Monthly Section News Summaries
Monthly Summary for October 2009
Section Summary October 2009
Thanks to all the contributors this month. You make this page what it is.
In November ARRL Sweepstakes is coming! See http://www.arrl.org/contests/ to
get all the rules and latest information. NOTE! Logs are now due 15 DAYS
after the event. CW: 0300 UTC 11/24 - SSB: 0300UTC 12/8
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/10/20/11151/?nc=1 is the place to read
the entire story of the FCC Public Notice -- DA 09-2259, clarifying the
97.113 section forbidding amateur operations for pecuniary interest for an
employer. A waiver is available for exercises. Read the story. It is not
automatic. On October 27, the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB)
granted the first waiver that allows amateurs who participate in a
government-sponsored emergency preparedness and disaster drill to communicate
on behalf of their employers during the drill. The waiver request was made on
behalf of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. That state conducted a full-scale
exercise on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 from 8 AM-5 PM (EDT) to test their
emergency response to the possible release of chemical agents at Blue Grass
Army Depot, located near Richmond, Kentucky. By using and understanding the
waiver process, we can gain a full understanding of that section of our
rules.
The November meeting of the Mother Lode DX/Contest Club is at noon on November
17, 2009 at Mountain Mike Pizza in Martell. See mldxcc.org for directions &
other info. MLDXCC is an active club with 65% of members participating in the
recent California QSO Party.
Darrin Ogletree, Emergency Coordinator for Yolo County, has a new call, K9RTY.
Congratulations, Darrin. Darrin, K9RTY, sends the following: Berryessa
Amateur Repeater Club will be sponsoring an FCC license examination on
December 12, 2009 at the Red Cross Chapter in Woodland. The address is 120
Court Street. This event is supported through efforts and support of the Yolo
County Amateur Radio Emergency Services group - ARES, as well as the Yolo
County Amateur Radio Society - YARS. The hours are from 0800 until 12 Noon.
Pre-registrations are requested but walk-ins will be accepted until around 10
am. Test fees this year are $15.00. Checks will be accepted if paid,
cashable, prior to test day. Cash only on the day of the test. For anyone
wishing to obtain their Technician license or wanting to upgrade their
existing license, we will be testing for all elements at this session.
Contact person for this testing session will be: Kenneth R Wilson - K6WLS,
637 Fairview Dr., Woodland, California 95965-3678 or telephone # 530 305-4088
or- gramps55614@aol.com
Larry, WD6FXR, reports: ‘At 8 am Saturday, Oct. 10, a simulated 6.7 magnitude
earthquake incident in Elk Grove brought out the best from 34 of our
Sacramento area ARES and CERT amateur radio operators. We deployed our newly
renovated CERT comm. trailer and used three simplex channels (plus D-star
digital -- to pass exercise causality statistics) and voice traffic to the
Incident Command Center. Our CERT teams were divided into three groups and
rotated through separate scenarios: people trapped inside a commercial
building; a school bus collision with a train (with lots of 'victims'); and a
search and rescue scenario at the Consumnes Fire Department's training
complex. Ham radio operators, with HTs, shadowed the search and rescue
teams and were very busy passing traffic throughout the morning and
early afternoon.’
Bob, N6BOB, reports on YSARC activities in October: ‘The Yuba Sutter ARC
helped with the recent Ham Swap in Lincoln, CA. and the profits were divided
among the three clubs that helped put it on and made it a success. Our club
received nearly $300 from the event. Our club board voted to give half of the
amount to the non profit Hands of Hope in Yuba City, a local group that gives
homeless families a place to shower, wash clothes, and get student school
support with free tutoring; the other half was to be given to the Salvation
Army. Our Club is trying to give people a helping hand in this way, as well
as to offer free radio classes, peer ham-to-ham help with study, station set
up, radio selection, and friendship. The club program in October consisted of
Dave, WD6AXM, presenting the new Motorola Repeater for a show and tell. He
explained how it functions and showed the various components of a modern
repeater. The new repeater will take up less valuable space in the radio
vault and should provide many years of future use. Thanks to all whose
generous donations made this replacement possible and Dave for his years of
faithful service to the YSARC.'
Sad News. Bruce Webb, AD6RV, of Lookout, CA, passed away last Thursday Oct.
8th, at home, surrounded by his family. According to Lorraine Webb, 'When it
became clear that there was nothing more to be done to prolong his life, we
brought him home to be as comfortable as possible. All of our family;
children, their spouses, grandchildren,and great grandchildren came to stay.
He enjoyed visiting with each one.'
October 6, Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT), along with Senator Susan Collins
(R-ME), introduced Senate Bill 1755, The Amateur Radio Emergency
Communications Enhancement Act of 2009. Similar to HR 2160 -- also called The
Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Enhancement Act of 2009 -- that was
introduced this past April by Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX-18),
the bill, if passed, would direct the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
to undertake a study on emergency communications. S 1755 points out that
"There is a strong Federal interest in the effective performance of Amateur
Radio Service stations, and that performance must be given -- (A) support at
all levels of government; and (B) protection against unreasonable regulation
and impediments to the provision of the valuable communications provided by
such stations." Read the entire story on the ARRL.org website.
From the October 24 Sacramento Boy Scout March to the Capitol, Carl, WF6J
reports: 'To all the operators that spent time to communicate with our
station, W6BSA, and the scouts experiencing Ham radio for the first time. We
appreciate your patience in talking with all our young operators! The event
was the 100th year Dentennial Capitol March. Scouts from all over (apx 7,000)
converged at Raley Field, marched across the Tower Bridge to the Capitol.
Governor Schwartzenegger talked with them, then they marched back across the
Tower Bridge to Raley Field for their program and time to visit all the
displays and educational opportunitites, plus the W6BSA station. Larry, N6YBZ
and myself had the Radio Badge Requirements poster displayed and answered
questions from scouts. We were on the air on 2 meters and HF. Ran a 12
element beam on FM and SSB on 2, and a inverted V for HF. Bill, K6KN
organized the communications efforts from our station to all the volunteer
Ham operators along the March. Good Job Everyone and Happy 100th to Boy
Scouts of America.'
The second Wednesday of the month, November 11th this month, is the time for
Sacramento Valley Section Net. We begin on the WD6AXM Repeater at 146.085
MHz, plus offset, PL Tone 127.3 Hz at 1900 local. By 1930 local, we have
migrated to 3987 kHz LSB, plus or minus QRM. We will discuss the latest ham
radio news and answer questions.
A LIST OF SV NETS IS HERE: http://www.k6is.org/nets.html . Thanks to Assistant
Section Manager, Les, W6TEE.
73, Ron Murdock, W6KJ, ARRL SACRAMENTO VALLEY SECTION MANAGER
Page last modified: 10:32 PM, 17 Nov 2009 ET
Page author: w6kj@arrl.org
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