| President: | Jack Reed | WA4FXX |
| Vice President: | Dennis Bodson | W4PWF |
| Secretary: | Mike Callaham | NW3V |
| Treasurer: | Mike Ingles | KG4RKL |
| Activities Chairman: | Alan Bosch | KO4ALA |
| Editor: | Mike Callaham | NW3V |
| February 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Meetings: | Usually Third Tuesday of each month, 7:30 P.M., Red Cross, 4333 Arlington Blvd. (US 50), Arlington,VA. Nonmembers are invited to attend. |
| Net: | Tuesday (except meeting nights) at 7:30 P.M., 144.87/145.47 MHz FM |
| WWW: | http://www.w4wvp.org/ |
| Roster: | http://www.w4wvp.org/roster.censored.txt |
| Affiliate: | ARRL, FAR |
| Information: | Jack Reed, WA4FXX, wa4fxx@amsat.org (e-mail), (703) 685-7933 (phone). |
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At the February 17 meeting, VWS Member Jason Hsu, AG4DG, will show a digital, LED-equipped, SWR meter that he designed and built, and will present some slides related to the design and construction. Don't miss this! We'll meet, as usual, at 7:30pm at the Arlington Chapter of the American Red Cross.
--Mike, NW3V
President Jack, WA4FXX, called the meeting to order at 1942L. Also attending were Dennis, W4PWF, Mike, NW3V, Mike, KG4RKL, Alan, KO4ALA, Ian [now] KI4DTP, Jaskaran, KG4YIQ, Paul, KG4PXF, Jim, K9AUC, Mike, KA8OPJ, Kim, KD9XB, Keith, KG4UIR, and visitors Jack, KB3KKY, and Bill, W3HXF.
The Minutes, as then published on the AARC web site, were amended by Jack, WA4FXX: "I wasn't the one who said the DEC wanted to step down." New Treasurer Mike, KG4RKL, said that he didn't have the financial records yet but would get them from former Treasurer John, WD4MIS.
AARC VP and ARRL Roanoke Division Director Dennis, W4PWF, said that the League's Board of Directors made many changes at its January 16 meeting. Regarding the proposed license structure changes [ARLB003], Dennis said "nobody loses any privileges. The hardest sell may be the FCC, because of what they'll have to do with the ULS. It's my personal opinion that the FCC will do away with the Morse test for all classes of license--they clearly have nine non-ARRL petitions to do so. I think dropping CW will remove one potential source of complaints, in the FCC's view."
Dennis framed the proposal in the context of current trends, the need to attract young people to Amateur Radio, and the need to use or lose bands. Jack, WA4FXX, asked "When will that go to he FCC?" Dennis replied "I'd say...30 days." Jack continued, "And time for the FCC response?" Dennis answered, "In one year it would be ready to go to the Commission. Whether it would get there, I don't know.... We didn't like the term Novice; we discussed it."
Regarding incentives to upgrade, Dennis said "During the past 18 months we've been looking at restricting bands or subbands not to modes but to bandwidths. We'll also eliminate Baud rates. ... I don't think this will be permitted until after the next Board meeting...at least three months down the pike."
Jack, WA4FXX, asked about emergency communication business. Arlington County EC Alan, KO4ALA, said "Not much. SkyWarn is waiting for a snowstorm to activate. Fairfax ARES is thinking of doing its own emergency plan. There will be a training drill at FS4 [Fire Station 4] "
Jim, K9AUC, said "I can demo a patch for taping from an HT. I recommend playing tapes [of radio traffic during drills and emergencies] when talking about ham radio or EmComm." He also said that everyone who participated in Isabel should have gotten one of these," showing a certificate of appreciation. Jim argued that "We need to rely on the ARRL to publicize the contribution of Amateur Radio" in disaster assistance.
Jack, WA4FXX, said that EmComm vehicles for the County have been ordered. "They approached us for recommendations at Field Day, and I followed up with more by email. I hadn't heard from them, so I pinged them and asked what they put in. If they put in what we recommended, we asked for an IC-706 and a Kenwood D-700. I'm going to propose we [AARC] get equipment to get Members trained on that gear."
Ian said that he met "Radio Goddess" Lisa Thompson, and she invited us to tour the County Emergency Communications Center (ECC).
Jack, WA4FXX, asked Members and visitors to introduce themselves. They did so, and during this round Ian Sterne announced that he had passed his Technician license exam and was awaiting his license.
Jack, WA4FXX, reported that he participated in Straight Key Night (SKN) and made one QSO. He mentioned that the RTTY contest was coming.
Alan, KO4ALA, reported that te Foundation for Amateur Radio made three grand on FallFest, and that sixty three scholarships have been awarded. "They're working on Auto-Call; when they get it restaffed, it will be quarterly." Mike, KA8OPJ, asked "Will they be soliciting inputs?" Alan replied, "The time is now." Mike said, "The problem was the lead time."
Jack, WA4FXX, reminded Members that "Our FAR reps have asked to be relieved." Alan, KO4ALA, said "I found that I can represent no more than two clubs. I'm representing VWS." It was moved, seconded, and passed to make KO4ALA a Representative of the AARC at the FAR. Jack noted that we can have one more rep.
Jack, WA4FXX, said there was an action item for the Secretary: update the ARRL Club Report on the ARRL web site. Mike, NW3V, said he though he'd done it, but would confirm. Mike took a straw poll of Members and determined that to of 12 AARC Members still present were ARRL Members: 80 percent.
Mike KA8OPJ raised an item of old business: the need for a dual-band antenna. "That would give us a half degree of separation from the news media. Also, it could be used for repeater linking over the Internet. The Network Engineers Radio Association repeater on 449.75(-), PL107.2, is an example."
Jack mentioned some items of new business: radios, independent of antennas, and thoughts for programs and activities. Jack said there's Field Day, to which a meeting is allocated for planning, and the seasonal party. That leaves 10 months. KO4ALA said his list of program ideas was at home, with his FAR notes.
As one possibility, Alan mentioned that VWS took 18 people to High Acre, a hotel stop on the Appalachian Trail, for the North American QSO Party.
KA8OPJ said K9IU has both IR and wires for IP links.
Alan, KA8OPJ, showed a 220 MHz ground plane antenna made with threaded rods, a plate, and a mount available available from Lakeview. He said it has 1.02:1 SWR across 220 MHz and 1.04:1 o 2m.
Keith, KG4UIR, said the American Red Cross will set up its own repeaters on the 2020 E Street building. One can transmit on 47.42 to the repeaters. They have radios at the Call Center, but not yet installed. Steve is WMAC comm lead and workikng that. In April the ARC will do MOUs (Memoranda of Understanding) with ARES, RACES, etc. There's also a need for new handhelds; batteries for the old radios cost more than new radios cost.
The highlight and finale of the meeting was the program, a presentation on The Future of Shortwave Broadcasting by Kim, KD9XB. In real life, Kim is an Audience Research Analyst for the International Broadcasting Board. Kim said that the Heritage Foundation had just published a Heritage Lecture, Regaining America's Voice Overseas: A Conference on U.S. Public Diplomacy, on its web site. Kim noted that one of the talks, by Seth Cropsey, noted that some VOA broadcasting, for example to Iran, is being jammed, but programming is getting through on satellite and Internet streams. There is still a role for shortwave broadcasting, but some countries, such as Norway and Denmark, have abandoned it.
Kim said much else, faster than this reporter could copy. It was a very educational, entertaining, and important presentation, and those present enjoyed it.
Respectfully submitted,
Michael Callaham, NW3V
AARC Secretary
ARLB005: FCC okays BPL proposal
ARLB004: Amateur Radio bills add cosponsors
ARLS003: AO-40 Command Team Plays Waiting Game
This is just a sample. For other recent bulletins, check out http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/, or listen to W1AW.
The Arlington ARC Roster is online at http://www.w4wvp.org/roster.censored.txt. Do we have your info correct? If not, please contact the Treasurer (Mike, KG4RKL) or webmaster (Mike, NW3V).
The Arlington Amateur Radio Club
4333 Arlington Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22203