Septemebr 9, 2006

Tom King, W4ZVH, is the Floyd County ARES EC. "It’s like an old-fashioned barn-raising, says Tom King (W4VZH). The antenna party King is hosting Saturday morning, September 9, at 9:00 is an ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Services) event that will bring together local ARES members and other prospective members and raise a tower to aid in communications outside the county."

Follow this link for details and photos about this significant event for the Floyd County ARES Group.

Read more ...

August 15, 2006
Jerry Haislip, K1SO]

There are many ways to travel and experience the “All-American Road,” the Blue Ridge parkway winding along 469 miles of ridge lines and mountaintops across Virginia and North Carolina’s scenic Appalachian Mountains. You can either drive the road or now you can travel the route by making contact via Amateur Radio with mobile and portable stations located on the picturesque trail.

This well known scenic roadway goes thru some of the most beautiful state and national parks in the country, connecting the Shenandoah National Park, Virginia at one end with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina at the other. The Parkway surrounds the traveler with natural beauty of native forest lands and mountain pastures on both sides of the highway. At a speed limit of 45 mph, the journey could take several days to cover the entire Blue Ridge parkway. So why not travel along with Amateur radio and check in with all the locations during the multi-state special event.

On September 16th and 17th clubs in Virginia and North Carolina will activate stations all along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Roanoke Valley Amateur radio Club along with members of the Lexington Amateur Radio Club, Lynchburg Amateur Radio Club, Franklin County Amateur Radio Club and Forsyth Amateur Radio Club, and other volunteers will operate from various locations along he route starting with Rockfish Gap (mile post 0) and ending in Cherokee, North Carolina (mile post 455.7).

The Saturday and Sunday times for 20 meter and 40 meter operations will begin at 1300 UTC (9:00 am EDT) and end at 2100 UTC (5:00 pm EDT) each day. Along the route, locations such as the Natural Bridge, Peaks of Otter, Explore Park, Mabry Mill and Blue Ridge Music Center in Virginia; and Cumberland Knob, Linville Falls and Mount Pisgah in North Carolina will be activated. Traveling along the Parkway and on the National Park Service web map, you will see numbered mileposts starting with zero and running south. Each station will give the name of their location along with the milepost number and county. More than a dozen sites will be on the air for the weekend special event. Twenty meter stations will be spaced from14.205 MHz to 14.285 MHz, and on forty meters stations will be spaced from 7.225 MHz to 7.283 MHz.

There will be ample opportunities to contact and collect each location along the route. They can be redeemed for panorama photo QSL cards and Certificates of the Special Event. Requests for for QSL cards can be sent to W4CA call book address. Any other instructions will be given at the time of contact. Multiple contacts will be placed on one card and a contact with all locations will earn a Special Certificate.

Virginia stations will sign W4CA/(location) and North Carolina Stations to sign W4NC/(location).

With elevations along the mountains range from 600 feet to over 4000 feet and, with good band conditions, everyone should be able to make contact of the HF bands.

Watch for more information on RVARC website The following locations have been manned at this time. Please contact Ray – AB4YZ at (540) 992-2844 if you would like to assist at additional locations.

VIRGINIA
Rockfish Gap MP 0
Natural Bridge MP 64
Apple Orchard Mountain MP 76
Peaks of Otter MP
Explore Park MP 115
Devil’s Backbone MP 144
Mabry Mill MP 157
Groundhog Mountain MP 189
Fancy Gap MP 200
Blue Ridge music Center MP 213

NORTH CAROLINA
Cumberland Knob MP 217
Linville Falls MP 315
Mount Pisgah MP 409

August 15, 2006
Bill Wells, W4BOT
District 13 DEC

There was an ARES Meeting held at the Roanoke Hamfest earlier this month. Section Manager, Glen Sage, led the meeting. Here are a few notes I took.

1. ARRL training guidelines may be dated with respect the governmental standards set by a some of our served agencies. For instance, Northern Virginia has requirements for proof of both League and ICS training together with background checks. This will restrict assistance that jurisdictions could offer in an emergency by personnel who don't hold the necessary qualifications. It seems highly likely that this will impact training - more to follow.
2. We now have a Commonwealth wide ARES database designed to aid with the complexities of mutual jurisdictional support. There is a new ARES registration form now active on the ARES web site. All members are are urged to visit the site and fill in the form ASAP!
3. The ARES organizational structure has been modified to include area appointees sharing SM responsibilities between the DEC and SEC positions to aid rapid assistance. I think this is a good move.

vy 73,
Bill Wells, W4BOT
D13 DEC