Update on Hamvention 2021

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From DX Engineering’s “Tuesdays with Tim and Jeff” an update on the status of Hamvention 2021:

https://youtu.be/SeqrR1WdXGw

From the Hamvention website:

We are looking forward to seeing all our friends at the 2021 Hamvention. Of course, 2020 has turned out to be the year of the COVID-19 pandemic and that has caused us to deal with new stresses and visitor concerns regarding Hamvention.

As we move forward toward the 2021 Hamvention, we are keeping our eye on government policy and ensuring good protection for our guests. As someone trained in Public Health, I am especially interested in making sure all our guests will be able to enjoy the Gathering at Hamvention without unnecessary risk to themselves.

Many things need to happen between now and May of 2021 for Hamvention to be a success. Some are in our control, and some are not. But all of us in the Hamvention Volunteer Corps are working full speed and at full throttle toward the success we hope Hamvention 2021 will be.

Rick Allnutt, MD, WS8G, 2021 Hamvention General Chair

Field Day 2020 Results are in!

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As you read in a recent WCARES Notes, our EC Ed Hudgens, WB4RHQ had exciting news:

“The results are in the Dec QST and WCARES wound up 5th in the country with 26.7K points. The winner, not that it was a contest, had over 45K. The others were slightly above us.”

The December QST ( http://www.arrl.org/qst ) should be in your hands now and includes a summary of the scores starting on page 69 (the digital edition of QST and the ARRL Field Day Page at http://field-day.arrl.org have the full listings.)

You can find a list of WCARES entries at http://field-day.arrl.org/fdentriesrcvd.php under

Williamson County (TN) ARES

Try Sort by Club Name to seem them grouped togther and be sure to check out the Soapbox section http://field-day.arrl.org/fdsoapbox.php to see comments and photographs from the day, including by our own Jeff, WB5WAJ!

Updated – Oct. 2020 Virtual Monthly Meeting – USGS Did You Feel It, Certificate Chasing, Shack tour

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Update: Jeff’s presentation PDF has been added (find the link below)

ARRL ARES Presentation

This month a presentation by Oliver Dully, K6OLI on the use of Winlink in the USGS Did You Feel It? earthquake reporting program. Oliver is the District Emergency Coordinator for the ARES LAX Northeast District. Our EC, Ed WB4RHQ is planning to schedule a WCARES DYFI exercise.

https://youtu.be/sENkcx-21Ik

The Oliver’s video links:
DYFI introduction:
https://youtu.be/VgLhWqZIxNQ
Hands-on training:
https://youtu.be/-uqL_z_fG2w

Certificate Chasing

Jeff, WB5WAJ gave a talk on Certificate Chasing which included examples of the kinds of certificate programs out there and how to take part.

https://youtu.be/R0OuPpwb2ec

and Jeff’s presentation is here:

Certificate_Chasing_Oct2020_WB5WAJ.pdf

Virtual Ham Shack Tour #4 – KA4OTB

Jack Cox takes us on a virtual tour of his impressive shack.

https://youtu.be/rfr81mk1gyI

Updated – Red Cross Winlink Drill – November 14

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Update – the folks who run the Florida Winlink Net have posted a FAQ answering questions like:

  • Solo or Team?
  • How many modes should I use?
  • What is the format of the tactical address to send to?
  • etc.

You can find this FAQ here:

https://johnsails.com/RADIO/w4akhnet/redcrossFAQ.pdf

From Mike Walters, W8ZY CT ARES SEC via W4WTN and AuxComm of TN.

There will be a Red Cross drill using Winlink on November 14th.

The purpose of this drill is to encourage more operators to learn about Winlink messaging and how to use the template for preformatted messages. The weekly practice has gone very well and more operators are participating.

The linked PDF below gives an overview of the drill and specific instructions on how to create and post the messages.

PDF: Drill_Instructions_IAP_-_11-14-2020.pdf

The drill is open to all operators and I encourage all ARES groups to offer this as a training exercise.

 

 

Sept. 2020 Virtual Monthly Meeting – TN Section Manager, Net Operations, Shack tour

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ARRL ARES Presentation

David Thomas (KM4NYI)

David is the ARRL Section Manager for Tennessee

He had to appear at the Severiville, TN hamfest today so he recorded this video for us to play at the meeting.

https://youtu.be/aoIShoprYOU

WCARES Weekly Net

Laura Marler (N4CLO)

Laura gives us a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into calling the WCARES Monday night training net.

https://youtu.be/uYwskYfKaVY

Virtual Ham Shack Tour #3 – WB5WAJ

Jeff Standifer takes us on a virtual tour of his impressive shack.

https://youtu.be/vsS1Om1WvWM

Dickson Co. offering General licensing classes in October

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Dickson Co. Amateur Radio Club will be offering General licensing classes in person and via Zoom in October.

From Suzanne Bennett, N4JSB

“I am secretary of the Dickson County Amateur Radio Club & wanted to share some info if you have any members interested. We will be having a free General licensing class October 3, 10 & 17th. We will have the class in person with a virtual (Zoom) option for any interested. The class will run 9 AM – 5 PM the 3rd & 10th & 9 AM until complete on the 17th ( earlier than 5). It will be held at the Dickson County Emergency Operations Center at 284 Cowan Road, Dickson. We will be using the Gordon West book. Any one attending will need to purchase their own book and pre-study some before the class. A link to sign up is on the home page of our club website http://www.wc4dc.org/ and on our facebook page.”

Updated – Getting Started with Logbook of the World – LOTW

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Don’t know where to start with logging your contacts? Need help getting LOTW up and running?

The LOTW New User Guide written by Gary, ZL2iFB has reached version 1.0.

You can find more information about LOTW at the ARRL here:

http://www.arrl.org/logbook-of-the-world

A copy of the current version of Gary’s guide will be kept under the Library -> User Guides section of the WCARES website – here:

https://wcares.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/LoTW_New_User_Guide.pdf

and the definitive URL for the current English version is:

https://www.g4ifb.com/LoTW_New_User_Guide.pdf

 

 

 

August 2020 Virtual Monthly Meeting – Emergency Ops Plan, Winlink and more

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Friends,

The WCARES Monthly Meeting for August was held this past Saturday. Here are the videos of the presentations for those who were unable to attend.

WCARES Emergency Communications Operations Plan by WB4RHQ: https://youtu.be/OTFNI89V-io

Winlink Presentation by W4PHS: https://youtu.be/IH8671kyyHQ

Virtual Ham Shack Tour by WB4RHQ: https://youtu.be/t2xQ8KgW6f4

Enjoy!

Cliff (N4CCB)

Maximize your signal reception – a presentation by Tim, AD4CJ

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Tim, AD4CJ talks about how to get the most out the sensitive receivers in most modern HF transceivers.

https://youtu.be/8cUUvxnGM4w

In this video, Tim covers:

  • how to fine tune
  • how to zero-beat phone and cw signals
  • automatic gain control (AGC)
  • the RF-gain control
  • pre-amps and attenuators
  • noise-reducer and noise-blanker circuits

Jeff, WB5WAJ presents the ARRL ARES Task Book

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From the ARRL Task Book introduction…

The Task Book is a working document that enable those ARES communicators electing to participate in the ARRL training plan, to track and document their training plan elements as they are completed toward the various levels of increasing proficiency.

As an ARES organization, WCARES will be using the Task Book for members who wish to advance their knowledge of emergency communications.

Jeff’s presentation has been added to the WCARES Youtube Channel – thanks Cliff, N4CCB:

https://youtu.be/ROomm5vKax0

To download the Task Book used by WCARES see the ARRL ARES Task Book – WCARES under

Join Us -> ARRL ARES Task Book – WCARES