Upcoming International Lighthouse-Lightship Weekend August 20-21

An update on the ILLW.........

Link to original post:  http://www.upstateham.com/2016/06/international-lighthouse-lightship.html

ROCHESTER:

Rochester Amateur Radio Association (RARA) will also have their station K2R from the grounds of the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse for the 2016 International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend. This annual Amateur Radio weekend event was founded in 1995 by 2 members of the AYR Amateur Radio Group, AARG, Scotland and held on the 3rd full weekend in August. This year’s event takes place August 20 & 21 - Duration 48 hours from 0001 UTC 20.8.2016
This is not a contest, it is simply a fun event to highlight lighthouses and lightships around the world.

The 2015 weekend was disappointing do to poor conditions on the airwaves. Here is a weekend summary:
 63 contacts in US and Canada
 22 States
 11 Lighthouses
 2 Lightships
If you would like to join us stop down. Contact Forest, WA2MZG,if you would like to help. WA2MZG@ARRL.NET
(from the August 2016 RARA Rag newsletter)

SYRACUSE:

New location for Hamvention 2017 announced

The Dayton Amateur Radio Association has decided on the new location for Hamvention 2017. After the announcement last week of the closing of the HARA Center, the hamfests long time home, it has been announced that the group intends to move the event to nearby Greene County outside of Dayton. The new location is the Greene County Fairgrounds and Exposition Center in Xenia, Ohio.

Read more at:
http://wdtn.com/2016/08/01/hamvention-to-be-held-at-green-co-fair/

Tour the new facility:
https://ke9v.net/2016/08/03/hamvention-the-fairgrounds/

Volunteers needed for the Tromptown Run in DeRuyter NY - August 11th

Hams are needed to provide communications for the annual Tromptown Run ½ marathon in DeRuyter NY on Thursday evening August 11th. We meet at 5 PM and the marathon run begins at 5:45PM. We are usually finished not too long after dark. If you can not be there for the start of the race that is fine, as it takes time for runners to get around the course. We will assign you to a post no matter when you arrive. This race runs rain or shine. 12 hams will keep us from having to “leapfrog” from post to post.

We are there primarily for safety communications, however the race organizer (Win Skeele) likes to know where the first runners {male and female} are and of course the last runners.

NCS will be set up at the finish line at the corner of Mechanic and Railroad St., and we can meet there; however it is difficult to get in and out of the village because of the crowds and traffic, so we tend to make assignments over the air as hams near the region. We will use 147.420 simplex. This is not an HT event; mobile radios with some power and good antennas are needed. Cellular telephone and repeater coverage are spotty.

PLEASE RSVP to kb2luv@arrl.net

SARC members, please RSVP if you are or are not planning to be there. Email or call with questions.

Thanks in advance, and I hope to see you there.

from:

Andrew C. Slaugh KB2LUV

Secretary, Skyline Amateur Radio Club

145.490 Repeater PL 71.9 Cortland, NY

General Class License Course

QCWA Chapter 29 meeting is coming up this Friday, July 29th

Just a reminder that the July meeting of Chapter 29 is coming up this Friday, July 29th at 11:30. It takes place at Denny's, 201 Lawrence Rd E   (N. Syracuse) (see the QCWA web site for more info at: http://www.qcwa.org/chapter029.htm

In addition to the usual camaraderie the program will be as follows:

•        Tickets for the Chapter 29 50th Anniversary Luncheon on September 23rd will go on sale at the subsidized price of $10/person.
•        Tom Shaw-AB2PG will talk about Honor Flight and an upcoming flight to Washington, DC.
•        Fred Legawiec-W2LGA will update us on the International Lighthouse-Lightship Weekend on August 20-21 and how you can visit/operate/contact the station he will be operating at the Verona Beach Lighthouse.
•        Steve Auyer-N2TKX will bring us up to date on the Antique Wireless Association’s August 18-20 Convention near Rochester, the large fleamarket, and the presentations at the convention.

Should be an interesting meeting (except for Steve who will probably be boring).

73, Steve; N2TKX

These monthly meetings are open to all. You don't need to be a member or have 25 years in the hobby to attend.

Does using your amateur radio in the car qualify as "distracted driving"?

An interesting topic came up on the commute this morning. One of our groups daily Ham radio commuters finishes his QSO with "well I will be taking a standby guys, as I am being pulled over by a NYS Trooper". Then there was silence from our friend for about 10 minutes until he came back with the story. Well, you can almost imagine the story, but he did get a ticket and it brings up a lot of questions. (With that persons permission, we will try to update this article after he goes to court).


After this incident, another local Ham suggested that we might share some of the legal opinions and references on using our amateur radios in vehicles here in New York State.

So here goes....................

NYS DMV DRIVING OPINION from the Hudson Division ARRL, August 2013:

"Given the concern that many hams have regarding the new “Distracted Driving Law” that went into effect in New York this past July, particularly since the law increased the penalty to 5 points on a license, I recently asked the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles Counsel’s office for an explanation of both the cell phone and distracted driving laws and how they apply to hams.

The opinion, is attached.  I suggest that you read it thoroughly.  It’s very detailed but simply put, it says the following:

The 31st annual Saratoga County Hamfest; Sunday, September 11th

NY Military Communication Exercise 7/12-13 - Can you help?

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND US NORTHERN COMMAND ARE HOLDING EXERCISE VITAL CONNECT IN LEWISTON NEW YORK THIS WEEK AND HAVE ASKED FOR AMATEURS TO MONITOR THE 60 METER INTEROPERABILTY FREQUNCIES SPECIFICALLY 5.330.5Mhz (Channel 1) AND PROVIDE RECEPTION AND PROPAGATION REPORTS.
INFORMATION NEEDED:

  1.  DATE & TIME YOU WERE MONITORING.
  2.  SUMMARY OF CONTENT HEARD WHILE MONITORING.
  3.  READABILITY OF TRANSMITTING STATIONS.


AMATEURS ARE ASKED TO MONITOR FROM 10:00AM UNTIL 3:00PM 12 JULY 2016
AND FROM   09:00AM UNTIL 3:00PM ON 13 JULY 2016 AND PROVIDE THEIR
PROPAGATION AND RECEPTION REPORTS TO THE DESIGNATED POINT OF CONTACT BY EMAIL.

POINT OF CONTACT FOR WNY IS JOSEPH TEDESCO KC2DKP/AAR2JI AND HIS EMAIL IS KC2DKP@VERIZON.NET

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP AND SUPPORT IN MONITORING THIS EXERCISE AND PROVIDING THE INFORMATION REQUESTED


JOSEPH M. TEDESCO KC2DKP/AAR2JI
W.N.Y. Section Emergency Coordinator
RACES Coordinator New York State DHS/OEM Region 5 Asst. RACES Officer Erie County ARES/RACES United States ARMY MARS AAA2R73
716-574-9693 Cell (Best 24hr contact)
716-649-3611 Home

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ARRL Western New York Section
Section Manager: Laura Mueller, N2LJM
n2ljm@arrl.org
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Batavia Hamfest Saturday July 16, 2016

Batavia Hamfest
Saturday  –  July 16,  2016
Alexander  Firemen Grounds

10708 Alexander Rd.Route 98,
One mile south of Rt 20 , Alexander NY   14005   MAP

Outdoor  Flea Market –  FREE Tailgating    6:00am – till
Buy/Sell   Ham radio gear

RW Antenna Store will be at the hamfest
Overnight Camping Allowed- Arrive after 6PM on Friday ( the night before hamfest) .
Only $7.00   admission includes free tailgating and free indoor spaces

VE  Exam 8:00 AM   To  Pre register for test –
contact John Maxwell      maxwell@acsu.buffalo.edu  or Call  716–404-9256

Talk In: 147.285  PL 141.3    Batavia repeater

Breakfast  and  lunch   available

Sponsored by: The Lancaster Amateur Radio Club  –      w2so.org

Questions :   contact  – Luke n2GDU
luke48@gmail.com

AES going out of business..........sad day!

From CQ magazine blog today:

Amateur Electronic Supply (AES) Going Out of Business

Amateur Electronic Supply (AES) has announced that it is ceasing operations as of the end of July, 2016.


The Milwaukee-based retailer has four locations around the country, including Milwaukee; Cleveland (Wickliffe), Ohio; Las Vegas, Nevada and Orlando, Florida. It has long been the nation's second-largest ham radio dealer, after Ham Radio Outlet. No reason was given for the decision to close the business.

 I will miss the AES guys in Cleveland! ...they have always been very helpful and stocked almost everything. Place an order before 2 pm and it was standard UPS shipping to my house in just 2 days. ........Always stopped at the Orlando store when I was in Central Florida!

Only two weeks until the RAGS Hamfest, Sunday July 10th!

RAGS President's Award to N2VZD!

 Congratulations to Tim Colson; N2VZD!

Tim was recently presented the 2016 President's Award by the Radio Amateurs of Greater Syracuse (RAGS).

Tim is one of those guys who gives a lot back to our great hobby! He is always willing to lend his knowledge and experience to Hams new or old. He has been a promoter and constant advocate for getting weekly NET's going almost every night of the week here in CNY. If he isn't running one, he is usually one of the most consistent check-ins! You can find Tim morning, noon or night on the 146.67 repeater in Syracuse.

Thanks Tim for all you do for Amateur Radio in Upstate NY!

International Lighthouse / Lightship Weekend - August 20-21, 2016

ILLW.net

Oswego Lighthouse activation:

The Fulton Amateur Radio Club is participating in the International Lighthouse weekend this year at the Oswego Lighthouse. It should be a great event as the lighthouse has been closed to the public and we will be operating from the radio room there. There may be a chance that some groups of the public will be brought out to the lighthouse while we are operating. 

The event takes place August 20-21, 2016. The special event call sign is W2L. It is located at the Oswego Harbor West Pierhead Lighthouse on Lake Ontario in Oswego.

There is more information at the following sites:

Our club website for the event: https://www.fultonamateurradioclub.org/content/2016-international-lighthouse-and-lightship-weekend

The QSL page is: http://qrz.com/db/w2l

The official website for the Oswego Lighthouse is:http://www.hleewhitemarinemuseum.com/lighthouse.php

Thanks!
Derek; K2KU

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Verona Beach Lighthouse:
On August 20^th and 21^st of 2016, I will once again be setting up a special event station at the Verona Beach lighthouse on 4^th Avenue in Sylvan Beach. The event is annual for the 3^rd weekend in August. I have set up the special event station at the Verona Beach light for the past 3 years. With the permit already secured and the Verona Beach Lighthouse Association on board, this may be the best one yet! This year we will be operating from inside the lighthouse! Past years we set up right next to the light and the VBLA opened the light so people could look in. We have contacted 104 different lighthouses and lightships around the world during this event! Over 500 lighthouses and lightships have “Ham” stations set up for this weekend! Last year NYS Senator Griffo stopped by and “worked the rig” for a bit. He even made contact with the Cape May lighthouse in New Jersey. More information can be found at ILLW.net.

                Thank you for the interest and hope to work many of you over the weekend.

Fred Legawiec, W2LGA

http://illw.net/index.php/entrants-list-2016

Cayuga Lake Ham get-together

Doug, W2GT is organizing an informal get-together Saturday, July 9th at Frontenac Park in Union Springs.  The plan is to start in the early morning (~9am) set up a portable HF station and have some fun with other hams until probably mid-afternoon, depending on weather and band conditions, feel free to stop in.  Doug and his group are regulars on the Bristol repeater (145.110, pl 110.9) and will be listening there.

Frontenac Park is on the NE corner of Cayuga Lake - take State Route 90 into Union Springs and turn onto Chapel Street to the park, the pavilion is in an isolated area at the south end of the park . Its only 15 minutes from Auburn and less than hour from many areas in Oswego, Ithaca, Syracuse and Rochester. Come on out, meet some nice folks and enjoy some Ham radio outdoors!

W2GT; Doug Bower can be reached at dbower58@gmail.com.

Field Day 2016

Field Day is coming soon........June 25th and 26th, 2016 
If you want to meet some friendly hams or experience some different operating modes, why don't you stop by one of the many Field Day events taking place in our area. You will see various antenna and radio setups along with operators trying to share their knowledge and score some points making contacts through out the weekend.

 Its a lot of fun - so we hope to see you out there on field day!

What is Field Day?

Field Day is part educational event, part operating event, part public relations event – and ALL about FUN!

link: http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Field-Day/2013/2013%20FD%20Flier.pdf

ARRL Field Day locator: http://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator

Check out one of the following groups:

Fulton Amateur Radio Club
Operating as W2CXV.
With Oswego County RACES, operating from Fort Ontario in Oswego, NY.
Website https://www.fultonamateurradioclub.org/events-calendar

Liverpool Amateur Repeater Club (LARC)
Operating as W2CM.
William Park, 7033 Lakeshore Road, Cicero, southern shore of Oneida Lake.
Class 4A with SSB, CW, and Digital modes plus a dedicated 6M station.
Setup begins ~8am on Saturday, food service begins at noon on Saturday.
Website http://www.w2cm.com/field-days-2016/