The Spark Gap - June 2020

THE SPARK GAP

A monthly publication of the Meridian Amateur Radio ClubJune 2020

Bible Verse

Jesus Comforts His Disciples
John 14:1-7 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

President's Report

Hello all,

Well June is here and from what I have seen from ARRL about field day, it looks like most hams will be operating from home this year. I have been thinking about the winter field day and wondering if it might be better for us than the upcoming summer one. I'm open to any suggestions on this.

I went to the Checkerboard on Tuesday to see what the schedule was like for Saturday. I was informed that they were open Sunday through Friday. Saturday is still out at the moment. I'm open to any suggestions on holding our meetings at another place. We are holding our meetings on the air and have had some members show up that haven't been at a meeting in quite a while. This is good, but I sure do miss getting to fellowship with y'all.

Pray for our Frontline workers and First Responders. Also pray for all the rest of our Emergency family as they protect us from the elements of anarchy.

73's
Charles Grisham, KB5SZJ

Next MARC Business Meeting

Currently canceled unless you would like to meet on the W5FQ repeater?

Busy Atlantic hurricane season predicted for 2020

Multiple climate factors indicate above-normal activity is most likely. An above-normal 2020 Atlantic hurricane season is expected, according to forecasters with NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, a division of the National Weather Service. The outlook predicts a 60% chance of an above-normal season, a 30% chance of a near-normal season and only a 10% chance of a below-normal season. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30. See full article: 2020_atlantic hurricane_season

Are you and your equipment ready?

Black Warrior Hamfest - CANCELED

The BWHF team regretfully announces that our 2020 Hamfest is cancelled. We were hoping to reschedule in June or July, but due to the presence of too many unknowns and how those would affect our vendors and attendees, we decided to cancel this year and focus on 2021. Sorry for the news, and we hope to see all of you between now and then at another hamfest.

Let's get creative this year on Field Day

By Dan Romanchik, KB6NU

Since many of us are still hunkering down, and that doesn't look like it's going to change much by the end of June, Field Day is going to be a lot different this year. Our club has cancelled our club event, and I'm really going to miss helping newcomers operate the GOTA station, the food, and all the camaraderie. That doesn't mean that Field Day can't still be fun, though. Let's' get creative!

First, note that the ARRL has modified the Field Day rules for this year. The biggest change is that Class D stations, that is home stations using commercial power, can now work other Class D stations for points. Previously, this wasn't allowed.

The second change is that the ARRL will publish aggregate club scores this year. In previous years, this was only done for Class A and Class F entries. Remember, though, Field Day isn't a contest (yeah, right!).

Personally, I plan to operate 1B-Battery. I'm going to set up my KX3 on the front deck and power it with a LiFePo battery charged by a recently-acquired solar panel to get the 100 point bonus for alternate power. For an antenna, I plan to set up my 20m/40m fan inverted-V "GOTA antenna" in the front yard.

I'm going to shoot for other bonus points, too:

copy the bulletin-no brainer.
promote my location on social media-I am going to get on NextDoor and invite neighbors over to watch from an acceptable "social distance".
put some literature down at the bottom of the hill near the street and claim a public information table.
send a press release to the local online paper and claim a media publicity credit.
perhaps get someone under 20 to come and operate while I coach from an acceptable "social distance".

If Class B isn't your cup of tea, check out the presentation, "Field Day and Social Distancing," by Anthony, K8ZT. It has a lot of great ideas, including ideas on how to operate mobile (Class C).

Field Day doesn't have to be a downer this year. Get creative and have some fun.

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

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 often appears on the ICQPodcast (icqpodcast.com). When he's not thinking up new ways to enjoy Field Day, he likes to build stuff and operate CW on the HF bands.

Ham Radio Testing

Hello,

I would like to help Meridian Amateur Radio Club. I am a fellow ham and I want to help future hams to get their licenses and current hams to upgrade their existing licenses by creating free content online. Which is why I started the YouTube channel HamRadioTesting

At this time, I have three main course offerings on YouTube, one for each ham exam.

The Tech Exam Playlist (07-01-2018 to 06-30-2022 Question Pool) Click Here

The General Exam Playlist (07-01-2019 to 06-30-2023 Question Pool) Click Here

The Amateur Extra Exam Playlist (07-01-2020 to 06-30-2024 Question Pool) Click Here

In case you were wondering, yes, that is the material for the new question pool for the Amateur Extra Test that comes out in July. The book isn’t even out yet. That didn’t stop me from getting this content out to you, for free.

So, we come to our Jerry Maguire moment where I ask you to “Help me, help you”. In order for me to help you, I am asking you to check out my content, share it and please feel free to reach out to me with suggestions for improvement or future content.

Together we will make Amateur Radio the most popular and exciting hobby/sport in the world.

73' Ham Radio Testing

Temporary Rule Waivers Announced for 2020 ARRL Field Day

From ARRL: 05/28/2020

With one month to go before 2020 ARRL Field Day, June 27 – 28, the ARRL Programs and Services Committee (PSC) has adopted two temporary rule waivers for the event:

1) For Field Day 2020 only, Class D stations may work all other Field Day stations, including other Class D stations, for points.

Field Day rule 4.6 defines Class D stations as “Home stations,” including stations operating from permanent or licensed station locations using commercial power. Class D stations ordinarily may only count contacts made with Class A, B, C, E, and F Field Day stations, but the temporary rule waiver for 2020 allows Class D stations to count contacts with other Class D stations for QSO credit.

2) In addition, for 2020 only, an aggregate club score will be published, which will be the sum of all individual entries indicating a specific club (similar to the aggregate score totals used in ARRL affiliated club competitions).

Ordinarily, club names are only published in the results for Class A and Class F entries, but the temporary rule waiver for 2020 allows participants from any Class to optionally include a single club name with their submitted results following Field Day.

For example, if Podunk Hollow Radio Club members Becky, W1BXY, and Hiram, W1AW, both participate in 2020 Field Day — Hiram from his Class D home station, and Becky from her Class C mobile station — both can include the radio club’s name when reporting their individual results. The published results listing will include individual scores for Hiram and Becky, plus a combined score for all entries identified as Podunk Hollow Radio Club.

The temporary rule waivers were adopted by the PSC on May 27, 2020.

ARRL Field Day is one of the biggest events on the amateur radio calendar, with over 36,000 participants in 2019, including entries from 3,113 radio clubs and emergency operations centers. In most years, Field Day is also the largest annual demonstration of ham radio, because many radio clubs organize their participation in public places such as parks and schools.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many radio clubs have made decisions to cancel their group participation in ARRL Field Day this year due to public health recommendations and/or requirements, or to significantly modify their participation for safe social distancing practices. The temporary rule waivers allow greater flexibility in recognizing the value of individual and club participation regardless of entry class.

ARRL is contacting logging program developers about the temporary rule waivers so developers can release updated versions of their software prior to Field Day weekend. Participants are reminded that the preferred method of submitting entries after Field Day is via the web applet. The ARRL Field Day rules include instructions for submitting entries after the event. Entries must be submitted or postmarked by Tuesday, July 28, 2020.

The ARRL Field Day web page includes a series of articles with ideas and advice for adapting participation this year.

Quote of the Month

Sent in by KI5HCM

Have a BLESSED month!