Wednesday, November 30, 2011

New Lawton Hams

Please welcome the newest amateur radio operators to our ranks.

Congratulations to all of the young Vikings. The most recent licensed members of the
Viking Radio Club are:

Tristan, KF5NNP
Isaiah, KF5NNQ
Thomas, KF5NNR
Kameron, KF5NNS
Sh'Kyra, KF5NNT
Laura, KF5NNU, who was hoping that she would have a "U" in her name,
something to do with magical unicorns!

Mr. Harper, KE5YZB the school club trustee, now has the unenviable task of
deciding who will get the radio donated to his project by Santos, KB5MQL. How
would you decide?

Thank you, Pam, KF5JXO, for your continued efforts, working with the
students during Saturday Study Hall. Pam picked up the project during the
last school year and continued this year.

The Viking Radio Club is also thankful to the local VE (Testing) Team, lead
by Claude KD5RQ. All of these members donate their time and resources to
support the school radio club activity.

Yes, when it comes to amateur radio, there are a of on-going local
activities to be thankful for.


Thanks to Paul Goulet KC5CYY, for this report.

Monday, November 28, 2011

West Gulf Division November Newsletter

   ---  ARRLWGD.org – The New WGD Website & Social Media
   ---  ARRL Foundation Announces Grant to KF5CRF
   ---  FCC Releases New Rules for 60 Meters
   ---  WG5L Gary Lewis, Appointed Assistant Director
   ---  ARRL Foundation Scholarship Season
   ---  Webinar Training Soars to New Heights
   ---  Recent Hamfest Reports
   ---  Planned ARRL Events for K5RAV and N5AUS
   ---  Upcoming Hamfests/Conventions

News from David Woolweaver, K5RAV your West Gulf Division Director

--- ARRLWGD.org – The New WGD Website & Social Media

”This will be the year of communication improvements in the West Gulf
Division,” said Director Woolweaver in January of 2011 and one example
of improvement is the introduction of the ARRL West Gulf Division
Facebook page which was followed up over the summer with the ARRL_WGD
Twitter account.   Enhancing these efforts to spread information across
the division, on November 1st, the new WGD website was launched bringing
a new look, new opportunities, and fresh information to our internet
presence.   Check out the new site at

 www.arrlwgd.org.

Mark Mireles, AD5CA, developed the original West Gulf Division internet
site several years ago.  Recently, Frank Krizan, KR1ZAN, has been
maintaining it and will continue to assist on the new site.  Wanting to
provide a fresh look and utilize the new mediums available on the net,
it was decided to start anew and develop a website from scratch.

After talking to WGD members and seeking their thoughts on what they
would like to see in a website, Director Woolweaver put our new website
designer, Gary Lewis, WG5L,  to work pulling all of the information
together to develop a progressive and informative platform.   We have
added more educational information, linked to all of the Section
websites (check out their new websites as well!), and will continue to
build on the “Links” page so that you can easily find information
pertaining to the Amateur service and especially the WGD.   With the
new website, we are also introducing the ARRL WGD Channel on YouTube
where we hope to publicize videos that promote the best of the Amateur
Community in all areas – educational and informational.

Please bookmark the new WGD website and check it frequently for new
information.  We added a new calendar feature and will be listing all
of the ARRL sanctioned events as soon as they are approved by Director
Woolweaver and HQ.  Over the next few months, we will introduce you to
some of our content contributors and will be seeking your input on
questions that pertain to the WGD.  Remember to also join us on
Facebook at ARRL West Gulf Division and follow us on Twitter at
ARRL_WGD.

Contributions to our mass media endeavors are important to the success
of the web site.  If you have something you (or your club) would like
to share with the WGD membership on our website, Facebook, monthly
newsletter or Twitter, please let us know, so we can consider it.
Additionally, we would enjoy hearing your feedback on how you think we
are doing in our communication efforts.  Please email Director
Woolweaver at K5RAV@arrl.org with your thoughts or news contributions.


--- ARRL Foundation Announces Grant to KF5CRF

Director Woolweaver is a member of the ARRL Foundation Board of
Directors and it was his privilege to announce at the West Gulf
Division convention at Ardmore, OK the approval of an equipment grant
of $2,018 to the Viking Radio Club of Lawton, OK.  The grant was
approved for the purchase of a Kenwood 590 radio, a Hustler 5-BTV
antenna and for coaxial cable and connectors.   “The grant
application received Board approval in the fastest time that I have
seen since being elected to the Foundation Board”, reported Director
Woolweaver.

As outlined in Viking’s grant application, this grant will provide
funding for resources to strengthen the club and provide for a pilot
program at the Eisenhower Middle School in Lawton.  The ARRL Foundation
Directors shared the hope that the program will expand to encompass the
entire school district of 18,000 students applauding their two-fold
plan to encourage Amateur Radio and educate students in accord with
state standards.  The West Gulf Leadership joins the Foundation
Directors in applauding the Viking Amateur Radio Club’s goal of being
a model for other schools.

You may learn more about the Viking ARC by visiting their websites at
http://www.qrz.com/db/kf5crf and http://www.qrz.com/db/k5usa.

--- FCC Releases New Rules for 60 Meters

On November 18, the FCC released a Report and Order (R&O), defining new
rules for the 60 meter (5 MHz) band. These rules are in response to a
Petition for Rulemaking (PRM) filed by the ARRL more than five years
ago and a June 2010 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM).  In the R&O,
the FCC replaced one of the channels in the band, increased the maximum
authorized power amateur stations may transmit in this band, and
authorized amateur stations to transmit three additional emission
designators in the five channels in the 5330.6-5406.4 kHz band (60
meters).

The Amateur Radio Service in the United States has a secondary
allocation on 60 meters.  Only those amateurs who hold General,
Advanced, or Amateur Extra class licenses may operate on this band.
Amateur stations must not cause harmful interference to -- and must
accept interference from -- stations authorized by any administration
in the fixed service, as well as mobile (except aeronautical mobile)
stations authorized by the administrations of other countries.

For a complete reading of the rule, please refer to
http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-releases-new-rules-for-60-meters.  Please
note that these changes have not yet taken effect. These new rules will
take effect 30 days after they are published in the Federal Register.
The ARRL will announce on its website when the rules are published.

--- WG5L Gary Lewis, Appointed Assistant Director

Director Woolweaver is pleased to announce the appointment of Gary
Lewis, WG5L, as an Assistant Director for Internet Services.  Gary has
been involved in electronics and communications since his Navy days in
the 1970's, where he was an electronics technician working on shipboard
communications equipment.  After leaving the Navy, Gary obtained his
degree in Management Information Systems.  He first worked in the oil
industry and he has spent the last 23 years working for IBM.  He also
holds an MBA from LeTourneau University.

It wasn't until the year 2000, that Gary returned to his electronics
and communications roots, spurred on by his son who showed an interest
in ham radio.  After almost 30 years of being largely absent from the
communications scene, all of that past background came flooding back.
However, it was not until he returned to Texas in 2002, that he really
became active in pursuing various aspects of the Amateur Radio service.


Gary has held various positions within his local ham radio club,
Longview East Texas Amateur Radio Club (LETARC). He started that club's
current VE team and has become very involved in emergency
communications, bringing ARES to his county and revitalizing the local
EmComm program.  He currently holds the following positions within the
North Texas Section:

•Gregg County EC and RACES ALT CLO
•North Texas District 8 DEC
•North Texas Section ASEC

In addition, Gary is a registered ARRL Volunteer Instructor and
Volunteer Examiner.  Beyond being the primary developer of the new WGD
website, he is also the webmaster for both the LETARC and North Texas
Section websites.  Recently, in a return to his Navy roots, Gary has
become involved with Navy-Marine Corps MARS.  An avid user of both
voice and digital modes, you can usually find him on most of the 40 and
80 meter southwest traffic nets, as well as PSK31 on 20 meters.

 --- ARRL Foundation Scholarship Season

The ARRL Foundation is now receiving scholarship applications for the
2012 scholarship season.   Each year the ARRL Foundation awards more
than 70 scholarships that are funded entirely by the generosity of
radio amateurs and friends to young hams that are pursuing higher
education.  The awards range from $500 to $5000.

All applicants must submit a full application and transcript to be
considered (other rules may apply to specific scholarships).  The
application period for ARRL Foundation Scholarships opened on October
1, 2011, and will close promptly on February 1, 2012.   Awards are
usually announced to the winners by letter in mid-May.   Applicants
should review the scholarship descriptions as some awards have specific
geographic criteria or requirements as to course of study.

Governed by a nine member volunteer Board of Directors, the ARRL
Foundation is devoted to providing valuable programs to serve the
Amateur Radio community.  To learn more about the ARRL Foundation or
its scholarship program please visit their website at
http://www.arrl.org/the-arrl-foundation-overview.

--- Webinar Training Soars to New Heights

ARRL Atlantic Division Director Bill Edgar, N3LLR, has been extremely
proactive in the promotion of Amateur Radio education in his division
by incorporating internet webinars for everyone’s benefit – at zero
cost to the ARRL or to his Division.  Topics such as Winlink 2000 Intro,
Amateur Radio Kit Building, and D-Star and EmComm are a few of the
Atlantic webinars that have been hosted.  With Bill’s encouragement,
the WGD has joined him in supporting this endeavor by hosting Antenna
CC&R’s, You and the ARRL, Antenna Ordinances, You and the ARRL
webinars as well as Hurricane Preparedness webinars.

The next webinar, scheduled for December 5th, is Amateur Radio in the
Next 25 Years, a conversation with former FCC Special Counsel Riley
Hollingsworth, K4ZDH; ARRL General Counsel, Chris Imlay, W3KD; and Ed
Hare, W1RFI, ARRL Laboratory Manager.  To join this webinar, visit

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/154043400.

Past webinars have included notable presenters such as Laura Smith, FCC
Special Counsel; ARRL Chief Legal Counsel, Chris Imlay, W3KD; noted
antenna zoning lawyer, Fred Hopengarten, K1VR; and the developers of
the NBEMS system, Harry Bloomberg W3YJ and Dave Kleber, KB3FXI.  We
invite you to bookmark the Atlantic Division Training website
http://www.atldiv.org/training, for future reference.  You may also
purchase DVDs of previous presentations at a nominal cost, which
supports the hosting expense only and does not benefit the ARRL
Atlantic Division.

--- Recent Hamfest Reports

Texoma Hamarama

The West Gulf Division Convention was held in Ardmore, hosted by the
good folks of Texoma Hamarama the weekend of October 21 and 22.
Visitors from the Midwest and Delta Divisions also joined in the fun
this year, checking out the many bargains that were available.
Joining Director Woolweaver at the ARRL Forum was ARRL Emergency
Preparedness and Response Manger, Mike Corey, W5MPC.  Mike  announced
the placement of an ARRL HF “Go Kit” in the Oklahoma Section.  This
brings the total number of “Go Kit’s” deployed in the West Gulf
Division to nine.  Each has been placed strategically in the Division
to meet communication needs in the event of an emergency.
Prepositioning “Go Kits” in the West Gulf places the kits in a
central location in the nation should the kits be required elsewhere
for EmComm purposes.   Under an agreement with Southwest Airlines that
Director Woolweaver negotiated, an ARRL “Go Kit” could be
transported free of charge to any destination that Southwest serves.
This translates to one day delivery to most parts of the United States.


During the forum, Director Woolweaver recognized the astounding efforts
of the Viking Radio Club and its mentors, Clifton Harper, KE5YZB, and
Paul Goulet, KC5CYY.  (See also ARRL Foundation Announces Grant to
KF5CRF)

Also at Hamarama, it was announced that Megan McClellan, K5MEM, was the
recipient of the Texoma Hamarama Scholarship Award for 2011.
Congratulations, Megan!

The WGD Leadership thanks and appreciates all of the hard work of
Henry, W5TYD, Tina Allen and the entire Hamarama Board of Directors for
their hard work in putting together the 2011 WGD Convention!

NCTech Hamfest

The NCTech Hamfest, sponsored by the Tri-County & DiRECT Amateur Radio
Clubs in Azle had a good turn out this year.  Presentations by AMSAT,
CERT, ARRL West Gulf, and ARRL NTX were well attended.   Director
Woolweaver and NTX SM Walt Mayfield, KE5SOO had an opportunity to visit
with the attendees and they acquired several new memberships.  As the
final sanctioned event for 2011, it was a great way to end the year,
and we will look forward to another successful event at NCTech in 2012.


--- Planned ARRL Events for K5RAV and N5AUS

Director Woolweaver, K5RAV, and Vice Director Stratton, N5AUS, will
attend the following events:

K5RAV and N5AUS – 2012 ARRL Annual Board Meeting, Windsor, CT,
January 12-14, 2012

K5RAV – Cowtown Hamfest, North Texas Section Convention (Pending
Executive Committee approval), sponsored by the Lockheed Martin ARC,
Ft. Worth, TX, January 20-21, 2012

N5AUS – Williamson County ARC Hamfest, sponsored by the Williamson
County ARC, Georgetown, TX, February 25, 2012

ARRL Convention and Hamfest events are a great place to visit with the
Division and Section Leadership! Each event will also include an ARRL
forum where you can receive additional insight into Division and
Section matters.

At anytime that you have a concern or just want to say hello, contact
Director Woolweaver at K5RAV@arrl.org.


-- Upcoming Hamfests and Conventions

01/14/2012 | San Antonio Amateur Radio Fiesta
Location: Schertz, TX
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: San Antonio Radio Club
Website: http://w5sc.org

01/20/2012 | North Texas Section Convention (Cowtown Hamfest)
Location: Fort Worth, TX
Type: ARRL Convention pending Executive Committee approval
Sponsor: Lockheed Martin Amateur Radio Club
Website: http://www.cowtownhamfest.com

02/25/2012 | Williamson County ARC Hamfest
Location: Georgetown, TX
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Williamson County Amateur Radio Club
Website: http://wcarc.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------
ARRL West Gulf Division
Director: David A Woolweaver, K5RAV
k5rav@arrl.org

Oklahoma ARES wants YOU

ARES-Ok is seeking nominations or volunteers for several District Emergency Coordinators (DEC) positions, an important part of the ARES-OK leadership team.

There are 23 Districts in Oklahoma. Currently there are only 7 DECs serving, we need 16 more DECs immediately.

To see where help is needed you can log into www.ARESOK.org and under the Main Menu and Role Based Activities choose “Section Coverage Report” to see which districts are vacant.

The DEC is the link between neighboring county EC’s and the Regional or Zone area and is a BIG help to recruiting leaders and volunteers throughout the District for ARES-OK.

Do you know a fellow amateur operator who would be a good choice for a leader with ARES-OK OR would you like to be a candidate for these appointments?

Please send your nominations to me at e-mail:  n7xyo@arrl.net
I appreciate your help with the selection for these vital leadership positions.

Thank you,

Mark Conklin, N7XYO
Oklahoma Section Emergency Coordinator
Amateur Radio Emergency Service
918.232.8346
n7xyo@arrl.net
Follow me on Twitter @N7XYO

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Skywarn Recognition Day

WX4NHC, National Hurricane Center Miami Florida, will be on at their usual time slot from past years and the remaining open time slot from 1400-1500 UTC has been filled by NWS Salt Lake City Utah, WX4SLC. For this year, WX7PHX, NWS Phoenix Arizona has relinguished their time slot.

EchoLink and IRLP are just a couple of modes people can utilize to contact NWS offices during SKYWARN Recognition Day. Many NWS offices will be on 2 Meters, 440 MHz, HF, Digital other VHF/UHF bands. Additional details on SKYWARN Recognition Day can be found via the following links:

http://hamradio.noaa.gov
http://www.arrl.org/news/the-13th-annual-skywarn-recognition-day-set-for-december-3

The December issue of the ARRL QST Magazine has a story on National Weather Service / ARRL SKYWARN Recognition Day on page 68 in their Public Service Column.

As in past years, the EchoLink *WX_TALK* Node: 7203/IRLP reflector 9219 system will be scheduling time for NWS offices in 1-2 hour time slots to act as a net control to make contacts with spotters that are on the system. If a NWS office runs out of contacts and there are other NWS offices on the system, the NWS office acting as net control can turn it over to a different NWS office to act as a net control on the system at their discretion.

We'd like to ask NWS offices to do their best to adhere to the schedule. Sometimes this is difficult due to the number of contacts received by NWS offices. We ask for everyone's patience and working cooperatively to respect the time slot schedule.

Below is the finalized SRD Schedule for 2011. See the list of NWS offices below:

Time in UTC NWS Office Call-Sign
0000-0100: WX0GLD (Confirmed to keep the time slot)
0100-0200: WX1GYX (Confirmed to keep the time slot)
0200-0300: WX4MLB (Confirmed to keep the time slot)
0300-0400: W0ABR  (Confirmed to keep the time slot)
0400-0500: WX1BOX (Confirmed to keep the time slot)  
0500-0600: WX9GRB (Confirmed to keep the time slot)
0600-0700: WX4HUN (Confirmed to keep the time slot)
0700-0800: N0NWS  (Confirmed to keep the time slot)
0800-0900: KL7FWX (Confirmed to keep time slot. Will Show Up on Echolink as KL2GS - NWS Fairbanks AK)
0900-1000: KL7FWX (Confirmed to keep time slot. Will Show Up on Echolink as KL2GS - NWS Fairbanks AK)
1000-1100: KL7FWX (Confirmed to keep time slot. Will Show Up on Echolink as KL2GS - NWS Fairbanks AK)
1100-1200: WX4HUN (Taking WX7PHX Time Slot and relinguishing their 1400-1500 UTC time slot)  
1200-1300: W7NWS  (Confirmed to keep the time slot)
1300-1400: KL7FWX (Confirmed to keep time slot. Will Show Up on Echolink as KL2GS - NWS Fairbanks AK)  
1400-1500: WX4SLC (New NWS Office for SRD'2011)
1500-1600: WX1BOX (Confirmed to keep the time slot)
1600-1800: WX4NC  (Confirmed to keep the time slot, 2 hour time slot and time slot is from last year)
1800-1900: WX6MTR (Confirmed to keep the time slot)
1900-2000: K0MPX  (Confirmed to keep the time slot)
2000-2100: WX4MLB (Confirmed to keep the time slot)
2100-2300: WX4NHC (Confirmed to keep the time slot)
2300-2400: WX6NWS (Confirmed the NWS Sacramento California Office for this time slot)

There will be other conference systems utilized for SKYWARN Recognition Day. They are as follows:

The New England Reflector Gateway System will be utilized by the NWS Taunton, Mass. and NWS Gray, Maine offices from 0000-0500 UTC and 1200-2400 UTC. The New England Gateway system is on EchoLink Conference server *NEW-ENG* Node: 9123, IRLP reflector 9123. If other NWS offices would like to join the system, they are welcome to do so and participants in SKYWARN Recognition Day can also use that system to make contact with various NWS offices. This is a great place to move off the *WX_TALK* Node: 7203/IRLP 9219 system after your scheduled time if other Amateurs or NWS offices whish to make contact with you.

Also, the Western Reflector will be having NWS offices calling CQ as in past years on reflector 9250 and have its gateway system on IRLP 9258/EchoLink Conference *NV-GATE* Node: 125266 open for NWS offices. Please contact Kent-W7AOR for additional information on the Western Reflector.

A few technical reminders for folks interested in making contacts with the NWS Forecast Offices on the *WX-TALK* Node: 7203/IRLP 9219 and New England Reflector Gateway IRLP 9123/*NEW-ENG* Echolink Node: 9123 systems:

-The system allows both EchoLink and IRLP connections. For EchoLink users, you connect to the *WX-TALK* Node: 7203 conference system. For IRLP users, you would connect to IRLP reflector 9219.

-If you are using EchoLink, the RF node or PC that you’re using must have EchoLink conferencing disabled. If it is not disabled, the system will automatically kick the node or PC off of the system.

The reason this occurs is to prevent unintentional interference from a conferencing station that may not know the node is connected somewhere else. This will keep traffic moving on the net and reduce interference considerably.

For more information on VoIP Technical Configuration Tips, please go to our web site at http://www.voipwx.net where we have a link to that information on the main menu of the web site. This announcement will also be on the web site.

We are looking forward to another fun SKYWARN Recognition Day on the *WX-TALK* Node: 7203/IRLP reflector 9219 system, New England Reflector Gateway system and Western Reflector system. Thanks to all for their support!

73,Rob-KD1CY.
Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator for NWS Taunton Massachusetts
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator

News from the American Radio Relay League