Bible
Verse
Galatians 5:22-23. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (New International Version)
Next MARC Business Meeting
The next business meeting will be held at the Checker Board Restaurant on Saturday, April 5th, 2014 beginning at 10 A.M. Come join us for breakfast, coffee and fellowship.
Presidents Report
Hello all,
As many of you know, field day is quickly approaching, with this being said some discussion has come into play on having one site this year. I've heard mixed feelings by some individuals both at the meetings and then differently on the air.
I would like to point out that the RED CROSS was on the list first to make their location available again this year, then two meetings ago a formal invitation was made to us by an ARES member to join them at the location in which they had tentatively planned during last year’s event. I appreciate both entities making us feel welcome and would love to have the active membership numbers to serve both sites. The two sites up for discussion are the RED CROSS building and the Archusa water park in Quitman. I need your input on this because your opinion matters to this club and its continued efforts to grow and service the community, also we need to think about trying to bring the club back together and do events as a whole.
When people look at us from the outside they see a club that has problems and has separated into various factions. If you would like to voice your opinion on the field day issue please email your answer or if you would like please come to the next two business meetings to voice your opinion.
Now with that being said let's start looking at ways to get the youth involved in this hobby again, one possibility is to get more involved in the cub scouts and boy scouts programs.
73's all and see hope to qso with you soon, Charles KB5SZJ
MEMA EARNS STORMREADY
DESIGNATION, FIRST IN THE NATION
PEARL – The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency becomes the first state emergency management agency in the nation to earn the StormReady designation from the National Weather Service.
“This is a tremendous designation for the agency, knowing we have the plans and technology in place to protect our staff and the State Emergency Operations Center during weather emergencies.” said MEMA Director Robert Latham. “I view this as a ‘practice what you preach’ achievement, and I encourage all communities and businesses to become StormReady designees or supporters.”
A ceremony marking this achievement was held this morning at the MEMA Headquarters in Pearl. This makes 55 StormReady designations in Mississippi, including 26 counties, 17 communities, six universities, two government and four military sites. The state also has 14 StormReady Supporter sites.
"MEMA and the National Weather Service offices that serve Mississippi have a tremendous working relationship with the purpose of keeping our citizens safe,” said National Weather Service Jackson Warning Coordination Meteorologist Steve Wilkinson. “Part of that is keeping the employees of MEMA safe through warning reception, dissemination and weather safety training. We are very pleased to have MEMA as a StormReady community.”
StormReady is a nationwide program of the National Weather Service that helps communities protect their citizens during severe weather and encourages communities to take a proactive approach to improving local hazardous weather operations.
To be recognized as StormReady the following requirements must be met: Establish a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center. Have multiple ways to receive severe weather warnings and forecasts and to alert the public. Create a system that monitors weather conditions locally. Promote the importance of public readiness through community seminars. Develop a formal hazardous weather plan, which includes training severe weather spotters and holding emergency exercises.
For a full list of Mississippi’s StormReady designations, visit http://www.stormready.noaa.gov/com-maps/ms-com.htm.
To learn more about the StormReady program, visit www.stormready.noaa.gov
ARRL membership: Is 25% asking too much?
By Dan Romanchik, KB6NU
In the March 2014 issue of QST, ARRL CEO Harold Kramer, WJ1B, makes a big deal of the fact that ARRL membership is now up to 162,200 members and is growing at a rate of about 1% per year. After patting the ARRL on the back about this, WJ1B launches into a discussion of the different programs that WJ1B feels have contributed to the membership growth.
Let's take another look at the numbers, though. As the editorial points out, 10,300 ARRL members are international members, meaning that
151,900 U. S. hams are ARRL members. Another article in the March issue, "New Licenses," notes that the total number of licensed radio amateurs at the end of 2013 was 717,201. If you do the math, you'll find that only slightly more than one in five licensed radio amateurs are ARRL members. I personally don't think that's so hot, and it's certainly not worthy of all the self-congratulation going on in this editorial.
The licensing article also points out that "the amateur radio population in the US grew by slightly more than 1 percent last year." That being the case, ARRL membership has grown at about the same rate. If all the programs noted in WJ1B's editorial were so effective, wouldn't you expect membership growth to be at least 2%?
I've said this before, and I'll say it again. I think the ARRL should set a goal to enroll at least 25% of licensed radio amateur as members. I think that this is achievable, and it seems to me that any group calling itself "the national organization for amateur radio" should have at least one in four amateur radio licensees as part of its membership.
What do you think? Is reaching 25% asking too much? If you think I'm right, please reach out to your ARRL division director and tell him so. More members would mean that the ARRL could deliver more services and have more clout in Washington. That sounds like a good thing to me.
===========================
When he's not worrying about ARRL membership, Dan, KB6NU enjoys working CW on the HF bands, teaching amateur radio classes, and building kits. For more information about his operating activities and his "No-Nonsense" series of amateur radio license study guides, go to KB6NU.Com or e-mail cwgeek@kb6nu.com.
Buchanan Hammer
Why was the Electro Voice Model 664 Microphone called the "Buchanan Hammer"?
It was known for its durability as well as its sound characteristics. According to the AES obituary of Electro-Voice founder Lou Burroughs, the microphone earned the nickname “Buchanan Hammer” honestly.
"Lou’s lectures were often hard to forget, as anyone who attended a demonstration of the E-V 664, the Buchanan Hammer, can testify. Lou would show up with a few mics, a piece of wood, and a nail. When the talk got around to the matter of durability, he’d unplug the 664, use it to pound the nail home, and then get on with the talk, having more than made his point."
And the original home of Electro Voice was Buchanan, Michigan.
Have a great month
Next
Month
March 2014