ARRL East Bay Section

John Stuart, KM6QX continues to be a treasure to MDARC, and to ham radio. Among the many ham-related things that John does is to organize and coordinate ham radio support for several great community service events each year. He has coordinated such things as world-class bike race events up Mt. Diablo, marathon running events out of Castle Rock in Walnut Creek, Police Olympics in Briones Park, various thrilling Trail Adventure Triathalon events in local regional parks, and various horse trailride events that require hams to go off road with 4-wheel vehicles to reach checkpoints. When you do an event that John has organized, it’s alway exciting, challenging, and you usually experience something you remember for a long time. There have been several incidents in which John has coordinated rescue services to injured or lost event participants. He has been intimately involved in setting up state-of-the-art radio equipment in the San Ramon Valley Emergency Services Communications Command Vehicle, for the San Ramon Fire District. He continues to provide great service to the community, and great learning experiences for hams. Best of all, the events he organizes are just plain fun!

This past weekend John coordinated the 50-mile Concord Mt. Diablo Trailride event that he has helped organize for close to 20 years. This included hams driving 4-wheel drive vehicles over beautiful back country trails on Mt. Diablo, trails that are usually closed to public auto access. It was a fantastic day on the mountain, the hills were bright green, the wild flowers were blooming and the views were spectacular. Hams traveled from one P&R station to another (horse pulse and respiration check stations), bringing race judges, vets and event organizers to the stations before the horses arrived there. Hams provided coordination of information to help assure the safety of horse riding participants.

Here are a few photos of this weekend’s Concord Mt. Diablo Trailride event:

Photos of trailride event:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11636522@N06/sets/72157604898029367
After going to the link, click on “Slideshow” in upper right of screen. Then click on large arrows on right or left of photo to navigate.

Pete Harris
KE6ZIW

from ARRL News:

L. B. Cebik, W4RNL, ARRL Technical Adviser and antenna authority, passed away last week. He was 68. An ARRL Life Member, Cebik was known to many hams for the numerous articles he wrote on antennas and antenna modeling. He had articles published in most of the US ham journals, including QST, QEX, NCJ, CQ, Communications Quarterly, Ham Radio, 73, QRP Quarterly, Radio-Electronics and QRPp. Larry Wolfgang, WR1B, QEX Editor, called Cebik “probably the most widely published and often read author of Amateur Radio antenna articles ever to write on the subject.”

I noticed a number of bulletins have passed around this link http://www.dmv.ca.gov/cellularphonelaws/dl208_03cell_phone.pdf as proof positive that the hands-free driving law that will go into effect July 1st does not apply to amateur radio.  And in fact, when this page first went up on the DMV site, I recall passing it on to you as an indication that the matter was settled.  Unfortunately, there has been a turn of events that gives me pause.

At the time the page cited above was put up by the DMV, it was linked from this page http://www.dmv.ca.gov/cellularphonelaws/ (the link was named something on the order of “FAQs about the new hands-free laws” and if you searched on the DMV site you would find both pages.  Sometime subsequent to that, the FAQs were placed directly on page http://www.dmv.ca.gov/cellularphonelaws/ and the link to the old page (http://www.dmv.ca.gov/cellularphonelaws/dl208_03cell_phone.pdf) was removed.  The text now on the main page says nothing about an exclusion for two-way radio use except for specific exclusion “for those operating a commercial motor truck or truck tractor (excluding pickups), implements of husbandry, farm vehicle or tow truck, to use a two-way radio operated by a “push-to-talk” feature”.  The page we have seen passed around is ***not*** linked to or from any other page on the DMV site and it does not show up when you search the DMV site (there is a search tool anchored in the upper right corner of every DMV page).  And the text on the published page reads to me like anything with a push-to-talk switch cannot be operated by the driver of a vehicle except for the exclusions for emergency workers, tow truck drivers, commercial truckers, and so forth.

So what happened?
*  Did a web developer at the DMV attempt to merge the two pages and inadvertently put the old text on the main page, and leave the old pdf out there for us to find (assuming we know the exact URL)?
                                                          — OR —
*  Was there an official change of interpretation and the result is this republication of the FAQs on the main page with the example that excluded two-way radios deliberately removed?

We don’t know!  And so far our attempts to find out have not yielded an answer.

The root of the problem is the law uses the term “wireless telephone” without defining it.  This leaves the definition up to the DMV and CHP and eventually to the courts when someone gets cited and starts the process of challenging it.  Changing the law is a 2 to 3 year process, so that’s not an immediate remedy.  Asking legal authorities such as the State Attorney General for a definition of “wireless telephone” is risky because there is no assurance we would get a favorable definition, and thus might get stuck with the unfavorable one.

We’re working the issue with our contacts in Sacramento.  In the meantime, I strongly advise against making any statements that the issue is resolved or pointing people to what amounts to an orphan document on the DMV web site.  It’s too bad, because this was so promising — now we just don’t know.  Bob and I will update you the minute we hear anything official.  And if you happen upon any developments, please share them with all of us.
 
73,
Andy Oppel, N6AJO
Vice Director, Pacific Division
American Radio Relay League (ARRL)
The National Association for Amateur Radio

On KQED’s recent episode of  QUEST, SETI: The New Search for ET, featured Jill Tarter, this year’s PACIFICON Banquet Speaker. Check out the video:

The ARRL East Bay Section is in need of Amateur Radio operators to grow the Field Services organization (including NTS) andto fill one section leadership position within the EB Section. The open positions, with links to the official ARRL position description, are listed below. If you are interested please contact the Section Manager or the section leadership official responsible for the position you are interested in. Current ARRL membership is required for all appointments.

SECTION LEADERSHIP

• Affiliated Club Coordinator - Must be willing to travel through out the East Bay Section to visit all Amateur Radio clubs and organizations in fulfillment of the roles and responsibilities of this position. Reports directly to the Section Manager and also works with other section leadership officials.

FIELD SERVICES POSITIONS

• District Emergency Coordinator - Must be interested and active in emergency communications in your area. Need one representative each for Alameda and Napa counties. Reports directly to the Section Emergency Coordinator and manages Emergency Coordinators (EC) within your geographic area.
• Local Government Liaison – Must be willing to monitor proposals and actions of town/city councils, zoning boards, zoning appeals boards, and any other legislative or regulatory agencies or officials below the state level whose actions can directly or indirectly affect Amateur Radio. Reports directly to the Section Manager. Also works with the Sacramento Valley Section Government Liaison.
• Net Manager – Must have an interest in participating in and supporting the National Traffic System (NTS). Requires regular activity and reporting. Reports directly to the Section Traffic Manager.
• Public Information Officer – If you are interested in Public Relations, or are the Newsletter/Bulletin editor for your Amateur Radio group, then you may be interested in this position. You will be responsible for gathering and disseminating amateur radio related information. Reports directly to the Public Information Coordinator.
• Technical Specialist – Reports directly to and supports the Technical Coordinator in two main areas of responsibility: Radio Frequency Interference, and Technical Information. TS’s can specialize in certain specific technical areas, or can be generalists