SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB, INC.

I apologize for the late report, but I had a computer operating system crash about four weeks ago and recovery has been quite a task. I had all my important files backed up to an external drive but lots of information stored in files associated with Outlook was not backed up. Thank goodness for my external hard drive! Remember, it is not a question of IF you will have a computer failure, but a question of WHEN. Backup your important data. External hard drives are cheap and backup can be accomplished automatically.

UPCOMING HAMFESTS (See http://www.arrl.org/hamfests.html for more details):
September 25 -- Jefferson ARC, Delta DX Assn., New Orleans ARC -- Harahan, LA
October 9 -- Amateur Radio Club of Central Louisiana -- Pineville, LA
December 18 – Minden Amateur Radio Association – Minden, LA
January 8, 2011 -- Delta Division Convention -- Southeast Louisiana Amateur Radio Club -- Hammond, LA

Note: The West Central Louisiana Amateur Radio Club of Leesville has decided not to hold their hamfest this year.

SECTION APPOINTMENTS: Marvin Rush W5MRR Emergency Coordinator Beauregard Parish

SECTION ARES STATISTICS: ARES MEMBERS 524, DRILLS/TRAINING 16 MH 591, PUBLIC SERVICE EVENTS 1 MH 96, EMERGENCY OPERATIONS 1 MH 1, TOTAL OPERATIONS 18 MH 688, ARES NET SESSIONS 57 CHECKINS 578.

EC REPORTS RECEIVED: Avoyelles, Bienville, Calcasieu, Cameron, Catahoula, Claiborne, Concordia, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jefferson, Lafourche, Livingston, Madison, Orleans, Ouachita, Plaquemines, Pointe Coupee, Sabine, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. Mary, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Vermillion, Vernon and Washington.

OTHER REPORTS RECEIVED: Chuck Standlee AC5PW OO, Virginia Bryant KE5DJA PIA, Ron Riviere WB5CXJ.

AFFILIATED AND SPECIAL SERVICE CLUBS: ARRL Club Database not functional at this time. If you have questions or need help please contact Jim N5NVP at n5nvp@arrl.net.

FLOWER FUND: Virginia reports that the fund total stands at $125.  There have been no expenditures to date.

If you wish to have noteworthy information about club activities, individual achievements, etc. included in the Section Summary please send them to k5gls@arrl.org.

This year for Field Day I visited as many sites as I could south of Alexandria. By the time I made it back to Shreveport I had clocked 975 miles in two days. I enjoyed visiting with the clubs and groups that I was able to reach and I apologize to those that I couldn’t. Just too many miles and not enough time! I was impressed with the operation of each group and I know that everyone had lots of fun.

The heat was a real problem for everyone. We were experiencing 105+ heat index and it really took its toll on everyone. We are working to try to change the Field Day schedule to at least earlier in June to remedy this situation. There are several alternatives to late June. This problem has been discussed many times with ARRL to no avail, but we are trying once more.

Louisiana Section Announces Online Swapmeet Forum:
This new forum will provide an opportunity for Section members who wish to provide information to potential buyers of new or used equipment and accessories for ham radio. We must have some ground rules to operate from, so we offer the following as the forum rules for use of the Swapmeet Forum: These rules are simple and few. They are scarely different from other sites of the same type. We want your experience to be a good one. You must register in order to use or view the swapmeet forum. This is somewhat of an inconvenience but it is for your protection. There are many many spammers out there that want to invade our space to post inappropriate content or use it for commercial purposes. We log a minimum of 1700 attempts per month from outside the USA alone. So we had to find a way to restrict access in order to keep those invaders out. Most are from Russia and Nigeria or places outside the Louisiana Section that have no good intention. Your registration as a forum member signifies you agree in full with any and all of these rules. The LA Section, and the WebMaster reserve the right to remove or deny listings for any reason whatsoever. We will exercise this right when necessary and there is no recourse. If you see a listing that needs our attention you can contact the WebMaster at AD5XJ@arrl.net - we will not divulge your name or callsign if you do. 

==>Vanity Call Sign Fees to Decrease August 17 - On July 19, the Federal Communications Commission announced via the Federal Register that the cost of an Amateur Radio vanity call sign will decrease 10 cents, from $13.40 to $13.30. The new fees take effect 30 days after publication, making August 17, 2010, the first day the new fee is in effect. In FY2010, the FCC expects to grant 14,800 vanity call signs, bringing in $196,840 from the vanity call sign program.  The FCC is authorized by the Communications Act of 1934, As Amended, to collect vanity call sign fees to recover the costs associated with that program. The vanity call sign regulatory fee is payable not only when applying for a new vanity call sign, but also upon renewing a vanity call sign for a new 10 year term.

==>John Robert Stratton, KE5ISX, Appointed West Gulf  Division Vice Director- The ARRL's West Gulf Division consists of the States of Texas and Oklahoma. After review of eligibility by the ARRL Ethics and Elections Committee, President Kay Craigie, N3KN, has appointed John Robert Stratton, KE5ISX, an attorney in Austin, Texas, to serve as Vice Director of the ARRL West Gulf Division for the remainder of the current term that expires January 1, 2011. Stratton, an attorney, fills the vacancy created when John Thomason, WB5SYT, resigned the position earlier this month. A General class licensee, Stratton has been licensed and an ARRL member since 2006. In February 2007, Stratton became active in League affairs after learning about the new cell phone bills that were introduced in the 2007 Texas Legislative Session, and he volunteered to help work against the bills.  "We were successful in defeating the cell phone bills that would have made mobile Amateur Radio operation illegal. With the help of some smart and dedicated hams, we were also successful in obtaining passage of new laws that protected those state employees who were hams [so they could operate] when they deployed in emergencies" Stratton said.

==>IN BRIEF: