Author: Andrew
Original Post Date: March 05, 2021
Document Excerpt:
How well do you know your CARC colleagues? You see them on Zoom. You chat on-the-air. Their eMail shows up in your in-box now and then. But, do you really KNOW them? Several of our most active members have contributed their Member Profile. Follow the link to see who they are. If you are inclined to put pen to paper we will publish your profile here as well.
Complete Document:
Can be found here.
Original Post Date: November 22, 2021
Document Excerpt:
Our incoming President has some ideas about more fully engaging more members in the operation of the club. One of the keys to making this work is to have all the information they may need in one, easy-to-access, location. With that theme as my inspiration, I have created the MEMBER QUICK REFERENCE page. This page started with two types of information. It will grow. 1.) Representative scripts that our Net Control Stations use when the NCS calls the net to order. 2.) The Zoom Web Meeting IDs and Passwords that exist somewhere else, but not so easy to find when they are needed. Eventually the old location will be retired to de-clutter the MEMBER AREA menu.
Complete Document:
Can be found here.
Original Post Date: November 27, 2021
Document Excerpt:
Macy’s has one. Target has one. Best Buy has one. And now, CARC has one.
Announcing the Grand Opening of The CARC Store.
We started small so that we would have ample room for growth.
If your name was drawn as our Door Prize Winner you can visit The CARC Store, scroll down to The Winning Door Prize Ticket Store and order your prize.
If you were out-of-town the night when we gave out copies of the Collectible Memento Booklet you can visit The CARC Store, scroll down to The CARC Printed Document Store and order a copy.
Complete Document:
Can be found here.
Original Post Date: August 15, 2021
Document Excerpt:
The ARRL had a link to a very informative YouTube video on their website. The video was produced by J. Mitch Hopper, K9ZXO and the Sangamon Valley Amateur Radio Club based in Springfield, Illinois. It was such a good presentation that I immediately said — CARC MEMBERS NEED TO SEE THIS ! ! ! !
Our Special Topic — Our Field Day page has a video player and a link to the YouTube channel where the Sangamon Valley Amateur Radio Club Field Day video is hosted. Scroll down. Look for the blue section. You can’t miss it. Click. Enjoy.
Complete Document:
Can be found here.
Original Post Date: September 17, 2021
Document Excerpt:
CARC has a long-standing relationship with the Dillsburg Farmers Fair Parade. Our current role involves providing communications support so that the Parade Chairperson, the Parade Marshals, and the Parade Staff in the Registration Office are within easy reach of each other.
Each year we look for 8 to 10 club member volunteers to step forward and be part of the support team. We ask for about 5 hours of your time (Start 4 p.m. End about 9 p.m.)
The next Annual Dillsburg Farmers Fair Parade takes place Saturday evening October 18, 2025.
Complete Document:
Can be found here.
Original Post Date: November 29, 2021
Document Excerpt:
Each month at the CARC Monthly Meeting I look around the room and see the faces of our actively engaged club members. Any one of these enthusiastic team members would make a perfect candidate as Membership Secretary.
We are fortunate to have a volunteer for this position who served in 2020 through 2025. He is a good person to have in service to the club.
Perhaps you will read about how the Membership Secretary does his job and consider volunteering to be CARC Membership Secretary for 2026. Who knows… you just might get a warm, fuzzy feeling.
Complete Document:
Can be found here.
Original Post Date: March 31, 2021
Document Excerpt:
I bet some of you didn’t know CARC has a To-Do List. Here it is.
Most of the entries serve as gentle reminders.
Meetings, Club Events, Holiday Gathering Plans, Dues Reminder.
There is hardly any work involved. Take a look.
Complete document:
Can be found here.
Original Post Date: December 09, 2021
Document Excerpt:
Have you ever wondered what you would do if someone unexpectedly tapped you on the shoulder and asked you to fill a pair of big shoes?
The purpose of this important How Do I… article is to provide you with a starting point.
Just remember… the article is here in case you need it. Your club is committed to your success.
Complete Document:
Can be found here.
Updated Post Date: April 20, 2025
Document Excerpt:
At the time this post was created Field Day 2025 is many days in the future. In astronomical terms that is a blink of the eye. Even for earthly denizens, such as you and me, that time will fly by quickly.
Now is the time to prepare ourselves for Field Day. Will you come for the food? Will you come for the opportunity to get on the air and rack up some points for the club? Will you come to see friends?
When you visit the MEMBER DOCUMENTS >> FIELD DAY page (Look for Navigation Block 11) you will find a sign-up sheet and lots of Field Day information.
If you have questions about CARC Field Day plans , or if you would like to be part of the planning process, please consider attending our monthly meetings in-person or via Zoom.
Complete document:
Can be found here.
Original Post Date: September 13, 2024
Document Excerpt:
We wanted a unique Special Event QSL Card for celebrating the Cumberland Amateur Radio Club 60th Anniversary in 2024. And, we still have hundreds of our day-to-day K3IEC QSL Cards on hand. What to do? We added an embossed gold foil seal to the everyday QSL card. Here’s how…
Complete document:
Can be found here.
July is a fun month. It starts with Canada Day, then the 13 Colonies Special Event Stations, July 4 Special Event stations, various Civil War anniversary special event stations, Bastille Day, as well as some State QSO Parties (Alabama). Not to forget the other contests including North American QSO Party RTTY, CQ WW VHF Contest, and Flight of the Bumble Bees. July is a great month for POTA – Parks On The Air – either as an Activator or as a Hunter.
While outdoors, keep an eye or ear on the weather. There are a variety of battery powered “weather alert” radios for sale. But did you know your HT most likely either has the NOAA weather frequencies programmed and easily scannable with a one-touch button. (Seven VHF FM frequencies between 162.400 MHz and 162.550 MHz FM. Details below.) Or, you can save them as memory channels.
CARC members have a fascinating variety of interests from “old fashioned Morse code” or phone contacts to a variety of computer sound card data modes to digital (DMR) to cutting edge technologies such as Digital Voice and Meshtastic.
For more information, or if you want to get onboard and be a part of the CARC Radio Road Show, please see https://www.radioclub-carc.com/touch-base/
See ‘ya down the log.
Frank KB3PQT
NOAA Weather VHF FM Frequencies:
162.400 MHz Baltimore, MD KEC83
162.425 MHz
162.450 MHz
162.475 MHz
162.500 MHz Hagerstown, MD WXM42
162.525 MHz
162.550 MHz Harrisburg, PA WXL40
Here we are. December 2024
Quite a year this has been! Do you agree?
Your club and individual member accomplishments include:
Attained 60 years serving the community and the hobby.
Published 14 How Do I… articles on the club’s Know-How Resources site.
Successfully promoted Parks On The Air (POTA) with 22 member participants.
Held Field Day @Shaffer Park with 23 participants who scored 2,446 points.
Ran a special event station honoring the National Railway Historical Society.
Celebrated our own 60th anniversary with a special event station.
Served the community by providing communications support for the Dillsburg Farmers Fair Parade Chairperson and Parade Marshals.
Lit approximately 400 Holiday Luminaries at Children’s Lake in Boiling Springs, PA.
Operated weekly 10 meter nets on Wednesday at 8 p.m. local time.
Operated weekly 2 meter FM Simplex Phone nets on Sunday at 7 p.m. local time.
Operated 2 meter digital data nets using analog FM and FLDIGI sound card technology modes to communicate.
At the November meeting we elected officers for 2025.
President Frank Mellott KB3PQT
Vice-President John Luthy WA3KCP
Treasurer Garry Fasick K3EYK
Secretary Paula Anstine KC3UVH
Membership Secretary Richard Johnson N3EPY
Dave Smith W3SOX is the appointed trustee for the club call sign-K3IEC.
Not to forget our other Club Leaders and Volunteers:
Doug Stenger KC3CPT Vice-President 2024
Steve Hancock N3FWE Technology Guru, Photographer
Maura Smith-Mitsky KC3JJH Historian, Archivist, Holiday Event Planner
Mark Anstine KC3UVG Operations Guru
Paula Anstine KC3UVH Operations Guru
Harry Fasick K3EYL CARC Representative to Farmers Fair Parade
Garry Fasick K3EYK CARC Representative to Boiling Springs Civic Association (Luminary Sponsor)
Doug Stenger KC3CPT Quartermaster
Frank Mellott KB3PQT QSL Manager
R J Harris W3HP Amateur Radio Advocate
Bobbe Rothermel WA3BKK CARC Member since Day 1 in June 1964
Roger Wheeler K3SU CARC Member since Day 1 in June 1964
Doug Stenger KC3CPT Net Control Station for 2 Meter Phone Net
Garry Fasick K3EYK Net Control Station for 10 Meter Phone Net
Valli Hoski N8QVT Net Control Station for Farmers Fair Net
Andrew Forsyth AF3I Net Control Station for 2 Meter Digital Net
We saw our club grow to 46 members with a gain of six new members this year.
That is at least a modern record.
Cumberland Amateur Radio Club members have the skills, and we have the talented people to advance the club along its journey for the next 60 years.
What have you done today?
For more information, or if you want to get onboard and be a part of the CARC Radio Road Show,
please see https://www.radioclub-carc.com/touch-base/
See ‘ya down the log.
Frank KB3PQT
#####
January. Time to turn the calendar and launch a new year of service and education.
Your 2025 elected officer team is:
President Frank Mellott KB3PQT
Vice-President John Luthy WA3KCP
Treasurer Garry Fasick K3EYK
Secretary Paula Anstine KC3UVH
Membership Secretary Richard Johnson N3EPY
Dave Smith W3SOX is the appointed trustee for the club call sign-K3IEC.
What do we hope to do in 2025? In no particular order:
A Digital Data net on 146.490 MHz FM Simplex at 6:00 p.m. local, and
A Phone net on 146.490 MHz FM Simplex at 7:00 p.m. local.
To do this, we need YOU! Yes, YOU!
Let’s have a Sporcle.com moment. They are big in the business of offering solutions to crossword puzzle clues.
Clue: An association or organization dedicated to a particular interest or activity.
Answer: Club.
Without people of a common interest, we are nothing.
By mobilizing people having a common interest and we can accomplish a lot.
“People of a common interest” refers to a group of individuals who share a similar passion, hobby, or topic of interest, allowing them to connect and engage with one another based on that shared enthusiasm; essentially, a community built around a specific area of shared knowledge or enjoyment.
Did you detect a pattern among the key words mentioned above?
Interest
Passion
Connect
Engage
Enthusiasm
Enjoyment
What have you done today?
For more information, or if you want to get onboard and be a part of the CARC Radio Road Show,
please see https://www.radioclub-carc.com/touch-base/
See ‘ya down the log.
Frank KB3PQT
#####
As I write this, your favorite local groundhog weather prognosticator has not had a chance to announce whether Spring will be early or not. But no matter what happens, we do not have more than six weeks of Winter left. The Old Farmer’s Almanac is predicting a wet spring with a warmer than normal April and May.
February is great time to make your preparations to get outdoors and operate from your favorite park.
February is also the start of the winter State QSO Party season. What better way to practice your outdoor skills than to use the same equipment at home?
CARC has some very active and enthusiastic portable operators.
What have you done today?
For more information, or if you want to get onboard and be a part of the CARC Radio Road Show,
please see https://www.radioclub-carc.com/touch-base/
See ‘ya down the log.
Frank KB3PQT
#####
What does CARC mean to you?
If someone comes up to you and sees your spiffy CARC apparel or your CARC tumbler, and asks “What is CARC?”, do you have an elevator speech ready?
This column is inspired by an article about the Grange in the Lancaster Farming. A Grange officer related that he was at the PA Farm Show. A family stops by the booth and he gives his spiel about the Grange. The mother looks at him and says “That’s nice, but what does it mean to you?”
The Grange was old when amateur radio first began. It has been written off as outdated many times. But it survives.
If someone asks you “What does CARC mean to you?” or “What does CARC do for you?” do you have a reply?
What have you done today?
For more information, or if you want to get onboard and be a part of the CARC Radio Road Show,
please see https://www.radioclub-carc.com/touch-base/
See ‘ya down the log.
Frank KB3PQT
#####
April showers bring May flowers. April showers can make it hard to get outdoors and operate. But it is a great time to prepare your gear, get on the air in the various State QSO Parties and other contests, and work POTA – Parks on the Air with those operators located in drier and sunnier climes.
Looking to operate portable but the weather is not so great? Try Portable on The Porch! (Or garage, carport, deck, patio). This can be a great way to test your radio gear without getting far from home.
What have you done today?
For more information, or if you want to get onboard and be a part of the CARC Radio Road Show,
please see https://www.radioclub-carc.com/touch-base/
See ‘ya down the log.
Frank KB3PQT
#####
May Day! May is full of Holidays.
Lots of opportunities to get on the air!
Mayday! Mayday! Mayday, when said three times, is a distress call that originated in the early 1920s for use among aviation and nautical interests.
When and where did the term come into being?
Visit Notes From Shack https://www.radioclub-carc.com/notes-from-the-shack/
For more information, or if you want to get onboard and be a part of the CARC Radio Road Show,
please see https://www.radioclub-carc.com/touch-base/
See ‘ya down the log.
Frank KB3PQT
#####
June! Dairy Month! Strawberries! Radio! And in 2025, seemingly never ending rain.
Really. June is an awesome month to play radio. The 4th weekend (June 28-29) is the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Field Day. Field Day was designed almost 90 years ago to encourage operators to operate in the field. CARC uses the cabin at Shaffer Park in Carlisle. CARC will operate as Class 3A using call sign K3IEC.
Want to practice for Field Day? These contests will help you make contacts and hone your skills.
It’s not too late to either get an amateur radio license and get on-the-air for Field Day.
Or, let your fingers wander to Contact Us — Cumberland Amateur Radio Club for more Field Day info.
For more information, or if you want to get onboard and be a part of the CARC Radio Road Show,
please see https://www.radioclub-carc.com/touch-base/
See ‘ya down the log.
Frank KB3PQT
#####
ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® is the organizer of ARRL Field Day. This year’s event takes place June 28-29, 2025.
The ARRL Field Day official website is: http://www.arrl.org/FieldDay
Field Day is always held the fourth full weekend in June. It has been an annual event since 1933 (Field Day was not held in 1942-1945 due to the war). This year, 2025, marks the 88th Field Day.
The Cumberland Amateur Radio Club (CARC) participates from a portable multi-operator station at Shaffer Park in Carlisle, PA.
If you are a CARC Member, please join us at Shaffer Park.
If not yet a CARC Member, and you want to see what amateur radio is about, want to see what the club is about, please feel welcome to attend.
See the ARRL Field Day locator for details. https://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator
Specify Call Sign K3IEC
For more information about radios, setting up your station and another topics, follow the trail to
https://www.radioclub-carc.com/resources/
See ‘ya down the log.
Frank KB3PQT
Members of the Cumberland Amateur Radio Club (CARC) recently participated in their annual event called Derby Day.
The traditional date of this event aligns with the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday of May. A scheduling challenge forced our Derby Day to take place one week earlier than usual. In turn, that change provided an opportunity to include the Florida QSO Party among our on-the-air activities.
Florida QSO Party 2025 featured a Spelling Bee. Fourteen Special Event stations, with their 1×1 call signs, provided the material to spell PIRATES. CARC Members operated club station K3IEC and worked FQP stations featuring each of the seven letters. In return, we were rewarded with a custom designed QSL card and took pride for a job well done.
The QSL card front, and a representative QSL card back, appear below.
Thank you Florida QSO Party for sponsoring this wonderful event.
The first day of May is May Day. A celebration of spring.
But Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!, when said three times, is also a distress call.
Mayday got its start as an international distress call in 1923. The distress call was first recognized in 1924 by the Book of Wireless Telegraphy and later it was made official by the 1927 International Radiotelegraph Convention.
Editor Note: There are frequent mentions of Mayday being made official in 1948. However the citations do not identify the approving authority.
Mayday was the idea of Frederick Mockford, who was a senior radio officer at Croydon Airport in London. He was charged with finding a suitable voice-based distress call to be used in place of the telegraphy signal SOS. Mockford came up with the idea for “mayday” because it sounded like the French word m’aider, which means “help me.”
See ‘ya down the log!
Frank KB3PQT
From https://www.wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-does-mayday-mean
(Your Editor remembers a tradition of hanging May Day baskets, as a child, on the door knobs of neighboring friends, knocking or ringing the bell, and running away as fast as possible to avoid being caught in the act.)
Some might say: Amateur Radio for people with different abilities.
The fine folks at the Courage Kenny Handiham Program sent me a nice letter recapping their achievements during the year. Their envelope contained two otherwise blank QSL cards highlighting the purpose of the program. I scanned and posted the information below.
If the Handiham program interests you, I am placing their contact information at the end of this post.
73, AF3I
Contact Information:
Web site: https://handiham.org
eMail: handiham@allina.com
Mail: Courage Kenny Handiham Program
3915 Golden Valley Rd
Mail Route 78446
Golden Valley, MN 55422
Telephone: (612) 775-2291
#####
On Saturday August 24, 2024, ten Cumberland Amateur Club members (Andrew AF3I, Rob KC2FLY, Frank KB3PQT, Doug KC3CPT, Richard N3EPY, Steve N3FWE, Bill N3GTY, Charlene WG3Q, John WA3KCP, and Darrel WB3FNJ) operated a Special Event station celebrating the National Railway Historical Society and their 2024 convention in Harrisburg, PA.
The NRHS was last here in 1984 and the 2024 Special Event QSL card is a throwback to that time when one of the convention rail trips was behind a pair of Baldwin 2-2-8-2 Mikados on the East Broad Top Railroad in Orbisonia, PA.
For more information on the National Railway Historical Society and their mission to preserve railway history, please visit the National Railway Historical Society, Inc. website at https://www.nrhs.com
Our Special Event results were impressive. During the 24-hour operations window, the 10 Special Event Operators completed 435 two-way Amateur Radio contacts with 44 of the United States (the exceptions were Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, Vermont, North Dakota, and Utah), Canada, and 18 overseas countries.
Thank you Valli N8QVT for the Special Event inspiration; Mark KC3UVG and Paula KC3UVH for organizing Special Event operators, Andrew AF3I for hours of behind the scenes Special Event website work, and the ten operators for spending one of the nicest days of the year inside getting Special Event station K3IEC on-the-air.
For more information about this and another ham radio topics, follow the trail to:
https://www.radioclub-carc.com/resources/
See ‘ya down the log.
Frank KB3PQT
On Saturday September 21, 2024 between 0000 and 2359 UTC, listen for K3IEC on-the-air! Club members will be operating a special event station on various bands and modes to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the club.
Watch this space for a special K3IEC QSL card for this event.
The event is posted in the Special Events column starting with the July, 2024 issue of QST – not in the actual QST Magazine, but on the ARRL.org website.
The event is posted on Eham.net in their calendar.
The day of the event, watch the spots on Eham.net and My DX Summit DXSummit.fi for current bands and modes.
Preliminary Info: SSB 7.250, 14.300, 21.300, and 28.400
CW TBD
Digital TBD
See special event listings or watch the space for QSL info.
QSL: Frank Mellott, 1010 Good Hope Rd., Mechanicsburg, PA 17050
Questions? Please contact President@radioclub-carc.com
For more information about Field Day and another topics, follow the trail to
https://www.radioclub-carc.com/resources/
See ‘ya down the log.
Frank KB3PQT
On Saturday May 4, 2024 CARC members and friends met at Pine Grove Furnace State Park for Derby Day.
Or as one local radio station morning show (Red 102.3) called it in their parody commercial done in the style of a 1980s Budweiser ad as they described the coincidence of Star Wars Day and the Kentucky Derby – “May the Horse be with you”.
CARC Derby Day was designed to allow individual club members the chance to make a successful Parks On The Air (POTA) activation and participate in the 7th Call Area QSO Party (WA, OR, ID, WY, MT, UT, NV, AZ) and Indiana QSO Party.
Last year’s weather was perfect. This year not so much. The scattered thunderstorms became all-day rain forecasts by Friday evening.
Still, thirteen members and friends showed up to demonstrate the fortitude and enthusiasm they bring to the Amateur Radio hobby.
Mark Anstine KC3UVG, Paula Anstine KC3UVH,
John Bartko W3JJB, Dave Donaldson KC3OSG,
Garry Fasick K3EYK, Richard Johnson N3EPY,
Glenn Kurzenknabe K3SWZ, John Luthy WA3KCP,
Frank Mellott KB3PQT, Doug Stenger KC3CPT,
Bill Wagaman N3GTY,
along with our guests Osmon and his wife Kimberly, who wanted to see the magic happen and learn more about the wonderful world of amateur radio.
Contacts and successful POTA activations were made using digital modes and CW. Band conditions were not the best, but some phone contacts were made in the 7th Call Area QSO Party and some DX, primarily with Italy and Great Britain.
Because it was cold, wet and never got above 50 degrees, the event broke up in the early afternoon. Doug Stenger KC3CPT, Paula Anstine KC3UVH and Bill Wagaman N3GTY made a wonderful meal of hamburgers and hotdogs.
After lunch a drawing was held for door prizes, including an ARRL Operating Manual, 250’ feet of Davis antenna wire, a tube of coax connector seal, various other books on antennas, voice over internet-VOIP, GPS and other amateur radio topics.
Osmon and Kimberly traveled 1 3/4 hours to attend and left with an ARRL Technician exam study guide to help them begin their longer amateur radio journey.
The CARC Radio Road Show team is already looking forward to Derby Day-2025! Mark your calendar for Saturday May 3, 2025.
For more information about POTA, Field Day and another topics, follow the trail to
https://www.radioclub-carc.com/resources/
See ‘ya down the log.
Frank KB3PQT
We did not operate our traditional Portable Multi-Transmitter / Multi-Operation station this year due to the weather forecast calling for rain, cold temperatures, and high winds associated with hurricane remnants. But quite a few members played along at home. The PA QSO Party team has now posted those results.
And the winners are…
|
Name |
Call Sign | Award | Category | Location |
| Harry Fasick | K3EYL | 2nd place | Single Operator Low Power SSB | Adams County |
| Dave Smith | W3SOX | 1st place | Single Operator High Power SSB | Cumberland County |
| Garry Fasick | K3EYK | 3rd place | Single Operator Low Power SSB. | Cumberland County |
| John Luthy | WA3KCP | 1st place | Single Operator High Power Mixed (multiple modes) | Cumberland County |
| Andrew Forsyth | AF3I | 1st Place | Single Operator Low Power Mixed (multiple modes) | York County |
Congratulations !
For more information about Radio-Sport and another topics, follow the trail to:
https://www.radioclub-carc.com/resources/
See ‘ya down the log.
Frank KB3PQT
We received the sad news that Thelma – Radio Dog passed away. Thelma was a trained service dog for club members Mark Anstine, KC3UVG and Paula Anstine, KC3UVH. Thelma was a active participant in club events and will be missed.
Please consider a donation in her memory to the Adams County SPCA.
Online:
Home | adams-county-spca (adamscountyspca.org)
By Mail:
Adams County SPCA
11 Goldenville Road
Gettysburg, PA 17325
https://www.radioclub-carc.com/resources/
See ‘ya down the log.
Frank KB3PQT
#####
Great Day,
CARC has had a Things To-Do page for several years. This page delivers listings of Hamfests, Contests, License Training Classes, License Exam Sessions, On-The-Air Nets, Radio Club Meetings (ours!), and Face-To-Face get-togethers.
The format of our Things To-Do page is driven by the website software plug-in we use — The Event Calendar. The best view we offer on that page is a LIST which shows each event on your screen in a date-oriented sequence There are search tools to help you locate the type of events that capture your interest.
We listened when our reading audience told us — YOU GUYS NEED TO HAVE MONTHLY AND WEEKLY VIEWS OF THE EVENTS. Can you tell that they were shouting?
Your web administrator and others have been working on how best to present the Monthly and Weekly views. We are at the point where there is something we can show you.
Navigation from the top menu bar: THINGS TO-DO >> Google Cal – Events of Interest
There are buttons you can push to bring up various views: Monthly, Weekly, Agenda (List). Or, click on a specific event and see the details.
We are still fine-tuning the format of the events after they have been exported from our legacy calendar and imported into our Google Calendar.
If it isn’t pretty on the day you visit, please try again.
#####
** FAMOUS HISTORICAL PHRASES RENDERED IN MORSE CODE **
Club President, Frank Mellott KB3PQT, offers a challenge to viewers of this blog page.
Frank gathered several well-known phrases from history and applied the corresponding dots and dashes to paper.
He wanted you to read the printed dots and dashes and submit a transcription of your discovery.
But Morse Code involves hearing dits and dahs. Your Editor recorded the audible dits and dahs and hopes our website can render the WAV file as audio.
There are two files. The first file contains audio for phrases one through four. The second file contains audio for phrases five through eight.
The Morse Code was sent at 10 words per minute. Each phrase is introduced with a tag such as CW1 NEXT and a moment of silence.
The space between words was lengthened slightly for the benefit of those who are taking their first steps with Morse Code.
The length of each file is on the order of four and one-half minutes.
Let’s see if this works: (YES ! It worked.)
Phrases 1 through 4
Phrases 5 through 8
Give it a try. Write down the words that you heard.
Submit your entry via eMail to: president@RadioClub-CARC.com
We welcome your comments.
Questions can be directed via eMail to: AF3I@RadioClub-CARC.com If you would like receive a slower transmission let him know. Andrew is open to special requests.
#####
Curious Newcomer (CN) and Experienced Elmer (EE) both started interesting groups.io threads. One asked for people to tell what they do on the air, and the other has had a lot of fun with FT8 and wondered if …
a.) With that as background, I have noticed recently that when I watch the JTAlert “All decodes” window, 20-25 percent of those active on the band at a given time are people whom I’ve already worked. That makes me wonder about a couple of things:
b:) How popular are the FT modes, anyway, and if you could collect similar stats for CW and phone, would we see something similar? I’m still a long way from “working the bands out”, but it’s been a little surprising.
Let’s look at numbers. A couple years ago ARRL stated that FT8 was 70% of all HF activity. That is market share a monopolist would love. 70% is a lot, and that is only 1 mode.
The ARRL, as of August 14, 2023, shows 759,159 licensed amateurs in the US and territories.
| Class | Number | Percent |
|
Novice |
5969 | 1% |
|
Technician |
377810 | 50% |
|
Tech Plus |
0 | 0% |
|
General |
187274 | 25% |
| Advanced | 33327 | 4% |
|
Extra |
155139 | 20% |
Technicians have some HF privileges, but I doubt that more than maybe 10% get on HF.
And a high number, maybe as high as 50%, of all Technician class licensees are not active in the hobby at all. It has been over 23 years since anyone received a new Advanced class license. In 2015 there were over 54,000 Advanced licensees. While some have upgraded to Extra, too many have become inactive or Silent Keys.
I have no good way of estimating how many General and Extra class licensees are actually active on the air. But on any given day there may be as few as 200,000 to 250,000 who actively would use the HF bands in the US. The good news? In 2016, there were 725,000 US licenses. According to NPR, that was up 60% from 1981. But according to Wikipedia, in 2021, the US had 779, 545. or a whopping 0.233% of the population. In 2 years the US has lost about 20,000 and by the numbers, most of those came from Advanced licensees going SK. In percentage of the population licensed, the US has fallen to third. Japan is in second and Slovenia is in first place. The US has about twice as many as Japan, but a smaller fraction of the population is licensed. China is in third place in numbers, with 150,000 as of 2019.
Amateur radio is not dead. But it will always need new people getting involved.
For more information about Amateur Radio, Cumberland Amateur Radio Club, and another topics, follow the trail to
https://www.radioclub-carc.com/resources/
See ‘ya down the log.
Frank KB3PQT
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When I have too much time on my hands I enjoy crunching numbers. We had some cold, wet weather recently. I stayed indoors. That was my invitation to curl up with a good database and extract some numbers.
My research was focused on the popularity of amateur radio as a hobby around the world and locally in Central Pennsylvania. My results are represented by the proportion of licensed Amateur Radio Operators among the population as a whole.
USA
The USA has 779,545 licensed amateur radio operators. In case you wondered, that’s 0.233 percent of the population. For those of you who broke up with math in the 1980s, and learned that getting back together is awkward, that works out to 23 amateurs per 10,000 people.
Let’s put those numbers into a real-world context. The seating capacity of the GIANT Center arena is 10,500. How about dropping the loose change and call it 10,000. If you sprinkled 23 ham radio operators among all the event attendees you would have the same proportion of ham radio operators in the arena as there are in the United States, as a whole.
Global Highlights
By comparison, in other locations where amateur radio is a poplar hobby, we found these numbers from 2019.
Japan has 381,899 licensed operators, or 0.304% of the population.
Thailand has 101,763 licensed operators for 0.147% of the population.
Germany has 63,709 licensed operators for 0.0735% of the population.
Locally in Central Pennsylvania
Here are population counts in the 170xx Zip Code area as of 2021
Cumberland County has 262,919 people.
Perry County has 45,986 people
Lebanon County has 143,943 people.
The FCC shows 1,752 licensed amateur radio operators in 170xx. So, at 0.39%, that Zip Code area has nearly twice as many amateur radio operators as the USA average. Go 170xx !
Moving to the west, the 155xx Zip Code covers Bedford and Somerset counties. A database search returned 242 licensed amateur radio operators. Bedford has a population of 47.461 people and Somerset has 73,627. The percentage of amateur radio operators in the 155xx Zip Code area is 0.20% of the population, which is less than the national average.
Marketing Analysis
You probably are wondering…. Why do these percentages matter? Really – Who Cares?
Well, someone cares. You can be sure of that.
For more information about radios, setting up your station and another topics, follow the trail to
https://www.radioclub-carc.com/resources/
See ‘ya down the log.
Frank KB3PQT
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