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K1HEJ > ALL 29.07.16 08:33l 150 Lines 7375 Bytes #999 (0) @ NTSCT
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Subj: CT Section News july 28
Path: IZ3LSV<IQ2LB<IQ5KG<IK1NHL<CX2SA<VE2PKT<VK4TUB<NA7KR<N1URO<K1HEJ
Sent: 160728/1806 1755@K1HEJ.#CCT.CT.USA.NOAM
Section Leadership:
Section Manager (SM) Betsey, K1EIC
Assistants (ASMs): Emeritus Al, W1FXQ; Jim, KD1YV; Larry, K1HEJ
Official Observer Coordinator (OOC) Chuck, K1DFS
Public Information Coordinator (PIC) Dana, KA1WPM
Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC) Wayne, N1CLV
Assistants (ASECs): Rod, N1FNE; Brian, K1BRF; Art, AF1HS; Ron, K1VSC;
Bill, W1GTT
State Government Liaison (SGL) Jon, WF1H
Section Traffic Manager (STM) Anne, K1STM
Section Youth Coordinator (SYC) Douglas, WA1SFH
Technical Coordinator (TC) Steve W1SMS
Haven’t HF conditions been unbelievably difficult this summer? They
sure test our operating skills. My Elecraft KPA500 is certainly
serving me well in the region and area traffic nets and on TCC
schedules of the National Traffic System. When it comes to conditions,
we’re all in the same boat—hang in there and keep operating. Many
are enjoying the openings on 6 meters.
Clubs and other field day groups have been reviewing their activity
during Field Day and remembering the fun and always different
experiences that took place that weekend. We sure could not have asked
for better weather. Thank you to the many ops who sent me messages
reporting activity. This year, I received quite a bit of FD traffic.
I always enjoy hearing from you.
My twin Barb K1EIR and I traveled to Minneapolis, MN for the convention
of The American Council of the Blind. We have a radio amateurs
affiliate and, as usual, we had our meeting and activity. This year,
Steve WA1RTB in the EMA Section and John NU6P in SCV gave a great talk
on using the EchoLink app on the iPhone. There were several blind
and visually impaired radio amateurs in attendance who learned about
the accessibility of that app. I hadn’t used it before so I fired up
and connected to the W1VAR repeater and had an enjoyable contact and
great audio report.
We found DMR out in Minneapolis to be lots of fun. Thanks to Larry
W1LAG who gave me a great resource for a code plug, DMR worked just
fine.
We were thrilled to visit with our twin friends (not part of the
convention) Janet K0JA and Janice K0JE at their home in Coon Rapids.
We had hoped to put a park unit on the air as part of the NPOTA
activity but the weather just did not hold up. Janet and Janice have
done a great deal of work helping out the Handi Hams out there; they
are both retired computer engineers. So twins visiting twins in the
twin cities was exciting for us. We met them many years ago when they
attended a “twins’ conventionö in NJ then visited W1AW where the
chief op suggested they come to our home and meet us—what fun!
Amateur Radio is friendship.
And, sad to say, we lost a real friend in our Section as Randy Hale
W1IN passed away after a brief illness. Randy was a very active
operator who had a wonderful sense of humor, who enjoyed people, was a
superlative engineer and enjoyed good conversation with so many of us.
He was a very active member of the Shoreline Amateur Radio Club and was
a fantastic auctioneer at their annual auction. I know you all join me
in extending our sympathy to Randy’s family, SARC members and all his
Amateur radio friends. He was a valuable member of our community and
will be missed.
I just learned that Jim, K1VII, formerly of CT and more recently in VT,
passed away. He was a life member of the Nutmeg Chapter 149 of QCWA. I
remember working Jim many years ago. So sorry to hear this; I have no
further information. We extend our sympathy to all his friends and
family.
August 13 is the date of the summer luncheon of the Nutmeg Chapter 149
of the Quarter Century Wireless Association to be held at 11:30 at the
Brookside Café, 26 Killingworth Rd., Higganum. I will be speaking at
that meeting—here’s the scoop from the notice. “Retiring after
25 years as Connecticut ARRL Section Manager,
She brings us highlights of a lifetime (almost) of devoted service to
Amateur Radio.
She'll tell sad tales.... happy tales .......dramatic
tales..... scary tales . . .ö Anyone can come—you don’t have to
be a member; just write to Gary gary@qcwa.org.
August 28 8:00-12:30 PM is the date of the Western CT Ham fest
sponsored by the Candlewood Amateur Radio Association—please note the
change in date. Come to the Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main St., Newtown and
join in the fun. Admission $7.00, indoor tables including one
admission $15.00 tailgating $10.00 including one admission; children
under 10 free. Talk-in 147.300(+) PL 100.0. For the full details
including flier, go to
http://cararadioclub.org/component/content/article/83-activities/123-hamfest.
If you have questions, write to hamfest chair John w1jgm@arrl.net.
Hope to see many of you there!
The weekend of September 9-11 is the annual New England Division
Hamfest at the Holiday Inn Boxboro Woods, Boxboro, MA. Tickets are
available—go to http://www.boxboro.org for full details. Get your
tickets early to avoid the lines that weekend. Here are some of the
details from the Convention chair: special hotel rate of $99 is
available - call the hotel directly (not the national reservation line)
at (978) 263-8701.
Ask for the "NEH" rate.
In addition to the exhibitors and flea market, we are putting together
one of the best forum programs in the country. With topics from
contesting to experimenting and everything in between, you are sure to
find several topics for your interests.
Be sure to check out and even operate the W1A special event
station--Friday & Saturday 7AM-6PM, 9PM-Midnight, Sunday 7AM-12PM.
On Friday's DX/Contest Dinner, Keynote Speaker David Collingham, K3LP
will speak on the VP8S South Sandwich & South Georgia DXpedition. On
Saturday Night at the Grand Banquet, Keynote Speaker Radio Historian
Donna Halper will speak on "Heroes of Amateur Radio, Past, Present, and
Future".
Please come—it’s a great way to start out the fall. Division
Director Tom K1KI, Vice Director Mike K1TWF and I are looking forward
to seeing you.
Make sure to mark October 16 as the date of our State Convention at the
Four Points Sheridan in Meriden. . I’ll write more details as the
time approaches.
I did promise you some history about these last 25 years. So here are
a few details.
When I began this journey in 1991, many of us were using modems and
bulletin board systems. Remember those BBS’s? Dial-up modems called
local community BBS’s and there was, in addition, an ARRL BBS with
some field organization files on it. I remember the total frustration
battling format details—we’d upload a file only to find the format
completely changed—lines were short and nothing was the same as the
original.
Clubs reported annually via paper. Every few months, I’d get an
envelope with these very thin sheets of paper, one per club which was a
third carbon copy and not easy to read. I always filed them so I could
look up data and have someone read it when I needed it.
Section news was in QST—CT did well—we had 33 lines! Imagine that?
What would we ever do with all this news today?
More next month. See you at QCWA and at the Western CT Hamfest.
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ARRL Connecticut Section
Section Manager: Betsey M Doane, K1EIC
k1eic@arrl.org
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