THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED TORNADO WATCH 599 IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM EDT THIS EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS

IN KENTUCKY THIS WATCH INCLUDES 7 COUNTIES
IN NORTHEAST KENTUCKY

• LEWIS

IN NORTHERN KENTUCKY

• BRACKEN
• GRANT
• MASON
• OWEN
  
• PENDLETON
• ROBERTSON

 
IN OHIO THIS WATCH INCLUDES 11 COUNTIES IN CENTRAL OHIO

• FAIRFIELD
• HOCKING
• LICKING
• PICKAWAY

 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL OHIO

• ADAMS
• HIGHLAND
• PIKE
• ROSS SCIOTO

IN SOUTHWEST OHIO

• BROWN
• CLERMONT

 
THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF AUGUSTA, BROOKSVILLE, BUTLER,
CHILLICOTHE, CIRCLEVILLE, CRITTENDEN, DRY RIDGE, FALMOUTH,
GEORGETOWN, GREENFIELD, HILLSBORO, LANCASTER, LOGAN, MAYSVILLE,
MILFORD, MOUNT OLIVET, MOUNT ORAB, NEWARK, OWENTON, PEEBLES,
PICKERINGTON, PIKE LAKE, PIKETON, PORTSMOUTH, TOLLESBORO,
VANCEBURG, WAVERLY, WEST UNION, WHEELERSBURG, AND WILLIAMSTOWN.

The Hocking County Amateur Radio Club held a fox hunt Saturday, July 29th at 10 a.m. just prior to the high heat’s return. Four hams competed and the winner, Dave Brimner KB8OTU won in just 17 minutes.  Dave says he stepped out his back door and monitored the first fox transmission, noting it was “full quieting”. “He must be close,” he remarked to his wife. She then suggested, perhaps he’s up on the hill in the cemetery. “No, Kirk wouldn’t do that, cause he knows that I often start from there,” Replied Dave. After getting in his car and driving five minutes away, Dave had triangulated the signal to the hills just north of Logan.  Another five minutes and he had to choose either the Oak Grove Cemetery or the next hilltop over. He gambled on Oak Grove, even Though he doubted it Upon the second circle through the circular drives, Dave came upon the Fox, at the Oak Grove hilltop. Second place was Phil Stanley W8NZB, and third was Bruce KE8BEU. The next Hocking Co Foxhunt is not set but may be in mid-August.

The September 5th meeting will be held at the Home Tavern.  1900.  See ya there!

The ARRL Board of Directors approved increasing the regular membership dues rate to $59 a year starting January 1, 2024.

Link

After a successful Fox hunt in Hocking county this morning, W8NZB Phil Stanley won with a time of 1:01  and two other separate hunters closed in and completed before the bottom of the hour. Next Hocking co foxhunt is likely to be the first weekend of June.

The amateur radio community in South Eastern Ohio is sadden to learn today, of the recent and unexpected passing of Rick KD8LPX.  We offer our sincere condolences to the wife and family during these difficult times.  Funeral arrangements to follow.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is seeking comments
about changing the secondary allocation available to radio amateurs
on 60 meters. The FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)
on April 21, 2023, that deals with the band. In a prior petition,
ARRL, The National Association for Amateur Radio, urged protecting
the existing use of the band by amateurs when adding a new
allocation adopted internationally.
 
Currently, radio amateurs in the US have access to five discrete
channels on a secondary basis: 5332 kHz, 5348 kHz, 5358.5 kHz, 5373
kHz, and 5405 kHz. Users of these channels are limited to an
effective radiated power (ERP) of 100 W PEP.
 
The FCC proposes to allocate 15 kHz of contiguous bandwidth between
5351.5 - 5366.5 kHz on a secondary basis with a maximum power of 15
W EIRP (equivalent to 9.15 W ERP). This allocation was adopted at
the 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15).
 
The federal government is the primary user of the 5 MHz spectrum.
The government's manager of spectrum use, the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), has
expressed support for implementing the allocation as adopted at
WRC-15. Doing so would result in amateurs losing access to four of
the five discrete channels, and power limits would be reduced from
100 W ERP to 9.15 W ERP. However, it would provide access to a new
contiguous 15 kHz band that includes one of the current five
channels.
 
In 2017, ARRL petitioned the FCC to keep the four 60-meter channels
that fall outside the new band, as well as the current operating
rules, including the 100 W PEP ERP limit.
 
The ARRL petition stated, "Such implementation will allow radio
amateurs engaged in emergency and disaster relief communications,
and especially those between the United States and the Caribbean
basin, to more reliably, more flexibly, and more capably conduct
those communications."
 
ARRL said that years of amateur radio experience using the five
discrete channels have shown that amateurs can coexist with primary
users at 5 MHz while complying with the regulations established for
their use. The petition also stated, "Neither ARRL, nor, apparently,
NTIA, is aware of a single reported instance of interference to a
federal user by a radio amateur operating at 5 MHz to date."
 
In the NPRM, the FCC recognizes that Canada has already adopted
60-meter allocations and related rules that align with those
proposed by ARRL. The Commission wrote, "Finally, we note that
Canada has essentially implemented the same rules as ARRL has
requested."  The NPRM can be found online at, https://www.fcc.gov/ .
 
The FCC proposed to allocate the 15 kHz bandwidth but stopped short
of making a proposal on whether the existing channels should remain
allocated to amateur radio and what the power limitations should be.
They requested comments on their proposal and the related channel
and power issues.
 
Comments will be due 60 days after the NPRM is published in the
Federal Register, which is expected within the next two weeks.

The date for the next Hocking County Hamfest is Saturday, May 13th
Registration  on the club repeater at 9:45 a.m.   Check-in net control not yet assigned.
Hunt begins at 10 a.m.  KC8JRV is the fox, and promises a challenging hunt this time out.

Though there is a risk of rain and T-storms, I am hopeful that they won’t get organized until the afternoon.
With our start time of 10 a.m.  I am hopeful that all will find me by noon and we’ll move indoors for a meal.
 
Hope all can attend and will be pleased.
Noon-ish meal at an area Mexican restaurant to be announced later.

The 440 repeater is down with a technical issue, Bill, W8LGX is working to resolve the issue.