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Many of us drive regularly and deal with the varied issues associated with driving, how ever small or large, on the highways. I may be able to offer some information that will make your commute four times safer! Whether you are going down the street to the convenience store or several states away to visit relatives or friends takes concentration. That “special advice” is – park your cell phone or park your vehicle, use one at a time. It has been determined that using a cell phone increases your chance of a vehicle incident four times. Amazingly with all the ads on television, radio and in print that people still choose to drive distracted, they think they can “multitask” in other words drive four times less safely. Do not kid yourself, we humans cannot “multitask”. What many consider “multitasking” is only quickly shifting your focus from one task to another for a short time span. In other words distract yourself from one task to another. Just remember there are others who are placed in harm’s way when you drive distracted.
Some may feel this is all hype but just Google the term “distracted driving” and read what has happened to others involved in distracted driving situations. By the way there are some distracted driving situations that cannot be published. Not because of the content but because the people involved were killed due to the distracted driving issue.
Just think before you pick up the cell phone to read a text or answer a call, otherwise that may be your last time you see your cell phone. Let’s remember distracted driving is not only a cell phone issue. How many times have you seen a driver looking at a map or reading a newspaper while driving down the interstate? Remember that distracted driving is also considered as bad if not worse than driving under the influence. Folks, it is ALL distracted driving, that distracted action can kill you and others. Be safe – park the vehicle or park the distraction.
So, you’re motoring down the road to your destination, when you hear an unfamiliar noise from your cell phone. Best thing to do is safely pull off the road then check your phone for the reason for the noise. When you check the cell phone you find out it just received an alert for a tornado for an area just down the road.
Sound plausible? It is. America’s wireless industry is helping to build a Weather-Ready Nation through a nationwide text emergency alert system, called Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), which will warn you when weather threatens. Many phones have this capability.
For details about this service click on the WEA logo to the left.
 The Quad-County Amateur Radio Club is a WRN Ambassador “Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador™ and the Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador™ logo are trademarks of the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, used with permission.”
 The Quad County Amateur Radio Club will operate Field Day June 25-26, 2016, at the Clearfield County Fairground Community Building, yes we’ve been there before. Operating hours are scheduled to be from 2:00 PM Saturday to 2:00 PM Sunday, antennas have to be installed after the VE exam session. All amateur radio operators are welcome as well as the general public. Since the public as well as a number of Clearfield County officials and TV stations have been invited, as Club secretary, I ask that members please wear their Club shirts if possible. Thank you – in advance.
Volunteer examiners are reminded that the exam session is scheduled for June 25, 2016 at 11:00 AM. 
Operations are scheduled to start 2:00 PM, Saturday June 25, continuing through the night, with the hopes of taking advantage of any changing propagation characteristics. There is to be a Get On The Air (GOTA) station activated. The GOTA station will give new hams and those not even licensed, the opportunity to experience operating the HF bands under the supervision of a licensed amateur radio operator.
Location Coordinate information: 41°01.840 N 78°26.540 W.
Follow the route depicted by orange arrows, on the map, after you turn off Rte. 322.
You can also try the inserted interactive map to zoom and obtain directions. You can use the satellite view on the small map to compare the orange arrow map to the right.
If you operate APRS, there will be an object beacon to help you locate the Field Day site.
Please consider what will make Field Day comfortable for you, like in the real deal you will be responsible for your own comfort and personal operating conveniences such as chairs, clipboards, pens, pencils, paper. flashlights, etc. – remember to mark your property -. The main equipment will be provided, such as transceivers and antennas. I do not recall that the building is handicapped accessible. If you have a spare HF radio or antenna to bring, all the better as a just in case but only 2 will be on the air plus the GOTA station. Additionally if possible, please bring along some type of food to share.
Plans are in motion to have breakfast Sunday morning and some picnic style food for later times.
To help with the items and food for Field Day, please down load the 2 page checklist and email the Club secretary (secretary@qcarc.org) as to the items that you will supply. I’ll try to keep all the updates current on the download list. If you have anything to add, please email your input to the Club secretary.
Amateurs who are attending the QCARC Field Day, please advise the FD Coordinator by email at secretary@qcarc.org . This info is for overall planning purposes.
Although we have recent memories of snow, the summer heat really is on the way. All too many times we hear of children or pets left in a vehicle during hot summer days, sometimes with a heartbreaking ending. There are days when the temperature may seem rather low but with the sun shining through the vehicle windows, the vehicle becomes a greenhouse and the interior can heat up quickly to dangerously high levels.
View more information on this serious topic that can effect everyone at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/heat/index.shtml
 The Quad-County Amateur Radio Club is a WRN Ambassador “Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador™ and the Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador™ logo are trademarks of the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, used with permission.”
The Quad County Amateur Radio Club will hold a “New Ham Radio Operator Event” at the regular meeting on June 17, 2016. The meeting will be held at the Penn State Du Bois Campus, Smeal Building at 6:30 PM. This event is open to those who recently obtained their amateur radio license and who have been licensed but inactive for some time. The meeting is also open to the public who may be interested about amateur radio.
The Quad County Amateur Radio Club, which serves amateur radio operators in; Clearfield, Jefferson, Elk and Cameron Counties, was founded in 1975. Regular meetings are held monthly on the third Friday, 6:30 PM at the Penn State Du Bois Campus. For more information visit the Club website at www.qcarc.org
Sometimes we peer out the window and the sky looks ominous then the wind picks up and possibly it begins to rain or hail. What may happen next can be a matter of protecting our life and property, a good reason to understand the difference between Watches and Warnings. Being prepared is a relatively simple matter, there are several good methods to personally become involved that will help yourself, your family and friends. The National Weather Service SkyWarn Spotter program is a great way to become actively involved and you do not have to be a weather background! A more passive manner may be purchasing a NOAA Weather Radio that will sound an alert when various forms of weather effect your locale. Cell phone are also a good method as many have an alert function built in as well as the availability of weather apps that can be configured to match your needs.
If you are having a problem setting up your system whether it is a NOAA Weather Radio radio or cell phone app, you can obtain help through the Quad County Amateur Radio Club, A Weather Ready Nation Ambassador. Check the announcement panel at the top of the home page for meeting dates and times.
 
The Quad-County Amateur Radio Club is a WRN Ambassador “Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador™ and the Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador™ logo are trademarks of the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, used with permission.”
The New Year of 2016 just arrived but there are some amateurs already anticipating 2017. That anticipation for 2017 stems from a recent announcement that researchers at the Ted and Karyn Hume Center for National Security and Technology, part of Virginia Tech University are preparing to send an amateur radio transponder into a geosynchronous orbit in 2017.
Even though amateur radio satellite communications is not new, this satellite brings the geosynchronous feature of 24 hour, 7 day availability to amateurs in the Americas. Therefore amateurs can expect the satellite to be in the approximate same position, which means less to deal with to locate and maintain a signal to use the satellite. It is hoped that the satellite will significantly help during disasters.
Currently there are plenty of questions relating to the anticipated launch. It is likely the answers will raise even more questions. For the press release you can access the Virginia Tech website.
Lately many of us have heard stations from rather distant areas on the 147.315 repeater. It is interesting to hear those stations that we normally do not hear but often it is just due to a weather phenomenon called and inversion. I expect that some amateurs sit back and wonder just what is this inversion thing that some offer as an explanation for the unusually distant stations heard and some stations that we can even carry on a QSO with. Sometimes the stations seem as though they are just audible for enough time to hear a call sign but other times long enough for a typical QSO. Then there are times that you may not even be able to hear or access your local repeater and again you will hear folks offer the explanation as an inversion as well.
Consider the simplified diagram of an inversion below. Note that typically as you increase elevation the temperature lowers but with an inversion the opposite happens! You can see the yellow area depicting the inversion, which actually ends up acting as a boundary layer that can either attenuate the signal to and from the repeater or at times signal attenuation can occur to the extent of both blocking the repeater from hearing your transmitted signal and from you hearing the repeater’s transmitted signals. This occurrence can lead one to believe the repeater is off the air. I recall years ago there were trips made to the repeater site when we could not use the repeater, only to find the repeater operating. All due to an inversion. Sometimes the inversion layer is well above what the diagram depicts too, leading to other stations that you will be able to talk with that you would not ordinarily be able. There is another term used for this phenomenon which is called ducting that enables more distant than typical communications to occur, especially on VHF as well as UHF.
Inversions, ducting, tropo and what ever other titles the phenomenon of having radio signals reflected and refracted is an interesting and vast topic of which you can read up on. Look for propagation of radio signals either on the Internet or the ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications, what was previously called the Radio Amateur’s Handbook.
 The 2015 QCARC Christmas Dinner will be held at the Arrowhead Restaurant, Rte. 322 East of Clearfield – Saturday December 19, 6:00 PM No Reservations are required. There will be a buffet available as well as the availability to order off of the regular menu.
I expect that many of us have witnessed a scene very similar to the above photo. In our immediate area it is a natural event to have severe winter weather that impacts driving conditions, sometimes to the extent that we really should not be on the road. Often just postponing travel for an hour or two may enable road crews to treat the roads and give the chemicals time to take effect on the snow and ice to provide a safer traveling environment.
If you have to travel, be prepared. First off be sure you are aware of what you are getting into with severe winter weather driving. Be sure your vehicle is ready to go with a full tank of fuel and appropriate tires in good condition. Consider some additional items such as a small shovel, sand or traction mats, chains for times it gets really bad and even a very good blanket such as wool or a Mylar reflective emergency blanket. Remember to keep the cell phone charged too. Common sense helps but too often it is not so common!
Many amateur radio operators who travel have an additional resource at hand that will help with gaining a little more information about the weather. That resource can be the 2 meter transceiver which may have the capability to receive the NOAA Weather Radio announcements. Some transceivers even have a feature that will activate an alert when the NOAA radio station broadcasts their severe weather alert. Another useful service often provided through APRS digi-peaters are text alerts about road conditions that may relate to road closures due to various issues such as traffic accidents. Also some repeaters transmit bulletins relative adverse weather and road conditions.
For much more information that may make your winter and 
your travel safer check out the link
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/winter/index.shtml
The Quad-County Amateur Radio Club is a WRN Ambassador “Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador™ and the Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador™ logo are trademarks of the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, used with permission.”
Happy Thanksgiving everybody! This is a traditional time to spend with family and friends, and to remember all those who are no longer with us.
I remember in the early days of the club, that there was a day-long QSO on the DuBois Repeater with hams far and wide in the Quad-County area checking in and out and back in again as their family activities permitted.
My Elmer, K3TFL was the unofficial Master of Ceremonies for those sessions, and the discussions ranged from what was for dinner, to the snowy weather to how to modify an ARC-5.
For our Quad-County hams, our repeater was the “Social Media” of the day. We all knew each other and stayed in touch on the air, making friends and sharing our thoughts all over the coverage area. This regular repeater contact with each other made for stronger friendships, and brought our disparate communities together in a spirit of cooperation and good will. Sadly, repeaters have fallen into disuse, and the social connections have withered away to a great extent.
I wonder; what would happen if we all made the effort to pick up the microphone, and reach out to each other today, and into the future? Would we find a renewed interest in local ham radio, and perhaps make a new ham radio friend or two? The only way to find out is to give it a try.
Why not fire up the radio today, and see who’s on the repeater? I’ll see you… on the air!
AMSAT recently deployed the FOX-1A amateur radio satellite, also designated AO-85. These tiny satellites are only 4 inches square! Image that little cube flying around the earth and using it to talk to other amateur radio operators around the world. Communications can be established via the FM transponder that has an uplink of 435.180 MHz and a downlink of 145.980 MHz. Reports are that the downlink signal is rather strong.
If you’re interested in listening for the new tiny satellite check out the active, real time locator map for AO-85 at – http://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=40967
To obtain a precise time that AO-85 will pass over your location, check out the AMSAT Pass Prediction webpage. You will need to enter some data such as your grid square or your latitude and longitude.
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