The Baker Trail Ultra Challenge is a 50+ mile foot race. We have offered our services to the race organizers. We will be responsible for helping to provide communications at the 11 Aid Stations along the route. Here is a map of the locations:
Congratulations to Herb Murray, W3TM for taking First Place Rover-Limited in the WPA section in the ARRL June VHF contest. With the help of W3BC, the team made VHF contacts in 54 grids all over the US, from 5 different locations. A lot of hard work and cooperation paid off nicely for the intrepid adventurers as they turned the beams and eked out the weakest signals to successfully make contacts hundreds of miles away on VHF and UHF.
“Band conditions weren’t the greatest,” acknowledges Herb, but the team made the most of it with 109 QSOs, 54 grids worked + 5 grids activated, for a total of 7,257 points. “Since W3SO was having technical difficulties, I said, “Let’s go roving!'” continued Herb.
Working stations hundreds of miles away is a challenge at VHF and UHF frequencies, which are usually used for local communications within a “line of sight” distance. DuringVHF contests and other VHF activities, hams routinely stretch the distance to several hundred miles, far beyond line of sight. Making these long-distance contacts requires sensitive receivers, high-gain antennas, and lots of operating skill. Hams are up to that kind of challenge!
GGentlemen start your… Radios! That’s right, once again, we exposed our radios in public and let people see that we’re still around. On July 21, we visited Hummingbird Speedway and put up antennas atop the knob overlooking the track. We were active on all bands from 80 meters to two, and thanks to the generosity of Racetrack General Manager “Peach” Caltagarone AB3OG, we were invited to come to play radio and stay for the races.
Antenna range, that is… The Quad-County ARC held its first-ever antenna shootout preceding the July meeting. Using a low-power transmitter located almost 1/4 mile away, the group of antenna experimenters set up a monitoring position in a large parking lot adjacent to the meeting room on the Penn State DuBois Campus and took signal strength measurements of various 2-meter antennas that they brought for the occasion. The winner was a homebrew contraption made by Lars SM7FYW/KB3WBT.
Larry KB3YJH placed his home-made groundplane atop the test mast and the measured signal strength was good enough to take second place. Lars and Don KB3LES each tested several antennas and found the truth about directivity and gain.
After the meeting Joe W3BC presented a program on computer modeling of antennas. The highlight of the presentation was to input the dimensions of Lars’ blue ribbon winner, and see if it was supposed to work in theory. The answer was surprisingly close to the pattern measured on the test range, with deep side nulls predicted just like those measured on the range, and a fairly large lobe off the back of the antenna, again in accordance with the actual measurements.
It was so much fun, that another shootout is planned for 6:30 August 17th, before the meeting at 7:30. This second shootout will also be for UHF antennas.
Don KB3LES will be bringing his secret weapon, which looks like something from NASA… You’ll have to be there to catch all the fun!!!
With deep sadness, we report the passing of Paul Lanzoni WA3WPR, 83, of Brockway on Friday, June 22. Paul was an active member of the Quad-County ARC in the 1970s and ’80s. He was a fixture at Field Day, and helped with the construction of the 147.39 repeater building and tower.
He was a master mould-maker at Brockway Glass, and many of the Avon collectible cologne bottles—especially cars— were his handiwork. He regularly attended Quad-County meetings, and helped shape the club in its early days by providing support and encouragement to hams old and new.
Living up to his nickname of “Meatball,” Paul often cooked delicious Italian treats to share with the club for Field Day, club picnics and many other activities.
Friends will be received from 7-9 Friday at the Carlson-Shugarts Funeral Home in Brockway.
The Quad-County ARC would be delighted to welcome you to our Field Day operation. We are located in the Community Building on the Clearfield County Fairgrounds. Here is a map and directions.
Directions:
From US-322 turn onto Weaver Street at (A).
Drive to the Fairgrounds Gate at 700 Weaver Street (B).
Say the magic words “Ham Radio” to get in free, then…
Turn left immediately and park near (C).
Our Field Day operation is in the yellow brick house immediately in front of you!
On Saturday, June 2, 15 QCARC members and guests set up a demonstration station and and gave a public exhibition of foxhunting at the American Red Cross PA Heartland Chapter’s “First Bash of Summer” carnival in the DuBois City Park. Don Jewell KB3LES was the project leader, and provided the HF radio, VHF/UHF J-Pole, antenna analyzer, hardware and know-how. The Punxsutawney Area Amateur Radio Club provided the tent, which turned out to be very much needed when Mother Nature showed everyone who was boss.
Jeff Rowles KA3FHV held down the fort on the HF rig, and the HF antenna system built by Joe W3BC was given a thorough workout. The results were good, and Jeff reported that he was able to work every station he heard. The entire operation was set up in under an hour and it was great to see so many hands make light work of all the heavy lifting. In a Quad-County first, at no time did anyone discover they had left something important at home!
Joe Rouse K3JLR drove in from Strattanville and brought Deirdre and Magi who gave us a special treat: Homemade Ham Radio cookies!
Technology Specialist Lars KB3WBT/SM7FYW led several teams on foxhunts, and fielded questions from curious fairgoers. There seems to be a growing interest in foxhunting locally, and it’s a great opportunity to show the public another side of Amateur Radio they probably didn’t know existed. It’s an activity for the whole family, and participants don’t even need a license to have some ham radio fun!
Jefferson County ARES EC Kevin Snyder KA3YCB, along with assistant EC and Punxsutawney Area Amateur Radio Club President Steve Waltman KB3FPN were both on hand to help out and take part in the activities. Kevin also serves as the Quad-County ARC Public Service Officer, and brought portable tables and chairs for the event. Red Cross Liaison Greg Donahue KB3WKD made sure we had everything we needed, and connected us to the electrical power system for the duration. He also set up PA announcements directing fairgoers to our location.
Before the rainstorm hit, we discussed how much fun it was, and our desire to do more events like these. We look forward to the next events: Field Day, Race Day, Car Show, and Baker Trail Marathon.
The crew makes short work of putting up the tent. Now where is that missing part??? The crew makes short work of putting up the tent. Now where is that missing part???
KA3YCB, W3TM and KB3WBT check out W3BC's portable antenna The crew checks out the antennas.
Getting on the air, Don Jewell KB3LES and Kevin Snyder KA3YCB check the operation of the just-installed equipment, as Gref Donahue KB3WKD looks on. Getting on the air, Don Jewell KB3LES and Kevin Snyder KA3YCB check the operation of the just-installed equipment, as Gref Donahue KB3WKD looks on.
Deirdre, Magi and Joe K3JLR brought Ham Radio snacks for everybody. Deirdre, Magi and Joe K3JLR brought Ham Radio snacks for everybody.
Joe K3JLR and family,and Lars Kvant SM7FYW, foxhunting at the Red Cross Carnival in the DuBois City Park. Joe K3JLR and family,and Lars Kvant SM7FYW, foxhunting at the Red Cross Carnival in the DuBois City Park.
Total vehicle-miles traveled by the subjects: 80 on the left and 40 on the right.
It’s that time of year again—time to put on the old feedbag and spend a night out with your ham radio friends! We will meet in the upstairs Banquet Hall of the DuBois Diner at 6:00 pm on Saturday, May 5. Plenty of free parking in the back of the diner, and you can take the elevator or climb the stairs.
Our guest speaker is Mike Sapp, WA3TTS, a technical writer from Pittsburgh, who will fill us in on his recent work with Amateur Radio beacons, including his world-famous 6-meter beacon on the old KDKA-TV antenna.
The menu is a buffet, featuring Stuffed Chicken Breast and Beef Pot Roast with potatoes and carrots, salad and beverage for $13.99 per person, plus tax and an 18% gratuity. It works out to $17.50 per person.
The main door prize will be a brand-new Baofeng UV-5R dual-band portable transceiver.
Plan on attending one of the best ham radio social activities in the area. We hope to see you there!
Please make a reservation by sending an email to banquet@qcarc.org, or on the air during a net!
(Or fill out the convenient form below and hit the [Submit] button.
We finally stopped talking about it and just did it! Before the April meeting, several members tried their hand at finding W3BC’s hidden UV-3R somewhere on the Penn State DuBois campus. Lars KB3WBT brought his DF tape-measure antenna, and Don KB3LES brought one of his home-built log-periodic antennas with his UV-3R for a receiver.
Ed and Don close in on the fox, as passing drivers gape in wonder...
Stomping around the campus with antennas, the hidden transmitter turned out to be harder to find than expected. Lars reported the signal level picked up INSIDE the Swift building, and Don couldn’t get a good direction as he got closer to the fox.
The “winner” of the first heat was… Ed KB3VWX, who found it without using either a radio or antenna! We’ll have to call him “Eagle Eyes” from now on! Don took some time to introduce Bev W3BEV to the art of foxhunting before heading out to find the fox.
The first to find the fox using proper radio and antenna technique was Don KB3LES. After finding it, he got to silence it, and hide it in a second location. That second location was even harder than the first, utilizing a brick wall, a large flower pot, a metal trash can and a pile of leaves to hide out from the DF antennas. Lars was zeroing in on it when time ran out. Ed “Eagle Eyes” KB3VWX retrieved the radio and we all went inside for the meeting.
Reports were all positive, and some areas for improvement were discussed, notably signal attenuation when close to the fox. Others remarked that passing drivers gave us some astonished looks as we marched around campus with “space antennas!”
Everyone thought it was a lot of fun, and we look forward to perfecting our setups to do it again next month.
Don KB3LES shows us how happy he was to find the fox!
Ed and Don close in on the fox, as passing drivers gape in wonder...
This time I have been playing with a piece of pvc pipe and some aluminum wire, the result became a cheap and simple antenna for 70cm.
The pvc pipe is about 57″ end to end and is 5/8 diameter (you can use bigger, if thats in your junkbox) and then a couple of short pieces about 1/2″ used for the reflector and also the driven element. I also got a T pipe, as a “mastclamp” since the antenna only weighs a few ounzes ;)
Here are the element lengths: Reflector loop 28″ Driven loop 26 5/8″ Directors 11 3/4″ to 11 7/16″ in 1/16 steps….
Check out the following link for more information about the EmComm & Deed restriction studies that the ARRL is conducting. There are two links relative the two topics at: ARRL Study
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Hello all readers, this is the Swede again.
