NORTH CAROLINA SECTION NEWS - April 2013
Posted Apr 23, 2013
Current section news is always available on the North Carolina section
website at
SECTION MANAGER IS ROANOKE DIVISION SERVICE AWARD RECIPIENT - North
Carolina Section Manager Bill Morine, N2COP, received the 45th annual
ARRL Roanoke Division Service Award for dedicated service among the
53,000 operators in the four states which make up the Roanoke Division
- North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. ARRL
Roanoke Division Director Dennis Bodson, W4PWF, and Vice Director Dr.
Jim Boehner, N2ZZ, made the presentation at RARSfest on March 30th.
Bill joins many past North Carolina award winners, including:
1994 Rev. Jim MacLeod (SK), W4NHV, Lumberton
1995, Bob Southworth, KI4YV, Hiddenite
1998, Norm Harrill, N4NH, Asheville
2005, John Covington, W4CC, Dallas
2010, Duke Knief, W4DK, Etowah
Please see QUA commentary below for more on this award, and visit
ARRL's Roanoke Division website at
GUILFORD COUNTY SCHOOL QSO WITH ASTRONAUTS SET FOR MAY SECOND - Thursday, May 2, is the date that students of the Ronald McNair Elementary in Brown Summit, NC outside of Greensboro are scheduled to speak with astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS). This will be the first QSO with the ISS for a North Carolina school in almost two years. The QSO is coordinated by Amateur Radio International Space Station (ARISS), a group which works closely with NASA, AMSAT and ARRL in letting students use Amateur Radio to speak with ISS astronauts. The Ronald McNair School is named after the North Carolina A&T University physicist who perished during the 1986 shuttle explosion.
HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS WEEK - The National Weather Service has named
May 26-June 1 Hurricane Preparedness Week. To kick off the month, two
eastern North Carolina SKYWARN organizations have public outreach
activities. . On Friday, May 3, Newport SKYWARN will be part of the
Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) at Cherry Point's Emergency
Preparedness Fair. Then on Saturday, May 4, Central Carolina SKYWARN
will have a demonstration as part of StormFest 2013 at the North
Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh in partnership with
Raleigh's National Weather Service office. The Atlantic hurricane
season runs from June 1 to November 30. All Hams across North Carolina
are asked to keep their equipment ready for emergencies at all times,
but especially during hurricane season. You can learn more about
Hurricane Preparedness Week by going to NOAA's website at
RADIO MERIT BADGE CLASS A SUCCESS - Wilson County ARES held a Boy
Scout Radio Merit Badge class in March, with scouts attending from up
to 130 miles away. The Radio merit badge is a rare badge to earn, so
groups which offer it can expect many scout attendees. To find out how
to coordinate and publicize offering the badge, contact your local Boy
Scout council. PowerPoint presentations for teaching the badge can be
found in the files section of the "Scout Radio" group in Yahoo
Groups at
AMATEUR RADIO EXPO AT GREENSBORO SCIENCE CENTER - Guilford Amateur Radio Association (GARA) hosted a Ham Radio Expo for youth and family on April 20th at the Greensboro Science Center. This event is coordinated and supported by GARA for the purpose of informing, exhibiting and demonstrating amateur radio to visitors to the Greensboro Science Center. The son of two GARA members, who was also a licensed ham, built an amateur radio station at the science center as his Eagle Scout project. Any licensed amateur is allowed to use the station. Over the years, GARA has supported the station by servicing radios, maintaining antennas and encouraging the stations use. The next Expo is tentatively scheduled for November 23rd, and GARA hopes to make the Expo a semi-annual event.
CONTESTING CORNER - NC has some top quality contest stations and this report is designed to recognize those stations and the operators who put in the chair time necessary to achieve high scores. Those stations winning Division or higher honors are listed in parenthesis. 2012 CW Sweepstakes High NC Scores-Single Op High N4AF 197374, sweep (Southeast Region). Single Op Low W4MY 108702. Single Op QRP K4QPL 89424. Unlimited High W4MR 195216, sweep (Southeast Region). Unlimited Low W4MPS 86560. Multioperator High W4ZYT 68640. 2012 Phone Sweepstakes High NC Scores-Single Operator High N4CW 65886. Single Op Low W4FT 94125, sweep, Single Op QRP WK4P 54116, sweep (Roanoke Division). Unlimited High N1LN 180774, sweep. Unlimited Low W4AAA 233728, sweep (overall category winner).Multioperator High K4OV 276224, sweep (Roanoke Division). Multiop Low W4YK 31826. Upcoming Contests-ARRL June VHF Contest June 8-9. (Contesting Corner courtesy WK4P).
PUBLIC SERVICE - May 4, CAM Relay for Life, Cary. To learn more
email John Snellen, AI4RT, at
LICENSING CLASSES - April 16 to May 9, Technician Class, Asheville.
For more information, please email Norm Harrill, N4NH, at
SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS - None known for May
NTS MARCH SECTION TRAFFIC REPORT - QNI (total check-ins) 3136. TOTAL MESSAGES PASSED 688. STATION ACTIVITY REPORTS (SARs) K4IWW 359, W4DNA 261, W2EAG 203, WK4WC 148, AK4RJ 118, KC4PGN 100, WK4P 81, KJ4JPE 76, W4TTO 69, WB4ZIQ 65, WB4Y 60, K4JUU 53, KK4BVR 47, W3HL 39, KE4AHC 37, N3RTF 30, KA4IZN 10. PUBLIC SERVICE HONOR ROLL (PSHR) KK4BVR 170, WB4ZIQ 170, WK4P 160, W4DNA 155, KJ4JPE 140, K4IWW 130, K4JUU 120, AK4RJ 115, W2EAG 110, N2RTF 105, W4TTO 100, WB4Y 95, WK4WC 80.
SKs - We regret to report the passing of Rev. Jim MacLeod, W4NHV, of Lumberton
QUA* - Most of us have heard the saying that there's no letter
"I" in the word "team". Anyone who receives recognition for
efforts in an organization has likely been part of a team, so their
honor should be shared with fellow team members. Such is the case for
me. I am honored to have been named the 2012 ARRL Roanoke Division
Service Award recipient. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and my
strength is perhaps that I can connect dots and pull together disparate
efforts. But the grunt work is done by the 150 ARRL North Carolina
section field appointments and the other nine section officers who
oversee their functional responsibilities. So the Roanoke Division
Award really needs to be shared with my fellow section officers. For
those who haven't seen the list in a while, here's their names and
recent accomplishments. I hope you will join me in congratulating them
for their great work.
(IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)
- Tom Brown, N4TAB, Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC). Implemented
2005 requirement of ICS credentialing for those ARES volunteers who
work with North Carolina Emergency Management and county emergency
management departments. Took the pilot federal AUXCOMM program and is
implementing it in North Carolina.
- Chuck deCourt, W3WZN, State Government Liaison (SGL). Monitors
legislation to ensure Amateur Radio can operate freely and is helping
with the rewrite of Raleigh municipal ordinances regarding antennas
which could be a template for other cities and counties. Chuck
recently took over for Dr. Bob Conder, K4RLC, who made sure mobile
operations weren't affected by cell and text prohibitions. Next time
you have a QSO while mobile, thank Chuck and Dr. Bob you can do so
legally in the state of North Carolina.
- Danny Hampton, K4ITL, Section Technical Coordinator (STC). Danny
does double service to North Carolina through his team of Technical
Specialists (TS) who help Hams with problems like interference, and by
sitting on the board of SERA, South Eastern Repeater Association. Next
time you enjoy a QSO on a repeater, thank Danny.
- Rick Lamonica, W4RZA, Official Observer Coordinator (OOC). Rick and
his team of OOs scour HF, VHF and UHF frequencies looking not only for
less than exemplary behavior, but also good operators worthy of
ARRL's A-1 Operator Award. His OO team successfully tracked down a
jammer interfering a Johnston County repeater last year.
- Susan Langley-Jones, WA4AKB, Section Webmaster and Official Bulletin
Station (OBS). Susan overhauled the website two years ago to make it
friendlier for smartphones and more visually appealing to those who are
sight challenged. She continually adds new material and freshens up
older pages. Check out her work at
Next time you see one of the above section officers, please thank them for their service and for making the North Carolina section run so well. They are the ones who have earned the Roanoke Division Service Award. I very much thank them.
73 de Bill N2COP ARRL North Carolina Section Manager
*QUA - CW net control procedural signal meaning "Do you have news for me?"