FROM THE PARADE STAND
By Tim McGillen/N9CA   2021 LCARC President
January 2021

Happy New Year Every Body

New Club Website! Delete any old Club browser website history. Navigate to the new site www.W9LJ.org and memorize the new one. IMHO, I think it not only looks fantastic, but has better drop downs. Constructive suggestions are welcome.
January 8th LCARC physical meeting has been cancelled due to the resurgence of Covid-19 concerns. There will be a virtual Club ZOOM meeting instead. Watch your email for a ZOOM invitation in your email. The ZOOM meeting begins at 7:00pm.
How-to ZOOM: at about 6:50pm, click on the ZOOM link sent to your email or copy that link and paste it into your web browser search line, then click “enter” on your keyboard. If you do not have ZOOM already, you will be asked “Download ZOOM Yes or NO”. Choose “YES” to proceed. On the next ZOOM screen choose “join with video, audio, or both” then click  "join meeting"  In the meeting, there are your very own ZOOM control icons, mouse over and click to turn your own video or audio on and off. Finally, on the right side of your computer screen is an area you can mouse over to and type/send text message questions.
Please, mute your microphone until you have a question. Background noise is distracting.

2021 Club Dues are well… due. Just $20.  Send to: LCARC, PO Box 90, Crown Point IN 46308.  Licensed amateurs, who have never been a member of LCARC, can join with 2021 membership dues waived. Go to W9LJ.org for an application or email the Club’s website.

LCARC January Board Meeting: Tuesday January 5th at 7:00pm. Watch your email for a ZOOM e-vite.

LCARC Information Net An informal net. Wednesdays at 8:00pm Club VHF (147.000) and UHF (442.075) repeaters pl 131.8. A great way to stay in touch with Club members. If you haven’t logged in, why not? Non-member logins welcomed.

LCARC Simplex Net on 146.520 immediately after the LCARC Information Net. (alternate is 146.540 if 146.520 is busy).

HR NEWS

Solar Flux: In spite of lower sunspot numbers, the average daily solar flux increased slightly from 82.1 to 82.8. (Solar Flux minimum was… 68 one year ago)

Predicted solar flux: 82 - January 1 to 6th , 84 - January 7 to 12,  84 - January 13 to 20, and 86 - January 21 to 23rd.  15m & 10m are often open midday. While there are beacons transmitting on 10m (28.200 – 28.300 MHz) I listen for FT8 at 28.074

NOAA Solar Cycle 25: predicting a slow start, but anticipates a peak solar flux maximum of 95 – 130. Solar Flux will be higher than the past three 11 year cycles.
International Space Station; ARISS slow scan TV -- frequency to watch will be 145.800 MHz, using SSTV PD-120 mode. A helpful addition to the ARISS website is a "Current Status of ISS Stations," which reports the present or coming operating mode of ARISS radios in the Columbus and Service modules. Click on "General Contacts" and then "Current Status of ISS Stations" on the drop-down menu of the ARISS website to access the reports.
Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) is taking advantage of a grant from the Yasme Foundation, in cooperation with Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC), to add 15 more nodes. RBN is a global system of software-defined radio receivers that monitor amateur radio bands and report CW, RTTY, and FT4/FT8 signals to a central, searchable database.

Hmmm?:  Phil Karn/KA9Q President of Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) has publically confirmed they received $108 million from Amazon for 4 million amateur radio TCP/IP addresses ($27 per IPc4 address). Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) is a non-profit California corporation.

ARRL Volunteer Monitor (VM) Program volunteers spent more than 6,100 hours poring over the amateur bands in the  3rd quarter 2020. The VM Program issued 15 Good Operator Letters. "Volunteers are in the chair monitoring, recognizing exemplary operators and admonishing those who need to pay closer attention to their operating practices”. The VM Program referred two cases to the FCC while accepting two cases from the FCC for investigation. 
 Contest University to Host ZOOM Propagation Summit Radio propagation experts will share their knowledge during a Propagation Summit, sponsored by Contest University (CTU) On January 23, 2021. The presentation schedule includes: "Update on the Personal Space Weather Station Project and HamSCI Activities for 2021" with Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, at 11 AM EST (1600 UTC); "Solar Cycle 25 Predictions and Progress" with Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA, at noon (1700 UTC); "Maximizing Performance of HF Antennas with Irregular Terrain" with Jim Breakall, WA3FET, at 1 PM EST (1800 UTC), and "HF Ionospheric Propagation" with Frank Donovan, W3LPL, at 2 PM EST (1900 UTC). Registration is free. An Icom IC-705 will be raffled off as a door prize. The winner must be present on Zoom to win.
RADIO SPORTS:

Straight Key Night January 1st  This 24-hour event is not a contest; rather it is a day dedicated to celebrating our CW heritage. Participants are encouraged to get on the air and simply make enjoyable, conversational CW QSOs. The use of straight keys or bugs to send CW is preferred. Visit ARRL.orgKids Day January 2nd  Twice a year, ARRL offers an event designed to promote Amateur Radio to our youth. Share the excitement with your kids or grandkids!  Visit ARRL.org for; the exchange, frequencies, reporting, and certificate.
The ARRL RTTY Roundup January 2nd – 3rd. If you're new to RTTY or digital modes, in the RTTY Roundup, operators worldwide contact and exchange QSO information with other amateurs using Baudot RTTY, PSK, FT8/FT4, ASCII, AMTOR, and Packet. Automated operation is not permitted; each claimed contact must include contemporaneous direct initiation by the operator on both sides of the contact. Visit ARRL.org
VHF Contest January 16-18th: All US, Canadian Stations, and possessions. All legal modes are permitted. CW, SSB, MSK144, FT8 and FM-Only are gaining popularity - other popular modes include PSK31, FSK441 and JT65.  Visit ARRL.org
73 everybody!   See you on ZOOM. Tim/N9CA