Month: July 2021

High Frequency Antennas for Beginners

Amateur Radio, Antennas, Test, Workshop

A rod to support one end of an HF antenna

The public is invited to attend an introduction to high frequency antennas at Wendell United Methodist Church. The speaker will be Curt Phillips The workshop takes place on Saturday August 7 at 1:00 PM.

This one-hour workshop will be focused on HF (shortwave) antennas for those new to HF and those with space or other restrictions.  Handouts with web links for additional information will be distributed.  

Curt Phillips (W4CP) has been a licensed amateur radio operator since he was 13 years old, over 50 years now.  He has written on radio, electronics and engineering topics for numerous national publications, and has taught radio, electronics and energy engineering topics at NC State and Virginia Tech among other universities, as well for several local community colleges.  He is a Life member of the American Radio Relay League. 

Amateur radio exams will be given following the workshop at 2:30. All applicants must have a FRN issued by the FCC or a call sign and a valid email address.  There is no charge for the exam. Walk-ins will be accepted but registration is preferred.  Please register at https://fivecountyhre.org/study-tips-and-registration/

For background

FCHRE was recently recognized by the largest amateur radio fraternity in the United States the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) North Carolina section manager for their superior efforts involved in organizing Volunteer Examination Sessions during the COVID 19 Pandemic.

From the Federal Communication Commissions website

The amateur and amateur-satellite services are for qualified persons of any age who are interested in radio technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest. These services present an opportunity for self-training, intercommunication, and technical investigations. Twenty-nine small frequency bands throughout the spectrum are allocated to this service internationally. Some 1,300 digital, analog, pulse, and spread-spectrum emission types may be transmitted.  
HF antennas provide more choices for communication at all times before during and after communication outages. Amateur radio operators are licensed by the FCC to operate on amateur radio frequencies.

Johnston County Tornado Photo By Paul Dunn

 

August Dinner Gathering

Amateur Radio, Dinner

By: Mark Gibson (N4MQU)

We had great food at Mclean’s for our dinner.  I appreciate all those that came.  We had a great informal discussion on various topics.  Looks like we have a lot of talent in the group.  It looks like our August gathering will again be on the fourth Thursday for August but we did talk about maybe changing. 

August 2021 Dinner

 

Amateur Radio Workshop HF Antennas

Testing, Workshop

By: Mark Gibson (N4MQU)

Wendell, NC Five County Ham Radio Enthusiasts (FCHRE) is pleased to announce it’s first amateur radio workshop topic and speaker.  The topic will be HF antennas by Curt Phillips (W4CP). The workshop will take place on August 7, 2021 at 1:00 PM. The location will be Wendell United Methodist Church, 129 N Main St, Wendell, NC 27591

Curt Phillips has been a licensed amateur radio operator since he was 13 years old, over 50 years now.  He has written on radio, electronics and engineering topics for numerous national publications, and has taught radio, electronics and energy engineering topics at NC State and Virginia Tech among other universities, as well for several local community colleges.  He is a Life member of the American Radio Relay League.

Amateur radio exams will be given following the workshop at 2:30. All applicants must have a FRN issued by the FCC or a call sign and a valid email address.  There is no charge for the exam. Walk-ins will be accepted but registration is preferred.  Please register at https://fivecountyhre.org/study-tips-and-registration/

For background

FCHRE was recently recognized by the largest amateur radio fraternity in the United States the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) North Carolina section manager for their superior efforts involved in organizing Volunteer Examination Sessions during the COVID 19 Pandemic.

From the Federal Communication Commissions website

The amateur and amateur-satellite services are for qualified persons of any age who are interested in radio technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest. These services present an opportunity for self-training, intercommunication, and technical investigations. Twenty-nine small frequency bands throughout the spectrum are allocated to this service internationally. Some 1,300 digital, analog, pulse, and spread-spectrum emission types may be transmitted.

Our regular dinner gatherings are held on the fourth Thursday of every month at Mclean’s in Zebolon starting at 6:00 PM.  

Image Description:  A rod supporting one end of a HF antenna.  The antenna was used at a special event station celebrating 80+ years of the Virginia Fone Net. 

 

Poll results

Amateur Radio, Testing, Weekly Report

 

Our Monthly Gathering 

Please Join us Thursday July 22 at 6:00 PM at our monthly gathering at Mclean’s  in Zebolon. 418 W Gannon Ave, Zebulon, NC 27597

Dinner starts at 6:00 PM tell them at the front the radio club.  

Repeater in that area is 444.875+  100.0 PL. 

Weekly Net

Please join us tonight at 7:00PM  for the Five County Ham Radio Enthusiasts net on the Carolina 440 network. You will be able to find your closest repeater at https://www.carolina440.net/440uhf-repeaters/repeaters-on-link.html.  If you are not close to the repeater or  are unlicensed and you would like to  listen on line try  https://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/34503 Tony Hall (WW4TCH) is our regular net control station. 

Thanks to the Carolina 440 net for the use of the repeater. If you would like to help see https://www.carolina440.net/membership/support.html.  Tell them FCHRE sent you.

Add to your QRZ page

If you are a US Amateur you have a QRZ page.  Go to their FAQ section to get help.  

Poll Results 

Amateur Radio Workshop topics top votes.  Looks like more of our voters are interested in HF Antennas with 17 votes followed by a tie Basic home amateur radio station and Portable HF antenna considerations.  Both of those had 9 votes.  If you have expertise in this area please send me a message we will get you scheduled.  We can start at 1:00 PM for the workshop and the exam would start at 2:30 so that will give you 90 minutes.  Our workshop will be on August 7at Wendell United Methodist Church.  

Our next exam

Don’t forget we will have two locations for our first Saturday exam.these exams will be August 7 in Fuquay Varina and Wendell.  Details and registration at https://fivecountyhre.org/study-tips-and-registration/

We have exams available at Banks Road on the Third Thursday and by appointment.

Weekly Net

Please join us tonight at 7:00PM  for the Five County Ham Radio Enthusiasts net on the Carolina 440 network. You will be able to find your closest repeater at https://www.carolina440.net/440uhf-repeaters/repeaters-on-link.html.  If you are not close to the repeater or  are unlicensed and you would like to  listen on line try  https://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/34503 Tony Hall (WW4TCH) is our regular net control station. 

Thanks to the Carolina 440 net for the use of the repeater. If you would like to help see https://www.carolina440.net/membership/support.html.  Tell them FCHRE sent you.

Mark Gibson 

Being A CERT Volunteer

Amateur Radio, CERT

By Mark Gibson (N4MQU)

Third quarter moon at 3:30 AM

As an amateur radio operator we are able to serve our community using our amateur radio communication skills during emergencies or reporting changing weather conditions to Skywarn.  As a person with basic Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training you will get CERT Volunteer recruitment notices. I saw one the other day that sparked an interest in volunteering for it.  It said Could you be a decoy for a TSA K-9?  I thought that was interesting so I signed up for the first date available. The day came so I woke up at 3:30 AM and followed the directions to the airport they gave me and called my handler when I arrived at 4:30 in the morning.  I am not at liberty to tell you what I did exactly but I pretended to be a passenger going through the screening process.  They hid something on my person and had me go through the line.  I think I went through the line four times and the dogs discovered me each time.  I was handcuffed and pulled out of the line.  (Not really the handcuffs I made up) I was pulled out of the line.  You do have to wake up early for this activity but I had a lot of fun. I encourage you to get your basic CERT training and look for other than amateur radio opportunities you may wish to volunteer for.  I made sure the handler knew I was a member of JARS CERT.

One of the K9 dogs

Launch on need vehicle

Amateur Radio, BRTC, Testing

As the shuttle program came to a close NASA decided to prepare a shuttle in case STS-134 had any issues they would be able to launch another shuttle to rescue the crew.     See Launch on needThe rescue shuttle launch was not needed and NASA launched the last shuttle as STS-135 and the Russians provided the launch on need support.

The Banks Road campus was offered to the FCVET for a test facility when the various fire stations closed their doors to the community due to the pandemic. Our first exam at Banks Road was March 7, 2020.

Thanks to the owners of Supreme. T-shirts & Apparel Paulette (K4PKD) and Stan (W2CK) Disbrow that allows us to use their office in the capital city of Raleigh for amateur radio testing. While some the other established clubs in the area were cutting out the in-person exams in favor of the on-line exams or not doing it all the informal Five County Ham Radio Enthusiasts (FCHRE) clubs VE team FCVET decided to continue to offer regular scheduled amateur radio exams. Here is an article  when we celebrated our first anniversary.

At our last scheduled Saturday testing session I congratulate the following upgrades to Extra.

KK4MZS of Fayetteville

KO4TWA of Wake Forest

I congratulate the following upgrades to General

KO4RNG of Garner

KM4BMQ of Cary

And the following  new amateur radio amateur radio Operators

New Generals

KO4RUA of Holy Springs

KO4RUG of  Cary

New Technicians

KO4RUB of Apex

KO4RUC of Hillsborough

KO4RUD of Raleigh

KO4RUE of Raleigh

KO4RUF of Clayton

KO4RUH of Raleigh

Please sure to welcome them as they get on the air.  

We will not have exams in July on the third Thursday but will continue testing at Banks Road on the Third Thursday of the month starting in August.  We will also continue testing by appointments at anytime agreeable to any FCVET deputy directors and two other VE team members. If you need this accommodation just check other on the   Registration page and make a comment about what day of week and the time frame.

FCHRE New Wendell Venue

Amateur Radio, Testing

Wendell United Methodist Church

By: Mark Gibson(N4MQU)

Lately I felt it necessary to explain FIve County Ham Radio Enthusiasts didn’t start off as a amateur radio volunteer examiner team.  A few of us wanted to have a place to go to locally where we would not have to drive to Smithfield and Raleigh but still get together to discuss amateur radio.  We started testing in 2018 in Wendell and found the fire stations in nearby towns very agreeable to allowing us to use their facility to test in.

When the pandemic closed the facilities to us one of our members offered to allow us to use their private office on Banks Road in Raleigh.  Due to the pandemic and parking limitations we had to start scheduling exams instead of having one session in a day we had several. We adapted and had over 130 Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination (CSCE) issued from Banks Road.  

So that brings us to today.  I started checking around for venues specifically in Wendell and found Wendell United Methodist Church agreeable to allowing us to use the facility.

The first Saturday in July wasn’t scheduled to be our exam date due to Independence Day but since the facility was available and we found VE’s willing to serve we decided to hold one.  This was mainly for us to check out the facility to see what was available to us.  The volunteers examiners for the inaugural testing session was KK4QEF, N4EVT, K4EUP, AJ4NX, AI8U, N4MQU, W2CK.  All but two were from Wendell! We had four visitors come to the meet and greet event.  One of them Gary Ybarra (KO4LRJ) decided to volunteer to become a VE. Two of the guest decided to take the extra class examination.  One of the guest suggested with this facility we could handle a amateur radio workshop event and offered to take the lead in this effort.  

FCVET was recently recognized by the largest amateur radio fraternity in the United States the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) North Carolina section manager for their superior efforts involved in organizing Volunteer Examination Sessions during the COVID 19 Pandemic. 

There are over 3,000 amateur radio operators in Wake County.

The team was the first team in North Carolina to offer no charge amateur radio exams.

Wendell amateur radio workshops will be held on the first Saturday of every month at 1:00 PM.  The no charge amateur radio exams will be held at 2:30.  Study tips and registration.

Thanks to the Wendell United Methodist Church for allowing us to use this facility.  

I had to put my portable office back in service

AI8U, W2CK, N4MQU, KK4QEF, AJ4NX, N4EVT

Fully equipped kitchen

Independence Day Net

Amateur Radio, Testing, Weekly Report

Happy Independence Day!

Amateur radio is one hobby that happens every day including on holidays! One year I was privileged to call the Virginia Fone Net on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day.
I will be your substitute net control tonight. Hope to hear you. A couple of weeks ago I received a message on Facebook about someone hearing our net from the Sandhills area. I gave them some information on getting a license and encouraged them to get licensed.
Please join us tonight at 7:00PM for the Five County Ham Radio Enthusiasts net on the Carolina 440 network. You will be able to find your closest repeater at https://www.carolina440.net/440uhf-repeaters/repeaters-on-link.html. If you are not close to the repeater or are unlicensed and you would like to listen on line try https://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/34503 Tony Hall (WW4TCH) is our regular net control station.

Thanks to the Carolina 440 net for the use of the repeater. If you would like to help see https://www.carolina440.net/membership/support.html. Tell them FCHRE sent you.

Our next no charge amateur radio exam is next Saturday July 10. https://fivecountyhre.org/study-tips-and-registration/ This is our last scheduled exam at Banks Road. We will hold exams there by appointments and maybe continue our once a month weekday exams where the applicants get their call sign in a couple of hours. The VE team is discussing our options.