Below is the newsletter for October 7th, 2024. Please let me know if you can help with the newsletter so we can keep sending one out regularly.
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
POTA at Stinchecomb Wildlife Refuge, US-11222
Hello everyone, my name is Brandon KI5ZIR and I am a fellow member of the Edmond Amateur Radio Society. My interests within the hobby are DMR and other digital modes, portable field ops, and ARES. Today, I went out to Stinchcombe Wildlife Refuge in Bethany: POTA park US-11222.
For those who are new to the hobby and those who don’t know, POTA is an acronym for Parks On the Air. It is a system of historic and/or other points of interest throughout the US and elsewhere. The point of it is to get out of the shack and explore your surroundings, all whilst perfecting your skills as a radio operator. I would also like to note that I have learned things as a result of my observations working in the field.
POTA is but one of several “contests” out there with SOTA: Summits On the Air, JOTA: Jamboree On the Air, and others for one to get into. In order to say you “activated” the park, one must make at least 10 two way QSOs, and upload their log. It is completely based on the honor system. It is as simple as making a POTA account on the pota.app website, picking out a park within the POTA system, setting up shop, and making/logging the QSOs.
Pictured below are mine and fellow club member Dee’s KJ5FVI setups. I was operating SSB on the HF bands on my Icom 7100 whilst Dee was operating FT8 from his iPad and his Xiegu G90. We quickly figured out that Dee’s FT8 operation was causing RFI on my SSB phone contacts. I finished making the amount of QSOs I needed and relinquished the spot to Dee so he could continue making his contacts to “activate” the park.
I used a 10-40 meter end fed half wave strung up on my thirty some odd foot MFJ fiberglass mast secured to the grill guard on my truck and Dee used his truck mounted MFJ 10m vertical. Propagation being good, I made contacts with Sweden, Brazil, Washington state, Oregon and more while Dee had even more luck with DX making contact with Croatia, England, Ireland, and others. Ham radio is what you make of it and doesn’t just have to be at the home shack so get out there and explore!
73 my friends. 🙂
Brandon, KI5ZIR
EARS VHF Repeater – PL Tone Access Required Starting Saturday, October 12th
A number of months ago it was announced that the EARS 147.135 VHF repeater would start requiring a PL (CTCSS) tone of 79.7 at some point in the future. That time is now upon us.
The change is planned for 12pm on Saturday, October 12th. Even though tone has not been required to use the VHF repeater, it has been listed in all of the repeater directories for as long as I can remember. It is likely that many of you already have it programmed but now is a good time to check.
If you have any questions about this change, please let us know!
73
Steven, N5ZQ
n5zq@n5zq.us
Central Oklahoma Emergency Management Comm Drill
I would like to thank everyone who participated in the Central Oklahoma Emergency Management Comm Drill that was hosted by Logan County Emergency Management on September 25th. We had a total of 131 check-ins that came in from all the various methods. This is an important drill to make sure we are set up to effectively handle communication from the EOC when incidents occur.
WebEOC- Check In- 22
Cell Phone Text/ Call Check In’s- 34
Ham Radio Check In’s- 23
OKWIN- SEMA 4- Check In’s- 21
Email Check In’s- 31
Total Check In’s- 131
I would like to congratulate the Logan County Emergency Manager, Steven, KF5UFD, for coordinating a successful drill!
Steven, N5ZQ
Ham in a Day Class
Logan County hosted a ham in a day technician class on Saturday, September 28th. The class format is an all-day study session concluding in a test session late in the afternoon. We had a total of 24 class attendees. Out of those 24, 20 students passed!
The class included Logan County Deputies, Edmond Emergency Management, and Edmond 911 dispatcher and more. Be sure to congratulate these new hams when you hear them on the air!
Clay, WA6LBU
EARS October Board Meeting
EARS holds a monthly board meeting on the second Tuesday of each month. The next board meeting is tomorrow, Tuesday, October 8th at 7pm. The meeting is at Edmond Fire Station 5 in the training building down the hill by the tower. The blue pin on the map below shows the meeting location.
Fire Station 5 is located at 5300 E Covell Rd which is just East of I-35. If you need any help finding the meeting location, please give us a call on the repeater and we can help you out.
National Fire Prevention Week Special Event
National Fire Prevention week is this week, October 6-12, 2024. As in previous years, there will be amateur radio special event stations. The callsign for the 5 call area will be N5F.
Clay, WA6LBU, is the coordinator for the entire 5 call area this year. Please contact him at wa6lbu@gmail.com if you have any questions or if you would like to get scheduled to operate the special event station!
Tailgate – October 19th
There will be a tailgate on October 19th at 30 E Campbell from 8am to noon.
Texoma Hamarama (Ardmore Hamfest) – October 26, 2024
The 76th version of the Texoma Hamarama is October 26, 2024. Friday, the hamfest will open for flea market and vendor setup between noon and 5:00 pm. On Saturday, the hamfest opens at 8:00 a.m. (7:00 a.m. for flea market/vendor setup) and runs until 3:00 p.m. Registration entry tickets are $10 online and $12 at the door. Flea market/vendor tables are $15 ($20 at the door). Get your tickets online today at hamarama.org/.
The hamfest is located at the Ardmore Convention Center at 2401 N Rockford Rd, Ardmore, OK 73401. Take I-35 to exit 33 and head east for a block or so to reach N Rockford Rd. Turn south, and you will see the convention center on the right.
There will be the ARRL/ARES forums meeting and several other forums. The complete forum schedule is available at https://hamarama.org/.
We have free club tables for promoting your club; having one also gives you a place to roost and rest your feet.
SPECIAL Yaesu FTDX10 Operating Package Super Raffle
This special $20 super raffle ticket will give you a chance to win a spectacular $3,000+ Yaesu FTDX10 package. This package contains the radio, automatic tuner, antenna, coax, Vibroplex SRacer morse code key, and more. Buy your tickets online and get more information here. There will be a limited raffle. Only 300 tickets will be sold, and they are going fast. You do not have to be present to win.
This package contains the following:
- Yaesu FTDX10 Compact HF/50 MHz 100W SDR Transceivers
- TekPower TP30SWI 30 Amp DC 13.8V Power Supply
- Yaesu SP-30 Matching Speaker
- DXCommander Antenna
- Coax (50’)
- CAT Cable
- Vibroplex SRacer DLX Morse Code Key
All of this is assembled and ready to go. You’ll be able to run AM, CW, SSB, FM, and more. Connect your computer, and you can run FT8, FT4, Winlink, and more.
The winner of this prize does not have to be present to win, and the winner will be announced at the 2024 Texoma Hamarama Hamfest. Don’t miss it. See you there. Get your tickets today!
Forums on Saturday morning will start at 9:00 a.m. Topics scheduled are ARRL Forum with West Gulf Division Director John Stratton N5AUS and Oklahoma Section Manager Mark Kleine N5HZR; AUXCOM with Gayland Kitch WX5MOR; and lots more.
See you there!!!
Cycle 66
We will once again be helping with the Cycle 66 bike race which takes place on Sunday, November 3, 2024. This year there are multiple races of 10 miles, 33 miles, 66 miles, a kids route and criterium race. Our amateur volunteers are a fundamental part of insuring the success of this event. We will need a decent number of volunteers so please consider helping.
The volunteer form is now live! Please visit the Cycle 66 page on the website to volunteer!
If you have any questions, please contact Clay at wa6lbu@gmail.com.
Stockyards City Cowboy Christmas Parade
The 2024 Stockyards City Cowboy Christmas Parade is on Saturday, December 7, 2024, starting at 10am. Volunteers are needed from 8am to 11am, meeting at the northeast corner of Penn and Exchange, with an optional breakfast at 7am at Cattleman’s.
This is a short, easy parade that is great for newcomers and veterans alike. Less experienced volunteers will be paired with more experienced volunteers so don’t hesitate to sign up to help!
Please complete the sign up form on the Stockyards City Cowboy Christmas Parade page to volunteer.
Contact parades@k5eok.org for any questions.
Frankie, KE5KQL
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!
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.
Contests
Below are a few upcoming HF contests. The ARRL has a more complete list in their Contest Corral from QST which is available as a downloadable PDF file. You can also find a list of upcoming contests along with contest details at contestcalendar.com.
| National Fire Prevention Week Special Event | Oct 6 to Oct 12 |
| Nevada QSO Party | 0300Z, Oct 12 to 2100Z, Oct 13 |
| Arizona QSO Party | 1500Z, Oct 12 to 0500Z, Oct 13 |
| Pennsylvania QSO Party | 1600Z, Oct 12 to 0400Z, Oct 13 and 1300Z-2200Z, Oct 13 |
| South Dakota QSO Party | 1800Z, Oct 12 to 1800Z, Oct 13 |
| ARRL EME Contest | 0000Z, Oct 19 to 2359Z, Oct 20 |
| New York QSO Party | 1400Z, Oct 19 to 0200Z, Oct 20 |
| Illinois QSO Party | 1700Z, Oct 20 to 0100Z, Oct 21 |
| ARRL School Club Roundup | 1300Z, Oct 21 to 2359Z, Oct 25 |
| CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB | 0000Z, Oct 26 to 2359Z, Oct 27 |
| ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW | 2100Z, Nov 2 to 0300Z, Nov 4 |
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
- POTA (Parks on the Air) – https://pota.app
Upcoming Events
- EARS Information Net – Every Monday at 8pm
- Route 66 10m Net on 28.390 – Every Monday Following the Information Net
- EARS Breakfast – Every Saturday at approximately 6:30am at Around The Corner, 11 S. Broadway, Edmond
- Fall Technician Class – Starts August 27th on Zoom – Register on Technician License Class page
- National Fire Prevention Week Special Event – October 6-12
- October Board Meeting – Tuesday, October 8th at 7pm at Edmond Fire Station 5, 5300 E Covell
- Tone Required on 147.135 VHF Repeater – Saturday, October 12th at 12pm
- EARS Dinner – Thursday, October 17th at 6:30pm – Location TBD
- Tailgate – Saturday, October 19th at 30 E Campbell from 8am to noon
- Texoma Hamarama – October 26th in Ardmore
- EARS Licensing Testing – Saturday, November 2nd – Sign Up on License Testing page
- Edmond Siren Test – Saturday, November 2nd at 11:30am
- Cycle 66 – Sunday, November 3rd
- Stockyards City Cowboy Christmas Parade – Saturday, December 7th – Sign Up on the Christmas Parade Page
