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Category: The Hamster

 

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. 7       .........................      July 2017

* Club Meeting & Election of Officers*
Tuesday, July 11th, 7:00PM
Ponchatoula Community Center


(300 North 5th Street, Range Road)
Elevator Access

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!

 
 
 
Hamfests & VE Sessions

Slidell EOC Hamfest will be Saturday, July 15th, at John Slidell Park, 105 Robert Road. Website: http://www.w5sla.net

Delta Division Convention (Shreveport/Bossier City Ham Fest) will be on August 12th in Shreveport. Details at Website: http://www.shreveporthamfest.com

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/

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 Birthday --
Birthday wishes in July go to Michael Mason KE5KMH, Hillary Portier W5DIY and of course to our own United States of America. We hope everyone had a wonderful Independence Day celebration! If we missed your birthday please let us know.

Get Well Wishes...
Best wishes for a continued improvement and recuperation go to SELARC members Fred Mayer K5FMM, Al Baker KF5IBW, Sandy Blaize W5TVW, Bruce Simmons KA5LLJ and James Redmond K5QNT!

 

 

In Sympathy --
We express our deepest condolences to the many friends and the family of Dr. Isaac "Frank" Creel WA5CWE who passed away this week at his home. Frank, an ARES EC, was a mentor to many hams, and he and his wife Lydia KA5IYE (also a Silent Key) were long time supporters and officers of the Washington Parish Amateur Radio Club.

Field Day Success!

A small but dedicated group of SELARC members had a “hot time” celebrating another successful Field Day event. The versatile amateur radio operators proved themselves more than capable as they set up antennas and temporary operating stations along the banks of the Bogue Falaya river in Covington. In spite of the occasional heavy rain and thunderstorms on Saturday afternoon, the hams manned the radios for the full 24-hour period and logged contacts all across the continent. Thanks go to Walter Sarrat N5RYI for providing the excellent location and facilities. Photos are posted on the SELARC website at http://www.selarc.org/fdpix.htm .

 

VE Session Results & Needs --
Congratulations to these new hams and upgrades at the June VE session in Hammond:
Technician:  Craig D. Waggoner KG5UAQ, Ponchatoula
                   Laura M. Harry KG5UAT, Hammond
                   Salvador "Joey" J. Genusa KG5UAR, Independence
General:      Stephen Rice, KG5RMO, Livingston

We are in serious need of Volunteer Examiners! If interested, you can go to the ARRL web site, search for Volunteer Examiners and click on Become a VE. You must be at least General class, but Extra class is greatly appreciated as Extras can sign all CSCEs!! Our volunteer pool is getting thin and aging and we need fresh blood!!! TNX es 73,
Tyrone Burns This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For Sale...
NEW KLM KT34 XA WITH HEAVY DUTY BOOM WILL SELL AT 1/2 PRICE. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 985-345-2643 or cell 985-222-5730.

 

Minutes of SELARC Meeting of June 13th (Ponchatoula Community Center)

President Mike Ansalve KF5JSO called the meeting to order at 6:59pm and led the Pledge of Allegiance, after which he asked Walter N5RYI to offer the prayer. It was m/s/passed to approve minutes of the May 9th meeting as published in the "Hamster". Correspondence included bills and dues payments received, acknowledgement from FCC regarding change of Trustee for club station WB5NET, the bill for payment of the replacement DB224-E antenna & brackets for the 147 repeater, and a letter of resignation from Dorothy KF5YNM and Francis KF5YNN Minor.
Treasurer Dave Catania N5QOX presented the detailed financial report. It was m/s/passed to accept the financial report

Attendance (29): Jimmy AG5EJ, Bob WB5FBS, David N5QOX, David W5NPV, Ernie N5NIB, Mark WX5RN, Ed KE5GMN, Pat KE5KMM, Ralph K5CAV, Lyle KD5JRY, Lambert KG5DDW, Roy KG5JSM, Donna KG5JSL, Bill KB5OBW, Walt N5RYI, Ronnie N5QVZ, Tom K6SMM, Victor KG5OPA, Jerry N5GKJ, Al KF5IBW, Richard KG5DBA, Tyrone N5XES, Keith KF5VLX, Scott KD5PCK, Trent KD5PCM, Judy AA5UZ, John AA5UY, Mike K5ABJ and Ron KK5AAA.

Committee Reports: Repeater (Bob WB5FBS) - The DB-224E antenna and mounting brackets have been received and Pete WB5ERM, Tyrone N5XES and volunteers have prepared it for installation on the tower. No date yet from Hi-Tech Tower as to when they will do the installation. There was a change in the purchase of the UHF Fusion to upgrade the 444.250 repeater from Joe Dick W5RHR for $600; after questions about warranty he decided not to sell the radio. This will be the last Repeater Committee report from WB5FBS as Lambert KG5DDW is the new trustee and will present future reports. ARES (Pat KE5KMM) - reported that ARES training on May 11at SLU Pennington Center had presentations by Tangipahoa Director of OHSEP Dawson Primes on Hurricane preparedness, and by John Guthans AA5UY and Emile Diodene KE5QKR on Packet Radio and Raspberry Pi. The Tangipahoa Parish Hurricane Season Kick-Off Meeting was held in Amite on June 1st with several Region 9 and Tangi members present. She encouraged more to check into the Monday night net at 8:30pm on the 147.00repeater and also the state ARES HF net on Sunday nights at 7:30pm on 3.878MHz. The Tangi NCS schedule will be out soon and NCS volunteers are welcome.

Old Business: : (1) Tyrone Burns N5XES commented on the need for discretion by SELARC members in discussing club business on the air, especially the club repeaters that have wide coverage and are available for anyone to listen in to. Some comments are not appropriate for open ‘airing’ to the general public and can have negative effects on the club and members. (2) Walt N5RYI gave details about the June 24-25 Field Day location at L’Esperance in Covington on the Bogue Falaya river. Lambert KG5DDW will bring equipment from the Community Center club station.
(3) The Nominating Committee Report was presented by Keith KF5VLX as follows ( in alphabetical order):
For President:           Tyrone Burns N5XES and Tom Crais K6SMM
For Vice-President:   Richard Bee KG5DBA and Jimmy Hess AG5EJ
For Treasurer:          Carol Redmond KE5GOC
For Secretary:          Ted Forrest III KB5CQF and Donna Holten KG5JSL

Additional nominations may be made from the floor by a SELARC member at the time of the election and nominee must affirm that they will serve if elected. There is no absentee voting process.

(4) Bob WB5FBS reported that the change of WB5NET trustee has been completed with the FCC and Lambert KG5DDW and he have visited all of the repeater and club sites. Lambert now has all of the keys, manuals and programming codes for all the repeaters. Bob thanked Lambert for stepping up and taking on the responsibility. (5) The LA Special Olympic Games on May 20-21 were a great success in spite of the rain and threatening weather; Bob WB5FBS thanked the 16 SELARC members who volunteered their time, equipment and talents for the 105 “peoplepower” hours that they donated to the games and special athletes.

New Business: (1) It was m/s/passed to send a letter of thanks to Arthur “Bill” Bailey W5VTW for the donation of equipment from his ham station, including an IC-730 xcvr, power supply, antenna tuner and assorted connectors and gear. (2) The subject of library book donations was brought up for discussion of costs and the process of selection. After some discussion, it was m/s/passed that a book donation would be made for individual SELARC members or a group donation made in the name of immediate family members.

Adjournment: It was m/s/passed to adjourn at 7:49pm.

News from ARRL --

==> President to Name Jessica Rosenworcel for New FCC Term -- in a low-key announcement on June 13, President Donald Trump indicated that he plans to nominate former FCC Commission member Jessica Rosenworcel to fill the open Democratic slot on the FCC. Rosenworcel served on the Commission from 2012 to 2016, leaving at the end of last year after the US Senate was unable to extend her term before time ran out on that session of Congress. Rosenworcel has been a vocal supporter of net neutrality and supported rules drafted by then-FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler that would treat internet providers more like utilities. The FCC's new Republican Chairman, Ajit Pai, has reversed course on that initiative. Rosenworcel also has advocated for FCC initiatives that seek to close what she calls "the homework gap" stemming from disparities in the availability of broadband service, especially in rural communities, which can hamper the ability of students in those areas to use the internet for school assignments. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer formally recommended Rosenworcel's appointment to the open FCC slot. The lone Democratic member on a now three-member FCC is Mignon Clyburn. The other Republican member is Michael O'Rielly. President Trump is expected to announce a Republican candidate to the FCC, to return the Commission to its full five-member complement

==> China Launches Satellites Carrying Amateur Radio Transponders - CAMSAT has announced that two Amateur Radio payloads piggybacked on the optical remote-sensing microsatellites OVS-1A and OVS-1B were launched on June 15 from China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The primary launch mission is a hard X-ray modulation telescope satellite. The Amateur Radio payloads are designated CAS-4A and CAS-4B. CAS-4A (call sign BJ1SK) carries an inverting U/V linear transponder, with a CW telemetry beacon at 145.888 MHz and 4.8 kb GMSK telemetry at 145.835 MHz. The transponder uplink is 435.220 MHz; the downlink is 145.870 MHz. CAS-4B (call sign: BJ1SL) carries an essentially identical inverting U/V linear transponder, with a CW telemetry beacon at 145.910 MHz and GMSK telemetry at 145.890 MHz. The uplink is 435.280 MHz; the downlink is 145.925 MHz. Both CAS-4A and CAS-4B are equipped with quarter-wave monopole antennas for VHF and UHF.

==> Stations Report Hearing WSPR Signal - Hundreds of Amateur Radio stations have reported receiving the WSPR signal being transmitted by CG3EXP on 20, 30, and 40 meters from the Canada C3 expedition to track the vessel Polar Prince as it transits Canada from east to west via the Northwest Passage in 150 days to celebrate Canada's 150th anniversary. This marks the first time that WSPR has been used to track a vessel. The expedition, which started on June 1, will continue until October 28, ending in Victoria, British Columbia. It's currently on the third of 15 planned legs of its journey, en route from Baie-Comeau, Quebec, to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. The 220-foot-long Polar Prince, a former Canadian Coast Guard vessel, is a research icebreaker. Stations with an HF receiver and the free WSPR application can receive the CG3EXP signals directly from the ship on 40, 30, or 20 meters, and the location can be gated to the internet and tracked on WSPRnet. The project is seeking radio amateurs who are in close radio proximity to the route to receive the CG3EXP signal using the WSPR application on

==> Ulrich Rohde, N1UL, Wins Prestigious W.G. Cady Award - Well-known scientist and radio amateur Ulrich Rohde, N1UL, is the recipient of the 2017 W.G. Cady Award, "for pioneering research, development, and commercialization of signal-generating and processing devices for commercial and scientific applications." Sponsored by the IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control (UFFC) Society, the Cady Award recognizes outstanding contributions related to the fields of piezoelectric or other classical frequency control, synthesis, and measurement; and resonant sensor devices. Recipients are selected by the IFCS/EFTF Joint Program Committee.

--The ARRL Letter and The American Radio Relay League

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Be Sure to Attend and Vote at the July 11th Meeting -- Stay Radio Active!

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