Protected: Hamfest Chattanooga 2024
An Out of This World Club Meeting
The January 2022 Special Club Meeting Program was Out of this World!
Curious about using Amateur Radio to communicate with Ham Radio Satellites circling the earth? The Chattanooga Amateur Radio Club sponsored a program at January’s monthly club meeting (January 6, 2022) about “How to Work Amateur Satellites with Your HT”.
The Zoom-based program was presented by Clint Bradford, K6LCS, ARRL Legacy Circle Member, Registered Instructor, and an AMSAT Ambassador.
Clint, K6LCS, has been a ham since 1994, and found his niche in the hobby: working amateur satellites with minimal equipment and telling ALL about it! He has served as a liaison between NASA, the ARISS team, and schools coordinating amateur radio contacts between the International Space Station and students (and orchestrated a wildly successful ARISS contact). Audiences have never found his presentation slides “wordy” nor dull. Trivia questions are included throughout the session–audiences are never bored.
Winter Field Day 2022 Wrap-Up
Winter Field Day (WFD) Wrap Up.
Winter Field Day was aptly named. The first work team arrived about 9 AM this past Saturday to a 17 degree Fahrenheit temperature at Chester Frost Park with a breeze across the knoll that would cut you in half. The logistics crew of Jeff Martin, Gary Ownsby, and Jim Knight positioned and set up the MCP and firewood trailer without a problem. The problem came along a few minutes later when hands became numb and flexibility all but went away. Jumping back into vehicles and turning heaters on was a mixed blessing. As hands thawed out, the feeling returned only to feel like fire. Once back home, it seemed to take about three hours to thaw out and regain any practical sense of touch. Brrr!
Touching metal objects with bare skin was a definite no-no…just about like kissing a flag pole in the wintertime as a kid. As a Yankee friend once remarked, “cold weather puts a spring in your step and makes you want to get things done quickly”. All so true! Club President Michael Ashmore awakened to a temperature of 13 degrees on his side of the mountain. With a little encouragement, he might just have stayed home but he bundled up and joined the “party”. 😉
We’re sure that Club Vice President David Dickey will be happy to answer the age-old question. That being “Are tents warm in Winter and is the ground actually cold?” :-). He can also tell you that the woodland critters were very interested in ham radio or was that any scrap of food they could find?
The warmth of the shelter fireplace was a welcomed respite though the gusts of wind often blew the heat away despite all efforts to set up primitive windbreaks out of anything available. Those in the MCP found that one electric heater was enough but keeping the door securely closed was a must.
All in all, twenty folks participated in WFD in one way or another. We appreciate everything they did and hope they had fun and great camaraderie.
Chester Frost Simulated Disaster Response Drill
Save The Date!
Saturday, March 26, 2022 | 9 AM EDT
CARC Friends of Chester Frost Park Shoreline Cleanup &
Simulated Tornado Emergency Response Drill
Chester Frost Park
2277 Gold Point Cir North
Hixson, TN 37343
Our event this Saturday consists of two intertwined, simultaneous activities:
- A Friends of Chester Frost Park Shoreline Cleanup Effort.
This is a way to “give back” to our community and to an organization that has been so supportive of our events.Participants should bring their own safety gear such as gloves, waterproof boots or shoes with grip treads, etc. If you have a long-reach grabber tool, it will help to minimize fatigue to your back from stooping or bending over. As it is Springtime, please be aware that Nature is waking up so the shoreline may have wildlife and critters of all kinds in close proximity.
The general idea is to equate unwanted, undesired items (trash) found on the shoreline as the result of a tornado impact, i.e., as injured people or fatalities. Locations of the injured or deceased will be reported via radio and the resulting information will be used to coordinate additional emergency responses appropriate to the specifics of each situation.
- An Emergency Drill to Simulate a Tornado Disaster Involving a Large Marina.
This drill helps prepare and reacquaint us with standardized procedures to help respond and manage our response to disasters as well as public service events that we support.
Both activities will require ham radio operators to be able to operate handheld radios (handi talkies/HTs), change frequencies, replace battery packs (if needed), be able to use repeaters as well as VHF simplex with their HTs, and follow proper radio procedures.
The emergency simulation drill will follow FEMA’s National Incident Management System (NIMS) methodology to plan and execute the response to the simulated disaster. Specific instruction will be given to participants on-site so knowing what to do will be easy to understand.
To allow participants to prepare & be ready in advance of the event, the following ICS forms are available on-line for your information. ICS-201 provides information about the simulated emergency and useful information. ICS-205 & 205A provide more specifics as to radio frequencies and comm leads assigned.
2022-03-26 ICS Form 201 Incident Briefing
2022-03-26 ICS Form 205 Incident Radio Communications Plan
2022-03-26 ICS Form 205A Responders Communication List
Please review the programming or setup of your HTs prior to arrival on-site to ensure you have the needed frequencies available and that you are comfortable with the operation of your HT. There will not be time at the event for you to learn how to use your radio…so a little preparation on your part will do much to prevent frustration to yourself and others. 🙂
We Need A Tow.
If you have a vehicle with suitable towing gear and would consider towing our comm trailer to and from the event, please let us hear from you now. Experience with trailer towing and a vehicle-mounted brake controller is suggested as the comm trailer is fairly heavy and large. Contact Robert Berman (see contact info below) if you’re willing to help.
While advance registration is not mandatory and walk-ins are welcome, the best experience will be obtained by notifying Robert Berman, W4SET, of your plans to participate or if you have questions. He may be contacted at 423-619-1678 or via email at robert.berman@epbfi.com. Due to the proximity of the event date, phone calls are encouraged.
It’s a family event so bring ’em along to enjoy the day with you. Don’t miss out on a fun way to get more radio experience and have a great day at Chester Frost Park with your radio family.
Special Olympic Fun
Our Special Olympic Communications Team help the Special Olympians have a great time!
You Did It! ARRL Special Service Club Honor
Thanks to your hard work, our club has been recognized by the ARRL as a Special Service Club.
Baby, It’s Gonna Be Cold Outside!
Is your radio gear up to the task of emergency communications?
Before winter sets in, check your coax and connections, power sources and connections.
Make sure your antenna, poles, towers, and all support wires and structures are up to the task of bitter cold and harsh, blowing winds.
Antenna Weatherproofing by Phil Mullins
As the we enter the winter season many amateur operators should preform preventive maintenance checks on there antenna systems as part of normal home or auto checks. This is a preventive actions to avoid early failure of antenna systems due to weather and corrosion. Below is a short check list for both fixed and mobile installations. Some of these are best done when the antenna and feed line is installed and some are maintenance checks.
- Rain loops in feed lines & strain relief – Install a rain loop in the coax feed line and use strain reliefs due the tension on feed lines.
- Stainless Steel hardware vs plated hardware tighten and use lock washers – check all hardware for signs of corrosion rust and missing items. Use stainless if possible for long life instead of plated hardware. Use lock washers and tighten properly.
- Nolox or Penatrox conductive grease – Use Nolox for aluminum and Penatrox for dissimilar metals to prevent oxidation and rust. This is allow you to have much longer life and make it easier to replace when the time comes.
- Coax / feed line connections – Check and tighten coax and wire connections, use coax seal to help kept out moisture, check for good solder connections
- Insulators and stand offs – check for proper mounts and condition replace any cracked or broken. Use proper materials for UV protections due to sunlight.
- Lighting Protection – Check and tighen ploy phasers, ground rods they do work lose with expansion and contraction of the summer and winter temperatures. It only takes a few mill-ohms to present a large current when dealing with high volotage lighting.
- Rope pulleys and cable clamps – Check hardware and lube if required, replace any frayed rope of cables and use stainless steel, galvanized or brass pulleys not plated. Adjust any counterweights on the end of ropes as needed.
- PVC Conduit / Traps – clean out any weather traps and keep drains clear
- Weather seal entrances for feed line through using coax of ladder lines keeps the imposture and cool air from entering the shack.
- Tree Limb pruning – Winter is a great time of year to do pruning and remove interfering limbs and other plants.
This should help you stay on the air, when the weather is bad is not the time to wish you had done this.
Phil Mullins
This document is available as a downloadable PDF on the On-Line Documents Page.
Be Ready for When The Lights Go Out!
Operate Remotely Around the World
Operate Remotely Around the World! Don’t leave your radio at home. We can teach you how.
Winter Weather is Coming!
Be prepared for winter weather on the road and at home. Click here.
The National Preparedness Community has provides a series of easy-to-review slides to help with winter weather preparedness. Take a minute to review for the safety of your family, your friends, and you.