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ARRL South Carolina Section (SC)Section Manager
James F. Boehner, N2ZZ 525 Barnwell Ave Nw Aiken, SC 29801-3939 803-649-7535 n2zz@arrl.org |
Section Links
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South Carolina Section News Summary
Greetings to all Amateur Radio Operators. This is Dr. Jim, N2ZZ with
the November 2009 South Carolina Section Manager's Report! Please
remember that the SC Section website can be found at: www.arrl-sc.org/
where my full SM report will be listed as well as up-to-the-date
information on Amateur Radio in South Carolina!
I am very proud to announce that I won the election for Vice Director
of the Roanoke Division, and will begin my new term of office on
January 1st, 2010 for three years. I was notified by ARRL President
Joel Harrison W5ZN on Friday November 20th that I won the election with
1692 votes to my opponent's 1496 votes. This was a close election! My
opponent Hal Turley W8HC of West Virginia sent me a congratulatory
e-mail after the results were known, which I greatly appreciated.
This will mean that I will have to leave my position as SC Section Manager to
serve on the ARRL Board of Directors. I do have someone from the ARRL-SC team
to recommend and who has accepted the position if offered. The ARRL
Membership and Volunteer Programs Manager, in consultation with the Division
Director, has the authority to make the appointment. When this is official,
I will announce the individual who will finish out my term as Section
Manager! I certainly will not be going away-I still plan to be available and
attend most, if not all, of the SC hamfests! It has been my long term goal
to serve on the ARRL Board of Directors, as I know I will have a more direct
role in shaping Amateur Radio in the future! Thanks to EVERYONE for your
support for my tenure as Section Manager, and as future Vice Director of the
Roanoke Division! The ARRL News
story is here: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/11/20/11212/?nc=1
Our next hamfest will be the ARRL South Carolina State Convention on
February 6th, The Charleston Hamfest and Computer Show! This is
traditionally a very well attended hamfest, so I hope to see everyone there!
This will be held at the same location as the last several years, the
Exchange Park Fairground, 9850 Highway 78, Ladson, SC., Exit 203 off of I-26,
College Park Road. At present, the ARRL Forum is scheduled to be held at 10
am. For further information, please visit the CARS website:
http://www.wa4usn.org/hamfestm.htm ! Additionally, I have received notice
that the Upstate Hamfest, to be held on May 1st in Spartanburg, is pending
ARRL Executive Committee approval to be the ARRL South Carolina Section
Convention this coming year! Further information can be found at
http://www.upstatehamfest.org/ (when
updated).
I would like to welcome a new member of the ARRL-SC team! Katie
Besley KI4LSZ has been appointed SC Assistant Section Manager-Youth. Katie
just earned her General Class license about a week ago, and had a great time
in the ARRL SSB Sweepstakes! She found that being a YL in a contest is a big
advantage! Katie is a Junior at Aiken High School. She has been licensed and
an ARRL member for four years and has an interest in getting other young
people involved in the hobby. She has served as Net Control Operator for the
South Carolina ARES Statewide Emergency Net, and frequently introduces ham
radio to Junior High students at a local school, demonstrating several
different analog and digital modes. She likes to work HF radio with her dad
(K4NJN, ASM6) and is currently working on her WAS award. Katie shares her
passion for amateur radio with her participation on the Varsity Softball Team
and as a Lead in the local Cotillion program. Her future plans include
studying Communications at the University of South Carolina upon graduation
from High School in June 2011. Katie, Congratulations!
Congratulations to the York County Contesters! Their group finished
first in South Carolina in the 2009 CQWW 160m SSB contest. They were also #2
in the 4th call area, #10 in the USA, and #12 in North America! Way to go!
For those interested in Amateur Radio Folklore, I just received this
link from Don, W8QKO: http://www.ac6v.com/73.htm#ba . Enjoy!
Information from Paul Judson K4IRT: The ARRL's VHF/UHF Advisory
Committee has been directed to review VHF Contest Rule 1.12 that states
"Above 300 GHz, contacts are permitted for contest credit only between
licensed amateurs using coherent radiation on transmission (for example,
laser) and employing at least one stage of electronic detection on receive"
to determine if the rule should be modified to make it clearer as to the
meaning of coherence. The VUAC is interested in your opinion and any
suggestions that you may have. The VUAC has also been asked to consider the
establishment of new awards for operating achievements on VHF and UHF
frequencies. Suggestions/input
from all participants is welcome. Please forward your comments to your
Roanoke Division VUAC representative, Paul Judson/K4IRT at
K4IRT@Earthlink.net.
Last month I reported on several developments regarding FCC Rule
97.113 regarding communications on behalf of an employer. 97.113 has
recently been clarified by the FCC as prohibiting communications "on or off
the clock" by employees. This has caused major difficulties in
exercises/training of individuals that are employed by organizations that
they would represent in these exercises. I would like to call everyone's
attention to "Appropriate Use: Guidelines and Waivers" by David Sumner K1ZZ,
ARRL CEO, December 2009 QST, Page 9. In his last paragraph, he indicates "We
understand there are petitions for rulemaking being drafted to address
perceived shortcomings in the existing rules. The ARRL board has taken no
position on possible rule changes, but the subject is likely to occupy the
Board's attention between now and its January 2010 meeting. As always, your
own Division Director (see page 15) will be interested in your thoughts." As
I mentioned last month, "I think the best we can hope for is a very narrow
exception to be added to 97.113 to allow for these drills and training.
Reviewing the RACES rules in part 97, I note that time limits are imposed on
drills, which was the safeguard against governmental agencies using amateur
radio for their own routine communications. That section of part 97 has
withstood the test of time." I encourage everyone who would like to weigh
in on this issue to send an e-mail to our Division Director Dennis Bodson
w4pwf@arrl.org and myself n2zz@arrl.org as we will be representing you at the
ARRL Board Meeting in January!
If you have a amateur radio news item that you feel would be of interest to
hams state-wide, please send it to me at n2zz@arrl.org . I request that it
be in a format where I can cut-and-paste the item without having to do
significant editing. In this format, I can easily add the information to the
www.arrl-sc.org webpage as well! That's it for November! See you next Month!
October 2009 National Traffic System Report for South Carolina by N4MEH, STM:
Net Reports; Net/Check Ins/Traffic/Sessions/Reported By:
Anderson Radio Club 2M Net /1002/30/31/ND2Z; Beaufort VHF ARES Net/56/6/5/
KB1CTC; Blue Ridge Amateur Radio Net /2624/88/31/K4SUG; Carolina State Line
Net/30/0/4/W8SC; Grand Strand ARC 2M Net/113/11/10/KI4HEE; Greater Pee Dee 2
Meter Net/868/51/31/K4DTT; Greenwood ARC 2 Meter Net/151/5/5/W4DEW; Kershaw
ARC 2 Meter Net /51/4/4/KF4UKC; Lancaster County 2 Meter Net/62/3/11/N4WMB;
Low Country ARES Net/38/1/4/KE4RVF; PALS Net /1321/77/31/KJ4BVM;
SC SSB Net/2208/162/31/W4DDK; SC State ARES Net/269/4/4/KE4RVF;
York Co. ARS 2 Meter FM Net/778/7/53/KG4CDF; Station Activity Reports,
Station, Total: N4MEH 60, W4DDK 41. Public Service Honor Roll, Station/Total:
N4MEH 90, W4KLB 100. Have a Great Month!! 73 de Dr. Jim N2ZZ