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Monthly Summary for August 2008
News last updated: Wed, September 3, 2008 at 10:28 AM ET
SECTION NEWS, AUGUST 2008
As this is being written, on September 1, ARES responses are on standby in Placer and Yuba Counties for fire disasters. A precautionary call out in Placer County by the Lincoln Fire Department sent Lincoln Hills ARC CERT to the temporary shelter at Coppin Elementary School in Lincoln, CA, according to Larry, KC7KDZ. They were joined there by our ASM for Youth, Curtis, KI6ESK, and Gary, K6GRY from Lincoln. That shelter was closed before 8 PM. In Yuba County, the Myrna Fire south of Marysville along Feather River Blvd., sent N6XVL, Paul, (an official with the local American Legion Post, where the shelter was placed) and AF6AK, Michael, (an American Red Cross volunteer) to two shelters in the Linda-Olivehurst area. In neither case was ARES called out, but we maintained a Level 2 net for several hours. The entire response was called off at 8:27 PM. A massive fire-fighting effort was successful.
The Oroville Amateur Radio Society is offering two ham radio license courses. The first is a 14 session General Class Upgrade taught by Daryl Autrey, AF6HS. The location is the Oroville Adult Education Building, 78 Table Mountain Blvd., Oroville, CA. This class will meet Tuesday and Thursday at 7 PM. It starts 23 September. The book costs $25. For more information contact Daryl at 530-589-5199. On September 9, Bill Cross, K6DYT, is beginning a Ham Cram for the Technician license. The books will be $25 and will be available the first night. The ham cram will be given 4 October from 8 AM to 5:30 PM and again on Sunday the 5th from 8 AM to noon. The test will be at the Chico Library at 2 PM. For more information contact Bill at 530-533-9342 or k6dyt@arrl.net .
The Nevada County Amateur Radio Club will be offering a class this fall to help prospective hams prepare for their Technician Class exam. The class will be presented on five Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. at the Salvation Army Church Meeting Room behind the church on Alta Street in Grass Valley. The first class will be on September 17, 2008 and will consist of orientation to the world of ham radio and a discussion of what the test generally consists of. It will be presented by various members of the NCARC. Following this date's class, there will be a break until October 29 when Bill, W6FA, will present on four consecutive Wednesdays the technical background needed to pass the test. There will be a test given on Saturday, November 22, following the final class on November 19. The class is open to all, and will probably be the only Technician Class given by the NCARC this year. For further information, call Jon, WA6TNC, at 477-8928.
A Northern California Hamfest & Swapmeet is being held in Lincoln on September 6, 2008. It is sponsored by the Western Placer Amateur Radio Club, the River City Amateur Radio Club, the Yuba-Sutter Amateur Radio Club, and the Sierra Foothills Amateur Radio Club. The event will be held on the Lincoln High School campus from 0700 until noon. There will be many tables with ham radio related items for sale, VE exams, food and soft drinks, and fellowship. Admission and parking is free. There is a charge for vendors. Vendors may begin setting up at 0600. Details and a location map are available on the Western Placer ARC website: www.wparc.org. Information is also available from Steve Harding, KT6Z, at 916-434-2878.
SIGN UP YOUR CLUB ARES GROUP NOW! Groups and individuals can register to become members by visiting www.ready.gov, and clicking on the National Preparedness Month banner. WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced today that more than 1,200 national, regional, state and local businesses and organizations have pledged their support and joined the 2008 National Preparedness Month Coalition. Sponsored by the department’s Ready Campaign, National Preparedness Month helps to raise awareness and promote action by Americans, businesses, and communities on emergency preparedness.
“As we approach our fifth National Preparedness Month, I want to thank the hundreds of coalition members who are making a difference in their communities by helping raise the basic level of preparedness in our country,” said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. “Individual preparedness is the cornerstone of emergency preparedness. Experience shows that if Americans take steps ahead of time, they stand a much better chance of coming through an emergency unharmed and recovering more quickly.” The Ready Campaign and Citizen Corps (www.citizencorps.gov) are specifically encouraging individuals across the nation to take important preparedness steps. These steps include: getting an emergency supply kit, making a family emergency plan, being informed about the different emergencies that may affect them, as well as taking the necessary steps to get trained and become engaged in community preparedness and response efforts. Read more at www.arrl.org . ARRL and Citizen Corp are teaming up to assist local school districts (if they need the help) to set up and register their NOAA Weather All Hazard Public Alert Radio. An August 19 news release says, 'Federal agencies have begun distributing more than 182,000 Public Alert Radios to preschools, Head Start programs, K-12 nonpublic schools and nonpublic school central offices, K-12 school district offices and post-secondary schools. In two earlier phases, the federal government distributed radios to all 97,000 K-12 public schools across the country, bringing the program to a close this September with a life-saving radio in every school in the nation.' Two years ago, in the fall of 2006, some ARRL members, affiliated clubs and Field Organization appointees were called upon to help when this project was in its pilot phase. Read the entire news release at: http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=45481 . If you, as Amateur Radio operator, or as part of an Amateur Radio club or an ARRL Field Organization appointee, would like to help Citizen Corps in this project, please contact your local Citizen Corps Council to offer assistance. Where there isn't a Council, please contact local emergency management.
In the third week of August, the ARRL responded to a series of concerns raised by repeaters owners regarding the ongoing PAVE PAWS interference mitigation project at Beale Air Force Base near Sacramento, California. In a lengthy e-mail dated August 20, ARRL Regulatory Information Manager Dan Henderson, N1ND, addressed a series of concerns raised by Tom Naso, N6MVT, of Lafayette, California; Naso is owner or trustee to several involved repeaters. Naso's letter can be found here <http://www.arrl.org/news/files/pavepaws_querry_2008aug20.pdf> . Henderson's reply can be found here <http://www.arrl.org/news/files/pavepaws_response_2008aug20.pdf> .
Pacificon 2008, our ARRL Pacific Division Convention, will be held in San Ramon at the San Ramon Marriot Hotel, October 17-19. This three day event will have the full slate of forums, a chance at a door prize or two, speakers on subjects you are interested in and various events to amaze you and broaden your ham radio horizons.
On August 11, the FCC announced that the cost of an Amateur Radio vanity call sign will increase 60 cents, from $11.70 to $12.30. The fee will increase 30 days after notice of the increase is published in the Federal Register; and the effective date is September 25. The FCC is authorized by the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, to collect vanity call sign fees to recover the costs associated with that program. The vanity call sign regulatory fee is payable not only when applying for a new vanity call sign, but also upon renewing a vanity call sign for a new 10 year term.
September’s section net on VHF and HF will occur on September 10. We start on the WD6AXM/R machine at 146.085 MHz, plus offset, tone 127.3 Hz, beginning at 1900L. At 1930L, we will try the HF net at 3987 kHz with the latest ham radio news. The WD6AXM repeater is also the place to hear the ARRL audio news on each Friday evening at 1900L when the news is produced. If your club would like to play the news on your repeater, but you haven’t figured out how to do that, contact me at W6KJ@arrl.org .
Ron Murdock, W6KJ, ARRL SACRAMENTO VALLEY SECTION MANAGER
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