Polls

Should QCARC continue giving VE Exams before club meetings in even months?

  • Yes, but occasionally on other days and times (67%, 2 Votes)
  • Yes (33%, 1 Votes)
  • No (0%, 0 Votes)
  • Yes, with more months (0%, 0 Votes)
  • Yes, but fewer months (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 3

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2017 Jamboree On The Air

This year the QCARC will activating a station from the Hallstrom Building located at the Camp Mountain Run Scout Camp.

The station, N3QC, will be operating on HF bands, considering propagation characteristics to a given part of the World that we intend to communicate with. VHF & UHF frequencies may be activated too. The HF station is scheduled to go on the air October 21 at 9:00AM and will operate into the evening. We anticipate some 100 scouts will have the opportunity to actually talk to other scouts from across the U.S.A. and across the globe. The station will be operating in accordance with published JOTA Guidelines.

Detailed information can be found at:
http://www.scouting.org/jota.aspx   and   http://www.arrl.org/jamboree-on-the-air-jota

 

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April 2017 Parasitic Emission

In a shocking development, Joe W3BC has finally come to his senses and put out a modest but informative edition of the Parasitic Emission newsletter. You may download it here:

Parasitic Emission, Volume 43, Number 1, April 2017

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QCARC Field Day

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. VEC Round

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.

Clf FD Map

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.

Click Here to Download List

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Special June Meeting – “New Ham Radio Operator Event”

Recently Licensed Radio Amateurs (l-r) James Withers KB3YJF, Ian Gerard KB3YJM, Joel Best N3UOA, Wayne Kocher KB3YJE, Jay Lorance KB3YJL, Bob Thunberg N3DIR, Nick Lorance KB3YJJ, Devon Lorance KB3YJK, Bev Hudsick KB3YJI, Jim WickerKB3YJG, Greg Donahue KB3WKD, Larry Whitten KB3YJH, Ed Stewart KB3WRX

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

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Hurricane Awareness, Yes – Even For Our Area

Even though hurricanes typically do not significantly impact our area, there are times when they do and it may be worthwhile to keep aware of hurricane developments.

Amateur radio is one way to keep aware with the Hurricane Watch Net on 14.325 MHz. There is also a Hurricane Watch Net web site that has quite a bit of information available. Along with keeping informed, be ready with fully charged hand-helds, a full tank of fuel for your vehicle, if you’re lucky to be high enough where flooding risk is minimal consider the possibility that you may be out of electric service for a while.

There is also more information to avail yourself at the National Weather Service/NOAA websites to be able to keep updated with the latest conditions and forecasts for hurricanes.

The following sites will help you stay informed:TADD barrier
http://www.weather.gov/
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
http://water.weather.gov/ahps/

Just remember “Turn round Don’t Drown“!

“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 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.”

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Get Ready For Field Day!

2015 Field Day Logo Red Design 1Every year, hams around the country start gathering their radios and warming up their grilles to get ready for the annual ARRL Field Day. This year, the Quad-County Amateur Radio Club has joined forces with the Punxsutawney Area Amateur  Radio Club to participate in a very special 40th Anniversary Field Day operation at the Punxsutawney Municipal Airport in Jefferson County.

In honor of the Club’s 40th Anniversary, the Quad-County Club will use the special-event callsign N3Q. The GOTA station will be operating with the Punxs’y Club callsign K3HWJ as in the past.

Of course there will be hotdogs with legendary “BUX” sauce, made from the secret recipe created by Dick Flanders WA3BUX (SK), served at every Field Day since the Club’s origins! Other food will be available, and everyone is encouraged to bring something to share with the group.

Plans are to operate around the clock, and to have a GOTA station set up for new hams, inactive hams and the public to operate. Additionally a VHF station will be set up to operate on 6-meter and 2-meter SSB/CW/Digital modes.

Most  importantly, a good time will be had by all, as we once again demonstrate to public officials and all of our guests how hams are always ready to work together to set up top-notch radio stations away from the comforts of home and communicate with each other across the miles, to serve our communities.

 

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Weather-Ready Nation

WRN_Ambassador_logoIt is official, the Quad-County Amateur Radio Club is a Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) effort to formally recognize NOAA partners who are improving the nation’s readiness, responsiveness, and overall resilience against extreme weather, water, and climate events.

You may ask, what does this mean for the Club. Basically the Club provides outreach services relative to creating a Weather-Ready Nation to communities and organizations. Also within our own organization such as, disseminating severe weather information on APRS and the Club repeaters, where we are already active. As well as the continuation of training for our members.

The Club has been involved in the SkyWarn® program for a number of years, this is just part of the next step in taking what we know and have experienced in weather preparedness to the next level of sharing that knowledge and experience.

There will be more information and a Q&A session at the March 20 meeting.

For additional information you can access the Weather-Ready Nation web site at:  http://www.nws.noaa.gov/com/weatherreadynation/

“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.”

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Website Update

QCARC-WebsiteI did some very much-needed maintenance on this website today. All necessary software updates were completed, configured and debugged. One or two small issues remain, but I think you will all enjoy the improvements!

Please visit the poll section on the left often to make your voice heard. Polls are once again working and will be changed weekly. you can click the link at the bottom of the poll box to see the results or participate in past polls. Have fun!

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Jamboree On The Air – October 19-20, 2013

Every year, thousands of Scouts get on the air to talk to other Scouts around the world via Amateur Radio. This activity first got started long before the days of social media, cell phones and Internet access, and is more popular today than ever before!

The Quad-County ARC is planning to set up a station and invite local Scouts to talk to their counterparts across the country and around the world on the weekend of October 19th and 20th. QCARC Vice President and Scouting Liaison Officer Peach Caltagarone, AB3OG has graciously offered the use of the hilltop cabin at Hummingbird Speedway in support of this event.

The plan is to open the station to the Scouts and their parents with several hams and Scout leaders present at all times the station is open to assist the Scouts in getting on the air and making radio contact with other Scouts worldwide. Volunteers are needed to make this a successful event.

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2012 Annual Report

THE QUAD-COUNTY Amateur Radio Club, Inc. proudly presents our 2012 Annual Report, detailing the activities of the past 12 months in this, our 38th year. You may view or download it here:

2012 Annual Report

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Quarter Million Website Views

A milestone has been reached by the Quad-County ARC website. At 0917 UTC, Thurday October 25, someone in Ireland registered hit number 250,000 on this website. That’s not surprising, because hams all over the world have visited qcarc.org to the tune of more than 400 hits per day since it went live in February last year (2011).

Thank you to all our visitors, and to all our contributors!

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On The Road Again…

WWe hit the road once again on Saturday, August 11; this time to set up a public demo booth at the Super 322 Drive-In Car Show between Woodland and Bigler. Lars KB3WBT, Ed KB3VWX, Don KB3LES and Joe W3BC strung a G5RV from the 50-foot peak of the screen to a similarly high tree. Lars and Don set up the radios and some portable antennas, and we hit the airwaves.

Sam KA3USM sat in at the operating position, and Herb W3TM and guest made the rounds and pointed us to the best car displays.

Lars worked DX station after DX station and tuned higher and higher bands as the day progressed and the MUF increased. He agreed that sunspots are a good thing. The weather was very pleasant with scattered clouds and nary a drop of rain. We handed out information packets to those who stopped by, and got the chance to browse through the car show at our own pace.

Theater owner Bill Frankhouser was very appreciative of our efforts, and hopes to have us back again next year.

Photo Gallery

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