Town Hall Recap, June 15, 2023

One hundred people registered for last night’s second New England Division Town Hall Zoom meeting of 2023.

A webinar panel consisting of Director Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC; Vice Director Phil Temples, K9HI; Assistant Directors Jack Ciaccia, WMØG; Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB; and Rob Leiden, K1UI presented updates to the attendees and fielded questions on a range of topics. You can view the updates and the Q&A via the video and presentation below.

Slide presentation (in PDF format).

 

June 2023 Maine eNews

ARRL logoKQ1L Memorial Service

You probably heard that one of Maine’s most well-known hams passed away recently, Dave Hawke KQ1L, from Augusta.  Dave’s Celebration of Life is scheduled for June 17 at 1 pm at North Monmouth Community Church, 151 N Main St, North Monmouth. Finger sandwiches, sweets & drinks to follow at the church.

LD-697 Update

The effort by many of Maine’s amateur radio operators to get an exemption for amateur radio and public safety communications in LD-697: “Resolve, to Study the Effects of 5G and Other Non-ionizing Radio Frequency Radiation-emitting Technology on Bird, Bee, Insect and Other Wildlife Populations and the Effects of Long-term Exposure on Children” unfortunately failed. 

However, the bill is currently tabled, and because of its far-reaching objectives and fiscal requirements, may stay tabled until the January legislative session, or it could be taken off the table and be voted on by the full legislature in the next few days. Since all of amateur radio transmissions are categorized as “non-ionized” radio frequency emissions, it is in our best interest, in many hams’ opinions, that this bill not be approved. It couldn’t hurt if each Maine ham wrote a short polite email to their Maine state representative and state senator asking them to oppose LD-697. If it were to pass and the “independent” commission determined that RF emissions affect birds, bees, wildlife and children, then legislation would likely follow that would restrict and regulate all wireless communication services, including ham radio. Maine ARRL State Government Liaison Peter Hatem, KC1HBM, and I have both talked to legislators in the past couple days who feel there is not the appetite to pass such a broadly written bill at this time, but you never know!

You can find out who your state representative and senator is and their contact info here: https://legislature.maine.gov/.

Field Day 2023!

Yay! Field Day is just about here! June 24-25 is the Field Day weekend.  Some clubs will setup on Friday. You can check out the Field Day Locator on the ARRL web site here: https://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator. Hopefully all Maine clubs/groups have listed their FD here so folks can find them.

Clubs/groups can send the section manager/section emergency coordinator message (100 bonus points) to N1EP or KE4UCW on the Maine Seagull Net Saturday at 5pm on 3940 kHz or on the Maine Public Service Net same frequency Sunday morning at 9am. If N1EP or KE4UCW are not on the net (may be traveling to different FD sites) then another designated ham will take the traffic for them. Alternatively, you can send the messages via Winlink as long as it leaves the FD site via RF.  n1ep@winlink.org or ke4ucw@winlink.org. If you can find a packet radio path Downeast, then you could also send it to me that way, my packet mailbox is n1ep-1.

Field Day DMR.  Even though QSO points are not awarded for repeater/internet contacts, it doesn’t mean we can’t link up on Sunday, June 25 at 10am and check into the Maine Dirge DMR Net and see if we can link up hams at FD sites and other locales from Fort Kent to Kittery! Let’s break the net’s record!

VE Exams

Even though it is not required, all Volunteer Examiner groups in Maine that are scheduling ARRL VE sessions should post the info on the VE session locator https://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-radio-license-exam-session and also share that info with N1EP so that it can also be posted on the Maine ARRL web and Facebook pages. It is very frustrating to a person who travelled quite a distance to take an exam only to find out one had just been given in their area but the clubs/VE teams do not publicize it for some reason. This actually happens quite a bit in Maine. Everyone benefits if the sessions are posted and promoted.

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ARRL Maine Section
Section Manager: Philip W Duggan, N1EP
n1ep@arrl.org
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June 2023 Rhode Island Section News

ARRL logoGreetings ARRL members and friends:

This will be my final monthly report to you after about 250 of them since 2002. Challenger Nancy Austin KC1NEK received more votes than I in the recent  election, so now I may truly retire on July 1st. It has been an honor to serve you and I hope that I was able to represent you well and make your ARRL membership fruitful. Thank you for your support of ARRL. They cannot function without it. 

As your current SM, I shall try to visit as many of our club Field Day sites as I can since my term ends at the end of June when I can truly retire. I was appointed to serve the remaining term of SM K1FLD who became a Silent Key in office and as his Assistant SM, ARRL tapped me to serve his remaining 18 months. I had never expressed any wish to be an SM. At the time, I had just retired after 42 years at Raytheon and my wife was concerned that she would trip over me if I was in the house all day with nothing to do. No one ever ran against me. So now, I can really retire. Thank you all. 

ARRL Bulletin ARLX005 reports that Phillip J. Beaudet, N6PJB, of Burney, California was fined $24,000 for jamming a net and failing to identify.  He has my last name but is not related to me as far as I know. He violated a major rule and must pay the fine. Details may be seen at http://www.arrl.org/news/licensee-hit-with-24-000-fine-for-jamming-net-failure-to-id-fcc.

A major player in ham radio became a Silent Key unexpectedly. Chip Margelli, K7JA of Garden Grove, CA touched many lives in his 60 years licensed. Like hundreds of others, I knew Chip personally and admired his skill on the air. He was a GREAT CW operator and a winning contester. Read http://www.arrl.org/news/he-touched-so-many-lives-chip-margelli-k7ja-sk for his extensive bio. When he was a VP at Yaesu, he talked me out of buying their just released and highly promoted FT-1000 Field HF radio and getting their FT-1000D instead. He knew that I would be happier with the older 1000D which was a ten year old design at the time. He was totally right and I still have the radio 21 years later. 73 my friend and I hope propagation is good where you are now. 

While on the subject of Silent Keys, I want to let you know that I shall continue my long time practice of reporting all Silent Keys who come to my attention, whether I know them personally or not. The form that ARRL wishes us to use may be accessed at https://www.arrl.org/files/file/VEs/SK_Report%20a%20Silent%20Key_Interactive%202023.pdf. Since I won’t be able to do it, when my time comes, I would appreciate very much for someone to take the time to report my passing to the SK desk. Anyone may do it, ham license not required. You should have the obit from the newspaper or other source. I truly would appreciate it and thank you. In my opinion, doing that shows our respect for the person as well as for our great hobby. It’s OK to duplicate, so don’t worry about sending in multiple reports. 

Complying with RF exposure regulations is now mandatory for all amateurs. See details at http://www.arrl.org/rf-exposure-calculator . You must check your station to assure that you are not endangering yourself or others close to your antenna. No amateur is exempt. I checked my station and it complies on all bands. 

Applications for grants from the ARRL Foundation until June 30. More details may be seen at http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-foundation-accepting-applications-for-grants-in-june . Many club programs and ideas could have merit for consideration.  Please review the Foundation and see if your inspiration might win. 

I plan to remain active on the HF bands mainly using FT8 and CW but occasionally using SSB. Thank you again for your support over the last 21 years. It has been a pleasure and honor to serve you. I know that you will support our new Section Manager, KC1NEK. 

73,

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ARRL Rhode Island Section
Section Manager: Robert G Beaudet, W1YRC
w1yrc@arrl.org
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New England Division Town Hall Meeting, June 15, 2023

ARRL logoFred Kemmerer, AB1OC, writes on the New England ARRL members list:

Phil Temples K9HI, our Assistant Directors, and I will hold our next New England Division Town Hall Meeting on Thursday, June 15th, at 7 pm ET. The purpose of the meeting will be to provide you with an ARRL update, get your thoughts on what we should be focusing on, and answer any questions that you might have about the ARRL and what we are doing on behalf of ARRL members here in New England.

We plan to spend a good deal of our time together answering your questions. If you’d like to send us a question in advance, you can do so via an email to ab1oc@arrl.org, or you can just plan to ask your questions during the Town Hall Meeting.

We will hold our Town Hall Meeting via a Zoom Webinar. You can get a personal link to join the Town Hall Meeting via the following link (paste the link in your browser to register) –

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_e5ufUAYVQFaVOzWXr8O0XQ

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

We hope to see you on June 15th!

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ARRL New England Division
Director: Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC
ab1oc@arrl.org
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KC1NEK Elected to Rhode Island Section Manager Post

Nancy Austin, KC1NEK
Nancy Austin, KC1NEK, Section Manager Elect of the ARRL Rhode Island Section.

From the ARRL Letter, May 25, 2023:

ARRL Section Manager Spring Election Results

The results of two balloted Section Manager elections held this spring were determined when the ballots were counted at ARRL Headquarters on Tuesday, May 23, 2023.

<…>

Nancy Austin, KC1NEK, was elected as ARRL Rhode Island Section Manager when she received 129 votes, and incumbent Section Manager Bob Beaudet, W1YRC, received 127 votes.

Austin, of Middletown, is the President of the Newport County Radio Club, and she will begin a 2-year term of office on July 1.

Beaudet, of Cumberland, has served as ARRL Rhode Island Section Manager for 21 years.

<…>

Maine eNews, May 2023

Phil Duggan, N1EPeNews Maine Section Manager, May 2023

Hamfest Correction

The June QST has an error regarding the date of the HERMON HAMFEST. The correct date is Saturday, June 3 at the Hermon High School. This will be a fun hamfest, rain or shine. An antenna launching competition is scheduled, along with VE exams, tailgating and more. Check out https://n1me.org/home/hamfest_2022.php for more details.

ARRL Member Survey

Please log onto your ARRL member account at www.arrl.org before the end of the month to take the Member Dues Survey. The League wants your input on how to best overcome the huge inflationary costs that is impacting the ARRL. This is your opportunity to voice your opinion, so please do so.

Field Day Locator

Clubs: list your Field Day Site in the ARRL Field Day Locator. Several are not listed and I have been getting queries on where the nearest field day sites are, so if you want more participation and visitors, make it easy for them to find you. https://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator

Digital Voice Net Highlights

The Maine Dirigo DMR Net meets Sunday mornings at 10 am on Maine Statewide. The New England UFB Fusion Net meets Sundays at 7:30PM on the linked repeater system viewed here: https://ufbnewengland.com/

MSSN

Maine Slow Speed Net (CW) meets Monday through Friday on 3585 kHz at 6pm.

Acculades

Bravo Zulu to Jim Kutsch, KY2D, for being such a prolific traffic handler for the Maine section.

Feedback

If you have any questions or concerns, or would like to share something with Maine hams, please let me know. Email n1ep@arrl.org. 73

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ARRL Maine Section
Section Manager: Philip W Duggan, N1EP
n1ep@arrl.org
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WMØG: “Emergency Communications”

photo of Jack Ciaccia, WM0GBy Jack Ciaccia, WMØG
ARRL New England Division Assistant Director
Emergency Communications & Public Service

I was recently appointed by Fred, AB1OC, to help the many amateur radio EmComm organizations in New England. My charter includes ARES, traffic handling, SKYWARN, RACES, and Public Service organizations. The plan is to:

  • Encourage participation in EmComm & Public Service activities
  • Encourage the development and sharing of Training Programs
  • Encourage developing and sharing resource contact information, training data, and
    preparedness exercise information.
  • Provide for publicizing these programs across the division and the ARRL.

First, some credentials: I am a New Englander, born in Rhode Island, and educated in RI and England. I’m a Vietnam-era Air Force veteran. After the Air Force, Sanders Associates hired me as an Electronic Countermeasures technical representative. Later, I worked for GTE/Sylvania, where we developed the first bar code reading systems. We lived in Nashua, New Hampshire before I made a career move and relocated my family to Colorado in 1983. I worked in the electronics industry as a sales and marketing executive for major electronics manufacturers and as the General Manager of a worldwide electronics distributor. Later, I started my business as president and owner of a custom power supply design and manufacturing company and later as a manufacturers representative for many well-known electronic companies. I retired in 2018. We decided to move back to Nashua in 2020.

I’m an Extra-Class ham with w/20 wpm code, and I’ve been a ham since I was a teenager in 1957 when I got my original Novice call sign, KN1IVY. I have emergency communications experience from my previous ARES and ARRL positions in Colorado. I was president of the Boulder Amateur Radio Club for ten years. I was Emergency Coordinator for Boulder County ARES for over ten years and a member of that organization for thirty-five years. I was appointed Assistant Section Manager for two years and then Colorado Section Manager for nine years. As the EC and as SM, during that time, I coordinated and participated in over twenty-five major wildfire events and the 2013 flood that paralyzed the Front Range of the Rockies. So, like James Taylor sang, “I’ve Seen Fire, and I’ve Seen Rain.”

I also helped create three new laws in the State of Colorado along with my SEC/SGL and Colorado state legislators from both sides. On behalf of Colorado hams, the State adopted PRB-1 as a rule for ham radio antenna ordinances to the cities and counties. Another was an amendment to a proposed law to exempt rural ham radio towers from being painted red and white according to a new FAA regulation on behalf of crop dusting aircraft that was meant for the temporary gas and oil exploration towers—and we got another amendment exempting ham radio operators from the law prohibiting the use of handheld devices in moving vehicles.

We also created Colorado Auxcomm, which gave our ARES leaders positions within the Colorado Division of Public Safety and the Colorado Department of Homeland Security. Within the law, there’s a provision for any participating Auxcomm or ARES members to be covered under Colorado State workman’s compensation for any injury incurred during any emergency- related event, including training exercises. That law also protects those hams from liability and torts in the event of any accident they might be responsible for during an emergency or practice.

Here is something I wrote a few years ago concerning the future of ARES:

ARES, as we know it, is changing dynamically and will continue to do so in the coming years. Our served agencies will continue to define our organization, mission, and purpose, and our future will depend on our mission capabilities and operators’ training, qualifications, and credentials.

It used to be that all you had to do in an emergency was to be a Good Samaritan ham radio operator with a handi-talkie on your belt, show up at the EOC and get assigned to assist with some communication needs – pretty simple. And they usually did a good job! Why was that? Because our served agencies had radios and a communications system that typically needed more flexibility and interoperability to communicate in multi-agency or multi-location events.

What changed? The first big answer to that is that 9/11 happened. Ham radio played a huge role in maintaining communication in a nightmarish interoperability scenario when the typical telephone and land mobile system infrastructure was either gone or overloaded. Federal, State, and local agencies said radio interoperability issues and land-based communication systems constructed on vast and complex communications infrastructures for our first responders would have to change, which made the guys with the “bat-wings” smile a lot. These new systems would create a need for more modern communications devices, creating more “bat-wing” smiles. What else happened? Hurricane Katrina happened – same issues as with 9/11. Then the Haiti earthquake occurred – more of the same problems, but even worse, complicated by the lack of a structured communication system.

So, what happened? In both cases, ham radio was integral in getting some communications up and running when the existing infrastructure was gone or overloaded. The onslaught of multiple agencies arrived at these disasters with interoperability issues, further exasperating the glaring weaknesses of the old or non-existent communication systems.

The Government poured a massive amount of $$$ into the problem. The $$$ went to DHS, FEMA, State EOCs, and others. Eventually, some of this $$$ even found its way to local ARES groups in a splendid example of the “trickle down” theory. But now that those ARES groups accepted the Federal or State $$$, Guess what? The agencies where the $$$ came from have defined the new rules that those ARES groups will play under from here on out.

How does that affect ARES? More reliable communication systems are available today to our served agencies. With just a handi-talkie on his belt, that Good Samaritan ham is now useless to them. The EOCs and the OEMs want and expect radio operators trained and credentialed. The modern ARES ham will have ICS and NIMS certifications, provide valued skills, possess modern radio equipment, and have accessibility to modes and frequencies that our served agencies cannot access.

The new requirements will cause a paradigm shift in how ARES members train and respond. Do you remember the large VHF /UHF repeater groups that provided Autopatch capability to hams? And do you remember what happened to their membership numbers once the cell phone became omnipresent? The ARES groups that adapt and conform to these changes will survive and thrive. The others that refuse to change may go the way of the Dodo Bird.

In a Related Issue:

Attention PIOs: ARES needs good press. What’s so crucial about Public Relations? It gives us CPR – Community Recognition, Protection, and Recruitment. When we do something good, or people we’re associated with are doing something good, we like to have it recognized. One of the reasons amateur radio exists is to provide service to the public. A positive perception of amateur radio translates into allies and helps build support for us among neighbors, educators, corporate leaders, and government officials.

WM0G Public Service article

 

Boulder Co Sherrif's Office commendation to Boulder Co. ARES (WM0G)

FEMA Award