Tuesday, July 23, 2013

News from K5RAV

West Gulf Division Newsletter July 2013

   --- Ham Holiday Welcomes K9EID, Bob Heil
   --- First Annual WGD Awards HamCom
   --- Austin Summerfest
   --- Field Day 2013
   --- Planned Events
   --- Upcoming Hamfests and Conventions


--- Ham Holiday Welcomes K9EID, Bob Heil

The Central Oklahoma Radio Amateur’s  (CORA) are geared up and ready
for the 2013 40th Annual Ham Holiday event that will take place July
26-27th in Oklahoma City.   Hosted this year at their NEW LOCATION, the
Bricktown Hotel/Conference Center, the CORA group is especially pleased
to welcome Bob Heil, K9EID as their Special Guest Banquet Speaker.
Check at the door for remaining availability to this year’s banquet
to be held on Friday night.

The hamfest will feature technical and non-technical programs, DXCC
Card Checking, VE testing and the ever popular flea market as well.
ICOM America is a major commercial vender at this event and their
representative, Ray Novak, N9JA, will be there to answer all of your
questions about ICOM products.  This year’s Grand Prize is an ICOM
7410 HF/50MHz Base Station!

Be sure to stop by the ARRL Booth and say hello to the ARRL volunteers
and Director Woolweaver.   The ARRL Forum will be held on Saturday
morning at 11:00 AM.

--- First Annual WGD Awards Presented at HamCom

The First Annual West Gulf Division Awards were present at HamCom in
June.  The Division received multiple nominations for each category and
the distinguished panel of judges had quite a job on their hands
selecting the winners.  We extend our congratulations to the following
category winners:

2013 WGD Ham of the Year – William Sepulveda, K5LN

2013 WGD Young Ham of the Year – Luke Leal, KC5LSL

2013 Excellence Award (EmComm) – Stuart M. Rohre, II, K5KVH

We would also like to thank the Judges who represented the Division and
their respective Sections:

Coy Day, N5OK, for the West Gulf Division
Philip Robinson, KB5ASY, for the North Texas Section
Eddie Manley, K5EMS, for the Oklahoma Section
Lee Cooper, W5LHC, for the South Texas Section
Bill Roberts, N5NPR, for the West Texas Section

Nominations for the 2014 WGD Awards are now being accepted by Director
Woolweaver, and must be submitted by April 15, 2014.

--- Austin Summerfest, Texas State Convention

The 30th Annual Austin Summerfest designated as the 2013 West Gulf
Division Texas State Convention will be held on August 2nd and 3rd.
The Summerfest organizers are pleased to announce that their location
has changed and this year’s event is being hosted at the Crowne Plaza
Hotel, 6121 N IH 35, Austin, TX 78752.

The Keynote Speaker at the ARRL Forum will be the ever popular Riley
Hollingsworth, K4ZDH and there is just no telling what topics he will
touch on this year!  Riley always speaks to a packed crowd so be sure
to get to the ARRL Forum early for a seat!  Mr. Hollinsworth is the
retired Special Counsel for the Spectrum Enforcement Division of the
FCC's Enforcement Bureau.

Pre-registrations must be postmarked by July 24th to save $2 on
admissions.  General admission at the door will be $10.  This year’s
Grand Prize is a Yaesu FT-857D and the Featured Prize is a Yaesu
FT-7900R.  A special Bonus Prize (and also the Pre-Registration Prize)
is a Yaesu FT-60R.  With each registration, you receive one (1) ticket
that is good for all of the prizes.  Additionally, for every qualifying
room night that you spend at the Crowne Plaza, you will receive an
additional five (5) bonus tickets (up to a total of 10).  You may also
purchase additional prize tickets at the door for $1 each.

You are encouraged to make your reservations now at the Crowne Plaza
now.    Please make all reservations by phoning (800) 227-6963 (NOT the
local hotel reservation desk).  Ask for the Austin Summerfest Convention
rate of $99/night (so you can confirm that you are registering for the
convention).  This rate is offered from 3 days prior to and until 3
days after the dates of the convention, based on guest room
availability.  You are encouraged to extend your stay and make use of
as many of these nights as they can.  If anyone has problems making
reservations through the (800) 227- 6963 number, call Kees (pronounced
“Case”) Talen at (512) 258-4282 and he will resolve the problem.

Director Woolweaver and Vice Director Stratton will look forward to
seeing everyone at the Austin Summerfest.  Please stop by the booth and
say hello!

---2013 Field Day

Field Day is always a great opportunity for the WGD Leadership to be
out and about in the community visiting with folks and seeing how great
the Division Amateur’s come together to operate in collective force.
Several of the Division Leadership members tendered Field Day reports.

Director Woolweaver spent the weekend in North Texas, in part with NTX
SM Chris Brewer, N5GMJ.  Starting in the Fort Worth, Director
Woolweaver crisscrossed the area from far West Forth Worth, North to
Denton, South to Arlington and East to Sachse – exploring fourteen
(14) Field Day sites and visiting countless people as it seemed like
the entire amateur community turned out for Field Day.  While visiting
the Lockheed Martin ARC, David and Chris assisted in the installation
of an antenna mast.  Director Woolweaver was especially pleased to have
an opportunity to meet Dallas Sheriff Lupe Valdez at the DARC and
participate in the DARC Tech Net on Saturday evening.  For the 2013
Field Day event, DARC teamed up with members of the University of Texas
at Dallas ARC, Dallas REACT, Dallas Makerspace and the Texas
Astronomical Society of Dallas to create a supersized event that
enabled them to share knowledge and continue their efforts of team
building, experiences and fun.  In addition to Sheriff Valdez, three
members of the Dallas County Sheriff Command Staff and a City of Dallas
Police Corporal attended the DARC event held annually at Flag Pole Hill
in Dallas.

Vice Director Stratton concentrated on the South Texas/Houston area for
his Field Day travels.  He visited eight sites spread from Katy to
College Station.  According to Stratton, “It was HOT, but it was
fun!”

Assistant Director Paul Gilbert, KE5ZW and his YL Barbara, KC5GFR
visited multiple Field Day sites in the Austin area including
Williamson County, ARC, Ham Buds, Austin ARC, Hay-Caldwell ARC and the
Alamo Area Repeater Organization.  While Paul and Barbara were visiting
the Austin ARC, Texas Representative Jason Issac (District 45-R serving
Blanco and Hayes Counties) took time away from the Legislative Special
Session, to see what Amateur Radio was all about.  Accompanied by
President Lori Schmidt, KM5MQ, Jeff Schmidt N5MNW did an excellent job
of explaining amateur radio and the details of Field Day activities to
the Representative.  Paul and Barbara also enjoyed a great meal with
the Alamo Area Repeater Organization and they wish to thank everyone
for their hospitality that day!

John, AE5B and Carla, K5RLA Dyer, Assistant Directors in West Texas
visited the Key City ARA in Abilene on Saturday afternoon and then
traveled to Midland to visit the Midland ARC’s site Saturday evening
and Sunday morning.

--- Planned ARRL Events for K5RAV and N5AUS

Director Woolweaver, K5RAV and Vice Director Stratton, N5AUS plan to
attend the following upcoming events:

K5RAV
-- ARRL Second Board Meeting, July 19-20, Windsor, CT
-- Ham Holiday, OK State Convention, July 26-27, Oklahoma City, OK
-- Austin Summerfest, Texas State Convention, August 2-3, Austin, TX
-- Texoma Hamarama, October 25-26, Ardmore, OK

N5AUS
-- ARRL Second Board Meeting, July 19-20, Windsor, CT
-- Austin Summerfest, Texas State Convention, August 2-3, Austin, TX

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 any time that you have a concern or just want to say hello, contact
Director Woolweaver at K5RAV@arrl.org.  Visit our website at
www.arrlwgd.org; follow us on Twitter at ARRL_WGD and on Facebook at
ARRL West Gulf Division.

-- Upcoming Hamfests and Conventions

07/26/2013 | Oklahoma State Convention (Ham Holiday)
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Type: ARRL Convention
Sponsor: Central Oklahoma Radio Amateurs
Website: http://www.hamholiday.com

08/02/2013 | Texas State Convention (Austin Summerfest 2013)
Location: Austin, TX
Type: ARRL Convention
Sponsor: Austin Amateur Radio Club & Texas VHF-FM Society
Website: http://www.austinsummerfest.org

09/07/2013 | Gainesville Hamfest 2013
Location: Gainesville, TX
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Cooke County Amateur Radio Club
Website: http://www.gainesvillehamfest.org

09/13/2013 | ADA HAMFEST
Location: Ada, OK
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Ada Radio Club, Durant Amateur Radio Club, & Shawnee Radio
Club

10/25/2013 | Texoma Hamarama
Location: Ardmore, OK
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Texoma Hamarama Association
Website: http://texomahamarama.org

11/09/2013 | NCTECH 2013
Location: Azle, TX
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Tri-County Amateur Radio Club (WC5C)
Website: http://www.wc5c.org/WC5CClub/NCTECH/tabid/152/Default.asp

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

Friday, July 19, 2013

K5RAV at W1AW soon



Director Woolweaver will be operating from W1AW at ARRL Headquarter’s in Newington, CT on July 21 from approximately 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM CDT.

Look for the Director Woolweaver on plus or minus 14.285 (+/-) MHz USB.

He will be calling, “CQ West Gulf Division”.  If you ever wanted to make a contact with W1AW, now is your chance.  QSL 100%.  Real time posting of frequency and operating reports will be made on the West Gulf Facebook Page at ARRL West Gulf Division and on the Twitter Page ARRL_WGD.


Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Lawton Educational Opportunities


From the Lawton Fort Sill reflector, Ron, AF5Q, offers these two items:

If you know anyone that would like to get their Tech license, I will be holding my next Technician license class  starting August 12 at the Red Cross building, 6 SE Lee from 6 - 9 pm.

Students interested need to order the Ham Radio License Manual, 2nd edition and read the first 2 chapters.  Instruction is free, the only cost is time investment and willingness to learn.


and


If there is anyone that would like to learn or improve CW skills, let me know.  Im thinking about getting a class together for about an hour a week (30 min max for CW).

Email me if you are interested or know someone who is.

Friday, July 12, 2013

What's happening in the Oklahoma Section?

Hello Oklahoma Amateur Radio Operators!!



Welcome to Summer!



First, let me give you some general information before we get to the ham news.  Things have been hectic around the O'Dell QTH.  Wilma has gone back to work full time and I have gone back to work part time.  (something about not enough retirement funds).  I am working for the Perry PD/Noble Co. SO in dispatch? .Wouldn't you know, talking on the radio.  Most of my shifts are late evening and overnight, so, there's not a lot of free time during the daylight hours.  No, I'm not growing fangs!



If that is not enough, on the day before Ham Holiday, I will be having surgery on my ankle, that hopefully will eventually get me to walking more than riding in that chair.  But this will require that I am in a non-weight bearing condition for at least 8 weeks.  I will not be attending Ham Holiday in OKC, nor will I be at the Ada Hamfest in September  I am planning on being at Texhoma Hamarama the end of October.  Have no fear though, Eddie Manley and Mark Conklin will be heading up the booth and the League Forum at Ham Holiday and we will have a presence at Ada.  You will still be able to renew memberships at both hamfests.  Division Director David Woolweaver will be in attendance at OKC..  There will be plenty of goodies in the prize drawing at the forum as well.



Now on to the good stuff!



MOORE, SHAWNEE AND EL RENO TORNADOES



We were all concerned by the storms in Oklahoma this spring.  The devastation was excessive to say the least.  Amateurs were ready to help out as expected.  In most cases, amateur assistance wasn?t requested or required in these events.  I did hear of a few amateurs helping out in Shawnee, mostly in capacities other than amateur radio.



In Moore, we had one request for ARES assistance.  The Red Cross in OKC was having some difficulty communicating with their feeding unit  at the Home Depot parking lot in Moore.  The requested we set up communications between the chapter office in downtown OKC and the feeding unit.  The comms were set up and operated for about 8 hours or so, before they got reliable cell phone communications and released our team.  I would like to thank our Section Emergency Coordinator, Mark Conklin, N7XYO and Assistant Section Manager Tom Webb, WA9AFM for their work in coordinating and handling the deployment.



We got good write ups in QST and I believe CQ.  So, good job to all those hams that assisted in these major storms.



STATE LEGISLATION



I would like to tell everyone, the legislation we had in the state legislature this year, PASSED both the House and Senate unanimously!!  This legislation changes the wording on our PRB-1 legislation to put the burden of proof on a municipality if the reject an application for an antenna support structure.  In other words, as a for instance, if they reject your application and tell you to get an engineering survey or plan done in order to get approval, then they are liable for the cost of that survey.   I want to thank Eddie Manley, K5EMS, our Government Liaison and Assistant Section Manager for all the work he put in to get this legislation passed.



FIELD DAY



From what I have been told and the reports I have gotten, Field Day in Oklahoma was a GREAT success!  I didn?t get to make any sites this year as I was working.  I did, however, make about 50 QSO's when I got home from work.  One club set up their field day site in a rather unique location.  The Tri-State Amateur Radio Group set up at the Selmon Living Laboratory Observatory, just west of Alabaster Caverns State Park in northwestern Oklahoma.  Links to the SLL Observatory website are here.



http://www.uco.edu/cms/sll/      and

http://ranger3.nwosu.edu/science/physics/sll/



Most everyone had a good time.  There are some photos posted on the section page of the league website.  Go check em out at http://www.arrl.org/Groups/view/oklahoma.  I'm planning on making some rounds out west next year, perhaps with a division person.



CLASSES



There have been a lot of Tech and General classes  this spring with a lot of new hams and quite a few upgrades..  Make sure you publish your upcoming class on the league website and try to get a short write up in the local newspapers and on the local radio stations?..while you?re at it, try to get one of the television stations interested in covering your class?you might pitch it as emergency preparedness classes.  Whatever coverage you get, on anything ham related, get us a copy or just let myself or Lloyd Colston know.



HAMFESTS

As I stated above, I won?t be able to attend Ham Holiday in OKC or the Ada Hamfests because of recovering from ankle fusion surgery.  But, that being said??..we got some hamfests coming up!



Ham Holiday is July 26 and 27.  Below is a link to the Ham Holiday flyer.



http://eepurl.com/BGsEL



There are lots of cool things this year, including the guest speaker at the Friday evening Ham Holiday Banquet?.none other than Bob Heil of HEIL Sound.  So, get your banquet tickets and enjoy the fellowship and the opportunity to hear one of our hobbies foremost authorities on audio.



In addition to Bob, the Boy Scouts will have the opportunity to earn Radio merit badge.  You might want to go sit in on part of that class and cheer these kids on.  Who knows, we just might get a couple of new hams out of the group.



Also, Ham Holiday is in a new location this year (if you haven?t heard by now).  It will be at the Bricktown Hotel at 2001 E. Reno in OKC.  This is ? block north of I-40 at the Martin Luther King Jr. exit.  All indications are this will be an improvement over the Biltmore for the hamfest space.  I really wish I could be there, but I look forward to the reports and photos from the event.



Next in line is the Ada Hamfest on September 13-14.  This will be the second year for the new location for this hamfest and It is really a nice facility.  I encourage anyone that can get loose, drive to Ada for a really neat little hamfest.



Texhoma Hamarama will be the next big event on October 25- 26 at the Ardmore Convention Center just off I-35 in Ardmore.  I am planning on being there.  Wilma has already consented to drive me down for the weekend and help out in the booth.  The Hamarama Committee has been hard at work (as usual) putting together a great event.  I look forward to seeing everyone there, not to mention getting out of the house.



And last, but not least, the Enid Hamfest will be the following weekend, November 2, at the Garfield Co. Fairgrounds in Enid.  I am planning on being at that fest as well.



You can go to the Oklahoma Section of the league website and see all the folks that give of their time to support the section. I know I couldn?t do it without them.  When you see them, tell these guys and gals you appreciate what they do for our section and amateur radio.



Good Luck, Have Fun and Stay Cool!!



73,



Kevin O'Dell, N0IRW

Oklahoma Section Manager

News from the American Radio Relay League