XPost: rec.radio.amateur.misc

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ARRL Club News

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

February 22, 2022

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

IN THIS ISSUE

- Welcome
- Field Day is Coming-Start Planning Now
- Let's Talk About Grants
- Mistakes of 150 Years Ago
- SANTA CRUZ ARES Runs Another Successful SAFE Event
- Lewis and Clark Trail On The Air
- K1EIC Honored by the State of Connecticut for Service to Higher
Education
- Submitting Info for This Newsletter
- How to Plan and Apply for an ARRL Hamfest or Convention
- Important Links

WELCOME

I have just returned from from HamCation® and the ARRL National
Convention in Orlando. It was a great opportunity to meet and talk with
members from all over the southeast. We had quite a team there with
members of the Board of Directors and HQ staff. ARRL Emergency
Management Director Josh Johnston, KE5MHV, and I took part in the
Emergency Communication Academy on Thursday and were part of the
overall team at HamCation Friday through Sunday. The weather was great
most of the time. We did get a little rain on Sunday morning, bur
attendance was very good. It was nice to see a crowd out and about. Now
we start getting ready for the Dayton Hamvention in May. In the clubs
area of the ARRL booth, I was asking folks just what they would do to
improve amateur radio. The answers were varied, but most boil down to a
few things:

1. Outreach to the community around your club.

2. Work to build better relationships in the local schools.

3. Be a better mentor to new hams.

4. Offer new hams a free membership in your club for the first year.

5. Embrace technology, like gaming, to reach a younger crowd.

With that in mind I would like to ask all of you, what would you do to
improve amateur radio. Send me your suggestions to me at
clubs@arrl.org. I will report back next month on some of the ideas.

Hamfest season is getting started and I know that clubs are starting to
do activities. Please send me your stories so I can share them here.

73,

Mike, W8ZY

FIELD DAY IS COMING-START PLANNING NOW

It is February and Field Day is just four months away. Has your club
starting to planning? Many clubs are still operating in pandemic mode
and will not have a gathering site but many will be in the field. Now
is the time to get the club together, however you are meeting, and plan
for what I think is the best weekend of the ham year. Field Day can be
a great opportunity to operate and have fun. It can also be a great
chance to work with local authorities and demonstrate the capabilities
Earn extra Points - Set up an information table and a Get On The Air
station - and get the new hams out for what is often their first real
chance to work HF in a friendly contest-type environment. There are
some updated rules and you can find them at at http://www.arrl.org/field-day-rules. This site is updated often so
check back for the latest. The most important thing is to have fun and
enjoy Field Day. Invite the public, local dignitaries, and media. Field
Day is a great photo op for police, firefighters, and EMS. Remember,
outreach to the community is one of those things that we all need to be
doing.

Field Day - a chance to show the world amateur radio.

LET'S TALK ABOUT GRANTS

Lots of interest has been raised on the new grant programs that are
available to organizations today. There is also a bit of confusion
about just what some of them are and what the differences are. Let's
look at the details of the three major programs.

Grants are a great way to fund small and large projects that your club
might be interested in. Spend a few minutes to look over the websites
and talk with your club. This is a valuable resource that clubs can use
to build amateur radio's future in an ever-changing technology world.

ARRL Foundation Grants

These grants are awarded by the ARRL Foundation to organizations
promoting amateur radio. The maximum grant is $3000, and the specific
uses of the funds are restricted to specific projects. The details of
just what you can use the money for and how to apply are on the ARRL
website at Amateur Radio Grants (arrl.org) <http://www.arrl.org/amateur-radio-grants>. There are specific times
during the year to apply, and all the information is on the website.

ARRL Club Grant Program

This program is new and still in development having just been announced
in January around the time of the ARRL Board of Directors meeting. This
program will allow clubs to apply for up to $25,000 for specific
projects. The details of how the funding can be used and how to apply
have not been announced yet. Stay tuned for more information.

ARDC Grants

These grants are awarded by the Amateur Radio Digital Communications
Grant Program and are not managed by ARRL. There is no maximum for the
grants and full details can be found at the ARDC website at Apply for a
Grant | Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ampr.org) <https://www.ampr.org/apply/#:~:text=ARDC%20makes%20grants%20that%20fulfill%20our%20mission.%20In,grantmaking%20categories%3A%20Support%20%26%20Growth%20of%20Amateur%20Radio%2C>.
There are specific dates to apply and requirements for the groups that
wish to apply.

MISTAKES OF 150 YEARS AGO

This year the Reading Radio Club will celebrate 100 years in existence
and affiliation with ARRL. However, the work of individuals who were
not afraid of trying something new 150 years ago paved the way for the technology we have today. "A person who never made a mistake, never
tried anything new." Albert Einstein Names such as David Hughes,
Heinrich Hertz, Nikola Tesla, and Alexander Popov all contributed in
their own way to the development of components and theory involved in
present day ham radio. I am sure they made their share of mistakes and experienced countless failures.

But they all persevered to try a new thing. Are you still using a Spark
gap to send? How about a crystal set for your receiver? Do you even
know what they are? You have been to a hamfest and maybe you even saw
things people call "Boat Anchors." Have you ever had to replace an
Acorn Tube in one? The early radios did not have any capacitors, tubes, transistors or integrated circuits to go bad. But you did need hammers, screwdrivers, wrenches, and skills such as those of a mechanic, pipe
fitter, electrician, sheet metal worker and tower installer (to name
some) to build or maintain those radios.

This was due to a major improvement over the spark gap transmitter for
High Frequency (HF) transmission. That improvement in 1904 was the
Alexanderson Alternator. Of the 20 that were constructed, number 16 is
still operational in Grimeton, Sweden. Improvements continued and in
the 1920's, Sir John Ambrose Fleming and Lee de Forest developed the
vacuum tube diode and triode, ushering in the advent of the 60-pound
"Boat Anchors." From November 17, 1947, to December 23, 1947, John
Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain at AT&T's Bell Labs in Murray Hill,
New Jersey, performed experiments and observed that when two gold point contacts were applied to a crystal of germanium, a signal was produced
with the output power greater than the input. The transistor was born.
The radio transceiver followed with units that can be carried by one
person and fit in one hand. Most possess the capabilities of several
racks of units.

Radios are no longer pieces of hardware, but are a combination of both
hardware and software. They can be controlled via a computer program
and allow users to communicate with signals that the human ear cannot
even detect. Mistakes went into all this development, but that is what
allows improvement and innovative ideas.

Have fun making mistakes and see what you can accomplish!

Joe, AC3DI

SANTA CRUZ ARES RUNS ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL SAFE EVENT

By Allison Hershey (KM6RMN, PIO)

Santa Cruz - area ARES organizers ran their fourth SAFE (Scavenge
Around Field Exercise) on January 9, 2022. Designed in the early days
of the pandemic with social distancing in mind, this event allowed
participants to get outdoors and communicate with a multi-location
incident command team while honing their emergency radio skills. I have previously covered SAFE events from a field participant's point of
view, but here I will take a closer look at the Incident Command side
of the exercise.

Briefly, the first three SAFE events were run in 2020 and early 2021.
Any local licensed radio operators interested in emergency
preparedness were invited to participate. At event start time,
participants checked in to a resource net. Once checked, in they were
directed to one of two tactical nets to receive a series of assignments
to drive to locations and report specific information about them. The observation questions were simple, such as, "what color is the welcome
sign at this particular address," and could be done without leaving the vehicle. Upon completion of their assignments, participants returned to
the resource net to demobilize, drove home, and contacted the resource
net one more time to report safe arrival. A few field operators'
locations were tracked through APRS, bringing a new dimension to the
event. This aspect of the exercise will be covered next time, as more participants will learn this technology in the coming year.

Preparation for SAFE IV was started in the fall 2021. After Santa
Cruz ARES members expressed interest in repeating the exercise, Santa
Cruz County DEC John Gerhardt, N6QX, recruited volunteers to form a
core organizing committee that met online and exchanged emails. Many of
the materials had been created in previous events and kept in a shared
Google Drive folder: ICS (Incident Command System) Forms 202, 205, 214
for instruction and reporting, vetted participant assignments, scripts,
radio protocol pointers, and the all-important Exercise Location and
Tracking Sheet. This shared Google spreadsheet was created by JoMarie Faulkerson, KM6URE, to be the "whiteboard" of central operations,
displaying the progress of every participant to the core team in their
virtual incident command center. Entries made by any team scribe
(spreadsheet editor) would be displayed instantly.

LEWIS AND CLARK TRAIL ON THE AIR

Clark County Amateur Radio Club, out of Vancouver, WA will be hosting a
new event to start June 2022. CCARC is an active club of over 400
members. It has also received the recognition of being an ARRL Special
Services Club. The club has made a big impact on the amateur radio
community in the Pacific Northwest.

Lewis and Clark Trail OTA is being organized by a committee of CCARC
members. The event will be from June 4-19, 2022. Lewis and Clark
traveled through 16 states, and we're working on getting a club from
each state to activate. There will be certificates sent out for those
that contact all 16, and another certificate for those that contact
less than 16.

We see this as a chance to promote the Lewis and Clark Expedition and
honor them for their achievement by bringing them in to the amateur
radio world of 2022. Mark your calendars for this special event and see
how many contacts you can make.

LCTOTA.org

Lewis and Clark Trail On The Air on Facebook

K1EIC HONORED BY THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT FOR SERVICE TO HIGHER

EDUCATION

Former Connecticut Section Manager Betsey Doane, K1EIC, of Shelton, Connecticut, will be honored by the State of Connecticut for her work
in accessibility and inclusion in higher education.

According to Barb Lombardi, K1EIR, "My sister found out that an award
will be named after her for her work with the State higher education
services for accessibility and inclusion. It will be 'The Betsey Doane Innovation for Accessibility and Inclusion Award' given [annually] to a
faculty member in a State college or community college who has given or contributed the most to access and inclusion."

Doane, a retired mathematics and computer science professor, is also
active in her local Rotary club, as well as the Chamber of Commerce.

Congratulations, Betsey Doane, K1EIC!

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 does 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 any
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 of clubs. 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 ARRL sanctioned
status for your 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 apply for ARRL sanctioned status for your event, go to 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) 2022 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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