Look at your personal security #ARRL #hamradio

If you are an FCC licensed ham radio operator, your address is a matter of public record.  If you use Automatic Packet Reporting System, your location is widely known.

https://haminfo.tetranz.com/map/z/67005 is a handy site to find the hams that live in your neighborhood.  It's handy for clubs to find potential members.  It's handy for burglars to find potential victims.

Obviously, not everyone has someone wanting to do them harm, ex. an ex who wants the kids, a coworker who does not like your competition at work, 

Post office boxes don't know up on the map.  There are hams that have boxes for that very reason.  

APRS is another story.  There, one can "fuzzy" the location.  In other words, set your location a few miles away.  The only reason someone needs to know where you are is on missions, ex. a tracker on a bike rally.

Drop a message to kc5fm-9 and remember messages are open source.  One can see your message over the web.  Don't be putting phone numbers in them.  

Be aware of your personal security.  There are people who want to do your harm.

Board discusses the $35 fee #ARRL #hamradio

Maybe you missed it, but ARRL board touched on the item.  It was posted on the arrl.org web site but deleted within days.  The Board proposal, reported below in a newsletter, showed the board had interest in helping elderly and young folks who are members.

Maybe you missed this tweet ... 

If you care about the

@FCC

license fee, do something about it. #Congress Talk about numbers #ARRL #hamradio https://buff.ly/3iHUpMF

So ... Did you?  One elected representative replied that they are working the problem. It's going to take some budget wrangling.    

So .. the noise on social media, when the news broke that the FCC was going to raise your fees, some said "I'm done" to "No big deal" but when it comes time to do something about it, I see folks who don't care.

ARRL BOARD CONSIDERS PLAN TO COVER NEW $35 FCC FEE FOR SOME YOUNG

APPLICANTS

At its Annual Meeting in January, the ARRL Board of Directors
considered a motion to offer a new service that would pay the new but
not-yet-implemented $35 FCC application fee for a limited number of new
radio amateurs younger than age 18 who, at the time of testing,
belonged to an ARRL-affiliated 501(c)(3) charitable organization and
passed their tests through an ARRL VEC-sponsored exam session. The
proposal called for reducing the VEC fee for these candidates to $5.
The initial proposal came from ARRL Southeastern Division Director
Mickey Baker, N4MB. Other Board members offered subsidiary motions.
Supporters said the purpose behind the motion was to ameliorate the
potential financial hardship the pending FCC application fee posed on
certain minors applying for their first license, and to encourage new
youth membership.

Consideration of the motion, which was subject to considerable
discussion, was deferred to an ad hoc committee composed of the members
of the Administration & Finance Committee, two Members of the Programs
& Services Committee, and ARRL CEO David Minster, NA2AA (or his
designated representative). The Board directed the panel to review and
more fully develop the proposal and report back to the Board by the end
of March with a recommendation as to whether such a program should be
adopted and, if adopted, how it should be implemented.

Supporters expressed the belief that recruitment and training of young
radio amateurs "is a necessary and proper mission of the ARRL" and that
subsidizing the $35 fee "will reduce the number of new amateurs that
otherwise would be lost from these groups."

In December, the FCC agreed with ARRL and other commenters that the
initially proposed $50 fee for certain amateur radio applications was
"too high to account for the minimal staff involvement in these
applications." In a Report and Order (R&O
<https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-20-184A1.pdf>), the FCC
scaled the fee back to $35 for a new license application, a special
temporary authority (STA) request, a rule waiver request, a license
renewal application, and a vanity call sign application. All fees are
per application. There will be no fee for administrative updates, such
as a change of mailing or email address. Read an expanded version
<http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-board-considers-plan-to-cover-new-35-fcc-fee-for-some-young-applicants>.

ARRL BOARD CONSIDERS PLAN TO COVER NEW $35 FCC FEE FOR SOME YOUNG
APPLICANTS

At its Annual Meeting in January, the ARRL Board of Directors
considered a motion to offer a new service that would pay the new but
not-yet-implemented $35 FCC application fee for a limited number of new
radio amateurs younger than age 18 who, at the time of testing,
belonged to an ARRL-affiliated 501(c)(3) charitable organization and
passed their tests through an ARRL VEC-sponsored exam session. The
proposal called for reducing the VEC fee for these candidates to $5.
The initial proposal came from ARRL Southeastern Division Director
Mickey Baker, N4MB. Other Board members offered subsidiary motions.
Supporters said the purpose behind the motion was to ameliorate the
potential financial hardship the pending FCC application fee posed on
certain minors applying for their first license, and to encourage new
youth membership.

Consideration of the motion, which was subject to considerable
discussion, was deferred to an ad hoc committee composed of the members
of the Administration & Finance Committee, two Members of the Programs
& Services Committee, and ARRL CEO David Minster, NA2AA (or his
designated representative). The Board directed the panel to review and
more fully develop the proposal and report back to the Board by the end
of March with a recommendation as to whether such a program should be
adopted and, if adopted, how it should be implemented.

Supporters expressed the belief that recruitment and training of young
radio amateurs "is a necessary and proper mission of the ARRL" and that
subsidizing the $35 fee "will reduce the number of new amateurs that
otherwise would be lost from these groups."

In December, the FCC agreed with ARRL and other commenters that the
initially proposed $50 fee for certain amateur radio applications was
"too high to account for the minimal staff involvement in these
applications." In a Report and Order (R&O
<https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-20-184A1.pdf>), the FCC
scaled the fee back to $35 for a new license application, a special
temporary authority (STA) request, a rule waiver request, a license
renewal application, and a vanity call sign application. All fees are
per application. There will be no fee for administrative updates, such
as a change of mailing or email address. Read an expanded version
<http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-board-considers-plan-to-cover-new-35-fcc-fee-for-some-young-applicants>.

Last man standing #ARRL #hamradio

Thanks to WB4QDX for this information 

To commemorate the last season of Last Man Standing and leading up to the taping of the last episode, the club station, KA6LMS, will be operating on all modes and all bands from 0000Z on 3/24/21 to 23:59Z on 3/30/21. Stations will be operating as KA6LMS/0 through /9 throughout the week with bonus stations.  There will be operating from the stage over the weekend operation on the station on the set in the office of Mike Baxter. Special guests and QSL cards will be available.

 

There will be special D-STAR events on Saturday, March 27.  The PAPA Repeater System will be operating on REF012A beginning at 1700Z and Georgia D-STAR will operate on REF030B beginning at 19:00Z.

 

For more information on the weeklong event go to  Http://gsbarc.org/lms/.

 

John WB4QDX

Nets of Note #ARRL #hamradio

 Meeting at noon Central Time, the Alaska Morning Net meets in the morning Alaska time, thus the name.

A friendly group of people gather around the electrons to do what hams do best, education and inform, and gather news.

They describe the net as "Highly Entertaining, Mildly Educational.  The net hosts one of the many Santa Nets on Ham Radio.

What's the weather at the North Pole?  Check into the net.  Someone will know.