Georgia Section On My Mind

July, 2005

Greetings, All. Hard to believe, but it's that time again, time for another monthly newsletter. 'Course, with as often as your mailboxes have been filled with mailings from this mad typist this past month, it hardly seems time already, does it? ("How can you MISS me when I never go AWAY?!")

The PR efforts in the GA Section are on the upswing, with the recent appointment of NORM SCHKLAR, WA4ZXV, as our new PIC, (Public Information Coordinator) and with the addition of PERRY BLACKBURN, KF4SUY, and LEE MCDANIEL, WB4QOJ, as our two newest PIOs. (Public Information Officers) Many thanks to all three of them, and to all of our other PIOs who quietly go about the business of informing the public and promoting understanding of and appreciation for amateur radio. I know that there are still a lot of you out there who have been doing this for your local club or ARES group.... why not join the team and become a PIO? After all, there's strength in number, ya know.

Hope you all enjoyed a fantastic Field Day this year. I've heard from a few of you, and visited with a few more of you, and so far, the consensus is GOOD. Dunno if you ever check out the ARRL's online soapbox, but it's an easy way to get a peek at what some of the other clubs around the country did for Field Day. At least one Georgia club is already featured there. PHIL NEIDLINGER, KA4KOE, sent in a submission highlighting the experiences of the Savannah ARC. Check out his "burly" reports as well a picture of the interesting rig he operated, and more, at http://www.arrl.org/contests/soapbox/?con_id=90

Many thanks to all of you who've so kindly sent a boatload of pictures, or URLs where I could FIND boatloads of pictures, detailing your club's Field Day experiences. Now, would you please, please select a handful of your pictures and send them directly to our webmaster ROBERT TYLER, KF4VBR, at robert@nativegeorgian.com to post on our site? I'd hate to make that selection for you. You guys know best which pictures you'd want to share with everyone. (Captions, too, please!) Thank you so much.

Here I am, with hat in hand, begging again. There's a ham in Idaho who will be coming to Georgia this month for his two weeks' training at Ft. Gordon. What he's looking for is someone in that area who's active in either Echolink or IRLP, so he can keep in touch with the folks back home in Idaho via his trusty little HT. Anybody out there who can help him? He sure would appreciate it. He's never been to Georgia before; this would be a great way to demonstrate to him that Southern hospitality is for real.

I just spoke to our illustrious webmaster this afternoon, and he mentioned a couple of towers that are looking for homes. We agreed that this newsletter might provide a good forum to put that information out there. The first tower was homebrewed by FRANK DEAK, AF4Y, and anyone who knew him (now an SK) knows that the quality and workmanship on this is top-notch. It is a 50 foot tower - $400.00 obo - no rotor but with rotor plate and mast. Plus a homebrew Gin Pole especially made for the tower, free with purchase of tower. In addition, a Cushcraft 9 element beam from Frank's estate is also available for $500.00 obo. The second tower consists of 4 used, but nice straight sections of Rohn 25, a tapered top section with rotator platform inside, and a cut off 7 ft+ section that would be good to set in concrete to stack the other sections on. Priced reasonably. Contact Robert (see address above) or see www.totr-radio.org for more information.

As of this writing, quite a few Field Day SM messages have been received, but the number does seem to be down a bit from years past. Not sure why, but there it is. A couple of messages were sent via packet, a couple via WinLink, one was delivered to me on the local ARES net by WB9JSW, a baker's dozen were relayed by AF4NS, one by K4BG, and three by K5TF. Thanks to all of you guys for the relay of these messages. It is much appreciated. All you clubs who didn't take advantage of these easy 100 bonus points.... Wazzup??

OK, Field Day may be over, but PAUL MANNO, KG4UVU, put out some "Field Day Tips" on the Kennehoochee ARC reflector recently, and they were just too good not to share. They were originally written by PETE KEMP, KZ1Z, and were first printed in the June 26, 1998, ARRL letter. They provide the fodder for this month's one-liners.

OK, let's get on with it... let's see what's been happening, and what's coming up right around the corner...

You can compress the diameter of your rolled up sleeping bag by running over it with your car.
This technique may also be used to make a folded dipole.

JUNE HIGHLIGHTS

June 3-5--- Special Olympics GA --- Anyone who has ever volunteered in any capacity with the Special Olympics already knows how rewarding that can be. And anyone who has ever served as the communications coordinator for an event of this magnitude knows how much stress can be involved in trying to recruit enough volunteers to meet all of the needs. Kudos to STEVE GARRISON, N4SEG, for once again doing such a great job as coordinator, and many thanks from him, as well as the organizers of the Special Olympics GA, to all of the volunteers who stepped forward and made the venture a successful one. Whether you were there for a couple of hours, or for the whole bloomin' weekend, (like Steve always is) you made a difference. Many thanks to all of you for once again giving amateur radio a good name.

June 4 --- Atlanta ARC Hamfest--- With cooler temperatures and daily thunder boomers in the whole week leading up to the Hamfest, members of the Atlanta ARC were probably more than just a little nervous that Mother Nature would rain on their parade and keep the ham community away in droves. (You might say that their spirits were a little 'dampened"...) But ol' Ma Nature must love a good Hamfest as much as we do, because she sure smiled on us, with no more tears (i.e. rain) and bright afternoon sunshine. And plenty of hams were in attendance from all over the state, providing plenty of opportunities for wheelin' and dealin' and chewing the fat. SE Division Director FRANK BUTLER, W4RH, SE Vice Director SANDY DONAHUE, W4RU, Rocky Mountain Vice Director BRIAN MILESHOSKY, N5ZGT, and that chief BBQ connoisseur DAN HENDERSON, N1ND, ARRL Contest Manager, and I all spent a good bit of time manning the ARRL booth, answering questions, signing up new members, and chatting with friends, old and new. The Southeast Contest Club held a meeting onsite, and it was a real pleasure to sit in with them. (Racking up seven-digit scores in a contest is second nature for these guys!) One of their members is JOHN LANEY, K4BAI, and I commented to him about his performance in the CW Pile-Up contest in Dayton, where he managed to pull out 51 callsigns from the jumble of a hundred. Having heard the tape, I thought that was amazing. Funny thing was, John told me that he'd been under the weather while in Dayton, and was a little drowsy from the medication he was taking when he entered that contest... so he coulda done even BETTER!!! Contesters are like the Michael Jordans of amateur radio; they always put in amazing performances, but are always looking to do better in the next game. And with the enthusiasm and skill in this group, I have no doubt that they will. This was a good solid Hamfest. The Atlanta ARS has found a good "home" at Jim Miller Park, and they continue to find ways to make that "home" a place that hams want to visit. Good job! Many thanks for all the efforts made by club members, and as always, thanks to each and every one of you who were able to attend. It was good to see you, and hope to see you all back there again next year.

June 18 --- Kids Day--- The only organized effort that I heard about was the one put on by ANDREA HARTLAGE, KG4IUM, and Gwinnett ARES, held in Rhodes Jordan Park. (More on that under "Piglets") But I also received this great report from TIM LEMMON, WK4U: "I worked hard to get my 4 year old, Erin to talk on the radio. In the end, with help from my wife, Erin talked with two other groups on 20 meters today. She still isn't very good with the push-to-talk concept, but spoke clearly and was understood by the others. Maybe next year, I'll have her calling CQ Kids Day all by herself?" (With Tim's prowess with CW, I told him that maybe she'd be calling CQ next time around with a KEY!)

June 18 --- QCWA Chapter 49 Cook-Out--- Now, we go to a lot of different club meetings every month, and it's kinda unusual to single out any one of them for mention under "highlights", but this meeting was truly special. That lovely lady ANNIE LOFSTEAD, better half of chapter VP JERRY LOFSTEAD, W3CDE, made the wonderful suggestion that we take our annual cook-out meeting "on the road", so to speak, to meet at the homes of some of our members who can no longer make it out and about to attend meetings. This meeting, we did just that for the first time, meeting at the home of BRUCE MONTGOMERY, W4BFR, and his bride FLORENCE, N4TNZ. Although preparing for this might have been a teensy stressful for my better half, MIKE SWIDERSKI, K4HBI, who is the chapter president, and who wanted to make sure that we had everything covered so that Bruce and Florence wouldn't have to do a thing but enjoy themselves, it was well worth all of the effort. BOB LEAR, K4SZ, presented a beautiful plaque to Bruce from QCWA National in honor of his SEVENTY-FIVE years as an amateur radio operator, and primed the pump a bit by asking questions to get Bruce to share some of his memories and experiences. Bruce's first ham licenses and numerous plaques and awards for such things as DX Honor Roll, Charter Member (and then, Life Member) of the SE DX Club. (Bruce thinks he may be the only charter member left..... ) But there is no doubt that this was a successful and worthwhile outing. A few years ago, MIKE BROWN, KE4FGF, longtime president of the Thomasville ARC, wrote in the club's December newsletter, "All too often, the present a shut-in really longs for isn't a gift box but rather a friendly smile and a ready ear with a few hours to share." That isn't just true for the Holidays, but the whole year through. Bruce and Florence may not be able to get around much anymore, or see and hear as well as they once could, but there's no doubt that our visit put a twinkle in their eyes and a little giddy-up in their steps. They still have a lot of stories to tell, and we were all delighted to be there to hear some of them. How about YOUR club? Bet you have members who are pretty much shut-ins these days. A well-planned visit by club members can brighten their day. And yours, too. (Thanks, Annie!)

June 25-26 --- FIELD DAY--- Well, hopefully, most of you can add another notch on your belt to mark another year's participation in the Field Day activities. And maybe, just maybe, you can let that belt out a notch or two, while you're at it, to accommodate the countless pounds of hot dogs, burgers, ribs, chicken, and mountains of other miscellaneous goodies consumed over the weekend. Ahhhh, but it was worth it, wasn't it? We carried the beautiful Amateur Radio Appreciation Week proclamation issued and signed by GOVERNOR PERDUE with us so everyone could oooh and ahhh over it. Thanks to BILL CHEREPY, WB4WTN, for all of the work (i.e. hounding) he did to get this proclamation issued, and also for having it so beautifully matted and framed. It really does look terrific.

As always, this year's adventure was an enjoyable one for Team Swiderski. Thanks to my better half, MIKE, K4HBI, the APRS set-up worked well, and quite a few folks have told me that they did, indeed, track our progress as we trekked around middle Georgia. (Just don't pay any attention to what your reading may have said about our rate of travel.... Those things have been known to LIE!!)

Our first stop was to visit the Middle GA Radio Association, who were set up in a terrific picnic area behind a church in Warner Robins. Their set-up under the huge pavilion was mostly complete when we arrived, so we were able to enjoy relaxed conversations with these guys, and it was great to meet face-to-face with so many people I'd only had the pleasure of meeting via e-mail before. Many of this group are also active members of the GA Baptist Disaster Relief team, which facilitates their usage of the church grounds for their ham activities, like Field Day. (a match made in heaven, you might say!) They'd held a successful ham class recently, and it was great to see a couple of brand new hams from that class onsite to experience their first Field Day. This was a very friendly and welcoming group, and after some picture-taking and story-swapping, we reluctantly dragged ourselves away to get on the road again.

We didn't have to go very far to get to the other Warner Robins site, where the Central GA ARC was located, though we had to overcome some "map malfunctions" and non-existent street signs to get there. (Honestly, it appears that maps sometimes act as mere "suggestions", rather than bearing semblance to the reality on the ground!) Our impeccable timing brought us onsite to find one lonely club member in evidence, MIKE BESEMER, WM4B, who'd been left tending the store while everyone else was off in search of some lunch at the local eateries. I thought that maybe he'd drawn the "short straw", but he assured us that he'd been fooling around with a radio (go figure!) when everyone else decided to respond to the call of the hungries. Two telescoping military masts provided the bases for their antenna systems; and a unique geodesic dome type military tent, the main operating position. Club president JOHN LOUTH, WB4EEL, and a couple of others trickled back from lunch before we needed to move on, so we had the opportunity to chat with them for a few minutes before wending our way towards Macon. Mike, WM4B, wasted no time in making a beeline in search of his own lunch, and we were right behind him to do the same.

Then it was off the beaten track and into the boonies to meet with the Macon ARC folks. They didn't recognize our little red car as they watched us wending our way toward them, but they noted that it was "definitely a ham.... a 'serious' ham". We DO have a few antennas, the neatest of which is a tall and proud Tarheel screwdriver... (red, to match the car, of course!...) attached to a trailer hitch at the rear of the car. By the time we arrived, the operations were already underway inside the building, where the operator and logger were patiently employing the "search and pounce" method, and other club members were contented to relax and simply enjoy the good fellowship. The fellas lounging in their lawn chairs out back by the RV looked like they were thoroughly enjoying the respite from their busy lives. No hustle and bustle here at all; no pressure to make the most contacts... just an atmosphere that enabled these guys to get away from it all and have a good time together. (kinda like the feeling at a hunting camp... only without the guns.) It was a lot of fun talking to these folks, and there was one in particular who left a big impression on me, named HARVEY CHASE, W4TG. He informed me that he was fast approaching his 90th birthday, and had enjoyed many years as a ham. When my better half asked him if he was having a good time, he lamented that there wasn't a CW station for him to operate... sure hope they were able to accommodate him before the weekend was over. I have a feeling that he would have been able to rack up quite a few points for them.

It wasn't hard to spot the emergency communications van set up by the Macon-Bibb EMA Amateur Radio Group in the parking lot of the Kroger shopping center. (That thing is so big that it can probably be spotted from a plane flying at 10.000 feet!) When faced with the problem of how to tie one of their antennas off to the towering light pole in the parking lot, the first thought was to have some of their friendly local firemen drop by with a hook-and-ladder truck. (Being an EMA director like JOHNNY WINGERS, WX4R, makes that very do-able!) But as luck would have it, along came another truck, along with a crew who innocently asked permission to come into the cordoned area where they were parked so they could change a light bulb on that very same towering light pole. ("Come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly..." Dontcha just love it?) Needless to say, they got that "permission", and they did a good deed for our guys while they were up there. This communications van is definitely state-of-the-art, especially designed to accommodate their communications needs, as well as the comfort of the operators. Plenty of room to spread out. Johnny is justifiably proud of this beauty. Being set up in the parking lot enabled them to attract many curious visitors, and the tables outside of the van were well-stocked with a variety of brochures and hand-outs, as well as well-staffed by hams who were only too happy to answer any questions. A reporter was talking to Johnny when we arrived, so I'll betcha they got some good coverage in the local media. And recently licensed VICKIE THOMPSON, KI4KHG, GEMA Area 4 Coordinator, arrived shortly before we left. (And she promised that she'd actually do some operating over the weekend...)

We had a bit of a drive to get to the next site in Milledgeville, but we knew that we'd feel right at home when we got there. Y'see, club member OTIS STEPHENS, KE4UWJ, sent us pictures, a CD, a DVD, and a videotape of last year's activities, so we felt pretty familiar with the location and the people long before we got there. As soon as we spotted the multitude of flags flying around the huge L-shaped pavilion, we knew: "This was the place." We'd been out to visit with these folks for a club meeting a few years ago, and we were very touched by their warm welcome and friendliness then, and they only reinforced that first impression this time around. They truly made us feel like family. All of his many friends all over the state will be happy to know that TOM HASKINS, W4WXA, was there, looking fit and happy and back to being his ol' mischievous self again. There were four ECs onsite from surrounding counties, too, and we enjoyed chatting with all of them, as well as with our Army MARS buddy OTIS MURPHY, W4OY. In fact, it was a genuine joy to visit with all of these friendly people. They put on the feed bag while we were there, with a wide array of delicious foods. (Boy! Sure wish I'd been hungrier!) And just as were were about to leave, out came a shiny guitar, in preparation for a little "pickin' & grinnin'", doggone it. Hated to miss that. There were numerous stations being operated, with plenty of people left over to do some serious and not-so-serious socializing. No doubt, we would have enjoyed staying even longer, but we had "miles to go before we'd sleep", so it was time to get the show back on the road. One of the first sights we spotted when we arrived was Otis, KE4UWJ, pointing that ever-present camera in our direction, and that's one of the last sights, too, as we pulled away to head towards Watkinsville.

Next up was the Oconee County ARS, who was operating from the county EOC. BILL RONAY, KM4LS, was the first to greet us (and immediately offered us some luscious-looking ribs and corn on the cob, too.... alas, too bad we'd already exceeded our "load"!) This group has a sterling relationship with their EMA folks, and as the ARES/RACES organization, is well-respected and plays a strong and healthy role as a vital part of emergency response in the county. The EOC itself is beautiful, and spacious enough that they could spread their stations out into different rooms and minimize any QRM. I had the unique experience of standing there and watching one of the operators send their message to JIM HANNA, AF4NS, for me. Kinda neat. The piece de resistance is still a work in progress, the communications trailer that has been provided for them. The inside of it has been cleaned and stripped, so the fun work of fitting it with equipment is yet to begin. But it's a tractor-trailer type trailer, wide and sturdy, and it'll be a one-of-a-kind durable facility when it's completed. It was very enjoyable to visit with these folks and to see first hand what a fine job they've done with forming such a good relationship with their EMA folks. And, thanks for the peaches, guys..... they're GRRRREAT!

It was then off to the new Southeast Clarke Park in Athens to visit the Athens ARC. When we arrived, we spotted one couple sitting in the parking lot, enjoying a bite to eat, and one other fella operating in a tent set up on the grass nearby. We wondered where everybody was. As luck would have it, like in Warner Robins, we'd arrived when some of the folks had wandered off for a late dinner. The one operator turned out to be club VP ERWIN GREENE, KG4WGZ, and he told us that the club members were split up between three different areas of operations this year, with some being at the Red Cross EOC, and others, up on Lake Hartwell. Erwin took us for a little walk back into the woods, where another station was set up in a pagoda, which made for a very neat operating position. And it turned out that the tarps that had been added to the sides of the pagoda came in very handy later on that evening, when the rains came. With a quick unrolling of the tarps, the equipment and operators were well-protected from the wet stuff, and operations could go on as usual. These folks also gave us a copy of the proclamation for Amateur Radio Week that had been issued and signed by MAYOR HEIDI DAVISON. We really enjoyed chatting with these folks, but we didn't stay real long, because the skeeters were starting to enjoy the taste of my blood entirely too much, and besides, we didn't want to keep these folks from making those contacts. So it was off into the night for us, to head towards good ol' Gwinnett county.

The Gwinnett ARES folks had their communications van set up outside of the Fire and Emergency Headquarters near Brisco Field in Lawrenceville, and I was pleasantly surprised at how many people were still there. This was the first time I'd gotten a good look-see at the trailer since last Field Day, and as the saying goes, "We've come a long way, baby!" That thing is plum beautiful. And practical. Using rack mounts for much of their equipment, it is very professional-looking and extremely comfortable. They even had high-speed internet in that thing, not to mention air conditioning. With their own generator, these folks are well-prepared to hit the road and provide communications at a moment's notice, and under EC STAN EDWARDS, WA4DYD, they have a multitude of members prepared to respond.

The last stop was Rhodes Jordan Park, where the Gwinnett ARS has set up for many years. Though the hour was late, the place was still hopping. It was great to see those three wise guys..... oops! I mean wise MEN..... HOWIE GOULD, W9HG, JOHNNY FEARON, W4WKP, and RON LANGSTON, WE5O, sitting together by one of the CW stations. (Taking a break, no doubt; These guys...... er, MEN.... Are all top-notch CW operators.) It was also great to see so many young people still around enjoying themselves. Numerous people told us that there had been more young visitors this year than ever before, and for this group, that's really saying something, because they have always made a huge effort to involve youngsters. At one point during the day, every single station under one of the pavilions was manned by someone under 20 years old..... that's DARNED impressive! And they also gave out more "first contact" certificates this year than in the past, too. Everyone was pretty excited about this, and justifiably proud. BOB CRONE, WA4VJC, and his son ROBERT, W4RFC (ex- KI4JYQ) were still going strong. (Well, ROBERT was still going strong..... Bob was gamely hanging in there!) Someone had taken the time to show young Robert how to operate PSK-31, and by the time we arrived, he was already a seasoned operator, much to his dad's surprise and delight. (Looks like there's gonna be a PSK-31 set-up at their home QTH now....) There was a terrific article in the local newspaper about Field Day and GARS' set-up in the park, and one of the people who read it and responded to the open invitation was a local middle school teacher. She teaches journalism, and she already had some curiosity about ham radio and its potential for the students at her school, so she was thrilled to be able to attend the field day activities to get more information. EDDIE FOUST, WD4JEM, wisely teamed the teacher up with ANDREA HARTLAGE, KG4IUM, who ended up spending several hours with her. (A perfect match... who better than our talented Youth Editor to tell this teacher about the hobby and its merit for young people?!) Andrea definitely turned the table, and taught the teacher, giving her the opportunity to make contacts and help with logging, too. Seems very likely that a new advocate for amateur radio has been created, and it will come as no surprise to me if a new amateur radio club springs up at Snellville Middle School this next school year.

Coming to the GARS Field Day was ALMOST like coming home. But we were getting pretty frayed around the edges by this time, and were ready to bring that little red car back into her own driveway and call it a day. And what a day it was! Thanks to each and every one we visited. You were all so friendly and welcoming that you made our whole day a huge pleasure. Now, we're done for another year. Next year? Who knows..... maybe to points farther south. But wherever we go, there's no doubt that we'll enjoy every minute of it.

A potato baked in the coals for one hour makes an excellent side dish.
A potato baked in the coals for three hours makes an excellent counter-weight
for hurling a leader line over a tree limb.

CLUB NEWS

CONYERS ARG --- I noticed in one of this club's recent newsletters, mention was made of a WAN (Worked All Neighbors) award, that had been won by club secretary JAMES WISEMAN, (AKA "MOOSE") KF4ASC. Made me wonder. Heck, my Mike worked all neighbors years ago, on 6 M, without even trying. Somehow, I don't think that's what they meant, though. Any kind of friendly operating competition between club members is a good thing, whether it's on HF or the local repeater. And there's lots of fun ways to do this. Sounds like this must have been one of them.

FAYETTE COUNTY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB, INC. --- At their annual Field Day business meeting on June 25th, the Fayette County Repeater Association, Inc. voted unanimously to reconstitute itself under the new name of FAYETTE COUNTY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB, INC. (FCARC). Newly elected FCARC President Joe Domaleski (KI4ASK) ran on a platform of making the club more friendly to the area community and pursuing an ARRL affiliation. Also elected at the meeting were Greg Menniges (KI4HRU) - Vice President of Activities, Steve Hunnicutt (WA2PWZ) - Secretary, and David Alread (KG4WUV) - Treasurer. During the meeting, the Arnold Cheek Memorial Award for Ham of the Year went to Fayette County ARES EC David Benoist, AG4ZR. With over 80 members, the FAYETTE COUNTY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB, INC. is the largest amateur radio club in South Metro Atlanta. The club claims to have one of the friendliest repeaters in the Atlanta area - the mighty KK4GQ 521 repeater (145.210 negative offset, 131.8 Hz PL) which covers most all of the Southern Crescent of South Metro Atlanta. They welcome all area hams to check into their weekly net on Tuesday evening at 9pm local. The repeater is also on Echolink as KB4GR-R (node number 111807). Stay tuned for more from this group in the upcoming year!

NORTHEAST GA ARC --- LARRY OSBOURNE, KT4XX, reports: One of the things Field Day is supposed to help everyone train for is the unexpected. NEGARC had just that as a few days before FD they found out their plans to be at Bryant State Park had sunk into quicksand. There seemed to be some glitch that had not allowed the reservation to go through. In the Amateur spirit, Fred and Jan Lubbes, KG4PPQ and KG4PPP, volunteered their lovely home and grounds (all 30 acres!) for Field Day. The results were fantastic. NEGARC had a 25% increase in contacts, including a satellite contact. More club members attended as well. They had signs leading to the event so they had visitors who clustered around their information table before sitting in and making contacts of their own.

OCONEE COUNTY ARS --- Recent elections put the following slate of officers in place for the next year: President- BOB RICHARDS, JR, AA4AI; VP- LEE SCHRAMM, W4DKA; Treasurer- ROBERT SALLSTROM, W4RBT; and Secretary- BILL RONAY, KM4LS. Congratulations to all of these fine fellas, and best wishes for another successful year.

SOUTHEAST CONTEST CLUB --- During the meeting held at the Atlanta Hamfest, elections were held to select the next team of club leaders, who will take office on August first. Staying on for another term are Secretary GEORGE COLEMAN, AA4LR, and Treasurer BOB ELLISON, K4SB. Taking over as the new VP will be RICK DOUGHERTY, NQ4I; and as President, HAL KENNEDY, N4GG. Congratulations to one and all, and may the propagation and Q-Rates be with you.

VALDOSTA ARC --- WAYNE BRANT, KO4QJ, has been wearing multiple hats for quite some time, and has been doing a terrific job of it, serving both as Lowndes county EC and club president, among other things. To slow down a bit, he has stepped down as club president, and a special election was held to select someone to fill his big shoes. (Now, I'm not saying that his feet are big... you know what I mean!) That big-footed person (just kidding!) is TIM CUNNINHAM, KC4BEB, and joining him to lead the club are VP COREY SIMON, N9QCJ, and Treasurer JAMES SMITH, KE4HZS. Wayne's bride LISA, KD4CJV, also resigned and put down her secretary's steno pad, and a replacement is yet to be elected. Congratulations to the new officers, and best wishes in leading the club. Also, special get well wishes to Wayne.

WEST GA ARS --- It was a sad shock and a great loss when their club president and friend LARRY REVIS, KE4FJI, recently became a silent key. A special election was held in June, and former president TOM KOCOUREK, N4FWD, was chosen to finish Larry's term. Thanks to Tom for coming out of retirement to once again lead the club, and sincere condolences to club members for the loss of their friend Larry.

The guitar at the next campsite makes excellent kindling. The strings may be used for a VHF/UHF antenna.

ARES NEWS

*** Where do you draw the LINE? Between the local radio club and the local ARES group, that is? In some counties, there is no club at all, but there is an ARES group, whose sole reason for existence is emergency preparedness and public service. Hams in those areas who "think" they have no interest in those activities, may choose to be uninvolved. (electing to partake in none of the training, but maybe offering their help... if they're "ever needed"..) Clubs, on the other hand, can support a wide variety of ham activities and interests, which would ordinarily include some sort of learning about and participation in emergency communications and public service, especially when that club is designated as a Special Service Club. Often, the club, as its members develop interest in public service and emergency communications, actually helps foster interest and growth in the ARES organization. Oftentimes, there is a blurry line between the two groups, with dual membership in both the club and the ARES group. In the best possible situation, though the two groups are distinct, not only does some dual membership exist, but cooperation exists between the two, with formal MOUs in place that supports the use of the club's repeater by the ARES group, and which encourages the attendance by the EC or another ARES liaison person to the club meetings to keep them informed of ARES activities. How does YOUR group measure up? Just food for thought...

*** Three lashes with a wet noodle. That's what I deserve for reporting in the mid-monthly summary that our new DEC liaison for GA Public Broadcasting is JOHN "DAVIDSON", WD4QDX. Shame on me for changing the name of a friend like that. John Davidson is that tall good-looking actor with the big dimples. JOHN DAVIS is WD4QDX, that tall good-looking ham with the big (and forgiving) heart. (He told me, "I've been called worse!") And John DAVIS is our new DEC. Congratulations, John, and thanks for taking on this new and exciting position.

*** Thanks to J.D.GOINGS, AA4P, for a virtual lifetime of service with the GA Baptists Disaster Relief Team, with ARES, and with MARS. (And that's just what I KNOW about... bet he's been active in the Colquitt County ARC, too...) Anyway, J.D. has stepped down as DEC for the GA Baptists, and picking up that position is TERRY JONES, W4TL. Congratulations, Terry, and thanks for volunteering to take on this role. J.D. will be continuing as the Net Manager for both GA ARES and the GA Baptist nets.

*** CONGRATULATIONS to our two newest ECs: Towns county- KEN BRYANT, KF4CZB, and Elbert county- CLAUDE RAY III, AC4SH. Many thanks to both of them as they prepare to lead the emergency communications efforts in those counties.

*** The month of June marked the annual Grecian Firebolt exercise, which Army MARS has supported each year. This year, for the first time, MARS extended a formal invitation to the ARRL for ARES members to also be a part of this important exercise. The decision to include ARES operators wasn't made until May, (at least, we didn't HEAR about it until then) so there wasn't much time to plan for this. Nonetheless, we made an effort to tell the GA hams a little bit about it, and what it all meant. Sincere THANKS to JOHN KRAUS, KC4ZGQ, our DEC for Digital Communications, and CARL WULFESTIEG, AG4LS, Newton county EC, for both relaying information that was then used to file reports for this exercise. A baby step in interoperability, but we weren't even in the crawling stage before. This may have been the first step, but it definitely won't be the LAST. So, thank you, John and Carl. On the Army MARS side of it, Georgia MARS members were number one for the number of participants in the Eastern Area who took part in this exercise, and members of both the Air Force and Navy/Marine Corps MARS were also active on our nets, and relayed their traffic through us.

*** COBB ARES was recognized by the City of Acworth at the regular monthly meeting of the Acworth Mayor and Board of Aldermen. Cobb ARES accepted the proclamation on behalf of all radio amateurs in Cobb County. You can see the story at http://www.acworth.org/news/news_more.php?news_id=93 and click on the photo link for some great pictures taken at the event. (Once again, thanks to Alderman TIM RICHARDSON, W4IOU, for making this happen.)

*** SOUTH FULTON ARES --- It is with sadness that I report that the recently appointed EC for this fine group, HENRY KELLEY, W4HK, recently became a Silent Key. Condolences to this group for the loss of their leader and their friend.

*** SOUTHEASTERN DISTRICT DEC GREG TILLMAN, N4VAD, shares this with us about the recent BRAG (Bicycle Ride Across Georgia) event, which was held June the 12th - 18th, with over 1800 entrants biking across Georgia and making numerous stops along the route. They left Columbus on the 12th, spending a night in Thomaston, Warner Robbins, Dublin, Vidalia, Jesup before finishing up at Jekyll Island. Greg wrote:

This year's BRAG event was a huge success due to many of the amateurs radio operators that participated across the state. We were able to get these cyclists from Dublin to Jekyll with no more than bruises, minor abrasions and only 1 minor incident that a teen had that needed transport by p.o.v. to Tattnal hospital from a fall. No serious injuries were reported during this event of over several hundreds of miles of the southeast portion of the ride.

I wish to thank those in the Southeast District especially. We had a total of 28 operators turn out to volunteer and work this event. They not only covered the rest stops, which was all that BRAG officials required, but hazardous intersections, bridges, highways and interchanges at interstate exits.

This could not have been accomplished without this enormous group effort and team work from all you guys. A hearty thanks for all the assistance from multiple county ARES groups that made this possible.

Your participation and support is what makes ARES be of benefit to the public in times of disasters and more prepared with honed skills and knowledge of the communications difficulties with and without repeaters to cover certain areas. We were able to maintain communications in areas that cell phones, southern link and other cell services would not even work.

*** WARE COUNTY ARES --- EC PERRY BALCKBURN, KF4SUY, is also the PIO for the Ware County EMA. (And one of our newest GA Section PIOs, too!) The following is a press release from him that appeared in the local newspaper, regarding a recent exercise held in his county:

Local, State Agencies Conduct Homeland Security Exercise

(Waycross, Ga.) Ware County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) and the Office of Homeland Security-Georgia Emergency Management Agency (OHS-GEMA) hosted a tabletop exercise and functional exercise involving the simulated explosion of a railroad tank car tested emergency first responders and other support personnel from 29 local and state agencies here last Monday May 16th and Tuesday May 17th.

This exercise provided a very unique and helpful training opportunity for City of Waycross and Ware County emergency response agencies, as well as neighboring mutual aid response agencies to evaluate our capabilities. We are extremely pleased with the turn-out for the two-day drill, said Ware County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) Director Jonathan Daniell.

Emergency planners based the drill scenario on the explosion of a tank car parked on tracks alongside a downtown intersection while a “peaceful� demonstration against the transportation of waste chemicals on railcars through the city was in progress. To complicate matters, the incident happened approximately one hour prior to the start of a football game at Memorial Stadium. The scenario took another twist, when a second explosion occurred as first responders began assisting those affected by the initial explosion.

Emergency management officials designed the exercise with five operational objectives:
To assess the effectiveness of the response of the fire department's hazardous materials team to a terrorist incident involving the detonation of a secondary explosive device
To evaluate the level of response and assistance of county-level emergency support function to a terrorist event
To identify any challenges associated with a response to an event in a night time environment
To measure the interaction between law enforcement, emergency medical services, fire and rescue, and other response and support agencies, both local and regional
To assess mutual aid procedures

Participating agencies include American Red Cross, Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES), Bleckley County EMA, Clinch County EMA, CSX Railroad, Department of Family and Childrenâ€(tm)s Services (DFACS), Dodge County EMA, Environmental Protection Division, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Georgia Department of Public Health, Georgia State Patrol, and Georgia Department of Transportation. Innovative Emergency Management, Office of Homeland Security- Georgia Emergency Management Agency, Salvation Army, Satilla Community Service Board, Satilla Regional Medical Center, Ware County Board of Commissioners, Ware County Coroner, Ware County Board of Education, Ware County Emergency Management Agency, Ware County Emergency Medical Service (EMS), Ware County Fire/Rescue, Ware County Public Works, Ware County Public Safety Communications Cente! r (911) and Ware County Sheriffâ€(tm)s Department. Waycross City Commission, Waycross Fire/Rescue, and Waycross Police Department.

You can start a fire without using matches by eating Mexican food,
then breathing on a pile of dry sticks while keying your HT.

NET REPORT FROM JIM HANNA, AF4NS, STM

*****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 3857.5 MHz
SE 6M SSB Net: Sundays at 8 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 9 PM on 50.135 MHz

***** And these nets, information courtesy of FELTON FLOYD, AF4DN: Southbears Regional HF net, Sundays at 3:30PM, on 7260 KHz, and Southbears National HF Net, on Sundays at 4:30PM on 14.265 MHz

***** Members of the Dalton ARC are a-buzz about the Geritol net. This net operates in the Extra portion of 75M, and provides certificates for WAS. See www.qsl.net/geratol 

***** ALFRED WESTBROOK, KT4VP, reports that there is a new Deep South 2 M daily SSB net. For info, see http://www.deepsouthnet.net/

PUBLIC SERVICE HONOR ROLL:

STATION ACTIVITY REPORTS:

Traffic handled (QTC):

** SID HUTCHINSON, WB4GGS, earned yet another BPL listing in QST, with 343 messages sent, 349 received, and 3 delivered, for a whopping grand total of 695. CONGRATULATIONS!

"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

SECTION NOTABLES

**** JOE DOMALESKI, KI4ASK, is a big time volunteer and the newly elected president of the Fayette County ARC. One of his many activities was his participation in the 100-mile bike ride, Assault on Mt. Mitchell, last year, and his adventures in that ride were featured in the May 2005 issue of "CQ Amateur Radio" magazine. Just in case you missed it, you can read it at http://www.fayetteares.org/CQMay2005.pdf And pictures that Joe took during this excursion, two of which were used in the article, can be found at: http://www.joedom.com/joedom.com/assault2004 (Way to go, Joe!)

**** CONGRATULATIONS to PHIL GREENWAY, W4LRR, and to OTIS MURPHY, W4OY, who both received formal commendations recently for their many years of participation as members of Army MARS. Otis was recognized for 30 years of membership, and Phil, for an amazing 55 years.

**** In the very first GA Section newsletter I wrote, in January of 2002, I mentioned RAY RECTOR, WA4NJP, and his amazing achievement at being the first (and I believe, still ONLY) one to have made a confirmed 432 EME contact with China. Never one to rest on his laurels, this fella just continues to be a leader in the field. If you noticed in the July QST, he is currently ranked Number One in the 144 MHz standings in our callsign area. And it was recently brought to my attention that he is the ONLY one in the world to have achieved a particular WAC (worked all continents) award. Not impressed? It's on 6M EME. Now, THAT'S impressive! What else is impressive is that those huge dishes with which he accomplishes so much are home-brew.

In emergency situations, you can survive in the wilderness by shooting small game with a slingshot
made from the elastic waistband of your underwear. This trick also works for stringing wire antennas.

PIGLETS (AKA YOUNG HAMS)

*** KIDS DAY--- It was only about a week before the scheduled date for Kids Day that ANDREA HARTLAGE, KG4IUM, started to get things in motion so she and other members of the Gwinnett ARES could once again participate. But with much help from her dad SCOTT, KF4PWI, and other members, a week was all they needed to pull off another successful outing. One of the attendees was BRIAN MILESHOSKY, N5ZGT, Vice Director of the Rocky Mountain Division, who is still in the Atlanta area finishing up his masters work at GA Tech. He was very impressed with it, and wrote this about the experience: Members of the Gwinnett County ARES set up their communications trailer at a very popular park for Kid's Day. They treated it as a training opportunity in terms of deployment (they use every opportunity they can to train, making it fun to keep members interested and involved). We had perhaps 20 kids drop by, as well as local media. A fun time, but HF was in terrible shape. I don't know how many QSOs we made, but the kids sure enjoyed learning about the hobby, eating snacks, checking out the radio equipment in the ARES trailer and getting small prizes for telling us what they learned.

One of the most popular activities was, surprisingly (or not!), the CW practice oscillator! If you treat CW as a "secret language," the kids immediately latch onto it to code/decode their friends' names (with the help of a CW sheet nearby). Very interesting to see it get more action than the microphone.

**** Never been to Disneyland? Here's the next best thing to being there: From 1700Z July 17 to 0300Z July 18, there will be a Special Event Station on the air from Disneyland, celebrating its 50th anniversary. WD6MM will be operating on 28.350, 21,350, 14.250,and 7.250. Send a QSL and certificate requests with a 9x12 SASE to Disney EARS, c/o Archie Willis, W6LPJ, 9276 Borden Ave, Sun Valley, CA, 91352. (You won't get a pair of mouse ears from it, but there just might be a picture of everybody's favorite mouse on the certificate.)

Check the washing instructions before purchasing any apparel to be worn on Field Day.
Buy only those that read "Beat on a rock in a stream" or "Can be dried by RF".

TECH TIPS

*** In last month's newsletter was the interesting account written by PAT HAYNES, K4BEH, about their club's visit to the Channel 18 GCTV/PBS transmitter site in Chatsworth. In it, he wrote, "The transmitter consists of three separate 60 Kw amplifiers. Two of them are combined to give 110 Kw video signal and the third one is used for the audio, or aural as they call it, signal. It is actually cut back to about 10 Kw power, I believe Hugh said. The three amplifier tubes are water cooled Eimac Klystrodes, a klystron diode tube. The tubes operate at 32 Kilovolts anode voltage and around two amperes plate current for the video section. One of the three tubes has never been replaced since the station was first put on the air! They now operate 24/7, so that is great reliability. The tubes are no longer in production so if one fails they have to hand-build it and it can take weeks to be delivered. If one were to fail they would simply have to operate at half power for awhile! The antenna is a slot antenna with enough gain to make the effective radiated power equal one Megawatt! That is NOT QRP! I calculate that gain would be about 18 dB."

My better half, MIKE SWIDERSKI, K4HBI, provides this correction for the calculation of that gain, writing:

"110 KW TO 1 MEGAWATT IS ABOUT 10 DB. EVERY DOUBLING OF POWER IS 3 DB OF GAIN. 110KW, 220 3DB, 440 3DB, 880 3DB OR MORE PRECISELY DB= 10 LOG (P1/P2) OR 10 LOG (1000/110) OR 9.58 DB"

(STILL not QRP!)

*** Interested in a good promotional video about amateur radio? Check out this free online version at http://www.af4k.com/video.htm

*** West GA ARC club president TOM KOCOUREK, N4FWD, told me about a great Morse code course that's available on the internet, which he rated an eleven out of ten. It was produced by CHUCK ADAMS, K7QO, out of Prescott, AZ. I checked it out and think the whole website is well worth your time. See www.k7qo.net Lots of great info to be found here.

Ben Franklin kites do not work on 160 meters during Field Day thunderstorms.

UPCOMING EVENTS

JULY 4 --- Hope y'all have a Bang Up day! And many thanks to those who've volunteered to help with communications at the Peachtree Road Race and a host of parades all over the state.

JULY 9 --- Lanierland ARC Tailgating Hamfest

JULY 9-10 --- 1200Z-1200Z IARU HF World Championships CW/SSB 10M-160M For details, see www.iaru.org/contest.html

JULY 16-17 --- CQ Worldwide VHF Contest. 1800Z July 16- 2100Z July 17. 6 & 2M. See www.cq-amateur-radio.com

JULY 16-17 --- Listen up for some fun contacts, with the Museum Ships Weekend Event

JULY 17-18 --- 1700Z- 0300Z. 60th Anniversary Special Event Station from Disneyland. (Additional information under "PIGLETS")

JULY 30-31--- Flight of the Bumblebees. CW QRP. Another QRP in the field event, combining a bit of the great outdoors with some fun operating. For info, see www.arsqrp.com/ars/pages/bumblebees/bb_rules.html

Alligator bells provide an element of safety for Field Day operators in gator country.
The tricky part is getting them on the alligators.

SILENT KEYS

EDITH DEAVERS, N4NTZ
WILLIE GARST, N4XMO
HENRY KELLEY, W4HK
RICHARD RAY, W4SNX (ex-KS4KR)

Sincere condolences to the families and friends of all of these dear people. They will be missed.

Well, folks, that's about it for now. I reckon if I've forgotten anything, you'll just hear from me again! Until next time, this is AF4FO, signing clear. Take care of yourselves. And each other.

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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