CALENDAR
March NGARC meeting:  March 20, 2006, 6:00 at Fire Mountain at the Dawsonville intersection, Hwy 400 and Hwy 53.

Please submit any info you may have or conflicts you may notice, to dianacwhite@earthlink.net -- in general, the NGARC club meetings are proposed for the third Monday of every month except November.  We'll move Nov to the second Monday so as not to have the meeting Thanksgiving week, just like we did in 2005.

FEBRUARY

11 Charlotte Hamfest

18 Kennehoochee Hamfest (not 17, as originally printed here)

20 NGARC Meeting, Dahlonega

21 Gateway ARC (GARC) Meeting, Cleveland

In general, the NGARC club meetings are held on the third Monday of every month. NEXT MEETING: March 20, 2006 NGARC Meeting: will be at Hong Kong Buffet (N. Grove St., across from rock at old high school) for supper, and after dinner (or about 7PM) we will move to the business part of the meeting.

MARCH

17 NGARC Meeting, Dahlonega

18 GARC Meeting, Cleveland

21 Tour de Georgia Bike Ride -- Same weekend as Bear in the Square

28, 29, 30 SVHFS Conference in Greenville SC

ARES UPDATE for March from Lumpkin County EC:

Please remember that we have an official joint ARES/RACES net, with Dawson County on Monday nights at 8:00 PM. The net meets on the Dahlonega repeater, 146.835, positive offset, 100 Hz tone. Please join in! (We'll try to keep it short and sweet, but have a pencil; there may be traffic to be copied!)

Consider this a call for net control stations for the joint net. It's not hard; I'll provide you with a copy of the net protocol. Please call me at (706) 867-0805, or email to burrows@alltel.net and I'll get you on the list for NCSs. We are scheduled through March 13, but it would be great to continue planning ahead.

Three important ARES documents are in the process of preparation, and it is hoped that they will be completed by the March Club meeting. They are:

- A Memorandum of Understanding with the Lumpkin County EMA

- An Operations Plan

- A generic emergency net control protocol.

The first two are based on templates provided by Georgia ARES. The second is loosely based on protocols created by other ARES groups.

Our ARES Group participation in the statewide tornado drill on 2/22 was a success, modest only in terms of the number of check-ins. Andrew KI4KLP did a fine job as NCS on the tactical repeater, 443.1 MHz. The UHF repeater was chosen because the 146.825 machine was tied to the NWS (WX4PTC) with the linked repeater system. Andrew collected six check-ins and reported the results on the linked repeaters. Russ W4YKF attempted to check in on the HF frequency 3.975 but was thwarted by a very long-winded operator there, and had to shut down and leave for an appointment. Lesson learned? Keep your transmissions as short as possible during an emergency!

73 de Dave, W9JWT

MEMBERSHIP/DUES UPDATE FROM TREASURER:

We currently have 24 paid members.  If you have not paid your 2006 dues
of $10 individual or $15 family membership please mail a check to Betty
Beason, 3154 Lindmoor Drive, Decatur, GA. 30033 or BETTER YET bring your
dues to the next meeting.

When you pay your dues, let Diana update your membership form, even if you are a long time member, so we will have your information for our records.  Diana has available a roster/directory of club members' info (addresses, telephone, etc.), available only to club members, which you can request by email.

BULLETIN BOARD

COMPILED BY K4SZ BOB LEAR

I have reported before about the annual "TechFest" put on by the Gwinnett club.  It is meant to be a forum to introduce ham radio to newcomers, to present different aspects of the hobby to already licensed hams, and of course a chili 'cook-off'.  I have participated with the Fourlanders in the past, showing our VHF-UHF equipment to folks interested and unfamiliar.  It's really a great idea and I thought that maybe we could do something on a smaller scale.  Maybe an 'Elmer Day' where newcomers could come and meet with several more experienced hams and ask questions and see equipment and set-ups without the activity going on like at Field Day.  Just a thought and I'd be willing to be a part of it.

Coax:  I have several pieces of old coax that I wouldn't recommend using for signals, but if anyone wants it to strip the braid out for ground strap or whatever use you can think of, just let me know what you want and I'll give you some.  I also have a large amount of 72-Ohm cable RG11/U, new top quality if anyone wants to use some for experimentation.  All for free, you can't beat the deal.  The 'Wireman' had an article in the older edition 'WireBooks' about using old coax for grounding and decoupling. 

Radio Mounts:  I've mentioned these before and recently saw a new model called the 'Lido' mount.  Just do a 'Google' search for it.  I also saw a lot of nifty mounting devices in the radio section at Bass Pro Shops and at West Marine.  HRO also has some and so does IIX Equipment.  Someone even made one that clamps into a cup holder!

CW:  Still no word coming down from the FCC about any schedule of when the changes will be forthcoming.  It will surely be the end of this year now before anything will be implemented.  You still have time to study and pass this year before it goes away.  I had posted area exam schedules in a recent newsletter.  Check the archives on the web page.

EmComm:  An excellent program at the last QCWA meeting was given by Mike Boatwright KO4WX on QRP and Emergency Communications.  It was based on a similar presentation given at the Orlando HamCation 'fest last month by Mike and other 'QRP International' members.  He stressed how QRP operation helps prepare one for EmComm and that many times high power operation is necessary due to noise levels.  You don't keep trying QRP just for the sake of it during a real emergency.  Even though he is mainly a QRP guy, he says there are times you need the real juice to make the connection.  Mike also talked about free on-line classes from www.fema.gov , IS100 and IS700 that are now required for operators in FEMA EOC'S.  He covered the types of communications hams typically support i.e. Health and Welfare, Medical, Feeding and Shelter.  Hams are generally not involved in front line, first-response communications.  Mike also talked about the minimum 'Jump Kit':  2m HT, 5Ah Battery, Coax, Portable Antenna, Headphones and Microphone.  We probably don't think about the necessity for headphones most of the time, but they would be indispensable in a real operation.  One should also have their ID, extra batteries, appropriate clothing, personal food and water, personal medications, etc. to be prepared for a day or two deployment.  It would be good to know something about propagation so that you could choose appropriate equipment and frequencies of operation for varying conditions day or night.  (Maybe we could have a program sometime on propagation.  Any volunteers?)  We learned a lot from Mike's presentation.  (And don't forget that I suggested "Comm Pack" instead of "Jump Kit" cause I'm NOT jumpin'!!!!!)

I did get an AA Battery pack for my HT at the Dalton Hamfest.  If you didn't go, you missed another good one.  Charlotte and Kennehoochee coming in March.

73, Bob K4SZ

GOOD ARTICLE about hams and emergencies, link sent in by Bill O'Leksy KF4IE; it appears in the Delta Sky Miles online ‘zine. Here's the link:

http://www.delta-sky.com/2006_02/RolePlaying/index.html . This is a terrific tribute to hams, and a wake-up to the community at large, about our usefulness in our world – specifically in this article, during a hospital's island-like isolation during Katrina, and one ham's resourcefulness, Tim Butcher. The ham response after 9/11 is also mentioned. This one merits copying and distributing!

BPL -- IN RESPONSE to his very helpful presentation on his concerns about and work with the matter of BPL and its implications for the ham community, I asked Jim Balaun K4PZ to give us a word for the newsletter. Jim writes:

(As to his letters to HEMC copied to the FCC), “anyone who would like to look at what has been sent out, I would be happy to provide them with a copy. Just have them email me at captjimb@applebank.net with their request” (for copies of his letters).

“Broadband Over Power Line (BPL) and Amateur Radio information can be found at the following address. The sidebar has more information than anyone should ever need to read including the video.”

http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc/

“Information from Ed Hare, W1RFI, at the ARRL RFI lab that might be of interest:

‘Concerning notching of interference from BPL. They have to notch individual units not the whole system at the source. Some systems don't notch at all and can result in S9+30 dB in overhead lines. Some notch better than others but not well enough and some notched areas can still produce S9 noise levels. Most BPL systems are badly bothered by nearby Amateur transmissions. I have been urging utilities to work with their local Amateur community to do immunity testing. You should extend that offer to them.' “

“We have tried to get HEMC to go with us to monitor the radio interference and to also test what we do to their system (immunity testing) but have been ignored in that regard.”

“Any hams that would like to monitor and report interference in the Clarkesville area I would be happy to send them directions and a small packet of information that they would need. The more letters the better our chance of shutting this down before we have to ‘kiss our equipment good by.' However, the testing may be over if I can believe the HEMC contact. I haven't been over to Clarkesville to confirm that they have pulled the plug to evaluate and make plans.” (The above from Jim K4PZ at the editor's request).