ARRL NEWS - Continued Timely ARRL news items for all members -  from sources as noted at end of each article,
Page 7 Previous     Return Pg 4           NEW EMCOMM SOFTWARE FOR WINDOWS NOW AVAILABLE FOR BETA TESTING

The NarrowBand Emergency Messaging System (NBEMS) development team announced earlier this week that a Windows NBEMS software suite for beta testing is now available. NBEMS for Windows is a suite of software programs designed for point-to-point, error-free emergency messaging up to or over 100 miles distant.

According to developers Skip Teller, KH6TY and Dave Freese, W1HKJ, the NBEMS system is designed primarily for use on VHF and up, or on HF with Near Vertical Incidence Skywave (NVIS) antennas. The system uses the computer soundcard as the modem. Other than a simple interface connection between the computer and transceiver, no additional hardware is needed. Composing and sending emergency messages on NBEMS is no more difficult than sending e-mail via the Internet. All forwarding is done by stations manned by live operators on both ends who can confirm that a frequency is clear locally, or negotiate a frequency change to avoid causing interference.

The NBEMS software can also be used for daily casual communications on PSK31, PSK63, RTTY or MFSK16 and is capable of sending flawless, high resolution, passport photo-sized color images in less than 10 minutes over any path that can sustain PSK250 without excessive repeats.

Radio amateurs are invited to participate in the beta test of the NBEMS. The NBEMS suite can be downloaded for beta testing from the NBEMS Web site < http://w1hkj.com/NBEMS >. Send comments and bug reports via e-mail < kh6ty@comcast.net  >.   (Excerpt from the ARRL Letter, Vol 27, No 1, dated January 11,  2008).                                   TRAFFIC HANDLING TRAINING NET STARTS FEB 3

In early 2007 an ARRL committee released a report on Amateur Radio's response to Hurricane Katrina.  One of the issues raised by this "National Emergency Response Planning Committee" was that too few of us are skilled at traffic handling.  The aftermath of a disaster is not the time to learn how to send NTS traffic!  The North Carolina section and local nets provide daily opportunities for you to practice your traffic handling skills.  Another opportunity begins soon.  Mark Rappaport, W2EAG will lead a traffic handling training course, the "Carolinas Training Net", which will begin Sunday, Feb 3 at 5pm local time on 3.861MHz.  The net will continue every Sunday thereafter until the course is completed.  The course will be a good refresher for experienced operators and offer those new to traffic handling a thorough introduction.  A training manual for the course has been posted at http://www.ncarrl.org and certificates will be issued to those who complete the course.  Thanks to W2EAG for his hard work on this program.   (Excerpt from the Monthly North Carolina Section News Summary , dated January 18, 2008) Back Next