The Reflector August 2011

 

 

Hi Folks,

Well, the “TARC Summer Vacation” is at an end and it’s time to jump back in the saddle again. Hope everyone got a good rest because the fall looks to be especially busy.

 

We left off with the 2011 Field Day exercise, and a “barn-burner” it was. Despite less than optimum band conditions, we beat last year’s score by a decent margin. Will it be enough to put us over the top?…time will tell.

 

We certainly weren’t missing any beats on food. I noticed William had a LOT of company out at the Cook Tent, and I know we all enjoyed what came out of the smoker. If there were leftovers on Sunday, I couldn’t find them, and yes, I did a pretty thorough search.

 

 

I don’t recall seeing any chicken left either, so our hat is off to both William and Buddy for keeping us full and happy for the entire weekend. That “THANK YOU” also goes to the cooks who did their kitchen magic at home. The supper Saturday night will be talked about for some time to come.

 

 

Also, thanks to Thomas and Theresa, Terry, Gina, Lowell, and Mo for ably captaining the various stations we had on the air. 

 

What I thought particularly great was the number of kids running around playing, but also taking the time to operate for a while. Several of them did their first “stay up all night” session (and several had to be carried out to the car afterwards).

 

 

We had a number of visitors as well, and as we had pretty fair media coverage, that may be why. Though the package on WCTV didn’t run until Sunday night, we got front-page coverage in the Times Enterprise, and I think that was a first. Larry Williams, who was visiting Thomasville from California, saw it in the paper, and showed up around midnight.

 

He dropped us a nice note, which appears a bit later here in the Reflector.

 

So to everyone who was involved with Field Day 2011…THANK YOU…from all of us!

 

The next big news item of the summer was the return of the 147.195 Repeater to its perch in Metcalf. The entire system resides on the 1000’ platform of the WCTV tower, so the coax run to the twin antennas is only about 30’.

 

Coverage is impressive as you might imagine. Mobile stations are checking in from long distances. Pat, K4NRD, checked into the Weather Night Net from his back porch in Madison on his HT. White noise?…a little…readable?…absolutely.

 

The nets will move back to this repeater starting on August 4th. It’s been along time coming, and we thank Nirmal, KE4URL, for the use of his machine in Reno in the interim. I’m curious to see how many more stations we’ll pick up due to the extended coverage. Thursday night will tell the tale.

 

I’ve been working on the calendar for the rest of the year, and we have a busy fall and winter. I did my best to space things out where I could, but October in particular, is still imposing.

 

Looking toward the next big cookout, the November Fish Fry, I had Bill sign us up to hold this event at Morningside Methodist Church this year. I think we all realized that the situation at Pavo is really past being out of hand, and the continued electrical problems are simply dangerous. Thanks to Bill and Dawn for helping us out here.

 

Our meeting for August is set for the Plaza, and I’ve been in contact with Michael, the owner, about the problems at the last meeting. He had already heard about the massive list of problems and before I could detail them, he apologized and said it wouldn’t happen again.

 

So, if you want to eat, plan on arriving at 6pm, and we’ll hold the meeting at 7:30pm, as it’s supposed to be. I look forward to seeing YOU and your family there!

 

Mike

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The following members of the TARC Radio Family have August Birthdays:

 

Terry Webb – August 1

Walter Childs – August 2

Stewart Chandler – August 7

Zach Chandler – August 7

Ellis Troutman – August 8

Virgil Castleberry – August 28

Kyle Swicord – August 30

Mac McCleery – August 30

 

Don’t see your birthday? Let us know at w4ucj@arrl.net

 

 

 

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NØ Tenna Wizard

 

GROUND PLANE ANTENNAs

 

This is a very easy antenna to build and its performance is really good for the value of the materials needed to construct it.

 

The antenna consists of 2 parts - the vertical radiator and the radials.  Cut each one from the formula 234/ (freq in MHz).  There are 2 radials and just one vertical radiator.

 

 

Use plastic to insulate the vertical radiator from the radials.  The center of your coax attaches to the vertical radiator and the shield of the coax attaches to both radials.  Mount it as high as you can and be sure to waterproof the connection point where the coax attaches.

 

You can use just about any type of wire for the vertical radiator and radials.  I like to use twisted electric fence wire, but ordinary house wire works fine as well.

 

For example, I use a ground plane as my 2-meter antenna for repeater access.

 

Here are some lengths for various frequencies:

80m  (3.55 MHz) 65.9ft, 40m (7.15 MHz) 32.7 ft, 20m (14.15 MHz) 16.5 ft, 17m (18.1 MHz) 12.9ft, 15m (21.3 MHz) 10.99 ft, and 10m (28.4 MHz) 8.24 ft.

 

 

73   & CU On The Air!

Terry, N0TW

 

 

 

August Classes

 

TARC holds licensing classes twice a year, and we’re offering Technician, General and Extra Classes on August 20th, and 27th, which are two consecutive Saturdays.

 

If you’re interested in the Extra class, which is a new offering, it may stretch to more than two days, as the material is more difficult. Terry has agreed to teach this class, so check with him at n0twterry@centurylink.net

 

 

The classes will be held at Archbold, and will run from 9am until 4pm both days. Test Sessions follow both classes.

 

I’ll also remind prospective General upgrades that the question pool changed as of July 1st, so any materials you have for study are now out of date.

 

Anyone needing a Q&A Manual needs to let me know by Monday, August 8th, so I can have them by class time.

 

If you’re interested in taking any of these classes, you need to let me know at ke4fgf@arrl.net as soon as possible. I look forward to hearing from YOU!

 

Mike

 

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The following email was forwarded from Philip, KA4KOE, and it’s from Larry Williams, a prospective ham from California who visited us at Field Day around midnight, Saturday night.  It’s a good reminder about one of the main purposes of Field Day…getting those “wannabe” hams involved in the operations…read on (and thanks to Philip for sharing)…

Hey Philip,

First of all, my apologies for taking so long to get back to you. I’m not a computer guy, so it takes some work for me to sit down at the library and do emails.

Made it back home ok. My grandkids really wore us out. But it was fun.

Thanks a million for taking me alongside and giving me the lay of the land with the Field Day and Ham Radio in general. I had a wonderful time and got to make my first radio contact!!!

You guys really made my day. Hopefully, I’ll be in town for the next Field Day.

God Bless!!! Larry.

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TARC Meeting Minutes for 6/04/11

 

Welcome and Announcements:  

Mike welcomed everyone to the meeting and made the following announcements. The June Test Session will be moved to Field Day and the Midmonth Breakfast will be cancelled. The Rag-chew Breakfast session on Friday will continue through the summer. TARC will take its usual “July Club Vacation” with no meeting, no nets, and no test session.

 

Mike also recognized Philip Neidlinger, KA4KOE, and his daughter Sarah, who are visiting from Richmond Hill.

 

Minutes and Treasurer’s Reports – accepted as presented

 

Old Business:

Mike thanked the following stations that came to Pavo to help with Peacock Day – KF4HSM, KF4GBS, WD4CJI, KJ4GON, KJ4UKR, KJ4KUK, KW4EF, KJ4KUJ, N4ETA, KC4LYC, and KE4FGF. He also thanked Wynona for making everyone breakfast. The event was rained out before it began.

 

Mike led a discussion over having Classes following Test sessions, and it was decided that we want to continue doing them. The APRS class in May was well received and having the EOC as a venue works well for this.

 

New Business:

The Field Day Station Captains are W4TBJ & KJ4NBG – Voice 1, W4GNA – Voice 2, N0TW – CW, NY4D – Digital, KI4PZS – GOTA, and KJ4LOO – VHF. The Captains are responsible for both radios and antennas. KE4FGF will have PITS 1&2 available and they will have the club 15 and 20 meter Moxons. PEACH will have 6-meter Yagi and TS-480 for VHF

 

Test Session at FD will be held at 11am and the 100-point class will be on the Logging program we use. Antenna set up will be on Friday and the Ragchew Breakfast will start at 7am to allow us an early start before it gets hot.

 

Wynona asked for everyone attending to get her the number of people who would be with him or her, as well as what side dish they are bringing.  Dana also encouraged anyone who would to bring in recipes for the Club Cookbook she and Theresa are working on. They’ll enter the recipes on the computer and give you back the recipe before you leave.

 

 

 There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned with 47 members and 4 visitors present.

 

Respectfully submitted - Dana, KJ4GWB

 

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                                                               Weather Center

               

            As I am writing this article the short term forecast for our area shows above normal high temperatures approaching 100° F with heat indices of 110° F to 115° F.  I don’t think any of us would have any trouble determining that these temperatures are above normal, that is just too hot no matter how you look at it.

 

            On July 1st 2011,  NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) released the new set climate normals to be implemented effective August 1st 2011.  In our daily forecast we all hear terms like normal daily low and high temperature, normal monthly rainfall and normal annual rainfall but how do they determine what is “normal”.

 

            The values are derived from 30 year averages that are recalculated every 10 years with the most recent set of dates spanning the years 1981 to 2010. These values are primarily used to place recent weather events into a historical context more so than to show climatic trends. NOAA has put together a good FAQ site that should help to answer any question you have about how this process works. You can get to that website using this link;    NOAA's 1981-2010 Climate Normals

 

            Shifting to the tropics, August marks the beginning of the peak season for Hurricane and Tropical Storm formation in the Atlantic, Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. Below you will see two illustrations recently published by the Southeast River Forecast Center that show the regions where tropical storm formation is most likely to occur in August and a graph that shows the peak of the tropical season occurring on September 10th on average. Take notice of the area with the highest probability, it is the exact area where Tropical Storm Emily formed this week.

 

© 2011 SERFC Journal

 

73’s,

Stewart

KJ4GO

DEC NWS Tallahassee, FL

Southwest Georgia District ARES

 

 

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GOTA 2011 Report

 

Right off the bat, I would like to say how much fun it was to be GOTA Coach for the Thomasville Amateur Radio Club for the first time, and for my fourth time overall. It was very nice to have a station in a climate-controlled space with comfortable chairs and lots of table space compared to past experiences with other clubs.

 

Don’t get me wrong; I love being GOTA Coach regardless of the conditions the station has to operate with, but it is nice to have conditions where both operator and captain are comfortable.

 

 

The joy of seeing a licensed ham, or an unlicensed person, make their first contact after minutes of anticipation and nervousness is priceless; it was a joy and an honor to be GOTA Coach.

 

Friday started out great and was wonderful while we ate breakfast at Seminole Wind. It was only after we had gotten to the EOC that the temperature and humidity became a problem.

 

After some discussion, the GOTA station’s 80m dipole was raised to its final resting place high in the air and we were ready to go. The energy of the people there was great and in a few hours we had most antennas, towers, and lines ready for the next day.

 

Saturday came early for me, and I traveled to the site with a beautiful sunrise as my companion. Despite being early I was not the first, and was surprised to see how many people were already there, happily giving a hand to anyone needing help. Time flew by quickly and before we knew it, it was time for some of “Mom” Brown’s famous chili and dogs.

 

As the start of Field Day 2011 came… and went, I was blessed to work with some great talent through the day and through the night. Unfortunately, I had to shut GOTA down for a few hours because of band conditions. 20m and 40m were open, but all the other stations were operating on those bands.

 

Thankfully, early in the morning, the bands started to open up, and I was in business again. Sunday morning was a sight to see as many of us who had stayed up all night seemed to have caught our second wind.

 

It was only later that morning that I “ran out of juice” and needed to take a good breather on the patio. The afternoon was a mixed bowl of results as I had little steam to “twist the arms” of possible participants and it seemed that the more aggressive operators on the air were the ones we had left to work with.

 

I would like to also take time to mention a few of the participants and their accomplishments.

First, Taylor was very shy, but she was able to get one contact and did a wonderful job.

 

Second, Philip was a great operator and achieved great results. I just wish I were able to keep up with his CW rate.

 

Third, Kyle…I had no idea until afterwards that this young man had set two goals for himself this year. His first was to make 20 contacts on the GOTA station; his second was to stay up the whole event.

 

He made his twenty contacts, which included Puerto Rico and Hawaii. I will also say he did in fact stay up the whole event and surpassed his father in energy at night. He did an excellent job and made me proud of his accomplishments; I see him as a possible future club president due to his energy and resolve.

 

Finally, there’s Jimmy, who, after a few shake-offs, finally caught a station, and went after the next. Once again, he had a few aggressive ones drop him, but he surprised me by quickly catching a weak signal on the edge of a pile-up.

 

Everyone did a great job and I hope many will consider increasing their contacts next year!

 

GOTA Stats:

 

Lawrence M.: 15 Voice

Taylor (youth): 1 Voice

Steve: 6 Voice

Philip: 33 Voice, 17 CW

Matt (visitor): 2 Voice

Lawrence W. (visitor): 1 Voice

Kyle (youth): 20 Voice

Wally: 8 Voice

Jimmy (youth): 2 Voice

 

Station Total: 88 Voice, 17 CW, 44 of 80 Sections reached

 

Overall, I am very happy with the GOTA station and its results. With all that has happened, I would like to leave a few closing remarks and reminders.

 

The GOTA station is not meant to be a contesting station; its purpose is to allow hams and non-hams of any age a chance to get on the air and make some contacts. The point of Field Day is to have fun and enjoy the fellowship of others in the hobby (and in our case, great food).

 

Field Day is also for hams to get on the air and practice for what many of us pray we’ll never have to do in reality aside from contests. Anyone, and everyone, is welcome to come over to GOTA and make one to a million contacts, as there is no number to go by.

 

With all of this in mind I would like to say that I was happy to serve as GOTA Coach, and am happy to volunteer to do so again next year for the Thomasville Amateur Radio Club if requested to do so!

 

73, Mo, KI4PZS