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  the sPARC gap

March, 2004

es Allen, K7WWG, will be talking about repeaters and their history and the special considerations necessary in building them, at our March general meeting. The meeting starts at 7:30 p.m., Friday, March 19, in the auditorium on the lower level of  One Liberty Center, 650 N.E. Holladay Street, Portland, Oregon.  Please enter at the south side of the building.  Refreshments will be served.

The VE test session will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the conference room on the lower level.  Please contact n7xb@arrl.net or w7lt@arrl.net or call 503-257-7320 to assure a spot.

-W7LT

ow that the FCC has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to create a BPL Internet service on the power grid, it is even more imperative that we defend our spectrum.

PARC is encouraging contributions to the ARRL fund to help  the proposal, which threatens to flood the High Frequency spectrum with high noise levels while delivering Internet service via the power grid. This would render HF unusable for many amateur radio operators.

You can send contributions to the ARRL direct, or to PARC, where your donation will be combined with those from other members and an appropriation from the PARC treasury (see membership application form, page 7).

-W7LT

his year, the Section Manager election for Oregon is shaping up to not be the usual rubber-stamping of an incumbent.  First of all, there was a recall of a sitting SM last year, so we won't have KK7CW to kick around, this year.  It is my opinion that that whole recall was wrong; even though Marsh ruffled some feathers early on in his tenure in office.  However, my opinion does not necessarily reflect anyone else's, much less PARC's collective one.

Our former President, Kevin Hunt, WA7VTD, has tendered his resignation as Assistant Section Manager in order to run against Randy Stimson, KZ7T, who also used to sit on the PARC Board of Directors.  Randy, a former SM, was appointed to fill out the term vacated by KK7CW after the recall election.  Randy has also filed for the election now being held. 

PARC will maintain a policy of strict neutrality in the areas of League politics, during this election season.  If we run something from Kevin, we will offer space to Randy to respond, preferably in the same issue.  This also means that Kevin will also be given space to respond to Randy on any issues he raises.  Paid advertisements, such as the one that appears at the bottom of this page,  do not reflect of official club endorsement.

We urge our members to study both candidates carefully before marking and returning their ballots.  In our opinion, both candidates have their strengths and their weaknesses, and the choice should be for the candidate who balances them best.

-AL7W

he story "Austrian Authorities Pull Plug on BPL Pilot Project," in The ARRL Letter, Jan. 9, 2004 (and included in the January issue of the sPARC gap), contained some incorrect information. Austrian Amateur Transmitter Federation President Mike Zwingl, OE3MZC, explained this week that the Austrian Ministry for Commerce, Innovation and Technology last fall requested that the Linz Power Company's BPL project immediately halt all instances of interference. But the Ministry fell short of altogether shutting down the pilot project, which continues to operate. Zwingl said authorities did order a BPL shutdown at one location where BPL was causing harmful interference to a radio amateur, however. "The press did read it differently," he conceded. Zwingl said that BPL has been deployed over a large part of Linz, and all power lines--not just individual BPL users--are radiating HF interference. Legal action reportedly is pending.

-ARRL Letter, Jan. 23, 2004