The Marinette and Menominee Amateur Radio Club
      GROUND WAVE

Repeater Frequencies 147.00 MHZ & 444.075 Mhz
Club Net: Sunday 7PM 147.00 MHz
Simplex DX Spotting and Ragchew Frequency 146.55
Web Page:  http://w8pif.com
                   Officers
                   President: Dave Cunningham, NS9R
                     Vice President: Dwight Bosselman, W9YQ
Treasurer: Paul Drees, WC9E 
Secretary: Valerie Hallam, KC8WAI

The MMARC Newsletter                                            August 2005

AUGUST MEETING WILL BE A PICNIC…

There will be no regular meeting of the M&M ARC in August. Instead, we will gather at Red Arrow Park in Marinette on Sunday August 14^th for the annual club picnic.  The event will be held in the “outdoor” pavilion at Red Arrow.  Well gather about noon, and eat around 1pm. Following the dinner, Dave, W8DXX and XYL Jeanne will treat us to another session of Radio Bingo. 

The signup sheet and full details were in the July Ground Wave.  The deadline to make your reservations is August 7^th.

 

AA9JH SK…

It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Lou Parkansky, AA9JH on July 21^st at the VA hospital in Milwaukee, where he had been hospitalized for several weeks.  Lou had celebrated his 80^th birthday on July 5^th.

 Lou was interred in the Veterans Cemetery at Union Grove, Wisconsin on July 29^th. A local memorial service will be held when Lou’s XYL, Tanya is able to return to Marinette. The date and time will be announced in the local newspapers.

Lou was one of the most beloved members of the M&M ARC. Many of our members have related stories about how Lou assisted them with radio-related problems.  Ed, KG8CX remembers Lou, Bob, AA9IB, and he studied for their Novice, Technician, General, and Advanced exams together. “Lou was extremely helpful with many of the technical terms, formulas, and procedures, and explained them to a degree that we all passed our exams on the first attempt.   He was very generous with everyone, and helped to solve many problems with computers, radios, TV's and VCRs.   He gave me some great advice and practice with the code, which allowed me to pass the 13 wpm test.  I have many good memories of Lou, and his desire to make amateur radio a positive experience for all.  He will be missed by many.”

 Lou received the club’s Ham of the Year award in May of 2004.

 

WB9JTN SK…

We also note the passing of Robert Quick, WB9JTN on July 24^th  at the age of 67. Gary, KG9AD remembers WB9JTN as being very active on CW during the 1970’s, as well as being quite active with the M&M ARC.

 

M&M ARC WINS AGAIN…

For the fourth time in seven years, the M&M ARC has won the Michigan Club competition in the Michigan QSO Party held April  16^th. The W8PIF club station, operated by AA9PB, K0SN, KC8WJO,KC8WJN, KC8YZB, and NS9R placed first in the newly-created Multi Op, Single Transmitter Class. Both the Club and W8PIF earned plaques for their accomplishments. Noel, K8NB was the top scoring single-op (and the only single-op) in Menominee County, and wins a certificate. Jim, K8IR and Ed, KG8CX took third place in the very competitive Multi-op mobile category. And Todd, N9NE placed second in the new single-person mobile category.  We’re happy that Todd, from Oshkosh, who mobiles in the U-P, again added to the M&M ARC club score.

 

WATERFRONT FESTIVAL SPECIAL EVENT…

The M&M ARC will again have a special event station at the Menominee Waterfront Festival on Saturday August 6^th.  We’ll set up around 10am, and run through the afternoon, participating in the National Lighthouse Weekend by activating the Menominee North Pier Light which is visible from the festival grounds at the Menominee Marina Park.  Any members who would like to operate during the special event are invited to come by, and stick around Saturday night for the Waterfront Festival fireworks.

 

T-34 FLY-IN A BIG SUCCESS…

 

Hams manned the command station at Twin County Airport. 

Members of the M&M ARC played a big part in the recent T-34 fly-in at Twin County Airport.  About 15 pilots brought their 1950’s vintage T-34 trainers to Menominee to practice their routines before heading to the EAA Airventure in Oshkosh.  The local EAA Chapter hosted the pilots, and invited the public to join in the fun at the airport on Saturday, July 23^rd.  Arde, KA9WAR who belongs to both the EAA Chapter and the M&M ARC suggested the hams could help out with communications for the first-time event.  Over a dozen of our members helped out with duties ranging from manning the “control tower” to making announcements on the public address system, to marshalling planes to their parking spots, to keeping EAA members in touch with each other as they spread out across the airport. 

    

DAR PROJECT…

Ed, KG8CX reports the DAR Boys and Girls Club has several ham radio videos loaned to them, which will be shown to the youngsters there, to gauge reaction to a possible inclusion of radio communications to the program.  A room is available with roof space for antennas.   Radio equipment from the estate of Howard Sorensen has been promised and will equip the station when and if it goes operational.   Rich Crevier, the DAR director, is very enthusiastic about adding amateur radio to the many opportunities that already exist for the children.   Many hundreds of youngsters from the tri city area are enrolled and go there on a regular basis.    If there is enough interest, we can start instruction and set up the station sometime later this year.

 

NO CODE PROPOSED BY FCC…

The FCC has proposed dropping the 5 WPM Morse code element as a requirement to obtain an Amateur Radio license of any class. The Commission included the recommendation in a July 19 Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) in WT Docket 05-235, but it declined to go along with any other proposed changes to Amateur Service licensing rules or operating privileges. Changes to Part 97 that the FCC proposed in the NPRM would not become final until the Commission gathers additional public comments, formally adopts any new rules and concludes the proceeding with a Report and Order specifying the changes and an effective date. That's not likely to happen for several months.

"Based upon the petitions and comments, we propose to amend our amateur service rules to eliminate the requirement that individuals pass a telegraphy examination in order to qualify for any amateur radio operator license," the FCC said. The NPRM consolidated 18 petitions for rule making from the amateur community--including one
from the ARRL--that had proposed a wide range of additional changes to the amateur rules. The FCC said the various petitions had attracted 6200 comments from the amateur community, which soon will have the opportunity to comment again--this time on the FCC's NPRM.

The Commission said it believes dropping the 5 WPM Morse examination would encourage more people to become Amateur Radio operators and would eliminate a requirement that's "now unnecessary" and may discourage current licensees from advancing their skills. It also said the change would "promote more efficient use" of amateur spectrum.

ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, said he was not surprised to see the FCC propose scrapping the Morse requirement altogether, although the League had called for retaining the 5 WPM requirement only for Amateur Extra class applicants. Sumner expressed dismay, however, that the FCC turned away proposals from the League and other petitioners to create a new entry-level Amateur Radio license class.

Sumner said ARRL officials and the Board of Directors will closely study the 30-page NPRM and comment further once they've had an opportunity to consider the Commission's stated rationales for its proposals.

In 2004, the League called on the FCC to create a new entry-level license, reduce the number of actual license classes to three and drop the Morse code testing requirement for all classes except for Amateur Extra. Among other recommendations, the League asked the FCC to automatically upgrade Technician licensees to General and Advanced licensees to Amateur Extra. In this week's NPRM, the FCC said it was not persuaded such automatic upgrades were in the public interest.

The FCC said it did not believe a new entry-level license class was warranted because current Novice and Tech Plus licensees will easily be able upgrade to General once the code requirement goes away. The Commission also said its "Phone Band Expansion" (or "Omnibus") NPRM in WT Docket 04-140 already addresses some of the other issues petitioners raised.

A 60-day period for the public to comment on the NPRM in WT 05-235 will begin once the notice appears in the Federal Register. Reply
comments will be due within 75 days.

 

AUGUST BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES…

Congratulations to the following with birthdays in August: 15^th…Nathan Luthardt, 21…Tyler Lehman, 22…Dwight Bosselman, 24…Gary Luthardt, 27…Maxine Drees.

The following are celebrating anniversaries this month: 3…Bob and Marge Schrader,
17… Jim and Joan Callow, 19…Jim and Janet Voss,  22…Dwight and Connie Bosselman. Congratulations to all.