Wait what? Last month’s Ham and Eggs attendees received a USB key packed with tools and software for Winlink, JS8Call, and VARAChat. Perfect timing, there is training posted at ARES-SC.org that will take you through Winlink A-Z. More details are below:
NOTE: This is will a late evening event, it is posted to be a 7 pm PST time, making it 10 pm for the east coast.
March Ham and Eggs will feature Parks on the Air (POTA). So, what is POTA? POTA (Parks on The Air) is a part of Ham Radio that is growing in popularity. It starts when a Ham Radio operator travels to a National, State, or County Park listed on the POTA website. The Ham Radio Operator sets up their equipment and tries to make radio contact with other Ham Radio operators. There are many ways to communicate but the most common modes are SSB (talking on the radio), digital modes, i.e. FT8, and CW (like morse code). During this presentation we will cover:
Getting Started with POTA
Getting Started for Hunters
Getting Started for Activators
and Awards
At the conclusion of Ham and Eggs join Micheal KF4W, Tedd K4TLC, and Jim W4JLP at Sesquicentennial State Park for a demonstration of POTA activation using SSB and Digital modes. Did I mention, lunch? We will be grilling hamburgers with baked beans and mac ‘n cheese.
IMPORTANT NOTE: When you arrive at the gate, inform the gate personnel you are visiting the POTA event. Please make sure you give them your name and call sign if you have one. The POTA event is at Picnic table 3 which is near the boat house.
Open picnic table 3 with plenty of parking for those who want to set up their go-box/mobile for POTA.
Line-of-Sight provides radio path information for mapping long-distance SCADA radio communications by using antenna height and topography. Though this tool is designed for cellular service, it has great potential in the ham community. For example, I live in Lugoff and have sporadic issues reaching the club repeater 147.330. I feel certain that my antenna is the problem, either the coax feeding the antenna or its placement.
After checking the coax and antenna, I found using the Rf Line-of-Sight tool there is possibly an elevation increase in my line-of-sight to the repeater of 5 meters; which could cause issues with reaching the repeater.
Using this finding, my next step is to increase my antenna height to obtain a clear line of sight.
We regretfully announce the unexpected passing of Bill Covey W1GTT, who passed away Tuesday, January 3rd. There will be a silent key ceremony to commemorate the extraordinary life of Bill W1GTT on January 8th Sunday Night Net. We’d love to hear about any memories you shared with him, feel free to send any photos or videos of Bill W1GTT using the club contact form. Currently, there is not much more, please keep Jean and her family in your thoughts and prayers.
Permanent link to this article: https://w4cae.com/bill-covey-w1gtt/
A WIS First Alert Weather Day has been issued for Wednesday due to the risk of heavy rain, gusty winds, and thunderstorms. Make time to take precautions and if anyone needs help preparing for the weather, let me know.
Jim
Permanent link to this article: https://w4cae.com/storms-are-possible-for-wednesday-jan-4th/
There will be a Planning and Review Zoom call for the Harbinson 50 Run Tuesday, January 3rd from 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM. All are welcome to join and learn how you can help and what is planned for the event. We are still looking for a couple more members/teams to man a couple of strategic locations. If you are interested please join the call.