Virginia Section of the ARRL April Section Manager’s Report (Covering March)

++Affiliated Club Coordinator++

Invite an Inactive Ham to Field Day:  Under the able leadership of Assistant Section Manger, Ed Gibbs, KW4GF, we have developed the Get on the Air for Life initiative. The idea of the initiative is find what inspires Hams of all ages to remain “radio active”, and create compelling opportunities to remain/return to the hobby.  Sadly, about half of the 20,000 Hams in Virginia are inactive.  Imagine if just 10% of these Hams returned to Amateur Radio?  Under the GOTA for Life initiative, everybody is a mentor.

Field Day is just two months away, and now would be a great time for each of you to befriend an inactive Ham in your community, and invite him/her to Field Day.  How to find inactive Hams?  See:  https://haminfo.tetranz.com/map and enter your radio call sign.  Knock on a door of a Ham you don’t know, and personally invite them to your Club’s Field Day activation on 22-23 June, 2024.   

By the way, has your club listed their FD activation with ARRL?  Easy to do! See: https://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator

Mike, WA8AHZ & Ken, N4VKF

VA Section Affiliated Club Coordinators

If you'd like to assist with the affiliated club coordination, please get with Mike WA8AHZ at WA8AHZ AT arrl DOT net . The goal is to divide Virginia into a few smaller, more manageable sections. And a big "Welcome" to Kenneth Fowler N4VKF for stepping up to help out as an Affiliated Club Coordinator!

++Section Youth Coordinator++

After-Action Report: Amateur Radio at Tidewater Council University of Scouting

Event Overview: Despite the rainy weather, our amateur radio booth at the recent scout event was successful. Our aim was to generate interest among scouts in amateur radio and promote the upcoming 2024 Jamboree on the Air (JOTA). We provided hands-on learning opportunities and collaborated closely with local radio clubs to ensure the event's success.

Attendance and Engagement: Approximately 500 individuals, including scouts, parents, and scout leaders, attended the event. Our booth, with its unique interactive stations such as CW practice, HF GOTA, Fox Hunt display, SDR displays, and Crystal Radio, attracted around 250 visitors, demonstrating a strong interest from the scouting community.

Collaboration and Support: The event's success was largely due to the invaluable support we received from various local radio clubs, including the Williamsburg Area Amateur Radio Club, Chesapeake Amateur Radio Club, VA Beach Amateur Radio Society, Amateur Radio Society of Norfolk, and Old Dominion Amateur Radio Club.

Outcomes and Feedback: The event achieved its objectives in several ways:

• Raised awareness about amateur radio among scouts and the public.
• Engaged approximately 250 scouts and leaders with interactive learning stations.
• Received positive feedback from attendees regarding the organization and educational value of the event.
• Sparked ongoing interest among scout leaders, who requested more amateur radio talks for their local meetings.
• Received appreciation from the Tidewater Scouting Council for our performance and professionalism.

Next Steps: Based on the success of this event, we plan to:

• Continue collaborating with local radio clubs to organize future amateur radio activities for scouts.
• Explore opportunities to assist scouts in earning radio merit badges and preparing for the Jamboree on the Air.
• Consider sharing information and resources with other amateur operators interested in supporting scouting activities.

Overall, the event served as a catalyst for promoting amateur radio within the scouting community and laid a strong foundation for future endeavors in this area.

We are grateful for the support received from all involved parties and look forward to further engaging with scouts to foster their interest in amateur radio.

73

McKenzie Denton (KO4GLN)

McKenzie Denton

Virginia Section Youth Coordinator

KO4GLN@arrl.net

++Upcoming Events++

Field Day (June 22/23)

This is our opportunity to shine and show off to our communities. June gets here a lot quicker than you think! If you’re participating with a club, or as an ARES unit, make sure you put on your best face and look as business like as you can. Invite the local emergency management, volunteer groups, youth groups, educators, and the general public. Make a good showing and advertise our services! Make sure and use the hashtags #ARRLFD, #ARRL #HamRadio #AmateurRadio #YourCommunityHashtags in your posts on social media. There's an excellent resource available at https://www.arrl.org/files/file/Field-Day/2023/ARRL%20Field%20Day%20-%20Public%20Relations%20Kit.docx

https://www.arrl.org/field-day

++ Get On The Air For Life (GOTA 4 Life) ++

Ed Gibbs KW4GF is still available to present GOTA For Life to clubs or club officers at their meetings via ZOOM. Please contact Ed at beachteach15@yahoo.com.

I highly encourage your clubs or ARES units to get with Ed to go over this information. There are a lot of valuable tips that can help you recruit and retain members, and keep them active, from the time they are first licensed until they become silent keys.

+++Hamfests+++

04/13/2024 - Thawfest II

Location: Ruckersville, VA

Type: ARRL Hamfest

Sponsor: Greene County VA ARC

Website: https://thawfest.net

06/01/2024 Ole Virginia Hams Tailgate

Location: Manassas, VA

Type: Regular Hamfest

Sponsor: W4OVH Ole Virginia Hams

Website: https://w4ovh.net/tailgate/

08/03/2024 - Roanoke Hamfest    

Location: Vinton, VA

Type: ARRL Hamfest

Sponsor: Roanoke Valley ARC

Website: https://roanokehamfest.info/

08/04/2024 - SVARC Berryville Hamfest / Virginia Section Convention

Location: Berryville, VA

Type: ARRL Hamfest

Sponsor: Shenandoah Valley Amateur Radio Club

Website: https://berryvillehamfest.com/

8/10/2024 - Tidewater Hamfest and Swap Meet

Location: Portsmouth, VA

Type: ARRL Hamfest (application submitted)

Sponsor: Tidewater Radio Conventions (Formerly Va Beach Hamfest)

Website: http://VirginiaBeachHamfest.com

08/10/2024 - Tidewater Hamfest and Swap Meet    

Location: Portsmouth, VA

Type: ARRL Hamfest

Sponsor: Tidewater Radio Conventions

Website: http://VirginiaBeachHamfest.com

For more information see: https://www.arrl.org/hamfests/search

+++Contest Calendar+++

You can download the handy reference at: http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Contest%20Calendar/ARRL%20Contests%20Calendar%202023-2024.pdf or see the interactive calendar at http://www.arrl.org/contest-calendar

++Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES)++

The League will be releasing the first two new EmComm courses April 1.  Basic EmComm and Intermediate EmComm will be live in the ARRL Learning Center April 1.  With the new courses being released the legacy courses will be removed April 1.  Anyone who is currently enrolled in EC-001 or EC-016 will need to complete these courses by April 1 to receive credit for them.  We hope to have Advanced EmComm and ARES Leadership courses complete by early summer.

+++ARES February Report+++

Mrespond is arty KE4KEW is back in the seat as the Section Emergency Coordinator. He wants to thank all those who offered to fill in for him if needed during his need for personal time, and I thank all of them as well. Having trained personnel available to serve our great commonwealth makes us more resilient.

The ARES Monthly Report continues to be sent out as a separate document. This goes both via the ARRL mailing list and to ARES Leadership for further distribution.

If you are an EC and do not have the current link to the report, please contact Marty KE4KEW at martinkrupinski AT Gmail dot COM. Remember, each hour is equivalent to our partner organizations spending $31.84 in training an operator, and of course we provide the equipment as well, saving them even more.

+++ARES Leadership Updates+++

Welcome these fine folks to the ARES team:

Emergency Coordinator, Louisa County: John Matysek KG4VBX

Returning from his hiatus from Emergency Coordinator for District 2 is John WA4JN. John, coffee break's over!

And a farewell to George Gray, W4GVK, retiring from his position as the Louisa County EC . Thank you for your many years of service.

We have vacancies for throughout the Section for various positions. If you or someone you know would like to step up, we'd love to have them!

I will be distributing the link to the leadership directory to ARES leadership for review and update. This is what we and our partners use to contact each other if the need comes. Keep an eye out for it and directions.

Also, as you complete your ARES Position Task Books to Levels 2 or 3, let us know so we can get that information out as well.

+++ARRL/ARES MOU with VDEM Update+++

The VDEM/ARRL of VA MOU is in the final approval stage and awaiting one more review/signature. As soon as that's completed, a copy will be circulated and we can begin the re-write of the VA ARES Emergency Operations Plan (EOP). One thing to remember with the EOP is that it does not replace or supersede any partner organizations' EOPs, but is available for when they do not have one to use, or to serve as an annex to theirs, with joint approval. They are the "served" agency, and we are there to serve them.

+++Simulated Emergency Test (SET)+++

The ARRL has made a substantial change to the SET planning and execution that recognizes that many Sections may have real-world events occurring during the Fall window, and now allows for the scheduling and execution of the SET throughout the year. The annual SET report will remain in the September QST.

Steve KN4AOB, EC for Greene County works very closely with Greene County Office of Emergency Services, and began working on this year’s Simulated Emergency Test (SET) as soon as they completed last year’s. They’re looking to make this into a District 2 event, and have requested that any groups looking to participate please let them know of what dates they’re currently viewing. Traditionally the SET is the first full weekend in October (5 and 6 this year), but we realize that other groups may already have committed to other exercises near that time. Please let me and Steve know what you think would be good timing for you. Steve can be reached at s388bow AT gmail DOT com. If you’re in another district and want to participate, chime in as well! I’ll be reaching out to the VA VOAD and VDEM to get as much participation as possible from them as well.

+++Partner Sponsored Exercise+++

None reported at this time.

++Section Traffic Manager Report++

Va Section Traffic News

Station Activity Report (SAR) and Public Service Honor Roll (PSHR) Reports for March 2024

KK4PUX – SAR - 45, PSHR – 225

N3SW – SAR- 62, PSHR – 90

W4CAC – SAR – 44, PSHR – 185

Net Reports for March

Va Sideband Net – QTC – 36/17, QND - 219,  QNI – 193, Sessions - 31

VN – QTC- , QND- , QNI- , Sessions -

Ports ARC  - QTC – 0, QND-57, QNI – 33, Sessions – 4

NVTN –  QTC – 1/1, QND – 1149, QNI – 784,  Sessions - 31

Floyd ARS  - QTC-0, QND-73, QNI-24, Sessions – 4

South Central Va ARES – QTC – 0, QND – 85, QNI – 33,  Sessions - 4

We have another new net in Virginia.  The Metro Richmond  ARES Net

meets weekly on Thursday evenings at 7:00 PM local time. They will be on 145.430

with a 74.4hz tone. Coverage is Richmond, Henrico, Chesterfield, into other outlying

counties such as Hanover, Goochland, King William, Colonial Heights, and Petersburg.

Randall Breen, KO4KAD, is the net manager.  I hope you stop by and check-in!

73, Carl, W4CAC, w4cac@cox.net

++Section Manager Close-out++

2024 is fifty-five years since Hurricane Camille hit Virginia, resulting in the loss of 153 lives. We suffer from the blessing of having not had a widespread disaster to hit the state, and because of this, a sense of complacency. This year's hurricane season is forecast to have twenty-three named storms, the most forecast by Colorado State University since they began issuing predictions. As with Camille, our biggest threat is not a direct hit, but the flooding and loss of power that results from these storms. Field Day and the ARRL Simulated Emergency Test (SET) are both ways in which we practice and demonstrate our ability to fulfill the priniciples of the FCC rules that gives us our spectrum: "Recognition and enhancement of the value of the amateur service to the public as a voluntary noncommercial communication service, particularly with respect to providing emergency communications." We don't do this in a vacuum. We have partners in the federal, state, and many local governments, and in the Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (VOADs).

And speaking of the VOADs, this month is Volunteer Appreciation Month, with the week of April 21-27 being National Volunteer Week. Reach out to your local volunteer group and thank them for their service to the community. They, along with the government emergency management organizations, are our biggest customer. I encourage you to also look into what you can do to help them out. Being a member of two (or more!) volunteer organizations strengthens our communities, and of course amateur radio's ties to these organizations.

As always, if you have any ideas, questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to me.

73,

Jack KE4LWT