The OMIK Communicator

Transcription

1 The OMIK Communicator Fall OMIK is now using D-Star reflector REF074C on Sunday mornings to assist the net controllers with check-ins. You can view the reflector dashboard by typing the link below in your web browser. If you need assistance reaching the reflector contact Frank Decuire An International Educational and Scientific Organization Founded in August of 1952 KØMIK OMIK Amateur Radio Association Net Schedule (NOTE: during Daylight Savings Time net times move back 1 hour) 20 Meter Phone 40 Meter Phone 75 Meter Phone Digital Modes D-Star REF074C DMR TG31293 OMIK Nets meet on Sundays from 16:00-18:00 UTC from 12:30 to 14:00 UTC from 12:00-13:00 UTC Get an early start on your Sunday morning by joining Chuck KQ6IU and others as he host the Early Birds Rag Chew session on at 1500 UTC. In This Issue 2017 Convention News OMIK Scholarship Info Next Coming Convention Health and Welfare Ham Radio News Testing Resources Tech Talk

2 Welcome to the New OMIK Communicator Welcome to the first edition of the new electronic edition of the OMIK Communicator. In the early days (before the Internet) of the OMIK, the organization published a quarterly newsletter called the Communicator and mailed to all members. It was a way to establish and maintain a line of communications with members, and provided short technical information and what s going on type information about your shack or local ham community. At the convention it was suggested that the Communicator be resurrected, but published as an electronic newsletter. This is the first edition of the resurrected Communicator. This publication can be only as great as you want it to be; so you are encouraged to write and submit articles for publication. If you don t want to write an article, feel free to submit topics you would like to see covered in the newsletter. OMIK Members Celebrate our 65 th Anniversary On July OMIK members came together in at the Airport Holiday Inn Memphis Tennessee to celebrate the 65 th Anniversary of the organization. A good time had by all that attended. The event was filled with a tour of the local area, meet and greets, games, personal, professional and technical discussions. Leroy Taylor W9SUS again manage the shootout as members joined to show off the capabilities of their mobile HF station. Top honors went to Dr. Wayne Scott N4RAP (1), Kenneth A. Phillips W4KAP (2), Cliff Peoples KE8QR (3), Raymond E. Kanehl W8LED (4), and Kenneth C. Jones WD5IUJ (5). During the business meeting, a number of members volunteered to fill vacant positions. Mrs. Mary Green KD8ASF, Chairperson, will handle health and Welfare with Mrs. Bette Blanding and Mrs. Gwen Mosley assisting as Co-Chairs. Leroy Taylor W9SUS will be the Area 9 Director. The OMIK Organization would like to thank out going Health and Welfare chair Joseph Contogenis NU6L for the many years he served in this position. Also during the convention it was announced that through the diligent efforts of Thomas Gaines KB5FHK, OMIK has now been assigned a Talk Group in the Brand Meister DMR system. Talk groups work the same way as they do on D-star reflectors or Yaesu Fusion rooms. They are set up to provide a way for stations to communicate with each other. All talk groups are assigned to a numbering system, such as talk group 3100-usa nationwide, talk group 3148-texas. These talk groups can be accessed through hotspot or repeater with a digital DMR radio or over the internet using your computer and digital dongle. He also spearheaded the efforts to get OMIK assigned the DMR number to be used during special events. We ended this year s celebration with dinner, recognition ceremonies and awarding OMIK Scholarships to six applicants. The OMIK organization would like to thank James Green KA8HBT and Mary Green KD8ASF as well as the members of the host city of Memphis Tennessee for their hospitality and efforts in making this event a tremendous success.

3 OMIK recognizes the Hams of the Year for 2017 OMIK President Cliff Peoples presented Mrs. Betty Taylor President of the OMIK Ladies Auxiliary, a plaque to acknowledge her contributions to the organization and ham radio for OMIK President Cliff Peoples presented Frank Decuire K6FED a plaque to acknowledge his contributions to the organization and ham radio for Betty Taylor, KC9FQW - OMIK Ham Of The Year 2017 Frank Decuire, K6FED - OMIK Ham Of The Year 2017 Betty Taylor, KC9FQW, presents an OMIK Certificate to Dr. Yvonne Osborne her presentation on "Changing The Way We Age". Betty Taylor (L) and Dr. Yvonne Osborne (R)

4 Ms. Grace Austin Meacham, KA4OBK Certificate of Appreciation Mrs. Joyce Spight K9YXM announced the six OMIK Scholarship recipients. One of the fundamental purposes of the OMIK Amateur Radio Association, Inc. is to "Encourage and motivate youth to further their education beyond high school through scholarships and other financial assistance." An OMIK Scholarship is available to any high school senior or presently enrolled college student who is pursuing an education beyond high school. Mrs. Joyce Spight, N9YXM, Scholarship Fund Custodian Announces Scholarship Recipients for OMIK SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS Imani Jackson San Diego, California Madison Hattix-Covington Killeen, Texas Steven Bethany Cordova, Tennessee Jonathan J. Abrolat Claremont, California Cameron E. Branscomb Richmond, Virginia Roderick E. Jackson Holyoke, Massachusetts The OMIK Scholarship Program supports students who have proven to be academically able and who are or will be majoring in electronics, mathematics, science, or communications.

5 The radio crew did an excellent job getting us on the air and operational in minimal time. The Kenwood radio and 40 meter dipole antenna enabled us to make contacts with various hams across the country. State Rep G. A. Hardaway (L) and State Rep Johnnie Turner (R) present OMIK President Cliff Peoples, KE8QR, with the Tennessee State Proclamation A.M.E.N. For Women Ministries Executive Director, Mrs. Bobbie Hopson, accepts the 2017 OMIK and OMIK Ladies Auxiliary s Monetary Award and certificate that is given to a social program each year in the convention city. Radio Room Crew Henry Terrell, KC9OET James Green, K8HBT Tommy Spight, KJ9K Calvin Harris, K1CAL Roy Sherow, WJ5Z Leonard Mosley, KQ0L James Green, KA8HBT, and Jeff Drew, N4JDU, at the Stax Recording Studios

6 Next OMIK 66 th Anniversary Convention in Baton Rouge Louisiana Please join us as OMIK celebrates our 66 th Anniversary in the beautiful city of Baton Rouge Louisiana, this is a city on the Mississippi River, and the capital of Antebellum. Landmarks include the castlelike Old Louisiana State Capitol, now a museum, and Magnolia Mound Plantation, with its French Creole house. LSU Rural Life Museum is a complex of refurbished buildings, illustrating 18th- and 19thcentury life. On the river, the USS Kidd is a retired WWII destroyer that is now a museum. Health and Welfare News Our prayers and well wishes go out to the following members and their families as they cope with their illnesses and loss of a family member. For those that are ill we wish them a speedy recovery. Cards can be sent to: David Belleci 484 Molimo Drive San Francisco Ca We have learned that Fred Ford, KB5HKV, was hospitalized in July, and now is recovering at home. See blue book for phone # and address. Neville (Pete) Pedro Had Surgery on August 23, 2017, he is at home doing okay. Just give him a call or cards can be sent to: Neville Pedro 572 Northern Parkway Uniondale, NY On August 10, 2017, Leonard Mosley, KQ0L, had back Surgery and now is recovering at home. Please start thinking about a short minitechnical presentation for the next convention. You do not have to be an expert; just share your experiences with the topic area you are presenting. Roger F. Kimbrough KA2RJM of Vauxhall, N.J., passed away on July 12, He leaves a daughter, Tamara Colbert, and three grandchildren to cherish his memory. Memorial services were held July 23, 2017 at James E. Churchman Jr. Funeral Home, th Ave., Newark, N.J

7 Stanley Lee, KW1E passed away in August His son, Jonathan Lee is requested no flowers for his father's funeral... instead... please send donations to the OMIK SCHOLARSHIP FUND in memory of Stan, KWIE instead. Please send Health and Welfare info to: Mrs. Mary Green, KD8ASF, 1531 Tennyson Ave., Dayton, OH Amateur Radio News Briefs Revised FCC Forms 605 Will Ask Applicants The Felony Question Source: ARRL A revised FCC Form 605 Quick-Form Application for Authorization in the Ship, Aircraft, Amateur, Restricted and Commercial Operator, and General Mobile Radio Services going into effect in September, all applicants will be asked to indicate if they have been convicted of or pled guilty to a felony. The Communications Act obliges the Commission to ask the felony question, as it did on the old Form 610 and still does on other applications. This action will correct its omission on Form 605, which has existed for years. Applicants responses and explanations will be used to determine eligibility to be a Commission licensee. The FCC told ARRL that it s still deciding whether to issue a public notice on the change. Band Plan Proposed for Eventual Use Source: ARRL ARRL 630-Meter Experiment Coordinator Fritz Raab, W1FR, has proposed an informal band plan for the pending khz band. Raab said that once US radio amateurs are granted access to 630 meters, he would move stations operating under the blanket WD2XSH FCC Experimental (Part 5) license to khz. On March 28, the FCC adopted rules that will allow secondary Amateur Radio access to khz and to khz (2,200 meters), with minor conditions. One of these involves a requirement to notify the Utilities Telecoms Council (UTC) of proposed Amateur Radio operation on either new band. The FCC says the Office of Management and Budget (under the Paperwork Reduction Act) must first approve the information-collection requirements in (g)(2). Procedures to meet the requirements are said to be still under development by UTC, which says it wants to avoid Amateur Radio interference to power line communication (PLC) systems used to manage the electrical power grid. No such interference has been reported during the extensive experimental operation on 630 meters as well as on 2,200 meters. ARRL Inviting Orders for Very Limited Supply of ARRL International DX Contest Pins Source: ARRL A very limited supply of 2017 ARRL International DX Contest pins are available from the ARRL Contest Branch. To qualify for the International DX Contest pin, you must have completed 100 contacts in either the CW or phone contest weekends the pin is the same for either mode (contacts with the same station on different bands count toward the total). the Contest Branch to confirm pin availability. The cost is $7 (US) in the US, its possessions, and Canada, and $10 everywhere else (postage included). If availability is confirmed, send a copy of the first page of your Cabrillo log file with payment to DX Contest Pins, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington CT Allow 4 weeks for delivery after your order is received. Amateur Radio Parity Act is Introduced in the US Senate Source: ARRL The Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2017 was introduced in the US Senate on July 12, marking another step forward for this landmark legislation. Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) are the Senate sponsors. The measure will, for the first time, guarantee all radio amateurs living in deed-

8 restricted communities governed by a homeowner's association (HOA) or subject to any private land use regulations, the right to erect and maintain effective outdoor antennas at their homes. The Senate bill, S. 1534, is identical to H.R. 555, which passed the US House of Representatives in January. For additional information on the Amateur Radio News Briefs go to the ARRL website: Find and Exam in Your Area: You can find an Amateur License Exam In your area at ARRL.ORG OMIK Tech Talk Electronics Refresher Amateur Radio Testing Resources: Ham Radio License Exam Practice The ARRL has an online resource that allows users to take randomly generated practice exams using questions from the actual examination question pool. ARRL Exam Review for Ham Radio is free, and users do not need to be ARRL members. The only requirement is that users must first set up a site login (this is a different and separate login from your ARRL website user registration). Free Amateur Radio Practice Testing is available on the Web Practice exams are for those people who would like to study for a new US amateur radio license class. The questions contained within are provided by the Federal Communications Commission and are selected from the same sub-elements that would be used for an official license examination. What is resistance? Electrons move through a conductor when electric current flows. All materials impede flow of electric current to some extent. This characteristic is called resistance. Resistance increases with an increase of length or decrease of cross-section of a material. The unit of measurement for resistance is ohms and its symbol is the Greek letter omega (Ω). The resistance of one ohm means a conductor allows a current of one amp to flow with a voltage of one volt. All materials are different in allowing electrons flow. Materials that allow many electrons to flow freely are called conductors such as copper, silver, aluminum, hydrochloric solution, sulfuric acid and saltwater. In contrast, materials, which allow few electrons to flow, are called insulators such as plastic, rubber, glass and dry paper. Another type of materials, semiconductors have characteristics of both conductors and insulators. They allow electrons to move while being able to control flow of electrons and examples are carbon,

9 silicon and germanium, etc. The resistance of conductor depends on two main factors as the followings: Safety Tip 1. Types of material 2. Temperature of material Amateur Radio Station Grounding and Lightning Protection Good grounding and lightning protection can be installed without the exuberant cost associated with commercial grounding systems. However, it requires purposeful design and exacting installation of the basic concepts. The requirements of the NEC are the bare minimum and generally not considered adequate for radio station protection, whereas adequate protection meets and exceeds the NEC requirements. HF Propagation Forecast Source: Even though each amateur radio station installation is unique with its own physical and electrical peculiarities, common protection and grounding guidelines can be used to meet individual requirements. Whatever a specific situation requires, to be protected properly it needs; (1) a single point ground, (2) all site grounds bonded together, (3) all radio station conductors surge protected, (4) all incidental conductors entering the station grounded to single point ground. (5) surge protected AC line, (6) properly grounded tower or antenna support, (7) a good ground system-not just a single ground rod, (8) and if all possible-a dwelling perimeter ground ring. Lightning protection is necessary even though some unprotected Amateur Radio stations have never had damage. Depending upon the local level of (thunderstorm days) it is simply a matter of time before an unprotected station is damaged. So ignoring lightning protection is playing Russian roulette. However, proper grounding is important for AC line fault protection even if there is no thunderstorm activity in one s geographical location. Future Ham Radio Band Plan US Amateur Radio Bands US AMATEUR POWER LIMITS FCC An amateur station must use the minimum transmitter power necessary to carry out the desired communications. (b) No station may transmit with a transmitter power exceeding 1.5 kw PEP. On March 28, 2017, the Federal Communications Commission adopted rules that will allow Amateur Radio access to khz (630 meters) and to khz (2,200 meters). However, amateurs cannot use these frequencies until 30 days after the Report and Order is published in the Federal Register and the final procedures for registering stations with the Utilities Telecoms Council (UTC) have been approved and announced. At the time this chart was created, the Report and Order had not been published and the UTC online registration site is not yet available. Follow ARRL news for further information. New charts will be published at when the bands are fully available for use. 2,200 Meters (135 khz) khz 1 W EIRP maximum khz Meters (472 khz) 160 Meters (1.8 ) Avoid interference to radiolocation operations from to Meters (3.5 ) khz 479 khz 5 W EIRP maximum, except in Alaska within 496 miles of Russia where the power limit is 1 W EIRP. N,T (200 W ) Meters (5.3 ) CW, khz Dig 2.8 khz (100 W ) USB khz General, Advanced, and Amateur Extra licensees may operate on these five channels on a secondary basis with a maximum effective radiated power (ERP) of 100 W PEP relative to a half-wave dipole. Permitted operating modes include upper sideband voice (USB), CW, RTTY, PSK31 and other digital modes such as PACTOR III. Only one signal at a time is permitted on any channel. E A G See Sections (c), (f)(11) and (e). These exemptions do not apply to stations in the continental US. 30 Meters (10.1 ) Avoid interference to fixed services outside the US Meters (7 ) ITU 1,3 and FCC region 2 west of 130 west or below 20 north E A 200 Watts PEP Meters (14 ) Meters (18 ) Meters (21 ) N,T outside region Meters (24 ) G N,T (200 W ) N,T (200 W ) Effective Date for 2,200 and 630 Meters to be announced E A G E A G Meters (28 ) Meters (50 ) 2 Meters (144 ) 1.25 Meters (222 ) cm (420 )* cm (902 )* cm (1240 )* N,T (200 W ),T,T,T N (25 W ) * Geographical and power restrictions may apply to all bands above 420. See The ARRL Operating Manual for information about your area.,t,t,t N (5 W ) All licensees except Novices are authorized all modes on the following frequencies: No pulse emissions GHz GHz GHz GHz GHz GHz GHz All above 275 GHz KEY Note: CW operation is permitted throughout all amateur bands. MCW is authorized above 50.1, except for and Test transmissions are authorized above 51, except for = RTTY and data = phone and image = CW only = SSB phone = USB phone, CW, RTTY, and data = Fixed digital message forwarding systems only E = Amateur Extra A = Advanced G = General T = Technician N = Novice See ARRLWeb at for detailed band plans. ARRL Headquarters: (Fax ) hq@arrl.org Publication Orders: Toll-Free ( ) orders@arrl.org Membership/Circulation Desk: Toll-Free ( ) membership@arrl.org Getting Started in Amateur Radio: Toll-Free ( ) newham@arrl.org Exams: vec@arrl.org Copyright ARRL 2017 rev. 4/25/2017

10 Digital Hardware Tips Thumb DV The Thumb DV allows the use of your MAC or PC's microphone and speaker to talk simultaneously on Dstar (RX and TX) and DMR (RX) reflectors. The ThumbDV can be purchased online at for a cost of $119. You can find additional information about the free software that is available for download at: Pi-Star Dashboard This application allows you to use the raspberry pi and DVmega as a Hotspot for D- Star, DMR, Fusion and P-25. This software allows you to run all four modes at the same time. ***Note that a radio is required for each mode you would like to use.*** For Sale or SWAP DVmega and Raspberry-PI If there is some ham radio equipment you would like to buy, sell, trade or swap, this section will be used to share that information with recipients of this newsletter. Please provide us with a description of the equipment and your contact information. All listing will be removed after 60 days unless you ask for an extension or for your listing to be removed sooner. You can send your request to K6FED@yahoo.com If you would like to setup a base/mobile digital station the DVmega and Raspberry PI is a good place to start. A new application named PI-Star for the raspberry pi is now available as a free download from the link below.