Seaside Web Site  http://www.seaside.org

The Sea - Pac Convention is very interesting and well done. It is a good place to meet with your Ham Radio friends that you hear on the radio from all over the Northwest. I have enjoyed going there and I hope I can make it again this year.

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Don and Cynthia went to Boise ID, Mar 17 to 19 to visit with Cynthia’s Aunt for her 90th Birthday. Also Don and Cynthia are going to NYC April 6 to 10 to sing the Messiah at Carnegie Hall on Palm Sunday April 9.

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Don K7BFL and his XYL Elvera were visiting friends in Northwestern Washington and stopped in Olympia. It was a pleasure to see them again. Don invited us out to a very nice dinner at Denny’s Restaurant and a good time was had by all. From Olympia Don and Elvera went on to Camano Island to visit friends there.

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My XYL has slowly been getting better in the year she has been home, and we have settled down in to our new 'situationally-modified' lifestyles, as the medicos
put it...  She can get around a little better now, but still can't talk very well at all.  For more details, go to my blog at http://n7eie.livejournal.com/ and search for the 'carol' tag.  And for my amateur radio ramblings, the tag is 'ham radio.'

I do dabble in contesting on the weekends, and found out about a new contest coming up the first weekend in May:  The 7th Call Area QSO Party web site is at http://www.codxc.org/new/page.asp?content=dryland7s.  It seems to coalesce all the state QSO parties in one big weekend in May, and looks like a lot of fun.  SSB QSOs are 2 points, and CW QSOs are 3 points.  Woo Hoo!

 My plan is right now for the same basic track in Southwest WA as I took in Salmon Run last year, through Pierce, Thurston, Lewis, Cowlitz, Wahkiakum, Pacific, Gray's Harbor, and Mason counties.  Looking forward to it, Hope to CU there.

Speaking of contests, I did decide to give the ARRL DX contest a little attention 18-19 Feb., and spent a total of 12 hours on the contest.  My goal was to qualify for the DX contest pin by getting 100 contacts.  I made that goal at 1000 Sunday morning and ended up exceeding my 100 QSO goal to a total of 121 QSOs when the contest ended. 
The actual contacts from 37 countries broke down as follows:  I got 38 contacts with Japan (always the bread & butter of DX in the Northwest), 8 with Alaska, 7 with Hawaii, 5 with Brazil, 4 each with Aruba, Belize, and Netherland Antilles, 3 each with the Canary Islands, Dominican Republic, Finland, and Mexico, 2 each with Antigua/Barbuda, Asiatic Russia, Azores, Barbados, Bermuda, Costa Rica, England, Guadeloupe, Lithuania, Martinique, Puerto Rico, South Cook Islands, Senegal (!), Sweden, and Yugoslavia, and 1 each with Argentina, Croatia, Dominica, European Russia, Marshall Islands, Norway, Paraguay, Saint Martin, Turks/Caicos Islands, the Ukraine, and the Virgin Islands.  I'm not a big gun, by any stretch of the imagination, but to me, that's amazing, especially using 50 watts into backyard dipoles at the bottom of the sunspot cycle.  So I hope to hear some of my WSN buds in the pile-ups on the next DX contest.  If I can do it, anybody can do it.

Field Day will be a little different this year since my son had the bad timing to schedule their vacation to FL over that weekend.  Can you imagine Real Life actually interfering with Ham Radio?  I never heard of such a thing...  Anyway, I'll be setting up an emergency station in the woods here within walking distance of my FRS-equipped XYL this year  Should also be fun.

I may be able to help out a little more with traffic this summer. I'll work with Al on that.  CU on the net.

Leroy N7EIE, Yelm

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Hello Dave, Steve, EAS members, and CAS and PAS Chair for distribution to their staffs,
 
As you were previously notified, Bill W2MTA resigned as manager of Atlantic Region Net (ARN) effective December 31, 2005. ARN was the NTS means of routing international traffic, primarily through the International Traffic and Assistance Net (IATN). Bill faithfully provided liaisons to two sessions of EAN daily for the past several years. Many thanks Bill! 
 
After discussion with staff chair and other staff members it has been decided that the best routing for such traffic is via Winlink 2000 (WL2K), a global network with potential outlets all over the world. Earl WX4J, who operates a WL2K PMBO, has agreed to seek outlets, and has already found several for traffic into Australia, and has assisted them in the handling of NTS-type traffic. Earl is creating a database of those stations willing to deliver this traffic and this is being made available to this station and any others capable of accessing any WL2K PMBO via Airmail or Telpac.
 
Until further notice therefore, please route all international traffic either via 4RN or via WX4J thru NTSD or WL2K. Please pass the word to your net participants, particularly net control stations. Many thanks to Earl for taking on this effort, and thanks also to the Winlink development team for making this network available for NTS use.
 
73,
Marcia Forde KW1U
Eastern Area Staff Chair
 
 

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With the renewal window about to open for the first Amateur Radio licenses Assigned vanity call signs in 1996, the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) has attempted to clarify filing procedures. The WTB says vanity call sign holders whose licenses expire on or after June 4, 2006, must file Electronically or on paper via the Universal Licensing System (ULS) <http://wireless.fcc.gov/uls/> to renew their licenses. Amateur Radio Renewal applications may only be filed within 90 days of the license Expiration date.

"Licensees of stations assigned vanity call signs have the option of keeping the vanity call sign or requesting that it be changed to a sequentially Assigned call sign," the WTB points out. Those opting to keep their vanity Call signs for the new 10-year license term must pay the current regulatory Fee, now $21.90, when renewing (the vanity call sign regulatory fee may Change in August or September). If the licensee no longer wants to keep a Vanity call sign, no fee is required, and the applicant should request a Sequentially assigned call sign instead.

Amateur Radio licensees holding vanity call signs granted prior to 1996 do not have to pay a regulatory fee when renewing. This is because Congress did not begin requiring the FCC to annually recover its regulatory costs until 1993. Additionally, such licensees are not specifically tagged as vanity call sign holders in the ULS.

To renew electronically via the ULS, licensees should log into ULS License Manager <http://wireless.fcc.gov/uls/> Online Filing (click on "Log In") using their FCC Registration Number (FRN) and Commission Registration System (CORES) password. Anyone doing business with the FCC must supply an FRN on any application.

To keep a vanity call sign, licensees should select "Renew" under the "Work On this License" option. Fees for electronically filed applications may be paid online or mailed to Federal Communications Commission, Regulatory Fees, PO Box 358835, Pittsburgh, PA 15251-5835.

Online filers choosing not to renew a vanity call sign should select the "Systematic Call Sign Change" option from the "Work on this License" list. To obtain a new call sign, licensees should answer "No" to the question "Your license is eligible for renewal. Renew call sign (vanity call sign)?" Doing this will result in the issuance of a renewed license bearing a Sequentially assigned call sign

Licensees filing on paper must use FCC Form 605 (main form), and--if a fee is required--Form 159 (remittance advice). Licensees wishing to keep their Vanity call signs should enter "Renew" under "Purpose" on Form 605 and enter The present call sign in item 5. Manual filers choosing not to renew their Vanity call signs must file Form 605 (main form) Schedule D in order to Obtain a new systematic call sign. The "Purpose" on the main form must be "Renewal/Modification and the "Systematic Call Sign Change" question on Schedule D must be answered "Yes."

If no FRN is provided on the main form, an FCC Form 160 (registration) is also required for manual filing. All forms are available via the FCC Forms page <http://www.fcc.gov/formpage.html>.

For more information on how to renew an Amateur Radio vanity call sign, Visit the FCC Help & Support page <http://esupport.fcc.gov/index.htm> or Call the ULS Customer Support Hotline, 877-480-3201 (TTY 717-338-2824).

The ARRL handles routine non-vanity renewals for members free of charge. At This time, it does not process renewal applications for post-1995 vanity Call sign holders, but ARRL plans to add that capability in the near future.

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Randy McCloy, KC8VKZ--the lone survivor of the January 2 Sago Mine disaster in Upshur County, West Virginia--is continuing to recover. Speaking on The Early Show on CBS TV March 2, McCloy's wife Anna told co-anchor Hannah Storm that her husband is talking again and even telling jokes.

"He'll listen to jokes and understand," Anna McCloy told Storm. "He'll talk to me and the kids--just regular conversation."

She also said McCloy has told her he remembers "bits and pieces" of the Mining disaster that left 12 of his co-workers dead of carbon monoxide Poisoning. McCloy, 26, who's been in a rehabilitation facility since January 26, also answers questions appropriately recognizes his family and can "Move quite well," Anna McCloy said. She has remained at her husband's side since his rescue.

McCloy eats with assistance and has expressed distaste for institutional cuisine, instead preferring the restaurant and fast food fare his wife supplies.

Anna McCloy says she's "not quite sure" if her husband realizes he was the only survivor of the mine mishap. "I don't question him about it. When he wants to talk about it, I listen to him, but I don't push him, and I don't question him, she said.

One of Randal McCloy's physicians, Dr Julian Bailes, told Storm that McCloy has "improved beyond our expectations" during rehabilitation. "I think we see his old personality coming back."



Well-wishers have been sending cards and QSLs to McCloy at PO Box 223, Philippi, WV 26435. A fund has been set up to accept donations for McCloy's benefit: The Randal McCloy Jr Fund, c/o Clear Mountain Bank, 1889 Earl Core Rd, Morgantown, WV 26505.

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US Rep Mike Ross, WD5DVR (D-AR), this week offered "A Salute to Ham Radio Operators" on the floor of the US House. Ross, one of two Amateur Radio Licensees in the House of Representatives (the other is Rep Greg Walden, W7EQI, R-OR), addressed his colleagues February 8 to recognize the Contributions of the Amateur Radio community in the wake of last year's Devastating hurricane season.

"Citizens throughout America dedicated to this hobby--a hobby that some people consider old fashioned or obsolete--were true heroes in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as they were often the only line of communication available into the storm ravaged areas," Ross said.

He noted that while ham radio is often overlooked "in favor of flashier means of communication," Gulf Coast communities learned after the 2005 hurricanes that technology can be "highly vulnerable" to storm damage. "Ham radios, entirely self- contained transmitters, require no cell towers or satellites, simply a battery and a strip of wire as an antenna," Ross explained.

Because of the "critical intervention" of radio amateurs across the US, Ross said, many lives were saved following Hurricane Katrina.

"The dedication displayed by ham radio operators in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina sets a tremendous example for us all," Ross concluded, Noting that "now more than ever" he's proud to be an Amateur Radio operator. "The people whose lives were rescued as a result of the tireless dedication of ham radio operators will forever be grateful to these selfless public Servants”.

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Dave, VE7DWG sent us this information about a 8 day cruise next December, oriented towards having fun with other hams.    See the details here.

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January. -  Sessions  93  QNI  850   QTC   136
February - Sessions  84  QNI  781   QTC   138