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HuronAmateurRadioMonthly ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Vol. 15, Issue 7 Official Newsletter of Huron Amateur Radio Association Web Site: www.huronarc.info August, 2011 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2011 OFFICERS President: Rod, KDØAKN Vice President: Bob, NØTDA Sec/Tres Lloyd, WBØULX Act. Mgr. Jack, KØOH VQC Net © net control operators on 147.090 MHz each Sunday at 8:00 PM are as follows:Lloyd, WBØULX Aug 21, Sep. 18, Oct 16,Oct 30, Nov 27, Dec 11 Sam, NØOTB Aug 28, Sep 25, Oct 23,Nov 20, Dec 18 Rod, KDØAKN Sep 4, Oct 2, Nov 6,Dec 4 Doug, NØNKH Sep 11, Oct 9, Nov 13,Dec 25 South Dakota Traders Group Are you looking to buy or sell amateur radio equipment? Join the South Dakota Traders Yahoo Group and view the action. You can access and join the group by logging on at the following address: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SouthDakotaTraders/Huron Amateur Radio has placed some of the equipment donated by the family of W0VQC on this site. Why not clean out you closet and put some of your "stuff" on the site. Find Us on Facebook
August 18, 2011 Meeting Agenda Old Business : Read minutes of previous meeting, Report on L.I.W. certificate requestsEvents: Aug 20 Fargo, ND Hamfest NAQP Phone Contest. Aug 27 W0ZUS Estate Auction, Piedmont, SD. Sept 10 ARRL VHF QSO Party Sept 10 Worthington, MN Hamfest Sept 15 HARA monthly meeting 7:00 PM City Hall Sept 24 - 25 CQ WW RTTY Contest New Business: Repeater woes JOTA participation Program: HF mobile installation --- KM0F Test and Tune Night ---- Bring a rig you want checked July 21, 2011 Meeting Notes The monthly meeting of the Huron Amateur Radio Association for July 21,2011 Old Business: Minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved as read. Field Day final tally was 490 Qso’s with the vast majority on 6 meters. The Laura Ingalls Wilder Special Event went well with 20 meters being the main band used with 416 Qso’s. Melinda, KC0KGD built a nicedisplay on Amateur Radio at the Huron Public Library. New Business: Discussed 09 repeater status and repairs. Discussed L.I.W. Qsl’s, have 25 requests already.Adjourned at 8:15 PM .
On August 10, the FCC announced via a Final Rule in the Federal Register that the cost of an Amateur Radio vanity call sign will increase 90 cents, from $13.30 to $14.20. The new fees take effect 30 days after publication, making September 9, 2011, the first day the new fee is in effect. Earlier this year, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order (NPRM), seeking to raise the fee for Amateur Radio vanity call signs. "The Commission tries to keep the regulatory fee for Vanity call signs as minimal as possible," explained the FCC in its Final Rule. "Between FY 2007 and FY 2010, the regulatory fee for Vanity call signs increased from $1.17 per year to $1.33 per year, an increase of $0.16 per year or $1.60 over a ten-year license period. We do not believe this increase is inequitable, and the Commission will continue its efforts to keep this fee as minimal as possible. The fees that are collected from Vanity call signs are used to offset the cost of monitoring and researching new call sign requests to prevent the issuance of duplicate call signs." The vanity call sign fee has fluctuated over the 14 years of the current program -- from a low of $11.70 in 2007 to a high of $70 as first proposed in the FCC's 1994 Report and Order. Follow Us on Twitter
The ARRL Board of Directors met recently in Connecticut. Here is a summary of some items of interest to Dakota Division members. The full
minutes will be posted on ARRL.org soon. •A group will be formed to work on activities for the 100th year anniversary of ARRL in 2014, headed by ARRL President N3KN. •Plaques honoring their 70- or 80-year membership in ARRL will be provided free to those members. •A plan for the next steps in providing QST digitally (in addition to the print edition) was approved. •Approved "Digital" DXCC. This will include RTTY as well as the many other digital modes. •A committee was formed to review the bandplans for 33 cm through 9 cm bands. The major topic of concern was again the National Broadband Plan. Agroup was appointed to study this at the previous Board meeting, chaired by former Dakota Division Director Jay Bellows, K0QB. They presented their initial report, and continue to work on the issue. As an organization, ARRL is fiscally healthy, and membership is slowly rising. The League continues to add to member services, while holding a tight line on expenses. Please continue to show your support and encourage colleagues who may not be members to join. Please contact me at K0GW@arrl.net or Vice Director Kent Olson at KA0LDG@arrl.net with any questions or suggestions. 73, Greg General Class Q&A Now Available for Kindle
The fourth edition of ARRL's General Q&A is now available from Amazon.com for the Kindle. This e-book is your authoritative guide to every question in the General (Element 3) question pool -- everything you need to pass your General class license exam. When you use ARRL's General Q&A, you can be sure that you are using the best way to review for the 35 question exam. The e-book includes every question -- and answer -- in the General class question pool, utilizing a multiple-choice format similar to the one on the actual exam. The current General class question pool is valid through June 30, 2015. Kindle is shaped much like a book, with a paper-like screen that displays text and pictures. You do not need a Kindle to download and purchase the General Q&A: those who have the Kindle application installed on their Apple iPhone iPod touch, Android smartphone -- or even on their computer -- can download the book for use on these devices. Each version of the Q&A lets you review questions and answers from that element's entire question pool so you can pass your exam. The Tech Q&A, General Q&A and Extra Q&A are available from Amazon.com for $9.99 each. The soft cover version of the General Q&A is also available for $17.95. Upgrade and enjoy more frequency privileges today.
The Bands Heat Up for the 2011 ARRL August UHF Contest VHF/UHF weak-signal operators across North America are making final tests on their stations in preparation for the 2011 ARRL August UHF Contest, scheduled for the weekend of August 6-7. Most VHF+ SSB/CW operation takes place on the two lowest- operation takes place on the two lowest-frequency bands of the VHF spectrum: 6 and 2 meters. But a lot of activity takes place above 144 MHz in the UHF portion of the radio spectrum and beyond. This contest will focus on 220 MHz and above and there will be lots of activity -- and hopefully lots of propagation, too! Read more here. 2011 ARRL June VHF QSO Party Sets Record for Logs Received The 2011 running of the ARRL June VHF QSO Party saw a record number of logs submitted. This year, 1243 logs were submitted for this contest, breaking the record set in 2010 of 1202 logs. "Six meters has been in excellent shape for the June VHF QSO Party for four of the past five years," explained ARRL Contest Branch Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X. "It's clear that when the 'Magic Band' is in great shape at the start of the contest, we see more participation with more logs submitted. As a 6 meter fan, I hope this trend continues in the years to come." With the exception of 2007, the ARRL June VHF QSO Party has seen upwards of 1000 logs submitted each year since 2006; in 2007, 860 logs were received, down from 1052 the year before. Kutzko said one of the contributing factors to the popularity of the contest is that more HF transceivers now include the 6 meter band: "When hams buy new HF rigs that include 6 meters, we see them having a go on the band -- sometimes for the first time, other times it's like revisiting an old friend from their past.
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