On Sunday July 10, 2016, Radio Central Amateur Radio Club participated in the Tesla Science Center’s celebration of Nikola Tesla’s 160th birthday. We operated Amateur Radio Station N2T (November Two Tango), contacting about 90 stations from as far as Spain and as nearby as local neighborhood hams in Shoreham. Our objective was to have fun and to celebrate not only Tesla’s birthday but also the tireless efforts of the Tesla Science Center’s leadership and volunteers, rescuing Wardenclyffe from developers and working towards the eventual creation of a Tesla science museum on Long Island.

In light of increasingly strict "Distracted Driving" laws, our ARRL Hudson Division Director contacted the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles to get their position on operation of mobile Amateur Radio equipment with respect to Distracted Driving laws. The DMV responded with a letter of opinion that appears to be very favorable to Amateur Radio. Basically is says that talking via ham radio does not constitute a violation of the Distracted Driving laws. It should be noted that though the DMV's letter (which can be downloaded from the Hudson Division web page here, of or from the RCARC web page here) is pro-Amateur Radio, it's an opinion from the DMV, not a binding agreement, so it's still possible to get pulled over, cited, and required to appear in court. More importantly, you should always give the road and traffic absolute priority over operating your radio while driving. In Mike Lisenco's own words: "Feel free to print out this opinion, but understand that it is not a license to be stupid! Let’s hope that you never need to use it."