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MDC Section News
Vol. 13, No. 07
July 16, 2018
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* MDC SECTION-WIDE ECHOLINK NET FRIDAY JULY 20th
* UPCOMING HAMFESTS & EVENTS
* T-MARC COORDINATION REPORT
* MDC SECTION ARES REPORT
* SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGER'S REPORT
* FINAL COMMENTS FROM YOUR SECTION MANAGER

==> MDC SECTION-WIDE ECHOLINK NET FRIDAY JULY 20th

This month's MDC section-wide EchoLink net will be held on Friday, July 20th at 8:00 PM on the EchoLink *WASH_DC* Node 6154.  The MDC Section EchoLink net is always held on the third Friday evening of every month at 8:00 PM local eastern time.  If you would like to join in on RF, the following repeaters and IRLPs have linked in for EchoLink nets:

- KA2JAI-R operates through the KB3CMA repeater 442.300(+), CTCSS 107.2 Hz, in Annapolis, MD
- WB3GXW-R, 147.225(+), PL 156.7 Hz, located in Calverton, MD
- N3HF-L, 443.45(+), PL 151.4 Hz, located near Ocean City, MD
- N3HF-R, 443.45(+), PL 156.7 Hz, located near Silver Spring, MD
- W3ICF-R, 146.73(-), PL 141.3 Hz, located near Frederick, MD
- K3CAL-R, 146.985(-), PL 156.7, located near Sunderland, MD
- N3RO-L, 145.545, Simplex, Frederick Co, MD
- W3SMD-L, 147.51, Simplex, St Mary's County, MD
- K3GMR-R 146.61 (-), No PL, Cheverly, MD
- KB3JQQ-L Pikesville, MD

Find EchoLink Nodes in your area at: http://www.echolink.org/links.jsp

Everyone is encouraged to join in and give any updates on what is happening in your part of the ARRL Maryland-DC Section.  If you do not have EchoLink on your Computer, Tablet or Smartphone, you may download the free software from: http://echolink.org/register_data.jsp or your App Store online.

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 & SPECIAL RADIO EVENTS

This is a list of Hamfests in the Maryland-DC Section and nearby Pennsylvania, northern Virginia, West Virginia and Delaware as a courtesy to our neighboring Section Managers.  Also listed are radio events for communication enthusiasts.

For this month our MDC SM adds On-Air Events. For our section members interested in other types of RF communication, events and activities related to the RF spectrum.  Please send your suggestion and comments to ARRLMDC@gmail.com

You may view upcoming Hamfests which are being held in the MDC Section and nearby in Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia and northern Virginia area by clicking on either: http://www.arrl-mdc.net/hamfest.htm or the ARRL's Hamfest and Convention Calendar at: http://www.arrl.org/hamfests-and-conventions-calendar

I, as the MDC Section Manager, Marty Pittinger, KB3MXM, and/or a designated ARRL representative(s) will plan to attend all Hamfests in the ARRL Maryland-DC Section.

We hope to see you there and bring a follow Ham and friends
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CVARC Hamfest 2018   
Date: Saturday, July 28, 2018
Location: Chambersburg, PA
Sponsor: Cumberland Valley Amateur Radio Club
Website: http://www.w3ach.org
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68th Annual Berryville Hamfest
Date: Sunday, August 5, 2018
Location: Clarke County Ruritan Fairgrounds, Berryville, VA
Sponsor: Shenandoah Valley Amateur Radio Club
Website:  http://svarc.us/hamfest/
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60th ARRL West Virginia State Amateur Radio Convention
Date: Friday, August 24th to Sunday. August 26th
Location: Jackson’s Mill WVU Conference Center, Weston, WV
Sponsor: West Virginia State Amateur Radio Council
Talk-in: 145.390 (-) PL 123.0 WD8EOM
Website:  http://qsl.net/wvsarc/
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Pennsylvania State Convention (Uniontown Gabfest)
Date: Saturday, September 01, 2018
Location: Uniontown ARC Clubhouse, Uniontown, PA
Sponsor: W3PIE - Uniontown Amateur Radio Club
For more info, click on: http://www.w3pie.org/
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Virginia Beach Hamfest
Date: Saturday, September 8, 2018
Location: Virginia Beach Hamfest Convention Center
Sponsor: Virginia Beach Amateur Radio Hamfest
Talk-In: 146.895 (-) PL 141.3
For more info, click on: http://virginiabeachhamfest.com/
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REDBALL Swap Meet
Military Radio Collectors Association (MRCA),
Military Radio Meet/Redball Military Transport Rally
Date: Fri thru Sat, 21 - 22 Sept. 2018, 8 AM - 5 PM
Location: West End Fairgrounds, Gilbert, PA
Between Lehighton and Stroudsburg
Website: https://redballonline.org/
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CARAfest
Date: Sunday, October 7, 2018
Location: Howard County (Maryland) Fairgrounds
Sponsor: Columbia Amateur Radio Association
For more info, click on:  http://www.carafest.org/
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Mason Dixon Hamfest   
Date: Sunday, October 25, 2018
Location: Upperco, MD
Sponsor: Carroll County Amateur Radio Club
Website:  https://k3pzn.net/
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Third Annual SantaFest
Date: Saturday, December 8, 2018
Location: American Legion Youth Camp, Cheltenham, MD
Sponsor: Prince George's County Emergency Radio Association & American Legion
For more info, click on:  http://pgares.org/santafest/ 
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Special On-Air Event:
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Amateur Radio Ops “On-The-Air“
Second full weekend of August (11th & 12th) 2018 starting Saturday at 14:00z (10 AM EDT) and run until Sunday 21:00z (5 AM EDT) with activity during the even-numbered hours on 10, 20 and 80 meters, and during the odd-numbered hours on 15 and 40 meters. Read about this at http://www.qsl.net/ccc/
http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/cccarops/info
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Look for these fun Amateur Radio Events:
08/07/2018 | National Night-Out Against Crime, bring your H/T
08/12/2018 | VHF Meteor-scatter for Perseid meteor shower
08/18/2018 | International Lighthouse and Lightship (ILLW) Weekend
09/03/2018 | Brickyard 400 Special Event
09/08/2018 | Route 66 On-The-Air
11/02/2018 | AMSAT Space Symposium and General Meeting
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Maryland-DC QSO Party - Single Day Event
Sponsor:  The Anne Arundel Radio Club (AARC)
Start: Saturday, August 11, 2018 1600 UTC [12:00 PM EDT]
Finish: Sunday, August 12, 2018 0400 UTC [00:00 AM EDT]
MDQSP Rules - https://www.w3vpr.org/sites/default/files/mdcqsoparty/Documents/Maryland_QSO_Party_Rules_2018.pdf
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New AMSAT Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/AMSATNA/about/
Shortwave Radiogram via WRMI w/ transmission schedule http://swradiogram.net/
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– Something New & Interesting –
Digital Radio Mondiale or DRM is a digital audio & data-casting broadcast technologies for existing analog commercial radio on AM, SW and FM; for higher quality audio across a wider-bandwidth using MPEG-4 audio coding formats. Follow the latest news and information about DRM at http://drmna.info/ DRM, Digital Radio Mondiale North America, DRMNA
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
WINB on 9265 kHz AM is America’s oldest domestic commercial shortwave station; a brokered Christian shortwave radio station in Red Lion, PA.  They are testing DRM using two different transmitters directed to both Europe and North America on 15670 kHz M-F between 1100-1700 UTC at approx. 10 kW DRM power and transmitting Bit Rate of 8.28 kbps.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The GAMUT, LP 820 kHz AM station near Frederick MD switched to DRM on Monday, July 16th. If you have a DRM car radio or looking to explore DRM several radio brands are available.  Enjoy the high AM fidelity DRM brings.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The weekly ‘Shortwave Radiogram’ is a digital MFSK program via domestic station WRMI in Okeechobee, FL. Read more about this excellent opportunity to hone your digital skills, flex your knowledge and adjust your Radio/App configurations.
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==> T-MARC COORDINATION REPORT

At the October 2017 membership meeting, the TMARC Board requested comments from the members with regard to the UHF band-plan changes as noted below. There were several responses. We would like to put this to a vote to the membership. Please respond to this email with either a “No or Yes” response by Saturday, August 4, 2018. Responses received after that date will be disregarded.
 
The new repeater segments would be utilized just as the other repeater segments are (i.e., even pairs high in / low out, odd pairs low in / high out, and no preference for narrow-band operations). ATV will be protected to the extent that it currently is.
 
The proposed 420 - 450 MHZ band plan would look like this:
420.00 - 426.00 ATV repeater or simplex with 421.25 MHz video carrier, control links and experimental
426.00 - 432.00 ATV Simplex with 427.250 MHz video carrier frequency
432.00 - 432.07 EME (Earth-Moon-Earth)
432.07 - 432.10 Weak-signal CW
432.10  70-cm calling frequency
432.10 - 432.30 Mixed-mode and weak-signal work
432.30 - 432.40 Propagation beacons
432.40 - 433.00 Mixed-mode and weak-signal work
433.00 - 435.00 Auxiliary/repeater links
435.00 - 438.00 Satellite only (internationally)
438.00 - 444.00 ATV repeater input with 439.250-MHz video carrier frequency and repeater links
441.10 - 442.00 [Proposed] Repeater inputs and outputs – local option (No new link or control, current link and control grandfathered)
442.00 - 445.00 Repeater inputs and outputs (local option)
445.00 - 446.10 [Proposed] Shared by auxiliary, control links, and simplex
446.00        National simplex frequency
446.10 - 447.00 [Proposed] Repeater inputs and outputs – local option (No new link or control, current link and control grandfathered)
447.00 - 450.00 Repeater inputs and outputs (local option)
====================

The next membership meeting will be held at 10:30 AM on Sunday, October 7, 2018 at the Columbia Amateur Radio Association's Hamfest at the Howard County Fairgrounds in West Friendship, MD.  More details later.

June 2018 Coordination Report
Applications in Process:

N3YMS
 - Received application for UHF narrow-band repeater in Dover, DE
 - Sent Notice of Proposed Coordination to neighboring coordination groups
 - Objection received
 - Researching alternate pair
 - Sent Notice of Proposed Coordination to neighboring coordination groups
 
N3YMS
 - Received application for UHF narrow-band repeater in Dagsboro, DE
 - Sent Notice of Proposed Coordination to neighboring coordination groups.
 
KD4ZUY
 - Received application for UHF pair in Herndon, VA
 - Sent Notice of Proposed Coordination to neighboring coordination groups.
 - Sent Construction Coordination for 449.1750(-)
 
N3QEM
 - Received application for 900 pair in Vienna, VA
 - Sent Notice of Proposed Coordination to neighboring coordination groups.
 - Sent Construction Coordination for 927.6750(-)
 
NVFMA
 - Received application to modify location of 146.7900(-)
 - Sent Notice of Proposed Coordination to neighboring coordination groups.
 - Sent revised coordination.
 
NVFMA
 - Received application to modify location of 224.1000(-)
 - Sent Notice of Proposed Coordination to neighboring coordination groups.
 - Sent revised coordination.
 
WV8VRC
 - Received application for UHF pair in Bunker Hill, WV
 - Due to low ERP and HAAT, suggested use of SNP pair.
 
K3DO
 - Received application for UHF narrow-band pair in Frederick, MD
 
KA3LAO
 - Received application to modify location of 442.2125(+) at Damascus, MD
 - Sent Notice of Proposed Coordination to neighboring coordination groups.
 
NEMARC
 – Received on air status of 145.2700(-) at Jarrettsville, MD
 
Harford County RACES
 – Received application for UHF pair in Havre de Grace, MD
 - Sent Notice of Proposed Coordination to neighboring coordination groups.
 
On Air Status Requests sent to:
147.2400(+)  WWI  Woodbridge, VA
224.7800(-)  WWI  Woodbridge, VA
442.0000(+)  WN3A  Towson, MD
443.1000(+)  N3JLT  Alexandria, VA
443.6500(+)  WN3A  Havre de Grace, MD
444.9000(+)  WWI  Woodbridge, VA
 
Other:
South Eastern Repeater Assoc: Received 1 proposed coordination for 440 MHz
Western Pa. Repeater Council: Received 1 proposed coordination for 440 MHz

T-MARC is The Mid-Atlantic Repeater Council, coordinates Amateur VHF and UHF repeater operations to keep interference problems to a minimum. The areas of responsibility include the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, Northern Virginia and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. If you have any questions about coordinating a repeater, you may send an email to the Board at tmarc@tmarc.org

The T-MARC URL is http://tmarc.org/


==> MDC SECTION ARES REPORT

2018 May MDC SEC Narrative Report EmComm Events and Comments from around the Section de Section Emergency Coordinator WB3KAS:

Reporting six of eighteen appointed ECs submitted their monthly ARES County reports this month, or 33%.

Some are STILL sending in the old form or text or doc. Way too much work to redo and get it into the new format I have to send to the League.  See next paragraph and make yours and my life a little easier each month.  Also, the file name should be of the form 2018-07 & your 4-ltr county code plus EC Report.pdf

The new ARRL's fillable pdf reporting system makes it soooooo easy for me.  You can get the "new and improved" correct form at:

http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Public%20Service/2017%20Forms/Monthly_DEC-EC_Report.pdf

It's extremely important that your constituents hear what is going on relative to EmComm in their community. If nothing more, tell us what meetings you hold, when, where and what repeaters you can be found on.  I'd like to hear from the rest of you.

Two MDC DEC positions (Western and Eastern) are now filled and would like to have some one step forward and consider heading up the Central DEC position.  Make sure you put them on email copy for all that your county correspondence.

There are seven counties that do not having an Emergency Coordinator.  They are ALLE, CARO, DORC, KENT, QACO, SOME and WORC. As you can see 6 out of the 7 are on the Eastern Shore and is a grave concern from a weather perspective.  I say this every month because this is gravely important this time of year. If you live in any of these counties, please consider getting involved with emergency communications and sign up to assist the hospitals in your area.  Contact me for more information at wb3kas@arrl.net.

SEC Presentations

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 Health Care EmComm Program.  If you have interest in this, and have room on your meeting agenda for us, please contact me.  Winlink 2000 Advance Class - see PRGE EC section later in this report.

MDC Section Reflectors

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. 
The URL is: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/MDCQRV/info

The new ARRLMDCSection Yahoo Reflector is now available.  If you are not a member. . .you should be!!  I encourage you to use this to stay informed or keep in touch with the rest of your fellow ARES members. With the wide distribution of this newsletter coming out only once a month, this Yahoo Site will keep you up to date with late breaking news, including a possible disaster call up.  There is very little traffic to clog your in box.

I don't know if all the DECs and ECs are subscribe to the Yahoo Reflector.  If you are not, please do.  This is going to be the quickest way possible to inform MDC Section ARES of current incidents and impending disasters.  Please do it now.

You can join at: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/ARRLMDCSECTION/info.
======================
Meetings and Gatherings

June 8-10: Light month this reporting period.  Wanda and I took a much needed vacation to the Texas HamCom convention in Plano.  All events, forums, Hamfest, etc. were located indoors, and a very cool indoors, I might add.

June 17: Attended the Upperco Hamfest at their new location just a short RF path from the previous year's site.

June 23 Field Day Weekend:  Three of Marty's Staff divided up the known FD sites and proceeded to visit a total of 22 great places. A hearty thanks for the effort to put such a large showing of support to the community.

======================
Future Events:

None noted at this time.

======================
Section Reports Received:

de ANAR County N3SEO

Field Day        750 manhours

ARES meetings usually the third Saturday at 0900 at the EOC. Except June - August ARES nets each Sunday night at 2000 hours on 146.805 Repeater..

======================
de CECI County KB3LJB

With the exception of Field Day, June 2018 ARES activities in Cecil County consisted mostly of participation in the weekly Sunday evening ARES Nets held on the CBRA WA3SFJ 146.850 PL 107.2 repeater in Port Deposit, MD.

A VE Test Session was held at the Rising Sun American Legion Post 194 on Saturday, June 23.  Yes, this was during setup for Field Day but most of the local Hams participating in Field Day exercises were on site.

For Field Day 2018, the State Line Radio Club (SLRC) participated with the Chesapeake Bay Radio Association (CBRA) in FD exercises at the CBRA-owned fire-tower located at 46 Firetower Road, Port Deposit, MD.  This is a nice high location with lots of possibilities for hanging antennas.  We operated two stations on generator power.

CBRA monthly meetings are held at Mason-Dixon American Legion Post 194 in Rising Sun on the third Tuesday each month at 7:00 pm.  All are welcome to attend.

The WA3SFJ-R EchoLink Node 585690 is up and available for traffic to and from the Cecil ARES Group.
======================

de HARF county W3YR

-  Harford County ARES/RACES members participated in the monthly meeting on 7 June, a monthly net on 12 June, and a meeting on the Susquehanna River Running Festival on 20 June.  The Susquehanna River Running Festival, scheduled for 15 September 2018, is a charitable event to raise money for the Al Cesky Scholarship Fund. It includes a half marathon, half marathon relay event, and 5K races between Havre de Grace in Harford County and Perryville/Perry Point VA Medical Center in Cecil County. Harford and Cecil County ARES will provide communications for the event. Approximately 30 Amateur Radio Operators are needed to support the event.  Amateur Radio support from nearby MD counties is requested. Please contact W3YR at w3yr@arrl.net if you are able to support.  (From SEC:  It is very important that we help and support our neighboring ARES groups in need of Comms support. Please sign up and help out)

======================
de PRGE County WB3KAS:

PRGE ARES Web Page: http://www.pgares.org
PRGE ARES Internet Forum: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PG-AresRaces/
PRGE ARES Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pgaresraces

Nets: Regularly scheduled monthly training VHF nets on the K3ERA Repeater, 145.230(-) MHz PL 110.9 on Tuesdays at 1930L. The monthly HF Hospital Net is held the Wednesday following the third Monday of the month on 3820 kHz at 1900L. NOTE TIME CHANGE!!  NCS is KA3AHI.

Meetings: Monthly meeting held the 3rd Monday of the month at the Fire Services Building, 6820 Webster St, Landover Hills, MD at 1930L.

440 Freq coordination through TMARC has been approved: 442.3250(+) PL 110.9Hz.

K3ERA 2m Repeater EchoLink is now on the air via KA3POX-L Node 896210.  As Mikey would say, "Try it, you'll like it."

June 18: At the monthly PRGE ARES meeting the PRGE EC, WB3KAS, presented a Winlink 2000 Advance Class Presentation Part II, about setting up email address(s) and applicable to deployment operations.  If you wish to have this presented at your ARES meeting, give him a call.

=====================
de KA3AHI MDC Section ASM for the Health Care EmComm Program:

HF Hospital Net are conducted on ± 3820 kHz at 1900L.  So give us a hollar!  If you hear us look down stream 5-8 kHz.

I'd like to hear more check-ins from our MDC Section.  We had 16checkins in June.

Next HF Hospital Net is July 18. . .same time, same station!  NCS assignment varies.
======================

Signature: Jim Montgomery
Call sign: WB3KAS
Maryland-DC SEC


==> SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGER'S REPORT

FOR THE MDC WEB SITE 1806

MDC NTS NETS:

MEPN 1806 W3YVQ QND/30 QNI/458 QTC/84 MINS/739
BTN 1806 AB3WG QND/30 QNI/414 QTC/59 MINS/587
MDD 1806 AA3SB QND/59 QNI/311 QTC/141 MINS/693
MSN 1806 W8CPG QND/30 QNI/106 QTC/21 MINS/541

PSHR: KK3F 150, W3YVQ 135, W3CB 125, AB3WG 113, K3IN 110, NI2W 102, AA3SB 100, WB3FTQ 95, KC3HWU 90;

TFC: KK3F 3747, K3IN 205, W3YVQ 135, WB3FTQ 93, KC3HWU 86, AA3SB 78, NI2W 37, AB3WG 34, W3CB 29

===============
HF PROPAGATION

MEPN: Propagation was functional throughout June, 2018. Conditions on MEPN between 1730L and 1800L are now typical of summer with poor signal strengths until after 1800L due to high daytime sun angles. By the end of the month the NVIS prop was remaining above 80M all night many nights. On 40M the prop beyond about 500 miles remained functional all night. Propagation during FD was disturbed and less productive than anticipated even though there were some fair long path contacts available on 40M.

Propagation on MDD early and late was functional throughout June, 2018.

Sunspot activity continued to decline with numerous spotless days. The sunspot activity was very low. Most disturbances to propagation were the result of solar wind from solar coronal holes or simply lack of flux to keep the ionosphere charged.

BTN LOCAL NTS TRAFFIC AND TRAINING NET
The BTN continues to meet on 145.33/R (no tone) daily at 6:30 PM local time and continues to welcome new amateurs. The availability of an active directed traffic net of the NTS on VHF is exactly why the BTN was established, providing a welcoming place for newcomers to the Amateur Service. Thanks to all the BTN stations checking into the MEPN via EchoLink.

MEPN ECHOLINK
MEPN representatives check for EchoLink check-ins starting at net call daily via the WB3GXW-L link node (or *WASH_DC* conference node backup if the -L node is not available). A number of BTN and MEPN members, as well as stations outside the area, have used EchoLink to check in when HF is not available to them. Thanks to all.

MSN CW TRAINING
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. Each trainee works with an assigned instructor off the net frequency to receive radiograms containing training information. Instructors work with each student at their own desired speed and check-in schedule. All are encouraged to master the art of CW via this net or personal training in order to support and join the ranks of our MDD Section CW net. Robin, AA3SB, MDD NM, and the veteran staff, will be glad to help you advance to the evening CW full Cycle 4 of the NTS.
---
Thanks to all the Section traffic net NCS stations, DTN/RRI and WL2K stations, liaisons, and traffic handlers for the continuing effort to keep  the nets running and traffic moving.

Thank you for your continued support of MDC integrated ARES® and NTS operations.

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


==> FINAL COMMENTS FROM YOUR SECTION MANAGER

"Emergency Communications is a Part of Amateur Radio"
Our close brush with Hurricane Chris over the Carolina's coast and Hurricane Beryl’s approaching to the Caribbean reminds us preparedness is always needed.  Since last year we witnessed many successes about the roll Amateur Radio plays in ‘Whole Community Radio Communications.’  Soon our EmComm opportunities will place us in a pivotal roll to support our neighbors, towns & cities, Maryland state & counties, and federal partners.
 
This will assure community leaders that we have the tools and resources necessary when disaster strikes for early warning disaster preparedness, mitigation and relief operations.  The Amateur Radio Emergency Services’ road ahead will be challenging as we learn new ways to collaborate in the future through strategic planning.  It is time to adapt standardize training, accountability, and alignment with our served agencies – but our expertise, techniques and capabilities will fill an ever increase void when communication infrastructures become unreliable.  It is time for us to refresh and reengage in the core values of Amateur Radio's willingness to be ready, supportive and serve others.

What's your Survivable Communication Plan
 ‘Survivable Whole Community Radio Communication’ means every opportunity to demonstrate our knowledge and ingenuity to serve our neighbors.  A recent Amateur Radio Newsline™ Report 2124 talks about “Ham Radio Pairs With FRS for Maryland EmComm - on Friday, July 13, 2018 - this highlights the ways non-Ham communities and individuals without cell phones or non-Ham areas are capable of creating a substantial radio network for situational awareness and preparedness in disaster situations. 

Having an updated Radio Frequency Assignment Worksheet (ICS FORM 217) & Operational Planning Worksheet (ICS 215) will make you better prepared for disaster planning, response  and certainly situational awareness.  You may hear and read the entire program at Amateur Radio Newsline™ primarily via MP3 Internet Audio and downloadable TEXT file – go to the website at: http://www.arnewsline.org website.

I Can Hear You But I Shouldn't
I recently a Ham tell a rogue station they are operating illegally on a local UHF repeater and should stop – after monitoring it was clear a nearby highway road crew was using the 440 Ham band – the crew was directing traffic in Virginia.  I heard, "Start line one . . . stop line two." Given the limited Line-of-Sight distance of 70 cm it was simple to locate the construction area using Virginia's VDOT website.  I then drove to the area to confirm visually and heard the highway crew was using "Simplex' on what appear to be those inexpensive wide-band VHF/UHF imported H/Ts.

The Amateur Radio band is under constant intrusion by numerous naïve, uninformed and malicious users. We must have a constant vigilance and commitment to report suspicious unlicensed radio activity on the bands.  During disaster operations these unwanted transmissions could cause interference with essential emergency communications.  Our MDC Section Official Observer Coordinator (OOC) recently asked the area OOs,“ What have you been listening to lately?” To this I suggest we, as Hams, scan around and listen for the unusual, unlicensed, unlisted and the unwanted Amateur Radio band intruders and report these occurrence to our OOC and Section Staff – see http://www.arrl-mdc.net for contact information.


73,
Marty, KB3MXM
ARRL MDC Section Manager


    ========================================================
The "Maryland-DC Section News" is published monthly by the ARRL Maryland-DC Section Manager Marty Pittinger, KB3MXM, 4 Pegram Rd, Owings Mills, MD 21117-2116; landline 443-326-1783.

You may also send an email to: KB3MXM@ARRL.org

The "Maryland-DC Section News" offers a monthly digest of essential and general news of interest to all amateur radio operators.

Please visit the MDC Section web page, http://www.arrl-mdc.net and the "ARRL MDC Section News and Alerts" web page, http://www.arrl.org/sections/view/maryland-dc, for the latest MDC Section news, links and updates.

You may also follow us on "Twitter" at: https://twitter.com/MDCARRL
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My editor and our MDC Section amanuensis is Assistant Section Manager Al Brown, KZ3AB – many, many TU’s

Material from the "MDC Section News" may be republished or reproduced, in whole or in part in any form, without additional permission.

Please give credit to the "Maryland-DC Section News" or the original author of submission.

The American Radio Relay League, ARRL, is the National Association for Amateur Radio™.