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Send us pictures of special amateur radio events from your club or area to place on this rotating slide show.
Email pics to Kelly@K7SU.com

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NEW - View Idaho Section Monthly Zoom Meetings HERE   NEW

                          

 

Idaho QSO Party "Spud Run" 2023.
Click the logo below for 2023 results.


REPORT ILLEGAL RADIO OPERATIONS TO THE FCC HERE

--- Click Here to Add Your Club Event to the Statewide Calender! ---

 

ARRL Idaho Section

Video of Rescue Involving Idaho Ham Radio
 Check out the video HERE.
Idaho Winlink Wednesday
Check into the weekly WINLINK net.   Every Wednesday is Winlink Wednesday.  You can check in any time during the day Wednesday via Winlink either via Telnet, HF or VHF radio.  We are always looking for more checking.  Get all the info you need at THIS LINK.

Polly Smith KG7DPO New Idaho PIO
  The Idaho ARRL has a new Public Information Officer (PIO).  Polly Smith KG7DPO was appointed the the position by Idaho SM Dan Marler K7REX.  Her appointment is effective immediately.  To contact Polly email her at KG7DPO@ gmail.com.

New Idaho Parks Added to POTA

Please share with your interested ARC members and remind them to download the complete list of Idaho Parks from the POTA website

Thx and 73

(11/1/2023) Greetings all, the POTA admin team has allowed us to add new parks.  In Idaho we have added 8 new wilderness areas, 6 new BLM herd management areas, 6 national scenic byways, two state airstrips, two wild and scenic rivers, Big Southern Butte, Experimental Breeder Reactor - 1, and will soon be adding nearly 20 state and national fish hatcheries.  There are new POTA Parks now in every corner of the state bringing us up to 177 or so parks.

W7IMC Scott
POTA Volunteer Mapping Coordinator Idaho
Don Gardner W7PJ New Idaho SEC
  Idaho SM Dan Marler K7REX has announced that Mike Neelon, WA7MGN will no longer be Idaho Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC).  Mike has excepted a new Emergency Manager position in Oregon and will be moving soon.  Marler said, "I am tickled pink for Mike; this is something he and his wife has been wanting to do for sometime now.  Mike, you done did good."
Marler says he is pleased and excited to announce that Don Gardner, W7PJ will be moving up from his ASEC position to be the new SEC for Idaho.  Rob Blout, KA7ERV will be the new ASEC and will be working with Don.  
ARRL Announces New Awards
  The ARRL has two new awards available to members  One is a FIRST CONTACT award for new hams who made their first contact.  The second is a MENTOR AWARD to be given to those who help the new hams.  Both are PDF Fillable documents.  Click on the above links to find out more.

ARRL Votes To Raise Member Dues
 Click HERE for details on increased dues for ARRL membership.

Video to Help You Navigate This Site!
 If this is your first visit to this site there is a video you can watch to see the features.  Click on the link below!
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

 Help Your Radio Club With CA$H!
 Click HERE to find out more!

 Idaho Gov. Proclaims Idaho Amateur Radio Week



 Idaho Hams Get New License Plate
  Idaho Governor Brad Little has signed House Bill 107 which authorizes a new look for ham radio license plates for Idaho radio amateurs.  The new plates will be available soon.


 Here is a link to HB-107.
Here is a link to the form you must fill out to get an Idaho Amateur Radio license plate.
Volunteers On The Air (VOTA) – Idaho

2023 is being celebrated by ARRL as “The Year of the Volunteer.” The first adventure has been announced as a project called “Volunteers On The Air (VOTA).” ARRL members get ‘points’ for each contact they make with another ARRL volunteer or member. So, if two ARRL members contact each other, they will each receive a point for that QSO. No special codes are required, no sequence numbers need to be exchanged, and no section information needs to be passed. Make contact with a fellow ARRL member, and you each receive a point. Both of you must upload the QSO to the Logbook of The World (LoTW) to receive the points. Your points are calculated when the QSO is matched. This could be an FT8, CW, simplex 2M FM, RTTY, or an SSB rag-chew contact.

To add more interest to the year-long operating event and help demonstrate the ARRL volunteer value, each level of volunteer activity has been assigned a point level which is shown in the table below. For example, if you contact Dan Marler, K7REX, the Idaho Section Manager, you’ll get 175 points for that one contact.

So, get your HF gear running, make sure your LoTW connection is working, and see you on the air!

VOTA Program Rules

These rules will be extended or revised, so please return here to check for updates. This operating event starts January 1, 2023, at 0000Z and ends December 31, 2023, at 2359Z. This event is for ARRL members. You can join or renew online at https://arrl.org/join/. All QSOs must be uploaded to the ARRL QSO matching system, Logbook of The World (LoTW). No repeater contacts are allowed. Contacts can not be made on the 12 M, 17 M, 30 M, 60 M, 630 M, or 2190 M bands. All other bands can be used. Contacts can be made on any legal mode of operation. You receive ‘points’ based on the volunteer level of the ARRL member you contact. Points range from 1 point for an ARRL member to 300 points for ARRL President Rick Roderick K5UR. The point levels are listed below. Each QSO will get only one point value. For example, someone who is a member, a life member, and an Assistant Section Manager will be worth the value of the highest role, 35 points, for the ASM role. Stations can contact each other once per band per operating mode: CW, Digital, Voice. So, each operator pair can count up to 3 QSOs on each band, one per mode.

Logbook of The World (LoTW)

The reporting for this VOTA effort will be handled automatically by the ARRL Logbook of The World (LoTD) QSO matching system. If you already log your QSOs from your favorite logging software and it uploads them to LoTW, you will automatically be participating. Your QSOs will be verified normally, and the callsigns of the hams you work will be searched to find the appropriate points (table shown below) that you receive for each QSO.

Setting up Logbook Of The World

If you aren’t set up to use LoTW, now is the time to set it up. The LoTW quick-start page is a great place to start, and the “What is LoTW Document” explains the whole process. You must authenticate yourself with the system by receiving a postcard mailed to your FCC-registered address. The TSQL program is used by your logging program, N3FJP, N1MM, DX Lab Suite, or something else to authenticate and upload to LoTW.

If you need help setting up your LoTW account, watch some YouTube videos, or contact your Elmer, or a local club. If that fails, contact us and we’ll find someone to help you.

W1AW/7 Portable Operations

As a part of the Year of the Volunteer celebration, the mystical callsign W1AW will be used portably to the corners of ARRL-land. Members in each state/territory will be asked to operate their stations for two different weeks using the callsign W1AW/x where x is one of the local regions: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, KL, KH0, KH2, KH6, KH7, KH8, KP2, KP3, or KP4. For example, Idaho’s first week starts March 8, 2023, at 0000z and will run through March February 14, 2023, at 2359z, using the callsign W1AW/7. Each state coordinator will approve the time/band/mode slots throughout the week, and hams can operate their stations using W1AW/x. You can schedule your Idaho operating time by contacting ND7L@arrl.net.

Traveling W1AW/7 Idaho rules include:

 

Volunteers Point Value Table

·         Note: These appointments are for current appointees unless otherwise noted. Eg: Assistant Director (AD) is only for the current Assistant Directors. Past office-holders and appointees are only eligible if the title listed includes the word “Past,” such as “Past Section Manager (PSM).”

Abbreviation

Full Position/Title Name

Point value

PRES

ARRL President

300

PE

President Emeritus

275

PP

Past President

275

HVP

Honorary Vice President

250

VP

ARRL Vice President

250

DE

Director Emeritus

225

DIR

Director

225

PVP

Past Vice President

225

VD

Vice Director

200

SM

Section Manager

175

OFF

Staff Officer, Treasurer, Counsel

150

PD

Past Director

150

PV

Past Vice Director

125

ARRL

W1AW ARRL HQ Station

100

CLM

ARRL Charter Life Member

100

PSM

Past Section Manager

100

DM

ARRL HQ Department Manager

75

HQ

ARRL HQ Staff Member/Volunteer

50

MAX

Maxim Society Member

50

AC

CAC/DXAC/ECAC Advisory Members

40

AD

Assistant Director

40

ARDF

Direction Finding Coordinator

35

ASM

Assistant Section Manager

35

EMC

Electromagnetic Compatibility Committee

35

LOTW

Logbook of the World Committee

35

PRC

Public Relations Committee

35

RF

RF Safety Committee

35

YC

Youth Committee

35

ACC

Affiliated Club Coordinator

30

DEC

District Emergency Coordinator

30

NCJ

NCJ Editor

30

PIC

Public Information Coordinator

30

QST

QST Columnist

30

SEC

Section Emergency Coordinator

30

SGL

State Government Liaison

30

STM

Section Traffic Manager

30

SYC

Section Youth Coordinator

30

TC

Technical Coordinator

30

DC

Diamond Club Member

25

LAB

W1INF Lab Museum Operations

25

LC

W1HQ HQ Operations

25

CM

Contest Managers/Log Checkers

20

QSM

Incoming QSL Bureau Manager

20

VC

Volunteer Counsel

15

VCE

Volunteer Consulting Engineer

15

ADC

Area Digital Coordinators

12

ADEC

Assistant District Emergency Coordinator

12

ANM

Area Net Manager

12

ASEC

Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator

12

ASTM

Assistant Section Traffic Manager

12

BM

Bulletin Manager

12

EC

Emergency Coordinator

12

LGL

Local Government Liaison

12

OBS

Official Bulletin Station

12

OES

Official Emergency Station

12

ORS

Official Relay Station

12

PIO

Public Information Officer

12

RNM

Region Net Manager

12

TCC

Transcontinental Corps Directors

12

TS

Technical Specialist

12

TA

Technical Advisor

10

NM

Net Manager

7

AM

Awards Manager

5

CC

Card Checker

5

INST

Registered Instructor

5

State Abbrev

W1AW/x around the USA (work each state twice)

5

VE

Volunteer Examiner

5

QSL

Incoming QSL Bureau Sorters

3

LM

ARRL Life Member

2

AFF

ARRL Affiliated Club Call Sign

1

MEM

ARRL Member

1

 

                                                                                                                     *   *   *

                     New Idaho ARRL Section Emergency Coordinator Announced
Idaho ARRL Section Manager Dan Marler K7REX has announced the appointment of a new Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC) for Idaho.  Mike Neelon, WA7MGN lives in Moscow, Idaho and is the Latah County Emergency Manager.  Neelon will take over the SEC position immediately. 
Mike is a member of  the “Do Something Amateur Radio Club"  (DSARC), an active ham and heavily involved with disaster communications.  He loves being in the field and is looking forward to visiting Idaho's Amateur Radio Clubs. He is also available to attend your club and ARES Zoom meetings, and of course you can always reach out to him via phone or email WA7MGN @gmail.com. 

Mike is an Experienced Service Coordinator with a demonstrated history of working in the public safety industry.  He has been working since 2014 as a county Emergency Manager in North Central Idaho. He is also an instructor teaching Incident Commands Principles for the State of Idaho. Prior to his emergency management job, he worked 13 years as a county Sheriff's Deputy and 18 years as an Emergency Medical Technician.
Mike has also been part of various response teams and committees which include Search and Rescue, Amateur Radio  Emergency Services (ARES) and is currently working to help re-establish a Community Emergency Response Team in Latah county. He is currently the Executive Chair for the North Idaho Healthcare Coalition which serves the 10 northern  Idaho counties.

Mike has an Associate of Science degree focused on Crisis/Emergency/Disaster Management from Idaho State University, an Associate of Arts degree focused on Liberal Arts from Lewis-Clark State College and various certificates from Emergency Management Institute and other FEMA related training facilities.

You can learn more about Mike Neelon by visiting his QRZ.COM page.

                                                                                                                *   *   *

Idaho Section Manager Dan Marler K7REX   k7rex@arrl.net

For reporting Idaho Silent Keys (SK): Send an email to SK@IdahoARRL.info
Go to https://www.idahoarrl.info/skreport.html for details.

We have ARRL Idaho Assistant Section Managers (ASM) located at several Idaho geographical locations to serve you better. We want to know how the ARRL can assist you. You don’t need to be an ARRL member to be heard. What you have to offer, benefits all of us.

Idaho ASM’s:

Rob Blout KA7ERV, Boise/Valley County ka7erv@arrl.net
Marty Edwards AK7ME, Rigby ak7me@arrl.net
Kelly Klaas K7SU, Twin Falls kelly@K7SU.com
Don Lynn ND7L, Nampa nd7l@arrl.net
Robert Minton NU7L, Boise rjm@interplus.net
Doug Nielson N7DN, Idaho Falls n7dn@arrl.net
John Ailport K7BSV, Sandpoint  John.Ailport13@comcast.net
Chris Trouten WA7ZAF, Mountain Home wa7zaf@arrl.net
Mike Brown, N7ID, Moscow/Troy area n7id@arrl.net

 We have three ARRL State Government Liaisons (SGL) in Idaho.  SGL's are the ones who have our backs. They are there to be sure the hams get a fair deal when it comes to government ordinances and laws.

Idaho SGL’s:

Rex Green, K7DMV - trgreen1947@gmail.com
Don Clower, KA7T  -  donka7t@gmail.com
Mike Brown, N7ID - n7id@arrl.net

 

 
 

 

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