*********** SM Report ******************

This report is for February 2014.

This July 17 to 20, 2014 is the ARRL Centennial convention in Hartford CT.  Your SM plans on being there.  Is anyone else going?

There is a new Technician Class Question Pool Released.  See the ARRL webpages for details.

W1AW/KH6 was on the air for one week starting February fifth from various locations around the state of Hawaii including KH6LC’s QTH where you SM operated.  There was a total of 33,228 QSO’s.  Operations were on CW, Data and Phone.  Totals were 160M=287, 80M=1,486, 40M= 3,841, 30M=1,764, 20M=6,098, 17M=2,413, 15M=7,393, 12M=3,262, 10M=6,678 and Sat=6.  Hawaii will be on the air again starting August 20 for one more week.  Contact KH6LC if you want to participate. 

Tom Worthington, NH6Y, from Maui wrote:  “I just had the pleasure of working (Maui ARC) club member Forrest, WH6EAL, at his school in Arizona as part of the School Club Roundup.  The school call sign is N7ERU and I found them on 28.445 (MHz).  If you have the opportunity please look for them on the bands.  73 and Aloha, Tom Worthington, NH6Y – Maui”

Kimo Chun, KH7U, from Oahu wrote:  “I have 3 SteppIR BigIR verticals, 1 with the 80m coil option and 1 CrankIR vertical available for sale here in Hawaii before I send them back to the manufacturer. These are slightly used from the Wake Island DXpedition and show some exposure wear. They should be easily cleaned up and in working order. I am sure the manufacturer will make any issues right or let you get a refund.

They are available for 20 percent off list price. You also save on freight from Washington to Honolulu. You are responsible for any neighbor island (or elsewhere) shipment costs.

Look at their Website: http://www.steppir.com/vertical-antennas   and in particular to their order form as it will have the pricing. There are other options available that you can order to augment what is here.

Thank you.  Kimo Chun, KH7U, kh7u@arrl.net or kimo@lava.net

The Puna Emergency Radio Club has applied for ARRL affiliation.  They will be considered during the next meeting of the ARRL Board of Directors.

HAM RADIO REMOTE SUPER STATION CONTESTING- by Joe Speroni, AH0A

“Few get the opportunity to operate a Ham Radio Super Station in a contest.  Access to stations with multiple towers, huge antenna arrays and full power in low noise QTHs with state of the art equipment is rare.  So when a group of us got a chance to operate such a station remotely from Hawaii, we jumped at the chance.

Honolulu Ham Radio contesting can be difficult.  The choice of the CQ 160M CW contest would be unthinkable from my Lanai.  Others in our group have various HF antennas, but none on 160.  Besides a 160M contest from the middle of the Pacific can be a limiting experience.

We operated over Internet using “Remote Ham Radio’s” Blueberry, NY station with a two element full-sized 160M vertical.  Four separate K3 locations in Honolulu were connected to the K3/Expert 1K-FA Amplifier in Blueberry using Microbit RRCs.  Each of us operated from our own QTH.

There are pros and cons to remote operating.  There is no travel time to the superstation.  Having easy access to our own kitchen, shower and bed is calming.  Picking a 160M station in NY reduced the early overnight hours.  The band is dead from about two hours after sunrise to two hours before sunset - 03:00 to 11:00 in Honolulu. That raises the prospect of future group contesting involving with Hams from all three ITU regions so everyone could get a 09:00-17:00 shift.  (This is) Something to think about for future contests.

On the con side not having everyone in the same location makes coordination a little more difficult.  You can’t just run out to the sleeping area and wake someone up to cover your station while you get some rest.  Planning an operator schedule in advance helped.

For now it looks like single station, multi-ops are the norm for remote group contesting.  But that will change.

We used N1MM with remote networking.  What an exquisite CW contesting tool!  One different aspect of operating N1MM in a remote network is that every operator has to setup his own software.  A great education opportunity but different from most of the FD or other group contest experiences I’ve had.  Usually there is just one or two software guru’s that sleep close by the station to fix things when they go wrong.  Each of us had the fun of setting up N1MM in an Internet network for the contest.

How did we do?  Well four of us – KH6MB, KH6FP, WH7W and AH0A – split up 40 operating hours and worked over 840 contacts.  We worked all 48 mainland states and all but a few of the rare Canadian Provinces for a total of 58 North America multipliers.  To that we added 38 countries in 12 CQ zones and had fun doing it.  We hope to try again in the near future – maybe in the ARRL 2014 CW SS contest?  Anyone with a K3 like to join us in a future contest?” 

Pictures of the four operators and the superstation are posted on the ARRL Pacific Section web-page.

Kona Amateur Radio Society (KARS) webpage is:  http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/~veillet/hwars.html.  KARS has changed its meeting date.  It now meets on the forth Sunday, which will be March 23, from 2PM to 5PM at Wawaloli Beach Park at NELHA.  The theme for the potluck will be Irish or at least something green.  Please bring a favorite dish to share. There is a new picture of KARS on the Pacific Section webpage.  Go to the bottom and click view all.  For questions please contact Van NH7IT at 808-345-5008 or e-mail NH7IT@arrl.net

The Kohala Hamakua Radio Club (KHRC) website:  http://www.hamradioandmore.com/khrc.htm

The next meeting will be Sunday, March 9, 2014 Time: 2:00pm Conference Room, (Enter in rear of Gym Building), Hisaoka Gym, King Kam Park, Kapa'au

Hawaii Preparatory Academy (HPA) School Radio Club   does not have a webpage and no information is available on their activities.  HPA is a private school so meetings are not open to the public.  It is an ARRL affiliated school club.

The Kauai ARC website is:  http://www.kauaiarc.org/   See webpage for details of all events and a map.

Kauai Amateur Radio Club meets on the first Monday of the month at 7 PM. at KIUC Office, 4463 Pahee Street in Lihue.  Their next meeting is Monday March 3 at 6PM, at KIUC Main Office, 4463 Pahee Street in Lihue.  Don’t forget the Saturday breakfast at The Feral Pig (formerly The Tiki Room and Main Street Diner) located in Harbor Mall at Nawiliwili. Folks begin arriving around 0730. Remember to get your parking ticket validated (while the attendant is hardly ever there for Saturday breakfast, it's a good idea to validate just in case).   

The Emergency ARC website is:  http://www.earchi.org  

EARC meets on the 3^rd Tuesday (except June & Dec).  The next EARC General Membership meeting will be March 18 at 7PM at the Fleet Reserve Association Branch 46, located at 891 Valkenburgh St.

The Honolulu ARC website address is: http://ham.aditl.com/harc .  HARC meets on the 3rd Saturday at 9:00 AM on odd months (Jan, March, May, July, Sept, and Nov).  They are now meeting at Monterey Bay Cannery which overlooks the watercress farm on the west side of the shopping center.  There is lots of free parking and it is easy to reach.  The next meeting is March 15, 2013. 

The Koolau ARC website is: http://www.karc.net/ .  They meet on the second Saturday at 9:30 AM. At Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden Park in Kaneohe.  The next meeting is going to be Saturday, March 8^th

The Waikiki ARC seems to have only the ARRL club listing website at:  http://www.arrl.org/Groups/view/waikiki-amateur-radio-club/type:club .

The ARRL web-page contains the club information.  They meet every Tue at 7AM for breakfast at the Monterey Cannery at 98-1005 Moanalua Road, Unit FSI in Aiea.  Thanks to William N. Kendall KH6OO for the latest information and keeping the website up to date. 

The Maui ARC website is:  http://www.kh6rs.org/ .

Their regular meeting is on the second Wednesday of each month which will be March 12^th at 7PM in the basement of the CD EOC in the Maui County building also known as 200 South High St. 

The Maui Amateur Radio License Examination Schedule has been updated for 2014.  Persons planning to take an Amateur Radio license examination should pre-register at least two weeks before the scheduled exam date.  Send email to kh6h@arrl.net or call Mel, KH6H, at 250-4591 and leave voice mail, including your email address. If no one pre-registers, the exam session will be cancelled.

Maui VE (volunteer examiner) sessions begin at 9:00 a.m. at the Maui County Civil Defense

Emergency Operating Center, 200 S. High Street in Wailuku.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Saturday, December 6, 2014

The Big Island ARC website is: www.biarc.net .   They meet at 2PM on the 2nd Saturday Monthly at 2 PM at the Keaau Community Center. Their next meeting is on March 8^th.   The program will be on solar power for your house.  For the next license class starts March 6^th at Orchidland LDS church.  Contact Milt, AH6I, at 965-6471 for more information. 

The Hilo ARC:  They meet daily 6:30-8:30 AM at Jack in the Box Hilo.  This club is actually the oldest on the Island of Hawaii however there was a break in existence of several years until former Section Manager Dean Manley, KH6B and several others reactivated it.  They also sponsor the Council of Radio Club which meets once monthly (usually the first Saturday) at various restaurants in East Hawaii for breakfast.  The last Hawaii Council of Radio Clubs breakfast was on Saturday March 1 at 8AM at I HOP in Hilo.   Please contact Dean for more information.  We expect the next one to be Saturday April 5^th.

The Marianas ARC website is: https://sites.google.com/site/ah2gmarc/home

However it is out of date.  They meet on for first Tuesday of the month at 7:00 PM.   Their next meeting is March 4^th.  Beware of the dateline when figuring time and date as they are one day ahead of Hawaii. The meeting is at the KSTO radio studio on Nimitz Hill.  There is plenty of parking behind the building on the lower level. Entry to the meeting room is from the south side of the building.  There is also another website with some Guam information however it is also sadly out of date.  MARIANA ISLANDS DX ASSOCIATION NH2DX The website www.guamham.com does not work.  There is no testing scheduled for the next meeting.

The South Point ARC or “SPARC” meets on the first Sunday at Noon at Manuka State park.  Their next meeting will be April 6^th.  They are not affiliated with ARRL.  They don’t have a website.

There has been no news from The American Samoa Radio club or Molokai Club in recent times.

The Civil Defense Amateur Radio Club's mission is to provide ARRL Volunteer Examiner testing services for amateur radio operators and test takers residing on the island of Oahu. The goal is to continually build up the pool of available emergency communicators available during times of emergency.  Testing is usually on the third Wednesday at 6:30 PM however contact Ray Moody, AH6LT moody at:

hawaii.edu or phone 941-9239.  Advance registration is required to pass building security.

Next exam is listed as Tuesday March 18, 2014 - 6:30 pm, American Red Cross HQ at Diamond Head Road however this is probably Wednesday March 19^th since all exams are on Wednesday.  Check with Ray to be sure.  Future exams are:  June 18, 2014, 6:30 pm, American Red Cross HQ on Diamond Head Road; August 20, 2014, 6:30 pm, American Red Cross HQ on Diamond Head Road and November 19, 2014, 6:30 pm, American Red Cross HQ on 4155 Diamond Head Road

Cal-Pac RC upgraded the Mauna Loa site antennas and took the six meter beacon off the air.  It will be back shortly however it has not been decided if it will be put back at Mauna Loa.  The picture of the KH6HME memorial brick at ARRL HQ is in the photo files at the bottom of the Pacific Section website along with other pictures of the Mauna Loa site.  The brick was donated by BIARC member Chuck McConnell, W6DPD of Fresno.  There is no recent information on the club activities however ducting season is usually in the summer so we expect to hear of the latest activities soon.

REPEAT OR REFERENCE INFORMATION:

The Pacific Section webpage is:  http://www.arrl.org/Groups/view/pacific-section.  It now contains this SM report.  Each affiliated club should fill in an activities report to ARRL at least once every year.  For more information go to:  http://www.arrl.org/club-update .  Your SM is always looking for news so be sure to update him too.  Even if your group is not ARRL affiliated, send a report.   If you have notable activities send along a jpeg picture and description (please).  At the bottom of the Pacific Section webpage is a picture gallery.

Hawaii's Official Amateur Radio Repeater Coordination Site is: http://www.hawaiirepeaters.net/ . 

Ron Hashiro’s webpage always has a good collection of news of local happenings.  See:

http://www.qsl.net/a/ah6rh/am-radio/in-hawaii.html .  

 *********    End of Monthly SM Report.    ************

The Pacific Section of the Pacific Division includes Hawaii and the United States possessions in the Pacific.  While it includes small possessions like Wake, it mainly means Hawaii, Guam, CNMI and American Samoa.  In this report we also focus on some other Pacific Areas that are not officially included such as the former US Trust Territories of the Pacific. Trusteeship was dissolved in 1986 and the area was divided into four entities.  They are the Republic of the Marshall Islands, The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Republic of Palau and The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).  CNMI, which is north of Guam, is still included.

The ARRL Board of directors has awarded the 2012 International Humanitarian Award to John Bush, KH6DLK aka V63JB of Hilo, HI and Federai Island, Ulithi Atoll, Yap State, of the Federated States of Micronesia at their January meeting.   The award was presented at the May meeting of the Big Island ARC.

NEW CLUB FORMED TO SUPPORT KH6HME BEACONS

The unexpected death of Paul Lieb, KH6HME in July 2012 was a shock to the VHF/UHF weaksignal community. For more than twenty years, Paul’s Hawai`i-Island beacons, at 8,200 feet on Mauna Loa, have lighted the tropo path from the Big Island to the Pacific Coast of North America.

A group of local Big Island hams and other supporters have pledged to keep Paul’s legacy alive. This group formed the California-Pacific Amateur Radio Club.  It is committed to keeping the beacons operational and continuing Paul's tropo work. With the support of Paul’s family, the KH6HME call sign has been transferred to the new club. The core beacons are operational on 2m, 70cm, and 23cm, as well as the 6m beacon near sea level. The Club will soon add a westward-looking antenna to the 2m beacon to support exploring possible tropo paths into the western Pacific.  As in the past, from time to time KH6HME beacons will be operational on other bands, in the continuing effort to extend the horizons through 10 GHz and beyond. Club members continue to monitor the spots on the KH6HME reflector at: http://dx.qsl.net/propagation/tropo.php .

When reception reports are received, members will endeavor to man the site as quickly as possible. (It is a long drive up the mountain.) Look for KH6HME de KH7Y and K6MIO/KH6

The Mauna Loa Repeater has been in operation on 146.82- from the early1970's so the site has been active for over 40 years.  The present repeater is on the WIN system with the call WH6FM.  See the picture gallery below for some pictures of the site at 8,200 foot elevation of Mauna Loa.

 According to the agreement between American Red Cross (A 501 C3 member of VOAD) and the UH astronomy we may activate the Mauna Kea Repeater only once a month for one hour of testing or whenever the Governor declares a state of emergency.  This will be done on the First Tuesday of each month from noon to 1PM.  Since the Governor had declared a state of emergency in March 2012 due to the flooding on Kauai, Oahu and Maui, the Mauna Kea Repeater was activated.  It is on 146.72(-) MHz (no tone).  It has now been turned off since the state of emergency has expired.  The repeater and permissions were obtained through Hawaii State Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD).

The solar panels, batteries and charge controller were stolen from the Hualalai repeater a couple years ago.  As of now the 147.16 machine is at a temporary location above Kailua-Kona.  The Kona club has not made a final determination if the repeater will be put back on top of the mountain.  Work is in progress.  Police and FBI have been notified however no updates have been given.  Your SM will try to keep everyone updated if anything changes.

There are several organizations that support the Amateur Radio efforts such as Hawaii State VOAD, various county VOADs, MARS and other organizations.  If you have news from these groups please forward it to your SM.

 If you are interested in an appointment please let your SM know.

 List of Staff Appointments as listed by ARRL

 Kevin C. Bogan, AH6QO, ASM, SEC

 Stuart E. Johnston, KH7DX, ASM (West, South & East HI)

 Wayne O. Greenleaf, KH6MEI, ASM (Oahu)

 Gerald W. Hill, KH6HU, ASM (Kauai)

 Joseph Speroni, AH0A, ACC (all clubs)

 Roland Spoon AH6RR, STM (all nets)

 Dewey D. Proietti, NH6M, TC (coordinates TS), DEC (West HI), TS

 Russell R. Roberts, KH6JRM, PIC (all publicity)

The HealthComm net is on the 1st Saturday of each month.  January 4, 2014 at 9AM is the next one.  They normally start on 3.888 MHz SSB, next 7.080 MHz SSB, last 5.371.5 MHZ USB 50w PEP.  Of course this depends on band conditions.  Lately they have been starting on 7.080 MHz.

Ron Hashiro, AH6RH, has an extensive website with information on many subjects including descriptions of EMCOM in Hawaii, the Hawaii QSO party, Cell phone laws, Field day locations, the tsunami warning and much more.  Ron was featured on Newsline report 1740 on December 17 and he published an article on the tsunami.  Some of the direct pages are:
http://www.qsl.net/ah6rh/am-radio/emcomm/makani-pahili-11.html - Makani-Pahili http://www.qsl.net/ah6rh/am-radio/in-hawaii.html . - Coming events list http://www.qsl.net/ah6rh/am-radio/cellular-phone-ordinance.html  - Cell phone http://www.qsl.net/ah6rh/am-radio/hawaii/fd.html – Field Day

 Check out the courses available from ARRL and FEMA to upgrade your EMCOMM knowledge.

 Since the National Traffic System is not as strong in the Pacific Section as it could be, I have asked to be informed of nets, scheduled contacts, or regular chats that exist in the Pacific.  Thanks to many operators for sending in their information.  Below is a listing of the nets.  If you have an emergency and the only way to request help is by radio, please check in on any of these nets to pass your emergency traffic.  Don't wait for an emergency, but try checking in and testing conditions.  Also, get to know the great folks on these nets.  Please let me know of corrections and of any more nets, skeds, chats, etc. Kevin

D=Daily, Z=UTC time aka Zulu, W=Hawai'i Standard Time zone, Frequency is in MHz. Note that some days may be different in Z and W time. )0000Z=1400W(+1day)
1730(Z)/0730(W) D 21.355 Afrikaner Net Jimmy NX5B, NCS
1800(Z)/0800(W) First Sat 3.888 HealthComm HF net. NVIS ant works best. NCS Jack, KH6DQ
1800(Z)/0800(W) D 14.273 Ohana Net KH6LJ Hawaiian Isles & W. Coast
1900(Z)/0900(W) D 7.088 Friendly Net Hawaiian Isles Alternate frequency is 3888 khz. 
1900(Z)/0900(W) Sun 14.282 AmSat Net NCS: W5IU, W7LB
2200(Z)/1200(W) D 21.402 Pacific Maritime Net NCS: KK7PR (Splinter group at 21.412)
0200(Z)/1600(W) D 7.088 Hawai'i Afternoon Net
0300(Z)/1700(W) D 14.313 Pacific Seafarer's Net NCS: KK7PR Ralph Aloha, OR
0400(Z) Sat(Z)/1800(W) Fri(W) 14.291 ERRS Emergency Response International Communications Net
0445(Z)/1845(W) D 21.205 ANZA net 
0500(Z) Mon(Z)/1900(W) Sun(W). 28.485 Aloha 10-10 International Net
0500(Z) Wed(Z)/1900(W) Tue(W) 7.080/7088 MHz or 3.905/3888 MHz or 1.870 MHz PacSecARES HF Net.
0500(Z) Sun(Z)/1900(W) Sat(W) Big Island ARES net on the BIWARN repeater network.
0515(Z) F.Sat.Sun.Mon.(Z)/1915(W) Th.F.Sat.Sun.(W) 14.183 ANZA net ZL1ANF Maurice (actually starts after the 15m net)
0630(Z)/2030(W) D 7.088 Hawai'i Late Net
0700(Z)/2100(W) D 7.235 HHH Net 
0800(Z)/2200(W) D 14.315 Pacific Interisland Net 

VHF/UHF Nets
Kauai County:
2000W Monday 146.92-/147.16+ Kauai ARC net. 

City and County of Honolulu (Oahu):
1930W Daily 146.88+/444.50 EARC/OCDA/RACES (Honolulu)
1200W Tue 147.02/04/06- VOAD Net (originates on Maui)

Maui County: (Includes Maui, Molokai & Lanai)
1200W Tue 147.02/04/06- VOAD Net (originates on Maui)
0800W M,W,F 146.76-, 146.82-, 146.88-, 146.92-, 147.16+ and 147.32+ Hawaii County Net

Hawaii County:
0800W M,W,F 146.76-, 146.82-, 146.88-, 146.92-, 147.16+ and 147.32+ (BIWARN System) Hawaii County Net
1900W Saturday ARES emergency Net. BIWARN System 
1200W Tue 147.02/04/06- VOAD Net (originates on Maui)
2000W Sun 146.52 Simplex South Kohala ARES

Guam Island:
0830Z Mon/2230W Sun/(1830 Guam Time Monday)146.91- RACES
0900Z Mon/2300W Sun/(1900 Guam Time Monday)146.91- MARC
These can be accessed on IRLP Reflector 9254

Please let me know about your local VHF/UHF nets. The latest repeater listing for the State of Hawaii can be found at:http://www.hawaiirepeaters.net/ 

 Barbara Darling, NH7FY is the overall QSL manager for Hawaii however distribution takes place at many club meeting.  Check your local club for details.  If in doubt send several SASE envelopes directly to Barbara.  Remember the postage rate will increase (again) on Jan 1, 2013.  

We need to emphasize that one of the major reasons Amateur Radio exists is because of backup emergency services.  Two major programs are RACES and ARES.  RACES  is primarily a CD or government responding group.  It was RACES people that were first with responders during Hurricane Iniki on Kauai.  ARES is an ARRL sponsored program that supports numerous emergency agencies.   While some responders have their own programs, most have letters of agreement with the local ARES group and/or ARRL national.   The official head of the ARES program is the elected Section Manager (SM) with the Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC) being the action person. Appointments such as District Emergency Coordinator, Emergency Coordinator, assistant DEC, assistant EC and Official Emergency Station are available.  Contact your SM, SEC or consult the ARRL webpages for more information. Organizations such as ARES, VOAD, CERT, RACES and others  need help however training and equipment upgrades are very important.  If you haven’t completed the basic ARES and ICS courses, now is the time to take them. ARRL offers several courses.  The basic Course is EC-001.  EC 016 is the new course and is a combination of the old EC-002 and EC-003.  EC-016 requires you to complete the following:  ICS-100, ICS-200, ICS-700, IS-800, IS-240, IS-241, IS-250, IS-1, IS-288, IS-244, IS120, IS-130 and IS-139.  It is also recommended that classroom course IS-300 be taken however it is not a requirement.  ARRL charges $35 each for its courses.  The good news is the FEMA/ICS courses are free and take only a couple hours each.