ARRL Club News for February 2007

ARRL Club Newsletter
February 7, 2007
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Norm Fusaro, W3IZ, Editor

IN THIS ISSUE:
+Craig's List
+Midnight Madness
+Special Event
+Cool First Contact Award
+Mentor Checklist
+Training Aids
+Field Day Recipes Wanted
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Note that there will be a SPECIAL EDITION of the ARRL Club News on
February 21

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Have you heard of Craig's List?  
Craigslist -- www.craigslist.com -- features free classified
advertisements and forums sorted by various topics.  The pages of
this centralized network of online communities are viewed over 5
billion times per month, making Craigslist the 8th most viewed
website in America.
If you are looking to reach people in your town and tell them about
your club and ham radio then craigslist is a great way to reach
hundreds or thousands of potential hams in your community.  
The network may be global but the lists are local. Think of
Craigslist as a virtual supermarket bulletin board where people can
post items of interest for the neighborhood to view.  All kinds of
organizations and clubs currently use the list to announce meetings,
classes and other activities. 
Include a link to www.arrl.org so that people outside of your locale
who may be reading your message  can get more information about ham
radio.
We would love to hear from clubs who have already used Craigslist. 
Send your feedback to clubs@arrl.org and include Craigslist in the
subject line.
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Midnight Madness

The Report & Order pertaining to the removal of the Morse testing
requirement for Amateur Radio licensing has been printed in the
Federal Register, and on February 23, 2007 at 12:01 AM Eastern
Standard Time, testing for Morse code will no longer be required for
any Amateur Radio license.  

Many clubs are preparing to have a team of Volunteer Examiners ready
to administer a paperwork upgrade session at 12:01 AM EST so those
hams who are ready can upgrade their licenses and immediately take
advantage of their new privileges.
There are many hams who have anticipated this day and are holding a
Certificate of Successful Completion for General and/or Extra class
written exam credit.

License upgrades are not automatic for those holding a CSCE.  The
only thing now for these eager operators to do is take their CSCE to
a Volunteer Examination Session on or after February 23, 2007 and
have the paperwork processed so they can upgrade and receive a new
CSCE allowing them new operating privileges.  

Under the new regulations Technicians will receive CW privileges on
80, 40 and 15 meters and CW, RTTY and SSB privileges on 10 meters. 
These privileges for Technicians will be automatic and no paperwork
will need to be submitted.

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Special Event

This is a historic event in Amateur Radio and clubs will want to open
the club station or activate the club callsign to allow these new
hams to make their first contact on the HF bands.  

W1AW will be on the air beginning 12:01 AM February 23 making
available the opportunity for a new General, or any ham, to contact
the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station in Newington, Connecticut. 
How exciting is that?  

W1AW will be active throughout the weekend in the General bands and
the Technician portion of the 10 meter band.  The station is expected
to be on the air during the day when band conditions and peak
activity can be expected.

Suggested SSB frequencies are:

160m		1855 kHz
80m		3990 kHz
40m		7290 kHz 
20m		14290 kHz
17m		18160 kHz
15m		21390 kHz
10m		28480 kHz


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Cool First Contact Award

What better way to commemorate a ham's first QSO than with a First
Contact Certificate?  If you make a contact with a ham and he/she
tells you that you are his or her first contact, then send them a
certificate.  Send a certificate for a first contact on HF.  ARRL
always has First Contact Certificates available to anyone requesting
them. See http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/award/certificate/.  
Include your mailing address when sending your request to
clubs@arrl.org  

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Elmer's Corner

Check List for a Quality Club Mentor Program

Here is a check list to help your club prepare to assist new hams. 
Use these suggestions to develop your mentor program.
http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/club/mentor/check-list.html

Multi Media Library

The ARRL Multi Media Library www.arrl.org/multimedia has lots of
PowerPoint presentations that can be used to introduce hams to many
operating modes.  Some of these programs include downloadable
document files that can be printed and distributed as part of a
training session or presentation.

These files are free to download and include many topics such as:
Introduction to HF operating, DXing, contesting, HF mobile and many
others.  Some of the authors include Ward Silver, N0AX; Dean Straw,
N6BV; Mark Spencer, WA8SME; Steve Ford, WB8IMY.

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Send Us Your Best Field Day Recipes!
 
The League wants the best of your culinary art, those recipes
designed to please the most discriminating Field Day palates. After
all, Field Day is a social event for many clubs and nothing goes
better with friends than food.
 
If we receive a sufficient number of qualifying entries, we will
publish the best of the best on the ARRLWeb and possibly in QST.
 
Here are the rules:
 
--The recipe must be reproducible with ordinary outdoor equipment.
Most Field Day sites have a charcoal grill or fire pit, at best. It's
safe to assume that a gourmet chef's kitchen will not be available.
 
--If the food is designed to be prepared in advance, it must be an
item that can be stored for at least 48 hours without refrigeration.
You don't want Charlie's Egg Salad turning into Charlie's Salmonella
Surprise.
 
--The recipe ingredients must be obtainable at an ordinary grocery.
Pureed snail's tongue, for example, may be difficult for some
amateurs to locate.
 
--The recipe must be original. In other words, don't steal it from
Betty Crocker and call it your own.
 
--The recipe must include a complete list of ingredients, the amounts
of each and instructions on how to cook the dish into something a
human being would consider edible.
 
E-mail your recipes to Steve Ford, WB8IMY, QST Editor, at
sford@arrl.org no later than February 16. Include the name and call
sign of the chef, along with the name and location of your club. If
you have a photo of the finished product, the chef or both, send
them, too!
  
ARRL Affiliation Milestones for February 2007


-25 Years-

*W1
VT    	Green Mountain Wireless Society	  W1GMW

*W4
AL    	Shelby County ARC	          W4SHL
SC    	Grand Strand ARC	          W4GS
VA    	Rappahannock ARA

*W5
NM    	Albuquerque ARC	                  N5VA

*W7
AZ    	Cochise Amateur Radio ASSN	  K7RDG

*W8
OH    	Highland ARA	                  K8HO

*W0
MN    	Hiawatha Valley ARC	          KC0LXN
MO    	Joplin ARC	                  W0IN

=============================================================================
The ARRL Club News is published on the first Wednesday of each month by
the American Radio Relay League--The National Association For Amateur
Radio--225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111; tel 860-594-0200; fax
860-594-0259; www.arrl.org. Joel Harrison, W5ZN, President.

The ARRL Club News is an e-mail digest of news and information of
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Editorial questions or comments: Norm Fusaro, W3IZ, clubs@arrl.org
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