NCARRL SECTION NEWS

July 11, 2022

GREETINGS FROM THE HIGH COUNTRY

Like many parts of North Carolina, the High Country weather has moderated and we have had some rain, which has further moderated the unusual temperatures.  Last week I drove to a club meeting in Lincolnton to give a talk and the temperature was 92 degrees until I drove through an intense shower, dodging cars that were hydroplaning.  When I got out of the shower the temperature had dropped 22 degrees during ten minutes of heavy rain.

ARRL MATTERS

Roanoke Vice Director Bill Morine, N2COP, informed the Roanoke Section Managers (VA, WV, SC and NC) that Steven R. Berry (N1EZ) has accepted the long-vacant position of IT Director at ARRL HQ.  He will be moving to Newington and will tackle the serious and continuing problems with ARRL log-ins and email forwarding which continue to cause problems with a significant number of ARRL members.  If you are still having problems with logging into ARRL, please call HQ at 1-860-594-0200.

CLUB GRANT PROGRAM

Mike Walters, ARRL Field Services Manager, W8ZY, advised the Section Managers that 128 applications have been submitted to HQ for a wide variety of projects that clubs hope to fund through the first round of the ARRL Club Grant Program.  Review of the applications has begun and it was previously announced that the first round of awards will be announced in August.

ARRL BOARD OF DIRECTORS TO MEET IN CT ON JULY 15-17.

Roanoke Director Jim Boehner N2ZZ and Vice Director Bill Morine N2COP will travel to Winsor CT for the semi-annual ARRL Board Meeting. Among these topics are expected to be discussed:

a.       Appointment of an ARRL Board Member to the Amateur Radio Direction Finding Committee in order to improve coordination between the Board and the Committee.

b.       A commitment to continue to devote staff resources and time to resolving the on-going problems members are having in logging into ARRL.ORG and getting their arrl.net and arrl.org email forwarded by HQ.

c.       Potential amendments to the ARRL Bylaws and Articles of Association.

FIELD DAY REPORT – WE TOOK TO THE ROAD!

ARRL indicated that over a half million contacts have already been reported by stations participating in ARRL FIELD DAY 2022. Information can be found at http://arrl.org/news/arrl-field-day-2022-500-000-contacts-already-reported . 

Your NC ARRL Section Leadership took to the road to visit a number of Field Day sites.  WA4NC traveled to Western Piedmont ARC in Morganton, Lenoir ARC in Lenoir, Watauga ARC in Todd, Ashe County Amateur Radio Club at Mt. Jefferson, Foothills Amateur Radio Club near Wilkesboro, Iredell Amateur Radio Club in Statesville, Rowan Amateur Radio Club in Salisbury, Forsyth Amateur Radio Club in Winston-Salem, the High Point Amateur Radio Club and the RARS Field Day site near Apex. 

K4KDP, Dave Price, Section Youth Coordinator, extended Section outreach by visiting  Fremont, Wilson County AuxComm , Franklin County Amateur Radio Club in Rolesville, Four County ARES in Oford, the LCARS Kerr Lake Field Day in Boydton, Va., the Brightleaf ARC in Greenville, the Pamlico Amateur Radio Club in Washington, Goldsboro and the Johnston Amateur Radio Society in Four Oaks. 

The two of us traveled 775 miles to make these visits and each place we stopped expressed thanks for our coming to visit.  Big Attaboys go out to the clubs that participated and we wish we could have made more visits.

SECTION TRAFFIC REPORT – JUNE 2022

The ARRL Email System does not allow attachments, like Word or Excel files, which prevents me from posting Dave Roy’s monthly report.  It is posted in its entirety at ncarrl.org.

W4DNA - NC Section Net Report -  JUNE 2022
	NET	NMGR	QNI	LISTED	PASSED	TIME	SESSIONS		TFC %
	SECTION NETS
	CN	KC4PGN	364	113	92	467	60		81.42%
	CSN	KI4KZS	124	22	27	603	30		122.73%
	NCEN	WK4WC	333	122	116	442	30		95.08%
	NCMN	W3OJO	255	471	470	721	30		99.79%
	THEN	K4SEH	226			421	21
	LOCAL NETS
	CWTN	N4CNX	372	141	141	649	30		100.00%
	ENCTN	W4DNA	115	16	16	211	29		100.00%
	PCTN	W4TTO	220	66	66	301	30		100.00%
	TOTAL		2009	951	928	3815	260		97.58%

 

HAMFEST REMINDERS

Cary, July 16, 7:30 a.m. to 1p.m., at Ritter Park.  Info at https://caryarc.org/events/swapfest/ .

Waynesville, July 23, opens at 8 a.m. at Smoky Mountain Event Center (very near to Lake Junaluska), Info at https://wcars-club.org/wcarshamfest.htm. Jim Boehner and I will be there to share information about ARRL and NC Section activities.

Shelby (September 2-4) at the Cleveland County Fairgrounds on Labor Day weekend .  Information about the Shelby Hamfest can be found at http://shelbyhamfest.com/  .  Jim Boehner and I will be there to share information about ARRL and NC Section activities.

FCC MATTERS

FCC has publicly announced that the old CORES (Commission Registration System) is being decommission on July 17 and that it will be necessary to create an account on the replacement CORES database system.  The goal is to facilitate tracking of communications, applications, documents and other contact with the FCC.  In addition to FRN (Federal Registration Number) which is needed to apply, renew, modify a license, the CORES takes the tracking to a higher level since not everyone contacting the Commission will be applying for or holding a license and will not necessarily have an FRN on file.  Information on the new CORES process can be found at http://arrl.org/news/fcc-legacy-cores-system-to-be-retired .

FCC Amateur Radio License Data for North Carolina as of July 1

161(Novice)    10619 (Technician) 5787(General)    1103(Advanced)   5067 (Extra)  22737 (Total)

CROWDED RF IN CARS

Key Fobs to unlock your car, radar for front, back and side alerting when your car is too close to another vehicle, video for backing up while parking or leaving a parking lot.  Satellite reception for gps, music and wifi, as well as cell coverage while vehicles are in motion.  Something like 3000 computers are found in new cars.   Lots of electronics and the potential for interference as well as causing interference.  An amazing about of frequencies are involved and the potential for intermod and interference exists. 

Recently I learned that Rohde and Swarz,  a leader manufacturer of high end rf test and measurement equipment, offers a downloadable poster that shows the extremely wide range of frequencies involved new vehicles today.  The website for requesting a copy can be found at  https://www.rohde-schwarz.com/us/solutions/test-and-measurement/automotive/automotive-emc-and-full-vehicle-antenna-testing/free-poster-automotive-radio-frequency_251611.html .

HYTERA – MOTOROLA LITIGATION

Hytera is a Chinese manufacturer of a variety of transceivers, particularly in the DMR market.  For several years , there has been litigation in which Motorola sued Hytera for theft of intellectual property, claiming that Hytera hired several Motorola employees who took nume10,000 computer files with them as they left Motorola.  Several courts have heard the cases and awarded Motorola approximately $750 million for the computer programs, design files and other material which the courts found allowed Hytera to copy DMR radios without incurring the development costs incurred by Motorola.  As may be expected, Hytera has questioned the jurisdiction of the courts, the value of the intellectual property and, so far, none of the $750 million awarded to Motorola has changed hands.  Information about the litigation can be found at https://casetext.com/case/motorola-solutions-inc-v-hytera-commcns-corp-8

Hytera has been identified by the US Government as one of several Chinese companies that are importing a variety of communications devices into the United States that pose cyber security threats to the US telecommunications infrastructure.   A federal law prohibits using federal funds to purchase Chinese equipment and to prohibits federal agencies importing certain equipment on a public  listing produced by the Department of Homeland Security and identified as posing cybersecurity threats in the United States. Information can be found at https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/4998 .

SILENT KEY LISTING

Seldom does a month go by in which I learn of several hams passing away.  My job as Section Manager is to gather necessary documentation and submit it to ARRL HQ so that the late amateur’s name and call can be listed in QST.  If you know of a friend, club member or family member who is a licensed amateur radio operator, please advise me so that appropriate notice can be made of his or her passing.

CLOSING COMMENT

This past Sunday, I saw that Hershel “Woody” Williams, Chief Warrant Officer 4 (USMC, Retired) of West Virginia died last week at age 98.  CWO Williams was the last living recipient of the Medal of Honor for his distinguished, heroic and exemplary service during World War II in the Battle of Iwo Jima.   Following his service, he was promoted and rose to the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 4.

His Medal of Honor Citation speaks for itself.

The President of the United States in the name of The Congress takes pleasure in presenting the

MEDAL OF HONOR

to

CORPORAL HERSHEL W. WILLIAMS

UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS RESERVE

for service as set forth in the following

CITATION:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Demolition Sergeant serving with the First Battalion, Twenty-First Marines, Third Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Island, 23 February 1945. Quick to volunteer his services when our tanks were maneuvering vainly to open a lane for the infantry through the network of reinforced concrete pillboxes, buried mines and black, volcanic sands, Corporal Williams daringly went forward alone to attempt the reduction of devastating machine-gun fire from the unyielding positions. Covered only by four riflemen, he fought desperately for four hours under terrific enemy small-arms fire and repeatedly returned to his own lines to prepare demolition charges and obtain serviced flame throwers, struggling back, frequently to the rear of hostile emplacements, to wipe out one position after another. On one occasion he daringly mounted a pillbox to insert the nozzle of his flame thrower through the air vent, kill the occupants and silence the gun; on another he grimly charged enemy riflemen who attempted to stop him with bayonets and destroyed them with a burst of flame from his weapon. His unyielding determination and extraordinary heroism in the face of ruthless enemy resistance were directly instrumental in neutralizing one of the most fanatically defended Japanese strong points encountered by his regiment and aided in enabling his company to reach its' [sic] objective. Corporal Williams' aggressive fighting spirit and valiant devotion to duty throughout this fiercely contested action sustain and enhance the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

/S/ HARRY S. TRUMAN

October 5, 1945, at the White House

Further, recognizing heroes wherever I encounter them, as your Section Manager and with great respect for their service, here and abroad, whether in the military or protecting us as law enforcement, fire, EMS or as a medical professionals, I hope that the rest of your Summer is filled will good health and enjoyment.

Marv, WA4NC

Mkhoffman2006@gmail.com