The Blount County Amateur Radio Club Presents the

FREEZEFEST 2018
Amateur Radio Swap Meet and Fellowship

FREE ADMISSION AGAIN THIS YEAR

SATURDAY, JANUARY 6, 2018
8AM til 12PM
Please Join us at the
LOCUST FORK HIGH SCHOOL
155 School Rd, Locust Fork, AL
GPS Coordinates:  N33° 54′ 33″   W86° 37′ 03.2

http://freezefest.w4blt.org/

Tuesday, Nov 07 @ 6:00PM

Northport/
Tuscaloosa
Northport Public Safety Building
3721 26th Avenue, Northport, AL

The course is FREE!

Please register for head count:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nws-skywarn-storm-spotter-class-tickets-38113879640

Big changes announced! Highlights, based on my reading of the rules. So check the rules. Link below:

• More FRS & GMRS frequencies
• GMRS digital systems will be approved
• FCC will be certifying FRS radios up to 2 watts PEP. (Previously limited to 0.5 W)
• FCC will no longer certify FRS devices that incorporate GMRS capabilities
• Existing GMRS/FRS combination radios that operate at power levels of less than 2 W ERP will be reclassified as FRS devices;
• Existing GMRS/FRS radios that operate above 2 W PEP will be reclassified as GMRS devices, requiring an individual license. (Rumors were out that FCC might eliminate the requirement for GMRS.)
• As I read it, they are maintaining the frequencies shared by GMRS and FRS. But, they’re just going to allow FRS/GMRS combination radios.
• DXing will be officially permitted on CB.

The new rules: https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-344617A1.pdf

For more information, visit Mark’s (NR4J) website here.

“The W4CUE – 146.880 MHz repeater in Birmingham is back up to the full coordinated power level. This comes after a repeater equipment failure and being forced to operate with a back up equipment for several weeks. The 88.5 Hz tone is again required on the input to active the repeater. Also, a tone of 88.5 Hz is on the output so that the users can set ‘Tone Squelch’ on their receiver if they would like.” — From BARC Facebook account.

I just participated in my first bike race. I mean, as a ham operator!

I went into this with no real concept of what goes on. Whoa. What an operation. There’s a zillion things to go wrong, so anything less than a zillion things going wrong is pretty amazing.

I was out at Rest Stop 5 which is just west of Atlanta. Ok, not really. It’s 45 miles or so east of Railroad Park. Which brings me to the most shocking piece of the experience. Our rest stop only saw the dozen-or-so 100 milers. That race started at 0730 from Railroad Park. I kind of figured we would see our first riders, being 45 miles from the start, no earlier than 11. Imagine our surprise when our first 3 riders arrived at 0930! In fact, we had JUST finished getting set up when they rolled in. Speaking as an out-of-shape fat guy, I can tell you that these guys looked positively refreshed and appeared to barely have broken a sweat. I’m not jealous.

What I really want to say as a newbie is how impressed I was by the process on the ham radio side of things. Net Control (mostly helmed by the mighty Carl, WW4CC) was terrific. Logistics was great. The team of ADA volunteers at our station were fabulous. Just a great experience, at least for those of us sitting at a fairly easy-to-do, low traffic station!

ARECA, the Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Association is offering a Ham Cram on Saturday, August 13th, 2016, 8AM-3PM at the Ashville City Hall / Municipal Bldg., 211 8th St, Ashville, AL 35953.

The Ham Cram is an instructional class that teaches the information needed to pass the Technician level class of the license exam.

Snacks will be provided as we will have a “working lunch.” If you have special dietary needs, please consider bringing your own special food items.

And, they’re going to give away a Baofeng dual-band handheld radio.

Bring $10 as a testing fee. Testing for General and Extra will be available for $10.

Please RSVP at [email protected].

From our new Section Manager, JVann Martin:

Please pass the word about Alabama Section assignments.
You can also visit the ARES website as I plan on utilizing our websites and social media to push information out to everyone.
http://www.alabama-ares.org

At the above website, you can also see two new DEC’s that have been announced for Districts E and G and the new EC for Jefferson Co.
I appreciate these leaders stepping up to the challenge to help lead Alabama Section.