Military Exercise - Amateur Operators Needed

Military Exercise COMEX 16-4 Amateur Operators Needed 10/30-10/31

The United States Department of Defense with the Departments of United States Army and Air Force and United States MARS are holding their fourth quarter exercise.

     This exercise is an continuous 48hr exercise comprising of Military, Government, and MARS stations testing the continuity of communications during an unknown event that will simulate a wide spread communications failure.

     For military stations the exercise runs Sunday 30 October through Tuesday 1 November 2016 but Amateurs have been asked to participate in a few key specific times throughout the days of Sunday the 30th and Monday the 31st.

     The DOD and Military command have asked for Amateurs in Western New York to help in this exercise by providing simple county status information for their stations at specified times on the 60 Meter INTEROP channel 1 throughout the exercise.

Winter SkyWarn Training

Winter SKYWARN Spotter Training Classes are coming!

Most upstate NY counties are conducting Winter SkyWarn Training in October and November.

The training will be held at various area locations and on-line. This class is for beginners or anybody that has a general interest in weather. These classes train volunteers how to accurately measure and report snowfall totals to the National Weather Service. The class is free and open to everyone; no age requirements, previous training, or equipment is required.

The SKYWARN program is a nationwide program that provides real-time severe weather reports to the National Weather Service. "Trained weather spotters provide valuable lifesaving information to the National Weather Service and we encourage those who have an interest in weather to participate in this critical program," said David Nicosia, Warning Coordination Meteorologist in Binghamton NY. "Despite all the technological advances, SKYWARN Spotter reports are still crucial to the National Weather Service in providing more accurate severe weather warnings," Nicosia continues.

See the full training schedules at:

Binghamton (Syracuse):  http://www.weather.gov/bgm/outreachSKYWARNtraining
Buffalo (Rochester): http://www.weather.gov/buf/Skywarn
Albany: http://cstar.cestm.albany.edu/skywarn/Talks.htm

Learn more about SKYWARN and Amateur Radio at: http://www.upstateham.com/p/skywarn.html

LARC Bootcamp - Portable antennas for HF use

This October Bootcamp will cover the options for setting up a portable antenna for HF use. In case of
emergency, we are all ready to use VHF/UHF for disaster communications, but few of us are prepared to get an HF station on the air because few of us have an antenna option. There are several inexpensive options along with some commercial choices that will enable you to be an effective resource during an emergency. Come learn and enjoy yourself.

NORTH SYRACUSE COMMUNITY CENTER
Thursday, October 27th @ 6:15PM
prior to LARC monthly meeting

Can you help this Sunday with the Empire State Marathon?

LARC/RAGS public service team is looking for additional manpower. They need 3 or 4 more volunteers for This Sunday's (10/9/16) Empire State Marathon in Syracuse. If you are available and want more information please contact K9CHP; Amir at K9CHP@arrl.net.

Pico balloon launched from the Elmira Hamfest is now halfway around the world

Those of you who were at the Elmira Hamfest may have watched the preparation of a balloon and launch last Saturday morning. Well as I write this, that balloon is now over Central China.

Today, I received an email update from KD2EAT; Mike Hojnowski. Mike is a local amateur who has quite a bit of experience with balloon launches. Here is a brief update and some links (also see the tracking live) so you can get some more background on this very interesting flight:

from Mike:  I launched a pico "floater" balloon at the Elmira Hamfest this past Saturday.  It's Solar powered, using the WSPR protocol to beacon its position at about 10mw.  It has performed very well, and now, 6 flight days later, it's in Central China and going strong.

My flight blog is at:

http://hojoham.blogspot.com/2016/09/flight-wisp1c11.html

I gateway the WSPR traffic onto APRS for viewing at:

http://aprs.fi/#!kml=http%3A%2F%2Fthehojos.com%2F~mqh1%2Fwisp1c_11_1.kml&call=a%2FKD2EAT-11&timerange=604800&tail=604800

Great job Mike! We look forward to tracking it in the coming days...........

SAVE THE DATE - CNY Ham Radio Breakfast on Saturday Nov. 5th

Thanks to K2WOP; Curt, we have finally picked a fall date to get another breakfast scheduled and its open to ALL local Hams. It will be Saturday, November 5th, 8:30-11 am, come early or stay late. This is a great chance to meet up with some of the folks you talk to on the air, but possibly have never met in person. So all you drive time radio jockeys, "6M QCWA Netters", CNY SWAP and Hobby Net check-ins (along with anyone else) come join us for a nice social gathering. The last breakfast was a fun time and we had great food and service from the folks at Finally Ours diner - we hope to see you all there on the 5th of November.

Location: The "Finally Ours Diner" is at 3788 West Seneca Turnpike, at the corner with Cedarville Rd. in the Onondaga Hill area of Syracuse (see directions here: http://finallyoursdiner.com/hours-contact ).

Questions? contact Curt; K2WOP or Tony; KC2VER on the 146.67 repeater.


Finally Ours Diner link: http://finallyoursdiner.com/

Pumpkin Patrol 2016

The Liverpool Amateur Radio Club (LARC), the Amateur Radio community and The New York State Police (Troop T) are again pleased to sponsor the 2016 Pumpkin Patrol. (Most counties across NY have Ham radio groups participating)




This is a two night public service event to be held on October 30th (Sun.) and 31st (Mon.) from 19:00 to 21:00 hours. The chairman is seeking Amateur Radio Operators who can dedicate one or both evenings. Operators are encouraged to work in pairs and non-ham friends, family or pets are encouraged to accompany them. Teams will operate from their vehicles (no walking or standing required) and repeater coverage (146.31/91) is generally okay for handheld.

Amateur Radio Parity Act, H.R. 1301 - Need your help

Dear ARRL member,

I am writing to you today because we are at a crossroad in our efforts to obtain passage of The Amateur Radio Parity Act.

Our legislative efforts scored a major victory in our campaign when The Amateur Radio Parity Act, H.R. 1301, passed in the House of Representatives yesterday, September 12th. The legislation now moves to the Senate, where we need every Senator to approve the bill.

You are one of over 730,000 licensed Amateur Radio Operators living in the United States.  Many of you already live in deed-restricted communities, and that number grows daily.

NOW IS THE TIME FOR ALL HAMS TO GET INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS!

• If you want to have effective outdoor antennas but are not currently allowed to do so by your Home Owner’s Association, SEND THESE EMAILS TODAY!!

• If you already have outdoor antennas, but want to support your fellow hams, SEND THESE EMAILS TODAY!!

• If you want to preserve your ability to install effective outdoor antennas on property that you own, SEND THESE EMAILS TODAY!!

We need you to reach out to your Senators TODAY!  Right away.

Please help us in the effort.

Please go to this linked website and follow the prompts:

https://arrl.rallycongress.net/ctas/urge-senate-to-support-amateur-radio-parity-act

Thank you.

73,
Rick
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Rick Roderick, K5UR
President
ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio®

NY QSO Party October 15th

NY QSO Party – Get Ready for October 15!

by Dean NW2K

It's all about NY on October 15 as radio amateurs from around the world get on the air to work all 62 NY counties, Chautauqua to Clinton, Niagara to Suffolk.  A dozen or more mobile operators will take to the mean streets of NYC or the bucolic surrounds of the Southern Tier and North Country.  Brave souls will sneak out to the woodlands to activate a rare county, Field Day style, as temps may dip into the 30's.  And good, solid Elmers will open up their shacks to new hams and build excitement as the spotlight is on US!

The NYQP game is easy to play as all operating modes and bands are eligible.  The QSO exchange is simple for NY operators:  signal report and county.  For those eager out-of-state ops wanting to work all 62 counties, they'll send a signal report and their state, province or DX. 

Technicians Class Seminar - Avon NY

Genesee Valley Amateur Radio Association

Presents:    A Technicians Class Seminar

To Assist In Getting Your Amateur Radio License

$20 – Includes Testing Fee

Saturday October 22, 2016
9am to 6pm

Avon EMS Base
5582 Lake Road
Avon, NY 14414

This seminar is based on Gordon West, W5YI, Technicians Class Book. This is required to take the class. It can be purchased on line at: http://www.w5yi.org/catalog.php

RSVP as space is limited by October 1st to:

Billy Boyd – N3DSP@lafireline.net or 585-315-6607
Or
Russ Morreale – rusmor@rochester.rr.com 585-721-5136

LARC Bootcamp for September - Propagation

Liverpool Amateur Repeater Club - September meeting Bootcamp!

LARC meetings are the fourth Thursday of the month at 7pm with the exception of July and August where general membership meetings are suspended. November’s meeting is the Third Thursday of the month to allow observance of Thanksgiving.

Boot camp meets at 6:15 pm, and VE testing starts at 5:30 pm. We meet at 700 South Bay Road in North Syracuse, New York in the North Syracuse Community Center.

41ST ANNUAL ELMIRA HAMFEST - Sat . Sept. 24th, 2016

Don't miss this one folks! One of the Best Upstate NY Hamfests!

DIRECTIONS

General Admission - Main Entrance: Take exit 53 off of I-86 (Horseheads Exit), and turn south at Grand Central Avenue. Continue on to the Fairgrounds which will be approx 1/2 mile on your left.

Flea Market / Vendors: Bypass the main entrance on Grand Central Avenue and enter via the Flea Market gate on Fairview Avenue.

More info at:
http://www.arast.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4&Itemid=6

Bear Bait Radio Club Tailgate Fest - 9/24/16 - Clay NY

Learn more about the Bear Bait Radio Club at: http://www.bearbaitradioclub.com/main_002.htm

Fulton ARA Technician Class starting September 12th

more info at: https://www.fultonamateurradioclub.org/content/technician-class-offered-91216-12516

U.S. AIR FORCE AND ARMY MARS AND THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE - COMMUNICATIONS EXERCISE

TO ALL WNY/CNY AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS:

UNITED STATES AIR FORCE AND ARMY MARS AND THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE IS HOLDING ITS 3RD QUARTER COMMUNICATIONS EXERCISE ON MONDAY AUGUST 15TH FROM 08:00 EST TO 20:00 EST AND THEY ARE AGAIN ASKING FOR AMATEUR RADIO SUPPORT IN GATHERING INFORMATION.

THE PREMISE OF THE EXERCISE IS A TOTAL LOSS OF INTERNET AND LANDLINE COMMUNICATIONS THROUGHOUT THE NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY AREAS.

THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE IS ASKING FOR AMATEUR OPERATORS TO PROVIDE A  COUNTY STATUS  MESSAGE TO MILITARY STATIONS USING THE 60 METER INTEROP FREQUNCIES.
THE INFORMATION IN THIS TYPE OF MESSAGE IS THE STATUS OF UTILITES SUCH AS WATER, POWER, LANDLINE, LOCAL COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORTATION.