|
|
The HOTLINE |
|
|
|
|
|
Another Field Day Success! |
by Ed Middlebrook, KC5NT |
|
I have taken part in many Field Day events and I never cease to be amazed at what WE are able to accomplish! Although this year was back to normal in terms of the weather, it was anything but normal in visitor involvement and education. Come to this month’s meeting and let’s review this year’s HOTARC Field Day. We’ll take a look at what we were able to accomplish, see how we ended up in the scoring and continue our running yearly comparison to past Field Day events. We’ll also discuss what needs to be improved for next year—Field Day 2006 is only 11 months away! (Click on thumbnails below for larger images.) |
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Photos contributed by AC5CV, KE5FDR, and W5JRM |
||||
|
BULLETIN: With the Texas Legislature in its second special session, BPL continues to rear it’s ugly head. Ed Middlebrook, KC5NT will report on up-to-date information from Austin, courtesy of our Section Manager, Tom Blackwell N5GAR. |
|
President’s Corner |
by Rodney Baden, K5YKC |
Activity Since the Last Meeting
I would like to thank Ed KC5NT for the
outstanding Field Day we had in Hewitt Park. He assigned all the duties and everyone did an
outstanding job. We didn’t score as many points as in years past, but I think
we all had a great time. We got a lot of visiting done and had two
distinguished guests come out and join us. Representative “Doc” Anderson and
his wife and Virginia DuPuy, Mayor of Waco spent several hours each with our members. Paul Holroyd,
Community Service Director and Emergency Management Coordinator for the City of
Hewitt, also spent time talking to our members about emergency communications.
A great meal was had by all, and a presentation was made to Otto Hackfeld,
KI5QT, as a Life Member of HOTARC.
On the following Monday, HOTARC took three communications units to the Mayborn Museum Discovery Center to help in promoting a live contact with the International Space Station NA1SS. This was organized by Pat Hynan KK5KN and Baylor University. It was delightful seeing the kids ask questions and having them answered by an astronaut on board the ISS. Everyone was so excited and willing to help this be a very successful event. I would like to thank all the HOTARC members that came out and helped explain how the radio equipment works. The attendees had a wonderful time and said that they learned a lot about amateur radio.
Terry KD5KJU (HOTARC Vice President) and I will not be at the upcoming meeting because of our involvement with the Waco Police Citizens Academy Alumni Association Convention at the Waco Convention Center. We will miss all of you. I would like to thank Ed KC5NT, our past president for presiding over the meeting.
ALERT: News from Tom N5GAR, our NTX Section Manager: The BPL (Broadband Over Power Line) fight is not over. Senate Bill 21 may be dead but it has been introduced again as SB5 and HB13. Come to the meeting and hear more.
73
Rodney A. Baden, K5YKC
HOTARC President
|
For the Record... |
HOTARC Meeting of Members
June 23, 2005
Meeting called to order by President Rodney Baden (K5YKC) at 7:05 PM. Present were: eighteen full members, one associate member, and one visitor (Lennie Cooper KE5BQN).
The Minutes for the May meeting were approved as published in the HOTLINE, on a motion by Wayne Branscum KD5SMC, second by Bill Russell K5WAR, and unanimous vote by the members present. The May Treasurer’s Report was also accepted as published in the HOTLINE, following a motion by Ed Middlebrook KC5NT, second by Stan Russell KD5RWX, and unanimous vote by the members present.
Announcements
· Volunteers Needed: K5YKC told of a Dept. of Homeland Security bioterrorism exercise being conducted August 9 in Hill County needing 1000 total volunteers. Contact Christine Reeves at HOTCOG, phone 756-7822, ext 128.
Committee Reports
· Trailer Committee: KC5NT reported accomplishments of Trailer Workday making trailer ready for Field Day (FD): mast cable marked to prevent over extension, new 12V battery (cost $75.77) installed, door latch repaired. Mast and cabling on the Salvation Army RV also worked on. Mike Ross N5MVL made a motion to cover the expense of the new battery, Rusty Keyes AD5JY seconded it, and the members unanimously approved it.
· Repeater Committee: Norris Martin KB5SLI led us in a cheer because the 145.15 antenna on the channel 25 tower has been fixed! Since 145.15 is back on the air, K5YKC agreed to temporarily house the 146.88 repeater on his home tower. Larry Bush W5NCD offered tower space for a permanent location, and will contact Bobby Evans about some hardline for this installation. The President heard a motion from Bill Feltenberger KD5UEW to approve up to $450 for the hardline, but it died for lack of second in preference to wait until Larry’s research. The 442.875 repeater is off the air.
· ARES: no report.
· Web page: John Chamberlain AC5CV had nothing new to report.
· ATV Committee: David Bush KC5UOZ reported that the ATV repeater is working once again; repaired with no expense.
· Education Committee: KC5NT had nothing to report.
· Public Relations Committee: Scott Shafer KD5MLY reported that FD public service announcements were produced, and posted to the HOTARC web server, and shared on the ARRL Public Relations list—receiving national attention.
· Special Events Committee:
§ Field Day plans: HOTARC trailer with tribander will operate HF-SSB; Salvation Army RV with W5NCD grab-n-go trailer-mounted tribander will operate HF-CW; GOTA station with pavilion-mounted 40-m vertical; 3 computers for logging and trial use of RadioGram software; AC5CV will coordinate lunch; Grant Gillam KE5ERW has secured donation of dinner from Bush’s Chicken; KD5SMC will help fix up sign for Hewitt Park; W5AYX recommended ARRL net directory and message traffic forms; the President heard a motion by K5WAR to authorize up to $150 for FD expenses, that was seconded by N5MVL, and unanimously approved by the members present.
§ ARISS Event: Following the FD exercise, the Club trailer and the Salvation Army RV will be moved to Baylor’s Mayborn Museum for this special event on Monday. The following members committed to attend and support this event: KD5RWX, KD5SMC, K5YKC, AC5CV, KC5UOZ, K5WAR, and John Curry K5IMC.
Motion to adjourn recognized from KC5UEW at 8:27 PM.
On the big screen television KD5RWX played a ham music video downloaded from hamband.com.
Submitted by:
John Chamberlain AC5CV
HOTARC Secretary
|
The Treasurer Reports... |
|
|
|
Heart O’ Texas Amateur Radio Club Beginning Account Balance $ 4,381.45 Income Interest $ 1.03 Dues 45.00 Cap sales 12.00 TOTAL Income $ 58.03 Expenses Postage, flowers, training supplies $ 81.44 Trailer battery 75.77 Trailer registration 42.44 TOTAL Expenses $ 199.45 Ending Account Balance $ 4,240.03 Outstanding (as of 7-15-05) Submitted by |
|
Full Scale WMD Exercise: |
by Ed Hynan, KC5KNI, McLennan County Emergency Coordinator |
A full scale WMD exercise
has been scheduled for 18-20 October 2005 (0800-1700 on 18 and 19 Oct). As a
full scale exercise, first responders will respond (fire trucks/police/EMS etc.
and there will be victims transported to the hospitals). This is different from
the last two exercises, in that those were all command post/EOC tests with no
real response. The last two exercises only had one Incident Command Post (ICP);
this one will have many. The goal of the exercise is to “break the system” so
that outside assistance will be required. Amateur radio has become more
important in each exercise and will play a big part in this one. We were the
only communication link available, for a short time (90 minutes), for the last
one and were swamped. So, the time to prepare is
now.
I will rely on the ARES members that have indicated that they are available 24/7 and any additional volunteers. Participants should have mobile and portable communications capability, and digital text message capability if possible (laptop and KC5NT’s message program connected to your radio). I’ll have more information on how many we will need in coming weeks. Any volunteers should contact me at KC5KNI@arrl.net.
There will also be a 20 hour Incident Command System (ICS) training session scheduled for 27-29 Sep 05. Any ARES members that would like to attend should also contact me by the end of August at the above e-mail address. This training will be during the week and will be free of charge. Many employers will let employees attend training of this type if asked.
Looking forward to lots of volunteers! Practice makes perfect!
|
ARISS QSO in Central Texas!!! |
by John Chamberlain, AC5CV |
|
Pat Hynan KK5KN, working closely with NASA and Baylor University’s Mayborn Museum, successfully pulled off a multi-student contact with the International Space Station (ISS) and Astronaut John Phillips KE5DRY using amateur radio on Monday June 27. Beginning around 11:05 am CDT, almost 20 student questions were radioed up to KE5DRY via a telebridge with an cooperating amateur station in Hawaii. In addition to several Museum activities wrapped around the radio event, HOTARC members provided three outdoor exhibits of amateur radio: the HOTARC trailer, the Salvation Army RV, and the KC5UOZ ATV van. (Click on thumbnails below for larger images.) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thanks to the HOTARC amateurs who
contributed to the vivid displays
and explanations of the capabilities of amateur radio!
KD5RWX, KD5SMC, K5IMC, K5YKC, AC5CV, KC5UOZ,
KE5ERW, KD5UEW
|
21st Century Communications Comparison |
by John Chamberlain, AC5CV |
In early July, some of the Public Relations officers around the country briefly engaged in an email discussion that produced the very interesting table shown below. The next time someone begins to talk about amateur radio, CB radio, and cellular telephone in the same breath, you might want to remember some of the ideas here. You may wish to “tweak” some of the values, but I think you get the general idea. J
|
|
CB |
Cellular |
AR |
|
Equipment Cost |
$100 |
$40 |
$100 and up |
|
Cost/month |
$0 |
$40 |
$0 |
|
Cost/Year |
$0 |
$480 |
$20-$40* |
|
Cost/5 years |
$100 |
$2,400 |
$300 |
|
Transmit Power (watts) |
5 |
0.3 |
0-2000 |
|
Antenna |
~Any |
Fixed |
Any |
|
Emergency Conditions |
Good |
Poor |
Best |
|
TX Range |
Short |
? |
Best |
|
Frequency Bands |
1 |
3? (3G?) |
>10 |
|
Mobile? |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Data Sending |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Picture Messages |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Repeaters |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Range |
Local/Country |
Local |
Worldwide |
|
Satellite Access |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
Comms with Space Station |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
Television Access (TX) |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
Independent |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
|
Usefulness in Emergency |
Works OK |
Unreliable |
Yes |
|
“Outback” Comms |
Sometimes |
NEVER |
Yes |
|
Internet Access/email |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
* depending on which clubs and organizations you join |
|||
|
FCC Proposes to Eliminate Morse Code Requirement for All License Classes! |
from ARRL Letter Online |
The FCC has proposed
dropping the 5 WPM Morse code element as a requirement to obtain an Amateur
Radio license of any class. The Commission recommended the change to its Part
97 Amateur Service rules in a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) in WT
Docket 05-235. Any rule changes proposed in the NPRM would not become final
until the FCC gathers additional public comments, formally adopts any changes
to its rules, and concludes the proceeding by issuing a Report and Order
(R&O) spelling out the changes and specifying an effective date. That’s not
likely to happen for several months.
To support dropping the code requirement, the FCC cited changes in Article 25 of the International Radio Regulations adopted at World Radiocommunication Conference 2003. WRC-03 deleted the Morse testing requirement for amateur applicants seeking HF privileges and left it up to individual countries to determine whether or not they want to mandate Morse testing. Several countries already have dropped their Morse requirements for HF access.
A 60-day period for the public to comment on the NPRM in WT 05-235 will begin once the notice appears in the Federal Register. Reply comments will be due within 75 days. And you can be sure there will be plenty of comments submitted!! For more information, read the .
The HOTLINE is the monthly newsletter of the Heart O’ Texas Amateur Radio Club (HOTARC), Inc., a nonprofit corporation, chartered by the State of Texas and principally located in Waco. It is permissible to use any of the original material contained herein, provided proper credit is given to the source.
Edited and Published by John Chamberlain AC5CV, AC5CV@arrl.net
|
|
|
2005 Board of Directors |
HOTARC 2005 Board of Directors
President: Rodney Baden K5YKC, 857-9760, K5YKC@arrl.net
Vice Pres: Terry Williams KD5KJU, 662-2438, pumpman_rpss@yahoo.com
Secretary: John Chamberlain AC5CV, 855-7731, AC5CV@arrl.net
Treasurer: Norris Martin KB5SLI, 829-2138, KB5SLI@flash.net
Past-Pres.: Ed Middlebrook KC5NT, 826-4053, KC5NT@arrl.net
Director (2005): Ed Hynan KC5KNI, 666-4873, KC5KNI@arrl.net
Director (2006): Scott Shafer KD5MLY, 848-5888, ScottShafer@clearchannel.com
Director (2007): Bill Feltenberger, KD5UEW, 756-1397, bfeltenb@swbell.net
145.15 MHz (input at –600 kHz, tone 123 Hz)
146.88 MHz (input at –600 kHz)
146.98 MHz (input at –600 kHz, tone 123 Hz)
ATV: 421.25MHz (Cable 57), input 439.25 MHz (Cable 60)
Next session Saturday July 30, 10:00 am. Location: Baylor’s Rogers Engineering and Computer Science Bldg, Room 109. Bring: 1) testing fee of $14 (cash only); 2) current license and photocopy of it; 3) a photo ID (two for first-time licensees), and 4) photocopy of any relevant CSCE. Contact: Linda Hynan, AC5QQ at 666-4873 or Linda.Hynan@UTSouthwestern.edu.
Meeting NoticeThe July meeting of HOTARC will be at 7:00 pm on Thursday July 28, 2005 in the Kultgen Automotive Center of the TSTC Waco Campus. Meetings generally last about 90 minutes consisting of fellowship, general Club business, and an interesting program. Visiting hams, family members, and prospective hams are welcomed! |
Don’t get the Summertime Blues…Enjoy ham radio!!