THE VOTES ARE IN FOR 2016!

Transcription

1 Serving St. Tammany and The Northshore Since 1964 THE VOTES ARE IN FOR 2016! Election results for club officers; And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. -Mark 3:25 President: Ron WB5CXJ Vice Pres: John AA5UY Treasurer: Tom KD5GFG Secretary: Frank WA5VCS Board: Paul WB9SUG (Automatic) John KF5OPB Tom K5HWQ Glen KG5CEN SKYWARN Recognition Day Results OARC members and surrounding area Ham s streamed in and out of the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Slidell, LA. (LIX) on the days leading up to December 5 th, 2015; SKYWARN Recognition Day. Participants showing their community service support contacted 11 NWS Stations on HF and VHF using the collocated club station gathering a total of 78 contacts obtaining W5SLA the Cumulonimbus level award shown here on the right via the NOAA / NWS / SKYWARN competition scale. Congratulations to the club and participants. "Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile. -Albert Einstein 1

2 2 Meters Repeaters MHz (+) CTCSS MHz (-) CTCSS Centimeters Repeater MHz (+) CTCSS Meters Packet MHz W5SLA-4 Digi-peater only (SIL) W5SLA-3 Mailbox W5SLA-5 NWS-TNC St. Tammany ARES Net Every Tuesday at 8:00 pm on the W5SLA 2meter repeater 2 Meters Club Net Every Friday at 7:30 pm on the 2 Meters repeater 10 Meters Club Net Every Friday at 8:00 pm on Or about MHz USB 75 Meter Club Net Every Friday 8:30 pm On or about MHz USB W5DGM Some of your OARC NET Control Operators In Action WB5CXJ KD5GFG I think it quite likely that we are the only civilization within several hundred light years; otherwise we would have heard radio waves. - Stephen Hawking 2

3 National Parks on the Air Update Statistics from the first month of National Parks on the Air (NPOTA) prove that the event is a big hit nationwide! In January, 243 of the 483 eligible NPOTA units had at least one activation, with 606 total qualified activations. More than 72,100 NPOTA contacts were uploaded to Logbook of The World (LoTW) in January. The top three most-activated units are all trails: The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, TR01 (15); the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail, TR23 (10); and the Santa Fe National Historic Trail, TR11 (9). The top three units attracting the greatest number of contacts were the Santa Fe National Historic Trail, TR11 (1977); Hot Springs National Park, NP30 (1781), and Cape Cod National Seashore, SS03 (1563). With an expected uptick in activity as the weather gets warmer across the country, 1 million NPOTA QSOs are not out of the realm of possibility. For the week of February 4-10, 28 different NPOTA units are scheduled to be activated, including the Fort Pulaski National Monument in Georgia. See the NPOTA Activations Calendar for the complete listings. - npota.arrl.org Capacitance Hats off to club members AA5UZ & AA5UY and for leading the 2016 Louisiana NPOTA Chaser Leader Board for Louisiana and to WB5CXJ for making the top 10! Looks like John and Judy are magnetically coupled in a race for the lead with Judy s signal up by one! Details about these and other activations coming up can be found on the NPOTA Activations calendar. -The ARRL Letter There is nothing so American as our national parks... The fundamental idea behind the parks...is that the country belongs to the people, that it is in process of making for the enrichment of the lives of all of us. -Franklin D. Roosevelt 3

4 SB ARL $ARLP006 ARLP006 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP06 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 6 ARLP006 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA February 5, 2016 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP006 ARLP006 Propagation de K7RA 5-6, quiet to active February 7-8, quiet to unsettled February 9-10, mostly quiet February 11, quiet February 12-14, quiet to unsettled February 15, quiet to active February 16-18, quiet to unsettled February 19-20, mostly quiet February 21, quiet February 22-25, mostly quiet February 26-28, quiet to active February 29 through March 1, and quiet to unsettled March 2. Over the recent reporting week (January 28 through February 3) both sunspot and solar flux averages were down a negligible amount, and geomagnetic numbers were down substantially, compared to the previous seven days. Average daily sunspot numbers declined from 57.3 to 50.6, while average daily solar flux values went from 106 to Average daily planetary A index softened from 11.6 to 7.3, while the mid-latitude A index (measured in Fredericksburg, Virginia) went from 7.6 to 5.6. The latest predicted solar flux is 125 on February 5-6, 120 on February 7, 115 on February 8, 110 on February 9-11, 105 on February 12-20, 100 on February 21 through March 2, 95 on March 3, 90 on March 4-5, 95 on March 6-8 and 105 on March Predicted mid-latitude A index is 6 on February 5, 5 on February 6, then 8, 18, and 12 on February 7-9, 6 on February 10-11, 5 on February 12-16, then 10, 15, 12 and 10 on February 17-20, 5 on February 21-27, then 8 on February 28-29, 15 and 8 on March 1-2, 5 on March 3-5, then 12, 10 and 8 on March 6-8 and 5 on March OK1MGW predicts geomagnetic activity will be mostly quiet February Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus. - Alexander Graham Bell 4

5 US House Cosponsor List for Amateur Radio Parity Act Grows 02/03/2016 The list of cosponsors for the US House version of the Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015 (H.R. 1301) continues to grow. The addition of Rep Stevan Pearce, KG5KIQ (R-NM), and Rep Beto O Rourke (D-TX) as cosponsors on February 1 raises the total to 120 cosponsors. They are among four cosponsors to sign on to the bill since the start of the year. The other two are Reps Robert Brady (D-PA) and Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), who became cosponsors on January 12 and 13 respectively. QRM - Survey What do you do when propagation is very poor? _I go to C.W. or a digital mode... _I fire up the soldering iron and build/repair something... _I watch T.V... _I surf the Internet with my computer... _I do some yard/house work... _I spend more time with my XYL/Kids/Family... _I go to the gym / exercise... Send Answers to qrmeditor@w5sla.net Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them. One of a small handful of hams in the US House, Pearce got his ham ticket in November, after reaching out to then-rocky Mountain Division Director (now Second Vice President) Brian Mileshosky, N5ZGT, and New Mexico Section Manager Ed James, KA8JMW, to find out more about ham radio. He joins his House colleagues Reps Daniel Benishek, KB8TOW (R-MI), and Greg Walden, W7EQI (R-OR), who chairs the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. During a January 12 hearing on H.R. 1301, Walden called the Amateur Radio Parity Act a commonsense bill and urged his colleagues to support it. Brady, Kaptur, Pearce, and O Rourke may have heeded his advice. A League-led effort to encourage members to urge their lawmakers to become cosponsors of the House and Senate measures continues. League representatives will be at the 2016 ARRL National Convention February in Orlando, Florida, hosted by the Orlando HamCation, to assist members in writing their members of Congress. H.R would direct the FCC to extend its rules relating to reasonable accommodation of Amateur Service communications to private land-use restrictions, such as deed covenants, conditions, and restrictions. An identical US Senate measure, S. 1685, has attracted 3 cosponsors. It cleared the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation last November. More information about the legislation is on the ARRL Amateur Radio Parity Act web page. -Ronald Reagan 5

6 Upcoming 2016 Hamfests/Conventions within 250 miles of Slidell, LA. 02/27/2016 Orange Hamfest 2016 Location: Orange, TX Type: ARRL Hamfest Sponsor: Orange ARC and Jefferson County ARC Website: INFO/hamfest%20info.htm Zamora Shrine Temple 03/04/2016 Alabama Section Convention (BirmingHamFest) Location: Birmingham, AL Type: ARRL Convention Sponsor: Birmingham Amateur Radio Club Website: Rayne Civic Center 03/11/2016 Louisiana State Convention (Acadiana Hamfest) Location: Rayne, LA Type: ARRL Convention Sponsor: Acadiana Amateur Radio Association Website: C H "Bull" Rigdon Fairgrounds 03/18/2016 Fort Walton Beach Hamfest 2016 Location: Fort Walton Beach, FL Type: ARRL Hamfest Sponsor: Playground Amatuer Radio Club Website: Abba Shrine Center 04/09/ Mobile Hamfest Location: Mobile, AL Type: ARRL Hamfest Sponsor: Mobile Amateur Radio Club Website: Louisiana State Fair Agriculture Building 08/13/2016 Shreveport-Bossier Hamfest 2016 Location: Shreveport, LA Type: ARRL Hamfest Sponsor: Shreveport Amateur Radio Association Website: Pensacola Fairgrounds 09/24/2016 Pensacola Hamfest Location: Pensacola, FL Type: ARRL Hamfest Sponsor: Five Flags Amateur Radio Association Website: Alcazar Shrine Temple 11/19/2016 Alabama State Convention (MARC Hamfest 2016) Location: Montgomery, AL Type: ARRL Convention Sponsor: Montgomery Amateur Radio Club Website: Waste is worse than loss. The time is coming when every person who lays claim to ability will keep the question of waste before him constantly. The scope of thrift is limitless. - Thomas A. Edison 6

7 A brief look into the current weather conditions for the record courtesy AA5UY A brief look into the current weather conditions for the record courtesy AA5UY 7

8 A brief look at a 24 hour swath of local APRS traffic in the area for the record heard on MHz via packet radio aprs.fi UHF plugs are not weatherproof. As we approach the rainy season, take some time to check your antenna connections and weather proof them with electrical tape, Coax-Seal or other weatherproofing material to prevent the water from degrading your signals over time. Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get. -Mark Twain 8

9 Basic Disaster Supplies Kit Check List A basic emergency supply kit could include the following recommended items Water, one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation Food, at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both Flashlight and extra batteries First aid kit Whistle to signal for help Dust mask to help filter contaminated air and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities Manual can opener for food Local maps Cell phone with chargers, inverter or solar charger - A special thank you to the local Region 1 and 9 ARES hams for the work that they do, the nets that they run and resources and infrastructure that they manage. Public Service is after all the justification for the bands we enjoy 9

10 Stay warm and healthy God Bless the north-east in that snow! Got to go feed the four legged friends, 73 s What does this button do? -SK SK- 10