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

* Club Meeting *
Tuesday, September 12th, 7:00PM
Ponchatoula Community Center
300 North Sixth Street
Handicap Access

Talk-in 147.00 (-600) w/107.2 Tone
Due to After-School Activity we cannot enter until 6:45PM

Congratulations to the SELARC Officers for 2017-2019!

President:  Vice-President:  Treasurer:  Secretary:

Tyrone Burns, N5XES Jimmy Hess, AG5EJ    Carol Redmond, KE5GOC Ted Forrest, KB5CQF

Judge Brenda Ricks KG5KBS presided over the installation and administered the Oath of Office.

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

9/11 - Lest we forget!!

Central LA ARC Hamfest on Sept.22-23 at Rapides Parish Coliseum in Alexandria. More info at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ARCOS Tailgate/Swapfest/Catfish Fry in Shreveport on Sept. 30th at North Shreve Baptist Church, 4930 Old Mooringsport Road. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more info.

Multiple Sclerosis 'Dats 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. 7 & Sunday, Oct. 8. Ham radio volunteers to assist with communications can contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more info.

West Central LA ARC 39th Annual Hamfest in Leesville will be on Oct. 8th at the First United Methodist Church. Go to www.wclarc.org for more info.

Greater New Orleans Ham Fest will be on November 11th at the Harahan Lions Club Building, 1001 Hickory Avenue. For info https://www.facebook.com/groups/2044282109131267/

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 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.

ARRL LA Section Manager Scott Wren KD5DFL has appointed the following as new LA ARES Emergency Coordinators: William "Bill" Hoover, AG5LR (Region 5), Joe Holland, KB5VJY (Region 8) and Joe Swan, KG5HZU (Region 9). Joe KG5HZU will succeed Frank Creel WA5CWE-SK as EC of Washington Parish here in Region 9. Congratulations and thanks to them for volunteering their services to ARES and our Louisiana communities!
Bob Priez This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., LA ARES Region 9 DEC

At 7:35pm the meeting was called to order by Vice-President David Muller with President Mike Ansalve K5ABJ absent. New officers were sworn in with Judge Brenda Ricks, KG5KBS, officiating and charging the officers and members with their duties and obligations to the club. President Tyrone Burns N5XES led the Pledge of Allegiance. It was m/s/passed to approve the minutes of the July 11th meeting as published in the "Hamster". A financial report was given by Treasurer Carol Redmond KE5GOC and a budget was distributed for review. It was m/s/passed to accept the financial report. The membership application of Blake Brady was voted on and approved. Welcome to SELARC, Blake!

Attendance (29): Tyrone N5XES, David W5NPV, Scott KD5PCK, Ed KE5GMN, Pat KE5KMM, Ernie N5NIB, Jerry N5GKJ, Victor KG5OPA, Al KF5IBW, Bob WB5FBS & Ellen, Nathan N5BFC, Ralph K5CAV, Lyle KD5JRY, Bill KB5OBW, Ronald N5QVZ, John AA5UZ, Judy AA5UZ, David N5QOX, Craig KG5UAQ, Richard KG5DBA, James K5QNT, Brenda KG5KBS, Carol KE5GOC, Dee K5XYL, Mark WX5RN, Michael W5MJB, James AG5EJ and Tom W5PGS

Committee Reports: Repeater (Tyrone N5XES) - Waiting on the tower crew. ARES (Pat KE5KMM) - – Packet class scheduled for 24 August at 7:00pm at the Pennington Center, room 108.

Old Business: None

New Business: (1) Bob WB5FBS discussed the upcoming MS Bike-a-thon. The dates for the event are October 7th and 8th. Send an email to Bob to let him know what day you can work if you would like to help. (2) Tyrone N5XES noted that he will be sending out a questionnaire to see what is needed for training classes and/or talks for the ham fest. (3) The LightHouse weekend for the weekend of August 19th was discussed.

Adjournment: It was m/s/passed to adjourn at 7:59pm.

==>Operating Procedures During Hurricane Irma -- Please be aware that due to the breadth of this series of weather events, numerous emergency and public service nets are in session, especially on the 80, 40, and 20 meter bands. US licensees are reminded that Part 97.101 (c) always gives priority to stations providing emergency communications. All stations should be aware that in a large-scale natural disaster, immediate threats to life and property can happen quickly. In order for Amateur Radio to play an effective role in supporting humanitarian efforts, it is key that all licensees cooperate to minimize potential on-air problems.
In the aftermath of a natural disaster, it is human nature for persons outside of the affected area to seek information on their loved ones. Those wishing to send Health and Welfare queries are encouraged to use the American Red Cross's ''Safe and Well'' website to facilitate those contacts: https://safeandwell.communityos.org/cms/index.php

==> Peggy Whitson, ex-KC5ZTD, Breaks Cumulative Time-in-Space Record - President Donald Trump welcomed NASA astronauts Peggy Whitson, ex-KC5ZTD, and Jack Fischer, K2FSH, as they returned to Houston on September 3 following 6-month stints on board the International Space Station (ISS). Whitson, a veteran space traveler, broke the record among US astronauts -- and women worldwide -- for the most cumulative time in space. Whitson, Fischer, and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, RN3FI, landed in Kazakhstan on Saturday after traveling from the ISS in a Russian Soyuz transporter. Trump spoke with Whitson and Fischer as they were en route by NASA plane to Johnson Space Center's Ellington Field. Whitson, 55, now holds the record within the NASA corps of astronauts -- 665 days -- for most cumulative time in space, racked up during three long-duration missions. She is also the only female astronaut to command the ISS twice and was the first woman to do so. During her last mission, she was ISS commander from April 9 through June 1. Whitson also holds multiple spacewalking records. She was part of the ISS Expedition 5 crew in 2002, which was her first time in space.

==> A new "pre-release" version of WSJT-X now is available.- This is the Amateur Radio digital software suite developed by Joe Taylor, K1JT, that includes the increasingly popular FT8 mode. The September 2 release, WSJT-X version 1.8.0-rc2, fixes a number of issues, provides better performance, and offers some new features. "Implementation of FT8 and its auto-sequencing feature is now more capable and more polished," Taylor said in the release notes. "The decoder is faster and better. It now includes signal subtraction, multi-pass decoding, and the use of accumulated 'a priori' information as a QSO progresses. Sensitivity extends downward as far as -24 dB in some circumstances." Taylor said that overlapping signals "two and three deep" are frequently decoded at essentially the same frequency, and on a crowded band "we sometimes see more than 30 decodes in a single 15-second interval over a 2 kHz window." In addition, the North American VHF Contesting Mode has been expanded to include both FT8 and MSK144 modes, and the WSJT-X User Guide has been extensively updated.

==> Revised FCC Form 605 Will Ask Applicants "The Felony Question" - A revised FCC Form 605 -- Quick-Form Application for Authorization in the Ship, Aircraft, Amateur, Restricted and Commercial Operator, and General Mobile Radio Services -- going into effect in September will ask all applicants to indicate if they have been convicted of or pled guilty to a felony. The Communications Act obliges the Commission to ask "the felony question," as it did on the old Form 610 and still does on other applications. This action will correct its omission on Form 605, which has existed for years. Applicants' responses and explanations will be used to determine eligibility to be a Commission licensee. The FCC told ARRL that it's still deciding whether to issue a public notice on the change. The revision also will apply to NCVEC Form 605, the unofficial Amateur Radio-specific version of the application that is completed and filed at volunteer examiner coordinator (VEC) examination sessions.

--The ARRL Letter and The American Radio Relay League

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Stay Radio Active - See You at the Sept. 12th Meeting!

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