Post by David (N4DLT) on Sept 19, 2009 11:17:27 GMT -5
SEPTEMBER NC SECTION NEWS
STATE ARES MEETING AGENDA
The fall state ARES meeting will be held on Saturday, October 17 from 9:30am
to 12:30pm in the Health Sciences Building at Western Piedmont Community
College, 1001 Burkemont Ave., Morganton. The college is off exit 103 on
I-40. Parking is available in Parking Lot 1, near the Sam Ervin Library.
Talk-in will be on the 147.150MHz repeater. Section EC Bernie Nobles,
WA4MOK, will be providing an update on section ARES activities and Western
Branch Assistant Section EC Paul Robinette, KD4OZI, will talk about work in
the Western Branch. Central Branch Assistant Section EC Tom Brown, N4TAB,
will cover NC Emergency Management's new Winlink system. Former NC Section
Manager John Covington, W4CC, will present some preliminary results from the
state digital study. Section Manager Tim Slay, N4IB, will provide an update
from ARRL HQ and offer suggestions on the effective management of volunteers.
We will also have an open discussion on ARES membership training
requirements. Lunch is planned afterwards at a pizza buffet restaurant
across from the college. There's plenty of room so bring a friend or two and
join us!
SIMULATED EMERGENCY TEST
The ARRL Simulated Emergency Test is a nationwide exercise in emergency
communications, which gives communicators the opportunity to focus on the
emergency-communications capability within their communities while
interacting with NTS and other section nets. The July issue of QST included
the results of the 2008 SET. Out of 71 ARRL sections, North Carolina was 6th
in total SET points and second in section/local net participation! Cleveland
County ARES had the highest point total among local ARES groups in our state.
Cngratulations and thanks to all of you for your participation! Now it's
time to get ready for the 2009 SET, with the national exercise set for
October 3-4. The state ARES drill will occur on October 3 and the drill
scenario will be announced on the Tarheel Emergency Net at 7:30pm on Friday,
October 2. The Tarheel Emergency Net will be active on or around 3.923MHz on
October 3 from 8am to 12noon to support local SET exercises scheduled on the
ARRL's national SET weekend. Our regular National Traffic System (NTS) nets
will be operating during the weekend on their regular schedule to provide
additional support. You don't have to schedule your SET event on October 3.
SET-type activities held at anytime during the fall can be counted towards
our section SET score. I know fall is a busy time for public service events
and one NC club plans to combine their SET with a scheduled public service
event - a great idea! You may download a copy of the 2009 SET reporting
forms and read the SET Guidelines on the ARRL Web Page. See
www.arrl.org/FandES/field/setguide.html for appropriate links. The
reporting forms (Forms A, B, and C) are found at this specific address in
Adobe PDF and Word formats: www.arrl.org/FandES/field/forms/#ec_set.
NC OFFICIAL OBSERVER EMAIL GROUP
North Carolina is fortunate to have a dedicated group of Official Observers,
led by Section OO Coordinator Rick LaMonica, W4ZRA. The Official Observer
program has been sponsored by the League for more than 50 years to help
amateurs help each other. Official Observer appointees have assisted
thousands of amateurs to maintain their transmitting equipment and operating
procedures in compliance with the regulations. The object of the OO program
is to notify amateurs by mail of operating/technical irregularities before
they come to the attention of the FCC. The OO is also the backbone of the
Amateur Auxiliary to the FCC. OOs are certified in the Auxiliary by passing a
mandatory written examination. The OO performs his function by listening
rather than transmitting, keeping an ear out for such things as frequency
instability, harmonics, hum, key clicks, broad signals, distorted audio, over
deviation, out-of-band operation, etc. The OO completes his task once the
notification card is sent. In hard-core rules violations cases, OOs refer
problems to higher echelons of the Amateur Auxiliary, and may be requested to
gather evidence for possible FCC enforcement actions. Official Observers in
North Carolina now have access to a Yahoo discussion group that can be used
to share information about OO activities in our section. If you are an
Official Observer and you have not yet joined this group, contact the
moderator, Cliff Fox, KU4GW, at cliffku4gw@gmail.com. If you're interested
in becoming an Official Observer, contact Section OO Coordinator Rick, W4ZRA
at w4zra@arrl.net.
2009 SCOUTING JAMBOREE ON THE AIR
The Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) is an annual event in which Scouts all over the
world speak to each other via amateur radio. Scouting experiences are
exchanged and ideas are shared, via the radio waves. Since 1958 when the
first jamboree-on-the-Air was held, thousands of Scouts have "met" each other
through this event. Not only is it fun to talk to Scouts from other parts of
the world but it provides also a chance to find out about other countries and
about Scouting elsewhere. Many contacts made during the JOTA have resulted in
penpals and links between scout troops that have lasted for many years. It's
also one of our best opportunities to share our great hobby with enthusiastic
young people. This year's JOTA will be held October 17 and 18. Each station
can choose its own operating hours within this period, so you may have time
to also attend the state ARES meeting on Saturday morning! You can help both
boy and girl scouts earn their radio merit badges during the event and we
might get a few new hams too! Your club can contact a local girl or boy
scout troop and offer to setup an operating event in the field, or invite a
group to your home station. North Carolina also has a yahoo group for NCJOTA
if anyone wishes to join: groups.yahoo.com/group/NCJOTA/ and it's a
good clearing house for those active with JOTA. More information is also
available at www.scout.org/jota.
MEDIA HITS
Congratulations to Glenn Cox, KE4BMY, for making the front page of the
September 9 Wilmington Star-News in an article on SKYWARN spotters. The
article says that the National Weather Service needs more spotters and that
anyone can join and be trained, but that the Weather Service relies on
Amateur Radio WX spotters when other means of communications aren't
available. The following day the Star-News featured a story on the guest
operator program on the USS North Carolina.
UPCOMING EVENTS
·Oct 3: State SET
·Oct 10: Pfafftown Swapfest
·Oct 17: Scouting Jamboree on the Air
·Oct 17: State ARES meeting, Morganton
AUGUST TRAFFIC
N3BW 275, K4IWW 271, W2EAG 249, KI4YV 177, W4DNA 99, W4TTO 56, W4FAL 42,
KE4AHC 32, K8SKX 31, KI4ZJI 29, NC4VA 25.
AUGUST PSHR
NC4VA 252, W4FAL 130, W4DNA 125, K4IWW 120, W2EAG 110, KI4ZJI 109, KI4YV 100,
W4TTO 100.
AUGUST ARES MEMBERS: 1,808
--------------------------------------------------------------------
ARRL North Carolina Section
Section Manager: Timothy B. Slay, N4IB
n4ib@arrl.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------
This message is being sent to you via the ARRL Members Only Web site.
If you do not want to receive further messages, go to the site at:
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Log in with your username and password and change your email options.
Unchecking the "News and information from your Division Director and
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being sent to you.
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STATE ARES MEETING AGENDA
The fall state ARES meeting will be held on Saturday, October 17 from 9:30am
to 12:30pm in the Health Sciences Building at Western Piedmont Community
College, 1001 Burkemont Ave., Morganton. The college is off exit 103 on
I-40. Parking is available in Parking Lot 1, near the Sam Ervin Library.
Talk-in will be on the 147.150MHz repeater. Section EC Bernie Nobles,
WA4MOK, will be providing an update on section ARES activities and Western
Branch Assistant Section EC Paul Robinette, KD4OZI, will talk about work in
the Western Branch. Central Branch Assistant Section EC Tom Brown, N4TAB,
will cover NC Emergency Management's new Winlink system. Former NC Section
Manager John Covington, W4CC, will present some preliminary results from the
state digital study. Section Manager Tim Slay, N4IB, will provide an update
from ARRL HQ and offer suggestions on the effective management of volunteers.
We will also have an open discussion on ARES membership training
requirements. Lunch is planned afterwards at a pizza buffet restaurant
across from the college. There's plenty of room so bring a friend or two and
join us!
SIMULATED EMERGENCY TEST
The ARRL Simulated Emergency Test is a nationwide exercise in emergency
communications, which gives communicators the opportunity to focus on the
emergency-communications capability within their communities while
interacting with NTS and other section nets. The July issue of QST included
the results of the 2008 SET. Out of 71 ARRL sections, North Carolina was 6th
in total SET points and second in section/local net participation! Cleveland
County ARES had the highest point total among local ARES groups in our state.
Cngratulations and thanks to all of you for your participation! Now it's
time to get ready for the 2009 SET, with the national exercise set for
October 3-4. The state ARES drill will occur on October 3 and the drill
scenario will be announced on the Tarheel Emergency Net at 7:30pm on Friday,
October 2. The Tarheel Emergency Net will be active on or around 3.923MHz on
October 3 from 8am to 12noon to support local SET exercises scheduled on the
ARRL's national SET weekend. Our regular National Traffic System (NTS) nets
will be operating during the weekend on their regular schedule to provide
additional support. You don't have to schedule your SET event on October 3.
SET-type activities held at anytime during the fall can be counted towards
our section SET score. I know fall is a busy time for public service events
and one NC club plans to combine their SET with a scheduled public service
event - a great idea! You may download a copy of the 2009 SET reporting
forms and read the SET Guidelines on the ARRL Web Page. See
www.arrl.org/FandES/field/setguide.html for appropriate links. The
reporting forms (Forms A, B, and C) are found at this specific address in
Adobe PDF and Word formats: www.arrl.org/FandES/field/forms/#ec_set.
NC OFFICIAL OBSERVER EMAIL GROUP
North Carolina is fortunate to have a dedicated group of Official Observers,
led by Section OO Coordinator Rick LaMonica, W4ZRA. The Official Observer
program has been sponsored by the League for more than 50 years to help
amateurs help each other. Official Observer appointees have assisted
thousands of amateurs to maintain their transmitting equipment and operating
procedures in compliance with the regulations. The object of the OO program
is to notify amateurs by mail of operating/technical irregularities before
they come to the attention of the FCC. The OO is also the backbone of the
Amateur Auxiliary to the FCC. OOs are certified in the Auxiliary by passing a
mandatory written examination. The OO performs his function by listening
rather than transmitting, keeping an ear out for such things as frequency
instability, harmonics, hum, key clicks, broad signals, distorted audio, over
deviation, out-of-band operation, etc. The OO completes his task once the
notification card is sent. In hard-core rules violations cases, OOs refer
problems to higher echelons of the Amateur Auxiliary, and may be requested to
gather evidence for possible FCC enforcement actions. Official Observers in
North Carolina now have access to a Yahoo discussion group that can be used
to share information about OO activities in our section. If you are an
Official Observer and you have not yet joined this group, contact the
moderator, Cliff Fox, KU4GW, at cliffku4gw@gmail.com. If you're interested
in becoming an Official Observer, contact Section OO Coordinator Rick, W4ZRA
at w4zra@arrl.net.
2009 SCOUTING JAMBOREE ON THE AIR
The Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) is an annual event in which Scouts all over the
world speak to each other via amateur radio. Scouting experiences are
exchanged and ideas are shared, via the radio waves. Since 1958 when the
first jamboree-on-the-Air was held, thousands of Scouts have "met" each other
through this event. Not only is it fun to talk to Scouts from other parts of
the world but it provides also a chance to find out about other countries and
about Scouting elsewhere. Many contacts made during the JOTA have resulted in
penpals and links between scout troops that have lasted for many years. It's
also one of our best opportunities to share our great hobby with enthusiastic
young people. This year's JOTA will be held October 17 and 18. Each station
can choose its own operating hours within this period, so you may have time
to also attend the state ARES meeting on Saturday morning! You can help both
boy and girl scouts earn their radio merit badges during the event and we
might get a few new hams too! Your club can contact a local girl or boy
scout troop and offer to setup an operating event in the field, or invite a
group to your home station. North Carolina also has a yahoo group for NCJOTA
if anyone wishes to join: groups.yahoo.com/group/NCJOTA/ and it's a
good clearing house for those active with JOTA. More information is also
available at www.scout.org/jota.
MEDIA HITS
Congratulations to Glenn Cox, KE4BMY, for making the front page of the
September 9 Wilmington Star-News in an article on SKYWARN spotters. The
article says that the National Weather Service needs more spotters and that
anyone can join and be trained, but that the Weather Service relies on
Amateur Radio WX spotters when other means of communications aren't
available. The following day the Star-News featured a story on the guest
operator program on the USS North Carolina.
UPCOMING EVENTS
·Oct 3: State SET
·Oct 10: Pfafftown Swapfest
·Oct 17: Scouting Jamboree on the Air
·Oct 17: State ARES meeting, Morganton
AUGUST TRAFFIC
N3BW 275, K4IWW 271, W2EAG 249, KI4YV 177, W4DNA 99, W4TTO 56, W4FAL 42,
KE4AHC 32, K8SKX 31, KI4ZJI 29, NC4VA 25.
AUGUST PSHR
NC4VA 252, W4FAL 130, W4DNA 125, K4IWW 120, W2EAG 110, KI4ZJI 109, KI4YV 100,
W4TTO 100.
AUGUST ARES MEMBERS: 1,808
--------------------------------------------------------------------
ARRL North Carolina Section
Section Manager: Timothy B. Slay, N4IB
n4ib@arrl.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------
This message is being sent to you via the ARRL Members Only Web site.
If you do not want to receive further messages, go to the site at:
www.arrl.org/members-only/memdata.html?modify=1
Log in with your username and password and change your email options.
Unchecking the "News and information from your Division Director and
Section Manager" box will prevent messages such as this one from
being sent to you.
-- webmaster@arrl.org