Our meeting on the 2nd Wednesday of August will be our picnic starting at 6:30 vice 6 PM. The delay was to get more people out after work and time to get the home front organized. Come and bring anyone who is hungry. It will be held at Viking Park's picnic grounds just below the office bldg.

Bob Tomas (N7KTP) is busy getting things ready for the "Lighthouse On The Air" event which will take place on the 22nd at Point No Point shore site in Hansville. (Time: 0900 to 1500).

Hamfest preparation are still underway, and our committee is staying on top of the hoped for good results.

Our September meeting will involve a presentation on Astronomy and Radio Astronomy given by our V/P Ed Saftich(AK7H) and myself. Both of us are members of the Olympic Astronomical Society of Kitsap County as are many other area hams. The September meeting will also finalize our plans for the annual hamfest. Come to the September meeting and bring a friend or future ham.

Tnx to all the club members who came out and helped for all our Club's activities.

Cheers and 73. --- Jerome Turner, K9CCZ

NKARC has received permission to operate at the Point No Point lighthouse in Hansville during the Lighthouse Day. Plans are to have the club trailer on site to operate from 9:00 AM until 3:00 PM (Local). Mark you calendars to come and have some fun working other lighthouses that will be on the air on that day. The site is on the beach looking out over Puget Sound and provides a spectacular view. Bring the family along and have a picnic.

This is a reminder that the August presentation meeting will be a picnic in the patio shelter at Viking Park. The club will provide hot dogs and coffee. Russ Swank already has a pot of beans simmering. Members who attend are asked to bring a dish of some kind: salad, side dish, dessert, drinks, or what have you. If you are worried that we might have 23 desserts and no salad, or vice versa, you might contact Susan to coordinate dishes (697-9379).

Everybody is invited including spouses, friends, girlfriends and children. Come on down and swap stories about the one that got away. (DX contact that is).

URGENT: Also, please remember that this meeting will start at 6:30 p.m., not 7:30 as our other meetings!

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Some members indicated that the jackets could be very warm if worn during a sunny summer day here in the Pacific Northwest. Yes it can get hot here once in a while. Vests readily visible in emergency situations are available from Horace, K7ORY, for $17.50 each.

Just to let you know that the NKARC has a new website home. We now have our own domain:

http://www.nkarc.org

and I hope as many of you will take a look at what is there and give me your ideas as to what more you will want.

If you have any items advertised on the site and they have been sold, please let me know so I can remove them. The site is live and there will be lots of new and useful changes in the very near future.

If you have any questions you can email me at:

webmaster@nkarc.org.

73, Bill, W7ARC

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Please notify the club secretary to update the roster if you changed your address, call sign or e-mail address. Include your phone number so that you can be contacted in case of emergency or for assistance. This will insure that you will get the latest news via the club newsletter. Either notify Horace at the meeting or drop a card to NKARC at PO Box 2268, Silverdale, WA 98383-2268. You can also send the changes via e-mail to Horace or Bob Tomas at the addresses listed in the club officers list on the mailing page.

Aug. 11th – Annual Club Picnic – 6:00 PM – Viking Park Clubhouse. – See announcement in the newsletter.

Aug. 21st – VE testing Community Room, Poulsbo Library, 700 NE Lincoln St., Poulsbo. Doors open at 9am. Picture ID, original and photocopy of current amateur radio license and pending CSCE's needed. Cost of session is $12.00. Questions please call Susan, AB7MD at 360-697-9379.

Aug. 22nd – Lighthouse Ops – 9:00 AM – Special Event Station – Point No Point Lighthouse Park – Hansville

Aug. 25th – Business Meeting – 7:30 PM – Viking Park Clubhouse.

Sept 8th -- Presentation meeting at 7:30 PM– Viking Park Clubhouse -- Astronomy and Radio Astronomy – Jerry Turner, K9CCZ, and Ed Saftich, AK7H

Sept 18th -- VE testing Community Room, Poulsbo Library, 700 NE Lincoln St., Poulsbo. Doors open at 9am. Picture ID, original and photocopy of current amateur radio license and pending CSCE's needed. Cost of session is $12.00. Questions please call Susan, AB7MD at 360-697-9379.

Sept 22nd – Business Meeting – 7:30 PM – Viking Park Clubhouse

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Want your newsletter as soon as it comes out of the word processor? Send your e-mail address to :

bobtomas@sprintmail.com

and it will be mailed out right after the proof reading. It can be sent in Word or .pdf format. Notify Bob of the format you desire.

It costs approximately 60 cents per copy to print a newsletter and postage to mail it. Receiving your newsletter electronically helps keep publishing costs down allowing the funds to be used for other club projects

Dear ARES member:

Sunday evening it was brought to my attention that you may have heard ARES in Kitsap County is undergoing a change and that your membership is or has been canceled.

It is true that ARES is undergoing change, it is not true your membership in ARES was canceled.

The mission statement and goals and objectives for ARES of Kitsap County are under development. However, our desire to attract and train emergency communicators for public service in Kitsap County remains our primary goal. The new ARES leadership is:

Mr. Alf Anderson, W7ALF

Mr. Doug Hudson, K7CUU

Mr. Martin Prehm, N7INE has been asked to serve as the OES lead station

Mr. Jerry Turner, K9CCZ

And temporarily myself, Monte, K2MLS

We will be formally asking Mr. Lester Crawford, AB7Y to serve as the liaison to ARES from ACS and that will take place when we have had a final meeting with senior ARES management next week.

There is no need for emergency communicators without our stakeholders and we encourage everyone to support the public and private agencies that are the clientele of ARES/RACES/ACS in Kitsap County. ARES members are highly encouraged to enroll or stay enrolled with the ACS and accept assignments as deemed appropriate by Ms. Phyllis Mann. She is the key person in emergency management in the county and we work for her when mobilized.

In a nut shell we, the ARES of Kitsap County leadership team are asking you to stick with ARES and ACS. ARES is where we will work on training and skill building and ACS is where you will use those skills.

Unfortunately, I had to depend on public sources to develop this mailing list. If I have left someone out I respectfully request that you forward this e-mail to them. We do not want to leave anyone out; everyone is important to the success of meeting the needs for emergency communications.

We will be hold ARES nets on the first and third Thursdays of each month. We will include you in our membership roster as you check in to the new net or you may send me an e-mail. The location of the net(s) is under discussion, but we will keep you apprised.

Thank you to each of you for your service to the citizens of Kitsap County and our great country.

73, Monte, K2MLS

Interim EC

The subject of the July 11th presentation meeting was Packet Radio with a video and discussion afterwards. The video presentation was a good introduction to the mode giving a description of the basics and the various possibilities available. Horace, K7ORY, continued the presentation with a distribution of the latest Puget Sound Packet Network Map and the 145.63 Packet network showing the station locations in the western Puget Sound area. He went on to explain how packet radio is viewed as an error free method of passing information during emergency situations.

Packet is a marriage of radio and computer communications. It is like having a modem connecting two computer terminals by radio rather than by telephone lines. Emergency Communications groups are urging that packet radio networks be developed to help speed the transfer of information with lesser errors and immediate confirmation.

Considering the article above, more attention should be given to establishing packet radio as a viable addition to the emergency communications network in Kitsap County. This can only be accomplished if we are willing to set up a packet system in our QTH and become familiar with its operation.

VE License Exams @ 10 AM > Contact Shirley Murphy N7QHW> sundancealso@harbornet.com

Consignment Sales at the "COUNTYR STORE"

Demos and Special interest Lectures

Commercial Displays

Snack Bar

Door Prizes and Grand Prize Drawing

Plenty of FREE Parking

Progress Energy Corporation (PEC) says it's completed Phase II of its broadband over power line (BPL) field trial in the Raleigh, North Carolina, area. In an August 4 PEC internal memorandum made available to ARRL, the company said its program to "test the viability of providing broadband service to communities it serves" will wrap up by the end of August. The company reportedly will shut down the system once it's able to move its BPL customers to other broadband providers.

"Currently, the company does not have plans for a large-scale commercial rollout of BPL in the company's service territories," the memorandum states. Progress Energy's decision comes on the heels of announced shutdowns of BPL field trials in Penn Yan, New York, and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

PEC Vice President of Energy Delivery Solutions Lisa Myers said the utility obtained significant information about the design, construction and operation of a BPL system. "Overall, this has been a successful test for us," the memorandum quotes her as saying. "We have gathered valuable information about broadband over power lines and its potential."

During its six-month Phase I and Phase II tests, the utility says it offered broadband service to more than 400 homes in southern Wake County. Earlier this year, FCC Chairman Michael Powell visited the BPL field trial to promote the technology, and local radio amateurs spoke briefly with him about their interference concerns.

The PEC memorandum acknowledged Amateur Radio interference complaints. "BPL has met with vocal opposition from amateur or 'ham' radio operators who are concerned that the service will interfere with the radio frequencies they use," it said. "Some complaints were filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) during Phase II by ham radio operators using mobile equipment in search of BPL signals."

One of the amateurs who's been closely monitoring PEC's foray into BPL--Gary Pearce, KN4AQ--says he's pleased with the utility's decision. "It's a positive thing for ham radio that Progress Energy is not going to be pursuing BPL for whatever reason they decided not to do it," Pearce told ARRL. "It's going to make a lot of hams in Eastern North Carolina happy."

There's more information about BPL and Amateur Radio on the ARRL Web site : http://www.arrl.org/bpl .