2026 Technician & General License prep Classes

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WCARES offers free classes to help prepare for the ARRL license exams for both the Technician (beginner) and General (intermediate) amateur radio licenses. You do not have to be a member of WCARES to attend these classes.

If you have ever wanted to learn about amateur radio (also known as “HAM” radio), or wish to upgrade from Technician to General license for more radio privileges, then we have the class for you. While the classes are not required to take the examinations, it may be helpful for those who would like to ask questions, talk with other radio operators, or like a classroom setting instead of self-study.

For all the details visit this page: https://wcares.org/wcares-university/

Winter Field Day 2026

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Dates: January 24-25
Location: BrightStone Campus
3000 BrightStone Parkway
Franklin, TN 37064
(Columbia Ave 2 miles south of Mack Hatcher)

WCARES Winter Field Day will feature 3 stations, Phone, CW and Digital. Each station has a captain who will help with scheduling, and operational questions on the radio or logging computer.

We are encouraging new amateur radio enthusiasts to take this opportunity to experience working new modes and bands.

To sign up for a shift, contact the captain by email and provide them 2-3 possible time shifts you would like to work in order of your preference. The captain will schedule your shift and send you an email confirmation.

Check the WCARES Notes December 18th e-mail for the station captains’ contact information.

You can also go online to winterfieldday.org and pull up the regulations.

October 2025 Presentation – Kit Building

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Randy Paulson, N4OPI demonstrates kit building and brings a number of his builds to share with the audience.

WCARES Field Day 2025 – photos

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Photographs from WCARES Field Day 2025 taken by Joe Marler, KQ1Q and Dave Rogers, W4DER – thanks guys!

 
This year included CW and SSB stations as well as GOTA and we were grateful for the use of the climate controlled Williamson County EMA Communications Trailer!

(Click on the photos to see a larger version then click outside the photo to return to the gallery.)

WCARES Field Day 2025 / photographer W4DER

September 2025 Presentation – Chasing DX: 20 Years of Fun!

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Hilton Dean (W4GHD) has achieved the DX Honor Roll, having racked up 331 DX Entities! In this video, Hilton talks about his twenty-year journey working DX. Along the way, he provides helpful information for any ham interested in chasing DX and other awards.

Recorded at the WCARES monthly meeting on September 20th, 2025.

August 2025 Presentation – Ham Licenses Tell A Story

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Ted Edwards (W3TB) has held a number of ham licenses, both in the United States and abroad. In this presentation, he recalls the many licenses he’s held and the situations in his life at the time of each license. This presentation was recorded during the WCARES monthly meeting in August 2025.

August 2025 Presentation – MTEARS Severe Weather Operation

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Laura Marler (N4CLO) presents how the MTEARS Skywarn Net is organized and how it operates. Her presentation was recorded at the WCARES monthly meeting in August 2025.

July 2025 Presentation – Propagation & Solar Cycle 25

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Tim Kreth (AD4CJ) teaches us about HF Propagation. Tim teaches this topic each February during the WCARES series of classes designed to help hams with a Technician license upgrade to the General class license. Presentation recorded during the July, 2025 WCARES monthly meeting.

WCARES Simulated Emergency Test (SET Exercise) 2025

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Fall is just around the corner, and that means the WCARES 2025 Simulated Emergency Test (SET) is coming up!
Please mark your calendars for the morning of Saturday, October 11th and plan to take part in this important exercise.

This is a great opportunity to test your equipment, sharpen your skills, and gain valuable experience. This year, we’ll be working alongside the Williamson County EMA and their world-class team and resources.

A signup link is included below. The more participants we have, the more effective—and fun—the exercise will be! Additional details will be shared as we get closer to the date. Feel free to email me with any questions you may have

Signup Link

https://forms.gle/Kob9N4UBUqATJabL6

WCARES Emergency Ops Plan Update 2025

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From our EC, Hoop, K9QJS

WCARES is pleased to announce that a new version of the WCARES Emergency Operations Plan has been posted to the website. Special thanks to Jeff KC1DWP, former WCARES EC, who led a multi-month effort to update the document, which was last dated 2018. Thanks, too, to Laura N4CLO who reportedly ran the revised draft through an AI engine to further improve the wording and clarity. Many others were involved in the update, and thanks to them as well.

You can find the link to the updated WCARES Emergency Operations Plan in the right-hand sidebar of the website, in the Library & Special Interests section under Books, References, Guides and in the Members Area navigation menu when you are logged in to the site.