Below is the newsletter for May 5, 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
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. The info below was sent out via email a couple of days ago. Please let me know ASAP if you are able to help in any of these capacities. There is also a form on the Field Day page where you can let us know how you are able to help.
Good evening, my name is Rick and I am in the process of organizing the Field Day Event for this summer. I am working with others at this time to find a location for the event. I am also wanting to reach out to everyone on filling positions for the event. I placed a list below of who I have so far for positions. Just to let you know, I am using ICS to plan this event.
IC: Rick Gorman (KE5UFW)
Deputy IC: Steven Christy (N5ZQ)
Safety Officer / WX: Gary Stillman (AE5GS)
PSC: (Planning) Rick Gorman (KE5UFW)
– Situation Unit: ?
LSC: (Logistics / get stuff) ?
– Food Unit: DeeAnna Adams-Gorman
– Comm Equipment Unit: ?
OSC: (Event Operations) ?
– Comm Leaders: (3 shifts) ?
– Education Unit: ?
– Member/Visitor Unit: ?
FASC: (Finance / Admin) ?
PAO: (Public Relations) ?
Previous participants at last year’s event.
Below is a list of individuals that volunteered last year at the event. I wanted to know if they want to participate again this year. You do not have to do the same thing as last year.
Computers:
Harvey – W0HGJ
John – N5RET
Raymond – K5RAG
Radios: ()
IC-7600 – KM5GZ
IC-7700 – EARS
TS-590SG – WA6LBU
IC-7300 – WC5B
Dinner:
Randy – KG5GOV
Kari – K5LST
Power:
Carl – KI5ENF
Please let me know as soon as possible if you want to participate.
Thank you very much,
Rick, KE5UFW
fieldday@k5eok.org
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
May Board Meeting
EARS holds a monthly board meeting on the second Tuesday of each month. The next board meeting is Tuesday, May 13th 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.
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)
Friday, July 4th 6:00am to 12:00pm
Fireworks (E.C. Hafer Park – 1034 S. Bryant)
Friday, 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.
| Canadian Prairies QSO Party | 1700Z, May 10 to 0300Z, May 11 |
| Arkansas QSO Party | 1400Z, May 17 to 0200Z, May 18 |
| Atlantic Canada QSO Party | 1200Z, Jun 7 to 0200Z, Jun 8 |
| Kentucky QSO Party | 1300Z, June 7 to 0100Z, Jun 8 |
| ARRL Inter. Digital Contest | 1800Z, Jun 7 to 2400Z, Jun 8 |
| Field Day | Jun 28 to Jun 29 |
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
- 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
- EARS Licensing Testing – Saturday, June 7th – Sign Up on License Testing page
- Edmond Siren Test – Saturday, June 7th at 11:30am – Send email to sirens@k5eok.org
- 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
