Field Day 2023 is in the books…
“On June 24th and 25th we have a chance to really stretch our ham radio
legs, have some fun and learn about ham radio with Field Day 2023.”
Well…that’s what I said in last month’s Presidents Corner and I didn’t
know just how much we were going to have to stretch our ham radio
legs! Of course, we couldn’t have known the weather that was going to
happen in the Tulsa area. The Saturday before Field Day we had some
serious winds blow through, especially in the Midtown area where several
club members live. Trees, limbs and power lines were down and power
was out in some areas for days. Chandler Park took a hit and Tulsa County
Parks closed all the County Parks, including Chandler Park. We were
hoping for the best and that the park would be opened, but on the Thursday
before Field Day we were told “no way” would the park be open.
So, Jack W5JHC and Ian KC9THI pulled a few rabbits out of their hats
and on Friday morning we made the decision and were approved to use
Haikey Creek Park in Bixby.
Now came the fun part…how do we move an entire Field Day in one
day to a new and untested location! Well, strings were pulled, favors
asked and with lots of help we did it.
I hope you had a chance to come by, see how it looked, meet up with
some friends and fellow hams.
All of the results, comments, concerns and opinions are not all in yet, but
I thought that it went very well and I would like to go back there next
year and hopefully get one of the shelters.
When you see them be sure and give Jack, Ian, Steve,
Paul, Ky, Jeff and anyone else that made this Field
Day a success a big pat on the back and a “well
done!”
Here are a few pictures from Field Day and there are a
more pictures up on the Tulsa Amateur Radio Club
Facebook page with more to follow on the
W5IAS.com website in the coming days.
This years’ Tulsa Tough is also in the books…
The Tulsa Tough Bike Ride was on June 10th and
11th. This is one of the last bike rides before the
end of the bike ride season. The ride was started 2
hours late due to a storm that rolled through in the
morning and the longest ride was cancelled, but
by 9:30 the ride had started. I was stationed on
Riverside Dr and just as soon as the riders started
coming through…flat tires were everywhere! For
about a half mile, every hundred yards or so was
a rider with a flat. We never heard what the issue
was, but the riders were sure glad we were there.
Things seemed to get better as the ride progressed
further along and the rest of the ride was uneventful.
Many thanks to the SAG’s and ride along as well
as those that worked so hard to make sure the
APRS units and the digipeaters were working.
Do you want to get your license or upgrade to
General or Extra…
I can’t say enough good things about David
N5DMK and the rest of the VE team. It’s a wonderful
thing that they are doing giving license exams
and we’re doing our part to bring new hams
into the hobby, and when you give away a radio
to a youngster and free club membership who
could refuse. It’s really nice that we are able to do
this in-house, in a comfortable setting such as
Keplinger Hall with VE’s that we know. Many
thanks to TU and many, many, many thanks to
David and the VE’s. If you’d like to help please
contact David at
N5DMK@att.net
Do you like the
new TARC badge?
See Andrew
W5AWS and
bring $2.00.
We are well on
our way…
to having enough money to start on the portable HF
go box.
At the last several meetings it was discussed that we
would like to put together an HF go box (or two) and
make it available to the club members for their short
term use on a POTA activiation, 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.
According to Jerry KE5PMK we are well on our way
to having enough donations to start on the first box.
So, thank you to all those who’ve donated thus far.
If you would like to donate to this project, any amount
will be graciously accepted, and you can do so on the
website under the “Join” dropdown. Look for the Pay-
Pal link. Of course, you can always donate at a club
meeting or other TARC event. See Ian KC9THI or
Jerry KE5PMK or myself. Thank you!!!
As always, monitor the Superlink Repeater System
when severe weather is forecast…
As we’ve seen recently, storms and strong winds can
be here year-round, so please monitor the superlink
System for the W5IAS Weather Watch 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. To
save time 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 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 duties.
No pressure…just fun doing ham radio!
Thanks going out to Andrew and David for their
excellent logging on the Tuesday nets.
Speaking of Nets…
The Tuesday night TARC net is going strong!
We’re averaging 40 check ins between NetLogger
and over the air check ins. Recently, there were
55 hams checking in from all over Green Country!
We give signal reports, answer ham related questions,
give announcements of upcoming ham radio
events and activities and we even have time
for some trivia!
We’re still interested in helping some club members
learn about net control and logging. Contact
me at wa5ma.mark@gmail.com.
Every month is a contest month…
Pick a Contest…any Contest! Go to ARRL.com,
click Contest Calendar, scroll to Contest Corral,
click on the month you want to check.
Try POTA or SOTA! Call CQ! Go to a local
park, throw up a wire and get on the air!
By the time you read this the 13 Colonies Special
Event will be under way. This is fun event and
you can try for a clean sweep of all stations including
the ones from Europe.
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 information
on past and future activities. Maybe you’ve
seen a recurring theme in this newsletter about volunteering
your time, experience and knowledge to help
others in the club that are just starting out or returning
to the hobby after a long absence. Many things are
new, and many things have changed over the years.
We have over 150 members with different interests,
and we need your help to keep that interest alive and
the club 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
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
yourself!
If you have not renewed your TARC membership,
your time has run out. By the time you read
this, if you have not renewed your membership
this will be your last newsletter.
The next regular club meeting of the Tulsa Amateur
Radio Club is July 19th 7 PM at TU’s
Keplinger Hall room 3140. On the agenda is Field
Day wrap up and Greg AI5HV will be presenting
on ham radio insurance.
Be safe, Be a good friend, Get on the air!
Mark WA5MA
President – Tulsa Amateur Radio Club