Hono Amateur Radio Club

Volume 8, Issue 2 An ARRL Affiliated Radio Club March, 2004

MARCH IS A HARC MEETING MONTH!
Mark your calendar -PLEASE ATTEND!
Saturday March 20, 2004 0900-1100
ZIPPYS on Vineyard Blvd at MaunaKea Strteet
Go to the side toward Vineyard Blvd

President's Message

Here we go again

John D. Peters K1ER

President HARC

This is our second meeting in 2004, please try to attend.
News and comments
Our Member, Kevin Bogan AH6QO, who is well known for the KH6 QSL Bureau, is our new ARRL Section Manager. You had the opportunity at the January meeting to pick up your bureau QSLs and learn about Kevin's plans as SM. Since most of our recent news has been Emergency Communications or Antenna Legislation in Hawaii I told Kevin he could have all the space he needed to bring you up to date. Ask questions at the March HARC meeting.

Please RENEW NOW for 2004. Pay your 2004 Dues for HARC.

IF YOU ARE OVER 70 AND YOUR BIRTHDAY IS IN JAN/FEB, your breakfast is on HARC. We value our senior and experienced members and want your stories.

I was a delegate to the International Amateur Radio Union, Region 3 (IARU R3) Conference in Taipei, Taiwan in February. This was a great opportunity to both meet many hams I've worked as DX and in contests, and help shape the future of Amateur Radio. The IARU is the Amateur side of the ITU, Intl Telecommunications Union, and the UN Body which sets the International agreements governing all radio allocations. There were delegates from 17 Countries and 7 Proxies for those unable to attend but wishing to vote. These 24 Member-Societies help determine the future of Amateur Radio.
One of the actions taken at the Conference was the agreement to send the Application from the ASARA, American Samoa Amateur Radio Association, to the full IARU for a vote to accept ASARA as a Member Society of the IARU Region 3 representing American Samoa. The ARRL will continue to represent Guam and Northern Marianas until they choose to form their own local Association are request to represent themselves.

The next Conference of the IARU R3 will be held in Bangalore, India, in 2006. We elected five new Directors to act for Region 3 until the next Conference. Delegates from India, Japan, Singapore, Australia and Korea were elected as Directors.
Our hosts the China Taiwan ARL provided a splendid Conference. It was good to meet Dr Chen BV2B who was the first ham on the air from Taiwan and likely your first BV contact.

73 John K1ER

ARRL NEWS AND VIEWS

Quiet Observations
By Kevin Bogan, AH6QO
March 6, 2004

There are a number of issues and events behind us and still on the radar that I think will interest the gang at Zippy's. However, let me first thank you for your support and words of wisdom that I received during the first month as SM Pacific. And it has been an exciting month. About the time that I assumed the position of Section Manager, our islands were rocked by high winds. January 12 and 13 saw winds hitting the islands sometimes at speeds of nearly 100 mph. Maui and O'ahu were especially hard hit. The winds caused roof damage, downed utility lines, and power outages. My home in Hawaii Kai lost power for 20 hours. Our home terminated landline phone service and my wife, Jackie, NH7PO, and I rely on our cell phones. I have emergency battery power for lights and communications and that was a good thing because the cell phone lost coverage. I guess my batteries lasted longer than the cell site's. Without my phone, I would have been lost if not for Emergency Communications by way of Amateur Radio. I was able to participate in the NWS's Skywarn net on 146.88-MHz. I learned of the power outages in other locations and heard the reports of damage. Others checked in on other repeaters and IRLP nodes (See info below on Skywarn). Then once again, our islands encountered thunderstorms and more damage during the latter part of February. Our emergency nets, both VHF/UHF and HF, and Skywarn provided us with information and a way to report weather conditions and damage. If you are unfamiliar with Skywarn, it is a volunteer program sponsored by the National Weather Service (NWS). Amateur Radio operators provide a very strong component of this service. The EARC will be having Skywarn training at the NWS office at UH - Manoa on May 27, 2004. You are encouraged to come. If this session holds true to the past sessions, those who attend the training will receive, probably by mail, a NWS-approved rain gauge. For more information go to http://www.prh.noaa.gov/hnl/skywarn/ or talk to me at the meetings.

From the EARC website: SKYWARN ACTIVATION: A Skywarn Net was active through 27 February 2004 2100 HST on the following repeaters:
448.250- t114.8 Kaimuki
444.350+ t103.5 Honolulu
146.660- Kailua Oahu
444.650+ t114.8 Pearl Harbor
442.750+ Maui
146.760- North Shore Oahu
144.650+ Lihue Kauai
Should weather conditions warrant a Skywarn reactivation, these repeaters may once again be used for a Skywarn net.

Even more damage was endured by our Amateur Radio friends in American Samoa. On January 4 and 5, 2004, American Samoa reeled to the blows of Hurricane Heta (http://www.fema.gov/news/event.fema?id=2724). Marilyn Shigetani from the FEMA Region IX office reported that there were 1,300 people in shelters at one point and 300 plus homes were damaged. A query came in to me asking if we had heard from the hams there. There was a report of a QSO heard between a ham in American Samoa and Western Samoa. I asked around and found that they had been heard on or about 14.166 MHz at about 6:00 p.m HST on January 5, 2004 and not since. So, I asked for people to listen for them. Eventually they came up and Larry Gandy, AH8LG, and Bill Faulkerson , AH8A, reported that they were alright. Since then I have checked in on their scheduled QSOs a few times to let them know that they could pass messages if they were hit again. These anecdotes highlight the need for Emergency Communications. This is nothing new. However, with the decline of the National Traffic System and the fact that the NTS does not get to every island in the Pacific, it becomes even more important for us to establish a list of regular nets and scheduled QSOs. I have asked for help in this and I have received much help and information, but please let me know of your favorite nets, especially HF nets, that could pass traffic in case of an emergency. I am making a list and already have the Pacific Interisland Net, the Ohana Net, the Hawai'i Afternoon net, and the California - Hawai'i Cocktail net as well as the American Samoa QSO that they have scheduled. Please let me know of others including their day, time, frequency, usual NCSs, etc. Please do not assume I know of them. I am also especially interested in the boomers, those stations that consistently put out a great signal and can hear you most any day. We have a wealth of information in you and in others that have been hamming for a long time. However, much of the information remains in small, separate pockets. Let's bring this information together and coordinate our knowledge. Can you imagine my surprise and how hard I smacked my head when, after searching high and low and finding the American Samoa hams, I talked to John, K1ER, and he essentially said, "Oh, yeah," and told me all about them. Please take a few minutes and written down what you know and have learned of the different nets.

On another subject, we have a chance to change the restrictions placed on us in sub-divisions and condos. If you have not heard, two Hawai'i State House of Representative bills (HB2773 & 2774) have passed and are going to the Senate. For those of you who do not have Internet or e-mail access, here is what I sent out most recently.

HB2773 & 2774 have passed the third reading at the House of Representatives Friday evening, 5 March 2004. Thanks everyone for your help in getting them through.

So What Now?

As I understand the process, the bills will be moving on to the Senate where the real battle will begin. Those who have been involved regularly in the process will be developing strategy and suggesting guidelines for letters and action. Please begin now to learn who your senators are and how to contact them. See http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/ for a list of Senators and a little information about each.

Please do not send anything just yet. We still do not know for sure which committee will be handling this. Take a look at what you and others have written so far. (To Pg 5) Remember that if you are a yahoogroups.com subscriber (hamradiohawaii, etc.) that you can go to the website and dig through all that has been sent so far.
Let's take a second to thank the folks who have helped so far:
Bev Yuen, AH6NF, for her excellent summaries and action plans;
Kimo Chun, KH7U, for his technical expertise and cool-headed verbal testimony; Ron Hashiro, AH6RH, for his great guidance, expertise, and precision;
Ann Miller, NH7QS, for her detailed insights and suggestions on the legislative process;
Bruce Murray, KG6JIJ, for his legislative knowledge and support;
Bob Schneider, AH6J, former Section Manager, for his mentoring and insights; and especially all of YOU, the dozens of you who have given suggestions, insights, testimony, and support. Some of you have worked behind the scenes so none of us may know of your exact contributions, but thank you all.

Please do not relax. This is just the beginning. We do not know the pace of the next stages, so must be ready for anything. We will need help on tracking the progress of the Senate bill, searching the ARRL website for all that we can glean regarding CC&Rs, etc. in other locations - check your mainland friends, and developing a sustained, coherent effort to gain the right to place antennas where we live.

HARC gang, if you do not have Internet access, please hook up with someone who does or contact me, Kevin, AH6QO, 778-4697. Even if these issues do not directly affect you they are still worth your support. Your ham friends need your support and during the next emergency, it just may be that you need someone to provide comms for you or relay for you and they can't because of these restrictions.

Last topic for now: Broadband over Power Line (BPL), as you have heard, is threatening our HF bands. If you need background information let me know or you can ask John, K1ER. As of this writing, the reports and gossip that I have heard say that no BPL interference has been heard in general, but perhaps one ham possibly had short term interference. Yet, we have it from a reliable source that the testing is going on and that HECO is committed to making it work. If HECO can make BPL work, I say more power to them. However, most reports from around the nation and the world are not promising. When you drive by the McCully substation located next to the McCully Shopping Center listen up for interference, make note of day, time, band, what it sound like and duration. If you can actually record it, that is even better. Let us know what you learn.

Thank you and 73 until the next meeting,
Kevin, AH6QO

Kevin
Thanks for a detailed report.

TREASURER'S REPORT


Balance $4, 248.63
Feb 18, 2004 statement

Expenses (shown in balance above)
Newsletter $48.11 (Jan issue)

Deposits
Dues $15.00

Balance $4,263.63

Report as provided at the Mar 2004, Meeting. You may pay dues at any time. We're accepting 2004 now. We are ALSO accepting DONATIONS, equipment or money for the Amateur Radio School in the Solomon Islands (H44A).

March Meeting Topics

Breakfast, pick up your QSLs
Introduce guests and new Members
Report from the SM and opportunity to discuss his message and ask questions.
Learn what YOU can do to fight restrictive covenants and BPL

A BPL Tutorial


The BPL industry claims that the infrastructure to accommodate this technology already is in place. In many field trial areas, however, the BPL purveyors have had to run optical fiber cable throughout the service area to serve as the Internet backbone for the few hundred trial subscribers. Other BPL systems use overhead medium-voltage wiring, with digital "repeaters" installed every 2000 feet or so along the way. This widely spaced, unshielded wiring radiates a strong BPL signal to nearby areas. Still other BPL systems use IEEE 802.11-protocol wireless equipment to make the connection to homes and businesses.
A number of BPL system types are in use or in development. Each employs different techniques and architecture, but all are carrier-current systems--a term describing systems that intentionally conduct signals over electrical wiring or power lines.

There are two major categories of BPL: Access BPL and In-Building BPL

· Access BPL uses electrical distribution lines--overhead or underground--to deliver broadband Internet access to homes and businesses. Because the wiring is physically large and often overhead and extends across entire communities, access BPL poses a significant interference potential to over-the-air radio services.

· Present FCC rules say that carrier-current systems--this includes BPL/PLC--need to meet the general radiated emission limits for unlicensed "intentional emitters."

· Read more at arrl.org search on BPL


Member Application Form

New or renewal, same form. The best way to learn what your new license can mean is to chat with the old timers who've been there. Mail a check to HARC. Mail a check to HARC.

Name __________
Callsign __________
Address __________
City __________
StateZIPCODE __________

ARRL Member? (Yes) (Life) (No)

Dues for 2004 are due and remain $15

Mail to:

HARC
Attn: Treasurer
98-1547 Akaaka Street
Aiea, HI 96701

 

HARC WANTS YOUR INPUT!

What do YOU want HARC to do?

What would YOU like to do in HARC?

We must have some volunteers for year 2004 in HARC. The work is not hard so volunteer at or before the meeting.

What would YOU like to do in HARC?

I need material for this Newsletter. Do you want me to copy material from the Pacific Division ARRL Newsletter? ARRL Bulletins? Why don't YOU write something and send it?

W5YI VE Session at HARC Meetings


The W5YI VE team is headed by Lee Wical KH6BZ. CALL LEE IN ADVANCE.