Fred Stone, W8LLY, long time Greene County ARES EC, District 3 ARES EC, and a fixture of the Miami Valley amateur radio community became a Silent key on 26 July 2021. He leaves a large gap in our community that will hard, if not impossible to fill.
General
Preble County Repeater Back On The Air
The Preble county VHF repeater (145.470Mhz (-) 100pl) is back on air with a new Fusion repeater. We are capable of analog and digital.
The backup repeater is on UHF (442.900Mhz (+) 100hz pl) and is a Fusion repeater also.
All ARES and Skywarn operations are to switch back to VHF.
We would appreciate some signal checks around the district.
73,
NJ8BB
Gary Hollenbaugh
ARES™ EMERGENCY COORDINATOR
PREBLE CO, Ohio
FCC Issues Enforcement Advisory: Radio Users Again Reminded Not to Use Radios in Crimes
04/20/2021
On April 20, the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau issued a new Enforcement Advisory, repeating the admonishments contained in a January Advisory that no licensee or user of the Amateur or Personal Radio Services may use any radio equipment in connection with unlawful activities of any nature.
The Commission specifically cautioned that individuals found to have used radios in connection with any illegal activity are “subject to severe penalties, including significant fines, seizure of the offending equipment, and in some cases, criminal prosecution.”
In addition, licensees should be aware that illegal operation in any service or band, including completely outside the amateur allocations, could potentially disqualify a person from holding any FCC license in any service, not just the Amateur Service.
Any amateur observing a suspicious infraction that might be of illegal or criminal nature should report it to their local law enforcement office or the FBI.
Updated Radio Frequency Exposure Rules Become Effective on May 3
The ARRL released ARLB011 reminding amateurs that updated Radio Frequency Exposure rules become effective on 3 May 2021.
These are the same rules that have been in effect since 1997. The primary change is that amateur radio stations are no longer categorically exempt from performing an evaluation. The RF Exposure limits have not changed.
More details on the ARRL RF Exposure website. Resources available on that page are links to an ARRL FAQ their RF Exposure and You document, an extract from the chapter on conducting a station evaluation, forms you can use, and an online RF Exposure Calculator.
Here’s another RF Exposure calculator by VP9KF that displays the info in a different way including discussion of duty cycle of different modes.
You do not have to submit any information with the FCC. Simply complete the documentation and file it with your license documents.
The ARRL states that they will be updating their site with any applicable changes as they are identified.
New D3 ARES Net Manager N8OTQ
Phil Wolfe N8OTQ, has volunteered to be the West Central Ohio District 3 Net Manager replacing John Massey. Please welcome Phil.
Don – KB8PSL
District Emergency Coordinator
West Central Ohio D-3 ARES
New Miami County EC
Paul Simmons WA1EIB, has been appointed the new EC for Miami County. Contact information for him has been posted on the EC page.
D3 ARES Net manager WX8JDM SK
I’m sad to report John Massey WX8JDM, became a silent key.
John was net manager for the West Central Ohio District 3 ARES since March 2019.
I’ll provide information for John’s arrangements once I receive the details.
Randy Allen KAØAZS, will be the temporary net manager.
Don Parker – KB8PSL
District Emergency Coordinator
West Central Ohio D-3 ARES
D3 ARES Net Training 9 Dec 20
N8QHV’s latest training was on getting college credit for FEMA courses.