There was no newsletter distribution or meeting minutes during September after impact of Hurricane Ida.

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!

SELARC Meeting Agenda

(Meeting Type: ZOOM virtual)

Aug 11, 2021

Call to order: Russ Plyler (WI5ARD) at 7:15 p.m.

Pledge of Allegiance: No Flag

Minutes of previous meetings: Jimmy Hess (AG5EJ)

• Previous meeting minutes as published in the “Hamster” were accepted by motion and second.

Members present: (13) Russ Plyler (WI5ARD), Mark Lacey (WX5RN), Ryan Plyler (KI5FMA), Ernie Bush (N5NIB), Jimmy Hess (AG5EJ), Ralph Shaw (K5CAV), Ed Mason (KE5GMN), Pat Mason (KE5KMM), Bill Harris (KF5YBY), Brenda Bedsole Ricks, Charles Paradelas, Butch (KG5WQI), David Muller,            

Guest present:  None    

Treasurers’ report:  Ernie Bush (N5NIB)

• Treasure report as presented by Ernie was accepted by motion and second.

Bills/ Correspondence

• Ernie stated that he paid the arrl insurance.
• A check was not mailed to Highteck for the tower work yet. We are waiting on two lightning arrestors that will be issued at the end of the week.
• We have enough money for the hamfest. We need to decide if we are going to proceed with it soon.

New member applications / renewals: Ernie Bush (N5NIB)

• Nothing has been received in the mail since the last meeting.

Health and Welfare

• Tyrone Burns (N5XES) could not attend today’s meeting with a death in the family.

ARES report: Pat / KE5KMM 21 Check-ins

• Mark Lacey / WX5RN commented on how well the repeater is doing at his QTH in Covington now.

Old Business:

Hamfest 2022: Tyrone Burns (N5XES)

• As of last week, after the mask mandates we were still good on our location for the Hamfest. Will need to stay on top of this since the Parish President just stopped all public use of the EOC, SLU, and the center in Ponchatoula.
• Closed to the public
• Vendors confirmed are Sign Man, Navcom, USA, and waiting to hear back from others.

Repeater Committee: Tyrone Burns (N5XES)

• Tickfaw

• Question was brought up to what we could do for the Star Wars interference on 147.000 repeater.
• When members notice the interference, please try to capture the time, temperature, humidity, your location and bearing to interference if capable of measuring with a Yagi or other. We are hoping to gather enough data to have a hunting party to identify the source. Please forward data to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to consolidate the information.
• Need to check with Tyrone to see if the controller can be configured to drop transmit if the subaudible drops off.
• Russ (WI5ARD) has a repeater he can program up to use temporarily to see if the different setup takes care of the interference.
• Waiting on replacement lightning arrestors from Hi-Tech replace the borrowed one installed at the site. Once received Ernie will mail off the check for the work that was performed.

• Hammond

• Waiting on a report from Tyrone about the site to see what is needed to start making corrections to the damaged cables at the site.
• We have a cabinet to install the repeaters in and order new jumpers. Just need to coordinate a time to meet up at the site.

2021 Bike MS: Dat’s How We Roll: Bob Priez (WB5FBS)

• Bob was not available tonight to give an update on volunteers for the ride.
• Last week per Cristina Giambrone (Bike MS) the ride is still a go from their side.

New Business:

• LSU Football

• Tim K3LSU is looking to rundown hams with callsigns ending in “LSU” to have some type of event.

• Swearing in of the new SELARC officers

• The swearing in was performed by Brenda Bedsole Ricks.

• President: Russ Plyler (WI5ARD)
• Vice President: Mark Lacey (WX5RN)
• Secretary: Ryan Plyler (KI5FMA)
• Treasure: Ernie Bush (N5NIB)

Allen Pearson W5EGG Won the raffle, retired attorney. Ponchatoula.

• Vertical on top of a crank-up vertical tower.
• Goals and objectives of the club.

Upcoming events / Hamfest / Cancellations

• Slidell Hamfest – OARC

• October 8th & 9th, 2021 www.w5sla.net

• Shreveport Hamfest

• August 14th, 2021, www.shreveporthamfest.k5sar.com

• The Huntsville Hamfest

• August 21st & 22nd, 2021 www.hamfest.org

General discussion, presentation or training:

Motion to adjourn: Ernie Bush (N5NIB) motioned to adjourn Charles Paradelas second

==> Amateur Radio Volunteers Assist in Major US Cycling Event
Some 115 amateur radio volunteers from five states turned out on September 11 to support communication for the longest single-day US-sanctioned cycling event, LoToJa, now in its 39th year. Starting in Logan, Utah, the 203-mile course ends in Jackson Hole, Wyoming -- taking cyclists through northeastern Utah, southeastern Idaho, and western Wyoming in the process. ...

==> IARU Region 3 Considers Significant Expansion of HF Digital Segments
The IARU Region 3 (Asia) online conference hosted by Thailand's IARU member-society RAST wraps up on September 23. One topic discussed was a proposed HF band plan. Among the problems the planners seek to address is the use of bandwidth as a defining transmission characteristic. Following the revision of the tools used to describe HF amateur band plans, a joint tri-region IARU committee developed a proposal for revision of the data segments of the HF amateur band plans.
The changes proposed include a significant expansion of digital mode segments. ...

==> Louisiana ARES Returning to Normal Status in Storm-Affected Parishes
Louisiana ARES Section Emergency Coordinator James Coleman, AI5B, said this week that ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®) teams in his Section "should now be on normal status, with the affected parishes' status as appropriate for local conditions." Emergency Coordinators in some hard-hit parishes have activated volunteers for relief and recovery operations. More than 30 parishes were affected by the storm, although cell telephone outages in the affected area now stand at 3.7% as of September 8 and recovering rapidly. All 911 systems were reported operational as of September 8.
The Louisiana ARES Emergency Net is now on standby. "If it becomes necessary, the net will be active from 2 PM to 6 PM CDT on 7.255 MHz, and from 6 PM to 10 PM CDT on 3.878 MHz," Coleman's report said. The Louisiana Traffic Net is operating 7 days a week at 6 PM CDT on 3.910 MHz. ...

==> 20th Anniversary of 9/11
ARRL The national association for Amateur Radio® honors the memories of those who died in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, including these radio amateurs ...

==> ARRL Board Establishes Program to Cover Initial FCC License Fee for Young Applicants
The ARRL Board of Directors has formally endorsed a proposed program calling on ARRL to cover the $35 application fee for license candidates younger than 18 years old. The FCC is not expected to implement the $35 application fee schedule until sometime in 2022. The Board approved the "Youth Licensing Grant Program" at its July meeting in Windsor, Connecticut. ...

==> Hurricane Watch Net, VoIP Hurricane Net Reports Valuable to Forecasters During Ida
The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) and the VoIP Hurricane Net (VoIP WX) were busy gathering ground-truth weather observations from radio amateurs as Hurricane Ida slammed into the Louisiana Gulf Coast on August 29 as a powerful Category 4 storm. ...

==> Grace and Henri Keep Amateur Radio Weather Spotters Busy
Hurricane Grace and Hurricane Henri drew the attention of weather spotters over the past week. The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN), which tracked both storms to gather weather data for the National Hurricane Center (NHC), was able to secure operations at 1800 UTC on August 22 after watching Grace make two landfalls in Mexico. ...

==> Huntsville Hamfest Hosts 2021 ARRL Southeastern Division Convention
The annual Huntsville Hamfest, held on August 21 - 22, served as host for the 2021 ARRL Southeastern Division Convention. Convention visitors were able to meet with many ARRL officials and staff, including President Rick Roderick, K5UR; Chief Executive Officer David Minster, NA2AA; Director of Membership, Marketing, and Communications Kathleen Callahan, KC1MBY, and Product Development Manager Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R. Also on hand at the ARRL booth were many Southeastern Division officials, Section Managers, and Field Organization volunteers. ...

==> Newspaper Article Boosts Interest in Net Aimed at Visually Impaired, Disabled Amateurs
In June, Gerald Gaule, KE7GGV, of Vancouver, Washington, announced that he was launching a new net in the Portland, Oregon/Vancouver, Washington Metro Area for the visually impaired, blind, and disabled. The net runs on the fourth Sunday of each month at 8 PM Pacific Time on the W7RAT repeater on 440.400 MHz. Some publicity about Gaule and the net in The Columbian, a regional newspaper, has boosted attendance, Gaule said, as well as a request for help.
"Within a few minutes after the article came out, a mom approached me about helping her son, who is visually impaired and autistic, and interested in becoming a ham," Gaule said. "I am planning to help him every step of the way, even becoming a mentor after he gets his license." Gaule said that ARRL Western Washington Section Manager Monte Simpson, W7FF, was providing material and working to come up with a plan involving the 25-year-old's parents that would help get him licensed. ...

==> Registration Now Open for AMSAT Space Symposium
Registration is now open for the 39th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting, Friday through Sunday, October 29 - 31, at the Crowne Plaza AiRE in Bloomington, Minnesota, adjacent to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. General registration is $75, and student registration is $40. Registration for the Saturday evening Symposium Banquet is an additional $55. Registration includes a digital copy of the 2021 AMSAT Symposium Proceedings and admission to the Symposium presentations and exhibits...

==> IARUMS Intruder Watch Reports "Burst Signal" from China
The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 1 Monitoring System (IARUMS) reports that in addition to the already well-known intruders, some new or rarely heard signals have been spotted, including a burst signal from an over-the-horizon radar (OTH-R) in China. The IARUMS July newsletter reported that this signal -- in 3.8-second bursts -- was encountered repeatedly on different 40-meter frequencies as well as on 20 meters. ...

==> Sailing Vessel with Ham Radio History Marks 100 Years
The schooner Bowdoin is a century old this year. Now owned by the Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) as a training vessel, the ham radio history of the 88-foot (LOA) Bowdoin is often neglected. Constructed in Maine specifically for Arctic exploration, the vessel relied on amateur radio for communication during explorer Donald B. MacMillan's Arctic Expedition of 1923 and on the MacMillan-McDonald-Byrd Expedition of 1925 -- thanks in part to ARRL co-founder Hiram Percy Maxim, W1AW. The venerable vessel, the official vessel of the State of Maine and the flagship of Maine Maritime Academy's Vessel Operations and Technology Program, recently underwent a complete hull restoration and refitting and has done a little touring to mark its centenary. Its home port is Castine, Maine. ...

==> Bouvet Island DXpeditions Are in Planning Stages for 2021, 2022, and 2023
Parallel planning is under way by three entities for DXpeditions to Bouvet Island in 2021, 2022, and 2023. The remote volcanic, glacial sub-Antarctic island in the South Atlantic is the second-most-wanted DXCC entity, according to Club Log. In June, the Intrepid-DX Group canceled its 3Y0J DXpedition, planned for 2023, after the RV Braveheart was put up for sale. Not long after, the Intrepid-DX Group revived its plans and was seeking a suitable vessel. ...

==> Mines on the Air (MOTA) Promoted as an Activity Similar to Summits on the Air (SOTA)
Many hams enjoy getting out of the house to operate, engaging in such activities as Summits on the Air (SOTA), Parks on the Air (POTA), or Islands on The Air (IOTA). Now it's time to try Mines on the Air (MOTA) -- but banish any thoughts of underground operating. The spark plug for this activity is John "JohnnyF" Fuller, WJ0NF, in Colorado. ...

==> CQ World Wide DX Contests to Include Youth Overlay
Effective this fall, the CQ World Wide DX Contests (CQ WW) will offer a new Youth overlay, available to all competitors who are 25 years old or younger, as of the dates of the events. The Cabrillo overlay format will be CATEGORY-OVERLAY: YOUTH. To support this change, Youth overlay entries will be highlighted in the results, as is now done in the case of Classic and Rookie entries. Plaques will be available for winners in this category. ...