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ARRL Western Pennsylvania Section (WPA) Section Manager John V. Rodgers, N3MSE 803 S Main St Butler, PA 16001-6326 724-287-0424 n3mse@arrl.org Section Links Hamfests Affiliated Clubs Ham Radio Classes Other sections Atlantic Division

Assistant Section Manager ASM DIGITAL COMUNICATIONS Anthony F Petruccelli, KE3ED 473 Park St Rochester, PA 15074-1859 (724) 774-4173 ke3ed@arrl.net CHIEF ASSISTANT SECTION MANAGER Bruce E Watson, AA3LX 4347 Highland Ave Butler, PA 16001-2959 (724) 482-2756, (412) 482-2756 aa3lx@aol.com ASM MEDIA LIASON Tony Zona, WB3KGT 2485 Dorn Rd Waterford, PA 16441-4013 wb3kgt@arrl.net Affiliated Club Coordinator Keith "Pete" Highlands, N3RLJ 212 N 1st St Jeannette, PA 15644-1827 (724) 523-6232 n3rlj@arrl.net Official Observer Coordinator R Ralph Ofchinick Jr, W3ZPI 9 Brooklane Dr Harrison City, PA 15636-1515 (724) 744-7180 w3zpi@arrl.net Section Emergency Coordinator John S Szwarc, N3SPW PO Box 207 Kylertown, PA 16847-0207 n3spw@philipsburg-ara.org Section Traffic Manager Christin J Albert, N3YTD 150 Wahl Rd Harmony, PA 16037-7704 (724) 452-0583 cja@fyi.net Technical Coordinator David R Heim, KA3SMF 1032 Nimick Ave Monaca, PA 15061-1333 (724) 774-3733 ka3smf@arrl.net

Section News

Monthly Summaries

News last updated: Fri, June 12, 2009 at 7:03 PM ET

Field Day 2009 is just two short weeks away and from what I have been reading on many forums most are well prepared for the event. For me this is one of the two best weekends in radio that I experience each year. The other weekend of course is the weekend in October for the PA QSO party. For those of you that enjoy contesting an online club that I recommend is the Allegheny Valley Contest Group. If you are interested in learning more, please visit our reflector at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AlleghenyValleyRadio/, where membership may be requested. You can also send us an e-mail at w3wpa@arrl.net. Congratulations goes out to our Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator (ASEC) Harry Bloomberg W3YJ , along with Dave Kleber KB3FXI of the Sykview Radio Society are this year’s recipients of the ARRL Atlantic Division Technical Achievement Award. These two gentlemen have been working tirelessly to promote the NBEMS digital mode to our WPA Section hams, as well as hams across the country. Congratulations Dave and Harry. It’s well deserved. Any club interested in having these fine men put a presentation on for their club on NBEMS should contact one of them directly. Thanks goes out to mike Lazaroff, K3AIR for again helping area hams with zoning issues. Mike has helped clarify issues in several local proposed laws that would have attempted to put limitations on amateurs installing ham antennas. While the month of June has already had its only hamfest come and go July will see several hamfests in the section. July 11 will be the 8th Northwest Pennsylvania Hamfest sponsored by the Union City & Wattsburg Wireless Associations. Additional information is available at http://www.nw-pa-hamfest.com The next day July 12 will be the North Hills hamfest. This is a fun outdoor event with no admission cost. Additional info is available at http://nharc.org The following week on July 18 Somerset county ARC will be holding their annual hamfest. Additional information is available at their website http://www.k3smt.org/hamfest/index.shtml Finally on the subject of hamfests mark your calendars for the WPA Section Convention at the Skyview Arc on August 23. The website for the Skyview group is http://www.k3smt.org/hamfest/index.shtml . I understand that while some foreign lands have their snake charmers so does the skyview group. It seems during a recent contest activity at the club house the mellow tones of CW charmed a friendly black snake into the shack at the club. Seem CW charmed this friend fondly called Andrew to visit. I have been assured he has been safely deposited back to his natural habitat. Robert Bastone ,WC3O also known as cooky at Skyview has been appointed to a division committee on recruiting new hams. This committee is headed by Atlantic Division Assistant Director Riley Hollingsworth. Thanks Bob for helping in the very important venture. Don’t forget t join a traffic net in your area. The section net is on 3983 hz every evening at 6 PM local time. Make sure you visit a field day site in your area if you do not know the location check the FD locator at http://www.arrl.org/contests/announcements/fd/locator.php to find a location in your area.

73 John N3MSE W. Pa. Section Manager

On May 2 I attended the Atlantic Division cabinet meeting in Gettysburg along with the other six section managers from the division. This was our yearly meeting to discuss issue and gather information for us to help the amateurs we represent in the individual sections. This year we were fortunate enough to have Laura Smith the new chief enforcement person for the FCC. Laura shared her views with us on enforcement and her approach to it. It was a pleasure to meet her and to understand her support for this great hobby. Harry Bloomberg and Dave Kleber presented an informative demonstration of the NIBEMS program that we are using in emergency services in this section. The demo was met with great enthusiasm and interest An article by these two men hs been accepted for an upcoming issue of QST. With this is mind I want to extend the following invitation to all. There will be a demonstration of the NIBEMS digital mode on Saturday May 30th. The demonstration will be presented by Harry Bloomberg W3YJ, the Western Pennsylvania Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator. This digital mode is easy to install on any computer or laptop and the software is free. It performs exceptionally in high-noise conditions and is a reliable communications mode which is perfectly suited for emergency communications work. In fact, the WPA section has adopted NIBEMS as the standard digital mode for the section. The demonstration will be held on the Altoona campus of Penn State University and will start at 11 AM. All ARES Emergency Coordinators and all local ARES members are invited to attend. If you have a laptop and HT, bring them along. You will have the opportunity to install the software and try it out on the spot. A laptop and HT is all that is required to get started in the mode. The meeting room we have reserved accommodates up to 70 people. If you would like to attend, please e-mail Drew McGhee KA3EJV at drm6@psu.edu. This will allow Drew to keep a head count of how many people will be there. If you are an EC, please forward this message to all local ARES members. We’d like to see as many people as possible attend, and it should be a lot of fun too. This invitation is also extended to amateurs in other sections of the division. Also any group that would like to have Harry attend a meeting to demonstrate this should contact him to arrange a schedule. At the recent Two Rivers hamfest I had the privilege of presenting Bill Guthrie, W3LDB, a certificate of merit as he celebrates 75 years as an amateur radio operator. Congratulations Bill and enjoy the hobby for many years to come. For those of you into contesting you may be interested in a group known as Allegheny Valley Contest Group. Here is a brief statement about that group. Allegheny Valley Radio Association has been formed to promote contest activity in Western Pennsylvania. Membership is free for licensed hams with an interest in radio sport. Even if you already have membership in a local club, you may find weekend contesting to be an enjoyable addition to your hobby.Our primary method of communication is the internet. If you are interested in learning more, please visit our reflector at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AlleghenyValleyRadio/, where membership may be requested. You can also send us an e-mail at w3wpa@arrl.net. Don’t forget that on June 7 the Breezeshooters annual hamfest will be held at the Butler Farm show grounds. This is the largest hamfest in our section an a fun time for all who attend. Additional information is available at http://www.breezeshooters.net/ I hope to see everyone in attendance. Remember that Field Day is just about 6 weeks from now and many groups have been working hard on plans for the big event. A locator is available at http://www.arrl.org/contests/announcements/fd/locator.php to help you find a location near you. 73 John Rodgers N3MSE W. Pa. Section Manager

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