SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB, INC.

OTHER NEWS: If you wish to have noteworthy information about club activities, individual achievements, etc. included in the Section Summary please send them to k5gls@arrl.org.

SILENT KEYS: Thankfully none reported this month.

Kenwood Ts-430. Works. 250.00 Comes with microphone and power cord, Heil Goldline GM-5 LIKE NEW IN BOX 90.00; Heil Goldline GM-4 Great shape 70.00; Motorola UHF GR300 Repeater with phonepatch and duplexer 400.00; FT-101Z Main parts/boards-covers-face etc. 30.00; Brand New FT-897D -sealed in the box 750.00; Yaesu FP-30 Brand new- 150.00; Ten-Tec Pegaus HF with Deskmic and all cables and software- 600.00; Behringer dsp 1100- 50.00; Behringer EX-2000- 40.00; Rode NT1A Microphone 100.00 -- Tyler Ke5wwx@arrl.net

==> ARRL has announced the W1AW 2009/2010 Winter Operating Schedule. It is posted on the web at http://www.arrl.org/w1aw.html and on page 102 in the October 2009 issue of QST.  Also available is a Powerpoint presentation "Getting Started With Traffic Handling:" at http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/NTS.ppt and the old ARRL Net Operations manual that is no longer in print, but can be downloaded as pdf files at http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/nts-mpg/pdf/index.html

==> CHANGES FOR THE 2009 NOVEMBER SWEEPSTAKES - Amateurs throughout the US and Canada will take part in the longest-running domestic contest, the 76th ARRL November Sweepstakes. Since 1930, this tradition in Amateur Radio has brought out all kinds of amateurs -- from seasoned contest veterans to neophytes, from long-time traffic handlers to operators new to HF. The CW running of Sweepstakes takes place November 7-9, while the SSB weekend is November 21-23. Each event runs from 2100 UTC Saturday until 0300 UTC Monday. All entrants may operate 24 out of the 30 hours.

==> THREE KILLED RAISING ANTENNA - At approximately 8:40 PM on October 12, a man, woman and their 15 year old son were killed while trying to erect a 50 foot vertical antenna at the home of the man's mother, Barbara Tenn, KJ4KFF, in Palm Bay, FL. The deceased were not licensed amateurs. According to police reports, Melville Braham, 55, Anna Braham, 49, and their 15 year old son Anthony were putting up an antenna -- Tenn's second -- at night when they lost control of the antenna and it crashed into nearby overhead power lines. The impact sent 13,000 volts of electricity through the pole that the three were holding. A family friend, a 17 year old boy, was on the roof at the time of the accident. He and the couple's daughter, who was in the house at the time, were not injured.

==> DID YOU KNOW? WWV AND WWVH - Today, most amateurs know that radio stations WWV and WWVH broadcast time and frequency information 24 hours a day, seven days a week to millions of listeners worldwide. Administered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), WWV is located in Fort Collins, Colorado, about 60 miles north of Denver; WWVH is located on the Island of Kauai, Hawaii on a 30 acre site near Kekaha at Kokole Point. Both stations broadcast information that includes time announcements, standard time intervals, standard frequencies, UT1 time corrections, a BCD time code, geophysical alerts, marine storm warnings and Global Positioning System (GPS) status reports.

==> INTERNATIONAL: OLDEST NATIONAL AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY MARKS 100TH ANNIVERSARY in 2010, the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) -- the oldest national Amateur Radio society -- will celebrate its 100th anniversary. On March 11, 1910, the WIA had its beginnings when a group of wireless pioneers gathered at the Hotel Australia, Martin Place in Sydney. These early hams wanted to protect their interests and rights against what they considered to be harsh treatment by authorities -- and a high license fee. From that meeting, the Institute of Wireless Telegraphy of Australia -- later, the WIA -- was formed. Since its founding, the WIA has continued to protect and enhance the privileges of radio amateurs and to promote Amateur Radio in Australia and beyond.

==> AMATEUR RADIO STUDY BILL - October 6, Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT), along with Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), introduced Senate Bill 1755, The Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Enhancement Act of 2009. Similar to HR 2160 -- also called The Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Enhancement Act of 2009 -- that was introduced this past April by Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX-18), the bill, if passed, would direct the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to undertake a study on emergency communications. Like HR 2160, S 1755 calls on DHS to undertake a study on the uses and capabilities of Amateur Radio Service communications in emergencies and disaster relief and then to submit a report to Congress no more than 180 days after the bill becomes law.

==> FCC ENFORCEMENT: FCC FINES CALIFORNIA FIRM $4000 FOR OPERATING ON AMATEUR FREQUENCIES - On September 28, the FCC issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture to a California firm that the Commission maintains was using amateur frequencies to conduct business. According to the Commission, Shimmick Construction Company, Inc/Obayashi Corporation, Joint Venture ("Shimmick-Obayashi") -- licensees of stations WQER756, WQEN793, WQJI360 and WQKG818 -- apparently repeatedly violated Section 1.903(a) of the Commission's Rules "by failing to operate only in accordance with the rules applicable to their particular service as set forth in the Commission's Rules and with a valid authorization granted by the Commission."

==> ARRL DXCC DESK APPROVES FT5GA OPERATION - ARRL DXCC Manager Bill Moore, NC1L, reports that the FT5GA operation on Glorioso Island -- September 14-October 8, 2009 -- has been approved for DXCC credit. Until this operation, Glorioso sat at number 4 on DX Magazine's Most Wanted list; five operators operating for 23 days made more than 50,000 QSOs to make this rare one available.

==> HAMS FACE NEW RULES ON ONTARIO ROADWAYS - The Ministry of Transportation in Ontario, Canada announced on September 30 that Bill 118 concerning distracted driving will take effect on October 26, 2009. According to Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) Vice President for Public Relations Peter West, VE3HG, the new law makes it illegal for drivers to talk, text, type, dial or e-mail using handheld cell phones and other handheld communications and entertainment devices. Following a three-month period that begins October 26 where the focus will be on educating drivers, police will start issuing tickets on February 1, 2010. All two-way radios in all vehicles -- with the exception of emergency responding vehicles -- must be hands-free in three years' time.