************************
MDC Section News
Vol. 10 No. 2
February 13, 2015
************************


* MDC SECTION-WIDE ECHOLINK NET FEBRUARY 20th
* UPCOMING HAMFESTS
* TECHNICIAN CLASS STARTING FEB 28 IN DAVIDSONVILLE
* NEW!!! CONFERENCE CALL FOR ARRL MDC SECTION PIO'S AND ANYONE
INTERESTED IN PUBLIC RELATIONS/INFORMATION
* LOCAL SCHOOL CLUB IN LATEST ARRL RADIO WAVES
* FOUNDATION FOR AMATEUR RADIO SCHOLARSHIPS STILL OPEN UNTIL MAR 30
* DECEMBER, 2014 T-MARC REPORT
* MDC SECTION ARES® REPORT
* SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGER'S REPORT
* FINALLY. . .



==>  MDC SECTION-WIDE ECHOLINK NET February 20th

I would like to thank Affiliated Club Coordinator Marty
Pittinger, KB3MXM, for acting as net control during the
January Echolink net.  Kudos on a job well done.

This month's MDC section-wide Echolink net will be held on
Friday, February 20th at 8:00 PM on the Echolink *WASH_DC*
node 6154.

The echolink net is held on the third Friday evening of
every month at 8:00 PM local time.

If you would like to join in on RF, the following
repeaters and IRLPs have linked in for previous Echolink
nets:

- KA2JAI-R operates through the KB3CMA repeater 442.300(+),
  PL=107.2 in Annapolis, MD
- WB3GXW-R, 147.225(+), PL=156.7, located in Calverton, MD
- N3HF-L, 443.45(+), PL=151.4, located near Ocean City, MD
- N3HF-R, 443.45(+), PL=156.7, located near Silver Spring, MD
- W3ICF-R, 146.73(-), PL=141.3, located near Frederick, MD
- K3CAL-R, 146.985(-), PL=156.7, located near Sunderland, MD
- W3SMR, 147.150 MHz(+), PL=114.8, Brandywine, MD
- N3RO-L, 145.545, Simplex, Frederick Co
- W3SMD-L, 147.51 Simplex, N. St Mary's Co
- K3GMR-R 146.61, No PL, Cheverly, MD

Everyone is encouraged to join in and give any updates on
what is going on in your part of the ARRL Maryland-DC
Section.

If you don't have Echolink on your computer, you may
download the free software from: <www.echolink.org>.

As always, we thank John Creel, WB3GXW, for making the
WASH_DC Echolink server and his WB3GXW-R repeater
available for the Echolink nets.



==> UPCOMING HAMFESTS

----------------

Indoor Tailgating Expo
Monday March 3, 2015
Location: Independent Hose Company
310 Baughmans Lane
Frederick, MD 21701
Website: http://www.frederickarc.org
Sponsor: Frederick Amateur Radio Club
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Talk-In: 146.520 simplex
Public Contact: Jeff Fishman, KB3FIO   
905 Twin Oak Court Frederick, MD 21701
Phone: 240-285-6596
Email: ljfish1@comcast.net

----------------

Hagerstown Hamfest
Saturday May 2, 2015
Location: Washington County Agriculture Center
7313 Sharpsburg Pike (Route 65 South)
Boonsboro, MD 21713
Website: http://w3cwc.org/Menu/Hagerstown-Hamfest
Sponsor: Antietam Radio Association
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Talk-In: 147.090 (PL 100) + Repeater & 146.94 - backup
Public Contact: Brian Umbrel, W3PDW   
235 East King Street Chambersburg, PA 17201
Phone: 717-264-6403
Email: w3pdw@earthlink.net

----------------

BARC Father's Day Hamfest
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Location: Arcadia Volunteer Fire Company Grounds
16020 Carnival Avenue
Upperco, MD 21155
Website: <www.gbhc.org>
Sponsor: Baltimore Amateur Radio Club
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Talk-In: 146.67 (PL 107.2)
Public Contact: Bill Dobson, N3WD
PO Box 120
Reisterstown, MD 21136
Phone: 410-842-5019
Email: <w3ft67@yahoo.com>

----------------

You may view upcoming hamfests which are nearby in Pennsylvania,
Delaware, Maryland-DC, West Virginia and the Virginia area by
clicking on the ARRL MDC Section web page at:
<http:www.arrl-mdc.net/hamfest.htm>.



==> TECHNICIAN CLASS STARTING FEB 28 IN DAVIDSONVILLE

The Technician Class will be held Saturday mornings 9am-12noon in the
AARC Clubhouse, located in the Davidsonville Family Recreation Center,
3789 Queen Anne Bridge Road, Davidsonville, MD 21035.  The first class
will be February 28th, and the last class April 11th.  There will be no
class Easter weekend, April 4th.  The first available test session with
the Laurel VEC will be in the Clubhouse beginning just one hour after
the final class session. 

Topics will be covered as follows:

2/28  Welcome to Amateur Radio (Chapter 1)
        Communicating with Other Hams (Chapter 6)
3/7    Propagation Antennas & Feedlines (Chapter 4)
3/14  Radio and Signal Fundamentals (Chapters 2)
        Amateur Radio Equipment (Chapter 5)
3/21  Electricity Components & Circuits (Chapter 3)
3/28  Licensing Regulations (Chapter 7)
        Operating Regulations (Chapter 8)
4/11  Safety (Chapter 9)
        Review of all topics, followed by testing at 1pm.

For information contact Keith Miller, ae3d@graykitty.net, 301-805-1854.
Details on our website at

http://www.w3vpr.org/node/839 with online signup at
http://www.w3vpr.org/node/249.

73s!
--
Keith Miller, AE3D
ARRL / AARC
ae3d@graykitty.net
ae3d@w3vpr.net
ae3d@arrl.net
301-805-1854



==> NEW!!! CONFERENCE CALL FOR ARRL MDC SECTION PIO'S AND ANYONE
INTERESTED IN PUBLIC RELATIONS/INFORMATION

ARRL Maryland/DC Section Public Information/Public Relations
Coordination - Initial Planning Conference Call - 26FEB15

The ARRL Maryland/DC Section Public Information Coordinator (PIC) Sid
Caesar, NH7C, has established a monthly conference call open to all
Amateurs interested in Amateur Radio public information coordination
and public relations (PI/PR). The specific audience for the Public
Information coordination conference calls is the Public Information
Officers (PIO) from the Amateur radio clubs in the ARRL Maryland/DC
Section, but all Amateur Radio operators interested in Amateur Radio
public information and public relations are welcome to participate.

The first ARRL Maryland/DC Section Public Information/Public Relations
Coordination conference call will be on Thursday, 26FEB15, starting at
8PM Eastern. This initial planning conference call will focus on PI/PR
goals and objective development, participant introductions, and
scheduling for future calls each month.

Each month’s agenda will include:
·        A focused topic or special guest

·        Monthly training topic

·        ARRL Maryland/DC Section Public Information Coordinator’s
Report

·        Club Activities Reports

·        Call Participant’s Activities Reports

·        Upcoming Training, Exercises, and Activities Report

·        Open Forum

Amateurs interested in participating on the conference calls, or who
have questions regarding the ARRL Maryland/DC Section Public
Information/Public Relations activities are asked to contact Sid
Caesar, NH7C, for more information, including conference dial-in and
passcode information.

Sid Caesar – NH7C
NH7C@ARRL.net
240.453.9446



==> LOCAL SCHOOL CLUB, KB3KOW, IN LATEST ARRL RADIO WAVES NEWSLETTER

Some of the students at Forest Knolls Elementary School who
participated in the ARISS contact last March got their picture on page
6 of the recent ARRL Radio Waves newsletter, winter edition. The
newsletter is the ARRL Instructor/Teacher E-letter. You can find the
newsletter at the following link:

<http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Radio20Newsletter/Winter20Radio%20Waves.pdf>



==> FOUNDATION FOR AMATEUR RADIO SCHOLARSHIPS STILL OPEN UNTIL MAR 30

2015 Scholarship Information

The Foundation for Amateur Radio, Inc., will be administering a total
of 67 scholarships worth an aggregate of $125,500 for the coming
academic year. The scholarships range in value from $500 to $5,000
each.

A complete list of the scholarships and their requirements may be
accessed at: 2015 FAR Scholarships

All applicants must meet the following minimum requirements:
  * Hold a valid US or foreign amateur radio license,
  * Be enrolled, or have been accepted for enrollment, at an
accredited university, college or technical school.
  * Applicants who attend a school located outside of the United
States must enclose a brochure describing the school.
  * Individual scholarships may have additional requirements.

Please note that the Quarter Century Wireless Association (QCWA) will
award 36 scholarships, worth a total of $75,000,  All that is required
to qualify for one of these awards is to obtain a recommendation from a
QCWA member. Instructions for obtaining the recommendation are in the
form.

The 2015 FAR Scholarship application form may be accessed at: 
<2015 FAR Scholarship Application Form>

If you have questions about the 2015 process, please email them to:
farscholarships@gmail.com.

A list of the 2014 winners maybe found at: <2014 FAR Scholarship
Winners>

This year we are using a web-based form, in lieu of the PDF form that
we have used for the last two years.



==> DECEMBER, 2014 T-MARC REPORT

Jan. 2015
Applications in Process:
WX3M – Received application to modify location of 147.105+ in
Cumberland, Md.
            Sent Notice of Proposed Coordination to neighboring
coordination groups.
            Sent Construction Coordination for move of 147.1050+ in
Cumberland.
            Received on air confirmation. Sent revised Final
Coordination.

K4KLH – Received application to modify location of 147.2250+ to
Singers Glen,
  Va. Sent Notice of Proposed Coordination to neighboring coordination
  groups. Sent revised coordination for move of 147.2250+.

K8JLE – Received application for coordination for UHF pair in
Rixeyville, Va.
Sent Notice of Proposed Coordination to neighboring coordination
groups.Sent Construction Coordination for 444.3000+ at Rixeyville,
Va.

Mid-Atlantic DX & Repeater Assoc. – Received request to change CTCSS
to
146.2 hz on 448.1250-  Sent Notice of Proposed Coordination to
neighboring coordination groups. Sent revised coordination.

On Air Status Requests sent to:
447.8750-            N2XHZ                  Spotsylvania, Va.

Coordinations Cancelled:

Other:
South Eastern Repeater Assoc
          Received 1 proposed coordination for 6 meters
Received 2 proposed coordinations for 2 meters
Received 2 proposed coordinations for 440

Area Repeater Coordination Council
Received 2 proposed coordinations for 2 meters
Received 3 proposed coordinations for 220
Received 8 proposed coordinations for 440
Received 1 proposed coordination for 900

T-MARC
The Mid-Atlantic Repeater Council
www.tmarc.org



==> MDC SECTION ARES® REPORT

ARRL Section: Maryland-DC        January          Year: 2015
______________________________________________________
AMATEUR RADIO EMERGENCY SERVICE
Total number of ARES members: 596
Change since last month:  -2
Number of DECs/ECs reporting this month: 6
Number of ARES nets active: 14
Number with NTS liaison: 6
Calls of DECs/ECs reporting: KB3FMJ, N3SEO, NI2W, W3DVG, W3JCT, WB3KAS
Number of drills, tests and training sessions this month:    10
Person hours:    199
Number of public service events this month:  3
Person hours:      55
Number of emergency operations this month:  0
Person hours:        0
Total number of ARES operations this month:  13
Total Person hours:    254

EmComm Events and Comments from around the Section
de Section Emergency Coordinator WB3KAS:
I'd like to thank everyone for taking the time to write their monthly
EC reports.  We are seeing the same five-six reports each month for
the last several months of the 'old year.'  Let's work on changing this
for the coming new year.
There is one vacant DEC slot left for the Central Region Section.  If
you are interested, and up to the challenge, please contact me or the
Section Manager, WI3N for more information.
Wanda, KA3AHI, and I continue to schedule visit to as many ARES and
club groups as possible. We have two presentations I think would be
worth your while to hear.  One on Section Interoperability and the
other is the Section Hospital EmComm Program.  If you have interest in
this, and have room on your meeting agenda for us, please contact me.
January 13:  We visited and gave a hospital presentation to the
Damascus Emergency Communications Team in Damascus, MD .
We introduced a new MDC Section reflector, ARRL MDC Section Winlink
Training Group for P2P and Hybrid networks, or MDCQRV for short.
Please make use of this tool to sharpen skills and fine tune your
configuration files.  Located at:
<https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/MDCQRV/info>
======================
de ANAR County N3SEO:
ARES meetings usually the third Saturday at 0900 at the EOC. ARES nets
each Sunday night at 2000 hours on 146.805 Repeater.
======================
de BACI City W3DVG
As discussed, the ARES/RACES project is going to be a complete rebuild
in 2015. Our calendar year goal is to be operational, with a drill
scheduled (or completed), by the conclusion of the hurricane season –
with the preference to be running prior. Currently, a full station at
the primary EOC is unlikely. The station resided in the backup EOC,
which was primary at the time the station was running. That backup has
been renovated and the station dismantled. Our current operation is to
inventory, account for, and store all of the equipment, and then
re-build from that inventory. Concurrently, our CERT liaison will be
reaching out to that group from a recruiting standpoint. As mentioned,
this will be a slow process, and the monthly reports, for at least the
short term, will be light on activity.
======================
de GARR County KB3FMJ:
Last month’s activities included: The Garrett County Ares group
participated in a drill to program and test the County Emergency VHF
radios to determine the documentation and procedures required for
deployment of this equipment into the field.
The Garrett County ARES (GCARES) monthly meetings will be held at the
Southern Garrett County Rescue Squad board room in Oakland Maryland.
The next meeting will be Monday February 9th at 7:00 PM.
The GCARES net is held weekly on Sunday evenings at 8:00 PM on the
146.805 repeater, dup PL 123 and is linked to the WAN and Target Link
Repeater Systems. All traffic is FM voice.
======================
de PRGE County WB3KAS:
PRGE ARES Web Page: http://www.pgares.org
PRGE ARES Internet Forum: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PG-AresRaces/
January 2:  K3ERA-10 Winlink digipeater installed at MedStar Southern
Maryland Hospital Center waiting for hospital maintenance to run an
Internet cable from the roof to their IT department.  It will become a
fully functional RMS packet Node.
January 3:  K3ERA is now on Echolink (Node 294165) connecting to the
K3ERA repeater, 145.23 (-) 110.9.
January 4:  Winlink Winmor station K3ERA is current in the works, but
not completed at Collington Retirement Community, K3CCR.  Hopefully
completed by end of February. When complete, it will provide Winlink
email over radio on 3570 KHz to an approximately 300-400 mile radius
during the evening hours.
Nets: Held four regularly scheduled monthly training VHF nets on
145.23MHz  on Tuesdays at 1930L. The monthly HF Hospital Net is held
the Wednesday following the third Monday of the month on 3820 KHz at
1930L.
Meetings: Monthly meeting held the 3rd Monday of the month at the Fire
Services Building, 6820 Webster St, Landover Hills, MD at 1930. Eyeball
QSOs at 1900. All are welcome.
=====================
de WICO County W3JCT
Local Net: Delmarva Amateur Radio Enhancement Net every Monday night at
9:00 p.m.  The DAR Net is sponsored by the Delmarva Amateur Radio Club
which is now an ARRL Affiliated group operating a repeater on 146.820
MHz PL 156.7 Hz.
Wicomico County RACES/ARES will participate in the Radio Merit Badge
course at the Salisbury University Merit Badge College on February 7
and March 7, 2015. On February 7, the scouts primarily study radio
theory including FCC rules.  On the March 7 date, scouts accomplished
ON-THE-AIR training with the help of amateur radio operators from both
the Peninsula Radio Operators Society (PROS) and the Delmarva Amateur
Radio Club (DARC). The Boy Scout Merit Badge College is held at the
Salisbury University Campus with approximately 500 Scouts working on
approximately 34 merit badges. 
On Wednesday February 18 the Wicomico RACES/ARES group will take part
in the State wide emergency exercise.
=====================
de KA3AHI AEC PRGE Hospital Project:
January 21:  We had 12 check-ins to the HF Hospital Net!  Appreciate
the support and participation!  Next HFHNets are scheduled for : Feb
18, Mar 18, Apr 22 and May 20.
Next HF Hospital Net will be Feb 18 on 3820 KHz at 1930L.  It is always
the Wednesday following the third Monday. I'd like to hear more
check-ins from our MDC Section.
======================
Signature: Jim Montgomery
Call sign: WB3KAS
Maryland-DC SEC
Email: wb3kas@aol.com



==> SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGER'S REPORT

MDC NTS NETS:

MEPN 1501 W3YVQ QND/31 QNI/379 QTC/54 MINS/677
BTN 1501 KB3MXM QND/30 QNI/341 QTC/21 MINS/569
MDD 1501 AA3SB QND/58 QNI/316 QTC/74 MINS/502
MSN 1501 W8CPG QND/31 QNI/144 QTC/56 MINS/789

PSHR: KK3F 140, W3YVQ 135, KB3LNM 110, W3CB 101,
AA3SB 100, WB4FDT 100, W4OTN 94, WB3FTQ 90, NI2W 88,
AB3WG 47, NF8I 47, N3ZOC 36; 1412 WB4FDT 100;

TFC: KK3F 1697, AA3SB 101, WB4FDT 79, WB3FTQ 72,
W3YVQ 65, W4OTN 63, KB3LNM 43, NI2W 23, NF8I 19,
AB3WG 16, N3ZOC 9, W3CB 7, KC3Y 6; 1412 WB4FDT 73

==========
HF CONDITIONS
NTS nationwide nets have enjoyed generally good evening
Cycle 4 conditions with some late net MUF problems at
northern latitudes. Some difficult Cycle 2 conditions
continued with solar activity absorption and noise in the
afternoons. Continued active sunspots kept the 3,000 KM
MUFs above ten meters for most days of January - thanks,
solar cycle 24.

Congratulations to Chris, AB3WG, on joining MEPN
operations and taking liaison to BTN. Welcome to Ron,
N3EKO, to MEPN operations.

LOCAL MDC RADIOGRAMS AND OTHER MESSAGING
Outlets in each ARES(r) jurisdiction are needed for daily
Radiogram and Radio-email traffic, particularly for
messaging welcoming new hams to the Amateur Service.
There is also a "real", but smaller, messaging rate coming
in to addressees all over the Section. The NTS takes this
daily traffic voluntarily as a public service and in order to
provide for practice in sustaining our messaging capability.

Messaging for new hams, those who have upgraded, and
those due for renewal, are often delivered to local hams
by a few of our Section´s NTS operators with wide area
phone service. For new hams, unless our VECs are
reporting new calls to our clubs, this means that our NTS
operators at Section level might be the only ones aware of
these new licensees. Local club and ARES(r) stations are
in the best position to deliver such traffic and welcome the
new ham with local information and help. This is a
particularly difficult issue these days with so many people
switching from land-line phones to portable gear. Local
hams, new or long-licensed, may be reachable only via
local repeaters or club meetings, etc. Imagine the thrill of
a new ham at his first club meeting being called out in
the order of business to receive his first welcoming
Radiogram from elsewhere in the country, or perhaps
even from Germany.

Please help us find local operators with interest in
providing this service. Our local groups provide the roots
of the joint ARES(r) and NTS network system, whether via
voice, CW, or digital modes. This is an essential part of
our emergency preparedness capability. Wide-area Section-
level telephone or internet delivery of messaging during
emergencies is not likely to be possible. Direct on-air
liaison with our Section-wide NTS/NTSD services and the
Radio-email network can provide these services, and also
helps prevent the overloading of local emergency nets
during activations.

We therefore request that each jurisdiction either send
a daily liaison to a Section NTS net, or designate a
Target Station on the WL2K network to exchange daily
Radio-email as needed. Having network stations in each
jurisdiction can dramatically reduce manning and net
control requirements during emergencies. A list of such
Targets may be sent through the SEC or to me to be
shared off-line by Section leadership. If you have done
so in the past, please refresh your status so we may
maintain a current listing.

MANPOWER - TRAINING
All of our operations, voice, CW, and digital, are in need
of additional supporting manpower. If you can operate
any of these modes, please consider joining our MDC
net fleet. Becoming familiar with methods and practices
now will pay big dividends should an emergency
communications situation arise in your local area or
over a wider region. All of our operators and managers
will be glad to help you learn the skills and find out
about various types of equipment and/or software used.
There are lots of "career" openings in the local NTS and
NTSD, for liaisons to higher level voice/CW nets, and for
digital network operators. We will be glad to help you
learn how to do these jobs. By participating you will help
keep alive the ARRL traditions of public service. This is
your pathway to joining the national ARRL Field
Organization Public Service Communications team.
ARESMAT teams invited to assist our Section during
emergencies will come in expecting to find pathways
for messaging via these various modes to all levels of
the national networks.

The MDC NTS staff continues to offer to conduct
Echolink training conferences to teach Radiogram
handling and directed traffic net operations, and to
familiarize stations with operations on the NTSD and
Radio-email layers.

MEPN representatives check for Echolink check-ins
starting at 6 PM daily via the WB3GXW-L link node
(or *WASH_DC* conference node backup).

Remember that the MSN provides CW training daily
for newcomers to the mode, or those wishing to
refresh their skills, daily at 7:30 PM on 3563 kHz.
---

Thanks to all the NTS net controls, DRS and WL2K
stations, liaisons, and traffic handlers for the continuing
effort to keep the nets running and traffic moving. Well
done!

Thank you for your continued support of MDC integrated
ARES(r)/NTS/NTSD operations.

73, W3YVQ, MDC ASM, STM
w3yvq atsign arrl dot net
w3yvq atsign winlink dot org from WL2K



==> FINALLY. . .

Lots of neat things going on in the MDC Section. Students who made and
ARISS contact getting their picture in a newsletter; National Public
Radio doing a piece on the National Capital Radio and Television Museum
located in Bowie and managed by the dedication of local hams; and our
new Public Information Coordinator, Sid Caesar, NH7C, launching a
pro-active learning experience for appointed Public Information
Officers and anyone in the section interested in promoting Amateur
Radio for their club, school, ARES group, etc. I expect that with Field
Day approaching those whose responsibility it is to get out the info to
the press and elected officials will not want to miss this opportunity.
The first get together will be with a telephone conference. Future
monthly meetings may be held on the computer with the ARRL's Citrix
webinar capabilities.

Don't forget to get any young hams going to college to apply for the
F.A.R. scholarships. If you know of a young person who will be going to
college in a year or more, why not encourage them to get a ham license
and get active? Great for the hobby and could be a financial boost for
them.

73, and, as always, I am at your service,

Jim Cross, WI3N
SM MDC