Month: August 2021

August Activity

Amateur Radio, Weekly Report

August Activity

We welcome the following new members to the group. N4EWE, KY4SLR, NC1PA, KO4SFQ, KO4SFQ, and Jetter Lewis to the group so far this month.  They completed the application on our website at https://fivecountyhre.org/application/. If you receive our group io emails and have not completed your application I invite you to do so.  We have 240 group io subscribers and 103 members on our application.

JARS Meeting

The meeting of the Johnston Amateur Radio Society will be Thursday.  We meet at the Cleveland Draft House 461 Shotwell Road, Clayton, NC 27520.  It is not uncommon to belong to multiple clubs. The meeting starts at 7 if you want dinner be there at 6 PM.

If you are new to the group please introduce yourself

Please post an introduction to yourself if you haven’t don’t so.   Just post a new message to the group.io account. Also please add your call sign to your profile (If you are licensed) I usually put it in the name block.

Add to your QRZ page

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

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.

Third Thursday Exam Session

Due to a scheduling need at Banks Road Thursday we will reschedule the exam there to Wednesday if we get any applicants so far we have no applicants.

CQ POTA, CQ POTA, CQ POTA!

Amateur Radio, Camping, Member Submitted, POTA

By:Ken Castille (KN4GUS)


Many of you may have heard the call when scanning the bands but have you ever thought about venturing outdoors to activate a park?  If you enjoy the aspects of amateur radio on Field Day, you’ll equally enjoy doing a POTA (Parks on the Air) activation.  I exclusively do portable operations with my radio and while I’ve setup outside near my home for field days, special events or regular ops, I wanted to explore the option of taking my gear to a park to participate in POTA.

 

The idea of amateur radio in parks was brought to the forefront in 2016 when the ARRL wanted to help the National Park Service celebrate their 100thanniversary and encouraged amateur radio operators to promote the parks and show amateur radio to the public.  The event was widely accepted and shortly after, a non-profit Parks on the Air organization was formed to continue encouraging Hams to venture out into the Parks.  Awards are given out to Hams for their activations and there is a Facebook group where members can publish their activation pictures and stories.  While the event started with National Parks, the organization now recognizes State Parks to include recreation areas, wildlife management areas and state game lands among others but does not include any City or County parks.  The excitement of the initial U.S. event has spread to Canada, Europe and Japan where POTA activity is gaining traction.

 

As I mentioned, I personally do all portable ops.  I recently went out to William B. Umstead State Park on Wednesday, July 17th and did a POTA activation with a couple of non-hams and had a really fun time.  After checking in with the Park Office, I took out my Yaesu FT-891, LDG-100 tuner, Bioenno 12V-30ah LiFePo battery and my Buddipole antenna and set up in a small clearing near one of the parking lots. I had posted on the POTA website that I would be operating from 1430-1730 hrs. UTC to help spot me for any “hunters” searching for a POTA call.  I didn’t have to wait long.  The frequency got hot quick.  In the the first 90 minutes, we got 59 contacts!  I actually had to deal with mini-pileups to sort through all the stations trying to call in.  We ended our time with 108 contacts total and had a blast.  I had so much fun, I couldn’t wait to head out to another local park.

Yaesu FT-891, LDG-100 tuner, Bioenno 12V-30ah LiFePo

On Saturday, July 24th, after a breakfast meetup with some Ham friends, I took my gear and headed to Clayton, NC and the Clemmons Educational State Forest for a solo activation.  I wasn’t disappointed. I checked in with the Park Office again and started talking to Kevin, one of the Forest Rangers.  I gave him an information sheet on POTA and invited him to come out to see how the operation is done. During his lunch break, he came out and sat with me while I went on and on about POTA, ham radio, propagation, solar weather, Q-codes, etc and he was very interested, even expressing he might want to get licensed.  I ended the day with 54 contacts with stations as far away as CA, AZ and NM – all with 100 watts in a forest!  

As you can tell, POTA is a fun and exciting part of our hobby and I am already planning another POTA activation at some of the State parks around Cary and Apex.  I encourage you to  do “POTA – Where every day is Field Day!”

Same no charge service two new locations

Amateur Radio, Testing, Weekly Report

By: Mark Gibson (N4MQU)

Next Saturday August 7 is the date when the new team of Central Carolina VE team will have their first exam at the American Legion in Fuquay the exam starts at 10:00 AM. Wendell will have the HF antenna workshop at 1:00 PM exam will be at 2:30 PM details for the Wendell event https://fivecountyhre.org/high-frequency-antennas-for-beginners/.

Registration for both exams 

https://fivecountyhre.org/study-tips-and-registration/

Five County expands to Virginia!

Not really but it sounds good.  My Virginia Fone Net friend Mark Horner (KX4ZG) started his own Laurel VE Team Westmoreland Amateur Radio Club VE Team and asked me to come up to train the new members.  I was blown away by Mark and his wife’s hospitality.  He had his first exam session and one of the applicants came away with Extra.  Be sure to send your friends in the area to that club.

KX4ZG and N4MQU

Berryville Hamfest 

The Berryville Hamfest came the next day after the exam session.  I didn’t buy anything but met a great many friends and even shook hands with Marv Hoffman (WA4NC). He is currently the NC section manager but is running for the Roanoke Division Director and would appreciate ARRL members  support.  We need more volunteers and I applaud anyone that steps up and run for office.
I took some video I hope to post on the website.

Sunday night at 7:00 PM

14 Repeaters are on the Raleigh Carolina 440 UHF Link System full time covering over 45,000 square milesof mobile coverage. In addition to the RF Linked repeaters *Expandable coverage using IRLP, AllStar and EchoLink are available. 

Thanks for reading.  Remember I know some post you are not interested in.  There are various options like muting the topic.  You don’t have to leave the group.
Mark Gibson