From mcgehee.ak4mc at gmail.com Tue Aug 5 22:00:16 2008 From: mcgehee.ak4mc at gmail.com (Kevin McGehee) Date: Tue Aug 5 22:01:05 2008 Subject: [Bgmrc-list] (no subject) Message-ID: <489905B0.3090204@gmail.com> Following is a piece by Jay Langley, N4NRL about the challenges faced by amateur radio in an age of the internet, cell phones, IM and texting. We've all either heard, read, or taken part in discussions about why good old-fashioned analog radio is an essential backup to any of the more "advanced" forms of communication. Many of us have been involved in emergency communications where the infrastructure for everything but plain station-to-station HF was out of order or nonexistent. Even so, keeping amateur radio viable is becoming more and more difficult; today's hams need to be proactive against the future depicted in Jay's piece. --AK4MC ======================================================== * WHAT IF THE FOLLOWING HEADLINE WAS REAL?* Washington DC: Federal Communications Commission (FCC) moves to revoke frequencies used exclusively by amateur radio operators for over one hundred years. In a move today that some said was coming for years Federal Communications Director Unammit announced that his commission has voted to reallocate frequencies that have been the domain of amateur operators for over hundred years. When asked why make this move? Director Unammit said that ?ham radio is just a hobby? and that "it has been declining for years" sighting study numbers of operators reflecting the fact that hams are passing due to old age. ?Hams,? he said, ?have been dying off at a high rate in recent years and it is time to move on.? He went on to indicate that the Internet and cell phones capable of talking around the world had take the place of radio. He went on to say that the presents of text messaging was actually better than Morse Code used by only older hams. He also noted that there was no need to maintain the spectrum just so Hams could pass the time of day. Hams across the nation will soon receive official notification in the mail from the FCC providing notice that they will have only until the end of the year to cease operations and that then the frequencies will become public domain. He announced that the FCC will accept bids and RFPs for access to the spectrum to be granted to commercial organizations. ?Amateur Radio is a dinosaur.? Director Unammit said in closing his press conference today. Hams across the nation are expected to resist this move but with numbers of licensed hams so low it is unlikely that their objections will have much effect. How would you feel if this headline, or one like it, hit our paper? Now is the time to get busy and help interested young people and new adults learn about Amateur Radio. On October 18th 2008 the Boy Scouts in our area are having a Radio Merit badge training day. It is hoped that the scouting merit badge day will lead to boys earning their Ham ticket. This local event will be held at Macintosh Reserve just outside Whitesburg, GA on the weekend of Jamboree On The Air. The annual event is supported by the ARRL and Boy Scouts of America. You and other licensed Hams are needed to teach classes and operate radio stations for over two hundred boys and even more scouting adults. The event known as Jamboree On The Air (JOTA) weekend is held so hams all over the world can work together promoting radio and introducing radio to youth. Please help support this effort for our youth by contacting Jay Langley, N4NRL at 3RiversBSA@gmail.com or N4NRL@mindspring.com and volunteering to help teach these youth. Talk with a friend and come as a team. If you would like to show how hams provide communications without the need for a cell phone now is the time. Further in support at every opportunity take the time to talk about this JOTA on the air with other hams. Please plan to be part of the solution and let?s get a new crop of boys and adults interested in radio. This is a once a year opportunity and if hams don?t step up and participate we may not have another opportunity like this for years, if ever. Learn more about Jamboree on the Air at http://www.arrl.org/scouts/jota/. Let?s keep the fake news article at the top fiction. 73, Jay N4NRL From k4un at att.net Fri Aug 8 22:01:13 2008 From: k4un at att.net (k4un@att.net) Date: Fri Aug 8 22:02:03 2008 Subject: [Bgmrc-list] Powers Crossroads Arts and Carft Festival Message-ID: <080920080201.7609.489CFA68000AC76A00001DB922193100029B0A02D29B9B0EBF029ACB05@att.net> It is only 22 days until Powers Festival. The club has committed to provide the PA system for the event again this year. This is a good fund raiser for the club as it pays a lot of our expenses for the year and it is a good opportunity to play radio with a lot of other hams. I will make a trip to the festval site Saturday Aug 9th to check out the condition of the seakers and cables. We will need a couple of work parties to clean up the shack, and to repair the speakers and wires damaged over the winter. We need volunteers to staff the hamshsck and porch for the three days of the festival. We need a minimum of 4 to 5 people for the 3 days of the festival. Please check your schedule for the labor day weekend (Saturday August 30 and Sunday August 31st and September 1st. Please let me know what days and times you can work. If you sign up to work we will have an pass for you. If you let me know early when you can work I will try to get passes to you before the festival. We are not responsible for the Monday load out so it is a good time to come out to the festival and help out. We need one person at all times to staff the porch and 2or3 people to staff the ham shack. More would be great in case we have to look for lost children or parents. Let me know what times and days you will be able to work. Thanks for your support of the club. Eddie K4UN k4un@att.net From mcgehee.ak4mc at gmail.com Tue Aug 12 10:55:39 2008 From: mcgehee.ak4mc at gmail.com (Kevin McGehee) Date: Tue Aug 12 10:56:29 2008 Subject: [Bgmrc-list] [Fwd: [fcga-ares] August ARES Meeting Reminder] Message-ID: <48A1A46B.7040308@gmail.com> Those interested in learning about these digital modes might want to come to this meeting tomorrow night. --AK4MC -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [fcga-ares] August ARES Meeting Reminder Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 10:03:55 -0000 From: David Benoist Reply-To: fcga-ares@yahoogroups.com To: fcga-ares@yahoogroups.com Just a reminder that our August ARES Meeting takes place Wednesday evening. The August Fayette Coweta ARES meeting will take place August 13th (a Wednesday) at Fire Station 81 in Peachtree City from 7pm to 9pm. Our primary topic is digital communications using PSK31. Text communications is an important part of emergency communications but it is also an interesting regular ham method of communications. This meeting will primarily be a light technical discussion of PSK31 theory of operations with a demonstration of two PSK31 systems demonstrated by Jim Lynch (K4GVO) and Jan Dubroca (KN4JD). If you are unfamiliar with PSK31 or peripherally familiar with PSK31 and interested in additional information and what it takes to get PSK31 going, then this meeting may interest you. You DO NOT need to be a member of Fayette Coweta ARES to attend. All Amateurs interested in this topic are welcome to attend. Jim Lynch (K4GVO) will discuss the basic theory of operation behind how PSK31 works with a presentation and a complete system using a computer and transceiver. Jan Dubroca (KN4JD) will have another system that is a self-contained PSK31 system (www.nue-psk.com) that does not require a computer. We'll have an antenna system set up to conduct actual PSK31 reception and transmission. Directions to Fire Station 81: Drive toward Peachtree City to the intersection of Highways 54 and 74. Turn South on Highway 74 and drive to the next traffic light. At the traffic light turn right on to Paschall Road. Fire Station 81 is about a 100 or so feet up on the right. Drive just past the Fire Station fire engine doors but NOT beyond the railroad crossing. Just before the railroad crossing turn right into the parking lot. You should notice the back door entrance to the training room. Please park in a manner that does not obstruct the flow of traffic through the parking lot as some emergency traffic may use this as pass-through. David Benoist AG4ZR From k4un at att.net Mon Aug 18 19:28:25 2008 From: k4un at att.net (k4un@att.net) Date: Mon Aug 18 19:28:32 2008 Subject: [Bgmrc-list] Powers wrok day Aug 20 Message-ID: <081820082328.16596.48AA059800075B36000040D422243323629B0A02D29B9B0EBF029ACB05@att.net> To all: We have a work day planned Wednesday Aug 20 at Powers. There is not a lot to do, but we need to get everything checked out and working. The good news is we do not need to have the phones on the trees this year. I only saw a few wires down and several were for the phones. We plan to meet at Chic-fil-a at 8am have a quick breakfast and be at powers at 9:30. There is work for all. In addition to fixing the PA system we need to recover the tables with new oil cloth and sweep everything out. Also I have only heard from 4 people that they would come out and help us at least one day. We need 4 or 5 people each day to man the shack and the porch. This is a big fund raiser for the club for furnishing the PA system. Please let me know if you can help us and what days and times you can work. We will have vendor parking and gate passes for the ones that can work. Wednesday morning we will be monitoring 146.13 repeater and at the 9:30 work party we will be on 146.52 simplex as well. I hope to hear from a lot of you as this is a fun event to come our and sit in the shack or porch and talk and operate ham radio. We have a lot of folks stop by the shack and learn about ham radio. I hope to see you at the work party Wednesday or for sure at Powers labor day weekend. If it is pouring rain Wed we will work another day. If it might rain Wed, we will be working. Eddie K4UN From k4un at att.net Mon Aug 25 22:29:16 2008 From: k4un at att.net (k4un@att.net) Date: Mon Aug 25 22:30:02 2008 Subject: [Bgmrc-list] Meeting Tuesday August 26th 7pm Message-ID: <082620080229.12191.48B36A7B000D42B300002F9F22230703629B0A02D29B9B0EBF029ACB05@att.net> The BGMRC meeting is Tuesday August 26th 7pm at the Fire traning building on Greeson trail. Please plan on attending. Several of us have been working at Powers getting everything ready for the fair This weekend. The PA system is working after reparing some down wires and speakers. We have more speakers on the way to change out this week. We still need members to staff the porch and ham shack. So far we have K4WPM and K4KLW for Saturday, K4UN, K4WPM, K4JO for Sunday and K4UN, K4WPM, K4JO, and W4KTR for Monday. We are really short and need some more folks. I will have gate and parking passes at the meeting Tuesday for those that sign up to work, This is a major fund raiser for the club. The following have helped at Powers getting our shack cleaned up and wires and speakers repaired. K4UN 3 trips K4WPM 2 trips N4TET 1 trip N4JO 1 trip Thanks for all the help. We will have one more work party this week to finish the PA speakers and a trip to set up the equipment in the ham shack and prorch. Please come to the meeting and sign up or email me with the times you can work. It is not really work just fun with other hams. We always have people stop by the shack and talk about friends and relatives that are hams, hams that just stop by for a rest from shopping, and some that want info on ham radio to get a license. If you come to Powers to work and need a gate pass we will be using 146.58 simplex for communications at the festival grounds. Eddie K4UN Cell 404-630-2870 email k4un@att.net From mcgehee.ak4mc at gmail.com Tue Aug 26 22:10:11 2008 From: mcgehee.ak4mc at gmail.com (Kevin McGehee) Date: Tue Aug 26 22:11:01 2008 Subject: [Bgmrc-list] BGMRC Meeting, 8/26/2008 Message-ID: <48B4B783.1000302@gmail.com> The following BGMRC members attended tonight's meeting: * Eddie K4UN * Jim AE5M * Kevin AK4MC * Chris KL0UD * George W4IW * Bill K4WPM * Keith W4KTR * Bill KB2VRP KB2VRP was a member previously some 15+ years ago, and rejoined tonight. Welcome back, Bill. K4UN sought more people to volunteer for Powers Crossroads; most of those present signed up for at least some time during the festival. Anyone still wanting to sign up can e-mail k4un@att.net W4IW will investigate what is needed to set up radio control links for the club's 2m repeaters to replace the phone lines currently being used. The phone lines cost the club more than $700 each year. Besides the control links they are also supposed to provide autopatch capability, but it has been noted that this capability is not used enough anymore to justify the expense. Coweta County 911 has asked whether BGMRC would like to set up a booth next to the mobile command post again at this year's county fair. The fair runs Wednesday, Sept. 17 to Saturday, Sept. 27. The club will not be expected to man a booth every night of the fair, but volunteers will be needed for those nights the booth will be open. K4WPM reminds BGMRC members of the need for volunteers to help with the Grizzard bike race on Sunday, Oct. 5. Three hams will ride with SAG wagon drivers and there will also be a command post. Contact k4wpm@arrl.net K4UN mentioned the Boy Scouts Jamboree on the Air coming up October 18 and 19. It will be held at Mcintosh Reserve Park outside of Whitesburg. See http://www.bgmrc.org/cms/index.php/announcements/content/what_if_this_headline_were_real/ for details and contact information. It's time to elect a new slate of officers for 2008-09. KL0UD said she is willing to serve another term as treasurer. AK4MC said he does not wish to continue as secretary. Persons interested in seeking election to a club office -- president, vice-president, secretary or treasurer -- may contact ak4mc@arrl.net K4WPM raised the question of reorganizing BGMRC to become more flexible in the face of changes in members' interests. Ideas discussed by those in attendance included changing the governing structure of the club, making club functions less formal and having more social functions as opposed to business meetings, and encouraging members to align into groups within the club to pursue their diverse interests relating to amateur radio, while still keeping these groups under the BGMRC banner. Kevin McGehee, AK4MC BGMRC Secretary From dbbenoist at yahoo.com Sun Aug 31 20:42:50 2008 From: dbbenoist at yahoo.com (David Benoist) Date: Sun Aug 31 20:43:12 2008 Subject: [Bgmrc-list] Red Cross Volunteers Needed Message-ID: <598384.51465.qm@web35404.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Volunteers are needed at the Red Cross HQ on Monroe Drive in Atlanta. They are looking for a Net Control operator starting at 6am tomorrow (Monday). They are also looking to man the Atlanta Red Cross HQ through Tuesday. If you can assist, contact Steve Garrison at 678-428-0163 or contact K5NRP@arrl.net or his cell at 813-317-6426 I understand that Carrollton is also looking for assistance. You can contact their EC (David Word - NZ4T) via their repeater 146.64 (minus offset) PL-131.8. It is possible that other shelters may be opening in the coming days. If you are available to assist, you can check in to the Skywarn Net via the 444.600 PL-77 (Peachtree City) and 147.165 PL-131.8 (Madras) and coordinate with the NCS. You can also monitor these two local repeaters and via the web at www.gaares.org for the latest information. David Benoist AG4ZR 770-304-8866 H 404-290-0470 C