Below is the newsletter for March 24, 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
Edmond Tower Update
Earlier in the month I shared an update on the new Edmond public safety radio system tower. Once complete, both of our repeaters will be moving to the new site. I previously shared the photo below.
These are the legs that are part of the foundation for the 400-foot self-supporting tower. Here is a little more information about the foundation. The concrete pad is 46-feet by 46-feet and 3-feet deep which comes to around 108 cubic yards. It sits on the pedestals (pictured above) which are 5-feet in diameter and 10-feet deep.
This is a really exciting project. Stay tuned for updates as they continue to make progress!
Steven, N5ZQ
April Siren Test
The next Edmond Siren Test is Saturday, April 5th. Please let Clay know if you have an assigned siren and you are unavailable to help this month. I could use a few people to adopt a siren so please also let me know if you are able to do so. If you would like to be added to the list to help, or if you have any questions, please send an email to Clay, WA6LBU, at sirens@k5eok.org.
April Mentoring Session
EARS has started 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 next session will take place on Tuesday, April 8th at 6pm at Edmond Fire Station 5. The address is 5300 E Covell Rd. Clay, WA6LBU, will be making a presentation about propagation followed by time to ask questions about anything related to ham radio. Clay is a definitely a subject matter expert on propagation so you won’t want to miss it!
propagation
John, N5RET
help@k5eok.org
April Board Meeting
EARS holds a monthly board meeting on the second Tuesday of each month. The next board meeting is Tuesday, April 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.
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/
OKC Memorial Marathon
Volunteer registration is open for the 2025 Marathon. You can sign up at this link: https://coraok.org/signup/
The Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon was organized to be a Run To Remember for those who died, those who survived, and those whose lives were changed forever, in the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in 1995. It is usually held on the last Sunday of April each year. This year, it will be April 26th and 27th, 2025.
Operations and Duty Stations
This year, 60+ amateur radio operators are needed to cover the entire course with public service communications. We have operators that operate in all of these locations:
- at each of the 16 medical tents on the course
- this year, there will be no relay races, so those positions aren’t available
- net control operators
- five SAG vehicles
- five water and ice trucks
- in the lead vehicle for the full and half marathons
- tail-end Charlie following the last runner
- operators at the “kids’ corral” at the end of the kids’ race
- radio observers along the “last mile”
- operators on Saturday for medical tent operations, lost parents, and other positions
- operators at the Regional Emergency Operations Center in OKC
- running in the race
- and other assignments that may be needed.
Registration
Volunteer registration is now open at this link: https://coraok.org/signup/. You can join the OKC Memorial Marathon (OCMM) AUXCOMM group by clicking here to keep up with the current activities, share your pictures and experiences, or get more information there. You can also get added to the email list by emailing mkleine@live.com. Be a part of this exciting amateur radio community event.
Pre-Brief Meeting
A pre-brief meeting will be held for all amateur radio operator volunteers on April 21st at the OKC Fire Training Center, 820 N Portland, Oklahoma City, 73107. At this meeting, T-shirts, credential packets (for those in the downtown area), frequency cards, and other necessary information will be distributed.
Daily Schedules
The Saturday race day usually begins at about 0600 with an on-site check-in, and operators will be released by 1200. The Saturday races include the 5K Race, Senior Marathon, Kids Marathon, Health & Fitness Expo, and Finish Line Festival.
The Sunday race day usually begins at about 0600 with an on-site check-in, and most operators should be released by 1400. It is an enriching experience to see and assist runners from all over the world. Sunday’s races include the Marathon, Half Marathon, Quarter Marathon, and Finish Line Festival.
Most radio operators need a good mobile or base unit with an external antenna. Depending on your assigned location, an HT with an external antenna, spare battery packs, or an external power supply may also work. Please visit your designated area and test your radios with the repeaters used. No experience is necessary. You will be placed with an experienced operator if you’re new to this activity. Stay flexible and able to adapt to course changes and changes in the weather (hot, cold, rain, hail, wind, etc.). Make sure you follow the marathon communications plan.
Odds and Ends
Again this year, there will be a NO WEAPONS policy—open or concealed—for any part of the marathon.
This is the primary fundraiser for the Oklahoma National Memorial and Museum. It usually raises about 1 million dollars annually, with about 25,000 entrants expected in 2025. The amateur radio community contributes over $65,000 in volunteer time and equipment to the museum annually.
As we are officially members of the OCMM operation, we will all have a background check as part of the registration. Please fill out all the boxes as you sign up to expedite the process. Please send any special needs and/or comments to mkleine@live.com.
Sign up today and get in on the fun!
LibertyFest
LibertyFest has been named one of the Top 10 July 4th Festivals in the United States by CNN and USA Today and it happens every summer right here in Edmond, Oklahoma. The Edmond Amateur Radio Society (EARS) is a key volunteer organization for this event and we rely on a dedicated group of licensed radio operators (and others not yet licensed) to help support it over multiple days. In short — we need you!
The 2025 LibertyFest events requiring volunteer support, with the time commitment, included:
Rodeo (Carl Benne Arena – 300 N. Kelly)
Friday & Saturday, June 27th & 28th 4:00pm to 11:00pm
Car Show and Park Fest (E.C. Hafer Park – 1034 S. Bryant)
Saturday June 28th 6:30am to 12:30pm
Parade (Downtown Edmond)
Thursday, July 4th 6:00am to 12:00pm
Fireworks (E.C. Hafer Park – 1034 S. Bryant)
Thursday, July 4th 5:00pm to 11:00pm
For more information or questions, please contact Brandy K5GBN at parades@k5eok.org. To learn more about LibertyFest 2025, visit the celebration’s web page at www.libertyfest.org.
Please visit the LibertyFest page on the EARS website for the sign-up form!
Frankie, KE5KQL
Ham Holiday
Ham Holiday is our local Oklahoma City hamfest. If you are not familiar with a hamfest, a definition from the ham holiday website is below.
“A hamfest is a meeting of people interested in Amateur Radio. Hamfests offer exhibits, forums, amateur radio testing, and fleamarkets for Amateur Radio operators or ‘hams.'”
Ham Holiday takes place on July 25-26, 2025 at Oklahoma City Community College, 7777 S. May, Oklahoma City. All of the details can be found on the Ham Holiday website.
Please make plans to attend!
Steven, N5ZQ
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.
| Sasquatch Stomp (CW) | 1900Z, Mar 28 to 0300Z, Mar 29 |
| Georgia State Parks on the Air | 1200Z, Apr 5 to 2359Z, Apr 6 |
| Louisiana QSO Party | 1400Z, Apr 5 to 0200Z, Apr 6 |
| Mississippi QSO Party | 1400Z, Apr 5 to 0200Z, Apr 6 |
| Missouri QSO Party | 1400Z, Apr 5 to 0400Z, Apr 6 and 1400Z-2000Z, Apr 6 |
| Florida State Parks on the Air | 1400Z-2200Z, Apr 5 and 1400Z-2200Z, Apr 6 |
| Texas State Parks on the Air | 1300Z, Apr 12 to 1259Z, Apr 13 |
| New Mexico QSO Party | 1400Z, Apr 12 to 0200Z, Apr 13 |
| Georgia QSO Party | 1800Z, Apr 12 to 0359Z, Apr 13 and 1400Z-2359Z, Apr 13 |
| North Dakota QSO Party | 1800Z, Apr 12 to 1800Z, Apr 13 |
| ARRL Rookie Roundup, SSB | 1800Z-2359Z, Apr 13 |
| Worked All Provinces of China DX Contest | 0600Z, Apr 19 to 0559Z, Apr 20 |
| Nebraska QSO Party | 1100Z to 2259Z, Apr 19 |
| Michigan QSO Party | 1600Z, Apr 19 to 0400Z, Apr 20 |
| Ontario QSO Party | 1800Z, Apr 19 to 0500Z, Apr 20 and 1200Z-1800Z, Apr 20 |
| Quebec QSO Party | 1200Z-2200Z, Apr 20 |
| 10-10 Int. Spring Contest, Digital | 0001Z, Apr 26 to 2359Z, Apr 27 |
| Florida QSO Party | 1600Z, Apr 26 to 0159Z, Apr 27 and 1200Z-2159Z, Apr 27 |
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
- EARS Breakfast Net – Every Saturday at 7am on 147.135 and 443.425
- Altus Hamfest – March 29th – https://ok.arrl.org/hamfests/altus/
- EARS Licensing Testing – Saturday, April 5th – Sign Up on License Testing page
- Edmond Siren Test – Saturday, April 5th at 11:30am
- April Mentoring Session and Training – Tuesday, April 8th at 6pm at Edmond Fire Station 5, 5300 E Lovell
- April Board Meeting – Tuesday, April 8th at 7pm at Edmond Fire Station 5, 5300 E Covell
- Green Country Hamfest – April 11th and 12th
- OKC Memorial Marathon – April 26th and 27th – Sign Up at https://coraok.org/signup/
- ARRL Field Day – June 28-29, 2025 – Details coming soon!
- Edmond LibertyFest Events – June 27th, 28th, July 4th – Details and Signup at https://k5eok.org/libertyfest/
- Ham Holiday – July 25th and 26th – Details at hamholiday.com
