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Field Day is June 27th & 28th!
The WECA 2009
Field Day event will be held at the
Mamaroneck Harbor Island Park beginning
at 10am on Saturday and finishing at 2pm
on Sunday.
Please
click
here for a map and directions to the
park - see you there!
Stay tuned to 147.060
(+600, PL 114.8) for on-the-air
directions. |
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Upcoming Meeting Dates:
Monday, September 14, 2009 - Radio Direction Finding (Fox Hunting)
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 - Communications at the NYC Marathon
Monday, November 9, 2009 - TBA
Monday, December 14, 2009 - TBA
WECA helped the
March of Dimes Walk in White Plains
Over Twenty WECA members
helped out with the March Of Dimes Walk in White Plains held on
Sunday, April 26, 2009. The following Hams participated in this
Public Service event:
N2TSE, N2AMP, N2TFC, N2UXJ, N2CAV,
N2LU, KC2ESU, KC2HZW, KC2MPH, KC2NQL, KC2QHQ, KC2UGI, KC2UGR, KD2SQ,
WB2NHC, WB2IAE, KB2LLV, W2RVR, KI6KFM, K2SQV and K2DFJ.
Thanks for all of your help - Robert Kantor / N2TSE
Are you a local Ham near
Westchester County, NY and are interested in helping out with Public
Service Events? If so, please contact Robert Kantor / N2TSE by
sending email to N2TSE at WECA dot org.
Santa
visited Blythedale Children's Hospital (on 147.06)!
Santa and
the "elves" from WECA visited The Blythdale Children's Hospital on
Tuesday, December 16, 2008.
Santa's helpers visited
the children at the Blythedale
Children's Hospital and Santa will talk to them via ham radio on
147.060 ! Plenty of WECA ham radio volunteers were onsite to hand out gifts,
unpack the presents, install batteries and help the patients
communicate with Santa over the 2 meter repeater. The event began at 6:00 pm
and finished at about 8:00 pm. Again, thank you for all of your
contributions that made this heart warming event happen for all these
years!
If you can
participate in these types of events or would like more information,
please contact Robert Kantor, N2TSE,
at 914-949-4231.
Please see the "Press Release" Area of this website -
click here
for the Blythdale Press Release
WECA places 8th out of 133 other
"4A" FD competitors!
Congratulations to all of the participants in this years Field Day
event which took place during the last full weekend in June 2008. Once
again WECA placed within the top
10 out of a field of over 130 competing "4A" clubs. See the
December 2008 QST for details.
Local Ham injured in NM hot air
balloon fiery crash

Amateur
Radio Operator Keith Sproul / WU2Z
from North Brunswick, NJ remains in critical condition from a fiery
crash on October 10, 2008. It was reported that he leaped from a hot
air balloon that caught on fire after hitting some power lines at
the Albuquerque
International Balloon Fiesta. Please click
here to read an article printed in the
Star-Ledger newspaper dated October 11, 2008. A news 13 video from
KRQE in Albuquerque can be viewed by clicking on
this link.
WECA hosted a Tech license prep
class in March 2009
WECA hosted a Technician's license class series
that began on Wednesday March 11th and continued until April 15th at the American Red Cross on 106 North
Broadway (Rt 22) in White Plains, NY. Please
click here
for more information or send email to n2tse at weca dot org for
future class schedules.
Please see the "Press Release" Area of this website -
click here
for the Technician Class Press Release.
We hope you
enjoyed Field Day 2008 - WECA style!
WECA's
Field Day 2008 was held on Saturday, June 28th & Sunday June 29th
at Harbor Island Park in Mamaroneck, NY. This year we setup at the
beach pavilion structure located along the south-eastern part of the
park. Setup began at 9am on Saturday, radio operations began at 2pm and
went go through the night and finished up at 2pm on Sunday. Many hands
were needed to setup on Saturday and to pack up on Sunday - again we finished
at about 3pm!
This year WECA we had four transmitters (4A) on HF along, a VHF 6 meter
station along with a GOTA
station (to introduce people to the many facets of Ham Radio). There
was many types of antennas used - beams, wire beams, dipoles, verticals, long
wires, etc. and of course many types of radios and some experimental
gear as well. We also had a continuous demonstration of APRS as well.
Our claimed score submitted to the ARRL
was 7,412 points - nice job!
If you have any questions, suggestions, compliments or complaints about
the event, please let Rich Kautz / KC2HZW or Jim Faukner / N2WQG know
your opinion by sending email to fd2008@weca.org.
FD pictures from Bob / N2DVQ can be viewed by clicking here.
Other pictures received will be posted soon.
Do you have any pictures of Field Day 2008 that you would like to
share? Please send email to fd2008@weca.org.
Please welcome our
2009 - 2010 Officers & Directors:
At
the June 2009 meeting, the following Officers & Directors were
elected into office.
President
- Russ Stevenson / N2AMP
Executive Vice President - James Cahill /
KB1LOY
Vice President / General Counsel - Michael Weitzner
/ N2EJI
Treasurer - Andy Farber / N4OOX
Secretary - Joe Hayda / KC2TAT
Director at Large - Stan Rothman / WA2NRV
Engineering Director - Bob Wilson / N2DVQ
Newsletter Editor - James Lyles / AB2WS
Repeater Operations Director - Dwight Smith / N2FMC
Social Activities Director - Richard Kautz / KC2HZW
Education Director - Tom Kirchoff /
KD2SQ
Digital Modes - Rich Benda / WB2QJA
Emergency Services - Tom Raffaelli / WB2NHC
Membership - Ron Devenuti / N2TJE
Publicity - Will Austen / N2UXJ
Public Service - Robert Kantor / N2TSE
Directors
and honorariums appointed by the board
Trustee - Russ Stevenson / N2AMP
County Liaison - Michael Volk / KC2MFA
President Emeritus - Lyle Anderson / K2LCA
Information Technology / Webmaster -
Peter Johnson / N2TFC
If you have any questions for the Officers &
Directors, please email them with your questions by sending email to
their callsign@weca dot org email address.
The WECAgram Newsletter is always online
WECA's
monthly newsletter about Ham Radio events, projects and its local
members in the greater Westchester County, NY area located about 20
miles north of New York City.
Do you have something for the WECAgram ? Please send
your article by the 20th of each month to The WECAgram Editor.
Past
issues of
The WECAgram
Morse Code requirement ended on
2/23/07!
From the Hudson
Division 01/26/07, 14:15 ET--- It's Official! The Morse Code
Requirement Ends Friday, February 23 (Jan 24,2007 [REVISED Jan 26, 2007
14:15 ET]) -- Circle Friday, February 23, on your calendar. That's when
the current 5 WPM Morse code requirement will officially disappear from
the Amateur Radio Service Part 97 rules in accordance with the FCC's
Report and Order (R&O) in the "Morse code proceeding," WT Docket
05-235. Beginning on that date, applicants for a General or Amateur
Extra class Amateur Radio license no longer will have to demonstrate
proficiency in Morse code. They'll just have to pass the applicable
written examination. Publication of the new rules in the January 24
Federal Register started a 30-day countdown for the new rules to become
effective. Deletion of the Morse requirement -- still a matter of
controversy within the amateur community -- is a landmark in Amateur
Radio history. Read the entire story from the ARRL by
clicking here
Looking for special Ham Radio related
websites?
WECA member Dwight Smith / N2FMC has found a bunch of web
sites containing ham radio related information. Please click here for a list
of "Dwight's Sites". If you have any technical or Ham Radio related
sites and would like to share these sites with others, please send
email to sites@weca.org.
2009 meetings , lists, dates and calendars
are online!
Please click here for the 2009
WECA meeting list
Please click here for the 2009 Ham
Radio testing dates
Please click here for the 2009
Public Service event calendar
What to do with your ORANGE Ham Radio hat !
For the 500 or
so Hams that help out at The Marathon each year, the ORANGE hat is a small token of appreciation for
all the hard work expelled. At many WECA meetings the ORANGE hat is sometimes used as a door prize,
others proudly wear the hat at Public Service Events.
During a recent snowstorm, another use was
discovered for the hat. No microphone or
key was found when this guy melted down!
Photo by Kristen Johnson
- 12/09/05

Want to know what
Amateur Radio is all about?
Click here to
listen a 30 second message about "Ham Radio". Listen to a public
announcement about the way "Hams" helped the survivors of hurricane
Katrina by clicking here.
Want to see and hear what Ham Radio is all about, click here for a 30
second video!
Click here
for a brochure about the Ham Radio hobby.
Please visit www.hello-radio.com
Found - old
WECAGRAMS!
Nick /
K2ZVI found some old WECAGRAMS while
cleaning one day to share with the newer members. Please click on any
date below to view these found treasures!
February 1980
August 1981
September 1987
January 1988
If you
have some old WECAgrams that could be "PDF" scanned, please send email
to Peter / N2TFC - webmaster at weca dot org
WB2NHC - Tom Raffaelli
awarded Ham of the year!
Tom was first licensed in 1964. His interests then, as now,
were in experimenting and building radio devices. Tom married Jeanne
Fyfe in 1966. They moved into a three room apartment in the Bronx. Due
to space limitations Tom operated exclusively on the VHF and UHF bands.
In 1970, with two children in tow, Tom and Jeanne moved to a home in
Thornwood New York. Beam antennas, verticals and wire dipoles soon
sprang up on the roof and in the yard. In 1979 Tom joined the New
Rochelle Communications Club and soon after that the Westchester
Emergency Communications Association (WECA). He was elected Vice
President of WECA in 1985 and President in 1987, and served for seven
years. WECA doubled its membership under Tom's leadership, strengthened
its affiliation with Westchester
County's Office of Disaster and Emergency Services and initiated an
affiliation with the Westchester chapter of the American Red Cross. He
expanded the club's Field Day event and grew WECAFEST, the club's
hamfest event into a major "must attend" event. Tom is now Director of
Emergency Services.
Tom served
as President of TSARC
for several years and resolved several long standing coordination
disputes and established a coordination waiting list for all bands. Tom
taught many Amateur Radio license classes over the years bringing more
than 50 people into the hobby. Tom began volunteering at the New York City
Marathon in the mid eighties and is currently the ham radio
supervisor at the Family Reunion area.
Tom was
instrumental in establishing extremely strong relationships between
WECA and the Westchester County Department of Emergency Services and
the American
Red Cross. Both of these organizations are providing funding and
support for maintenance of WECA's communications vehicles and equipment
as well as providing meeting space and training facilities. Tom recently
retired from the County of Westchester as its Director of
Radio Systems. Tom continues to build on the strong ties between RACES, WECA and the county government
while helping to bring state of art communications facilities to
the county's public safety departments.
Amateur of the Year
Award Sponsored jointly by:
The Peconic
Amateur Radio Club
and
Westchester Emergency
Communications Association - WECA
As printed
in the Hudson Division Awards Diner pamphlet from November 12, 2005
Again, WECA helped "run"
the 2008 ING
New York City Marathon!

About
25 WECA members helped "run" The 2008 New York City Marathon as
communication volunteers that was held on Sunday, November 2,
2008.
WECA members covered assignments including "The Family Reunion area",
"Mile Captains", "finish line area", countless "Shadows" for the NYC
Road Runners Club officials and many other key positions as
communicators using Ham Radio, net control protocol procedures as
well as "hi-tech" systems including APRS and
WIFI.
Please visit the following links for pictures of previous NYC
marathons as photographed by WECA members.
Photos
from K2LCA, please click here.
Photos
from WK6R,
please click here
Information about the 2009 NYC Marathon can be found here
Think you know it all about Ham Radio - try a
crossword puzzle !
Click here
and try out your knowledge and luck about Ham Radio.
Here is what the Journal News said about the
WECA Field Day event:
Amateurs ham it up
By MARCELA ROJAS
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: June 27, 2005)
At 11 a.m. yesterday, the sun was
positioned just right for contact with Florida. With headphones on,
12-year-old Taylor Wilson, maneuvered the radio dial for the correct
frequency to ham it up. "Alpha Echo 2 Fox Trot," he repeated into his
headset with vigor. A few crackled voices from north Florida responded.
"The frequency depends on the time of day. Right now it's favoring the
south," said his father, Bob Wilson (N2DVQ), of Yorktown. "The
atmosphere is like a mirror. "Later, Taylor grew frustrated as he tried
to extend his reach and get the attention of an operator from the
Virgin Islands. With some patience, a connection was made with a clear
sound from the Caribbean. "This is so much fun," said Taylor. "Now that
school's out, it's a great way to meet people. "The boisterous pre-teen
was among 60 members of the Westchester Emergency Communication
Association who participated in Field Day yesterday, an annual event
during which amateur radio operators test their ability to establish
and sustain long distance radio communications in the event of an
emergency. At Harbor Island Park in Mamaroneck, five 50-foot-high
antennas were positioned around the field and five stations were set up
for the 24-hour experiment that started at 2 p.m. Saturday. "Our
objective is to set up quickly and log contacts," said Lyle Anderson
(K2LCA) of Chappaqua, the association's president. "And to see if our
procedures work. "More than 3,000 stations nationwide participate in
Field Day, which is hosted by the American Radio Relay League. By
midday yesterday, the Westchester club had contacted about 1,300 and
expected to reach 1,800 by day's end, Anderson said. In the event of a
terrorist attack or natural disaster, when telephone and/or computer
services are lost, emergency officials and relief agencies utilize
local amateur radio operators, or hams, for communication. During the
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and 2003's blackout, the Westchester Emergency
Communications Association helped officials stay in contact throughout
the region, Anderson said. "People do this for a hobby," Anderson said.
"But we do it as a public service. "There are 260 amateur radio
operators in the volunteer group. Field Day also offered some friendly
competition, in which each radio operator received a point for each
contact made. Last year, the association came in sixth in their class.
They expected to do better than that this time, Anderson said. Results
are expected in two weeks. "The contest is just for fun," said
Anderson. "What we are really trying to do here is train people. When
you are stressed, tired and you have five people trying to contact you,
you have to be cool and know what to do."

Don't
know what Ham Radio is ?
The Ham Radio
hobby has made it ! Well, now there is a "Ham Radio for Dummies" book
on the market. Check this
out by clicking here
! Available in many book stores like Borders,
Barnes
& Noble and the ARRL
for $21.99 or less.
BPL - do you know what it is and that it WILL
destroy HF ?
Please visit the ARRL website for more information about
this proposal that could DESTROY HF amateur
radio operation.
This is a must read
article for all ham operators ! Recent RFI tests in Briarcliff
reported 20 over 9 readings from 2 MHz to 80 MHz with hash-like
sounding noise. Check out this video made in North
Carolina - click
here.
Please click here to read the complete BPL story on the
ARRL site.
So, where were you in '72 ? When WECA was
born !
On the first Friday night in early April
1972, five men met in Tarrytown, NY at William T. Knott's (W2QGH-sk)
home to form what is now the Westchester Emergency Communications
Association (WECA). Thirty one years ago these middle aged "family" men
were Ham Radio
hobbyists who decided start this club "for the continuation of the
Civil Defense Radio network in Westchester County, NY". Meeting minutes
from those early gatherings can be read by clicking here.
WECA thanks John von Sneidern, Jr. / W2QGH
for copies of those notes "from the beginning" of WECA and Efrem Acosta
/ W2CZ for organizing this historic
project.
Comments (good/bad)? Please let us know by sending email to webmaster at weca
dot org.
Public
Service Operators Needed !
Please contact Robert
Kantor / N2TSE if you would like
to participate in the upcoming Public Service events that WECA helps by
supplying Ham Radio communicators. Operators are needed for other upcoming events. This is
the best possible emergency preparedness training for Ham Radio
communicators available, so please send email
now to n2tse at weca dot org and volunteer!
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