Union County Amateur Radio Club, Ohio

Please join us Thursday at 2000 hrs on 145.350.

Echolink Node 742504 W8KWH-R  Delaware OH
Allstar node 467300 KE8ANU
Echolink node 794012 KE8ANU-R Marysville OH

** Now with Zoom Video**

UCARC Net Supplemental Video Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81274246195?pwd=MjQxZG1VYVhTN3BjdEkxZzRTOHRGQT09

Meeting ID: 812 7424 6195

Passcode: 145350

Ohio NVIS Day is April 24th. This weekend was a great wekeend to put together a NVIS antenna to test out on Saturday. Ed put together a NVIS antenna and set it up on World Amateur Radio Day at Keckly Park. 

Mark, N8VJF will be net control for the DMR ARES Group net on the Marysville talk group 313966 at 9pm. The net will provide the opportunity to test out DMR equipment and also DMR repeater coverage areas. The net will meet monthly on the 2nd Tuesday of the month. We look forward to hearing you on the net! 

We will be meeting at Keckley Park for Ohio NVIS Day.
Setup will start around 9am so we can be on the air at 10am.
Items to bring:

• Folding Chair
• Lunch/Drinks/Snacks
• NVIS Antenna to test
• HF equipment to use (There will be an HF station setup)
• Dress for the weather

Established in 1970 Keckley Rural Life Center is located on the west side of Bear Swamp Road and honors the parents of Ina B. Keckley.  Bequeathed to Liberty Township, which now owns and manages the park, the park boasts a new playground area, recently renovated shelter house, two fishing lakes, hiking trails, amphitheater, wetlands, and a 15 acre prairie restoration project.  The park is ideal for family gatherings, meetings, birding, or just relaxing.
 

It’s coming!  Ohio NVIS Day 2021 will be held April 24, Saturday, from 10AM until 4PM EDT. 

The purpose of NVIS day is to construct and try various antenna ideas, all working as NVIS (Near Vertical Incident Skywave) antennas.  These antennas are low to the ground and provide coverage generally within a 400 mile radius- extremely important for regional HF communications in an emergency. 

This year, we take a big step forward and build upon the concept to answer the question, “How would we actually use these antennas?”  

For 2021, we have added a couple operating scenarios that will make your day more fun and be a learning event for actual disaster communications.  We propose a commercial power blackout, with the need to communicate within your ARES district and to ‘The Sarge” at the Ohio EOC in Columbus.  Here’s the deal:

1. The event runs from 10 AM until 4 PM local time. 
2. Stations will construct and test NVIS antennas. 
3. Transmit power is limited to 100 watts.
4. Power for the station will be any form of “off-grid” supply: typically generator, battery or solar or whatever form you might have in an emergency setup.
5. Stations may test antenna coverage as in the past by contacting as many different locations as possible. 
6. Stations will originate a message to their ARES District net and to W8SGT reporting their location. 
   1. This message may take any form:  ARRL message form or any other can be used, doesn’t matter. If you’re going to use the traffic system, ARRL message form is recommended.  
   2. The message should contain the call sign, operating location (include county) and number of operators.  Any other brief antenna information is optional but appreciated!
   3. Contact with the District net may take place on VHF or HF (Repeaters OK). 
7. Operating frequencies are proposed to be in the 80 and 40 meter bands. Voice is preferred for testing. Digital messages may be passed to OHDEN or Buckeye Net as available. 
   1. Optimum frequencies centered around but not limited to:  3.902  and  7.240
   2. Digital OHDEN frequency: 3585  (typical is Olivia 8/500) 
   3. If additional exercise is desired, try 60 meters, Channel 5493.5 for voice and digital

The National Electronics Museum is sponsoring its well-received Operating Course again starting April 15, 2021 and running each Thursday for 11 weeks from 6:30 to 9:30 EDST on Zoom.   There is no charge for participation.  The purpose of these classes is to provide information to help licensed radio amateurs to participate in the many on-the-air activities available in the hobby.  The presenters are very experienced in their topics—many are nationally known experts—and they will be available to answer your questions following the presentations.   The exact order of presentations will be determined and published in the next few weeks.   These are independent presentations, and participants are free to participate in any or all of the evenings.   Feel free to pass this announcement along to others, but we request that all prospective attendees register by emailing Tom Christovich at tom.christovich@gmail.com . You will receive confirmation of enrollment and the Zoom link for attendance by reply email.  Here is a tentative list of topics:

All About Operating-an Introduction

Amateur Radio Organizations: Local, National, and International clubs, societies and groups devoted to specific aspects of amateur radio

Ham Radio Operating Award Hunting—from working Lighthouses to the DXCC Challenge

DXing

QSLing

VHF/UHF Weak Signal Work

Remote Station Control Over Internet

CW in the No-code Era

Digital modes

Imaging Operating

Contesting

Logging Software

HF Propagation

Amateur Satellite Comms

Portable (backpacking) Operation, including Park and Summits

Setting Up an HF Station

Emergency and Public Service Communications (ARES and RACES)

Traffic Handling

Lightning Protection and Grounding

Hope to see you there!

73,

Rol Anders, K3RA

George, KE8NIY is getting a POTA group together to activate Ohio Parks on a monthly basis for Parks on The Air https://parksontheair.com/ . Park activations may take place in an afternoon or may be a weekend camping trip. The goal is to give everyone that is interested in learning and practicing operating portable one weekend a month to do just that. A weekend camping POTA activation would provide the opportunity to test out a 2 or 3 day deployment bag/kit. Park activations would be an opportunity to try out different antennas, and over all improve portable operating skills and equipment/antenna setup. 
If you are interested in joining George, KE8NIY for Parks on the Air please send an e-mail to pota@ares.unioncountyohio.us