ENTERPRISE AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY PO BOX 310034 ENTERPRISE, AL 36331-0034 Pres - WA4YQT barefeet@alaweb.com VPres - KD4FNI kd4fni@wd4roj.ampr.org Sec/Treas - N4JAG rickpal@snowhill.com PIO - KD4KT leobet@snowhill.com Newsletter - N4RYC geleam@snowhill.com April 2001 Newsletter The April meeting will be held at 7:00 PM, Thursday, 19 April, in Room S-100 in the Science Building at ESJC. DUES REMINDER The following members annual dues of $20 ($5 Associate) are due. March - WD4RBT. April - AE4QQ, WA4WQW. Please remember that after you are three months overdue, you will be dropped from the club roster. If you can't attend a meeting, please mail your check, payable to EARS, to the club address. Thank you for your support. EVENT CALENDAR EARS Meeting - 19 April Moulton, AL Hamfest - 28 April Birmingham Hamfest - 5-6 May EARS Meeting - 17 May Atlanta, GA Hamfest - 2 June Nashville, TN Hamfest - 16 June EARS Meeting - 21 June Field Day - 23-24 June Boll Weevil Net on 147.24+ each Tuesday at 7 PM. Saturday morning breakfasts in Enterprise at 7 AM and in Ozark at 8 AM. Wednesday lunches at the Deli in Daleville at 11:00. Amateur Exams following EARS meetings. Contact Tom, WA4YQT, at 464-0532 at least 24 hours in advance to schedule a test. SILENT KEY It is our sad duty to inform you that one of our members, Robert Terrell "Bob" Hawk, K4PKD is a silent key. Bob passed away on 23 March 2001 and was buried in Meadowlawn Memorial Park Cemetery on 26 March 2001. Bob was very active in EARS until his illness precluded his participation for the past few years. Our sympathy to his wife, Lillian LaVerne "Vern" and the rest of his family. Bob will be missed. Jerry, N4RYC, Editor FIELD DAY Field day is coming up soon. This year it will be on 23 & 24 June. We decided at the March meeting that we would participate and even contest if enough people would volunteer to operate. We will be discussing the topic more at this and next month's meetings. We know that we would like the participation of all Hams in the area, so, pass the word. ------------------------------------------------ Electronic Edition: KC4CXZ - Jason's new Email address is: Jason-Ketcham@home.com Try to make the next few meetings if at all possible. We'll be discussing plans for Field Day in June and would like your input. (As well as a few volunteers to operate a radio.) At the very bottom of this newsletter, you'll find an announcement from ARRL about some of the changes for this year's Field Day. Anything YOU'd like to put in the newsletter? Just drop a note to Jerry - jeleam@snowhill.com - and I'm sure he'll be happy to accommodate. We're still having breakfast on Saturday mornings. In Enterprise it's usually at McDonald's at 7 AM. Listen or call on the repeater to be sure. In Ozark it's at Ann's just off 231 South at 8 AM. Join us. I guess that's it. Must be a slow news day. CU on the radio. N4JAG -- Rick If at first you do succeed, try not to look too astonished. Personal Home Page & PGP Public Key at: http://www.snowhill.com/~rickpal Visit the Enterprise Amateur Radio Society at: http://www.snowhill.com/~rickpal/ears.htm ----------- Field Day Notes -------------- NEW FIELD DAY RULES FOR 2001 DESIGNED TO ENHANCE THE FUN Field Day 2001 will run from 1800 UTC June 23 to 2100 UTC June 24--as always, the fourth full weekend in June. Typically a club or group event, Field Day is the most popular operating activity of the year--and one of the most enjoyable for hams of all skill levels. A few rules changes this year affect bonus points for Field Day scores. * The non-traditional mode bonus has been expanded from 100 to 300 points for doing three separate demonstration modes. * Packet is back and will be counted as one of the three demonstration modes, but to claim packet credit, you must set up a portable digipeater system. Existing, permanent packet networks do not qualify for this bonus. * You may earn a 100-point bonus if an invited local government official or representative of one of the agencies that ARES serves in an emergency visits your Field Day site. To earn this bonus, the invited official must actually visit the site, not just be invited. * The message-handling bonus has been changed. You may now earn 10 points per message, up to 100 points total, for origination, relay, and delivery of formal NTS messages. In the past, only messages received and relayed were counted. The Field Day participation message to the Section Manager or Section Emergency Coordinator under rule 7.3.5 does not also qualify for bonus points under these rules. This marks the last year that the extra Novice/Tech Plus station will exist in its current form. The Novice/Tech station is a non-counting transmitter, and its QSOs count for QSO point credit. The ARRL Membership Services Committee is considering several options to encourage participation by newly licensed hams. The ARRL Contest Branch has compiled a 24-page Field Day 2001 Information packet, http://www.arrl.org/contests/forms/01fdpack.pdf . This document is available in hard-copy format by sending an SASE with four units of postage to Field Day Package, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111. In addition to the dated Field Day pins that have proven so popular the past few years, the League now offers 2001 Field Day T-shirts. Pins are just $5, and the T-shirts are $9.95. For ordering information, visit the ARRL Products Catalog, http://www.arrl.org/catalog, or call toll-free 888-277-5289. The Contest Branch no longer handles orders for these items.