RF Exposure and the FCC
As of May 3, 2021, any exemptions for performing a station RF Safety Evaluation as spelled out in Part 97 Section 13(c)(1) change from being specified by Band and Power level to using a formula. For those that have a station already in operation which was previously exempt, you have until May 3, 2023 to perform an evaluation. New stations or existing stations which alter the antenna or source (radio/amplifier/power level/mode) will have to perform an evaluation prior to operating the station. we’ll have to determine if it is still exempt and/or perform an evaluation. In many cases, it’s just easier to do the evaluation than to use the formula.
The ARRL has information about this in greater detail as well as links to calculators which allow you to plug in information and get your results. Here are the links to that information:
RF Exposure Rules
RF Exposure FAQ and Tools
Field Day 2021
Androscoggin ARES/RACES is using Field Day as an opportunity for practice, equipment testing, and organization planning. The event shall take place at the Androscoggin County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) newly renovated Communications Room. Teams of 2 will operate in shifts, and equipment shall be rotated through the event to test its operation and increase familiarity with the equipment.
Repeaters
The Lewiston 146.610 (-) 88.5 repeater is on the air and so is the Poland 147.315 (+) 103.5. Even better, they are linked via Internet (though this may be intermittent at this time). So try it out and let us know, during the weekly net, how it seems to be working.
The not-so-good-news is that the Lewiston repeater gets noisy, and the Livermore repeater is still off the air. The noisy repeater is suspected to be due to water damage to the antenna.
Virtual Meetings
Missed the meeting? Beginning with the December 12, 2020 meeting they are recorded and a link to the video is on our calendar for that date.
This second wave of COVID-19 is hitting hard. In order to help insure against our members becoming part of the increasing cases, we will be acting with caution and having our monthly meetings virtually.
Why not just have it over the air? We do that every week. Our monthly meetings allow us to share visual information, be more interactive, and have a bit more time for discussions. There are ways to do it over the air, but there are also barriers that may exclude some people.
To connect to the virtual meeting, you’ll need an invitation. Invites will be sent out a few days before the meeting, and requires that we have your email address. As we have discussed before, our records are in dire need of being updated, so if you have not already sent your email to us, please go to the Contacts page and send it to the webmaster.
Connecting to the meeting with the link in the invitation is relatively easy and straightforward. We open the meeting area 30 minutes early to allow for helping anyone needing help getting connected. These meetings are for us to share our screen, so if you are not comfortable sharing your video, there is no problem in turning off your camera.
Let’s use this resource to stay connected and move forward so when the time comes that we are once again able to be out and about, we will be able to make best use of our time. Stay Safe!