Sept. 2022 In-Person & Virtual Monthly Meeting: VarAC

Written by

Tim, AD4CJ gave a talk introducing a new use for the VARA HF protocol: the VarAC HF chat application created by by Irad Deutsch, 4Z1AC. The website for VarAC is: https://www.varac-hamradio.com and includes a list of features, the download for Windows, FAQs, user manuals and a community forum etc.

Tim then played a portion of the September 5th, 2022 Tonight @ 8 video from RSGB (Radio Society of Great Britain): Back to the keyboard! by Mike Richards, G4WNC. Mike gives an overview and examples of digital modes, required equipment and radio connections for keyboard QSOs and then walks through the features of VarAC and provides some operating tips for keyboard QSOs.

The complete video is well worth watching especially if you are new to digital modes:
https://youtu.be/SC0UxNG2itE
or skip ahead to the section on VarAC with the embedded video below.

The RSGB website is: https://rsgb.org/ and more videos from RSGB can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRSGB/videos.

The VarAC portion of the video starts around the 29:45 mark:

June 2022 In-Person & Virtual Monthly Meeting: Surge Protection with Paul Havlik, WD9IOK

Written by

Paul Havlik (WD9IOK) gives a MasterClass in station grounding and surge protection. Paul worked for Square D (now Schneider Electric) for 28 years, so he certainly knows his stuff.

April 2022 In-Person & Virtual Monthly Meeting: MTEARS

Written by

Presentation by Tom Delker (K1KY). Tom talks about the MTEARS network… the Middle Tennessee Emergency Amateur Repeater System. This is a set of 34 linked repeaters that span most of the state of Tennessee.

March 2022 In-Person & Virtual Monthly Meeting: VHF/UHF Sideband

Written by

In this comprehensive video, Paul, WD9IOK gives you all the information you need to get involved in 6 meters and up (VHF and UHF) operations using SSB mode. There’s more than just FM to play with in the higher frequencies of ham radio!

February 2022 In-Person & Virtual Monthly Meeting: Maximize Your Signal Reception

Written by

For the February 2022 WCARES meeting, Tim, AD4CJ presents Maximize Your Signal Reception

Learn how to adjust your HF radio to maximize your signal reception. Tim delivers a presentation based on a PowerPoint stack that he put together back in 2016. It was good advice then and it’s good advice now!

00:53 Mechanics of Fine-tuning your radio
02:03 How to Fine-Tune Your Radio
03:14 How to Zero-Beat CW Signals
05:41 How to Accurately Tune a SSB Signal
09:50 Automatic gain control & RF gain
28:35 The use of preamps
29:23 Attenuators
36:45 Noise Reducer Circuits
39:16 Noise Blanker Circuits

January 2022 Virtual Monthly Meeting: Solar Power for HAMs and Understanding NVIS

Written by

Solar Power for Hams presented by Tim, AD4CJ

Understanding NVIS from Paul Denisowski, KO4LZ of Rohde & Schwarz

September 2021 Monthly Meeting at the EOC: What is Emergency Management?

Written by

During the September 18th WCARES monthly meeting, Todd Horton (Director of the Williamson County EMA) gave a fantastic presentation.

His PowerPoint title slide asked, “What is Emergency Management?”

Todd provided a thorough answer and went well beyond this to include the structure of the Williamson County EMA, their vision, their capabilities, facilities, and much more.

August 2021 Monthly Meeting at the EOC: Mobile HF Contesting

Written by

The August 2021 WCARES Monthly Meeting was in-person at the EOC.

Mobile HF Contesting: Jim Hall (AD4EB) shows how much planning, preparation, and dedication is required to participate at a world-class level of performance.

July 2021 – Monthly Meeting at the EOC: RF Safety

Written by

Tim Kreth, AD4CJ presented an ARRL video on RF Exposure and how to do the calculations and previewed a new ARRL calculation web page that should make the process easier.

Here are some related links:
ARRL Now Provides Free RF Exposure Calculator
RF Exposure Rules – ARRL video
ARRL RF Exposure information and resources page

June 2021 Monthly Meeting at the EOC: Field Day Plan and Shack Tour #12 – WCARES EOC

Written by

The June 2021 WCARES Monthly Meeting was in-person at the EOC.

Cliff Batson (N4CCB) gave a presentation on the final plan for the WCARES Field Day 2021 event:

and Jack Cox (KA4OTB) gave a tour of the Auxiliary Communications room inside the Williamson County Public Safety Center: