What’s Happening in Amateur Radio ?

We are Cumberland Amateur Radio Club.  Something’s in the works almost all the time. 
Here are some of the things we found interesting:

Amateur Radio Operating — a FREE Training Class via Zoom

A Special Announcement from Rol Anders, K3RA Free weekly 3-hour training sessions providing info on a wide range of Amateur Radio Operating Activities will start at 6:30 PM Eastern time.on Thursday March 30 and run through ...
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/ Training Class

CARC Volunteers On The Air Challenge — February Status

I wish you could easily find your call in the leader board and see your rank. That seems to still be a work in progress. The bottom 300 pages or so all have 1 or 2 ...
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/ Contests

CARC Challenge — 3830 Score Status February 2023

The CARC Challenge completes its second month with one month to go. Whole lotta movin’ and shakin’ goin’ on! Rookie WA3KCP blasts into Number 1 with 3 contests under his belt. KC3CPT leads the EXPERTS with ...
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/ Contests

You Should Be Part of CARC Field Day 2023

There's Room for More. Come On Down! Cumberland Amateur Radio Club extends our invitation to those who would like to be part of ARRL Field Day 2023. Cumberland Amateur Radio Club members are making plans to ...
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/ Invitation

Call Sign Memory Aide

Call Signs I have seen some nifty call signs lately. The call signs mentioned below are all active. Some people are fascinated by license plates and try to make clever sayings from state issued letters and ...
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/ General Interest, Humor, Notes From The Shack

Straight Key Month

Great Day, January is Straight Key Month. A straight key is a tool for sending Morse code characters. The ham radio operator operates the straight key by using the muscles in his or her arm, and ...
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/ Morse Code

Straight Key Century Club December News

Good Day, This is a short story sent to your Editor by one of the members of Cumberland Amateur Radio Club. The author, John WA3KCP, is an enthusiastic Morse Code operator. He recently participated in a ...
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/ Morse Code

Valentine’s Day with Olivia

Valentine’s Day with Olivia QSO Party from our friends at Olivia@groups.io Local Time for those in the USA Eastern Time Zone Begins: Friday February 10, 2023 at 9 a.m. EST Ends: Saturday February 11, 2023 at ...
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/ Contests, Digital Mode, On-The-Air

Yaesu FT-710 HF Transceiver Announced

Notes from the shack... New Yaesu FT-710 announced The ham radio internet world is abuzz this week with the announcement of the new Yaesu FT-710. This is 160-6M transceiver. 100 Watt output. The preliminary information on ...
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/ Equipment Review

Know the FCC rules

Let not your Baefong lead you to temptation! Or, Know the FCC rules! On a groups.io that I follow, there was a recent posting about a CSX train crew in New York state. They were M409, ...
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/ Regulatory Info, Safety

PA QSO Party ** New Awards for 2022

Two New PA QSO Party Awards for 2022! Encouraging Participation by Non-Hams and Young People Recognizing Elmers The PA QSO Party Association will introduce two new awards aimed at encouraging participation by non-hams and young people ...
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/ Contests, State QSO Party, Youth Event

Request from EPA Traffic Manager, KC8T

Section Traffic Manager Scott Walker (N3SW) is leaving our region. He has handed his managerial duties over to me. Monthly, the traffic manager submits reports to the ARRL, regarding public service honor roll, and net activities ...
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/ Notification

Accessing FCC site — CORES, new version

Within the past few days the FCC has retired its legacy version of the CORES system (COmmission REgistration System) If you are wondering how and where to conduct online business with the FCC here is some ...
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/ How-To, Regulatory Info

Field Day Contact Logging

Field Day Logging If you are doing Field Day 2022 from home (we understand the whole world cannot do Field Day at Shaffer Park) you will want some logging software. Most of us use the N3FJP ...
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/ Contests, Special Event, State QSO Party, Technology

FLrig Software.

Software can make radio more fun ! When I read that headline my first reaction was --- "What? Software can make radio more fun?" YES, it is true. Even a fairly modern ham radio can benefit ...
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/ Notes From The Shack, Technology

GMRS License Fee Has Been Reduced

This is sort of old news. On April 19, 2022, the Federal Communications Commission reduced the fee for a ten year GMRS license to $35 from $70. At the same time, the previously free, but had ...
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/ Notes From The Shack, Regulatory Info

Reward for a Job Well-Done

Tangible Rewards ! Between March 19 and 26, 2022 eleven Cumberland Amateur Radio Club members operated Special Event station W3R, celebrating the 120th anniversary of the Rockville Bridge. At 3,720 feet, the Rockville Bridge is the ...
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/ Uncategorized

This contesting is nuts. Why do we do it?

This contesting is nuts. Why do we do it? Scott Davis, N3FJP, the creator of the N3FJP line of computer logging programs from Affirmatech, answered a question on the N3FJP reflector with a link to the ...
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/ Contests

Operation Deep Freeze

The History Guy tm discusses Ham Radio’s contribution to world science in the 1950s. Every now and then YouTube turns up a real gem. https://youtu.be/uaTm_LUifUI is one of these. The History Guy tm takes a look ...
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/ History

Special Event Station W3R

W3R QSL Cards The W3R Special Event station QSL cards have arrived from the printer. They look fabulous. Look to the right where you will find an image of the card. Cumberland Amateur Radio Club sends ...
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/ Notes From The Shack, Special Event

Special Event Station W3R — Now Through March 26, 2022

Special Event Station W3R Bridge scene -- Norfolk Southern The Rockville Bridge 120th Anniversary Rockville scene -- East end of the bridge As I write this, operators from the club are hard at work getting W3R ...
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/ Special Event

Do Not Pass GO. Do Not Collect $200

This news blog headline was inspired by something that shows up now and then in my Monopoly game. You probably will not "Go directly to jail." but you may hear from the Volunteer Monitor crew if ...
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/ Notification

Keep Calm and Use Your Ham Radio

As wars and rumors of wars flood the media, sometimes you just need to step away. Go to the shack... Turn the transceiver on and do what you enjoy doing: whether you choose to hunt down ...
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/ Notes From The Shack

Straight Key – Morse Code QSOs

Straight Key Morse Code QSOs QSO #1 -- Jim WE5E and John WA3KCP have an on-the-air conversation using straight keys to send Morse Code while Lynn NG9D listens. QSO #2 -- Lynn NG9D and John WA3KCP ...
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/ Morse Code, On-The-Air

And now for something completely different…

Passing the Torch After fifteen years of leading the Cumberland Amateur Radio Club to new achievements including the highest membership headcount ever, Andrew Forsyth, AF3I decided to listen to his wife and not run again for ...
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/ News, Notes From The Shack

CARC Radio Road Show puts York County On-The-Air

...
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/ Contests, Notes From The Shack, On-The-Air

DMR Contesting

Notes from the shack... DMR contesting Contesting has been a part of the great wide world of amateur radio since at least 1928 in the US. Typically contests involve spending hours in the shack on the ...
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/ Contests, Digital Mode, Notes From The Shack

Fun with Numbers

Notes from the shack.... Fun with numbers! The Cumberland Amateur Radio Club (CARC) is a diverse group. Current Membership Statistics by license class: Advanced 4 11% Extra 17 45% General 10 26% Technician 7 18% The ...
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/ Notes From The Shack

Firsthand Recollection of Hurricane Diane Destruction — August 18, 1955

Royal Kramer, Amateur Radio Call Sign W3ZIF, recalls the destruction that accompanied Hurricane Diane as it passed through the Pocono Mountains of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Royal and several colleagues provided emergency communications support to the towns on ...
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/ Community, History, News

Keep it simple. Mastering the Two-Meter Analog HT

Notes From The Shack... I have come to the realization that while for most new amateur radio operators, the first radio is a HT. That is great, but too many are encouraged or choose to get ...
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/ How-To, Notes From The Shack

Logging Question

Logging Question... From our friends on the N3FJP groups.io site. The resounding answer, from multiple people was NO! You worked it, you logged it. You may never get a QSL card, but you made the QSO ...
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/ Notes From The Shack

Free Book: Managing Interstation Interference

** Special Thanks to Vibroplex for hosting the author's work on their website. ** It is my pleasure to promote this man's book. W2VJN is the former owner of INRAD. AF3I Immediately Available for FREE DOWNLOAD ...
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/ How-To, Technology

Sandpatch Mountain and Railroad Tunnel

Why Play Radio... For many years, I was a member of the Yahoo Groups Sandpatch List. Sandpatch, named for Sandpatch Mountain and tunnel, is where the Baltimore & Ohio, now CSX, crosses the Alleghenies. It was ...
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/ Notes From The Shack, Rail Fan

Why Play Radio?

Why Play Radio... For about 50 years or so, rail fans have used radio scanners to listen to the railroad frequencies in the land mobile FM portion of the 137-174 MHz band. The railroad frequencies are ...
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/ General Interest, Notes From The Shack, Rail Fan

The new DXers Handbook — Third Edition

It is my pleasure to promote this man's book. I learned about promoting books and movies by watching The Tonight Show, Starring Johnny Carson. He did a great job. I can only hope to do a ...
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/ DX, How-To

Portable On The Porch

Notes From The Shack... Sometimes you just have to go play outside. But there is life... so what do you do? Operate portable from the porch? Or, get a good look this crowded setup... Yeah, this ...
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/ Notes From The Shack

I took a Vacation from the 80 Meter Band

Fun with N3FJP software – An Update! A few months ago, I shared some data that I had extracted from my N3FJP Amateur Call Log. At that time about 41% of my lifetime QSOs were on ...
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/ Notes From The Shack

Digital Landscape

• Do you have an interest in DMR radios? • Perhaps you are hesitant to wade into digital radio communications because it seems as if there are so many different “standards”. • D-STAR, WIRES, FUSION, C4FM ...
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/ Contests, Digital Mode, Notes From The Shack

Radio Frequency Exposure Rules

Notes from the shack... From the ARRL Newsletter Updated Radio Frequency Exposure Rules Become Effective on May 3, 2021 The FCC has announced that rule changes detailed in a lengthy 2019 Report and Order (R&O) governing ...
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/ Notes From The Shack, Notification

The ARRL and Me

Notes from the shack... The ARRL and Me What does the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) do for me? I am a member of the ARRL. The ARRL sends a nifty magazine, QST, to my mailbox ...
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/ Notes From The Shack

Hey Guys… Watch This !

Achievement Test... A+ Results The Cumberland Amateur Radio Club is proud to recognize one of its members for producing A+ results in a recent Achievement Test. Congratulations to Doug Stenger, KC3CPT for hitting the books, studying, ...
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/ Congratulations, DX, On-The-Air

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)

Amateur radio on the international space station 20th Anniversary Celebration SSTV Image reception from space is within your reach ! The 20th anniversary of Amateur Radio on the International Space Station event is going on through ...
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/ Notes From The Shack, Special Event

Montana Outreach

Ham Radio on Kate's Ag A little birdie told me I should spend a few minutes watching one of the newest YouTube videos on the Kate's Ag channel. The title is: A BLAST FROM THE PAST ...
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/ Congratulations

Learning Is Always Good !

Learning new stuff is always good! My dad’s cousin is 86. She was a math teacher and has been interested in computers since the late 1970s. She studied and earned her amateur radio license around the ...
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/ Notes From The Shack

Take a Break. Play Radio Outdoors.

Take a break from radio... ...or play radio outdoors ! Amateur radio is a fun hobby! It is amazing to receive a Slow-Scan Television (SSTV) image from the International Space Station, or realize the FT8 digital ...
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/ Notes From The Shack

N3FJP Software Fun

Part of the Notes From The Shack... series. Scott Davis, N3FJP and his fine team at Affirmatech have created a constellation of software logging packages. His AC Call Log is one of the more popular software ...
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/ Notes From The Shack

Every Ham Needs a Kubota Tractor

Every Ham Needs a Kubota Tractor The other day a group of Cumberland Amateur Radio Club Ham Radio Operators were gathered together for a contest operation. Now and then the conversation turned to topics other than ...
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/ Humor

RTTY Software and Contesting

RTTY Software and Contesting RTTY - radio teletype - is a fun digital mode. I became active in the hobby when I learned about FLDIGI software and PSK31 and Domino. Andy AF3I suggested I’d like RTTY ...
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/ Contests

A Little Goes A Looooong Waaaaay

How Far Can You Go? Sunday night August 30, 2020 the Cumberland Amateur Radio Club Weekly Two Meter Net had two visitor check-ins. We welcome visitors. In that sense, there was nothing unusual about one or ...
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/ Notes From The Shack

Eight year old enjoys Ham Radio

Not just for grown-ups! Faye KN4WDF recently was the Virginia Fone Net Net Control Station and reported that she had talked to a newly licensed ham on another net she runs. The new ham is an ...
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/ Notes From The Shack

A Few of Frank’s Favorite Gadgets

Favorite Ham Radio Gadgets Frank shares with us some thoughts about his favorite gadgets. These are not going to change the world, but they just might brighten your day. Complete with photographs. Link to content: How ...
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/ Notes From The Shack

Practice Makes Perfect — Part II and Part III

Upcoming State QSO Parties -- Ohio and Hawai`i Cumberland Amateur Radio Club has a goal of building its bench strength in preparation for a big showing in Field Day 2021. Part of our preparation strategy calls ...
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/ State QSO Party

Pennsylvania Statewide WIRES-X Net –and– EPA DMR Talkgroup

New Weekly Statewide WIRES-X C4FM Net and Eastern PA DMR Talkgroup Earlier today ARRL Members in the EPA Section received information from Jay Silber, ARRL Public Information Coordinator for the Eastern Pennsylvania Section, describing new weekly ...
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/ VHF Digital Modes

Contesting — Practice Makes Perfect

Practice Makes Perfect. With a special focus on the Maryland -- DC QSO Party Scheduled for August 8, 2020 Cumberland Amateur Radio Club recently recapped its performance in the ARRL 2020 Field Day Operating Event. The ...
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/ Contests

Field Day Tips

Field Day, Contesting and Random Operating Thoughts After Field Day 2020 was in the books a group of us from the Cumberland Amateur Radio Club K3IEC Field Day crew discussed what worked, what didn’t work, and ...
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/ Notes From The Shack

CARC Two-Meter Net Invitation

Newly Licensed Hams... Welcome to the CARC Two-Meter Net Editor's Note: This information was first posted over a year ago. The content remains an important part of our Club approach to encouraging involvement and participation in ...
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/ On-The-Air

FT8 Addiction?

FT8 addiction? With some help from our friends at WSJTX@groups.io.com FT8 is one of the many digital modes in the WSJT-X software suite from Joe Taylor, K1JT and his team of collaborators. The basic software covers ...
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/ Digital Mode, Notes From The Shack

A Bit of Morse Code Telegraphy History

Morse Code Telegraphy History A ham radio friend shared this information with me via email. While reading, I found the original source of several morse code shortcuts that are commonly used by ham radio operators. Hams ...
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/ General Interest

Are You an Active Ham

Are you an active ham? Good day! The United States leads the world in having the greatest number of licensed amateur radio operators. There are about 763,000 among all US License Classes. About 8,000 of those ...
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/ Notes From The Shack

Memory Aids for Call Signs

Memory Aids for Ham Radio Call Signs What on earth is this doing here? It will make sense after you read the story. Some people find memorizing things is easier if they associate it with something ...
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/ Notes From The Shack

Helpful Hint for FM Repeater Users

Helpful Hint for FM Repeater Users I was listening to a conversation on the Frederick, Maryland W3ICF 146.730 MHz repeater this morning. The gentlemen I heard shared a helpful hint for those, like me, who were ...
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/ How-To

Share The Airwaves

Share The Airwaves It's OK to just want to play radio! This weekend, as I was watching an email thread unravel on a ham radio reflector, I was reminded of one of my nephews. He was ...
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/ Notes From The Shack

WSJT-X and JTAlert — Guest Author: N6DBF

So, what's this all about? A female voice is saying "Calling You" and then a male voice says "Wanted DX". While in the background, the Stereo is playing some of that good old time rock and ...
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/ Digital Mode, Humor, Notes From The Shack

Slow Scan TV

Tonight (February 23, 2020) as part of the Sunday evening CARC Two Meter Net which meets at 1900 EST, CARC members Frank Mellott KB3PQT and Andrew Forsyth AF3I demonstrated sending and receiving SSTV images (Slow Scan ...
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/ Notes From The Shack, SSTV, VHF Digital Modes

February – A Good Month To Play Radio

February - A good month to play radio! February is a fun month. It starts with Groundhog Day and ends with the South Carolina QSO Party. It has the Minnesota, Vermont and British Columbia QSO Parties ...
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/ Notes From The Shack, On-The-Air

Winter Field Day 2020

Notes from the shack.... Winter Field Day, 2020 Ah... Field Day. Summer temps, picnic food, setting up outside... can’t wait! UH...wait....you said “Winter Field Day? Huh? Winter?? as in freezing outside? Ummm...no thanks. Really. Winter Field ...
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/ Contests, Notes From The Shack, On-The-Air