Source: CQ / WorldRadio Online Newsroom on January 13, 2010

Some ham radio activity from Haiti is beginning to be heard, following yesterday’s devastating earthquake.

Father John Henault, HH6JH, in Port-au-Prince, made contact late Wednesday morning with the Intercontinental Assistance and Traffic Net (IATN) on 14.300 MHz, the IARU Global Centre of Activity frequency for emergency communications. Based on relays monitored at W2VU, Father John reported that he and those with him were safe, but had no power and no phone service. He was operating on battery power and hoping to get a generator running later in the day. He asked the station copying him, William Sturridge, KI4MMZ, in Flagler Beach, Florida, to telephone relatives with information that he was OK.

The following frequencies are in use for earthquake-related traffic and should be kept clear unless you are able to provide requested assistance: 14300 (IATN), 14265 (SATERN); 7045 (IARU Region II) and 3720 (IARU Region II) kHz. Additional frequencies may be activated on different bands at different times of day, so be sure to listen carefully before transmitting to make sure you are not interfering with emergency traffic.

This is a short video “preview” of the Product Review section of the February issue of QST.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz6aBjmFRRU

This is great seeing the continued growth of Amateur Radio over the past five years!

—

This past year was a banner year for new Amateur Radio licensees. According to ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM, the FCC issued more than 30,000 new ham radio licenses. “In 2009, the demand for Amateur Radio exam sessions remained elevated and is still running at a higher rate than before the FCC’s restructuring of the license requirements in 2007,” Somma said. “This high level of exam session activity has produced an elevated influx of new applications, far outpacing recent years.”
[caption id="attachment_1715" align="alignleft" width="250" caption="In 2009, the FCC issued more than 30,000 new Amateur Radio licences -- an almost 3 percent increase in the number of new licenses issued in 2008. At the end of 2009, there were 17,084 Novices, 334,245 Technicians, 150,970 Generals, 60,795 Advanced and 119,403 Amateur Extra class licensees."][/caption]
A total of 30,144 new licenses were granted in 2009, an increase of almost 7.5 percent from 2008. In 2005, 16,368 new hams joined Amateur Radio’s ranks; just five years later, that number had increased by almost 14,000 — a whopping 84 percent! The ARRL VEC is one of 14 VECs who administer Amateur Radio license exams.

“When looking at the statistics over the last 10 years, these are some the highest numbers we’ve seen,” Somma explained. “Additionally, our total number of licensees across all three classes has grown each year.” Currently there are 682,500 licensed Amateur Radio operators in the US, an almost 3 percent rise over 2008. In 2008, there were 663,500 licensed amateurs; there were 655,800 in 2007. Broken down by license class, at the end of 2009 there were 17,084 Novices, 334,245 Technicians, 150,970 Generals, 60,795 Advanced and 119,403 Amateur Extra licensees.

“The ARRL VEC has been busy meeting the needs of the Amateur Radio community by helping people to become radio amateurs or upgrade their existing licenses,” Somma said. “In 2009, ARRL VEs administered 44,595 exam elements at 6369 ARRL VEC-sponsored exam sessions. The number of amateurs who want to be Volunteer Examiners and who want to teach Amateur Radio classes is also going up — we’ve seen a spike in the number of applications from General and Extra class radio amateurs who want to give back to their community by serving as ARRL examiners and instructors.”

Somma applauded all the volunteers whose “hard work and contribution of countless hours of time helps to ensure the future of Amateur Radio. The ARRL VEC thanks our 32,411 VEs from around the world whose dedication and service helped to contribute to the success of Amateur Radio. I am delighted by these important achievements. 2009 was a very good year for Amateur Radio and I am excited by the promise of 2010.”

Source: ARRL

Our next club meeting is Thursday, November 12th.

The VE testing session starts at 6:00 PM and our meeting follows at 7:30 PM. You do not have to be a member to attend a meeting.

Please welcome our new president Rick Colburn, NV8C and vice president Jeff Clemmons, KD8LZK!

MARC 2010 Officers

President: Rick Colburn, NV8C
Vice President: Jeff Clemmons, KD8LZK
Treasurer: Jim Linn, WB8RRR
Secretary: Barb Steward, KA8AXY

View Larger Map

This is a list of newly licensed hams (November 2009) from the Cincinnati and Northern KY area.

Welcome to the world of Amateur Radio! Our club also welcomes you to attend one of our meetings. Check under Club/Meetings above for additional information.

Jerry Stem, KD8MHL
Andrew Denterlein, KD8MLK
Douglas Harper, KD8MLL
James Hopper, KD8MMW
Curtis Green, KD8MKQ
Jay Hallgarth, KD8MMX
Lowell Bernhardt, KD8MKP
Bill Richmond, KD8MKT
Donald Morse, KD8MKS
Larry Roth, KD8MHK
John Major, KD8MMY
Hunter Green, KJ4QGJ
Hunter Jennings, KJ4QGH
Quentin Gaille, KJ4QGK
Frank Schooley, KJ4QPA
Ian Jackson, KJ4QGI
Jonathan Walson, KJ4QLJ
Michael Burke, KJ4QDJ
Jonathan Couch, KJ4QDI

Source: ARRL

Here is the latest (January 4th) weekly audio reports from:

1) Amateur Radio Newsline (1/1)
2) This Week In Amateur Radio (TWIAR) (1/3)

Amateur Radio Newsline

You can also scroll down at the bottom of the audio player for previous weeks reports!

For those that prefer a mp3 download: AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE(tm) REPORT

On a PC, right click on the file you want to download. In the drop-down box that appears click on “Save Target As” and when the next box appears select a file destination and click on “Save”.

This Week in Amateur Radio (TWIAR)

Audio here – Streaming

Here is a follow-up to the post on “Technician Class – Question Pool Updated” that I made last week about the Technician Question Pool.

—

NCVEC Releases New Technician Class Question Pool (Jan 4, 2010) — The Question Pool Committee (QPC) of the National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (NCVEC) released the new Technician class (Element 2) question pool on Monday, January 4. This new question pool will become effective for all examinations administered on or after July 1, 2010; it will remain valid until June 30, 2014. The current Technician question pool that became effective July 1, 2006 will expire June 30, 2010. The new Technician pool contains approximately 400 questions, from which 35 are selected for an Element 2 examination; it will contain graphics and diagrams, something new for this element. The current General class question pool was effective July 1, 2007 and is valid through June 30, 2011. The current Amateur Extra class pool was effective July 1, 2008 and is valid until June 30, 2012.
Link to this item

Source: ARRL