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Western Pennsylvania Section News
November 10, 2018 

Veterans’ Day 2018

This Veterans’ Day weekend (and every day), our Western Pennsylvania Section salutes all veterans who have served our county with distinction. We are grateful to all veterans for protecting, preserving and defending our freedom. Don’t forget — thank a vet!

Submission Deadline for 2018 WPA Yearbook

What a year it has been! 2018 will go down in the record books a a banner year for Amateur Radio in our Western Pennsylvania Section. Activity is up, and our hamfests were better than ever! reports from everywhere are coming in about Field Day, Youth Activities, Club activities, Public Service and so much more!

Once again, we are going to document this in the 2018 edition of the WPA Yearbook — and you can help! Please send your photos, write-ups, press releases, etc to:

yearbook@wpa-arrl.org

Please try to make sure everybody in the photo is workiing safely and using proper safety equipment as needed (safety glasses when soldering, hard-hats under a tower, etc). For every photo, please try to  identify all the hams in the photo, and tell us what they’re doing (and don’t forget, where, when and why!)

If minor children under 18 are identifiable in the photo, please make sure you have a model release form signed by their Parent or Guardian on file, and indicate this–by name– with your submission. The standard ARRL form is available here (but please don’t send it to Newington, since the photo is not going to be published in QST. Instead please keep the form on file in your records.)

We would like to have the finished Yearbook available for the Holidays, so everyone can share it with their friends and families. Therefore, we are making the deadline for all articles, and photos Tuesday, November 20th.

It took a lot of work to put the 2017 Yearbook together, and with all the activities this year, our 2018 WPA Yearbook might be even bigger and better! So please send your contributions as early as you can!

Thanks to Hamfest Sponsors

WACOM Hamfest on Sunday, November 4, 2018

Many thanks to all the WPA Hamfest sponsors for supporting our WPA Section activities, which are open to all radio amateurs. The eleventh and final WPA hamfest of the year was the WACOM Hamfest and South-1 District Meeting, last Sunday, November 4th at the Printscape Center at Southpointe near Cannonsburg. It was a very nice indoor venue, and very well-attended!  The district Meeting was very well received, and also well attended. All the presentation hand-outs are available on the Section Website. wpa-arrl.org/Files/

60 Meter Tests

Every Saturday morning, following the 9:00 WPA ARES Voice Net on 3.983 MHz, we have been meeting on the 60 meter band to make signal strength comparisons across our WPA Section, and to try different antenna configurations to determine what works best to cover or 25,000 square-mile Section.

We meet on 60 meters on 5403.5 kHz upper sideband immediately after the 80 meter net. If that channel is in use, we will use 5371.5 USB. Even if your equipment cannot transmit on the 60 meter band, please tune in and listen, then send me a report of the stations you heard, and your signal report for each. This information is very useful, and the more reports we get the more meaningful the information becomes.

73 and Press On!

Joe Shupienis W3BC
Western Pennsylvania Section Manager
ARRL – the national association for Amateur Radio^®