SM001 - Hello Oklahoma!

Welcome to the ARRL Oklahoma Section News. I'm Mark Kleine N5HZR and over the past 35+ years, I've been able to meet a good number of you at hamfests, club meetings, and special events. As I started this Section Manager journey during the past couple of weeks, I've had the great pleasure of meeting hundreds more of you via email, DMR, and Zoom. I want to thank all of the kind messages you all have extended to me during this transition time. And, I'm so grateful that you all have been so gracious with your time and future commitments. If we haven't had the chance to meet, please feel free to send me an email.

I want to thank past Section Manager Kevin O'Dell N0IRW for his efforts over the years to build a better Oklahoma Section and for all he has done to smooth my entry into this new role.

New ARES Website

As luck would have it, we have implemented a new ARESOK.org website over the past few weeks, as well. Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) Section Emergency Manager Mark Conklin N7XYO, Paul Teel WA5ANX, Ben Joplin WB5VST, and I have worked to bring the new site to life and get 800 ARES members' contact information transferred. Each existing ARES member received an email that welcomed them to the new site and provided their login credentials. If you haven't logged back in, please visit ARESOK.org and click the forgot password button. If you haven't already registered, do it today. Once you get logged in, you can see the contact information for your fellow county members. Also, take a look at the counties page to see if your Emergency Coordinator (EC) is listed. If you notice any members that are no longer involved with your ARES program or any other changes, please send me a message, and I will update the records. I want to thank Roland Stolfa KC5UNL for his efforts in providing and managing the ARESOK.org website over the past 15 years.

And So Much More

It's a great time to be involved in Oklahoma amateur radio. Standby more follows...

73 Mark

Green Country Hamfest #covid19 uptate - 12 Mar 2020.

Green Country Hamfest covid-19 uptate - 12 Mar 2020.


CLAREMORE, OKLA - The Green Country Hamfest Committee held our regular monthly meeting Thursday, March 12, 2020. During that meeting there was discussion of the current covid-19 pandemic.

As Oklahoma's largest and most attended hamfest, the committee thought it was important to update the Amateur Radio community with latest information about this years Green Country Hamfest.

The 2020 Green Country Hamfest will be held on April 10th & 11th as scheduled.

The information on the covid-19 pandemic is a rapidly changing situation. And the health and welfare of all attending this event is very important to the committee. The Green Country Hamfest committee will be keeping in touch with all local and state officials with regards to the latest information about the covid-19 pandemic.

As of now we plan on holding 2020 Green Country Hamfest unless otherwise directed not to by the venue (the Claremore Expo Center), the Rogers County Health Department and/or the State of Oklahoma Health Department.

We will post any updates on our webpage GreenCountryHamfest.org and our Facebook page facebook.com/GreenCountryHamfest as required.

Thank you for your support, understanding and see you at the Hamfest.

World Radio Communication Conference Starts Monday #ARRL #hamradio

From K1ZZ, 

The World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 is due to open in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Monday 28 October. The meeting, which lasts four weeks, will be attended by three thousand delegates from most of the countries around the world, and will discuss and agree changes to the ITU Radio Regulations.

IARU and its member-societies will be there, representing the amateur and amateur satellite services with a team of 14 people from 10 countries.

Of particular interest to IARU are the positions on:

-              Agenda Item (AI) 1.1, to allocate spectrum in the 50-54 MHz Region in Region 1 to the amateur service

-              AI 1.13 to consider new spectrum of International Mobile Telecommunications, which potentially might impact amateur spectrum at around 47 GHz

-              AI 1.16 which could impact the 5 GHz amateur spectrum

-              AI 9.1.6 on Wireless Power Transmission, where harmonics of WPT systems can impact the MF/HF radio spectrum

-              AI 10 – where it is possible that future agenda items at WRC-23 could impact the amateur service, including the 1240-1300 MHz band.

What does it take to be an International Amateur Radio Union member?  Again K1ZZ explains:

To be eligible for IARU membership the organization must be a noncommercial association of radio amateurs, devoted to the objectives of the IARU and "substantially covering by influence and recognition the country and/or territories which it represents." The quote is from the IARU Constitution. The Bylaws are a bit more specific. An applicant must supply evidence that it "adequately represents the interests of amateurs throughout the country and/or separate territory which it proposes to represent, has the ability to meet its financial obligations as a member of the Union, and is legally able to act in the furtherance of IARU objectives within its country and/or separate territory." There can only be one IARU member-society representing a country or separate territory.

The "or separate territory" language makes it possible for, for example, Bermuda and Gibraltar (among others) to be members of the IARU separate from the UK, which is ably represented by the RSGB.

NO other amateur radio organization in the United States meets those conditions.  This is only ONE of over 50 reasons an amateur radio operator in the United States should be a member of the American Radio Relay League.  Do YOU want some other country telling YOU where you can operate your amateur radio station?