I have just implemented a “Forum” for everyone to use. You access from the Page category in the Navigation bar above. Or Here There are many different Topics that I set up that you can read or reply to.

Topics I have created so far include: Contesting, DX, Digital Modes, Mobile, Propagation, QSL, SSB and CW Modes, Ham Shack Items, Antennas, HF and VHF/UHF radios, Accessories, For Sale/Trade/Wanted, Emergency Communications, APRS, Introductions, Help, Suggestions, and Club Related.

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An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site. It originated as the modern equivalent of a traditional bulletin board, and a technological evolution of the dialup bulletin board system. From a technological standpoint, forums or boards are web applications managing user-generated content.

People participating in an Internet forum may cultivate social bonds and interest groups for a topic may form from the discussions.

Source: Wiki

June – Congratulations to Chuck N8CJB, Kim N8OXG and Rob, N8JMV for passing their general test at our Field day VE testing!

August – Congratulations to Kim Blocher, N8OXG for passing her Extra class at our August VE Testing session!

Welcome to the world of Amateur Radio! Our club also welcomes you to attend one of our meetings. 73, Steve K8JI

Melanie Trumble, KD8LXZ
Arthur Trumble, KD8LXY
Michael Metz, KD8LWW
Charles Jameson, KD8LXX
Harland Clark, KD8LXH
James Hasty, KD8LVG
Chris Bryant, KJ4OHP
Jessica Fulton, KJ4OOK

MARC will sponsor our next monthly VE Session on June 11^th.

The session will begin at 6:00PM, in the same location as our regular monthly meeting. Walk In’s are welcome

We have all Exams for all license grades available. Their is NO fee!

Licensed Amateurs who would like to upgrade need to bring a copy of their current license to be submitted with their exam paperwork along with picture ID. If sitting for your first license, bring picture ID. Contact Barb Steward, KA8AXY with any questions via e-mail at wsteward@fuse.net .

MARC will sponsor our next monthly VE Session on March 12^th.

The session will begin at 6:00PM, in the same location as our regular monthly meeting. Walk In’s are welcome

We have all Exams for all license grades available. The fee for 2009 is $15.00, cash or check payable to the ARRL/VEC. If paying by cash, exact change is greatly appreciated.

Licensed Amateurs who would like to upgrade need to bring a copy of their current license to be submitted with their exam paperwork along with picture ID. If sitting for your first license, bring picture ID. Contact Lyle Hamilton AB8SH with any questions via e-mail at ab8sh@arrl.net.

By Barry Evans, AB8WI

Technician Classes!

MARC and Clermont Amateur Radio Emergency Services (CARES) will offer a license prep course for the Technician license.

If you have anyone in mind who you think would make a good Ham, please start working with them now to see if you can get them to take the class. Ninety-nine percent of our previous students have come from member recruitment, so let’s get busy folks. More Info

Pass the word on to people that you know that would be interested in getting their Technician license.

When: Classes: September 22 & 29, from 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Testing: October 4 at 7:00 PM

Where: Clermont County Emergency Operations Center

Contact: Barry Evans, AB8WI at Barry.Evans@RaymondJames.com

By Lyle Hamilton, AB8SH

MARC will again offer a license prep course for the Technician license. Barry AB8WI is doing a heck of a job with this and we have set dates and places as follows:

Last day to register: Friday, March 9

Class Orientation: Saturday, March 10th at the Milford City Building, City Council Chambers from 10:00AM to 12:00PM

Class Days: Saturday, March 24th & Sunday March 25th at the Milford City Building, City Council Chambers from 9:00AM to 4:00PM both days

Club Sponsored VE Session: Tuesday, April 10th at Sporty’s Pilot Shop, located at the Clermont County Airport in Batavia. Exams begin promptly at 7:00PM

If you have anyone in mind who you think would make a good Ham, please start working with them now to see if you can get them to take the class. Ninety-nine percent of our previous students have come from member recruitment, so let’s get busy folks. More Info

MARC is sponsoring a class for those that are interested in upgrading to General class. The class starts Wednesday February 14th, 2007.
The location will be announced as soon as the site is confirmed. For further details, please contact Chuck at cjbeal@fuse.net

Morse Code Requirement Ends

The FCC has modified the Amateur Radio Service rules, eliminating Morse code exam requirements. The new rules become effective at 12:01 AM Eastern Time Friday February 23, 2007.

The rule changes will grant limited HF operating privileges to Technician licensees on 80, 40, 15, and 10 meters.

Once the new rules take effect, Technicians can upgrade to General by passing a single written exam (Element 3) and to Amateur Extra by also passing the Element 4 written exam. No Morse code test will be required.

For more information, please visit the ARRL web site at www.arrl.org/FCC/Morse.

Like it or not the FCC finally made a decision on its morse code stance.

Steve K8JI

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From ARRL Headquarters — Newington CT December 16, 2006

In an historic move, the FCC has acted to drop the Morse code requirement for all Amateur Radio license classes. The Commission today adopted a Report and Order (R&O) in WT Docket 05-235. In a break from typical practice, the FCC only issued a public notice at or about the close of business and not the actual Report and Order, so some details — including the effective date of the R&O — remain uncertain. The public notice is located at, http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-269012A1.pdf.

Also today, the FCC also adopted an Order on Reconsideration, in WT Docket 04-140 — the “omnibus” proceeding — agreeing to modify the Amateur Radio rules in response to an ARRL request to accommodate automatically controlled narrowband digital stations on 80 meters in the wake of rule changes that became effective today at 12:01 AM Eastern Time. The Commission said it will carve out the 3585 to 3600 kHz frequency segment for such operations. Prior to the long-awaited action on the Morse code issue, Amateur Radio applicants for General and higher class licenses had to pass a 5 WPM Morse code test to operate on HF. The Commission said today’s R&O eliminates that requirement for General and Amateur Extra applicants.

“This change eliminates an unnecessary regulatory burden that may discourage current Amateur Radio operators from advancing their skills and participating more fully in the benefits of Amateur Radio,” the FCC said. The ARRL had asked the FCC to retain the 5 WPM for Amateur Extra class applicants only. The FCC proposed earlier to drop the requirement across the board, however, and it held to that decision in today’s R&O.

Perhaps more important, the FCC’s action in WT Docket 05-235 appears to put all Technician licensees on an equal footing: Once the R&O goes into effect, holders of Technician class licenses will have equivalent HF privileges, whether or not they’ve passed the 5 WPM Element 1 Morse examination. The FCC said the R&O in the Morse code docket would eliminate a disparity in the operating privileges for the Technician and Technician Plus class licensees. Technician licensees without Element 1 credit (ie, Tech Plus licensees) currently have operating privileges on all amateur frequencies above 30 MHz.

“With today’s elimination of the Morse code exam requirements, the FCC concluded that the disparity between the operating privileges of Technician Class licensees and Technician Plus Class licensees should not be retained,” the FCC said in its public notice.
“Therefore, the FCC, in today’s action, afforded Technician and Technician Plus licensees identical operating privileges.”

The wholesale elimination of a Morse code requirement for all license classes ends a longstanding national and international regulatory tradition in the requirements to gain access to Amateur Radio frequencies below 30 MHz. The first no-code license in the US was the Technician ticket, instituted in 1991. The question of whether or not to drop the Morse requirement altogether has been the subject of often-heated debate over the past several years, but the handwriting has been on the wall. A number of countries, including Canada, no longer require applicants for an Amateur Radio license to pass a Morse code test to gain HF operating privileges. The list has been increasing regularly.

The FCC said today’s R&O in WT Docket 05-235 comports with revisions to the international Radio Regulations resulting from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Radiocommunication Conference 2003 (WRC-03). At that gathering, delegates agreed to authorize each country to determine whether or not to require that applicants demonstrate Morse code proficiency in order to qualify for an Amateur Radio license with privileges on frequencies below 30 MHz.

Typically, the effective date of an FCC Order is 30 days after it appears in the Federal Register. That would mean the Morse requirement and the revised 80-meter segment for automatically controlled digital stations would likely not go into effect until late January 2007.

The ARRL will provide any additional information on these important Part 97 rule revisions as it becomes available.