Below is the newsletter for June 3, 2024. I could use some help with the newsletter so we can keep sending a newsletter out weekly. I was out camping last week so a newsletter was not published.
I am trying to include original articles and I could use some help. If you can write an article or even if you have a suggestion for an article, please let me know!
Steven Christy, N5ZQ
n5zq@n5zq.us
Field Day 2024
Field Day 2024 is June 22-23 from 1pm CDT Saturday to 1pm CDT Sunday. It will be held at the Edmond Masonic Lodge which is located at 1026 North Blvd, Edmond, OK 73034. This is a new location for us this year so we will have some things to figure out but it is a large space with a kitchen that should be great for Field Day operations and also the dinner.
We held a field day meeting prior to the board meeting last Tuesday. I would like to thank everyone who attended. We had a very productive meeting. The group agreed that we should plan on operating as 3A this year. This means we will have 3 simultaneous transmitters (plus a 6m station) operating on emergency power.
We will again be running on battery power with the on-demand propane generator. A member has graciously offered to let us use this equipment again. It worked really well last year. We ran the generator during the afternoon and evening and turned it off and ran off battery most of the night. We also ran off of just battery power during the dinner which eliminated the generator noise. It was fantastic!
There is a group working on getting the computers updated currently and I have a couple of people working on radios and antennas. If you have a radio that we can borrow for field day, please let me know. It would be preferred to use models that have built-in sound cards for running digital modes as well as phone.
Even as plan fall into place for field day, we still need help. If you are able to help in any way (including operating the radios), please complete the form on the Field Day 2024 page and indicate how you can help.
Steven, N5ZQ
n5zq@n5zq.us
Field Day Dinner
Randy, KG5GOV, and Kari, K5LST, worked on a plan for the dinner. They proposed a lasagna dinner which was approved by the board. The best part is that there is no cost for dinner! The club is handling the cost. I hope that a large number of our member can join us at 6pm on Saturday, June 22nd for dinner!
If you are planning to attend the dinner, please complete the RSVP form on the Field Day Dinner page ASAP so we can make sure to have enough food for everyone!
Steven, N5ZQ
n5zq@n5zq.us
AREDN Part 8 – Local Mesh Update
Due to work issues I have not been able to finish the next part, but meantime here is an update to local mesh goings on.
We now have a node stack up on Dwain’s or the grainery in downtown Edmond. The link antenna to the rest of the network is mounted on the deck just below the word FLOUR, to the right of the “R” aimed south.
This is the link antenna aimed south to the Edmond South node stack.
This is the sector antenna which is on the north east corner of the east deck.
It is aimed at the location of this years field day. The radio is on 2.4Ghz on channel -2 (out of the Part 15 band, it is 2 channels below the part 15 band)
The cable is all Cat 6, we do not have to worry about coax as the radios are built into the antennas.
The next picture is the gear in the equipment room at the top of the grainery.
At the left side we have a power strip and power supplies, on the right we have from left to right the hAP-ac-Lite. Next the hAP is a 4 port PoE switch and the small box to the right of the switch is a lightning arrestor. Later on we will obtain a wall box and properly mount all of the equipment in a protected box.
The next big step is to mount solar panels up on the upper deck which (referring to the picture of the grainery above) is just to the left of the dog house which is adorned with cellular antennas.
We have plenty of space for solar panels, which would allow the node to be independent of the grid, something very important here in Oklahoma with our weather.
The next radio step is more sector antennas on 5Ghz and a link antenna to the north to bring AREDN to Guthrie.
We will also be adding cameras to the grainery site for both WX observations and other general monitoring (fires and other events).
We would like to be able to add enough batteries in the future to be able to support a repeater along with the node stack. The present node stack probably pulls no more than about 12 watts.
A big thank you to Dwain’s Automotive for allowing us access to the roof. Keep them in mind when you need automotive service.
As we extend the network out more and more of you should be able to access the network over RF, this is the real goal of AREDN. The tunnels are just to get folks on line and working towards an RF solution for all.
Chuck
KP4DJT
ARRL VHF Contest
The weekend of 8 June 2024 is the VHF Activity Weekend, also known as the ARRL June VHF Contest. Everyone is encouraged to use this weekend to test your VHF base station or mobile station’s range without the assistance of a repeater. Use this opportunity to spur your efforts to experience, understand and improve your VHF skills! The contest begins Saturday at 1:00 PM Local Time and ends at 9:59 PM Sunday. During this period there will be several base stations and Rovers (mobile) seeking contact with you! In this contest we simply exchange our callsign and location as a 4 character Grid Square (grids are approximately 100 miles wide and 60 miles tall with the corners at intersection of LAT/LON whole numbers). If you’re unfamiliar with grid squares you can easily find your location using this site: https://www.egloff.eu/qralocator/ or various ham radio cell phone apps.
You can even compete in the contest using only FM radio equipment and only on 2m if you wish. It is a great opportunity to learn and it’s at the start of the ‘Sporadic E Season’ which can offer some terrific and amazing propigation.
More information about Oklahoma Rovers and VHF can be found here:
https://okrover.info/ and https://n5zy.org
The ARRL Press Release is here: ARRL Press Release
Watch for VHF Rovers on https://aprs.fi/
Like myself: https://aprs.fi/#!z=11&ts=1717247155&te=1718024755&call=a%2FN5ZY
Frequencies
For this contest we are allowed to use everything from 6m and up, and the National Simplex Frequency may be used if not busy. Generally we start on FM Simplex frequencies then call on sideband and we start at 6 meters and move up the bands.
In general, FM is on a Vertical antenna and Sideband is on a Horizontal antenna.
| Band | WSJT-FT8 (USB) | Call Freq (CW/USB) | QSO Freq (USB) | FM SIMPX NA | FM SIMPX 1 | FM SIMPX 2 | FM SIMPX 3 |
| 6 M | 50.313 | 50.125 | 50.145 | ||||
| 2 M | 144.174 | 144.2 | 144.220 | 146.520 | 146.490 | 146.550 | 146.580 |
| 1.25 M | 222.174 | 222.1 | 223.5 | ||||
| 70 cm | 432.174 | 432.1 | 446.0 | ||||
| 23 cm | 1296.174 | 1296.1 | 1294.5 |
Marcus
N5ZY
Ham Holiday – July 26-27, 2024!
Preregistration for Ham Holiday 2024 continues!!!
Ham Holiday 2024 will be on Friday, July 26th and Saturday, July 27th at the Oklahoma City Community College (OCCC).
The Ham Holiday 2024 website for preregistration is: https://hamholiday.com/tix/
The preregistration prize is a Buddipole “Buddistick Pro” portable antenna and the grand prize for Ham Holiday 2024 is a Yaesu FT-710 AESS HF/50 MHz SDR Transceiver with matching speaker.
The special drawing prize is a Yaesu FT-710 FIELD HF/50 MHz SDR Transceiver package. The package includes a DX Commander vertical antenna, TekPower TP30SW power supply, coax, a Vibroplex SRacer key, along with other accessories. Only 300 special drawing tickets will be sold. Special drawing tickets are $20/ticket.
There will also be a Royal Order Of The Wouff Hong ceremony on Friday evening. Stay tuned for further details on vendors, programs, seminars, and hourly prizes.
Tom, WA9AFM
Tickets Available Now – Click To Get Yours Today
EARS Volunteers
I am sure all of you are aware that EARS is an entirely volunteer organization. That means we alway need volunteers. There are many tasks to get done and the more we share the load, the more this club will be able to do!
Below is a summary of just some of the events and activities in which the club participates:
St. Patrick’s Day Parade
LibertyFest Parade
Cowboy Christmas Parade
Cycle 66 Bike Race
Monthly Siren Test
Weekly Information Net – 52 Net Control Volunteers
Monthly VE Test Session
Bi-Monthly Club Dinner – 5 Dinners
Christmas Dinner
Technician License Class – Spring and Fall
Field Day – Also One of the Club Dinners
Severe Weather Spotting
This list does not include all of the administrative and management function of the club. The website needs frequent updates, this newsletter needs to be written, etc.
What does all this mean? It means We Need You! If you are able to help in any way, please let us know. Even if you are unsure how to help or where you might best fit, please let us know and we will work with you to find the best fit.
If you are willing to help, please contact us at k5eok@k5eok.org. That will send a message to both myself, Steven, N5ZQ, and Clay, WA6LBU and we will be in touch!
LibertyFest
The LibertyFest events are coming up starting on June 14th and culminating with the fireworks celebration on July 4th. EARS has been helping with these events for many years and this year is no exception. LibertyFest is an entirely volunteer organization and EARS plays a large role especially with the parade and fireworks.
Below are the LibertyFest events in which help is needed:
- Rodeo Day 1 – Friday, June 28, 4:00pm to 11:00pm
- Car Show and Park Fest – Saturday, June 29, 6:30am to 2:30pm
- We need 5 golf cart drivers in addition to other volunteers for this event
- Rodeo Day 2 – Saturday, June 29, 4:00pm to 11:00pm
- Parade – Thursday, July 4, 6:00am to 12:00pm
- Fireworks – Thursday, July 4, 5:00pm to 11:00pm
As you can see, we need quite a number of volunteers to help LibertyFest happen. If you are able to help, please visit the LibertyFest page and fill out the form. It is not too early to volunteer!
All of the information on LibertyFest can be found on the LibertyFest website.
Space Weather
Space (Solar) Weather is important is impacts our radio communication. While the greatest impact is usually on HF frequencies, it can also impact VHF, UHF and even higher frequencies. The video below comes from a YouTube page that is updated about every 2 weeks with new space weather reports. I encourage you to watch her channel for updates when you can as it is very educational.
Web Links
Here are a few links to other websites that may be of interest.
- ARRL (American Radio Relay League) – https://arrl.org
- CORA (Central Oklahoma Radio Amateurs) – https://coraok.org
- Ham Holiday (OKC Hamfest) – https://hamholiday.com
- ARRL Oklahoma Section – https://ok.arrl.org
- South Canadian Amateur Radio Society (SCARS)
- DMR Info – https://w5nor.org/okdmr/
- They have lots of other good info on their website such as modes of operation, weather/emergency info etc.
- ARES
- ARRL ARES – https://www.arrl.org/ares
- OK ARES – https://aresok.org
- Winlink – https://winlink.org
- AREDN – arednmesh.org
Upcoming Events
- EARS Information Net – Every Monday at 8pm
- Field Day Meeting Prior to June Board Meeting – Tuesday, June 11th at 6pm at Edmond Fire Station 5, 5300 E Covell
- June Board Meeting – Tuesday, June 11th at 7pm at Edmond Fire Station 5, 5300 E Covell
- Field Day – June 22nd – June 23rd at Edmond Masonic Lodge at 1026 North Blvd, Edmond
- LibertyFest Rodeo Day 1 – Friday, June 28 – Volunteer on the LibertyFest Page
- LibertyFest Car Show and Park Fest – Saturday, June 29 – Volunteer on the LibertyFest Page
- LibertyFest Rodeo Day 2 – Saturday, June 29 – Volunteer on the LibertyFest Page
- LibertyFest Parade – Thursday, July 4 – Volunteer on the LibertyFest Page
- LibertyFest Fireworks – Thursday, July 4 – Volunteer on the LibertyFest Page
- EARS Licensing Testing – Saturday, July 6th at 8am – Sign Up on License Testing page
- Edmond Siren Test – Saturday, July 6th at 11:30am
- Ham Holiday – July 26th and 27th
