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

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