SOUTHEAST KANSAS AMATEUR RADIO CLUB: April 2016

Friday, April 29, 2016

SEKARC April Meeting Saturday

Hello, the April meeting of SEKARC will be Saturday April 30th. 9 am at the Pittsburg Fire Station #1 on West 4th Street in Pittsburg. We will have breakfast, coffee and juice available along with some great fellowship. Joe Porter WØMQY will be giving a presentation on QRP and portable work. Bring your portable set up and show us what you have put together!

CLICK HERE.......for the REST OF THE STORY

Friday, April 15, 2016

SEKARC SS CW NET LIVES

The SEKARC SS (slow speed) NET is planning to restart again on Wednesday April 27 at 8:30 pm after the 2 meter net and on the second and forth Wednesday of each month there after. Depending on how this works out for everyone it may be adjusted later. The purpose of the net is practice for CW operators and to make us proficient if we ever have to use net controlled traffic.

It is a SLOW SPEED net and is designed for the new CW operator and those of us who need the practice or are just learning. Please try and keep your speed below 8 wpm. Our operating frequency will be between 7.057 and 7.058 MHz . I will try to use 7.057.5 but if it is busy QSY up or down between the above. Let's have a good time and use the equipment that works for you.

CHECKING IN

Step 1: Net Control (NC) calls "QRL? QRL?" to see if the frequency is in use. This is a good time to zero beat NCS's signal.

Step 2: Net Control calls "CQ CQ CQ SEKARC SS CW NET DE WD0CFH WD0CFH NC QNI K". That means it's time for stations to send their call signs to Net Control to copy. Our net is a slow speed net so please keep your speed under 8 words a minute.

Step 3: "LISTEN" for other stations first. When you don't hear anyone trying to check in, then send "DE <space> YOUR CALLSIGN". The space is important so that you can listen and make sure that you are not "doubling" with someone. If NCS misses your call he will ask "AGN ?" and you should resend your call.

Step 4: At the end of initial check in NC will acknowledge by repeating all calls. Example: "R R W0MQY ES KD0RTX ES N0WKZ AS". "AS" means standby, I will return later for your comments. NCS will again again call "QNI K" to pick up remaining stations who did not check in earlier.

Step 5: Wait for NC to call you again. Example: "W0MQY DE K0SEK KN". KN means NC is calling you and only you to make some comments. You can say "73" if you wish and end with "K0SEK DE W0MQY KN" if you have no comments.

Step 6: NC will call "QNI K" after a few comments to see if other stations wish to check in. If you have not yet been acknowledged by Net Control, keep trying until I hear you.
Remember: DE <space> "YOURCALLSIGN".
NC will call the entire list until everyone has had a chance to comment, giving more opportunities to QNI in between. Please be patient. If NC doesn't copy your call I will ask "AGN ?". You can then send your call again.

Step 7: NC will close the net after the last comment with "73 SEKARC SS CW NET IS NOW CLOSED DE WD0CFH NC SK"

That's it guys. This will be a whole new experience for me as NC and probably for a few more who have never checked into a net. We are a "slow speed" net so don't hesitate to ask "QRS" (slow down) if you are having trouble copying. No one is going to make more mistakes than ME.

Jack ... WD0CFH

SEKARC SS CW NET LIVES

Thursday, April 7, 2016

OzarkCon 2016

OzarkCon 2Ø16, a Premier Event for the QRPer.

Another great ham radio event has come and gone for another year. It was the largest one since the beginning with around 16Ø people attending this year. There are always plenty of activities to pursue and arriving a day early I had extra time to play radio. The first order of business was to setup the station in the parking lot for action. This year I changed my operating philosophy and made my station completely operable from the driver seat of my van. The antenna of choice was the 40 meter Ham Stick and a special bracket fabricated to facilitate "easy up, easy down".

With a limited number of trees growing out of the asphalt this antenna solution seemed the most feasible. In the foreground is the Comet B-1Ø UHF/VHF antenna and the Ham Stick in the rear. The bracket holding the antenna is using one of the screws that holds the luggage carrier rack to the vehicle and makes a nice "no holes in the vehicle" mount. It seemed to work extremely well using the van metal mass as a ground plane. The station consists of an Icom 273ØA for UHF/VHF and an Icom 703 for the HF bands mounted on the console between the seats.

On the seat next to the rigs is my "Hacksaw blade" single lever cw paddle key. Had lots of fun with plenty of stations to work in the area doing SOTA and other backpacking events. There were also qrper's in the motel with the famous "Dummy Load" antenna ready for the "Dummy Load QSO Party" Friday evening. The station performed well except for some oxidation on the hack saw blade, (at least that is what I blamed it on) causing some false and intermittent keying.

Friday evening there was a lavish dinner catered by Golden Corral. The vendor room was open, kits sales were open, with a general theme of roam around and see what's there. The Dummy Load QSO party was underway as well with Bart, W0IIT, acting as NC of special event station KØN. I gave him the nick name of the Kon Man. Following the dinner was a presentation by a tour group who gave out information on how and what to see in Branson. The Build-a-thon also followed the dinner for those who signed up to build a small kit. This event has been a favorite every year and it often has participants from 8 to 80 years old. Assistance is provided on how to solder, component identification, and trouble shooting techniques by the Midwest Homebrewers and QRP Group.

Bart, WØIIT and Terry WAØITP

One of the big attractions each year is the Home Brew contest. Below are some of the equipment entries.

There were many works of art entered into the Home Brew Contest as well as the Wacky Key Contest. The top photo is typical of the many receiver and transceiver designs. The center photo is a pistol entered as a key paddle in the Wacky Key contest. The pistol keyer was entered by Tom, N2UHC and was a hit of the show. Yes, you could send cw by pulling the trigger and banging out those dits and dahs. The bottom photo is a replica of the WWII Parasets used by the French underground and had the nick name "Spy Radio".

Saturday morning started off with a big breakfast catered by the hotel. Scrambled eggs, link sausage, biscuits and gravy, a selection of hot and cold cereals, and hot coffee or orange juice. The schedule Saturday was a busy one with the following topics covered.

Main Agenda for Saturday (Click to Enlarge)

As can be seen by the wide range of topics it was a very interesting and educational day. All presentations were top notch and enjoyed by all attending. Many prizes were given away during the day with a grand prize being an Elecraft KX3. The total value of prizes this year was in excess of $5,000.00. Saturday evening is usually left open for the qrper's and their families to enjoy a night on the town. A group of us finished the day with a nice steak dinner at the Lone Star Steak House.

Sunday morning we were treated to a free breakfast by the hotel and we all left Branson with full tummies and a lot of beautiful memories. I got to see a lot of old and new friends and enjoyed the weekend very much. If you missed it this year, be sure and make plans to go next year. It just gets bigger and better every year. A big thank you goes out to all who labored the entire year to make this event a crown jewel in the Midwest. Below are a few additional photos for your browsing pleasure.