SECTION MANAGER REPORT
July 2018
Dan Ringer, K8WV
West Virginia Section Manager
** WV STATE CONVENTION
The 2018 WV State ARRL Convention will take place on Saturday, August 25, at Jackson’s Mill, Lewis County, the President’s Reception will be Friday evening, August 24 at the Jackson Lodge at the Mill. In addition to the programs, flea market, and auction, the WV State Amateur Radio Council will host ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, as our keynote speaker! Rick will also be present at the President’s Reception on Friday evening, and at the ARRL Exhibit Table in the Flea Market to meet and answer question from the attendees. The depth of his knowledge about amateur radio and the League is amazing! Also present will be Roanoke Division Director Dr. Jim Boehner, N2ZZ, and Vice Director Bill Morine, N2COP! The DX Forum will include Hal Turley, W8HC, and his presentation concerning the Bouvet DXpedition! Also, Wick Kirk, KC8RHO, and Jim Seckel, KC8YUI, will be demonstrating Project Lifesaver, a service designed to use wearable VHF transmitters, and direction finding VHF receivers to find people suffering from cognitive impairments who have become separated from their caregivers.
The President’s Reception will be Friday evening at Jackson Lodge. The main Convention activities will be Saturday.
Saturday evening will feature the annual Auction, with a number of really great items!
Truly the State Convention is an opportunity not to be missed! See you there!
** HISTORY NEEDED!
Assistant Section Manager Ann Rinehart, KA8ZGY, is in the process of updating the West Virginia State Amateur Radio Council (WVSARC) History Notebook and an in need of pictures from last year’s (2017) ARRL WV State Convention at Jackson’s Mill. If you are willing to share, please send asap to KA8ZGY@arrl.net.
** AMATEUR RADIO PARITY ACT UPDATE
Parity Act Options Open Despite Removal from Defense Authorization Act Conference Report
Arrl.org 07/25/2018
ARRL Hudson Division Director and ad hoc Legislative Advocacy Committee Chair Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, says removal of Amateur Radio Parity Act (HR 555) language from the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Conference Report this week was unfortunate, but does not kill the initiative. The Parity Act would ask the FCC to grant radio amateurs living in deed-restricted communities the right to install effective outdoor antennas. Lisenco said today that while the language was removed from the final NDAA Conference Report, other viable options remain to see the Parity Act succeed.
“We were disappointed the Parity language didn’t survive the conference process, but we do have other House-passed legislative vehicles that contain the language, including the Financial Services & General Government Appropriations bill, which funds the FCC,” Lisenco said.
“We have always known that getting this legislation across the finish line was going to take a lot of effort,” Lisenco said. “The legislative process is sometimes frustrating for ARRL members, but there is a way that our membership can be directly involved,” Lisenco explained. “By contacting your Representative and Senators and telling them you want their support for the Amateur Radio Parity Act, you can help lend thousands of voices to echo the work of the ad hoc Legislative Advocacy Committee on Capitol Hill,” Lisenco urged.
“It’s not unusual for legislation to stall in Congress. To remove the logjam, we need our elected representatives in both chambers to know how much of a priority this bill is for our avocation,” Lisenco explained. “The continued active support of ARRL members is critical in order to do that.”
Lisenco said that Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) has been the lead obstructionist during several stages of efforts to enact the Amateur Radio Parity Act, which has passed the US House of Representatives four times. Lisenco further added that that Nelson’s opposition makes no sense as Florida desperately needs effective Amateur Radio disaster communications during hurricanes, and hurricane season is rapidly approaching.
ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay said the House-passed version of the NDAA included the Parity Act language, but the Senate bill did not, and a House-Senate conference committee had to resolve a variety of differences in the two passed bills. He said the Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member was one of the “Big Four” who would have had to agree to keep the Parity Act in the final NDAA Conference Report, but unfortunately, he deferred to Nelson on the matter; without Senator Nelson’s inexplicable opposition to our bill, it would have passed Congress long ago.
Imlay has assured ARRL members that the Parity Act would be beneficial to the many thousands of Amateurs now living in deed-restricted communities, as it would allow those hams to erect effective outdoor antennas notwithstanding the preclusive language of covenants or homeowner association (HOA) regulations.
“That is the principal benefit of this legislation,” he said. “As I see it, without the Parity Act, Amateur Radio will, over a relatively short period of time, face death by a thousand cuts, as more and more communities are subject to private land use regulations that prohibit antennas entirely.”
Lisenco said it was important to keep the legislative efforts in context. “A decade ago, our bill was being introduced every 2 years and gathering less than 2 dozen cosponsors before being forgotten and tossed in the heap. Since we’ve created the ad hoc Legislative Advocacy Committee, we have seen the bill pass the House of Representatives four times in less than 2 years and come within a hair of the President’s desk,” Lisenco continued. “Momentum is clearly on our side, and the wind is at our backs. We need our membership’s active engagement to provide that final push to propel the Parity Act across the finish line.”
** CLUBS!
Are you looking for a club? Contact Spence Graham, WT8WV@arrl,net. He’s the Section Affiliated Club Coordinator (ACC). He’ll hook you up with a club close to you. If there isn’t one, and you’d like to start one, we can help with that, also. Send a list of the Zip Codes in your area to K8WV@arrl.org, and he’ll get you a list of hams living in those codes. You might be surprised how many there are! Don’t know how to organize a club? We can help with that, too, contact K8WV@arrl.org.
** NEW WEST VIRGINIA HAMS!
As of July 3, 2018
Ricky E Bush, KE8KBG, Buffalo, WV 25033-9634
Joshua A Casto, KE8KBF, Buffalo, WV 25033-9634
Christopher M Deluca, KE8KBE, Charleston, WV 25312-6292
Ethan D Mayo, KE8JZS, Charleston, WV 25314-1916
Steven T Lee, KE8KAP, Martinsburg, WV 25404-3784
Larissa M Spiker, KE8KCN, Shepherdstown, WV 25443-4634
Travis A Rose, KE8KDZ, Beckley, WV 25801-5902
John T Given, KE8KEB, Beaver, WV 25813-8808
Daniel L Simmons, KE8KEA, White Oak, WV 25989-0093
Congratulations! Welcome to the greatest hobby on Earth!!
CLUB PRESIDENTS – See someone above from your county? Invite them to a club meeting! Get them on the air and involved! (Addresses can be found at http://www.arrl.org/fcc/search)
** UPCOMING WEST VIRGINIA HAMFESTS
08/11/2018 | Tri-State ARA Hamfest
Location: Huntington, WV
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Tri-State Amateur Radio Association
Website: http://www.orgsites.com/wv/taraclub/
08/24/2018 | West Virginia State Convention
Location: Weston, WV
Type: ARRL WV State Convention
Sponsor: West Virginia State Amateur Radio Council
Website: http://qsl.net/wvsarc/
09/22/2018 | Coal Country ARC Hamfest 2018
Location: Madison, WV
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Coal Country Amateur Radio Club
Website: http://www.wv8ccc.org
10/13/2018 | Parkersburg/Wood County Hamfest Location: Mineral Wells, WV
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Wood County Emergency Communications
Website: http://www.wc8ec.org
If you organization is conducting a Hamfest in West Virginia, please be sure to let the League know ASAP. Contact Gail Iannone, giannone@arrl.org.
** ON THE AIR EVENTS
August 2018
4-5 222 MHz and Up Distance Contest
18-19 10 GHz & Up – Round 1
19 Rookie Roundup – RTTY
September 2018
8-10 September VHF
15-16 10 GHz & Up – Round 2
29-30 EME – 2.3 GHz & Up
October 2018
15-19 School Club Roundup
27-28 EME – 50 to 1296 MHz
November 2018
3-5 Nov. Sweepstakes – CW
17-19 Nov. Sweepstakes – Phone
24-25 EME – 50 to 1296 MHz
11/30-12/2 160 Meter
Get the details for ARRL contests at www.arrl.org/contest-calendar. You can find very detailed information on the current month’s contests in the “Contest Corral column of QST, or at www.arrl.org/contests.
** CLUB PROGRAM?
If you’re planning your club’s program schedule, and would like to have a WV Section ARRL Official present a program, send a request with the necessary date/time information to K8WV@arrl.org. We’ll get something set up!