W8AOK – SK

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W8AOK

W8AOK Alan Bruce Cressler

Some of you knew Bruce Cressler – W8AOK. He helped me built the 2nd edition of the SCARC website 20 years ago. He was made am honorary remote member for his efforts. Over the past year he battled health issues and recently ended up on the wrong side of the fight. He went SK a few months back. I was asked to speak at his memorial service this past weekend and felt very privileged to do so. Some of you met him when he’d come to town for a visit otherwise he spent time in Detroit and eventually from a 2500 foot hilltop in Helvetia, WV. Been there? I didn’t think so. The town’s population at last census was 59…FIFTY NINE..059. After his diagnosis he decided to get his Extra class. Who does this with an unknown amount of time left on this blue planet? He did. Education was his goal in life. He spent many a night on that mountain top collecting QSL cards from far off places and loved every minute of it. At his memorial I ended my tribute with DI DI DI DAH DI DAH.

From:
W3WTW de Tim

W8AOK QRZ Page

WireX Steel City Node Online @ 444.45 Mhz

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Final testing is now taking place!  Karl KA3VXJ and myself have been  working hard on getting a computer to load the WireX software and getting it hooked up to the 440 machine. It is working so far in analog mode but you can now connect to other stations and rooms.   Our first contact was with a guy in Portland, OR not to bad for UHF FM. We listen and got to ask some questions about WireX on the Saturday night net on the American Link room which is on Saturday nights at 9 pm.

So if you want to try it out the Steel City node number is: 33352  and like I said we are still working on getting some bugs worked out. Some of the items are, getting the digital side working.. And to find a permanent computer solution since we are running it on a trail license. We also need some help getting someone from outside our area to try to remotely connect to our node.

Hopefully Karl and myself can give a little demo this next social night.
Christine
N3LRG

Amateur Radio Parity Act Language Inserted in National Defense Authorization Act

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05/11/2018 – From the ARRL bulletin  email

ARRL is praising the work of US Representatives Joe Courtney (D-CT), Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), and Mike Rogers (R-AL) for their successful efforts in securing language in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2019 that aids in the survival and growth of Amateur Radio by giving radio amateurs the right to install an outdoor antenna at their residences with the approval of their homeowners associations. This language — text from the proposed Amateur Radio Parity Act (HR 555) — formed the basis for the Courtney-Hartzler-Rogers Amendment to the NDAA.

The amendment, offered by the bipartisan trio and accepted by the House Armed Services Committee by voice vote, will ensure that Amateur Radio operators will continue to play a vital role in disaster communication, when called upon. Amateur Radio has long-standing relationships with the Department of Defense through both the Military Auxiliary Radio Service (MARS) as well as spectrum sharing.

The Armed Services Committee passed the NDAA by a 60-to-1 voice vote after a 14-hour markup that ran well into the night. The bill now awaits House floor action. The Senate will begin its markup of the NDAA during the week of May 21.

Read the full article here:

Our other bands – 1.25 Meters

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Hello all,
I want to start a series of post on our other less used ham bands, and to start the series out one of our most over looked bands the 220 Mhz 1.25 meter band.  The band has access to every license class  so any amateur radio operator can use this band. Here is an interesting video I found that talks  about the 1.25 meter band.  Take a moment and you might learn something new.

It’s a great band, with characteristics similar to 144-148 MHz, and has certain real advantages over the 2 Meter band.220 MHz is alive and well in areas where hams aren’t afraid to experiment and think outside the normal 2-Meter/70-CM realm. While there isn’t a ton of commercially available amateur equipment available these days for 220 MHz they can be found new and used.  With a quality radio, you can drive around almost anywhere in CSQ mode and the noise floor is next to nothing. Radio amateurs will lose this band unless we make better use of it than we do at present. Amateurs in the US lost 220 to 222 MHz some years ago.

E-Bay link for used radios:
https://www.ebay.com/bhp/220-mhz-radio

ALINCO DR-235TMKIII:
https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-005520

Bridge Com 1.25 Radio:
https://www.bridgecomsystems.com/collections/amateur-mobile-radios/products/bcm-220-1-25m-mobile-radio-1

1.25 Meters (222-225 MHz) Band Plan:

222.0-222.150 Weak-signal modes
222.0-222.025 EME
222.05-222.06 Propagation beacons
222.1 SSB & CW calling frequency
222.10-222.15 Weak-signal CW & SSB
222.15-222.25 Weak signal, repeater inputs, control
222.25-223.38 FM repeater inputs only
223.40-223.52 FM simplex
223.52-223.64 Digital, packet
223.64-223.70 Links, control
223.71-223.85 Local coordinator’s option; FM simplex, packet, repeater outputs
223.85-224.98 Repeater outputs only

Our other bands – 60 Meters

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Amateurs are permitted to operate on five frequency channels, each having an effective bandwidth of 2.8 kHz. Amateurs may transmit with an effective radiated power of 100 W or less, relative to a half-wave dipole

Table 1:
Channel 1: 5330.5 kHz
Channel 2: 5346.5 kHz
Channel 3: 5357.0 kHz
Channel 4: 5371.5 kHz
Channel 5: 5403.5 kHz

These frequencies are available for use by stations having a control operator holding a General, Advanced or Amateur Extra class license. It is important to note that the frequencies shown above are suppressed carrier frequencies – the frequencies that appear in your transceiver’s tuning display when your transceiver is in the USB mode.

CW Operation
CW operation must take place at the center of your chosen channel. This means that your transmitting frequency must be 1.5 kHz above the suppressed carrier frequency as specified in the Report and Order (see Table 1). Operating at strict channel-center frequencies may come as a disappointment to many, but cooperating with the NTIA is key to expanded privileges in the future.
The channel center frequencies are:

Channel 1: 5332.0 kHz
Channel 2: 5348.0 kHz
Channel 3: 5358.5 kHz
Channel 4: 5373.0 kHz
Channel 5: 5405.0 kHz