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ARRL Maryland-DC Section (MDC) |
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News last updated: Sun, October 18, 2009 at 6:10 PM ET
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Welcome to the Maryland-DC Section News Page |
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*********************** MDC Section News Vol. 4 No. 10 October 16, 2009 *********************** |
IN THIS EDITION:
* SECTION-WIDE ECHOLINK NET TONIGHT
* UPCOMING MDC HAMFEST
* CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: THE ARRL's BILL LEONARD, W2SKE,
PROFESSIONAL MEDIA AWARD
* NEXT YEAR'S MDC QSO PARTY CORRECTION
* MDC QSO PARTY WINNERS
* UPCOMING WEBINAR ON ARRL STUDY ON THE COMMERCIALIZATION OF AMATEUR
RADIO
* UPCOMING WEBINAR ON DESIGNING A NIMS COMPLIANT EXERCISE
* SEPTEMBER ARES REPORT
* SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGER REPORT
* FINALLY...
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==> SECTION-WIDE ECHOLINK NET TONIGHT
Tonight, October 16, being the third Friday of the month, means that there will be another section-wide Echolink net on the WASH_DC node 6154 server hosted by John Creel, WB3GXW. Everyone is invited to check in via Echolink or via RF on a local repeater or ILRP that is linked into the server. The net is a forum to share information about what's going on around the ARRL MDC Section. The following repeaters/ILRP were available during the last net: KA2JAI-R, WB3GXW-R, N3HF-R, N3HF-L, W3SMD-L, W3ICF-R, K3KLC-L, K3CAL-R. If you're local to one of those repeaters/links or have Echolink, please drop by for the net. If you'd like to download the free software and learn more about Echolink, please click: www.echolink.org. |
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==> UPCOMING MDC HAMFEST
Sunday, October 25, 2009 - Mason-Dixon Hamfest sponsored by the Carroll County Amateur Radio Club at the Carroll County Agricultural Center, 700 Agriculture Center Drive, Westminster, Md. For more information, contact: Steve Beckman, N3SB, 2145 Bethel Road, Finksburg, MD 21048 Phone: 410-876-1482, Fax: 410-583-4149, e-mail: n3sb@qis.net. |
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==> CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: THE ARRL's BILL LEONARD, W2SKE,
PROFESSIONAL MEDIA AWARD
Since 1999 when Jeff Holland -- former city editor for "The Enquirer-Journal" in Monroe, North Carolina -- was named the first winner of the Bill Leonard, W2SKE Professional Media Award, there has been only one award given out each year. The award -- honoring the late Bill Leonard, a former president of CBS News -- recognizes a professional journalist whose outstanding coverage best reflects the enjoyment, importance and public service value of the Amateur Radio Service. "At the time, printed newspapers were still a main news source," said ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP. "Now there is the Internet, a host of blogs and news sites, audio and video streaming, cell phone alerts and many more news outlets still in development. The world of media and news reporting has been caught in the rip-currents of technology and it's causing the overnight erosion of old models while creating new opportunities." Pitts remembers when it once was a major accomplishment for an Amateur Radio Public Information Officer (PIO) to get a few column inches in ink. "Now, the same positive PR outcomes can be achieved by placement on community Web sites and inclusion in blogs," he explained. "In the meantime, video capabilities have become available to almost anyone with a cell phone and ever more media outlets are incorporating video clips into their product." The ARRL Public Relations Committee recognized that one award, looking at only one medium, was no longer the best fit to the current realities of PR, and the best way to update the Leonard Award was to solicit input from the very professionals who worked in this new media arena. With a subcommittee of nationally recognized reporters and media managers, they looked not only at the award itself, but also at ways to make it a catalyst for even more coverage of Amateur Radio topics in the future.
Their recommendations were presented to the ARRL Board of
Directors this past July. To address both current and
coming news modalities, the award was split into three
areas: Each of the three categories will have an honorarium of $250 for the best selection within that category, but the PRC can also exercise discretion to withhold an award within a category in any given year based on the quality and content of submissions, Pitts explained. "Many news outlets have strict rules against reporters receiving any cash or other material prizes from outside sources," he said. "What may be a 'prize' to one person could be seen as 'kickback' to another. So the Leonard honorariums will no longer go to the recipients, but rather to Internal Revenue Service 501[c](3) recognized non-profit organizations of the recipients' choosing. The three recipients will still receive personalized plaques. In this way the recipient can donate the $250 to their favorite charity (or even back to the ARRL). This avoids burdening nominated reporters with any ethics issues." Complete information on the Bill Leonard Award, including entry and selection criteria, can be found in the November 2009 issue of QST. |
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==> NEXT YEAR'S MDC QSO PARTY CORRECTION
In the last newsletter, I goofed and had the new host of the MDC QSO Party being the KI3DS Club. It will actually be hosted by the Anne Arundel Radio Club with Bob Rose, AA3RR as the chairman. My apologies for the confusion. |
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==> MDC QSO PARTY WINNERS
Judges from the Cheese Hollow ARS met Monday, September 21, 2009 and determined the official results from the 2009 Antietam Radio Association sponsored MDC QSO Party. The judges, W3SPY, WA3EOP, W3NHR, KZ3AB, and KB3JNJ are pleased to announce the following stations as winners as indicated by category: International Standard Stations - Non QRP (Stations outside Maryland)
1st Place - Wins Plaque Sponsored by NI2W - WB8WKQ Michigan, Final Score - 5504 Regional Winners within this category also winning certificates:
Arkansas - AD5WI Score 265 The following stations having submitted logs will qualify for participation certificates: K4GOP, KK3Q, N3FY, ND4V, WD9HDT, KW9L, KB9FPY, W9RAM, KB9YGD, N5HMH, KB5YEG, KJ8O, N9BU, KA8O, W7KU, NA2X, AC4RF, KB8UEY, W8EOT, N9AUG, KD8HHG, K3TX, W1KDA, WØVX, KB5DLJ, N4CD, W4ZPR, KI4VCT, KC9KIO and K5GBW International QRP Station Winners:
1st Place - Wins Plaque Sponsored by N3III - K9EU Illinois Score 5,370 Regional Winners within this category also receiving certificates:
Illinois - K9EU Score 5,370 The following stations having submitted logs will qualify for participation certificates: VE3HUR, VA3RKM, KB3PXR and N3LJP MDC Clubs and organized group winners:
1st Place - Wins Plaque Sponsored by W3UXZ -
WY3P Carroll County Score 345,386 Other clubs participating with logs: WR3G, W3CWC, WA3NUL and K3LNZ MDC Mobile Station Winners:
First Place - Wins Plaque Sponsored by WA3EOP -
WA3EOP Score 2,230 The following stations having submitted logs will qualify for participation certificates: WI3N, and KK4GV MDC QRP Station Winners:
1st Place - Wins Plaque Sponsored by N3III -
K3NCO Prince George's County Score 3,108 The following stations having submitted logs will qualify for participation certificates: KB3SWU, KB3LMC, W3GTL and WB8YYY MDC VHF-UHF Only Winners:
1st Place - Wins Plaque Sponsored by W3SPY -
KB3SWU QRP Washington County Score 476 The following stations having submitted logs will qualify for participation certificates: KB3RNM, KB3MBU, W3MNH and KB3RLD MDC Single Operator (Standard) Winners:
1st Place - Wins Plaque Sponsored by W3UXZ -
K3TW Prince George's County Score 196,542 The following stations having submitted logs will qualify for participation certificates: WØNQW, N3AEA, W3YVQ, KA3OUT, KB3LMN, W3UXZ, KB8NUF, W3CB, WI3N, N3KUN, K7DLB, W3SPY, KD3O, K2AVA, KB3JNJ, NI2W, W3NHR, N3ZHI and KF3BN. High Scoring ARA Member Winner: The winner of this special plaque available for the last time this year is KD3JK, Bob Long, with his score of 20,451.
The Antietam Radio Association (ARA) ends its final sponsored party with log entries at an all time high. We look forward to the 2010 Fun Contest to be sponsored by the new sponsor, Anne Arundel Radio Club. Certificates will be printed and in the mail hopefully within the next 30 days. Plaques will be awarded Dec 5, 2009 to all winners who decide to attend the ARA Awards and Holiday Banquet at the Mountaingate Family Restaurant, 10530 Buchanan Trail East, Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. The Banquet starts at 5 PM. The dinner will cost $15.65 and includes a buffet, soft drink, dessert tax and gratuity. MDC QSO Party Plaque winners may attend at no charge. Please make your resevations through Karin Christensen (KB3GFV) at her e-mail address: dilbert@wildblue.net. For those who can't attend the ceremony and won plaques, their award will be mailed or UPS Delivery sometime later in December and will probably arrive during the holiday rush. Congrats to all winners and thanks for the memories.
Page Pyne, WA3EOP and John Smith, W3SPY, |
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==> UPCOMING WEBINAR ON ARRL STUDY ON THE COMMERCIALIZATION OF AMATEUR
RADIO
At the July 2009 ARRL Board meeting, the board approved a motion to study the commercialization of amateur radio. The committee made their study and gave their report which was released several weeks ago by the ARRL. ARRL's General Counsel, Chris Imlay W3KD will give this presentation on Wednesday evening, October 28th at 9:00pm To register for this webinar, please use the following URL: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/3267597 60. |
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==> UPCOMING WEBINAR ON DESIGNING A NIMS COMPLIANT EXERCISE
ARRL Director Bill Edgar, N3LLR, hosted a webinar featuring Nick Meacher, N3WWE, giving an overview on designing a National Incident Management System (NIMS) compliant exercise. There will be a repeat overview given on Friday, October 30 from 9 -- 10:30 pm with Nick as the presenter for those who missed the first one. To register, please use the URL below: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/2988225 69. You'll want to sign up early as it is expected that attendance for this webinar will be a 'full house'. See below in the ARES report for additional information on the content and instructor. |
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==> SEPTEMBER ARES® REPORT
AMATEUR RADIO EMERGENCY SERVICE
Total number of ARES members: 663
Number of DECs/ECs reporting this month: 7 Calls of DECs/ECs reporting: KB3ENU, K3UEZ, N3SEO, AJ3X, WB0EGR, N3QHC, and N3SB.
Number of drills, tests and training sessions this month: 20
Number of public service events this month: 5
Number of emergency operations this month: 0
Total number of ARES operations this month: 25 Comments: Maryland-DC Section: September was a busy month for ARES, due to preparations for the SET on October 3. We conducted several HF Communications tests to check out regional propagation characteristics on 75m, 60m, and 40m. These tests are part of the process of establishing an Atlantic Division HF Regional Net frequency. Both 75m and 60m worked well, but 40m tended to be either too long or too noisy depending on the time of day. We used EchoLink to coordinate these tests, which proved to be a good way to handle coordination efforts like this. Thanks go to John WB3GXW for letting us use his WASH_DC EchoLink server for this as well as the SET. In September draft copies of the ICS-205 Maryland-DC ARES Frequency list and the ICS-205T Maryland-DC Contact List were also sent out to all the ECs. These lists are part of our efforts to use NIMS Compliant forms; the lists also improve ARES interoperability between counties, and greatly improve our ability to move ARES members between counties if the need arises. In September we also established regional VHF net frequencies to permit Tactical, Traffic, and Resource communications between counties, and made plans to test these nets as part of the SET in October. A follow-up action is to establish net liaisons between these regional nets, MEPN, and the Atlantic Division HF Net. There will be a repeat of the Webinar "Doing a NIMS Compliant Exercise" on Friday October 30, at 9:00 PM. Here's a description of this Webinar from the Atlantic Division website: "This will explain how to do a NIMS Compliant Exercise. This discussion on the Homeland Security Exercise Evaluation Program (HSEEP) to include how to develop a HSEEP & NIMS compliant exercise. Will include different types of exercises, how to establish good objectives, and other components of exercise design." "Our instructor. Nick Meacher, holds a degree in Emergency Management, is a FEMA certified Master Exercise Practitioner (MEP) and a HSEEP and NIMS Instructor. He has designed, conducted and evaluated numerous exercises including tabletops, drills and full scale exercises. He has over 25 years experience as a responder, both in law enforcement and as a paramedic. He is a member of the National Capital Region Incident Management Team." You may sign up for this Webinar by visiting www.atldiv.org/training.htm.
I'm looking for someone to take the lead in evaluating new Digital Communications Modes, to explore, test, and recommend Sound Card based Digital Communications Modes for the Maryland-DC Section. I'm also looking for someone to head a project to establish a high-speed digital communications backbone in the MDC Section, and then extend it into adjacent Sections. If you're interested in any of these positions, please let me know.
BaCo ACS web site went live on September 20, 2009. The site's URL is bacoacs.info.
Due to availability of equipment D-Star repeater testing will be
delayed until November. The coordinated frequencies are as follows: The last Sunday of the month net will begin on 145.330 (-). Following announcements and training the net will switch to a D-Star simplex net using the assigned input of the repeater 145.140. BaCo ACS is continuing to test and rollout MT63 and Tone63. We will begin testing of WINLINK during the first quarter of 2010.
On September 15, 2009, the D-STAR 440 MHz and 1200 MHz repeaters were brought online. Testing is currently being performed on both systems. Unfortunately only one of the repeaters can be on the air at any given time. The temporary callsign for the HCACS D-STAR repeater system is WA3SFJ. The frequencies are 447.9875 MHz with a -5.00 MHz offset, and 1282.300 MHz with a -12.0 MHz offset. As soon as a coordinated frequency pair for two meters is obtained, then the D-STAR 144 MHz repeater will go online. The D-STAR repeater system was purchased by the Harford County Division of Emergency Operations with grant monies from the US Department of Homeland Securities for use by the radio amateur community in and around Harford County for the benefit of the community during times of normal communication systems disruptions. If anyone has questions regarding the programming protocol for the HCACS D-STAR repeater system, please contact WBØEGR at wbØegr@mdraces.org.
Signature: Steve Beckman |
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==> SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGER REPORT
MDC NTS NETS:
MEPN 0909 W3YVQ QND/30 QNI/342 QTC/80 MINS/820 PSHR: KK3F 140, W3YVQ 135, AA3SB 100, WB4FDT 100, W3CB 98, K3IN 90, KB3LNM 90, N3ZOC 90, KB3MXM 80, KB3LFG 71; TFC: KK3F 1805, WB4FDT 167, AA3SB 161, W3YVQ 128, KB3LNM 95, K3IN 78, N3ZOC 55, W3CB 45, KB3MXM 44, KA3KID 24, KB3LFG 20, KC3Y 4.
============================================ The MEPN, MDD and BTN NTS nets have added joint meetings on Echolink to assign and dispatch traffic via WL2K on Tuesdays, 7:20 PM, on the WASH DC conference bridge. All operators are asked to install and check out their Echolink, AirMail and/or Paclink applications where possible if not done so already. Days, times and Echolink bridge will be announced on the nets for additional sessions as needed. ECs: If you have not already done so, please forward to W3YVQ the call sign of a station on WL2K who can check daily for mail containing NTS traffic for your jurisdiction.
============================================ MSN (3563 kHz 1930L, daily, W8CPG) is the slow speed CW traffic handling and net-operating training net.
Daily liaisons from all jurisdictions are needed on our Section
nets:
MANUAL NET OPERATIONS
DIGITAL OPERATIONS
--- NTS/NTSD radiogram messaging is handled via authorized Section stations and liaisons per specified routing. Single and multiple welfare and agency radiograms may be sent via Batch Files to the designated NTSD representatives on winlink.org (contact the STM). All radiograms sent via email or WL2K must contain a request to confirm receipt of the message(s), using an HXC in the subject line, prompting a reply message from the recipient of the email to confirm receipt. See the Batch File format in the WL2K/AirMail tutorial in General Information on the SM×s web page. See the NTS NETS, MDC ERP Summary, individual net tabs, and the WL2K tutorials (general information topics) at the Section Manager×s web page. Note the changes to the CMS in the Winlink 2000 telnet server addresses: www.arrl-mdc.net Please remember the deadline for net reports to any NM is 48 hours after the session run. Net, SAR and PSHR reports to the STM are due no later than the 6th of the following month.
Thank you. Thanks to all for your continued support of integrated ARES® and NTS/NTSD operations.
73, W3YVQ, MDC STM |
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==> FINALLY...
This weekend is Jamboree On The Air (JOTA) and I know that there are a number of you out there that are working with local scout troops (Boy, Girl or Venture Crew) to get them on the air. If you're working with the scouts this weekend or at a camporee next weekend, please write up a paragraph or so on what you did so that we can compile them and let folks know what is being done to introduce our future ham population to Amateur Radio.
To read this newsletter in a different format (with color), for contact information for Section Staff and for Section Alerts, please go to: arrl.org/sections/MDC.html.
73, |
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The MDC Section News is published monthly, 12 times each
year, by James E Cross, III, WI3N, ARRL Maryland-DC
Section Manager, 16013 Dorset Rd, Laurel, MD 20707; tel
301-725-6829; e-mail WI3N@ARRL.ORG.
The MDC Section News offers a monthly e-mail digest of essential and general news of interest to amateur radio operators.
Visit the MDC Section web page, www.arrl-mdc.net, and the ARRL MDC Section News and Alerts web page, www.arrl.org/sections/MDC.html, for the latest MDC Section news, links and updates.
Material from the MDC Section News may be republished
or reproduced, in whole or in part in any form, without
additional permission. Credit must be given to the
MDC Section News or the original author of submission.
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Responsibility for content of all posted material above rests
exclusively with the item author. ARRL staff assumes no responsibility
for errors, omissions, and accuracy of items appearing on this page. All
questions and comments should be directed to the item author.