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
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Vol. 44, No. 4 ......................... April 2017 |
* Club Meeting*
Tuesday, April 11th, 7:00PM
Ponchatoula Community Center
(300 North 5th Street, Range Road)
Elevator Access
NOTICE: The 147.00 Repeater will be Off-Air until Further Notice!
Ponchatoula Strawberry Event
Saturday-Sunday, April 8-9
Details Below
Talk-in 145.130 (-600) w/107.2 Tone
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!
Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival Special Event station WB5NET will be April 8 & 9. SELARC will be on VHF across the street from the festival grounds at the North Sixth Street QTH of N4USW. This is a covered facility in case rains occur. We will begin transmitting at 11am on Saturday & Sunday. Talk-in on the 145.130 (-600) repeater.
| Hamfests & VE Sessions |
Northeast Louisiana Regional Hamfest will be April 29 at the West Monroe Convention Center (901 Ridge Ave). Info at http://twincityhams.org/hamfest.html
Slidell EOC Hamfest will be Saturday, July 15th, at John Slidell Park, 105 Robert Road. Website: http://www.w5sla.net
Greater New Orleans Ham Fest will be on Saturday November 11th at the Harahan Lions Club Building, 1001 Hickory Avenue. For info https://www.facebook.com/groups/2044282109131267/
LA Special Olympic Games will be held on May 20-21 on the campus of Southeastern Louisiana University; ham volunteers will assist with communications. To volunteer contact Bob Priez This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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. Please NOTE: The April test date will be APRIL 23. 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 -- |
| Get Well Wishes... |
| VE Session Results... |
Technician: Ronald Harry - Hammond
General: Matthew Gottschalk, KG5SCY - Baton Rouge
Again, many thanks to the current VEs who attend every month. We are still in need of new VEs to help out with out upcoming sessions. As of lately, we have been barely having enough volunteers to hold a session! Please consider registering as an Volunter Examiner. We only require a few hours of your time each month. Thank you!
The April test date will be APRIL 23. For more information contact me or Find an Amateur Radio License Exam in Your Area.
Tyrone Burns, VE Liaison This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Francis KF5YNN offered the prayer so all could eat before business started. President Mike Ansalve KF5JSO called the meeting to order at 7:10pm and it was m/s/passed to approve minutes of the February 13 meeting as published in the "Hamster". Vice-President David Muller W5NPV presented the minutes and correspondence for Secretary Bob Priez WB5FBS who was absent. Correspondence included bills, renewal of SELARC’s WB5NET amateur license and dues payments. Treasurer Dave Catania N5QOX presented the financial report and President Mike gave a break down of the hamfest site expenses which included the Pennington Center rental and labor costs. He again praised the 34 members listed in the "Hamster" who sold $100 or more of prize tickets before the hamfest. It was m/s/passed to accept the financial report. Memberhip applications of Deandra Forrest K5XYL, Ted Forrest KB5CQF and Sue Muller WD5BVC were voted and approved. Welcome to SELARC to each of them!
Attendance (29): Mike KF5JSO, David W5NPV, David Catania N5QOX and Videt, Jimmy AG5EJ, Dottie KF5YNM, Francis KF5YNN, Jerry N5GKJ and Mary, Roy KG5JSM, Donna KG5JSL, Ed KE5GMN, Pat KE5KMM, Tom W5PGS, Al KF5IBW and Rose, Lambert KG5DDW, Lyle KD5JRY, Ted KB5CQF, Dee K5XYL, Mary KG5ITF, Dean KG5AAE, Pete WB5ERM, Leslie KE5ILT, Jason KC5WDH, Bill KB5OBW, Walt N5RYI, Ernie N5NIB and Alan KR5T.
Committee Reports: Repeater (Bob WB5FBS) - some intermittent noise on the 147 machine and sometimes a serious 'hum' on the 444.250. ARES (Ed KE5GMN) - the next ARES meeting will be March 21, 7pm, at the University Center. He passed around a sign-up sheet for future SkyWarn class at the NWS in Slidell.
Old Business:: (1) David N5QOX reported on the Technician License Class at the club station. (2)Plans for the special event operation at the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival on April 8&9 were discussed; volunteers are needed for the VHF activity at N4USW QTH across from festival grounds and HF activity from the community center club station
New Business: (1) Dean KG5AAE reported on investigation of a possible Field Day (June 24&25) site, which included room, A/C, bedrooms, water, parking and was next to the river. (2) Mike KF5JSO presented a letter from DX Engineering offering participation for one of our meetings, including question & answers. (3) Pete WB5ERM spoke about the club repeaters being "on borrowed time" and could require major repairs anytime. He asked Treasurer David to prepare a Profit & Loss report for the hamfest this year and last, and was interested in the impact of Main Trading Company’s presence on the hamfest. He made the motion to charge "some amount" of money for admission to the hamfest next year. Motion was seconded and passed with one dissenting vote. It was moved/s/passed to reimburse Pete for housing and meal expenses for MTC. He reported that MTC told him at the Jackson Hamfest that they lost money at Jackson but broke even in Hammond because of their expenses being paid.
Adjournment: It was m/s/passed to adjourn at 7:50pm.
| DXCC Honor Roll -- |
Congratulations to Hammond native Joe Locascio K5KT on his listing in the 2016 ARRL DXCC Honor Roll with 354 countries confirmed. He is also listed with 352 Phone and 356 Mixed scores. Joe is retired from the Air Force and now lives in California. He is always happy to get a QSO 'back home'!
| News from ARRL -- |
==> ARRL Reiterates its Case for New Band at 5 MHz -- In comments filed on March 20 with the FCC on its own January Petition for Rule Making (RM-11785), ARRL reiterated its case for a contiguous secondary 15-kHz wide, 60-meter band of 5,351.5 to 5,366.5 kHz in addition to the four existing discrete 60-meter channels that fall outside the requested band, with a permitted power level of 100 W EIRP and retention of current operating rules. More than 5 dozen comments, all supporting the proposed allocation, were filed on the League's petition. While some suggested more spectrum or higher power, or a combination, ARRL said in its comments that it does not at this time favor any changes in its initial request for a new band. The League proposal would implement a portion of the Final Acts of World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15) that provided for a secondary international amateur allocation of 5,351.5 to 5,366.5 kHz at a maximum of 15 W EIRP. Citing its decades-long effort to obtain operating privileges in the vicinity of 5 MHz, ARRL said there's "not really much room for debate about the size of the band and the power limit domestically at the present time, given the allocation status of the band (domestically and internationally) and the necessary interference protection requirements for primary users.
==> Motorola Solutions Sues Hytera Communications, Alleging Patent, Trade Secrets Theft - Motorola Solutions has filed complaints in federal court (US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois), alleging that Hytera Communications' digital mobile radio (DMR) products employ techniques and systems that infringe on Motorola Solutions' patents and trade secrets. Already known for its Land Mobile Radio Service products, Hytera entered the Amateur Radio DMR market last year. Motorola alleges that proprietary and patented information was taken illegally by three former company engineers who now work for Hytera, as "part of a deliberate scheme to steal and copy" its technology. Motorola contends that its digital radio products were rendering Hytera's analog systems obsolete, and rather than develop its own digital products, Hytera stole Motorola's ideas, its attorneys allege. Motorola said technology features it developed started showing up in Hytera products soon after Hytera began hiring engineers who had left Motorola in 2008, according to the lawsuit.
In a statement, Hytera, headquartered in Shenzhen, China, said it adheres to high ethical standards and complies with "the laws and regulations in markets where we operate," and "firmly believes that its business practices and operations will be fully vindicated."
==> Amateur Radio Gains a Champion in FAA Tower Safety Rules Controversy - The owners of certain Amateur Radio towers have a friend in FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly, who feels that tower-marking provisions required under the FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016, now Public Law 114-190, "could use tweaks." In a March 10 blog post, O'Rielly expressed his belief that thousands of tower owners in the US could face expensive, unnecessary retrofits resulting from the law's unintended consequences. The new FAA law would impose additional marking requirements for a small number of Amateur Radio towers, however. O'Rielly said §2110 -- the section of the new law that requires improved physical markings and/or lighting on towers of between 50 and 200 feet -- is too broad. O'Rielly said that §2110 appears intended to address dangers to small, low-flying aircraft, such as crop dusters, from temporary meteorological testing towers (METs), among others, but that if implemented literally, "the provision will force expensive retrofits to potentially 50,000 existing towers," including cell and broadcast station towers and all new towers meeting the law's broad definition, "all with little gain to air safety," he said.
The law instructs the FAA to enact rules similar to state-level statutes now in place that are aimed at improving aircraft safety in the vicinity of METs set up in rural areas. In the wake of fatal crop dusting aircraft collisions with METs, often erected on short notice, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended in 2013 that states enact laws -- sometimes called "crop duster" statutes -- requiring marking and registration of METs.
--The ARRL Letter and The American Radio Relay League
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Stay Radio active -- See you at the Strawberry Festival & April 11th Meeting!
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