NORTH CAROLINA SECTION NEWS - September 2011
Posted Sep 30, 2011
FALL IS HERE - Finally some cooler temperatures and more Ham activities across the state. Take advantage of all that is out there throughout North Carolina
PUBLIC SERVICE - Oct. 1 - Crop Walk Against Hunger, Burlington; Oct.
8 - Lung Strong 5K/15K, Cornelius. More info
JOTA - The 54th annual Jamboree On The Air (JOTA) will be 8 PM local
Friday, October 14 through 8 PM Sunday, October 16. JOTA is officially
the largest event in Scouting because it is an international event which
includes Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, Scout alumni, leaders past
and present, families, or in other words, anyone with an interest in
Scouting. Over the weekend, 500,000 people are expected to get on the
air worldwide. Across North Carolina, many clubs work with Boy Scout
and Girl Scout troops and Cub Scout packs to offer badge related
activities, such as the Radio Merit badge. Thanks to groups in
Wilkesboro, Shelby, Forest City and Charlotte which will be among the
many that will have formal programs for Scouts that weekend. Suggested
HF frequencies and activities as well as full descriptions of JOTA can
be found at
ARES - A reminder that there will be no Simulated Emergency Test (SET) exercise in North Carolina on October 1st, which ARRL has as a suggested date. Many states and sections around us will conduct SETs that day, but ours will be later with a date to be announced after the new state Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Raleigh opens. Many operators gained real life experience emergency communications with Hurricane Irene in late August. Preliminary reports from FEMA and North Carolina Emergency Management (NCEM) show much praise for ARES overall and for the Incident Command Structure (ICS) certified operators who were deployed to the Eastern Branch Regional Coordination Center (RCC) in Kinston. They provided emergency communications between the RCC and impacted areas along the coast.
MEDIA HITS - WCNC-TV in Charlotte had a report about post Hurricane
Irene ARES communications. Our State Government Liaison (SGL) Dr. Bob
Conder, K4RLC, was a guest on WCOM-FM in Chapel Hill talking about
Amateur Radio in disaster related communications. The Gaston Gazette
ran a front page story about the Shelby Hamfest and its positive
economic impact on the area. Finally, Gary Pearce, KN4AQ, of Cary has
been a frequent guest host for regular host Bob Heil on Ham Nation, the
excellent web TV show carried on Twit.tv. You can catch Gary or any of
the past 19 episodes at
PORTABLE OPERATING TIP - Whether it's EmCOMM or a DXpedition to the
Outer Banks or the mountains, those who operate portable know that
generators which rely on gasoline can run rough if the fuel sits in the
tank for a while. Many thanks to Champ Cox, K2IUN, from Hertford for
the tip on converting your generator to run on propane. It can take
some tinkering to get the right amount of vacuum to feed the fuel
intake, but Hams who have converted their gasoline generators to
propane report not only long and reliable run times, but also more
frequency stabilization with 60 Hz AC output. Good tutorial
information at
SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS - Oct. 8 - 229th Anniversary of the Battle
of King's Mountain, NA4CC, Shelby. More info at
HAMFESTS - Sat. Oct 8, Winston-Salem October Swapfest, 7 AM-12 Noon, Summit School Athletic Center, 2100 Reynolda Road, Winston-Salem, Talk-In 146.64 (PL 100.0); Sun. Oct. 9, Maysville Hamfest, Rte. 17, Maysville, Talk-In 145.31 (PL 82.5)
LICENSING CLASSES - This is a new category, thanks to expansion of
ARRL's website. Oct 1, Cary, Technician. More info at
NTS REPORTS - August, 2011. QNI (Net Stations Check-In) 3739 (up 505 or 16%). Messages passed 742 (up 238 or 47%) Note - much of this increase due to Hurricane Irene. Many thanks to dedicated NTS operators for handling this traffic. STATION ACTIVITY REPORTS (SARs) K4IWW 477, WK4P 240, W4DNA 219, W2EAG 173, KC4PGN 86, W3HL 84, W4TTO 63, K4JUU 53, KA4IZN 45, KE4AHC 41, WB4Y 22, KD4SM 10, N2RTF 4. PUBLIC SERVICE HONOR ROLL (PSHR) WK4P 310, W4DNA 175, K4JUU 170, KA4IZN 155, W4TTO 140, K4IWW 130, KD4SM 110, W2EAG 110, KG4GPJ 104, N2RTF 29.
LAST WORD - If you're tired of heat, humidity and rain, raise your hand. What a year it's been. That's why Fall is so popular because we can get out of the shack and run portable. Outdoor Hamming is a lot of fun and actually my preferred way of operating. Enjoy the sunshine, cooler temperatures and fresh air. More next month.
73 de Bill Morine N2COP ARRL North Carolina Section Manager
Follow the North Carolina section at its website at