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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QCARC Fall Picnic – September 15

* * * RESCHEDULED! * * *

QCARC Fall Picnic, 4453 PA-310 (3.5 miles south of Reynoldsville Unimart on PA-310
(Reynoldsville-Punxsutawney Road) at Ed Golla’s QTH. Look for Club sign at driveway. Thanks to the generosity of Ed Golla, Jr. K3AHS, we have been invited to return to the home of so many happy ham radio activities.

Everyone is invited — Club members or not, hams or not. As with all of our activities this is Family Friendly! There will be free hot dogs and burgers, along with chips, soft drinks and condiments provided by the Club. If you wish, you may bring food to share, but it’s not a requirement. This will be a wonderful opportunity to spend some time with your ham radio friends, old and new. Please plan on attending.

Directions

From Reynoldsville: Take PA-310 south for 3.5 miles. Watch for the Quad-County sign on the right at the driveway (1.8 miles beyond the Lakelawn Cemetary entrance). Talk-in on the 147.315 Quad-County repeater.

From Punxsutawney: Take PA 310 north for 9.0 miles. Watch for the Quad-County sign on the left at the driveway (2.1 miles beyond the Amish Restaurant / old PA-952 intersection). Talk-in on the 147.315 Quad-County repeater.

GPS Coordinates:

  • 41.062992,-78.927251 (driveway)
  • 4366 Pennsylvania 310, Reynoldsville, PA 15851
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CQ – Field Day QCARC

This year the QCARC Field Day site will be at the Sandy Valley Community Church, located just off Rte. 950, between Falls Creek and Reynoldsville.

CLICK THE MAP FOR LARGE DISPLAY —                                                                                                         — CLICK THE RED FD 17 LOGO FOR NATIONAL EVENT INFO —

2017 FD LocationPrint

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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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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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2015 Spring Banquet A Success

T he DuBois Diner was the host for this year’s Quad-County Amateur Radio Club Spring Banquet. This year’s Banquet was special for several reasons. First, this year is the 40th Anniversary of the Club, which was founded in 1975. Second, the food and service was GREAT – Thanks to the staff of the Diner, and to Brie, our server.  And then there were our guests… Tim Duffy K3LR, the ARRL Western Pennsylvania Section Manager spoke IMGP0007_v2about the value of clubs and the ARRL’s focus on local clubs. Our Featured Speaker was Matt Welsh W3DEC from the Cleveland area. May of us know Matt as a sales agent at Amateur Electronic Supply’s Wickliffe store.

The dinner was served from the Diner’s extensive menu and everyone was pleased with their meal. MC Joe Shupienis W3BC, who is the club’s founder, recounted highlights from the Club’s long history, and made a tribute to the Founding members, many of whom are now Silent Keys.

More photos:

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Quad-County ARC Turns 40!

QCARC Logo TPHAPPY BIRTHDAY QCARC! On April 18, 1975, a group of about 30 local hams gathered at the DuBois High School for the first meeting of what would become The Quad-County Amateur Radio Club. From that auspicious beginning, the club grew in membership and activity. The members of the new club took part in Field Day that very first year from a hilltop in Clear Run. Later, the club placed the WR3AGV repeater at that location, coordinated on 146.13/73 MHz.

Traditions that continue to this day are monthly meetings at 7:30 pm on the third Friday of each month, Club Banquets, Field Day, and a number of Public Service activities, involving multiple served agencies, such as DuBois and Sandy Township Police Departments, the Red Cross, the Boy Scouts, and local schools. Club Founder, Joe Shupienis W3BC (then WA3IHK) conducted dozens of licensing and upgrade classes that continue to this day, in DuBois, Clearfield, St. Marys, Ridgway, Kersey, Punxsutawney and Reynoldsville.

In the 1970s, the club held meetings in several communities throughout the Quad-County Area, such as Sinnemahoning, Punxsutawney and Reynoldsville, but found that it was more convenient for everyone to keep the meetings in the more centrally-located DuBois area. In 1991, meetings moved to Clearfield at the County offices, and over the next couple decades the membership, meeting participation and activities declined, as the club became “the Clearfield Club.” New clubs formed in Jefferson, Cameron and Elk counties in reaction to the long travel distances the move created.DSC_0581

In 2011, the club decided to conduct Field Day operations in a location accessible to the general Public, and moved operations from a small, crowded room in the Clearfield County Emergency Operations Center to a public pavilion at the Clearfield County Fairgrounds. In November, the Club held its final meeting at the EOC, and once again began holding meetings in DuBois. Currently, we hold our monthly meetings at the Penn State DuBois Campus, which provides plenty of free parking, handicapped accessibility, and outside space for experimenting with antennas and hidden transmitter hunting before the meetings.

Don KB3LES shows us how happy he was to find the fox!

Don KB3LES shows us how happy he was to find the fox!

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Tonight’s Meeting at DuBois Eat’n Park

February 20, 2015 –

Tonight’s meeting has been moved to the DuBois Eat’n Park Restaurant. The Penn State DuBois Campus is closed due to weather, so the meeting will be held at the DuBois Eat’n Park Restaurant at 7:30.

Those wishing to eat before the meeting are asked to join us at 6:30 in the back part of the restaurant where the meeting will be held. Eat at 6:30. Meeting at 7:30.

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Christmas Dinner Update

Our annual Christmas Dinner is Saturday, December 6th at 6 pm, at the Arrowhead Restaurant, Route 322, east of Clearfield.

Our menu will be the Italian buffet with dessert table and beverage, plus, just for us, turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing. Cost will be $12.00 plus tax and tip.

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2013 Fall Picnic – Saturday Sept 7th

The 2013 QCARC Fall Picnic will be held at Ed Golla’s QTH on PA-310 (between Reynoldsville and Panic) at 1:00 pm on Saturday, September 7th. (Rain Date is Saturday, September 14th). This was the site of many happy Quad-County Field Day operations and picnics. Thanks to the generosity of Ed Golla, Jr. K3AHS, we have been invited to return to the home of so many happy ham radio activities.

Everyone is invited — Club members or not, hams or not. As with all of our activities this is Family Friendly! There will be free hot dogs and burgers, along with chips, soft drinks and condiments provided by the club. If you wish, you may bring food to share, but it’s not a requirement. This will be a wonderful opportunity to spend some time with your ham radio friends, old and new. Please plan on attending.

Directions

From Reynoldsville: Take PA-310 south for 3.5 miles. Watch for the Quad-County sign on the right at the driveway (1.8 miles beyond the Lakelawn Cemetary entrance). Proceed up the driveway past the gray house (with a “G” on the chimney) and back through the field along the trees to the picnic grounds. Talk-in on the 147.315 Quad-County repeater.

From Punxsutawney: Take PA 310 north for 9.0 miles. Watch for the Quad-County sign on the left at the driveway (2.1 miles beyond the Amish Restaurant / old PA-952 intersection). Proceed up the driveway past the gray house (with a “G” on the chimney) and back through the field along the trees to the picnic grounds. Talk-in on the 147.315 Quad-County repeater.


GPS Coordinates:

  • 41.062992,-78.927251 (driveway)
  • 4366 Pennsylvania 310, Reynoldsville, PA 15851
  • 41.065015,-78.92907 (Picnic area)
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Torn rotator cuff, so what to do till it’s healed?

Hello all Lars here.

Looks like I will have about 6 months, before I’m healed and so I have been thinking of a little something to do in the meantime.

You see the rig at the right here, it’s my beautiful Kenwood TS-520 and its a so called “hybrid rig” it means that the radio have both old time tubes and transistors, the tubes are just used in the transmitter “PA”, but easily delivers a nice and clean 100w out.

Now to my crazy idea, if you guys know of anybody who wants to get rid of his old non working TS-520, 520s or 520se, even TS-820, 830 or even TS-530 would work fine, I would be happy to buy for around $90- 100, just as something to do….  As you might have figured out, cheaper is better, since trying to get back to shape, (torn rotator cuff) so I can get back to work again, isn’t cheap…

Mind You, I’m not a repair pro, but hoping to learn “how to”

Thank you for taking time to read this…

Lars KB3WBT

PS: E-mail me at sm7fyw at hotmail.com

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2013 Membership is Due

Now is the time to renew your Quad-County Amateur Radio Club membership. It’s still only $12.00 a year, the same as it was in 1975! In 1975, that would buy you a tank of gas, today it would only buy 3 gallons. Or you could look at it as only $1.00 a month… or 3 cents a day!

Here’s the 2013 Membership Application!

2013 promises to be a fun-filled year with lots of enjoyable ham radio activities already being planned! Come join the fun, and support your Club!!!

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