In case you missed it
The President of the United States has the State of the Union address, the Governor has the State of the State address and I gave a State of the Tulsa Amateur Radio Club address at the March meeting on the 21st. Well maybe not quite as formal, but I’ve been President of TARC for just over 2 years now and I think it’s important that you know just how far the club has come in those 2 years (there’s a list as long as my arm).
Here are the activities that the club is currently participating in¦
· Club growth…over 180 190 members (FOUR FOLD increase in 2 years)
· We started the W5IAS Weather Watch
· Continued improvements and usage of the Comm 1 Trailer (Loaned out to other events as well)
· ARES SET (Simulated Emergency Test)
· Field Day
· Winter Field Day
· Route 66 OTA (Webster High School and Chandler Park)
· Upgrading the Superlink hub repeater, 443.850
· Tuesday club net on the Superlink Repeater System 8 PM
· License exam sessions (with radio giveaway and free membership)
· Ice Cream Social at Chandler Park
· Sand Springs Christmas Parade staging
· Upgraded the TARC website
· Upgraded TARC Facebook page
· Created a TARC YouTube channel
· TARC club stickers
· TARC T shirts
· TARC business cards with repeater frequencies
· TARC club flag
· Green Country Hamfest Raffle and membership signup tables
· W6L QSL cards
· W5IAS QSL cards
· Support for bike rides (Tour de Tulsa, Copland Classic, Tulsa Tough, DamJam)
· TARC Christmas party
· MakerFair
· HF University
· Boy Scouts Merit Badge
Now…after reviewing this list we looked at future events and got plenty of suggestions from the 50 members in attendance.
Here are the future activities that the club is want-ing to participate in…
· Fox Hunts
· Portable operations (POTA, etc.)
· VHF/UHF University
· Gathering Place events (Outdoor Adventure on April 15th and another event in the fall)
· Special Events Stations (Does anyone know what the Sooner Spring Special Event Station was about?)
· ARRL Special Service Club
· Starting an HF Net
· Starting a 6-meter Net (Who was it at the club meeting that wanted to start a 6M net?)
· CW net and practice net
· Upgrade the TARC Newsletter – additional con-tent from club members
· Anyone of the Young Lady hams want to start a YL Net?
· Club hats and/or Name badges (We’re already working with David N5DMK and his wife on the badges). Other SWAG items such as TARC mugs, mousepads, backpacks, etc.
· Upcoming 2024 TARC 100-year anniversary
· 10 Meter repeater net
· VHF/UHF Winlink
· MMDVM/M17
· A 220 Net has just started – Fridays at 8:30 PM on 224.380, 1.6 offset and 88.5 PL
· Create a Kids Kit for kids interested in ham radio and electronics (Building easy kits, soldering, CW key, etc)
· Scouts Jamboree on the Air
· Train some Net Control Operators and loggers for the Tuesday net
You see there is something for everyone to be in-volved in…
At the end of the meeting, after seeing all the ac-tivities that TARC is involved in and all the activ-ities that the club members are interested in, I asked…no, pleaded and begged
(almost) looking for volunteers to help get the activities, current and/or future up and running or just to keep them going and members active.
Is that you?
The club needs your help and participation. If you’re not interested in heading up an activity you can help in the background and provide sup-port. WE NEED YOU!
At the last two meetings it was discussed that we would like to put together an HF go box (or two) and make it available to the club mem-bers for their short term use on a POTA activia-tion, camping trip, Field Day or other outdoor ham radio activity. The proposal was for the club to pay approximately $1,500 for the radio, box, antenna and accessories.
A suggestion was made to ask for donations spe-cifically for an HF go box and the majority of those in attendance responded in the positive and would contribute to the project with one member donating right then.
If you would like to donate to this project, and any amount will be graciously accepted, you can do so on the website under the “Join” dropdown. Look for the PayPal link. Of course, you can al-ways donate at a club meeting or other TARC event. See Ian KC9THI or Jerry KE5PMK or my-self. I donated!!!
Thank you!!!
The 443.850 Superlink Repeater sounds great!…
Bob W5RAB, Paul WB5ANX and David N5DMK have been working on the 443.850 re-peater and it has been an incredibly complex task, but they’ve won the battle and even though they are still testing and working out some of the bugs, it sounds great! If you haven’t heard it yet, listen for a while and hear the new announcements. If you hear anything out of the ordinary, please con-tact Paul WB5ANX, David N5DMK or Bob W5RAB.
Thank you for all the work you guys have put into this!!!
The ARRL Foundation Clubs Grant Program… Bart N5TWB will be again submitting the club’s pro-posal for some project funding to the ARRL Founda-tion Clubs Grant Program during the next round of the application process.
He’s also 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 We’re hoping for some good news so we can start on some of these projects!!!
Would you like to have a hand in some of our TARC projects? Now’s your chance!
The next regular club meeting of the Tulsa Am-ateur Radio Club is April 18th 2023 7 PM at TU’s Keplinger Hall room 3140.
You can’t miss this one…Paul WB5ANX will be presenting on ARES / Bike Rides / Communi-ty Events and how to be prepared for each of them.
Also, Ky Vargas KY5VAR recently made the trek out to Little Sahara State Park for a POTA activation and he’ll have a slide show and presen-tation for the club.
As always, monitor the Superlink Repeater System when severe weather is forecast…
As we’ve seen in the last few days, storms can be here year-round, so please monitor the Superlink Sys-tem for the Weather Watch net when severe weath-er 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 be-fore you know it! Got any ideas about how we can celebrate? Maybe a special event station? Ham ban-quet? What’s your idea?
We’re still looking for Net Control Operators and Loggers for the Tuesday night TARC Net. To save me we’re using NetLogger more now for check ins so if you’d like to give it a try let us know and we’ll be hap-py 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 du-ties.
No pressure…just fun doing ham radio!
Thanks going out to Ian KC9THI and Grant KC1KCE who will be joining me in doing net control for the Tuesday nets.
Every month is a contest month…
Pick a Contest…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 Con-test Corral, click on the month you want to check.
Upcoming contests and operating opportunities…
Mark your calendar for April 15th when we have an opportunity to participate in the Outdoor Ad-ventures event at The Gathering Place. Hours are 1-6 PM and we’ll have the Comm 1 trailer to show what we do. More details as they be-come available.
April – Lots of state QSO Party’s going on.
(Easy contacts, even on 10 M).
April 7th – Walk for the Bacon QRP Contest.
(CW 13 WPM or less).
April 15th and 16th Texas state Parks on the Air
April 16th – ARRL Rookie Roundup, SSB
(Another easy contest)
April 23rd – North American SSB Sprint Con-test (160 thru 20 meters)
May 6th – Tour de Tulsa Bike Ride (Sign up on the w5ias website)
May 20th – Copland Classic Bike Ride (Sign up on the w5ias website)
Go to ARRL.com, click Contest Calendar, scroll to Contest Corral, click on the month you want to check.
If you’ve read this far in the TARC Newsletter, thank you! I try to make it interesting reading and give lots of important club informaton on past and future actvites. Maybe you’ve seen a re-curing theme in this newsletter about volunteering your me, experience, and knowledge to help others in the club that are just startng out or returning to the hobby ater a long absence. Many things are new, and many things have changed over the years. We have over 190 mem-bers with different interests, and we need your help to keep that interest alive and growing! As was said earlier in the newsletter, all the club activity shows that there is a lot happening with TARC and that the club depends on its members to exist and thrive.
Send me an e mail with your interest and how you’d like to help your fellow hams at wa5ma.mark@gmail.com, and have some fun your-self!
Be safe, Be a good friend, Get on the air!
Mark WA5MA
President – Tulsa Amateur Radio Club