As previously posted, over the next few months, we will be featuring information about our 50 States.

As a Worked All States net, it may be interesting to refresh our memories about the states we hear and/or work on the net. This week we will focus on the state of Connecticut, the fifth state to ratify the constitution.

As with all our states, Connecticut has several nicknames. The official nickname is: “The Constitution State.” Connecticut is referred to as the “Constitution State” due to the fact that it has the first written constitution as recognized by many historians. It is also referred to as the “Nutmeg State”, because Connecticut’s early inhabitants had the reputation of being so ingenious and shrewd that they were able to make and sell wooden nutmegs.

Connecticut’s first European settlers were Dutchmen who established a small, short-lived settlement called Fort Hoop in Hartford at the confluence of the Park and Connecticut Rivers.

The Connecticut State Capitol is located north of Capitol Avenue and south of Bushnell Park in Hartford, the capital of Connecticut. The building houses the Connecticut General Assembly; the upper house, the State Senate, and lower house, the House of Representatives, as well as the office of the Governor. How many of you GERATOLers, have worked the Capitol of CT ???

Fun facts about the state of Connecticut:

1. Noah Webster, the author of the first dictionary, lived in West Hartford

2. The first automobile law was passed in Connecticut (and the speed limit was only 12 miles per hour).

3. Connecticut is home to the first hamburger, Polaroid camera, color television, and helicopter.

4. It’s illegal to walk on your hands in Hartford.

5. In order for a pickle to be considered a pickle in Connecticut, it must bounce.

6. Besides being known as the Consitution state, Connecticut is also known as the nutmeg state.

7. Our official state song is “Yankee Doodle.”

8. The Hartford Courant is the oldest continually published newspaper in America.

9. Connecticut never ratified the 18th amendment (prohibition).

10. The smallest natural waterfall in America, Mill Pond Falls, is located in Newington, Connecticut

These are just a few of the interesting facts about Connecticut. Have fun working CT as you pursue your W.A.S. or any of the GERATOL Awards and endorsements, that require you contact the Constitution State. You may wish to mention some of the fun facts to the folks you contact from CT.

Sent out as an email as well, from Webmaster, Al – AE2T

Kevin – N1KL and I have been working behind the scenes to ensure the security of the web page. Kevin noticed a lot of attempts to register bogus accounts. We have taken steps to stem that problem. It should not affect anyone who already has their account at all.

I also took some time today to install a SSL certificate on the site. You shouldn’t notice any difference, but the little lock symbol next to the address bar should now be locked. This helps keep the site secure, but also keeps your information more secure when logging in. We’re not a big, mission-critical site, and if we were hacked it would probably only be a big headache, but I had one certificate available with the host contract and I decided this was the best place to use it.

Also, I don’t get to use this to send you emails often, but I need to be familiar with how it works, so I’m using this opportunity to refresh my knowledge.

Hope everyone is having a great time on the net and working towards a lot of awards.

73,

Al AE2T

01/14/2020

ARRL’s new On the Air podcast for those just getting started on their amateur radio journey, will debut this Thursday, January 16, with a new podcast posted each month. The podcast is a companion to the new bimonthly On the Air magazine, which is already on its way to member subscribers. On the Air magazine editor Becky Schoenfeld, W1BXY, will be the host of the new podcast. Both the podcast and the magazine are aimed at offering new and beginner-to-intermediate-level radio amateurs a fresh approach to exploring radio communication.

Listeners can find the On the Air podcast at Blubrry, Apple iTunes (or by using your iPhone or iPad podcast app (search for On the Air), and Stitcher (or through the free Stitcher app for iOS, Kindle, or Android devices). Episodes will be archived on the ARRL website.

Each On the Air podcast will take a deeper dive into the articles and issues raised in the magazine, including advice and insight on topics covering the range of amateur radio interests and activities: radio technology, operating, equipment, project building, and emergency communication.

Supplementing On the Air will be a new Facebook page for those who share a love of radio communication and are looking to learn and explore more about their interests.

The biweekly Eclectic Tech podcast for experienced radio amateurs will launch on February 13. Hosted by QST Editor Steve Ford, WB8IMY, Eclectic Tech will highlight topics involving amateur and non-amateur technology, offer brief interviews with individuals involved in projects of interest to amateurs, and include practical information of immediate benefit to today’s hams. Eclectic Tech will be available via iTunes and Stitcher.

The ARRL Mags apps including QST and On the Air are now live on Apple iTunes and Google Play. The digital edition of On the Air magazine is now live and linked from the On the Air page on the ARRL website

Source: ARRL News

As previously posted, over the next few months, we will be featuring information about our 50 States.

As a Worked All States net, it may be interesting to refresh our memories about the states we hear and/or work on the net. This week we will focus on the state of Georgia, the fourth state to ratify the constitution.

Georgia was founded by James Oglethorpe on Feb. 12, 1733. It was the thirteenth of the 13 original colonies. Georgia became a state on Jan. 2, 1788. Georgia has had 5 capitals:

• Savannah (1777-1785)
• Augusta (1786-1789)
• Louisville (1789-1807)
• Milledgeville (1807-1867)
• Atlanta (1868-present

• State Flower – Cherokee Rose
• Crop – Peanuts
• State Song – “Georgia On My Mind”
• Nicknames – Peach State, Empire State of the South
• Tree – Live Oak
• State HAM – AI4IL
• Georgia is home to the oldest state park in the nation
• Georgia is the largest state east of the Mississippi River
• Georgia was the 4th state to join the Union in 1776 and the 5th to join the Confederacy in 1861
• Wesleyan College in Macon was the first college in the world chartered to grant degrees to women

Coca-Cola was invented in May 1886 by Dr. John S. Pemberton in Atlanta, Georgia. The name “Coca-Cola” was suggested by Dr. Pemberton’s bookkeeper, Frank Robinson. He penned the name Coca-Cola in the flowing script that is famous today. Coca-Cola was first sold at a soda fountain in Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta by Willis Venable.

These are just a few of the interesting facts about Georgia. Have fun working GA as you pursue your W.A.S. or any of the GERATOL Awards and endorsements, that require you contact the Peach State.

From: Larry Phillips – W0FP

We had one nomination for each office.

A motion was made to elect the nominees to office as there were no additional nominations made from the floor.

So our newly elected officers are:

Chairman         W0FP    2026

Vice Chairman  KE9TC  2437

Secretary         AA0ZP  1932

Treasurer          KJ8W    2594

ThanksFrosty

As previously posted, we will be featuring information about our 50 States. As a Worked All States net, it may be interesting to refresh our memories about the states we hear and/or work on the net. This week we will focus on the state of New Jersey.

The first people to live on the land now known as New Jersey were the Delaware Indians. They lived there starting at least 10,000 years ago. Anywhere from 8,000 to 20,000 Delaware Indians lived in the area when the first Europeans arrived. Their name means “original people” or “genuine people.” They spoke an Algonquian dialect.

Around 1524, Giovanni de Verrazano became the first European to explore New Jersey. He sailed along the coast and anchored off Sandy Hook. The colonial history of New Jersey started after Henry Hudson sailed through Newark Bay in 1609. Although Hudson was British, he worked for the Netherlands, so he claimed the land for the Dutch. It was called New Netherlands.

In 1787, New Jersey became the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution and the first state to sign the Bill of Rights. In 1790, Trenton officially became the state capital of New Jersey. William Livingston became New Jersey’s first state governor.

New Jersey grew and prospered during the early 1800s. New factories sprung up throughout the state. Paterson became a textile center and later became known for producing trains and silk. Trenton produced clay products, iron, and steel. Camden, Elizabeth, Jersey City, Newark, and Passaic all became major manufacturing centers in the 1800s.

Some Interesting New Jersey Statistics:

New Jersey has . . .

• 21 counties and 565 municipalities.
• 2 United States Senators.
• 12 United States Representatives.
• 40 State Senators.
• 80 Members of the General Assembly.
• 8,908,520 residents (as of 2018).
• 3,199,111 households (as of 2017).
• 298 public libraries.
• 2,000 public elementary schools.
• 517 public secondary schools.
• 156 private high schools.
• 39 four-year colleges.
• 21 two-year colleges.
• 45 engineering colleges.
• 5 medical college.
• 7 theological colleges.
• 7,354 square miles of land.
• 1,368 square miles of water.
• 8,723 square miles total area.
• 127 miles of coastline on the Atlantic Ocean.
• more than 800 lakes and ponds.
• more than 100 rivers and creeks.
• 28 state parks.
• 11 state forests.
• 256 historic & memorial sites.
• 43 natural areas.
• 5 recreational areas.
• 6 state marinas.
• 39,000 miles of highways and roads.

These are just a few of the interesting facts about New Jersey. Have fun working NJ as you pursue your W.A.S. or any of the GERATOL Awards and endorsements, that require you contact the Garden State.

The GERATOL Board of Directors has recently approved a new award for members to pursue. The award is called the “GERATOL INVITATIONAL AWARD”. No GERATOL number is required to complete this award, so all may participate in working toward its completion.

PURPOSE:  To provide all net members, but especially our regulars, an opportunity to pursue a fun, yet challenging award, this season and if necessary next season.   

In addition, the purpose of this award, and perhaps the most important aspect of the award, is to create a level of activity on the net, which results in multiple states checking into the net throughout the upcoming season/s beginning this November, as approved by the GERATOL Board.

DURATION: The Invitational Award is expected to have a finite duration, and will be attainable from November of 2019 through April of 2020.   However, should conditions remain marginal this 2019/20 season, the Board has elected to review the award status, and if need be, extend this award out through 2021. 

ELIGIBILITY: Any amateur radio operator, with Extra Class operating privileges.

REQUIREMENTS: To successfully complete the award a successful applicant for the award must:

1. Invite, then successfully contact at least 25 stations in the Extra Class portion of the 80M ham band (3.6-3.7Mhz), and/or during the GERATOL Net on 3.668 Mhz.
2. Must work an additional 25 stations in the Extra Class portion of the 80M ham band, or during the GERATOL Net on 3.668 Mhz, that were invited there by other operators.
3. At least 25 different states need to be represented by the 50 QSO’s completed in items 1 and 2 above.
4. All QSO’s must be logged, and then listed on the “Invitational Award” application, and submitted along with $5.00 to the Net Awards Manager, KJ8V.  (See GERATOL Website for additional information, and application form)
5. No GERATOL number is required to work toward this award.

RULES:

1. Qualifying QSO’s for item 1.  The invited station must confirm he/she was invited by the station working him/her.  Successful exchange of signal reports and call signs.  All QSO’s must be made in Extra Class portion of Ham Band 3.6-3.7MHz
2. Qualifying QSO’s for item 2.  After being identified as an “invited” station by another net member, a successful QSO would also consist of exchange of signal reports and call signs.
3. All QSO’s must be made in Extra Class portion of Ham Band 3.6-3.7MHz. Applicant must successfully work, by exchange of call sign and signal reports, a minimum of 25 states from items 1 and 2 above.
4. Stations who identify themselves as being “invited” by a net member to the NCS, must identify which member invited them.  The member identified by the invited stations will be the ONLY station allowed to work the invitee, at that time, in order to keep the net check-in process at reasonable levels.   If the invited station agrees to remain on frequency for the net, any other stations may of course work him/her by getting on the work list or if the NCS allows them to work that station before a work list is taken. If they had also invited them, they can add this QSO to their Item 1 total, when they successfully work them, or their Item 2 totals, if they successfully work them, but did not invite them. 
   • It will be the Net Control Stations prerogative, to determine how many stations may or may not work the invited station, prior to a formal “work list” being taken.
   • All decisions on this are final, as determined by the NCS
   • Should anyone need the “Invited” station to complete 48, 49 or 50 for the basic award, or other endorsement or award completion, as always, the operator needs to alert the NCS by stating “48”, “49” or “50”

THANK YOU:

                It is our intention to provide a special THANK YOU to those stations who came on frequency that were invited up by our net members.  We will be talking more about this, as the Award is approved and operators begin working toward it.

Have fun, and above all, enjoy working toward the new award, while bringing new friends and old acquaintences on to the net frequency.