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News last updated: Mon, June 16, 2008 at 10:34 AM ET
Late Addition(6/17/08): Just a quick reminder, the new test for the Extra Class License goes into effect on July 1st. If you have been studying the old manual/question pool, try to get the test taken before July 1, 2008!!
Also, if you or your club has been involved in serving your community in flood or tornado service, will you please let me know - n0jl@arrl.org This has been an exceedingly tough spring for many communities. I was in Iowa City this past Saturday, June 7th, and had the opportunity to monitor their net as well as the net in Cedar Rapids. Both groups are doing fine jobs!!
June Report: CQ Iowa! Since the bands have been up and down, noisy one day and quiet the next, I have been pursing a special amateur radio interest - cw using straight keys. I have four different straight keys all paralleled so I can switch at will. The Straight Key Century Club (SKCC) has an award for working 100 members and I just completed number 97! While that hasn't been my usual mode of operating, I'm having an absolute ball. My "flame-proof" is probably my favorite straight key and the one I get the most compliments on but all of them are fun. I'm now playing with a "cootie" key and quite honestly, it's a real challenge. Even copying the code on the cootie key net is different and I have to listen twice as hard. What's the point of all of this? I don't know but I'm having a ball. Maybe there is a point...this is something fairly new in my amateur radio experience. I've operated cw for a long time but this is expanding on something I really like. I would encourage you to explore that area you've always wondered about....digital modes, vhf, weak signal work, uhf, hunting counties, qrp, working all states, chasing dx, homebrewing, passing traffic, EME, satellite operating, PSK31 or any of the 100s of interesting opportunities. Explore your hobby! You'll have a magnificent time!!
I recently ran across the current numbers of amateur radio license holders we have in the Iowa Section. The numbers don't look too bad and when one sees the number of Generals and Extras, one get encouraged. In looking at the number hold Tech and Tech plus, we see the possibility of a continued bright future for amateur radio in the state...particularly if we take action and encourage them to become Generals and Extras. It's been fascinating to see the number of formerly no code amateurs take up the key. I recall on Cedar Rapids ham announcing when he became a 5wpm Extra that he was an "Extra Lite." Interestingly, the last time I checked, that "Extra Lite" had worked over 90 countries on his was to achieving an all cw DXCC!! Is it for everybody? Is satellite operation or rtty or moonbounce for everybody? Certainly not but cw is the one big tradition that has separated amateur radio from the other services. It's the part of our hobby that seems to attract the kids.
Total 6575 Novice 252 Tech 2385 Tech Plus 218 General 1561 Advanced 851 Extra 1212 Club 96
Are you interested in VHF...Six, Two, FourThirtyTWo (70CM) and all the way up to light.... The weekend of June 14th-16th is the ARRL's June VHF Contest. While the word "Contest" puts images of fear into some, contesting on VHF is quite different. The people there aren't hesitant about saying hello, taking the time to wish the other station good luck. They'll often ask "Do you have any other bands?" so it is great not only for the contesters but for people hunting new states and new grid squares. VHF work also offers some of the most interesting opportunities to observe some very unique propagation. If the station is too weak to copy, it is generally a matter of patience and waiting for the band to come even a little. Of course it can go the other way, too, but generally the patience pays off. The contest is a great time to become acquainted with the VHFers in your area. Like the new digital modes? Here's a good place to get your feet wet. There 12 grid squares in Iowa (some of which just touch Iowa). You can start on your road to VUCC - see: http://www.arrl.org/awards/vucc/ For more information and rules of the June ARRL VHF contest go to: http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2008/june-vhf.html
The ARRL Foundation has released its list of Scholarship winners which includes one Iowan. Graham Sawyer, KC0YGT, has been awarded The Bill Salerno, W2ONV, Memorial Scholarship for $1000. A big round of applause and the congratulations of the Iowa section go to Graham!! Way to go...We're proud of you!!
CQ Field Day CQ Field Day - I would like to wish everyone a very successful Field Day. Those 100 point bonus points can really beef up a score so remember to get the Field Day bulletin among all of the other opportunities. Another one to remember is creating good publicity about your FD operation. If you need help, just look in the column to the right for Grant Olsen's contact information. He's our Iowa Section Public Information Coordinator. In addition to the tremendous amount of fun, take time to give serious thought to what you would do under extreme emergency conditions. I say this especially in view of all of the weather related disasters we've seen this year! When you work a fellow Iowan, be sure to give him/her a special good luck wish!! When Field Day is over, please send me your club's score, who the operators were, a little information about the setup, and any highlights that will make this a memorable Field Day. You can send them to my email: n0jl@arrl.org Incidentally, we just received a report telling of the Field Day preparations being done by the Muscatine ARC.
Congratulations to Don Price, KC0MTF, on completing the first Emergency Communications Course. Before taking any of the emergency communications courses, one tends to think..."Hey, we grab the HT and meet on the repeater." The courses bring up concepts and needs that one wouldn't give a thought to. You learn to think about emergency situations in lots of new ways and the courses really open your eyes in ways that will make you far more effective and useful in an emergency situation. Does it have all the answers? Probably not but you'll know when and how to make the most of the help you render to each situation!!! I have taken all three courses and now have a much broader view of emergency communication, incident command, and a better plan of organization for handling emergencies. Again congrats, Don! Keep right on going!!
From Bill Hart, W0NBP - Morse Code Returning to MARS Toolbox: After more than a dozen years, Morse code will soon be returning to Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) nets. In the mid-1990s, the Department of Defense (DoD) did away with CW operation across the board -- including MARS nets -- as automatic systems such as the Internet, SATCOM, cell phones and e-mail became available and the payroll cost of manual operators escalated. Army MARS launched a limited test of CW nets in four Midwestern states in late 2007. During a DoD interoperability test this past March, a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) station used it to communicate with Fort Huachuca. In announcing the return of CW to MARS nets, Navy-Marine Corps MARS Chief Bo Lindfors cited an emergency where CW was sorely missed: "I remember the [1998] Northeast Ice Storm shortly after I became [Navy-Marine Corps MARS] Chief and the unnecessarily lengthy effort by all of southern New England to receive one voice EEI [Essential Elements of Information Report] from a northern New England member whose antenna was covered in ice and lying on the ground. It took more than an hour when CW could have handled it in a few minutes. As more and more of our members enter MARS with no Morse code experience, I am afraid that we will soon lose that skill set if we don't do something." Army MARS Chief Carter said the imminent return of CW will not replace modes such as WinLink, Pactor 3 and MT63. "Our CW nets will focus on maintenance of skills and will necessarily be limited by the shortage of available frequencies and trained members," he said. "But if members want to add CW to their skills, the nets will be available for training."
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