HCARC Happenings
December 2014
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News for Amateur Radio Operators In and Around Hillsdale County
Gatherings The
HCARC Christmas party will be held on Friday, December 19 at the
Fayette Street Church of Christ, 131 W Fayette in Hillsdale (map).
The church is located directly behind the Market House.
All area hams and their guests are welcome.
Socializing begins at 6pm. There
will be a short club meeting at 6:20pm for officer elections and any other
urgent business. Dinner will be
after the meeting and will be a pot-luck.
The club will provide meat dishes, probably chicken and ham.
Appetizers, side dishes and desserts are suggested dishes to bring.
Drinks (water, coffee, tea, soda) and table service will be provided.
There will be a gift exchange for those who want to participate (click here
for the rules, 2013 rules still good for 2014). RSVPs are requested but not required and can be made by
clicking here, or by
contacting club President Don Gambill KC8WAU at KC8WAU@arrl.net
or 517-437-4172. This month the Ham Breakfast
will be held on Saturday, December 13 at 8am at
the Blue
Rooster (formally the Pink Panther), 1480 E Chicago in Jonesville (map).
Everyone
welcome! Seven
hams attended the November breakfast
at the Sidekick
Cafe. The next
Board Meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 7. Special
Club Meeting & Club Officer Elections There
will be a special club meeting on December 19 at 6:20pm, immediately preceding
the Christmas party. The purpose
of the meeting will be to conduct officer elections and any other urgent
business. We need a quorum, at
least seven members, in order to hold elections.
President Don Gambill KC8WAU, Treasurer Joe Gosla KD8UJS and Board
Member Dan Sprow KC8RYF have indicated willingness to serve another year if
elected. We are currently need
candidates for Vice President and Secretary.
Those interested should check the club
constitution on our
website for information about officer duties and election
procedures. Feel free to contact
any of the current
club leadership for more information. Membership Dues For 2015 The
Board recommends that annual dues for 2015 remain unchanged from 2014.
Regular dues are $15, household dues are $5
(additional members in same household after first member pays regular rate)
and free for students. Membership
application is available here
(print 2-sided). Membership Report Club
membership stands at 19 as of November 30.
There was no membership activity during the month. Charlie
Hinkle W8CFO Moving Longtime
club member Charlie Hinkle W8CFO and his wife Maxine have purchased a house in
Columbus, Ohio and will be moving in a few weeks. They have children living in the area. Their new address will be 4344 Blythe Rd, Columbus, OH 43224. Monday Night Ragchew Net Volunteers
are always needed to run the Monday Night Ragchew Net.
Check the Net Control
Schedule on the club website for the
schedule and results. Contact a
member of club leadership
if interested. And don’t forget
to check in every Monday at 7pm on the 147.06 MHz repeater. Weather
Summary Didn’t
think this winter could be any colder that last year? November says otherwise.
The average high temperature in November was 41.7°,
compared to 44.2° last year. The
table below shows updated weather summary for Hillsdale city created with data
from Accuweather.com and local
measurements. Total unofficial
snowfall in Hillsdale for last winter was 90.9 inches, compared to 28.6 inches
in 2012-2013 and 39.6 inches in 2011-2012.
SKYWARN
Training SKYWARN
training will not be offered in Hillsdale County in 2015.
The nearest Spotter Training for the National
Weather Service Northern Indiana
Forecast Office will be held on in Coldwater on March 17.
Click here
for a complete schedule of training for the Northern Indiana office, including
registration links. PRB-1 Update US House HR 4969, the Amateur
Radio Parity Act of 2014, has attracted some additional cosponsors. The bill now has 64 cosponsors, including 42 Republicans and
22 Democrats. (ARRL
story) Click here
to follow the progress of US House HR 4969. Michigan Senate Bill 0493
passed by the Senate on October 22 and has moved to the House, where it was referred
to Committee
on Energy and Technology on November 6. ARRL
Michigan leadership is asking your help and contacting your state
representative and committee members. Check
out the ARRL Michigan PRB-1 website
for more information. Click here
to follow the progress of the Michigan Senate Bill 0493. Delaney Elected
ARRL Great Lakes Division Vice Director Tom
Delaney W8WTD was elected the ARRL Great Lakes Division Vice Director in an
election concluded November 21. Delaney
was appointed as Vice Director earlier this year to succeed former Vice
Director Dale Williams WA8EFK. Williams
moved into the Director’s chair after Jim Weaver K8JE resigned.
Williams was the only candidate for Great Lakes Division Director and
has been declared elected. (ARRL
story) Amateur Radio Op Buys a New Ham Radio, Wife Not Pleased Ever
buy some equipment that your better half wasn’t to happy about?
Check out this animated
video. ARRL Seeks Input on Contest Rule Changes The
recently formed “Ad Hoc Subcommittee on VHF and Above Revitalization”,
created by the ARRL Board of Directors’ Programs and Services Committee, is
seeking member input by December 15 on updating various aspects of the
League’s contest program for the VHF and higher bands.
Subcommittee Chairman Kermit Carlson W9XA said members can help the
work of the committee “by providing additional insights and ideas for our
consideration.” (ARRL
story) Homeland Security Plan Incorporates Amateur Radio The
US Department of Homeland Security’s 2014
National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP) has incorporated Amateur
Radio in its mix of media that could support and sustain communications in a
disaster or emergency. The 2014
NECP is the first update since the original plan was released in 2008.
The NECP is “the nation’s over-arching strategic plan for enhancing
emergency communications capabilities and interoperability nationwide,” DHS
said in announcing the updated plan on November 12.
(ARRL
story) “Frequency” TV Series Would Reprise Amateur Radio Themed
Movie NBC
appears poised to launch a television series based on the 2000 movie
Frequency, in which ham radio, aided by some spectacular solar phenomena,
plays a central role in the sci-fi thriller.
According to a November
13 article in The Hollywood
Reporter, NBC has already committed to the series.
(ARRL
story) Amateur Radio Public Service A
huge turnout of Amateur Radio volunteers supported communications for the 2014
Chicago Marathon.
The Amateur Radio volunteers also shadowed the nine triage units that
attended to runners. Some of the 120 radio amateurs taking part in the event ended
up walking as much as nine miles during their volunteer stints.
Some 45,000 runners from every US state and more than 100 countries
took part in the marathon. (ARRL
story) Severe snowfall in western New York
has been blamed for at least a dozen deaths.
Western New York Section Emergency Coordinator Joe Tedesco KC2DKP said
ARES volunteers activated a net and were on alert just in case.
SKYWARN nets were very active over the course of two snowfall events.
(ARRL
story) FCC Amateur Radio License Database Activity in Hillsdale
County 11/14/14
KB8WHM, William Thornton, license renewed QSM We’ve
been having some problems with our
website for the last couple months. We’ve
been unable to post updates since September 23.
Be aware that some of the material, especially the calendar and news
pages, is not current. The
ARRL has posted a Centennial QSO Party leader board that participants
can use to determine how many points they have accumulated in the Centennial
QSO Party and in the W1AW WAS (Worked All States) operations.
Log in using your Logbook
of The World (LoTW) user name and password, and your position will appear
at the top of the leader boards. Results
are updated daily, based on contacts entered into LoTW. The ARRL
Centennial QSO Party kicked off January 1 for a year-long operating event
in which participants can accumulate points and win awards in conjunction with
the 100th anniversary of the ARRL. During
2014 W1AW will be on the air from every
state (at least twice) and most US territories, and it will be easy to work
all states solely by contacting W1AW portable operations.
The event is open to all, although only ARRL members and appointees,
elected officials, HQ staff and W1AW are worth points.
(ARRL
story) Lots of addition
information about the centennial QSO party is available here. ARRL
membership certificates
commemorating the League’s 100th anniversary in 2014 are still available.
Members logged onto the League’s website can generate their own
certificates or cards online for printing.
(ARRL
story) Upcoming Events December
6 - Fulton
County Winter Hamfest December
13 – Ham Breakfast December
19 – Christmas Party & Officer Elections January
7 – Board Meeting January
10 – Ham Breakfast |
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Send us your comments and suggestions to K8HRC@arrl.net