Greetings, welcome to "Dale's Tales" for November, 2023.
Wow! Thanks to all
of you in the Great Lakes Division for your prompt response to ARRL's request
for comments on the FCC Proposed 60 Meter Rulemaking. We announced the expectations to do that in
last month's Dale's Tales with the urging to watch for announcements on the
ARRL web page. All was quiet when the
announcement for everyone to reply went out from HQ, so a number of my fellow
Director and I sent a brief note to our members. I think the outstanding number of immediate
responses flooded the network as a couple of members reported delays in getting
their replies in to the FCC's system.
There were several individuals who sent copies me of their statements to
the FCC and every single one was well thought out, based in fact and was clear
of anything inflammatory.
We all can be proud. Again, thank you for responding so promptly.
Then, Monday of this week the FCC issued a statement that they had erred in setting the Comment and Reply Comment dates. This was a surprise, especially after we all scrambled to meet the October 30 deadline. The FCC has corrected the dates for comments and reply comments on the 5 MHz matter. The FCC adopted a comment/reply comment period of 60/90 days from Federal Register publication. When published in the Federal Register, however, the dates were erroneously based on the more standard 30/60 day period.
On Friday a correction was published in the Federal Register. The correct dates are:Comments: Nov. 28, 2023, Reply Comments: Dec. 28, 2023.
The initial comments will be released by the FCC following the November 18 date. This gives everyone the opportunity to review them and comment further if appropriate, the Reply comments are Due December 28. Watch the ARRL web page for those announcements. As with similar notices from the Commission, there is also a second opportunity to respond called "Reply Comment Period". This opens after the initial "Comment" period has closed (As it supposedly did October 30) and offers everyone an opportunity to offer comments after they have read the initial public comments.
VOTA. The
"Volunteers on the Air" operating event continues, and the pace seems
to be increasing as we approach these final weeks. My personal challenge is to get on the air
and make as many contacts as time will allow just to give away my 225 points as
an ARRL Director.
I'll run it to the wire to help as many as I can before time runs out at the end of the year. I am currently running 80 through 6 meters and try my best to be on at some time on some band every day. (And most of the time, that actually works). I am not self-spotting, not setting skeds, just trying to keep it equal for all.
SCOTT'S STUFF: Comments from your ARRL Vice-Director Scott, N8SY. - November Edition
Fall is definitely here.
The leaves have turned bright colors everywhere. The squirrels and chipmunks are making nests
in your attic and there is a cold bite in the morning air to cool your coffee
down.
Are you ready for what is coming next? Now that Halloween is out of the way let’s start the really festive holidays. Oh, but before we get to shove all that great food into our tummies and gulp down grandpa’s special spiced up egg nogg, we do have the annual returning to "normal" time coming up this next Sunday! Yes, you will need to set the clocks back to Standard Time this coming Sunday, November 5th. I will remind you that Christmas is just 55 days away! Santa already has his naughty and nice list started so I hope you are on his nice list this year!
November is Sweeps month, both CW (November 4-6) and Phone (November 18-20). I have always loved this contest, especially when I had the perfect call for it. My old call was KC8SS. That call sign got me into more pileups than I could count.
For 2023 we have 85 Sections: Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) updated a couple of their sections, replacing Maritime (MAR) by making New Brunswick (NB) and Nova Scotia (NS) individual sections; Greater Toronto Area (GTA) was renamed to be ‘Golden Horseshoe’ (GH); and Northern Territories has been renamed just ‘Territories’ (TER) - this impacts the Sections Lists for RAC events, as well as ARRL Field Day and ARRL Sweepstakes.
Limited Antenna Overlays: Any Single Operator or Single
Operator Unlimited entrant can enter using the Limited Antennas Overlay.
Operation is limited to the use of single-element antennas such as a single vertical, end-fed wire, or a single dipole antenna no more than 50 feet above ground at its highest point. The antenna(s) may cover multiple bands, as in the case of multiband verticals and dipoles with fan or trap constructions.
Ok, let us get serious for a minute. Where is your ham shack located?
Is it in the basement, garage, or outbuilding? Most generally ham shacks are not in the living room and as such, heating devices for your shack are usually some sort of a supplemental heater/furnace and that is why this next paragraph is so important to talk about now that the weather is getting colder. I want to talk to you about Carbon Monoxide (CO) poisoning.
First, let me describe what Carbon Monoxide (CO) is. Carbon Monoxide (CO) is the poisonous gases emitted from carbon fueled heat sources (i.e... gas or fuel oil furnaces, wood burning fireplaces or stoves, kerosene, or propane heaters). I could go on, but you get the idea.
Carbon Monoxide is colorless, odorless and it will kill
you if you breathe very much of it in.
How does this gas kill? It
migrates into the blood stream and replaces the oxygen in your blood with
Carbon Monoxide. Once it invades your blood stream it will be with you for an
exceptionally long time. In fact, most
of your life! Just ask any firefighter about that. That is where a Carbon Monoxide
“CO”
detector comes into play. These little devices are inexpensive (usually around $20) and can really save you and your family’s lives. Buy one or more of them now (if you don’t already have one) and use them!
Hey Affiliated Clubs, have you looked to make sure that someone has filed your annual report with ARRL? This is one of the most common mistakes that I hear about from club officials, they either did not know, or just thought someone else had taken care of this. All Affiliated Clubs are to file an annual update on the ARRL website by December 31 of each year. Yes, you can file early if you want. Oh, and those clubs that have been - or are currently Special Service Clubs, on December 31st of each year you are to renew your SSC as well. Yes, this is a change from years past. Since it was so confusing for everyone to remember when to renew their SSC, we changed the rules to make it come due at the same time you are to file your annual Affiliated Clubs report. Both your renewal and annual update are quick and easy to do online.
Have you visited the ARRLs YouTube channels lately? ARRLHQ has launched a bunch of new videos on a variety of subjects. Check them out, there’s a lot of great information contained in the videos, and they can be a great presentation at your next club meeting.
Notable November dates – November 7th is election Tuesday throughout the country. November 5th is the return of standard time. Yes, you shift an hour of time, but you gain that hour of sleep you lost in the spring and finally November 17th at noon is the last day for voting in the Great Lakes Division. I have already mentioned the dates of Sweepstakes and of course Thursday, November 23rd is Thanksgiving.
That is going to do it from here this month. Stay safe and “Catch Me On The Air”!!!
73,
Scott
Scott Yonally N8SY
Vice Director
Great Lakes Division
N8SY@ARRL.ORG
HAMFEST AND EVENT LISTING:
Here is the current listing of Great Lakes Division ARRL Sanctioned hamfests and Special Events through January of 2024. As usual, there are no Hamfests in November.
12/03/23 - Fulton County Winterfest, Archbold, OH
12/03/23 - L'Anse Creuse, Troy, MI
01/05/24 - SCCARF Hamfest, Shade, OH
Please post this listing in your club's newsletter and announce the swaps on your local nets. Talk them up. Let's fully support all of our hamfests in every way possible. It means success for everyone.
Be sure to invite your ARRL Officials as soon as your date is set.
If your ARRL Affiliated club plans to request Hamfest Sanctioning, you should make that request well in advance of the scheduled Hamfest date, as this allows adequate time for QST Listings. QST announcements require a 3-month lead time. To be fair to our Division's clubs, the Great Lakes Division policy is to offer a club ARRL Sanctioning for a limit of two hamfests/swaps in any given calendar year, and they must be four months apart. If your swap is cancelled or the date is going to change, please notify ARRL HQ.
For the latest detail on regional hamfests, check the ARRL web page at:
http://www.arrl.org/hamfests-and-conventions-calendar.
73,
Dale Williams WA8EFK
Director
Great Lakes Division
wa8efk@arrl.org
