THE PRESIDENT’S CORNER – February 2023

President – Mark Adams, WA5MA (Returning)
1st Vice President – Jack Conway, W5JHC (Returning)
2nd Vice President – Ian Duncan, KC9THI (New)
Secretary – Andrew Shead, W5AWS (Returning)
Treasurer – Jerry Weikel, KE5PMK (Returning)
Public Service Liaison – Bart Pickens, N5TWB (Returning)
Callsign Trustee – Gregg Wonderly, W5GGW (Returning)
Newsletter Editor – Richie Shroff, W5OKL (Returning)
ARES Emergency Coordinator, Tulsa County – Paul Teel, WB5ANX (Returning)

In case you missed it… Winter Field Day Was quite the success! Even with the cool temperatures and gusty winds there was a good turnout. Steve KF5VCQ brought out the TARC Comm 1 trailer and gave tours, showed of some the new additions and set up the 7300’s for all to make some contacts. Some of the new additions are solar panels to the rear roof of the trailer, a Yeasu Fusion repeater was installed and will be used for temporary and short-term events when we don’t want to tie up the reg-ular repeaters. My best guess is that there were between 25 and 30 that showed up. Some were regulars, some didn’t have a license yet and some got their license years ago and are now getting back into the hobby. We got to fly the TARC flag for the first time, Ky, KY5VAR, brought out his Humvee with a military monoband vertical antenna and his own 7300. All mobile and very portable. Andrew, W5AWS, had his portable set up with a new FT-891 and tripod with a small vertical antenna. Many thanks to all that came out to enjoy the day, ask some questions and just have a good time with fellow hams.

In case you missed it…Part 2 At our last club meeting Mark Kleine, N5HZR, the ARRL Oklahoma Section Manager came over from Oklahoma City to speak to our 45 club members that were in attend-ance. I don’t think we’ve ever had 45 at a club meet-ing before so it was great to show our support. He spoke about the new Volunteers on the Air program, ARRL Leadership opportunities, ARES and the Am-ateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act making its way through Congress right now. In essence, pas-sage of the bill would override HOA rules that pre-vent radio operators from erecting antennas. Check out the video by John Stratton N5AUS. Here’s the link: https://w5nor.org/js

Another HF University is coming… Mark your calendars for Saturday, February 18th for the next HF University. We’re still finalizing the presenta-tions, but we’re looking at An introduction to the Icom 7300, Understanding Propagation, All Things Power Related, Ham Radio Etiquette, Grounding, Getting Started in HF Part 2. Whatever doesn’t make the cut this time will be carried over to the next HF University later in the Spring.

If HF is not your thing, we’re thinking about adding a VHF/UHF University later this year, too!
Congratulations… David, N5DMK, was the coordi-nator for a license exam session recently. There were 8 in attendance and the results are…
2 new Technician Class license holders
4 new General Class license holders
1 new Extra Class license holder

And I have to tell you about one of the new Techni-cian license holders. His name is Jared and he’s 10 years old. He came down from Bartlesville with his uncle to take the exam. His inspiration to get his li-cense came from his family (his uncle is a ham) and he would like to help out with club events (he also wanted to get his license before his older brother did!) He would also like to speak with other family members across the United States without someone having to help him or be third party traffic. He re-ceived a Baofeng hand held to start with and we hope to hear him on the air real soon! Congratula-tions Jared!!!

Many thanks to the Volunteer Examiners, David, N5DMK, Greg, AI5HV, CJ, WW0CJ, and Curtis, N5CEL.
Thank you…This wouldn’t happen without you!!!

Getting closer to replacing the 443.850 repeater… Bob, W5RAB, Paul, WB5ANX, and David, N5DMK, have been working on various parts of a new repeater that’ll be replacing the current 443.850 repeater. As soon as they get the announcements upgraded, they’ll be looking for an installation date.

They’re getting closer to the new repeater being on-line. Just in time for storm season!
The ARRL Foundation Clubs Grant Program… Bart, N5TWB, submitted the club proposal to the ARRL and unfortunately, we missed the cut for the ARRL Foundation Clubs Grant Program.
However, he’s currently writing a proposal that will be submitted to ARDC. Got an idea for a club project? Send it to us so we can add it to the list. https://w5ias.com/2022/04/20/tarc-grant-project

The next regular club meeting of the Tulsa Amateur Radio Club is February 21st 2023 at TU’s Keplinger Hall room 3140. The presentation is all about Netlog-ger by Andrew W5AWS.
As always, monitor the Superlink Repeater System when severe weather is forecast… As we’ve seen re-cently, storm season can be year-round, so please monitor the Superlink System for the Weather Watch net when severe weather is forecast. Frequencies for the repeater in your area can be found at W5IAS.com, click on Repeaters and scroll down to TARC: Wide-Area Link System.
Coming to the Tulsa Amateur Radio Club in 2024… 2024 will be the 100-year anniversary of the Tulsa Amateur Radio Club. I know it’s more than a year away, but we can start planning now. It’ll be here before you know it! Got any ideas about how we can celebrate? Maybe a special event station? Ham banquet? What’s your idea?

We’re still looking for Net Control Operators and Loggers for the Tuesday night TARC Net. We’re us-ing NetLogger more now for check ins so if you’d like to give it a try let us know and we’ll be happy to show you how easy it is and how you can help your club stay strong and active. Start small and when you feel comfortable, move on up to other events. No pres-sure…just fun doing ham radio! Thanks going out to Ian, KC9THI, and Grant, KC1KCE, who will be join-ing me in doing net control for the Tuesday nets.

Every month is a contest month… Pick a Con-test…any Contest! Try POTA or SOTA! Call CQ! Go to a local park and get on the air! Go to ARRL.com, click Contest Calendar, scroll to Contest Corral, click on the month you want to check.

Upcoming contests…
2/4 – 10-10 International Winter Contest, SSB
2/11 – CQ WW RTTY WPX Contest (I’m in that one)
2/13 – ARRL School Roundup
2/25 – North American QSO Party RTTY (I’ll be in that one, too)
Go to ARRL.com, click Contest Calendar, scroll to Contest Corral, click on the month you want to check.

Be safe, Be a good friend, Get on the air!
Mark, WA5MA
President – Tulsa Amateur Radio Club

Posted in President's Corner.

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