Help Needed. Ham Radio Volunteers Still Dealing With Florence s Aftermath N S. September 20, 2018

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1 AR N S September 20, 2018 Help Needed Help is needed to climb a tower and remove or fix a damaged beam antenna, and check the non-functioning new rotor. Details below: I will pay for someone experienced in climbing a 45 foot free-standing Rohn tower (attached to the house at the 10 foot level) and remove a severely damaged Cushcraft 3 element A3S beam antenna and see why a new rotor doesn t work. Half of the middle element is dangling and the other half is on the ground. In the future the antenna will need to be fixed or replaced with another antenna. If you can help, please contact: Sher" Sherwood Weisman WA4HF Balsawood Court Altamonte Springs, FL Located in the Spring Oaks subdivision off of Green Briar Boulevard near Montgomery Road. Ham Radio Volunteers Still Dealing With Florence s Aftermath Conventional telecommunications are starting to return to normal in some communities affected by Hurricane Florence, but the now long-gone storm set up others for persistent and record-breaking flooding, primarily in eastern North Carolina and along several of the state's rivers. The storm, which made landfall near Wilmington, North Carolina, primarily affected the Carolinas, Georgia, and Virginia. "Things are back to normal communication status, and demobilization is occurring for folks deployed," South Carolina Section Emergency Coordinator Billy Irwin, K9OH, said on September 19. At mid-week, the FCC reported that nearly all cellular service had been restored in South Carolina. Over the weekend, ARES volunteers from several South Carolina counties had pitched in to support emergency Continued on Page CONTENTS The Prez Says 2 Ham News 4 Treasurer s Chest 2 Membership 76 Meeting Minutes 3 Testing 87

2 OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS PRESIDENT DAVE JORDAN, AA4KN VICE PRESIDENT HARRY BANKES, KJ4VQO SECRETARY RICH FISCHER, WA3SXX TREASURER ROBERTA COHEN, WA2FRW DIRECTORS SHAWN GRAGE, K4SWG JIM ROBARR, KB2CUX RICH WILSON, WR4RW AL LAPETER, W2AS KEVIN CANNON, KG4PRA Keyed Up is the official publication of the Lake Monroe Amateur Radio Society, a non profit organization serving Central Florida. Each club member receives a copy by , and it is available for download from the LMARS website at: Editor: David Mock, KG4GAX Telephone: (321) kg4gax@gmail.com Web: MEMBERSHIP Dues are $25.00 per year for Licensed Amateurs and $5.00 for Associates. Family dues are $ Memberships are due on January 1. Please submit your material to the editor by . THE PREZ SAYS... As I write this message, Hurricane Florence has struck the coastline of North Carolina and proceeds to slid down toward South Carolina where it s expected to turn inland, do a U-Turn and head into New England, dumping tons of rain in its path. I ve been trying to listen to the hurricane watch frequencies at MHz and MHz, I m sure many of you have been doing, but the bands don t seem to be very accommodating. Recalling last year, we ve all seen just how devastating these storms can be, so I m keeping these folks north of us in my thoughts and prayers during this storm and in the recovery following. This includes one of our members, James Lea WX4TV who drove up to Wrightsville Beach just across from Wilmington, NC to document the storm s arrival. He s been very active, posting to his Facebook account and APRS during his trip. I m sure James will have a lot to share with us at a future meeting. I hope everyone enjoyed our 2018 LMARS Annual Auction as much as I did. Al LaPeter W2AS has again done a fantastic job organizing this fundraiser. Thank you Al. We had a lot of great equipment there. A lot of digital interfaces, SWR/ PW meters and some nice rigs and antennas. Thank you everyone who contributed your gear and your time to make this a very special event. We are down to 9 days before our Amateur Radio On The International Space Station (ARISS) contact at Indian Trails Middle School in Winter Springs. Plans are coming together well. LMARS plans to participate with demonstrations of ham TREASURER S CHEST Business Expenses Donuts -meeting $17.08 Deposit - Holiday Paraty $ Business Income Dues $ Coffee $ /50 $12.00 Total Expenses: $ Total Income: $ OVERALL CHANGE -$ General Fund $ Bank Balance $ Reserve/Repeater $ Equipment Replacement Fund $ Scholarship Fund $ M Antenna Fund $ DAVE JORDAN, AA4KN Continued on Page 4... ROBERTA COHEN, WA2FRW 2

3 MEETING MINUTES Meeting was called to order by President David Jordan, AA4KN at 7:30 PM, who then led the Pledge of Allegiance. Visitors: LMARS Member Victor, KK4WML brought along his wife (XYL) this evening; Ken, PE2KP; Jason KM4QWF. New Members: Paul N1PEB; David Gray Associate Member; Eric Leiter, WA4ELE; Ingrid Pecca, KN4NJP. The Membership voted to accept our new members: Aye! Welcome aboard at LMARS, David, Eric, Ingrid and Paul! Setup for this evening s LMARS auction began early at 6:00PM. The auction commenced following announcements and awards shortly after 7:30 PM. Announcements: David Jordan: reminded the membership that the contact with astronauts aboard the International Space Station will take place this month. The event date is not published but is expected to be finalized the week of September 17th. More information follows as the date is known. Vice President Harry Bankes, KJ4VQO: Mentioned that LMARS will support the Champions Ride for Charities October Riders will start their trek at the AAA Building in Orlando and will travel through numerous check points (SAG Stops) which will be manned by LMARS and WESTVARS volunteers. Two meter repeaters will be utilized for reliable communications. The event sponsor, the Rotary Club of Lake Mary benefits local Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Florida and First Responders and has expressed appreciation for last year s communications supported by LMARS volunteers. More volunteers are needed. If you will like to participate in this year s event contact Harry at hbankes55@att.net Recap of Field Day results: Rich Wilson, WR4RW: Total contacts were about 60% of those earned last year. The air conditioner failed within the Pam LaPeter Memorial Trailer (the larger trailer) leaving the CW and 6 Meter band operators use of only a 20 inch fan for relief from summer s heat. Results summary (QSOs): CW: 40M 187, 20M 106, a few between 80M & 15M. Phone: 80M 46; 40M 277; 20M 277; 20M M phone: 312, of these 240 by teenage Operator Noah, KM4VXF. Mom, Robyn, KD4DWY helped with the rest while working through an enormous Pile Up! Digital: Les Kramer, WA3SGZ 90. Satellites: 14 All extra ARRL Field Day points too! Awards: Jim Robarr, KB2CUX presented awards to those who helped with July s Fireworks Celebration with the likeness of a large red firecracker! Overnight operators at Field Day received the coveted Night Owl mascots, this year in color blue. A larger Owl was comically presented to Field Day Chairman, Rich Wilson. CW and 6 Meter band operators were presented a Flame trophy signifying Heat for enduring a warm operating station in the large trailer without benefit of air conditioning. Jim lovingly makes these trophies of wood with extraordinary skill. Auction: Al LaPeter, W2AS was our auctioneer along with assistance from Bob Pollack, KF4IMF. Jim Robarr managed the Silent Auction popularized last year. Yaesu FT-920 and FT-101E, Kenwood TS-430S and Drake TR4-C with optional VFO HF transceivers found new homes at affordable prices. Accessories such as Rig Blasters, antennas and antenna tuners, test equipment and meters and other goodies found their new owners too. Due to time constraints no formal break was called but coffee and donuts were continually available. Socializing was enjoyed by Club members too. Equipment was generously donated to LMARS. The club received 15% of purchase prices by participants choosing to sell their goods. Funds received by the Club goes toward purchase of items needed by LMARS. 50/50 was not conducted this evening. Adjournment: 8:55 PM RICH FISCHER, WA3SXX 3

4 HAM NEWS Prez Says, continued... radio with the students culminating to an early afternoon 10 minute live contact between 15 students and an astronaut on board the ISS. The contact is scheduled to happen the week of September 24. We won t know exactly the day and time until NASA planners in Huntsville let us know on Monday, September 17. A reminder that LMARS Christmas Party tickets are on sale now. We always have a great dinner, program and fellowship. You can purchase tickets from Shawn Grage K4SWG at our next meeting on October 4. Tickets are $15. Don t forget that October is LMARS Officer and Board of Directors Nomination month. We ll have 4 Board and 4 Officer positions up for election. As you know, LMARS is a very progressive, active and exciting club adding new members to our roster at almost every general meeting. If you have ever considered seeking a leadership position in LMARS either as a Board member or Officer, I encourage you to call Rich Wilson at let him know you would like to be added to the Nomination list, along with the position you are seeking. Keep in mind that our LMARS Board of Directors meets the last Thursday of every month. This month it will be held on September 27 at 6:00pm until 7:00pm. We meet in the Winter Springs Senior Center (same location as our General Meeting) and all LMARS members are always welcome to attend. Our General meeting will be held on the following Thursday, October 4 at 7:30pm. Looking forward to seeing everyone there. Have a safe and fun rest of September, Dave, AA4KN LMARS Pres. Hurricane Florence, continued... communication in the face of power and telecommunication outages and heavy rainfall. ARES Richland County Emergency Coordinator Ronnie Livingston, W4RWL, said volunteers in his county staffed the county Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and Red Cross. operators at the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) kept in contact with field volunteers in Marion and Dillon counties after conventional telecommunications failed there. In North Carolina, storm surge had caused flooding in many communities. Ham radio volunteers responded in counties along the coast, including Wilmington, Topsail Beach, Jacksonville, and Morehead City, staffing both EOCs and shelters. Farther inland, numerous ARES teams activated in the face of river flooding to address a combination of sheltering needs for local residents and evacuees. Communication throughout the state has been supplemented by neighborhood-based operators, who reported emergencies to county EOCs. The FCC reported on September 19 that nearly one-third of cell service was out in Columbus, Pender, and Onslow counties. The storm also took out several broadcast outlets in the state. The Salvation Army Team Emergency Network (SATERN) activated on September 14 and 15. The net's primary mission was the receipt and delivery of outbound healthand-welfare messages from affected areas. While the storm was still out in the Atlantic, ARRL shipped Ham Aidkits to the affected region -- the same ones that ARRL volunteers took to Puerto Rico a year ago to assist with disaster communications following Hurricane Maria. The ARRL Headquarters Emergency Response team activated on September 12 and remained operational into the weekend. W1AW suspended its scheduled bulletin and code practice transmission on September 14. From The ARRL Letter 4

5 LMARS THROUGH PHOTOS Above: Al LaPeter (Left) and Bob Pollack (Right) taking the bids. Left: Jim Robarr with his Owl Awards for the 2018 FD overnight operators. 5

6 LAKE MONROE AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY CLUB MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION Please Print Today s Date: Last Name: First Name: Address: City, State, Zip: Call Sign: Class: Fax: Home Phone: Cell Phone: ARRL Membership: YES NO Revised 10/21/2017 Membership dues are $25.00 per year for an individual and $30.00 per year for a family. Associate Membership is $5.00 each. New member dues paid on or after October 1 will carry over until December 31 of the following year. All dues/renewals are due on January 1. New: Individual Associate Family Total: $ Renewal: Individual Associate Family Total: $ Preferred Name Tag(s) (no charge): Print this page, fill out the form, and mail it to LMARS. Make check payable to LMARS. Return to: P.O. Box , Altamonte Springs, FL,

7 AMATEUR RADIO LICENSE TESTING LMARS Testing LMARS conducts monthly amateur radio exams for all elements every month (except December) on the third Saturday at the Seminole County Sheriff s Office off of on 100 Eslinger Way (previously Bush Blvd.) in Sanford, across from Flea World. Be there at 9:15AM. For more information and registration contact Bob Cumming W2BZY at or w2bzy@cfl.rr.com. LARA Testing Exams are on the third Saturday of each month at the Lake Amateur Radio Association in Tavares on Highway 473, one mile from US 441, at 8:30AM. There is a talk in available on frequency MHz. For more information contact Paul Branch, K3NON, at tavflapaul@yahoo.com OARC Testing OARC will give amateur radio exams on the first Wednesday of each month at the Beardall Senior Center at the corner of Gore and Delany. Be there at 5:30PM. For more information and registration contact Bob Cumming at or w2bzy@cfl.rr.com. FCC Ham Radio License Exams Clermont, Florida First Saturday of each month at 10AM at the Cagan Crossings Library on Rt. 27, Clermont, FL. The location might change. Walk-ins are welcome. To confirm, WA2FRW@aol.com. Remember to bring your photo ID, any CSCEs that you hold (and copies of them), a photocopy of your current license if you are upgrading, and the $15.00 exam fee. Large print exams are available. FCC Ham Radio License Exams Orlando, Florida Second Thursday of each month at Golden Corral Restaurant on Kirkman Road and Vineland, Orlando, at 11:00AM. Walk-ins are welcome. To confirm, WA2FRW@aol.com or cagenhamtest@gmail.com. Remember to bring your photo ID, any CSCEs that you hold (and copies of them), a photocopy of your current license if you are upgrading, and the $15.00 exam fee. Large print exams are available. The LMARS general membership meeting is held every first Thursday of the month at the Winter Springs Civic Center at 400 N. Edgemon Ave. in Winter Springs. The meeting starts at 7