Section Reports

SM: Malcolm Keown, W5XX. Section Website at www.arrlmiss.org. Webmaster: W5UE, ASM: K5DSG, KB5HC, KF8PD, K0UPW, W4WLF, KB5YEE, ACC: W5VMS, PIC: K5RFL, SEC: KC5IMN, ASEC: AA1NA, W5DIX; SGL: AK5J; STM: WV5Q, TC: N5JGK.

The International Space Station visited Mississippi in August.  On Thursday August 22, Bayou Academy in Cleveland hosted this historic event  This was a collaborative effort involving members from three Ham Clubs in the Golden Triangle with N4OGW, K4MAG, KG5XR, KI5YNG, KJ5HOU all from the MSU ARC, K5BAK, WT5A, K5MCB, KJ5HOC, AG5ND all from the Magnolia ARC, and KI5VGO from the Lowndes County ARC. The station was operated using W5YD with N4OGW as the control op and WT5A manning the backup station.

Amanda Mayo (science teacher at Bayou Academy) won the ISS lottery at the end of 2023 and received one of the slots for contacting the ISS.  She did this with NO knowledge of Amateur Radio, so she had to find some way to make this happen. Ms. Mayo got on Google, and according to her, she contacted every radio club she could find in the state, and Magnolia Club President K5BAK was the only club contact who replied.  Doug told her “Sounds like fun, let’s do it!”, and from February to August Doug, with help, figured out how to coordinate the contact with the ISS.  Untold hours were spent into prepping, phone calls, and in-person setups and finally dry runs at the school, which is a two-hour drive from Starkville.

The ISS contact went off without a hitch (see photo on www.arrlmiss.org). The news media was there.  It was live streamed on YouTube. The whole school was decorated with a space theme.  The high school band played space music, including Star Wars and the theme from the movie Mars Attacks!

(Thanks to K5MCB, AG5ND, and K5RFL for the providing info on this event) 

Project Chairman AK5J advises that the 2024 ARRL Day in the Park will be held on Saturday, October 5, at the beautiful Lake Trace Park on the Barnett Reservoir in Ridgeland.  The host club is the Jackson Amateur Radio Club, and the hours will be from 9:00 am until 2:00 pm.  The folks at Ridgeland Parks and Recreation graciously allowed us to use their Recreation Center adjacent to the main parking lot. This will be a fun time of fellowship, food, flea market, and other activities.   

At noon there will be comments by W5XX followed by door prizes. In addition, for those interested, there is a nice dog run very close to the Recreation Center and this date will also be during the first week of the State Fair in Jackson.

Old Trace Park is located at 422 Post Road in Ridgeland. To get there follow the signs to the Bill Waller Craft Center on Rice Road and then continue on Rice Road a short distance until you get to a stop sign at the intersection with Post Road.  Take a right on Post Road and Old Trace Park will then be the second right.  The Rec Center will be on the right side of the large parking lot as you drive in.  For further information contact AK5J at cell 601-709-6740 or email ak5j@arrl.net. 

The details for the 2024 Mississippi QSO Party are just about wrapped up. Again, thanks to AG5Z, W5UE, NV5A, and W5VMS for helping to make all of this happen.  Also, thanks to all of the clubs/individuals who sponsored plaques:

• High Score Mississippi (single op) – The Magnolia ARC
• High Score Mississippi (multi-op) – The Jackson ARC
• High Score – Mississippi Portable (single op) – The K4FMH Portable Team
• High Score – Mississippi Portable (multi-op) – The Pine Belt ARA
• High Score Mississippi Mobile – The Mississippi Coast ARA
• Mississippi Station Working the Most Counties – The Chickasaw ARA  
• High Score – W/VE Station – The Chickasaw ARA
• High Score – Mississippi Digital Station – W5ETZ
• High Score – Outside W/VE – The DX Hogs

In SEC/DEC/EC Reports from around the state …

From SEC KC5IMN:  Hurricane Francine made landfall on the Louisiana Coast on the afternoon of September 11 and moved into Mississippi later that evening.  Mississippi ARES activated at 5PM on 3862 supported by county ARES nets and DMR.  ARES secured the next day at 11AM.  After action reports are being prepared.  Robert notes that “We had a huge positive showing of ARES team members checking in and doing the “thing”. I sincerely appreciate everyone leaning into this activation.”

From EC KG5SQZ: Central MS ARES participated in the 2024 SET for the entire duration by simulating operations from the Rankin County EOC using the W5PPB repeater with the KA5SBK repeater for backup. We had 21 participants including 9 new amateurs and passed 31 pieces of traffic. K5FIT, State RACES Officer, operated Winlink as MEMA and handled 20 pieces of traffic from 8 stations. Overall, we were pleased with our performance and are planning for even better results next year.

From KD4VVZ in George County: ARES is holding a DMR weekly training and tech net every Thursday 7:30pm TG #312801 (Lucedale). There was a DMR in person training class on October 5th at the George County Chamber of Commerce Building.

From AB6Z in Pearl River County:  The DMR talk group. “PEARL League” (314299) now in use on Amcomm DM Network. Used for command and control during operations and training.

From AG5ND in Oktibbeha County:  During the SET on August 10, fourteen Hams spent their morning either at the Oktibbeha EOC manning the station and relaying reports, or being deployed in the field to make first-hand reports.

From W5VMS in Warren/Claiborne Counties:  Participation was down during the SET (four total check-ins), but the MISS-LOU Emergency Net was active for almost nine hours.  W5VMS, KD5SBP and W5XX were also active on 40 meters plus a couple of digital modes.

From N5LOK in Webster County: Promoting check-ins on the Northeast MS DMR Net Monday through Friday 0745 AM.

Attached for your information below is the current status (updated from last month) of known upcoming Ham events in and around Mississippi:

• EMCOMM Checkin on 3862, 6:00 PM, Oct 3
• ARRL Day in the Park, Oct 5, Old Trace Park, Ridgeland, POC: AK5J
• Repeater Roundup, Nov 9, see https://magarc.org, POC: AG5ND
• New Years Eve Party, Dec 31, 11 PM, 3862, POC: W5XX
• Capital City Hamfest, Jan 31 – Feb 1, 2025, Trademart, Jackson, POC: AK5J
• Mississippi QSO Party, April 5-6. 2025, POC: W5XX

And on the national level the ARRL digital system has been partially down since Mid-May.  As a result, there is no information available on New Hams in Mississippi, Upgrades, or New ARRL Members.

SEC/DEC Reports for August 2024: KC5IMN (SEC), KD4VVZ (Gulf Coast), and W5VMS (West Central MS).

EC Reports for August:  N5AAS (Forrest), K5DSC (Newton), WJ5ES (Adams), AE5FK (Walthall), NI5I (Perry), N5LOK (Webster), N5MIS (Pontotoc), KG5OVS (Leake), WX5RJ (Harrison), AA5SG (Jones), KG5SQZ (Hinds), KB5SZJ (Lauderdale), K5TCO (Lowndes), W5VMS (Warren/Claiborne), KD4VVZ (George), AB6Z (Pearl River).

Welcome to KI5GDZ as EC for Winston County

ARRL Headquarters advises of the following 2024 Mississippi Scholarship winners: K5JOZ of Petal, who was awarded the Magnolia DX Association Scholarship, and KI5HNH of Paris, who was awarded The Mississippi Scholarship sponsored by the W5CH estate.

Club Newsletters (Editor): the Meridian ARC Spark Gap (W5MAV)

Regret to report the passing of

K5GRV of Brandon. Macolm and his XYL, Nita (N5AGV), handled multiple phone patches for military overseas and ships at sea for many years.  He retired from the State Tax Commission as an electrical engineer and as a Rankin County Deputy Sherriff.  Malcolm was a founding member of the Brandon Baptist Church.

HF Net Reports – sessions/QNI/QTC (Net Manager)

Magnolia Section Net 31/1221/8 (KF5BA)

MS Baptist Hams Net 3/13/0 (WF5F) Sunday, 7263 at 4PM

MSPN 31/2350/13 (W5JGW)

Pine Belt ARC 10M Net 4/19/0 (K5TLL)

VHF Net Reports – sessions/QNI/QTC (Net Manager)

Bluff City ARC EMCOMM Net 4/63/1 (WJ5ES)

Capital Area Em Net 4/42/0 (K5XU)

Central MS ARES 8/175/0 (KG5SQZ)

Chickasaw/Choctaw ARES Net 4/46/0 N5MIS)

Forrest County ARES 2/12/0 (N5AAS)

George County ARES 4/36/0 (KD4VVZ)

Harrison County ARES 1/13/0 (WX5RJ)

Jackson ARC Net 4/34/0 (K5XU)

Lowndes County ARC 4/49/00 (K5TCO) 

Meridian Area EM Net 4/18/0 (KB5SZJ)

Mississippi Coast ARA 4/118/0 (N5GQ)

NE MS Skywarn WX Net 4/61/0 W5BAQ)

Pearl River ARES Net 4/28/0 (AB6Z)

Pine Belt ARC 2M Net 4/55/0 (K5TLL)

Pine Belt ARC 2M Simplex Net 1/7/0 (K5TLL)

Pontotoc ARES Skywarn 4/31/0 (N5MIS)

South Central MS ARES Net 4/47/0/ (AA5SG)

Vicksburg ARC/MLEN 4/90/0 (KG5YEE)

Walthall County ARES 5/88/0 (AE5FK)

Webster County ARES 4/8/0 (N5LOK)

Digital Net Reports

Central Mississippi ARES Digital Net 4/29/25 (KI5JCL)

   (2 VHF nets and 2 HF nets)

East MS EMCOMM Net 31/331/199 (K5TCO)

K5FIT WL2K Hybrid Gateway – 128 connections to pass traffic.

MS WL2K Net QNI 95 by 6 stations (K5FIT)

Traffic: WV5Q 64, AE5MI 22, and W5XX 3

PSHR: WV5Q 184, AE5MI 132 and W5XX 88