Bible
Verse
1 Chronicles 29:11-13 Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name. (NIV)
President's Report
Well here we are! It's June and you know what that means, it's time for the summer field day event. We will be using the radios at the Lauderdale County Emergency Management Agency this year and looks like we will also have some newly licensed hams that will get a chance to see what it's all about.
Thanks to everyone who came Saturday May 26th and tested, and also thanks to everyone that were VE's. We had five show up to test. One guy came from Mobile Al. To test for General and passed. Also we had four show up to take their technician license and passed. It's great to see new interest in the hobby. I hope they enjoy this as much or more than I have over the years.
I'm hoping that we can start giving more test sessions this year and continue to do so in the years to come. If anyone is interested in becoming a VE and helping with the testing we would be glad to have you come join us.
See you on Saturday morning at the Checkerboard for the June meeting.
73's Charles Grisham KB5SZJ President
Next MARC Business Meeting
The next business meeting will be held at the Checker Board Restaurant on Saturday, June 2nd beginning at 10 A.M. Come join us for breakfast, coffee and fellowship.
ARRL FIELD DAY 2018
When: Saturday, June 23th and Sunday, June 24th
Field Day is ham radio's open house. Every June, more than 40,000 hams throughout North America set up temporary transmitting stations in public places to demonstrate ham radio's science, skill and service to our communities and our nation. It combines public service, emergency preparedness, community outreach, and technical skills all in a single event. Field Day has been an annual event since 1933 and remains the most popular event in ham radio.
This year, many groups and participants may choose to combine 2018 Field Day with our yearlong operating event - 2018 ARRL International Grid Chase (IGC) - working stations in as many grid squares as possible and uploading log data to ARRL's Logbook of The World (LoTW).
Hams will set up and operate field radio stations to contact other hams throughout the US and Canada over a 24 hour period. If you are a newly licensed operator, be sure to make this event. You will see and have an opportunity to communicate on different modes of operation.
Licensed Amateur Radio Operators in Lauderdale and surrounding counties or anyone wanting to learn more about this exciting and important means of emergency communication are invited.
MARC Field day setup will begin on Saturday morning, June 23th at LEMA office on 14th Street.
Bring the family for fun and fellowship. This year we invite you to bring your own food and drinks.
Lauderdale Repeater Group w5LRG
146.970 - ki5fw/R (pl 100hz)
444.500 + w5LRG/R
145.410- no5c/R w/100hz tone access
GE to all: It is the time of year for both the Lauderdale Repeater Group and Meridian Amateur Radio Club to jointly pay for Liability Insurance to cover both groups and repeater sites. This year’s premium remains the same price of $325.00 for a one year policy. Both groups will pay half of the premium ($162.50 each). I urge everyone to help pay for this expense. If you use any one of / or both repeaters just remember these things do not stay on the air all by themselves. All donations will be greatly appreciated. Dennis NO5C
Contributions can be mailed to:
Lauderdale Repeater Group w5LRG
c/o: Dennis Carpenter
7760 Vanzyverden Road
Meridian, MS 39305
ARE YOU READY?
The Atlantic hurricane season is June to November, with the peak season from mid-August to late October. On average there are 6 hurricanes, three which are categorized as “major,” each year. History provides important examples of the potentially dangerous impact hurricanes can have and the need to be prepared.
Read more here: Hurricane Safety - Eyeing the Storm
Is the internet, millennials or FT-8 killing ham radio?
By Dan Romanchik, KB6NU
Amateur radio bloggers love to write about the demise of amateur radio. To wit, we have:
Of course, none of these posts are really saying that the internet, millennials, or FT-8 has killed amateur radio. What they are saying is that all of these are changing amateur radio as we know it. Well, duh, the way we live our lives changes every day. Why should amateur radio be any different?
For example, Bob, K0NR, discusses how the operation of remote stations is changing the game of DX. Can you really claim that you worked a DX station if you rented time on a super station? I’ve written about that topic, too (https://www.kb6nu.com/dx-advisory-committee-wants-to-put-the-screws-to-remote-operation/).
There has also been much written about how FT8 is changing the amateur radio game. One blog post (https://ve7sl.blogspot.com/2017/10/160m-ft8-end-of-era.html), talking about the effect of FT8 on 160m operation, even goes so far to say that this is the “end of an era.” On DX World, the results of the poll, “FT8 – Damaging to Amateur Radio?” (https://dx-world.net/yes-or-no-a-poll-on-ft8/) show more than half of the respondents think that FT8 is damaging amateur radio.
I specifically used the word “game” in the previous two paragraphs because that’s exactly what’s changing. The physics of amateur radio certainly isn’t changing. Our transmitters are still generating electromagnetic waves like they have been for decades, and on the HF bands, anyway, those radio waves are bouncing off the ionosphere just as they have been for more than the past 100 years.
What’s changing is the human component. By that I mean what’s changing is how we think people should participate in the hobby. The hams that are complaining that the internet or millennials or FT8 is killing amateur radio are really just complaining that people aren’t participating in amateur radio the way they want them to participate.
Here’s where we talk about millennials. In his blog post, Sterling, N0SSC, suggests that setting up remote stations is one way to engage young people. He writes, “I believe that remote operating, and other internet-assisted means of ham radio operation, are critical to youth engagement.”
He’s also big on an idea he calls “ham radio hackathons.” He writes,
“A hackathon isn’t a coding competition. It’s explained well in this Medium article (https://medium.com/hackathons-anonymous/wtf-is-a-hackathon-92668579601). It goes even further than that, not limited to coders and engineers, but open to thinkers, doers, philosophers, system engineers, math people, teachers, students, artists, stakeholders…anyone with an interest in solving a problem with technology.”
I support both of these ideas, but I think that millennials (and, to be fair, it isn’t just millennials we’re talking about here, but any newcomers to the hobby) need to step up and get these things going. I don’t think it’s my job to try to get kids interested in amateur radio. I don’t even know if that’s really possible. What I can do, however, is be there to encourage and support kids (and anyone else that expresses a sincere interest in amateur radio).
For example, I’m not sure how fruitful it would be to set up my station to be remotely operable and then saying to some kids, “Hey, come and operate my station.” What I think would be more fruitful is to say to a kid, “Hey, come help me set up my remote control station, so that we both can use it.” Then, it turns into a learning situation, and we both gain from the exercise.
The same kind of thing has to happen with ham radio hackathons. The motivation has to come from the ground up, not the top down. I do hope that this idea gets off the ground, though, and I’m standing by, ready to support this effort however I can.
I think that millennials (I’m really getting tired of that term, by the way) need to grab the bull by the horns and take amateur radio in the direction they want it to go. Feel free to kill amateur radio as we know it. Make it better!
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When he's not trying to figure out how to save amateur radio, Dan builds stuff, blogs about amateur radio at KB6NU.Com, teaches amateur radio classes, and operates CW on the HF bands. Look for him on 30m, 40m, and 80m. You can email him about what you think is killing amateur radio at cwgeek@kb6nu.com.
Quote of the Day
If you have not often felt the joy of doing a kind act, you have neglected much, and most of all yourself.
- A. Neilen
Have a great month
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