December 12, 2023
HELLO, OREGON ARRL MEMBERS!!!
What a busy November that was. Hopefully December is a little quieter.
LOOKING FOR THINGS TO DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME? VOLUNTEER!
There are many volunteer opportunities in ham radio.
The ARRL Oregon Section has many volunteer positions.
You can provide communications for a road race.
You can open your station to a new ham.
You can schedule your own class. Why not?
On a personal note, my volunteer thing is…
I’m teaching a free online Technician license class over winter break.
Contact me if you know anyone interested in taking a free class.
YOUTH LICENSING
Young folks are our future.
Teach them well. Don’t be shy.
Start them off with a lifetime of skills.
ARRL membership is only $25 for those 25 and under.
STATEWIDE EMCOMM IS RAMPING UP
That means meetings, planning, coordination, training, and simulated emergency tests.
We have a new Section Emergency Coordinator (AB7ZQ).
We have a cadre of Assistant ECs.
We have five of six District EC positions filled.
WE ARE LOOKING FOR A DISTRICT 2 EMERGENCY COORDINATOR.
District 2 covers from Deschutes county north to the Columbia, including Jefferson, Crook, Hood River, Deschutes, Wasco, and Sherman counties.
WE ARE LOOKING FOR LAWYERS!
The ARRL Oregon section needs Volunteer Counsel. This is a very important Division-level ARRL volunteer position. If you’re an attorney and a ham, and are recognized by the Oregon bar, your efforts are needed.
WE ARE LOOKING FOR AN AFFILIATED CLUB COORDINATOR
The ACC gets to know all of the ARRL-affiliated clubs in Oregon. Bonnie, AB7ZQ, was our ACC, but she’s now our Section Emergency Coordinator.
Do you like to network?
Do you like to put 2 and 2 together to make 5?
This job involves keeping up with clubs.
This job involves identifying radio clubs that can work together.
WAS YOUR CLUB AROUND IN 1969?
DOES IT STILL EXIST?
IS YOUR INFORMATION UP TO DATE?
ARRL-affiliated clubs are supposed to update their information periodically. This includes purpose, contact information, meeting schedules, and such. In looking through club listings, it’s been noted that some haven’t been updated since the 1960s.
If you’re reading this, PLEASE send me your latest club info.
HOST YOUR SECTION MANAGER AT A MEETING
If you’re interested in having me speak at a club meeting, either remotely or in-person, please let me know
SALEM HAMFAIR
It’s coming up in February.
That’s right around the corner.
AND NOW, A PERSONAL NOTE ABOUT TRAVELING WITH HAM RADIO
Ham radio is a great way to explore the world. If you happen to be lucky enough to travel, you will find ham radio operators (almost) everywhere, and they’ll be as happy to meet you as you’ll be to meet them. I recently went on a work trip to Finland, and had emailed folks who I knew lived in the area. I was lucky (?) enough to be shipped overseas to work during Thanksgiving, which in addition to missing turkey and football meant that I’d be in EUROPE for CQWW CW.
For those of you into contesting, you know that this is VERY exciting for a contester.
I scored an invite to the local club meeting (OH3AC), an opportunity to operate the local museum’s station (OH3R), and an invite to participate with the OH5Z Contest Group during the contest. I had never participated as part of a multi-multi contest operation before. I was told,
“We are going for the Finnish record. We are serious about this.”
The 10 and 15 meter bands were ridiculously good, and operating from a superstation in Europe was an amazing experience. I made a few hundred contacts, and apparently allowed someone to get some much needed rest.
OH5Z set the Finnish national record, and I got to play a small role in it.
Even though I had never met any of the operators before, I was treated as a friend and colleague, and even entrusted with operating a superstation and not breaking anything…and I didn’t break anything!!!
Breaking something was a group effort – an RF connector on a filter no longer wanted to carry high power.
The point, of course, is that there are hams everywhere. Don’t be shy to put yourself out there, as you never know where it will lead.
Please contact me with questions, comments, updates, requests, and the like.
73,
Scott N7JI
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November 22, 2023
Hello, Oregon!
I appreciate the opportunity to be able to write to all ARRL members in the Oregon section. I am available to be at your club meetings, either remotely or in-person (within reason), and am happy to answer questions, take comments, and take complaints.
SCHOLARSHIPS
ARRL Foundation scholarship season is open. Now is the time to complete those scholarship applications, get your recommendation letters, and request transcripts. It’s important to note that even if you’re “not a kid,” but you’re pursuing higher education, you may be eligible for some of the scholarships offered.
https://www.arrl.org/scholarship-program
CONTESTS
Contest season is in full swing. Contests are a great chance to work on awards (WAS, WAC, WAZ, DXCC, and more), push your equipment and antennas to their limits, and develop your operating skills. It’s a great chance to ask an Elmer to teach you, too.
If you hate contests; that’s your prerogative. Fortunately, there are bands (60, 30, 17, and 12 meters) where contests aren’t permitted. And let’s not forget that there are a LOT of operating modes available to us. This may actually work to your benefit. For example, if there’s a worldwide RTTY contest going on, there are fewer people on FT8, CW, and SSB, so your desired operating band may be less crowded than usual.
ELMERING
Several other experienced hams and I recently (yesterday) worked with a 17 year old ham, coaching her through her first ARRL Sweepstakes SSB contest. She is an officer in a brand new school club, and was the first to use the club’s recently assigned callsign, W0AXE. She had never been on the HF bands, and everything was new to her, including how to tune in an SSB signal, how, when, and why you should rotate an antenna, adjusting mic gain, using a foot pedal and headset, understanding band edges, telling the difference between who’s calling CQ and who’s answering, how to call CQ, how to answer a CQ, when and why to use phonetics, how an exchange works, and how to initiate a contact.
The act of opening up your station, and transferring your knowledge and enthusiasm to others, is a perfect example of being an Elmer.
Those of us who have been hams for a long time may forget what it felt like to know absolutely nothing, or next to nothing. When you offer your services to a new ham, and you get to see an “AH HA!” moment, it can cause flashbacks. Elmering can help create a confident, capable, and skilled ham radio operator.
The great thing, of course, is seeing someone go from “zero” to “I’ve got this” in a few short hours. You can literally feel their confidence level rise, as they begin to take control, asking you fewer and fewer questions, knowing when to confidently key the radio and speak into the mic, and knowing exactly what to say.
VOLUNTEER POSITIONS
We have been looking for volunteers to provide services within the ARRL Oregon section’s field organization.
https://www.arrl.org/field-organization
We have appointed a Section Emergency Coordinator and five Assistant SECs, populated five of six District EC positions, and are working closely with Oregon Office of Emergency Management. We also have 36 counties within Oregon, running the gamut from “lots of emcomm activity,” to “none.’
There are many opportunities for those who want to participate in emergency communications. Many areas have active emcomm groups, and it’s easy to find one to join. Others, which have no active emcomm groups, are ripe for creation of new ones.
Many of our newest ham operators are interested in emcomm – but many of them are probably not reading this message. If emcomm is important to you, let’s work to reach out and find the new hams in your area, and tell them there’s a place for them.
While ARRL membership is not required for emcomm participation, ARRL can help to provide training.
We are actively looking for an Affiliated Club Coordinator, the primary contact and resource person for each Amateur Radio club in the section, specializing in motivating, providing assistance and coordinating joint activities of radio clubs.
http://www.arrl.org/affiliated-club-coordinator
ARRL MEMBERSHIP
As an ARRL member, ARRL provides many services that I personally feel are very valuable and far too numerous to enumerate here. I hope you do as well, thank you for being a member, and hoping that you will continue to be a member.
It is also true, however, that ARRL also advocates for EVERY ham radio operator in the USA (whether they’re members or not) by consistently fighting for the amateur radio community in front of congress and the FCC.
Simply put, the more members there are, the more effectively ARRL can perform its important functions upon which we all rely.
At $59/year, that’s less than $5 a month, a small price even if it just covered lobbying…but ARRL member benefits are far greater than that.
And for those under 26, it’s only $25/year, which is about the cost of a small cup of black coffee a month.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or complaints, and I thank you for reading.
73,
Scott N7JI
ARRL Oregon SM
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November 8, 2023
Hello, Oregon Section!
A lot has happened in the last month. Firstly, let’s address the elephant in the room.
MEMBERSHIP
Annual ARRL membership is going up to $59 per year. For many ARRL members, a subscription to the printed copy of QST will now add $25 a year ($2.08 per month).
You’ve all seen the news by now. You’ve seen the reasoning for changes, and some of us might be unhappy.
But let’s remember, instead, what we DO get. Annual membership of $59 seems like a lot, but it’s less than $5 a month, or about the cost of a gourmet cup of coffee.
What do you get for sacrificing that monthly cup of java?
If there were no benefits other than supporting an organization that is our ONLY collective voice in front of Congress and the FCC, protecting the frequency allocations we all hold dear, it would still be enough.
Fortunately, there’s more, including the QSL bureau, full access to four electronic publications (QST, QEX, NCJ, and On the Air), a publishing house, W1AW, ARES, a well-equipped testing laboratory, ARRL VEC, teacher education programs, and much more. I hope we can all agree that, even with the changes, the membership benefits we receive still make it a great deal.
HAMFESTS
We had a rocking good time at Rickreall. Most tables were occupied.
There was a ton of stuff for sale. Attendance was really good. So many friends to see and new friends to make. Can’t wait for the next one.
EMCOMM
Bonnie Altus, AB7ZQ, was appointed as Oregon’s new Section Emergency Coordinator.
We now have four Section Assistant Emergency Coordinators.
Five of the six District Emergency Coordinator positions now have appointees.
The appointed SEC, ASECs, and DECs have met several times with Doug Jimenez of Oregon’s Office of Emergency Management. Groups providing emergency communications services to served agencies will be encouraged to participate as part of an integrated, statewide Emcomm system.
VOLUNTARISM
ARRL’s Oregon section is filled with hams in volunteer positions. There are many volunteer posts that can provide an opportunity to use your abilities and enhance your skills while helping others. From Emcomm to Technical Specialist to Government Liaison and beyond, there is something for everyone.
See http://www.arrl.org/field-organization for more information.
YOUTH
Don’t forget that it’s ARRL Foundation scholarship application season.
See https://www.arrl.org/scholarship-program for more information.
ARRL membership for those under 26 is only $25 (called a “student
membership”)
See https://www.arrl.org/membership-levels for more information.
Those under 18 testing with ARRL VEC can have a first $35 FCC application fee reimbursed by ARRL.
See https://www.arrl.org/youth-licensing-grant-program for more information.
OPERATING & STUFF
It’s contest season, so there’s a contest virtually every weekend.
There are also a ton of DXpeditions going on.
Cycle 25 is still rocking. giving us worldwide propagation on bands up to 10 meters.
On a personal note, I just participated in my first-ever DXpedition.
After two years of planning, six of us spent nine days in Vanuatu operating as YJ0TT, including a 6+ million point entry in the CQWW SSB contest. We made tens of thousands of QSOs, and I was privileged to hand out first-ever Vanuatu contacts. After 38 years of CW operation, I finally got to push my (modest) skills to the limit, making many thousands of CW QSOs while learning to manage huge pileups. It was a fabulous growth experience, totally worth 72 hours of travel.
Fortunately, you don’t have to dedicate 12 days to have a formative growth experience. Go out and do a SOTA or POTA operation, operate during a special event, join a contest, take your equipment to the beach, or just try something you’ve never done before. Growth comes when you stretch yourself beyond your comfort zone.
OTHER STUFF
If you’re interested in having me attend one of your club meetings, either in person or via electronic meeting, please let me know. In addition, with Bonnie’s acceptance of the SEC position, the Oregon section needs a new Affiliated Club Coordinator.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or complaints.
Spending most of my time outside of my comfort zone these days,
Scott N7JI
ARRL Oregon SM
