April showers bring May flowers…
The last few weeks of April brought Northeast Oklahoma and Northwest Arkansas a lot of rain and a few severe thunderstorms with just a little bit of hail. There were many flood advisories and flash flood advisories, too! Were you monitoring the Weather Net on the Superlink Repeater Sys- tem? If you weren’t, you should’ve been! We did have a handful of Weather Nets for some of the late April days of bad weather.
Did you attend the Green Country Hamfest???
It sure felt like there were more attendees at this hamfest than anywhere that I’ve attended since the 2019 hamfest season! A real big crowd! I want to give a big shout-out to the GCHF committee! Most of the sale tables were busy with some good buys, the usual retailers were there and there were some great prizes! It was really good to see some ham friends that have not been around for a while, seeing a familiar face and a voice that you’ve probably heard many times on the air. Next up is the Oklaho- ma City Hamfest on July 25th and 26th. Go to hamholiday.com for more information. I’ll be there with cash in hand looking for those great deals and maybe win a raffle prize!
Congratulations to Lynn Stevens KF0SUL who won the TARC raffle. A new, in the box Xiegu G90. She was soooooooooooo excited to get on the air with her new radio!
The hamfest was your 1st chance in 2025 to renew your TARC membership. My thanks to those that worked our table taking renewals, new memberships and selling raffle tickets. Things don’t happen by chance and it’s the rock stars in our club that make things happen. Thank you to all who helped. I also want to give a high five and congratulations to Mike Grogan, the Fox23 Mete- orologist. He passed his Technician exam at the ham- fest and is now licensed as KJ5KZZ. Guess who it was that helped him along the way to taking the ex- am…you guessed it…Ian KC9THI. Thanks, Ian, for being a great mentor to Mike! What other Tulsa TV Meteorologist can you work on next!?!
Have you seen this ad on the TARC Facebook page…
or a similar ad???
If so, it’s not allowed!!! We hold our logo close and right now 1907 in Broken Arrow is the only clothing retailer that can use our logo on t-shirts, jackets, hats, etc.
As soon as an admin is made aware of the post, it’s
down and the person doing the posting is banned! They even used one of the pictures from the recent 2025 Trail Life event at Haikey Creek Park! If you do see one of these ads, please notify the TARC Officers immediately!
Our last Tech Night was April 1st…
The April 1st Tech Night was dedicated to the OK POTA event that was scheduled for April 19th and 20th. Mike KI5EGH and Tony KA5TRO were present to promote the event and give some guid- ance to those present. It was a very informative meeting and I’m sure it would’ve been a great event but was rained out. (More April rain). We’re hoping that someday in the near future we can do another OK POTA event to activate some of the POTA locations in Green Country with anyone that wants to can get on the air and make some POTA contacts.
We tried something new at the last meeting… We streamed video of the meeting on Zoom for those unable to attend in person. Only one person was online, mainly because this was not adver- tised, but once word gets out
I’m sure more will be joining. Contact Jack W5JHC for info. Thanks Jack W5JHC!
We’re now using Ham.Live to log the TARC net…
We had a great discussion at the last meeting about switching from Netlogger to Ham.Live and after many pros and cons it was decided that we’d start using Ham.Live. Do we use it at every TARC event? Nope, if you’re doing a POTA activation, you use whatever logging program you like. If you’re out at Field Day, Winter Field or Route 66 on the Air, we’re using N3FJP to log because we need to have an ADIF file to total all the contacts. For making contacts at your home QTH? You can use whatever logging program you like (I like N3FJP). If you need help with Ham.Live, please let us know during one of the Tuesday nets and we’ll be happy to guide you to logging success!
And, there may be others that will be listening that also need help. Ham.live.com
What’s the latest news about TARC’s Field Day plans.???
Jack, W5JHC, delivered a slide presentation showing the status of Field Day planning for 2025. Something new…we’ll be at the Haikey Creek Park Tri-Plex on the weekend of June 28 & 29, 2025.
Food is a notable question this year since last year on- ly a few of the persons who said they would come, came to eat the food, which resulted in wasted food and money. This year we need to cut the cost by doing something different, a difference that is yet to be de- termined. You can indicate your interest in volunteer- ing to support Field Day 2025 by sending email to fieldday@w5ias.com.
If you made it to the meeting, we had a short discus- sion about DMR. Greg AI5HV could not attend the meeting, but made some DMR resource links availa- ble and those were posted on the backside of the agen- da or look below for the QR codes:
o https://www.youtube.com/@theoilykrafter
- https://theoilykrafter.com/shop/ols/categories/ham-radio radio
- There was supposed to be a link to a DMR code- plug, but the QR Code pointed to an empty directory which may be because Paul WB5ANX and Greg are still working on that code plug.
We all should be proudly wearing our club logo ap- parel. Robert, KI5WDD said that we now fulfill or- ders for TARC apparel by 1907 in Broken Arrow opening the club shop quarterly. The new system seems to be working well. You can get to the club shop via this link: https://w5ias.com/adverts/. When you get there, below the picture are arrows for pic- tures 1 through 8 of men’s and women’s shirts, long sleeve and short sleeve, hats, T shirts and polo shirts. Where them proudly, since you are among the 1 per- cent as Ky KY5VAR likes to say!
Next up is Tech Night on May 6th at 6:30 PM (Tech Night is the first Tuesday of each month). Our next Tech Night will feature a Nano Vna workshop. Ky KY5VAR and Mark KD5SMF will be presenting. Do you have a Nano Vna? Bring it to Tech Night. Would you like to know what a Nano VNA does and how a Nano Vna works. Come on out to Tech Night and they’ll show you.
Skywarn news…
The Informal Weather Net is no more. It has been combined with the WX5TUL Weather Net. They are now one in the same net, the WX5TUL Sky- warn Net. One of the differences is there are now three Net Operation Levels and this has brought some clarity to the check ins and reports that the net and the National Weather Service are looking for.
“Conditions for a Level 3 Net are: Storms have initiated in or are approaching areas served by the National Weather Service Office in Tulsa. General weather reports and check ins are requested. Any reports meeting severe criteria will be relayed to the National Weather Service.”
“Conditions for a Level 2 Net are: The National Weather Service in Tulsa has requested a Level 2 Net.
Net Control will accept all weather reports but will be primarily requesting reports of weather meeting severe criteria; quarter size or larger hail, wind speeds of 58 mph or higher; estimated or meas- ured, tornadoes or wall clouds with sustained rota- tion, supercell cloud formations, flooding and flash flooding that affects roads, homes or businesses.”
“Conditions for a Level 1 Net are: Tornado for- mation is imminent or are on the ground. ONLY tornado related reports will be taken and relayed to the National Weather Service.”
The Net Control Operators will do their best to educate those that monitor the SuperLink System
to understand these changes. For those amateur radio operators monitoring the net, we encourage you to participate in the Skywarn Net. Your real-time weath- er reports can be vital in helping the National Weather Service, Emergency Managers, amateur radio opera- tors and the general public stay safe and informed. Simply provide your weather reports to the Net Con- trol Operator during the net. Here are the guidelines for making a report…
When contacting Net Control please provide the fol- lowing information: Your callsign, your name, your location and if you’re making a weather report include the following…
- What did you see?
- Where did you see it?
- When did you see
Reports of a severe nature would be:
- Hail the size of a quarter or
- Estimated wind speeds of 58 mph or
- Tornados or wall clouds with
- Supercell cloud formations and flash
Looking for an active club? Looking to give back to the community? Looking to have some fun playing radio and hanging out with other hams? You found the right place!
ARES is always in need of new volunteers, but to participate you must complete a self-paced training course and get an Oklahoma Medical Reserve Corps (OKMRC) badge that gives you access to the places where amateur radio operators can help with commu-
nications during emergencies. OKMRC badges are FEMA-approved and therefore involve a back- ground check. ARES involves volunteer training, ARES nets, hospital nets, and Simulated Emergen- cy Tests.
Contact Paul WB5ANX at paulteel@gmail.com, Mark WA5MA at wa5ma.mark@gmail.com or Bart at bart.pickens@tulsatech.eduart if you’d like to learn more or sign up to be an ARES Volunteer! If you’re already an ARES Volunteer you should be checking in to the ARES Net every Thursday at 8:00 PM on the designated repeater. We’re going to start doing some cool things on the Net and you need to be a part of it for training purposes, work- ing equipment verification and communications protocols.
To go along with TARC’s partnership with ARES…
The Tulsa Amateur Radio Club has renewed their status as an ARRL Special Service Club.
A club that goes above and beyond for their com- munities and for Amateur Radio is what defines a Special Service Club (SSC). They are the leaders in their Amateur Radio communities who provide active training classes, publicity programs and ac- tively pursue technical projects and operating ac- tivities.
There is no doubt that TARC deserves recognition as a Special Service Club!
We still have 100 Year Anniversary Celebration pins…
mugs and shirts. If you want one contact Robert KI5WDD at rkerns007@gmail.com or you can pur- chase at a club meeting.
We have new Net Control Operators!!!
We conducted Net Control Operator training last year and we now have 10 new Net Control Operator’s and they’re already working nets. Ky KY5VAR, Roy WK5F, Andrew W5AWS are now doing the TARC Tuesday net. Ian KC9THI, Grant KC1KCE and Dirk W4IPD are just about ready to move on to other nets like the ARES net.
Many thanks to them and it’s good to hear them on the air!
Another class will be scheduled in 2025.
Are you ready to make DMR great…again??? DMR (Digital Mobile Radio) is making a comeback in Tulsa. There are DMR repeaters out there and they are getting more use every day. Paul WB5ANX and Greg AI5HV are working on an ARES club codeplug (basically a list of frequencies) to be distributed among the club members that have DMR radios and for use in ARES events.
What’s so good about DMR? The radio signal re- ceived by a DMR radio is clear with little to no static and noise. The signal remains that way right up until the transmitting station loses contact with the repeater or other DMR radio. This is unlike analog transmissions that have increasing noise and loss of signal until the transmitting station los- es contact with the repeater. Let us know if you’re interested in getting into DMR and we’ll get you connected.
Want to get on DMR??? Make the move to Okla- homa East 31402 and give a call on one of the DMR repeaters.
Upcoming Events…
- Ham University – TBD in 2025
- Weekly TARC Net on the Superlink System, Tuesdays at 8 PM
- CW Net, Mondays at 7:00 PM on 037 +/- QRM
- Tech Night – 1st Tuesday of each 6:30 PM
- Monthly meeting – 3rd Tuesday of each month. 7:00 PM Show up and support your club and club officers that do so very much for the club with ac- tivities, nets, events and keeping the club running smoothly!
We also have Member Spotlight…
Member Spotlight is now a part of our monthly meet- ings. Want to show and tell your station or your love for a particular part of ham radio? Contact Ky KY5VAR and let him know. He’ll get you scheduled. He’s also starting a “show me your shack” presenta- tion, so take some pictures and show us your ham shack!!!
Tulsa Amateur Radio Club and Tulsa University… We are still working to partner with the University of Tulsa. Our goal is to enhance their curriculum with ham radio knowledge and help each student get their Amateur Radio license. There is the possibility that a ham radio station may be placed on campus as a teaching aid for the students to use, as well as for UTARC and TARC members. CJ WW0CJ has been re-united with the University club callsign, KC5TU.
A remote internet link to the station is also being discussed.
Every month is a contest month…
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 lo- cal park, grab one of the club go boxes, throw up a wire and get on the air!
Start now…Field Day is not far off!
Be safe, Be a good friend, Get on the air! Mark WA5MA
President – Tulsa Amateur Radio Club