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 We’re at it again! Before the August 17 meeting, we invaded the large parking lot we use as an antenna test range once again. This time, we brought UHF antennas, and found that despite their smaller size, they were all very efficient. Don KB3LES brought his double diamond array, which may be small, but packed a big punch! Lars KB3WBT ran his Quagi through its paces, and Joe W3BC made reference measurements of his Rover Yagi.
The antennas all performed so well it was too close to call. Don’s antenna had high gain, and it was in almost all directions, Lars’ quagi had deeper side nulls, but was still “lobey” off the back. Joe’s Rover antenna had plenty of forward gain, but when as little as 15 degrees off the target, the signals went away and stayed away.
Don’s antenna had the smallest turning radius, and its wide beamwidth and high gain is perfect for net and repeater operations. It would be particularly well-suited to talking to mobiles, since its wide-pattern coverage would blanket an area better than any other antenna we tested. Plus it was the most unique looking of the bunch! Lars’ quagi was very lightweight being made of PVC pipe, and was easily portable. It would make a great antenna for working distant repeaters. Joe’s Rover antenna was showing the effects of bouncing down hundreds of miles of back roads on countless contest roving missions. A couple of the elements were loose, and could be heard and seen on the receiver as they flopped around in the breeze. It certainly meets its design requirement of hearing only what it’s pointed at, and rejecting strong contest QRM from off the sides and back. Mechanically though, it needs some maintenance before it falls apart, and perhaps a sturdier redesign to keep the elements where they belong.
 The exercise could be called a “quest for truth” and there were many truths revealed, even by the simplistic testing methodology we used. Given more time, and more attention to little details, some very accurate results could be obtained, but in our assembly-line session, we learned a lot, and got a good idea of the performance of each antenna under test. We will add these techniques to our inventory, and we’ll certainly be doing more antenna testing in the future.
After we ran out of UHF antennas, we switched the remote transmitter to VHF, and tested Lars’ latest creation—a 5 element two meter antenna that uses metal arrow shafts for elements. It is a clean-looking antenna, and initial test results showed it to have good gain and a very smooth pattern. After twirling it around the compass and recording received signal strengths, we gave it a real test—we dialed up a distant beacon and pointed the antenna its way.
Sure enough we heard a carrier, and then the CW id of WA1ZMS on 144.285 MHz, located on a 4200 foot mountaintop in Virginia, some 253 miles to the south!
 The net result was that all the antennas were winners! Every one of them had plenty of gain to pick up the weakest signals, while the off-axis signal sensitivity or rejection differed, making each antenna suitable for a different purpose. That diversity is what makes Amateur Radio so much fun, and gives us choices to meet our operating needs.
Not to mention that everyone there had a lot of fun!
 The Community House on the Clearfield Fairgrounds 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!
Hope to see you there!
 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.
Participants:
W3BC, KB3WBT and Kay, KA3FHV, W3DWR, KB3WKD, K3JLR, Deirdre, Magi, W3TM, Jeff, KA3YCB, KB3FPN, KB3LES, JoAnn
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- 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???
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- KA3YCB, W3TM and KB3WBT check out W3BC's portable antenna
The crew checks out the antennas.
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- 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.
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- Deirdre, Magi and Joe K3JLR brought Ham Radio snacks for everybody.
Deirdre, Magi and Joe K3JLR brought Ham Radio snacks for everybody.
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- 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.
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.
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- Don KB3LES shows us how happy he was to find the fox!
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- Ed and Don close in on the fox, as passing drivers gape in wonder...
 The big brother of the Baofeng UV-3R micro-HT is now available for a few dollars more. The UV-5R has a numeric keypad for entering frequency and DTMF tones, 128 memory channels, and 5 watts output power. It features a true drop-in charger, and a 7.4v 1800mAH (13.3 WH) Li-ion battery pack. The dot-matrix, alphanumeric display features tri-color LED backlighting, and the keypad has backlighting as well for night operation. See the article in the April Parasitic Emission for a review.
 The group price is $60, and shipments are arriving within a week of ordering.
I am looking into sourcing for extra battery packs. The best pricing I can get is $16 each with approximately two week shipping time. This situation should quickly improve, as this is a brand-new model that was just released this month. So far in our area, 10 have been purchased. They sound great on the air, and no complaints have been registered! This radio is every bit as good and in many ways superior to its nearest competitor, the Wouxung dual-band HT and only costs half the price!
RIGHT-CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINKS AND SELECT “SAVE LINK AS” FROM THE MENU!!!
Here’s the manual: 
Here’s the programming software: uv-5r (Caution! Primitive!)
Here’s a USB-Serial driver for “Prolific” chipsets that works with 32 and 64 bit Windows: PL2303_Prolific_GPS_AllInOne_1013
Here’s a local frequency list: QC-HAM+PS
Here’s a schematic for building a serial programming interface: 
Kevin W3PIG made a very nice ecomm box. Here are some photos.
 
Great Job!!!
TTHE BIG DAY is here! All the planning and preparation comes together today at the Old Town Sportsmen’s Pavilion on the Clearfield County Fairgrounds. This morning, we are setting up antennas and radios and computers, and the grill… and everything else!
The contest portion begins at 2:00 pm and ends Sunday at 2:00 pm. Help will be needed to tear down as well, so please stop by. Many hands make light work, you know!
The Public and media are invited, and this year we’re trying something new – a GOTA station. If you don’t know what that is, it’s a “Get On The Air” station to allow unlicensed people, new hams and old-timers who haven’t been active lately to make some contacts at a more leisurely pace.
We are there now, come on over!!!
Update Saturday 10:00 pm
Channel 6 News visited our Field Day site and depending on the other stories (of course) plans on airing their coverage of us tonight on the 11:00 news. Catch us tonight, and stop by in person Sunday after 10 am. The contest period ends for us at 2 pm, but we’ll be cleaning up and enjoying a hotdog and conversing with old friends for hours after that!
 WWhat else could possibly be the main topic of the June meeting except Field Day? After getting the meeting started, things settled into a businesslike pace as minutes were read, and reports were given. W3BC reported the club’s ARRL Special Service Club status was renewed after many years of inactivity. He further commented that the Field Day Press Release had been picked up and published by several local news outlets, and that a television news camera crew is expected. The subject turned to Field Day, and visitors Lee and Mary Lewis (N3NWL and N3UDN) shared with us some very useful Field Day pointers from their years of experience at putting on a really great Field Day operation in Ridgway.
Hams from four counties gathered at the Clearfield County EMA Center for their June Meeting. Guests helped finalize Field Day plans, newcomers introduced themselves and guest Steve Waltman KB3FPN presented an engaging technology program to round out yet another good old QCARC meeting! Mike WB3EQW raised the question of why the club covers four counties, and Club Founder Joe W3BC related the history of the Club’s creation and the rationale behind the large geographic area.
Under new business, W3BC suggested a new program for members wishing to do more for the club — the Dime-A-Day Donor Program. Club members may voluntarily contribute an additional $36.50 each year to go toward the Club’s Educational and Outreach programs. In recognition of these voluntary contributions, they will receive the status of “Sustaining Member” and a certificate bearing witness to that fact. Several contributions were given to the Treasurer. 15 members and guests were in attendance.
After the meeting, Coffee and Donuts were enjoyed, and a 50-50 drawing was held. 
The program was then presented by Steve Waltman KB3FPN from Brookville, with help from Tom W3KWT. The program was a demonstration of the capabilities of a Communications Monitor, and how amateur transmitters could be tested easily to be sure they measured up to specs.
Photo Gallery
(Click any image to begin slideshow, press [ESC] to stop)
 OON MAY 24, the ARRL renewed the Special Service Club status for the Quad-County Amateur Radio Club. QCARC has been an ARRL Affiliated Club since 1978, and became a Special Service Club in 1985. This renewal indicates the Club’s continuing commitment to providing additional services to its members and the communities it serves.
Is it a big deal? Yeah, it kind of is. Of the 43 ARRL Affiliated Amateur Radio Clubs in the Western Pennsylvania Section, the Quad-County Club is one of only three Special Service Clubs currently listed in the ARRL online Club Directory. Nationwide, only 137 SSC clubs are so designated from 2,000 ARRL Affiliated clubs. The national average is under 7% of all ARRL Affiliates are SSCs.
A Special Service Club is not “bigger and better” than other clubs; the designation is conferred upon those clubs that in addition to the usual ham radio activities have made an extensive effort to reach out to their members and communities, provide education and technological expertise to their members and the public, encourage and assist their members in keeping their operating skills sharp for emergency communications should the need arise, and present Amateur Radio to the public in a positive light, attracting new members and new hams by their activities rather than promoting with empty words.
The following description of Special Service Clubs is from the ARRL:
"TRULY SPECIAL Amateur Radio clubs are well balanced in their programs for serving the community, developing club members’ Amateur Radio skills and social activities, striving each year to build on their successes to improve their effectiveness. The objective of the ARRL’s Special Service Club program is to help good clubs organize and focus their efforts on those things that really count. Being an SSC should mean that members have certain skills, that the club as a group has the ability to improve service inside and outside the Amateur Radio community, and that it does so when needed.
To be accepted under the ARRL SSC program, a club must be actively involved in each of the following areas:
- New Ham Development and Training
Purpose: Develop an effective, coordinated program of public relations, recruiting, training and ongoing assistance targeted to prospective hams in your community to foster needed growth in Amateur Radio.
- Public Relations
Purpose: Establish an effective Amateur Radio presence in your community, including contact with local media and coverage of your activities; Public Information Officer appointment.
- Emergency Communications
Purpose: Club members should become skilled in communicating effectively during communications emergencies and be prepared to assist when needed; Official Emergency Station appointment and participation in ARES.
- Technical Advancement
Purpose: Continuing education in the technical aspects of Amateur Radio to ensure that your club members are technically competent, familiar and comfortable with modern radio-electronics technology; Technical Specialist appointment.
- Operating Activities
Purpose: Active participation as a club in one or more major operating or operating support activities to ensure that your club maintains a high level of operating skill.
- Miscellaneous Activities
Purpose: Every active club has its special interests and activities that make it unique, that give it special personality. At least three such activities are required to become a Special Service Club.”
 The Quad-County ARC May meeting was held Friday, May 20. Despite being the weekend of the Dayton Hamfest, there was a reasonable turnout. Routine business was conducted, the outstanding Spring Banquet bills were submitted for reimbursement, and several people volunteered for Club support positions.
Beginning his term as Technology Specialist is Lars Kvant SM7FYW. If anyone has technology questions, feel free to ask Lars! It’s only natural for Joe W3BC to accept the duties of Public Information Officer, which he did at the meeting.
Field Day discussion resulted in the formation of a committee to look into a location for this year’s effort. By a poll of members present, it will not be held at the EOC this year, but at the Fairgrounds or another suitable park. More details will follow as soon as arrangements have been made.
After the Business Meeting, the coffee and donuts were served, and the evening’s program began. Lars SM7FYW and Don KB3LES put on a very interesting program about radio fox hunting, and discussed the antennas, techniques and technology it takes to find an unknown transmitter.
A drawing was held for one of Don’s antennas that he kindly donated to the club. The lucky winner was Bryan Simanic WA3UFN from DuBois.
Next month’s meeting will be the finalization of Field Day planning, and the program will be Tweak and Peak night. Steve Waltman, KB3FPN will bring a commercial communications service monitor to help check out rig performance and tuning. Bring your VHF and UHF equipment, and Steve will help you get the most out of it!
Photo Gallery
Click for for full screen and other controls…
[showtime]
 Well, as most of you already read, I will show you how to have a chance catching one of those elusive Foxes…
So, today I went to the local hardware store and got some plastic pipe, T’s, 4 way thingies and a pair of hose clamps, the tape measure itself, comes from a garbage bin at work, so its a little bit too thin, but works fine anyway. Apart from that, you also need a few feet RG-58, some electrical tape and 5 inces of 16 gage copper wire.
I was really going to let you come down to the meeting, to get the rest of the dimensions, but decided to give them to you here ;-)
Schedule 40 plastic pipe, think its 3 feet, about $ 1,67, 1 Tee end, that fits the pipe, 2 cross pieces, also same size, a few cents each…. ;-) You will also need 2 hose clamps, that fits the cross things.
 Cut the plastic pipe into 3 pieces, 11 3/8 , 6 7/8 and one more 11 3/8. Put the T on the one end of the 11 3/8 pipe, then put the one cross piece on the other end, next stick the 6 7/8 pipe into the already assembled parts, then the last cross piece onto the 6 7/8 and last but not least, the 3rd piece of pipe, its going to come out something like this: ———————————->
Now to the tape measure itself, cut one piece 41 3/8 inch, two pieces 17 3/4 inch and one piece 35 1/8 inch, you can use ordinary pair of scissors, but be careful, the ends gets really sharp! (put some tape over ends)
Attach the 35 1/8 to the T, make sure its centered, (use electrical tape) next file of about 1/8 inch of the paint on the one end of both 17 3/4 pieces, attach the two 17 3/4 onto the middle cross piece with the hose clamps and finally the longest, to the next cross piece, using the tape again.
When all is put toghether, see picture 3, you will need to solder the 5 inch copper wire, which you have to shape like a U, presolder the ends first, solder it onto the feedpoint, (dont overheat, plastic will melt) then solder your RG-58 to the same point, coax running towards the handle…..
I hooked mine up to my Bird, and it shows very low SWR, so good luck, and if you are interested or have questions, come down to the meeting, and we will help ;-)
Lars FYW
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We’re at it again! Before the August 17 meeting, we invaded the large parking lot we use as an antenna test range once again. This time, we brought UHF antennas, and found that despite their smaller size, they were all very efficient. Don KB3LES brought his double diamond array, which may be small, but packed a big punch! Lars KB3WBT ran his Quagi through its paces, and Joe W3BC made reference measurements of his Rover Yagi.
Lars’ quagi was very lightweight being made of PVC pipe, and was easily portable. It would make a great antenna for working distant repeaters. Joe’s Rover antenna was showing the effects of bouncing down hundreds of miles of back roads on countless contest roving missions. A couple of the elements were loose, and could be heard and seen on the receiver as they flopped around in the breeze. It certainly meets its design requirement of hearing only what it’s pointed at, and rejecting strong contest QRM from off the sides and back. Mechanically though, it needs some maintenance before it falls apart, and perhaps a sturdier redesign to keep the elements where they belong.
The exercise could be called a “quest for truth” and there were many truths revealed, even by the simplistic testing methodology we used. Given more time, and more attention to little details, some very accurate results could be obtained, but in our assembly-line session, we learned a lot, and got a good idea of the performance of each antenna under test. We will add these techniques to our inventory, and we’ll certainly be doing more antenna testing in the future.
The net result was that all the antennas were winners! Every one of them had plenty of gain to pick up the weakest signals, while the off-axis signal sensitivity or rejection differed, making each antenna suitable for a different purpose. That diversity is what makes Amateur Radio so much fun, and gives us choices to meet our operating needs.
