This is Field Day season and those who are taking part are rushing around making arrangements for their participation. With the Covid rules in place, many FD participants will be taking part from their home stations and contributing their scores as an aggregate score for their club. This was done last year as well because of the pandemic.
I’m assuming that the Newport, Fidelity, ARASNE and BVARC clubs will be operating their club stations as well. Don’t forget the bonus points and don’t forget to copy the special Field Day bulletin transmitted from W1AW. All FD rules may be reviewed at http://www.arrl.org/field-day-rules. The special Field Day Bulletin is transmitted from W1AW during the week prior to FD weekend. Watch www.arrl.org for a news bulletin regarding times and details to copy it.
I want to reiterate that although ARRL HQ has sent most of its staff home because of the state workplace restrictions, all departments and staff members are open for business. Phone calls and e mail sent to ARRL will be forwarded to appropriate staffers working from their homes. The outgoing QSL Bureau is delivering it’s work and it’s service to the membership from Roseanne Lawrence’s living room. She is the person responsible for the bureau at HQ. So, rest assured that ARRL’s work is being done as it was before the pandemic.
I realize that nearly everyone reading my report is a member of ARRL, but I want to remind you how many of our fellow Amateurs are not. RI has 507 League members out of its 1915 licensees, for 26.5%. That’s a little better than New England’s statistic which stands at 9006 out of 35160 for 25.6%. We’re quite a bit better than compared to the total US which stands at 21.1%.
This usually surprises some who believe that everyone supports the national organization that works to maintain our license privileges. Most believe that nearly all are members. In some countries, membership in its national organization is mandatory. But, about three quarters of our Amateur brethren in the US are consistently willing to let one quarter of us carry the total support of ARRL. Membership in ARRL costs less than a dollar per week, 94 cents. It’s fairly safe to say that everyone of us wastes more than that every week without missing it. Some of us choose to contribute more than our membership dues to help make up for the free loaders or “strap hangers” as they were called when folks rode the buses and commuter trains.
ARRL has established donor organizations such as the Diamond Club and several specific funds to help in providing continued support and sustenance for essential services of ARRL. More about these may be found at https://www.arrl.org/arrl-donation-form . The office’s direct phone number is 860-594-0291. I have been a member of ARRL’s Diamond club for many years and more recently, a member of the Maxim Society. Details of these organizations may be reviewed at http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Get%20Involved/2015DiamondClubBenefitsBrochureREVISED_NO_CROPS.pdf and http://www.arrl.org/maxim-society#QSL .
For the last few days as I have been preparing this report, I have been making contacts on 6, 10 and 12 meters, mostly to the south. Many Florida stations are workable on 6 meters and South and Central America stations are plentiful on 10 and 12 meters. These are very good signs, suggesting bigger and better openings as time goes on. Soon, I believe, we’ll see openings to Europe on 10 and 12, possibly even long openings to the Pacific in late afternoon. Sunspot Cycle 25 is the reason and we’re all cheering its appearance.
RI ARES has been active through this pandemic, running training nets on a regular basis. If emergency service is something you would like to do, please contact our Section Emergency Coordinator, Paul W1PJS at w1pjs@hollowsolids.com. He will set you up where you can contribute to the program.
The big hamfest in Friedrichshafen, Germany has been cancelled as was expected. So, all the well known hamfest around the world this year have been either cancelled or switched over to a virtual program. I just registered into the International DX Convention which is held in Visalia, CA. As they did last year, this year it will be a virtual program with speakers and forums held on line. I don’t know how you feel about this, but I am totally tired of Zoom meetings and virtual forums. They don’t deliver much useful benefit in my view. Yes, I suppose they’re better than cancelling outright but they don’t provide any good opportunity for discussion or collaboration and obviously no social interaction, one of the main reasons I travel across the country to participate. The end of this pandemic can’t come soon enough for me.
Regarding the pandemic, RI seems to be doing better than some states. Some other countries are in really bad shape. A ham in Indonesia told me that in his country, if he is seen by a police person driving his car not wearing a face mask, he can be arrested and hauled off to jail. This is while he is alone in his car. A person must wear a face mask all the time, even when alone with no one to infect. So, our situation is not that bad, is it?
ARRL offers a weekly service reporting all the major ham related news that we should know about. It’s called ARRL Audio News and is available to everyone, free of any charge in a variety of formats and times. Primarily, Audio News is listed on its website https://blubrry.com/arrlaudionews/ and is playable and downloadable from there. Audio News is also retransmitted on the NB1RI repeater network at 9:00 AM on Saturday morning and on the commercial broadcast station WOON on 1240 kHz AM and 99.5 MHz FM on Sunday morning at 08:00. The BVARC Simplex Net on Wednesday at 7:00 PM on 146.565 also retransmits Audio News.
I suggested long ago that Audio News should report band conditions; the SFI number plus the K & A index numbers. But folks in charge haven’t seen fit yet to report that. For the benefit of readers of my report, band condition reports may be seen at https://dxheat.com/dxc/ . Log in is not necessary to see the current SFI, K and A report. Knowledge of propagation and MUF is useful when looking for DX.
RI native, friend and world-famous contester, Frank Donovan W3LPL authored an article in the May issue of QST, titled “What to Expect During the Rising Years of Solar Cycle 25”. It is very well written and documented as well as an easy read. It contains useful information, especially for operators who are experiencing a rising sunspot curve for the first time. Be sure to vote for this article for best in 2021 by going to http://www.arrl.org/cover-plaque-poll and entering your vote. Please do it right after you read Frank’s article so you won’t forget. Winning the cover plaque is a great honor and Frank surely deserves.
Field Day is always the fourth full weekend in June. This year, it is June 25th through the 27th. Complete details of Field Day may be found at http://www.arrl.org/field-day . I hope you will find some time to participate either from one of our club stations or from your home station. See you on the air.
73,
——————————————————————–
ARRL Rhode Island Section
Section Manager: Robert G Beaudet, W1YRC
——————————————————————