Most of January was pleasant and now that we are in February, the cold
weather is here. On the North Central Phone Net this morning reported
temperatures ranged from -13 to +23 degrees.
Here in Illinois we have three weekly National Traffic System phone
nets: the North Central Phone Net, Monday through Friday, on 3912 kHz at
7 a.m., the Illinois Phone Net, Monday through Friday, on 3857 kHz at
4:45 p.m. and on Sunday morning on 3940 kHz at 8 a.m. and the Illinois
Sideband Net, seven days a week, on 3905 kHz at 6 p.m. After message
traffic has been passed, comments are welcomed.
On the first and third Sunday of each month we have the Illinois
statewide ARES Net on 3905 kHz at 4:30 p.m. If you do not have HF
capabilities. the audio from the net is simulcast on Echolink on the
wb0vtm-l node 824404. At the completion of the net, the check-ins are
sent to the Section Emergency Coordinator for inclusion in his monthly
report. Please join us on any of the nets.
Planning is underway for the mini Simulated Emergency Test on May 1,
2021. As part of the SET, we will have a simulated earthquake event. We
will be using VHF, UHF, HF to pass simulated traffic. We will also use
Winlink per-to-per modes. More information on the SET and the simulated
earthquake event will be published in an upcoming newsletter.
If you are not a current Winlink user, there is help to get you started.
I regularly work helping people get started with Winlink either via
phone or on Zoom and Jim, WB9QPM, is available everyday on Zoom to help
on all technical matters and as an Elmer.
Jim is our Section Technical Specialist and has extensive experience. He
is looking for others who have technical experience to help. Jim can be
contacted at wb9qpm@arrl.net. It is a good opportunity to Elmer your
fellow hams when they need help.
I continue to enjoy virtually meeting club members and doing
presentations for their clubs. This past month I did four Earthquake
DYFI presentations at club meetings and the virtual Wheaton hamfest. If
your club would like the Earthquake DYFI presentation, please contact me
at w9ry@arrl.net.
It is rumored we may have our first in-person hamfest at the Dekalb
Hamfest in Sandwich Illinois on May 2, 2021. More information can be
found at their website, http://www.karc-club.org/ and tickets are
available for purchase.
I hope you had a chance to participate in the winter field day. My
weather was not very conducive to spending time outdoors but I still
managed to make some cw and phone contacts. During January others
participated in a 2 meter contest.
With the prospect of possible ice along with the snow, antennas take a
beating during the winter months. If you didn’t have the chance to
check your antennas this past fall, mark your calendar to check them
before our spring weather season starts.
This month has the School Club Roundup, February 8 through 12. Let’s
encourage our younger hams by working their club stations during the
roundup.
The Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) has announced their 2021
dates when MARS members will operate on 60 meters for interoperability
with the amateur radio community. The exercises will begin on channel 1
as the initial calling channel and move to other 60-meter working
channels as may be appropriate. More information and dates can be found
at:
http://www.arrl.org/news/mars-announces-schedule-of-dates-for-60-meter-interoperability.
(Period not included in the URL).
Until next month, be safe and good DX.
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ARRL Illinois Section
Section Manager: Dr Thomas H Beebe, W9RY
w9ry@arrl.org
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