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.
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
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:
Field Day initial discussion
With six weeks until Field Day 2021, it’s too soon to have a comprehensive presentation… but it’s not too early to begin making Field Day plans. This video gives viewers an overview of Field Day and presents a list of things to consider when planning their Field Day event. A more thorough presentation will be made during the June 2021 WCARES monthly meeting.
WSPR Experiment
In this video, Rob, KN4RHI experiments with WSPR (Weak Signal Propagation Reporter) with his HCLW-20* antenna.
*Highly Compromised Long Wire antenna is Rob’s tongue-in-cheek designation of this makeshift antenna located only 10′ off the ground.
Virtual Shack Tour
Paul, KM4PT takes us on a virtual tour of his ham shack and also shares his love of portable ops.
Presentations & Shack Tour!
ARES & Public Service: Father Raphael Ortiz (W4RAO), Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator for Eastern Tennessee, talked about the ARES response to the Puerto Rico deployment for Hurricane Maria in 2017.
Tech Topic: Krissy Hurley (Warning Coordination Meteorologist, NWS) gave a presentation on Identifying Severe Weather Features.
Virtual Shack Tour: Dave Matthews (KI4PSR)
Presentations & Shack Tour!
N0AX – Grounding and Bonding
Ward Silver (N0AX)
(Note that this is a link to his presentation on another channel… not the WCARES Media YouTube channel)
ARES and Public Service: Boston Marathon
Jeff Schwartz (KC1DWP)
Virtual Ham Shack Tour
Tim Kreth (AD4CJ)
This month RJ, KC4LRR has a presentation on Anderson Powerpoles, Andrew, AK4FA gives a Technical Presentation on DMR and Scott, KD4VVC takes us on a tour of his radio shack including a look at the tower, antenna switching, lightning protection and grounding!
Update: PDFs of RJ KC4LRR’s Powerpoles and Andrew, AK4FA’s DMR presentations have been added under:
Library & Special Interests --> Presentations
Videos
Anderson Powerpoles: RJ (KC4LRR)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbhEZSsD568
Digital Mobile Radio (DMR): Andrew Gossett (AK4FA)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zgms8Ko-pg
Virtual Shack Tour: Scott Gray (KD4VVC)
Our EC, Ed WB4RHQ dropped in briefly before travelling to the all-day ARRL Board Meeting – virtually on the other computer.
Presentations & Shack Tour!
Today Trey, KI4ZIN gave a presentation on the Hospital Net, discussing the organizations and people involved along with how and when the net is conducted. The net takes place primarily on the MTEARS UHF linked repeater system and provides backup communications options for facilities and primary communications in the event of an emergency. Trey also mentioned they are always looking for new volunteers to help out. Get in touch with Trey or use the Contact form on the website if you are interested in getting involved.
Cliff, N4CCB ran through a more detailed overview of Winter Field Day this year – expect to hear more from Cliff in future WCARES Notes e-mails and keep an eye on the Event Calender:
https://wcares.org/events/event/winter-field-day-2021/
Garry, W9WHF gave us a Virtual Shack Tour of his vacation setup and discussed the antennas, the radio gear and the challenge of salt coating pretty much everything. As this is a temporary spot he needed to be sure to leave it better than he found it which required some creative solutions, particularly with 4 radios and 4 antennas! The discussion about low power supply voltage at the radio due to corrosion will be of interest to anyone, even without the salt air.
Hospital Net – Trey Spain, KI4ZIN
Winter Field Day 2021 – Cliff Batson, N4CCB
Virtual Ham Shack Tour # 7 – Garry Decker, W9WHF
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK1MFQR81mI
These and other presentations will now always be listed under the new:
Library & Special Interests --> Presentations
section of the website.
Our EC, Ed WB4RHQ reported we had a record 63 attendees for this, the final Virtual Monthly Meeting of 2020 and he wished all a happy and safe holiday season. Thanks to everyone who took the time to join in for a great set of presentations.
DMR in Williamson Co. – Hilton Dean, W4GHD
Williamson Co. will be adding 2 DMR nodes on Tuesday, December 22, 2020:
Thanks to Bill Jorgenson and the Office of Public Safety and also to Andrew Gossett, AK4FA who got the boards programmed. Look for upcoming e-mail with more details.
* The WC4EOC-9 UHF antenna will be used for the Trinity site DMR so WC4EOC-9 will be offline until another antenna can be added to this tower, likely in 2021.
Winter Field Day – Cliff Batson (N4CCB)
Presentations & Shack Tour!
The State of ARES in TN – Jim Snyder, AJ4NO, Tennessee Section Emergency Coordinator
Jim generously provided a copy of his presentation as well; you can read the PDF version here.
Parks On The Air – Tom Suggs N4MTE
and Tom generously provided a copy of his presentation so check this out as well:
Parks on the Air – WCARES Presentation by Tom, N4MTE
Virtual Shack Tour – Doug Miller (W4DML)
You can find videos of past meetings on the WCARES Media channel on Youtube .
(RJ’s tour video has been updated.)
This month Kevin, KO4HPE has a presentation on planning and building an effective go-bag, Hilton, W4GHD gives a Technical Presentation on digital modes FT8 and FT4 and RJ, KC4LRR takes us on a tour of his radio shack and laboratory!
What’s in a bag: Preparedness
By Kevin Fitch (KO4HPE)
FT8 & FT4
By Hilton Dean (W4GHD)
RJ Virtual Shack Tour
By RJ (KC4LRR)