Final WV Section News update:
Sat,
Sept. 17, 2005 at 5:02 PM ET
WEST
VIRGINIA: SM, Hal Turley, W8HC-- ASM: W8YS.
ASM: KB8NDS. ASM: K8WV. SEC: W8XF. ASEC
Training: WD8PAD. ASEC SkyWarn: K8TAC. STM:
W8YS. OOC: W8DL. PIC: N8TMW. TC: W8DL. ACC:
KC8KVF.
>>
Well folks, this will be my last Section
Manager report to you as I pass the baton
over to Ann Rinehart, KA8ZGY next month.
These past four years have been special to
me and I truly consider it an honor and
privilege to have served as your elected
representative to the ARRL.
I
leave this position with many pleasant
thoughts both of the people I have met and
the accomplishments that we have all worked
to achieve during my two terms of office.
We have many, many successes to be proud of
and I am grateful to so many people who have
served with me and been such an integral
part of what we have done.
Foremost, I think we have worked together to
strengthen our hobby in WV, promote the
amateur service through a variety of
avenues, and build solid relationships
within many of the communities in and around
the state especially through our support of
and participation as an emergency
communication resource. In the post
911-world, we have done a great job
demonstrating that amateur radio plays such
an important role within the realm of
emergency preparedness and communications.
We continue to get great participation in
the EmComm training offered through ARRL and
we have what I would term, many pockets of
excellence within the framework of our
statewide ARESŪ organization.
Although there is still much to be done
here, I am assured, especially in light of
recent events and the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina, amateur radio will gain even more
credibility both as a national resource and
here within the state of WV where we know
all too well the effects of natural
disasters. I am certain that the amateurs
in WV will respond to the call for continued
education and training with local responders
and agencies and continue to build even
stronger alliances within our communities.
I
am equally proud of our Section’s role in
the National Traffic System and the fact
that WV ranks at the top of the list in
every aspect of participation. There is no
doubt in my mind that we are THE BEST of the
BEST in today’s NTS world. This is a credit
to everyone that participates in our daily
Net activities, from the net control
stations, traffic handlers and those that
check in day-in and day-out on the various
traffic nets. I am grateful that I had such
a conscientious Section Traffic Manager as
Dennis, W8YS because much of this success
must be attributed to him. In fact, every
ARRL section should be so fortunate to have
a Traffic Manager with Dennis’ dedication.
Thank you Sir Dennis!
I
want to also offer my sincerest “Thank you”
to everyone in the WV ARRL Field
Organization that has served with me over
these past four years. I truly have been
blessed to have had so many dedicated
amateurs willing to sacrifice time and
resources in support of the ARRL, in support
of me, and in support of the amateurs of
West Virginia. You have certainly made my
job easier and you are the unsung heroes of
our organization. I do appreciate your
support and participation more than you will
ever know.
I
also want to acknowledge everyone at ARRL HQ
that has been so helpful to me providing
assistance EACH and EVERY time I have called
upon them. I just wish every ARRL member in
West Virginia knew what I know as far as how
much our national organization stands behind
its membership to provide a level of support
that is unparalleled. I am especially
grateful to my mentor Steve Ewald, WV1X for
his loyal support and above all, his
enthusiasm and encouragement to me over
these past four years.
Finally, I wish to thank Ann Rinehart,
KA8ZGY for stepping up to serve as our new
Section Manager. She will do an excellent
job and I encourage every ARRL member in WV
to support Ann in this important new role.
I wish her the very best and know that she
will continue to build on the successes of
the WV section we have achieved over these
past four years.
As
a proud and loyal member of the ARRL, it has
been all my pleasure folks….
Tnx
es 73,
Hal, W8HC
Katrina Media Coverage
>> I know that several WV
amateurs have been involved and continue to
be involved in relief efforts following the
devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Some of
this assistance has resulted in media
coverage in our area. One such example is
in the following story which appeared last
week in the Huntington Herald Dispatch.
Special thanks to Garry Ritchie, W8OI;
Dennis Bombardiere, W8YS; and Greg Hendry,
W8DUQ for their input into this story but
more importantly for their efforts with the
communication efforts associated with the
relief effort.
http://www.heralddispatch.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050905/NEWS01/50905002/1005
State
Convention/Jackson’s Mill Wrap-up
>> I just
want to say a few words about last month’s
convention and Jackson’s Mill. As in the
past, I enjoyed it immensely! My
congratulations and thanks to the West
Virginia State Amateur Radio Council for
being the gracious hosts and coordinators of
this annual event. WVSARC President Mac
McMillian and his team put on a great
convention offering first class forums,
programs and activities.
Once again,
this year’s convention had tremendous
support from our Division Director Dennis
Bodson, W4PWF and of course the much
anticipated ARRL HQ participation from WV
adopted-native son Ed Hare, W1RFI. This
year we were also honored to have Norm
Fusaro, W3IZ , ARRL Club/Mentoring Program
Manager with us to share his wit and
wisdom. Norm seemed comfortably at home at
the Mill as his forum presentation offered
much insight into the League’s direction
with membership and club support. We look
forward to seeing Norm at Jackson’s Mill in
future conventions!
Of course,
the Mill is always regarded as the official
venue for announcing and honoring recipients
of various established statewide amateur
awards. Honorees at this year’s State
Convention included:
2004 WV
Amateur of the Year –
Don Lemley, W8DL
2004 ARRL WV
Field Day Winner –
Don Lemley, W8DL
Calvin
Basham, W8NR Memorial Award for WV High
Score in 2004 ARRL Simulated Emergency Test
(SET) – Raleigh
County ARES/RACES/SKYWARN Team
Special
Achievement Awards for Public Service to
West Virginia were also donated and
presented by outgoing Section Manager Hal
Turley, W8HC to: Dennis Bombardiere, W8YS
and Sam Mercure,
N8IY.
West Virginia QSO Party 2005
-- Congratulations to 2005 WVQP Plaque
winners for high score entries as announced
by Dave Ellis, WA8WV at the State Convention
at the Mill.
2005 PLAQUE WINNERS
High score SO West Virginia -
David Mays W8UI
High score outside West
Virginia-GA - Paul Newberry, Jr. N4PN
High score contest - WV – M/M
- West Virginia DX
Association W8AH
High score Mobile - Ron
Bailey AA4S
QRP -
Ron Bolen KG8GW
The
complete rundown on the 2005 WVQP and
downloadable score summary can be obtained
at the official WVQP website:
http://www.qsl.net/wvarrl/wvqp.html
New
6-Meter Repeater QRV
>>According to recent information received
from Bob West, WA8YCD, Grafton is not the
only town in north-central WV to have a new
SIX METER REPEATER! (WD8LNB/R 53.430/52.430
PL146.2 -- cross-linked to 2m - Grafton
147.375 and Parsons 147.370)
The West Virginia University Amateur Radio
Club W8CUL has a new machine on the air:
W8CUL/R 53.470/52.470 PL103.5
Being set up by N8RDT and K8LG, Larry and
Mike report that there is still some
de-sense to be worked out, which may limit
how well the repeater "hears" weaker
stations. However the machine is up and
running on an RC-200 controller, sending out
an auto ID every 15 minutes or so.
The effective
range of the repeater is still to be
determined.
”If you're QRV on 6m FM, please give it a
try,” Bob says.
DXCC
>> Hal, W8HC
and noted Romney, WV Contest Op Jerry Fish,
K8OQL will be representing the Potomac
Valley Radio Club in the multi/single
category as they operate from Israel at the
end of October in the CQ World Wide Phone
Contest. Last year during CQWW, Hal and
Dave, WA8WV operated at this same location
from the Israel Amateur Radio Club’s Reut,
Israel station using a special callsign
granted to them for the contest – 4X0WV.
Hal has been advised that he and Jerry have
been given authorization to use the callsign
once again during the 48-hour period of this
year’s contest. He and Jerry will be
looking to make contact with other WV hams
both during the contest and outside the
contest signing 4X/W8HC and 4X/K8OQL
respectively. For more information about
this operation check out:
http://www.qrz.co.il/home.php?page=4X0WV&prf=1k
News from
Upper Ohio Valley
>> Great to
hear from Matt KA8YEZ recently to learn of
all the activity going on in the Upper Ohio
Valley (Northern Panhandle / Eastern Ohio).
Sounds like a great place to be especially
if you are looking to get involved in
ARES. Matt reports that the Marshall Co.
ARES were to take part in a mock disaster
drill at the Moundsville prison on Sept.
10. We are looking forward to hearing more
about that exercise.
Friday Sept.
30th at 7:30 is the NPARC meeting
in the Ohio County EOC.
Sunday Oct 16th - is the Walk
for Women breast cancer walk at the Howard
Long Wellness Center in Wheeling. Anyone
interested in helping out should plan to be
on location at 1:30pm. If you can help out
with this, please contact Matt at:
mailto:[email protected]
ARESŪ Update
(Re-run from Last Month’s report)
>> The recent
July issue of QST included
results from the 2004 Simulated Emergency
Test (SET) activity. Congratulations once
again go out to the Raleigh County
ARES/RACES/SKYWARN team whose members took
top honors in WV scoring, just as they did
in the 2003 SET. Raleigh Emergency
Coordinator Jim Stephenson, KE8YB and his
team posted a final score of 478 points for
their SET activity and clinched the W8NR
Memorial Plaque, another year for this
honor. They were followed by Kanawha County
with 166 and Cabell with 122. Although this
exercise isn’t really a contest, the scoring
mechanism allows participating ARES groups
the opportunity to attain an objective
assessment of their team’s efforts and
compare that effort with other organizations
taking part in the exercise. I congratulate
all three of these ARES teams for their
participation in the 2004 SET and hope they
will be able to take part in this year’s
activity.
Is your ARES
team going to conduct a SET this year?
After all, it is that time of year and I do
hope as many ARES teams as possible from
around the state will participate. Here is
the information for the 2005 SET:
http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/setguide.html
I remind you
of the Cal Basham, W8NR Memorial Award that
was established a couple years ago and
offered to the ARES group with the top
submitted score in WV. But whether or not
you want to compete for the award, the
importance of conducting at least one drill
per year cannot be overstated. It is the
best way to see where you are with your ARES
program, see your strengths and weaknesses
and build on relationships within your team
and with other agencies that you may have to
serve in an actual emergency.
WV
Section Traffic Reports
Traffic Reports Compiled and submitted by WV
Section Traffic Manager Dennis Bombardiere,
W8YS:
(August) Station Activity Reports: KA8WNO
234, W8YS 164, WD8DHC 131, N8IY 130, W8IVF
112, W8WWF 12. Public Service Honor Roll
Activity: WV8RG 100, N8IY 90, W8IVF 90,
WD8DHC 90, KA8WNO 90. HF Nets: WVFN
805/124/754 W8YS; WVMDN 446/33/386 WV8RG;
WVN (E) 121/61/240 W8IVF. WVN(L) 108/21/193
W8IVF; MSEN 11/3/19 N8TMW. 2-meter Nets:
Barbour/Upshur County 74/0/99 . ARES/RACES
2-meter Nets: Multi County ARES/RACES
88/0/142; Raleigh Co. ARES/RACES 39/0/193.