Author: Andrew

President of Cumberland Amateur Radio Club. Website Author and Administrator.

How Do I… Article *** I Operate CW

Posted on by Andrew

Greetings,

For almost as long as I have been maintaining this website, the Vice President of our Club has been hounding me, as well as other club members, to join with him and write a How Do I… article.  He generously offered several topics.  There was one topic that pretty much had my name written all over it.  I took the bait.

The nature of this article is intended to be humorous.  I hope that fact will be self-evident when you set your eyes on Page 1, but sometimes I just have to prepare the reader for what comes next.   For those reasons I decided against posting such a light-hearted text among all the serious stuff that has been posted on our RESOURCES page.     

Here it is, a downloadable PDF called: I Operate CW

Enjoy.

•  Author:  Andrew Forsyth  AF3I

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CARC Net Check-Ins — February 17-20, 2019

Posted on by Andrew

CARC Net Check-ins

Two-Meter Net ** Sunday February 17, 2019

KB3PQT, Frank     Net Control Station    Frank was the CARC NET BINGO Winner Tonight.

KC3AB, Doug

W3ZIF, Royal

N3FWE, Steve

AF3I, Andy

 

Ten-Meter Net ** Wednesday February 20, 2019

K3EYK, Garry     Net Control Station     Garry was the CARC NET BINGO Winner Tonight

WA3BKK, Bobbe

K3EYL, Harry

N3EPY, Richard

AF3I, Andy

We held the Ten Meter Net Tonight because our Face-To-Face Meeting, normally scheduled on this date, fell on hard times as a result of Winter Storm PETRA along with the storm’s Snow, Sleet, Freezing Rain, and Rain.  We rescheduled the F2F one week later, on February 27, 2019.

If you check into the Cumberland Amateur Radio Club net and would like to participate in the CALLSIGN BINGO game but you do not yet have a BINGO Card, Andy Forsyth will play a card for you.  Pick up a card at our next meeting.  Or, by request, Andy Forsyth will mail a card to you.

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FLASH ! — CARC February 20 Meeting Has Been Rescheduled to February 27, 2019

Posted on by Andrew

BAD WEATHER IS FORECAST FOR WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 20, 2019

CARC FACE-TO-FACE MEETING HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED ONE WEEK LATER

SAME TIME — 6 p.m. for Dinner.   7:30 p.m. for Meeting

SAME PLACE — Hoss’s Steak and Sea House,  61 Gettysburg Pike, Mechanicsburg, PA

SAME AGENDA — The same meeting topics as you see on our webpage   

DIFFERENT DATE — WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 27, 2019 

IF YOU HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO DO THE EVENING OF FEBRUARY 20, 2019 PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING OUR TEN METER NET

Tune your Ham Radio Transceiver to 28.400 Mhz, Upper Sideband at 8:00 p.m. local time.

•  Author:  Andrew Forsyth, AF3I

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CARC Net Check-Ins — February 10-13, 2019

Posted on by Andrew

CARC Net Check-ins

Two-Meter Net ** Sunday February 10, 2019

KB3PQT, Frank     Net Control Station    Frank was the CARC NET BINGO Winner Tonight.

KC3AB, Doug

W3ZIF, Royal

N3FWE, Steve

AF3I, Andy

KC3MRX, Steve

 

Ten-Meter Net ** Wednesday February 13, 2019

K3EYK, Garry    Net Control Station

WA3BKK, Bobbe   Bobbe was the CARC NET BINGO Winner Tonight.

K3EYL, Harry

N8QVT, Valli

WB3IOA, Lance

AF3I, Andy

 

The BINGO game we are playing is based on the callsigns of those who check-in to the net.  For added excitement we draw a CARC Member callsign from the Pickled Okra Jar each time the net discussion passes to the next participant.

We play the traditional Horizontal, Vertical, and Diagonal 5-box straight lines.  In addition, we play the Four Corners, Small Diamond (four squares around the FREE space), Large Diamond (4 squares a little farther out from the FREE space) , and any of the Postage Stamps (4 in a square with one of them being the corner square).

If you attended our January 16, 2019 meeting you had the opportunity to pickup a CARC NET BINGO card.  If you were unable to attend that meeting, of if at that time you did not realize how much fun this activity was going to be, please contact Andy Forsyth to request a CARC BINGO NET card (two on one sheet of paper).  

If you check into the net and would like to participate in the BINGO game but you do not yet have a BINGO Card, Andy Forsyth will play a card for you.

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Logging Software. Part of the How Do I… series — February 3, 2019

Posted on by Andrew

Introducing a new article in the How Do I… series

One of the newest downloadable articles in the How Do I… series is available to you. 

Watch the video to hear an introduction of the topic about which Frank Mellott, KB3PQT has written.

Follow this link to download the PDF version of Frank’s article Logging Software Please enjoy.

 

CARC Net Check-Ins — February 3 -6, 2019

Posted on by Andrew

CARC Two-Meter Net Check-Ins      Sunday February 3, 2019

§  Frank, KB3PQT  Net Control Station

§  Royal, W3ZIF

§  Steve, N3FWE

§  Andy, AF3I

§  Steve, KC3MRX  Welcome Steve — First Check-In using the new license.  Steve is the winner of our CARC NET BINGO tonight.

 

CARC Ten-Meter Net Check-Ins      Wednesday February 6, 2019

§  Garry, K3EYK  Net Control Station

§  Bobbe, WA3BKK

§  Andy, AF3I

 

•  Author:  Andrew Forsyth, AF3I

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CARC Net Check-Ins — January 27-30, 2019

Posted on by Andrew

CARC Two-Meter Net Check-Ins      Sunday January 27, 2019   146.490 Mhz FM Simplex

§  Frank, KB3PQT  Net Control Station

§  Royal, W3ZIF

§  Steve, N3FWE   Steve was our CARC NET BINGO Winner tonight with a diagonal of 4 callsigns plus the FREE space.

§  Doug, KC3AB

§  Andy, AF3I

§  KC3GEM Mobile joined us at the tail-end of tonight’s session.  We are glad you could hear us, and vice versa.

 

CARC Ten-Meter Net Check-Ins      Wednesday January 30, 2019   28.400 Mhz Upper Sideband

 

§ Garry, K3EYK  Net Control Station

§ Bobbe, WA3BKK   Bobbe was our CARC NET BINGO Winner tonight

§ Lance, WB3IOA

§ Andy, AF3I

•  Author:  Andrew Forsyth, AF3I

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General Interest — January 21, 2019

Posted on by Andrew

Ham Operators Have Other Hobbies As Well

I noticed a lot of my Ham Radio friends have a keen interest in trains.   There must be a reason.  Let’s save that line of thought for some other day.

For my entire life (so far) trains have always “been there”.  And they have always looked pretty much the same.

When I drive to work in the morning many times I am greeted by a Norfolk Southern pulling a big load.  At the risk of appearing paranoid, I think that train knows my schedule because many times I meet him again at the same grade crossing on my way home late at night.

Frank Mellott, KB3PQT is the biggest rail fan that I know.  He sat down and wrote us a nice article about trains and how Ham Radio Operators can leverage aspects of one hobby to increase their enjoyment of their other hobby.

Here are the opening paragraphs of Frank’s article in the How Do I… series — Playing With Trains.

I love hobbies that cross over. Finding time and money for one hobby is tough enough.
But when that time or money can help you enjoy two or more hobbies, it makes it so
much easier to justify it!

I am a railfan. I’ve been one for over 35 years. I read once that a true “train nut” has
10,000 photos. Let’s just say I have more.  And that was in in the pre digital camera
days.  I started with the classical “train set under the Christmas tree” when I was in first
grade and never looked back.

Thank you for that introduction, Frank.

If you would like to read the entire article click on the first link below. 

Frank also shared with us a list of channelized frequencies used by the train crews.  Many of these frequencies are adjacent to the popular Ham Radio Two-Meter Band.  Many Ham Radio Two-Meter transceivers are capable of receiving the frequencies that Frank lists in the second link below.

The Norfolk Southern train tracks are about a mile from my home.  Last night, after reading Frank’s article, I tuned my Two-Meter Transceiver to the frequencies Frank mentioned.  I set the radio to SCAN and waited to hear some conversations.  Sure enough, there was a bit of discussion taking place.  I enjoyed exploring the train frequencies.

Download: Playing With Trains [PDF]

Download: AAR Railroad Frequencies [PDF]

I hope you enjoy reading what Frank has written.  If so, tell your friends.  If not, tell me what I should improve.

• Author:  Andrew Forsyth, AF3I

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CARC Net Check-ins — January 20-23, 2019

Posted on by Andrew

CARC Net Check-ins

Ten-Meter Net ** Wednesday January 23, 2019

K3EYK, Garry    Net Control Station

AF3I, Andy

WA3BKK, Bobbe

K3EYL, Harry

N8QVT, Valli

 

Two-Meter Net ** Sunday January 20, 2019

KB3PQT, Frank     Net Control Station

W3ZIF, Royal

AF3I, Andy

 

This was the first CARC Net Session for our CARC BINGO NET activity.  However, three check-ins did not provide sufficient material to make a winning bingo card.  We will do this again next Sunday on the 2 Meter Net.  The Wednesday 10 Meter Net is participating as well.

The game we are playing is based on the callsigns of those who check-in to the net.

We play the traditional Horizontal, Vertical, and Diagonal 5-box straight lines.  In addition, we play the Four Corners, Small Diamond (four squares around the FREE space), Large Diamond (4 squares a little farther out from the FREE space) , and any of the Postage Stamps (4 in a square with one of them being the corner square).

If you attended our January 16 meeting you had the opportunity to pickup a CARC BINGO NET card.  If you were unable to attend that meeting, of if at that time you did not realize how much fun this activity was going to be, please contact Andy Forsyth to request a CARC BINGO NET card (two on one sheet of paper).

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How-To — January 18, 2019

Posted on by Andrew

How Do I Write a How Do I… Article?

William Shakespeare, Herman Melville, Mark Twain, Sinclair Lewis, Upton Sinclair, Aldous Huxley,
F. Scott Fitzgerald, Rachel Carlson, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Barbara W. Tuchman, Anne Frank, Robert McCloskey, Elizabeth Guilfoile, Maya Angelou, Frank Mellott, You!.

If you would like to create content for the CARC website you can be in the company of those famous authors named above.  All you need to do is…

Navigate over to the RESOURCES page,   Scroll around until you find the Headline SOMETHING NEW AND DIFFERENT.  There you will find the full article from which the above “teaser” was extracted.  Read the PDF version first.  If you envision yourself someday having a Pulitzer Prize on your desk then download the DOCX version as well.  It is the starting point in terms of the document layout.  What you write is up to you.  Good Luck!

•Author:  Andrew Forsyth,  AF3I

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Congratulations — January 17, 2019

Posted on by Andrew

Cumberland Amateur Radio Club   International Grid Chase Results

It is my pleasure to report about the On-The-Air achievements of so many Cumberland Amateur Radio Club members.

=================

Frank Mellott, KB3PQT provided the material in this section.

Leadership of the Cumberland Amateur Radio Club (CARC) is pleased to announce that seven members participated in the ARRL International Grid Chase Challenge in 2018.  This year long contest  attracted 44,964 international users of the ARRL Logbook of The World (LOTW) software application and database.

In conjunction with the contest, CARC members competed against each other to see who could achieve the highest score based on six criteria:

  1. Contacts made
  2. Individual Maidenhead grid squares confirmed
  3. The highest monthly national ranking overall on the IGC Leaderboard
  4. Bonus points for being ranked in the top 10% monthly on the IGC Leaderboard
  5. Bonus points for being the highest ranked overall on the IGC Leaderboard
  6. Bonus points for having the most, 2nd-most and 3rd-most QSO’s (contacts)

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Thank you, Frank.

Frank Mellott, KB3PQT tallied a ton of data that he harvested from the ARRL International Grid Chase site.  Frank also created a scoring system for our internal purposes.  The outcome of all that database analysis and mathematics is that Frank scored 800 on the CARC Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) for Math and another 800 for Verbal.  I think that qualifies Frank for membership in the National Honor Society.  Thank you for your efforts, Frank.

Did someone say — Show us the results?  Yes.  I have the results.  Here they come, 

CARC Grand Award goes to Roger Wheeler K3SU for placing highest among CARC Members.

CARC High Scorer also goes to Roger Wheeler K3SU.

CARC Tortoise Award goes to Andy Forsyth AF3I in recognition of slow and steady performance through the year.

CARC Second Place Award goes to Andy Forsyth AF3I because of the cumulative effect of his slow and steady pace.

CARC Third Place Award was presented to Richard Johnson N3EPY.

The first CARC Participation Award went to Steve Hancock N3FWE.

The second CARC Participation Award was earned by Frank Mellott KB3PQT.

The third CARC Participation Award is with Ed LeTersky KB3RKM.

Congratulations to all who participated in the ARRL International Grid Chase and who placed in the upper tiers of our rankings.

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Notification — January 16, 2019

Posted on by Andrew

Members Area Access Update

The password for authorized user access to the Member Area and Member Photos pages has been changed.

If you received your new CARC Membership Card at the January 16, 2019 meeting you will find the new password on the back of the card.  If you are a Club Member who did not attend the January 2019 meeting and if you would like to access those pages sooner than we can get your membership card to you please email AF3I@RadioClub-CARC.com requesting the new password.

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News — January 09, 2019

Posted on by Andrew

Coming Soon

Be one of the first to get in on this special activity brought to you as only CARC can do.

This is not your Aunt Edna’s BINGO game.

Come to the January 16, 2019 meeting to get your cards.

Tell your friends.

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