SECTION MANAGER REPORT
April 30, 2023 Dan Ringer, K8WV West Virginia Section Manager ** DID YOU KNOW? June is coming and will be an exciting amateur radio month! It’s West Virginia’s time to be showcased! Not only is June 20 West Virginia Day, the State’s 160th birthday, but June 14 through 20 is West Virginia’s turn to headline the ARRL Volunteers on the Air (VOTA) operating activity. If you’d like to operate as W1AW/8 contact Mark Kraham, W8CMK@arrl.net to get on the schedule. AND June 17 and 18 is the WV QSO Party! You can find QSO Party Info at https://www.qsl.net/wvsarc/2022-west-virginia-qso.html. QSO Parties have become VERY popular and YOU can be DX (sort of)! AND the 2023 ARRL Field Day is June 24-25. The 2023 Field Day rules are now posted at the following address: https://contests.arrl.org/ContestRules/Field-Day-Rules.pdf. There are significant changes to this year’s FD rules. Please read them carefully! Many have used the N3FJP Field Day logging program in past years. It has been upgraded for 2023. GET YOUR ANTENNAS UP AND TUNED WHILE THERE IS STILL TIME!! ** UPCOMING WEST VIRGINIA HAMFESTS & CONVENTIONS 05/07/2023 - JCARC Hamfest 2023 Location: Ripley Middle School, Ripley, WV Type: ARRL Hamfest Sponsor: Jackson County Amateur Radio Club Website: http://www.jcarc.net ARRL West Virginia State Convention and Ham Fest 07/29/2023 Start Date: 07/29/2023 End Date: 07/29/2023 Location: Flatwoods Days Inn and Suites and the Flatwoods Conference Center 350 Days Drive Sutton, WV 26601 Sponsor: West Virginia State Amateur Radio Council Type: ARRL Convention Talk-In: 145.290 PL 91.5 Public Contact: Kenneth Caplinger , WV8KDC 142 Pendleton Street Keyser, WV 26726 Phone: 304-209-1778 Email: wv8kdc@ARRL.NET If your group is planning a Hamfest, flea market or any similar activity, be sure to list it with the ARRL so that everyone interested can learn or it and participate. http://www.arrl.org/hamfest-convention-application ** NARO (GREENBANK) OPPORTUNITY NRAO is recruiting students for a paid 40-week course about the Electromagnetic Spectrum and Ham Radio – specifically focused on BIPOC and/or LGBTQIA+ 18-20 year old learners. NOTE: they do not have to be enrolled in college/university. Information about the course is here:Ham Radio Course – Application DetailsKey features of the program include: - $4,000 stipend ($100/week for 40-weeks) - Learning about the electromagnetic spectrum and how it is used - Engagement with scientists and engineers - Receiving cool technology and tools - Learning about important, wide-ranging, and exciting pathways toward STEM careers - Preparing to take and pass the amateur radio technical and general licensure exams Deadline for applications: June 1 (but early applications are encouraged; offers may be made early) ** 60 METER PROPOSED CHANGES ARRL Bulletin 6 ARLB006 >From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT April 28, 2023 To all radio amateurs SB QST ARL ARLB006 ARLB006 ARRL Advocates for Radio Amateurs as FCC Proposes Changes to 60-Meter Band The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is seeking comments about changing the secondary allocation available to radio amateurs on 60 meters. The FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on April 21, 2023, that deals with the band. In a prior petition, ARRL, The National Association for Amateur Radio, urged protecting the existing use of the band by amateurs when adding a new allocation adopted internationally. Currently, radio amateurs in the US have access to five discrete channels on a secondary basis: 5332 kHz, 5348 kHz, 5358.5 kHz, 5373 kHz, and 5405 kHz. Users of these channels are limited to an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100 W PEP. The FCC proposes to allocate 15 kHz of contiguous bandwidth between 5351.5 - 5366.5 kHz on a secondary basis with a maximum power of 15 W EIRP (equivalent to 9.15 W ERP). This allocation was adopted at the 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15). The federal government is the primary user of the 5 MHz spectrum. The government's manager of spectrum use, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), has expressed support for implementing the allocation as adopted at WRC-15. Doing so would result in amateurs losing access to four of the five discrete channels, and power limits would be reduced from 100 W ERP to 9.15 W ERP. However, it would provide access to a new contiguous 15 kHz band that includes one of the current five channels. In 2017, ARRL petitioned the FCC to keep the four 60-meter channels that fall outside the new band, as well as the current operating rules, including the 100 W PEP ERP limit. The ARRL petition stated, "Such implementation will allow radio amateurs engaged in emergency and disaster relief communications, and especially those between the United States and the Caribbean basin, to more reliably, more flexibly, and more capably conduct those communications." ARRL said that years of amateur radio experience using the five discrete channels have shown that amateurs can coexist with primary users at 5 MHz while complying with the regulations established for their use. The petition also stated, "Neither ARRL, nor, apparently, NTIA, is aware of a single reported instance of interference to a federal user by a radio amateur operating at 5 MHz to date." In the NPRM, the FCC recognizes that Canada has already adopted 60-meter allocations and related rules that align with those proposed by ARRL. The Commission wrote, "Finally, we note that Canada has essentially implemented the same rules as ARRL has requested." The NPRM can be found online at, https://www.fcc.gov/ . The FCC proposed to allocate the 15 kHz bandwidth but stopped short of making a proposal on whether the existing channels should remain allocated to amateur radio and what the power limitations should be. They requested comments on their proposal and the related channel and power issues. Comments will be due 60 days after the NPRM is published in the Federal Register, which is expected within the next two weeks. ** IMPORTANT ARRL MEMBER SURVEY! This Monday, May 1, ARRL will launch a survey for members, encouraging their participation as we consider a dues increase. The survey will include some short questions about raising dues and modifying the way some membership benefits are bundled. The survey will also include an opportunity for members to share their feedback. The participation of every member is important. The survey will open on May 1 at www.arrl.org/take-dues-survey. This is a member-only page. Members need to be logged into the ARRL website to take the survey. Members who are not logged in may select the Login button on the top of the web page, and they will be prompted to enter their ARRL website username and password. If they have not logged in since April 2022, please use the login instructions at https://www.arrl.org/login-instructions. ** NEW WEST VIRGINIA HAMS! As of April 7, 2023 John K Asbury, N8MWO, Princeton, WV 24739-8905 Bryan W Akers, KE8WSR, Princeton, WV 24740-3574 Charles Underwood, KE8WSG, Oakvale, WV 24740-5943 Leasa G Harless, KE8WSU, Red House, WV 25168-7935 Brian L Lucas, KE8WRS, Left Hand, WV 25251-9654 Edward E Hamilton, KE8WUW, Charleston, WV 25302-2107 Collin P Sanner, KE8WTZ, Charleston, WV 25304-1857 Davon McGant, KE8WTW, Berkeley Springs, WV 25411 James D Osborn, KE8WSX, Berkeley Springs, WV 25411-3756 Daneesha R Davis, KE8WXV, Charles Town, WV 25414-2564 Zachariah K Finley, KE8WTM, unlow, WV 25511-8123 Donnie R Rucker, KE8WUV, Hurricane, WV 25526-9487 Stephen A Maynard, KE8WUR, Milton, WV 25541-9409 Nathanael W Morey, KE8WRZ, Beckley, WV 25801-2341 Derek B Cook, KE8WSS, Cool Ridge, WV 25825-0189 Elizabeth Gray, KE8WVI, Shady Spring, WV 25918-8466 Michael W Segars, KE8WSA, Hinton, WV 25951-5618 Frederick P Dove, KE8WSE, Lerona, WV 25971-9232 Brianna L Harris, KE8WUN, Davisville, WV 26142-9615 Reginald G Riley, KE8WWX, Fairmont, WV 26554-5826 Congratulations! Welcome to the greatest hobby on Earth!! And congratulations, too, to the VE’s who made these exam sessions possible! 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) ** PLEASE WELCOME Please welcome our new Public Information Coordinator (PICC) Patrick J. Clark, K8TAC, of 1364 Overhill Rd, Fairmont, WV 26554. Patrick is a General Class amateur licensee, and has been and continues as the PIO for the West Virginia Central Wireless Association. Patrick has assumed the duties from Cory Sickles, WA3UVV who has served for the past 6 years. Thanks, Corey for your help and service. ** HELP WANTED: Unfortunately, WV hams have been seriously restricted in our ability to engage in public service events during the past couple of years, or to do much other than operate. So, it’s more important than ever to let people know what we do to be ready to respond when help is needed! The positions of Public Information Officers and Emergency Coordinators are designed to fill these needs. Please consider volunteering! PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICERS Each ARRL affiliated club should have a designated Public Information Officer (PIO)! Basically, the PIO is the club public relations officer, and is nominated by their club and appointed by the Section Manager. You can read the official position description at http://www.arrl.org/public-information-officer. EVERY CLUB NEEDS ONE! Contact k8wv@arrl.org. EMERGENCY COORDINATORS We have several openings for Emergency Coordinators. Ideally, we would have one in each county. It is a serious position. You can read about it here: http://www.arrl.org/emergency-coordinator Basic requirements: Technician-class license or higher; full ARRL membership, and achievement of Level 3 qualifications. (Must, within the period of 1 year, from the issuance of this document or appointment as EC, whichever comes later, or such further time period as authorized by the SM, complete all of the requirements for Level 3 qualification.) In addition to the basic requirements it is important that an EC make a good impression when dealing with governmental officials, have excellent speaking and writing skills, work well with others as both a leader and a follower, and make monthly, timely reports to the SEC. Contact n8oyy@arrl.net for more information. ** 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 an ARRL Affiliated club or clubs close to you. You can also go to the West Virginia State Amateur Radio Council(WVSARC)website https://www.qsl.net/wvsarc/ and check "Club Contact for new members." It lists some clubs that are not ARRL Affiliated. If there isn’t a club near you, and you’d like to start one, we can help with that. Don’t know how to organize a club? We can help with that, too! Contact K8WV@arrl.org. ** 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! Want to do it by Zoom? We can schedule that for you! ** SECTION CABINET No one person can coordinate all the activities involved with the West Virginia Section. Here are the volunteers who make it happen, with the assistance of many others. Section Manager Dan Ringer. K8WV Affiliated Club Coordinator (ACC) Spencer Graham, WT8WV Assistant Section Manager (ASM) Mark Charles Kraham, W8CMK Michael E. Maxson, W8SI Public Information Coordinator (PIC) Patrick Clark, K8TAC Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC) Ed Messenger, N8OYY State Government Liaison (SGL) Nathan Burdette, WV8NAB Section Traffic Manager (STM) Kenneth D. Caplinger, WV8KDC Section Youth Coordinator William W. Stewart Sr, W2BSA Technical Specialist (TS) Randy Crowe, N8OZY Rich Clemens, KB8AOB You can contact any of the cabinet members by email to <callsign>@arrl.net. ** WV SECTION STM REPORT March 2023 WV Section NTS Traffic Reports – March 2023 Submitted by Kenneth Caplinger, WV8KDC WV STM HF Nets Reporting Stations Traffic Time Minutes Sessions Net Manager WV Fone Net 766 36 483 31 WV8KDC WV CW Net Early 172 10 221 31 KD8G WV CW Net Late 111 21 185 31 KD8G WV ARES/RACES 23 0 21 1 N8OYY TOTAL ARES/RACES/2 Meter Nets Stations Traffic Time Min. Sessions District 6 ARES/RACES 70 2 100 4 KARC 92 0 153 4 Pendleton Co. ARES 15 0 15 2 BDARC 63 0 145 5 Pocahontas Co. Coffee Net 267 0 951 14 Easteren Panhandle Traf Net 309 1 411 31 PHARC 13 0 63 3 WV Multi County ARES No Report PCARC No Report District 4 ARES No Report CWVWA (Analog) No Report CWVWA (C4FM) No Report WV WL2K Net 142 0 7200 5 District 2 ARES No Report Total 971 3 9038 68 6 Meter Net Stations Traffic Time Min. Sessions Pocahontas 6 meter net 81 0 318 5 DIGITAL Stations Traffic Time Min. Sessions DAREN Station Activity Report (SAR) – March 2023 Station Orig Rec Sent Del Total Total Public Service Honor Roll (PSHR) – March 2023 Station 1 2 3 4 5 6 Total TOTAL -------------------------------------------------------------------- ARRL West Virginia Section Section Manager: Dan Ringer, K8WV k8wv@arrl.org --------------------------------------------------------------------