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Posted Feb 25, 2021

NC ARRL Section News

February 25, 2021

GREETINGS FROM THE HIGH COUNTRY

There has been great variability in the weather up here. I woke up to a cool 22 degree Sunday morning, with snow expected on Monday. This winter has presented me with some of my highest heating bills with several very windy days (40 mph) and cold temperatures when the high temperature did not get above freezing for several days.

Tuesday it was sunny with 50 degree temps. On Wednesday, I had an appointment in Hickory and the temp there was 72 and 52 in Boone. Thursday is a good weather day here but some of the skiers might find the snow starting to melt. On Friday, we are expecting a wintry mix with sleet and light snow.

A REAL LIVE IN PERSON HAMFEST!!!

Amateur radio operators in Western North Carolina may be interested in learning that the Dalton GA Hamfest will be held this Saturday, February 27, with doors opening at 8i a.m. at the North Georgia Agriculture Fairgrounds. Talk-in will be on 145.230 MHz, -600, 141.3 Hz tone. Information about the Hamfest can be found at http://w4drc.com/event/Hamfest.html. I know two people from the western part of the state who will be there. I wish I could be there but two other commitments are on my calendar for Saturday.

A VIRTUAL HAMFEST IN VERMONT ON THE SAME DAY

The Radio Amateurs of Northern Vermont will host their annual conference and Hamfest via Zoom on February 27, 2021. Information on their conference and programs can be found at http://www.ham-con.org/ .

OR, YOU CAN SPEND THE WEEKEND ON THE AIR

You are reminded that the last weekend in February each year is a time to get on the air to participate in the NC QSO Party (on Sunday, February 28) and the SC QSO Party (on Saturday, February 27). The goal of each QSO party is to attempt to reach as many of the counties in each state as possible. The Raleigh Amateur Radio Society has organized the NC QSO party for many years. Details for the contests can be found at http://ncqsoparty.org and at http://scqso.com. There will many in-state and out-of-state stations trying to make a contact with your home county. Some people serve as rovers and drive across county lines to provide contacts with small counties that have few hams.

TRAFFIC NET REPORT

Dave Roy, W4DNA, serves as the NC Section Traffic Manager. He submits a report by the 10th of each month detailing the activities of the various traffic nets that operate across the state. Because of the limitations of the ARRL email system which only sends text and cannot hand graphics or attachments, se out below an abbreviated version of Dave’s monthly report. The full report, with reports on station activities and the public service honor roll, can be found at ncarrl.org.

W4DNA - NC Section Net Report - JANUARY 2021

NET

NMGR

QNI LISTED PASSED

TIME

SESSIONS TFC %

CN

KC4PGN

469

139

113

536

62 81.29%

CSN

KV4WN

143

25

25

565

31

100.00%

NCEN

W4DNA

683

108

93

740

62

86.11%

NCMN

W3OJO

342

98

88

453

31

89.80%

THEN

AE4MF

373

546

29

LOCAL NETS

CWTN

N4CNX

511

78

78

570

31

100.00%

ENCTN

W4DNA

125

32

32

218

31

100.00%

PCTN

W4TTO

243

39

39

214

31

100.00%

TOTAL

2889

519

468

3842

308

90.17%

Congratulations go out to Dave, the various net managers and the traffic handlers.

DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE INTERESTED IN AN ON-LINE TECH COURSE?

I received an email from Randy Harris, KI4VLW with the Western Carolina Amateur Radio Society (WCARS) that they will be offering an online Technician Class starting on March 2. The classes will be on Tuesday and Thursday from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. If you know someone who wants to get a license should go to www.wcars.org and on the top right of the page you will find a tab “Technician Class”. The course will be offered on Zoom and WCARS is not charging any fee for the course, You are expected to purchase a ham radio license manual which is used to organize the topics covered in the course. At the conclusion of the course, there will be a test session offered by WCARS or the students can test with their home club.

OR, AN IN-PERSON TECHNICIAN CLASS IN KANNAPOLIS?

According to their Facebook page, the Cabarrus Amateur Radio Society will offer a Technician Class license course on Tuesdays and Thursdays, beginning on April 6 with a test session on April 20. Contact Dave Whitely, W4DPW, at hospiceforcars@windstream.net if you know someone in the Concord-Kannapolis area who was to get licensed.

ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE (OR TALK) FOREVER -- SOTA, SUMMITS ON THE AIR

The Watauga Amateur Radio Club recently enjoyed a program put on by Mark Vickers, K7EEX, who is an avid SOTA operator. Backpacking up to a mountain top and operating with battery or solar power may be a challenge that intrigues you. Mark is passionate about the hobby and is willing to offer his program to your club. He can be contacted at 3monkeycircus@gmx.com.

Although he is a busy guy, Zach Thompson, KM4BLG, (km4glg@gmail.com) might also be willing to share his experiences as a SOTA activator. Zach received the QST Cover Award in September 2020 for his article on constructing a portable antenna mast that can be carried in a back pack for SOTA operators.

W4DXCC

The Southeast DX and Contesting Organization (SEDCO) announced their plan to hold their 2021 Convention in Pigeon Forge, TN on September 24-25. This is scheduled to be a real in-person forum. Information can be found tat www.w4dxcc.com, along registration and hotel information.

QSO TODAY VIRTUAL HAM EXPO

Based on its success last year, there will be a second QSO TODAY VIRTUAL HAM EXPO on March 12 and 13. Major manufacturers of ham gear will offer information on their equipment, just like they would at a hamfest. There are forums and David Minster, NA2AA, ARRL CEO, will be the key note speaker and will speak about changes underway at ARRL Headquarters.

You can register for the QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo at https://www.qsotodayhamexpo.com/

CLUB MATTERS

Yesterday, Tim Slay, Affiliated Club Coordinator, and I met with about fifteen club Presidents and Program chairs via Zoom. There was an exchange of information about how clubs are meeting during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Some are meeting via Zoom, some have on-air meetings, some clubs have resumed in-person meetings (social distance and masks) and a few have suspended meetings all together. The consensus is that the club president meetings are useful and will be held every three months.

Tim and I want to urge each club to update its contact information so that your group knows about these meetings as well as helping visitors and prospective hams to find out about your club. Each club should designate someone to go to the ARRL webpage (www.arrl.org) and make sure that your club is listed and that the information about the club is current.

PROGRAMS FOR HAMS AT A LOSS FOR THINGS TO TALK ABOUT

There are numerous topics that various groups have been posted on the web that may form a discussion for one of your future club programs.

ARRL Life Long Learning has five webinars that can be found at http://www.arrl.org/arrl-learning-network .

A group of Section Managers and Section Emergency Coordinators (calling themselves the RATPAC –Radio Amateur Training Planning and Activates Committee) has produced over seventy different programs coving ARES, satellites, Winlink, Software Defined Radios, meshnets, Red Cross and many other topics. A list of downloadable programs from RATPAC can be found at http://tiny.cc/ratpac-ss .

Tim Slay (n4ib@arrl.org) has offered an excellent program on grounding towers and equipment.

Zach Thompson (km4blg@gmail.com )has offered a very interesting program on meteor scatter.

Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, head of the ARRL Volunteer Monitoring Program that replaced the now-retired Official Observer program has made presentations to several NC Clubs. Requests for a presentation to a club should be sent to K4ZDH@arrl.org.

If the suggestion listed above don’t intrigue you, Peter Parker, VK3YE, wrote a book entitled, 99 Things You Can With Amateur Radio that is available in paperback and kindle Editions through Amazon.com.

CLUB VISITS

As Section Manager, I welcome opportunities to visit with clubs, hopefully in person in the near future, but meanwhile also through virtual means. This week, along with Greg Hauser, W3FIE, NCEM Comms Manager, I met with the Mecklenburg Amateur Radio Society. Greg and I presented a program on EmComms and NC Auxcomm. Thursday night, I will be meeting with the Mayland Amateur Radio Club and will share information about ARRL in North Carolina. If you want the opportunity to pepper your Section Manager with questions, drop me a line (wa4nc@arrl.org) and, if I am not otherwise scheduled, I will happy to visit with your club.

ARRL MATTERS

The minutes of the recent ARRL Board Meeting (www.arrl.org/board-meetings) and a posting on the ARRL webpage (http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-board-considers-plan-to-cover-new-35-fcc-fee-for-some-young-applicants ) highlight that the Board is considering having the ARRL reduce the $35 application fee up to 1000 person under 18 years of age who belong to a group that is affiliated with the ARRL. Presumably, this refers to Scouting, Incorporated and, although there was a lot of discussion by Board members, the proposal was referred to an ad hoc committee for a recommendation back to the board no later than March 31.

I believe that scouting does many good things and I am happy that four of my grandkids (two boys, two girls) are involved with scouting where they are learning many useful life skills. So, in mentioning this item, I am not speaking against scouting. However, several people saw the ARRL story and expressed their opinions. Since the Board seemed unsure how to proceed, comments from members might be welcomed.

Some questioned whether the ARRL should subsidize the $35 application fee by $30 for Scouts who test through the ARRL VEC.

First, some have questioned whether there is a real need for help with the $35 application fee. If the need for financial assistance exists, perhaps clubs would be in the best position to know who may need financial help since the clubs are most likely to have offered ham classes and exam sessions and would be most likely to know of the special circumstances affecting a particular scout and his or her family. Our local group has on occasion passed the hat and came up with funds to help out in a needy situation and did it without having a written policy and embarrassing this or that person by voting to help them.

Second, if the ARRL wants to provide financial aid in the form of paying $30 of the $35 application fee for scouts, why restrict it to scouts who test through the ARRL VEC? Whatever financial issues that may be affecting particular Scouting test takers, those issues seem to be just as likely to be found among scouts who test through VEC’s other than the ARRL VEC.

In fact, there may be an even greater need to financially help kids who cannot afford to belong to scouts. Expenses for uniforms, weekend camping sessions or weeklong trips to Bechtel Reserve and travel expenses for advanced scouting training sessions at Philmont in New Mexico, as well as sleeping bags, tents and other gear, may be a real deterrent to becoming a scout by otherwise good kids who want to get into radio but whose families that just cannot afford for their son or daughter to be in scouting.

Some think that a better idea would be for the Board to authorize and encourage each Section Manager to use a portion of their ARRL budget to pay the $35 application fee for up to five kids each year in a section, regardless of whether youngster is a scout, and regardless of which VEC they test through, to help out in situations of legitimate need. Perhaps clubs could take this on but in situations where clubs are struggling, the matter could be handled by the Section Managers.

Whatever your opinion of the proposal or the alternatives suggested above, or any other matter that comes before the ARRL, your opinions should be communicated to the Roanoke Director Bud Hippisley (w2ru@arrl.org) and Vice Director Bill Morine (n2cop@arrl.org).

REMINDERS

a. The FCC now requires applicants to obtain an FRN (Federal Registration Number) and to use the FRN on any FCC application.

b. The FCC has indicated that license holders must have a current email address on file with the Commission due to a large number of unanswered regular mail communications from the FCC.

c. There has been no final determination how the FCC proposes to collect the $35 application fee that soon will become effective. It is not known at this time whether the VEC’s will collect the fee and remit it to the FCC or whether the applicant will have to submit the fee via credit card with the license issuance delayed until the credit card transaction clears.

d. Tell members of your club that they can sign up to receive these newsletters and other informational messages from ARRL by logging in at www.arrl.org and on the right side of the top of the page, members can edit their profile. Click on that link and then choose “Edit my email preferences”. A click on “receive emails from Director and Section Manager” will result in member to receive these communications.

e. If you know of a ham who has passed away, please send me the name, callsign and a link to an obituary posted by a newspaper or funeral home and I will arrange to have notice of the passing of the ham listed in QST.

CLOSING COMMENT

Having watched on television the mess that they went on in Texas makes me ever more grateful to the electric linemen who never hesitate to come out to restore power, regardless of the weather, even when they work high winds, ice and snow and at personal risk to them.

Two weeks ago, Duke Energy had over 160,000 customers without power in Winston-Salem, Greensboro, High Point, Burlington areas and nearby areas. Poles were broken, trees blocked roads, and there were numerous dangerous situations but the line trucks were out and the linemen were at work.

Thanks go out to these heroes who are too often taken for granted. Whether it is a local EMC or a huge company, like Duke, the line crews do everything they can to restore power as quickly as possible. The troubles in Texas were caused by politicians and not linemen.

Stay well and get your COVID vaccination as soon as you can.

73, Marv,WA4NC
NC Section Manager
wa4nc@arrl.org