KG5VK

HOA Bill

2025-09-18T07:34:00.000-07:00

A ham radio friendly HOA Bill, with your help this can become law

Yes your non licensed neighbors can erect antennas to receive over the air AM/FM and TV signals into their residence. However licensed Amateur Radio OPS are often refused the same permission of erecting even the simplest antenna, simply because they are an amateur radio operator.

The New Ham Friendly HOA Bill will make it illegal to discriminate against us fellow amateur radio ops.

You can read the details here:

YOU CAN HELP US

CHANGE THE LEGAL RIGHTS OF AMERICAN HAMS

The ARRL is focused on reducing legal restraints on the ability of American

Amateur Radio Operators to engage in the active practice and enjoyment of Amateur Radio.

One of the most insidious and increasing threats to the survival of Amateur Radio and our ability to serve our communities and Nation, as we are required to do by Federal regulation, is the proliferation of private land use restrictions that prohibit the installation of outdoor antennas and that sometimes actually deny Federally licensed Amateurs from operating any amateur radios, regardless of where their antennas are located — in their attics, hidden in trees, or mounted on their vehicles.

Federal law — since 1996 — has guaranteed to every American — except Amateur Radio Operators — the right to erect antennas outside or on their residences for the purpose of TV reception, satellite TV and internet access, wireless internet access and even wireless internet redistribution. But Amateur Radio operators are denied the equal right to erect comparable antennas.

Since 2005 Federal law has also guaranteed to every American the right to proudly display the American Flag by installing flagpoles in their yards. But, despite that right to install vertical poles in their yards — American Radio Amateurs are denied the right to use those vertical flagpoles as vertical antennas.

We believe the denial — to licensed Amateur Radio Operators — of the rights guaranteed to all non-Amateur Radio licensed American homeowners — the right to install antennas on the land they own — is without justification and should not be permitted to continue.

To eliminate these private land use restrictions, the ARRL has worked over the past several years with our elected officials to draft Congressional legislation — H.R. 1094 in the U.S. House of Representatives and S. 459 in the U.S. Senate — that when passed will extend to all Hams the right to operate from their homes and the right to install antennas on the land they own. We have bipartisan support for this legislation.

BUT, WE NEED YOUR HELP TO PASS THIS LEGISLATION!!!

How can you help? By sending a letter to your Representative and Senators asking that they co-sponsor and support H.R. 1094 and S. 459.

How can you send these letters? It is easy.

Go to — https://send-a-letter.org/hoa/ — enter your call sign and click on “Send

My Letters” and your letters will be delivered to our Washington legislative team for hand delivery to your Representative and Senators.

Does your individual letter matter? YES.

Your Representative and Senators need to know that the passage of this legislation is important to you.

Your letter could be the difference in whether we are able to pass H.R. 1094 and S. 459.

Go to — https://send-a-letter.org/hoa/ — and help us by sending your letters to your Representative and Senators.

Please share this message with every Amateur Radio OP you know
Every Club as well as YouTube Amateur or Club news sources.

Together we can make a law that reasonably protect fellow amateurs from being barred from our hobby in their own residence.

Any questions please contact

Steven Lott Smith

Your ARRL North Texas Section Manager

KG5VK@ARRL.ORG

If your Ham Radio Club, yes even non ARRL affiliated clubs, can request a form from myself that your Board members can sign in favor of the Ham Friendly HOA Bill

2025-09-18T07:15:00.000-07:00

Send an email request for the Universal Club Letter for ARRL Legislative Action on the Ham Friendly HOA Bill to

Steven Lott Smith
KG5VK
ARRL North Texas Section Manager
KG5VK@ARRL.ORG

I will forward you the document.

Steve

KG5VK.

FAQs Regarding ARRL's Legislation: H.R. 1094, S, 459 (The Ham Friendly HOA Bill)

2025-09-18T07:11:00.000-07:00

FAQs Regarding ARRL’s Legislation: H.R. 1094, S. 459

Who Are The Primary Opponents of Removing The Prohibitions On Amateur Radio?

CAI, the Community Associations Institute, Inc. This national organization, with chapters in

every State, is the political voice of home owner associations (“HOA”), HOA management

companies, HOA law firms, and developers. It is rabidly anti-Amateur Radio.

Will the passage of the Legislation negatively impact real estate interests?

• No.

• This bill gives Hams the same privileges that were granted to homeowners in 1996 by

Congressional action — the right to erect TV antennas, satellite TV dishes, and wireless

internet antennas — and in 2005 by Congressional action — the right to erect free-standing

flagpoles. The legislation merely extends those same rights to Hams.

• Twenty-nine years of the right of American homeowners to erect antennas and supporting

masts, towers, and related equipment on the outside of their residences has proven the

installation of antennas exterior to residences does not adversely affect the quality of life in

the residential developments, safety, or home values.

• The legislation includes specific language preserving traditional regulation by national, state,

county or city, building and zoning codes.

Why aren’t we attempting to pass this Legislation state-by-state?

The Federal Communications Commission preempts the regulation and use of all radio

frequencies. It is the reason that cellular telephone service, broadcast radio and television,

satellite communications, GPS services, police, fire, and military communications are all

regulated by the FCC. Amateur Radio has been a voluntary federal service since the Radio

Act of 1927. Radio waves know no state boundaries. Homeowner TV and wireless internet

antennas were granted relief from HOA restrictions in 1996 (47 CFR § 1.4000). Homeowners

were granted relief from HOA restrictions against flag poles in 2005 (4 U.S.C. § 5 (note).

Effective, uniform relief for Amateur Radio, will have to come at the Federal level.

Does this Legislation break contracts between community/HOA associations and homeowners?

• No.

• Private land use restrictions, also known as CC&Rs or deed restrictions are conditions that

are impressed upon the land and are not subject to being removed by either private citizens

or community associations. The documents that create these restrictions specifically

prohibit the elimination of the restrictions by negotiation.

• Approximately 80% of new homes are constructed in developments that are burdened by

deed restrictions that prohibit Hams from installing antennas on the outside of their

residences. This means that it has become more and more difficult for a potential purchaser

to find any alternative housing in newer neighborhoods with access to quality schools,

which are close to places of employment and that have reasonable access to shopping.

There are entire cities that are entirely HOA controlled. (Examples: The Villages, FL, and

Foster City, CA – see Hotz v. Rich, 4 Cal.App.4th 1048 (1992).)

• Homeowners, contrary to the claims of the opponents to this legislation, cannot negotiate

away the anti-Ham prohibitions.

• Private land use restrictions have been stricken by government on many occasions.

Examples of CC&Rs that were declared unenforceable by state and federal law include:

• Prohibitions on the display of the American flag

• Prohibitions on the erection of free standing flag poles

• Prohibitions on the installation of solar panels

• Prohibitions on the installation of energy efficient roofing shingles

• Prohibitions on the installation of rainwater collection systems

• Prohibitions on the installation of composting

• Prohibitions on Xeriscaping (desert landscaping – little water)

• Prohibitions on the installation of certain types of turf

• Prohibitions on the presence of certain makes/models of automobiles

• Prohibitions on the installation of clotheslines

• Prohibitions on the right to display political signs

• Prohibitions on the installation of standby electric generators

• Prohibitions on the installation of satellite TV dishes (for TV and internet)

• Prohibitions on the installation of exterior WISP (Wireless Internet Service Provider)

masts/towers, antennas

• Prohibitions on the installation of VHF/UHF TV masts, towers and antennas

Can community associations/HOAs grant variances from the recorded deed restrictions?

• No.

• As noted, the documents that create the restrictions prohibit the governing associations

from modifying the restrictions, except by amending and rerecording the deed

restrictions after approval of a super majority of the residents of the housing

development.

• This was the reason Congress in 1996 ordered the FCC to create the OTARD (the “Over The-Air-Reception-Device”) rules that render unenforceable all restrictions on the

installation of TV antennas, satellite dishes, and wireless internet antennas.

HOA Bill

2025-09-18T07:02:00.000-07:00

Did you know that some HOA organizations discriminate against Amateur radio ops.....

Yes your non licensed neighbors can erect antennas to receive over the air AM/FM and TV signals into their residence. However licensed Amateur Radio OPS are often refused the same permission of erecting even the simplest antenna, simply because they are an amateur radio operator.

The New Ham Friendly HOA Bill will make it illegal to discriminate against us fellow amateur radio ops.

You can read the details here:

YOU CAN HELP US

CHANGE THE LEGAL RIGHTS OF AMERICAN HAMS

The ARRL is focused on reducing legal restraints on the ability of American

Amateur Radio Operators to engage in the active practice and enjoyment of Amateur Radio.

BUT, WE NEED YOUR HELP TO PASS THIS LEGISLATION!!!

How can you help? By sending a letter to your Representative and Senators asking that they co-sponsor and support H.R. 1094 and S. 459.

How can you send these letters? It is easy.

Go to — https://send-a-letter.org/hoa/ — enter your call sign and click on “Send

My Letters” and your letters will be delivered to our Washington legislative team for hand delivery to your Representative and Senators.

Does your individual letter matter? YES.

Your Representative and Senators need to know that the passage of this legislation is important to you.

Your letter could be the difference in whether we are able to pass H.R. 1094 and S. 459.

Go to — https://send-a-letter.org/hoa/ — and help us by sending your letters to your Representative and Senators.

Any questions please contact

Steven Lott Smith

Your ARRL North Texas Section Manager

KG5VK@ARRL.ORG

ARRL Stats This Year (July) as compared to One year ago

2025-08-23T19:38:00.000-07:00

125,855

- 115,952

Loss of 9,903 members over a 12 month period

ARRL West Gulf member numbers as compared to one year ago as of July 2025 to July 2024

2025-08-23T19:24:00.000-07:00

SM049

2025-02-18T03:18:00.000-08:00

[Date]

The Honorable August Pfluger, R-Texas

U.S. House of Representatives

The Honorable August Pfluger
330 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Re: SM049 – Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act

Dear Congressman, Pfluger

I am one of your constituents and I am an FCC licensed Amateur Radio Operator.

I strongly support — and I write to ask you to support and co-sponsor H.R. 4006 — legislation that is vital to the survival of Amateur Radio. Amateur Radio faces an existential threat as 80% of all new housing developments carry private land use restrictions that prohibit all Amateur Radio antennas, including many that are indistinguishable from satellite and broadcast antennas that are permitted by federal law as a matter of right.

SM049 The Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act would provide Radio Amateurs the freedom to operate their stations from their homes, a right effectively denied by private land use restrictions. The bill would accomplish this by extending the same federal protections to Amateur Radio operators as those currently enjoyed by homeowners who install TV antennas, satellite TV dishes, wireless internet antennas, and free-standing flagpoles.

Amateur Radio operators have a 109+ year history of volunteer support to local governments, state governments and Federal agencies when communications and related expertise is needed at times of disasters and other emergencies. Amateur Radio also has, and continues to, serve as a gateway for the youth of America to enter the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. It has been the foundation for the careers of a significant number of the leaders in American communications and technology. As an example, the first private satellite launched into space, Oscar 1, was designed and launched by Amateur Radio operators. Today almost every astronaut on the International Space Station (ISS) is licensed as an Amateur Radio operator. When in space they use some of their free time to talk with students across the world to interest them in space, technology, and related fields.

I request your support for, and co-sponsorship of, SM049 -The Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act to eliminate the threat to Amateur Radio. I would be honored to meet with you, or your staff, within the District to discuss my concerns or to have Amateur Radio’s representatives meet with you in Washington.

Sincerely,

_______[ Name]____________

_______[ Address]____________

_______[ Telephone Number - OPTIONAL]____________

KG5VK Shack 2024

2024-09-19T13:43:00.000-07:00

KG5VK

Upshur Area Amateur Radio Club is Hosting a Ham Radio 101 Four week Class

2024-08-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

If you want to learn more about what to do with your amateur radio license
Take this Course !!!

This Course will be held Four weeks in September 2024
In the County of Upshur, Texas. (Near Gilmer in the North Texas Section)

Week One – Sep 3
1.1 Introduction and what you should learn.
1.2 How to earn a certificate of completion.
1.3 How Ham Radio is different from other services;
GMRS, CB, public service,
Amateur Radio Frequency Spectrum,
Formal structure,
National League is ARRL,
Technical Contributions,
Public service,
Emergency communications,
Introduction to ARRL publications – Radio Handbook and Antenna book.
1.4 The RF Frequency Spectrum from 500 kHz to 150 GHz.
1.5 FCC license requirements and associated privileges.
1.6 Ham radio equipment and parts suppliers.
1.7 Common VHF/UHF Ham frequencies and HT propagation.

Limited Seats sign up now at.....
Ham Radio 101 Course Signup form

To see the complete Syllabus click below....

Syllabus for Ham Radio 101 Class

Graduating Students will be afforded the opportunity to win one of Two Door Prizes
An ARRL Handbook Or ARRL Antenna Handbook

Instructor is
John Keith
W5BWC
jlk@bwcelectronics.com

Questions and Comments may also be directed to your ARRL NTX Section Manager
Steven Lott Smith
KG5VK@ARRL.ORG

K1VR gets denial letter from ARRL E&E, in my opinion Just another way for the CEO to suppress ARRL member Voices - Steve KG5VK

2024-08-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

2024-06-26T06:57:00.000-07:00

My URL KG5VK.com

is officially in the past.

Current info going forward will be shared using this currently free toolset Blogger.com

Also with the Ransomware break at the ARRL mycallsign@.org is not working

Simply use mycallsign@ARRL.NET or my personal email address
LottsPhoto@Gmail.com

Word is ARRL LOTW is back online,

However more than a few of us including myself are unable to get logged into it.
It appears to be either a work in progress and/or is getting to much traffic right now.
I'll wait a week or two more to try again.

Cheers!

Steve

KG5VK

Milestones Accomplished during our tenure as SM for NTX

2024-05-08T04:41:00.000-07:00

Greetings fellow ARRL North Texas Amateur Radio OPS

I took office on April the 1st, 2019

During my Campaign to be your Section Manager
I pledged I would be a visible Section Manager,
I hope you feel I have done that and much more.

Before taking office, I gladly took many phone calls, and emails with questions and comments, I continue to talk with fellow ARRL members on a weekly sometimes daily basis.

While I have not solved everyone's concerns. I have always listened and followed up with answers to questions that I may not have had at the time of initial contact.
I have been publishing a Monthly Newsletter since my appointment as your Section Manager, this is a small part of the process of staying in touch with the members I serve.

Some highlights of our Section Management Team accomplishments:

Appointed a Section Youth Coordinator, which is one of Youth.
Katherine Forson KT5KMF should, by now be well known to any ARRL NTX member.
She was highlighted in QST the same year she was appointed with a full page article
and continues to serve us proudly by sharing what Ham Radio is with both young and old.

Asked and Received Nominees for an ARRL North Texas Ham Radio Operator of the Year 2019/2020. Appointed an award committee from the Section Management team to vote on the nominees. I presented the Award to Jim Erickson KB0DBJ president of MJARS at their September 2019 club meeting.
We have continued to Award a North Texas ARRL Ham of the Year Award every year, since I took office in 2019.
Within the First Seven months of taking office as your Section Manager
I attended Nine Ham Fests, Seventeen Different Club Meetings, Two JOTA events and a visit to the EOC at the Plano Balloon fest. I also appeared at Eleven different ARRL FD sites.
I have attended the Belton Ham fest every year since taking Office (with one exception in 2023), this is significant because the ARRL members from that area had for several years been in pursuit of being realigned by the ARRL with South Texas, until I showed them the support they deserve.
Began Monthly ARRL NTX Section Management Team Staff meetings, held virtually with Teleconferencing tools.

October 2020 we began conducting Quarterly Zoom conferences with ARRL NTX Affiliated Club officers and the ARRL NTX Section Staff members. These meetings came from a suggestion received by one of the club officers during a recent round table conference with myself and John Robert Stratton N5AUS our ARRL West Gulf Division Director.
I continued to attend club meetings on a Virtual basis with those clubs that are having Virtual Meetings during this time of COVID19 Social Distancing.
Post COVID I still use Zoom conferencing tools to attend virtual club meetings as well as in person meetings Monthly.
Built a strong working relationship with Section Managers and their Staff near and far from our Section, doing so betters our readiness to respond to neighboring Sections that need our assistance with ECOM and allows them willingness to assist us in times of need. I feel we can always learn from others and therefore maintain contact with all the fellow Section Managers within the ARRL West Gulf, and Delta Divisions, as well as several Section Managers beyond those borders.
We have assembled an outstanding team of assistants, from Greg Evans K5GTX our Section Emergency Coordinator, to all the other Assistants on the Section Management team. Our team works as a cohesive unit for the betterment of our fellow ARRL members which we serve.
As of early 2024 our Team has awarded Five ARRL NTX HOY Awards, Five Section manager Certificate of Merit Awards, and seen Two ARRL North Texans awarded the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Youth Award. In addition Jo Ann Keith KA5AZK of 7290 Traffic NET Fame was awarded the George Hart Distinguished Communicator Award from ARRL Headquarters.

Early in 2021
Thanks to Greg Evans K5GTX and Aaron Hulett K8AMH for many hours of work and planning, our team unveiled the new ARRL North Texas website https://arrlntx.org

Our Section Management Staff Team continues to work for each and every North Texas ARRL member, if you feel you would like to be a part of our team, please drop me an email of what you would like to contribute, we presently have over 18 staff members.

Thank you for your time and your service as an ARRL member!

Steve KG5VK
KG5VK@ARRL.ORG

ARRL Members Forum Recoding from Visalia

2024-04-21T07:15:00.000-07:00

In my opinion, every ARRL member should set-aside 90 minutes and listen to the dialogue here

Yes this is a bit long.

Yes it is worth listening to
You can skip toward the last 30 minutes

If you enjoyed the recent ARRL’s CEO Reset Editorial you will love the facts that Mr. Dick Norton addresses.

Of course the CEO claims their are half truths, misleading and taken out of Context

Here is the link to the YouTube Video

https://youtu.be/NsNX6sWZNLQ

Steve KG5VK
ARRL NTX Section Manager

ARRL NTX ARES Team at Paris EOC

2024-04-12T05:53:00.000-07:00

Several members of the Red River Valley Amateur Radio Club
were spot lighted in the recent ARRL News Letter
(An Emailed Newsletter sent to those members which have signed up for same)
Steve KG5VK

ARRL Members may opt in or opt out of this Newsletter as well as news from their ARRL Division Director and Section manager.....

Free of charge to ARRL members...

Subscribe to the ARES Letter (monthly public service and emergency communications news), the ARRL Contest Update (biweekly contest newsletter), Division and Section news alerts, and much more!

The ARRL Letter is published Thursdays, 51 times each year. ARRL members may subscribe at no cost or unsubscribe by editing their Member Data Page at www.arrl.org/opt-in-out.

CEO Briefing to ARRL SM's analysis by Dick Norton

2024-02-28T18:08:00.000-08:00

Dick Norton
Shares Comments on The ARRL CEO’s dialogue with ARRL Section Managers
during their February 2024 Team’s Meeting

The February 2024 ARRL Section Managers Electronic Meeting was primarily a lecture by Mr. Minster. I found a great deal of what Mr. Minster presented to conflict with facts or to omit relevant information.

My comments on some of the subjects presented follow.

1) Introduction

Mr. Minster used the word "transparency" in his introductory remarks, claiming that he will give a "straight answer" to any question. However, he then stated that members do not have all the information that he does, and if you disagree with any of his answers, you need to "buckle up," which apparently means change your thinking to match his.

However, the ARRL Organizational Structure states, "The ARRL is a representative democracy. Its members control its policies through the power of the ballot."

If the members control the policies, the members are entitled to information on potential changes to policies as well as reports on impact of policies and changes made to them.

2) Notice to Members About Potential By-Law 46 Changes

Mr. Minster said that it was not the practice to release potential Articles-of-Association and By-Laws motions to members. However, after the 2018 attempt to enact questionable bylaw changes, the Board, as articulated by President Roderick, promised to do exactly that. Despite that commitment, Mr. Minster complained about a couple of Board members following through on that promise by releasing a proposal to substantially expand By-Law 46 beyond its original purpose.

The notice prompted a group of prominent ARRL members to send postal-mail alerts to donors about the implications of the proposed changes. Mr. Minster claimed the letters had essentially no effect, something that conflicted with communications I received from multiple donors who were even reconsidering future gifts to the League.

Those letters and other communication among members led to the proposed motion not being presented at the Board meeting, although it may well resurface in a slightly different form at a future meeting.

3) High-functioning ARRL Board

Mr. Minster claimed that the January Board meeting was great, and that we now have a high-functioning Board. This may be a result of the "Shadow Board" of 10 or 11 Directors who meet secretly with Mr. Minster on the Internet, forming League policy without the participation of all the Directors. His characterization may be appropriate to him if he confers only with those who agree with him.

4) By-Law 46

Misdirection is a technique used by magicians to divert the audience's attention away from what is actually causing an outcome. Misdirection was used in the defense of the proposed changes to By-Law 46.

Mr. Minster directed attention to a part of the proposed changes that purportedly just combined a number of relevant items into one single document, something that no one would likely find objectionable. He did not talk about three things that people have criticized:

a) allowing a majority of the Board to effectively vote minority or dissenting Board members off the Board, something that conflicts with Connecticut law.

b) requiring that Board members and potential Board members sign what amounts to a loyalty oath.

c) requiring Board members to publicly promote political ideas of the majority, rather than act in accordance with their beliefs of what best serves the organization, as required by Connecticut law.

Mr. Minster claimed that the proposed changes to By-Law 46 were not another attempt by a majority faction of the Board to concoct a mechanism to vote another member off the Board, but the details of the motion do not support that contention.

5) Ultra Vires Report

Mr. Minster made reference to an analysis of proposed By-Law 46 changes by an attorney in Massachusetts, who said the proposed changes went beyond the authority the Board actually had in that area.

a) Although Mr. Minster stated that he did not read the attorney's analysis, he nevertheless said that he initiated action by the League's Connecticut counsel, claiming that counsel had met with someone in the Connecticut Attorney General's office on the matter. He represented that that the Attorney General's office rejected the ultra vires analysis, although he has produced no written legal opinion from either the Attorney General or Connecticut counsel to support that representation.

b) Mr. Minster had not previously mentioned this legal engagement to either the Board or even the Administration and Finance Committee, nor had he advised them as to the legal fees involved, which could easily have run into tens of thousands of dollars.

6) Life Membership Costs

Mr. Minster made a few cursory comments on Life Membership costs. He stated that, in 1973, it was already clear that Life Membership was a bad idea, a conclusion not supported by facts and certainly in opposition to my evaluation.

In his discussions, Mr. Minster showed that he did not understand the roles of management, the Board, and the auditors in determining how much money can be recognized as revenue to cover the yearly costs of sustaining a Life Member. The assertion that you "can't take more (money) out" is not correct.

For 50 years, the League has run the Life Member program very satisfactorily, and in all years the related revenue recognition, which is based on management’s estimate of servicing costs combined with actuarial analysis, has been unconditionally approved by auditors. There have never been any contrary comments on this in any of the Annual Reports.

7) Internal vs. External Financial Reporting

For budgeting and internal reporting purposes, ARRL reports revenues and expenses without income from bequests (understandable because they are less predictable and cannot be managed) or unrealized changes in the market value of the League's investments (which fluctuate with short-term market conditions). External reporting, such as in the published annual report and in IRS filings, includes these components. Clams that the League lost money in a certain year may be based on the less complete internal reporting. A truer measure of financial condition can be gained by looking at Unrestricted Net Assets. ARRL’s unrestricted net asset balance grew over eleven of the past twelve years from roughly $6 million to over $20 million. The decline in 2022 was due to a decline in the market value of the investment portfolio with general market conditions, which was most likely temporary and should largely reverse during 2023 and 2024 as the markets recover.

Mr. Minster's claims of a dire financial situation do not appear well founded.

8) Roll Call Votes

Mr. Minster defended the July 2023 motion that eliminated the ability of a single Board member to call for a roll call vote and raised the threshold to now requiring five members. This change raises questions in the minds of members as to why their representatives’ votes are not all recorded and available in the meeting minutes. He referred to some roll call votes being “weaponized.” Why should a Director fear the electorate seeing his or her vote on a matter? How a Board member votes on motions best describes the Board member's performance in directing League affairs.

9) Director's Workbook Being Made Public

Mr. Minster reported that the Board passed a motion that the Director's Workbook would be made public and that this would happen before Dayton. The Workbook is presently on the arrl.org website and could have been made public the day after the Board meeting. Is there something wrong with it that requires rewriting before the public can see it?

10) Print QST Costs, Dues Increase and Projected Member Loss

Mr. Minster defended the Board's actions in not living up to providing print QST to term members. I have not encountered a single member who agrees with this action in my participation in club meetings or forums. Membership forms that I accepted at conventions specifically stated postal delivery of print QST.

About 30 years ago, the League commissioned a study which concluded that the League would maximize its finances by roughly doubling the membership dues. The increase from the remaining members would offset that money lost from those who left. The Board at that time wisely chose not to go that way. They valued a larger membership over a larger treasury. I believe that choice should still prevail. Mr. Minster said that with every dues increase, the ARRL loses 6 to 9% of its membership, but that it returns after 3 years. This is simply not true. When the $39 to $49 increase took place, the League had been adding several thousand members per year. That series of increases abruptly stopped, and the membership has since shrunk from 170K to 150K. The membership has not rebounded.

11) Cost Cutting

Mr. Minster stated that at some point early in his present role, he determined that the League did not have a spending problem, but had a revenue problem instead.

There has never been any evidence of this presented to either the Board or the A&F Committee.

There are many areas where costs could and should be better controlled. In one six-figure example, management replaced top-tier volunteer (free) trademark legal services with paid services running tens of thousands of dollars and additionally wasted over $50,000 in trademark extension fees by not providing trademark counsel with timely responses to repeated, documented requests.

12) Minster Salary

In a textbook example of a "Straw Man" response to an issue of his salary, Mr. Minster pointed out that an estimate that someone apparently made that it was $891K per year was not true. He also correctly pointed out that he did not give himself a $100K per year raise in April 2023.

He never did disclose that his salary is actually about $350K per year, up more than 40% over what he agreed to work for three years ago, but did claim that even with the new higher salary, he was the only underpaid person on the staff.

Mr. Minster is actually overpaid, and should be making about one half of his present $350K. If you want to verify this, put "Median salary for non-profit membership organization CEO in the Hartford, CT area" into any search engine such as Google or Bing. Ignore very high salaries from large non-profit medical or hospital groups with thousands of employees, since they are not related to a hobbyist organization with 75 employees.

One reference from salary.com shows: "The average Nonprofit Executive Director salary in Hartford, CT is $139,213 as of January 26, 2024, but the salary range typically falls between $116,573 and $168,847."

Also note that none of these estimates consider that many League employees have worked for substantially less money than they might otherwise receive because of their love of Amateur Radio and their desire to serve it.

13) Employee Morale and Satisfaction

In response to a comment about employee morale, Mr. Minster related a comment from a Director who reported hearing a staff member describe the ARRL like being in North Korea. Mr. Minster countered with his claim that another long-time employee who had recently retired stated that the last two years there had been the best two years of the employee's career.

The reports I've received as a Director unquestionably match the North Korea report best. I note that Mr. Minster is on his seventh administrative-assistant/secretary in three and a half years.

Since the ARRL Board's Standing (or permanent, not temporary) Committees now meet in the Marriott Hotel's meeting rooms rather than at ARRL headquarters, not only have our costs increased by several thousand dollars but Board members no longer have their long-standing opportunity to interact with staff members.

14) Logbook of the World (LOTW) and IT Manager

Mr. Minster stated that LOTW needs to be completely redesigned and rewritten from scratch, a conclusion actually not shared by LOTW experts.

The reason he gave that a new LOTW project manager has not been hired is that such a project manager would report to an IT manager, and the IT manager position needs to be filled first.

Mr. Minster has not been able to hire and retain an IT manager position in the three and a half years he has been on the job. He did hire a competent IT Manager once, but that person left after a few months, citing Mr. Minster as the reason for leaving.

Note that the person most respected as being the LOTW expert is retired software executive Dave Bernstein, AA6YQ. Dave would be the clear choice for someone to lead development of a future version of LOTW, and would probably do it without charge. Unfortunately, Dave is one of a number of volunteers with whom Mr. Minster is having a personal feud and is extremely unlikely to assist the League while it is under control of Mr. Minster.

15) Concluding Sermon

Mr. Minster ended his presentation with what might be called a threatening sermon.

He described people who disagreed with him as being ignoramuses.

He demanded that all SMs and volunteers talk positively about the ARRL, which seems to mean talk positively about how Mr. Minster is running it today. Those who wish the ARRL would operate in some different way that benefits Amateur Radio are not welcome. If you don't support Mr. Minster, you don't belong, and you should resign.

Some of you might now better understand what it must be like to work under Mr. Minster. Both volunteers such as Section Managers and paid employees should be treated with respect by management.

He lauded himself for the way he will be working at Dayton and expects volunteers to do the same. I suspect that if any volunteer Section Manager receives $350K per year, the SM will be happy to do so.

16) Conclusion

I found much of Mr. Minster's presentation to be inaccurate and/or inappropriate.

I welcome your comments on the Section Manager meeting.

73,

Dick Norton, N6AA

ARRL Bylaw 46 Proposed Changes

2024-01-20T03:42:00.000-08:00

Proposed ByLaw 46 is a Terrible Idea

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NfMGQ5B07_wZmKJ3ar2VnF5StqLroL7p/view?usp=sharing

and

https://drive.google.com/file/d/14vTWDLWZYISyRDuEEiVdqoPqXu99FRqa/view?usp=sharing

Steve

KG5VK

VHF Propagation

2023-05-05T18:31:00.001-07:00

ARRL North Texas Mentor Fest is this Saturday April 2nd, 2022 This is a FREE event

2022-03-31T14:38:00.004-07:00

Please join us a reward our Presenters with your attendance
I will be Providing One door prize at each presentation as well as
Numerous Prizes given out during the Great Pizza break
The New Dual Band Yaesu HT drawing for thos that RSVP'd
by the 28th of March will also be drawn

Steve KG5VK

How I use Stream Deck and Node-Red tools at my Station KG5VK

2021-12-08T12:07:00.001-08:00

Stream Deck and Node-Red tools at KG5VK

A buddy of mine (K8KI) recently said

"He had heard of both tools but was unsure how he would benefit from their use"

I decided to document my answer here...

Stream Deck (Manufactured by Elgato)

I use the Stream Deck tool for two things:

Allow quick access to buttons which launch Aps
Allow use of Macros via other Software on my Desktop

The first is the Aps, which I could easily navigate to on my Computer Desktop via mouse movements, but I find much easier with a one button click are pictured below on the Main Stream Deck profile I use

From Top left to Bottom right, I have the "Next Profile button, SDR, DAX, CAT, Tune etc.

SDR launched my FlexRadio SDR software, Dax and Cat are launchable if I have terminated them for some reason (They normally launch when Smart SDR is launched)
Tune allows quick access to Enable/Disable of the SDR Tune button versus movement of the mouse
TQSL simply launches that app versus mouse usage and the same with N1MM+, Antenna Genius Software, DxLabs, FRStack and Slice-Master are there for less mouse use as well.

The CQ Test button takes me to another profile set within within my Stream Deck

allowing use of buttons to send Voice keyer messages, The FlexRadio Power button keys the shut shutdown of my radio locally in the shack.

Pressing the Commander button allows me one button selection of tools within the DxLabs Commander control of my radio allowing one button selection of keys like A=B VFO, A/B VFO, etc. which would other wise require mouse movement and mouse clicks.

I find pressing a button or even two or three buttons easier

than dragging a mouse and clicking several times

much easier especially under contest or working a needed DX entity much less stressful.

My Stream Deck is the smaller 15 key version, however keep in my

we can have many different profiles for different page sets of keys and what they do for us

Some of my keys launch a new page profile, some of the keys simply launch an App versus dragging the Mouse, the key is you setup your Stream Deck for your needs.

Node-Red

First off what the heck is Node-Red......

Node-RED is a programming tool for wiring together hardware devices, APIs and online services in new and interesting ways.

It provides a browser-based editor that makes it easy to wire together flows using the wide range of nodes in the palette that can be deployed to its runtime in a single-click.

IOW it is a Browser based tool for building a Program to do something with Hardware or other software, without the requirement to get a degree in C# Computer programming or even have a basic understanding of C#

Want to learn more there is a fantastic Groups dot IO email reflector with lots of

Flows (Scripts) on Node-Red for use in Ham Radio here is a link to it.....
https://groups.io/g/nodered-hamradio/messages

So how do I use Node-Red tools:

Mainly for both local and remote control of equipment with my Ham Radio shack

I mainly built this to use when I am on the road and want to use my station remotely and be able to select different antennas, rotate an antenna etc.
My display layout is a bit rough, but it works for me
You will note two exact columns of beam heading on the right side

The Left column is for my 40m beam and the right one is for my HF Log periodic

I do not have a Flow installed on my Raspberry Pi that holds my Node-Red software and Scripts
which would show the Radio's different meters, I do have two other Node Display pages, which are available by clicking on the ICON to the Top Left of My Callsign on the page shown.

They look like this....

The Top one controls relays to a Receive antenna , changing the direction it is favoring

The lower screen controls a board with eight different relays mounted to my Raspberry Pi

for other tools in the shack, such as selecting an entirely different Receive antenna.

There are more than a few different tutorials on YouTube of getting started with use of Node-Red

my recommendation is just jump in and play with it

Start with small sketches and build-up from there.

I am far from a programmer, having only learned a bit of basic programming in the 70's in high school with Basic and punch cards.

I barely know what C Sharp (C #) is :)

Node-Red Flows are built using Sketches versus writing Scripts or Code

I will tell you building Stream Deck profiles is supper easy

Cheers!

Steve

KG5VK

Presentation of the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Award to ARRL North Texan

2021-11-06T08:03:00.001-07:00

The First North Texan

and the first Young lady in Texas

to receive the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial

youth award.

Ms. Katherine M. Forson KT5KMF, amateur radio Extra class Licensee, was presented the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Youth Award. The presentation was orchestrated by Sean Kelly W5SPK President of the Plano Amateur Radio Klub (PARK) at a gathering of fellow amateur radio operators and dignitaries on the 20th of September in Plano, Texas

(Seated Left-Right, John Robert Stratton N5AUS The ARRL West Gulf Division Director,
Steven Lott Smith KG5VK ARRL North Texas SM, and Deputy Mayor Maria Tu of Plano, Texas)

John Robert Stratton N5AUS ARRL West Gulf Division Director
Presents Katherine Forson KT5KMF the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial plaque

Attendees included friends and family members of the award recipient, as well as officers and members of more than a few ARRL affiliated clubs from North Texas and the former ARRL North Texas Section Manager Jay Urish W5GM

The Check accompanying the award is presented by
West Gulf Division Director John Robert Stratton N5AUS and ARRL NTX SM Steven Lott Smith KG5VK, while the honorable Deputy Mayor Maria Tu of Plano, Texas looks on.

While Katherine is the first ever North Texas amateur Radio op and the first YL in Texas to receive this prestigious award, she is far from a stranger to receiving awards and making milestones. Having received her first Amateur Radio license at the young age of 15, in 2018 she was the recipient of the First place award in the Plano, Texas District Science Fair and went on that same year to secure second place in the Dallas Texas Science and Engineering Fair.

In early 2019 while campaigning to become the ARRL North Texas Section Manager (SM), I was afforded the opportunity to see a Ms. Forson do a rehearsal presentation for her third science fair competition, I was so impressed I decided that if I became the new SM I would waste little time asking her and her parents if she could be our Section Youth Coordinator.

In May of 2019, I appointed Ms. Forson KT5KMF as the ARRL North Texas Section Youth Coordinator, She has of course excelled at her position being one our most active and engaged ARRLNTX Section Staff Members. It is a great honor to have come to know her and her parents. (Steve KG5VK)

2021-08-30T13:00:00.001-07:00

Mic Gain Setting on a FlexRadio

KG5VK updated Bio as of 2021

2021-04-01T05:15:00.006-07:00

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 am class of 75)
Entered Active Duty with The United States Air Force September 1974 where I trained as an Aircraft Electrician.
Met my Wife who is from North Texas, while we were both stationed in California.

Next tour was at Spangdahlem AFB in West Germany for three years.
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.

From Abilene we went to Grissom AFB in Indiana.
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.
I served in Desert Shield / Storm from December of 1990, through March of 1991 with the 801 Bomb Wing (B-52's)

August of 1993 I served as the Electro-Environmental NCOIC on the KC-135 maintenance team at Riyadh Saudi Arabia during Operation No Fly.
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.
In 2018 I retired from working a day job and ran for election as the ARRL North Texas Section Manager.

In 2021 I ran as the ARRL NTX Section Manager again, this time unopposed.
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.

A member of the Dallas Fort Worth Contest Club,
Lone Star DX Association, CW OPS (#1806), A-1 Operator Club and of course The ARRL.

DXCC awards:
5 Band DXCC Award,
DXCC CW with 298 entities
DXCC Phone with 283 entities
DXCC Digital with 127 entities
Early 2021 Attained confirmation of entity 331 (mixed)
and was accepted in to The DXCC Honor Roll

I pledge to be Transparent and available to your communications
KG5VK at ARRL dot ORG

2021-01-21T13:15:00.002-08:00

This morning January 21, 2021
I officially became a proud member of the DXCC Honor Roll

I started this journey back in 1981, when my DXCC mentor
Tom Blackley KR5D told me "Steve, Just submit your cards, you have plenty for Mixed and Phone DXCC certificates" Of course since I started my Ham Radio journey in 1972 he was very correct.

About a week ago I worked my 331st Current DXCC Entity
Leaving me in need of nine more countries to have all 340 confirmed

I thank Tom KR5D for getting me started on this journey
and Marshall KA5M for the continued encouragement to stay in pursuit of our goal.

The Nine I still need are:

North Korea
Bouvet Island
Crozet Island
Johnston Island
Kerguelen Island
Pratas Island
San Felix Islands
Syria
Turkmenistan

My Journey to get all current entities continues
And I also start focusing on Top Band (160m) DXCC
If I live long enough, after that maybe Moon Bounce.

Steve
KG5VK

I am Seeking a Second Term as your ARRL North Texas Section Manager Steve KG5VK

2020-10-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

From the Desk of your ARRL North Texas Section Manager
Steven Lott Smith
Steve KG5VK

Greetings fellow ARRL North Texas Amateur Radio OPS
I am seeking a second term as your ARRL North Texas Section Manager

I have proudly served 17 Months as of this writing
I am asking for your continued confidence in me
by way of nominations for SM for the period of 2021/2022

I took office on April the 1st, 2019

During my Campaign to be your Section Manager
I pledged I would be a visible Section Manager,
I hope you feel I have done that and much more.
I am now seeking a second term.

Before taking office, I gladly took many phone calls, and emails with questions and comments, I continue to talk with fellow ARRL members on a weekly sometimes daily basis.
While I have not solved everyone's concerns. I have always listened and followed up with answers to questions that I may not have had at the time of initial contact.
I have been publishing a Monthly Newsletter since my appointment as your Section Manager, this is a small part of the process of staying in touch with the members I serve.

Some highlights of specific accomplishments:

Appointed a Section Youth Coordinator, which is one of Youth.
Katherine Forson KT5KMF should, by now be well known to any ARRL NTX member.
She was highlighted in QST the same year she was appointed with a full page article
and continues to serve us proudly by sharing what Ham Radio is with both young and old.

Asked and Received Nominees for an ARRL North Texas Ham Radio Operator of the Year 2019/2020. Appointed an award committee from the Section Management team to vote on the nominees. I presented the Award to Jim Erickson KB0DBJ president of MJARS at their September 2019 club meeting. (I will soon be forming another Team to vote on ARRL NTX Ham of the Year 2020/2021 Nominees)
Within the First Seven months of taking office as your Section Manager
I attended Nine Ham Fests, Seventeen Different Club Meetings, Two JOTA events and a visit to the EOC at the Plano Balloon fest. I also appeared at Eleven different ARRL FD sites.
I have attended the Belton Ham fest 3 times since taking Office, this is significant because the ARRL members from that area had for several years been in pursuit of being realigned by the ARRL with South Texas, until I showed them the support they deserve.
Began Monthly ARRL NTX Section Management Team Staff meetings, held virtually with Teleconferencing tools.

As of October 2020 we now have Quarterly Zoom conferences with ARRL NTX Affiliated Club officers and the ARRL NTX Section Staff members. These meetings came from a suggestion received by one of the club officers during a recent round table conference with myself and John Robert Stratton N5AUS our ARRL West Gulf Division Director.
I continue to attend club meetings on a Virtual basis with those clubs that are having Virtual Meetings during this time of COVID19 Social Distancing
Built a strong working relationship with Section Managers and their Staff near and far from our Section, doing so betters our readiness to respond to neighboring Sections that need our assistance with ECOM and allows them willingness to assist us in times of need. I feel we can always learn from others and therefore maintain contact with all the fellow Section Managers within the ARRL West Gulf, and Delta Divisions, as well as several Section Managers beyond those borders.
I have assembled an outstanding team of assistants, from Greg Evans K5GTX our Section Emergency Coordinator, to all the other Assistants on the Section Management team. Our team works as a cohesive unit for the betterment of our fellow ARRL members which we serve.
Our complete Team may be viewed at https://arrlntx.org/WP/about-us/ntx-officials/

In summary, I would appreciate your Nomination for another term as your Section Manager. This will allow myself and the ARRL North Texas Section Management team to continue the progress which will benefit all North Texas Amateur Radio OPS.

News Flash !!!
Thanks to Greg Evans K5GTX and Aaron Hulett K8AMH for many hours of work and planning, our team has just unveiled our new ARRL North Texas website https://arrlntx.org

The ARRL has announced that prospective Nominees may solicit Nominations with electronic signatures during this continued time of COVID19 Social Distancing.
I can email anyone that request it, one of these Electronic Nomination forms,
just drop me an email with the request KG5VK@ARRL.NET

Thank you for your time and your service as an ARRL member!

Steve KG5VK
Please call or Email me any time
318-470-9806

ARRL NTX Section September 2020 Newsletter

2020-09-03T15:09:00.002-07:00

Greetings fellow North Texans!

Update:
Since the ARRL North Texas Website Update
Now contains all of my newsletters, including the current one

I no longer duplicate those posts here.

So Please visit https://arrlntx.org/WP/news/newsletter/

*** Many of you are already aware that the ARRL Now has a new CEO

You may not know that he is a very active On The air amateur Radio operator
He is a Life Time member of CWOPS group and a fellow DXER and Contest OP
He received over 2/3rds of the Votes by the Board of Directors, which to me shows
the over whelming majority of our Board Members at ARRL have confidence in him
He is David Minster NA2AA

*** The Board also seated a member to a brand new position at Headquarters....

The ARRL ECOM Director is Paul Gilbert KE5ZW

We can all be proud that Paul Gilbert KE5ZW is a fellow Texan
Paul is the current South Texas Section Manager, he has a wealth of background in Federal, State and Section Level ECOM and will be a valued asset to all of us. A new Section Manager will be elected for South Texas, watch ARRL News for more info.

*** The Second West Gulf Director Round Table meeting with ARRL NTX Club Officers and myself was held on the 29th of this past month (August). Due to COVID19 this round table was held virtually
by way of Zoom conferencing. We had over 24 club officers represented and I feel it was a very progressive meeting. Your Club officers gave Director John Stratton and myself more than a few issues we could work on.
Per the request I have formed an On-Line discussion area where club officers can have a working dialogue with myself and the rest of the North Texas Section Management Staff on any topics that their members wish addressed.
A couple of your officers mentioned what happen to the ARRL Club Coordinator position that the Board of Directors were working on. This position was not seated before we found the need to find a new CEO. Now that Mr. Minster NA2AA has been appointed as the CEO and once he has found his way around the inner working of Headquarters, we hope to see some momentum on this new position.
The Club Coordinator at Headquarters will allow greater attention towards affiliated club needs.

*** Once again I make my plea for Safer Tower Climbing to everyone.

If you think Free climbing, or climbing with a Climbing Belt is Safe
You are only kidding yourself.
Every Ham Radio Club should take time out to present a video or two on Safe Tower Climbing
Every amateur radio OP owes it to their family and loved ones and them self to learn the right way to climb and work on towers. By the way Climbing Belts have not been OSHA approved for many years.
The right Gear begins with Boots and a Climbing Harness that has two Fall arrest lanyards and a positioning lanyard as well as the knowledge of when it is safe and unsafe to climb.

The recent fatality was from only a 50 foot tower!

Here is a link to an Excellent Video https://youtu.be/uJO-L3td_p8
If you are unable to view the Video, please email me for another link.
I implore Clubs to help promote Tower Safety, maybe even an OSHA approved climbing kit for member use, everything but the Boots.

*** ARES and ECOM

Please never self Deploy, you will only burden resources that are not prepared for your arrival.
Greg Evans K5GTX and I work closely with all neighboring Section Leaders and we would love for everyone to take heed of the following message he and I have created on this subject.....

"If you are considering volunteering as an ECOM resource during any emergency
Please make sure you first notify Section Management (SM & SEC) within your Section before
expressing your willingness and readiness to any served agencies and/or other Sections.
We appreciate willingness, however we need to do our part as a Team.
Please, allow us to do so by communicating with us first.
Steven Lott Smith KG5VK
ARRL NTX Section Manager
Greg Evans K5GTX
ARRL NTX Section Emergency Coordinator"
One should also consult their respective County ARES EC and if your an EC up channel to the District (DEC)

*** ARRL North Texas Ham of The Year 2020/2021

As of Today (September 3,2020) I have received only one Nomination !!!
I am again accepting nomination packages for the ARRL North Texas
Amateur of the Year award
Please title the email with the Nomination "ARRLNTX 2020 HOY"
The Nominee must be an ARRL member and Reside in North Texas
Deadline for nominations is 1 October 2020
Nomination packages emailed to myself should include the full name and call sign of the Nominee
and Bullet statements of accomplishments with short paragraphs or a few sentences of justification under each bullet statement. Again the Deadline for nominations is the First of October.

Please remember I am available to attend any Virtual Club Meetings while we all continue to Social Distance, my last announcement of this last month netted only Two invites to attend meetings.
Most important I still come bearing a Door Prize or two, dependent on how many attendees are in the meeting. I can bring a presentation that last about 15 minutes or just be on had for questions your group may have. Of course you can always drop me a line any time, email is preferred but I am welcome to phone calls as long as you are willing to leave a message if I do not answer with the topic.

No sign of Fall weather, yet. So please stay safe in this heat.
Hydrate, Hydrate, and take cool breaks away from the heat.

Steve KG5VK
Tele 318-470-9806
KG5VK@ARRL.ORG