ARRL North Texas Ham of The Year Nominations are still being accepted

ARRL NTX Ham of The Year Nominations should be more than just a call sign sent to the section manager

A good nomination package might look something like this......

What follows is nomination example

Everyone of the following lines are Bullet statements........


I want to nominate Name and Call sign for NTX Ham of the year.
Is an ARRL member
Was licensed in xxxx, has lived in NTX section X years
Currently is a member of xxxx and xxxx
Received a personal award from for work during weather event on xx date and year for doing XXXX
Presented XXXXXX at xxxx Ham Fest during xxxx and again in xxxx.
Does on-the-air traffic handling on XXX Net
Was instrumental in development of xxxx
Was honored by being the recipient of xxx group or club award
Inducted into the xxxxx
Directly responsible for organizing such and such events this passed year
Passed President of the XXX Amateur Radio club, and Current member of the Board of Directors
Served as a hospital volunteer during XXXXX in xxx of xxxx, at XXXX hospital
Works as a Volunteer doing xxx at their local church on such and such street in no where Texas
Is a VEC and has administered exams during the following club meetings and Ham Fest
Volunteered and assisted our club during it's support of  Mentor Fest (or other event)
Personally Elmer x number of new Amateur Radio operators last year
Assisted HamCom members with x hours of volunteer work in 2018 placing Barricades Thursday evening 

 (following is a sample closing paragraph)
I highly recommend XXXXXX for the award of North Texas Ham of the Year.
A closing paragraph such as this is appropriate to help underline
any of the Bullet statements that are above
You can also include copies of certificates, awards etc
And your closing with your name and call sign

You might not have as many bullet statements listed in the sample above
Those are listed to give you an idea of what a Nomination should look like

Closing date of Nominations will be announced at HamCom on the 8th of June 2019

Email your nominations to KG5VK@ARRL.ORG

Subject title needs to be ARRL NTX Ham of the Year Nomination

Steve
KG5VK

Emory Texas Ham Fest Tail Gate Party

The Emory Ham Fest Tail Gate Party

May 11. 2019

Was a success in my book !
While it rained all day, the turn out considering it was an outside venue was great.
Many of the Rains County Amateurs brought pop up tents for Vendors to use

My Mom has always said that I would not melt if I got wet
and that was true

The fellowship from club members was warm and friendly
I am already looking forward to their next venue !

Steve
KG5VK

I'm in Rockwall, Texas tonight and bright and early head to Garland for Mentor Fest 2019 at the Hella Shrine

April 26,  2019

I'm on the road (Pit Stop) is Rockwall Texas

Tomorrow is Mentor Fest 2019
April 27, 2019

Garland, Texas at the Hella Shrine

Schedule

TIME	Session 1	Session 2	Session 3	Session 4	Session 5	Session 6
6:00 - 8:45	Setup
9:00 - 9:45	Do you need an antenna tuner?	DMR- Digital Mobile Radio	Digital HF modes- FT-8 digital on HF	Raspberry Pi and Ham Radio	Anderson power poles	AREDN
10:00 - 10:45	Do you need an antenna tuner?	DMR- Digital Mobile Radio	Digital HF modes- FT-8 digital on HF	Raspberry Pi and Ham Radio	Coax Connectors	FSQ
11:00 - 11:45	Do you need an antenna tuner?	DMR- Digital Mobile Radio	Digital HF modes- FT-8 digital on HF	Raspberry Pi and Ham Radio	Soldering 100, An Intro	Hands On AREDN/FSQ
11:45 - 1:00	Lunch
1:00 - 1:45	Practical BaoFeng HT Radio Programming 101	DMR- Digital Mobile Radio	Digital HF modes- FT-8 digital on HF	Raspberry Pi and Ham Radio	Anderson power poles	AREDN
2:00 - 2:45	Practical BaoFeng HT Radio Programming 101	DMR- Digital Mobile Radio	Digital HF modes- FT-8 digital on HF	Raspberry Pi and Ham Radio	Coax Connectors	FSQ
3:00 - 3:45	Practical BaoFeng HT Radio Programming 101	DMR- Digital Mobile Radio	Digital HF modes- FT-8 digital on HF	Raspberry Pi and Ham Radio	Soldering 100, An Intro	Hands On AREDN/FSQ
3:45 - 5:00	Tear Down and Clean Up

We have Ten Mentors covering a wide range of Topics in Formal Seminars (listed above)
There will also be a lot of casual mentoring sessions at one of over six different club tables

Our ARRL West Gulf Division Director John Stratton will join my self and many others at the ARRL table
I encourage everyone to come meet our director, myself and many other talented Ham radio members
that are eager to share with others.

What I love about sharing in a learning Environment is that we all learn
Come on out and lets have some fun learning about our great hobby !

Steve
KG5VK

Irving Ham Fest on the 2nd of March

I will be at the Irving Ham Fest on the 2nd of March
Please stop by the ARRL Table and say hello

Steve
KG5VK

North Texas ARRL members Vote for Steven Lott Smith KG5VK as the new Section Manager

News Flash !   (February 19,2019)

Fellow North Texas ARRL members voted me into office as the next ARRL NTX Section Manager !

A big Thank You to each and every one that Voted, 
not just those that voted for me personally, 
but everyone that took a few minutes to mark their Ballot and get it in the mail !

I am very thankful that I won the confidence of the majority of my fellow North Texas ARRL members and you have given me a chance to work for you !!!

Even though, I do not take office tell the First of April, 2019
I am hitting the ground running, answering phone calls, email and text messages

Please, if I do not answer the phone...
leave a short message with a topic, or at least your call sign and phone number.

This will allow me to get back to you with the info you need and not have to call you back after I research the solutions or answers to your question(s)

This simply helps me, help more members faster and more efficiently.

Cheers!
Steve
KG5VK

KG5VK at ARRL dot Net
Tel 318-470-9806

Some of My Goals as your new ARRL North Texas Section Manager, if elected

• Fix a few things......
  
  
  1. The Broken or Incomplete Profiles on the http://ARRLNTX.org website
     
  2. The Broken NTX Feeds to the Division website  http://arrlwgd.org/sections
     
  3. More Active Communication from SM to members with a request that they provide feedback, emphasis on the routine of a Monthly Section News Letter
     
     
     
     
     • Create some new tools to promote Active communication
       
       
       1. Monthly Pod Casts
       2. Quarterly Emails, Pod Castings and / or Face Book postings of...
       State of The Section Reports
       
       
       • Education of members to the tools at hand to solve problems and communicate with the Section Manager and his Station level appointees
         aside from the ARRLNTX.org website for example use of the NTX Email reflector http://www.arrlntx.org/
         
       • Insure that fellow North Texans are aware of the many programs that are in place for our Section and Division members. Such as....
         
         
         1. Scholarships
         2. Encourage nominations to the Division Awards program for Young Ham of the Year, Ham of the Year etc.
         3. Seek Nominations for ARRL NTX Section Ham of the Year
            and provide the award to one of those nominated once a year per my term in office.
         4. ARRL special club of the year award for the club that recruits the greatest number of new ARRL members within the last 12 months
            I will obviously have to work out some details on this one so it is fair to lower populated clubs as well as large member clubs.
            
            
            
            •  Ensure that the ARRL Section Table is Manned on both Friday & Saturday at Cowtown & HamCom, not just Saturday
              
              These are just a few of the things that I want to do and see done better, others will come once in office if elected to serve
              
              Cheers!
              Steven Lott Smith
              KG5VK
              
              
              

My ARRL NTX Section Manager Campaign stop at The Garland Amateur Radio Club

Last night myself (KG5VK) and Ken KD2KW were at the Garland ARC meeting
we were invited by the GARC Club to introduce ourselves as the current Candidates for your Section Manager (ARRL NTX) and take questions from the members.

We received many great questions !

One question I had for the members was...

When was the last time a North Texas ARRL member was awarded Ham of The Year ?

Unfortunately,  no one could recall
To me that means it has been way to long ago and I expressed that
Maybe it is because none of the recent SM's have asked the members to nominate someone ???
I found nothing on this in the current NTX section searches I did,
why, could be many reasons.

I do plan on if elected to seek Nominations for a section Ham of the year from our section

and award one accordingly each year I am in office, if elected.

I also encourage members of North Texas to submit a nomination to our Division

This is easily done by following the instructions found at the following link...
http://arrlwgd.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/WGD-Awards-Full-Nominating-Package.pdf
We have Many deserving Hams in our section that have been over looked for far too long !

I have another question for those reading this..........

Can you name Ten great things that have happened in our Section in the last year and a half ?
Now how many of those things were generated at the Section manager level ????
Regardless of the answer, those numbers (both of those answers) needs to be much higher 

and that is but One of my goals if elected as your Section Manager

As always you can contact me with questions via email
KG5VK@ARRL.net
Tele 318-470-9806

Cheers!
Steve

KG5VK

My Campaign Journey for ARRL Section Manager

When I decided to run as the new Section Manager for the North Texas Section of the ARRL
I was faced with the question of how do I get the word out to the Forty Four Thousand plus fellow North Texas ARRL members

My Game plan became to do a small limited Mail out to approximately a fourth of the members,
The first week of this month One Thousand Letters were mailed
both letting members know who I am and why I am running as well as asking for their Vote.

I wish I could have mailed a letter to every member in North Texas
but my budget could not support that.

How to spread the word to an even wider audience?
I decided to give Jason KC5HWB of Ham Radio 2.0 a call
and I asked if he could help spread the word that there was actually an Election this year
for a new NTX section manager

He agreed and was all in, and in fact did an interview a few days later with Jay Urish the current SM
and this past week-end did an interview of both myself and Ken KD2KW the other Candidate

I received a lot of emails and even a few phone calls after that interview.
Every one of those contacts were positive and several had some great ideas on how to improve our section.

We have 68 counties in the North Texas ARRL Section
it is a big area and I will need lots of help, to make our section a roll model for other sections.
So keep the ideas and phone calls coming !

Telephone 318-470-9806
Email KG5VK@ARRL.net
I can also be reached on FB & Messenger
My FB ID is Steven Lott Smith KG5VK

Here are the links to the interviews that Jason of Ham Radio 2.0 did.........

Jason's Interview with Jay Urish W5GM our current Section manager

Interview with 2019 Candidates of North Texas Section by Jason of Ham Radio 2.0

The Closing Statements from the Interview of Candidates

You will be receiving Section manager Ballots from the ARRL
soon, please educate yourself on both Candidates and Vote
for who you feel will do the most work for all ARRL members in North Texas

I hit the ground on this campaign with a sprint to get the word out
Before the first of the year I attended two Amateur Radio Club Christmas parties
one in Paris Texas (RRVARC) and one in Atlanta, Texas (LETARS)

Then it was the RRVARC club meeting (Paris, TX),  The MJARS club meeting (Atlanta, TX),
Ham Radio 2.0 Interview at the Hunt County EOC in Hurst, Texas  and The Dallas Amateur Radio Club DARC meeting  Tuesday the 8th of January.
Tonight I will be at the MARS Club meeting in Carrollton, Texas

Cheers!
Steve
KG5VK

A good friend asked me today why I want to be the ARRL Section Manager for North Texas

A good friend of mine asked me, 

why I want to be the Section manager of North Texas

Do you know who our current station appointees are ? ( I did not, until recently)
Are they doing a great job ?

Have you told the current Section Manager that they are doing an Excellent job ?

My phone number is 318-470-9806 my Email address is KG5VK@arrl.net
I am available for you to call and chat with, now and in the future
 

Are you in need of help with something in your station, you read the book and are still struggling to find the answer ?

Are you struggling to find someone to help you put up an antenna, call me 318-470-9806
I recently traveled to Howe Texas to put up two antennas for a fellow Ham (K5FO Jay) that I did not even know (does this mean I will personally put up everyone's antennas of course not, but I will certainly make every effort I can to muster help)

I have always been able to motivate from within, by giving fellow Hams inspiration and courage to tackle the task at hand.
I motivate in a positive manner thru Education.
We need more education in all aspects of our hobby
Why should we learn proper phonetics?
I live in an HOA, how can I get on the air?
Do you have a license and have yet to get on the air?

I may not know the answer to every thing, but I can find the person that does know and we can all learn from that.
I have a track record of Motivating others through my passion and enthusiasm

Please call or email me now, if the line is busy as they say please leave a message or drop me that email and I will get back to you ASAP
I want to earn your vote!

Steve
KG5VK

I am seeking the position of ARRL Section Manager for North Texas

Following the recent announcement by Jay Urish that he is not accepting another term as our SM for NTX and now that I am again retired, I am seeking the position.

For those that would like to know a bit more about me...

KG5VK 
Steven Lott Smith

Born Miami Florida September 1955

First Licensed in 1972 as WN0FOI
Graduate of Parkway High School Manchester Missouri 1974 (But I’m class of 75)
Entered Active Duty with The United States Air Force September 1974
Met my Wife who is from North Texas, while we were both stationed in California
We lived in West Texas from 1981 - 1985 (Dyess AFB)
During that time, I was twice president of the Key City Amateur Radio Club in Abilene, Texas.
Following that assignment we were at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana, where I was the President of the Shreveport Amateur Radio Association for 3 years consecutively and two more years later on.
I served in Desert Shield / Storm from December of 1990, through March of 1991 with the 801 Bomb Wing (B-52's)
Retired from the USAF October 1st 1993 and started a Professional Photography Business (Lott's Photo), continued that line of work and also began teaching photography at Bossier Parish Community College in 2001 to late 2014
In 2015 My wife and I moved from Louisiana to North Texas
In 2016 I started work at Main Trading Co. Paris, Texas.
I just retired again and want to spend time supporting fellow North Texas ARRL members with communication to the ARRL.
I greatly look forward to hearing your concerns and accolades on what the league can and has done, for you my fellow ARRL members as well as recruiting new ARRL members.
Many of you have probably seen one or more of the many presentations I have given on a wide range of topics at Ham Com over the past 6 years.
I pledge to be Transparent and available to your communications
KG5VK@ARRL.net

Your Candidate for North Texas Section Manager

Steven Lott Smith
KG5VK

ARRL SS Phone 2018 at my QTH in North Texas

Guest OPS
at
KG5VK

K5PS Scott

Victor WB0TEV

With the extraordinary help of  Scott & Victor

We managed a very respectful entry in this years running of the ARRL SS Phone Contest from my modest shack and even more modest and still maturing antenna farm.

With only three OPS, we had a lot of Butt In the chair time, however we managed to have some fun as well !

With a tad over 4 hours left before the end of the contest tonight, were nudging at over 900 Q's

we managed a sweep first thing Sunday morning on Twenty meters when VO1YY answered my CQ SS Call - What a Thrill !

I will follow-up with another post of the results and try and add some pixs of my very modest atnenna farm

Cheers!
Steve

KG5VK

Rain, Rain and yes More Rain and a few other topics for the post...

Wow !

Have we had enough rain for the the last 30 days or what !
Hard to get anything done outside, it is so wet
Sure would be nice if we had a break and allowed the ground to get a little dry for a change
I guess it's better than a drought :)

Mean while on the health side of things........
Finally relief from my neck pain
Been to see the Nero Surgical guys again and got the second (other side of the Neck)
worked on and I have feeling great again !
It is so nice to now just have the occasional headache, versus the dehabilitating pain I was constantly having.

Go a bit more work done on the antenna Farm (Ham Radio)
even though it is so wet we need hip wanders (wel almost that bad)
I managed to get out on the tractor on the back 18 acres and found that the 80 meter Rhombic is down
Broken pulley allowed the fed point end to fall from the pole

Mean while here is the current antenna Inventory

6 el 20 m monobander
4 el 40m Four Square vertical array
80/160 meter Vertical
8 el wire Sturba Curtain Array (works good on 80 thru ten meters)

2 el Hex Beam for 10/15/20m
80 meter Full size Rhombic (out of commission for now)

Two low band Receive arrays: 

One is the 9 ele YCCC Low band Receive array 

Second is a 3el Hi-Z vertical Array

The 20m OWA M2 is still only at 26 feet above the ground,
which will probably work great for ARRL SS Next week-end
But sure looks way too close to the ground when you see it
Heck the boom is Sixty feet long, so it is barely a third as high as the boom is long !
Goal is to have it at 130 feet on the Tic Ring Rotor, eventually

The 40 m Four square is working great towards the North East
but else where it is only fair....
So I waded out in the water the other day and inspected it
Two of the feed points are broken, hogs chewed on them !!!
Yes we have wild Feral Hogs in these parts of Texas

I still need to get the 80m Four square built
of course priority is to get the 150 feet of Rohn 55g up

Meanwhile I bought an MFJ 1846 antenna (2 ele Hex beam or CobWeb 6 thru 20m)
got it assembled in the cold wx yesterday
plan on putting her up if the rain stops later today
for now she will goon a tilt over pole at about 30 feet
and will be fixed towards West Coast as the 20m monoband is currently fixed towards the East Coast
Long term plans are to have this 2el antenna stay below 30 feet but rotator added

I need to do some work on the 9el YCCC Low Band Receive array
lots of lightning last week and I think I lost several preamps at the base of the verticals
yupp more boards to build and replace !
This antenna system (YCCC Vert Array) requires a lot on maintenance but when she works she is worth it !

Decided I needed to stay close to home for several reasons and not trek to Louisiana for the anual
Multiop get together for ARRL SS Phone, I hope the team does great at W5WZ's QTH this year

Since I am home for ARRL SS Phone, I decided we need to see if a couple of the local guys want to come play....

So far I have two OPS coming
I am greatly looking forward to hoisting an ARRL team again
last time was in Louisiana way back in 2013

Never would have thought it had been that long, but I looked it up
on the http://3830scores.com/ website

I am looking forward to getting to know the guys that are coming over to play
Hope we are able to post a respectable score, Top ten would be nice
but mainly want the ops to have fun and look fwd to coming back again

That's it for now!
Still raining

Cheers!
Steve
KG5VK

September is Here...

While I have been undergoing a lot of pain from a neck injury I sustained many many years ago
I am still staying very busy

Between working at MTC (Yes the Ham Radio Candy Store in Paris Texas)
and maintaining 57 acres of land

I now have my 150 feet of Rohn 55G assembled and ready for the crane to come lift it in place
just need to add some finishing touches on the 4 Element 40 Meter beam She will be mounted at 155 feet.

The Big 6 el 20 Meter OWA yagi is ready to be hoisted up and placed on the TIC Ring Rotor which will be at 130 feet.

Been a long time since I took my last tower down at the old QTH in Louisiana
and I am looking forward to once again having a commanding signal into EU and JA
during the DX contests and Expeditions

Currently I am only 4 away from DXCC Honor Roll
anxious to get there but as KR5D says enjoy the journey,  I am :)

Steve
KG5VK

Enjoyed the limited amount of Time I got to play in WRTC this year

Only 9 hours of Butt in the Chair
20m Beam only at 24 feet
40m Four Square
43 foot vertical for 80M
Had Fun !
Steve KG5VK

Software Tools for Today's DX OP by Steven Lott smith Presented at HamCom 2018

Here is the Link to the PP File that I used in my Presentation at HamCom 2018

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1h2yLaOqXz4eNCR2jRbdCIZcmdeVbNaiyuaKQ3nfRXy0/edit?usp=sharing

Any feedback is welcome

Cheers!
Steve
KG5VK

Friends Meet at Dayton 2018

K8KI  &  KG5VK

Bob and I first met while we were serving in the United States Air Force, back in 1979
We have stayed in touch and seen each other at a few Ham Fest over the Years at Dayton.
I had been absent from Dayton for the last 8 years. it was great to run into Bob in the Flea Market Saturday afternoon.

2018 Dayton here I come !!!

Looking forward to another long over do trip to Dayton Ham Fest
I also signed up for the DX Dinner as well as Contest University.
I ave been neglect in posting the the Ole Sundown DX Association Blog
let's see if I can start posting now that Spring is around the corner :)
By the way if your an ARRL member, and if not why not !!!
Check out page 125 of the March QST.....
How about that guy in the Red ICOM Shirt and next to me is my better half.
I am off from the shop here at MTC tomorrow to sleep in and get ready for some major Butt in the Chair time for this week-end's edition of the ARRL Phone DX Contest
Lately most of my Q's have been either FT8 or CW.....

Cheers!    Steve

QUICK MSK144 and JT9 Fast Modes Setup

QUICK MSK144 and JT9 Fast Modes Setup

Stud Mounts by BreedLove

Stud Mounts



https://www.breedlovemounts.com/stud-mounts.html

N1MM+ MACRO Cat commands to FTdx5000 with a DVS-6

Another way for sending voice messages is to use the optional DVS-6. 
With the macro {CAT1ASC PB0#;} 
in the N1MM F-keys you can send the 5 available voice messages.

also a Note from K3CT on this......

Make sure you check “Internal Radio Codec” in the Logger+ Audio, Playback tab. This will cause the program to send commands to the radio to switch between the MIC and radio codec. It should not be necessary to change radio menu items to perform this switching.

John, K3CT

Cheers!

Steve

KG5VK