If you would like to become a member of SELARC, please print out and complete the application/renewal form and return it with your check to: P.O. Box 1324, Hammond LA 70404. Thanks!

Multiple Sclerosis "Dat's How We Roll" Bike Tour a 150-mile ride from Hammond to Percy Quin Park in Mississippi and back will be held on Saturday, Oct. 6 & Sunday, Oct. 7. A few more ham radio volunteers to assist with communications are needed, especially on Sunday. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information or to volunteer.

Greater New Orleans Ham Fest on November 10th, Harahan LA, with prizes and flea market! Details at https://www.fa cebook.com/groups/2044282109131267/

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 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Find an Amateur Radio License Exam in Your Area.

The first storm to threaten our area made its appearance just in time to disrupt the Labor Day holiday for the Gulf Coast from Florida to Louisiana. Additional heavy rains not directly related to TS Gordon disrupted plans as well in southwest Louisiana and east Texas.
Our Region 9 ARES was on alert in anticipation of the inclement weather, and the Tangipahoa Parish EOC and Washington Parish EOC were eventually activated on Tuesday Sept. 5 when it appeared Gordon would make landfall near the MS/LA border. The ARES units were in contact with LA ARES and GOHSEP in Baton Rouge on VHF and HF nets as well as other communications protocols in place. Fortunately, the units were deactivated on Tuesday night when the National Weather Service cancelled the storm surge and severe weather bulletins for southeast Louisiana when TS Gordon made landfall just west of Mobile Bay.
Thanks to the following ARES members for their participation in the event:
Ed Mason KE5GMN Region 9 ADEC, Pat Mason KE5KMM Tangipahoa Parish EC, Carmen Bray KF5VXO AEC Southeastern LA University EOC, John Guthans AA5UY AEC National WX Service Slidell, Joe Swan KG5HZU EC Washington Parish EC, Mike Mason KE5KMH, Lyle Wales KD5JRY, Jim Coleman AI5B LA ARES SEC and Keith Barnes W5KB Assistant Director, ARRL Delta Division at GOHSEP Baton Rouge.

Bob Priez, DEC Region 9 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The meeting was called to order 7 PM at the Ponchatoula Community Center by President Tyrone Burns N5XES who then led in the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by each person introducing themself. It was m/s/passed to accept minutes of the July meeting as published in the "Hamster." Treasurer Carol Redmond KE5GOC was not able to present, but a monthly financial report prepared by her was distributed at the meeting; it was m/s/passed to accept the financial report. A pair of new membership applications from Blake Brady KG5UZW and Elizabeth KM6MWZ were introduced, motioned for applications to be accepted, seconded, voted on, and passed.

Attendance (16):Lyle KD5JRY, Russ AB6DS, Ralph K5CAV, Bob WB5FBS, Jimmy AG5EJ, Tyrone N5XES, Ernie N5NIB, Pat KE5KMM, Ed KE5GMN, Mike KE5KMH, John N5JHF, David W5NPV, Scott KD5PCK, Keith KF5VLX, Mark WX5RN and Jerry N5GKJ.

Committee Reports: Repeater (Tyrone N5XES) - The repeaters are now all on the air, but the 147 repeater took a lightning hit causing damage. The feedline, Poly-Phaser, jumper, connector, and controller were all affected with replacements needed; the 147 is back online in a limited mode with no external controller and high reflected power on water-logged feedline. It was requested for the membership to approve for 2100 savings spend as needed on the repairs for the 147 repeater and feedline replacements. It was m/s/passed to approve.

Old Business: Bob WB5FBS is looking for about 20 hams to volunteer for the October 6th & 7th MS Bike Tour. Click on this link to view the route and other details:
https://ridewithgps.com/events/56124-2018-bike-ms-dat-s-how-we-roll

New Business: (1) The Board of Directors signed a resolution nominating Hammond native Joseph Locascio K5KT for Honorary Life Membership in SELARC. The resolution was read at the meeting for approval by the members. It was m/s/passed to endorse the resolution. (2) SELARC Hamfest 2019 Budget - President Tyrone N5XES proposed the 2019 Hamfest budget be set at $2500. It was m/s/passed to set the budget at that amount. (3) Lyle KD5JRY moved that an admission payment be required for each person attending the 2019 Hamfest set at the price of one ticket in the prize drawing, and that each person after paying admission receives a numbered wristband and 1 ticket in the prize drawing included with their admission. The motion was seconded and passed.
Adjournment: It was m/s/passed to adjourn at 8:23 PM.
Submitted by Vice-President/Secretary Jimmy Hess AG5EJ

==> An Amazing Recovery: ARISS Packet System Revives - Similar to the AO-7 satellite resurrection several years ago, the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) packet radio system on the International Space Station (ISS) has begun working again. NASA ISS Ham Radio Project Engineer Kenneth Ransom, N5VHO, said over the weekend that reports he'd received indicated that the NA1SS packet signal returned in mid-August. Ransom said the revived system will fill the gap until a replacement packet module is flown to the ISS later this year and is installed by the crew on a time-available basis. The packet signal on 145.825 MHz has been copied in Europe, South America, India, and elsewhere. In another August 25 post, Mark Pisani, KK6OTJ, reported copying the packet system during an 18 degree pass over southern California and said he worked KB6LTY through the system. "Heard over Patagonia Argentina!" Francisco Rodriguez, LU2WBA, enthused in a post on August 24 at 2323 UTC. "Welcome back!" An August 17 post from Marco Antonio, PU2MUS, in Brazil indicated that the system was not active at that time. Earlier this summer, ARISS hardware team members on the ground reported that they were able to locate a functional duplicate of the ISS packet module that had been in use on the ISS for 17 years before it failed more than a year ago. ARISS has expressed hope that the new packet system hardware could be online again by the end of November.

==> Radio Amateurs Receive Images from Chinese Lunar Satellite - Some earthbound radio amateurs and sky watchers have received images from a tiny Chinese satellite now orbiting the moon. In May, China launched the DSLWP-A and DSLWP-B microsatellites -- also known as Longjiang-1 and Longjiang-2 -- into a lunar transfer orbit, although Longjiang-1 was apparently lost in the process and likely remains in deep Earth orbit. They were deployed as secondary payloads with the Queqiao relay satellite as part of the Chang'e 4 mission to the far side of the moon. DSLWP stands for "Discovering the Sky at Longest Wavelengths Pathfinder." The satellite will test low-frequency radio astronomy and space-based interferometry, and while it carries Amateur Radio and educational payloads, no transponder is aboard. The Chang'e 4 mission will be the first-ever attempt at a soft landing on the far side of the moon. The Chang'e-4 lander and rover are scheduled to launch in December. The Harbin Institute of Technology (BY2HIT) developed and built the DSLWP spacecraft and is overseeing that mission. The microsat also carries optical cameras from Saudi Arabia. An open telecommand protocol allows radio amateurs to take and download images. The spacecraft transmits on 70 centimeters (435.400/436.400 MHz), with 250/500 bps GMSK using 10 kHz wide FM single-channel data, with concatenated codes or JT4G. JT4 uses four-tone FSK, with a keying rate of 4.375 baud; the JT4G sub-mode uses 315 Hz tone spacing and 1,260 Hz total bandwidth. The Harbin Institute of Technology Amateur Radio Club has invited more radio amateurs to get involved with the DSLWP mission, and QSL cards have been designed for different flight phases for amateurs who successfully receive telemetry or make contact.

==> Reverse-Polarity Sunspot Group Does Not Belong to Cycle 25, Observatory Says - The Royal Observatory of Belgium's Solar-Terrestrial Centre of Excellence (STCE) has asserted that the reverse-polarity sunspot group 2720 observed in late August belongs to the current solar cycle -- cycle 24 -- and does not represent the start of cycle 25. "Because of its reversed polarity, some websites claimed sunspot group 2720 was possibly one of the first groups of new Solar Cycle 25," the Centre said. "This is simply not true, in view of its very low 8=C2=B0 latitude. The next Solar Cycle 25 sunspot group should have both reversed magnetic polarity and much higher heliographic latitude, typically 20=B0 to 40=B0 from the equator. Only two tiny, short-lived numbered sunspot groups are currently assigned to new Solar Cycle 25, sunspot group 2620 in December 2016 and 2694 in January 2018." After examining magnetograms of the sun's surface, well-known Amateur Radio solar observer and propagation authority Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA, agreed that AR2720 is reversed in polarity from other sunspots in the northern solar hemisphere. What confuses the issue, he said, is its low latitude, as a cycle 25 sunspot area should be at a much higher latitude. The same weekend of sunspot group 2720, a radio blackout lasting about a day took place, affecting the HF amateur bands as well as GPS systems. Solar watcher Tamitha Skov, in her YouTube report, called the G3-level geomagnetic storm "one of the top five storms of the solar cycle."

==> Digital Mobile Radio Hotspots May Be Interfering with Satellite Uplinks, AMSAT Reports - This week, AMSAT News Service (ANS) cited an August 27 report from AMSAT Vice President-Operations Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, saying that a digital mobile radio (DMR) signal has been interfering with the AO-92 (Fox-1D) satellite's 435.35 MHz uplink frequency. Glasbrenner said hotspots, repeaters, terrestrial simplex, and "anything not satellite" should never transmit in the segments 145.8 - 146.0 MHz or 435 - 438 MHz by international band plan.
Well-known satellite enthusiast Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK/VA7EWK, told ARRL that one DMR hotspot operating on the AO-92 uplink frequency in the St. Louis area has shifted to another frequency. But, he added, "I think there are still issues, since not all hotspots will report their frequencies and positions to websites such as BrandMeister or via APRS, where they appear on other sites such as http://aprs.fi." Stoddard points out that FCC Part 97 addresses Amateur Radio operation in these segments, although regulations in many other countries may not be as detailed. =A797.3(a)(7) defines auxiliary stations as, "an amateur station, other than in a message forwarding system, that is transmitting communications point-to-point within a system of cooperating amateur stations." Stoddard said this would include remote bases, EchoLink and IRLP nodes, and hotspots used for digital voice modes, as well as stations using these hotspots and nodes. Auxiliary stations may not transmit in the 145.8 - 146.0 and 435 - 438 MHz satellite subbands (among others in the 2-meter and 70-centimeter amateur bands), per =A797.201(b). Stoddard noted that frequencies used by satellites are usually incapable of being changed and are coordinated in advance of launch, while hotspots typically are frequency agile, and the frequencies used by those systems can be changed to avoid potential interference to satellites and other stations. -- Thanks to AMSAT News Service, Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK/VA7EWK

==> September's US Route 66 On the Air Special Event Marks 19th Year - The 19th annual Route 66 On the Air special event, celebrating the storied highway between the west coast and the US heartland, gets under way on September 8 and continues until September 16. The Citrus Belt Amateur Radio Club (CBARC) of San Bernardino, California, sponsors the event, which will feature 21 stations -- including two rovers -- operating from sites along or near the path of US Route 66. Sporting W6-prefix call signs, the stations will be active on CW, SSB, and digital modes, as well as some VHF and UHF repeater operation. Through story, song, film, and television, the highway -- also known as "The Will Rogers Highway" and "The Mother Road" -- came to symbolize the spirit of the freedom of the open road, inspiring many to see America. Stretching nearly 2,500 miles from California to eastern Illinois, US Route 66 was established in the mid-1920s. After it had been replaced piecemeal by the Interstate Highway System, it was formally removed from the US Highway System in 1985, although segments of the highway now have been designated a National Scenic Byway -- Historic Route 66.
Several Amateur Radio clubs will participate in making the event a reality by sponsoring stations set up along the original US Route 66 or in cities nearby. Listen for W6A - W6U during the event period. CW operation will center on or near 3.533, 7.033, 10.110, 14.033, 18.080, 21.033, 24.900, 28.033, and 50.033 MHz. SSB operation will focus on or around 3.866, 7.266, 14.266, 18.164, 21.366, 24.966, 28.466, and 50.166 MHz. For digital modes, look for Route 66 stations around 3.580, 7.070, 10.140, 14.070, 18.100, 21.070, 24.920, and 28.120 MHz. Commemorative QSL cards and certificates will be available.

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Stay Radio active -- See you at the September 11th Meeting

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