RadioFlier

July 4th + 235 years

2011-07-04T14:56:00.000-07:00

There are historical issues with the narrative in this link but the spirit is deeply felt by this patriot.

Next year , July 4th, 2012, we will be deeply into a final race in the election of a president and congress. Much doubt and danger exist from now until then. Perhaps not as much nor the same type of danger as in 1776, but danger just as well.

I pray that we and this great Republic will survive until then and for all of posterity. I repeat the final lines of the document celebrated today.

"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

I too, pledge my life, fortune and sacred honor to see our Republic survive. Join me at FreedomConnections.

Bill Dale

2010-09-03T07:50:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the "Indoctra -Nation." Is the Unabomber and Captain Planet the future our children are being taught?

"Just read some of the manifesto he posted on the internet and see for yourself:

Says James Lee, "The humans? The planet does not need humans.

"You MUST KNOW the human population is behind all the pollution and problems in the world, and YET you encourage the exact opposite instead of discouraging human growth and procreation. Surely you MUST ALREADY KNOW this!

"Does this sound like the ravings of a sad, deranged loner on the wilder fringes of eco-fascist lunacy? Not to me it doesn’t. Strip away the block capitals and what you have, word for word, is the core manifesto of the entire global green movement."

Yep, we are being lead by suicidal visionaries out to save the planet. For whom?

Vincent comes to California

2010-08-26T22:14:00.001-07:00

Vincent La Posta, my eldest grandson (age 8), came to stay with me in Milpitas last week. See the Picasa site here for pictures and this video. Enjoy.

Devoted Congresscritters :

2010-07-21T11:45:00.001-07:00

Marcus Cole has an awesome essay here: "A Word of Thanks to Four Black Men and A Gun." In reading the Constitution it always amazes me the extent some go to pervert its meaning and power. Marcus has it right.

Misdirection in the Blogosphere?

2010-07-21T09:49:00.000-07:00

In the recent few days two items have caught my eye. The lightning fast request by the Obama administration to ask for Shirley Sherrod to resign. And then today the 3-year old Onion video entitled, "Martial Law Plans Revealed?" The Onion is a satirical web sire and not to be trusted for anything factual but that did not stop the rumors flying.

My question is all of this a concerted effort at misdirection? Is other news soon to be reported that might be true but could be quickly depreciated and dismissed? Are they connected? Seems unlikely. Check your sources. But keep your eyes open. "Even the 'New York Times' gets things right every now and then," as they said in MIB!

2010 Planes of Fame Air Show

2010-07-18T10:43:00.000-07:00

Finally got the pix of the Air Show last May uploaded. I'm still working on the video. See the whole album here. My brother, Jim Dale, was the "Air Boss."

SpaceX gets to orbit on first try!

2010-06-12T12:48:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to SpaceX with the successful launch of the Falcon 9!

The Health Care Disaster

2010-03-23T13:55:00.000-07:00

This day, March 23, 2010, will be known as the beginning of the end of days for the republic. If not repealed this $1T debacle will bankrupt this country over the next decade or two. It will be slow. Many seemingly good things may come first but the underlining evil of this legislation is undebatable.

Moody's reported last week, that “Growth alone will not resolve an increasingly complicated debt equation,” Moody’s said. “Preserving debt affordability” — the ratio of interest payments to government revenue — “at levels consistent with AAA ratings will invariably require fiscal adjustments of a magnitude that, in some cases, will test social cohesion.”

Rand Simberg's blog has many quotes and links that I will not repeat. Please go read them. Mark Steyn has a long essay on the decline of America. Dennis Prager calls this a Civil War and I think it is of the same scale of importance.

Please read your history and understand that the Congress of the United States Has no Right to Give such a program to anyone.

As Rand says, "Like the financial crisis, it’s right out of the standard fascist playbook. Screw up the market with government regulations, then claim that government regulations are required to fix it. Rinse, repeat, until they control every aspect of our lives."

SpaceX gets the burners Hot.

2010-03-15T21:31:00.000-07:00

Congrats to SpaceX with the test fire on Saturday.

See more pictures and video.

Is this the 'Hope' Obama was talking about?

2010-03-15T21:19:00.000-07:00

Who says Hollywood doesn't know what's what:

Check out Rands Simberg's blog "Transterrestrial Musings"

Government Defined Radio

2009-12-16T20:21:00.000-08:00

"RACES" on Steroids -
Never let a Government Panel Determine the Future of Ham Radio!

Several things are happening that I need to comment on. First is that the Senate passed its version of the "Amateur Radio Emergency Enhancement Act" and the House is probably going to do the same. See the ARRL article here:
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/12/15/11247/?nc=1

This is a very dangerous bill which opens the Ham Radio community to take-over by the DHS and further encroachment by local, county, state and federal agencies to the ham bands. This ties into the recent dust up about the commercial use of ham radio per Part 97.113. Part 97.407 will surely be augmented with a renewed "RACES" programs that allow governments and even commercial organizations to use the ham bands beyond current limits.

Government panels are ultimately uncontrollable and can come to their own conclusions on what Ham Radio should become. Yes the ARRL is involved in guiding this effort but there is a large effort to take more frequencies from us for many uses and this opens the flood gates.

After 9-11 the government has been pushing interoperability with new radio systems and procedures. This effort has been a huge failure. Now the FCC and DHS are looking at the Ham Bands to place new public services radios. The liberal granting of waivers of Part 97.113 for the drills by commercial and government employees by the FCC is due to a high level political buy in to turn over Ham Bands to such use. The petition recently filed to expand this use may be eagerly accepted by the FCC.

This ties into items brought up by Dewayne Hendricks, WA8DZP, Assistant Director Pacific Division, and member of the FCC’s Technological Advisory Council. At the recent Directors meeting hosted by Bob Vallio, W6RGG, Pacific Division Director he noted that there are provision in Part 97 to use Ham Radio for education. This is true as part of a classroom activity. More on this later.

Next he discussed the use Ham Radio to "advance the art" several years ago with spread spectrum using a Special Temporary Authorization or STA. This activity lead to some easing of restrictions on this type of emission by Ham Radio. It also contributed to commercial use in cell phones and WiFi systems today.

Smart Radio - Dumb Operator

The new hot item is Cognitive Radio (CR), a step beyond Software Defined Radio (SDR), this technology will put the FCC rules in the radio where it can enforce good radio procedures and more efficiently use of those wasted Ham Bands as well as other white-space areas. This type of radio will avoid stepping on the CW, AM and SSB signal and allow sharing of most bands with other users. It looks at the signals it hears and follows rules to find the best means to get its message out. It looks at the content of the message as well to determine how to send the information. It might be like a super ALE. Or government censorship?

So a new STA is being prepared to study CR on the Ham bands. This may be a funded research project. Is it legal? Well an educational institution can use Ham radio and be paid. My reading was always that this exception was to teach Ham Radio licenses classes or basic radio technology. Maybe paid research should get its own frequencies and license?

But what's in it for Ham Radio? A new co-user of our spectrum? Increased noise floor from the Spread Spectrum, SDR, and CR modes of operation? The end of spinning the dial and listening for a random CQ? If you are not transmitting the CR does not hear you and takes the band. If the QRM is at the DX end and the CR cannot hear other users what then? Maybe it will be smart enough to have the DX station inform it of local QRM? Pretty smart radio, eh?

No more CQ's? Calling channels will be needed, perhaps? The operator may not even know what modulation technique is in use from instant to instant. His CW QSO may not even be with Morse code going out over the airwaves. All he gets is CW back in his headphones while the signal goes out by digital modes. It may even go over internet WiFi/WiMAX systems. Whatever works and is the smart thing to do. Changing modes and frequencies every millisecond.

All of this does not sound like Ham Radio to me. I remember listening to far off stations on the ARC-5 receiver that my Dad and I rebuilt. Late at night I would stay up with head phones on under the blankets of my bed with the ARC-5 tubes glowing on the table next to me.

Those days may be gone. But it is that experience that excites young minds and spurs the sole. Smart Radios are not what moves the heart. Nor what brings new radio operators to Ham Radio.

ARRL Board Adopts Guidelines and Recommendations on the Appropriate Use of Amateur Radio

2009-09-30T19:59:00.000-07:00

See the web article here, and the guidelines here in pdf and below:

More: Government and Commercial Employees use of Ham Radio

2009-09-17T13:21:00.000-07:00

From: Herbert Cole; AI6AT
Section Emergency Coordinator

East Bay

"On Saturday September 12, Laura Smith, FCC Special Counsel for Amateur Radio Enforcement held a Webinar to discuss the state of Amateur Radio. One of her primary topics was Amateur Radio use for emergency communications. She discussed at length Section 97.113(a) (3). and the use of Amateur Radio by employees for their employers during emergency operations and drills.

"This topic apparently was discussed to address recent correspondence with David Coursey, N5FDL regarding a hypothetical event in which hams who are employees of a hospital participated in an on-air Amateur Radio emergency communications exercise, but as volunteers for a county government-sponsored group and on their own time. This appears to avoid the "business communication" prohibition under Section 97.113(a) (3).

Per Ms. Smith, this interpretation is wrong. Her response is below.

"Simply put, a hospital drill that includes any amateur employees of the hospital is a violation of Section 97.113(a) (3). It does not matter if the amateur is “off duty” or on their “lunch hour”; it does not matter if their job description does not include the so-called operation of the amateur radio; it does not matter if they are not getting paid specifically for the drill; it does not matter if they sign a statement indicating that they are doing this strictly as a volunteer. I trust I am making this clear, it does not matter what machinations you come up with, there is no loop hole to the rule. If they are a hospital employee, they may not use the radio on behalf of their employer – period."

She further stated:

"Should I receive a complaint regarding an amateur employee operating the radio at the hospital during a drill, I will follow up. And, should it be determined that a violation of the rules has occurred, the individual will be subject to any enforcement action the Commission deems appropriate. If the amateur community wishes for a rule change, I suggest they file a Petition for Rule Making and provide a concrete suggestion as to how they want the rule changed. Assuming that they can somehow work around the rule is foolish at best and inviting enforcement action at worst."

"In support of Ms. Smith's interpretation Bill Cross of the FCC Mobility Division explained further:

"...that Section 97.113 is in the rules for two reasons: It meets a statutory requirement and it is there to protect your frequencies from becoming the business radio alternative voice overflow, or 'BRAVO Service.' Because your spectrum is so valuable, if you let users such as businesses, TV stations, the National Weather Service or other users -- be they for-profit or non-profit -- use your frequencies to meet their communications needs, your frequencies will become their frequencies. All it takes is an allocation proceeding with the FCC, and your spectrum is gone."

"Based on this restatement of Section 97.113 and the FCC's focus on this topic, you are reminded that government and employee sponsored programs that use Amateur Radio frequencies such as ARES, RACES, ACS, regional hospital nets, etc... must comply in the strictest sense and be manned by non-employee volunteers ONLY. This implies that Amateur Radio EmComm services will be provided to served agencies under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and using volunteer EmComm resources that are not employees of the served agency."

--
Bill Dale, N2RHV
Santa Clara Valley Section Manager
Section Emergency Coordinator

I see this as a good thing. It will stop the state of California from attempting to take over Ham Radio for EMCOMM by licensing it own employees. If you need an EMCOMM radio operator - call a Real Ham.

Government and Commercial Employees use of Ham Radio

2009-09-02T10:19:00.000-07:00

Please see the discussion on commercial use of Ham Radio.

http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2009/09/01/10982/?nc=1
It Seems to Us: Pecuniary Interest (Sep 1, 2009) -- No amateur shall transmit … communications in which the station licensee or control operator has a pecuniary interest, including communications on behalf of an employer.' -- FCC Rules, §97.113(a)(3)

---
In California, and other states perhaps, government employees are required to sign on as Disaster Service Workers (DSW) and get Workers Compensation Insurance during an emergency. They could be assigned any activity during an emergency but the easiest job out of harms way is communications. No shoveling sand bags, dealing with hoards of shelter moms, just a nice spot on the phone or radio. So it is natural for city, state, and county employees to pick Ham Radio as their spot to be during an incident.

But is this legal under Part 97? From the QST/Web site editorial, " ... it doesn't matter whether the employee is on duty or not. In either case, transmitting communications on behalf of an employer is prohibited."

Then there are the "Hams" from one-day cram sessions, many set up just for government employees who are paid during their time in class and for drills. This is clearly a concern.

The article also does not discuss the DSW issue itself. Does Workers Compensation Insurance constitute compensation to a radio operator? The name says so?

There are other government groups using Ham Radio. Search and Rescue Teams, VIPs, CAL FIRE Volunteers. Who can and can't use Ham Radio and when?

The ARRL Board authorized an ad-hoc committee to study the issue and prepare suggested guidelines. The committee will be asked to work on an accelerated schedule, reporting to the Executive Committee within 30 days. Time is already almost up. I look forward to this report.

No Limits To Growth

2006-12-17T10:27:00.000-08:00

Rick said, "You appear to have 'lost the plot'!

Justin, “No: but you have evidently missed the whole point.”

Rick said, “But you said,

“Whatever position is taken, case by case, on this technical issue, it does not in the least affect our topic, in particular the following theses, supported by all historical experience, as well as by clear analysis:

“There are no limits to demographic growth, no ‘carrying capacity’ for Homo Sapiens.

“Quality of human life is enhanced by its quantity; people are, in general, assets to each other, not liabilities; the more of them there are the better for each one.

“It follows that the optimum population is infinite and that the optimum long-term growth rate must be positive.

“Exactly. I stand by these assertions,” Justin agrees.

“This is the plot indeed. There's nothing about "the earth" here, and not by any accident.

“I was discussing the history of human expansion. It was precisely my claim that this expansion has no limit, is infinite. Limiting it by "the earth" would be, in my context, quite absurd. “Let those who hold the opposite view speak about "the earth" - as they usually do. “What is more, the context of the whole discussion is interstellar: SETI and the Fermi Paradox.”

Rick injects, “Since you invoked ‘historical experience’, as well as by clear analysis, you were clearly writing in the context of the earth.”

Justin retorts, “Poppycock!

“I was speaking of historical human experience as a progressive, technological species.

“I was speaking of historical human experience of expansion and transcending all limits.

“There is nothing Earth-specific to it - any more than there is anything specific to Africa, where this experience started.

“Through all human history, we have been expanding - spatially as well as functionally - on earth and into earth and off earth. And we are expanding faster than ever. This is what being human is about - as historical experience teaches, and this is why I invoked it.

“We are an explosion in the universe.

“In particular, the spatial layer we inhabit has been growing much faster than population - which is one of the reasons why our resources grow faster than our numbers.

To quote myself:

“The finite - but growing - volume (V) of space that a finite, but growing, population (P) is able to utilize at any finite time (T) depends on both P and T. V has been growing faster than P throughout history, so that per capita space V/P has been increasing while population figures mounted.

“It is often forgotten that people were much more crowded when there were fewer of them, but that is so. The universe may have been more or less the same - but there was less elbowroom.

“In less populous times, homes were less spacious, traffic more congested, privacy nearly nonexistent. Elbowroom, like every other resource, is created for humans by humans.

“And so - to address your argument - is energy.”

Rick objects, “Please reread my comments now that you have refreshed your mind of your original context.”

“I have already demolished your argument - which was based on a simple error, quite independent from your misreading of the space context of the discussion,” Justin retorts.

“I'll briefly recapitulate the refutation - then add something.

Justin continues, “Your argument was that, since most of our energy comes from the sun (you actually said "all" of it, but that was another error), and since a person has irreducible energy needs (correct), therefore (3) the number of people cannot exceed some upper limit.

“The refutation consists in pointing out that you have used the wrong tense. Namely: (1) refers to the present, but (3) to the future. To prove your contention, you would have had to prove first that (1a) all or most of our energy will always come from the sun. You have not, and you cannot prove that - most certainly not by "thermodynamics" as you promised.

“That completes the logical refutation.

“Now let us put some substance into the issue you raised, by means of a back-of-an-envelope calculation.

“I'll abbreviate ‘Solar radiation energy currently Falling on the Earth Surface’ to SFES. Currently, human energy consumption equals less that 1/10,000 of SFES.

“Efficiency of solar energy utilization can attain 30 percent, with existing technology. That means that human consumption of energy could (as far as that limitation goes) be increased by a factor of 3,000, using just SFES.

“Further: the USA, with about 5 percent of global population, consumes some 25 percent of all energy.

“It follows that, as far as energy supply is concerned, SFES could support a global population of about 5 trillion - at the current American consumption standards - or one trillion people at five times the current American consumption standards.

“Though that would be a nice suburban density, nobody expects so many people to actually inhabit either the earth surface (we don't all live on the surface even now) - or the immediate vicinity to which SFES is relevant.

“Long before human (or post human) population gets into trillions, it will necessarily distribute itself in space. This is imperative, for survival insurance reasons alone (another topic, and a far more urgent one).

“Therefore, SFES is not a very interesting number, and ‘the Earth’ is not a relevant scope for human future.

“Considering the Solar System and the sun's total energy output, makes far more sense.

“The total solar output is about two million times SFES. If all of it were utilized but no other energy were available, this raises the above estimates by a factor of two million.

“In that case, assuming (for example) per capita energy consumption a thousand times greater than the current one, human population of the Solar System could be some ten million billion, a.k.a. ten quadrillion.

“Is this a realistic limit? No: long, long before things grow so much quantitatively, they will have changed qualitatively beyond all recognition.

“But that is just my point: a limit such as discussed above is no limit at all - because it falls beyond foreseeable future.

“We need to worry about such limits no more than we worry about bumping into the horizon in case we walk too far. The horizon recedes as we approach - same here; except that this horizon accelerates.”

This dialog was found on the usnet news groups several years ago. I do not know who the speakers were. I edited the discussion for this format.

The FCC has announced that the Morse Code test requirement will be dropped effective sometime in January 2007. Now all Hams will be on equal status, and the limits to growth are gone. As this discussion notes all people are an asset to each other, not liabilities. So too with the Amateur Radio community. We need all kinds of radio enthusiasts.

The horizon cannot be reached. We will never get close to the limits that Amateur Radio might be perceived to have. Limits recede as they are approached. We cannot bump into the horizon!

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Bill Dale, N2RHV
ARRL Section Manager, Santa Clara Valley Section

Well, be carefull what you ask for!

2006-06-22T12:33:00.000-07:00

I have been elected Section Manager for the SCV Section! Thanks to all who supported me.

Thanks, also to Glenn WB6W and Kit WA6PWW and all former Section Managers. They have set a high standard.

I take over on July 1, 2006. The Section Web site will get a fresh look soon. Here is my contact information:

William Dale, N2RHV
142 N. Milpitas Blvd, #264
Milpitas, CA 95035

Santa Clara Valley Section Manager, ARRL
Milpitas Amateur Radio & Electronic Society (MARES) Treasurer
mailto:n2rhv@arrl.org
blog http://radioflier.blogspot.com

I Monitor Charlie 147.855-[100pl] / W6MLP 224.72-[100pl] / 145.43-[85.4pl]
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SB_Radio_Clubs
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SB_Radio_Events
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SB_Radio_Training
408-263-5325

Good Luck to all on Field Day. Here are some of the sites I know about.

========================================
SCCARA
Mount Madonna
Gilroy
========================================
Half Moon Bay ARES
Venice Beach, Half Moon Bay
========================================
Foothill ARS
Maryknoll, Los Altos
========================================
PAARA
Bayfront Park (the old dumps) Highway 101 at Marsh Road
Menlo Park
MAILTO:aa6t@arrl.net Gerry Tucker N6NV or Ron Chester W6AZ.
========================================
SBARA
Lake Elizabeth, Fremont
========================================
Sunnyvale ARES
Raynor Park, Sunnyvale
========================================
Chews Ridge Gang
Chews Ridge
36 18 39N / 121 34 02W - Monterey
Los Padres National Forest Monterey County
Pat AA6EG aa6eg@hotmail.com / Skype: Sparky599
========================================
San Jose R.A.C.E.S.
"Los Paseos" park off Santa Teresa Blvd behind Martin Murphy Middle School.
San Jose, Bill AE6GS mailto:bill_moffitt@yahoo.com
========================================
Livermore Amateur Radio Klub (LARK)
Robertson Park, Livermore
Doug Jones N6LMX n6lmx@arrl.net
========================================
Santa Cruz County Amateur Radio Club (K6BJ) &
San Lorenzo Valley Amateur Radio Club (WR6AOK)
Ben Lomond Mountain (2630 feet AMSL)
CDF's Training Center (adjacent to and just beyond entry to
Ben Lomond CDF Camp) at 13575 Empire Grade, Santa Cruz
Dave W8FLL@k6bj.org (or Bob K6XX@k6bj.org )
========================================
Cupertino ARES
Cupertino City Hall and Library. 10300 Torre Road. , Cupertino
Talk in on 147.570 simplex,
contact Jim Oberhofer: mailto:obermail@comcast.net / 408-839-8798.
========================================
Stanford Amateur Radio Club W6YX
Stanford Emergency Operations Facility (Site 530) near the Stanford Big Dish
Park on Stanford Ave. and hike up OR call the shack 650-856-2737
John Fore (W6LD) mailto:jfore@wsgr.com
========================================
WVARA and ESL Radio Club Field Day Location:
Mora Hill, Rancho San Antonia Open Space Preserve (access is Mora Drive)
Lat/Long - 37.3358N / 122.0993W
Topo Map -
Map - look for the "water tank" halfway to the right of the middle
Picture - the flattest area is just East of the water tank
========================================

Field Day – It's not about YOU!

2006-05-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance. But not as fine as you might think.

A small group of hams who have been holding Field Day here for the last few years is typical of local ham groups. As a relatively new group they have a limited experience level and only a few HF qualified operators. Mostly no-code Tech's involved with RACES, chatting on the local repeaters. Great group.

This year they will not hold Field Day. No one is available to be control operator for their station. One of the chief HF operators decided he would rather operate from home instead of help run the club Field Day station. You see, Field Day is about him.

Lets look at who Hams are today. The vast majority are Technician level operators. Some are highly qualified involved in ATV, microwave , satellites, packet, APRS or other interesting stuff. But there is a large and shrinking group of HF operators. Far fewer Techs upgrade to General or Extra. Too few to make up for the losses from those operators we loose to time and age.

The big clubs in the area see it too. Fewer new hams. Fewer hams upgrading to HF privileges. But they are big. Like the biggest crocodile in the river he gets all the fish as the river drys up. Life is fine. But the river eventually disappears and even the big crock has no more fish.

Now how do the old timers deal with this? They too often bluster with so called confidence and whine about “the old days” when “real hams” were running things. This arrogance is not new to ham radio or to other organizations. “You can't surf here because it's only for REAL surfers.” “RTFM, dip wad, Linux is not for windows weeny's!”

How does this attitude “sell?” Not at all. New or prospective hams have been totally turned off by this “I know it all and you don't know crap,” persona. Especially women. They see right through this stuff in men anyway.

But I know what you're are saying. It's hard to be humble when you are so perfect! You got WAS in one weekend. You busted the pile-up on that rare DX under lots of QRM and QRN. You have DXCC on 5 bands. Nobody cares.

There you are, shooting hoops like Koby Bryant, making 3 point shots from the mid-court. But the arena is empty. Nobody cares. There are no young bucks learning the game.

Is it really the code test that keeps Techs from upgrading? Maybe it's the arrogance of the superior HF operators.

So what is Field Day? Is it just another chance to show off your 3 point shot? Or is it a chance to share. Any one of you “old farts” can work DX or bust pile-ups in a contest any weekend.

Field Day is different.

Field Day is time to teach the new kids how its done. With humility and patience. Show the Techs and non-licensed visitors how to run a HF radio station. Encourage the juniors to upgrade. To enjoy the fellowship of other hams and reach out to the public.

But beware. Arrogance is not just an individual trait. Whole clubs can exude arrogance. Why did your group pick a Field Day site so far out of town? To promote the secret society of the Radio Arts? Are you still going to claim 100 points for being “in the public?” Yeah, OK, so the site does not have barbed wire. Then it must be “Public” right? If the site is so great don't you think you will make up the 100 points in QSOs?

So back off from the bravado. Take a slice of humble pie. Put SERVICE first in the Amateur Radio Service. You may just help get that new kid up on HF so you can work him when he goes out on the next DX trip.

Field Day is not about YOU.

73, N2RHV, Bill

Snow Bunny's on the radio!

2006-04-09T18:54:00.000-07:00

The ski instructor is proudly looking over her new class as they finish the last run.

"Good going skiers!  OK, now that we all have the snow-plow working lets get you all signed up as Ski Patrol Members," she said as they all come to a wabbly stop.  "How many own your skis?" A few hands go up. "That's OK, rentals will work fine."

"We have an incident on the Double-Diamond slope for you to deal with."

The swimming instructor looks over his new poly-wogg class. "Good job on the dog-paddle," as they shiver at the side of the pool. "We will work on the crawl and then lets sign you up for Life Guard duty!"

What's going on here?

There is nothing wrong with bunny slope skiers or poly-wogg swimmers. Nothing wrong with new Hams.  The point here is that often we are eager to get new hams into Emergency Radio Operations that are really not ready.

Many of our new recruits are from the CERT Program, Citizens Emergency Response Team, organized under FEMA and your local Office of Emergency Services.  These folks are not into Ham Radio as a hobby or a avocation.  The radio is a means to an end: communication with the EOC during a community disaster.  With training these folks do fine and can be a great help but they cannot be thrown on the diamond slope or into deep water to help with general emergency communications.

In fact many new hams never buy a radio, and many never talk on a radio except at a drill. If the ARES/RACES repeater goes down they are lost. Programming their radio is out of their scope of knowledge.  We need to motivate them to get on the radio and learn more about general radio procedures.

For new hams (and old) the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Communications (AREC) classes are very useful.  I have taken the Level 1 class and plan to take the Level 2 and 3 soon.  But these do not substitute for on-the-air radio operation.  The Level 2 & 3 courses do require some on air experience as part of the class but that is just the minimum.

But nothing makes a good operator other than operating.

The ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Communications (AREC) classes are very important to give us a national measure of training for Mutual Aid.    I encourage all Hams to take these classes and will work to get them set up locally.  They must be cheaper (free) and more easily accessable for them to be of any use.

But the AREC classes may be difficient and obsolete.   So we we need to fix them or add additional material.  These classes are the only national measure of a radio operators Emergency Communications knowledge and skills. It's all we have right now so lets use it.

Hurricane Katrina brought the need for National Mutual Aid front and center.  It caught the ARRL and all Hams short.  How can we integrate Hams from all over the US to work together on short notice?  Some great ideas developed, begun earlier at 9/11, for collecting volunteers on a web hosted database.  But how do we know who these folks are, what do they know, how much experience do they have.  Even the AREC Level 1 classes did not give a good indication of operator skills or disipline.

I also encourage all hams to volunteer for radio comm support at public events and participate in contests.    Simplex operation,  especially on VHF, is also needed and more drills on simplex are needed.  Owning and operating a radio and on-the-air experience is the most important part of being ready for Emergency Communication.   Simplex operation is needed as a talent on 2 meters.  When an emergency hits this area - earthquakes here in California - all of us will be effected!  Repeaters may be down and simplex operations will be the mode.

We are doing pretty well with our ARES/RACES teams in the Santa Clara Valley Section.  But are we really ready to deal with the BIG ONE?    How about can we deal with the outside help that may be needed?  Can we accept or deliver Mutual Aid to other areas  in this state or around the nation?

Lets raise the bar and all get on the same level for Emergency Communications.

So here are my three recomendations:

All city EC's should complete the AREC Level One class within the first year in the position.  And the DEC's will need to be at least Level 2.   Any and all are equally encoraged to take these courses.

Lets get agressive at providing support for public events needing commnication support. With cell phones everywhere, we will need to be proactive at finding and volunteering for these events.  In times past, organizers would actively seek us out to provide communications for their events.  Not so today.   Yes, I know about insurance and all that.  If your worried about that, stay in bed.

Finally, conduct more simplex drills on VHF/UHF as well as HF.

So get on the radio!

73, Bill, N2RHV

Missing Field Organization Positions

2006-03-15T14:16:00.000-08:00

Of all the positions under the Section Manager I feel the most important are the Public Information Officer and Local Government Liaison. These positions have been unfilled in recent days and that is a situation I plan to fix.

Amateur Radio is one of the least understood and almost secretive activities to the general public. Movies like “Frequency” may have brought Ham Radio to the public’s attention but did not really tell the story of why radio and wireless technology interest us so much. The Public Information Officer and Public Information Coordinators job is to help promote Ham Radio via the news media and other outlets. Most divisions, sections, and clubs have some PR activities directed at announcing our activities to the public but more is needed and the ARRL is funding activates to do just that.

Recently ARRL “Hello Radio” program began to promote amateur radio. "This campaign will give hams the tools they need to reach out in their communities to non-hams and influence their perception of Amateur Radio," says ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP, who conceived the campaign and is its principal Headquarters contact.

I met Allen at the Dayton Hamvention last year and worked with him doing press releases for Field Day last year. The League is solidly behind supporting increased promotion of ham radio but we need to do our part here at the local level. That is what a PIO/PIC can do to help. And that is what I will do as Section Manager.

In addition to the press and media, the PIO/PIC needs to focus on other means to get our activity before the public. One major goal I plan to implement is a group of good public speakers to talk to local organizations. This “Speakers Bureau” will provide speakers to talk to groups such as Rotary, Lions Club, and Kiwanis.

Other groups are looking for interesting talks and we can make our wireless hobby exciting. Speakers for discussions with local government agencies, commissions and panels are also needed, both technical and non-technical. Many great and maybe sad stories from our recent experience in Hurricane Katrina can demonstrate, in a non-technical way, how Ham Radio is such an important asset to our local community.

Our clubs need to think of themselves as equal partners with these Service Organizations and get more involved in our communities outside of the regular radio service events. As Section Manager I plan to talk to these organizations myself and hope others who are interested will help do so as well.

I propose a working group to build presentations to the public that will be well received by those outside Ham Radio.

The Section Manager has a certain cache as an elected official of the ham radio community and can stand in the “bully-pulpit” to speak for the rest of the Amateur Radio Service. In fact it is his duty to do so. Not to “preach-to-the-choir” but to speak for Ham Radio and promote us to the rest of the public.

I am open to any input and help along these lines.

Also missing in our section, but very important, is the Local Government Liaison. We need this position filled and active as Amateur Radio has fewer and fewer friends in government. The FCC is not always our friend. The ARRL has is way behind on “grass-roots” lobbying but has made a commitment to move forward on this issue.

The Local Government Liaison is needed to collect information on what is going on in our local Section within government. This job is related and works with the PIO/PICs to provide information to government about Amateur Radio. Here the Speakers Bureau can provide talks that educate government and political representatives as to our interests and needs. One of our first needs is to define and identify government organizations, panels, commissions, county boards, school boards and others so we can tell them about our concerns and promote our needs.

“All politics is local” is a truism of political life. When the ARRL needs to have us send letters supporting bills and activities in Washington it is much more effective if we can act locally. If we have already spoken before some particular panel or commission it becomes much more effective when a specific issue come up later.

Lets back up a little bit and look at who we are?

Some may find this self promotion and political activity disturbing. What a Section Manager or Speakers Bureau says to a PTA group may not be his or her particular idea of what Ham Radio is to them. That is certainly so.

There are many, in fact most Hams, that conduct their hobby without any interaction with organized ham radio. The ARRL claims about 140,000 members. This is out of about 650,000 FCC licensed Hams. Granted many of these are not active at all. Many of these may have joined the ARRL just to get the “QST.” So, many do not feel motivated to be involved in the organized and possibly promotional or governmental aspects of Amateur Radio.

The Section Manager is not the sole spokesperson for the whole Amateur Radio Service. But within the League he can influence other Hams and League members to think outside the box and look at what the future of Ham Radio will be and could be. Being active in local political discussions and involved in our local communities will keep the Amateur Radio Service fresh and pertinent as we move into the future.

I am looking forward to your input and hope to expand on these ideas with a future posting.

ARRL Field Organization and the Section Manager

2006-03-15T13:46:00.000-08:00

The Section Manager is accountable for carrying out the duties of the office in accordance with American Radio Relay League (ARRL) policies established by the Board of Directors. He is the head of field operations in the Santa Clara Valley Section.

The ARRL Section Manager (SM) recruits, appoints, and supervises section-level staff to administer the ARRL Field Organization principal areas of responsibility in the section. These areas are emergency communications, message traffic relay, technical activity / problem solving, volunteer monitoring, government relations, public relations in the general community, information services for amateurs, and cooperation with affiliated clubs.

The SM is not the Commander-in-Chief of the Radio Army. SM's do not issue dogmas,dictates, fiats or other pronouncements to the general ham radio community. Neither the current nor former SM's act this way nor am I accusing them of acting that way. Some might think that is what I might try to do so I'll nip that idea in the bud. The SM is a diplomate and coordinator, not a dictator.

I do plan to be an activist SM attending as many clubs meetings, ham radio events and be available to all Hams. As Section Manager, I plan to reach out to all amateur radio operators. Every Saturday from 9 to noon I am at the W6MLP Club Shack in Milpitas. I hang out on several repeaters and e-mail lists and respond quickly to e-mail. Phone calls work too and even snail mail. I do not have a cell phone - I carry a HT everywhere. I may give in and get a cell phone or pager if elected.

Several items in the list of SM duties involve communication with many other amateur radio organizations including ARRL members and affiliated clubs. Personal visits to clubs, ham fests, and conventions are the top of my list of improvements from the current SM. The SM site specifically lists a "Section News" and it is good to note that the Section web site has been updated as recently as last November. It is a great improvement from the stale site earlier this year. Improvements on this site and other ideas to increase communication are on the table. Web sites are a one-way communications tool. The need is for feedback from hams, club members and officers and others in the community.

On the section web site down the right side is a list of Section positions. We have many excellent people on this list and they deserve all of our thanks. I hope they will continue to help me as new Section Manager if I should win this election. Kit Blank, the current SM, is also listed as Technical Coordinator. I'm sure he has more electronics knowledge than I will ever have.

Although "the buck stops here" with the Section manager, other officers and positions in the section include:

Official Emergency Station,
Official Relay Station,
Technical Specialist ,
Public Information Officer ,
Local Government Liaison,
Official Observer and
Assistant Section Manager.

Some of these positions are not needed in our section. Official Emergency and Official Relay Stations may not be useful in this section and there are none established to my knowledge.

Missing in our section, but very important, include the Public Information Officer and Local Government Liaison. We need these positions filled and active as Amateur Radio has fewer and fewer friends in government.

The FCC is not our friend. The ARRL has is way behind on "grass-roots" lobbying but has made a commitment to move on this issue.

There are additional officers and coordinators and many of these spots are unfilled, as far as I know. There's also an
Official Observer Coordinator,
Technical Coordinator,
Affiliated Club Coordinator,
Public Information Coordinator and
State Government Liaison.

In my next post I'll talk more about these positions and why they are so important.

73's, Bill N2RHV

Sant Clara Valley Section Manager? Why, me?

2006-02-19T14:36:00.000-08:00

My name is Bill, N2RHV. I am running for Section Manager of the Santa Clara Valley Section.

First licensed in New Jersey in 1993 as a No-Code Tech, I upgraded to General and Amateur Extra by 2001. I completed CERT training, Level 1 Emergency Communications and work Emergency Communications events. I held the EC/RO position for Milpitas and I’m still active in Milpitas ARES/RACES. In 2001 I helped found the Milpitas Amateur Radio and Electronics Society (http://w6mlp.org), a Special Service Club, and serve as Affiliated Club Coordinator for the section. I teach Ham Radio and Electronics Workshop classes in Milpitas.

The key concepts I bring are Community, Clubs and Kids – the three “C’s.” Community includes both the general ham radio community and the larger community in which we live. We need to communicate with each, with the general public and with local community leaders. I will work with all hams to improve communications among ourselves with regular public meetings at the Section Manager’s level. I will recruit speakers to talk to outside organizations who will increase understanding of what we have to offer the general public.

Clubs are very important and as Affiliated Club Coordinator I have been working to strengthen clubs within the section. The Special Service Club program is very useful here. Clubs should share capabilities with each other to leverage our opportunities within the section. Cost benefits in sharing mailing permits, newsletter articles, and club speakers.

Kids are the last but most important part of my three “C’s.” Youth are the future of Ham Radio. A former Scoutmaster, I am active with KM6BSA, Troop 92, in Milpitas. I will work to get ARISS contacts from the Space Station and the ARRL Education & Technology program established.

Thanks, let me hear from you soon.