HCARC Happenings
June 2013
News for Amateur Radio Operators In and Around Hillsdale County The
next Ham Breakfast will be Saturday, June 8 at 8am at the Downtown
Diner (formally the Reading Inn), 137 S Main in Reading (map).
Field
Day is
coming up on June 22-23. There
will be a planning session on Saturday, June 8, immediately following the
ham breakfast at the Downtown Diner (approximately 9am).
Come have some breakfast, then stick around to help with the
planning. The ARRL Field Day
packet with rules and other information is available here.
Check out the ARRL
Field Day web page and order your official ARRL Field Day gear here.
Brenda Sprow will be doing the catering.
Click here
to view the menu. Donations
will be encouraged to help defray the cost of the food. Four
club members provided Amateur Radio services to the Hillsdale County CROP Walk that was held on May 5.
Walkers started at the Salvation Army Citadel in Hillsdale and went
along the Baw Beese Trail for two miles to Sandy Beach before returning.
Don Gambill KC8WAU and Dan Sprow KC8RYF, assisted by Jonesville High
School senior and Eagle Scout Colton Easterday, directed incoming vehicles
to the parking area. Brian
Zimmerman KD8TLC and his family set up a water station at the beach.
Craig Moore KD8TKR and Don patrolled the trail, Craig on his bike and
Don on roller blades. Dan
coordinated operations with staff at the Citadel as well as providing
transportation for walkers needing assistance.
The CROP walk staff as well as the walkers were very appreciative of
our help. Four
club members provided Amateur Radio services to the Community Action
Agency Head Start Picnic that was held on May 9.
Penny Seevers KD8PKY, Dave King KQ8R, Don Gambill KC8WAU and Brian
Zimmerman KD8TLC staffed the parking lot, maintaining the orderly flow of
traffic throughout the event. For
more information about the picnic, click here
read the Hillsdale Daily News article posted on the CAA website. With
the end of the school year there are currently no club meetings scheduled. Club membership currently stands at 16 as of June 1.
Membership application is available here. Dave
Parks WB8ODF is looking for Field Day stations (club or individual 1D
stations) to try out his Chat Program / Field Day Logging software.
Anyone interested can contact Dave directly at WB8ODF@yahoo.com. The Michigan Senate recently adopted a resolution designating
the week of June 17-23 as Amateur Radio Week in Michigan.
Click here
to read the entire resolution. The
FCC is seeking to raise the fee for Amateur Radio vanity call signs
by 20 cents. Currently a vanity
call sign costs $15 and is good for 10 years.
The new fee, if approved, will go up to $15.20 for 10 years.
The FCC is authorized to collect vanity call sign fees to recover the
costs associated with that program. (ARRL
story)
On
May 1 President Obama announced that he has nominated Tom Wheeler to be the
new Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
If the Senate confirms the nomination, Wheeler will replace Julius
Genachowski who announced his resignation from the FCC in March.
Pending Wheeler’s confirmation, FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn
will serve as the Commission’s acting chairman.
(ARRL
story) In addition to
Genachowski, Commissioner Robert McDowell’s resignation, announced earlier
this year, took effect in May. The
President has not yet made a nomination to fill his position.
On May 16 the ARRL announced that Trusted QSL (TQSL) v1.14 would be released on May 20. TQSL is the open-source development project responsible for developing and maintaining the three Logbook of the World (LoTW) client-side applications: TQSL, TQSLCert and the TrustedQSL library (ARRL story) A few days later the ARRL announced that defects were reported after that announcement. The defects have been corrected, but before publicly releasing a corrected version, the software must be thoroughly retested. (ARRL story) In
early 2012, the FCC’s Technological Advisory Council (TAC) was tasked to
study the role of receivers “in ensuring the efficient use of spectrum and
to provide recommendations on avoiding obstacles posed by receiver
performance to making spectrum available for new services.”
In April the FCC released the recommendations of the TAC’s working
group on Receivers and Spectrum in a white paper called Interference
Limits Policy -- The use of harm claim thresholds to improve the
interference tolerance of wireless systems.
Comments are invited and are due June 21.
Information on how to file comments and reply comments can be found
on page
4 of the Public Notice. (ARRL
story) The
ARRL has commented in response to an FCC Notice of Proposed Rule Making that
proposes to authorize Unlicensed
National Information Infrastructure use of an additional 195
megahertz of spectrum in the 5.35-5.47 GHz and 5.85-5.925 GHz bands.
The Amateur Radio Service has a longstanding secondary allocation of
5.65-5.925 GHz, with an amateur-satellite uplink band at 5.65-5.67 GHz and a
downlink at 5.83-5.85 GHz. In its filing the ARRL traces the history of “a continuing
series of overlays” to which the band has been subjected over the past 16
years, progressively reducing the utility of the amateur allocation.
(ARRL
story) If
you're planning on going to the Monroe Hamfest on June 16, keep in
mind that it is also race day at Michigan
International Speedway. Plan
accordingly to avoid the traffic. The
Michigan ARRL
Section Outing will be held on July 11-14 at the Woodlands
Conference Center & Campgrounds in Hale (map).
It's a 4-day fun-filled event hosted by your ARRL
Michigan Section Staff involving fun events for the whole family.
Camping, RVing, canoeing, horseshoes, volleyball, softball, boating,
swimming facilities are available all day every day of the outing for your
pleasure. The event is free to
attend, although campsites and beds in the Bunkhouse have a nominal charge.
Motels and Bed-and-Breakfasts are available just a short drive away.
Meals are potluck but a main course will be provided.
Donations are accepted to help cover costs.
You can stop by for just a day or stay for the entire event.
Click here
for more information. Unión
de Radioaficionados Españoles, the International Amateur Radio Union
member-society for Spain, has announced that Spanish amateurs may now use
1810-1830 kHz in the 160-meter band on a secondary basis.
This is in addition to the existing primary allocation of 1830-1850
kHz. The new 630-meter band,
472-479 kHz, is also available to Spanish amateurs now.
Both changes took effect on May 10.
(ARRL
story) FCC License Database Activity in Hillsdale County 5/16
K8HRC Hillsdale County Amateur Radio Club - License renewed,
Trustee/Custodian info updated 5/16
WD8BHH FAIT, DENNIS C – License renewed FCC
Enforcement News The
FCC issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture and Order (NAL) in
the amount of $18,000 to Pennsylvania man for failing to make his Citizens
Band (CB) station available for inspection by the FCC and for failing to
comply with restrictions imposed on him
by the FCC. (ARRL
story) Upcoming Events June
1 - Independent
Repeater Association Hamfest June
1 – Fulton
County Hamfest June
2 - Chelsea
Hamfest June
8 – Ham Breakfast and Field Day Planning Session at Downtown Diner in
Reading June
16 - Monroe
Hamfest June
22-23 – Field Day July
11-14 – Michigan
Summer Family Outing July
21 - Van Wert
Hamfest July
27 - CMARC
Trunk Sales (Holt) |
Send us your comments and suggestions to K8HRC@arrl.net