In an attempt to revitalize the ARES program in Eastern Hillsborough County, Emergency Coordinator Don Dillaby, KA1GOZ, announced changes to the Nashua Area Emergency Net.
The plan is to move the net from Wednesday evenings at 9 p.m., to Tuesday evenings at 8 p.m. The net would continue to operate on the 147.045+/224.28- repeater.
In addition to the change in net schedule, volunteers to act as net control are also being sought to spread the experience among a number of other interested hams.
He said he plans to re-institute training sessions on the net when the number of check-ins shows sufficient interest.
Dillaby is also looking for volunteers living within the communities of the Eastern Hillsborough County Region, Nashua, Hudson, Merrimack, Litchfield and Pelham, to serve as Assistant Emergency Coordinators in those communities.
Currently Mike Lemieux, N1BAO, is an AEC in Nashua, and Charlie Dunn holds a similar appointment in Hudson.
In the past the ARES organization has provided emergency communications within the region in times of flood, hurricanes and severe snowstorms. The organization has also aided a number of agencies such as the March of Dimes and the Diabetes Foundation along with the Olympic Torch Run by providing communications along the routes of walk-a-thons and the torch run. The regional EC said he hopes to spark renewed interest in ARES and get more hams involved in the statewide RACES program which is beginning to grow.
Anyone interested in joining the program, serving as a net control station for the net or volunteering as an Assistant Emergency Coordinator is asked to contact Dillaby either by e-mail at: ddillaby@bit-net.com; by packet radio at: ka1goz @ka1goz; or by mailing a registration form to 27 Palisade Drive, Nashua, 03062-2119.
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A MESSAGE WITH THE MUSIC
ARRL Letter, Vol. 16, No. 34, 8/29/97
A recent “Mr. Music” column by syndicated writer Jerry Osborne addresses the appearance on some music albums of messages or phrases in Morse code. For example, at the beginning of the Barclay James Harvest’s Ring of Changes, the album’s name is spelled out in CW on the first track. Barclay James Harvest member John Lees is a ham (WD4FHD).
Rocker Joe Walsh, WB6ACU, taps out the words “Register and vote for me AR” at the start of the song “Vote for Me” on his album Songs for a Dying Planet. The characters YYZ are belted out on percussion then by the bass guitars on the song of the same name on the Rush album Moving Pictures. Osborne says YYZ is the beacon ID for the Toronto International Airport, and the group’s guitarist is a private pilot.
The B-52s use some CW in Planet Claire. So did the Blues Magoos in their album I Can Move a Mountain. In the song “Pencil Rain” by They Might Be Giants, a stretch of code spells out a refrain, in Spanish, of a popular Mexican song. The Roger Waters album Radio K.A.O.S. is filled with Morse code messages, much of it under the music. The cover also has the titles of the tracks spelled out in code.
Osborne says the track “Miss Morse” on the album One Nation Underground by the rock band Pearls Before Swine reportedly spells out various vulgarities in CW.
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NHOEM needs Volunteers
Al Shuman, N1FIK, NH SM, 9/16/97
The New Hampshire Office of Emergency Management (NHOEM) is looking for volunteers who would like to serve as dispatchers from 0800 to 1615 (in two hour blocks) Monday through Friday. Previous dispatch experience is helpful but not necessary. They will train those with aptitude for dispatching. Duties include but may not be limited to:
Interested parties can contact Mark Starin, KB1KJ at 800-852-3792 X87/88.
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ARLB060 State Department applies for
US CEPT participation, October 10, 1997
The State Department has applied for US participation in the European Conference of Postal Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) Amateur Radio licensing system. The move, September 22, could eventually make it easier for US hams to operate temporarily in European countries that participate in CEPT. Holders of a CEPT license could operate in participating nations without applying for a reciprocal license.
"No doubt there will be some give and take between the European Radio Office (ERO) and State Department over the details before the US is accepted as a participant, but an important milestone has been reached," said ARRL Executive VP David Sumner, K1ZZ. The application consists of a four-page letter with voluminous attachments. Last year, the FCC had asked the State Department to apply for participation in the CEPT Agreement as a non-CEPT country.
The action follows in the wake of an earlier suggestion by the ARRL to the FCC that the US take advantage of the CEPT Recommendation T/R 61-01 arrangements and issue a CEPT license that would be recognized by other participating administrations and valid for visits.
Last fall, the FCC proposed amending the Amateur Radio rules to make it easier for hams holding a CEPT license or an International Amateur Radio Permit (IARP) to operate during short visits to the US.