs). Amateurs may begin using the new Form 610s now.

The major change on the new form is a certification that says the applicant has "read and will comply with Section 97.13(c) of the Commission's Rules" regarding RF radiation safety and the amateur service section of OST/OET Bulletin No 65, Evaluating Compliance with FCC-Specified Guidelines for Human Exposure to Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Fields. But, Amateur Radio Supplement B of Bulletin 65, which has additional information on how to conduct a routine RF safety evaluation and explains other aspects of RF safety, is still in the draft stages and not yet available to the ham radio community.

ARRL Executive Vice President David Sumner, K1ZZ, says the League is concerned that that the new Form 610 could be in the hands of hams before Amateur Radio Supplement B is complete. Sumner says it's essential that the FCC make Supplement B available in time for hams to complete their evaluations to meet the deadlines in the rules.

ARRL Lab Supervisor Ed Hare, W1RFI, who's been involved in reviewing the draft supplement, said he expects the FCC to release it sometime in November. The ARRL will release a book on the new RF safety regulations near the end of the year. "Above all, it is important that the required station evaluation be as easy as possible for hams," Hare said. "The FCC has pretty much met that goal. Additionally, most hams, by virtue of their power levels, will not need to do an evaluation at all."

Section 97.13(c) reads: Before causing or allowing an amateur station to transmit from any place where the operation of the station could cause human exposure to RF electromagnetic field levels in excess of those allowed under �1.1310 of this chapter, the licensee is required to take certain actions.

1. The licensee must perform the routine RF environmental evaluation prescribed by �1.1307(b) of this chapter, if the transmitter PEP exceeds the following limits: 160-40 meters, 500 W; 30 meters, 425 W (legal limit is 200 W --Ed); 20 meters, 225 W; 17 meters, 125 W; 15 meters, 100 W; 12 meters, 75 W; 10 meters, 50 W; VHF (all bands), 50 W; 70 cm, 70 W; 33 cm 150 W; 23 cm, 200 W, 13 cm 250 W, SHF/EHF (all bands) 250 W.

2. If the routine environmental evaluation indicates that the RF electromagnetic fields could exceed the limits contained in �1.1310 of this chapter in accessible areas, the licensee must take action to prevent human exposure to such RF electromagnetic fields. Further information on evaluating compliance with these limits can be found in the FCC's OET Bulletin 65, Evaluating Compliance with FCC-Specified Guidelines for Human Exposure to Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Fields.

The new Forms 610 may be obtained from the FCC' Web site via the Internet at http://www.fcc.gov/formpage.html, at ftp://ftp.fcc.gov/pub/Forms/ or by fax at 202-418-0177 (request index, or for Form 610 use form code 000610, for Form 610A use form code 006101, for Form 610B use form code 006102). The FCC Forms Distribution Center will accept FCC forms orders by calling 800-418-3676.

ARRL VEs and VE teams will be able to obtain a supply of the new Forms 610 in mid to late November--once the ARRL/VEC has had time to obtain a supply of the new forms.

Individual amateurs may obtain a copy of the new Form 610 by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) to: ARRL/VEC, 225 Main St, Newington CT 06111. Include 32 cents postage for each Form 610 requested (this is a four page form).

For general information, contact the FCC, 1270 Fairfield Rd, Gettysburg, PA 17325-7245, or call the FCC's National Call Center at 888-225-5322 (CALL FCC). -- FCC via ARRL Letter Online 10/24/97

It's that time of year again. In place of the regular club meeting on December 9, BARC will be having the annual Christmas party at St. Peter's School that includes the whole family. The annual awards will be given out to those that have made contributions to BARC in 1997. Some of the awards will be Ham of the Year, OM of the Year, YL of the Year and many others.

The festivities will start at 6:30 PM and at 7:00 PM, everyone will enjoy the fine food brought in by the members. There will be a committee making phone calls to all members about food and in hopes of having a large attendance. A good time has always been had at the previous parties. More information will be in the December Ham Chatter. - W4YDY

Late word from the ITU's 1997 World Radiocommunication Conference in Geneva is that Article S25 of the international radio regulations might not end up on the agenda for the WRC-99 after all. Article S25 was placed on the tentative agenda for WRC-99 at WRC-95, two years ago. A working group of WRC-97 delegates compiling the agenda for WRC-99 decided on Friday, October 31, to recommend that the matter be held over until 2001 because of a long list of other items vying for inclusion on the WRC-99 agenda. The decisions as to what will and will not be included on the WRC-99 agenda will not be final until agreement is reached in the Plenary, much later on in the four-week conference. Article S25 contains the international radio regulations that are specific to the Amateur and Amateur-Satellite Services, including the Morse code requirement for operation below 30 MHz.

The possible realignment of the 40-meter allocation, to resolve the conflict between amateurs and broadcasters in part of the band, tentatively has a place on the WRC-99 agenda. This issue likely will be tied to the desire of HF broadcasting for more spectrum between 4 and 10 MHz. Both issues will be on the WRC-99 agenda unless more urgent items crowd them off before the close of WRC-97.

Ham radio is well represented at WRC-97, which began Monday, October 27. ARRL Technical Relations Manager Paul Rinaldo, W4RI, is a member of the US delegation. Jim Dean, VE3IQ, of the Radio Amateurs of Canada, David Wardlaw, VK3ADW, of the Wireless Institute of Australia, Keigo Komuro, JA1KAB, of the Japan Amateur Radio League, and Y. S. Park, HL1IFM, and J. G. Rhee, HL1AQQ, of the Korean Amateur Radio League, are on their nations' delegations. Each of these delegates has a strong IARU connection. IARU representatives include Larry Price, W4RA, Wojciech Nietyksza, SP5FM, and Michael Owen, VK3KI.

Among many other topics, the so-called "Little LEO" issue will come before the 1800 or so WRC-97 delegates. Current US proposals do not include any plans to share amateur frequencies, but this does not prevent other delegations from bringing up plans that might adversely affect ham radio allocations. That hasn't happened so far. In another action Friday, the working group that's considering Little LEO allocations agreed to a New Zealand proposal to designate 146 to 148 MHz as "no change," and Rinaldo is optimistic that designation will hold.

Little LEO advocates continue their attempts to justify additional allocations, but a recent FCC order to confirm an agreement to share existing Little LEO allocations warned the industry not to expect additional spectrum in the future. "We had significant difficulty obtaining spectrum for Little LEO service at WRC-95," the FCC said.

Rinaldo has been named chairman of a drafting group that's looking into the issue of wind profiler radars. These systems operate around 50, 449 and 1000 MHz and have some potential for interference to Amateur Radio. No surprise new bands for wind profilers were proposed at today's first meeting, and a European proposal for 420 to 435 and 438 to 440 MHz was taken off the table.

WRC-97 delegates also are being asked to consider adding the Earth Exploration Satellite service to the 430 to 440 MHz band and to upgrade the status of EES in the 1240 to 1300 MHz band.

World Radiocommunication Conferences are held every two years. WRC-97 is scheduled to wrap up on November 21 - via ARRL Letter Online 10/31/97

The ARRL Educational Activities Department has gotten the official okay from Johnson Space Center to start scheduling school QSOs with David Wolf, KC5VPF, aboard Mir. The spacecraft's health seems to be improved now that the new computer is installed. A series of problems with Mir, including several computer failures, had put the school contacts on a back burner for the past few months.

For more information on possible Mir school contacts, get in touch with Educational Activities Department, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111; tel 860-594-0267; e-mail sarex@arrl.org.

Meanwhile, the current Mir crew of Wolf and Cosmonauts Anatoly Solovyev and Pavel Vinogradov remains very busy working and experimenting. Wolf reported recently that he's working up to 16 hours a day--a schedule that gives him little spare time for Amateur Radio. Wolf has been active infrequently on 145.985 MHz FM simplex, and the packet system also was active briefly. During a QSO with Wolf, Miles Mann, WF1F, asked him when he expected to be back on 2 meters. "David said he had six items on this top-priority list, and Amateur Radio was currently number 6," Mann said. The PMS 2-meter station had been turned off while the 13 KB mailbox was completely full.

Mann said the crew needs up to an hour a day to read, reply and delete the daily load of packet mail just to keep the mailbox open. "At the present time, the crew's workload is just too heavy to support this," he said.

The SAFEX II 70 cm repeater is still turned off. The crew is still trying to build up power reserves in the batteries of the space station. The space station is now getting power from all solar panels, except the one that was damaged by the Progress supply rocket collision in June. --SpaceNews via Miles Mann, WF1F - via ARRL Letter Online 10/31/97

Hams, scanner enthusiasts and others are breathing a tentative sigh of relief this week. Their efforts apparently have paid off to convince House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman W. J. "Billy" Tauzin (R-La) that HR 2369, the Wireless Privacy Enhancement Act of 1997, was flawed legislation. Tauzin's so-called "scanner bill" has been rewritten to reflect the concerns of hams, volunteer firefighters, scanner enthusiasts and others.

Many meetings, phone calls and letters with Tauzin's staff followed the introduction of the original bill. At Tauzin's request, the League submitted recommendations to narrow its scope. From Washington, ARRL Legislative and Public Affairs Manager Steve Mansfield, N1MZA, reports that most of those recommendations found their way into a committee markup of the bill, released Wednesday, October 29. While the original version of HR 2369 covered the entire Commercial Mobile Radio Service (CMRS), the current version restricts its scope to just cellular telephone and the Personal Communications Service (PCS). Mansfield tempered his optimism with caution. "It is still too early to say whether the bill in its modified form, or in any other form, will ever become law," he said.

In introducing the substitute bill, Tauzin praised hams for their constructive cooperation. "The bill was never intended to prohibit the scanning of public safety frequencies or other noncommercial frequencies in which users have no expectation of privacy," he said. It was designed solely "to protect users of wireless services that pay for such services." Mansfield said the League worked with a coalition of other organizations to make sure members' voices were heard on The Hill. Changes also were recommended by scanner interests including Uniden and Tandy.

Unless Congress cuts corners, the bill still has a long way to go. It must be passed by the full Commerce Committee before it goes to the floor of the House. "The ARRL will continue to work with committee staff to fine tune one of the bill's provisions that could have unintended consequences with regard to unrelated modification of equipment," Mansfield said.

In its original form, the bill had generated a good deal of controversy that boiled over into emotional letters and e-mail messages to Members of Congress. Some critics interpreted the bill as outlawing equipment that receives law enforcement, fire, EMS and other nonbroadcast services, and felt it could even prohibit listening to these transmissions. The ARRL believed it could also impede the ability of manufacturers to include expanded VHF and UHF receiving capability, something most hand-held and mobile transceivers now offer.

While the League did not object to the original bill's efforts to curb cellular and PCS eavesdropping--something that's already illegal--its primary objection was that it could adversely affect the efforts of ham radio emergency volunteers, volunteer fire departments and other agencies that monitor public service frequencies using scanners. Among other things, the League pointed out to House members this month that the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) of 1986, makes it illegal to intercept cellular, PCS, and other telephone-type communication.

One provision of the latest version calls on the FCC to consider defining the expression "capable of readily being altered" to require scanning receivers to be made in a way that effectively precludes alteration as necessary to prevent illegal use. Another calls on the FCC to consider requiring warning labels for scanning receivers that alert users to the prohibitions in federal law.

Mansfield praised Tauzin and his staff for paying attention to Amateur Radio concerns on the proposed legislation. "On the whole, it looks like Congress has listened," he said. via ARRL Letter Online 10/31/97

The International Amateur Radio Club in Geneva will operate 4U1ITU under the call sign 4U1WRC to mark the Radiocommunication Assembly (RA-97) and the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-97) that get underway there later this month. A commemorative QSL card will be available for contacts between October 20 and November 21, 1997.

4U1ITU is maintained by the IARC for the use and benefit of club members and by other licensed radio amateurs. It's intended "to serve as a model of amateur radio operation at its highest standard." The station is located at ITU headquarters. QSL to IARC, Box 6, CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland.

For more information, see http://www.itu.int/radioclub. -- Philippe Capitaine, HB9RKG/IARC - via ARRL Letter Online 10/24/97

A century of electrons: Dave Finley, N1IRZ, of Socorro, New Mexico, calls the attention of his fellow hobbyists to an article in the October edition of Physics Today. The special edition on "The Ubiquitous Electron" marks the 100th anniversary of J. J. Thompson's paper announcing his discovering of this important entity. According to Finley, a series of articles looks at the discovery and the subsequent multitude of applications that came from this discovery. - via ARRL Letter Online 10/17/97

2. Introductions / Rollcall / Welcome Visitors and Guest Speaker, Dr.Ed Seykora.

A. Treasurer's Report submitted by Brother Simon Jaworski, KQ2V at Board Meeting. Current Balance $1094.99 as of Oct. 3rd.

B. Secretary's Report by Juanita Humbles, KE4JWK: Usual monthly newsletters received. ReLeaf, Advocates for a Greener Greenville, sent a letter requesting participation in their Commemorative Tree Program. A donation of $65.00 will purchase a tree to be planted along Stantonsburg Road or West Fifth Street. Recognition of donations will be displayed on a plague at River Park North, published in the Daily Reflector, and be read aloud at the annual Arbor Day ceremony. See letter if anyone is interested. The Club received a QSL card from W4BW, Prose Walker of Florida for the International Festival. Also, KD4MYE, G. Roger Allen, is running for the 1998 NC ARRL Section Manager and sent a letter requesting to set up a schedule to meet with as many Clubs as possible to get input from Hams and gather support. Anyone interested in having him attend a meeting, see letter for further information.

C. Maysville Hamfest was a joyful time per several comments made. Good Venison Stew was served and Byron Highland, KA4KGZ won a HT Radio of course.

D. Tom Parsons, KD4AFH noted BARC Shirts still available ($15.00 each). The Ham Radio Class has about 10 students with most staying for the Code Practice. Thanks to the teacher: Bill Dawson, WA4SLC, Murray Merner, KF4FQB, John McCoy, K4KBB, and Bernie Nobles, WA4MOK. Tom presented a motion, 2nd by Gary Gasperini, KE4SMJ, and approved by the Group present to keep one Now You're Talking Book for teaching and to sell the other four books.

E. Paul, KS4YF noted the VE Session coming up Friday Night, Oct. 17th. We need VE's to help.

F. Tom, KD4AFH noted this is JOTA's 40th Year, will be held at Waldon's Pond, and needs help starting Sat. @ 08:00am.

G. SET (Simulated Emergency Test) coming up Saturday. Walter Verdick, KA4WFS has sent a list of details to the newsmedia. Hurricane Zelda set to follow the same path as Bertha and Fran. All are encouraged to participate.

H. Paul presented one of the Radio Jump Kits from PCMH to the group with an update on the antenna status. Wayne Ross, WD4JPQ spoke on the status of the County Office and 911 Center with a training room being set up with equipment. Len Downing, K4LEN thanks everyone for their support with the project and ARES. ID Badges for ARES are made the last Friday of each month between 2-4pm at the County Office Building on West 6th Street. Len also gave a special thanks and presented a plague to Paul Fletcher for his hard work with BARC, ARES, and facilitating the acquirement of the Radio Jump Kits. Paul in turn gave thanks to Dr. John Meredith and PCMH for obtaining the Kits along with a special thanks to Bernie Nobles for his knowledge and help in compiling the list of equipment needed.

I. Mike Langley, KD4MTT spoke on the current nominees running for the NC ARRL Section Manager as follows: G. Roger Allen, KD4MYE, Reed Whitten, AB4W, and Billy Mitchell, WB4SGA. You must be an ARRL member by Dec. 5th to be able to vote. Ballots will be mailed out around January 1, 1998.

Bernie, WA4MOK nominated Murray Merner, KF4FQB for 1st V.P., 2nd by Gary, KE4SMJ, and approved by the group. Gary, then presented a motion to suspend the rules of the Constitution to nominate Juanita, KE4JWK to remain Secretary, motion 2nd by Murray, and after discussion approved by the group. The nominations were then closed by motion from Byron, 2nd by Harold Bailey, and approved by the group. Byron, then brought forth a motion and 2nd by Len to allow Absentee Ballots from now on. After discussion, the motion was change to state: have the Constitution Committee to allow means for an Absentee Ballot from now on and a Committee will be reappointed at a further date to possibly amend the Constitution per protocol. A final motion was presented by Byron, 2nd by Lily Fainter, KE4UGD, with approval voiced by the group present to except and elect the slate of nominees by acclamation as new officers for the year 1998.

7. The Business Meeting was then closed at 2025hr. as approved by the group present.

8. Tonight's Program: Sunspots presented by Dr. Edward (Ed) Seykora, Professor of Physics at ECU. The program was very enlightening on the history and 11 year cycle of sunspots. Dr. Seykora welcomes any questions or further interests and may be contacted at the following addresses: ed@sunspot.noao.edu or phseykor@ecuvm.cis.ecu.edu A BARC shirt was presented to Dr. Seykora as a token of thanks for the informative program.

The ARRL Executive Committee has voted to have the League continue to urge adoption of the antenna regulatory preemption policies contained in its petition, RM-8763. The action came on a motion from ARRL Vice President Steve Mendelsohn, W2ML, as the Executive Committee met October 11 in Philadelphia.

The League's petition, filed in February 1996, seeks enhancement of the PRB-1 limited federal preemption of state and local regulation of Amateur Radio antennas. However, the FCC appears to have made no progress with regard to the petition, which asked the FCC to declare that localities must find the least restrictive means to deal with ham radio. Among other things, the petition called on the Commission to amend Section 97.15(e) of the rules to say that any state or local antenna restrictions limiting ham radio antennas to heights below 70 feet would be "presumed unreasonable," unless the state or local authority could show its restrictions were necessary for health, safety or aesthetic reasons.

It was also announced at the Executive Committee meeting that the League will submit comments in Mass Media Bureau Docket 97-182 supporting a comprehensive antenna facilities siting policy, including amateur antenna structures.

The ARRL also continues to pursue FCC preemption of local and state attempts to regulate in the area of RF radiation safety.

The Committee also was told that numerous comments, most of them supportive, were filed on the ARRL's petition (RM-9150) seeking to improve the FCC's handling of private-sector complaints of serious amateur rules violations. The League has filed reply comments in the matter. via ARRL Letter Online 10/24/97

To alleviate some confusion in the Amateur Radio community, the company that recently pulled out of the US ham radio market was Azden, based in New York, not Alinco, which is on the West Coast. Alinco advises us that it's still very much in business. via ARRL Letter Online 10/10/97

New Bern Amateur Radio Club/Eastern NC 220 Association for the WD4JMS & WD4DAN Net, Monday, 2000 on 146.61 MHz

Coastal Emergency Linking Net, Wednesday, 2100 on 145.11 MHz and linked repeaters.

Beaufort County Emergency Communications Net, Thursday 2000 on 147.345 MHz. Preceded by Newsmen at 1930.

Ham Ads will be run, free of charge in Ham Chatter for three months for each renewal. Ads must be received by the last week of the month to be included in the following issue. Send ads to: Ham Chatter, PO Box 8387, Greenville, NC 27835, ATTN: Dave Langley or email to: w4ydy@sprintmail.com

1. US Tower TMM541SS 41ft. crankup, steel with top section with BNG with coax arm and inverted Vee bracket.
2. Mosley PRO77A 7 band 7 element.
3. Kenwood TS450SAT. SP23 external speaker, MC60A desk mike.
4. Ham IV rotator.
5. Kantronics RS-232. RS-232 interface with Hostmaster 2.
6. Astron RS35, 35 amp PS without meters.

The Editor of Ham Chatter needs a few more Ham Ads! Addresses are above. The cost can't be beat.

Wanted: For Sale: Wanted: For Sale: Wanted: For Sale: Wanted: For Sale: Wanted: For Sale: Wanted: For Sale: Wanted: For Sale: Wanted: For Sale: Wanted:

November 11. . . . . . . . . Regular Meeting
November 15-17. . . . . . . ARRL SSB Sweepstakes
November 16. . . . . . . . . Benson Hamfest
November 29-30. . . . . . . CQ WW DX CW Contest
November 30. . . . . . . . . Ham Chatter Deadline
December 2 . . . . . . . . . Board Meeting
December 5-7 . . . . . . . . ARRL 160 Meter Contest
December 6. . . . . . . . . . Greensboro Hamfest
December 9 . . . . . . . . . Christmas Meeting & Party
December 13-14. . . . . . . ARRL 10 Meter Contest
December 19. . . . . . . . . BARC VE Session
January ?*. . . . . . . . . . . Board Meeting

January 4 . . . . . . . . . . . Ham Chatter Deadline
January 13 . . . . . . . . . . Regular Meeting
January 17-18 . . . . . . . . ARRL VHF Contest
January 24-25 . . . . . . . . CQ WW CW 160M Contest
January 29*. . . . . . . . . . Board Meeting
February 1. . . . . . . . . . . Ham Chatter Deadline
February 10. . . . . . . . . . Regular Meeting
February 14-15 . . . . . . . ARRL CW DX Contest
February 20* . . . . . . . . . BARC VE Session
February 21-22 . . . . . . . CQ WW SSB 160M Contest
March 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . Ham Chatter Deadline

* Dates Tentative or to be announced

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE BRIGHTLEAF AMATEUR RADIO CLUB, P. O. BOX 8387, GREENVILLE, NC 27835 -- MATERIAL CONTAINED HEREIN MAY BE REPRINTED WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION WITH CREDIT GIVEN TO THIS PUBLICATION -- PRESIDENT - PAUL FLETCHER, KS4YF, -- FIRST V. PRESIDENT - JAMES EUBANKS, KD4JOV, -- SECOND V. PRESIDENT BYRON HIGHLAND, KA4KGZ, -- SECRETARY - JUANITA HUMBLES, KE4JWK, -- TREASURER - BROTHER SIMON JAWORSKI, KQ2V, -- BOARD MEMBER - GARY GASPARINI, KE4SMJ, -- BOARD MEMBER- RAY BLACK, WB4FRB, -- BARC HAM CHATTER EDITOR - DAVE LANGLEY, W4YDY, -- OPINIONS BY WRITERS MAY NOT NECESSARILY BE THAT OF THE BRIGHTLEAF AMATEUR RADIO CLUB.

Meet the Members - Brother Simon, KQ2V	November BARC Meeting
President's Corner	Yakkey-Dee-Yak
Election Results for 1998 Officers	1998 BARC VE Session Dates
FCC To Open Vanity Gate 4	October BARC VE Session Results
FCC Issues New Form 610	It's Party Time!
WRC-97: Article S25 Deferred Until 2001	MIR Healthy Enough For School Contacts
Tauzin Says "We Hear You" To Amateurs	4U1WRC To Mark WRC-97
A Century of Electrons	ARRL To Continue Push For Fed Preemption
Azden, not Alinco	Happy Birthday
BARC Monthly Minutes	Nets
Ham Ads	Calendar of Events
Return to Ham Chatter Menu	Return to BARC Home Page

Ham Chatter Editor - Dave Langley, W4YDY
w4ydy @arrl.net
(No spaces in email address)

Contents

An Official B. A. R. C., W4AMC, Publication

Content of this Newsletter by other writers is not necessarily the opinion of W4YDY

If there is any content that is objectionable, please EMAIL me immediately!

Ham Chatter

Ham Chatter Editor - Dave Langley, W4YDY w4ydy @arrl.net (No spaces in email address)

Contents

An Official B. A. R. C., W4AMC, Publication

Content of this Newsletter by other writers is not necessarily the opinion of W4YDY

If there is any content that is objectionable, please EMAIL me immediately!

Ham Chatter Editor - Dave Langley, W4YDY
w4ydy @arrl.net
(No spaces in email address)