 August 15, 2023 Editor: Michael Walters, W8ZY | ||||
An Arizona Club's Field Day The Thunderbird Amateur Radio Club's (TBARC) 2023 Field Day was held at Jack's, NT7MM, cabin northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona, and Bruce, WB7SRC, was the coordinator for this year's event. This year, we used the TBARC call sign, W7TBC, for the Class 4E Emergency, Solar, and Battery Power category. We got to the site Friday morning, and set up two 10- to 80-meter End-Feed-Dipole, one 10- to 80-meter Carolina Windom, one 10- to 40-meter off-center-fed dipole, and a 6-meter beam. Friday afternoon, we tried starting the 6 kW generator, and had it running after some new gas and starter fluid. We set up the radio stations on Friday night and Saturday morning. We had digital, CW, SSB, and 6-meter VHF stations that consisted of a FLEX-6600M, a FLEX-6500, a FLEX-6400, and an IC-7610. All were online by 10 AM. Software, networking, and logging were set up, and we were ready to start the event. The 2023 operators were: NT7MM, KC0GU, K7DD, K7TEJ, N9AV, WK7B, KG7COA, KK7DCR, KD7ETQ, WB7SRC, N7VBN, KG7KRN, AF7K, KI7DUV, and NJ8G. We went live at 11 AM on Saturday, and ran continually until 10:59 AM on Sunday. The total contacts made were: 122 CW, 658 digital, and 46 phone, for a contact point score of 1,608. We added the power multiplier, media, and educational activity, and our final claimed score was 3,862. Overall, it was a successful weekend with lots of radio time, ham radio discussions, and fun working with new club members. A special thanks to the men and women of TBARC for the great food.
On Saturday, June 24, TBARC awarded NT7MM with the Honorary Lifetime Membership Award in appreciation of his many years of dedicated service to the club. He has been a past president, a member of the Board of Directors, chair of the TBARC emcomm group, a TBARC ARRL VE coordinator, and many other unnamed roles over his years of membership. He's also allowed TBARC to overrun his cabin for ARRL Field Day and the Arizona QSO Party for many years. By Warren Gaspar, KC0GU A Unique Radio Club Buildathon If your club is looking for something new, versus just another meeting, I encourage them to consider holding a Buildaton. While a club Buildathon is nothing new, and many clubs have had them within our ARRL Section and beyond, the one hosted by Cowtown Amateur Radio Club (CARC) of Fort Worth, Texas, was successful because it provided members with something they could get their hands on, interact with, and continue to enjoy. Watch the YouTube video, "ADX-Digital Transceiver - Cowtown ARC Buildathon Success!," by Richard, W5ARH, to learn more about the ADX digital mode transceiver designed by Barbaros Asuroglu, WB2CBA, that CARC members built, and how your club might do the same or something like it. CARC President Dave Martin, K5YFO, stated that this Buildathon was successful because of the impressive support by Richard, W5ARH, and Barbaros, WB2CBA; it promoted on-the-air activity for all licensed members; it offered comradery; it was fun, exciting, and inexpensive (less than $35 per participant), and it was a practical and useful transceiver that members can use and enjoy. The video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/VrkioM_xv6s. Picnic and POTA The Indianapolis Radio Club's First Picnic & POTA (Parks on the Air) event was held on July 29 at the Cherry Tree Shelter, in Fort Harrison State Park. The event was a hit! The weather wasn't bad for late July in Indiana: no rain and temperatures in the mid 80s. I counted more than 40 people in attendance, with
several members' significant others and a few kids in the group. Thanks to Kevin Colbert, KD9MNB, for reserving the shelter and coordinating the food for the picnic. Special thanks to Jeff Hammer, N9NIC, for graciously accepting the duties of chef for the event. Kyle Bandy, KC9GLR, provided a POTA station, and, along with Mike Hanson, WB7CUM, and Paul Filliman, KD9QFM, made 39 POTA contacts using the club's call sign, W9JP. By Indianapolis Radio Club Secretary/Treasurer Ken Bandy, KJ9B Plano Amateur Radio Klub Celebrates its 50th Anniversary The Plano Amateur Radio Klub (PARK) of Texas celebrated its 50th anniversary at a Golden Jubilee Dinner meeting on July 17, 2023. Founders, Charter members, and past Presidents were honored, as well as 5 decades of community service, education, emergency preparedness, and disaster response. PARK was founded in 1973, by local hams Dick Sander, K5QY, and Bill Newland, WB5ETZ. The club was established to bring together local hams to serve their local community and organizations with communications services, which is something it still does today. On behalf of West Gulf Division Director John Robert Stratton, N5AUS, North Texas Section Manager Steven Lott Smith, KG5VK, presented PARK with a plaque commemorating 50 years of being an ARRL Affiliated Club. Additionally, Plano Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Maria Tu presented PARK with a proclamation honoring thier 50 years of community service. After presenting Certificates of Appreciation and a commemorative pin to PARK Founders, Charter Members, and past Presidents, current President Tim Johnson, K5TCJ, remarked that we have big shoes to fill to carry on the great legacy that is PARK, so that we too will be worthy of being celebrated by those who follow us. The yearlong celebration continues, with club members activating the club's call sign, K5PRK, with a /50 suffix commemorating their anniversary. Contacts made with K5PRK/50 will be acknowledged with a special K5PRK/50 QSL card. As of this writing, more than 2,500 contacts have been made in 83 countries this year. As part of its community service mission, PARK volunteers use their special skills to help local community organizations manage large events. Additionally, the club provides communication services for Civil Defense, American Red Cross, and state, county and city law enforcement agencies, or other charitable organizations during times of emergency, distress, national disaster, or public interest. One notable event was assisting in canvassing the remote area of east Texas for debris after the 2003 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Many of the 1973 founding members were also the first members of Collin County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (CC-ARES), which started its development in 1975. Even today, many club members are also members of CC-ARES who use club repeaters to relay vital storm spotter information on the CC-ARES Weather Net, which is monitored by the National Weather Service in Fort Worth. The Plano Amateur Radio Klub is a public service organization with a special interest in ham radio, communications, and technology. Club membership is open to anyone and everyone. The club has an open general membership meeting every month. Anyone interested can come and find out more about the hobby, how to get their own amateur radio license, and about club membership. More information about the Plano Amateur Radio Klub, its history, service, and Golden Jubilee activities can be found at www.k5prk.net. By Tim Johnson, K5TCJ, k5tcj@arrl.net Ohio Club Helps with Headwaters Adventure Race The Portage Parks District in Ohio holds an annual three-event race in July, called the Headwaters Adventure Race, that consists of a 2-mile run, a 10-mile bicycle course, and a 5-mile canoe course on the Cuyahoga River. Since the race's inception, amateur radio operators have provided communications support to the Race Director through the Comms Unit of the EMA, and other amateur radio volunteers. This year's event was on Saturday, July 8, and was supported by 15 radio communicators. Support ranged from staffing key intersections on the course, providing a bicycle sweep and a canoe sweep on the river, a net control station operator, and a COML/shadow for the Race Director. All radio communicators reported on time to sign in and move to their assignments. Radio checks were performed and then a formal net was opened. Radio communicators provided all requested information to the net control station in a timely manner. There were no injuries or incidents that needed reporting or required a first responder. The event ended when the last canoeist crossed the finish line, followed by the two radio communicators in the sweep canoe, at 12:31 PM. It was evident from the start that all radio communicators had experience in providing communications for public service events. Communications were performed in a professional way, and with net discipline. Two radio communicators new to public service communications were mentored by experienced radio communicators and will be able to perform independently in future events because of that mentoring.
The Race Director was very appreciative of the radio communicators' time and talent given for this event. I would like to sincerely thank the following radio communicators for making this year's team a success: Jim, KC8YYS; Greg, KA8TOA; Rick, KD8WCK; Roger, KE8TEJ; Ron, W8AHC; Sandy, KD8JCY; Bob, N8KBX; Gene, W8NET; Brandon, KE8ARB; Ethan, KE8WVV; Andrew, KE8BWA; Nick, N8WLE; Mike, KB8TUY, and Mike, N8WCP. ARRL VEC Club License Tips All club license transactions (except for new vanity call sign requests) must be processed through an FCC-approved Club Station Call Sign Administrator (CSCSA) and by completing a 605-C club form. ARRL VEC is an FCC-approved CSCSA. Club license changes, including email and address changes; club license renewals; new club license grants, and club license trustee changes must be submitted through a CSCSA. Trustee changes require the club meeting minutes showing the change, signed by club officers, to accompany the 605-C application. CSCSAs are also authorized to process military recreation station license applications. Military recreation station licenses are not eligible to apply for vanity call signs. As a reminder, according to FCC club station license rule 97.5(b)(2): "The club must be composed of at least four persons and must have a name, a document of organization, management, and a primary purpose devoted to amateur service activities consistent with this part." In addition, the document of organization must be kept in the club's records and made available to the FCC upon request. Direct questions about and applications for club license renewals, changes, or new club license grants to the ARRL VEC. By ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM Submitting Info for this Newsletter ARRL Club News is for radio clubs to show how they are working in the community and the hobby to advance amateur radio. If your club completes a project, supports an event, does an EmComm activation, or activates a park, we want to hear about it. You can submit your newsletter article to us at clubs@arrl.org. We like to get them as text or Word files instead of PDFs. If you have pictures, please submit them with caption information, as well as the name and call sign of the photographer. We want to highlight the good work being done by the clubs and show others in the community. Think of this as a chance to show off your club and your programs. How to Plan and Apply for an ARRL Hamfest or Convention If your amateur radio club is planning to host a convention, hamfest, tailgate, or swapfest, please consider applying for it to be an ARRL-sanctioned event. To learn what it means to be an ARRL-sanctioned event, and to get some ideas on how to prepare for and conduct a hamfest or convention, visit www.arrl.org/arrl-sanctioned-events. To have your event sanctioned, complete the online application at www.arrl.org/hamfest-convention-application. The ARRL Hamfests and Conventions Calendar can be found online at www.arrl.org/hamfests. In addition, the Convention and Hamfest Calendar that runs in QST each month also presents information about upcoming events. Important Links ARRL Home: www.arrl.org Find an ARRL Affiliated Club: www.arrl.org/clubs Find your ARRL Section: www.arrl.org/sections Find a license class in your area: www.arrl.org/class Find a license exam in your area: www.arrl.org/exam Find a hamfest or convention: www.arrl.org/hamfests Email ARRL Clubs: clubs@arrl.org | ||||
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