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Monthly Summary for October 2009
News last updated: Tue, November 17, 2009 at 10:32 PM ET
October 2009 Section News
Thanks to all the contributors this month. You make this page what it is.
On November 11, Yuba Sutter ARC and Yuba Sutter ARES helped get the Marysville Veteran's Day Parade underway, and then did public safety overwatch until the parade was over. N6XVL, N6LAI, W6KJ, KI6CSO, KI6KWX, W6KEN, KB6YAF, N6BOB, KI6ZYY, and KI6INC worked from 9 am until nearly 1 pm on this activity. 'A ham assisted rescue happened today after the parade. Ken, W6KEN, Chuck, KI6IND, and Lonnie, KI6ZYY were leaving the staging area when a distraught woman approached us. She had a bad hip and could not find her car. She was near collapse and her two kids were worried for her. We found her a place to sit down. Chuck went for his car to help in the search. Ken and I set out afoot and found her car about 2.5 blocks away. Chuck found the Marysville police and secured their help. Marysville police brought her to the scene. Amateur radio to the rescue!' Thanks, Lonnie, KI6ZYY.
Richard, WO6P, our Section Emergency Coordinator, SEC, has asked to step down after three years of faithful, effective service. While I hate to see him go, we have a space to fill, and I know there are qualified people to fill that position. If you are interested, please send me an e-mail with your resume in Amateur Radio and your training and qualifications for the position of SEC.
Tim, K6RHM, sends us the following: 'http://www.goldencorral.com/military/ Free Veterans dinner at Golden Coral restaurants. There is a new one on Watt Avenue in North Highlands at 4940 Watt Avenue (916) 348-4396. No veteran's ID needed and hours are from 5 to 9 p.m. The free meal is only for the Veteran - others in the party pay regular price.
Don, KQ6FM, sends us some news: 'The link below shows a picture of the collection of "Shally" K6VHP, sk. who lived in Eureka, CA. Dave Fortenberry, NA6DF is helping to dispose of this marvelous collection at his store, Radio Supply Company in Auburn, CA. Shally was a dear friend who had a lifetime collection of vintage radios and was meticulous with every piece of gear he touched. (Shally is missed more than you know). He could revive, fix, repair and bring new life back to just about anything. He had everybody's "first radio" in his collection. Contact Dave direct for more information regarding this inventory.' You can see some of it for yourself at: http://www.radiosupplyco.com/k6vhp.html
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
From Chris Hintz and Eric, KC0VZU, at Sacramento's National Weather Service office: 'The 2009 Skywarn Recognition Day Event is a little over one month away (Dec 4-5). I would like to have a planning meeting this Thursday at 7 pm to find out what resources we will have for the event. For those who can make the meeting...our office is located at 3310 El Camino Ave (big red brick building west of the Walmart on Watt and El Camino). Go to the front of the building, and tell the guards you are here for the Skywarn meeting with the National Weather Service. Kathy or I will come to the guard's desk around 7 pm to sign in and escort all visitors. For those who can't make the trip, but would still like to participate, we will look into setting up a conference call during the meeting (details forthcoming) where you can participate via phone. Please let me know if you can attend in person or by phone this Thursday night. If you know of others who want to participate in the event, please pass this info on to them.' Thanks, NWS.
Wednesday evening November 5, Yuba Sutter ARC held their required annual meeting at the Yuba County Library in Marysville. Elections resulted in Russ, KB6YAF, re-elected as President; Lonnie, KI6ZYY, elected as Vice-President; Manna, KG6PNE, re-elected as Secretary; Clara, KC6JPP, re-elected as Treasurer; Board of Directors members; Teejee, NE1CQ; Barry, KE6LW; Herb, W6HBU; Nancy, KI6INC; and Paul, N6XVL. All were elected without opposition. After the elections, the assembled membership was treated to a video of shacks gone by. Many of the shacks a generation ago used Commodore or Radio Shack computers. Many changes have occurred since then.
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.
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
Plumas ARC had their October meeting at the Quincy Library October 16. They made plans for Field Day and Kid’s Day next year. They reported on a successful ham class which resulted in six new Technicians, one upgrade to General and one upgrade to Extra. Their Christmas Party will be Saturday December 12. Thanks, Dennis, KI6HHA.
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 "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. Nearly two hundred CERT volunteers and Sacramento area police, fire and medical personal participated and a debriefing concluded the activity at 2:30 p.m. We also had observers from Southern California and out-of-state CERT agencies. Frank, N6SNO (our District 3 EC) and Paul, N6DRY manned the transceivers in our comm. trailer. Three days after our Elk Grove exercise, we were at it again, this time for real. The Sacramento City Fire CERT and Sacramento Metro CERT amateur radio operators assisted the Sacramento area police and fire departments by spotting hazards during our two-day storm.’
Dennis, KI6KQJ, of Portola, reports that a telephone system failure very similar to one that occurred August 16, put his local hospital out of regional communications on October 10 at about 10 AM . Dennis responded to the hospital, staying from 10:30 AM until 1: 30 PM when phone service was restored. During that time, Dennis passed one message for the hospital.
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.'
The November meeting of the Mother Lode DX/Contest Club is at noon on November 14, 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. The October 2009 Nugget Newsletter is located on the club's website below: http://www.mldxcc.org/nugget/NuggetOct09.doc
Look at the ARRL.org website for the latest guidelines on the appropriate use of Amateur Radio, the 'commercialization of ham radio', at: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/09/25/11094/?nc=1 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.
The text of the first U.S. House of Representatives Bill, HR 2160, is to be found at: http://www.arrl.org/govrelations/HR2160.pdf . After you read the text of the bill, please consider requesting your congressman to co-sponsor this important piece of legislation. A sample letter for you to consider is located at: http://www.arrl.org/news/files/DearMemberOfCongressHR2160.doc . Also read the update: http://www.arrl.org/?artid=9254
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, October 14th 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. With band conditions on 75m, it may be that we will not hear each other, but that is the nature of the band this time of year.
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
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