CHARTER NIGHT BANQUET…
The
annual Charter Night Banquet will be held in place of the regular monthly
meeting on Thursday March 10th.
The event will be held at the Best Western Riverfront Inn
with social hour at 6pm followed by a 7pm dinner. We are pleased to
have as our special guest and speaker, ARRL Michigan Section Manager Dale
Williams, WA8EFK.
We
will also honor the 2004 Ham of the Year, Tom Hellem, K0SN, who was voted that
honor at the February meeting.
Reservations
were due March 1st.
TECHNICIAN CLASSES IN FINAL STRETCH…
Technician Classes are continuing each weekend in
Marinette and Wallace. M&M ARC members are sharing the teaching duties.
AA9PB doing a hands-on antenna
demonstration
The
classes will culminate in a VE testing session to be held Saturday March 19th
at Stephenson Public Library. Both written and CW tests will be given.
Registration is at 1:30 with testing at 2pm. Candidates should bring a
picture ID and a $12 check made out to ARRL/VEC. Those who are upgrading need
originals and copies of their license and/or certificate of successful
completion. All should have their 605 forms completed prior to registration
Anyone not involved in the classes who would like to test at the session
should contact Paul Drees, WC9E, or Ed Engleman, KG8CX to reserve a spot at
the testing session.
CONGRATUALTIONS…
Congratulations
to our newest Volunteer Examiner...KC8YZA, Jim Pearson now has his extra class
credentials. That gives us 12 VE's within the club.
And
congratulations to Susan Becks, KC8EDZ, who passed her CW test on February 5th.
QSO PARTY TIME…
The Wisconsin QSO Party will be held on Sunday March
13th, from 12 noon to 7pm. This event is one of the most popular
contests of the year for club members. The
best part for in-state hams is that you are the “hunted”, and it’s not
too hard to generate a nice pileup of stations looking for you.
Participation is easy. Wisconsin
stations send their county, while out of state stations send their state.
You can work stations once per mode on each band (except the WARC
bands). There are plenty of
classes to enter including single-op, multi-op, and mobile. There are three
power classes, over 150 watts, 5 to 150 watts, and under 5 watts.
For complete rules, check
http://www.warac.org/wqp/wqp.htm
. We hear rumors of a couple of
multi-op and mobile operations planned by club members.
The Michigan QSO Party is scheduled for Saturday April
16th. There are two
new classes added for this year’s event, a multi-operator single-transmitter
class, and a new mobile category for a single operator-driver. The M&M ARC
station, W8PIF will once again be on with a multi-operator, multi-transmitter
operation, probably from our Field Day site at KC8WJN’s QTH.
We’re looking for operators, and a trailer to house the station.
Contact Jim, AA9PB, if you can help. For
complete rules, check: http://miqp.org
.
SPOTTERS TRAINING…
As I write this, the temperature is hovering around zero,
but the severe weather season is only weeks away, and it’s time again for
weather spotter training. The
Green Bay NWS office will hold spotter training at the County Board room in
the Marinette County Courthouse at 6pm on March 22nd. The Marquette NWS office will hold it’s spotter training at
6:30pm on May 9th at the the Menominee County Annex building in
Stephenson. There is enough
difference in the two programs that many of our members try to attend both
sessions. They are open to the public, and no pre-registration is required.
Ed. KG8CX says there will be no separate SKYWARN
spotters net this year. Instead, spotter information, reports, and comments
will be incorporated into the Marinette/Oconto County ARES/RACES net beginning
March 21st . The net starts at 7:30pm Mondays on the 146.835/146.88
linked system.
QUARTERMASTER REPORT…
At the January meeting, Bob, AA9GZ was appointed club
quartermaster and asked to compile a listing of the club’s equipment
inventory. That report was
presented to the membership at the February meeting.
The
inventory includes:
2
meter repeater antenna,
3000 watt portable generator
2- 30 foot telescoping masts
147.000 repeater system
444.075 repeater system
Diamond Diplexer
Aerotron 44 inch rack cabinet
M&M ARC Banner
PC Electronics ATV transceiver
The
inventory also lists the location of all the above items.
If
you know of any other club-owned equipment, please contact AA9GZ.
STAYING “RADIOACTIVE”
By Jim Mans, AA9PB
Hang
in there, spring is coming. And then summer, which means the end of radio
season for most of us.
However it doesn’t have to be that way, it just seems to happen that
way every spring and summer. We all have different hobbies when the seasons
change. Some can’t wait for summer to golf. Then there are the travelers
always on the go to visit friends and relatives all over the place.
Who can forget fishing, hiking, camping, shooting, biking, jogging,
Etc. Others, like myself train
dogs to do those nice retrieves in the water so I don’t have to get wet. You
get the picture; we all get busy when the seasons change.
Everyone
has a little different style and interest in the radio hobby. Most of us are
constantly trying new things, always learning something new, or at least
letting the smoke out of the projects we mess up on. Fortunately locally we
have a very diverse group of hams that have different interests and all are
willing to help out others. Unfortunately in many other areas of the country
and world that is not the case. We have a special group of hams here, That I
for one consider myself lucky to be a part of.
Last
year we were lucky to have a good group of active “new hams” to give the
local radio operators a good “shot in the arm” and kept most of us who are
normally radio silent through the summer “RADIOACTIVE”.
This
winter, another group of students has filled the classroom of the local ham
class. We are all hoping that we can repeat what happened last year. A lot of
work has gone into putting on the class again this year.
I should be thanking people here, but I am afraid I would forget
someone, and that would not be fair to them. So forgive me.
Thanks to all. (You know who you are ).
Lets
all hope that the “new hams” this year give us that same “shot in the
arm”. It has been one of the
most “Radioactive” years recently for quite a few others and me.
Lets
all remember what happened to us when we first started out in the hobby and
welcome the new group. We need to “Elmer” them to the next level, whatever
that may be for them. Whether it
is making their first contact on 2 meters, Passing the 5-wpm code exam, The
general or extra theory, or setting up their HF station.
The
Wisconsin and Michigan QSO Parties as well as Field Day are all coming up.
Lets all try to make the new group of hams feel welcome by inviting them to
participate in an event.
Just
because summer is coming and spring is almost here, lets remember to stay
“radioactive” and maybe our next group will be the best ever.
73
for now de AA9PB
FCC WORKS ON LICENSING AND CW PROPOSALS…
From
an ARRL Bulletin
The
FCC continues to work toward developing a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM)
that will spell out what the Commission has in mind with respect to possible
changes in the current Morse code requirement and Amateur Radio licensing.
A total of 18 petitions have been filed, including one from the ARRL, seeking
Part 97 rule changes addressing the future of the 5 WPM Morse requirement
(Element 1) and revisions to the overall Amateur Radio licensing structure.
The FCC plans to tackle all 18 in a single proceeding.
On the code issue, petitions--and comments in response to them—run the gamut
from retaining or even beefing up the Morse requirement to eliminating it
altogether. (The ARRL's proposal would retain the 5 WPM Morse examination for
Amateur Extra class applicants only.)
The League and others have also put forth proposals for a new entry-level
Amateur Radio license class. At this point, personnel in the FCC Wireless
Telecommunications Bureau are continuing to review the thousands of comments
filed on the 18 petitions.
While the FCC appears unlikely to release an NPRM any sooner than mid-year,
the issue still may be a major discussion topic during the FCC Forum at Dayton
Hamvention, May 20-22.
Once public, the NPRM would initiate another round of public comments on what
the FCC has proposed. An FCC Report and Order implementing any new rules is
unlikely before the second half of 2006, although it's possible the Commission
could wrap up the proceeding before then.
ARRL CEO PREDICTS
BPL RULES WILL END UP IN COURT…
Edited from an ARRL Bulletin
NEWINGTON, CT, Mar 4, 2005--More than a dozen
petitions for reconsideration
have been filed in the wake of the FCC's October 14, 2004, Report and Order
(R&O) adopting new Part 15 rules governing broadband over power line (BPL)
deployment. They include the ARRL's Petition
for Reconsideration, filed February 7. The FCC said this week that interested
parties may file opposition comments ("oppositions")
to the petitions within 15 days of the date of public notice of the petitions
in the Federal Register, which has not yet
occurred. Replies to oppositions must be filed within 10 days after the
time for filing oppositions has expired. ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, has
expressed little confidence that the FCC will make any
substantive rule changes in response to any arguments put forth in the
petitions for reconsideration. In a March 1 interview with Marc Strassman of
Broadband over Power Line World (BPLW), Sumner predicted
that the BPL proceeding ultimately will wind up in court.
"Realistically, do we expect dramatic changes in the Commission's rules
as a result of the reconsideration petitions?" Sumner asked in concluding
the interview. "Probably not. So we're probably looking to the Court of
Appeals before all the dust settles."
In the interview with Strassman, Sumner discussed the League's Petition for
Reconsideration, which calls on the FCC to "reconsider,
rescind and restudy" its unanimous adoption of the new Part 15 BPL
rules last October.
Strassman also interviewed Associate Counsel Brett Kilbourne of the United
Power Line Council (UPLC), an organization promoting BPL development that also
filed a reconsideration petition. Among other things, Kilbourne conceded to
BPLW that Amateur Radio complaints and concerns
raised about RFI from BPL could hinder BPL rollouts.
"Yeah, my concern is that you're going to have--whenever there's a
deployment--people complaining automatically," Kilbourne said. "To
the extent that does happen, that's going to discourage folks from getting
into this space, I think."
In its reconsideration petition, the UPLC calls on the FCC to not require
30-day advance notice of BPL operations. It also wants the
FCC to extend the 18-month transition period that applies to marketing or
installation of equipment.
MARCH ANNIVERSARIES/BIRTHDAYS…
Best wishes to Lynne and Tom Rynish on their
anniversary, March 14th. Also, the following birthdays occur this month:
Ken Exworthy, 4th, …Elaine Nelson and Crystal Luthardt, 11th
...George Benoit, 15th ... Don Conant, 21st Mary Grenier,
23rd … Marty Eggener, 24th. Happy Birthday to all.
M&M ARC CALENDAR...
Click Here for the
M& ARC Calendar in PDF format.
Repeater
Frequencies 147.00 MHZ & 444.075 Mhz