Club News

It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of K8SAK.. 

Charlie will be Greatly missed by so many ...  Below is a note from the family.. 

My Dad's life will be celebrated at Martenson's at 10915 Allen rd in Allen Park. 
Visitation will be from 5:30pm to 9pm on Tuesday the 18th and from 2pm to 9pm on Wednesday the 19th. His funeral will be at 10am Thursday the 20th. For more information you can go to Martenson.com. Please visit the website. There is a section for your comments, stories, and pictures. We would love to hear what you have to share.

The Echolink node for the repeater crashed last night. No RF is going to the repeater.

Also for Iphone,Ipad users there has been a new release which is pretty nifty. Check your updates on your device.

Due to lack of sign-ups and health reasons, Anne K8AE has decided to cancel hosting the MCRC November Phone Sweeps that were to be held at her QTH.

Anne K8AE has once again generously opened her QTH station as MCRC's official November Phone Sweeps Station.

This is an opportunity for club members who may not have HF equipment, or only have the Technicians class license to participate in the ARRL's November Phone Sweeps.

Anne will host the event on Saturday, Nov. 15th from 4 -11pm and on Sunday, Nov. 16th. from 2 -10pm EST 

Sign up in the Events section under November Sweeps of the website.  

October 30, 2014

IMPORTANT NOTICE - CALL TO ACTION

Michigan Hams: This is our time to get this done. Get this information to your friends and to your radio club. Unless your next club meeting is in the next week, don't wait for the next meeting - Send the information out in an email, make phone calls, and make every effort to get the maximum number of letters to the members of the House Energy and Technology Committee. Be creative and GET OUT THE VOTE!!

We can do this!

PRB-1 UPDATE

To the hams of Michigan:

Here is an important update from our State Government Liaison, Ed Hude, WA8QJE on the status of the PRB-1 project here in Michigan. 

In September, 2014, Senator Nofs and the members of the Senate Energy and Technology Committee unanimously reported SB 0493 favorably to the Committee of the Whole. The Senate held the third reading of the bill on October 22, 2014 and the Senate passed the bill unanimously.

Now our bill is heading to the House of Representatives for their consideration. It is expected that the bill will be assigned to the Energy and Technology Committee in the House and it is time for our membership to communicate with the Chairman and the members of the Committee.

This is where I need your help. I am asking that each and every one of you contact the Committee Chair and the Committee Members of the House Energy and Technology Committee to encourage them to take action on this bill.

 

This communication can be best done by email. Below the attached sample message is a listing of the Chairman and members of the committee and their House website where you can cut and paste your letter on their website or their email address where you can use your word processor to generate your letter. It is acceptable for anyone to send a note to all of the Committee Members, even if you don’t live in his or her district. Just make sure that your subject line is “House Energy and Technology Committee”. That will get the necessary attention.

The following is a suggestion as to what to include in your message.

If you deviate from this message, please be respectful and communicate in a professional tone. Please be sure to carbon copy or “cc:” both myself and our Section Manager Larry Camp, WB8R.

You do not need to be a licensed operator to send this message.  Even your spouse can send a separate message. (Just be sure to not place a call sign in the signature)

Let’s work together and keep this moving forward!!! Thank you.

Ed, WA8QJE

EMAIL MESSAGE EXAMPLE:

SUBJECT:  House Energy and Technology Committee and SB 0493

Representative   ___________,

I am asking that you please give consideration to scheduling SB 0493 for review and passage within the House Energy and Technology Committee.  Senate Bill 0493, if passed, will recognize the Federal Communications Commission pre-emption of PRB-1. This will help all licensed Amateur Radio Operators across the State of Michigan, especially in the times of needed emergency communications.  Your assistance as well as that of the other committee members is urgently needed.

Regards,

(Name)

(Call sign)

(Address)

(Email Address)

Cc:          wa8qje@arrl.net

                wb8r@arrl.org  

House Energy and Technology Committee Members

Aric Nesbitt (R) Committee Chair, 66th District http://gophouse.org/representatives/southwest/nesbitt/contactnesbitt/

Mike Shirkey (R) Majority Vice-Chair, 65th District http://gophouse.org/representatives/central/shirkey/contactshirkey/

Jeff Farrington (R) 30th District

http://gophouse.org/representatives/southeast/farrington/contactfarrington/

Ray Franz (R) 101st District

http://gophouse.org/representatives/northernmi/franz/contactfranz/

Bradford Jacobsen (R) 46thDistrict

http://gophouse.org/representatives/southeast/jacobsen/contactjacobsen/

 

Rick Outman (R) 70th District

http://gophouse.org/representatives/southeast/jacobsen/contactjacobsen/

Peter Pettalia (R) 106th District

http://gophouse.org/representatives/northernmi/pettalia/contactpettalia/

Amanda Price (R) 89th District

http://gophouse.org/representatives/westmi/price/contactprice/

Wayne Schmidt (R) 104th District

http://gophouse.org/representatives/northernmi/schmidt/contactschmidt/

 

Dale Zorn (R) 56th District

http://gophouse.org/representatives/southeast/zorn/contactzorn/

Joseph Graves (R) 51st District

http://gophouse.org/representatives/southeast/graves/contactgraves/

Dan Lauwers (R) 81st District

http://gophouse.org/representatives/thumb/lauwers/contactlauwers/

Martin Howrylak (R) 41st District

http://gophouse.org/representatives/southeast/howrylak/contacthowrylak/

Thomas Stallworth (D) Minority Vice-Chair, 7th District thomasstallworth@house.mi.gov

Rudy Hobbs (D) 35th District

rudyhobbs@house.mi.gov

David Nathan (D) 8th District

davidnathan@house.mi.gov

Bill LaVoy (D) 17th District

billlavoy@house.mi.gov

Marilyn Lane (D) 31st District

marilynlane@house.mi.gov

Charles Brunner (D) 96th District

charlesbrunner@house.mi.gov

Henry Yanez (D) 25th District

henryyanez@house.mi.gov

Collene Lamonte (D) 91st District

collenelamonte@house.mi.gov

Phil Phelps (D) 49th District

repphelps@house.mi.gov

_____________________________

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ARRL Michigan Section

Section Manager: Larry Camp, WB8R

wb8r@arrl.org

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To unsubscribe from messages, go to:

http://p1k.arrl.org/oo/ea910131b664e3efcb0bb7471e40d243

This weekend is the 57th Jamboree on the Air. This is an event that allows scouts from around the world to meet up on Amateur Radio. 

Check out everything JOTA related on the ARRL's JOTA information site.

Get out there and help these young Scouts experience Ham radio. The experience may get them to become life long Hams.

73- 

KD8HFX

Band	SSB (phone)	CW (morse)
80 m	3.690 & 3.940 MHz	3.570 MHz
40 m	7.090 & 7.190 MHz	7.030 MHz
20 m	14.290 MHz	14.060 MHz
17 m	18.140 MHz	18.080 MHz
15 m	21.360 MHz	21.140 MHz
12 m	24.960 MHz	24.910 MHz
10 m	28.390 MHz	28.180 MHz
6 m	50.160 MHz	50.160 MHz

• K2BSA -- Boy Scouts of America National Office, Dallas TX
• JA1YSS -- Boy Scouts of Nippon National Office, Tokyo Japan
• PA6JAM -- Scouting Nederland National Station, Sassenheim Netherlands
• 5Z4KSA -- The Kenya Scouts Assoc. Paxtu Station, Nyeri Kenya
• VK1BP -- The Scout Assn. of Australia National Station, Canberra Australia
• GB2GP -- The Scout Assn., Gilwell Park, London UK
• XE1ASM -- Boy Scouts of Mexico
• DX1BSP -- Boy Scouts of Philippines
• TF3JAM -- Scouts of Iceland

Echolink has been down for several days? Any info as to when it will be back on?

Updated Comment Below:

Just as a reminder to all club members this Friday October 03, 2014 is Club Elections.  Please make every effort to make this meeting and have your voice heard.  If you can not make the elections please consider using the proxy form which can be found in the October issue of the Spark Gap.  Please follow closely the instructions in the Spark Gap explaining how this process works.  If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask one of the board members.  Please take this process and elections seriously your club needs you!

73,

Bill AC8KO     

Hams by nature are collectors. (some would say hoarders) We see something in a catalog or online and say “Wow I would really use that!” so we order it up!  Then after it has been delivered, you find that you don’t use that gizmo as much as you thought you would.  Now that gizmo sits next to your rig and has collect the dust of many years.  GOOD NEWS!! The club will be holding an auction this January! Now is your chance to pass on that super useful gizmo to someone else in the club.

The January 2015 meeting will be a member’s auction to benefit the club. John – N8KAM and Jim – KD8HFX will review the items first and see if there are any items that the club as a whole could benefit from. The remaining items will go up for bid in January. To be clear items you bring will be a donation to the club, and proceeds will go to benefit the club. Proceeds of items of significant value (entire stations, radios etc) will be shared with the owner and the club. (Terms to be negotiated with the owner)

Begin collection the items that you would like to pass on to other members. Jim – KD8HFX has agreed to house and catalog the items for the auction. Contact him directly for times and availability for drop off.

73s and Good Bidding!

KD8HFX

I want to wish everyone a Happy and Safe Labor Day Holiday.

I hope to see everyone at our next General Meeting on September 5, 2014, which is our Nominations meeting.  Come out and have your voice heard! 

73,

Bill AC8KO