West Gulf Division January 2012 Newsletter

--- Happy New Year!
--- 2012 WGD QSL Card Contest
--- Got a Hook?
--- FCC Releases New Rules for 60 Meters
--- Central Arizona DX Association Special Event Operation
--- Austin Hams Support the Decker Challenge
--- ARRL Foundation Scholarship Season
--- Helen Crockett, AC0NF Building a Friendlier Mousetrap
--- 2011 Texas QSO Party Results
--- Planned ARRL Events for K5RAV and N5AUS
--- Upcoming Hamfests/Conventions
News from David Woolweaver, K5RAV your West Gulf Division Director
--- Happy New Year!
During 2011, John Stratton, N5AUS and I were honored to serve the
amateur radio community as Vice Director and Director of the West Gulf
Division. We had the good fortune to be supported by outstanding
individuals who are elected as the Division's Section Managers: Jay
Urish W5GM NTX, Kevin O'Dell N0IRW OKI, Lee Cooper W5LHC STX and John
Dyer, AE5B WTX.

During the year, John Dyer and Jay Urish retired, and we welcomed Bill
Roberts, W5NPR as the new Section Manager for West Texas and Walt
Mayfield, KE5SOO, as the new Section Manager for North Texas. We are
blessed by having such gentlemen take on the front line service of the
ARRL.
Throughout 2011, we celebrated nearly two dozen ARRL sanctioned events,
where we had the opportunity to learn what issues our members felt were
important to their needs in Amateur Radio. We heard how the members
would like to see the amateur radio grow as we approach the ARRL
Centennial Celebration in 2014. Moreover, we learned that as the
Amateur Service grows in numbers, now exceeding 700,000, our sense of
community grows deeper. We have expanded the ways in which we
participate in our community and found new, vibrant ways to encourage
people of all ages to join in the world of amateur radio.

We look forward to the new schedule of Hamfests and Conventions and
pray for that one special find in the flea market that brings a spark
to both our equipment and our eye. Most of all, we will continue to
look out for each other, caring for our community as it grows, and we
will take comfort in the knowledge that only by remembering yesterday
can we look forward to a bright tomorrow.

On behalf of the West Gulf Division leadership, we wish you a very
Happy New Year!
--- WGD QSL Card Contest
On January 4th, Director Woolweaver announced the 2012 QSL Card contest
for all resident Amateurs in the West Gulf Division. With only a week
into the contest, early submissions have been strong. Be sure to
submit your card for consideration in one of the three categories; Most
Humorist, Best Graphic Design and Best Photo. Cards may be entered into
one or more categories but can only win one.
Submit cards either via US Mail or hand deliver to a WGD representative
at select upcoming ARRL sanctioned events. See the WGD website,
www.ARRLWGD.org for complete details and entry forms.
--- Got a Hook?
We would love to share your story or club activity/event with all of
the West Gulf Division members – in the Newsletter, on our website,
Twitter and/or Facebook. We also would like to see your best video for
consideration on the ARRL WGD YouTube Channel. Please send your
proposed contribution to Director Woolweaver for review at
K5RAV@arrl.org. Volunteer content contributors, please apply!
Visit us at:
www.ARRLWGD.org
On Twitter at ARRL_WGD
On Facebook at ARRL West Gulf Division
On YouTube at ARRL WGD Channel

--- FCC Releases New Rules for 60 Meters
On November 18, 2011, 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.
Here is a summary of the changes. 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. Any radio amateur operating
under the new rules before this time is in violation of the current
rules. The official date for these new rules will be announced on the
ARRL website as soon as the information is available.
The frequency 5368.0 kHz (carrier frequency 5366.5 kHz) is withdrawn
and a new frequency of 5358.5 kHz (carrier frequency 5357.0 kHz) is
authorized.
The effective radiated power limit in the 60 meter band is raised by 3
dB, from 50 W PEP to 100 W PEP, relative to a half-wave dipole. If
another type of antenna is used, the station licensee must maintain a
record of either the antenna manufacturer's data on the antenna gain
or calculations of the antenna gain.
Three additional emission types are authorized. Data (emission
designator 2K80J2D, for example, PACTOR-III), RTTY (emission designator
60H0J2B, for example, PSK31) and CW (150HA1A, i.e. Morse telegraphy by
means of on-off keying). For CW, the carrier frequency must be set to
the center frequency. For data and RTTY the requirement to transmit
"only on the five center frequencies specified" may be met by using
the same practice as on USB, i.e. by setting the suppressed carrier
frequency of the USB transmitter used to generate the J2D or J2B
emission to the carrier frequency that is 1.5 kHz below the center
frequency.
Automatic control on data and RTTY is not permitted; a control operator
must be in a position to exercise either local or remote control over
the transmitter. The FCC noted that "amateur operators must exercise
care to limit the length of transmissions so as to avoid causing
harmful interference to Federal stations." This is a very important
caveat: If a Federal station requires amateurs to cease using a
frequency, the amateur station must be able to do so without delay.
In October 2006, the ARRL filed a Petition for Rulemaking with the FCC,
requesting that the Commission amend Parts 2 and 97 of its Rules to
replace one of the allocated center frequencies (5368 kHz) with a less
encumbered frequency (5358.5 kHz), to increase the maximum ERP from 50
to 100 W PEP and to authorize the use of additional emissions types,
limited to emission designators 150HA1A, 60H0J2B and 2K80J2D. In its
Petition, the ARRL pointed out that its proposals were designed to
facilitate more efficient and effective use of the secondary Amateur
Radio Service allocation in the 60 meter band. As part of its
petition, the ARRL attached a letter from NTIA, indicating that it
would "look favorably" on the ARRL's proposed modifications.
Considering the expected increase in 60 meter activity when the R&O
finally takes effect, the ARRL is asking for feedback to assist in
crafting a proposed band plan. For example, what modes and activities
should be recommended for the various channels?
If you're a 60-meter operator, e-mail your suggestions to
hf-band-plan@arrl.org. You can also participate in an ARRL online
survey at http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22E8M4Y8D39/.

--- Central Arizona DX Association Special Event Operation – K7UGA
The Central Arizona DX Association is very pleased to announce our
Special Event Operation in celebration of the Arizona Centennial during
the week of February 13 -19, 2012. We will be using the call of the
late Senior Senator and Arizona native son, Barry M. Goldwater –
K7UGA. Individual CADXA members will be operating from their home
stations located throughout Arizona during that week using the call
K7UGA. However, only special operating locations from Tucson,
Prescott, and Phoenix will be on the air celebrating the 100th
anniversary on Tuesday, February 14, 2012.
This CADXA Special Event Operation has proudly received recognition
from the 2012 Arizona Centennial Foundation as a sanctioned "Special
Event"; and from the Arizona Historical Advisory Commission as an
official "Centennial Legacy Project".
All QSL requests go to Bob Davies – K7BHM (qrz.com) with an SASE.
Feb 13 – Feb 19, 1500Z – 2359Z, K 7 U G A.
Prescott, Tucson, and Phoenix, Arizona – Central Arizona DX
Association. Arizona Centennial
Celebration: 1912 – 2012. Operation will be on all bands and the
following modes CW, SSB, RTTY, PSK31, and Satellite using late Senator
Barry M. Goldwater's Call – K7UGA.
QSL w/SASE to Bob Davies-K7BHM: 1623 N. Los Altos Ct. Chandler, AZ
85224
For more details see: www.cadxa.org
--- Austin Hams Support the Decker Challenge
We Hams are asked every year to assist with course monitoring at the
Decker Challenge/Brown Santa 5K race the 2nd weekend of every December
at Decker Lake in Austin ( http://www.k5ktf.com/decker2011/ ). We use
2-meter simplex to communicate around the course, with "Moby Dick",
Glenn KD5MFW's big white TV van with a 40+-foot pneumatic mast, as our
Net Control station parked outside the main race hall. We also use APRS
to show where Hams are stationed and to follow the "Turtle".
This year, we brought HSMM-Mesh ( http://www.hsmm-mesh.org/ ) in our
toolbox, to provide live streaming video from around the course.
HSMM-Mesh is a system where we take commercially available wireless
access points, load our own customized firmware, and turn them into
mesh nodes that create a self-discovering, self configuring, self
advertising and fault tolerant network at up to 10 megabits per second
(10Mb/s). When you bring 2 or more nodes within range of each other,
they automatically connect and pass data. Anything that can be done
over a standard TCP/IP computer network can be done across an HSMM-Mesh
network. The system uses 2.4 GHz, and generally must be line-of-sight.
Each node acts as end-point AND a repeater. Each node helps relay
signals between any other node, and the more nodes deployed, the bigger
the network becomes. Under Part 97, we can use directional and gain
antennas, amplifiers, etc, to get more range out of each node.
Last year we attempted to do this on a smaller scale, with only a few
nodes, but realized we had some buildings in our way. This year I made
up some relaying nodes that were temporarily set on the peaks of the
roofs of 2 buildings the day before.
We then had another node inside the main hall, where race people
provided a laptop and projector, and had the video projected onto the
wall for all to see. The main highlight was a live streaming camera
feed from a portable setup (an HSMM-Mesh node, Belkin UPS battery
backup, and IP webcam) brought by Stephen KF5MFL, that was setup on a
table at the Start/Finish line.
Total, we had 13 or 14 HSMM-Mesh nodes deployed, with some personnel
having multiple nodes for ease of use -- For example, I had a node on a
10' mast with a directional dish on the back of my pickup truck, one on
my dash wired to my laptop, and my "Cooler-cam" that is a node and
battery inside a Coleman 6-pack cooler with an IP cam mounted atop.
With this setup, I only had to supply power up the mast and then
connected to that node via RF across the truck from the node on my
dash, saving me from having to run a long CAT%5 cable to the mast node.
Also Paul KA5ZFU (our Turtle) had mounted a node, directional wire-grill
dish, and an omni-directional antenna, on top of a mast that was mounted
and guyed in the bed of his truck, which was sturdy enough that he could
drive with it deployed. Several others had nodes with and without
cameras attached.
More than a few times I heard (sitting at Gate 3 / 11.5mile) "Thanks
Hams!" as runners would go by. The race bosses were literally ecstatic
about what we had done. Megan, the Austin Runners Club President, told
me after the race "You guys make us look so high-tech...This is so
cool!"
Eli, the Race Director, was extremely pleased with what we did for
them. I mentioned that next year, we will have more kinks worked out
and it will be even better.
The only real kink that we ran into this year was gel-cell battery
longevity, which killed the roof-top relay nodes prematurely. We had to
set them up on the roofs the day before, and did not have access to them
until after the race was over. Once the relays died, nodes further away
lost connection back to NC. Next year we will make sure we have
stronger battery life that will last past the end of the race.
We had 12 total Hams on course. Jeff N5MNW was NC, Steve W5SMP as
Backup-NC, Glenn KD5MFW monitoring HSMM-Mesh, John KE5RS, Stephen
KF5MFL, Dave KF5DMO, Brian K5BMH, Paul KD5VRU, Ron AE5WW, Tom KF5DMP,
Abe WB5EKG, Paul KA5FZU as our beloved Turtle, and myself, K5KTF.
Next year we plan on adding additional functionality to the mesh
network, possibly with IRC text messaging, among other ideas.
---Contributed by K5KTF, Jim Kinter Jr.---
--- 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 have been 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 all ARRL Foundation Scholarship opened October 1
each year and closes 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.

--- Building a Friendlier Mousetrap
In 2004 when I retired, the last thing on my mind was to become a ham.
Although I had married a ham in 1986, I had other passions, including
quilting. However, by spring 2006 when my husband, Rick WØPC was
scheduled to teach a Technician class, I decided to enroll as a way to
"get out of the house" never thinking I would become involved with
Amateur Radio. I thought I would get my Technician license, just to
prove I could. I continued in that frame of mind towards General that
summer and was almost there except for that very elusive CW. I still
don't know CW but became a General with others when the CW
requirement was dropped. I lucked out – my CSCE for Element 3 theory
had not expired.
Throughout this educational journey, I was often frustrated by the fact
studying required a lot of flipping pages back and forth – in my mind
a complete waste of time. There had to be a better way. When Rick
taught an Extra class, I enrolled in that as well. I tried using the
internet to practice taking tests, but found that I had not read all
the material covered in the tests – I could not select by Chapter and
the particular web-site I was on repeated the same questions when I
first signed on. Duplicate tests required before I got new questions.
I felt that there need to be a better way.
In my career I had worked in accounting and HR, often relying on Excel
to shorten my work load. I decided to use Excel to make Study Guides,
downloaded the Extra Question Pool, and created the current Study
Guides for Extra class. Each class that Rick taught offered the
opportunity to assist others in their study by also creating first
Technician, then General Study Guides.
The next challenge for me was to make the Study Guides available to
others who were endeavoring to become a ham. In working with my ARRL
Midwest Division Director, the Study Guides were placed on
www.ARRLMidWest.org. Then last summer as Rick and I attended the ARRL
National Convention in Plano, TX on our way to visit family in Texas.
I was fortunate to meet several of the ARRL officers and even had a
chance to talk to Director Woolweaver of the West Gulf Division about
my Study Guides.
In making a long story shorter, I have also created Extra class in Word
document format by chapter to be used in a Braille reader as a means to
assist a sight impaired friend. I'm happy to say he is now an Extra
Class.
Although amateur radio is not my only passion, I have become active in
Emergency Communication ARES, Editor of St Charles Amateur Radio Club
newsletter, food chairman on Field Day, club picnic, etc. After
working a few contests with Rick as Multiple Operator , including RTTY
Roundup in NV last January, I worked my first contest as Single
Operator in the recent 10-Meter Contest. It was stressful, but what a
blast!
If you are interested in becoming a ham, or just working your way up
the ladder, I hope you will make use of all the resources available.
Although ARRL License Manuals now come with CD which is an excellent
study guide, I have elected to leave my Study Guides available to the
public at no cost. My theory is that if only one person uses it
because they can't afford the Manual, it's a success.
(You may review Helen's study guides at
http://arrlwgd.org/educationtraining/.)
--- Contributed by Helen Crockett, AC0NF---
---2011 Texas QSO Party Results
The Texas QSO Party results are in! See the report at
http://txqp.net/results/scores2011.pdf
The top five winners in the Texas Clubs Category are, in order: CTDXCC,
NARS, North Texas Contest Club, Midland ARC and Brazos Valley ARC.
A special note: West Gulf Division Vice Director John Robert Stratton,
N5AUS, took First Place in the Texas Mobile, Single Operator, Phone Only
category. Vice Director Stratton went from last place in the same 2010
Texas QSO Party category (his first ever contest) to First Place in the
2011 Texas QSO Party.
Vice Director Stratton reports it was a two-day, 19 county, single
operator/driver, paper-logged sprint through South Texas and the Gulf
Coast, using an ICOM 7200, a Henry Allen Texas BugCatcher and a pickup
with 270,000-miles on speedometer as an antenna platform.
Congratulations and thanks to all Hams who participated and made the
Party so successful. The West Gulf extends special thanks to the
Northwest Amateur Radio Society (NARS) and Chuck Sanders, NO5W, for
their excellent work and dedication to organizing the Party every year.
Due to their efforts the Texas QSO Party is one of the largest State
QSO contests in the country.
--- Planned ARRL Events for K5RAV and N5AUS
Director Woolweaver, K5RAV and Vice Director Stratton, N5AUS are
planning to attend the following upcoming events:
K5RAV and N5AUS – 2012 ARRL Annual Board Meeting, Windsor, CT,
January 13-14, 2012
K5RAV – Cowtown Hamfest, North Texas Section Convention*, 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
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
02/25/2012 | 2012 Orange Hamfest
Location: Orange, TX
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Orange ARC and Jefferson County ARC
Website:
http://www.qsl.net/w5nd/index_files/HAMFEST%20INFO/hamfest%20info.htm
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ARRL West Gulf Division
Director: David A Woolweaver, K5RAV
k5rav@arrl.org