CCARA Club News
April Club Meeting
The April club meeting will be held on April 2nd at 6:00PM at the county services building on 7th street in Coshocton. It is not too early to start thinking and planning for Field Day this year. We hope to see as many as can make it to the meeting.
We will again be having a door prize at the meeting.
Tusco Hamfest in April
March Club Meeting
The March club meeting was held on March 7th at 6:00PM at the county services building on 7th street in Coshocton. We discussed the setting up of Echolink at the station of Frank KA8BJA. The door prize of a 3 ft coax cable and some antenna insulators was won by AA8BN. The prize was donated by KA8BJA. A presentation about CoCoRaHS (The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network) was presented by KL7RF.
Statewide Tornado Drill
***March 20, 9:50 AM Ohio statewide tornado drill.
Coshocton County Skywarn tornado drill net. We had a very good net with 9 checkins and reports of hearing the sirens from various parts of the county. A report was made to the county EMA and Sheriff's dept.
Udate Your ARES Affiliation
*******We need your continued ARES participation in Coshocton county.
We need ARES membership to man those stations and also when needed ,home stations that can handle traffic. ARES
nets are each Monday at 8pm.. 145.23 pl71.9.
Digital practice, after club net 8pm, Sundays at 815pm - + ,147.045. Pl 71.9.
*****So send me a Reply (yes) on email or text, call that you will be there as a 2024 Coshocton county ARES member. COSHOCTON ARES
has been here for over 35 years. Any contact, capability, info, include that as well.******
73
Thanks for your time and service, see you on an ARES net.
AA8BN
Coshocton county EC
aa8bn@arrl.net
KE8XM Lifetime Club Membership Awarded
Bruce KE8XM was awarded a lifetime membership certificate by president Jamie Hoy KC8PUW and ARES SEC Steve AA8BN in late 2023. Over the years, Bruce has been such a key member and benefactor for ARES and for the Coshocton club. Congratulations Bruce.
N8VV 2023 Achievements
Dan has been operating overtime on these state QSO parties
Impressive Operating throughout 2023
Recognition for longstanding membership
Library Display - November
KC8PUW, AA8BN, KE8WIP set up a cool display at the Coshocton Public Library to increase public knowledge of ham radio and to hopefully encourage interest in becoming a ham radio operator.
There are some that think that a "live" display may be more exciting, but we would have to provide our "stand-in" model with a supply of lobster grilled cheese sandwiches which would be a little beyond our club budget. Thanks Will.
Practice Your CW Skills
Anyone wishing to practice their cw and learn a little bit about traffic handling, can check into the Ohio Slow Net, on weekdays at 2200Z on 3.3535.35MHz
(6PM local time). Check in to enjoy a no pressure traffic net experience. This is a training net. All are welcome and the net runs about 8wpm. I would
like to see you there.
Frank KA8BJA
Great Field Day 2023
This year the club was at the Brown Farm as our location for the field day and our annual picnic. Field Day was held on June 24th and 25th. Antenna set up was accomplished on Friday morning and on Saturday morning the radio equipment was connected and ready to operate. The weather turned out to be just about perfect for the event.
This year we used Steve's call, AA8BN, as the field day call as our club call of W8CCA was in the process of being renewed by the FCC.
We had a picnic lunch and went to the airways at 2PM. Three stations were used to accumulate points for contacts; phone, cw, and digital. N8MXX set up an additional station on VHF for the relay of radiogram messages which were sent out from our members to relatives, friends, and to our section emergency coordinator via packet radio.
Many contacts were made on all three modes. In addition, N8VV made contacts on CW from his home station, then donating his points for the benefit of the club.
Will was again the master chef for the grilling of our picnic supper and then for breakfast. Thanks to all for the great food.
Below are some pics of the beautiful set up, operators, and guests at this year's CCARA Field Day taken by Steve AA8BN.
Brown Farm Field Day Site
KC8YXY operating the voice station
AB8SV, NF8U, and KA8BJA manning the CW station
KE8WIP and KL7RF at the Digital Station
KC8PUW taking a break, catching up on QST
N8MXX at the VHF station
N8MXX describing Packet Radio to KC8LHF & KB8YUL.
Some of the visitors to the event.
KB8PXM and companion dog with display table in background
Nice portable station belonging to N8MXX
Solar panel for alternate energy source
and a G5RV antenna
Joining or renewing membership in the ARRL?
If you are joining or are renewing your membership in the ARRL please consider joining through our club. The club gets a small percentage of the renewal or joining fees. Please contact Wip (KE8WIP) to find out how to help yourself and the club.
Cyber Security
We might all want to make ourselves aware of potential disruption. During these stressing times we might want to be aware of possible problems online. The article refers to this link for information from the government's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. It is a good thing for hams to be aware of tech. vulnerabilities around us.
Icom Radio Repair
Check out the Links page if you are in need of an Icom repair. This repair facility is recommended by club member experience.
Solar/Terrestrial Weather and Propagation
Check out the website, Solarham.com for current propagation forcasts and solar activity as it relates to ham radio operations.
Meeting Minutes
Don't forget that the club meeting minutes are available on the Meetings page. Check them out before the next meeting to keep up with current information.
The 147.045MHz CCARA Club Repeater Antenna and Equipment
KL7RF photo KB8HEA photo
Ohio Single Sideband Net
The OSSBN is a great introduction to the ARRL's National Traffic System. It meets three times a day: 10:30AM, 4:15PM, and currently 6:00PM to handle traffic in, out, and througout the state of Ohio, and the rest of the country. Check them out, and listen in on 75 meters on 3.9725MHz. This is a very active net and represents some of the best of amateur radio operating, as well as continuing the fine tradiotion of providing emergency communications in existance since the inception of ham radio iteslf. This was the foundation of the formation of the Amateur Radio RELAY League. This is where the "Relay" came from in the name.
Check out the OSSBN website at: Ohio Single Sideband Net
Net on 440
The KB9JSC repeater will be linked to the 145.230MHz for the Monday ARES net at 8PM local, so you can check in to the net on either band. The frequency of the UHF repeater is 443.5375+MHz.
Right after the ARES net, the 440 link will be brought down, and there will be a new net run on the 440 repeater alone. The purpose of this net is for folks to set up and test their equipment on the 440 band and get used to operating there. If you have 440 capability, you are welcome to check in to the net. You don't have to be a member of any group to join in.