SCARC @ 10 Meter Contest

Steel City Members Paul, KC3WHX and Neil, N3WMI will be hosting this contest up at the clubhouse next weekend. (Dec 9&10) We currently have a lot of Tech operators so here is a contest made just for YOU! Please consider helping the guys out by joining them and making some 10 meter contacts from the club house.  If interested please reach out to Paul at paulpghpa (at) comcast (dit) net

Objective: For Amateurs worldwide to exchange QSO information with as many stations as possible on the 10 meter band.

Contest Period: 
Second full weekend in December. Begins 0000 UTC Saturday and runs through 2359 UTC Sunday. Operate for a maximum of 36 hours out of the 48-hour period. Off times must be at least 30 minutes long.

Exchange:
All stations send a signal report. W/VE stations, including Alaska and Hawaii) send their state or province. (District of Columbia stations send “DC”.) Mexican stations send their state or province. DX stations send a serial number.

Limited Antennas Overlay:
Operation is limited to the use of single-element antennas such as a single vertical, end-fed wire, or a single dipole antenna no more than 50 feet above ground at its highest point. The antenna(s) may cover multiple bands, as in the case of multiband verticals and dipoles with fan or trap constructions.

Tape Measure Beam – Radio Direction Finding

TAPE MEASURE BEAM OPTIMIZED FOR RADIO DIRECTION FINDING
Joe Leggio WB2HOL
Description

This antenna evolved during my search for a beam with a really great front-to-back ratio to use in hidden transmitter hunts. This design exhibits a very clean pattern and is perfect for RDF use. It trades a bit of forward gain in exchange for a very deep notch in the pattern toward the rear. (You could optimize the design for more forward gain, but at the expense of a really good notch in the pattern toward the rear.) It is a design that can be constructed using only simple hand tools (no machine shop needed) and still perform well. It has been duplicated several dozen times by other local hams and has been successfully used as a club construction project.

When I designed this antenna I had one basic idea in mind. It had to be easy to get in and out of the car when hunting for a hidden transmitter. This would be accomplished by the use of steel “tape measure” elements. These elements could fold easily when fitting the antenna into my car and yet still be self supporting. I decided to use three elements to keep the boom from getting too long.

Another of my design goals was to use materials that were easy to obtain. I chose to use Schedule-40 PVC pipe and fittings available at my local hardware store for the boom and element supports. These kept the cost for the antenna very low. The element supports consist of PVC crosses and tees.

Read The Full Article Here: WB2HOL Website

Skywarn Recognition Day 2023

Starts at Friday 7:00 PM – Dec 1st
Ends at Saturday 7:00 PM – Dec 2nd
Skywarn™ Recognition Day was developed in 1999 by the National Weather Service and the American Radio Relay League. It celebrates the contributions that Skywarn™ volunteers make to the NWS mission, the protection of life and property.
Amateur radio operators comprise a large percentage of the Skywarn™ volunteers across the country. The Amateur radio operators also provide vital communication between the NWS and emergency management if normal communications become inoperative.

All Skywarn™ spotters provide critical weather information before, during and after adverse weather strikes. This includes reports of rain and snow, ice and wind, storms and tornadoes, flooding and fire. This is our 24 hours to recognize all of the Skywarn™ spotters serving our nation!

All ham radio operation should check out the Skywarn page on Weather.gov and Skywarn member follow the link below to get your location posted to the spotter mapping page.

Skywarn™ Recognition Day 23 Registration Form

Skywarn Spotter Mapping Form

Contact the ISS

Some ISS crew members make random, unscheduled, amateur radio voice contacts with earth-bound radio amateurs, often called “hams”. They can make radio contacts during their breaks, pre-sleep time and before and after mealtime. Astronauts have contacted thousands of hams around the world. The work schedules of the ISS crew dictate when they are able to operate the radios. The crew’s usual waking period is 0730 – 1930 UTC. The most common times to find a crew member making casual periods are about one hour after waking and before sleeping, when they have personal time. They’re usually free most of the weekend, as well.

The following frequencies are currently used for Amateur Radio ISS contacts:  

  •  Voice and SSTV Downlink: 145.80 (Worldwide)
  • Voice Uplink: 144.49 for ITU Regions 2 and 3
    • (The Americas, and the Pacific and Southern Asia)
  • Voice Uplink: 145.20 for ITU Region 1
    • (Europe, Russia and Africa)
  • VHF Packet Uplink and Downlink: 145.825 (Worldwide)
  • UHF Packet Uplink and Downlink: 437.550
  • VHF/UHF Repeater Uplink: 145.99 (PL 67 Hz)
  • VHF/UHF Repeater Downlink: 437.80

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: https://www.ariss.org/

Steel City Teaches Scout Merit Badge

In November 2023 our education chairperson Jeffrey Bussard, N3EVN taught a class for the Boy Scouts for the Radio Merit Badge.  Along with Jeff several of our members join him to operate our two Go Kits to get the “Make A Contact” requirement done.  By using our Steel City Repeater and the North Hills ARC repeater, and many operators that were standing by, we were able to help the large group of scouts.

Boy Scout Merit Badge – Nov 18th

On November 18th the Steel City members will be helping the Boy Scout earn their Radio Merit Badge at Camp Guyasuta.  Steel City ARC will be needing operators to help the scouts make contact so that they can finish their education and earn the Radio Merit badge.if your willing to help please contact Jeff N3EVN at n3evn {at} yahoo {dit} com.

WE ARE IN NEED OF OPERATORS TO GO TO THE CAMP TO HELP THE SCOUTS AND OPERATORS THAT WILL STANBY ON THE REPEATERS AND HF BAND SO THEY CAN MAKE CONTACTS

For Merit Badge Information: Radio Merit Badge PDF

Location of Camp Guyasuta: 300 23rd St Ext, Sharpsburg, PA 15215