ARRL NW Division Newsletter – May 14, 2021
I hope this newsletter finds everybody with Spring fever, and great
propagation from both vegetable seeds in your newly planted gardens, and
from our old friend Sol to bring us some great DX.
On May 6th I did a live presentation on “HF Noise Mitigation” for
about 500 hams across the county as part of the ARRL Life Long Learning
(LLL) program. This is a seminar I’ve done for a few clubs here in our
Division over the last year, and am doing again for a few more clubs
later this month. For those that are not familiar with the LLL program,
it’s all about members helping members! The ARRL Learning Network is
a webinar series featuring live online presentations from
member-volunteers who want to help you become more active, involved, and
engaged in ham radio.
Now the plug: The LLL program is always looking for quality speakers!
If there is a ham radio related educational topic you would like to
present via a webinar as a part of this program, please get in touch
with Kris Bickell, K1BIC, the LLL Program Manager at ARRL HQ.
(k1bic@arrl.org)
If you would like to view my ARRL presentation on “HF Noise
Mitigation”, it’s currently available for viewing from the ARRL
website:
https://www.gotostage.com/channel/d8ea15d6ea99464e8ec08c33d7e1e3e5
I’ve also been asked where members can find my “The Storied History
of the Ham Radio Callsign” seminar from the QSO Today Virtual Hamfest
held in March. It seems QSO Today has removed access to the videos, but
I’ve recently uploaded my original text and graphics version of the
presentation on my W7VO website: http://www.w7vo.com/callsignhistory.pdf
ARRL FOUNDATION:
Things at the Foundation are finally calming down, and after two months
of hard work vetting candidates for the ARRL Foundation Scholarships, we
are finally at the finish line. I’d like to give my sincere thanks to
ARRL Honorary Vice President, (and former Northwestern Division
Director), Jim Fenstermaker, K9JF, for spearheading this massive effort.
It appears that we processed 177 applicants for over 130 different
scholarships valued at around $560,000 total. It’s now up to the ARRL
Development staff at HQ to take it from here and begin notifying
candidates of the selections.
September 1, 2021 is projected to be when students can begin to apply
for the 2022-2023 academic year Foundation scholarships. If you have a
current high school junior or senior who is a licensed amateur, or
perhaps one already in a college or university and licensed, there could
be a scholarship in their future! The latest information for the program
can be found on the ARRL Foundation Scholarship web page:
http://www.arrl.org/scholarship-program
FCC LATEST:
Beginning May 20, 2021, all amateur examination applicants will be
required to provide an FCC Registration Number (FRN) to the Volunteer
Examiners (VEs) before taking an amateur exam. This is necessary due to
changes the FCC has made to its licensing system.
Amateur candidates who already have an FCC license, whether for amateur
radio or another service, and already have an FRN may use the same
number. All prospective new FCC licensees, however, will be required to
obtain an FRN before the examination and provide that number to the
volunteer examiners on the Form 605 license application. An FCC
instructional video provides step-by-step instructions on how to obtain
an FRN through the FCC’s Commission REgistration System (CORES).
(Website:
https://www.fcc.gov/licensing-databases/fcc-registration-system-cores/commission-registration-system-video-tutorials)
The FRN is required for all new applicants to take an amateur exam and
is used afterward by the applicant to download the license document from
the FCC Universal Licensing System (ULS), upgrade the license, apply for
a vanity call sign, and to submit administrative updates (such as
address and email changes) and renewal applications.
In addition, after June 29, all applications will be required to contain
an e-mail address for FCC correspondence. Applicants will receive an
email directly from the FCC with a link to the official electronic copy
of their license whenever a license is issued or changed. ARRL VEC
suggests that those without access to email should use the email address
of a family member or friend. Licensees will be able to log in to the
ULS using their FRN and password to download the latest version of their
license at any time. Please be reminded that the FCC no longer provides
paper license documents.
In regards to those who are worried about having their e-mail addresses
in the public domain via the FCC website, yesterday, on May 13, 2021,
ARRL FCC Legal Counsel David Siddall, K3ZJ provided the following
update: “There has been a persistent concern expressed that the email
addresses would be visible in the public records, as they are for
commercial licensees that use the same license database. Last January I
asked the FCC staff to continue to “mask” email addresses for
amateur service licensees. Today Roger Noel, Chief of the FCC’s
Mobility Division, stated that even after June 29, amateur records
visible on the FCC’s ULS website will continue to mask email addresses
so that they will not be visible to the public.” That is good news
indeed!
LATEST ON RF EXPOSURE STANDARDS:
I’ve heard that members of the Board’s RF Safety Committee are
currently working with staff at the ARRL Lab to create a new and
streamlined on-line tool to help members make the necessary calculations
to ensure FCC compliance as noted in my last newsletter. There may be
also a updating and re-publication of the “RF Exposure and You” ARRL
publication.
One thing that has already been done: the ARRL just published a brand
new “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQ) document; “About the FCC RF
Exposure Rules Changes”. It is available for download at:
http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Technology/RFsafetyCommittee/RFXFAQ.pdf
2021 PACIFIC NORTHWEST DX CONVENTION:
Work continues to get the 2021 Pacific Northwest DX “Virtual”
Convention off the ground, and Convention Chair Al Rovner, K7AR,
recently reported that registration for the event, sponsored by the
Willamette Valley DX Club this year, and to be held Saturday Aug 7,
2021, is now open. Registration is FREE, but participants can opt to
donate from $5 to $15 to help fund door prizes. Since this is a virtual
convention, all hams may register wherever they are located. More
details will be posted at the convention website:
pacificnwdxconvention.com, in the weeks ahead.
So far there are three confirmed programs on the agenda with more to
come:
Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA – Cycle 25: A New Hope. Carl will discuss the
predictions for and the progress of Solar Cycle 25, including what to
expect in terms of propagation throughout the remainder of 2021 and in
the next couple years as Cycle 25 ascends. He will then briefly review
websites with space weather data and how to tie the important parameters
to HF propagation conditions. Finally, he will highlight real-time
propagation websites that allow us to assess what’s happening right
now.
Al Rovner, K7AR – The Raspberry Pi and Arduino for Dummies. Al will
present an introduction to the Pi and Arduino and how you can use them
in your shack. Demonstrations include using a Pi as a WSJT terminal, a
remote antenna switch, and a controller for hotspots.
I will also be hosting an ARRL Forum event at the convention, and hope
to have our DX Advisory and Contest Advisory Committee chairs, and the
head of the ARRL Radiosport department at HQ in attendance to provide
the latest news, and answer questions you may have.
In 2022 the Pacific NW DX Convention will be again be a live event, and
will be hosted jointly by the Spokane DX Association and the Idaho DX
Association.
SEA-PAC 2021:
“Virtual” SEA-PAC 2021 is only a month away! The general theme for
the 2021 SEA-PAC on-line seminars is “Preparedness”, although there
will be other topics. They are planning a full day of seminars on
Saturday, June, 5th, from 10AM PDT until 6PM PDT. To access the
seminars, you’ll need to register via the SEA-PAC website
(www.seapac.org), and receive the passcode for the Zoom presentations.
Registration is free and will soon be located on the “Registration”
page. As the SEA-PAC Seminar planning continues, confirmed seminars will
include a Keynote Address by ARRL CEO David Minster, NA2AA; a “NW
Division ARRL Forum” hosted by yours truly; Randy Hall, K7AGE,
“Time and Ham Radio”; Barbara Yasson, AC7UH, and Linda Ford, AA6MR,
“Go Kits”; David Wahl and Oliver Dully, K6OLI, “Earthquakes in the
Northwest and Reporting”; Toby Clairmont, KH7FR, “Communicate After
an Emergency”; Alex Swartz, VE7DXW, “Earthquake Detection Via the
Ionosphere” and Jim Fenstermaker, K9JF, “ARRL Foundation
Scholarships”. If you have a topic and/or would like to present an
online seminar, please contact Delvin Bunton, NS7U, at
seminars@seapac.org.
There will also be a 2021 SEA-PAC QSO Party event! Information on this
is currently available on the front page of the SEA-PAC website. I
participated in the event last year and had a great time.
NEW NW DIVISION ARRL AFFILIATED CLUB:
Congratulations to the newest ARRL Affiliated Club in the Northwestern
Division, the Anderson Island Amateur Radio Club (WA7AI)! The club
serves hams in the Anderson Island, WA, area. For more information on
their club, please contact them at: president@wa7ai.org
Until next month, 73, stay safe, and get on the air!
Mike Ritz, W7VO
Director, ARRL Northwestern Division
w7vo@arrl.org
www.arrl.org
www.arrlnwdiv.org
Now we will hear from Vice Director Mark Tharp, KB7HDX:
Diary of the Vice Director, Volume 3, May 2021
April was another blur in my mind. Seems like every night was tied up
with one thing or another.
I continue to participate as a visitor in the weekly investment
management committee meetings and can tell you the members of this
committee are really digging into the weeds, dragging every bit of
information out of the various guest speakers. Many of the top 10
investment companies have made presentations and they have all been
excellent.
Mike and I participated as guests during the EC meeting held on April
3rd.
The Legal defense and assistance committee met on May 5th via Zoom, and
although President Rodrick had not assigned me to this committee this
year, Chairman Stafford, W6ROD asked me to continue as part of the team.
The committee make up is now one retired Judge, four lawyers, our FCC
counsel Siddall, Dan Henderson as staff liaison, and myself. I am
honored Rod asked me to stay on the committee. “I’m not a lawyer but
I play one on TV” comes to mind.
The Yet to be named em-com committee was shown a sample option for the
replacement to Ares Connect from the South Texas section that looks
promising. Much work is yet to be done however as we want to incorporate
features of the new member service software at ARRL HQ so no one is
double entering data. We have much work to do in the next two months to
make our proposal at the July Board meeting.
The Kamiah (Idaho) Hamfest on April 24th was a big success and I had a
truly great time with members of the local Ham community. It was great
to get out and look at all the fine used equipment. They had 30 seller
tables and close to 90 folks in attendance. The event had a number of
classes and they even let me help out with a test session. Considering
some areas are still in a caution phase for Covid, I thought it was a
good turnout. They are planning to do this again in the fall, and are
planning for 2022.
The Spout Springs repeater group held a swap meet and Hamfest on May 1st
in Kennewick, WA and was also a big hit. This was a huge step up from
the yearly tailgate meet they have been holding. On site food and drink,
fox hunts, seminars and testing were all to be found at the event. I
would like to express my personal thanks, and condolences to the entire
club as the chairman of this event, Claude Landes, WA4N, passed away
suddenly on Friday April 30, the day before. The club pressed on as they
knew Claude would have wanted and made it a great event and tribute to
his memory. RIP Claude. You can follow the club on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/270026340305577
Northwestern Division Awards https://arrlnwdiv.org/division-awards/
Ok, that name may be a bit inaccurate, but our division does have a few
awards available, sponsored by individual clubs. We have added a page to
the division website to promote these awards and I would like to
spotlight the two I am aware of this month.
The “Washington – Worked all Counties” award is sponsored by the
Clark County ARC. This award is to acknowledge and recognize the
achievement of contacting Amateur Radio operators in each of Washington
state’s 39 counties. This award is open to any licensed ham.
Individuals submit proof of contact to the Clark County awards team and
once confirmed the award will be sent to you. This award was established
in 1995. For more information email awards@w7aia.org (club website is
here: https://www.w7aia.org/ )
The” Washington Totem Award” is sponsored by the Western Washington
DX Club, the Northwest’s largest and most active DX group, and takes
pleasure in issuing the first major W7 award. This award is issued to
any licensed radio amateur who submits proof of two-way radio contact
with the state of Washington. More information can be found here:
https://www.wwdxc.org/awards/washington-totem/ This award has been
around since 1973 and has been awarded 1202 times to date. (club website
is here: https://www.wwdxc.org/ )
If your club offers a similar award, encouraging Amateur Radio operation
in the Northwest Division, please send me the information and we can add
it to the division website and include the details in a future
newsletter.
Events I am planning to attend IN PERSON!! 😊
The YARC swap meet, September 18th in Union Gap (Yakima, WA)
The Spokane (WA) Hamfest. This is currently on, however is dependent on
the school making a final decision.
Other events are coming up and for the most current list of Hamfest,
Convention, and other gatherings, take a look at the website maintained
by Lynn Burlingame, N7CFO at http://www.n7cfo.com/amradio/hf/hf.htm
A link to this page is also on the Division website at:
https://arrlnwdiv.org/
Mike and I are always looking for information to share with the
Division. If you have a news item you would like to offer please send
Mike or I a note and we will include it here.
Division statistics:
332 new licenses issued and 107 upgraded licenses.
12,825 ARRL members in Division (+ 1.5% from 2020)
148 Active ARRL affiliated clubs
.
Overall league membership 159,423, up 1.1% from 2020
If you have any questions or input, an email to kb7hdx@arrl.org is the
best way to contact me.
73..
Mark J. Tharp, KB7HDX
ARRL Vice Director
Northwestern Division.
kb7hdx@arrl.org
ARRL Northwestern Division
Director: Michael T Ritz, W7VO
w7vo@arrl.org