Skywarn Recognition Day 2023

Starts at Friday 7:00 PM – Dec 1st
Ends at Saturday 7:00 PM – Dec 2nd
Skywarn™ Recognition Day was developed in 1999 by the National Weather Service and the American Radio Relay League. It celebrates the contributions that Skywarn™ volunteers make to the NWS mission, the protection of life and property.
Amateur radio operators comprise a large percentage of the Skywarn™ volunteers across the country. The Amateur radio operators also provide vital communication between the NWS and emergency management if normal communications become inoperative.

All Skywarn™ spotters provide critical weather information before, during and after adverse weather strikes. This includes reports of rain and snow, ice and wind, storms and tornadoes, flooding and fire. This is our 24 hours to recognize all of the Skywarn™ spotters serving our nation!

All ham radio operation should check out the Skywarn page on Weather.gov and Skywarn member follow the link below to get your location posted to the spotter mapping page.

Skywarn™ Recognition Day 23 Registration Form

Skywarn Spotter Mapping Form

ARRL Hails FCC Action to Remove Symbol Rate Restrictions

ARRL  The National Association for Amateur Radio® reports that earlier today, the FCC Commissioners unanimously voted to amend the Amateur Radio Service rules to replace the baud rate limit on the Amateur HF bands with a 2.8 kHz bandwidth limit to permit greater flexibility in data communications.

“The Federal Communications Commission today adopted new rules to incentivize innovation and experimentation in the amateur radio bands by removing outdated restrictions and providing licensees with the flexibility to use modern digital emissions,” announced FCC.

“Specifically, we remove limitations on the symbol rate (also known as baud rate) — the rate at which the carrier waveform amplitude, frequency, and/or phase is varied to transmit information — applicable to data emissions in certain amateur bands,” concluded the FCC Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, adopted November 13, 2023. “The amateur radio community can play a vital role in emergency response communications, but is often unnecessarily hindered by the baud rate limitations in the rules.”

Read The Full Article Here: https://www.arrl.org/news/

Contact the FCC – Save the 60 Meter Band

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ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® is asking that all radio amateurs urge the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to continue the existing use of the 60-meter band. A public comment period is open until November 28, 2023. ARRL encourages expressions of support to the FCC for the current 100 W ERP power limit (instead of reducing the power limit to 15 W EIRP) and continuing secondary access to the current channels.

To submit a filing of your comments for the FCC’s consideration in the rulemaking process:

Go to the FCC web page for the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking’s (NPRM) Docket Number 23-120 at https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/docket-detail/23-120.

If you wish to directly enter your comments, select the button labeled SUBMIT AN EXPRESS FILING.

If you are uploading a document that contains your comments, select SUBMIT A STANDARD FILING.

When submitting your comments, be sure the correct proceeding’s docket number, 23-120, is included on the form. Your name and comments will be entered into the official public record of the proceedings and will be viewable by anyone who visits the docket web page.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.arrl.org/60-meter-band

Veterans Day 2023 Special Events

Veterans Day 2023 Special Events will offer many opportunities for amateur radio operators to honor Veterans and make contacts for Veterans Day.

 

K1USN will be on the HF bands on SSB, CW, and FT8, and they will begin operating at 1300 UTC and run until 2100 UTC.

American Legion Post 111 Amateur Radio Club, KA4TAL, in South Carolina will also operate on November 11 from 10 AM to 3 PM ET on 14.255, 7.264, 14.275, and 7.185 MHz.

Liberty ship S.S. John W. Brown, K8JWB, will hold National Liberty Ship Day.  Operations will be on 14.250, 7.225, and 21.300 MHz, from 0200Z – 0800Z.

Charles County Amateur Radio Club in Maryland will host their special event, The Ghost Fleet at Mallows Bay, on November 11 from 1400Z – 2100Z.  K3SMD will operate on 40 (7.270 Mhz), 20, and 15 meters on phone and FT8.

United States Marine Corps will celebrate its 248th anniversary and Veterans Day. The USS Midway CV-41 COMEDTRA amateur radio station, NI6IW, will be on the air from 1700Z – 2359Z on 14.320, 7.250, and 14.070 MHz.

N3TAL, Lanham, MD. American Legion Post 275 Radio Team. 7.275Mhz +/- LSB.  Glenarden, MD.

More details here: https://www.arrl.org/news/veterans-day-2023-special-events

FCC Wants to Bolster Amateur Radio

Commission will vote in November on plan to remove outdated technical restrictions

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel says the FCC plans to “incentivize innovation and experimentation in the amateur radio bands” by getting rid of outdated restrictions and providing licensees with the flexibility to use modern digital emissions.

The commission at its November meeting is expected to take action on a Report and Order that would eliminate the baud rate limitation and establish a bandwidth limitation in the amateur radio bands below 29.7 MHz.

The order being circulated for tentative consideration by the commission would remove the baud rate limitation — the rate at which the carrier waveform amplitude, frequency and/or phase is varied to transmit information — for data emissions in the amateur radio bands, the FCC says. The current baud rate limits were adopted in 1980.

The order would implement a 2.8 kilohertz bandwidth limitation in place of the baud rate in amateur radio bands. The 2.8 kHz limitation is consistent with the commission’s treatment of other wireless radio services, the FCC says.

The current rules limit the baud rate for high-frequency amateur radioteletype/data transmissions to 300 baud for frequencies below 28 MHz (except in the 60-meter band), and 1200 baud in the 10 meter (28-29.7 MHZ) band.

Finish Reading On: https://www.radioworld.com

 

ARES Meeting Saturday – Oct 28th

Allegheny County
ARES Meeting 
Oct 28th @ 9:30 AM
At The Skyview Club House

Bob NU3Q will be holding the ARES meeting the Skyview K3JMW club house on Saturday Oct 28th at 9:30 AM.  If you want to get a bite to eat before the meeting Bob will be at the Eat N Park restaurant at 7:45 AM for breakfast.  All those wanting to learn more about ECOM should attend these meetings.

Location Skyview Club House:
2335 Turkey Ridge Rd, New Kensington, PA 15068

Location of Eat N Park – New Kensington:
380 Freeport St, New Kensington, PA 15068

Astrobotic will launch to the moon on Christmas Eve

After months of waiting — and 16 years of development — North Shore-based Astrobotic finally has a launch date for its first commercial lander.

Peregrine is set to journey into space aboard a United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket on December 24.

Astrobotic CEO John Thornton said it will be “a fantastic Christmas present” and “the dawn of a new era for the moon.”

“I’m especially excited because the whole world will be at home watching the launch and cheering us on,” he said.

Read The Full Article On The: Post Gazette
Astrobotic Video Tour By: John KC3MMC 

Business Meeting – TUESDAY @ 7pm

Business Meeting – 7:00 PM – TUESDAY!!
Steel City will be conducting their monthly business meeting at the club house this Tuesday.

Come Early – Dinner at 6:00 PM

We have a lot of leftovers from the PA QSO Party so come up early and get good food.

 


VE Session Wednesday @ 7:00 PM

Sign up for new license or upgrade your current one.  Let your friends know that you can do this at Steel City.

PA QSO Party – This Weekend


PA QSO PARTY THIS WEEKEND
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY

This Saturday at 12:00 Noon starts the annual PA QSO Party here at the Steel City club house.  Members are encourage to stop by and operate this event.  We are in need of CW operators and SSB Operators plus people that can help log the contacts.

Come on up are share the group comradery at the club house as we try to work all 67 counties in Pennsylvania.  The goal is to have four transmitters going for the full time of the event.  Saturday setup will begin at 11:30 AM with the QSO starting at 12 noon.  It then runs until midnight on Saturday where you can then go home and sleep in your own bed.  It restarts at 9:00 Sunday morning running till 6:00 PM Sunday evening.

There will be plenty of snacks and food to eat….
Saturday Afternoon: Snack Bar
Saturday Supper:  Special Dinner
Sunday Morning: Donuts and Bagels
Sunday Lunch: Hot Sausage Sandwiches.

And remember “It’s An Party” so lets have some FUN !

Save The Date – SET Test

MEMBERS: This Saturday Oct 7th at 9:00 AM Steel City ARC is requesting members to show up at the club to work the fall SET DRILL.   This is also great for our new operators to learn more about ECOMM communications.  Please stop buy it is just in the morning so you have the rest of the day for the honey do list. We will also be using Winlink email over the HF bands for the first time.