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1 Monthly The Communicator Newsletter of the Central New Hampshire Amateur Radio Club January, 2018 ARRL Special Service Club The Communicator CNHARC Web Page - January 2018 January Meeting Program Meeting program is TBD. Refreshments will be served! For directions to the meeting, the talk in repeater is PL123. Field Day 2017 Results By Dick, N1LT I tabulated Field Day 2017 results as published in the December issue of QST. There were 133 entries in the 4A class in which we participated. There were 4 NH stations in the class. Here are the results of those four plus the leader: Call QSOs Power category #participants Total score Section Position in 4A K4BFT AL 1 K1B NH 7 W1JY NH 50 W1FN NH 74 W1FZ NH 104 CNHARC Nets Monday: Two-Meter Net, 8:00 PM, Wednesday: ARES Net, 8:00 PM, Thursday: Six-meter Net, 8:00 PM, In This Issue Field Day 2017 Results W1AW Begins Scheduled Transmissions on 6.. What The Heck is the ARRL Board Thinking?... Secretary s Report.. Upcoming Public Service Events Next Club Meeting - Tuesday, January 2nd, 2018 at 7:00 PM Gilford Community Church, Gilford NH 1

2 CNHARC Monday Night Net at 8:00 PM on MHz 2

3 W1AW Begins Scheduled Transmissions on 6 Meters Starting January 2, 2018 From the ARRL Just a reminder that beginning with the 9 AM EST (1400 UTC) fast code practice on Tuesday, January 2, 2018, W1AW will add 6 meters specifically khz - to its regular CW code practice, and CW, digital and phone bulletin transmission schedule. In addition to providing regularly scheduled transmissions on 6 meters, another goal is to act as a beacon on 6 meters, especially from the Northeast US. Signal reports will be welcome. A web page that will allow listeners to provide signal reports will be made available after the start date. Reports may also be ed to W1AW at, w1aw@arrl.org. Central NH ARES Frequencies Primary: MHz, - offset. PL123.0 Backup: MHz, - offset, PL 88.5 Sec. backup: MHz, - offset, PL NH Statewide ARES HF: MHz CNHARC Repeater Sustaining Members 2017 / 2018 Glen Aldrich KC1AAI Ed O Hearn Jr. N1EO Nate Ayotte KC1DKE Robert MacGuffie K2HZN Curtis Appleyard KA1DPZ Thomas Edwards W1EDW Dick Christopher N1LT James Robinton N1CRZ Richard Wholey K1OBP Richard Hansen KA1BUC Eric Bernow KC1FRX Bruce Hamel K1BRH Social Media and CNHARC CNHARC has a presence on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube! Find us on Facebook at: Hampshire-Amateur-Radio-Club / on Twitter. Visit the CNHARC page on YouTube at CNHARCAmateurRadio Check out the club s discussion forum at: Thomas Funke KC1GHA John Gothardt K1UAF Barry Green W1JFK Dave Worrall N2IRO Jim Poulette WQ2H Rick Zach K1RJZ Bernie Quartaroli WI1I Chris Read N1HD Ron Desharnais N1GFD Peter Drexel AE1T Cyrus Rowe K1CY Stephen Saunders K1NET Dave Megin KA1VJU Arthur Norton W1AHN Robert Laraway KC1GOB Richard Palmieri KC1BOW Eric Holmburg KC1FGY Frank Martin NG1J Dick Sterry KB1OCE Aleda Nichols KC1CCU James White KA1OEO John Haven KC1AAG Ronald Egalka K1RE Ron Collins KC1GCE Ron Baker N1JJW Joshua Cate KC1HWE Bill Guinther KC1BMM Pasha Roberts W1LMT Joshua Chase AJ2G CNHARC is on YouTube! CNHARCAmateurRadio 3

4 What the Heck is the ARRL Board Thinking? By Dan Romanchik, KB6NU About a month ago, I received an from the ARRL. Attached were minutes of a Special Board Meeting of the ARRL Board of Directors ( wp-content/uploads/2017/11/minutes-of-special-board- Meeting-ARRL-Board-of-Directors-1.pdf) held by teleconference on Tuesday, November 14, At first, I didn t think much of it, but after reading the minutes, I thought to myself, What heck are these guys thinking? What the minutes document is the censure of Dick Norton, N6AA, for criticizing publicly the collective action of the Board of Directors adopting said Code of Conduct[sic] and drawing the Board s collective decision making into disrepute. I won't quote the whole thing here, but you can find the text on my website at So, what is this ARRL Code of Conduct? It s official name is the ARRL Policy on Board Governance and Conduct of Members of the Board of Directors and Vice Directors, and the board adopted this code at the January 20-21, 2017 board meeting. You can find this code on the ARRL website at Code of Conduct.pdf. To be fair, this document does include some good things, such as acting responsibly when it comes to ARRL financial matters and treating ARRL staff with respect. What seems to be questionable, and the reason for N6AA s censure, however, is Section 8 Support of Board Decisions. I won't quote the entire section here, but basically what it says an ARRL board member must accept and publicly support board decisions, even if they voted it against it. If they express any dissenting opinion about a board decision, they can be censured, as N6AA was in this case. In effect, this is a gag order on a director if he disagrees with a Board decision. Not only that, this section seems to say that once someone gets elected to the Board, his allegiance to the Board is more important than the views of the amateur radio operators he represents. One of my Twitter followers put it this way, Where else can those ostensibly in a position of representation of the organization s members be punished for publicly criticizing the organization s rules? US Congress? Parliament of the UK? No, and board is looking more like North Korea than a representative body. Seriously, can you imagine if the U.S. Congress had such a policy in place? What did Norton actually do? I ed Norton to find out what he said exactly to bring on this censure. Understandably, he was a little hesitant to speak to me directly. I then asked if I could see the supporting statements. I then received two s. The first was from Mark Weiss, K6FG. His contained the text of an he sent to the ARRL Board of Directors. A second contained an sent to the board by Tim Duffy, K3LR, the owner of DX Engineering. Both s supported N6AA, noting that he stated that he supported the board action and that any opposition came from the audience and not from Norton. So, I go back to my original question. What the heck is the ARRL Board thinking, first in passing this draconian ARRL Policy on Board Governance and Conduct of Members of the Board of Directors and Vice Directors, and second in using it to censure a director, who, according to several accounts, didn t commit the infraction in the first place? Are they so insecure in their decision-making that they have to resort to gag orders like this? Don t they see that taking actions like this brings them more disrepute than an honest dissenting opinion? If this situation angers you as much as it does me, I encourage you to contact your director and make your feelings known. One of my blog readers suggests that your message be short, non-aggressive, and to the point. He suggested the following: Dear [your director s name here] I am unhappy with both the ARRL Policy on Board Governance and Conduct of Member of the Board of Directors and Vice Directors (aka the Code of Conduct ) and the N6AA censure. I want to freely discuss issues with our directors. I want our directors to tell me where they stand, not where the board stands. I want the directors to be free to express their opinions and to know how they voted. I want directors to not fear censure. Therefore, I urge the following immediate actions: 1. Modify the Code of Conduct to allow the above. 2. Revoke the N6AA censure. 73, [Your name and callsign go here.] I hate to say this, but this is only the beginning. Some ARRL directors are planning to propose changes to the League's Articles of Association and By-Laws at the board meeting in January These changes will make the ARRL even less democratic and more authoritarian. As reported by CQ magazine ( cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2017/12/changes-proposed-toarrl-governing.html), if these changes are enacted the board of directors will be able to revoke League membership 'for cause' and to remove board members by revoking their League membership; lesser disciplinary actions against board members, such as censure, will be allowed without the member receiving advance notice or an opportunity to respond to allegations. Another change will grant voting privileges to the president and three vice-presidents, even though these are appointed positions. Again, I ask, what the heck is the ARRL board thinking? Do they really think that this is going to make the ARRL a stronger organization and a better advocate for amateur radio? If so, I'd like to hear their reasoning. ARRL membership has been declining for many years (as a percentage of licensed radio amateurs), and these moves are only going to accelerate that decline. I have already heard CNHARC is on YouTube! CNHARCAmateurRadio 4

5 from many hams that they plan to let their ARRL membership lapse. Please consider contacting your director today. It may already be too late to save the ARRL. Secretary s Report by Sandra Percy, W1SND CNHARC STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING - November 13, 2017 Gilford Community Church CLUB OFFICERS - ATTENDANCE N1RKW Adam Foley President KC1AAI Glen Aldrich Vice President K1LQN Tom Persson Treasurer W1SND Sandy Percy Secretary STEERING COMMITTEE - ATTENDANCE W1JFK Barry Green SC Member excused absence N1VAU Clayton Ferry SC Member 2017 N1LT Dick Christopher SC Member resigned N1RCQ Cliff Dickinson SC Member 2018 N1CRZ Jim Robinton SC Member 2018 N1HD Chris Read SC Member 2019 OTHER ATTENDEES -None PRESIDENT S REPORT - N1RKW Adam opened the meeting at 7:04 PM, but a quorum was not present so no official business was conducted. We had an informal discussion. Meeting adjourned at 8:06 PM RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED: W1SND - Sandy Percy Upcoming 2018 Public Service and Other Events Mark Your Calendars! Amateur Radio Operators needed! There are many other events not listed here that also need safety communications help. Please consider volunteering your time to help at an event. Public service events make great training for emergency communications and are a good way to show the public what amateur radio can do. Events are open to all Hams. If you would like more information on one of the events or to sign up to help with safety communications, please contact name listed after the event. February 16th, 17th & 18th 2018 The 89th Laconia World Championship Sled Dog Derby, For information contact Cliff Dickinson at n1rcq@amsat.org May 4th & 5th 2018 NEAR-Fest Deerfield, New Hampshire, information at June 16th 2018 The Annual Mount Washington Road Race, (foot race). For information contact Cliff Dickinson at n1rcq@amsat.org. July 28th 2018, TMCC Mt. Washington Century Ride (100 mile bicycle ride). Information at. Ham info, Contact Luke Quigley at KB1IIR radioman141@juno.com August 18th 2018 Mt. Washington Auto Road Bicycle HillClimb, For information contact Cliff Dickinson at n1rcq@amsat.org. September 28th 2018, The NH Marathon Bristol, NH (foot race). For information contact Dave Megin at ka1vju@cnharc.org. Please check on the status of the event close to the date of the event for any changes or updates. Typos errors are possible on this document. Last updated CNHARC is on Twitter - follow us 5

6 Ossipee Mountain Electronics, Inc. PROFESSIONAL 2-WAY COMMUNICATIONS SALES &SERVICE TELE: (603) FAX: (603) RR 1, BOX 396 OSSIPEE MT.ROAD MOULTONBORO, NH Steering Committee Meeting The next steering committee meeting will be held on Monday, January 8th at the Gilford Community Church, at 7:00 PM. The Communicator is published monthly by the Central New Hampshire Amateur Radio Club, a non-profit corporation and charitable trust, affiliated with the American Radio Relay League. Membership in the Central New Hampshire Amateur Radio Club is open to all who are interested in amateur radio. Payment of annual Club dues as an individual ($15), family ($20) or as a student ($10), entitles the registrant to belong to the club and to receive The Communicator, monthly or when published for the remainder of the year. The Club year starts June 1. Subscription and Membership: CNHARC, Box 1112, Laconia, NH cnharc@cnharc.org Editors Lee Hillsgrove, Sr. KB1GNI Adam Foley N1RKW The deadline for all copy and classified ads for the Communicator is 16th of every month. Send to: Lee Hillsgrove, Sr. KB1GNI, 203 Waukeena Lake Road, Danbury, NH or to editors@cnharc.org Change of Address For a change of address, notify CNHARC at PO Box 1112, Laconia, NH Phone:. address@cnharc.org President Adam Foley, N1RKW n1rkw@hotmail.com Secretary Sandy Percy, W1SND sandypercy212@gmail.com Publicity / Public Relations Officer Glen Aldrich, KC1AAI kc1aai@cnharc.org Field Coordinator Training Officer Dick Christopher, N1LT n1lt@cnharc.org Officers terms are for one year per by-laws Barry Green, W1JFK Clayton Ferry, N1VAU Club Officers Steering Committee Vice President Glen Aldrich, KC1AAI kc1aai@cnharc.org Treasurer Tom Persson, K1LQN k1lqn@cnharc.org Program Director Open Club Historian Dick Christopher, N1LT n1lt@cnharc.org Technical Coordinator Open Cliff Dickinson, N1RCQ Jim Robinton, N1CRZ Chris Read, N1HD W1JY Central NH Amateur Radio Club W1CNH 6