Volume No. 35 Issue Number 5 December, 2004 TM THE M ONITORTM ECARS Web Page: http://www.ecars7255.com/ The official publication of the East Coast Amateur Radio Service, Inc. From the President’s Desk The New ECARS by John Zorger, WA1STU #1489, ECARS President It sure has been an interesting year for ECARS. Terri- Management Structure: ble band conditions, interference, officers resigning, new Goodbye EC; Hello BoD officers taking charge and getting the “NET” and the or- The new ECARS Bylaws change the way in which the ganization back on track, and to top it all off we now have corporation is managed. The management structure is dif- over 1000 members in our organization. It was more than ferent than the way it was for many years, but it's straight- interesting for me; it was a great challenge and an adven- forward and, importantly, complies with the corporation's ture. I went from being a long time net member to vice Delaware Certificate of Incorporation. The former structure president for several months and then on to becoming presi- was not consistent with the provisions of the certificate. dent for the two months before formal elections. I took the Under the former system, ECARS was managed by an positions because I feel that ECARS is a great place to meet executive committee that consisted of the officers and two up with other hams, get (and give) technical information, directors elected by the members. Under the new structure, check into while mobile, and it is the best service net I have the members elect a Board of Directors (BoD), that is the ever checked into. So you can see that I have strong feel- ultimate corporate authority that governs ECARS opera- ings about how ECARS needs to be on 7255 KHz and re- tions. See ECARS Bylaws Article ("Bylaws") 2.1. There is main the best service net around. no longer an executive committee, although the board of I have been a ham for 40 years and started checking directors may, as is conventionally done in the corporate into ECARS in 1973 when I was in the USN at sea looking arena, appoint a committee consisting of board members for stations to run phone patches. After leaving the service I and officers to review and address certain management is- have had several positions and for the last 17 years I have (Continued on page 2) worked for the Voice of America as a satellite systems engi- neer in Washington, D.C. I enjoy net operations, building equipment, and public service events operations. We are now having elections of officers and I hope that each and every one of you who reads this article will take a few minutes and vote for the candidate that you think will best serve the membership of ECARS. We have over In This Issue 1000 members now and I would like to see one thousand ballots come in to the election committee. From the President’s Desk………………………. 1 Our newly elected Board of Directors (BOD) are busy The New ECARS Management Structure………. 1 making the decisions necessary to keep a large organization Be an NCS, You Won’t Regret it……..………….. 2 Amateur Radio Covered Bridge Society………… 3 running, and I hope that everyone who has suggestions E-Voting…………………………………….……... 3 about how to make ECARS a better organization gets in A Few Words From a New ECARS Director…… 4 touch with a director or officer. It takes everyone to make Signal Reporting Using the Circuit Merit System. 5 our net work and your suggestions and comments are al- HF Communications with a Screwdriver………... 5 ways welcome. Marine Corps Marathon ECARS Participation.… 6 Some of the things the BOD hopes to put in place dur- Up the Band Without a Paddle…………….…….. 8 ing the next year (with your help) are, a member-only por- ECARS Official Officers Ballot………….……….. 9 (Continued on page 2) ECARS Service - 7255 KHz - for Public Health, Safety, and Welfare 1 Volume No. 35 Issue Number 5 December, 2004 (From the President’s Desk continued from page 1) ence fiction. That was in 1970, and I was 15 years old. tion on our website, a place where you can log into and re- Mowing lawns in Fairfax, Virginia funded my ham radio ceive and exchange information with other members, elec- hobby. tronic voting, and distributing the Monitor via email to help After listening and checking in to hours and days and save on postage fees. We would like to hear from each one months of net activity, one of the NCSs (Net Control Sta- you about other ideas to make ECARS website better. tion) asked me if I could take the net for five minutes I would like to wish each one of you a very happy while he took care of a phone call. Scared, I reluctantly holiday season. agreed. You see, I knew what to say when I was checking Please take a minute and send in your ballot. , in, or “RECHECK”, or “CONTACT” or “RELAY”, or the other stuff, but this was different. It’s a lot like being at the other end of a DX pileup. All the rules seem to (New ECARS Management Structure continued from page 1) change. sues, and that committee would be an "executive" commit- Five minutes later, the previous NCS came back, and tee. Bylaws 2.14. The American Radio Relay League has I turned the net back over to him…after checking in two done this for many years. Under the new ECARS Bylaws, or three stations. any committee appointed by the board would have no inde- I was hooked. After that, I was net control dozens of pendent administrative powers: times, and had more and more fun each time. I found it No committee shall have the power to amend or repeal any most enjoyable to communicate with people in their cars. resolution or action of the Board of Directors, and no committee Remember, back in the Stone Age (1970), mobile or port- shall have the authority of the Board of Directors in reference to able operation from any kind of radio, amateur or other- (1) amending the Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws of the wise, was uncommon. Police, fire, and taxis were the only Corporation; (2) adopting a plan of merger or consolidation; (3) routine source of mobile transmissions. In contrast, listen- the sale, lease, exchange, or other disposition of all or substan- ing to my ham buddies from their cars was a blast! tially all of the property and assets of the Corporation; or (4) a I always tell people that ham radio is 100 hobbies voluntary dissolution of the Corporation or a revocation of any rolled into one. As soon as you get tired of one part of it, such voluntary dissolution. a new facet opens up and takes you away. Does your list Bylaws 2.14. look like this: AM, SSB, Mobile HF, RTTY, AMTOR, Under the new bylaws, members also elect officers, VHF, Mobile repeaters, PACTOR, PSK, Packet, SSTV, but the officers are subordinate to, and take direction from, APRS, EME? Did I miss a few? You can’t stop trying the Board of Directors. Bylaws Article III. For example, new things! although the ECARS President is the principal executive Now, fast forward to 2004. My mobile setup is officer of the corporation, who shall in general supervise working on all bands, all modes, from 40 meters to 70 cm. and control all of the business affairs of the Corporation," he I can afford that now, since I’m not mowing lawns for a or she is" subject to the supervision of the Directors. By- living. Sometimes I wish I were, but that is a tale for a laws 3.6. Typically, a corporate board of directors appoints different time! the organization's officers instead of their being elected by So what did I do with my mobile setup? I checked members or stockholders. into ECARS on the same frequency as in 1970. 7.255 ECARS did not abandon election of officers by mem- MHz. The same helpful service exists now as it did then, bers to avoid a completely radical change in the way the the same good guys and gals are there, and it is still as corporation is managed. However, in view of the growing much fun as it was before. I’ve always felt that routine expense of conducting elections, and the time and expense ham radio conversations are practice for when emergen- involved in the nominations process, the ECARS Board cies present themselves. We don’t want stage fright if or may consider moving to a more conventional structure by when (God forbid) there is another 9/11. electing only the directors, who in turn would appoint the Two weeks ago I volunteered to be NCS, for the first ECARS officers. Such a change would require a bylaws time since 1971. I have worked many, many contests and amendment, that must be approved by ECARS members. checked into many nets. I have a pretty decent station, in See Bylaws 6.1. , a very RF-quiet location. And yet I was nervous about whether my station or I would be up to the job. Surprise! Everything was great. The people who Be an NCS checked in were very accommodating; the traffic was rou- tine; even the band was cooperating. The gang knew that You Won’t Regret it I was not one of the regulars and made it easy for me. by Dave Bushong, KZ1O, Hudson NH Bottom line: there are a dozen or so regular NCS sta- Previous call WB4ODN tions, but the rest of us need to volunteer to be available, My friends and I used ECARS to find each other after just like we do for the rest of the hobby.