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ARRL Western Pennsylvania Section (WPA) |
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The last scheduled ARRL sanctioned hamfest is behind us and looks like we have
to wait till February 2010 before the next one. I guess with the holidays
approaching we will have a lot of time to make up our wish lists for the New
Year. I know I am hoping for some sunspots to assist in propagation. While
there has been some nice DX openings I am sure we all agree that conditions
have been far from favorable. Hopefully the next few months will see a change
in that area. The PA QSO Party was an indication of just how strange
propagation can be. I worked more sections during the first part of the
contest than I did counties. I only missed three for the sweep and sad to
say one was in WPA.
Effective November 1 Larry Keller AB3ER accepted the position of Section
Emergency Coordinator. I am grateful to Larry for accepting this position and
to John Szwarc for his service these past years. Larry can be reached at
ab3er@arrl.net. We still need volunteers to help in the following areas:
Section Traffic Manager Allegheny county EC , Cameron County EC, Clinton
County EC and Somerset County EC. There is also a need for a Public
Information Coordinator for the section. With over a thousand members in the
section we need volunteers to step up and fill these vacancies so that
services do not have to be reduced or eliminated. The traffic and ARES
programs are an important aspect of ham radio and to be honest I can not
manage these areas alone. I need you to come forward and lend a hand. All
ARES activity is under the direct control of Larry and his assistant Harry
Bloomberg. For ARES issues please contact Larry or harry and for other areas
contact me at n3mse@arrl.org.
The latest edition of QST listed the 2009 Field Day results. I was quite
pleased to see that 51 separate entities submitted scores here in WPA. Many
of these scores were quite high in their respective categories. Congrats to
the clubs and I am sure most importantly everyone had fun.
On October 31 the Simulated Emergency Test was conducted in WPA.
Unfortunately I was out of town due to two deaths in the family. I received
numerous traffic messages upon my return and received a great many
compliments on the way the SET operated. Thank you to all who participated. I
want to remind all county EC and DEC’s to file their reports so we can see
how well we did in the event.
If you have not had a chance to operate on the digital modes as the cold
weather approaches I encourage you to give a try on the various modes of
operation. I have been particularly having a great time with FLDIGI or NBEMS.
A recent article in QST and the many fine demonstrations by Harry Bloomberg
and Dave Kleber has been a tremendous asset to getting the information out to
many people. If you have any type of computer you can operate with this mode
and there is no cost for software and no need for an interface. Additional
information is available at http://www.pa-sitrep.com/NBEMS/index.html as well
as a PowerPoint demo and links to software and other news.
As always I encourage you to join traffic net and help deliver messages to
individuals in your community and throughout the country as we continue to
keep the keep this activity running strong. The section net is on 3983 every
evening at approximately 5:30 PM local timedue to poor band conditions . Join
the nets and lets all get Radio Active.
73
John V. Rodgers, N3MSE
W. Pa. Section Manager