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.

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

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

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.

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 Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania is the 5^th most populous, the 33^rd most extensive, and the 9^th most populated state. It is located in the northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. Pennsylvania attained statehood on December 12, 1787, becoming the 2^nd state to join the union.

Pennsylvania (nicknamed: the Keystone State) has 67 counties. The state’s capital is Harrisburg. Pennsylvania is the second state, after Delaware, to ratify the Constitution of the United States of America. The Liberty Bell, an iconic symbol of American Independence, is located in Pennsylvania. The bell can be seen in the Liberty Bell Center in Independence National Historical Park. The bell was commissioned from London in 1751 by the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly. The bell was rung at the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence.

Before the establishment of Washington D.C. as the permanent capital of the United States of America; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was the nation’s capital between 1790 and 1800s. Did you know that on September 27, 1777, Lancaster, Pennsylvania served as the country’s capital for just one day?

PENNSYLVANIA FIRSTS:

The first computer in the world–The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer–was invented at the University of Pennsylvania in 1946.

The first Zoo in the U.S. was opened in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 1, 1874.

The first public library was founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1731 in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia is also the place where the first American Flag was sewn in 1777 by Betsy Ross.

These are just a few of the interesting facts about Pennsylvania. Have fun working PA as you pursue your W.A.S. or any of the GERATOL Awards and endorsements, that reuire Pennsylvania.

I was having problems through out this year on my transmit and could not figure out what it was. We thought we had the issue solve by tracing a loose connection inside the lighting arrestors. Then the problem reared it ugly head again. It is very intermittent. The guy who helps me with my maintenance on my gear can not get to it until midweek. We are going to do some more testing and I will be off the air until we are in testing mode or it is fixed.

If anyone needs Indiana please be patient with me or send me an email and I will let you when I am back on the air.

73
Steve AC9GK

We wanted to provide our fellow GERATOLers a brief update on where we stand with activity on our GERATOL Website, as well as some information on how to better take advantage of the site for those who have registered.

First and foremost, a hearty THANK YOU to all who have taken time to register on the site. We currently have over 170 registered members. We continue to get new registrations, and in addition, we are fortunate to have non-registered members, using the site for “read only” purposes, to learn more about our net. This activity typically picks up just prior to the net start up, and as we publicize the net via QRZ, eHAM, etc.

For those who have not yet registered, I would like to remind you, we remain pretty strict about providing privileges to those who register. While confirming you “are not a robot” may seem tedious upon registering, it is a means to keep our site free of hackers, spammers and whatever. So when you do register, simply follow the instructions under the “REGISTER” section of the META FILE area, located at the bottom right of the opening page.

For those who have already registered, there is a nice tutorial on the site, explaining how to add posts, make comments, etc. It’s located under the HELP button, at the top of the opening page. Simply click on HELP, then on “Help for New Accounts” and it will display the tutorial.

Regarding your registration: there are two categories of privileges we assign to all our registrants: 1.) Subscriber – This category provides you with basic privileges on our site. 2.) Contributor – This category allows you to create your own POSTS as well as make COMMENTS to POSTS on the site. POSTS and COMMENTS are subject to approval by the site Administrator and/or Webmaster. This is done to insure non-volatile messages are posted.

The distinction between Subscriber and Contributor, as mentioned in previous updates, resides in how you register. If part of your registration includes your call sign, and we can confirm it on QRZ, you are granted Contributor status. If you register without a call sign, but use a name and/or email we can confirm on QRZ, again you are granted Contributor status. If we are unable to find or confirm a call sign for you, via your registration data, we grant only Subscriber status. Again, this is all done as part of our efforts to keep the site safe. If you wish to move from Subscriber to Contributor, simply send me an e-mail with your call sign, and the email used when you registered, and I will upgrade your status immediately upon confirmation.

We have had registrations which reflect “suspect” email accounts, etc. and those are automatically deleted. Again, this is a precaution we take to keep our site secure.

Finally, if anyone has any suggestions for Website topics, POSTS of interest, etc., please feel free to send me an email, and I will get in touch with you.

Regards, Kevin N1KL Website Administrator

The Summer of 2019 is in our rear view mirror !!

The 2019/2020 GERATOL Season has begun !!    It began on Oct 1, 0100 UTC, and continues each and every evening at 0100Z on 3.668 (+/- QRM).

Last season we were fortunate to have several new “regulars” begin working on their basic award, and of course, we enjoyed the company of many of our old friends over the entire season. A thanks to all active members who took the time to invite our long time members on frequency, as well as a thanks to those who took them up on the invitations and joined us for some fun during the season.

We also had a few more folks successfully complete their 50/50 Award, where they were able to work all 50 states, and in addition, were able to contact 50 Operators who had been licensed continuously for 50 years.  Congratulations to all who have completed that challenging award, and good luck to those still in the hunt, perhaps the 2019/2020 season will be the year you finish up !!

Most of all, continued good fortune and good hunting to our newest attendees working toward that elusive Unbelievable Operating Achievement Award, or better known as the basic award.

Let’s make this a real Dynamite Season !   Take a few minutes to check in, say hi, renew old acquaintances and give out some contacts to the new guys looking for those last few states.

To all of those net controllers thank you for the great job you did this past season. We would not have a net without you.

73 Steve AC9GK

The following (I’m Just Sayin’) is an editorial by your GERATOL Website Administrator and does not necessarily reflect the views of the GERATOL Board.

As a long time, “active” member of the Quarter Century Wireless Association, I feel obligated to make an appeal to my fellow GERATOL members. When I refer to myself as an active QCWA member, I am simply referring to the fact my QCWA membership is active. That is to say, my dues are up to date.

Most seasoned GERATOLers, are very familiar with the QCWA, and are proud to swap and share their “Q” numbers with other net members, both new and old, as GERATOLers work toward Endorsement # 19, where you must work stations sporting a “Q” from all 50 states. Completing Endorsement # 19 does not require you have a “Q” but simply need to work stations from all 50 states, that have one. No doubt a fun and challenging endorsement to achieve during those long winter nights.

As the creator of several awards including the 20/20 and 50/50 awards, I know first hand the “criteria” I was held accountable to follow in creating those awards and it was quite demanding. For example, before I was given permission to announce the 50/50 Award, I had to provide data to support the fact there was a sufficient number of stations, licensed for 50+ years. Another criteria that was added after the initial approval and announcement, was to have been licensed “continually” with no breaks, for the 50 years. Pretty demanding stuff, but lo and behold, the award has been achieved by several diligent GERATOLers.

However, it seems when it comes to Endorsement # 19, the criteria is not on the same level as some of our other awards or endorsements. When it comes to QCWA numbers, we gladly swap numbers proudly. Yet many operators doing so, have not been “active” (dues paying) members of the QCWA for years. In fact, some have never renewed since a year after they got their “Q” number assigned. A check of the QCWA website, where they display “lost” members, will list those who are no longer “active” members.

I am in no way affiliated with, nor have I ever been affiliated with the QCWA in any official capacity, other than being a member. The QCWA, like many Ham related organizations and publications, is working hard to remain viable. They no longer publish the hard copy of the QCWA Journal, due to the cost of publishing and distributing. To their credit, they have an on line version on their website, which you can find at: https://www.qcwa.org

So, while we may not be able to change or modify the criteria for Endorsement # 19 to reflect working “active” QCWA members, I’d like to encourage those “lost” members to consider adding your QCWA membership to your allotted Ham spending, or to encourage those eligible, (first licensed 25 years ago) to apply for QCWA membership. It would be terrible to lose such a historically active (Founded in 1947) and important element of our Ham Radio hobby, and potentially robbing those approaching their 25th anniversary of garnering their own “Q” number. A look at the last few months of data on the QCWA website, reflects the totals shown for NEW members, vs LOST members, and it’s a disturbing trend. The number of LOST members, vs NEW is at least two to one. Needless to say, that can’t go on forever. So, JUST SAYIN’, if you can afford it, check out the QCWA website, and renew your membership, or join up if not yet a member !!!

For those who registered on the GERATOL website, using their call signs as part of their registration, feel free to add a “comment” to this JUST SAYIN’ editorial.

All the best, and let’s not forget, the new 2019/2020 GERATOL season is not far off !!!! Time to get that antenna work done, and get on the air to renew old acquaintances, and maybe even make some new ones !!!

Regards, Kevin N1KL