HAMSHACK CHATTER
OWEN COUNTY AMATEUR RADIO ASSOCIATION
JANUARY-MARCH 2009
Newsletters are written to inform family members what’s happening in their individual lives. Ham Operators are like family and want to keep everyone informed as to what is happening around Owen County. Some places had about 13 or more inches of snow, roads and schools closed. Thank goodness we didn’t have any power outages or disruption of phone service. A few frozen pipes, bad road conditions, with neighbors helping each other clear sidewalks & driveways this past month.
VE TESTING
We will hold our usual 3 test sessions in 2009 at the Spencer Christian church, Corner market and Montgomery, Spencer
March 21st @ 11
AM
June 20th @ 10AM
Nov 21st @ 10 AM
Aug 22 @ 1 PM Hamfest Owen County Fairgrounds
You need to bring ID and a copy of your license if you are up grading your ticket.
TALK AROUND THE FIREHOUSE
In the event of a natural or man made disaster, will the public safety communications survive? We’re not sure either. That is why a project has been started to put a power supply with battery backup and an antenna in every fire station in Owen County, just waiting for the amateur radio operator to plug in his equipment and communicate emergency messages. So far we have installed this system in the Cataract Fire Station, the special operations trailer and an antenna and feed line at the Owen Valley Fire Station.
As the Emergency Management Director, I have implemented a policy that an amateur radio operator will be present at all times when an emergency operations center (E.O.C.) is activated. The Spencer and Gosport repeater frequencies, as well as simplex, have been programmed into the E.O.C. radios.
What can you do as a local amateur radio operator? Get familiar with the equipment that has been installed. Get to know your firemen in your community. If you have any ideas about exercising the equipment contact Stu Sherfick. Make sure your equipment is compatible to plug and talk when you are around the firehouse.
Jack White, Owen County Emergency Management Director KC9OQK
THANKS
We want to let everyone know for many many years John Sullivan WD9BKA, was the Owen County Emergency Coordinator and has resigned this position. We wish to thank him for his dedicated service. He will continue to participate in ARES. Congratulations for a job well done.
The new OEC
is Jim Baughn K9EOH. He has been an amateur radio operator for many
years.
DO NO FURTHER HARM
One of the principles of the Hippocratic Oath is to first, do no further harm. Medical professionals are required to take in-service hours in order to maintain their certification. The hours consist of studying training in the latest methods and techniques of the medical profession.
In the case of emergency communications it is imperative that members of the net be fully cognizant of the way the net is run. In the sixties I was a member of SWAN (Sever Weather Alerting Network - the predecessor to Skywarn). During a weather net, as the clouds above me were beginning to rotate, a net member began reporting that in his area “Nothing is happening. The sky is clear, the sun is out …” Had a tornado developed out of the rotation, further harm could have been done because citizens would not have been notified in a timely manner.
Therefore, it is of utmost importance that those who would be emergency communicators (by being members of ARES) be up to date on all aspects of emergency communications as conducted in Owen County. The best way to achieve this is by regular participation in meetings, nets and exercises.
I am looking for those who would join the Owen County ARES that enjoy the training as well as the actual emergency communications. As John Sullivan WD9BKA said “We need members who enjoy cleaning the fire engine as well as putting out the fire.”
If you would like to join the Owen County Amateur Radio Emergency Service, contact me.
Jim K9EOH
Indiana Section Traffic Manager
Owen County Emergency Coordinator
Member Owen County Amateur Radio Emergency Service ARES
Member American Radio Relay League ARRL
Webmaster http://www.OwenCountyARA.org
http://www.k9eoh.com
jim@k9eoh.com
k9eoh@arrl.net
Home Phone 812 828 0629
Cell Phone 317 373 5193
When home:
Monitors Spencer 146.985 (136.5 tone), Gosport KB9SGN (136.5 tone) and
Bloomington 146.64 (136.5 tone)
146.58 and 146.52 Simplex
Also monitor MIDCARS 7.258 from time to time.
When all else fails, amateur radio works.
Indiana Section 2009 Theme - We are Active!
CLUB NOTES
We will hold our annual monthly meetings at Chambers Restaurant at 9 AM. If you wish breakfast please come earlier. When we have a Guest Speaker,
the meeting will be at the Spencer Christian Church at 9 A.M. The program and meeting place will be in the Community Calendar Spencer Evening World and also on the KB9MZZ repeater. You don’t have to be a member of our club to enjoy our activities or attend a meeting just to be interested in the program. The club now has a website, which will be updated as needed. To access the site go to www.owencountyara.org
Club dues are collected for the July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010 in June. The dues are $12.00 for a full membership and $6.00 for associates. The dues help pay our liability and repeater insurance, which enables us to keep the Repeater on the County tower site and a place to meet when we have a guest speaker.
PLANNED PROGRAMS ETC 2009
March 7th Hamfest Duggar
14th Hamfest Vigo County
21st 9AM Weather Spotter Class David Tueck
21st 11 AM VE Testing both @ Spencer Christian Church
28th Hamfest Columbus
April 4th Friends of McCormick's Creek, Owen County Family YMCA 5K RUN/WALK
18th Bike Ride Stu W9HRZ
May 16th ON air meeting WD9BKA
June 20th 10 AM VE Testing
July 18th Monthly meeting
August 15th 9AM Hamfest Discussion
22nd Hamfest
September 19th Apple Butter Festival parade Work
November 21st 10 AM VE Testing
If you want to schedule a program or event, please let the secretary
know k9inu@arrl.net or 812 82 2l40
HAMFEST
The committee will be meeting in the near future to start planning the event. If you would like a particular program or forum at this event, please feel free to contact the newsletter writer at the above e-mail address or phone number.
KB9MZZ REPEATER 146.985
The repeater is there for any ham to use. Join us on our regular Wednesday night net at 7:00 PM. The net control is now on a rotation schedule. If you would like to be added to the net control list, check in and let us know. KB9SGN 146.895 repeater is being used the first Wednesday of each month for the ARES weekly net. This is being done to remind us we have a working backup repeater here in Owen County.
HOPE YOU CAN JOIN US FOR SOME OF
OUR ACTIVITIES