This time of year…
things in ham radio are pretty slow. However, it won’t be long and things will heat up hotter than a couple of tubes in an amplifier. We just had Winter Field Day, HF/VHF/UHF University and bike rides are just around the corner as is summer Field Day.
First of All…
Happy Anniversary TARC!!! January 1st has come and gone so now we can officially celebrate the Tulsa Amateur Radio Club’s 100-year anni-versary!!! We’ve put a committee together to plan some events and activ-ities. Steve KF5VCQ, Robert KI5WDD, Ray K5CFY and Remell KA6DOY are on the committee. They’ll be scheduling events during the year and if anyone has any ideas for an activity, event or a way to cele-brate this once in a century event, talk to Steve KF5VCQ or send an e mail to him at kf5vcq@cox.net or one of the other three committee mem-bers.
The wheels are turning slow…but they are turning…
The TARC Young Ladies Group is starting slow, but it is coming togeth-er. I’ve contacted some other YL Groups to find out what their events and activities are and how they found other interested YL’s. More to fol-low…
Looking for a club T shirt, hat, hoodie or something else?…
We now have more apparel with the club logo. And you should see our 100 Year Anniversary polo shirts and merchandise. A few of us will be wearing our 100 Year Anniversary polo shirt and Robert KI5WDD will have the commemorative merchandise at the meeting on February 20th. Come and see, bring cash or your checkbook.
Something new…
TARC now has 2 HF go boxes and they are really nice. One of them was demo’d at the September and October meetings and it has already been checked out for use. Would you like to use it? The other go box is a Yaesu FT-991A which is a VHF/UHF/HF radio so it’ll have the capability to work all three bands. It will be demo’d at the February meeting and available for checkout. The radio was donated by Forrest (Frosty) DeLunger KC0KFL. Thanks, Frosty!!! Con-tact Paul KE5EHM at ke5ehm1@gmail.com.
The Nervous Novice CW Net is going strong and growing…
The net is going very well and band conditions are improving so wherever you are in your CW journey get on this net. Mike KI5EGH does a wonderful job as Net Control and will slow down to your CW speed if needed so no reason not to join in. The Nervous Novice CW Net is on Monday evenings at 1900 hrs on 7.037 MHz +/- QRM. Ky KY5VAR is also trying his hand at the net control position and is doing very well for such a short period of time that he’s learned CW.
Do you like the new TARC badge?
See Andrew W5AWS and bring $2.00. Of course, it’ll have your name and callsign on it. hihi
Spring storm season is right around the cor-ner…
As we’ve seen last year, storms and strong winds can be here year-round, this is Oklahoma after all, 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.
The Tuesday TARC Net is going strong and grow-ing…
Until now there has been no net on the third Tuesday of each month because the in-person meeting was go-ing on here in Tulsa. Now we can say the TARC net is every Tuesday evening throughout the year. We now have Dirk W4IPD in the OKC area that’ll take over net control on meeting nights. Thanks Dirk! We’re averaging 35 check ins between NetLogger and over the air check ins. We give signal reports, answer ham related questions, give announcements of upcom-ing ham radio events and activities and we even have time for some trivia! Both Ian KC9THI and Grant KC1KCE are doing a great job as net control opera-tors and I’m sure Dirk will be no different!
And don’t forget about Club Spotlight!
If you have an event coming up, you need operators for an event, you have a hamfest or just want to talk about your club or your station, you can have 5 – 10 minutes on the Tuesday net to reach anyone listening on the SuperLink Repeater System. Just let us know, it’s that simple.
Every month is a contest month…
Pick a Contest…any Contest! January was Winter Field Day! Our location this year was just down the street from Keplinger Hall at TU. Steve KF5VCQ brought the Comm 1 trailer out and it was great to have it there because it was a cold day and I don’t think the temperature got out of the 30’s. We even had a few snow flurries! We had the heater going and at one point I counted 11 people in the trailer, all try-ing to get warm!! All in all, the cold temps didn’t seem to bother too many of those that showed up. Throughout the day I would say there were between 25 and 30 present. Several of those were new hams and they got a chance to make their first contacts and learn how to operate, so we only made 30 SSB con-tacts. Besides voice, Paul WB5ANX handled Win-link traffic in the trailer and did much better. He passed 849 messages. It was a great day!!!
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, grab one of the clubs go boxes, throw up a wire and get on the air!
Upcoming events…
” We’re still working on a date and topics for the next Ham University. Stay tuned!
” If you’re looking to get your amateur radio license or upgrade your license, the next TARC exam session is scheduled for March 16th at 10:00 AM at Tulsa University. Contact David N5DMK at n5dmk@att.net. David has the exam session running like a well-oiled machine and will have you in and out with a new license or an upgrade in no time at all!
David had 8 for the last exam session. 5 techni-cians, 2 general class and 1 extra class! Congratulations!!!
The next regular meeting… of the Tulsa Ama-teur Radio Club will be February 20th 7 PM at TU’s Keplinger Hall Room 3140. Please come out to the meeting and support your club, the club officers and those members that give so much of their time and effort to make TARC active and successful!!! Thanks!
Be safe, Be a good friend, Get on the air!
Mark WA5MA
President – Tulsa Amateur Radio Club