KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

Clubs

Amateur radio in the news: Radio rescue highlights hobby, vegetarian-friendly hams, radio amateurs on “pumpkin patrol”

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Amateur radio-aided rescue highlights useful hobby

BUFFALO [Wyoming] — Two miles from U.S. Highway 16, a Nebraska man drove his truck through Crazy Woman Canyon before he slid off the road on Halloween night.

Unharmed, but without a functioning vehicle or a cell phone signal, Nicholas Cashoili turned to his ham radio — a device that needs only a radio frequency to make contact with other radios.

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Elphinstone Chronicles: The vegetarian friendly kind of ham

Elphinstone [British Columbia] — Our friend and Elphinstone Chronicles founder, Gayle Neilson, has very interesting people in her Area E neighbourhood. Living across the street from her is the president of the Sunshine Coast Amateur Radio Club Society (SCARCS), which sounds like the most illustrious club to hit the Elphinstone region ever.

The society, which has been operating nearly four decades, is very supportive and helpful in getting people into the hobby. They are always open to new members, or the “ham-radio-curious.” My first astute questions were along the lines of why do they call it ham radio? And is there a “beyond” version? I had grave concerns as a vegetarian. It turns out there is an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to the intricacies of this query which I was obviously not the first to ask. Suffice to say, it is slang for an amateur radio operator.

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Fort Herkimer Amateur Radio Association Assists NYS State Police Troop T (Thruway) in Halloween Pumpkin Patrol

Little Falls [NY] — New York State Police and citizen volunteers have completed the 38th annual Pumpkin Patrol watch. This is a two-day volunteer crime prevention program involving New York State Amateur Radio Associations working with Law Enforcement for safe Halloween eves. The objective is to ward off Halloween pranks and protect motorists traveling the Thruway. Patrols consist of NYS State Police Troop T Troopers and local Amateur Radio Operators from area ham radio clubs.

On October 30th and 31st, from 6 pm to 11 pm, volunteers monitor NYS Thruway overpasses and report any unusual activity to law enforcement. State Police say 15 organizations from 19 counties have volunteered to participate this year statewide.

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ARRL to offer training for club officers

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Ten years ago, I developed a leadership seminar for amateur radio club officers.  We held a couple of session here in Michigan, which the participants found to be useful, and I suggested to the ARRL that they offer this—or something similar—to club leaders across the country. In typical ARRL fashion back then, I never heard back from them.

Well, in yesterday’s ARRL Club News (October 18, 2022), I found the following item:

Call for Instructors

ARRL is embarking on a journey of training for club officers and members. The new club development webinar series will include live Q&A, and the live sessions will be available to everyone. The webinars will be recorded and available to ARRL members through the ARRL Learning Center. We’re looking for ARRL members to help us produce, create, and deliver the webinars.

The purpose of this program is to offer a series of short webinars that offer training for the skills needed to build and run a successful club. Topics will include leadership, activities, finance, and recruiting. Envisioned is a series of 10 or more webinars, all lasting from 20 to 30 minutes.

The hope is that club officers and members will view the series as an opportunity to learn from others that have been able to put those skills to use. To do this, we need the help of membership. We’re looking for instructors to help with building the training. We’re also looking for members that can present in a standard format and have the skills necessary to do the training. If this sounds like something that you are interested in, please contact Mike Walters, W8ZY, at [email protected] for further details. We hope to start this series in late January 2023.

It’s great that the ARRL is starting to work on this, but even better is that they’re asking for volunteers to help. I’ve always said that there is a wealth of talent and experience among the ARRL membership, but that most of the staff members were inflicted with not-invented-here syndrome. That is to say that the prevailing opinion always seemed to be that if an idea or program did not originate in Newington, it wasn’t worth much. Soliciting volunteers like this  is not something that the ARRL would have done 10 years ago.

It’s been very satisfying to see the ARRL come around on things that I proposed years ago. Next on my list that I’d like to see the ARRL tackle: setting a membership goal of at least 25% of U.S. licensed radio amateurs.

ICQ Podcast #385: Is 10 W enough?

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For this episode, I joined Martin Butler M1MRB, Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT, Edmund Spicer M0MNG and Ed Durrant DD5LP to discuss the following topics:

There’s also an interesting news story on how two Florida clubs are collaborating. This episode’s feature is “Is 10 Watts Enough?”

Amateur radio in the news: 8 yo talks to ISS, QSLs a highlight of ham history

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This story has been making rounds, so you may have seen it already, but I think it’s still a good story…Dan

Broadstairs eight-year-old to feature on NASA website after radio chat with ISS astronaut

A Broadstairs eight-year-old has chatted with an astronaut aboard the International Space Station and a recording of the conversation will feature on the NASA website.

Isabella Payne spoke to Astronaut Kjell Lindgren as the ISS flew overhead last week.

The youngster was with dad Matthew who is a license holding amateur radio enthusiast and tutor. He and Isabella are both members of Hilderstone Radio Society.

Matthew said: “Isabella has been a member of the radio club ever since she was born and has been playing with the radio since she was six. Because I have the full licence she can sit on my knee and use the radio to speak to people as long as I am controlling it. Everyone at the club can do that. She has been involved in a few radio events, Children On The Air events, and will hopefully go for her own licence soon.

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QSL ‘calling card’ a highlight of ham radio history

BLOOMINGTON — The McLean County Museum of History works hard to collect, preserve and document the stories of the people who have contributed to and had an impact on McLean County history. This element of the museum’s mission is supported by the generosity of the many individuals who donate items to its ever-growing collection. A great example of this can be seen in the unique cartoon donated by the estate of Eugene Umstattd.

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Salt Lake Crossroads: Amateur Radio Club

No matter what the video star says, radio isn’t going anywhere for the Salt Lake Crossroads Amateur Radio Club (SLCARC). T Michael Smith, one of the founders of the club, and outreach team members James Bennett and Mike McAinsh explain the appeal of radio in preparation for their Craft Lake City DIY Festival appearance: “With so much to learn and do in ham radio, you will never become bored with all it has to offer,” they say.

SLCARC was founded in 2014 to assist Salt Lake City Emergency Management in disaster communication, but the club offers various options to explore the multifaceted hobby in depth. From helping new hams with “mic fright” to offering a location to obtain licenses, SLCARC is a space for everyone. “Whether you’ve been licensed for years or are just starting out in the hobby, you will find a welcoming community of hams at Crossroads who will help answer your questions, provide help with putting up antennas or programming that new radio and make you feel welcome on air,” the team says, emphasizing the club’s focus on making radio accessible to users with disabilities.

At the DIY Festival, SLCARC will be demonstrating how little you need to get involved, with explanations on homemade antennas and how to transform your computer into a receiver. “We hope to inspire our visitors to pay more attention to their personal and neighborhood emergency preparedness,” the club says.

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How healthy is your club?

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I just got back from HamXposition in Marlboro, MA. The ARRL had a booth there and were passing out these Radio Club Health Check checklists. The checklist includes the following items:

Meetings

  • Regular meetings
  • Presentations
  • Welcome new members
  • Building projects

Classes

  • New license class
  • Upgrade class
  • Skills training
  • VE sessions

Mentoring

  • New hams mentoring
  • Skills mentoring
  • Net operation mentoring
  • Digital skills mentoring
  • Radio operation skills

Events

  • ARRL Field Day
  • Public service events
  • Special event stations
  • Member recruiting
  • POTA
  • SOTA
  • Fox hunts

EmComm

  • ARES nets
  • ARES drills
  • CERT training
  • AUXCOMM

Youth & School Programs

  • School presentations
  • Demonstrations
  • ARISS
  • Scouts
  • General youth outreach

Outreach

  • Public service events
  • Hamfests
  • Morse Code training
  • Community displays and demos
  • Repeaters

Contesting

  • ARRL contests
  • DX contests
  • Inter-club contests
  • Digital contests

One could quibble about some of the items—I’m not so sure that a club has to participate in contests to be a healthy club, for example—but, in general, I like this list. It serves as a reminder of some of the things that your club can do to make it a more vibrant and engaging organization.

QST Now Offering a Column for Radio Clubs

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From the 7/28/22 issue of the ARRL Letter…

ARRL invites you to be part of “Club Station,” the newest column in QST. This column is a space for radio clubs to share the different ways in which they’re successful to help other clubs grow. They do this by offering advice, and practical solutions to common experiences and problems.

In each issue, a different club will share how they undertook a specific activity or project, how and why it was successful, and any challenges they may have had to overcome throughout the process. Some

The York County Amateur Radio Society (YCARS) in South Carolina provides a welcoming environment for members to learn new skills. Here, members are learning how to program a Raspberry Pi. Be sure to read “Club Station” in the September issue of QST to find out more about YCARS and how they rebuilt their radio club.

examples include, but aren’t limited to, successful community club projects, innovative ways to attract new members, getting youth involved with ham radio, and developing active hams.

“Clubs are the backbone of the amateur radio community,” said ARRL Field Services Manager Mike Walters, W8ZY. “If your club is doing something that will inspire other clubs, we want to hear from you!”

“In order to help you tell your story, ARRL has published author guidelines that are geared toward ‘Club Station,’ and they include a club profile form,” said QST Editor Leanna Figlewski, KC1RMP. Both of these documents can be found at www.arrl.org/qst-club-station-guidelines-and-profile-form. “You don’t have to have writing experience to be published in QST. If your submission is accepted, our editorial staff will work with you to get your story ready for publication.”

All clubs are welcome to participate. The first iteration of “Club Station” appeared in the August 2022 issue of QST (www.arrl.org/qst) and includes more information about what members can expect to see from the column.

If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you about your radio club!

Is having a club chaplain appropriate?

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How diverse is your club?

On reddit, someone asked:

Hello, newbie here. I am studying for my test, and just connected with my local group. Everyone was really nice and helpful. But. They have a “club chaplain ” who began the meeting with a convocation. It was short and mumbled. And I can’t be sure what he prayed for, buy as a non-Christian this made me uncomfortable. I said nothing, as a guest there, but I wanted to know if this is a common thing.

I replied:

I don’t think that having a club chaplain is very common, but your club is probably not the only club with one. If I were you, I’d have a chat with the club officers about this. Chances are you’re not the only one who’s turned off by this, and speaking up might just get them to reconsider this practice. If you’re shy about doing this yourself, email me the name of the club or the officers, and I’ll contact them.

The Ann Arbor (MI, USA) Rotary club that I belong to used to offer a prayer at the start of each meeting. Some time ago–before I joined in 2005–they realized that that practice was not very inclusive, and could actually be a a reason for someone to quit the club or not join in the first place. So, to be welcoming to all, they replaced the prayer with a non-religious “inspiration.” And, our membersip includes Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and even agnostics like myself.

I suppose that there are some cases where you might not care about the diversity of a club. For example, if a church wanted to start a club open only to church members, then being exclusive and praying at meetings would be acceptable. I’d say, however, that most clubs should strive to be as inclusive and diverse as possible. Attracting and retaining a diverse membership will not only attract and retain members, but make the club more interesting and fun for everyone.

Is Field Day still relevant?

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I always enjoy Field Day, and this year was no exception.But, as I sat there, punching call signs into N1MM and watching my log and the logs of the other networked stations, it occurred to me that there were an awful lot of 1B, 1D, and 1E stations. I’m guessing that the majority of these stations were one-person operations operating from their back porch.

I know that Covid is still an issue, and some hams are just anti-social, but I think that these folks are really missing out. I mean, it’s nice to try something new once in a while, and the first year was fun. I operated completely QRP and battery-powered. The second year, however, was completely unsatisfying, even though we did manage to cobble together a small group.

Is Field Day still relevant?

This year was a lot better. Our club was 3A, but even so, attendance was way down. Noting that, and noting all the single-operator stations, I’m beginning to wonder if Field Day is still relevant. I’ve always described Field Day as a combination club social event, emergency preparedness exercise, and public relations event. With so many single-operator stations, it’s certainly not much of a club event, and I doubt that the 1B, 1D, and 1E ops are doing much public relations.

I suppose that the 1B and 1E stations are exercising some of their emergency communications capabilities, but a lot of training is now required to really take part in emergency communications. I’m not sure that knowing that your generator is working and how to start it would be all that valuable in a real emergency situation.

Even with all the 1B, 1D, and 1E stations on the air, it seemed to me that participation was down. At least it was down on CW. After searching and pounding a bit, I had no problem at all finding a clear frequency on which to start calling CQ.

Should Field Day encourage more VHF/UHF operation?

Another reason that makes me wonder about the relevance of Field Day is that  operation mostly takes place on HF. Sure, some clubs have VHF/UHF stations, but I’d say that those are the exception rather than the rule. And, since the majority of licensed hams are Techs, how appealing is it for them to come out and participate in Field Day?

Also, most emergency communications now take place on VHF, UHF, and above. How is making rapid-fire CW contacts on 80 meters training people to be better at emergency communications?

I mentioned this to my friend Mark, W8MP, who happened to wander into the CW station while I was pondering this idea. He said, “Well, at least this is getting people on the air.” That’s true, I guess, but there are all manner of contests and operating events that get people on the air.

I’m not exactly sure what we can do to increase Field Day participation, but here are a couple of ideas:

  • Give more points to VHF/UHF and up QSOs to encourage more operation on those bands.
  • Require every club operation to have a GOTA station, or give more points to GOTA contacts. It seems to me that GOTA stations are one of the really good things about Field Day and it should be promoted more.
  • Give points for activities specifically directed at Tech licensees. I’m not sure what that would be, though.

I’m certainly interested in hearing what you think about this? Am I off base here? If not, how would you make Field Day more relevant to the situation that amateur radio finds itself in these days.

ARROW heads back to the field for Field Day

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2020 and 2021 were pretty bleak years for Field Day. Since it’s just as much a social or group event as it is an amateur radio event, the Covid pandemic really put a damper on things. This year, however, ARROW, our club here in Ann Arbor, MI, figured that while Covid may still be an issue, we could safely set up outside and have a real Field Day.

Even so, participation was significantly less than 2019. People are either still cautious about gathering in groups or have gotten out of the habit of meeting in groups. Whatever the reason, we were only able to muster enough equipment for three HF stations, plus a Get on the Air (GOTA) station this year. In years past, we ran four stations, plus a GOTA station.

I again served as “head coach” for the GOTA station and as one of the CW operators. I do enjoy making contacts, but being the GOTA coach is a lot of fun, and it’s really my main focus during Field Day. I’m glad that I got to do both this year.

Our club members took a lot of pictures this year. Below is a selection of photos, each with their own story.

The weather cooperated this year. There were plenty of blue skies, and it wasn’t as hot as in years past. Even so, it was important to keep hydrated
This is Joe, AC8ES, at the phone station. This station was set up in a trailer brought out by James, KC8BGJ, our club president.
In this photo, Arun, W8ARU, is operating one of the CW stations. Arun pulls the night shift every year. This station was set up in an RV owned by Dave, N8SBE. That’s Dave’s K3S that Arun is operating.
Every year, we have one new operator who distinguishes themselves at the GOTA station. This year it was Matthew, KE8UEE, the 11-year-old fellow in the blue shirt. He made about 100 contacts over the weekend, and learned quite a bit about operating HF, and that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? On Sunday, for example, I caught him adjusting the bandpass filter, so that he could copy stations more easily.
Matthew wasn’t the only youngster at Field Day. Here, Max, Charles W8HAX’s son, makes a contact at the GOTA station.
This little guy also visited us at the GOTA station, climbing up a table leg and making himself right at home. Some quick googling by Mary Anne, W8VWY, confirmed that our little friend is a fox snake and isn’t poisonous. Somehow, I managed to take this guy home with me. As I was unloading my car, I found him wedged between two boxes. Now, he has a new home in my backyard.
Jay, WB8TKL, was in charge of the public information table. He also brought out the trailer-mounted tower that you can see in the background.
Les, W8MSP, Michigan Section Manager, also paid us a visit. This photo shows him and Ralph, AA8RK, the Michigan Public Information Coordinator (left) proudly displaying Governor Whitmer’s proclamation of Amateur Radio Week.
One highlight of the weekend was the plane ride that I got to take. Four of us went up with Mark, W8MP, who’s a professional pilot. Our FD site is just north of Ann Arbor airport. Mark did a few turns aorund the site, and Dinesh, AB3DC took this photo.
From left to right, our motley flight crew consisted of Dinesh AB3DC, Dan KB6NU (rear), Matthew KE8UEE, and Mark W8MP. Matthew brought a handheld along and made his first aeronautical mobile contact!

Amateur radio in the news: Don’t mess with firefighters, club receives national recognition

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FCC Proposes to Fine Ham for Firefighting Interference

The Federal Communications Commission is proposing to fine an amateur radio operator for alleged interference with firefighting efforts in Idaho last year.

It said Jason Frawley, WA7CQ, apparently interfered with radio communications that were guiding fire suppression aircraft working the “Johnson fire” near Elk River. Frawley later told the FCC he was only trying to help.

The $34,000 fine would the largest of its kind, the commission said in issuing its notice of apparent liability. All four commissioners approved the NAL. Frawley now has the opportunity to respond, and the FCC would then consider final action.

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Ham radio group receives national recognition 

(ABC 6 News) – A ham radio group in Iowa is being recognized for their work, both on and off the airwaves.

You may not know it, but amateur radio or ham radio operators play a big part in our lives. They work with the National Weather Service during severe weather and also assist with disasters like wildfires and emergencies like search and rescue operations.

The Northland Amateur Communications group was named the top ‘non-profit’ in the state through a poll on the site ‘great non-profits’.

The group is being recognized for raising money for various charities like Alzheimer’s research, Walk MS, and RAGBRAI.

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Fostering connections around the Sound, around the world

Photo by David Pan.

Puget Sound Repeater Group Vice President Jack Wolfe hosts a remote net or call-in program with amateur radio operators from across Puget Sound and the world.

Mikel Edwards initially became interested in amateur, or ham radio, more out of necessity than anything else.

Edwards owns an off-the-grid cabin that has no cellular service or electricity. But with ham radio, Edwards is able to communicate with fellow amateur radio operators.

Ham radio uses the radio frequency spectrum for the non-commercial exchange of messages, private recreation, and emergency communications.

“I can communicate 40, 50 miles from my cabin in the event there was a forest fire or some other kind of emergency,” Edwards said.

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