Below is the newsletter for April 21, 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
April Mentoring Session
Here are pictures from the EARS Mentoring session on April 8th preceding the monthly Board Meeting at FireStation#5 in Edmond. There was a good turnout for the presentation followed by hands on displays. The presenter was a last minute substitute due to a work commitment, so many thanks!
David, KI5VJR
Field Day 2025
Field Day 2025 is coming up on the weekend of June 28-29. Be sure to mark this weekend down on your calendar. We are currently working through plans so stay tuned for more details in the next couple of weeks!
Rick, KE5UFW
May 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 Tuesday, May 13th at 6pm at Edmond Fire Station 5. The address is 5300 E Covell Rd. Brandon, KI5ZIR, will be making a presentation about FT8 followed by time to ask questions about anything related to ham radio. We look forward to seeing you there!
John, N5RET
help@k5eok.org
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.
| 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 |
| 10-10 Int. Spring Contest, CW | 0001Z, May 3 to 2359Z, May 4 |
| 7th Call Area QSO Party | 1300Z, May 3 to 0700Z, May 4 |
| Indiana QSO Party | 1500Z, May 3 to 0300Z, May 4 |
| Delaware QSO Party | 1700Z, May 3 to 2359Z, May 4 |
| New England QSO Party | 2000Z, May 3 to 0500Z, May 4 and 1300Z-2400Z, May 4 |
| Canadian Prairies QSO Party | 1700Z, May 10 to 0300Z, May 11 |
| Arkansas QSO Party | 1400Z, May 17 to 0200Z, May 18 |
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
- OKC Memorial Marathon – April 26th and 27th – Sign Up at https://coraok.org/signup/
- EARS Licensing Testing – Saturday, May 3rd – Sign Up on License Testing page
- Edmond Siren Test – Saturday, May 3rd at 11:30am – Send email to sirens@k5eok.org
- May Mentoring Session and Training – Tuesday, May 13th at 6pm at Edmond Fire Station 5, 5300 E Lovell
- May Board Meeting – Tuesday, May 13th at 7pm at Edmond Fire Station 5, 5300 E Covell
- All Ham Dinner – Thursday, May 22, 2025 at 6:00pm at Pickles Steakhouse, 1201 S Meridian Ave, Oklahoma City, OK 73108
- 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
