New Mexico Section News for December 2010
The end of December marks the end of my third year as Section Manager and the beginning of my fourth year. I would like to thank all of the Section Staff members for their support and assistance during this past year. Time wise this past year has been very challenging for me and without the help of our dedicated staff it would not have been possible to keep the Section running as smoothly as it did. I look forward to the coming year and the new accomplishments that we will make.
Thank you for the privilege of serving as your Section Manager.
Don – W5FHA
Hero’s Club
Robert Fox, KA5VRV
Christopher Aas, NB5T
William L Nohrn, N5UNB
Raymond J Caraveo, N5IZV
Evan R. Newlon, WB5HAM
Stuart Simon (Stu) K2QBU
The “Hero’s club” is a listing of those generous hams who have contributed equipment for our efforts to get radio clubs into the schools to encourage the students to become active hams. The donated equipment will be available to any school Amateur Radio club in the state. A licensed Amateur will be needed as the custodian of the equipment.
***I would like to remind everyone to check out the New Mexico Section web page www.arrl-nm.org. Thanks to Mike Pendley, K5ATM for the design and implementation of the site. . If you are not set up on the site contact Mike Pendley, K5ATM at k5atm@arrl.net.
*** Diane Nihart, KE5UHB, is still working to get the ARRL Teacher’s Institute here in Albuquerque. This is a very important offering by ARRL and we need as much support as we can get. Please contact Diane at dewnihart@comcast.net, or the Section ASM for Education Richard St John, K5RSJ, at rstjohn@q.com.
***Mike Langner, K5MGR, who is our Public Information Coordinator, has prepared a presentation which he gave to the Oasis program in Albuquerque titled “Introduction to Amateur (Ham) Radio”. Oasis is a life-long learning organization for the 50+ set. The presentation was so well received that Mike put it into a CD format with video and audio. This could be used by any club to promote Amateur Radio. Mike will be happy to provide a CD to any group that would like a copy. You can contact Mike at k5mgr@arrl.net.
***CHRIS DRUMMOND, KC5IZR has a new repeater up and running in Rio Rancho. The frequency is 443.700 + offset with a PL of 162.2 Hz. Chris would like to know what his coverage is in the Albuquerque area.
****As the end of the year approaches many of the clubs will be electing new officers and some will be changing their by laws. Be sure to notify ARRL of any changes as well as our Section Club ASM Art Priebe, N5ART. Art can be contacted at art.n5art@gmail.com
***December 14 — a construction crew south of Socorro NM cut the main fiber-optic cable connecting Las Cruces to Albuquerque. This cut resulted in the loss of almost all landline phone service in southern NM. The outage included the service to the 911 call centers in Dona Ana County as well as others, leaving the counties with no 911 services. The EOC in Las Cruces was activated and Amateur radio support was requested. The EOC ham radio room was brought on line manned by Kevin McNelis, K5KMC, along with George Kopp, KD5OHA, and with Henry Schotzko, AD5FE, the DEC running the show. Not long after the EOC was brought on line ham support was requested for the Fire Department Mobile Command van which was stationed by the county 911 dispatch center. John Beakley, WK5C, was contacted and sent to support the FD van. Shortly after that a request was received from the New Mexico State Police for ham support at their Las Cruces office. Dave Hassel, WA5DJJ, was contacted and sent to the NM-SP office to support them. Great work was done by Henry Schotzko, AD5FE, and his crew. Amateur Radio came to the rescue again.
Coming attractions –
***January 4 to 6 – Mesilla Valley ARC will hold a Tech Class. The class will be held at the clubhouse. The class can accommodate 20 but 15 have already signed up. Contact Vern Vonheeder, WV5N, 510-909-0069, vern@wv5n.com or Cash Olsen, KD5SSJ, 575-382-1917, kd5ssj@arrl.net.
*** January 8 & 9 – The High Desert ARC – Will hold a Technician License class (Saturday & Sunday). Class will be held at the FEMA/US&R/NM-TF1 warehouse classroom at 5880 Office Blvd, NE, Albuquerque. Cost of the class will be $25.00. The cost will include one exam. Contact Marty Soffran, NM5M, at 505 410-3992 for details.
*** January 15 – The High Desert ARC VE Team will have an amateur radio license exam session on at 10:30 am, for all three-license classes. The session will be held at the Northwest Albuquerque Police Substation on Ellison (same location as the monthly club meeting). Contact Marty Soffran, NM5MS, 505-410-3992.
***January 29 – 16th Annual Winter Tailgate Swapfest – Sponsored by the 146.58 simplex gang. No admission charge. No vendor fees. Location: Amtech Technology Center – 8600 Jefferson St. NE, Albuquerque. Time from Sunrise till 1:00 PM. Talk-in: 145.33 (- offset, 100 Hz PL) and 444.00 (+offset, 100 Hz PL) This is an outdoor event – dress for the weather. Contact Gary, KH6JTM at 505-299-3280
*** March 27 – The Mesilla Valley Radio Club (MVRC) will be operating Special Events station K5B in conjunction with the 22nd Annual Bataan Memorial Death March Marathon held at the White Sands Missile Range from 1000Z to 2300Z. The station will operate from the MVRC clubhouse. Information about the event can be found at: http://www.bataanmarch.com. There will be a special K5B QSL card available for any station that requests one. A sample of it will be posted on the K5B Web page as soon as it is finalized and approved by the event’s management. The K5B Web page is: http://www.n5bl.org/bataan. The event was an outstanding success last year. K5B will be operating on or near the following frequencies:
Seventy-five meters: 3.893 Mhz
Forty meters: 7.225 Mhz
Twenty meters: 14.330 Mhz
Fifteen meters: 21.337 Mhz
Requests for K5B QSL cards can be sent to the following address:
Special Events Station K5B
c/o Mesilla Valley Radio Club
P. O. Box 1443
Las Cruces, NM 88004-1443
U.S.A.
The Net Counts for December are:
NET NAME CONTACTS QSTs
NM Roadrunner Traffic Net: 1194 79
NM Breakfast Club: 1168 98
Yucca Net: 714 46
Four Corners Net: 615 65
SCAT Net: 799 113
Rusty’s Raiders Net: 695 91
Valencia County ARA Net: 73 16
Caravan Club Net: 64 4
High Desert ARC Net: 26 10
222 Ragchewers Net: 114 10
(Many thanks to Don Grab, K5BIS, for keeping track of all the nets and reporting each month.)
If you do not see your net here send your end of month numbers to Don Grab, K5BIS! I would like to see the ARES nets represented as well.
For a listing of all nets in New Mexico, please go to www.arrl-nm.org
ARRL Silent Key Report, December 2010
Name, Call, and Address of Silent Key:
GERALD G YOST, N7YYA
Bosque, NM 87006
Reported by: Mary Yost, N7WUJ, Goose Gaussoin, K5EMH, Don Grab, K5BIS
EMMETT E BROOKS, W5HTW
McIntosh, NM 87032-0629
Reported by: Kelly Tucker, KE5OXN
WILLARD B MARCH, W9SPN
ALBUQUERQUE, NM 87109
Reported by: Doug March, W5LYQ, and Dee Diedrich – KC5JBO
Several club newsletters are sent to me and I greatly appreciate receiving them. I have also received information from people for inclusion in the newsletter. Be sure to give me all the information. Don’t assume I know names, calls, dates and locations. They are all important. This is your Section and what you do is important. If your club does not have a PIO please get one and let me know the important things your club is doing. Have a great month.
Don – W5FHA
Thought For The Day: Skill and knowledge are not the most important contributors to success — Persistence is the key!
