XPost: rec.radio.amateur.misc

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ARRL Club News

Published by the American Radio Relay League ********************************************

February 21, 2023

Editor: Michael Walters, W8ZY <clubs@arrl.org>

IN THIS ISSUE

- Minnesota QSO Party
- Call for Proposals
- Special Event Station W9RH/106
- VOTA Update
- Top of the Panhandle 50th Anniversary
- Winlink Survey Follow-Up
- Big Bend Amateur Radio Club Supports 2023 Ultra Race
- Tips for Maintaining Your Generator
- Submitting Info for this Newsletter
- How to Plan and Apply for an ARRL Hamfest or Convention
- Important Links

MINNESOTA QSO PARTY

The Winona Amateur Radio Club had "a blast" participating in the 2023
Minnesota QSO Party (MNQP) on February 4, according to participant and
host Paul Degallier, AD0UU. Sam Resto Donate, KF0ACN, was instrumental
in putting stations together prior to operating in the event. He shared
that in just a few hours he made half as many contacts as he's made
since he became a licensed ham. Winona Amateur Radio Club members that participated in the contest operated from Degallier's

garage. They had two radios to choose from, a Kenwood or an Icom,
and plenty of snacks and beverages to fuel their efforts. There were
some hitches, such as snow and antennas that struggled from the
weather. After some frustration with setting up a broken antenna prior
to the event, John Kowalik, K2OPT, was able to manufacture a new one.

The idea of MNQP -- besides having fun -- is to contact as many of
Minnesota's 87 counties as possible, plus give out-of-state stations a
chance to score Winona County. Combining phone and CW, Winona Amateur
Radio Club members made contacts in 50 counties and earned 89,960
points. Participants included: Lance Tagliapietra, AD0UT; Paul
Degallier, AD0UU; Justin McElmury, KF0BSI; Sam Resto Donate, KF0ACN;
John Kowalik, K2OPT; Bob Seaquist, W9LSE; Marv Rodvold, AC9TO; Peter Ebertowski, KD0YOB; Russ Marsolek, N0QK, and Dan Goltz, WK0W.

From Bob Seaquist, W9LSE

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

February 15, 2023 --- The Amateur Radio on the International Space
Station (ARISS) program is seeking formal and informal education
institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to
host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS.
ARISS anticipates that the contact would be held between January 1,
2024 and June 30, 2024. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine
exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities,
ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of
participants and integrate the radio contact into a well-developed
education plan.

The deadline to submit a proposal is March 31st, 2023. Proposal
information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines
and the proposal form can be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html. An ARISS Introductory Webinar will be held March 1st, 2023 at 8 PM Eastern Time.
The Eventbrite link to sign up for the free webinar is: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ariss-proposal-webinar-for-spring-2023-proposal-window-registration-515706320487

The Opportunity

Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are
approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with
the astronauts through a question-and-answer session.

An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur
Radio between astronauts aboard the space station and classrooms. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand
from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn
about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless
technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human
spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in
dates and times of the radio contact.

Amateur Radio organizations around the world with the support of NASA
and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe present
educational organizations with this opportunity. The ham radio
organizations' volunteer efforts provide the equipment and operational
support to enable communication between crew on the ISS and students
using Amateur Radio.

Please direct any questions to ariss.us.education@gmail.com.

About ARISS

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a
cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the
space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In
the United States, sponsors are the American Radio Relay League (ARRL),
Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC), NASA's Space Communications and Navigation
program (SCaN), and the ISS National Lab-Space Station Explorers. The
primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics topics. ARISS does this by
organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members
aboard the ISS and students. Before and during these radio contacts,
students, educators, parents, and communities take part in hands-on
learning activities tied to space, space technologies, and amateur
radio. For more information, see http://www.ariss.org

Media Contact:

Dave Jordan, AA4KN

ARISS PR

SPECIAL EVENT STATION W9RH/106

On Saturday, January 21, 2023, the Milwaukee Radio Amateurs' Club
(MRAC), W9RH, celebrated 106 years of continuous service to the
Milwaukee area amateur radio community with a special event station
operation

from the Ham Radio Outlet showroom. Over 100 contacts were made on
20-meter SSB, using the MRAC repeater in FM and C4FM mode, and via
WIRES-X. While a few members observed the operation, on-air operators
included Carter Davis, W9ERR; Joe Schwarz, N9UX; Gary Beier, KD9VGL;
Ted Carlson, N9KQQ; Jeff Weber, AD9AB; Jerry Riedel, K9FI, and Dick Strassburger, N9EEE.

From Hamateur Chatter of the Milwaukee Radio Amateurs' Club

VOTA UPDATE

The yearlong ARRL operating event, Volunteers On the Air (VOTA),
celebrating all ARRL volunteers continues. Many operators around the
country are having fun making contacts with designated point givers.

Anyone that is an ARRL member, all the way up to the ARRL President and
CEO, as well as any field appointee, have points to give. Visit the
website at vota.arrl.org, <http://vota.arrl.org>where you can find
details about the ongoing event. Check out the list of activations, the leaderboard, and find out how many points all of the different
volunteer positions are worth. All points are awarded through Logbook
of The World, so there is no special exchange or reference to make.
Simply contact them and log the contacts. Get to the site and read up
on the details. Most importantly, have fun on the air.

TOP OF THE PANHANDLE 50TH ANNIVERSARY

Fifty years of service, communication, and friendship recently brought
20 members and guests of the Panhandle Amateur Radio Club (PARC)
together. Friends and supporters also joined by Zoom, including Radio
Amateur Civil Emergency Service State Radio Officer Roy Walker, WA5YZD;
ARRL West Texas Section Director Dale Durham, W5WI; a supporter from
Fort Stockton, and PARC member Larry Spence, NZ5X.

Jerome Doerrie, K5IS,

and Hugh Barton, WA5TVN, were honored for founding the organization
more than 50 years ago, and PARC President Jim Lear, N5LNR, presented
the club with a certificate from ARRL for their renewal as a Special
Service Club.

Over the years, PARC has provided communications for bicycle races,
offered classes for amateur radio licensees, held frequent testing
sessions, offered help with equipment and advice for new hams, held
antenna building sessions and antenna parties to put up antennas,
helped Scouts with their Radio Merit Badge, and is currently converting
a donated ambulance into a communications center for use in
emergencies. A number of members are training for the Citizen Emergency Response Team.

The club was recently awarded a $7,500 grant from the ARRL Foundation
to collaborate with Scouts to help them obtain their licenses. The
grant will provide study guides, radios, electronic kits, antenna
supplies, and travel funds for those who are part of the Jamboree on
the Air program. Mentors from the club will collaborate with the Scouts
to help them study for their license exams, and offer help with
electronics building, antenna construction, and communication skills.
The 15 Scouts in the first cohort are currently being selected from
Scout troops in the area.

WINLINK SURVEY FOLLOW-UP

Last month, I mentioned Winlink as a tool for many of the emcomm
deployments across the country. I asked you to send me a Winlink
message and tell me where you sent the message from and how you
connected. This was a very informal survey and, as I expected, I
received several messages. Here are the results:

Messages originated in 36 different states.

The breakout of connections looked like this:

HF 40%

VHF 38%

Telnet 15%

Not Listed 7%

Some of the messages included forms like the ICS-213. I even received
several messages that were copied to my personal email. I suspect that
many simply looked me up on QRZ and included that message. This shows,
in a very informal way, that many can use Winlink to send and receive
messages in adverse conditions. Keep up the good work, and maybe we'll
have another request like this in the future.

BIG BEND AMATEUR RADIO CLUB SUPPORTS 2023 ULTRA RACE

Members of the Big Bend Amateur Radio Club (BBARC) provided
communications for the 2023 Big Bend Ultra, held at the Big Bend Ranch
State Park on January 15, 2023.

The annual event hosted 340 runners participating in 10k, 20k, 30k,
50k, and 80k (50-mile) events on trails throughout the park. All races
were run concurrently, with staggered start times.

We used our permanent 2-meter repeater system, an additional repeater
placed near the park entrance, tactical 2-meter simplex frequencies,
and the club RV for net control.

Joined by radio operators from San Antonio and Austin, a total of 13
hams manned a base camp and five checkpoint stations.

State park restrictions on vehicles forced some ham operators to hike
with their radio and antenna gear to their checkpoint locations, and
several had to camp at their station overnight. One location was 20
miles into the park.

Each racers' bib number was recorded at each checkpoint and relayed to
net control to track their positions on the various courses. Ham
operators also provided intel on checkpoint conditions and supply
needs. Net control liaised with park officers and race control
officials to maintain up-to-the-minute race statuses for all
communications support.

Race officials provided medical teams that roved the park on
cross-country bikes to assist runners through the desert environment.
The state park officers provided two UTV's for medical evacuations,
just in case they were needed.

Participants included Scott Ahnberg, KI5BLZ; Lee Besing, N5NTG; Lonny
Hillin, K5LON; Skip Horni, W5UTW; Charles Land, KC5NKK; Daniel
Maldonado, KE5UUQ; Scott McClanahan, KI5ANQ; David Rivenberg, AD5OO;
Keith Rizzo, KF5RIC; Charlie Troxel, N5CET; Carroll Voss, KF5KQA, and
Bob Ward, WA5ROE.

Yellow Rose Drones captured aerial views of the event, which can be
seen on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcf8gu6jzKU6GwupVKLLfrqXjVZgz2UaJ

-- Thanks to Charlie Troxel, N5CET, Big Bend Amateur Radio Club
President

TIPS FOR MAINTAINING YOUR GENERATOR

Many of us have portable emergency generators that we bought for use
during electric outages. After we use them, we store them away until we
need them again. Many of us just put them away in the back of the
garage or into a storage shed without giving it any thought. Here are
some tips on how to store them properly:

â-¢ If there is still gas in the tank, either drain the gas or add some
fuel stabilizer, such as STA-BIL. This will keep the gasoline from deteriorating and usually will make it last for 18 to 24 months.

â-¢ Run the generator with the fuel stabilizer, then shut off the fuel
supply valve until the generator stops. This will make sure that no gas
remains in the carburetor or fuel line. Change the oil using the
manufacturer's recommended oil viscosity. The recommendation is usually
SAE HD30 for warmer months, or 10W-30 for colder months.

â-¢ Clean the generator with a clean cloth, and cover it with a plastic
cover or a tarp.

â-¢ If you store any gasoline in an approved storage gas can, make sure
you add STA-BIL to it. Better yet, pour the leftover gas into your
automobile gas tank. Buy some extra oil and a small funnel so that you
can add oil next time you run the generator. It is sometimes hard to
get the correct oil in the middle of an emergency, and small engines
will burn oil on extended run, causing the low oil shutdown to engage.

â-¢ Buy an extra spark plug for the generator.

â-¢ Store your electrical extension cords and adapters with the generator
so they will be right there when you need them.

â-¢ If the generator gave you any problems during the last run, take it
to an authorized repair facility to have it looked at. The next
emergency is not the time to be playing junior repairman with the
generator.

â-¢ Keep a tag on the generator noting when it was last used and
serviced, along with the age of the stabilized gasoline in the tank.
Better yet, keep the gas tank empty.

â-¢ Read the generator manufacturer's instruction manual and keep a copy
handy for reference!

-- Thanks to the Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club's newsletter, The
Compass

SUBMITTING INFO FOR THIS NEWSLETTER

ARRL Club News is for radio clubs to show how they are working in the
community and the hobby to advance amateur radio. If your club
completes a project, supports an event, does an EmComm activation, or
activates a park, we want to hear about it. You can submit your
newsletter article to us at clubs@arrl.org. We like to get them as text
or Word files instead of PDFs. If you have pictures, please submit them
with caption information, as well as the name and call sign of the photographer. We want to highlight the good work being done by the
clubs and show others in the community. Think of this as a chance to
show off your club and your programs.

HOW TO PLAN AND APPLY FOR AN ARRL HAMFEST OR CONVENTION

If your amateur radio club is planning to host a convention, hamfest,
tailgate, or swapfest, please consider applying for it to be an
ARRL-sanctioned event. To learn what it means to be an ARRL-sanctioned
event, and to get some ideas on how to prepare for and conduct a
hamfest or convention, visit www.arrl.org/arrl-sanctioned-events <http://www.arrl.org/arrl-sanctioned-events>.

To have your event sanctioned, complete the online application at www.arrl.org/hamfest-convention-application <http://www.arrl.org/hamfest-convention-application>.

The ARRL Hamfests and Conventions Calendar can be found online at www.arrl.org/hamfests <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests>. In addition, the Convention and Hamfest Calendar that runs in QST each month also
presents information about upcoming events.

IMPORTANT LINKS

ARRL Home: www.arrl.org <http://www.arrl.org/>

Find an ARRL Affiliated Club: www.arrl.org/clubs
<http://www.arrl.org/clubs>

Find your ARRL Section: www.arrl.org/sections
<http://www.arrl.org/sections>

Find a license class in your area: www.arrl.org/class <http://www.arrl.org/class>

Find a license exam in your area: www.arrl.org/exam
<http://www.arrl.org/exam>

Find a hamfest or convention: www.arrl.org/hamfests <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests>

Email ARRL Clubs: clubs@arrl.org

ARRL Club News is published every month (12 times each year). ARRL
members may subscribe at no cost or unsubscribe by editing their Member
Data Page as described at http://www.arrl.org/club-news.

Copyright (c) 2023 American Radio Relay League, Incorporated.
Use and distribution of this publication, or any portion thereof, is
permitted for non-commercial or educational purposes, with attribution.
All other purposes require written permission.

<http://www.arrl.org/>

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