CCARA Club News
May Club Meeting
The May meeting will be held at the county services building (lower floor) on May 6th at 6PM. We will begin to plan for the coming Field Day which will be held on the weekend of June 28-29 this year. Our club picnic will be held on June 28th as well. We look forward to seeing as many members that can attend.
First Ham Comms from SpaceX Dragon Capsule
Rabea Rogge, LB9NJ/KD3AID, a private astronaut on the crew of the Fram2 mission, has conducted the first amateur radio contacts from aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule. The Fram2 flight sets many firsts, including being the first crewed mission to do polar orbits of the Earth, and Rogge became the first German woman in space.
Check out more info at the website fram2ham.com. Also see a very well designed website at www.f2.com
Amateur Radio License Map
Here is an interesting site that I discovered while reading the Radio Waves, the Great Lakes Division Mid-Month Report. It is a website that will show amateur radio license holders on a map. Put your callsing in, and it will start by viewing your location. From there you can zoom or drag the map for other areas. The site is: Here. Have fun.
April Club Meeting
The April club meeting was held at the County Services building on 7th St on March 4th. We had a good meeting at which time KE8WIP suggested that we have our first VE session after the meeting on June 3rd (around 7:30PM) with our new VE team. The club was in agreement. We are not going to participate in the NVIS day activities as the weather is usually very cold each year. We are looking forward to Field Day this year at the Brown Farm (as usual). KL7RF presented a program on the etymology of Q-codes and the term "73". The door prize of 6 AA batteries was won by non other than KC8YXY.
IARU Certificate for N8VV
N8VV has been busy on HF Contesting as usual. Nice achievement, Dan
Winlink Certificate
KL7RF was surprised to learn he had been checking into this Winlink net for over 100 weekly sessions.
Repeater Challenge
Frank KA8BJA sent in a challenge from a member of the Lake County Amateur Radio Club N8BC.
"An interesting challenge that I would like to place for members of our amateur radio community. Please send out your call on one of the local repeaters each day. Even if it's just to say hello to another ham, it will do something that is very important for our Hobby... it will utilize our repeaters and the frequencies we have been allocated. We have three repeaters of Our Own that should be exercised on a regular basis. I for one will increase my presence on the 147.210 and 224.500 repeaters. Even if no one responds, we as a community should be using it. I think we should be doing our best to demonstrate that the amateur radio frequencies are in use and are very relevant to our Hobby. And I will do what I can to protect these frequencies from reallocation as a result of non use. In other words, use the frequencies or lose the frequencies. It is always been up to us. My wife and I often walk a local park on a daily basis. When we do, I take along my handheld and place out my call while we walk. I make it a part of my exercise routine so I will always remember to send out my call and encourage use of the repeater. It's an easy thing to do, and it provides me a good test for my radio and location."
Thanks to Joe Koskovics for letting us post this article and to Frank KA8BJA for bringing it to our attention. Are you willing to take on the challenge????
AB8SV New QRP Kit
Chad gave a program to the club on his new adventure with a QRP Kit. Chad has written up a short summary of his efforts and the great results here below:
(NOTE: Check out Chad's 2019 video on his first QRP Kit project available HERE.)
I recently completed a kit build of a QMX from qrp-labs.com QMX
The QMX is a high performance, 5 band, 5 watt, cw and digi-modes, embedded SDR with 24-bit USB sound card and CAT control, with synthesized VFO and TCXO transceiver.
This rig is tiny (about the size of a deck of playing cards) but is packed with modern high performance features including a VFO with A/B/Split operation, RIT, CW keyer, CW decoder, message memories, frequency memories, SWR bridge, audio ACG, IQ output for SDR software, and more.
The QMX comes in 3 choices of bands - low: 80,60,40,30,20 mid: 60,40,30,20,17,15 or high: 20,17,15,12,11,10. A QMX+ is also offered that is a 160-6m version in a larger physical footprint (which also makes it easier to build). I chose the low band QMX because I wanted the smaller size for portable operations and coverage of 40 and 20m bands with the option of experimenting with 80m. (After playing with this rig I've also come to appreciate the 30m band!)
Assembly of the radio took about a week, working on and off from a few minutes to a few hours at a time. The most difficulty came from eye strain while identifying parts and soldering tiny components while utilizing a jeweler's loupe due to the small size. The instructions are very detailed with each step well documented and plenty of pictures for reference.
Since completing this build about a month ago I've logged 43 contacts with my QMX, including a "clean sweep" of the 13 Colonies special event (http://www.13colonies.us/) and even worked the bonus station of TM13COL in france on 20m using a fan dipole mounted in the attic of my house!
I enjoy being a POTA (Parks on the Air) hunter and plan to take this rig portable and become a POTA activator! I tested my setup on the front porch recently with my QMX using an EFHW antenna that I previously built from a kit, and a collapsible fishing pole I use for a mast. For power I use a Talentcell rechargeable 12V 3000mAh lithium ion battery that I purchased from amazon for less than $25 here . Overall this setup is very portable and comparatively inexpensive.
It's very rewarding to operate gear you build yourself and a great way to save money too! 72, (the QRP version of 73 hi hi) AB8SV
FIELD DAY, FIELD DAY, FIELD DAY
We had a great field day this year at the Brown Farm again. Much thanks to the field day committee for their efforts in coordinating and setting up the event; KC8PUW, NF8U, and KC8YXY. As always, Will KC8PUW was expert at the grill and made sure we all ate well. AB8SV was not only our safety officer, but was our club photographer. Chad offers these great pics below to remember the fun.
Friday morning set up (early to beat the heat)
A view of the three operating positions
KC8ZWR & KC8YXY operating phone
KL7RF and KC8PUW operating psk-31 digital station
KE8WIP working the digital station
the digital station was totally solar powered this year
NF8U and visiter at the CW station
KA8BJA and N8MXX sending out field day radiograms
Good Eats
KC8PUW at the grill
A quiet evening
CW Certificate for AB8SV
Congrats to Chad for his score in the World Wide WPX Contest on QRP!!
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
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.