ECI QRP Meeting

Jim, KB9LEI wrote in to let us know of the following event.  If you have any interest in QRP, this will be a great opportunity to share and learn !

ECI-QRP 

Fall Meeting Notice

 Saturday Oct 6^th from 12 Noon to 3PM (3 Hours)

Maring Hunt Library (Meeting Room), Muncie, IN

Tone squelch coming soon to the WB9HXG 2 Meter Repeater

On Monday evening 24Sep12, the MAARC Technical Committee swapped repeater cores on the 146.730 machine.  With the new core installation, we now have full CTCSS (PL) tone squelch capability on our most popular repeater.

Over the past several months, we have observed an increased frequency of unintentional DX interference on the 2 Meter machine coming from distant repeaters in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio.  When the band opens up-- typically when we have storms in the area-- our far off neighbors might as well be sitting in downtown Muncie.  It's annoying, it interferes with local communications and traffic... and we can prevent it.

It's time to correct this problem.  The solution is to start using PL tones.

Tone Squelch is in final testing and will be activated soon.

September Club Meeting Summary

MAARC held it's regularly scheduled meeting for September earlier today.  We had 10 club members present and no visitors.  Here are some of the highlights:

• Nominations for next year's club officers were taken.  Only one nominee was submitted for each office,  so according to our constitution no election is required and ballots will not be distributed this year.  The new officers will be announced at the October meeting when they assume their new duties.
• We're in the final phase of our transition to the new club website.  When complete our contract with the previous hosting company will be terminated, completely eliminating MAARC's second highest recurring expense.
• Jim, KB9LEI has agreed to stay on for another term as our Trustee.
• The matter of MAARC seeking incorporation came up.  This action was discussed, voted on and approved earlier this year.  At this time however, it appears that the process is stalled and we may need to start over from the beginning.  The current status of the incorporation filing will be investigated over the next couple weeks as well as what options and resources are available to us.  We'll have a much better grasp on how to proceed at the October meeting.

Thanks to all who attended, we look forward to seeing everyone again on October 22, 2012.

Indy NWS Radar to be Upgraded

 NEXRAD WSR-88D Doppler Weather Radar at the National Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma
Photo courtesy Andrew J. Oldaker under Creative Commons License

The National Weather Service will be upgrading our local weather radar in Indianapolis with dual polarization capability beginning October 9, 2012.  The radar will be offline for approximately two weeks while these improvements are installed.  During the outage, East-Central Indiana will be covered by adjacent radars in Joliet, IL; Warsaw, IN; Evansville, IN; and Wilmington, OH.

Testbed WSR-88D Radar at the National Severe Storms
Laboratory, shown here without a protective radome.
Photo courtesy NOAA/National Weather Service

Currently the radar only scans with horizontal polarization, allowing it to detect clouds and precipitation.  The new upgrades will add vertical polarization to the radar, allowing it to also detect the size, shape and type of precipitation.  For example, rain vs. hail.

For more information, visit:

NWS Indianapolis Weather Forecast Office

2012 Muncie Community Preparedness Fair

Setting up in Heartland Hall

By invitation, MAARC hosted a table at the 10th Annual Muncie Community Preparedness Fair on September 15, 2012.

This year's Fair-- a free and family-oriented event sponsored by our local LDS church-- included a community Blood Drive and offered over 30 exhibits, info tables, workshops and live demonstrations on how to see yourself through personal and local emergencies.

This event is a worthy service and definite asset to the East-Central Indiana community.  Muncie Area Amateur Radio Club is proud to have offered our support as a participant.

Gary, KB9ZUV at the MAARC Table

We were excited to have the opportunity to publicly demonstrate a few capabilities of amateur radio at the Fair, and we sincerely appreciate the invitation to do so.

Of course MAARC stands ready to get on the air anywhere, anytime.  In addition to our static displays, extensive literature and demo equipment, we had five club members and seven stations up and operational at the Fair-- all on emergency power and with five portable antenna systems.

WB9HXG logged several QSOs during the show including contacts to Mexico.

Larry, WA9OAO on the Satellite & HF Digital Stations

Featured Stations and Modes:

Yaesu FT-757GX Base, 20 Meters SSB

Elecraft KX3 Portable, 20 Meters SSB and CW
Yaesu FT-8100 2m/70cm Mobile FM

Yaesu FT-857D Mobile, 20 Meters PSK31

Jetstream JT-220M Mobile, 1.25 Meters FM

Kenwood TH-F6a Handheld, 2m/1.25m/70cm + HF RX AM/SSB/FM

Wouxun KG-UV3D Handheld, 2m & 70cm FM

Homebrew CW QRP Radios built by Larry, WA9OAO

Static Equipment on Display:

Lafayette HA-700 General Coverage HF Receiver

Alinco DR-135T 2 Meter Mobile Transceiver

MFJ-1722 2m/70cm Ultraflex Magmount Antenna

Arrow 2m/70cm Diplexed Handheld Sat Yagi

Various Homebrew HF QRP Transceivers

Various Diamond & Pryme VHF/UHF HT Antennas

Jim, KB9LEI explaining Azimuth headings to a youngster

We had a great time speaking with folks of all ages and answering questions about Ham Radio.  The most common questions were about how to get your first license and the differences between CB and the Amateur Radio Service.   However we also had folks interested in weather spotting, radio theory and experimentation, fox hunting, SWL & international broadcasts, traffic handling, digital DX, regional VHF/UHF FM simplex and working satellites.

Gary, KB9ZUV spinning the dial on 20 Meters SSB

We would like to thank the Muncie Community Preparedness Fair for their kind invitation, all of the fine folks who stopped in at the Fair, and the following club members for volunteering their time at the event:

Vernon, KC9KLI

Larry, WA9OAO

Jim, KB9LEI

Gary, KB9ZUV

Robert, KB7ZGB 

Special thanks to Larry, WA9OAO for bringing

your fine collection of portable and QRP gear !

Need a tower ?

Don Van Horn, K1FZY wrote in and mentioned that he has the following items up for sale:

• Rohn HDBX48 tower (New, never installed)
• Cushcraftt A4S Beam with 40 Meter kit
• Ham 4 rotor with controller and box of power cable (Can’t remember how many feet there is)
• Tower thrust bearing
• Tower mount legs
• 2M/440 vertical antenna

Selling all of the above for $2200.00.  Will consider offers on individual items.

Can throw in about 75’ of RG-8 coax.

Leave message on machine if no one answers.