LOUISIANA SECTION MANAGERS NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2019
Nominations are still being accepted for the 2019 Delta Division Amateur of the Year Award. Please email me ASAP for the nomination form. I must have them forwarded to our Delta Division Vice Director Ed Hudgens by March 1st.
Silent Keys:
Paul Ecke KC5BYE
Joseph Manena W5DEA
James “Bob” Jenkins WD5GBL
Robert Raborn KA5HUF
Michael Raymond W5IAA
Albert Edgar Baker KF5IBW
New Hams:
Report for 2019-02-04
Elliot D Eaton, KI5CVN
David Fulton, KI5CWP
John T Frank, KI5CVQ
David A Cook, KI5CVO
David A Nixon, KI5CTV
Nicholas Z Overby, KI5CUG
License Upgrades:
Report for 2019-02-04
Gregory B Fortune, WD5GNX
Patrick M Taylor, KG5YFR
Mikle B Schwaller, KI5ADL
James P Tillman, KG5CWE
New/Renewed ARRL Members:
Report for 2019-02-04
Brian M White, WB5BMW
David P Arceneaux, KI5CTE
Ronald E Martin, WB5QDR
Floyd E Milford, KG5OMH
Earl L Galle, KI5CTK
James H Redmond, K5QNT
Zeralda LaGrange
David J DeCourt
Michael H Gonzales
Edward Gatza, WB5BGY
James A Harvey, KG5TBL
Jake Williamson, KI5CDO
Cecil R Smith, N5DR
Patrick L Widner, KG5AAH
Anthony J Summers, KB5YHI
Douglas W Poole, KJ5WT
John N Armistead, KE5YSE
William F Hensel, K5KYD
FROM THE ARRL:
IARU Region 1 Youth Contesting Program Wants to Enlist More “Big-Gun” Stations
02/08/2019
International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 (IARU-R1) Youth Working Group Chair Lisa Leenders, PA2LS, said young operators (age 26 or younger) in Region 1 (Europe and Africa) have been invited to participate in the Youngsters on the Air (YOTA) Youth Contesting Program (YCP).
“Youth members from IARU Region 1 member-societies are invited to take part in a contest from so called ‘Top Gun’ stations,” she said. “These young hams will learn how to operate the contest station, improve their contest skills, and aim for the best results together as a team.” Leenders said long-time YCP partners 9A1A, ES9C, and 4O3A are already on the schedule of host stations, and additional stations are welcome. LX7I will join the roster during the ARRL International DX Contest (SSB), and LZ9W, OZ5E, and DP9A will be available for other contests later this year.
More information and an application form is available on the YOTA website.
Inspired by the YOTA YCP, the unrelated Young Amateurs Radio Club (YARC) Youth Contesting Program (YCP) wants to match groups of enthusiastic young contesters with top contest stations to gain operating experience during the CQ World Wide WPX SSB Contest over the March 30 – 31 weekend.
ISS Packet Radio System is Back in Operation with New Equipment
02/08/2019
The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) packet system is back on the air with new equipment. The replacement gear arrived last November and had been awaiting unpacking and installation. ARISS hardware team members on the ground were able to locate a functional duplicate of the old ISS packet TNC module that had been in operation for 17 years and had become intermittent. Crew members installed the new module on February 2; the RF gear remains the same.
The ISS packet system, located in the ISS Columbus module, went down in July 2017, but it unexpectedly came back to life the following summer. The packet system operates on 145.825 MHz. ARISS is an official back-up system for astronauts to talk with Mission Control in the unlikely failure of the station’s primary communication systems.
In 2017, hams relayed nearly 89,000 packet messages via the ISS; response to its recent return has been enthusiastic, ARISS said.
Contribute to the all-new radio system set to launch this year via the ARISS website. For more information, contact ARISS-International Chair Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, or ARISS ARRL Delegate Rosalie White, K1STO. — Thanks to ARISS
New IOTA “Ice DXpedition” to Inakari Island
02/07/2019
A new Islands on the Air (IOTA) island — Inakari Island (EU192) — now is being activated for the first time until Monday, February 11, 0600 UTC, by a small international team. Kataja/Inakari Island was added to the official IOTA list last fall. Martti, Laine, OH2BH; Nigel Cawthorne, G3TXF; Niko Halminen, OH2GEK, and Gerben Menting, PG5M, will be travelling by snowmobile several kilometers over the frozen surface of Bothnian Bay to set up camp on the Finnish part of Inakari Island, where they will use an abandoned fisherman’s refuge.
Inakari Island is part of the Bothnian Bay National Park. The team will run two stations simultaneously on 80, 40, 30, 20, 17, and 15 meters, CW and SSB, using the call sign OH10X (OH-ten-X). QSL via PG5M using Club Log. Daily posts on the PG5M website will offer updates. — Thanks to Martti Laine, OH2BH
ARRL Board Gives the Go-Ahead to Lifelong Learning Initiative
02/07/2019
ARRL is undertaking a new initiative to provide online educational opportunities to a broad range of radio amateurs. The Lifelong Learning Initiative will seek to provide a series of learning tracks that will serve the needs of the various interest groups within the Amateur Radio community.
While designed for everyone with an interest in learning more about Amateur Radio, the Lifelong Learning Initiative will initially focus on creating online learning opportunities for new and newer hams, a segment of the Amateur Radio community desperately searching for educational and instructional and resources.
The ARRL Board of Directors set the Lifelong Learning Initiative in motion, endorsing and funding the program and approving the hiring of advertising agency Mintz + Hoke to work with ARRL Lifelong Learning Manager Kris Bickell, K1BIC, and other ARRL staffers in building this learning environment. Mintz + Hoke will conduct the research necessary to identify the different educational needs within the broader Amateur Radio community.
“Mintz + Hoke is a really strong partner in this project,” Bickell said, adding that the firm has developed a really deep understanding of the Amateur Radio community as part of the investigation phase of this endeavor.
Bickell noted that youth education will be a critical component of this Learning Initiative, but he also believes that overall opportunities in this area are huge, as many individuals are looking to expand their knowledge of Amateur Radio.
He said that, where appropriate, the content of these learning tracks within the initiative will build upon much of the knowledge base that already exists within ARRL, such as the material in QST and QEX magazines, as well as other ARRL publications and manuals. Some new content will be created as well, to ensure that the information being provided stays fresh and dynamic.
In addition to providing instruction, the Learning Initiative will offer resources that allow individuals to delve further into a subject, rather than just relying on ARRL content.
“We are building a new learning environment,” Bickell said. “It will take a lot of work to put this all together, but we believe that this initiative will firmly establish ARRL as an educational leader in Amateur Radio.” He expects the online Lifelong Learning platform to launch in the fall of 2019.
In conjunction with its support of the Lifelong Learning Initiative, the ARRL Board also endorsed CEO Howard Michel’s HQ reorganization plans, and the purchase of a modern association management software system.
“These are big investments the Board is making in ARRL, and a strong positive vote of confidence that we can deliver,” Michel said. “They are giving us the tools to be successful.”
Reshaping ARRL Objectives, Refocusing ARRL HQ Structure is New CEO’s Goal
02/07/2019
A plan by ARRL CEO Howard Michel, WB2ITX, to reshape and reorganize the management structure at ARRL Headquarters will go into effect on Monday, February 11. The ARRL Board of Directors endorsed the plan during its Annual Meeting on January 18 – 19 in Windsor, Connecticut.
“I see ARRL as a membership association, a business, and a 501(c)(3) public charity. As CEO, I intend to strengthen all three aspects. And all three must remain in balance for ARRL to function effectively,” Michel said.
“As a business, ARRL is not just QST magazine, The Handbook, DXCC or the VEC program. We can’t allow ourselves to continue to think within those traditional parameters.” He continued, “ARRL’s businesses are not membership, publishing, and advertising. ARRL’s businesses are value creation, value delivery, and advocacy. I plan to architect ARRL along those lines. To quote Steve Jobs, ‘More important than building a product, we are in the process of architecting a company that will hopefully be much more incredible, the total will be much more incredible than the sum of its parts.’” Michel said.
The reorganization has three key components. The first major change is the creation of a management council (MC). The MC will be a deliberative and generative body to discuss ideas, operations, and long-term planning for ARRL. The group’s goal is to foster horizontal lines of communication within the organization. Direct horizontal lines of communications are much more efficient than “up, over, and down,” Michel offered.
The second key change, Michel said, is the addition of a Product Development Manager. This individual’s responsibility will be to create new ideas for products and services, create pilot programs to quickly test those ideas, and then — if the pilot programs are successful — transition them to operations. “The motto in startups is to fail fast,” Michel said. “Let’s innovate like a startup.”
Third, he said, is creating the position of a Marketing Communications Manager. “Our brand works with our traditional members. It is not working for newly licensed hams,” Michel said. “If we are to create a demand for the value we bring to Amateur Radio, we need a coordinated and consistent message, across all forms of media that resonates with current and potential members.”
In conjunction with its support of this reorganization plan, the ARRL Board of Directors also endorsed a proposal to create a new Lifelong Learning platform that will establish ARRL as an educational leader in Amateur Radio, and the purchase of a modern association management software system that should dramatically improve ARRL members’ experiences.
“These are big investments the Board is making in ARRL, and a strong positive vote of confidence that we can deliver,” Michel said. “They are giving us the tools to be successful.”
Facebook
New Campaign Exploiting Linux Servers to Insert Backdoor “SpeakUp” Trojan
02/07/2019
A new backdoor Linux-based operating system trojan dubbed “SpeakUp” is on the loose, although so far it does not appear to have propagated to North America or Europe. Research team Check Point Research recently reported the discovery and said SpeakUp exploits known vulnerabilities in six separate Linux distributions and is able to evade all security vendors. A community of radio amateurs use various forms of Linux, including the popular Ubuntu software, which includes ham radio apps. Check Point Research said the attack is targeting worldwide servers.
“The attack is gaining momentum and targeting servers in East Asia and Latin America, including AWS [Amazon Web Services]-hosted machines,” the Check Point Research article said. “SpeakUp acts to propagate internally within the infected subnet, and beyond to new IP ranges, exploiting remote code execution vulnerabilities. In addition, SpeakUp presented ability to infect Mac devices with the undetected backdoor.” The origin of the malware appears to be in East Asia, although its developer may be Russian.
Check Point Research said the sample it analyzed had targeted a machine in China on January 14. Once the software successfully registers a victim, it receives commands to manipulate the machine to download and execute various files. Check Point Research said SpeakUp serves XMRig cryptocurrency miners listening to infected servers.
“SpeakUp’s obfuscated payloads and propagation technique is beyond any doubt the work of a bigger threat in the making,” Check Point Research concluded. “It is hard to imagine anyone would build such a compound array of payloads just to deploy few miners. The threat actor behind this campaign can at any given time deploy additional payloads, potentially more intrusive and offensive. It has the ability to scan the surrounding network of an infected server and distribute the malware.”
Linux is a family of free, open-source operating systems based on the Linux kernel first released in 1991 by Linus Torvalds.
World Scout Jamboree is Possible ARISS Amateur Radio Contact Host
02/06/2019
The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station US team (ARISS-US) has announced the list of schools or organizations that may host Amateur Radio contacts with International Space Station (ISS) crew members from July through December. The list includes the 24th World Scout Jamboree, which is set for this summer at the Summit Bechtel Scout Reserve in West Virginia. Schools and organizations had submitted proposals seeking an opportunity to host contacts, and a review team of teachers from the ARISS-US Education Committee selected from those submissions. Applicants chosen will advance to the second phase of the selection process — developing an Amateur Radio equipment plan to host a scheduled ARISS contact.
ARISS’s primary goal is to engage young people in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) activities, and involve them in pursuits related to space exploration, Amateur Radio, communication, and associated areas of study and career options.
“ARISS is such an incredible opportunity for students to gain a once-in-a-lifetime experience and real-world skills that they can use the rest of their lives,” teacher Joanne Michael, KM6BWB, said following a 2017 contact at Meadows Elementary School in Manhattan Beach, California, where she and her students launch balloons carrying ham radio payloads. Meadows is also an ARISS-US Education Committee member.
ARISS anticipates that NASA will be able to provide scheduling opportunities for these US host organizations. Once the ARISS technical team approves the equipment plans, the finalists will be scheduled as their availability and flexibility line up with contact opportunities.
ARRL Emergency Preparedness Manager to Step Down
02/06/2019
ARRL Emergency Preparedness Manager Mike Corey, KI1U, has announced that he will depart ARRL on February 15 to pursue another career opportunity. He has been part of the ARRL staff since 2010.
“Mike has accomplished much during his nine years on the job, including expanding the Ham Aid program, national disaster response, working with our national partners, and, most recently, the rollout of ARES Connect,” said ARRL CEO Howard Michel, WB2ITX. “The Headquarters team will miss Mike’s friendly personality and wishes him well in his pursuits. As Mike is an active ham, there is a good chance we will run into him on the air.”
As part of the overall restructuring at ARRL Headquarters, ARRL management will take the opportunity to examine the administration of the emergency preparedness program.
Earth’s Magnetic North Pole Shifts toward Siberia
02/05/2019
National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) scientists have updated the world magnetic model (WMM) mid-cycle, as Earth’s northern magnetic pole has begun shifting quickly away from the Canadian Arctic and toward Siberia, an NCEI report said this week. The new WMM more accurately represents the change of the magnetic field since 2015. The alteration could have an impact on government, industry, and consumer electronics.
“Due to unplanned variations in the Arctic region, scientists have released a new model to more accurately represent the change of the magnetic field,” the report said, noting that updated versions of the WMM are typically released every 5 years. This update comes about 1 year early.
“This out-of-cycle update before next year’s official release of WMM 2020 will ensure safe navigation for military applications, commercial airlines, search and rescue operations, and others operating around the North Pole,” said NCEI, which is part of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). “Organizations such as NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration, US Forest Service, and many more use this technology. The military uses the WMM for undersea and aircraft navigation, parachute deployment, and more.”
Other governmental entities use the technology for surveying and mapping, satellite/antenna tracking, and air traffic management. Smartphone and consumer electronics companies also rely on the WMM to provide consumers with accurate compass apps, maps, and GPS services.
Airport runways may be the most visible example of a navigation aid updated to match shifts in Earth’s magnetic field. Airports around the country use the data to give runways numerical names, which pilots refer to on the ground. The declination has changed slightly more than 2.5° over the past 2 decades or so. Compasses use declination — the difference between true north and where a compass points — to help correct navigation systems for a wide variety of uses.
As Earth’s magnetic field evolves between the 5-year release schedule of the WMM, these predicted values can become off as the rate of change in Earth’s magnetic field evolves due to unpredictable flows in Earth’s core. The NCEI report said Earth’s north polar region is experiencing one of these erratic changes.
DXer and Contester Frank Donovan, W3LPL, said the slowly drifting geomagneticnorth pole has much greater significance to DXers and contesters because the northern auroral oval — which greatly affects HF propagation over the north Atlantic and north Pacific Oceans — is closely centered on the geomagnetic north pole and not on the magnetic — or dip — north pole discussed in the NCEI report.
“The geomagnetic north pole has been drifting generally northward at only about 3 miles per year,” Donovan pointed out. “The location of the magnetic north pole is important to navigation but of relatively little importance to space-based phenomena such as HF ionospheric propagation.” — Thanks to NOAA-NCEI
Brunei V84SAA DXpedition to Focus on Low Bands
02/05/2019
Setup is under way in the tiny Southeast Asian nation of Brunei, located on the Island of Borneo and surrounded by Malaysia, for the V84SAA DXpedition. Eighteen operators under the leadership of Krassy Petkov, K1LZ, will fire up on February 7 and continue until February 18. Operation will concentrate on the low bands.
“Many of the team have already landed in Brunei, and the tent is set up on the beach for the CW team,” top band expert Jeff Briggs, K1ZM/VY2ZM, reported just prior to his planned departure from the US. Briggs explained in a February 4 update that two operating sites — one for CW and the other for SSB — will be set up some 25 kilometers apart. “The CW stations will be set up on Seri Kenangan beach, with an ocean shot to North America and Europe,” he said, adding that he anticipates the first real night will be February 8, as the team may not be fully set up on 160 meters on the first day, and “there is a lot on our plate.” After that, Briggs said he plans to be at the radio nightly, and he’s hoping manmade noise remains minimal to nonexistent.
All of North America will have some portion of common darkness with the V84SAA team. Briggs advises North American stations to look for V84SAA immediately after local sunset in Brunei, not necessarily at local sunrise in North America. “We may peak out of a 220° heading about 20 minutes after it gets dark in Brunei,” he said.
For antennas, the team will use verticals on 160 and 80 meters and a four-square on 40 meters located on the beach. Plans call for two Beverages — one for Europe and another for North America. While the team will focus on the low bands, expect to find V84SAA on the higher bands — including 30, 17, and 12 meters.
In addition to Petkov and Briggs, other US operators on the team include Briggs’s son Patrick, KK6ZM, and Adrian Ciuperca, KO8SCA. The V84SAA team will have the support of Tamat Lampoh, V85T, and the Brunei Darussalam Amateur Radio Association. QSL via Tony Stefanov, LZ1JZ, direct or via the bureau. During the DXpedition, V84SAA will upload its logs daily to Club Log.
Brunei is the overall 146th most-wanted DXCC entity, according to the Club Log DXCC Most Wanted List, but it’s number 39 on 160 meters, and 73 on 80 meters.
AMSAT Announces 50th Anniversary Space Symposium
02/05/2019
The 2019 AMSAT 50th Anniversary Symposium will take place on October 18 – 20 at the Hilton Arlington in Arlington, Virginia, next to Washington, DC. Connected to the Ballston Metro Station, the hotel offers easy access to the capital’s top tourist destinations, and tours will be available; it’s 6 miles from Reagan National Airport. The AMSAT Board of Directors will meet on October 16 – 17. — Thanks to AMSAT News Service
Es’hail-2/P4A Satellite is Designated as Qatar-OSCAR 100 (QO-100)
02/04/2019
AMSAT has now granted OSCAR status to 100 Amateur Radio satellites. The latest, Es’hail-2/P4A — now Qatar-OSCAR 100 (QO-100) —launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in November. It carries the first geosynchronous Amateur Radio payload. Es’hail-2/P4A was developed jointly by the Qatar Amateur Radio Society (QARS) and Es’hailSat (the Qatar Satellite Company), with AMSAT-DL as the technical lead. Now at its final position of 25.9° E and with the narrow and wideband transponders having been successfully tested in December, the transponders are expected to be opened for general use this month. “May the 100th OSCAR satellite be the guide star to future Amateur Radio satellites and payloads to geostationary orbit and beyond,” invoked Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, AMSAT Director of VP Operations and OSCAR Number Administrator. — Thanks to AMSAT News Service
Geoffrey Starks Sworn in as FCC Commissioner
01/31/2019
The FCC now officially has its full complement of five members. Democrat Geoffrey Starks, who succeeds Mignon Clyburn on the Commission, was sworn in January 30. He formerly served as assistant bureau chief in the FCC Enforcement Bureau and in the US Department of Justice.
“I am deeply honored to serve as a Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, and I thank the President and the United States Senate for this exceptional privilege.” Starks said in a statement. “As the last few weeks have affirmed, being a public servant is a calling to serve a mission bigger than yourself. Throughout my career, I have focused on protecting the most vulnerable and holding wrongdoers accountable. In my new role, I shall not only continue to pursue those goals, but also look forward to working with Congress, my fellow Commissioners, and the FCC’s outstanding staff.” Starks, who holds a law degree from Yale, said that every community “has a stake in the future of communications in this country, and all have the right to be heard. I will always be listening.”
Republican Brendan Carr, who already was sitting on the Commission after appointment to an unexpired term, recently was reconfirmed for a new full 5-year term. Three of the FCC’s five members are traditionally of the same political party as the President.
FROM AROUND THE SECTION:
REGION 1:
From the Ascension Airwaves
February 2019
The February monthly meeting is scheduled for
Wednesday 6 February 2019 at 19:00 hrs. at
the Ascension Office of Homeland Security and
Emergency Preparedness at 828 South Irma
Blvd in Gonzales.
Talk in is on 147.225+ MHz (107 pl). You can
follow us at www.K5ARC.org or
www.FaceBook.com/k5arc
The President’s Corner
Another month has flown by. We have started off 2019
strong and hopefully will keep the momentum
going. We are a small club but we are active again, we
are networking with other groups and we are hoping to
grow and do more. Please come out to our meetings
and get on the nets and repeaters. If you haven’t paid
your dues please take a minute to get caught up. If you
know someone who is interested in ham radio please
pass along a copy of our newsletter or point them to
our website and social media. We need to spread the
word that AARC is back and better than ever. We have
lots to do in the coming weeks and months and we
want as many people as possible involved. I hope to see
everyone at the meeting Wednesday night.
73,
Steve, KC5SAS
Winter Field Day 2019
Weather Saturday was
awesome for a January day and we had a good turnout. We
pulled the trailer out from under the canopy at the Fire
Station on Roddy Road, fired up the generator, air
compressor, and pneumatic mast. Steve even pulled out our
inflatable tower and aired up that beast. We were able to
show members the trailer in action and made contacts over
FT8, PSK-31, 2 meters, and SSB. We even had good
propagation that day due to a Solar Flux Index of 76 and
sunspot number of 23. 20 meters was a little tough but
there was plenty of action on 40m were we made most of
our contacts including with the neighbors in Livingston
Parish.
The LOHSEP club also participated in WFD. They
operated the entire 24 hours and had almost 200
contacts from their mobile command post. On Sunday
Steve, KC5SAS, and Elmer, N5EKF, drove over and met
with them. They had a very good outing as well.
A Year or So in Review
I joined AARC almost a year ago in April and was
voluntold to be Secretary and Treasurer. Steve and
David had been working together to get the club going
again. Behind the scene we have had many e-mails,
text, phone calls, and work days to get us where we are
today. Some of the things we have accomplished-
1) Ascension Airwaves- I thought it would be a good idea
to help spread the word if we did a monthly newsletter.
Not only does it go out to AARC but Baton Rouge,
MissLou, SELARC, LOHSEP, Livingston, Bayouland
(Houma/Thibodaux), BEARS (Morgan City), Acadiana
clubs all receive this newsletter.
2) We have new bank accounts. Steve, David, and I spent
almost half a day opening new accounts for the club.
3) We have an IRS EIN number. We had to have this to
open new bank accounts, file with the Secretary of
State, and apply for our 501c3 status.
4) Our club is registered and in good standing with the
Louisiana Secretary of State’s office.
5) We renewed the K5ARC club call with the FCC and are
good for the next 10 years.
6) We have a new Trustee for the license after we were
not able to contact the previous one.
7) We are an ARRL affiliated club.
8) We are good on QRZ!
9) We have an up to date webpage and FaceBook account.
10) We have updated our Constitution and Bylaws.
Treasurer’s reports and meeting minutes are all current.
11) We have our station at the EOC back in working order
and have reestablished ties with the Ascension OHSEP.
12) We have our communications trailer back in working
order after being stored in the open for over 2 years.
We have also gotten it out of the weather and are
looking at having shore power to maintain the batteries
in it.
13) We have the 225 machine back on the air after being
down for over 1 ½ years.
14) We have applied for a grant to completely
replace repeater, duplexers, hardline, and antenna for
the 225.
15) Our 310 and 985 machines are on the air. We
have just added EchoLink to the 310 machine.
16) We have filed our application and it was
accepted by the IRS to be a 501c3 organization.
17) This month we start our new meeting format-
short business meeting and then we will have a program
on a topic of interest. We have our next 3 months
already planned!
18) We just operated Winter Field Day from our
trailer. Some issues and upgrades will be coming up.
This is just a few things that have come to mind. Let’s
see what we can add to the list in the near future!
ACTIVE LOCAL REPEATERS
Ascension
147.225+ (107.2 pl) Gonzales
146.985- (107.2 pl) Convent/Sunshine Bridge
145.310- (107.2 pl) Port Vincent *EchoLink*
28.211 (CW) K5ARC 10m beacon
Livingston
147.165+ (107.2) LOHSEP
145.23- (107.2) Fusion, Wires-X, DWARN
442.350+ (107.2) LOHSEP
EBR
145.49- Fusion/Wires-X, DWARN
146.88 D-Star (no reflector)
146.79- (107.2) FM/C4FM
443.100+ (107.2 pl)
443.375+ Fusion/ Wires-X/DWARN
Felicianas
53.83 (-1 MHz 107.2 pl) FM
146.835- (114.8 pl) FM, Echolink
443.850 (+5 MHz 107.2 pl) FM
Lafourche/Terrebonne
147.30+ (114.8 pl) Fusion/FM Gray, LA
147.39+ (114.8 pl)
Local Nets
Sundays
Post Office Net 3.905 MHz LSB 07:00 local
ARES State Wide 3.878 MHz LSB 19:00 local
ARES Region 2 Net 146.79- 20:00 local
BRARC Club Net 146.79- 20:30 local
Mondays
10M Net 28.450 MHz USB 19:30 local
Bayou Region Net 147.39+ 19:00 local
Tuesdays
LOHSEP ARC 147.165+ 19:30 local
Wednesdays
MissLou 146.835- 20:00 local (EchoLink KD5UZA-R)
SELSA Net 146.52 21:00 local
Thursdays
Livingston ARC 146.73- 19:00 hrs
BEARS Morgan City 146.91- 19:30 local (Echolink W5BMC-R)
K5ARC Informal Net 147.225+ 20:00 hrs. local
(Echolink K5ARC-R)
LWARN Linked Repeaters
Livingston- 444.350 + pl 136.5
West Feliciana- 443.625 + pl 156.7
Greensburg- 442.275 + pl 156.7
Washington Parish- 442.425 + pl 156.7
EBR (Central)- 442.400 + pl 156.7
St Tammany Parish 443.425 + pl 156.7
These repeaters are part of the Governor’s Office of
Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
(GOSHEP). Amateur operators are welcome to use them
DWARN Linked Repeaters
Livingston 145.23- pl 107.2 DG ID 23
Bush 145.47- pl 114.8 DG ID 92
Baton Rouge 145.49- pl 107.2 DG ID 22
Baton Rouge 443.375+ DG ID 21
Bush 443.400+ pl 114.8 DG ID 91
Madisonville 444.875+ pl 114.8 DG ID 93
New Iberia 442.025+ pl 103.5 DG ID 01
Parks 443.200+ pl 103.5 DG ID 01
Use PL tones for analog FM, DG ID for C4FM
Two new Fusion repeaters connected to the DWARN
network has just been added in New Iberia and Parks
(between New Iberia and Breaux Bridge). Great
coverage to the I-10 & 49 areas In Acadiana. For more
info see www.dwarn.org.
K5ARC.org Web Page Updates
David LeBlanc, N5LEB, and Steve Raacke, KC5SAS,
have been working hard to update the webpage.
Check it out for the latest news. You can use the link
to pay your dues. And we have just added a “Contact
Us” link and our snail mail address.
All three of us post often to Facebook with cool stuff
and announcements. Follow us at
www.facebook.com/k5arc
985 Repeater Updates
Conrad Baker, KG5FQT, went to the repeater site in Convent
and met with the manager Marcus Winslow of Continental
Cement. For those who do not know, our repeaters are
located on top of one of their cement silos just north of the
Sunshine Bridge. All 3 repeaters had gone down some time
ago and we were only able to get 985 working. That repeater
has a DB-224 antenna that points south and has excellent
coverage as far south as Morgan City, Houma, Thibodaux,
and over to New Orleans.
The APRS and 70cm repeaters are
still off the air. The Club has
obtained a new APRS machine to
replace the old one. Hopefully that
will be functional by the time you
are reading this.
The 70cm repeater will be going
DMR in the near future. More
information will be coming on
that. We will also impose on Conrad to do a DMR
presentation at the March meeting. He works with the Gulf
Coast link and has other DMR repeaters.
Once the K5ARC 440 repeater is repaired we will be looking
for tower space for it.
There has been more activity on our
145.310 machine thanks to the
Echolink node we recently put up.
The power supply for the node radio
died but N5LEB was able to replace it and the Echolink node
is alive and well. Check it out and join us on Thursday nights
at 20:00 for our “informal net.” We have been having a good
turnout the last few weeks.
David LeBlanc, N5LEB, will have a presentation on Echolink
for our Club meeting Wednesday. So come out and learn
something new.
We are still working on getting the 225 repeater completely
replaced. We hope to update members at our meeting
Wednesday.
During WFD operations we assembled the Comet GP-9
antenna we have in our trailer only to find out we have some
parts missing. The parts were ordered from Comet and are
being shipped. Comet was nice enough not to charge us. Big
thanks go out to Comet antennas for helping out!
River Region Amateur Radio
Association
From Conrad Baker, KG5FQT
So for those that haven’t seen in the Plantation Club group
page, the Plantation club is no more. After years of
struggling, coming out of personal pockets (mostly Adam’s
pocket) and with the plans we have for 2019, it was decided
to begin afresh. While the Plantation Club has a long history
and it will never be forgotten for its services to St John the
Baptist Parish over the last 40+ years, it was just easier to
start a new organization. After membership hand offs,
floods, moving houses, and more, there was very little
paper trail with the Plantation Club. With the new
organization, we will be able to file for 501(c)(3) status,
which we could not do with Plantation. With this, we will be
able to accept donations from local industry and hopefully
reach a point to give back to the community. We
are not trying to plan for a large club with a large
membership, but a tight nit group of Ham operators to
keep up with local and regional repeaters and help provide
emergency communications to be used in emergencies.
2019 will be big for us and we have a lot of plans. We will
be seeing several brand new repeaters go up with brand
new feed lines and brand new antennas. While we
appreciate everyone who has helped piece and part our
current repeaters now, the fact that we have only 1 out of
our 3 main repeaters fully functional, was proof that
changes needed to be made. With the assistance of the St
John Parish EOC, St John Communications District, St John
Parish Sheriff’s Office, we will be able to get 3, possibly 4
new repeaters in the air hopefully by the summer on a
brand new 450 ft. tower in the center of LaPlace. (Stone’s
throw from Stephen Riley’s backyard). 6m, 2m, 70cm
analog, and 70 cm DMR will be on this tower, linked with
redundant power and redundant fiber. Along with our
local 70cm repeater that is working great at this point on a
separate tower.
We plan on working very tightly with our neighbors to the
West at the Ascension Club, neighbors to the south at the
Thibodaux/Bayou Region club, neighbors to the north in
Hammond and the many clubs to our East. We also felt
that this new club would fill in the gap nicely between St
Charles parish and St James Parish that doesn’t have any
types of clubs.
Please remember that this is the first step in getting our
club started, and we have many items to iron out. There
may be many questions to ask, and we may not have all
the answers. Soon as myself, Adam and Steve Riley can get
together for a meeting and start working some things out,
we will let people know. For now, I have attached the link
to our new group below. We will keep this as a closed
group but it’s open for Amateur Radio operators to join as
long as they can answer the few questions we have. We
have just experienced some issues with non-hams and
spam with the open public groups and wish to keep it
closed at this time. Thanks everyone for reading this long
thread, and welcome on our new journey.
De K5ARC- we wish our neighbors to the south
good luck in their efforts and look forward to
closely working with them
Parting Shots
Many of us attended the Hammond Hamfest. This was the
first year I attended and had a great time. Southeastern
LA University is a very nice campus and was a great
venue. The club did nicely selling off some of our gear
from the seacan. What was really nice was meeting so
many of you I talk with on the air especially members
from neighboring clubs. Our hats go off to the SELARC
members who put the hamfest together.
I am looking forward to the Rayne Hamfest coming up
next month. That is always a good one. AND the only
hamfest in the world that has boiled crawfish!
Winter Field Day was a good outing as well and we will
start preparing for Field Day in June. There are some
repairs and upgrades we want to do with our trailer
between now and then. We will need some help with that
There is still plenty of work to be done to get the Club
where we want it to be. Top of the list is more members.
Invite a friend, make the drive to Gonzales for the
meeting, or at least join us on our net.
As Charles Osgood used to say, “I’ll see you on the radio”
or at the meeting this Wednesday.
73’s de N5EKF …-.-
REGION 2:
RF News
BATON ROUGE AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
2/2019 EDITION
Greetings everyone!!
I just wanted to thank everyone for coming out to the club meeting on
January 29th. The program presentation for the meeting was an excellent pre-
sentation via Skype with Tim Duy (K3LR). The K3LR contest station was really
something to see. Most of us amateur radio operators would only dream of even
having access to a station of that sort much less owning one. Thank you to Tim
for taking time out of his schedule to show us his contest station. Next month,
we will have a Skype presentation with Martin Jue (K5FLU). Martin is the owner
and president of MFJ Enterprises in Starkville, Mississippi. MFJ got its start in 1972
while Martin was in college. The first product that was oered by MFJ was an
audio filter for CW operation. Next month’s presentation will be about “The Early
Days of MFJ. I am very much looking forward to that. Thank you to Robin Hudson
(KK5RH) for arranging the Skype presentations with Tim Duy of DX Engineering,
Martin Jue of MFJ as well as Bob Naumann (W5OV) of DX Engineering who did
a Skype Presentation for the club in October of 2018. We will have more great
programs throughout the year and I will write a description of them in future
editions of the RF News.
There will be a new Technician license course taught by Brett Hebert
(KG5IQU), Buddy Brown (N5BUD) and others. The class will run from Thursday
March 7th and will conclude with a license exam on Thursday April 25th. I would
also like to congratulate all of the new amateur radio operators who passed their
Technician license exam prior to the last club meeting on January 29th as well as
those who upgraded their present license at our quarterly VE session.
Keep a watch on the club website (www.brarc.org) as well and also give a
listen to our 2-meter public service net which is held on the 146.790 mhz 2 meter
repeater on Sunday Evenings at 8:30 pm for future club activities and announ-
cements. I would also like to thank Dan Lott (KF5TQN) for agreeing to become
our newest net control operator. Dan is filling the void le in August 2016 when
our previous second week NCS George Gelpi (W5GG) was forced to discontinue
his NCS service due to the 2016 flood in which his home was badly damaged. His
ham radio gear did survive the flood. We hope to hear him on 10 meters again
soon.
That’s about it for this month. Please join us for breakfast on Wednesday
and Saturday mornings at The Warehouse restaurant as well as James Grill in
Denham Springs on Saturday mornings. We also meet on Friday Mornings for
breakfast at Frank’s Restaurant on Airline Highway just north of what used to be
Cortana Mall. We eat a lot in this club. All of the breakfast meetings start around
6:30 AM.
Todd Huovinen, AB5TH
Upcoming Events
HAMFESTS
FEBRUARY 23, 2019 – ORANGE HAMFEST, ORANGE, TX
MARCH 1-2, 2019 – BirmingHAMfest, BIRMINGHAM, AL
MARCH 8-9, 2019 – ACADIANA HAMFEST, RAYNE, LA
APRIL 27, 2019 – NORTHEAST LA HAMFEST, WEST MONROE, LA
CLUB MEETINGS
FEBRUARY 26, 2019 – CLUB MEETING, BLUEBONNET LIBRARY
7 PM PROGRAM: MFJ ENTERPRISES, MARTIN JUE
MARCH 12, 2019 – BRARC BOARD MEETING, FAIRWOOD LIBRARY
6:30 PM
MARCH 26, 2019 – CLUB MEETING, BLUEBONNET LIBRARY
CONTESTS/OPERATING EVENTS
MARCH 2-3, 2019 – INTERNATIONAL DX PHONE CONTEST
MARCH 16, 2019 – LA QSO PARTY
APRIL 14, 2019 – ROOKIE ROUNDUP – SSB
NETS
BRARC PUBLIC SERVICE NET – SUNDAY 8:30 PM 146.790 (PL TONE 107.2)
ARES NET – SUNDAY 8 PM 146.790 (PL TONE 107.2)
10 METER NET – MONDAY 7:30 PM 28.450 MHZ USB
TECH CLASSES
THURSDAYS STARTING MARCH 7, 2019 – EBRP MAIN LIBRARY 2ND FLOOR
ARRL LA Section News
Section Manager John Mark Robertson, K5JMR
The new year has gotten o to a great start in the LA Section beginning with the
Hammond Hamfest. The weather ended up nice aer all and the event was well attended.
Our ARRL/ARES forums were also well attended and we exchanged some good information
to those in attendance. We were also able to give away some nice door prizes.
The highlight of this event was for us to honor longtime ARRL and ARES member
DEC Robert “Bob” Priez, WB5FBS who retired as of January 1st. Bob was presented a
plaque from both the Section as well as a plaque from Region 9 ARES presented by Ed
Mason, KE5GMN who took over for Bob as the new DEC. Collins Simoneaux, W5OPS
Region 9 GOHSEP also presented Bob with a very special GOHSEP cap. Bob has been a
very valuable asset not only to Region 9 but the entire Section for man,many years and we
thank Bob for his service.
Also at the Hamfest we were able to announce the 2018 ARRL LA Section Amateur
of the Year as James “Jim” Ragsdale, W5LA of West Monroe. Jim was unable to attend
the Hamfest so on Tuesday February 5th I was able to travel to West Monroe and attend
the NorthEast LA ARC monthly meeting and present Jim with his plaque. Jim was very
deserving of this award. Also at the NELARC meeting I was able to present our January
Book Giveaway winner Chris Joseph, KG5SSH his ARRL publications and “goodies”….
Congrats to Chris.
Speaking of the Book Giveway….Our 1st Club winner was the Acadiana ARA. I will
be at the Rayne Hamfest in March and get those books to them…..I hope many of you
can attend the Hamfest in Rayne….I’m looking forward to the fellowship and of course
the crawfish. We will have an ARRL/ARES forum and hope many of you will be able to
attend. We will have door prizes to give away. Our SEC Jim Coleman, AI5B will be giving an
excellent presentation on ARES and the changes we expect to see in the near future.
Speaking of ARES; please remember that if you are a past, current or want-to-be member
of ARES please go to the following link and submit your profile to ARES CONNECT: ARRL
https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/la
Once your submission has been approved you will be placed in the proper group
and eventually contacted by your Region DEC or Parish EC. Our newest appointment
of Corey McCrary, W5MMC is for ASEC over ARES CONNECT. Corey will be our Section
Administrator and liaison to ARRL HQ for all things ARES CONNECT.
I hope to see you at Rayne….
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT:
Meet Todd, AB5TH. Todd Huovinen was recently
awarded the Stan Preston Award by BRARC. Stan Preston
was a longtime member of BRARC. When he became a
Silent Key, the club honored his good samaritan qualities
by naming an annual award in his honor. This award is
presented to a licensed amateur who has demonstrated
continued good samaritan activites through Amateur Radio.
Todd started the hobby as a shortwave listener in
1977. While in a Radio Shack store in Grand Prairie, Texas,
he saw a multi-band radio that picked up stations from
around the world. Impressed that the radio was able to pick
up the Voice of America (VOA) and The Armed Forces Radio
and Television Service (AFRTS) inside the store with all of the
florescent lighting nearby, he decided to get it.
In the early 90’s, he attended Ham-Com in Arlington,
Texas with a friend who had been urging him to get his
license and he got his KB5TMD call on June 29, 1992. He
used his Alinco DJ-580T until the limitations of a handie-
talkie frustrated him enough that he purchased an old Icom
27H 45 watt 2m mobile radio. He now uses a Kenwood TS-
590S as his main HF station. He upgraded to General Class
in May of 2000 and to Extra Class in June of 2005.
Todd has served as president of the Southwest Dallas County Amateur Radio club twice and was a
member of that club for 17 years until moving to Baton Rouge in 2009. He has been a member of the Baton
Rouge Amateur Radio Club since then, as has served on the Board of Directors for many years, as well as Net
Control Manager for BRARC. He was a member of the Livingston Amateur Radio Society in Denham Springs and
served as net manager for 3 years and club president for one year. He is also a member of the Ascension Radio
Club in Gonzales as well as the American Radio Relay League.
You can find Todd at most Amateur Radio events – those in person as well as on the air. Club and Board
meetings, Nets, Breakfasts, Contests, Field Day, and many others. Oentimes he will have his family there as
well – his wife Jessica, KD5SXF, and daughter.
Congratulations Todd, AB5TH, on your recognition as the 2018 recipient of the Stan Preston Award.
BRARC’s Board of Directors recently presented two awards for 2018. The Board awards
the Stan Preston Award and the BR Award annually. The Stan Preston award is given to a
licensed Amateur that has shown continued “Good Samaritan” activities in Amateur Radio.
The BR Award is given a BRARC member that has made an outstanding contribution to the
advancement of Amateur Radio.
Congratulations to Todd, AB5TH for being recongized as the Stan Preston Award
recipient and to Brook, N5DGK for being recognized by BRARC as the BR Award receipient.
Future VE Sessions
Baton Rouge – Thursday, April 25, 2019 6 PM at EBRP Main Library
Tuesday, April 30, 2019, 6 PM at EBRP Bluebonnet Library
Lafayette – First Tuesday of each month, 6 PM at Lafayette Science Museum
Saturday, March 9, 2019, 9 AM at AARA Hamfest, Rayne Civic Center
Hammond – Last Sunday of each month, 2 PM at North Oaks Diagnostics & E. Brent Dufreche Conference Center
Happy Mardi Gras!
This edition of the RF News is packed with lots of information. A big thanks to all of those who contributed
to the February issue – Jerry Clouatre, AG5AY, John Mark Roberston, K5JMR, Todd Huovinen, AB5TH, and Brett
Hebert, KG5IQU. As the editor, I edit the content that I receive. I look forward to getting articles from more
members. I want this newsletter to contain information that you find interesting and look forward to getting. So
even if you aren’t able to submit an article, feel free to submit topics that you would like to know more about or
see covered. I welcome all feeback and suggestions.
Please make plans to attend the club meetings at the EBRP Bluebonnet Library in the upcoming months.
We will begin collecting information and taking photos for the BRARC Directory. If you prefer to choose your own
photo, please email it to me at the address listed below.
Looking forward to seeing everyone at the upcoming meeting and at the Hamfest in Rayne.
Synomen Hebert, KG5IRS
Synomen is the newest Editor of the
RF News. Please send all articles or
information you’d like to see in the next
issue to her at: RFNEWS@BRARC.ORG
REGION 4:
14th Annual Eagle Expo Special Event
Bayouland Emergency Amateur Radio Service (BEARS) will hold a special events station for the 14th Annual Eagle Expo in Morgan City on February 23-24
(QST has wrong dates).
Call: W5BMC
Times: 10:00 to 16:00 local
Frequency: 14.265~280 and 7.260~280 +/- QRM.
Talk-in: 146.91- (no pl) or EchoLink node 507010 W5BMC-R.
Location: They will operate from Shannon Elementary School gym located at LA Hwy 182 & Brashear Ave. (at the foot of the old bridge).
This will be the second year that the display of birds of prey along with many other booths showing local wildlife. BEARS will showcase a history of telephone
and radio communications geared toward youth.
QSL to:
Jackie Price, KA5LMZ
1412 Maple St.
Morgan City, LA 70380
ACADIANA AMATEUR RADIO ASSOC., INC
Volume 59, Number 02
Club Activites Chris recapped the list of 2018 club events that included Winter Field Day, AARA Hamfest, Tabasco Sauce Anniversary Special Event, Summer Field Day, Tour de Teche canoe race and the Veterans Day Special Event. Chris summarized the club’s Veterans Day Special Event which was held in November at the Southwest Louisiana Veterans Home in Jennings, LA. The facility staff was very appreciative of the club’s efforts to honor these veterans and looks forward to hosting additional events in 2019. Cold weather reduced the number of facility residents that could visit the outdoor station which was set up outside the rear of the facility. For subsequent events efforts will be made to set up the station inside the facility. Conducting events in the spring when the weather is more pleasant will also be considered. Steve Webre recognized Chris for the work he put in to initiate and coordinate the event.
Since the Tabasco Sauce Special Event was held in conjunction with their 150th anniversary no repeat of this event is currently scheduled for this year. The option to have one is open should the club wish to pursue it. Winter Field Day activities will be conducted at the farm of Steve Webre in Church Point. Tentative plans are to finish tuning and deploy the club’s 80/40 portable dipoles along with the club’s two VHF/HF go-kits. If weather permits, mobilization of the club’s communications and antenna trailers will be considered. Chris will submit a flyer to be sent to the membership informing them of the planned activities and requesting from them an indication of their attendance plans. Paul McCasland N5KNY stated that the Lafayette Science Museum (LSM) will be celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and suggested the club consider conducting a special event in conjunction with the LSM anniversary. Additional club events tentatively planned for 2019 include AARA Hamfest in March, ARRL Field Day in June and the Tour de Teche canoe race in October.
HAMFEST
Hamfest Chairman Brandon Stelly KG5LQM and Galen Wilson KF5BET updated the group on preparations for this year’s hamfest. The event will be held March 8 – 9 at the Rayne Civic Center. Access to the facility on Thursday may not be available so additional manpower will be needed to Friday to help get vendors unloaded and set up. Crawfish and music is planned. Recommendations for items to sell in the Sweet Shop are requested. Hamfest Chairman Brandon Stelly KG5LQM updated the group on the status of preparations for this year’s hamfest. The event will be held March 8 – 9 at the Rayne Civic Center. Ways to increase revenue to offset increased facility rental fees were discussed along with ways to increase attendance by the public. Having the Rayne city government co-sponsor the event will be evaluated in more detail. Galen and Glen will start contacting last year’s vendors to determine their participation in this year’s event. Brandon will register this year’s event with the ARRL and will update the membership during the tonight’s general meeting.
EMMCOM
Glen Thibodeaux KF5FNP updated the group on Skywarn activities. He encouraged everyone to participate in the 2 meter net held each Tuesday night. Additional informal training exercises are planned to be conducted after the voice net is over. These activities will focus on digital communications such as VHF and HF Winlink communications using peer-to-peer and gateway connections. Everyone is encouraged to learn and practice their digital communication skills. He also updated the group on the trial digipeater installation held in November at the W5EXI repeater site in Duson. There were no issues temporarily converting the repeater to a 2 meter packet Winlink gateway. Several stations passed packet Winlink traffic thru the system including a station from the Pontchatoula area that accessed the gateway thru a digipeater in Livingston Parish. The gateway stayed up for several weeks and experienced no performance issues. Since Winlink is the preferred method of communications by GOHSEP into their EOC in Baton Rouge, permanent installation of a packet Winlink gateway station will be further evaluated.
Monday Night Net
Chris commended Barrett Oge KG5SSO for volunteering to be a net control station for the Monday Night Net. He also encouraged all members to participate in the net and consider serving in the net control rotation.
Miscellaneous
Larry Leblanc mentioned to the group that more and more of the new, high performance radios are Software Defined Radios (SDR) and encouraged everyone to learn more about SDR radios. Receive only SDR receivers such as models from Airspy and SDRplay are also very popular and can be used as Panadapters and wide coverage general receivers. He also encouraged everyone to consider radios capable of being computer controlled for their next purchases. Dave Redfearn N4ELM encouraged everyone to look into using small single board computers such as Arduinos and Raspberry PI’s combined with other small form factor modules to build inexpensive transceivers to do specific radio functions. Galen Wilson reported that he was approached by the director of a multi-day, long distance trail race held in an unspecified portion of the Kisatchie Forest inquiring if our club would consider providing radio communications in support of the race. The race is conducted continuously throughout the 2-1/2 day event and radio communications between first aid stations is needed. The group expressed a strong interest in participating in the event. However, due to the short time frame available to evaluate the currently unknown logistical and communications issues the club chose to not participate in this year’s event but would like to consider participating in next year’s event. Steve Webre volunteered to make a scouting trip to the race location to learn more about the logistical and communication issues that would need to be addressed.
HAM RADIO AND DIGITAL MODES
By Larry Leblanc KE5KJD dated January 16, 2019
This past Saturday a group of hams gathered at the Science Museum to “play” with radio in digital modes. We were hosted by Paul McCasland on the bottom floor of the Lafayette Science Museum. Paul explaided the use of the weak signal software and demonstrated how to make contacts with others. Several hams then gave it a try. He also showed how stations that heard the signals could be seen on PskReporter, an application that records each station that logged the contact on a map of the world. We all had a good time learning about the FT8 signal mode and how it can be used to see how your station is working. Present were KF5FNP and his wife, KE5AHD, KG5SSO, KI5ARX, KD5NVC, KE5KJD, N5KNY, and KD5JSM (and I may have missed a few). Danny had some hardware troubles with his station, debugged by all present, and finally fixed by late afternoon. All in all it was a very productive day. This proves that all it takes to keep hams interested is a radio (working or not) and an operator. We are all looking forward to Winter Field day at Steve’s farm. Included are a few pictures of the event.
Larry, KE5KJD.
AARA WINTER FIELD DAY 2019
by Chris Ancelet N5MCY
It all started on a cool morning at the farm of Steve (AF5VR) and Mel Webre in Church Point, LA. Although the temperature was cool, we all knew that once the sun came up, it would turn out to be a very nice January day. We had a relatively good turn out and we were able to get a few things accomplished. For starters, we knew that the club had a few 80/40 NVIS antennas that were constructed but had never been tuned, so we opted to get those two antennas ready for deployment. After deploying the antenna trailer, we hiked the mast up which allowed us to string up the diploes for tuning. With a trusty ole antenna analyzer and 6 subject matter experts, what could possibly go wrong? Both antennas were tuned to perfection and one of them was left deployed to be used in making the WFD contacts. Meanwhile, on the opposite end of the property, Glen Thibodeaux (KF5FNP) had deployed his mobile communications box, which is a converted military communications shelter. Turns out, Glen has this shelter set up quite nice with quick deployable antennas, HF/VHF and digital communication capabilities. Albeit small, this shelter is obviously a great tool for mobile communications, able to be quickly set up and functioning in no time flat. Dave Redfern (N4ELM) was also set up on the south side of the property with a QRP vertical and an array of cool gadgets, solar chargers and batteries. It is always a pleasure to see Dave set up and see just how small and compact your go-kit can be to make distant contacts. Overall, the day was a complete success and I am currently awaiting a final number of contacts made for our first 2019 Club event. Even though our participation is more on the leisure side of contesting, we always try and turn these events into a trouble shooting/building/tinkering/testing/mobile set up kind of day. It is always good to get out with friends and share stories, failures and have a few laughs in the process. I would be remised if I didn’t thank Steve (AF5VR) and Mel Webre again for allowing us to utilize their extraordinary property and facility. If you missed out on the January 26 event, I can assure you that you missed a good time. Here is a list of AARA Members who attended the 2019 Winter Field Day. Steve Webre – AF5VR Glen Thibodeaux – KF5FNP David McCutcheon – KG5JHR Dave Redfern – N4ELM Tom Dischler – W5OHJ Barrett Oge – KG5SSO Greg Richard – KE5AHD Jim Bookter – N5NVP Michael Cavell – KI5ARX Paul McCasland – N5KNY Fred Marshal – W5MLE Chris Ancelet – N5MCY
REGION 4 SKYWARN NET
Each Tuesday night at 7:00 PM (local), the Region 4 SkyWarn Net will take place on the 145.370 SkyWarn repeater in Lafayette. Net Control Operators will alternate each week. In case the 145.370 repeater fails, the net will be held on the 146.820 W5DDL repeater PL Tone 103.5. The February schedule can be found at this link: http://www.w5ddl.org/clubsite/news/htm When using the SkyWarn 145.370 repeater, be sure to use the receiver PL Tone for your area as follows: NW Quadrant 114.8 – NE Quadrant 127.3 – SW Quadrant 141.3 – SE Quadrant 94.8 – Central 103.5.
FIRECRACKERS
From Ray W5EW
Ingredients: ~ Saltine Crackers—4 rows or a box of Nabisco “Mini” crackers ~ Canola Oil—1/3 cup per row of crackers or 1/2 cup for 1 box of Mini crackers ~ Ranch Dressing MIX—1 package(1 ounce) or 1 heaping tablespoon ~ Ground Red Pepper—-2 to 3 tablespoons Instructions: Pour Canola oil in a measuring cup and add Ranch Dressing Mix and Ground Red Pepper. Mix thoroughly. Place crackers in a gallon zip lock bag. Pour entire container of previously mixed ingredients into bag over crackers. Close bag and roll around to mix crackers with ingredients. Let stand for an hour and rotate bag 3 or 4 times to promote a good mixture. After an hour or so all they need is eating!
FCC Information Service Toll Free (WATS) for Amateur Radio license inquiries about new/ vanity call signs: 1-888-225-5322 This will connect you the FCC National Call Center, handled by the FCC’s Consumer Information Bureau. Amateurs having ULS problems or questions should contact the FCC’s ULS Technical Support staff at: 202-414-1250 or: ulscomm@fcc.gov. FCC Website: http://wireless.fcc.gov/uls/ New call sign information can also be obtained from the ARRL/ VEC at 860-594-3000. http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec The mailing address to the FCC is: Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street SW Washington, DC 20554.
REGION 8:
Submitted by Joe Holland
KB5VJY
LA Section PIC
Region 8 ARRS ADEC
The Louisiana Delta Radio Club in Region 8 held a Ham Study group February 8th and 9th at the District 8 EOC. 4 new technicians passed their test, and one extra upgraded..
Pine Hills Amateur Radio Association has voted in it’s 2019 officers.. Jerry AD5AQ – President, Rex KI5BUE Vice President, Joe KB5VJY Secretary, Bill KF5NQQ Treasurer .. Congratulations
The Louisiana Tech Amateur Radio Club and the Louisiana Tech Aerospace department launched a weather balloon on February 16th. Part of the balloon had an APRS Tracker payload. The Balloon made a easternly track from its’ launch point and was trackable for the better part of an hour. The balloon achieved 40,000 feet before a GPSr failure caused the balloon untrackable over Vicksburg, Ms.
The Northeast Louisiana Amateur Radio Club has announced that on April, 27th 2019, they will be hosting their 2019 hamfest at the West Monroe convention center. More information can be found on their facebook page, facebook.com/groups/NELARC
NELA Facebook Pages:
facebook.com/groups/kc5dr Louisiana Delta Radio Club
facebook.com/groups/nelarc North Louisiana Amateur Radio Club
facebook.com/groups/kq5tphara Piney Hills Amateur Radio Association
facebook.com/groups/w5hgt Louisiana Tech Amateur Radio Club
NELA Nets
147.135 + LDRC District 8 ARES Training Net Mondays 6:30pm
146.550 – LDRC District 8 ARES Simplex Training Net Mondays 6:45pm
147.120 + PHARA ARES Training Net Mondays 7:00pm
146.790 – Jonesboro La Area Net Mondays 7:30pm
147.120 + PHARA Newcomers Net Mondays 8:30pm
146.550 Baloney Sammich Net (Winnsboro) Thursdays 7:30pm
147.060 + Winnfield Repeater net Thursdays 8:00pm
The Louisiana ARES 80HF Net meets on Sunday evenings at 6:30pm on 3848khz
REGION 9:
The SELARC “Hamster”
*Serving Amateur Radio Since 1974*
Published Monthly by the Southeast Louisiana Amateur Radio Club Inc.
P.O. Box 1324, Hammond LA 70404
Visit our website: www.selarc.org
Vol. 46, No. 2 ………………………….. February 2019
SELARC 2019 Hamfest
The Hammond Hamfest held on January 19, 2019, was a resounding success with excellent turnout.
Photos from the event have been added to the SELARC website on the page: Hamfest 2019 Photos
A message from Hamfest Chairman and SELARC President Tyrone – N5XES:
On behalf of the SELARC membership, I would like to thank everyone who braved the weather and attended our Hamfest. It was great to see old friends and new acquaintances, if only for a quick handshake and “how’s the family”.
The Hamfest VE session went well with 5 new Technicians’ and two upgrades! Many thanks to the VEs’ who came out to help with this session, your dedication is greatly appreciated! Listed in the prize section of our Hamfest page will be a list of the winners of the major prizes, congratulations to them also, without the large attendance we had, this event would not have been possible.
To our Vendors and Swap tables, a very special thank you for attending this event. Without your new products and used equipment this event would not have been possible!
Lastly, I would like to extend a heart-felt THANK YOU to all the SELARC members who came out to help with this event. YOU, are the backbone of this organization. To the dedicated few, who go that extra mile to make sure that SELARC is always headed in a positive direction, you are the best!
Hoping to see everyone again next year for our 39th Annual SELARC Hammond Hamfest on 18 January, 2020!
73
Tyrone – N5XES
SELARC – President / Hamfest Chairman
Special Events, Other Hamfests & VE Sessions
2019 Orange HamFest – February 23, 2019, at Orange County Convention & Expo Center – more information…
59th Acadiana Hamfest 2019 – ARRL Louisiana State Convention – Fri Mar. 8th and Sat Mar 9, 2019, at the Rayne Civic Center – more information…
NELA Hamfest 2019 – Sat. April 27, 2019, West Monroe Convention Center, more details..
Hammond VE Group – ARRL/W5YI tests are scheduled for the last Sunday of each month [with the exception of holiday conflicts] in Room “B” of the North Oaks Medical System Diagnostic Center at 2pm with $15 testing fee. Bring photo ID and any appropriate CSCE. For more information contact n5xes@arrl.net or Find an Amateur Radio License Exam in Your Area.
In Sympathy —
We express our deepest condolences for the friends and family of SELARC member, now silent key: Albert Edgar Baker – Al KF5IBW – 82, who passed away on Friday, January 25, 2019, at his home in Tickfaw, Louisiana.
VE Session Results –
Congratulations to the following new HAMs and upgrades from the SELARC Hammond Hamfest VE Session.
Technician
Timothy Isom Jr. – Mandeville, La.
Kaydin Morgan – Denham Springs, La.
John A. Cavell – Baton Rouge, La.
Cris Parker – Pacayune, Ms.
Daniel Sillenger – Covington, La.
General
Jeff Sibley / KG5YDE Livingston, Tx.
Extra
Roger Peters / KG5ZLE – Denham Springs, La.
Many thanks to all the VEs’ who came out to participate in the Hammond VE roup Exam Session held at our SELARC Hammond Hamfest. For those of you who did check-in to see if we had enough volunteers, thank you! In the future, if you arrive at a VE Session but there are sufficient VEs’ on hand, please sign-in with the VE Liason, so that you will at least be logged in as showing up and will get credit for being there!
Again, thank you es 73
Tyrone Burns – N5XES
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ARES:
ARES Monthly Section Emergency Coordinators Report
JAN 2019
Total number of ARES members 355
Number of ARES nets active 43
Number of nets with NTS liaison 1
Number of exercises and training 32 for 238 hours
Number of public service events this month 2 for 22 hours
Number of emergency operations this month 0
Number of SKYWARN operations this month 0
Total= 34 activities for 260 hours
Submitted by James Coleman, AI5B
Section Emergency Coordinator
New Plan Aligns ARES with the Needs of Served Agencies
02/19/2019
http://www.arrl.org/…/new-plan-aligns-ares-with-the-needs-o…
The new ARES Plan adopted by the ARRL Board of Directors at its Annual Meeting in January represents an effort to provide ARES with a clearly defined mission, goals, and objectives; specific training requirements, and a system for consistent reporting and record-keeping. The Board’s Public Service Enhancement Working Group (PSEWG) spent more than 3 years crafting the ARES Plan which, ARRL officials believe, provides a much-needed update of the program’s role in public service and emergency preparedness in the 21st century. Concerns focused on bringing ARES into alignment with the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Incident Command System (ICS), and creating more consistent and standardized ARES training requirements. Given dramatic changes and upgrades in national, regional, and local emergency and disaster response organizations, ARRL faced a major challenge, said ARRL Great Lakes Division Director Dale Williams, WA8EFK, who chaired the PSEWG.
“If we didn’t address these issues, such as training standards and organizational management, ARES faced the very real possibility that it would no longer be viewed as a valid and valuable partner in emergency and disaster relief situations,” Williams said.
With input from ARES members and a peer review team, and the assistance of emergency response officials with some partner organizations, the PSEWG came up with a plan that provides guidelines to ensure that ARES remains a service of organized, trained, qualified, and credentialed Amateur Radio volunteers who can provide public service partners with radio communication expertise, capability, and capacity, Williams added.
A drafted ARES Plan was circulated among ARRL Section Managers (SMs) and Section Emergency Coordinators (ECs) to gather feedback. During the comment period from August through October 2018, the PSEWG heard from 55 ARRL Sections, representing 40 states — more than 125 pages of feedback in all. The PSEWG expressed appreciation to all who submitted comments and ideas.
The PSEWG reviewed every comment and suggestion, identifying about a dozen key items commonly cited by those in the Field Organization to improve the plan.
Based on input from ARES participants, the training requirements in the final ARES Plan consist of the free FEMA Professional Development Series. The series comprises these independent study (IS) courses: 120.c, 230.d, 235.c, 240.d, 241.b, 242.b, and 244.b (as they may be amended), as well as the ARRL’s EC-001 and EC-016 emergency communication courses. As part of adopting the ARES Plan, the ARRL Board approved a proposal to make the ARRL EC courses free for ARES members.
The plan highlights some additional training programs that ARES participants are encouraged to consider taking, but that are not required, such as AUXCOMM and training courses like ICS-300 and ICS-400.
The ARES Plan outlines a three-tiered membership structure based on increased responsibility levels and accompanying training requirements. Although the tiers are not a required path, they serve to define three distinct ways to participate in the ARES program; it’s up to the participant to determine his or her level of involvement.
The ARES Plan points out that public service events such as parades and marathons are within the realm of ARES activity and are, in fact, a key part of it, because such events are an integral part of effective training.
In recognizing the local and regional nature of emergency communication needs in disaster response activations, the Plan notes that training requirements are ultimately the responsibility of the Section Manager, with each SM approving training for local ARES teams, as local conditions and needs dictate.
The ARES Plan also highlights the relationship between ARES and the National Traffic System (NTS). The PSEWG indicated that it will continue moving forward with efforts to find ways to refine and strengthen that relationship.
While the intent of the ARES Plan is to align the ARES organizational structure with the NIMS and ICS systems, Williams noted that, within the ARES structure, the Emergency Coordinator (EC) will continue to lead the ARES team locally during an incident, while the District and Section Emergency Coordinators will continue to serve as resources and support for the EC. (The emergency preparedness staff at ARRL is in the process of updating the EC manual.) The ARES Plan stresses that ARES participants are not first responders, and it encourages ARES leaders to develop and grow their group’s partnerships with state emergency management agencies and officials. Williams said the adoption of the ARES Plan is not the end of this process.
“ARES cannot remain stagnant only to be updated once every few generations,” he said. “The ARES Plan, and the ARES program, must be able to evolve.” Williams added that the ARRL Headquarters emergency preparedness staff will review the program annually to ensure its continued relevance.
ARRL.ORG
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Section Traffic Manager Report
January 2019
SESSIONS QNI QTC QTR
16 135 30 150
73,
Jimmy Lewis
Louisiana Section Traffic Manager
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Contests:
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MONTHLY BOOK GIVE-A-WAY
I will be going “Facebook Live” at noon March 1st to announce the February winners for the Book Give-A-Way. If you have already sent your callsign to me , no need to send again….Please remember you MUST be an current ARRL Member to win….ALL ARRL LA Section Affiliated Clubs will be in the drawing as well……I will make the appropriate announcements following the drawing as well…….
I hope to see many of you at the Rayne Hamfest in March!
73,
