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ARRL Club News

Published by the American Radio Relay League ********************************************

October 18, 2022

Editor: Michael Walters, W8ZY <[email protected]>

IN THIS ISSUE

- Technician Blast Class is a Success
- Cotton Hill VHF Group Activates Fire Tower
- Volunteer Radio Network Takes Shape
- West Central Texas Emergency Preparedness Conference
- Call for Instructors
- Suggestions for Clubs
- Club Station Update
- Submitting Info for this Newsletter
- How to Plan and Apply for an ARRL Hamfest or Convention
- Important Links

TECHNICIAN BLAST CLASS IS A SUCCESS

There is no "I" in the word "team." We proved this to be true over the
weekend of October 8 in Bluefield, West Virginia.

The Appalachian Repeater Association and the East River ARC, in
association with ARRL and Icom, offered the first-ever Technician Blast
Class.

The instructors were: Nelson J. Linkous II, WZ8E; David Sexton,
AB8D, and Chris Hatcher, KC8AFH.

This class had a number of assistants that provided the classroom
space, supplied educational materials, ran errands, brought
refreshments, and made a lunch run. Those assistants were Matt Morris,
KC8LGS; George Dietrich, KF4YGL; Jay Belt, K8CTI, and Michael Clemons,
KM4UCR.

The East River ARC VE team scheduled a test session right after the
class. A big thanks to Keith Jennings, AD8L; Gary L. Scott, WE3J; Gary
Kadar, N8GK; Berlon Roberts, W8ZBR, and Andy Anderson, WD8OOR, for the
testing help.

There were students that came to the class from as far away as
Charleston, Beckley, Oak Hill, and Monroe County.

The class produced a 91% pass rate.

Those that passed the test were entered into a raffle for the chance to
win a Yaesu FT-65 transceiver, provided the Appalachian Repeater
Association. The raffle winner was Jason Anderson.

Thanks again to everyone who helped us make this Technician Blast Class
a success!

-- Nelson J. Linkous II, WZ8E

COTTON HILL VHF GROUP ACTIVATES FIRE TOWER

Members from the Schoharie County Amateur Radio Association, along with
members from the Tryon Amateur Radio Club, got together the weekend of September 11 and 12 to put the Cotton Hill VHF Group, WB2UEE, on the
air for the ARRL September VHF Contest.

The group chose the Leonard Mountain Fire Tower site in Gilboa, New
York, to operate, and they brought the Schoharie County ARA tower
trailer along with them, as the fire tower is unavailable at this time.
It's reported that the tower is undergoing an engineering review and
may be available for use in the future. Their antennas consisted of a
5-element M2 6-meter beam, an 11-element Cushcraft 2-meter beam, and a 23-element 70-centimeter beam. The group set up the operating position
at the base of the fire tower.

It was a fun time, but it was cut a little short when the rain started
late Sunday morning. Either way, it was great fun, and it was nice to
put WB2UEE back on the air. There has already been talk of doing more
VHF contesting in the future. Other clubs and operators from around the
area have expressed interest as well. We look forward to seeing what
this group can put together for next season!

-- Rocco Conte, WU2M, ARRL NNY Section Manager

VOLUNTEER RADIO NETWORK TAKES SHAPE

San Rafael, CA - During an emergency, being able to quickly send or
receive accurate information can make all the difference. However, most standard communication devices require electric power, rendering them ineffective during planned outages, such as the ones that Marin County, California, endured in October 2019.

The newly established Marin Radio Communications Volunteers (RCV), a
pilot program under Marin County Department of Public Works <https://www.marincounty.org/depts/pw> (DPW), is working toward a
solution: organized ham radio communications.

The need was identified by several local amateur radio enthusiasts
during the Pacific Gas and Electric Company's Public Safety Power Shutoffs[External] <https://www.pge.com/en_US/residential/outages/public-safety-power-shuttoff/learn-about-psps.page>
(PSPS) in October 2019. During the PSPS, Marin County's branch of
Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) noted that various community-based organizations had technological problems communicating
between each other and several local government agencies. The issues
included supply logistics and general assistance, which could have been improved by having a structured network of backup communications,
specifically for local organizations.

The Marin Amateur Radio Society (MARS) designated ham radio operators
who could provide backup communications for the vulnerable
community-based organizations. Utilizing mobile radio equipment, the
ham operators began looking into effective ways to implement the
support network. Soon afterward, the Marin County DPW sponsored the
initiative as a pilot program for improving public safety during future
PSPS events.

A seven-person planning team is collaborating with 16 ham radio
volunteers to develop a structured operational system for the pilot
program. The guidelines would serve the needs of Marin County's
community-based organizations, facilitating basic communications
pathways for them to provide their respective services.

"We're going for simplicity and functionality," said Skip Fedanzo,
KJ6ARL, ham radio operator with Marin RCV. "We want to help local
community organizations operate and communicate in an emergency, while
letting them focus on doing what they do best: serving vulnerable
residents." The pilot program is going through structured tests and
simulations to determine which radio frequencies and communications
protocols are most efficient and dependable under different situations.
Such decisions are being made in conjunction with best practices
developed over the 100-year history of worldwide ham radio usage.

The volunteers have been running scenario-based drills with the
selected organizations to provide proof of concept. The results of the
drills and the general operational protocols are expected to be
presented to the Marin County Board of Supervisors. If the pilot is
successful, the program could scale up to accommodate other community organizations in more locations around Marin County.

-- Andrew LeBlanc, Telecommunications Manager and Marin Emergency Radio Authority (MERA) Operations Officer, Department of Public Works

WEST CENTRAL TEXAS EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS CONFERENCE

Members of the Abilene area Amateur Radio Emergency Service� (ARES�)
and the ARRL WTX Section Manager Eric Durham, W5WI, set up a booth at
the West Central Texas Emergency Preparedness Conference, held in the
Abilene Convention Center on September 28, 2022. The conference was
hosted by the Central Texas Council of Governments and the Texas
Division of Emergency Management District 7 Disaster Coordinators.
First responders and other emergency personnel from throughout the
district attended. Excellent programs on many aspects of emergency
operations were presented in breakout rooms.

-- Dale Durham, W5WI, ARRL WTX Section Manager

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.

SUGGESTIONS FOR CLUBS

1. Offer a free year's membership to newly licensed hams, especially if
they are kids. But they must show up in person to a club meeting in
order to qualify. If they attend a meeting, make sure a mature member
is tasked with making them feel welcome and helping them determine what
they need to become radio active. If for some reason they never come
back, it will have cost the club nothing but the time it took to
process their membership form. But if they do decide not to come back,
you need to find out why.

2. There's no need to keep all of your print edition's of QST now that
you can access them online. So, keep some of them in your car, and when
you visit the doctor, barber shop, auto repair place, etc., leave them
with all of the other magazines provided at each business for others to
browse them while they wait. You should probably use a marker to cross
out the name and address, as you would not want to advertise that the
addressee has valuable electronics gear at that residence. Better yet,
get some Avery� labels to cover up that information. I suggest printing
your club's information on the label, such as: "Compliments of the
Podunk Valley Amateur Radio Society (www.podunkars.org). We meet every
third Tuesday at 7:30 PM at the Podunk Rescue Squad Headquarters
Building, 101 Main St. Visitors are always welcome!"

3. If your club conducts test sessions, make sure it has a promotional
brochure that talks about the organization. Make sure new licensees are
made aware of the free membership offer and the assistance you provide
to help them get on the air. Most important: when they show up, smile!

-- Raymond "Woody" Woodward, K3VSA (AD, RK), an ARRL-trained Public
Information Officer

CLUB STATION UPDATE

"Club Station," QST's newest column, continues to grow. In the coming
months, clubs from around the country will share stories about their
activities and programs, such as one Florida club's Field Day operation
that included a CW station operated by two blind hams, and an Ohio club offering advice and recommendations on how to successfully put together
a club newsletter, among others.

"Club Station" is intended to show the successes and contributions of
clubs and to highlight how many of them are overcoming the challenges
of an ever-changing world to thrive, and to help other clubs do the
same. All clubs are invited to submit their story. The details on how
and where to submit are located on the Affiliated Club Resources <http://www.arrl.org/affiliated-club-resources> web page, under Club
Station Author's Guide and Form <http://www.arrl.org/affiliated-club-resources>. You do not have to be
a professional writer to submit your club's story, and QST editors will
be happy to work with you. We look forward to hearing from your club!

SUBMITTING INFO FOR THIS NEWSLETTER

ARRL Club News is for radio clubs to show how they are working in the
community and the hobby to advance amateur radio. If your club
completes a project, supports an event, does an EmComm activation, or
activates a park, we want to hear about it. You can submit your
newsletter article to us at [email protected]. We like to get them as text
or Word files instead of PDFs. If you have pictures, please submit them
with caption information, as well as the name and call sign of the photographer. We want to highlight the good work being done by the
clubs and show others in the community. Think of this as a chance to
show off your club and your programs.

HOW TO PLAN AND APPLY FOR AN ARRL HAMFEST OR CONVENTION

If your amateur radio club is planning to host a convention, hamfest,
tailgate, or swapfest, please consider applying for it to be an
ARRL-sanctioned event. To learn what it means to be an ARRL-sanctioned
event, and to get some ideas on how to prepare for and conduct a
hamfest or convention, visit www.arrl.org/arrl-sanctioned-events <http://www.arrl.org/arrl-sanctioned-events>.

To have your event sanctioned, complete the online application at www.arrl.org/hamfest-convention-application <http://www.arrl.org/hamfest-convention-application>.

The ARRL Hamfests and Conventions Calendar can be found online at www.arrl.org/hamfests <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests>. In addition, the Convention and Hamfest Calendar that runs in QST each month also
presents information about upcoming events.

IMPORTANT LINKS

ARRL Home: www.arrl.org <http://www.arrl.org/>

Find an ARRL Affiliated Club: www.arrl.org/clubs
<http://www.arrl.org/clubs>

Find your ARRL Section: www.arrl.org/sections
<http://www.arrl.org/sections>

Find a license class in your area: www.arrl.org/class <http://www.arrl.org/class>

Find a license exam in your area: www.arrl.org/exam
<http://www.arrl.org/exam>

Find a hamfest or convention: www.arrl.org/hamfests <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests>

Email ARRL Clubs: [email protected]

ARRL Club News is published every month (12 times each year). ARRL
members may subscribe at no cost or unsubscribe by editing their Member
Data Page as described at http://www.arrl.org/club-news.

Copyright (c) 2022 American Radio Relay League, Incorporated.
Use and distribution of this publication, or any portion thereof, is
permitted for non-commercial or educational purposes, with attribution.
All other purposes require written permission.

<http://www.arrl.org/>

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