The SELARC "Hamster"


*Serving Amateur Radio Since 1974*

Published Monthly by the Southeast Louisiana Amateur Radio Club Inc.
P.O. Box 1324, Hammond LA 70404
Visit our website: www.selarc.org

Vol. 44, No. 12  .........................  December 2017

* Club Meeting & Christmas Party !! *

*

**O*O*O**

CLUB MEETING

CHRISTMAS PARTY

OPTIONS in Hammond

19362  West  Shelton  Road

Tuesday,  December  12th,  at  6:30pm 

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Peace on Earth ----- Good Will To Men!

Talk-in 147.00 (-600) w/107.2 Tone

Please Click Here to RSVP and indicate what dish you can bring for the Pot Luck dinner!


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

 
Special Events, Hamfests & VE Sessions

Poplarville Hamfest sponsored by Pearl River ARC will be on Dec. 9 at the Emergency Operations Center, 810 Hwy 11 South.

SELARC Christmas Party will be held on the 12th of December at Options, 19362 W. Shelton Road in Hammond. If you have not already done so, please Click Here to RSVP and indicate what dish you can bring for the Pot Luck dinner. Additional details are in "Tyke's TidBits" further below. A collection will be taken for those who wish to contribute to Options but it is not a requirement. This is the regular date for our monthly SELARC club meeting and Treasurer Carol Redmond KE5GOC will have the hamfest prize tickets for distribution.

MARA Annual Christmas Hamfest on December 16 at the Minden Civic Center, 520 Broadway Street. Info This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more info.

Hammond Hamfest 2018 sponsored by SELARC will be at the SLU Pennington Center on Saturday, January 20, 2018. The 37th annual hamfest will be the same as last year (and still FREE admission and FREE parking!) at 1350 North General Pershing Street in Hammond. From I-55 take Exit 32 and go east on University Avenue 1.5 miles to North General Pershing. More info and prize tickets are available now.

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.

 

Happy Holiday Wishes --

The officers and members of the board send our best Christmas and New Year's wishes to you for your support and many contributions to SELARC and amateur radio during this past year. We hope you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving and we look forward to sharing our holiday happiness with you at the annual SELARC Christmas Party on December 12th!

Happy Birthday --
Birthday greetings go to Ken Brown WB7NCW, Carol Redmond KE5GOC and Carlos Lopez N5CCL on their December birth dates! If we missed your birthday, please let us know.
Get Well Wishes --
Wishes for a speedy and full recuperation go out to Ray May K5AZU and Al Baker KF5IBW who have been hospitalized during this holiday season. Hope to hear them back on the air from the home QTH soon!!
VE Session Results...
Congratulations to the following successes from the November VE session in Hammond:
Technician:
     Stephen Liuzza - Hammond
     Luke Hansen - Mandeville
General:
     Maurice Whitcomb Jr.,W5FUL - Greenwell Spring
     Johnathan Lott, KG5PSU - Covington
     Joseph Benson, KG5VUN - Ponchatoula
     Robert Benson III, KG5VUN - Ponchatoula

Many thanks to the VEs who helped make these sessions possible. PLEASE have a SAFE and MERRY CHRISTMAS. We will have a VE Session in December!!
Tyrone Burns, VE LiaisonThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
 
Tyke's TidBits --
Well, it is that time of year again....CHRISTMAS in all it's commercialized glory! I know that everyone out there has their own little "PET PEEVES" about CHRISTMAS shoppers and the mind-boggling traffic situations that arise from it. Just try and make the best of it, shop early in the week to beat the PAYDAY FRIDAY and REMEMBER, that the BIRTH of JESUS CHRIST is the REASON for the SEASON.....albeit, it's been blown out of proportion. Be safe out there and enjoy the time with your family and friends!
The Club CHRISTMAS PARTY is building up steam for the December meeting at the Options location in Hammond. Please check out the link at top of this page and RSVP so we can have an accurate head count. The event is Pot-Luck and BYOB, with SELARC providing the Turkey and setups! The link has a list of menu items that are being brought, along with a list of items that are recommended. If you have a favorite you would like to bring that is OK, just sign-up on the list and add your item. Members may invite a guest or prospective ham if they so wish - if you are not a member yet, you are welcome to attend and participate in the festivities! Remember, if you plan to participate in the "Dirty Santa" game, the gift vou bring, MUST be in the $20-25 range (no gag gifts).
Hamfest prizes have been purchased and tickets are printed and being issued so you can get yours at the party if you do not have them already! The free membership renewal policy is also in effect to any current member who sells $100.00 in Prize tickets! This has been very popular in past years. We will need to finalize Hamfest duties at the January meeting, also!!
Hoping to c'ya'll at the CHRISTMAS PARTY!!
Tyrone Burns This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., President

FOR SALE or SWAP

Yaesu G-450a antenna rotator -- will over-rotate 90 deg. past the 360 deg. north indicator. Comes with m metric mounting hardware to fit a Rohn rotor plate, no cable! Connectors are attached plus will include an extra molex style connector for control box. $150.00
Channel Master 3-wire antenna rotator and controller with infrared remote and some cable - $60.00
Tyrone BurnsThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

KLM KT34XA Antenna with heavy duty boom and 5 kilowatt balun. All new, never put up. $750.00 and pick up in Natalbany, 3 miles north of Hammond.
100 feet of 25g tower with guy wires, Ham-IV hy-gain HF Rotator now standing at Natalbany - $500.00
30-foot Dish with 1-inch sq. aluminum trusses covering expanded aluminum with two DC drive motors and gear boxes; 24V and 48V power supply for moving the dish and encoders with computer for tracking the moon. All for $5000.
Ray May This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 985-222-5730


 
News from ARRL --

==> ARRL International Grid Chase - January 1 is the start of a new year long 'operating event' the ARRL International Grid Chase. The object of the game is to make as many contacts with as many different grid squares as possible on a monthly and yearly basis. Contests or modes that exchange grid information are a natural for this challenge, but any valid contact uploaded to LOTW is eligible, and it's not even necessary to exchange the grid square as part of the contact, as long as the uploaded contact information has valid station grid square information. See the ARRL IGC web page for more information.

==> Contesting "intoxicating"? - The U.S. Navy is opting for well-rested sailors when on watch in a recent naval fleet command order to 'employ circadian watchbills.' The Naval Postgraduate School found that 21 hours without sleep was similar to a blood alcohol level of 0.08%. Remember that after a 48-hour solo contesting effort.

==> The Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2017 - The Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2017 - S. 1534 is alive, but with legislative action slowed to a glacial pace on Capitol Hill in recent months, there's been no real progress to report since this past summer. At present, the bill is under consideration by the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and it remains an active concern for ARRL. The League is working diligently to shake the bill loose and move it forward. While it may appear that time is short, S. 1534 does not need to pass the Senate by year's end. The bill remains in play until the current session of Congress adjourns, which doesn't happen until December 31, 2018. Once the bill has been passed by both chambers, the FCC would still have to implement its essence in the Part 97 Amateur Service rules. Introduced on July 12, S. 1534 marked another step forward for the landmark legislation. Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sponsored the bill in the Senate. The US House version of the legislation, HR 555, passed the House of Representatives by unanimous consent last January.

==> FCC Dismisses Radio Amateur's Petition to Revise Call Sign Rules- The FCC has dismissed a rule-making petition filed last May by Thomas J. Alessi, K1TA, of Stamford, Connecticut, that sought to amend the Part 97 rules regarding Amateur Radio Service call signs. The Commission action came in a November 28 letter from Scot Stone, Deputy Chief of the FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Mobility Division. Alessi had asked the FCC to make call signs consisting of one letter, followed by two digits, followed by one letter available to Amateur Extra-class licensees. Alessi asserted that the number of Amateur Extra-class licensees who desire short call signs exceeds the available supply of 1 by 2 and 2 by 1 call signs, and that his plan would make available an additional 7,800 four-character call signs.

==> AO-91 Commissioned, Declared Open for Amateur Use! - the AMSAT-NA's latest Amateur Radio CubeSat, RadFxSat (Fox-1B), now known as AO-91, has been opened for general use. AMSAT Engineering officially announced that AO-91 was ready for use at 0650 UTC on Thanksgiving Day, November 23. AMSAT VP of Engineering, Jerry Buxton, N0JY, turned over operation to Mark Hammond, N8MH, and AMSAT Operations during a contact on the AO-91 repeater during the pass over the Eastern US, AMSAT said in a bulletin. The latest CubeSat in the Fox series was launched on November 18 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Telemetry is downlinked via the DUV sub-audible telemetry stream, which can be decoded using FoxTelem software. A 1U CubeSat, RadFxSat (Fox-1B) is a joint mission of AMSAT and the Institute for Space and Defense Electronics (ISDE) at Vanderbilt University. AMSAT constructed the rest of the satellite, including the spaceframe, on-board computer, and power system. The Amateur Radio package is similar to that currently on orbit on AO-85, with an uplink on 435.250 MHz (67.0 Hz CTCSS) and a downlink on 145.960 MHz.

==> W1AW to begin scheduled transmissions on 6 meters starting January 2, 2018 - Beginning with the 9 AM EST fast code practice on Tuesday, January 2, 2018, W1AW will add 6 meters - specifically 50350 kHz - to its regular CW code practice, and CW, digital and phone bulletin transmission schedule. Prior to late 1989, W1AW had a presence on 6 meters for all its CW practice, and regular bulletins. Since that time however, the station was absent on 6 meters, with the exception of regular visitor operations and contests. In addition to providing regularly scheduled transmissions on 6 meters, another goal is to act as a beacon on 6 meters, especially from the Northeast US. Signal reports will be welcome. A web page that will allow listeners to provide signal reports will be made available after the start date. Reports may also be emailed to W1AW at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

-- The ARRL Letter and The American Radio Relay League

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Stay Radio active -- See you at the Christmas Party on December 12th!

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