THE CARA MARCH MEETING MARCH 5TH AT GREEN ACRES 7:00 P.M. GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING MARCH BOARD MEETING MARCH 26TH AT 6:30 P.M.

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1 THE CARA MARCH MEETING MARCH 5TH AT GREEN ACRES 7:00 P.M. GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING MARCH BOARD MEETING MARCH 26TH AT 6:30 P.M. If you d like to see the pretty copy of this month s Smoke & a world of other club info, Go to the CARA web pages ITEMS OF INTEREST FROM THE RACES NOTES Bob Hollister, N7INK DICE-07 - Just a reminder that DICE is getting closer. I will be looking for volunteers to operate at least a 4 hour shift on one or more of the days identified. Please set some time aside during this period to assist. This will be a great time to get some hands-on operating experience in the MCU as well as working with other response agencies. (3/13-15 DICE 07, JITC, Ft Huachuca) 3) New RACES ID Cards - Ruben Barrera, the Cochise County Volunteer Coordinator, will be at the next CARA club meeting (March 5 th ) from to take photos and print your new RACES Photo ID card. To help this go smoothly, please help me schedule appointments at five minute increments by advising me what preferred time you can be there. Please don't everyone tell me 1845 because that won't work. If you have not sent me yet your emergency point of contact information, please send that to me by so that it can be entered into the county data base ahead of time. I will need the name, address and phone number of someone you would like us to contact if there is an emergency and you may be injured or need assistance. This will save considerable time on Monday evening. TOM FAGAN, WB7NXH, RE-ELECTED AZ SECTION MGR. ARRL Newsletter Feb. 23, 2007 Seven incumbent ARRL Section Managers faced no opposition in the current election cycle and were returned to office for new, two-year terms. Among these was Tom Fagan, WB7NXH, Arizona.

2 COCHISE AMATEUR RADIO ASSOCIATION P.O. Box 1855, Sierra Vista, AZ CARA General Membership Meeting Minutes February 5, 2007 The meeting was called to order by NJ7C, the vice president in the absence of the president KD7OED. Other officers present where treasurer Paul KD7TDL, secretary Pat KD7HAB, member at large was absent. Secretary s Report: Motion was made by KK7NO and seconded by KE7GUM to accept minutes of January meetings as published in the Smoke. Treasurer s Report: Paul KD7TDL: A motion was made by AD7HZ and seconded by KC7GNM to accept the report. Here is the report: Checking Account as of February 4, 2007 $3, Saving Account as of February 4, 2007 $11, Reserved Account: (Antenna Fund $2,277.25) (Life Memberships: $1,920.00) TOTAL FUNDS: $14, Operating Balance: $10, The budget for this next year was submitted but there was no vote taken on it. Vice President s Report: NJ7C Membership/Webpage Statistics gave his report everything is good. Here is the report on membership Membership Type Count LIFE 7 EXTRA 35 FULL 78 ADVANCED 18 FAMILY 23 GENERAL 27 ASSOC 9 TECH 23

3 HONORARY 1 TECH CODE 4 TOTAL 116 LAPSED 17 President s Report: KD7OED submitted his report as follows: (See Board Meeting, ARCA, ARRL, also Old and New Business later on) Notes From The CARA Board of Directors Meeting (29 JAN): KD7OED reported that Mr. L. H. Hamilton (Cochise County Facilities Director) has acknowledged that they are behind the power curve on lease renewal, and promised to do whatever it takes to get the renewal moving again. He has already had dialog with two BLM individuals and is confident that the renewal will occur soon. The Saturday work crew has completed hauling debris from the back portion of the property, and installed a new power drop for the MCU and a transfer switch for the well (so that it can also be powered by a generator). Special thanks to N7SFP for use of his dump-bed pickup to haul stuff to the transfer point, and to N8QEN, AB7NP, and AD7HZ for helping Dave with the electrical work). The next project will be to clean out the paint shed and prepare it for rehabilitation or destruction (Note: the guys began work on this on 3 FEB). Mule Mountain Update: The isolator for the digipeater has been ordered at a cost of $371 plus tax and shipping (note: it has now arrived and the total cost is $408). No further work has been done on Mule Mountain in the past month due to inclement weather. Hamfest planning is well underway more about that from KC8TUG later during the meeting. Repeater Linking: The Arizona Repeater Association (ARA) (which provided funding for our current 2M repeater several years ago) has approached us about the possibility of linking the Mule Mountain and Pinal Peak 2M repeaters. The board agreed that such an arrangement would be beneficial in times of emergency, and will begin the coordination process to find an appropriate frequency pair. The board only committed to begin the coordination process which is expected to take a year or more, but did not commit to spending any club funds on this project at this time. Special VE Session: WB6OTS has arranged to have a special VE session on 24 FEB at Green Acres beginning at This is the day

4 after the CW requirement goes away several members are anticipated to either test for the General Exam or do administrative upgrades to their tickets at that time. There will still be a VE fee for admin upgrades. ARCA Report: There has not been an ARCA meeting since last month s CARA meeting. Our ARCA membership is due for renewal, KD7TDL is writing the check this evening WB6OTS and KD7OED will turn it in at the next ARCA meeting (Yuma Hamfest on 17 FEB). Plans are now underway for the 2007 ARCA convention in Williams stand by for more detailed info in March. ARRL Report: Arizona ARRL Section Manager Tom Fagan, (WB7NXH) and others have recently reported on the ARIZONA EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS PRESERVATION ACT (House Bill 2595). The Federal Communications Commission preemption known as PRB1 requires local communities to provide for reasonable accommodation of Amateur Radio antennas and structures. The new Arizona Bill would further require that Homeowners Associations make similar accommodations, and also calls for no special charge for Arizona Ham Radio license plates. Your help is vital to this bill passing. Please contact your senator and representative now and ask them to support and co-sponsor HB A copy of your legislators and snail mail addresses will go out to the Smoke distribution list, along with a draft letter for your consideration. Member-at-Large Report: Grant/WB6OTS. No report because WB6OTS was absent Hamfest Report: KC8TUG/Randy reported that everything was under way for the Hamfest will be ordering the radio this next month. The tickets will be going out this next month as well. Technical Report: Rich/KB7RDG. Will be doing cleanup in the Pete s Palace Lab. Also planning to get back on the mountain in March to install the digipeater isolator and finish other work. Material Director Report: Mike/AD7HZ. Still looking for donations for the junque sale in May (ask members to contribute we will give them a donation certificate for their taxes).

5 RACES Report: Bob/N7INK reported on the last several mission RACES has had. He also reminded everybody of the SAR training in Wilcox. Which will be the weekend of the 10 & 11 of Feb. The RACES members will have a new ID card of hard plastic. These are to be issued in March. CARA Net Report: Charles/ K4AFN reported that we have had good participation on the nets. Rich KB7RDG will be the guest net control on Feb 8, K4AFN asked if anybody else wants to be net control for any nets let him know. OLD BUSINESS: Presidents report continued: a. Equipment Insurance: The board recommended a ceiling of $200 per year for equipment insurance (would cover up to $13,000 of equipment). KD7OED and AD7HZ will prepare a list of items to be insured and check to see whether treasurer has receipts for the items (this is one of the conditions for any claim there is no point in paying for insurance on something unless you can actually collect!). b. Lease renewal: See Board Meeting Notes. c. Caretaker: No Change board will not solicit a new caretaker until the BLM lease is renewed. d. HF antenna improvement fund: No Change - board will not recommend expenditure until the BLM lease is renewed. Technical committee still considering a smaller 4-element STEPPIR unit that will function as a rotatable dipole on 30M, 40M, and MARS frequencies. e. Contest Activity: International DX contest will be held 3-4 MAR (contact KD7OED if you want to play). NEW BUSINESS: No new business from the board or from the membership 50/50 Drawing Don KG5HC was the lucky winner of the 50/50. Next Meeting: 5 MAR, 1900 hours. Meeting adjourned at 8:00 pm Respectfully submitted, Pat Thies KD7HAB, CARA Secretary

6 PLEASE HELP WITH AZ HAM LEGISLATION Lee Ilse, KD7OED Arizona Folks, I would like request your support in writing to your Arizona state representatives and senators soliciting their support for House Bill An example letter is included below - along with a list of snail mail and addresses for local legislators. Thanks in advance! Subject: Amending Arizona Revised Statutes Relating to Amateur Radio Accommodation (House Bill 2595) Dear (Fill in Name of Senator or Representative Here) Representative McLain has introduced legislation in support of Emergency Communications, HB I would greatly appreciate your support of this important bill. The basic provisions are simply a codification in Arizona statutes of the Federal Communications Commission preemption known as PRB1, which requires local governments to give "reasonable accommodation" for federally licensed Amateur Radio antennas and support structures. This same type of legislation has been enacted in some 23 states, usually unanimously or at a minimum by an overwhelming majority. Amateur Radio operators (hams) supply vital emergency communications in times of disasters, earthquakes, flooding, hurricanes, and fires. They have a presence at the State EOC; agreements with Dept of Homeland Security, FEMA, Red Cross, Cochise County Sheriff, and many other agencies. Hams train regularly with these agencies and other first responders, and volunteer thousands of hours every year in public service. The 2002 Rodeo-Chedeski Fire initial coordination was conducted via Amateur Radio operators and their communications systems, and every year amateur radio operators play key roles in the rescue many lost hikers, hunters, and others (the rescue of ROTC Cadet David Shipman from a cave on Fort Huachuca is just one example). Outside of Arizona, hams have played key roles in maintaining communications in New York City after the twin towers terrorist attack (when cell phone service was down throughout the city), and after the space shuttle Columbia disaster in Northeast Texas (where cell phone service was virtually non-existant). The State of Arizona has a hodge podge of local regulations that are many times in conflict with the Federal Communications Commission PRB1 preemption. It is difficult and costly for individual Amateur Radio operators to "educate" local government officials about the federal preemption. Codification of that preemption for "reasonable accommodation" would greatly ease the burden of proof that is now placed on the radio operator.

7 The State has made preemption in homeowner association rules so that police officers could park their service vehicles at their homes, and similar preemption for "emergency service" vehicles for SRP, APS, and various natural gas providers who take them home so they can respond quickly in emergencies. The CCR's for some older neighborhoods include rules against selling to minorities based on their color or ethnic origin. Times change and we all need to change with them. The ability to provide "emergency communications" should not be held back by antiquated rules that make no sense in the modern world. Reasonable accommodation is not too much to ask, and is in the public's best interest. Mayor Brown of Page is working with the League of Cities on this issue. He has provided them the language that has been similarly adopted by some 23 other states, as the leadership in those states realizes the vital role communications plays when there is a disaster. I hope you will be able to spend about 5 minutes viewing a video about emergency communications and the role Amateur Radio played during the Rodeo-Chedeski fire. The video is narrated by ham radio operator Walter Cronkite. You can view the video at I would greatly appreciate your support and co-sponsorship of HB 2595, the Emergency Communications Preservation Act. Please feel free to contact me if you would like any further information about amateur radio support to our communities. Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter. Sincerely, (Fill in your name and address here) District 25 (Most of Cochise County) Jennifer J. Burns (R) <mailto: jburns@azleg.gov> jburns@azleg.gov House of Representatives, 1700 W. Washington, Room 111, Phoenix, AZ Manny Alvarez (D) <mailto:malvarez@azleg.gov> malvarez@azleg.gov House of Representatives, 1700 W. Washington, Room 129, Phoenix, AZ Marsha Arzberger (D) <mailto:marzberger@azleg.gov> marzberger@azleg.gov Senate, 1700 W. Washington, Room 213, Phoenix, AZ 85007

8 District 30 (Sierra Vista) Marion McClure (R) House of Representatives, 1700 W. Washington, Room 306, Phoenix, AZ Jonathan Paton (R) House of Representatives, 1700 W. Washington, Room 341, Phoenix, AZ Timothy S. Bee (R) Senate, 1700 W. Washington, Room 204, Phoenix, AZ THE COCHISE SMOKE is published each month by and snail mail. Editor is Ted Weaver, K9TED Snail mail stuff you d like to have me publish in Smoke to P.O. Box 6017, Huachuca City, AZ or use the above address. The Cochise Amateur Radio Association, Inc. (CARA) P.O. Box 1855 Sierra Vista, AZ This Is A First Class Publication