2023 will be celebrated by ARRL as “The Year of the Volunteer.” More information will be available throughout the year as the details are confirmed. However, the first adventure has been announced as a project called “Volunteers On The Air (VOTA).” Here we get ‘points’ for each contact made with another ARRL volunteer. So, if two ARRL members contact each other, they will each receive a point for that QSO. No special codes, sequence numbers, or section information needs to be passed. Make contact with a fellow ARRL member, and you each receive a point. Each of you must upload the contact to the Logbook of The World (LoTW), and your points are calculated when the QSO is matched. This could be an FT8 contact, a CW contact, a simplex 2M FM contact, an RTTY contact, or an SSB rag-chew.
To add more interest to the year-long operating event and help demonstrate the ARRL volunteers’ value, each level of volunteer activity has been assigned a point level, shown in the table at https://ok.arrl.org/vota/. For example, if you make a contact with Mark Kleine N5HZR, the Oklahoma Section Manager, you’ll get 175 points for that one contact. So, I’ll need to up my HF game to handle all the pile-ups coming my way in 2023. Maybe I need that 160M sky loop and an amplifier.
My mother has told me that whenever I did something ‘extra’ or for someone else, I would “get points for that.” I’ve heard those words for over 60 years, and I’ve not yet figured out what those points are worth. In this case, I’m hoping you will be able to get some certificates, or wallpaper, for your efforts. More details on this as they are fleshed out.
So, get your HF gear running, make sure your LoTW connection is working, and see you on the air!!!
VOTA Program Rules
I’m sure these rules will be extended or revised, so please return here to check for updates.
Contacts can be made on any band (except 12 M, 17 M, and 30 M).
Contacts can be made on any legal mode of operation.
You receive ‘points’ based on the volunteer level of the ARRL member you contact. Points range from 1 point for an ARRL member to 300 points for Rick Roderick K5UR. The point levels are listed at https://ok.arrl.org/vota/. (Your favorite Section Managers are worth 175 points.)
Each QSO will get only one point value. For example, someone who is a member, a life member, and an Assistant Section Manager will be worth the value of the highest role, 35 points for the ASM role.
Logbook of The World (LoTW)
All of the reporting for this VOTA effort will be handled automatically by the ARRL Logbook of The World (LoTD) QSO matching system. If you already log your QSOs from your favorite logging software and it uploads them to LoTW, you will automatically be enrolled in the project. Your QSOs will be verified normally, and the callsigns of the people you work will be searched to find the appropriate points (table shown at https://ok.arrl.org/vota/) that you receive for each QSO.
But, if you aren’t set up to use LoTW, now is the time to set it up. The LoTW quick-start page is a great place to start, and the “What is LoTW Document” explains the whole process. You must authenticate yourself with the system by receiving a postcard mailed to your FCC-registered address. You’ll run a program called TSQL that is used by your logging program, N3FJP, N1MM, DX Lab Suite, or something else to authenticate and upload to LoTW. You can start the setup process now, and you’ll be ready on January 1st! Or, hold your logs until you get LoTW set up, and you can upload them when you get it all sorted.
If you need help setting up your LoTW account, watch some YouTube videos, contact your Elmer, or local club. If that fails, email me at n5hzr@arrl.org, and I’ll find someone to help you.
W1AW Remote Operations
As a part of the Year of the Volunteer celebration, the mystical callsign W1AW will be traveling to the corners of ARRL-land. ARRL members in each state/territory will be asked to operate their stations for two different weeks using the callsign W1AW/x where x is one of the local regions: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, KL, KH0, KH2, KH6, KH7, KH8, KP2, KP3, or KP4. For example, Oklahoma’s first week starts January 25, 2023, at 0000z and will run through January 31, 2023, at 2359z, using the callsign W1AW/5. Each state will coordinate the time/band/mode slots throughout the week and hams will be able to operate their stations.
Traveling W1AW rules include:
Remember that each operator must follow the rules for their own license class. Stay in the sub-bands that you’re legally allowed to operate in.
Operators do not need to be at the same site.
Members that contact the Traveling W1AW stations will receive 5 points.
Each band/mode combination can be activated simultaneously. For example, N5OP could be working 20 M SSB, N5OK could be working on 20 M CW, N5AZQ could be working on 20 M FT8, and N5HZR could be on 40 M SSB, all at the same time.
I am looking for volunteers to help with route safety for Cycle 66 2022. This is a bicycle event designed to highlight Route 66 as a tourism destination. There are three routes, and I will need 10-15 more Hams to help. Routes start and finish in downtown Edmond. The 66-mile route goes out Route 66 to Luther and then winds through Oklahoma County to the Capital and then back to Edmond. Operators are invited to attend the finish line festivities once their assignment is completed.
The event is on November 6th.
Follow the link below to sign up and thank you.
There is a fair amount of high-level interest in our state leadership and this is a great opportunity for Amateur Radio to shine.
It’s fall and this year the National Weather Festival will be celebrated in-person at the National Weather Center on October 29 from 8 am to 1 pm. We’ve missed the last two years due to Covid 19 precautions and the weather community is ready to go “all-out” to celebrate the weather, this year. More information about this event is available at https://www.ou.edu/nwc/nwf/ and there is no entrance fee for any activity.
This year the TV news channels will be heavily represented by their chase vehicles, helicopters, and on-air personalities. The emergency management community will be well represented, with city, county, and state departments in attendance. The mobile classroom of the National Weather Museum and Science Center https://NationalWeatherMuseum.org/ with be on-site and it always has some interesting displays.
Look for the Oklahoma ARRL amateur radio presence that will be operated by the South Canadian Amateur Radio Society (SCARS) group at the City of Norman Emergency Management display and with the National Weather Museum. Feel free to stop by to listen/transmit from the facility.
Here comes the Ardmore Hamarama http://hamarama.org hamfest on October 21 and 22, 2022 at the Ardmore Convention Center. Entry tickets are still only $8 in advance and $10 at the door. Flea market tables are going fast for $15. Plan to make it to Ardmore to see your old friends, make some new friends, attend some great training forums, and buy/sell tons of radio equipment. This year there will be an outdoor flea market event for those that want to display their equipment outside. These spots are also going fast at $15 each.
This year CORA will be offering another chance to win an Icom 705 Super Package Raffle. For only a $20 raffle entry ticket, you will be able to obtain a chance to win a $2,200+ deluxe radio package. Only 200 raffle tickets will be sold. This raffle includes the Icom 705 HF/VHF/UHF portable radio, an AH-705 automatic antenna tuner, some great add-on cages, wiring connections, and an external wireless display that will let you “simply add antennas”.
There are hotel rooms on site if you’d like to stay the night and amateur radio license testing will be available Saturday at 11:00 am. You can buy tickets online and all of the details are available at http://hamarama.org.
See you there!
Enid Hamfest 11/5/2022
And, the Enid Hamfest rounds out the Oklahoma hamfest calendar with their blow-out event at a great new location in downtown Enid on November 5, 2022.
This one-day event runs from 8 am to 5 pm and features amateur radio license testing at Stride Bank Center.
Put August 20th and August 21st, 2022, on your calendar for the Oklahoma Parks On The Air (OKPOTA) day. The POTA concept has taken the country by storm, and hams of all types are getting interested in the program. While every day can be a POTA day, we’re going to try to get Oklahoma on the map by activating as many of the 164 parks in Oklahoma over the weekend. And by getting as many Oklahoma POTA Hunters on the bands as possible. Activations will run from 0000Z on August 20th through 2359Z on August 21st. (7:00 PM CDT Friday night through 6:59 PM CDT Sunday night.) Please submit all log entries to the pota.app website by September 4th, 2022.
So, if you want to stay home and be a ‘hunter’ of POTA activations, get your home station antennas and radios tuned up and plan to make some great contacts across the country throughout the day. Check for POTA activations on the pota.app website. The good folks at POTA will be creating a special page to highlight our activations on that weekend.
If you want to go mobile and activate a park, start working on your portable radio/antenna combinations, create an activation on the pota.app website RIGHT NOW to schedule the activation of your favorite park, and make plans to ‘hit the road.’ Take a look at the other scheduled activations at your same park to make sure you don’t over a given park. Create a POTA account and schedule your activation at the pota.app website.
Park activations typically happen during daylight hours, so plan accordingly. More details will be available here as they develop and the current information will be available at ok.arrl.org/okpota/.
See you ‘on the air.’
If you need help with radios, antennas, connections, operation rules, creating a POTA account, or anything else, find an Elmer, work with your club, or send me a note to n5hzr@arrl.org.
Clubs
Amateur radio clubs are the backbone of the hobby. The tremendous local hams have good information, and as Elmers or mentors they love to share it. Send something that your club is doing well to me n5hzr@arrl.org, and I’ll feature your club in this newsletter, and on the ARRL club newsletter. Most clubs are seeing an increase in new member activity recently. Our Oklahoma Affiliated Club Coordinator, Jim Shideler W5JCS, can help you find a club or help your club become affiliated. We currently have 41 clubs listed at https://ok.arrl.org/clubs/. Look for a club near you, or verify that your club is on the list. Send Jim an email at W5JCS@arrl.net if you need club assistance.
Thanks to all of you that attended and stopped by the ARRL booth and said HI. ARRL West Gulf Director John Stratton N5AUS and ARRL West Gulf Vice Director Lee Cooper W5LHC joined the rest of the Oklahoma ARRL contingent during the two-day event. If you have some pictures from this event, please send them to N5HZR@arrl.org. The numbers were similar to the 2019 event, so we still all showed up after two years without a hamfest.
This year the group added a high-end raffle of a $2,200 Icom 705 package that was a big hit. Congratulations to Steve Dusking NE5SD, who walked away with that prize. In addition, the grand prize of a Yaesu FTDX10 went to Coy Day N5OK.
Clear your calendar. Ham Holiday 2023 will be July 28/29, 2023.
Ponca City 22 is Coming
The Kay County Amateur Radio Club Trunk-N-Tailgate will be in Ponca City, OK, on September 17, 2022, at the VFW, from 8 AM to 2 PM. All of the details are available at https://ok.arrl.org/ponca/ – See you there!
Hamarama 22 is Coming
The Ardmore hamfest, Hamarama, will be held at the Ardmore Convention Center on October 21/22, 2022. This two-day event runs from 5 PM to 8 PM on Friday and from 8 AM to 1 PM on Saturday, and it pulls in lots of folks from the North Texas area. All of the details are available at http://hamarama.org/ – See you there!
Enid 22 is Coming
The Enid hamfest will be at the Stride Bank Center on November 5, 2022. This location is a new location for them, and it has lots more space available. This one-day event runs from 8 AM to 5 PM and brings in a lot of folks from Kansas. All of the details are available at https://enidarc.squarespace.com/enidhamfest – See you there!
Clubs
Amateur radio clubs are the backbone of the hobby. The tremendous local hams have good information, and as Elmers or mentors they love to share it. Send something that your club is doing well to me n5hzr@arrl.org, and I’ll feature your club in this newsletter, and on the ARRL club newsletter. Most clubs are seeing an increase in new member activity recently. Our Oklahoma Affiliated Club Coordinator, Jim Shideler W5JCS, can help you find a club or help your club become affiliated. We currently have 41 clubs listed at https://ok.arrl.org/clubs/. Look for a club near you, or verify that your club is on the list. Send Jim an email at W5JCS@arrl.net if you need club assistance.
Hamword is a Winlink-based game that mimics the popular five-letter word guessing game, Wordle. I built this game to give hams a way to practice their Winlink skills while having some fun guessing an unknown five-letter word. All of these rules, and the leaderboard, are at https://hambooks.org/hamword/. You may have already seen this on the front page of https://qrz.com/.
The only thing you need to play the game is an amateur radio license and an active Winlink account. You can learn more about setting up Winlink at https://ok.arrl.org/nts/ntsoksoftware/. If you are up and running on Winlink, give it whirl. If not, this is a great time to set it up.
So far we’ve had almost 100 hams from 28 different ARRL sections plus seven countries play the game. We’ve processed nearly 1,000 Winlink email messages and have had some great feedback from across the country.
How to Play
Once you have Winlink up and running, send a five-letter word via Winlink to the tactical call sign HAMWORD. The subject line can be anything you wish, and the message body should contain just your guess. Your messages will be graded and returned via a Winlink message at 00, 15, 30, and 45 minutes past the hour.
Response Key
Since Winlink doesn’t allow text colors, you will receive a five-number “key” to guide you in your next choice. The numbers 0, 1, and 2 are returned using the following definitions:
0 means that the letter above the key is not seen in the word that you are guessing. (Similar to gray.)
1 means that the letter above the key is used in the word you are guessing, but it is in the wrong location. (Similar to yellow.)
2 means that the letter above the key is used in the word you are guessing, and it is in the correct location. (Similar to green.)
Weekly Reset
The guessed word will reset weekly at 00:00Z on Monday (Sunday evening in the United States) in this game. So, make your guesses throughout the week and make sure you solve the puzzle before the word resets. You have six chances to solve the puzzle each week.
Good luck, have fun, and let me know how Hamword works for you.
Clubs
Amateur radio clubs are the backbone of the hobby. The tremendous local hams have good information, and as Elmers or mentors they love to share it. Send something that your club is doing well to me n5hzr@arrl.org, and I’ll feature your club in this newsletter, and on the ARRL club newsletter. Most clubs are seeing an increase in new member activity recently. Our Oklahoma Affiliated Club Coordinator, Jim Shideler W5JCS, can help you find a club or help your club become affiliated. We currently have 41 clubs listed at https://ok.arrl.org/clubs/. Look for a club near you, or verify that your club is on the list. Send Jim an email at W5JCS@arrl.net if you need club assistance.
A message from the ARRL Oklahoma Section Emergency Coordinator, Mark Conklin N7XYO…
2000L 6 MAY 2022 DO NOT SELF DEPLOY
ATTENTION ALL ARES-OK members are on Stand-by – ARES-OK Districts 11, 5 & 6 should prepare to muster teams if requested, a LIMITED deployment is expected.
The OKLAHOMA DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT has requested communications support from the ARRL/Amateur Radio Emergency Services.
ARES-OK Leaders (ReginalEC, DistrictEC & CountyEC) are asked to contact their ARES-OK team(s) of volunteers to ensure that they have received this info and are ready to help.
SCOPE:
Provide voice communications between chainsaw and debris removal teams and their base of operations.
Seminole State College (Incident Command – IC)
Located at 2701 Boren Boulevard, Seminole, OK 74868
Voice communications can be via simplex or any available repeater (with permission of repeater owner(s)).
The initial team will need to set up base operations at
Seminole State College – IC
Provide 1 Mobile Operator to shadow each of the up to SIX chainsaw and debris removal teams.
DURATION: at the direction of ARES-OK Leadership and the OKDEM – Starting Saturday 7 May 2022 then most likely through Tuesday/Wednesday or 10-11 May 2020.
DAILY OPERATIONAL PERIOD:
0730 Local to Darkness (at the direction of OKDEM POC)
NOTE: IC base should be covered by 2-person teams per location in shifts, mobile position should be rotated to allow for breaks.
All volunteers must sign in and out with IC.
Log all traffic on ICS-309 form.
Use ICS-213 for all formal messages.
WHAT TO BRING:
ARES Deployment Vest (Don’t have one? (Borrow one from a friend – well work on getting a loaner vest or two.) Wear your ARES-OK vest at all times.
Suitable clothing and work boots for being in a disaster area.
HT RADIO, EXTRA BATTERIES (Radio manual is a good idea).
MOBILE RADIO for Vehicle operations.
Day one bag – always a good idea. Some snacks & water. ARC/Salvation will provide meals.
Photo ID
ARES ID – don’t have one – don’t panic – make sure you are registered online @ www.ARESOK.org
Today the ARRL announced the start of the ARRL Club Grant Program that we debuted at the Enid Hamfest last November. ARRL will hold a webinar on Wednesday, May 4, at 7 PM central time to launch the program. You will need to register in advance by clicking on this link https://ok.arrl.org/webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. The ARRL club grant program will distribute $500,000 in this round of funding.
The ARRL website http://arrl.org/club-grant-program has all of the current information and will be the place to enter your grant application starting in mid-May. In addition, you can send questions regarding the program to clubgrants@arrl.org.
ARRL Youth Licensing Grant Program
The ARRL Youth Licensing Grant Program will cover the one-time $35 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) application fee for new amateur radio license candidates younger than 18 for tests administered under the ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC) program.
ARRL will reimburse the FCC application fee by check after the ARRL VEC receives the completed reimbursement form and the FCC has issued the new license. Also, candidates younger than 18 pay a reduced exam session fee of $5 to the ARRL VEC team. The $5 ARRL exam fee is for all candidates under 18 for all license classes. Candidates are required to present proof of age during the exam session.
Initially, this new program provides for 1,000 new license applicants under 18. Visit the ARRL website for program instructions and the FCC fee reimbursement form at arrl.org/youth-licensing-grant-program.
Clubs
Amateur radio clubs are the backbone of the hobby. The tremendous local hams have good information, and as Elmers or mentors they love to share it. Send something that your club is doing well to me n5hzr@arrl.org, and I’ll feature your club in this newsletter, and on the ARRL club newsletter. Most clubs are seeing an increase in new member activity recently. Our Oklahoma Affiliated Club Coordinator, Jim Shideler W5JCS, can help you find a club or help your club become affiliated. We currently have 41 clubs listed at https://ok.arrl.org/clubs/. Look for a club near you, or verify that your club is on the list. Send Jim an email at W5JCS@arrl.net if you need club assistance.
The $35 FCC application fee is now in place for any new amateur radio license application, vanity callsign applications, and your 10-year renewal. Address changes and updates from Tech to General or General to Amateur Extra are free.
The ARRL or other examiners will NOT collect this fee. Instead, a new licensee will receive a couple of emails that include a link to pay the fee online. There will also be methods to pay by check. However, that will slow down the process. The FCC has implemented its new procedure. Their system is back online, ready to handle the latest transactions.
Club Grants
The time has come to enter the ARRL Club grant program. As we have discussed before, these grants will total $500,000. Mike Walters W8ZY will be on this week’s HamNation show to explain the details. HamNation is live this Wednesday, April 27, 2022, at 8:00 pm local time. You can watch this program live or later at https://www.youtube.com/hamradiocrashcourse.
They will announce a live webinar on May 4, 2022, that you can join to get any questions answered. Good luck. Let me know what your club submits!!!
ARRL.org Update
ARRL updated its internal management software recently. Unfortunately, this change resulted in some ARRL members having login problems at
https://arrl.org. ARRL has provided a web page at https://www.arrl.org/login-instructions that should help you get back connected with the organization, and if all else fails, call the number listed. The ARRL membership team will work to get you back online.
While I don’t have any internal information about this conversion, my 40 years in the Information Technology field tells me that this conversion was a big deal. Organizations like ARRL started 100+ years ago with a paper tablet and a number 2 pencil. Then many people begin to automate their little corner of the organization in a bunch of different ways. Finally, the organization realizes it needs to integrate its systems to provide better, faster, and cheaper information to the whole group at a much later date. Converting to one of these systems is brutal, but the integrated data will make everyone’s lives better over the long haul. ARRL’s conversion to Personify management software will take time, but I’d love to hear every story as an IT guy. Let me know if I can help you through this transition.
Hamfest Update
Last week was the Green Country Ham Fest (GCHF) http://www.greencountryhamfest.org/, and it was a fantastic return to the hamfests as we knew them before the pandemic. The crowds enjoyed many great programs, saw a bunch of gear to buy and sell, and visited with friends. The presentations on Winlink and 20 Things You Can Do With The Oklahoma Link are available on the https://ok.arrl.org/ website.
The Oklahoma hamfest schedule is available online, and you can start planning for the next ones at https://ok.arrl.org/hamfests/.
See you there.
Clubs
Amateur radio clubs like the Enid Amateur Radio Club (EARC) https://enidarc.org/ are the backbone of the hobby. The tremendous local hams have good information, and as Elmers or mentors they love to share it. Send something that your club is doing well to me n5hzr@arrl.org, and I’ll feature your club in this newsletter, and on the ARRL club newsletter. Most clubs are seeing an increase in new member activity recently. Our Oklahoma Affiliated Club Coordinator, Jim Shideler W5JCS, can help you find a club or help your club become affiliated. We currently have 39 clubs listed at https://ok.arrl.org/clubs/. Look for a club near you, or verify that your club is on the list. Send Jim an email at W5JCS@arrl.net if you need club assistance.
