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AUGUST 2009AUGUST 2009AUGUST 2009AUGUST 2009 Volume 33 Issue 8
Big Sky WaveBig Sky WaveBig Sky WaveBig Sky WaveBig Sky WaveBig Sky WaveBig Sky WaveBig Sky WaveBig Sky WaveBig Sky WaveBig Sky WaveBig Sky Wave A publication of the Great Falls Area Amateur Radio Club—W7ECA © 2009. All rights reserved
COOKIE MONSTER LISTCOOKIE MONSTER LISTCOOKIE MONSTER LIST
September: Jim Sims, KE7BIN
October: Bill Speck, W7WOS
November: Eric Martin, K7ABV
December: Joe Heyde, WB7TNH
The Cookie Monsters should bring a couple of dozen
cookies, or other treats to the meeting. If for some reason, you cannot make the meeting, please arrange to have someone else takeover for you, or send an E-mail well before the meeting date to: [email protected]
In This Issue….
Zortman Pictures……....Page .2 and 3
Glacier-Waterton VE Session…Page 4
Hamfest “Special” Guest ……...Page 5
Section Managers Report……..Page 6
ARES News…...………………..Page 7
Vanity Fees to Increase…...…..Page 8
THE PREZ SAYS…THE PREZ SAYS…THE PREZ SAYS…
T he hot weather has arrived and the dog days of summer are upon us! Hard to believe a few months ago we thought the snow flurries would never stop completely.
Our annual club summer picnic was held on August 3rd in place of the usual meeting. The gathering spot was down near the band shell in Gibson Park. Jim (N7YO) and Wanda (W7POO) brought the fried chicken, compliments of the
GFAARC treasury. Everyone else brought a side dish, salad or dessert to share. We had around 30 persons in attendance, including many spouses who joined in the good food and good conversation. A large birthday cake celebrated the birthday of John (KD7ZLU), while Ken (KE7ENJ) was also identified as having a recent birthday. The evening temperature was pleasant and most of the mosquitoes seemed to have taken the night off. In summary - a good time was had by all.
Compared to the busy months of June and July, August promises to be a little bit more relaxed. The big summer events of Field Day, the 4th of July parade, and ham fest are behind us. But more good things are yet to come! George (AA7GS) has received notification that the month of September in Montana will be “Emergency Preparedness” month. Exhibits are planned at the Holi-day Village Mall and the North Central Montana ARES group has been invited to participate. More details will be forthcoming from George as soon as he receives the information.
GFAARC was also the recipient of a donation of $250 from the United Parcel Service. Ken (KE7ENJ) coordinated the donation from his employer. The money was used to sponsor the Saturday afternoon BBQ at the Glacier-Waterton hamfest. Since it was the 75th anniversary of the hamfest, there was a good sized crowd of almost 250 persons at the event. I’m told UPS even sent one of their famous “brown trucks” to the hamfest and set up a display highlighting the history of the company. Thanks to Ken for his efforts in obtaining the donation from UPS!
A “Thank You” letter was sent to Mr. Russ Rice at Pacific Steel & Recycling, in recognition of their donation of the aluminum dia-mond-plate panels used to renovate the club’s antenna tower trailer. As you will recall from the pictures in last month’s newslet-ter, the “make-over” made a huge improvement in the appearance of the tower trailer. Thanks again to George (AA7GS), Ken (KE7ENJ), Collette (KE7DFY), Bob (W7ETP), Jim (KE7BIN) and Norma (KE7FKY) for all their hard work to overhaul the trailer. Parrish (KE7YTK) applied the finishing touch recently in the form of lettering down the length of the antenna storage tube proudly proclaiming, “Great Falls Area Amateur Radio Club”.
(Continued on page 2)
A similar “Thank You” letter and wooden plaque was presented to Mr. Lance LeRud, manager of the local Wal-Mart store here in Great Falls. This was in recognition of their second consecutive year supporting our field day activities. Mr LeRud graciously allowed us to set up our equipment and field day demonstration in the corner of the Wal-Mart parking lot. The high visibility this location provided allowed us to get the word out to members of the general public as to what amateur radio and the Amateur Ra-dio Emergency Services group are all about.
On a final note, the hidden transmitter hunts continue. Come out and join us on August 12th for another in a series of radio sleuthing events! All hams and interested persons are invited to join us Wednesday evening at 7:00 PM in the Montana Federal Credit Union parking lot across from Paris Gibson Square here in Great Falls. The hidden transmitter will be transmitting on the FM simplex frequency of 146.445 MHz. More details and the event rules are posted at http://www.w7eca.net.
73 de
Bruce Clark, KA2ODP
GFAARC President
(Continued from page 1)
BIG SKY WAVE Page 2
Zortman Repeater Up And RunningZortman Repeater Up And RunningZortman Repeater Up And Running
Next Page
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Thanks For Another Job Well Done!
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SURPRISES AT THE GLACIER-WATERTON V.E. TESTING SESSIONS
Cam Smith, N7NBB
This past July proved very fruitful to nine individuals hoping to take home more than just new equipment, flea market treasures, and memories from the 75th anniversary of the Glacier-Waterton Hamfest. This year, the Great Falls Area ARRL Volunteer Ex-aminer Team administered many, exam elements over two exam sessions on Saturday. The team was assisted by quite a few "drop in" V.E.s who helped the exam sessions run smoothly. There was enough demand at the scheduled morning session, that a second impromptu session was scheduled on the spot for that afternoon. When all elements had been graded, the following individuals went home to wait for their new Technician licenses: Catherine Tewksbury, Green Valley, AZ. (KF7DZA), Michelle Mandera, Helena, MT. (KF7DYZ), Kevin Morgan, Helena, MT. (KF7DZB), Elden Evans JR. , Martin City, MT. (KF7DZC) and William Danielson, Cut Bank, MT. (KF7DYY). Marvin Walden of Snohomish, WA. (KE7OKF) successfully upgraded to amateur extra, and Jason Bechard of Sommers, MT. (KE6QMI) upgraded to general. Special mention should be made of Gerald Ursenbach, Salt Lake City, UT. (KF7DZD) who passed both his Technician and Gen-eral test elements, and to Dennis Preston of Kalispell, MT. (AE7BQ) who passed ALL THREE elements, going from no license to amateur extra all in one sitting. Congratulations and happy hamming to all those who met or exceeded their licensing goals, and encouraging best wishes to those who may need to study a bit more.
VE session (morning) at the 75th Glacier—Waterton Hamfest
Submitted by Cam Smith
BIG SKY WAVE Page 5
Special Guests “Drop In” at 75th GlacierSpecial Guests “Drop In” at 75th GlacierSpecial Guests “Drop In” at 75th Glacier———Waterton HamfestWaterton HamfestWaterton Hamfest Submitted by: Cam - N7NBB
There was a rumor circulating at hamfest, that we would have a very special "drop in" guest Saturday about noon. Sure enough, about midday, the sound of a Helicopter filled the valley, and many ham's head's turned skyward. A Black Hawk helicopter from the Department of Homeland Security was landing in the open field close by. A throng of men, women, and children streamed from the hamfest venue and flooded the field to get a closer look. The UH-60 crew opened their craft for public inspection, and many kids scrambled for the pilot's seat to grab the controls, as parents jostled for a better angle to capture the moment with their cameras. After a brief visit with many hamfest attendees, the crew left their bird for further inspection, and headed to the pavilion for a hamburger lunch. Circulating in the crowd, one could catch many snippets of conversations that ran the gamut from pure fictitious speculation, to literal war stories from those who flew missions in similar craft in Iraq and Afghanistan. The surprise visit was the hit of the day (with the exception of those who had just passed their license examinations) The Black Hawk's visit was coordinated by Mickey Rowell, KE7BBN, who through special arrangement convinced the crew to stop by our Hamfest after their "flyover" at a city parade in Shelby. Many thanks to Mickey and the crew of the Homeland Security UH-60 Black Hawk for this memorable addition to the 75th anniversary of the Glacier-Waterton International Peace Park hamfest.
ARRL Montana Section ARRL Montana Section ARRL Montana Section Manager’s ReportManager’s ReportManager’s Report
BIG SKY WAVE Page 6
It's been a busy Summer here so far, work at home seems to multiply and before we know it, Fall has fallen.
Remember the "Tour De Cure" for September 19th. Contact the Bozeman club for information. Several mobiles will be needed with three races going on simultaneously. Some varied country will be covered, so stations for relay will be important.
FCC is again looking at BPL as a primary means of providing Internet access to rural areas. They have yet to comply with the Court's demand for fair and open reporting of their own staff's studies on BPL. Clearly, the FCC folks determined that the BPL technology available was a spectrum eating system that interfered with licensed services all the way to the VHF range. We know ARRL is watching through the legal system. Recently, the new Whitehouse has stacked the Commission with new mem-bers, bringing politics to the communications world. In an effort to be proactive, we as Amateurs must work to gather baseline readings of noise and spurious responses in our bands to give us something to point to should BPL be moved out into the coun-try with less than effective research done ahead of time. So much of this is about money and politics folks, we don’t want to deal from a position of weakness when the interference starts.
So, borrow, lease or buy a calibrated Spectrum Analyzer and start with readings in areas around town, along power lines and in rural settings. Take pictures and build up a file for future use, we may need them to assist in defending our claims about interfer-ence. This isn’t going to go away any time soon.
Good weather is all around us, time to do some outside maintenance. Tear down that antenna, check all the hardware for wear and breakage, get those antennas ready for the upcoming Winter. Cold isn’t kind to antenna structures. It never hurts to check those tower section bolts for proper tightness also, as in some cases, they will work loose. Remember that Towers use Grade 5 or 8, fine thread bolts, not your average 39 cent hardware store fittings made of soft steel. Get the right parts and protect yourself and your investment in your antennas. Use the good stuff.
How many out there have a backup antenna? Now's a great time to put one together.
Hope everyone is having a great summer.
IMN-VE7AWG, QNI-363, QTC-62
MTN-W7MPK, QNI-1803, QTC-42
MSN-K7YD, AE7V, QNI-101, QTC-4
73
Doug, K7YD
AUGUST V.E. TESTING SESSION VERY WELL ATTENDED
By Cam Smith
The V.E. Team greeted five applicants at the August testing session, and all applicants were successful in passing the elements for their desired licenses. A warm welcome to our newest Technician HAMs: Kaylee Taylor, KF7ECI and John Gunness, KF7ECH. Meanwhile, Evan Yurko - KD7HZW, and Ken Wolfslau KD7ENJ will be enjoying new bands and modes with their new General Upgrades. Also be listening for Jo-seph Quarta, KF7ECJ who also will be enjoying his new General license through an administrative up-grade / renewal.
BIG SKY WAVE Page 7
North Central Montana Amateur Radio Emergency Services
P.O. Box 1763
Great Falls, Montana 59403
(406)-791-8325
ASSISTANT EMERGENCY COORDINATORSASSISTANT EMERGENCY COORDINATORSASSISTANT EMERGENCY COORDINATORS
Technical (equipment):Technical (equipment):Technical (equipment): Volunteer Scheduling / Reports:Volunteer Scheduling / Reports:Volunteer Scheduling / Reports: Jim Cummins - N7YO Dawn Peterson-Smith -AD7MT Tom Nixon - WA7MT Cameron Smith - N7NBB
Interagency Coordination (CERT, Etc.):Interagency Coordination (CERT, Etc.):Interagency Coordination (CERT, Etc.): General Operations:General Operations:General Operations: Jim Adkins - W7HOG Fred Davison - N6ZV Jim Sims - KE7BIN Bruce Clark - KA2ODP
Skywarn:Skywarn:Skywarn: Ken Hanks - W7GMC
Mark Chandler - K9MWD
JOIN US FOR BREAKFAST JOIN US FOR BREAKFAST JOIN US FOR BREAKFAST or JUST COFFEE AT THE
“GOLDEN GRIDDLE” ALMOST EVERY SATURDAY MORNING AT 9:00AM
We would like you to join us for Saturday Morning Coffee and/or breakfast at the GOLDEN GRIDDLE on SATURDAYS at
9:00am. The Golden Griddle is located in the Senior Citizen's Center at 1004 Central Avenue. TALK-IN will be on 147.300(+)
A.R.E.S. NEWS A.R.E.S. NEWS A.R.E.S. NEWS AUGUST 10, 2009
W ow, the summer has been busy! The Hamfest is out of the way now so maybe I can get focused again on ARES things. The net check-ins are still pretty strong. There is a tendency to slack off a bit in the summertime, but we are doing pretty good despite a few power outages on Highwood Baldy where the entire mountain was without power, the 146.73 repeater is doing great. Zortman however, needs some attention and later this week or next we will be going up with N7YO to check things out, install the permanent antenna, and I
think after that, it should be good for the winter. I am expecting the coverage to be greatly increased with the new antenna and antenna location on the tower up there, so listen for new points East and North! Also, there’s some talk about linking our stuff to the 146.700 at East Glacier. This would bump us over into the West side of the Rockies!
ARES NEEDS all of you with ANY type of communications available, to be an ARES member. There are no dues or fees. Be-coming an ARES member simply means that you have agreed to help, and that I have your information in case we need to con-tact you. See ya next month!
De AA7GS
George Forsyth
Cascade County Emergency Coordinator
Montana DES Dist 2 Emergency Coordinator
Amateur Radio Emergency Service
BIG SKY WAVE Page 8
http://www.w7eca.net/forumhttp://www.w7eca.net/forumhttp://www.w7eca.net/forum
Have you signed up yet?Have you signed up yet?Have you signed up yet?
What are you waiting for?What are you waiting for?What are you waiting for?
Vanity Call Sign Fees to Increase September 10
On August 11, the FCC announced that the cost of an Amateur Radio vanity call sign will increase $1.10, from $12.30 to $13.40.
Now that notice of the increase has been published in the Federal Register, the increase will take effect in 30 days, September 10, 2009.
The FCC is authorized by the Communications Act of 1934, As Amended, to collect vanity call sign fees to recover the costs as-sociated 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.
The notice in the August 11, 2009 Federal Register, entitled "Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2009," includes regulatory fees. These fees are expected to recover a total of $341,875,000 during FY2009, encompassing all the Services the FCC regulates.
For more information, see the recent ARRLWeb article, "FCC Looks to Raise Vanity Call Sign Fees for Second Consecutive Year" at,
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/05/18/10825/?nc=1 .
(Submitted by Eric Martin,
ECHO LINK COMMANDSECHO LINK COMMANDSECHO LINK COMMANDS Node Sponsor Jim, N7YO Node # 37656 Located on Highwood Baldy, 146.730 (-)
100hz Tone Is Activated! * plus node number Connect to Node # Disconnect ## Disconnect all #00 Disable Echolink *00 Enable Echolink A5 Connect random link A6 Connect random node A7 Connect random user A8 Reconnect last connection A9 Echolink Status Station Shortcuts: *1 Connect to W7ECA-R (Porphery Peak) *2 Connect to K7KTR-R *3 Connect to KK4FE *4 Connect to WA2FFY *5 Connect to WB4BLI-R *6 Connect to WR7HLN-R Echo time Text to Speech commands: 0* Info file 1* Help file 2* Current time 3* Node Status 4* Current WX 5* WX Forecast 6* WX Warnings 01* Record Link 02* Stop Record 03* Playback 10* Toggle voice announcements on/off
BIG SKY WAVE Page 9
R.A.C.E.S. R.A.C.E.S. R.A.C.E.S.
Net meets first and third Sunday of the month on 3947 Khz.+/- QRM. There is an opportu-nity to join at the end of the net, or by contact-ing Bill, K7LMT.
R.A.C.E.S. meets on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month at 9:00 AM local time. If your not yet a member, you may check in at the end of the roll and there is an opportunity to join at the end as well. Hope to hear you on the net!
The Montana Traffic netThe Montana Traffic netThe Montana Traffic net
MTN is in need of net control stations and alternate net control stations. Please con-sider joining the team, there is lots of sup-port and it is lots of fun. Contact: Mike [email protected] Come and join in. That’s
only once a week. Handling routine traffic is not only easy and fun but good practice for emergency operations as well.
The Montana Traffic net meets EVERYDAY at 00:30 UTC on 3910
Khz. More information at http://www.montanatrafficnet.com
Lead The Way Lead The Way Lead The Way
Mentor A New Ham!Mentor A New Ham!Mentor A New Ham!
To get on the list please send an e-mail to:
That E-mail should include your:
NAME, CALLSIGN and CONTACT INFORMATION.
Also include what you feel your strengths are....
Antennas, electronics, station setup….the list is as long as your imagination…..
Message From the Editor……… Message From the Editor……… Message From the Editor……… General submissions are due on or before the monthly meeting date. Submissions from club offi-cers are due one week after, with publication the fol-lowing day. This should allow the printing of new hams and their calls.
Please see the last page for our policy concerning non-member or commercial submissions
FREE TRAINING FROM FEMA
ICS courses, IC-100, IC-200, IC-700, IC-702, IC-703 - Online! Get Started Today!
http://training.fema.gov/IS/crslist.asp
Idaho Montana NetIdaho Montana NetIdaho Montana Net The Montana Traffic Net (MTN) is in need of liaison stations to the Idaho Montana Net (IMN). Currently, MTN has only two representatives', one from Montana and one from Idaho.
IMN is a daily CW net and meets on 3578.5 Khz or 7043 Khz @ 0300 UTC (That’s 9PM Local during Daylight savings Time and 8pm Mountain Standard Time). If you have any CW skills, it’s a great way to stay in shape and if you are just a bit shaky and need to sharpen your skills it’s just the place to do it.
BIG SKY WAVE Page 10
EchoIRLP COMMANDS Node Sponsor: Ken, W7GMC IRLP Node # 5670 / Echolink Node # 425518 Located north edge of Great Falls 147.360 No tone Connect to a node: IRLP - dial node number Echolink - * (Star) and node number Other Commands EchoIRLP status - 0 (Zero) Disconnect from EchoIRLP - 73 IRLP - Dial random node - B Speak time - C Last node connected - *69 Speed dial to IRLP Nodes: #3571 / Parump, NV - * (Star) 1 #1850 / Lethbridge, AB - * (Star) 2 #7430 / Lakeside, MT - * (Star) 3
Email me with your requests for IRLP speed dial nodes:
VE TestingVE TestingVE Testing
The Great Falls Area Amateur Radio Volunteer Examiners offer test-
ing for ALL levels of Amateur Radio Licenses at their monthly testing
sessions. Normally, these VE testing sessions are held on the first
Tuesday AFTER the first Monday of each month at 7:00pm in the
Westgate Mall (Great Falls). Doors to the testing room are locked
promptly at 7:00pm., so please arrive a few minutes early. The next
test session will be on the 8th of September 2009. Testing fees are
$15.00 as of January 2009. ALL applicants must bring TWO forms
of ID. One must be a Photo ID such as a driver's license, school or
work Id, passport, etc. Correct Change for the testing fee is Recom-
mended. You will also need to know your Social Security Number,
but DO NOT need to have the card with you. If you are currently
licensed, you will need your Federal Registration Number (FRN),
(and a photocopy of your current license or CSCE to give to the VE
Team this photocopy will NOT be returned to you. If you have ques-
tions concerning Amateur Radio testing, telephone 406-791-8322,
and the answering service can put you in touch the volunteer exam-
iner coordinator
Treasurer’s Report Treasurer’s Report Treasurer’s Report Please contact Doug Shearer: [email protected] for any other con-
cerns, questions or comments.
Highwood Highwood Highwood ——— Zortman Zortman Zortman
Linking CodesLinking CodesLinking Codes
Just in case you should need them in
your travels about our area of the
state here are the linking control
codes for the “Highwood—Zortman”
repeater system.
Link Information:
Highwood Up = A43 Zortman Up = B43
Highwood Down = A40 Zortman Down = B40
ARRL Montana Section Who’s WhoARRL Montana Section Who’s WhoARRL Montana Section Who’s Who
For more information including contact information and section reports please visit:
http://www.arrl.org/sections/?sect=MT
Section manager
K7YD, Doug Dunn
Assistant Section Manager
AA7MT, Loren Nichols
Assistant Section Manager
K7LMT, Bill Kornec
Section Emergency Coordinator
AE7V, Todd Gansel
Affiliated Club Coordinator
K7ABV, Eric Martin
Government Liaison
W7WWW, Terry Whiteside
Section Traffic Manger
KA7YYR, Herb Allard
GFAARC
P.O. Box 1763
Great Falls, MT 59403-1763
FIRST CLASS
«AddressBlock»
Great Falls Area Amateur Radio Club Newsletter Advertising Policy
All members in good standing of the Great Falls Area Amateur Radio Club may submit advertising directly to the Newslet-ter Editor. Providing the following conditions are met. All items must be owned by the person submitting the Ad. All items must be Amateur Radio related such as radios, antennas, coax, computers, meters, books and associated parts. Items are not limited to those described above, but must be Amateur Radio related. Members of GFAARC may submit other "non amateur radio" related advertisements for a fee of $3 per month.
Non members may submit ads to the newsletter but these must be approved by a club officer or steering committee mem-ber. Amateur Radio related ads will be charged $5 per month. Other "non member” submitted ads will be considered on a case by case basis.
All Business related ads submitted to the newsletter must be approved by a club officer or steering committee member. These ads will be charged at a rate $15 per month or $125 per year. These ads should be limited to ¼ page and may contain business logos.
The Great Falls Area Amateur Radio Club newsletter has limited space for advertising therefore ads should be written in standard classified ad format. The newsletter editor reserves the right to rewrite and/or limit number and size of ads sub-mitted to the newsletter for publication. This does not apply to business ads.
The officers, steering committee members and newsletter editor of the Great Falls Area Amateur Radio Club reserves the right to deny any submission to the newsletter, deemed inappropriate, or not in the best interests of the Great Falls Area Amateur Radio Club and/or it’s members.
