THE SPARK GAP

A monthly publication of the Meridian Amateur Radio Club August 2019

 

 Bible Verse

Proverbs 31:1-9 / The sayings of King Lemuel—an inspired utterance his mother taught him. Listen, my son! Listen, son of my womb! Listen, my son, the answer to my prayers! Do not spend your strength on women, your vigor on those who ruin kings. It is not for kings, Lemuel—it is not for kings to drink wine, not for rulers to crave beer, lest they drink and forget what has been decreed, and deprive all the oppressed of their rights. Let beer be for those who are perishing, wine for those who are in anguish! Let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. (NIV)

 

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President's Report

Hello all,

July has come and gone now we need to look towards doing some classes for the tech license. We have several people who want to take the class and test. Help is always appreciated and if you would like to take part in this we need to meet and get some test dates lined up.

New things are going on at LEMA and they are looking good. They are utilizing us more and would like to see more from us. You don't have to be a member of the club to participate.

See you at the meeting, 73's

Charles Grisham KB5SZJ

 

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Vice President Report

Cheryl Middleton Ford wife of KC5NMB Tom Ford formerly of Meridian and Columbus, MS passed away Friday Night 27th July 2019. There will be a Family Graveside Service Friday Morning @ the Veteran's Cemetery, Kilmichael, Montgomery County, MS. In lieu of flowers Tom has requested Donations to the National Alzheimer's Association. Please keep the family in your prayers.

Frank KF5ETN Keep On Praying

 

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Next MARC Business Meeting

The next business meeting will be held at the Checker Board Restaurant on Saturday, August 3rd beginning at 10 A.M. Come join us for breakfast, coffee and fellowship.

 

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MS ARES Simulated Emergency Test

Saturday, August 3, 2019 from 9:00 AM through 9:00 PM

**This is a test. It is not real. It is only a test**

The primary League-sponsored national emergency exercise is designed to assess the skills and preparedness of ARES and other organizations involved with emergency/disaster response. The SET has never been more important than now given the emphasis on training, the Incident Command System (ICS) and emergency management at large.

Local ARES teams and ARRL Sections as a whole will conduct exercises on scenarios and work with served partner entities including local, regional and state emergency management agencies and organizations with which ARRL holds formal memoranda of understanding (MOU) such as the American Red Cross and many others.

ARRL Field Organization Leaders -- Section Managers, Section Emergency Coordinators, Section Traffic Managers, District Emergency Coordinators, Emergency Coordinators, and all of their Assistants and Net Managers -- are among those tasked with developing plans and scenarios for this year's SET.

The object of the annual nationwide exercise is to test training and skills and to try out new technologies and methodologies while working with partners to cement relationships in advance of real world need. The resulting networking helps ARES members and leaders get to know their counterparts that they would be working with during actual incidents.

To get involved, contact your local ARRL Emergency Coordinator or Net Manager. See the ARRL Sections web pages or your ARRL Section Manager (see page 16 of QST for contact information).

For more information click here.

http://www.meridianarc.org/sparkgap/2019news/media/SET_2019_MS_ARES_SET.pdf

 

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HURRICAN SEASON REMINDER

THE E.M.T.A.R.G. AND SAND POUNDERS GROUP HAVE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS IN PLACE FOR THE UPCOMING HURRICANE SEASON. WE HAVE A VHF PACKET SYSTEM ON 145.01. THE BBS CALL IS WB5BNV-13.

THE WB5BNV HF BPQ BBS IS BACK ON THE AIR, 24/7, FOR THE DURATION OF HURRICANE SEASON. USE RMS EXPRESS ON 3586 DIAL. WB5AKR CONTINUOUSLY MONITORS 146.52 AND CB CHANNEL 14.

HEALTH AND WELFARE MESSAGES WILL BE ACCEPTED AND PLACED ON THE NATIONAL TRAFFIC SYSTEM FOR DELIVERY.

FRED, WB5BNV

 

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SHREVEPORT HAMFEST, AUGUST 10, 2019

The Shreveport Amateur Radio Association (SARA) is pleased to sponsor the 2019 Shreveport Hamfest. Browse the latest equipment from our featured vendors. Sell your used gear or find the perfect new or used equipment for your rig.

ADMISSION is $5.00. Raffle Tickets are $5.00 each or five for $20.00. Parking is free. Easy access. Hamfest Flyer.

The Hamfest offers great main prizes:
1st Prize, ICOM 7300 or $500 cash.
2nd Prize, Kenwood TS480SAT or $400 cash.
3rd Prize, Yaesu FT-2DR or $100 cash. and numerous door prizes.

Tune in on the 146.82 MHz (-600) SARA repeater. No tone. This frequency will be monitored to provide information or answer questions during the hamfest.

Visit: http://shreveporthamfest.k5sar.com/

 

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Huntsville Hamfest, August 17 & 18, 2019
The World's Friendliest Hamfest! Since 1954

Event Flyer
Location: Von Braun Center South Hall
700 Monroe St SW, Huntsville, AL 35801

Over $5000 in Main door prizes and over $2500 in hourly door prizes for 2019 This year we are honored to be the Host of 2019 ARRL Alabama State Convention

Hamfest Hours: We will be open to the public Sat, 9:00–4:30 PM and Sun, 9:00–3:00 PM. Admission: is $10, under 12 free.

Talk-in: Will be on the 146.94 repeater, 100Hz tone, and the backup in case of failure will be on the 145.33-, 100Hz tone, repeater

Visit: https://hamfest.org/

 

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Can you copy at 20 words per minute by hand?

By Dan Romanchik, KB6NU

About a month ago, this email from the ARRL was send to the CWOps mailing list:

From: Fusaro, Norm W3IZ
Sent: Monday, July 1, 2019 4:00 PM
Subject: W1AW Code Proficiency Certificate

Greetings Morse Code Enthusiasts.

I have some exciting news that I want to share with you! The ARRL has reinvigorated the W1AW Code Proficiency Certificate program. Several things have changed beginning with our new sponsor, Vibroplex, a legend in Morse telegraphy equipment. If you see Scott Robbins W4PA and the Vibroplex team at a hamfest or convention please be sure to thank him for his support. The Vibroplex logo will appear on the newly designed certificates (see below) and in the award recipient page that will appear every month in QST.

That’s right, each month in QST we will publish the most recent recipients of the W1AW Code Proficiency Certificate, beginning with all the 2019 recipients. As a bonus, we are sending all the 2019 CPC holders a new certificate at no cost to replace their older style award.

Certificate

The award is available to anyone who copies one solid minute of code during the qualifying runs. Complete program details can be found on the web at http://www.arrl.org/code-proficiency-certificate.

And to make the award available to more people we will double the number of opportunities to copy the CW text. Beginning September 2019, the qualifying runs will increase from twice per week to four times per week.

I am sharing this advanced notice with the Morse code clubs so that you can share it with your members. I have attached PDF files of the new certificate and the announcement that will appear in August QST, available in digital format July 8. I hope you are as excited about this as I am.

In closing, I want personally thank all of you who promote the use and proficiency of Morse code on the air waves and ask that you challenge your club members to submit their copy for the W1AW Code Proficiency Certificate.

73,
Norm Fusaro, W3IZ
Director of Operations


Almost immediately after I posted this to my blog (at KB6NU.Com), my friend, Paul, KW1L, replied, “How does one copy legibly at 40 wpm?” When I replied, “Typing,” he countered, “On page 98 of the July 2019 QST, it says, 'Legibly copy at least 1 minute of text by HAND...'”

To this, I replied, “Well, I guess you and I are both screwed then. I can’t copy by hand at 20 wpm, and it’s really not worth it to me to practice and get that fast. I’m guessing that I’m not alone in this regard. The upshot is that the ARRL is going to be sending out a lot fewer of these Vibroplex certificates than they think.”

I then emailed W3IZ for a clarification. He shot back, “By hand is to mean not using a code reading machine.” I suggested that he clarify this, both on the ARRL web site and in QST. Of course, they haven't yet taken my suggestion, and the web site still reads, “Copy one of W1AW's qualifying runs and submit one minute of solid copy (legible).”

=============================

Dan Romanchik, KB6NU, is the author of the KB6NU amateur radio blog (KB6NU.Com), the “No Nonsense” amateur radio license study guides (KB6NU.Com/study-guides/), and is one of the presenters the ICQPodcast (ICQPodcast.Com). Feel free to reply to his CW CQs at any speed you so choose.

 

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Quote of the Month

“Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.”

Willie Nelson, Musician

 

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Have a great month

 

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