Nearly 300 Stations “QSO” K9TAL

A word or two from the Prez

Heading into TALARC’s first Special Events Station operation last month, we weren’t quite sure what to expect. Maybe there’d be short bursts of activity within a sea of silence; or maybe all 600 TALARC members would call at once. Or, for a host of reasons, maybe no one would make contact with us. There was some downtime in those six-hour days, and times when things peaked. But overall, from the Indy perspective, things went smoothly for the March 15-17 event.

Conditions were fair on twenty meters, where most of the activity was. The Simplex/IRLP operations were sparse by comparison, but together nearly 300 stations were logged for the event. To date, just over 100 Special Event certificates have been issued. If you worked K9TAL, you have a certificate coming. All we need from you is a SASE large enough to place the 8x11 certificate within for return to you.

We owe a debt of gratitude to Bill, KI0/CW, who relayed traffic on several occasions over the three days that we commemorated the 93rd birthday of The American Legion. And thanks, too, to local TALARC members Jerry, W9CZW, and Pat, N2DKB, who stopped by to take control of K9TAL for a time. Congrats also to Jerry for passing his EXTRA Class license exam shortly after working the special event station.

A good number of operators checked in from their Legion post club or station. At least one group operated from the parking lot of their post home and gave an opportunity for the members of their local club to contact K9TAL from there. If your post operated during this event and photos were taken, please email them to us with brief captions, so that we can post your Special Event ops on the TALARC website. Photos of your local activities or routine operations are welcome, too. Email them to k9tal@legion.org and we’ll post them. Be sure to provide a brief description of what is depicted, and include names and call signs.

So, when will we do it again? Well, that hasn’t been decided, but it will be down the road a short way. In the meantime, we are looking to improve our reach to more of our members with scheduled nets on both the HF and VHF bands. And that means looking to those members who, from time to time, might act as net control on HF. It also means increasing activity on the UHF/VHF bands. For Technician members who are yet to secure their General ticket and gain HF phone privileges, IRLP [Internet Radio Linking Project] is the means to reach K9TAL through an IRLP-linked repeater in their area. We hope to address the latter in a subsequent email communication. But right now, for information on IRLP operations (and worldwide communication on UHF/VHF) see www.irlp.net. And yes, the club officers do have their sights set on CW communications . . . also down that road just a little bit farther.

FCC Asks Comment on Emergency Communications and
Impediments to Amateur Radio Communications

A Public Notice [DA 12-523] from the FCC, dated April 2, 2012, states that the commission is seeking public comment on amateur radio’s role in emergency and disaster communications, and the impact of private land-use regulations on the amateur community’s ability to provide such communications. The period for commenting extends to May 17, 2012. More information is available at:

http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-seeks-public-comments-on-emergency-communic...

Next Nets
There will be no TALARC IRLP Net in the month of April. The HF Net will be scheduled shortly and information will be disseminated via email and on the TALARC website.

Stay up with what's happening among Legion amateurs by participating in the email discussion forum on the TALARC website (www.legion.org/hamradio). Just click on "Ham Radio Forum" at the left side of the page to enter or begin a discussion thread on any club-related topic. Email k9tal@legion.org with any questions.

73,

Marty, W9WMJ
TALARC President