The SELARC 2021 Hamfest was cancelled. To offset the annual cost of operating the club in lieu of the regular Hamfest. A quantity of tickets, minimum of 25, to be sold at $100.00 each, for a $500.00 cash payout. The membership incentive still applies to this program for current members. Ernie has the tickets for sale!!

MISSLOU Amateur Radio Club - Tailgate Sale & Swapmeet - Sat. Apr. 17, 2021 8am to 12pm. See the tailgate flyer.

Florida Parishes VE Group - Testing sessions are scheduled for the last Sunday of each month [with the exception of holiday conflicts] at AmVets Post #68; 26890 Hwy 42 (jct. of Hwys 42 and 43) - Springfield, La. 70462 (approximately 3 miles south of I-12 at exit 32) at 2pm with $15 testing fee. Bring photo ID and any appropriate CSCE. For more information contact [email protected] or Find an Amateur Radio License Exam in Your Area.

Birthday Wishes for April go out to - Blake KG5UZW and Judy AA5UZ.
If we missed your birthday, then please let us know.

We express our deepest condolences for the friends and family of recent Silent keys :

SELARC member Jerome Labat KD5GUQ passed away on Monday, February 22, 2021.

We have added some photos found by Scott KD5PCK of past SELARC events to these pages:

• Field Day 2010
• MS Bike Tour 2010

==> Celebrate World Amateur Radio Day 2021 on April 18
Sunday, April 18, is World Amateur Radio Day (WARD), with this year marking the 96th anniversary of the International Amateur Radio Union ( IARU), which was founded at the 1925 International Radiotelegraph Conference in Paris. ARRL cofounder and first president Hiram Percy Maxim, 1AW, was there, and today ARRL is the International Secretariat of the IARU. ARRL has resources members can use to celebrate World Amateur Radio Day, including graphics for social media posts and radio club websites, as well as a printable flyer.
IARU has chosen "Amateur Radio: Home but Never Alone" as the theme for World Amateur Radio Day 2021. The theme acknowledges that during our physical distancing to reduce the spread of COVID-19, amateur radio stands out as a welcome respite for its variety of activities and opportunities.
Amateur radio experimenters were the first to discover that the HF spectrum was not the wasteland experts of the time considered it to be, but a resource that could support worldwide communication. In the rush to use these shorter wavelengths, amateur radio was "in grave danger of being pushed aside," IARU history has noted, prompting the founding of the IARU. At the 1927 International Radiotelegraph Conference, amateur radio gained allocations still recognized today -- 160, 80, 40, 20, and 10 meters. Over the years, the IARU has worked to defend those allocations and to give all radio amateurs new bands at 136 kHz, 472 kHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 18 MHz, 24 MHz, and 50 MHz. ...

==> IARU Region 1 Workshop to Focus on the Future of Amateur Radio
International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 (Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Northern Asia) and its member-societies have begun preparing for a fall 2021 workshop to study the future of amateur radio. Topic areas will focus on amateur radio today, how it's changing, where tomorrow's radio amateurs are, how others view amateur radio, and what amateur radio needs to do going forward.
"The message being shared in this session is clear," IARU said. "IARU societies are losing members, [and] loss of members in some societies is remarkable over the last 10 years, even with good licensing throughout." IARU acknowledges that individuals holding leadership roles in member-societies are getting older, and some member-societies have no individuals younger than 35 in leadership positions...

==> FT8 Accounts for Nearly Two-Thirds of HF Activity
Since zooming to prominence after its debut in mid-2017, the popular FT8 digital protocol has become the mode of choice for some 60% of HF operators, according to Club Log's latest activity report compiled by Michael Wells, G7VJR. FT8 is one of the protocols in the WSJT-X suite of free programs. Wells says FT8 activity level sits at nearly 85% on 6 meters. The dramatic FT8 upswing has come at the expense of phone, CW, RTTY, PSK, and other modes. Over the same period, the number of FT8 contacts logged each year per active call sign has continued to climb to about 60% between 2015 and 2021, with the most dramatic increase being nearly 29% in the past year. The use of all other modes has continued to flutter downward since the advent of FT8, which occupies vastly less spectrum than the more traditional ham radio operating modes. ...

==> IARU and European Commission Meet on Wireless Power Transfer for Electric Vehicles
International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 (IARU-R1) President Don Beattie, G3BJ, has reported a meeting between the IARU and the European Commission that discussed potential RF interference from wireless power transfer for electric vehicles (WPT-EV) systems. At the request of the European Commission, IARU met on March 25 with representatives of the automotive industry, standards bodies, and the European Commission to review the current position on the development of an emission standard for WPT-EV...

==> Traditional Amateur Radio Contesting Faces a Demographic Cliff
Frank Howell, K4FMH, followed up his two-part National Contest Journal (NCJ) series, "The Demographics of Contesting," with a post to his "Social Circuits" blog, called "Lemmings over a Demographic Cliff?" (His original articles appeared in the July/August and September/October 2020 issues of NCJ.) Howell points to data showing that radio contesters are older than the average ARRL member. Taking into account information from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics on Leisure Time Use, Howell opines that this should be expected. ...

==> FCC Not Yet Collecting $35 Application Fee
The majority of the FCC's revised Part 97 rules (adopted in December 2020) establishing new application fees become effective on April 19, but the new amateur radio application fees will not become effective on April 19. The FCC announced on March 19 that the amateur radio application fees, including those associated with Form 605 filings, would not become effective until the "requisite notice has been provided to Congress, the FCC's information technology systems and internal procedures have been updated, and the Commission publishes notice(s) in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of such rules..."

==> FCC Agrees with ARRL and Allows Partial Reprieve on 3.5 GHz
Pending future FCC action, amateur radio secondary use of the 3.3 - 3.45 GHz band segment may continue indefinitely. The FCC, as part of a lengthy Second Report and Order (R&O) for commercial licensing of 3.45 - 3.55 GHz adopted on March 17, agreed with ARRL that continued access by amateur radio to 3.3 - 3.45 GHz should be allowed until consideration of the 3.1 - 3.45 GHz spectrum in a later proceeding. ...

==> Cooperative Effort Under Way to Resolve Potential 70-Centimeter Interference Issue
ARRL, the FCC, and the US Department of Defense are cooperating in an effort to eliminate the possibility of amateur radio interference on 70 centimeters to a future missile control system at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) in New Mexico.
The Defense Department's Regional Spectrum Coordinator contacted the FCC in March, seeking information on whom to contact regarding amateur transmissions operational on 70-centimeter frequencies slotted for use on the new control system. The FCC, in turn, asked ARRL to oversee the coordination efforts. It is to be noted that the Amateur Radio Service is a secondary service on the band.
Investigation revealed that the potential problem was not with individual operators or repeaters, but with RF control links at 420 - 430 MHz used to establish a linked repeater system within New Mexico. "Based on the investigation, and with the support of the FCC, the owners of the RF control links being used in the 420 - 430 MHz portion of the amateur allocation within a certain proximity to WSMR are being asked to re-coordinate the link frequency ...

==> NCVEC Question Pool Committee Seeks Input for Updated Technician Question Pool
The National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (NCVEC) Question Pool Committee (QPC) is requesting input from the amateur radio community on new or modified questions for the 2022 - 2026 FCC Element 2 (Technician pool), which goes into effect on July 1, 2022.
This may include suggestions for new questions, changes to current examination topic areas, or changes to existing questions in the current Technician question pool. ...

==> "Radio in a Box" Concept Could Ease DXpedition Access
Leaving a small footprint on sensitive natural areas can be a challenge for DXpeditions. George Wallner, AA7JV, who will be operating as C6AGU from Deep Water Cay in the Bahamas until March 30, including during the CQ World Wide WPX SSB weekend, will be testing a DXpedition setup that may be more amenable to the concerns of environmental protection agencies that oppose camping on protected land.
In some places, landing permits (rather than the cost of a DXpedition) are the biggest obstacle. Often, overnight stays are not allowed, especially hindering 160-meter operation.
The approach is "Radio in a Box" (RIB) -- a complete station in a weatherproof Pelican case containing a FLEX-6700 transceiver and an amplifier, along with cooling and control systems. The box, antennas, and generators would be on land and operated remotely from a nearby vessel. The RIB is seen as addressing that issue, and Wallner believes this lower-profile approach will become the standard for future DXpeditions to sensitive areas...

==> YOTA Region 1 Taking Cautious Approach to COVID-19 and YOTA Camps
The IARU Region 1 (IARU-R1) Youth Working Group has said no youth events will take place before mid-June, and that it will review those scheduled for later in the year as the pandemic situation evolves. The group said these events make social distancing difficult, and it doesn't believe it would be possible for them to take place safely. Other 2021 events will remain on the calendar for the time being. ...

==> QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo Experiences Technical Issues, On-Demand Access Opens
The QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo attracted thousands of participants over the March 13 - 14 weekend. Taking a different tack than it did for ts inaugural event last August, the expo leveraged the capabilities of two virtual event platforms to increase interaction among attendees, speakers, and exhibitors. All did not go smoothly, however.
"Unfortunately, we had many technical issues with the Airmeet presentations and the integration of the vFairs and Airmeet platforms," expo chairman Eric Guth, 4Z1UG/WA6IGR, explained afterward in a message to participants. All recorded presentations are available for attendees during the expo's 30-day on-demand access period, which ends April 16. ...

==> ARISS Ham Station in Columbus Module Is Once Again Operational
Some 6 weeks after going silent following a spacewalk that installed new antenna cabling, the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) ham station in the Columbus module is once again operational. The Columbus station, which typically uses the call sign NA1SS, is the primary ARISS amateur radio station used for school contacts and other activities. The problem arose after a January 27 spacewalk replaced a coax feed line installed 11 years ago with another built by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Airbus.
While the specific cause of the problem has not yet been determined, a March 13 spacewalk that restored the antenna cabling to its original configuration provided the cure. ...

==> Approaches to Tackle Noise Problems Vary, Remedies Elusive
RF noise is a frequent discussion topic among radio amateurs. A proliferation of electronics has cluttered and complicated the noise environment; it's not just power lines anymore. Unless isolated from civilization, most hams experience RF interference (RFI) and spectrum scopes on modern transceivers can make it much more apparent. Various approaches to address the apparently worsening noise floor have been taken around the world, some addressing lax regulation.
We all want to enhance our ability to copy the weak ones by increasing our signal-to-noise ratio," Alan Higbie, K0AV, said in his March/April NCJ article, "Tracking RFI with an SDR One Source at a Time." He suggests practical methods for individual radio amateurs to improve their own noise environment. ...

==> North Carolina Radio Amateurs Adapt Tailgating Hamfest to the COVID-19 Pandemic
With many in-person hamfests canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some radio amateurs in Raleigh, North Carolina, have come up with a way to adapt with a tailgate hamfest in an unused shopping center parking area. The event grew out of the so-called Ham Radio Taco Thursdays, begun many years ago by ARRL Life Member Alan Pitegoff, AB4OZ.
Pitegoff had to put his event on hold when the pandemic erupted. It was suggested that hams could gather and socialize at a safe distance by having a Taco Thursday with the taco truck outside in an adjacent empty parking lot. That event was a success, with participants remaining at their vehicles and bringing their own chairs. That success inspired holding a tailgate hamfest in the same spot, and it's now turned into a monthly event, called the AB4OZ Hamfest. ...

==> Quantum Receiver Can Detect Huge Swath of the RF Spectrum
US Army researchers have built a so-called "quantum sensor," which can analyze the full RF spectrum and real-world signals, a report on Physics.org says. The quantum sensor -- technically a Rydberg sensor -- can sample the RF spectrum from 0 to 20 GHz and is able to detect AM and FM radio signals, as well as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and other RF communication protocols. The peer-reviewed Physical Review Applied published the researchers' findings, "Waveguide-coupled Rydberg spectrum analyzer from 0 to 20 Gigaherz," coauthored by Army researchers Drs. David Meyer, Paul Kunz, and Kevin Cox. "The Rydberg sensor uses laser beams to create highly excited Rydberg atoms directly above a microwave circuit, to boost and hone in on the portion of the spectrum being measured," the article explains. "The Rydberg atoms are sensitive to the circuit's voltage, enabling the device to be used as a sensitive probe for the wide range of signals in the RF spectrum." ...

==> AMSAT-DL Operators Track Mars Probes
Members of Germany's AMSAT organization, AMSAT-DL, in cooperation with the Sternwarte Bochum Institute in Bochum, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, have been using the institute's 20-meter (65.6-foot) diameter dish antenna to listen directly to signals from probes in Mars orbit. Signals have been copied from the Chinese Tianwen-1 and the Hope Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) spacecraft now orbiting Mars and transmitting in the 8.4 GHz band. Recordings of the signals can be heard on YouTube with regular updates by following @amsatdl on Twitter...

==> Video Documents Removal, Preservation of 250 kW Voice of America Transmitter
With the former Voice of America Delano relay site in Central California scheduled for eventual demolition for resale, the Collins Collectors Association (CCA), in association with the Antique Wireless Association (AWA), came up with a plan in 2014 (working, among others, with past ARRL Midwestern Division Director Rod Blocksome, K0DAS, a former Collins engineer) to retrieve one of the Collins 821A-1 250 kW HF transmitters from the site and put it on display at the AWA museum in Bloomfield, New York. ...