ARRL Hudson Division 
March 2002
Hudson Division Beacon - e-mail edition
By Frank Fallon, N2FF, Director, Hudson Division, ARRL
30 East Williston Avenue, East Williston, NY 11596
(516) 746-7652 n2ff@arrl.org
 
Hudson Division Home Page - http://www.hudson.arrl.org
 
ARRL Members
 
Please continue to spread the word to others who may want to receive
this information that they will need to access the ARRL members only web
site and after becoming a member they must edit their profile and elect
to receive bulletins from the Section Manager and Director.
 
===========
We need pictures of typical ham antenna installations - tribanders at 50
to 75 feet. The sponsors of our New York antenna bill have requested
them. Please send as attachments to the above address as soon as
possible.
 
> LOBBYING FOR CC&R RELIEF IN WASHINGTON
 
One of the great things about being retired is that you can go places in
the middle of the week because you no longer have to go to work every
day.  Your turn will come some day. Thus I was able to drive down to
Washington on Wednesday, February 27, to meet ARRL President Jim Haynie,
W5JBP, and accompany him the next day to the Cannon Office Building to
see a number of congressmen and pitch them the idea of helping us get
relief from CC&Rs. Check
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2002/03/12/?nc=1 for a March 12 news
story detailing Haynie's reaction to his Washington visit. Jim called
it, "the best trip we ever had." 
 
Currently CC&R restrictions are NOT covered by the limited federal
preemption know as PRB-1. CC&R is an acronym for "covenants, codicils
and restrictions" put into property deeds. It is very difficult to buy
a home in a new development that does not have them. Many CC&Rs contain
language forbidding the use of outdoor antennas or transmitting of any
kind. They have ruined many retirement plans. It is almost impossible
to find developments in the South and West that do not have these deed
restrictions. Projecting this trend for the next ten or twenty years
paints a very bleak future for Amateur Radio. 
 
In late December the FCC Commissioners let us know that they did not
have the backbone to do the right thing and give Amateur Radio relief
from the scourge of CC&Rs unless congress told them to do so. At the
January ARRL Board meeting we decided to take the FCC at its word and go
to congress for help. 
 
So it was that on Thursday morning at 9 AM I found myself with Jim
Haynie, W5JBP; Chris Imlay, W3KD, ARRL General Counsel; Steve Masnfield,
N1MZA, and Derrick Ryker from our Washington lobbyist's office waiting
to see freshman congressman Steve Israel of Long Island. Congressman
Israel, a Huntington resident, was very familiar with CC&Rs and Amateur
Radio as his father, Howard, is K2JCC who lives in Arizona and is
dealing with these restrictions. Steve and Chris explained the history
and depth of the problem and some of the possible solutions. I invited
the Congressman to come and talk to some of our ARRL members at a
meeting in his home district. I told him I would work with his
legislative aide and his Long Island office to arrange the meeting. We
also discovered that we had a lot of mutual friends back on Long Island.
We spent close to an hour with the congressman and left on a very
positive note. The congressman wanted to see our draft of a bill and
was going to consider sponsoring our legislation. This was a very
promising sign.
 
Our next visit was to Michael Iger, a legislative assistant to
Congressman Maurice Hinchey of New York. Iger wanted details of the
ways in which ham radio operators had helped after the World Trade
Center attacks. We gave him a copy of the November 2001 QST which had a
lengthy article on our finest hour and I detailed some of the things
hams in his area in the Hudson Valley had done. I promised to send him
a copy of the front page Poughkeepsie Journal article about ham activity
after 911. As he seemed interested in ham radio I also sent along a
copy of "Now Your Talking." It's always good to have ham contacts in
the right places.
 
>From there we went to see Congressman Greg Walden of Oregon, who is
WB7OCE, and owns four broadcast stations in his home state. Greg is
certainly a ham radio contact in the right place. He understood our
issue and promised to seriously consider cosponsoring any legislation
that might be proposed.
 
We then spent some time in one of the house cafeterias talking to Sharon
Tucker, a legislative assistant to Congressman Jerry Kleczka of
Wisconsin. Sharon was most helpful in filling us all in with background
information about home owner association problems and legal cases in
Texas where she practiced law and was a public advocate in a number of
cases involving home owner regulations. She was a wealth of information
and will, I am sure, help us when and if we get legislation
introduced.
 
The final meeting of the day was with Congressman Pete Sessions of Texas
and his aides. Again we had a very positive reception. As it turn out
Sessions and Walden are very good friends as their two teenage boys are
very fast friends. It also helps that Session's office manager is Greg
Koch, NU5Z, who certainly understands our issues. Greg is a long time
ham with an EE degree who designed microwave receivers before getting
involved in Texas politics and moving to Washington, DC to work for
Congressman Sessions. Jim Haynie, Greg and I had dinner that evening
and a chance to talk further about ham radio and the CC&R issue in great
detail. Greg has a very unique set of qualifications to help our cause
in Washington and in true Ham radio fashion he is doing just that.
 
On Friday we met at Chris Imlay's law office for a strategy session. 
Chris' office is right next to the Fox channel 5 station in DC. You can
tell Chris is committed to radio and towers as less than 100 feet from
his office window is one of the legs of a 300 foot tower. I think Chris
takes breaks to admire the waveguide running up the middle of the tower
while he is writing briefs for FCC filings. Chris does some of his best
work in a high rf environment.
 
In addition to those who had been at the congressional offices on
Thursday we had John Chwat, our Washington lobbyist, and Technical
Relations Specialist Jon Siverling, WB3ERA, from ARRL's Washington
Office. (Four of ARRL's 119 employees are assigned to the Washington
Office.) The session dealt with developing strategies for getting
congressional action on a future CC&R bill. There was a general feeling
that the events of 9/11 had created a climate in which federal agencies
and lawmakers had a better understanding of our capabilities and how we
might be used in future emergencies. President Jim Haynie described the
positive interest he had from various groups he met with on Tuesday and
Wednesday. A number of them wanted to incorporate Amateur Radio into
their response plans. Plans for a meeting in Newington within the next
two months were discussed. Time was also spent discussing involving ARRL
members in meetings with their congressional representatives in their
home districts - grass roots lobbying. We felt that this will be
vitally important for getting support from members of the Commerce and
Telecommunications Committee that will deal with any bill we might
eventually develop. The meeting ended after 4 PM and just in time for
us to enjoy DC traffic jams. I think DC traffic beats NYC for Friday
afternoon gridlock. The good news is I wasn't driving.
 
> ARRL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING
 
Saturday, March 2, 2202 was the Executive Committee meeting in
Alexandria, Virginia. 
 
Here are some of the highlights. Chris Imlay reported at length on the
status of pending FCC matters. He reported that the February 14th
Report and Order on (UWB) does provide some of the protection that ARRL
had sought for amateur operations, particularly in the bands below 3.1
GHz. Also the FCC will reexamine standards for UWB within the next
twelve months. RM-10209, a domestic allocation of 5250-5400 kHz is
still held up in the Office of Engineering and Technology (OET). This
is our petition for a 60 meter band. ARRL had hoped for quick action on
the matter but apparently action is being held up as the matter is being
combined with RM-9404 (LF allocations) and RM-9949 (upgrade of 2400-2402
MHz allocation to primary). We continue to press FCC for action on the
matter. We moved closer to filling a petition for Rule Making seeking
changes in FCC Part 97. The principle change is the "refarming" of the
Novice HF subbands. I made the motion to complete the draft and file
the motion. That should take place by mid April. After Discussion, on
motion of Director Butler, staff was authorized to develop a vanity call
sign filing service for members and to charge a fee sufficient to recoup
expenses. Such as service would reduce or eliminate the necessity for
paper application in the future.
 
Jim Haynie and I told the committee about our meeting with several
congressmen on Thursday, which offered encouragement with regard to the
possible introduction of legislation instructing the FCC to extend PRB-1
preemption to private land use regulations. On Friday, existing
legislation prepared by the ARRL was redrafted to reflect these
discussions. The Executive committee reviewed and concurred with the
revised draft. I along with several Long Island amateurs, who are
constituents, will meet with Congressman Israel to follow up on our
Washington discussion.
 
> NEW YORK TOWER BILL STATUS....
 
As you may be aware there are now 15 states with tower laws. We would
certainly like to see New York shortly join that select group. There
has been no movement on our bill in the last month. We have been
requested by some of the senate sponsors to show them pictures of what
the structures we have been talking about look like. If you have any
pictures of the typical support structure of about 50 to 60 feet with a
tri-bander on it please send it as an e-mail attachment or mail it to me
at the address on page one. We are attempting to assembly a
representative group of pictures. We find that while it is easy to get
pictures of contest type antenna farm stations with stack 150 feet in
the air, it is not easy to come up with the typical modest suburban
station that is well screened.
 
We will make another trip to Albany in April to see committee chairs and
our assembly sponsors.
 
> NEW JERSEY TOWER BILL EFFORT BEGINS
 
On Wednesday, March 20th we will hold the first meeting of the Hudson
Division PRB-1 NJ Task Force. I requested Bill Hudzik, W2UDT, NNJ
Section Manager, to call a meeting of the NJ group to get things rolling
in New Jersey. The group will include the Hudson Division Director and
Vice Director, the NNJ SM, the SNJ SM, Jean Priestly, KA2YKN; Lawrence
Gasparo Jr., W2CAM, SNJ SGL; John Hults, K2WJ, NNJ LGL; Ray Makul,
K1XV, NNJ SGL; John Burgio, W2JB, Hudson Division Assistant Director;
and perhaps a few others.
 
Our goal at the meeting is decide what we want to accomplish with a
state law and to being writing a draft. We will also determine which
New Jersey congressman and senators we might get to sponsor the bill and
begin to develop a strategy to accomplish the goals we set. 
 
 
> NEW ROCHELLE
 
We realized recently that we failed to report our success in
negotiations with the City of New Rochelle concerning ordinance
revisions. I attribute our success to the fact that Gerry Agliata,
W2GLA and Mike Arrow, K2NR, spotted this problem last May and we were
able to meet with town officials EARLY - before they had public
hearings. As the result of four meetings with town officials and one
with the mayor we were able to convince them to leave the height at 75
feet. The setback from the property line must be at least half the
height of the tower. The town had wanted a 100 percent setback, which
would have made it impossible for most hams to erect a tower. We warned
the town that this would lead to all future amateur antennas being
placed on the roof in New Rochelle. Once the councilwoman we were
dealing with saw a few of these installations she was convinced that she
did not want to encourage roof antennas. We let the town know that they
needed to encourage crank up towers and for that reason they should
increase the antenna base size so as to encourage crank up or nesting
towers which need to have a larger base than guyed towers. Fortunately
they saw the wisdom of this idea and the final ordinance allows a four
foot by four foot base for retractable towers and three feet six inches
for stationary or permanent towers.
 
All involved felt that it was a win-win situation. But it never would
have happened if we did not learn early about the proposed changes. Had
no one noticed until the public hearing we never would have been able to
negotiate over a period of six months a successful outcome. Please keep
your eyes open in your community for ordinance revisions and find out
what they propose to do about communications towers. Let us know, early,
about proposed ordinances.
 
> THE WA2MMX KINDERHOOK ZONING ISSUE CONTINUES
 
In Fred's own words:
 
"And it drags on.........There have been numerous articles written in
our two local newspapers regarding my Tower Zoning Case. Both papers
have been supportive of my attempt to get approval for the tower. In
fact, the Independent published a very favorable editorial last week. 
 
Last month the ZBA held their workshop session which was for them to
discuss my application in preparation for a vote. I am being generous by
saying it was entertaining. One ZBA member stated that I should be
required to plant 75 foot trees or trees that will grow that high in two
years. This will give you a flavor for how the entire meeting went. 
 
The attorney whined that both lawyers (mine and the neighbor) filed
their legal briefs late and that the workshop would need to be extended
to another night. When we arrived this past Thurs. the ZBA advised me
that they had additional questions based on the legal submissions and
would like permission to reopen the public hearing. This also allows the
"neighbors" and anyone else to make further comments. In discussing it
with AL Millus, (WB2EQR) my attorney, we felt it would show good faith
on my part if we needed to go further to court. 
 
Monday March 25, 2002 at 6:45 PM will be another "hearing". The ZBA
indicated a decision would most likely be forthcoming that night,
however. Let's see. 
 
My next door neighbor cornered Don (N2USM) and started to back peddle.
He said he did not realize how far this would go and that there were
things said that should not have, especially at the first hearing when
all the neighbors verbally abused me, but had never met me. He also said
he did not want hard feelings! Imagine that. After all the grief they
have given me, their attempt to discredit not only me but the hobby, 
the verbal abuse, not to mention my legal bills which are coming due,
he does not want hard feelings. 
 
One more meeting, March 25th and let's see. I must again offer my
sincere thanks to my attorney, Al Millus - WB2EQR for his untiring
efforts on my behalf. Also, thanks for Frank Fallon, N2FF our Hudson
Division Director and Ed Hare - W1RFI from the ARRL Lab for their many
trips to Kinderhook to testify and support me. And a special thanks to
my ham buddies, Dana - WA2WNI, Mike-N2JVE, Bob-N2LUD, Jack-WA2WHJ for
being at virtually every Zoning Board Meeting and offering their support
and at times their input to the ZBA. And, I can't leave out my wife
Terry. She is not a ham, can't get her to be a ham, does not even like
radio, yet she has been there every time for me. After the meetings she
breaks out the refreshments and 807s for all of us. 
 
Stay tuned for March 25th. If anyone knows where I can get 75 foot
trees please let me know. I will be looking for them at the first 
hamfest! "
 
My best regards, 73's, Fred, WA2MMX
 
> HUDSON DIVISION SPEAKER'S BUREAU
 
Division clubs are always looking for interesting speakers. If you have
a topic that might fill the bill please contact Andrew Richter, N2FTR,
the Hudson Division Assistant Director tasked with keeping the database
at N2FTR@arrl.net
 
> ARRL CONTEST BRANCH ANNOUNCING THE ARRL CONTEST RATE SHEET
 
The ARRL is pleased to announce the ARRL Contest Rate Sheet - to be
published every other week by the ARRL! It's intended to be a useful
source of timely information for both the active and casual contester. 
The Rate Sheet will include information about events during the
following two-week period and time-sensitive news items.
 
The first issue will be published March 13. ARRL Members may subscribe
to the ARRL Contest Rate Sheet by going to the Member Data Page at:
http://www.arrl.org/members-only/memdata.html?modify=1 Note: you must
be logged in to the site to access this page. Scroll down to the section
"Which of the following would you like to receive automatically via
email from ARRL?" Check the box for "ARRL Contest Rate Sheet (Bi-Weekly
Contest Newsletter)" and you're all set.
 
We're going to start with a simple format. To keep the newsletter light
and tight, we'll rely heavily on summaries and links to web pages that
make available more extensive information. Additions and changes will
be made over time, as the best use of the newsletter format becomes
clearer.
 
In the meantime, suggestions for content and organization are welcome!
Please send your ideas to rate-sheet@arrl.org 
 
Here's the overall format and a sample of typical items...Each issue
will begin with a Summary followed by critical bulletin-level items,
such as FCC communications emergencies, short-notice rule changes, and
so forth. Announcements and Notices for the two-week period being
covered will come next. This will include notices of which contests are
running the coming weekends with Contest Corral text (including web
links) and pending log submission deadlines.
 
News for this issue follows the announcements section and will include
newsworthy items received during the preceding two weeks. Look for news
reports from the ARRL Contest Desk, announcements of results
availability, changes in contest databases, software releases, and other
news from contributors. Technical and Technique items will be included,
as they are available. We'll try to include a Contest Tip or very short
technical/technique item in each issue.
 
73, Ward N0AX
 
> 2001 DXCC YEARBOOK
 
The 2001 DXCC yearbook is currently being assembled. We expect the
yearbook to be ready for mailing sometime in late May or early June
2002.
 
The period for the Annual List in this issue is from October 1, 2000 to
September 30, 2001. If you submitted an application postmarked during
this period and you are a current ARRL member, you are entitled to one
free copy. You are also entitled to one free copy if you qualified for
the DXCC Honor Roll during this period and were an ARRL member, even if
you did not submit an application.
 
If you are not entitled to a free copy, but would like one, you may
order copies from the DXCC Branch for $5.00 each, postpaid. Orders may
be placed after June 1, 2002. We wish to thank you all for your
continued support for the DXCC Program!
 
Bill Moore NC1L, DXCC Manager
 
> GOVERNORS ISLAND EVENT
 
There is going to be a boating demonstration to try to get the federal
Governors to turn over Governors Island to New York State so it can be
developed as part of the state park system. There will be 500 to 1000
boats at this event. We had our first meeting with the Hudson River Park
Trust Monday, February 25. Amateur Radio will be needed for
communications. This event will be on June 9 starting a 9 am and ending
at about 2 PM. We need 10 operators to cover the control boats and 1
operator to cover the fireboat. We will also need 2 operators to cover
control base. Also we will need about 35 operators on June 23 to cover
the Swim race around Manhattan. 
 
We also have the bike tour coming up where we will need a large number
of operators. These are the largest events that we have to cover in May
and June. So start thinking when you will be available so we can plan.
Let your EC know what event you will be at. If you cannot reach your
EC then let Charlie N2NOV our DEC know. This is the time to get ready 
 
>From John Kiernan, KE2UN, EC/RO Bronx//Manhattan NYC ARES / RACES
 
> NEWS FROM THE RADIO AMATEUR CIVIL EMERGENCY SERVICE OF THE CHATHAMS 
 
The Chatham RACES net on February 4 was a very worthwhile exercise,
testing direct contacts among our members. The net started at 7:30 PM
on 146.565 MHz, the Chatham RACES primary direct channel with five
checkins; Ron Lee, K7AB, Bob Millar, KB2KKR, Ralph Milnes, KC2RLM, Paul
Schreiber, W2UH, and Fred Widmann, W2QXK. There was an ongoing
conversation on that channel, so in the best of ham courtesy we moved to
Chatham RACES's secondary direct channel, 147.555 MHz, which was clear
and worked equally well. Initially Fred was not able to hear everyone,
so in good ham persistence he moved around until he could. 
 
After everyone was in the net several test messages were past. The
primary lesson learned was to pass messages at writing, not reading
speed. At 8:00 PM all stations moved to WS2Q/R, the County repeater for
the monthly Morris County RACES net. Paul Schreiber checked in for the
group 
 
The net resumed after the County net, when we switched to the 440 band. 
The first test was on 446.000 MHz, the national direct channel on that
band. Next the net switched to the 440 NO2EL repeater. It also worked
well. This was the first time Chatham RACES used the 440 band, and it
promises to be very useful, especially when we get Tim Sugrue's repeater
at a better location. 
 
Demonstration of sound card packet was the feature agenda item at the
March 4 meeting was demonstrated by Ralph Milnes - how to use a PC sound
card for packet instead of an external TNC. This is certainly an
inexpensive way to get on packet. He discussed the needed special cable
interface (also works for PSK31, RTTY and SSTV!); and the free software
utility AGWPE, which was written by a Greek ham, George, SV2AGW. The
primary purpose of the demonstration was to show the relative ease (or
difficulty) in using a sound card instead of a TNC.
 
Amateur Radio Email was also discussed. Ralph Milnes, Ed Guy and Paul
Schreiber have generated "tons" of emails among each other discussing a
new easy-to-use packet program with the look and feel of Internet email.
 The goal is replacing the several packet programs, all with
significantly different commands, by one that any regular email user can
use with minimal instructions. This could include persons from a served
agency sending and receiving email with a control operator present. 
 
Two approaches to Amateur Radio Email are under consideration; (1)
adopting common email packages in popular Internet browsers or (2)
developing a new program with an email window, a mailbox and forming
AX-25 packets in a sound card or small external TNC. A Windows version
of PC Pakratt with an Internet email window comes to mind. 
 
Ralph Milnes also demonstrated a program he found on the Internet that
approximates Amateur Radio Email. It was developed by Len Koppl, KD0RC,
and used in forest fire emergencies. 
 
 by O. Paul Schreiber, W2UH, otmarpaul@cs.com, or w2uh@arrl.net
 
>>>>>>>>> HAMFESTS: 
 
CHERRYVILLE HAMFEST 
 
(Sorry we won't be there this year as there is a conflict with the St.
Patrick's Day Parade. Slainte!)
 
The Cherryville Repeater Association holds its annual Hamfest on
Saturday, March 16, 2002 at the North Hunterdon Regional High School,
Clinton, NJ. Take I-78 west to Exit 17 or 16 to Route 31 south, then
one mile south to the High School (about 40 min from Chatham). Talk-in
is on the Cherryville repeater, 147.375, + 600, no PL. VE exams start
9:00 AM, with preregistration available at  . A SkyWarn
training session, by Joe Miketta of the Mt. Holly office of the NWS
starts at 10:00 AM. Earlier at 9:00 AM, Al Waller, K3TKJ, owner of the
popular ham sites, qsl.net and qth.net will lead a presentation about

them