Otschodela Council Amateur Radio Group EAGLE January 2003

OCARG EAGLE

BULLETIN OF THE
OTSCHODELA COUNCIL AMATEUR RADIO GROUP

VOLUME 3 NUMBER 5 JANUARY 2003

INDEX FOR JANUARY 2003:

The Big News is that not much is going on.
Happy New Year!
JOTA is only nine months away.
Scouting at work in real life.
Emergency preparedness continued.
From the hinterlands of the Catskills.
Upcoming VE sessions.
M'aidez!

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Scouting Hams and Hamming Scouters--

Otschodela Council Amateur Radio Group (OCARG) is dedicated to the enhancement of the Scouting program through amateur radio and to the advancement of amateur radio in Boy Scouting. Membership is open to any and all Scouters, amateur radio operators, and Scouting and ham clubs with an interest in the Boy Scouts of America, particularly within, but not exclusive of Otschodela Council, BSA, Oneonta, NY. There are no membership dues, no officers, no constitution, no newsletter charges, and no organized meetings. All communications are via email or ham radio. All that's required to join is an interest in Ham-Scouting and an email to the above Sender. OCARG is an FCC-licensed Amateur Radio Club Station with the callsign KZ2BSA.

Copies of the OCARG EAGLE are sent to many interested persons in addition to OCARG members. If you feel that you have received this bulletin in error and no longer wish to receive it, please send a message so stating to the above Sender <mailto:k2frd@arrl.net>.

This newsletter is brought to you in Living Color, compliments of Eudora Pro 5.1.3 emailer. If you have Rich Text Format (RTF) or stylized text capability and want to see everything as it was sent, make sure your RTF or styled text Preference/Option/Control Panel/Setting is turned ON or set. If you want to see it only in black typeface, turn it off. Fonts are Comic Sans MS, Capital, and Mishiwaka Bold (with the slashed zero), available from Editor if desired.

The OCARG EAGLE is mailed only via Blind CC to cut down on your header's size and to avoid providing a ready-made list to spammers.

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AND THE BIG NEWS IS...

...There isn't much going on right now. Here in the Northeast, we've weathered (PI) two major blizzards and an ice storm inbetween, all within ten days starting Christmas Day. People living in the South don't know what they're missing until they've experienced a blizzard that drops upward of two feet of snow. Traffic, travel, school,and business stop while everybody and everything digs out. And, just as you've shovelled out your driveway, along comes the snowplow to push it right back in with a snowbank mixed with sand, gravel, road salt, and parts of your carefully manicured lawn with a few of your shrubs thrown in to make reshovelling even more fun!

Not much in Scouting goes on during these heavy snow periods and many hams are too busy trying to dig out their driveways to get onto the radio. But, there's a few diehard Scouts and Scouters out there who enjoy, and even thrive in this cold weather. Troop 99, Sidney, NY (Otschodela Council, Oneonta) is planning an outing to Rogers Conservation Center on 18 January with schedules already established for two meters. Foothills District, Otschodela Council has its Winter Camporee and Klondike Derby on 24 to 26 January; these camporees are surprisingly well-attended and Jim WA2IAX provides message traffic service.

As winter progresses and everyone recovers from the holiday season, and as the weather sloooooowwwwwwly starts to get warmer, maybe we'll see some more activity on the bands and in ham-Scouting. So, as the old newspaper saying goes, "The only way to make the news is to make news."
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AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

By now, everyone has heard these words a thousand times in a dozen or more languages from hundreds of people. Those who make New Year's Resolutions are already counting the numbers of times they've broken these Resolutions, but it's still early in the year, so don't give up! Resolutions are supposed to be a means for personal improvement, not unlike the Cub Scout Motto, "Do Your Best".

Resolutions notwithstanding, I'd like to wish for everyone to have a Happy New Year and a very rewarding year in both amateur radio and Scouting.

de K2FRD

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JOTA'S ONLY NINE MONTHS AWAY!

It's never too early to start thinking about the 46th Annual Jamboree On The Air, this year to be held on 17-19 October 2003.

The 2003 JOTA Logo isn't available yet, soooo......

For 2003, those of us in Foothills District of Otschodela Council are starting to think of planning this JOTA as an Official Special Event complete with a listing in QST and QSL cards.

Deerslayer District which, until now, has not been able to sponsor a JOTA operation might want to start its planning now to be able to pull it off in October.

There is also the matter of 14.070 which is listed as a JOTA CW frequency, but has now become the international PSK31 frequency. While there was little JOTA CW operation on this frequency in 2002 and a LOT of JOTA PSK31, it might be prudent for World Scouting to recognize this conflict and resolve it before 2003.

The ARRL has more information about JOTA brochures and other details at:
http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/ideas.html .

Keep up to date with Scouting plans and information for patches:

http://www.scouting.org/international/jota.html.

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SCOUTING AT WORK IN REAL LIFE

From Fred AK5U, an EAGLE subscriber (edited to remove some personal notes):

I'm really thankful for the perseverance training I received in scouting. The old timers must have been beat up plenty and somehow kept on going. I discovered last night that Dan Beard, one of the founders of American Scouting, was 64 when he wrote his book about building log cabins and other shelters, 71 when he wrote the book about Two Little Indians, and no telling how many after that. He keep going until he was 91. A pretty good performance. I'm going to try and remember to apply myself as diligently.

I think I've found another kindred spirit: a vet in Washington who is a naturalist, a scout, and a ham. Here is his website address:
http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/courses-jmgay/CatchAll.htm

I'm beginning to work QRP with a Yaesu 817 backpack rig. If anyone up there is interested I'll try to set up a schedule with them. [Interested persons should contact K2FRD for Fred AK5U address <mailto:K2FRD@stny.rr.com>.

Best wishes and 73's,
Fred AK5U

[Editor's Note: the above website is incredible with hundreds of links to subjects of common interest to ham-Scouts. It's worth the time just to scroll through all the subjects Dr. Gay has to offer. de K2FRD]

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EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS CONTINUED...

The new Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course (ARECC) is for those amateur radio operators who are interested in becoming more involved and more trained with emergency communications. It is offered in three stages: ARECC Levels I, II, and III. Until now, it could only be taken in-residence or online and slots have been difficult to obtain locally. Also, these courses cost $45 (reimbursable due to a Federal grant). Recently, the ARRL added a third option: home study and an exam given be Certified Examiner (CE) teams, organized much like VE teams. Certification by the ARRL follows successful completion of the exam. More details about the courses are at: http://www.arrl.org/cce/ . Even though a number of us have taken the SKYWARN, Red Cross, ARES, RACES, FEMA, and other emergency training courses, this new ARECC series of courses will eventually become the benchmark course for amateur radio emergency communicators.

Last month, the Six-County ARES ( http://home.stny.rr.com/k2frd/SCARES.htm ) decided to offer ARECC Level I exams. The first is scheduled for Saturday 8 February at 0930 at the Oneonta Firemen's Training Center (Hemlock Road, 2nd left off I-88 Exit 16 [Davenport]; turn left at Medical Coach sign, go one mile, turn left at Medical Coach sign). Cost will be $10 for the exam. More to the point, there is NO $45 fee for the course.

For home study for ARECC Level I, a manual is required. Cost is $10 plus shipping and is available online at: http://www.arrl.org/catalog/?item=8462 . I do not know if it may be ordered via the Post Office; I couldn't find it in the Publications Catalog.

The manual is concise, about 1/2-inch thick. Each chapter has four to six multiple-choice questions (101 total) which form the Question Pool for ARECC-I. The correct answers are given in Appendix A. The exam uses 35 of these questions (sound familiar?). Most questions are pure common sense, so I don't anticipate a need for formulae nor calculators nor a lot of head-scratching. This is a golden opportunity for ham emergency communicators to get this course behind them.

Also, the ARECC Level II and Level III exams will be offered at the same time and in sequence similar to regular licensing exams. Manuals are available at the above URL. All three exams may be taken the same day. Cost is $10 for each exam; two tries are permitted for each exam.

If you have questions, I'll try to answer them; send me an email.

The CEs would like a headcount of those interested in taking the exam. Please let me know if you plan to take it.

de K2FRD
AEC Chenango County

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FROM THE HINTERLANDS OF THE CATSKILLS

Dave Mooney N2RCA is a recent subscriber to the OCARG EAGLE and would have been one of the organizers of an Otschodela Council amateur radio Explorer Post had it proved feasible. Treadwell is a tiny community of a couple hundred houses in the northwestern slopes of the Catskill Mountain foothills in Delaware County, NY. He provides this report on the new Fire Department Explorer Post in Treadwell which, if not ham radio-related, demonstrates the spirit of Scouting:

Hello from the thriving metropolis of Treadwell! At last night's meeting of the Treadwell Fire Dept, Otschodela Council representative Bea Mooney presented a Quality Unit plaque to Post Advisor Keith Bartow. Our unit is now up to ten members.
All are very active in the fire department and some in emergency medical service. Keiths wife and co-leader Cindy has been an EMT with the squad for several years now and daughter Neisha has just earned her Certified First Responder card. The unit has sponsored a Halloween haunted house and dance as well as other activities and helped with our fundraisers earning themselves enough money to purchase a number of frs radios for use in their various activities and just for fun.

Everyone agrees that sponsoring this Explorer Post is one of the best things our small fire department ever did and that we are fortunate to have folks in town like the Bartows and the rest of the gang. We may not have a good Kosher or Italian deli down the street, and our town may be so small that everybody knows your business before you do, but there are a lot of positive things about living in a small town. Good work everybody! Let's keep it up in '03.

de Dave N2RCA

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UPCOMING VE SESSIONS:

18 January 2003, 2PM, Margaretville, NY Telephone Co., (845)586-2324.

27 January 2003, 6PM, Oneonta, NY NYSEG, (607)746-2777.*

4 March 2003, 6PM, Otsego Co. EOC, Cooperstown, NY, (607)746-2777.

19 April 2003, 2PM, Margaretville, NY Telephone Co, (845)586-2324.

28 April 2003, 6PM, Oneonta, NY NYSEG, (607)746-2777.

These are the only VE Sessions listed by ARRL for this area. If someone knows of unlisted sessions, please send us an email <Mailto:K2FRD@stny.rr.com>. More details are in:

http://www2.arrl.org/arrlvec/examsearch.phtml

*Thanks to John AB2IC for correcting this date.

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M'AIDEZ!

The French spelling and the origin of the alert word "MayDay" seems like a good way to attract attention. I bring it up since you may have noticed that the EAGLE is a little skimpy this month because few sent in anything for publication (it's a slow time of the year anyway). We depend on you, the readership for news of ham radio and Scouting activities. We are particularly interested in unit-level activities: if you have a Scout who is studying for his ham ticket or if your Pack, Troop, or Post has done something with amateur radio, we'd like to hear about it. With subscribers now in ten states and four countries, we should have many diversified experiences of interest and use to everyone. We learn by the activities of others and there's a lot of good ideas out there about how ham radio can benefit Scouting and vice versa.

So, please, if you have something, no matter how small or inconsequential you might think it is, please send it in; it may be just the spark to change a Scout's life.

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The OCARG EAGLE is published monthly on or about the 15th. If you feel you have received this newsletter in error, please send an email to <mailto:K2FRD@stny.rr.com>.
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Permission is hereby granted to copy, re-publish, and/or quote any part of this newsletter if credit is given to OCARG™ KZ2BSA and W. Frederick Stevens K2FRD.

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Further information regarding Otschodela Council Amateur Radio Group may be found at: http://homepage.mac.com/k2frd/ocarg.htm .