TARC
MEETING
Tuesday
21 May
7:00 PM
Meeting
*** NOTE CHANGE OF LOCATION FOR THIS MEETING ONLY ***
Tulsa Community College
Northeast Campus
Harvard and Apache
(Click
here for map)
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TARC D-Star Repeater Update
January 2013
The TARC D-Star repeater,
on 443.000mhz is up and running with the network connection working
good. We still have some packet loss between the tower and the
gateway computer, but I've tried to decrease the packet sizes by an
increase in the hopping frequency so that noise or problems on one
segment of the 900Mhz band has a smaller impact on the total quality of
the audio being transmitted across 900Mhz.
I enjoyed the D-Star web program put on over last weekend of Dec at the http://www.w5kub.com/
web site. It had a lot of great information in it. There
are reruns still available on that web site. There were a couple
of times that audio cut out as they changed speakers or at the start of
a session, so just hang tight what that happens in the replays, and
you'll get audio back shortly.
I currently have 443.000
connected to reflector REF014C. Reflectors are internet connected
hubs which handle the large bandwidth needed for lots of users being
"internet" connected to one or more repeaters. If you want to
connect to a different reflector, you can use the 'unlink' mechanism by
sending a 'U' in position 8 of the UR call field. The list of
possible reflectors can be located on the internet by searching for
"dstar reflectors". The http://www.dstarinfo.com/reflectors.aspx web page is at the top of the results.
To connect to one of the reflectors, set the UR call to the reflectors name with an additional 'L' character in position 8.
Each of the reflectors
listed, has a "Usage" description of it, and location information
etc. You can click through the links there in your web browser,
and see which repeaters and users are connected to which reflectors.
There was a lot of
information provided on the DV-AP and DV-Dongle devices. These
devices are internet connected dongles which allow you to use D-Star as
well.
The DV-AP is an "access
point" like device which you connect to your computer. It has a
low power FM transceiver on board, which you can talk through, with
your conventional FM equipment. That device provides the D-Star
CODEC to encode/decode your voice for D-Star. It then gateways
your transmission into the reflector/repeater which you've used your
computer to connect to.
The DV-Dongle is also
connected through your computer, but requires you to use a headset for
your audio in and out. If you are setting near a computer, and
can stay there, then this device can make it possible to get into
D-Star with that simple restriction on your movement.
Both of these devices can be found on the internet at the various ham radio equipment stores.
The DRATs application was
also reviewed. DRATs allows you to use your D-Star radios digital
data services to send text messages, transfer files and other related
data services. It is a great ARES resource for support activities
because you can use your D-Star radio, as you would a TNC, and this
application provides all of the "applications" without you having to do
the extra work to manage your data transfers manually.
There are lots of D-Star nets being run world wide. There is a list at http://www.dstarinfo.com/nets.aspx
which you can review to see if there are some interesting topics which
you'd like to participate in. If you have a DV-Dongle, you can
sit at your computer and connect to these nets and participate
directly. With the DV-AP, you can also connect via your computer,
but be able to use your FM HT, around the house to participate.
If you want to use a D-Star radio, then you can check for any activity
on a local repeater, such as the TARC 443.000mhz. If there are no
other users who need the repeater for something else, then you can
simply link the repeater to the appropriate reflector and participate.
This coming year, I will
be taking some time to do some D-Star demonstrations and programs at
the club meetings. If you have an interest in D-Star, feel free
to send me an email to w5ggw@cox.net and I can try and provide some answers or pointers to answers.
Gregg
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TARC
Repeater Update
December 2012
The TARC repeater systems have been undergoing several changes,
upgrades and new equipment over the summer. Here's the low
down
on what has been happening.
- A new Repeater System on 147.045mhz
was created
and Installed in Mannford, at the 442.000mhz site, and the old Lookup
Mountain machine was used for the new 147.180mhz repeater mentioned
below.
- A new 145.110mhz System will be brought on line
at
Lookout Mountain on the old 147.045mhz system's antenna sometime before
the end of October if all goes well.
- A new 147.180mhz repeater is now online in east
Tulsa at the 443.850mhz site.
- A new D-STAR repeater was acquired and
installed at Lookup Mountain on 443.000mhz.
- All around the greater Tulsa area, there are
new APRS
digi-peaters which are in place, to help eliminate the single
dependency on ETULSA which is now offline so that it's antenna system
can be used for the 147.280mhz system.
We owe a big thank you to the generous contributions of money, time and
effort by Bob Buford, Jerry Moyer and some of their coworkers, as well
as some matching funds, courtesy of their employer,
Conoco/Phillips. If you see these folks, please
give them a
thank you for helping the club extend and maintain its equipment.
The D-STAR system on 443.000mhz was obtained for "free" due to a
program that ICOM has had to try and extend the use of D-STAR by
providing repeaters, which might encourage people to use or buy D-STAR
capable radios. There are lots of things to read about
D-STAR, on
the Internet. Here are some things that D-STAR provides to
the
Amateur Radio operator.
1. Station to station communications, through repeaters via Internet
linking. This is similar to echolink's capabilities, but it
is
digital, and more dependable in implementation it seems. We
are
working on finalizing the internet services connection to the repeater
site so that we can make use of these linking facilities. The Gateway
to repeater link for the 443.000mhz machine is experiencing some spotty
operations due to the quality of the antenna system we currently have
access to at the repeater site.
2. Call sign routing allows you to just say you want to talk to another
Amateur station, and you don't have to know what repeater they are
using. That information is stored in the global D-STAR
system,
and the Gateway computer system, attached to the repeater, has access
to the information about all stations, and will select the gateway
repeater on the other end to connect you through.
3. Much like echolink conferences, there are D-STAR reflectors, which a
repeater can be connected to so that larger "systems" can be created
and interest specific nets can include many more stations.
4. At the top end of the system is the 1.2Ghz and higher linking radios
which allow Ethernet connections into D-STAR so that it can be used
"across" town, to provide a wide-area network. The lower
frequency radios provide data services at lower speeds, and use serial
data connections into the radio.
To use D-STAR effectively, you need to create an account on some
Gateway computer somewhere in the world. Generally, it's a
good
idea to have your account on the repeater system in your hometown, or
some place where you usually hang out. Having your account on
that repeater system, will allow you to use D-STAR more fully.
Noid, NM5I has also setup a D-STAR repeater on 443.025mhz at 36th St.
North at the Police station. Noid is trying to finalize the
operations of the Internet connection to his repeater as well.
To read more about D-STAR, you can look over some of the associated web
sites such as the following:
1. ICOM D-STAR Information http://www.icomamerica.com/en/products/amateur/dstar/dstar/default.aspx
2. ICOM ID-1 radio for 1.2Ghz communictions http://www.icomamerica.com/en/products/amateur/dstar/id1/default.aspx
3. ICOM 2820H - D-STAR optional radio http://www.icomamerica.com/en/products/amateur/dstar/2820h/default.aspx
4. ICOM IC-91AD dual band HT http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/ht/0091.html
5. ICOM D-STAR repeater hardware http://www.icomamerica.com/en/products/amateur/dstar/2000_4000/default.aspx
6. D-STAR users web site
http://www.dstarusers.org/
7. D-STAR Information Site http://www.dstarinfo.com/
There are lots of other sites around the Internet, and you can find
lots of stuff linked to by the #6 and #7 links
above. If
you have questions about how to use the local D-STAR repeaters, trying
asking on the local nets, or on other repeaters.
Most of the D-STAR radios support both D-STAR and normal, analog FM
emissions, so that you can use these radios for existing
repeaters. There are a couple of D-STAR repeaters
in OKC
and of course all over other states and areas of the world.
The
information at the link #6 above (dstarusers.org), reveals more about
all of the D-STAR repeaters in the U.S.
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Repeater Back On The Air
The
Cavanal Repeater,
442.250, is back on the air on the Leflore Co. EMS tower and works very
well.
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Tulsa
District ARES Net Changes
Circle the date on your calender - changes coming to the weekly Tulsa
District ARES Net!
Starting Thursday - April 5, 2012
New
Net Night - Thursday evenings
New
time - 2000 Hrs Local
Same repeater 146.880 (back up 147.390)
See you there!
Mark Conklin, N7XYO
Oklahoma Section Emergency Coordinator
Amateur Radio Emergency Service
918.232.8346
n7xyo@arrl.net
Follow me on Twitter @N7XYO
www.ARESOK.org
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VE
Testing Changes
Hardesty Library ARRL VE Session
First Saturday of ODD numbered months.
January 5th, March 2nd, May 4th, July 6th, September 7th, November 2nd.
9:15 a.m., walk-ins welcome until 9:45. Please email for further
information.
Hardesty Regional Library
8316 E. 93rd St.
Tulsa, OK 74133
The library is just east of Memorial on the south side of 93rd street,
behind the car dealership.
http://tulsalibrary.org/hardesty/
Check calendar of events at library for directions to room.
For more information contact Loyd, AE5MM at ae5mm@arrl.net
or leave
message at 918.638.2393.
You will need to bring $15, two forms of photo ID and copies of any
previous licenses you may have. If you do have any previous license
from the FCC (amateur or otherwise), please be sure to bring your FRN,
a special number assigned to you.
W5YI
(after the American Airlines ARC meeting)
Last Saturday of EVEN number months, 10:00 - 11:30 AM (W5YI)
MARTIN EAST REGIONAL LIBRARY 26th and Garnett Tulsa, OK
*** Walk-ins are welcome, no appointment necessary ***
Contact: John S. Campbell, K5ENA, at 918.346.8284 (before 9 PM) or k5ena@cox.net
Contact John for dates, time and location.
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FIRST CONTACT
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TARC now on FACEBOOK
To follow the
Tulsa Amateur Radio Club on FACEBOOK click this link
or on "Facebook" on the left index.
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Back for 2012 by popular demand
The
date for the
2012 Route 66 On The Air is
September
8, 2012 to September 16, 2012.

The Route 66 Special Event
continues to be a success each year.
Follow the links for some
pictures at the 2005,
2006and 2007
event.
See
2007 results here.
W5IAS operating as
W6L
September
2012 
Route
66 On The Air Guidelines
QSL to
Tulsa Amateur Radio Club
P.O. Box 4283
Tulsa, OK 74159-0283
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145.11 Status
Just
to make sure there are no "rumors" being spread:
1. The
fire marshall ordered the repeaters (plural - also involved is the
443.000 UHF machine - the one that is not on the link system)
"unplugged", because they were being powered by an "extension cord"
that was not rated for the amount of power they draw.
a. This is technically not the case, because (1) 443.000 was
actually down, and shouldn't have been counted, however the fire
marshall doesn't see it that way - it WAS plugged in.
b. Both repeaters are powered by one 13.8V power supply, so
while
it is substantial, it actually only draws 4 or 5 amps even if both
repeaters were transmitting, therefore the cord was actually still well
within its ratings - basically, the fire marshall didn't "do the math",
he just decided to be hard-nosed about it.
2.
The
fire marshall (and the building owner's) position in this case is
understandable - this inspection was shortly after TWO fairly
spectacular fires in the building!
3.
While
the extension cord may not have itself been a fire hazard, it is NOT
code - no permanently mounted equipment is supposed to be powered by
extension cords in a commercial building, PLUS no outlet is supposed to
be installed in a closet (too easy for them to be damaged because they
are "hidden", plus they get missed in inspections). So in
this
case, the extension cord is to reach a "working" but illegal outlet
because the "close" outlet we used to use was pulled out when another
tenants equipment was removed.
At
this point,
we are negotiating with the building owner - we have an electrician who
has done a quote for the work required to restore the original outlet
to operation while at the same time bringing it up to code.
But
we have to work with the building management company to get their
approval, then the city to get a permit and then inspections.
There
are also
issues with the "lease" of this space and paying for power.
The
building has changed hands (or at least management) since this space
was originally donated to TARC, and apparently the records (if any)
were lost. In conjunction with getting the permit/building
modifications negotiated, we will also renegotiate the lease.
However, we're dealing with not one, but TWO bureacracies here, and
these things take time.
In
the
meantime, normal TARC operations (nets, special events, public service
events, etc.) are held on the 147.045 repeater (positive offset, 88.5
tone).
Please
be
patient, once we get the legal side worked out, it should take us (or
rather, the electrician) about an hour to actually get us back on the
air - once he gets an okay from the building owner and the city.
73,
Jay
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DIY Vertical Antenna
Kit
The Portable-Convertible-Vertical that was the presentation at the July
TARC meeting will be made available in kit form at the Ice Cream Social
club meeting in September. In order to take advantage of
quantity
discounts, we'll be collecting pre-payments for the materials through
the August club meeting (August 19th). The cost is
$20.
Quantities are limited, so first come, first served.
For those that missed it, this antenna is not an antenna for permanent
mounting, but is rather a portable quick setup antenna suitable for
emcomm or similar use on 10-20m including the WARC bands.
It's
made of 3/4" EMT conduit, wood and wire, and is designed to be ground
mounted and guyed with rope. It can be set up in 5 minutes
and
packs in a 4' 6" by 4" tube.
The conduit will be pre-cut into the appropriate lengths - base, 10m
top, and add-on stubs for 12m, 15m, 17m and 20m. Switching
bands
is done by adding the stubs with couplers, with each lower band
requiring all the stubs for the higher bands. The lengths
will be
cut for the middle of the SSB portion of each band, but tuning down for
CW can be handled by adding a short (2" to 6" as needed) tuning stub to
the top.
The kit is the wood base, conduit (pre-cut and drilled), couplers,
conduit straps, screws, ring terminals, and radial wires (8), plus a
PVC ring for the guy ropes. Building requires a screwdriver
and
crimpers or soldering iron and takes 15 minutes.
73,
Jay, AD5PE
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Edmond
Repeater
The Edmond repeater is now
online and a part of the TARC W5IAS Super Link System. Look
for it on 443.250 and a PL tone 88.5
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Spreading Ham Radio
into Cooper Elementary School
By Jay Eimer, AD5PE
One
of the goals
of the ARRL is education regarding amateur radio, with the intent of
bringing new licensees into the fold. As a special service club, the
Tulsa Amateur Radio Club strives to do the same in many ways. One
obvious way is through licensing classes, but there are other ways we
can reach out to non-hams as well, such as holding events in public, or
giving presentations to other community organizations.
http://W5IAS.com/Cooper/Cooper.html
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ARES ON-LINE
www.ARESOK.org
Take a look in your
wallet, your desk drawer, glove box of your car... if you have a ARES
ID
chttp://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=36.150873,-95.823438&spn=0.001289,0.001875&t=h&z=19ard
please ask yourself one very important question – Are you
currently registered
on line on the ARES OK website?
If you not currently a
volunteer and would like to be, PLEASE go to the ARES OK website and
register as
a volunteer.
Why should you register on
line? By registering on line we have one consistent information source
for
volunteer information throughout the state, as well as a resource
listing for
each county.
To register go to http://www.aresok.org/mkApplication.asp
and click on the map of your county. Scroll down and fill in the
blanks. Please
register as a VOLUNTEER. The website is password protected, only
persons that
are registered on ARESOK.org can see your information.
If
you are interested in becoming a
leader with in ARES with in ARES OK you should contact the EC, DEC or
ZEC in
your area for more information about the duties and responsibilities.
Most of
the information is located on the website.
Also
to help get information out to
volunteers quickly - Oklahoma ARES is inviting all hams in area to sign
up on
the aresoklahoma yahoo group. To sign up go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aresoklahoma
(then click on the big blue "Join This Group!" button at the top
right).
These
groups is how ARES will broadcast
all area or state events, information, etc. that is of a timely or
critical
nature. This is not an email forwarding system. Please keep the posts
to items
that effect the Oklahoma State, i.e. weather updates, calls for
assistance,
ECOMM, situation reports. THIS GROUP IS FOR ALL HAMS THAT ARE
INTERESTED IN
HELPING OUT DURING AN EVENT.
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Tulsa
Amateur Radio Club Store
Check out the large selection of TARC items and
apparel available for your
purchase. Tee shirts, golf shirts, sweat shirts, caps, coffee
mugs, bumper
stickers, buttons, clocks and stickers. It's all there and at
a reasonable
price. If you do not see something of interest to you,
contact Tom,
KE5EHX, at tom.white@gmail.com,
with
your ideas.
http://www.cafepress.com/tarc
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ELMER
Help is just a click away
For technical
questions, email our 'elmer committee' at
elmer@w5ias.com
and we'll get you hooked
up with a volunteer mentor with expertise in the field pertaining to
your
question. Please include email or phone preference, and if
you prefer a phone
call be sure to include your number and the best time to reach you.
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444.600
Is On The Air
Tim, KB5ZVC, and I finalized the installation of
the 444.600-mhz machine into
the Mounds Oklahoma site. This installation will be easier for us to
support and
provide a better coverage pattern to the south and west of Tulsa for
storm
spotting and other community support activities.
Please make use of this machine as you travel in/through the area south
and west
of Mounds and let us know about what coverage you experience.
Gregg Wonderly
W5GGW
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FREE On-Line
Incident Command Training
IS-700 National Incident Management System (NIMS),
http://training.fema.gov/emiweb/IS/is700.asp
On-Line Emergency Communication Training ARRL
Certification and Continuing Education (C-CE)
http://www.arrl.org/cce/
73 Mark Conklin N7XYO
ARES A-SEC NE OK
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Google TARC REPEATER MAP
Thanks to the hard work of
Gregg, W5GGW, you can now see where the Tulsa Amateur Radio Club
repeaters are
located and their status. It is amazing to explore both the
maps and the
satellite imagery that this system provides. It can keep you
occupied for
hours!
Click here.
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TESTING
First Saturday of ODD numbered
month 9:30 to 11:00 A.M.
January
5th, March 1st, May 3rd, July
12th, September 6th and November 1st.
September
testing has been cancelled because of conflicts at the library.
Hardesty Regional Library
8316 E 93rd Street
Tulsa, OK 74133
Walk-ins Welcome
Contact: Tom - K5EHX at tom@k5ehx.net
or
(918)835-7889 and leave a message
Second Saturday in EVEN number month 9:30 A.M.
Broken Arrow Church of Christ
811 North 4th, Broken Arrow OK
Contact Don, AC5II @ 918.379.0962
Third
Wednesday
in ODD numbered months, 7:00 PM
Red Cross building on east
11th St at Hwy 169, Tulsa OK
Contact: Merlin Griffin, WB5OSM @
918.520.7668
Quarterly,
10:00 - 11:30 AM (W5YI)
MARTIN EAST REGIONAL LIBRARY 26th and Garnett
Tulsa, OK
*** Testing
is by APPOINTMENT ONLY ***
Contact: John S Cambell, K5ENA at 918.346.8284 (before 9 PM) or k5ena@cox.net
Contact John for dates, time and location.
(30 July and 29 October)
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The Tulsa Amateur Radio Club
SKYWARN
and
Eastern
Oklahoma / Northwestern Arkansas Skywarn
As you may or may not know, the TARC is involved
with the
Skywarn network of
community service oriented clubs. The W5IAS linked repeater system is
the largest,
the best and most efficient repeater system in the State of Oklahoma.
When
emergencies arise in our areas of coverage, the W5IAS
linked repeater system
serves both as a communications system and a community service.
Covering some
50,000 square miles from I-35 to deep into Arkansas and from Texas in
the South
to Kansas in the North. During times of disasters and other emergencies
the W5IAS
repeater system will be used for relaying information from one area to
another.
Several times in the past this impressive system has played major roles
in the
safety of our communities. Everything from severe weather to the phone
outage
of the year 2000, which was covered by the TARC and the link system was
used to
cover the area hospitals. Thirty minutes after the phones went down the
TARC was
there with a net organized, hours before the EOC and others in the area
even knew
the phones were out. The TARC is very proud of this system and is
always ready to
help out in those times of trouble when we are needed the most. The W5IAS
linked
repeater system is still growing more impressive by the day and is
always ready
to leap into action.
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