Below is the newsletter for January 13, 2025. I would love to include your original content. If you have written, or would like to write an article, it would be great to include it in the EARS newsletter.
Steven Christy, N5ZQ
n5zq@n5zq.us
General Licensing Class
I am excited to announce that EARS will be hosting a General License Class starting on January 28th. The class will meet online using the Zoom platform on Tuesday evenings from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. The class will meet on three Mondays to avoid conflicts with board meetings. There is no cost for the class except for the purchase of the ARRL General Class License Manual 10th Edition, which is the book that will be used, and the VE exam fees.
All of the class details, along with the sign-up form, are available on the General Licensing Class page on the EARS website. If you have been wanting to upgrade to General, this class is for you!
Harvey, W0HGJ
class@k5eok.org
January Elmer Session
Starting on January 14th, EARS will be holding a training and Elmer session prior to the monthly board meeting. Regardless of whether you are a newer or a more seasoned ham, we will have a short monthly topic that should help provide you with some good information. Following the brief presentation, there will be time to ask questions to help further your journey in amateur radio.
The first session will take place on Tuesday, January 14th at 6pm at Edmond Fire Station 5. The address is 5300 E Covell Rd. The presentation topic will be Field Day. Please make plans to attend!
John, N5RET
help@k5eok.org
January Board Meeting
EARS holds a monthly board meeting on the second Tuesday of each month. The next board meeting is Tuesday, January 14th 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.
All Ham Dinner Thursday!
New Location!!! Many years ago, the amateur radio clubs in the Oklahoma City area started an event that is now known as the “All Ham Dinner.” This dinner allows about 70 hams to get together, eat dinner, and communicate with each other. This dinner happens on the second Thursday of May and the third Thursday of January and September at 6:00 p.m.
We Have MOVED!!! — 1/16/2025 – Thursday’s Dinner
The next All Ham Dinner will be held Thursday, January 16, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. This dinner will be at Pickles Steakhouse, 1201 S Meridian, Oklahoma City, OK 73120. Map to Location — Click Here. No RSVP is needed; show up, get your meal, and join the fun in their banquet room.
At this meeting, we’ll talk about the upcoming Ada, Elk City, Altus, Green Country, Ham Holiday, Texoma Hamarama, and Enid hamfests, and the start of the OKCMM 2025!
Stay in touch with the OKC Memorial Marathon on the https://coraok.org/marathon/ webpage and the Facebook group for us to stay in-touch throughout the year and to keep up to date on what’s happening with the upcoming event. It’s also a great place to share your photos and check out what others have done with their OKCMM setups! Join us, and post your pictures today, at https://facebook.com/groups/okcmmauxcomm/ — Mark N5HZR
Sponsoring Clubs
To spread the load, and fun, of hosting these dinners, the member clubs of CORA take turns organizing the event. Each club sponsors one about every two years. The hosting club selects the location and makes the arrangements with a restaurant to host the 60 or so people that show up. Also, the host club makes a presentation and then facilitates a round-robin discussion by all clubs. Each club presents its recent activities or asks for assistance at a future event.
This meeting is sponsored by the Aeronautical Center Amateur Radio Club (ACARC). The sponsoring club sets up the logistics for the evening and emcees the event. Activities from each club in attendance are discussed to provide information exchange among groups.
Future Dinner Dates
- January 16, 2025 – ACARC
- May 15, 2025 – OCAPA
- September 18, 2025 – Mid-Del
- January 15, 2026 – EARS
- May 14, 2026 – SCARS
See you there!
Logan County ARES
The next Logan County ARES meeting is Saturday, January 18th at 9am. We meet in the Sheriff’s Office training room at 219 S. Broad St. in Guthrie. This meeting we plan to spread out to various areas of Logan County to see if we can get back to the EOC via simplex.
Everyone is welcome!
Steven, N5ZQ
ARRL January VHF Contest This Weekend
Happy New Year everyone,
I’m Marcus, N5ZY, and I want to encourage everyone to join us on the air as a non-contesting station (NCS) for the ARRL January VHF Contest this weekend, January 18-19, 202513. This “VHF Activity Weekend” offers a great opportunity to break the winter doldrums and test your VHF skills2.
Contest Details:
- Starts: Saturday, January 18 at 1:00 PM Local Time (1900 UTC)
- Ends: Sunday, January 19 at 9:59 PM Local Time (0359 UTC Monday)5
- Bands: 6m, 2m, and up1
- Exchange: Callsign and 4-character grid square
Participation Tips:
- Monitor 6m phone or FT8, and the national simplex freq 146.52 FM and 446 FM.
- Test your VHF base or mobile station’s range without repeaters!
- Test programming your VFO, turning off Squelch and horizontal vs vertical polarization
- You don’t have to compete or log contacts – casual participation is welcome!
- Peak activity: Saturday afternoon/evening and Sunday morning around 9 AM
- Various contest entry classes, including “Low Power”, “FM Only”, and “2m Only”5
This contest is an excellent chance to improve your VHF skills, despite the weaker winter sporadic E propagation. Several base stations and Rovers will be seeking contacts.
For my plans, view my blog at n5zy.org. You can track my location using APRS.FI.
I plan to start at Magazine Mountain, Arkansas, potentially reaching OKC across 260 miles with my 2m 7-element yagi and SSB.
Good luck and 73!
Marcus, N5ZY
Winter Field Day
Winter Field Day is coming up the weekend of January 25-26. This is a winter emergency preparedness exercise similar to the summer ARRL Field Day we all know and love. This exercise is similar but it is not run by the ARRL so there are a few differences in the rules but it is a great way to test our skills during the winter months.
The Logan County ARES group is participating on Saturday, January 27th from the Logan County Sheriff’s training room at 219 S. Broad St in Guthrie. We will be setting up two stations on emergency power with antennas to be determined. While the event runs from 10am Saturday to 4pm Sunday, we will only be operating for a few hours on Saturday. The exact times are still to be determined.
Everyone is invited to attend and we would love to see you there!
If you have any question, please contact myself, Steven, N5ZQ (n5zq@n5zq.us) or Clay, WA6LBU (wa6lbu@gmail.com).
Green Country Hamfest
Pre-Reregistration is OPEN!
2025 Green Country Hamfest – April 11th& 12th in Claremore, Oklahoma.
Only 30 minutes from Tulsa!
Claremore Expo, 400 Veterans Parkway, Claremore, OK, 74017
MAP: https://goo.gl/maps/X9kEa
Talk-in on: 147.09+
Free Parking!!! – Low Cost ON-SITE RV Parking!
Terrific Prizes! Fantastic Forums – Learn something new! See
Flea Market – Great Bargains!
Free Test Table – Check It Before You Buy It!
On-site VE Testing Get or upgrade your license!
Advance admission is $8.00.
Preregistered Tables are $15.00 each.
Commercial booths are $50.00 each.
Tickets are $10.00 at the door.
Tables are $20.00 at the door.
Order early and save!
Online Preregistration Closes
March 31, 2025
Children 12 and under are Free!
Friday open to public at 4 PM to 9 PM
Saturday open to public 8 AM to 3 PM
Setup Friday 12:00PM.
Setup at 7:00AM Saturday until 8:00AM.
More info at http://www.greencountryhamfest.org/
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.
| North American QSO Party, SSB | 1800Z, Jan 18 to 0559Z, Jan 19 |
| ARRL January VHF Contest | 1900Z, Jan 18 to 0359Z, Jan 20 |
| Winter Field Day | 1600Z, Jan 25 to 2159Z, Jan 26 |
| Vermont QSO Party | 0000Z, Feb 1 to 2400Z, Feb 2 |
| Minnesota QSO Party | 1400Z-2400Z, Feb 1 |
| British Columbia QSO Party | 1600Z, Feb 1 to 0359Z, Feb 2 and 1600Z-2359Z, Feb 2 |
| ARRL School Club Roundup | 1300Z, Feb 10 to 2359Z, Feb 14 |
| ARRL Inter. DX Contest, CW | 0000Z, Feb 15 to 2400Z, Feb 16 |
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
- January Elmer Session and Training – Tuesday, January 14th at 6pm at Edmond Fire Station 5, 5300 E Covell
- January Board Meeting – Tuesday, January 14th at 7pm at Edmond Fire Station 5, 5300 E Covell
- All Ham Dinner – Thursday, January 16th, at 6:00pm at Pickles Steakhouse, 1201 S Meridian Ave, Oklahoma City, OK 73108
- Logan County ARES Meeting – Saturday, January 18th at 9am, 219 S. Broad St., Guthrie
- Winter Field Day – January 25th to 26th
- EARS Licensing Testing – Saturday, February 1st – Sign Up on License Testing page
- Edmond Siren Test – Saturday, February 1st at 11:30am
- Green Country Hamfest – April 11th and 12th
