THE LOCAL OSCILLATOR - May 2004
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
COMING EVENTS
BEANFEED
FIELD DAY 2004
RUN OLD MESILLA
SOCIAL
2004 TRIATHLON EVENT
SET
ARRL SECTION NEWS
FCC PROPOSES CHANGES
BACK PAGE
COMING EVENTS
Week days 6 m FM net 52.540 6:00AM
Mon WTRA Swap net 146.88 8 PM
Wed Net 146.64 6:45PM
round-table 52.525MHz 8 PM
Weekdays Informal get together
Mon Wed Fri Munson Center 10AM
Tue Thur Wal-Mart E
April 24 Spring Tailgate in Albuquerque.
Apr 25 Bean Feed
Elmer Session
May 1 Breakfest 8 AM
Club House
May 1 Business meeting 9:15AM
Club House
May 10 Social Meeting (2nd Mon) 6 PM
Golden Corral
May 12 1st Wed after 2nd Mon
Directors at Club House 7:00PM
May 7 - 9 Extra Class
Club House
June 26, 27 Field Day
BEANFEED
APRIL 25
Tailgating will start officially at 8:00 am (but
unofficially when ever the first two of you arrive). We've added three
racks of equipment from a TVRO Satellite Earth Station.
FIELD DAY 2004
W5TLU
Field Day has been with Amateur Radio since 1933. Many of us remember from our youth the fun and camaraderie that accompanied this 24-hour operation. In case you haven't kept up, Field Day is still fun, and it has expanded to include newer aspects of our hobby such as PSK31.
Among other things, a good Field Day event provides:
A fun time for participants
A good opportunity to enhance emergency communications skills
Exposure to the community
Enticement for others, especially youth, to join our hobby
One of the newer and growing aspects of Field Day is Get On The Air (GOTA) stations. These are event stations operated by visitors who have never worked a Field Day or who haven't operated in a long time. Even unlicensed people can operate under the supervision of a licensed operator.
Last year Dave Hassall, WA5DJJ, did a yeoman's job of organizing an event on the campus at NMSU. This venue provided some nice advantages in terms of accessibility and public exposure. Not only did the event go well but they also made a good showing in the ARRL point standings.
Dave's schedule is such that he cannot head up a 2004 effort. However several other club members have agreed to organize a Field Day effort this year. We plan to build on what Dave did last year and follow some of his suggestions for improvements this year. The basics of our plan so far include:
– Use the same field at NMSU as last year's event if possible
– Operate either class 2A or 3A (2 or 3 is number of HF transmitters operating simultaneously and A is 3 or more participants).
– Use <150-Watt rigs running on generator power
– Include a VHF station, a GOTA station and if possible a PSK31 station
– Run 24 hours by recruiting operators for 2-hour shifts
– Possibly a BBQ Saturday evening if sufficient interest
We are hoping to get a large participation of club members and would like for it to be a club-sanctioned event using our club call sign. Our Board of Directors is recommending that we do this.
Toward that end we will ask the club at our next meeting, May 1, to endorse and support this effort. Please think about what this can do for our club, the fun you can have doing it, and come prepared to discuss and hopefully support this as a club activity.
Bob - AD5LJ, Billy - KD5UZJ, Cash - KD5SSJ, Charlie - W5TLU
RUN OLD MESILLA
KJ5Q
The Run Old Mesilla race was held on Saturday, April 3 with 129 participants. The race was completed successfully without any major incidents. Don Shepan, KB5VLH was the race coordinator.
There was minimum support from the police department because of several other events at the same time. The Mesilla fire department manned a truck and gave us the frequencies to reach them. Thank goodness we really didn’t have to call on them because the race ran smoothly with no injuries.
A big thank you to everyone who worked – KD5OHA George, N5PK Jack and grandson KE5ALP Trey, KB5TPV Dennis, W0SWK Dorothy, WK5C John B., KD5SSA Sid, KC7VHS Perry, W5UMQ Bill, WK5I Rodney, N5WQ John H., WA5DJJ Dave, and KC5SKE Brad who was the tailgunner on a bicycle..
SOCIAL
KC4MRM
Those attending the second Monday night MVRC social voted that it is time for a change. Therefore the May 10, 2004, second Monday night MVRC social will be at Golden Corral at 1800 hours.
2004 TRIATHLON EVENT
K5DI
As every year in April the Mesilla Valley Track Club hosts a
Triathlon event where each person needs to run 5000 meters, run to their
bicycle and do a 25 KM bike ride, put the bike back and grab some goggles
and run to the pool where they swim 500 meters.
This year I had one person from Mexico and another from El Paso tell me they
love to run in Las Cruces where the people are so kind and good. It is true
we are a lot better than the groups they are used to.
There were 10 Hams in our crew who also are kind and good. As usual
nothing bad happened but 2 bikers left their bikes airborne and got some
scrapes and bruises. One cute and very pretty girl had a flat tire. It took
a guy from the Medical group and Dennis Shepan KB5TPV some time to change
the tube and blow the new tire up.
Sandra Hempling KJ5Q was at the corner where the bikers had to leave
Cholla and enter Sam Steal roads. One biker failed to turn and Sandra chased
him down and explained. He said shucks, I was doing real good too! He
finished the race.
In my opinion we had too many Hams. You really only need 8 to cover
this event. But we made do and had Jack Lemons, N5PK and John and Sandra
Hempling, N5WQ and KJ5Q, Bob Bennett, AD5LJ, Dennis Shepan KB5TPV, George
Kopp, KD5OHA, Tim Linn, KD5SSF, Rodney Davis, WK5I, Charlie Mabry, K9AQH and
Karl Larsen, K5DI.
This is a difficult event for Don Chepan and his wife to put on. But
there were 160 people doing the event from all over so it needs to happen.
SET
?
Great job by all, Thanks to Jim, WA2NIJ's guiding hand.
I consider this exercise to have been a great success because all of you expressed a team spirit.
At the Dona Ana EOC, the HF frequencies 7.233 and 3.939 were totally useless from the location centered in uptown Las Cruces. There was a minimum signal noise level of "S-7" with peaks of "S-9" on 40 m. On 80, that noise was well above "S-9+10". (Seemed to be computer generated?"
N5BL, the clubhouse was activated as a secondary location, and was manned by WK5C, KD5SSF, and KD5SSJ where traffic was relayed between the Las Cruces Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and all other points throughout the state of NM, including Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Lincoln Cty.
A total of 4 messages were generated from the EOC. 2 were priority messages from the Salvation Army about their personnel. One was a routine message about the personnel dispatched from Las Cruces to Santa Fe as relief personnel (Fictitious to simulate added communicators for relief work up state) and one Health and Welfare. All were delivered in a timely manor, and all receipt confirmations received and logged.
We had the following personnel activated;
KD5SSF at N5BL
WK5C at N5BL
KD5SSF at N5BL
WM5Z at DAC-EOC
KD5ZGY at DAC-EOC
WA2NIJ at DAC-EOC
WA8FBN as standby operator
KC5EVR as standby operator
N5IAC as standby operator
KD5UZF as standby operator
KC5KWI as standby operator
There were several others that were available if needed and could have been activated via Land Line.
The biggest critique problem I saw was the lack of HF capabilities from the EOC at Dona Ana. There are radios there, but the noise made that equipment non-functional. Also, no return on the Health and Welfare message (#4) sent to B.C.EOC. Believe problem was dyslexia somewhere on my call sign, which made delivery not happen.
All in all, I think the exercise was a success from our location due to the hard work of all of you.
ARRL SECTION NEWS
KM5FT
The annual Spring Tailgate in Albuquerque is coming up Saturday, April 24.
It will be at the Del Norte High School North parking lot, where the Winter
Tailgate was held. The next day, Sunday, April 25, is the Bean Feed in Las
Cruces. These are both great events, so check them out. Now that Spring is
here, why not volunteer for some of the public service events coming up?
Contact Ed Ricco, N5LI, to see where your talents can be best used.
It's not too early to start planning for Field Day, June 26 and 27.
Contact your local club and join the Field Day fun. You might even enjoy it!
Registration for the next Level III Emergency Communications on-line course
(EC-003) opens Monday, April 19, at 12:01 A.M., Eastern Daylight Time (0401
UTC). Registration remains open through the April 24-25 weekend or until all
available seats have been filled -- whichever comes first. Class begins
Tuesday, May 4. Approximately 50 seats are being offered to ARRL members on a
first-come, first-served basis. Thanks to a grant from the Corporation for
National and Community Service and United Technologies Corporation, the $45
registration fee paid upon enrollment will be reimbursed after successful
completion of the course. To learn more, visit the ARRL Certification and
Continuing Education (C-CE) web page and the links
found there. For more information, contact Emergency Communications Course
Manager Dan Miller, K3UFG, (860) 594-0340.
If you're in the Deming area on Thursday nights, check into their net. It's
on the 146.820 repeater at 7:30 p.m. And, if you've got Six Meter gear, check
out the Sunday night nets around Albuquerque. One is on FM simplex on 52.02 at
7:30 p.m., and one is on SSB on 50.150 USB at 8:00 p.m.
Lots of great newsletters from around the state: Totah ARC; The
Communicator; QRL?; HDARC; Que Pasa DX; Valencia County ARA; Albuquerque
Amateur Radio Club. Somebody is putting a lot of effort into these and it
shows. Thank you and keep up the good work.
We welcome the High Desert Amateur Radio Club as an ARRL affiliated club.
They're new and if you live on the West side of Albuquerque, or in Rio Rancho,
give their president, Frank Warren, AB5WJ, a call. They meet the first Saturday of the month, 2:00 P.M., at Fire Station 1 on Southern in Rio Rancho.
We mourn the loss of Jaime Smith, W2AWD, Scott Van Omen, KC5RUS, and Leo
Bressen, WD5HCB, and extend our condolences to their families.
FCC PROPOSES CHANGES
ARRL
The FCC has released an "omnibus" Notice of Proposed Rule Making
(NPRM) that seeks comments on a wide range of proposed Amateur
Service (Part 97) rule changes. The FCC also denied several
petitions for rule making aimed at altering portions of the Amateur
Radio regulatory landscape and ordered minor changes in Part 97. The
NPRM is a result of a dozen petitions for rule making, all filed
more than a year ago and some as long ago as 2001.
Comments on the proposals put forth in WT Docket 04-140 are due by
Tuesday, June 15, with reply comments by Wednesday, June 30. Among
other changes, the FCC has recommended adopting the ARRL's "Novice
refarming" plan, which can be seen on the web at,
http://www.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/refarm/.
"Because the ARRL petition addresses the operating privileges of all
classes of licensees on these Amateur Service bands, we believe that
the ARRL petition provides a basis for a comprehensive restructuring
of operating privileges," the FCC said.
The ARRL referenced its Novice refarming proposal in its recent
Petition for Rule Making, RM-10867, which, along with three other
petitions remains open for comment until April 23.
The FCC also has proposed essentially eliminating its rules
prohibiting manufacture or marketing of Amateur Radio Service power
amplifiers capable of operating between 24 and 35 MHz. The current
rules "impose unnecessary restrictions on manufacturers of Amateur
Radio equipment and are inconsistent with the experimental nature of
the Amateur Service," the FCC said.
The FCC proposed amending Section 97.201(b) of the rules to permit
auxiliary operation on 2 meters above 144.5 MHz, with the exception
of the satellite subband 145.8 to 146.0 MHz, in addition to
frequency segments already authorized.
The FCC proposed extending the bands available for spread spectrum
experimentation and use to include 222-225 MHz as well as 6 and 2
meters. Current rules limit SS emissions to frequencies above 420
MHz.
Among other things, the FCC also proposed to prohibit acceptance of
more than one application per applicant per vanity call sign; permit
retransmission of communications between a manned spacecraft and its
associated Earth stations, including the International Space
Station; allow current amateurs to designate a specific Amateur
Radio club to acquire their call sign in memoriam; eliminate Section
97.509(a) of the rules, which requires a public announcement of
volunteer examiner test locations and times; and add to Section
97.505(a) to provide Element 1 (5 WPM Morse) credit to any applicant
holding a Technician license granted after February 14, 1991, and
who can document having passed a telegraphy examination element.
The Commission ordered some changes in Part 97 without requesting
comment. It ordered, among others, the revision of the definition of
an "amateur operator" in Section 97.3(a)(1) to reflect that entry in
the FCC Universal Licensing System (ULS), not a license document,
determines whether a person is an Amateur Radio operator.
The FCC adopted a technical change to specify that the mean power of
any spurious emission from a new amateur station transmitter or
amplifier operating below 30 MHz be at least 43 dB below the mean
power of the fundamental emission.
Among other petitions, the FCC turned down a proposal to establish
distinct CW and phone segments in the 160-meter band. Also denied
were petitions that would have imposed restrictions on the time,
length or transmission frequencies of bulletins or informational
transmissions directed at the amateur community and a request to add
to the special event call sign system certain call sign blocks
designating territories and possessions that lack mailing addresses.
The FCC Notice of Proposed Rule Making, on the web at,
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-79A1.doc,
in WT Docket 04-140, is available on the FCC Web site.
As soon as the document has been posted, comments on the NPRM may be
filed via the FCC Electronic Comment Filing System at,
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/. Click on "Submit a filing." To view
filed comments, click on "Search for filed comments." In either case
enter the NPRM number in the "Proceeding" field as "04-140" (without
the quotation marks).
BACK PAGE
The newsletter is always looking for articles and notes of interest to the members of the Mesilla Valley Radio Club. Please send them to Alex. F. Burr, K5XY, Editor, MVRC Local Oscillator, 695 Stone Canyon Drive, Las Cruces, NM 88011. Small personal ads from members will also be published. It would be helpful if submissions would be made in a machine readable form. MSDOS disks are welcome. Files can also be sent to the Internet address aburr@aol.com. The club has a web site maintained by WA2NIJ at http://www.zianet.com/mvrc.
OFFICERS
Pres Tim Linn KD5SSF 521-0486 kd5ssf@arrl.net
VPr Bob Deal KD5PPP bob-verna@zianet.com
Sec Carleton Talbot KC5MRM (915)877-3538 kc5mrm@zianet.com
Tres Charlie Welch W5TLU 524-3412 cwwelch@usa.net
Board
Communications Karl Larsen K5DI 524-3303 k5di@zianet.com
Education Joe San Filippo WZ5R 521-7574 sanfilippo@zianet.com
Special Events Cash Olsen KD5SSJ 382-1917 KD5SSJ@zianet.com
Newsletter Alex Burr K5XY 522-2528 k5xy@arrl.net
Repeaters Brad Sacca KD5SKE 382-4380 sheikyerbouty@msn.com
Facilities Bob Bennett AD5LJ 382-0148 rbennett@zianet.com
JOIN THE CLUB
To join the Mesilla Valley Radio Club, renew your membership, or to support the repeaters, please complete the form below and send it with dues ($25 single, $35 family per year) to: Treasurer, MVRC, Box 1443, Las Cruces, NM 88004.
Name:
Address:
Call:
Class of License:
Phone:
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ARRL Member? Yes? No?