- Field Day Participation & COVID-19
This year we will set up on private property, and not in a public place. This is out of extreme caution regarding COVID-19 and safety of members. So there are rules for participation:
Proposed Rules 2021
- Club members (and immediate family accompanying them) who have been vaccinated for COVID-19 and have no symptoms of COVID-19 are welcome to participate as operators, helpers, loggers. Others may participate from home as part of the club’s “Aggregate Score”, but may not come onto the Field Day site.
- All participants must sign the log and certify that they have been vaccinated and are currently without symptoms. For operators, this is also the Field Day operators list. Unfortunately, children too young to be vaccinated may not participate, but members may show their visiting masked children the operations in a safe manner (per CDC.)
- Unlike other years- this is not a public place, so no visitors, other than club members who sign the log as a visitor.
- Even if you have been vaccinated, bring a mask and don’t come if feeling sick or having a fever.
- Even if you have been vaccinated, and are outdoors, keep 3′ social distance and clean the equipment between users. You may want to bring your own key… if you are a CW op!
- Everyone logged in accepts responsibility for keeping these rules, and speaking up.
[Revised to clarify that un-vaccinated children may “visit” with a responsible parent in a safe way]
While you are at it:
- Bring a long sleeved shirt, it’ll get cold at night
- Bring insect repellent
- Bring a hat
- Bring a chair you would like to operate in… and maybe a cushion
- If you have a badge with name and callsign, bring and wear that!
- May 2021 President’s Blog
PRESIDENT’S BLOG – On Exposure and other things
There has been a lot of talk lately about the new RF Exposure limits
for amateur radio. In the past we were given generous limits and
only needed to comply by calculation if we exceeded those limits.
Now the limits are tighter and the calculation will have to be made.There are a number of online calculators that we can use and at the
club meeting (this Tuesday, May 18th, at 7:30 PM) we will be showing
a YouTube video on the subject. There are also links on the club
web page that we can use to find out further information. Here is a
link to the RF Exposure information on the club website:
I hope to see you all at the meeting or, as we say in ham radio,
“Stay Tuned”.
73,
Don, AK2S - President’s Blog April 2021
SWL
They are among us and we do not even know it! I refer to Short Wave Listeners.
Personally, I have received two QSL cards from SWL’s who were eves-dropping on my conversations; one even on CW, so no one is safe from being monitored.
When starting a new mode of operation, be it CW, Digital, or phone, it is always appropriate to be a SWL. That way you get the “lay of the land” which will show you how things get done on the particular mode by observing other, more experienced, users.
At this point, let me put in a plug for the Club’s 2-meter repeater net on Tuesday evenings at 8:00 PM local time. The net is held on the DSRC repeater (146.460 MHz and the PL is 131.8 Hz). If you have a radio capable of working on this band and do not know how to set it up, you only need to ask any of the more experienced hams. The purpose of the net is to allow new hams to test and get comfortable with their equipment and allow those hams who cannot get on because they do not have the equipment yet to join in the fun.
On another personal note, when I worked for RCA, I was the Net Control Station (NCS) for the club’s 75-meter phone net. One night I mentioned that a launch had been postponed due to inclement weather. Next day the FBI showed up to investigate the leaking of classified information. It turns out that another ham, who was an engineer that had worked at Astro and was now working in Camden, had worked on the program in question and when he was doing that, it was a classified job. It had since, unbeknown to him, been declassified and no harm was done but it shows that you never know who is listening to you.
Also, in my opinion, there are too many SWL’s on the bands and not enough active hams.
We need You!
73,
Don, AK2S
- Ham Cram and Testing Session TCF 2021
On Saturday March 20, 2021 the David Sarnoff Radio Club sponsored “Ham Cram” as a way to “Get a Ham Radio License via Zoom in One Day” during the Trenton Computer Fest 2021
Our Club has supported a “Ham Cram” amateur radio Technician License Class and Exam Session at the annual Trenton Computer Festival since at least 1998 (that’s how far back my collection of club newsletters extends!)
In March 2020, TCF was canceled for the first time in its 45-year history because of the outbreak of the then-new novel coronavirus. Large gatherings such as TCF were still restricted in 2021, so the TCF planning commmittee decided to conduct a virtual TCF in 2021 using Zoom. DSRC agreed to sponsor a virtual version of the Ham Cram and Exam Session.
The transition of the Ham Cram to a virtual format using Zoom was relatively straightforward, as Zoom has already been used to provide remote instruction to millions of students.
What we covered in the Ham Cram The license exam was much more of a challenge, because the FCC and ARRL VEC have strict requirements regarding the administration of amateur radio exams . My initial research uncovered that most pandemic exams used one of two approaches. In the first, candidates drive their vehicles to a large parking lot, complete the preliminary paperwork from inside their vehicles, and then take the test itself sitting on a folding chair in front of their vehicle, where they can be observed by the required minimum of 3 volunteer examiners. We immediately identified 3 problems with this approach. First local weather in mid-March is very unpredictable. Second, we did not find a commercial lot owner willing to let us use their land. And third, some candidates could be traveling a significant distance, so the exam would have to be delayed after the conclusion of the Ham Cram.
The other common approach is a remote test software application called ExamTools. The test is conducted online while a Zoom session is used to observe the candidate. Unfortunately, the ExamTools application supports only a single candidate at a time, so for a large number of candidates, the testing would take many hours.
Alan Wolke, W2AEW, heard of another alternative via Ria Jairam, N2RJ, who put me in contact with Joe Speroni, AH0A, in Honolulu. Joe has been conducting remote testing throughout the pandemic, observing up to 6 candidates at-a-time testing with traditional paper forms in a Zoom breakout room.
Joe graciously offered to support our event if I could supply enough volunteer examiners to staff multiple Zoom breakout rooms. We wouldn’t know the final count until the day of TCF, so we decided to plan for up to 4 breakout rooms which could accommodate as many as 24 candidates.
Joe had never conducted such a large test event previously, but he was enthusiastic to do so.
The planning and execution for up to 4 simultaneous virtual exam rooms via Zoom was a huge challenge. We assembled a team of 16 volunteer examiners: 8 local VEs from DSRC and other area clubs, plus an additional 8 VEs from Hawaii, California, and Guam, who have worked with AH0A in the past. We held a mock testing session via Zoom to rehearse the TCF test session logistics.
On Saturday, March 20, 14 candidates registered to take exams, but 2 backed-out at the last minute. We split the 12 candidates between 3 breakout rooms. The testing proceeded very smoothly.
A total of 17 exam elements were attempted by the 12 candidates. 7 earned a Technician class license, 3 earned a General class license, and 2 did not earn a license.
Special thanks to Joe Speroni, AH0A who developed the virtual Zoom exam session process and spent countless hours before, during, and after TCF to support our event.
73, John NU3E
2021 TCF VIRTUAL HAM CRAM INSTRUCTORS
- Pat Howard K2PAT
- Alan Wolke W2AEW
- Joe Zaroff WA3NEQ
2021 TCF VIRTUAL VE TEAM
- Ben Cahill AC2YD
- John DeGood NU3E
- Michael Harla N2MHO
- C.R. Phillips N3HTZ
- Carlos Prior KE2TT
- Eric Russell KD2ONY
- Cathy Tsao KD2UGE
- Joe Zaroff WA3NEQ
AH0A’s Pacific Team:
- Gessie Alpuuro WH6AV
- Shane Callaghan AH2EJ
- Stephen Kawamae KH6WG
- Larry Loomer KI6LNB
- Joe Speroni AH0A
- Joseph Tabrah KH6FHI
- Beverly Yuen AH6NF
- James Yuen WH6GS
- TCF Ham Cram / Testing page added
Link to: Trenton Computer Fest – Ham Cram – David Sarnoff Radio Club
The link above has information about the morning Ham Cram and the afternoon VE Session.
See you at TCF2021: Saturday March 20, 2021
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