Georgia Section On My Mind

March, 2007

Greetings, All.

GOOD NEWS! Some very exciting information regarding the status of HB 5 just came in an email from JERRY ADAMS, W4PX, our esteemed EC in Forsyth county. Jerry wrote to Rep. MARY MARGARET OLIVER, the originator of this bill, and politely requested that amateur radio operators be excluded from the constraints imposed by this bill. In her response, Rep. Oliver said that the bill most likely won't make it to a vote this session, and (now, here's the GOOD part!) "Its current draft excludes amateur radio operators, a provision we will be sure to keep in any future legislation". Yee HA!!! I haven't seen that change reflected in the version that is posted on the GA Legislature's website as yet, but I'll keep on a-watching. I'd like to think that all of the letters that you fine folks have written to your legislators may have had some influence in encouraging this common sense change for the better. Thank you all.

And a special thank you to CHARLES PENNNINGTON, K4GK, who has accepted the position as our new Georgia Section Traffic Manager. Charles has been serving as Net Manager for our statewide ARES net and the GA SSB Net, and now he has also taken on the Net Manager position for the GTN. (CW Traffic Net) Charles is a seasoned (but not salty!) Net Control Station and traffic handler, with CW being his first love. If that isn't enough, he also served as the president of the Milledgeville ARC, until the recent elections. (But he didn't step down very far... now he's the vice president!) If all of that isn't enough, Charles also serves as an Official Relay Station and as the EC in Washington county. WHEW! Many, many thanks, Charles, for all of your many contributions.

Please note: The Georgia State Net, GSN, and the Georgia Training Net, GTN, are now operating on a new frequency of 3549 kHz. Thanks to our STM Charles, our net managers, and all of our fine traffic handlers for re-locating these nets away from the QRP calling frequency. It's a gentlemen's agreement, and y'all handled it like the gentlemen that you are. Thank you.

It's time for a little story: A young bride prepared a lovely ham for dinner, but before roasting it, she cut off a large chunk of the meat and tossed it straight into the garbage can. This immediately prompted her astonished (and financially responsible) young husband to question her about the logic behind throwing away what looked to him like perfectly good food. (Was the honeymoon OVER?) She replied breezily that she did it that way because that's how her mother always did it. So that was the end of it, right? Nope. (He was a newlywed and didn't know any better.) The next time they were visiting her parents, he couldn't stop himself. He simply had to ask his mother-in-law exactly why it was that she cut off and threw away a perfectly good chunk of ham before cooking the rest of it. She replied that she did it that way because that's the way HER mother always did it. So, now THAT was the end of it, right? Nope again. By now, both of the newlyweds were curious, so the next time they saw Grandma, they could hardly wait to ask her why she always threw away that chunk of ham. Grandma laughed, and said, "Because I never had a pan big enough to hold the whole thing."

It would appear that tradition in itself doesn't always present a valid reason to argue against change, does it? Not all of you are happy with the recent changes dictated by the FCC, and some of you interpret these changes as the turning of our backs on tradition. Passing a Morse code test has been a requirement for many years. Those of us who passed a 20 wpm test are darned proud of it, and accepted our struggle and accomplishment as a "rite of passage". Proving the ability to copy code became a tradition. Ergo, we should have maintained that requirement, and that tradition, forever. Right? I know that I wanted to keep some kind of a code requirement, because I figured, "If I could do it, anybody can do it." But it seems that many didn't WANT to do it. Many didn't want any part of this "tradition". It seems that this traditional requirement may have prevented many prospective hams from entering the hobby, and kept many of our technician class operators from upgrading. In essence, because of this requirement, which they viewed as an insurmountable and meaningless hurdle, (no matter what you or I may think of it) we've been lopping off a portion of perfectly good would-be hams and tossing them into the trash.

Those of you who served as a VE at any of the sessions that have been held since the new rules went into effect could, hopefully, back me up here. From what I've heard, all of the test sessions have been packed. We had so many applicants at the GA Tech session that some of them had to wait in the hallway until there was enough room to fit them into the classroom! And for the most part, these people were there to take a written test. Out of that entire crowd, there were only four or five "paper upgrades" to general class. There were people of all ages, and there was an atmosphere of excitement emanating from them. There were hams who had been licensed for a number of years, and they were thrilled with the prospect of earning HF privileges. There were many new licensees, and there were several upgrades to extra class. Excited people. People who were excited to join the hobby, people who were excited to upgrade their license. At the Dalton Hamfest, there were hordes of people wanting to purchase license manuals. Everyone who was selling them pretty much sold out. Excitement. Excitement at joining the hobby. Excitement at advancing. How can this possibly be a BAD thing?

I'll tell you how this can possibly be a bad thing. It can be a bad thing if we don't welcome and HELP these new hams, and all of these hams with new HF privileges. Clubs, I urge you to consider offering a program on HF operations at an upcoming meeting to help your members make the most of these new operating privileges. Help them become good operators. Tell them, and show them. Teach them about things like antennas, propagation, and HF rigs. You might even consider offering a CW class. Now that it isn't a requirement, why not try to make it just another fun thing to learn? You can find some great resources to help you put together these kinds of programs at www.arrl.org/multimedia. How about getting your club involved in some Pro-Am operating events, where more experienced operators team up with newer operators and show them the ropes? Teams of club members can "compete" against each other, just for the fun of it, or the club can enter their scores formally in one of the many upcoming HF contests. Welcome these new HF operators. They're part of our family, and we all want our family members to do well, don't we?

One club that went out of its way to help the technician class operators celebrate their new 10M privileges is the North Fulton Amateur Radio League. President JIM STAFFORD, W4QO, came up with the great idea of holding a "Techs on Ten at Ten" net, and it was held on the 23rd, the very day that the new rules went into effect. That first net, held at 10PM, had 29 participants, 7 of whom were technician class operators. Each of those techs will receive a special certificate from the club in honor of their first foray onto 10M. This Friday, the net moves to 8PM, on the same frequency, 28.495 MHz, and everyone is welcome to participate. The topic for this net will be, "Why should I have a QSL card, and where should I get them?" Sounds like fun. KUDOS to the club for hosting this net. And KUDOS to all who participate and help welcome these new operators to the band.

OK, enough editorializing. Let's see what's been happening, and what's coming up right around the corner. Oh yeah, one more thing. Don't forget that Daylight savings Time begins on March 11 this year. Guess we'll all have to change the time on our computers manually. (twice!)

ADULT: a person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now growing in the middle.

FEBRUARY HIGHLIGHTS

February 24 --- DALTON Hamfest --- It's a pleasure to report that Georgia's 2007 Hamfest season is definitely off to a very bright start. It looked like the best attendance ever for this always-fun Hamfest, and the boneyard was its largest ever, with lots of great deals to be made. It's hard to believe, but my better half, MIKE SWIDERSKI, K4HBI, actually found some stuff that he (gasp!) didn't already have! (Needless to say, he has it NOW...) The food was fine, and reasonably priced, and club members served it up with a smile. My BBQ sandwich was terrific, but alas, I waited too long, and missed out on getting a piece of that good-looking homemade coconut cake. Oh well, it's probably just as well... a minute on the lips; forever on the hips. The ARES meeting was good, with CECIL CLEMENTS, KG4RSU, Murray county EC, serving as host, and BARRY KANNE, W4TGA, ASEC for Public Health, giving a presentation about the project involving the installation of radio equipment in Georgia's hospitals. Also doing a presentation was JOANNE MAURO, Assistant PIO and Volunteer Coordinator for the North GA Health District, who talked about preparedness, pandemic flu, and the Medical Reserve Corps. The MARS meeting was also quite good, and a lot of information was shared about the many changes that have been taking place within the Army MARS organization. At the ARRL tables, FRANK BUTLER, W4RH, our esteemed Southeastern Division Director, provided a bunch of ARRL goodies to sell, and the hottest sellers turned out to be licensing manuals. There was a LOT of excitement about upgrading to general class license, especially. (I'm not sure, but I think that Frank is the only director who still purchases stuff from the League and then offers it for sale at various Hamfests. A great plus! Thank you, Frank.) Our favorite Director of Vice, SANDY DONAHUE, W4RU, and I signed up a bunch of new members, and we even sold a few more of the GA Piglet tee shirts. But best of all, we saw and spoke to a BUNCH of you folks. Thank you so much for stopping by the table to say hello. That always adds a bright spot to the day. All in all, it was a wonderful Hamfest. It was a lo-o-o-ong dry spell since our last GA Hamfest back in November, but it was well worth the wait. Thanks to the fine folks of the Dalton ARC, who once again put together a great Hamfest for our enjoyment, and who went out of their way to make us feel so welcome. And thanks to each of you who were able to attend.

CANNIBAL: Someone who is fed up with people.

CLUB NEWS

ALBANY ARC --- The Albany Marathon and Half-Marathon will be making its debut on March 3, and club members will be playing an important role by providing the communications for this big event.

ARC of AUGUSTA --- At the January club meeting, members attended a SkyWarn class, and later in the month, several club members went to the head of the class, as participants in Career Day activities at Evans Middle School. DAVE FALLS, HENRY AROSTEGUI, KN4AV, and AL MENGES, KF4NXL, provided both radio demonstrations and informative hand-outs to introduce the students to the world of amateur radio. And then, on February 17, the club held its annual Winter Swapfest at Pendleton King Park.

ATLANTA ARC --- Coming up at the March 1 meeting, JOHN ARMISTEAD, of Superior Essex Communications, will be doing a presentation on fiber optics. As a follow-up to this program, club members will be making a tour of the fiber optics manufacturing facility in Kennesaw on Saturday, the 3rd.

FAYETTE COUNTY ARC --- Congratulations to the following slate of officers, who were recently elected to lead this fine club for the next year: President- BRIAN HAREN, W8BYH; VP- GREG MANNIGES, JR, KI4HRU; Secretary- CHRIS CLARK, KI4QLW; and Treasurer- HUEY KENMAR, KI4NGD. Best wishes for an enjoyable and successful year.

GWINNETT ARS --- At the February meeting, ROBIN CUTSHAW, AA4RC, one of the most "in the know" fellas around when it comes to D-Star operations, presented an interesting program to give members a better understanding of what this new D-Star stuff is all about. With its ability to send phone and high-speed digital communications, D-Star is becoming one of the newer players in emergency communications. Coming up at the March meeting, my better half, MIKE SWIDERSKI, K4HBI, will be presenting a program on the art of troubleshooting.

KENNEHOOCHEE ARC --- CONGRATULATIONS to the newly elected club leadership: Chairman- JIM STUDER, KI4ET; Vice Chairman- SID BISHOP, KB4QKZ; Treasurer- LEW CASON, N4HRA; and Secretary- CLARK MACAULAY, KE4RQ. Best wishes for a fantastic year. At the January meeting, JACK BRYANT, KE4ID, did a presentation on the design and construction of crystal radios, and in February, TED BRUCE, KX4OM, got a little more high-tech, in his presentation on the use of Eagle circuit design software, which allows users to go from "a simple circuit diagram to a camera ready template suitable for producing a printed circuit board."

LANIERLAND ARC --- At the February meeting, that D-Star guru ROBIN CUTSHAW, AA4RC, did a presentation on (what else?) D-Star. Coming up in March, VESTER SCOTT, N8EKA, will be doing a presentation about Army MARS.

NEWTON COUNTY RC --- CHARLES DAVIS, WA4UJC, presented a program at the January meeting on space weather, and how it affects radio communications. (Betcha it was outta this world...)

NORTH FULTON ARL --- At the February meeting, TED BRUCE, KX4OM, presented part one of an interesting program on designing and building your own test equipment and radio gear. Part two will follow in March. A very informative and intelligent program, and there's still lots more to learn next month.

SEDX CLUB --- CONGRATULATIONS to DAVE JOHNSON, K4SSU, for being chosen by the club as the recipient of its 2006 DX Hall of Fame Award. At the February meeting, DON NESBITT, N4HH, presented a program on quantitative and qualitative comparisons of various HF rigs. www.sedxc.org 

*** RUNNING OUT OF IDEAS for club programs?? The ARRL provides some excellent presentation materials and hand-outs at www.arrl.org/multimedia 

DUST: Mud with the juice squeezed out.

ARES NEWS

*** COBB COUNTY ARES --- Members provided communications support for the Georgia Special Olympics Winter Games January 19th thru January 21st. Communications were provided at 25 separate competitions at 12 different venues scattered throughout Cobb County (344 square miles). More than 2000 athletes participated. Events added in 2007 expanded two events (ice skating and floor hockey) beyond the Georgia Championship level to include athletes from southeast to the Southeastern Championship level. SID BISHOP, KB4QKZ, AEC-Events - Cobb ARES, planned and coordinated communications for the event. Nineteen Cobb ARES members contributed 517 man-hours. (de Cobb county EC, TERRY GIBBS, WK4E)

*** GWINNETT COUNTY ARES --- While a bunch of us were up in Dalton enjoying the first Hamfest of the year, more than twenty dedicated ARES members stayed in Gwinnett to participate in a special weather-related exercise. The simulated tornado exercise employed simplex and digital communications between several areas of deployment. At the monthly meeting on the 27th, the exercise was discussed and critiqued, followed by an interesting program on the Radar systems used in detecting and predicting weather patterns, presented by STAN EDWARDS, WA4DYD.

*** HURREX UPDATE --- The Hurricane exercise, in which our ARES-MAT folks will be working directly with the National Guard, with the rest of GA ARES participating in a local and/or statewide capacity, will be held on March 10. A statewide net will be held on 3.975 MHz, beginning at 9AM and continuing until the end of the exercise, with CHARLES PENNINGTON, K4GK, serving as NCS. (back-up frequency is 7.275) There will also be a CW net, held on 3.549 MHz, from 9AM until 10AM, with PAT HAYNES, K4BEH, serving as NCS. A digital net, using MFSK-16, will be held on 3.580 MHz, from 10 AM until 11AM, with BOB CARR, W5UX, serving as NCS. The suggested check-in information for the phone net was already provided to you in an earlier mailing, but for the CW and digital nets, the info requested on check-in is simply call sign, location, and power source. WinLink check-ins and traffic can be sent to either kg4vub@winlink.org or to n4seg@winlink.org from 9AM until the end of the exercise. D-Star will also be used, but no details on that at this time.

*** Some happenings in Barrow county. EC CAL NEFF, K4JSR, is trying to get some interest stirred up among hams and prospective hams in the county, and has announced a meeting, to be held on March 15 at 7PM at the Barrow County Leisure Services Building, 175 Second Street, in Winder, rooms 125-126. Cal says that there are over 120 hams in Barrow county, so here's a golden opportunity for some of you to get out and meet each other. The purpose of this meeting is discuss CERT, ARES and the possible organization of a Barrow County ham radio club. As Cal says, an interest in any of these areas is reason enough to attend. No one has to do it all. (unless he wants to!) For more info, you can call Cal at 770-307-4699 or email him at cneff@alltel.net If you're interested, but can't make it to the meeting, please let him know.

*** LANDMARK EMERGENCY PLANNING REPORT (de ARES E-Letter)
The much-anticipated report of the League's National Emergency Response Planning Committee appointed by President Harrison a year ago was received by the ARRL Board last month, and is available to the ARES community at: http://www.arrl.org/announce/reports-2007/january/NERPC-32aa.pdf

The panel of expert amateur and professional emcomm members worked hard over the last year to provide recommendations to the Board that would improve ARRL's national preparedness. Committee Chairman and ARRL First Vice President KAY CRAIGIE, N3KN, noted that "these wide-ranging and sometimes challenging recommendations require responsiveness to rapid political and technological changes."

Flagship recommendations include the drafting and population of a National ARES Data Base; the creation of a new "Major Disaster Emergency Coordinator" position for incidents transcending Section boundaries; and the development of course and certification requirements for ARES operators. (Courses would include ARRL's ARECC Level 1, Red Cross combined course in Adult CPR/First Aid Basics, Red Cross Introduction to Disaster Services, FEMA IS-100 (Introduction to Incident Command System), FEMA IS-200 (ICS for Single Resource and Initial Action Incidents) and FEMA IS-700 (National Incident Management System)).

The report is 29 pages long and contains in-depth rationales for the recommendations summarized above, as well as a plethora of additional related recommendations and information. Readers are urged to read the report and comment to the editor. Future issues will feature the opinions of ARES members and others as the Headquarters staff and appropriate standing committee members work to implement the committee's recommendations. The report represents the most comprehensive study and slate of action items in the matter of ARRL emergency communications planning and programs in the modern history of the League.

*** DAVE BRUCE, W4DTR, has taken it upon himself to see to it that ARES is well represented (i.e. with accurate information) on Wikipedia. Thanks to his work, there is now a place all set up to add YOUR group and webpage info. Stand up and let your ARES group be counted by going to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amateur_radio_emergency_service_groups 

Dave also noted that there is a Wikipedia page that lists ham clubs, too, and so far, only three clubs are listed for the state of Georgia. (horrors!) Y'all can fix that travesty at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amateur_radio_organizations 

Thanks, Dave.

*** Are YOU registered as a member of the GA ARES news group??? Are all of your members?? There are quite a few ARES members who are not members of the ARRL, who may never see one of these newsletter, and who may not even know about the existence of the news group. There is also a group for DECs, and another for ECs. These news groups offer us an excellent communications tool, but only if you guys and gals sign up for them. See www.gaares.org to register. (And tell your ARES members about it!)

EGOTIST: Someone who is usually me-deep in conversation.

ARES REPORT DE STAN EDWARDS, WA4DYD

Membership: 1,256 Change since last month: -12

Total Net Sessions: 120
Drills, Tests, Training Sessions: 119 Man-hours: 1,165
Public Service Events: 5 Man-hours: 595
Emergency Operations: 5 Man-hours: 468
Misc. Events: 40 Man-hours: 349

Total Events: 169 Total Man-hours: 2,577

Reporting by District:

West Central 100.0%
Metro Atlanta 90.9%
Central 40.9%
Northeast 18.8%
Southeast 17.9%
Northwest 15.4%
East Central 14.3%
Southwest 10.0%

Total Reporting 28.4%

The following jurisdictions reported for January: Bartow, Bibb, Butts, Camden, Charlton, Clarke, Clayton/Henry, Cobb, DEC for Digital, DEC for GEMA, DEC for GPB, DEC for Metro Atlanta, DEC for NWS - Charleston, DEC for NWS - Columbia, DEC for NWS - Tallahassee, DEC for Salvation Army, DEC for Southeast, Decatur, DeKalb, Dodge, Douglas/Paulding, Fayette, Fulton-North, Gwinnett, Hall, Haralson, Houston, Jones, Lee, Newton, Monroe, Morgan, Muscogee, Pike, Pulaski, Putnam, Rockdale, Toombs, Towns, and Washington.

NOTE: This is the last report from Stan, as our Deputy SEC. Many thanks to him for all of his hard work, and many thanks to MIKE BOATRIGHT, KO4WX, who has accepted the position and will carry it forward.

HANDKERCHIEF: Cold storage.

NET REPORT DE STM CHARLES PENNINGTON, K4GK

PUBLIC SERVICE HONOR ROLL

STATION ACTIVITY REPORTS

Traffic handled (QTC):

*****NOTE: Don't forget the South CARS net, which meets every day from 8 AM until 10 AM and again from noon until 2PM, on 7.251 MHz. A friendly, welcoming group of folks. Especially great company while on the road. I understand that a Trader's Net meets on this same frequency on Wednesday mornings at 10 AM.

***** Other GREAT nets:
QCWA: Saturdays at 9AM on 3.8575 MHz
SE 6M SSB Net: Sundays at 9 PM on 50.145 MHz
SE AM Net: Tuesdays at 7:30 PM on 3885 kc (AM nets ALWAYS meet on kcs...)
Hole in the Wall Net: Wednesdays at 8 PM on 50.135 MHz (Check in three times, and earn a nice certificate)

"In days of old, when ops were bold and sideband not invented, the words were passed by pounding brass,
and all were quite contented." Anonymous

GEORGIA TRAFFIC NEWS de STM CHARLES PENNINGTON, K4GK

*** Net frequency moves go smoothly

The frequency move of GTN (CW), and GSN, to the new frequency of 3549 kHz went very smoothly. The move was necessary to get away from the National Calling QRP frequency, and the use of which was causing quite a stir among QRP operators, and others as well. (see, QST magazine, March, 2007, page 6 and 7 under "New Opportunities for every ham")

Please continue to help us spread the word of the move, especially to those who might not have internet capability.

*** New (CW) GTN Manager

GREG TILLMAN, N4VAD, has been appointed as the new Net Manager, of Georgia (CW) Training Net (GTN), replacing LOUIE HANDBERRY, KR4JI, who had served faithfully for several years.

*** New GTN (Midday) Manager

CHARLES DAVIS, WA4UJC, has been appointed as the new Net Manager, of Georgia Traffic Net (Midday), replacing LEON KITCHENS, WU4C, who had served loyally for more than 14 years.

*** GTN (Midday) to stay on 3987.5 year round

CHARLES DAVIS, WA4UJC, announced that Georgia Traffic Net (Midday) will remain on 3987.5 kHz all year. In the past, the net would move to 7243 KHz during the summer months, but conditions have been very poor on 40 meters for the last couple of years. "We are going to try, 75 meters all summer long this year," Charles said.

*** Section Net Officials met at Dalton Hamfest

Your section net and traffic net officials met for a luncheon at Western Sizzlin Restaurant in Dalton on Saturday, February 24. Several issues were addressed. Namely, how to encourage more and better coverage for the handling of traffic in the section. Several ways were suggested, which will provide better training, and promote the handling of traffic on our various nets. Hey Guys, It's gonna get better!

*** HELP WANTED--- Please help with 4RN (daytime) cycle 2

The Georgia section is not doing well on attendance with 4RN cycle 2. In fact, we are dead last in the rankings. If you can help out, please let your STM know. The net meets at 1:45 PM, and again at 3:30 PM, on 7243 KHz.

*** Nighttime 4RN (cycle 4), is getting better!

Our section is doing much better on nighttime cycle four 4RN last month, with almost 100% participation. Great job fellas!

Our goal is 100% participation on both 4RN cycle 2, and 4RN cycle 4.

*** Liaison between nighttime 4RN/GSN and Georgia Traffic and Emergency Net

Early GSN net controls: please have a rep go to GTEN on 3983 kHz immediately after GSN, to pick up traffic going into cycle four 4RN.

*** Net assignments

Please let your STM know of your preference for assignments, as net control, and 4RN rep, in order that we can post a new duty roster on the website.

Thanks again for all that you do, for our nets and the National Traffic System.

DE K4GK AR N

SKELETON: A bunch of bones with the person scraped off.

GEORGIA PIGLETS (AKA YOUNG HAMS)

*** CONGRATULATIONS to BEAU BARRETT, KI4KYI, of Americus, who recently earned the Boy Scout ranking of Eagle Scout. Only a very small percentage of Scouts ever attain this highest rank, and we're very proud of him for this wonderful achievement.

*** CONGRATULATIONS to 12-year-old AUSTIN BRANNEN, KI4TMK, for recently earning his license. Justin is the son of proud dad JOSH BRANNEN, KC4IUX, and the nephew of State Senator JOHN GRANT of Milledgeville.

*** WOW! ANNA TYLER, KG4ATH, ("Anna the Ham") will be graduating from UGA this coming May with TWO BA degrees: one in journalism, and one in political science. Summa Cum Laude, even. And she accomplished it in four years! Needless to say, her dad ROBERT TYLER, KF4VBR, is popping his buttons over her success. Anna has already been accepted to three different graduate schools. CONGRATULATONS, Anna. We're really proud of you.

*** And CONGRATULATIONS to ANDREA HARTLAGE, KG4IUM, who was recently chosen as the recipient of the Gwinnett ARS college scholarship. Andrea will be attending GA Tech in the fall, with plans to get a degree in aeronautical engineering. (a future astronaut, maybe?)

RAISIN: Grape with a sunburn.

THIS 'N' THAT

*** NEW MARATHON IN ATLANTA:

The 2007 ING Georgia Marathon will be held Sunday, March 25, 2007, with the first of the races scheduled to begin at approximately 6:55 AM, and CHARLES DELONEY, KI4RZU, is serving as communications coordinator for this new event. Charles writes:

"Amateur radio operators are needed to support medical and logistical communications. We need about 30 Amateur Radio Operators to make this happen. Assignments include shadowing key event personnel as well as serving as spotters at water stops along the course. Your support is valuable and necessary, whether you can volunteer a few hours or for most of the day. We need you to be successful!

To volunteer, please send an email to me at ki4rzu@arrl.net with your Call Sign, email address, and contact phone number.

For more information about the race itself, check out the race website:
http://www.inggeorgiamarathon.com/ 

Course map link:
Graphical:
http://www.georgiamarathon.com/Assets/Course+Information/Updated+Route+Map+1
00606.jpg
Interactive: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=626754 

For more information contact me at:
ki4rzu@arrl.net or (770) 846 - 1814


*** In last month's newsletter, based on information in an article on Q signals that was written by JIM LINTON, VK3PC, I wrote: "Did you know that there are actually three different sets of Q signals? QAA-QNZ signals are for aeronautical use, QOA-QOZ for maritime use, and QRA-QUZ for general use. (That's us!)"

In response, CHARLES PENNINGTON, K4GK, provided the following information regarding QN signals: "One correction please. The QN signals are used by the ARRL for Net use since 1932, at the direction of the Old Man himself, W1AW. These are not restricted to aeronautical use, on Amateur Radio.

Although rarely used on voice nets these QN signals are widely used on CW.
Some of the most commonly used are: QNI --Check in now, QNB--Please relay between______, QNX-- You are excused from the net, QNU--Net has traffic for you, and QNC--All stations copy.

Please refer to ARRL Operating Aid FSD-218 (2/91) page two (2).

I count an average of 24 QN signals used on our own Georgia State (CW) Net, and the Georgia Training Net (GTN) daily."

*** That tidbit of information on Q signals that was in last month's newsletter intrigued some of you enough to get you to do some additional research on the subject. IVAN WHITE, K4VJM, was inspired to do some searching, and he found a couple of excellent sites:

http://www.telegraph-office.com/pages/q-signals-1909.html compiled by Neal McEwen K4RW k5rw@telegraph-office.com
"Q-Signals -- 1909" taken verbatim from Handbook for Wireless Telegraph Operators; Working Installations licensed by His Majesty's postmaster-General, Revised Edition, October 1909 (4 pp.).

http://www.kloth.net/radio/qcodes.php compiled by Ralf D. Knoth DL4TA, List of Q-Codes , (15 pp.). Includes the Q-Codes and meaning for aeronautical service (QAA-QNZ series), maritime services (QOA-QQZ), all services (QRA-QUZ), and "for other usage" series (QZA-QZZ).

*** HURB INGLES, W1DOG, found a terrific site with a whole slew of information to help you improve your traffic handling skills: http://home.earthlink.net/~k7bfl/tfctools.html

*** OTIS MURPHY, W4OY, found a great site on operational procedures:
http://www.on4ww.be/OperatingPracticeEnglish.html

*** Here's a fun site, where you can take a look at some of the more "interesting" (and funny!) QSL cards from around the world: www.pe2pe.eu

*** I'm not sure when the latest ARRL Net Directory came out, but I do know that the one I own is probably a bit out-dated. Yours probably is, too, so maybe you'll be glad to know that you can find all of the info you want on nets at the following site: www.arrl.org/FandES/field/nets/client/netsearch.html 

*** Just because element one is now a thing of the past doesn't mean that CW is going away anytime soon. Maybe now is the perfect time for you to improve your skills and dust off that key. Here's a really cool site where you can download software to help you build your CW speed, while emulating real on-the-air conditions, like QRM, QSB, QRN, pile-ups, etc. You can find it at http://www.dxatlas.com/MorseRunner 

*** HEAR YE! HEAR YE! HEAR YE! It looks like there may be a group of Chinese hams operating from Scarborough Reef during the month of April. No matter whether you understand the notion of this one being a DX "entity" or not, here comes a chance to work it. Argue it later, work it now. The rarest of rare, they say.

*** DEADLINE is May 15 to register to participate in a Teachers' Institute, which is an all-expenses paid golden opportunity for you teachers to learn how to inspire your students about wireless technology. These seminars will be held June 18-21 in Rocklin, CA; July 26-29 in Spokane, WA, and July 30- August 2, and from August 6-9 in good ol' Newington, CT. (AS a bonus, you get to tour ARRL HQ and operate W1AW!) See www.arrl.org/FandES/tbp/ti.html for details.

*** Elmer's Corner -- Observing Band Edges (from ARRL Club Newsletter)

There is sure to be a lot of new HF activity when the new regulations take effect on February 23. Please remember that operators are required to keep their entire transmitted signal within the band limits. This means that if you are operating SSB mode your signal is typically 2.8 kHz wide so a rule of thumb is to stay 3 kHz from the edge of the band. For example if a Technician class operator wants to operate SSB on the 10 meter band then the operator should not operate any lower than 28.303 MHz or any higher than 28.497 MHz in order to stay within the band limits.

Band edges also need to be observed when operating CW, RTTY, Data and all modes permitted in the Amateur service.

Overdriving a SSB transmitter make your signal unreadable and it will cause splatter that can be outside of the band. It is not just good amateur practice to produce clean transmitted signals--it's also the law, part 97.303.

*** Have you ever thought that you might like to try checking into a CW net, but don't know exactly how to do it? Here's the scoop, sent to us by GREG TILLMAN, N4VAD, who is our new Net Manager (congratulations!) for the GA CW Traffic Handling Training Net. http://www.ad4dx.com/gtn/indexGTA.html

YAWN: An honest opinion openly expressed.

UPCOMING EVENTS

MARCH 3-4 --- ARRL International DX contest. 0000Z Mar 3- 2400Z Mar 4. See www.arrl.org/contests or p. 99 of December 2006 QST for details

MARCH 6 --- HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Southeastern Director FRANK BUTLER, W4RH

MARCH 10 --- DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME BEGINS (Don't be caught unaware!)

MARCH 17 --- Kennehoochee ARC's 54th annual Hamfest, at Jim Miller Park, 2245 Callaway Road, in Marietta. 8AM- 3PM. Talk-in 146.880. For more info, see www.w4bti.org Hope to see you there.

MARCH 17 --- Macon ARC Special Event Station W4BKM, for the 25th annual Cherry Blossom Festival. 1500Z-2200Z. 145.370, 14.240, 10.110, 7.055 Certificate. www.qsl.net/w4bkm 

MARCH 24-25 --- CQ WW WPX Contest. Phone. 0000Z Mar 25- 2400Z Mar 26. Work as many "prefixes" as you can. Lotsa fun.

MARCH 24-25 --- Spring QRP Homebrewer Sprint CW/PSK31 For details, see  www.njqrp.org/data/qrphomebrewersprint.html

TOMORROW: One of the greatest labor saving devices of today.

SILENT KEYS

TOMMY BURNSIDE KE4SIX
LARRY DARBY KE4GAP
WILLIAM "MIKE" EDWARDS KM4NV
ELLIOTT KANTER W4PGI
WENDALL "MAC" MCGLAMERY NN4E
STANDUP STRAIN, JR. AG4FS

Sincere condolences to the families and friends of each of these fine men. They will be missed.

Well, folks, that's about it for now. Until next time, this is AF4FO, signing clear. Take care of yourselves.

73, Susan af4fo@arrl.org   (Send me your news and tech tips!!)
ARRL Georgia Section Manager

No trees were killed in the sending of this message. However, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.

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