President's Message
President's Message
Here we go again
John D. Peters K1ER
President HARC
This is a special Edition of the HARC Newsletter for distribution
to all those Amateurs showing the good sense and initiative to
UPGRADE their LICENSE.
We Welcome YOU and Congratulate YOU.
As President of HARC, I invite YOU to join HARC and if you are
eligible, also join QCWA.
The HARC is probably the oldest Radio Club in Hawaii. We have
been in existence for over 30 years. We are a friendly and supportive
Radio Club and we require little from you.
The FCC Report and Order of December 30, 1999, was one of
the greatest improvements in Amateur Radio since the incentive
licensing in 1951. The FCC Rules now are nearly where they were
in 1915! We have come full circle. We are back to the original
requirements for a Federal Amateur Radio License. They were then,
and again are now, the basic ability to copy sufficient Morse
Code to "recognize a Distress Signal" or a "Keep
out signal". At 5 wpm you can recognize an SOS. If you want
to learn more, and thus faster CW, it's YOUR BUSINESS! If you
want to chase DX or become a Contester, you will have to learn
high speed CW. But YOU DO NOT HAVE TO. The Choice is YOURS.
You also have the choice of several Radio Clubs.
HARC holds a Breakfast meeting every other month. Jan, Mar, May,
Jul, Sep and Nov. We provide a 2 meter repeater on 146.78/18
and a HF Beacon in the Northern Calif DX Foundation international
Beacon program. Both use the Club Station Callsign KH6WO. We
are an ARRL affiliated Club and highly encourage you to join
the ARRL. If you do not like their policies, you have more opportunity
to influence them as a MEMBER. Your voice is louder at the FCC
or in CONGRESS as a member. The Division Director and Vice Director
are both people I have known for over 30 years. They are highly
qualified and they care sincerely about Amateur Radio. They care
about YOU.
You may also qualify for QCWA if you were first licensed at least
25 years ago and are currently licensed. Ask about QCWA if you
think you qualify. They are a Gentleman's Club, in that they
are the OLD TIMERS of RADIO. They have more influence at the
FCC than the ARRL when there is a disagreement. When QCWA and
ARRL agree, the FCC usually listens.
The turnout for the HARC meetings is typically approximately
15, which is a good showing. We have about 60 active members,
some out of area. It is a breakfast meeting. You order from the
menu when you arrive and chat while you and others eat breakfast.
When everyone has finished eating, approximately 10:00 the meeting
is called to order and we continue with the program planned.
We have a webpage for HARC thanks to our member Jim Yuen WH6GS.
You can read the Newsletter on line and refer your out of town
friends to the Web Page for information. You'll find it at http://home.hawaii.rr.com/jy/ham/harc.html
Thanks a lot Jim. I continue to receive telephone calls from
people interested in becoming ham radio operators, or interested
in HARC since the HARC information was posted on the ARRL page
(http://www.pdarrl.org) which has a link to the page Jim put
together.
Don't forget, if you want to attend a monthly radio club meeting,
(in addition to HARC bi-monthly) visit KARC.
The KARC, Koolau Amateur Radio Club. They meet every month on
the 2nd Saturday in the visitor center of the Botanic Garden.
(From H3 get on Likelike Hwy #63 North toward Kaneohe, look for
the signs to Botanical Garden-it's the 2nd right When you see
the KH6BZF tower and antennas, turn right and go to the end…..or
keep following the signs to Botanical Garden.)
Their meetings start at 9:30 and last until noon, with coffee
to keep you alert. It is a very friendly and social group. I
recommend a visit to their meeting. A W5YI VE testing session
follows the meeting for those desiring to upgrade their licenses.
KARC has a newsletter and a WebPage. The easiest way to find
a club is to use the link on http://www.pdarrl.org .
REPEATER and BEACON KH6WO
The Hawaii NCDXF/HARC Beacon station is getting email (to
the trustee) signal reports from around the world so it's loud
from the BYUH location.
Club repeater on 146.18/78 has been off the air for several
months. The old commercial machine is no longer supported by
Yaesu and is not repairable. The Officers and Board voted to
buy a new club repeater so you will be able to chat on your way
to work or just rag chew on 146.18/78 again very soon. The new
machine claims to be much better at rejecting intermod and front
end overload so you should receive better service. The repeater
is located at the top of AIEA, and is on 24 hr/day, 7day/week.
Good luck to everyone trying to UPGRADE their license.
73 John K1ER