 December 19, 2023 Editor: Michael Walters, W8ZY | |
Happy Holidays from ARRL The holidays are upon us, and now is the time to celebrate the joy and festive nature of the season. How ever you and your family spend this time of year, it's a time to remember friends and family. Enjoy the celebrations and spend time with friends, on the air and in person. Many clubs are holding their holiday gatherings and some are participating in on-air programs. Check out a repeater that you've never tried and make a contact on a mode that is new to you! Happy Holidays from us all at ARRL and Club News. Clubs Give Kids a Chance to Speak with Santa via Ham Radio Clubs around the country are hosting special events and sharing the magic of the season with amateur radio by connecting kids with the big guy on the air. I remember UHF Simplex Net in Puerto Rico The Bayman Radio Club, KP4NM, in Sabana Seca, Puerto Rico, has been conducting a weekly FM simplex net since May 2023. The net is run at 439.000 MHz, on our local simplex sub-band option, every Wednesday night at 8:00 PM AST (Thursday 0000 UTC). It's main purpose is to maintain a regular simplex presence on the 70-centimeter band by getting to know our simplex neighbors. At the same time, it provides an opportunity to determine a station's capabilities in a line-of-sight ground-wave propagation environment. The testing of upgraded antennas, radio equipment, and coaxial cables are done on a regular basis with reliable reports from the stations. This also serves as emergency communications and disaster preparedness when repeaters and regular communications fail, like in the 2017 Hurricanes Irma and Maria, and the 2019-2020 series of earthquakes here in Puerto Rico. After reporting the stations and listening to traffic, net control provides technical capsules of topics related to the 70-centmeter band. Upon closing, the stations are encouraged to stay in the frequency to chat or check their coverage area for future reference. Special Event Station Celebrates Iowa Statehood Connect with the Battleship IOWA Amateur Updating Club Information Each year, we ask all ARRL Affiliated Clubs to update their listing on the Find-A-Club application of the ARRL website. That information may only be updated by a currently listed club officer. If the listing is out of date and no officer is available to update it, contact clubs@arrl.org and ask to have the club's contact updated. There is now a new link on each club listing page, called Club Update Help, which provides instructions on how to update the club information. There are a couple of reminders: 1. Only club Officers or contacts may change the information. 2. You must be logged into the ARRL website as a member to make any updates. 3. Remember to hit the submit button at the bottom of the page. Updates make it possible to keep listings for clubs up to date and help new members find your club. Write for Club Station Clubs are the backbone of the amateur radio community. Whether your part of a special interest or general club, its members are the community that you serve. In the same way that every ham is different, each club is also different -- not every club will offer the same programs and projects to their member community. QST's newest column, "Club Station," is a space for clubs to share their practical ideas about what has helped lead them to their success. If your club has developed a creative way to get around common challenges, we want to hear from you! If you are interested in writing for "Club Station," please follow the author guidelines that are tailored to this column. Additionally, you will find a Club Profile Form at the end of the author guidelines, which must be filled out and included with your submission. If this form is missing, your submission will not be considered complete. Club Station Author Guidelines and Profile Form Submitting Info for this Newsletter ARRL Club News is for radio clubs to show how they are working in the community and the hobby to advance amateur radio. If your club completes a project, supports an event, does an EmComm activation, or activates a park, we want to hear about it. You can submit your newsletter article to us at clubs@arrl.org. We like to get them as text or Word files instead of PDFs. If you have pictures, please submit them with caption information, as well as the name and call sign of the photographer. We want to highlight the good work being done by the clubs and show others in the community. Think of this as a chance to show off your club and your programs. How to Plan and Apply for an ARRL Hamfest or Convention If your amateur radio club is planning to host a convention, hamfest, tailgate, or swapfest, please consider applying for it to be an ARRL-sanctioned event. To learn what it means to be an ARRL-sanctioned event, and to get some ideas on how to prepare for and conduct a hamfest or convention, visit www.arrl.org/arrl-sanctioned-events. To have your event sanctioned, complete the online application at www.arrl.org/hamfest-convention-application. The ARRL Hamfests and Conventions Calendar can be found online at www.arrl.org/hamfests. In addition, the Convention and Hamfest Calendar that runs in QST each month also presents information about upcoming events. Important Links ARRL Home: www.arrl.org Find an ARRL Affiliated Club: www.arrl.org/clubs Find your ARRL Section: www.arrl.org/sections Find a license class in your area: www.arrl.org/class Find a license exam in your area: www.arrl.org/exam Find a hamfest or convention: www.arrl.org/hamfests Email ARRL Clubs: clubs@arrl.org | |
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walking into a hospital ward with an HT back in the 70s to allow kids to speak with Santa. Whether it's through a public event, a special event station, or from your own shack, ham radio can make the thrill of sharing a kid's Christmas list possible. Local nets on VHF, UHF, or even larger HF nets, can make it fun. Share the magic of ham radio and Santa Claus with your children, grandchildren, and neighborhood kids. The Santa Net is held every evening between Thanksgiving and Christmas on 3.916 MHz at 7:00 PM Central Time (check-in opens 30 minutes before)..jpg)
Originating from the town of Toa Alta, the net covers an area of approximately 15 miles, depending on weather, band conditions, and the topography between the stations..jpg)
Radio Association (BIARA), NI6BB, on the air to commemorate the 177th anniversary of Iowa statehood. This celebration is an annual activity of NI6BB. Remembering the heritage of Battleship USS Iowa, as well as celebrating the yearly milestone for the state, offers a unique opportunity to operate. Operations are expected to be from 1700 to 2400 UTC on 12/28/23. Modes will be determined by a BIARA operator. Complete information can be found at the club's website (
