CCARA Club News
October Club Meeting
The club meeting in October will be held on the 2nd Tuesday of the month, October 10th, due to the Coshocton County Fair being held during the first week of October. We will meet at at the County Services Building on 7th Street in Coshocton at 6PM.
September Club Meeting
The September club meeting was held at 6PM on Tuesday, September 5th at the County Services Building on 7th Street in Coshocton. There was a business meeting followed by an interesting program on protecting your radio equipment from EMP's. The door prize was won by KA8BJA.
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
N8VV Awards
Dan N8VV has received a couple of awards during the last year. Congrats, Dan, on some cool accomplishments.
Thanks also to Dan for contributing his 627 CW contacts to the club's Field Day Score.
New Time for Club Net
The club has decided to try out a new time slot for our Sunday evening Net on the club repeater 147.045MHz. We will have the net at 8PM instead of the 9PM slot. The digital net will follow directly after the club net on the same frequency. This is a trial to see how the club members like the earlier net time. Let us know your oppinion.New Texting While Driving Law and Ham Radio Exclusion
Starting in the beginning of April there is a new law in Ohio intended to keep drivers from texting while driving. This would include all types of electronics including radios. There is an exclusion for those who have an amateur radio license. It would be a good idea to keep a copy of the new law in your car (along with your ham license). We have the following link for you to read and/or copy and print of the new law with the exclusion highlighted in yellow. Click HERE.
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.
Club History File Found
Recently Will KC8PUW found a digital file which includes a detailed history of the CCARA. Check it out on our History page. Thanks Will for finding this info.
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.
Video on the ICS-213 and Radiograms
Matt Curtin, KD8TTE, has prepared a very good youtube video on how to "encapsulate" a FEMA ICS-313 form into an NTS Radiogram form. It is a great step forward to be able to take a commonly used form for ARES served agencies and be able to send this form great distances if needed through the national traffic system in a format that is common to the NTS. Click on this link to view the presentation.
New RF Exposure Requirements
New FCC RF exposure requirements went into effect May 3, 2021. Have you performed your station evaluation?
There is a very good article in the Ohio Section Journal published on January 22. This is a new law and all amateur stations are required to perform calculations for their stations and have them available for inspection if required by the FCC.
ARES COCO Net
The Monday evening ARES net is meeting at 8PM. Please join us at 8:00PM. Thanks.
Club Repeater On Medium Power
We are operating at the 25 watt power level with no external amp connected. The results seem to be good.
Ham's Social Distancing
Ft8 & JS8CALL Article
Thanks to Heinz KB8VIP for writing and submitting a short article describing two neat operating modes for making use of poor propagation. You can find this article on the Digital modes page.
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 9PM 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.