delara news
Delaware Amateur Radio Association, Delaware OH VOL 36 NUMBER 3
Affiliated Club News
What other clubs are doing
John Myers, KD8MQ
Affiliated Clubs Coordinator
Hi everyone, well, another month, another few days closer to
springtime. . . At least according to the calendar. It’s said
that only in Ohio can you go from flip-flops to mukluks in less
than 24 hours. As I’m putting the finishing touches to this
months column, I’m also keeping my eye on a Winter Weather
Advisory that we are under for the next few days.
Here at my QTH, the NPOTA withdrawal is beginning to
subside, and plans are being made for my next obsession.
How about yours? If you feel “stuck”, and need some direction,
check out pg 14 of the March issue of the Radiogram. Tom
WB8LCD has penned a pretty interesting article on what to do
when your feel like your Amateur Radio pursuits are at a
standstill. You can find it by going to the Newsletter page on
the Portage County ARS (PCARS) website. The URL for the
website is www.portcars.org.
After last months OSJ went out, I got the following e-mail from
Jack, W8TEE. Jack is the VP of the Milford (OH) ARC
“Hi John:
I've been licensed continuously since 1954 and keeping and
expanding membership has always been a problem. Our club
gives the FCC exams every month and, by far, the Tech license
is the most common exam taken. This month, 15 sat for the
exam, and all but two were Techs. Our meeting starts about a
half an hour after the exam period ends and we extend an
invitation to attend. Few do.
I did manage to talk to one new Tech who is not going to
renew or upgrade. When asked why, his response was: "It's no
different than my cell phone." I think the problem is that
Techs buy an HT and only use the local repeater. They never
experience what HF has to offer or any of the many other
aspects of our hobby. Cost is one factor, as many are EE
students at the university. Indeed, one major motivation for
my March, 2016, QST article was to show how you can build
an inexpensive, yet viable, HF rig.
Our club feels strongly enough about this that we have
purchased a "loaner rig", complete with transceiver, PS, and
antenna, that members can borrow to experience the HF
bands. True, only 10M has a Tech phone section, but at least
they can listen to what they are missing. I think our next club
build will be the BITX40, a 7W SSB rig which now has an LCD
display and VFO for $59. Things like this are a step in the right
direction: We need Techs to experience what HF has to offer
and thwart the "cell phone" analogy.
If other clubs are doing things to address this issue, I sure
would like to hear about it.
73,
Jack”
Thanks Jack, I would also like to hear what other clubs are
doing about this issue. By the way, the article that Jack
mentions is titled “a Modular 40 Meter CW Transceiver With
VFO”, and appeared in the March, 2016 issue of QST (pg 39).
I’m right between two speaking gigs as I write this. I was
honored to speak to the Mahoning Valley ARA, and hear about
all that they have coming up. I spoke to the Silvercreek ARA
about “Life After NPOTA”.
Mahoning Valley ARA will be doing a two week Special Event
with the Lake to River chapter of the American Red Cross.
According to 1x1callsigns.org, they are celebrating Red Cross
month. They’ve secured the callsign of W8R from March 20,
through April 3rd. It’s not in the March, or April issues of QST,
but by the time you read this, it might be on ARRL.org. I’ll also
be including it in an upcoming issue of the Monday Morning
Message (mondaymorningmessage.net).
The Ohio ARES NVIS day is coming up. According to Scott,
N8SY who spoke to the Massillon ARC at their March meeting,
this year’s NVIS Day will occur on April 22nd. I’m betting there
will be more information on this event elsewhere in the
Section journal.
Las month, I mentioned Tom Gallagher’s editorial “Get On The
air With History” (Pg 11, March, 2017 QST). In keeping with the
subject of that editorial, the Alliance ARC is talking about
doing a rather unusual SES sometime this year. They are
looking at commemorating the Great Alliance Squirrel Hunt of
1832. I bet most communities have some kind of quirky
historical event that would make for a fun Special Event.
Check with your local Historical society. Make sure to e-mail
me your ideas. I just might include them in a future column.
And, I think that’s about it for this month. Hopefully next
month’s column will find us enjoying better weather.
From the Public Information
Coordinator
John Ross, KD8IDJ
2017 Newsletter Contest
T-Minus 3 months…until the deadline for the 2017 Ohio Section
Newsletter Contest…I can hardly believe it myself.
Thanks for all for all of the great entries so far and there still is time.
Remember we need two newsletters…from different months…for your
club to be eligible. If your newsletter is web-based we need a notification
when the new editions are ready to be viewed.
The awards will be presented at the meeting in August at Columbus
Hamfest.
Keep up the good work…it’s making a difference!
Severe Weather Training
Another blast from the “it’s hard to believe” department. The first three
months of this year have showed us severe weather can happen
anytime…even in winter! Now, we’re about ready to enter tornado season
with a couple of twisters already under our belts.
This year’s severe weather training from the National Weather
Service(NWS) has already started…and my recommendation is you find
one to attend. It’s good for a lot reasons…just a good refresher, news of
any changes at the NWS, and a lot of folks who would like to become
Amateur Radio operators! I know here in Central Ohio I go every year,
with my portable radio in tow, and I get questions for a lot folks how to
get licensed. We are fortunate enough to have a representative from our
local club address the crowd and talk about Amateur Radio’s involvement
and how to get started.
This is great service the NWS offers and they take our involvement
seriously. I know many clubs are active in this already…never hurts to
have more.
The folks who run the weather nets are truly ”weather gods” for the work
they do. They are well trained, qualified and committed to gathering and
sending the correct information to the NWS.
The season officially get under way on March 22…two days after the start
of Spring! Listen for the sirens at 9:50 AM…and join a weather net!!
College Amateur Radio Clubs
I’m still getting emails from my article a couple of months back about
radio clubs at universities around Ohio and the country in general.
It’s a big deal and a big push to help the clubs that already exist and to
help college clubs that are struggling.
A great success story is right here in Ohio at Case Western Reserve
University in Cleveland….a ham radio club with 150 members!!
I’ll be on my way up there in a few days to get a first-hand look at the
operation…pictures and all. Watch for great story next month!
Here’s a link to the rules.. http://arrl-ohio.org/pic_page/pic.html
© DELARA News, the official monthly newsletter of the Delaware Amateur Radio Association, Delaware, OH