Author Archives: N3LRG

EAS Test Wednesday @ 2:20PM

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Test Messages Will be Sent to All TVs, Radios and Cell Phones

WASHINGTON — FEMA, in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) this fall.
The national test will consist of two portions, testing WEA and EAS capabilities. Both tests are scheduled to begin at approximately 2:20 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 4.
The WEA portion of the test will be directed to all consumer cell phones. This will be the third nationwide test, but the second test to all cellular devices. The test message will display in either English or in Spanish, depending on the language settings of the wireless handset.
The EAS portion of the test will be sent to radios and televisions. This will be the seventh nationwide EAS test.
FEMA and the FCC are coordinating with EAS participants, wireless providers, emergency managers and other stakeholders in preparation for this national test to minimize confusion and to maximize the public safety value of the test.
READ THE FULL ARTICAL HERE

Save The Date Oct 14 & 15

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Members please save the date of Oct 14 & 15 as the Steel City ARC works the state of Pennsylvania.  This is one of the most fun events of the year and you dont have to stay up all night either.  Sat: Noon – Midnight; Sun: 9 AM – 6 PM.  We will be needing our CW Operators and Voice Operators if your new we are going to need some Loggers to help too.

Collierfest Photos

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If you have additional photos please email them to me.  Thank you

SCARC Roadtrip – Greenbank Observatory

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Tour Guide:
Richard F. Bradley, Ph.D. — W4DZC
—Former Steel City ARC Member
—Scientist / Senior Research Engineer (NRAO)
—Research Professor of Astronomy (U. Virginia)
—Visiting Assistant Professor of EE (U. Virginia)
—Radio Science: Associate Editor

THE DATE AND RESERVATIONS ARE NOW CONFIRM

NOW OPEN FOR ALL LOCAL HAM RADIO OPERATORS

Please send an email to me at n3lrg -at- w3kwh -dit- com if you would like to go with the SCARC group as we tour the Green Bank Telescope.  Who know you might make the biggest DX contact in your life.   We are allow 20 people so currently we have 9 open spots left.

The Steel City behind the scenes tour of the Greenbank Observatory is on for September 29 & 30.  This will be an overnight trip to the telescope leaving early Friday morning.   Not only are we going to see the big 300 foot diameter dish antenna but all the other dish antennas on the property. We will even get access to the control room to see how they receive signals from million of light years away.  After the tour we will be staying overnight at the telescope bunkhouse. Getting up early the next morning to head over to the CASS Railroad to take the train to the top of the mountain.  If we have enough people interested we can split the group in two and the other group head to the top of Spruce Knob {High point in WV, 4863 FT} were there is an POTA & SOTA site so you might want to bring along your portable gear.

Rich Bradley has done a great job of arranging our tour with the people at the telescope and  getting them to waived the $25 fee for the tour and getting them to moved it to a Friday so more people would be able to get the day off.  There will be a charge of $10/person  to sleep in the bunk house.  Currently the charge for the train trip will be around $79 but we will try to get a discount once we have a proper head count.  This tour will be limited to 20 people at the max so sign up early to reserve your spot.  It will be also required to fill out a :”Visitor Registration Form” {a basic background check} to go on this behind the scene tour.  Make sure you attend the June business meeting to reserve your spot on the trip.

UPDATE:
Those that have sign up for the tour.  The $10 Bunkhouse fee is due by the July 18th Business meeting to reserve your spot.  Please give the money to Walt or Joe M. and make sure Christine knows you paid.

Information on the Green Bank Telescope
Information about the behind the scene tour
Information on the Green Bank Bunkhouse
Click Here For CASS Scenic Bald Knob Tour
Information on the Spruce Knob Summit 

Parks On The Air – Cass Scenic Railroad K1809 { Iffy site – quite zone }
Parks On The Air – K-0632 Monongahela National Forest
Summits On The Air – Bald Knob W8V/PH-002{ Iffy site – quite zone }
Summits On The Air – Spruce Knob W8V/PH-001 { QRP }

Volunteers Are Need – Great Race

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46TH RUNNING OF THE GREAT RACE
SEPTEMBER 24, 2023

Once again, the Pittsburgh Great Race has requested assistance from amateur radio operators. We will need volunteers at fixed points on the course from the East End to Downtown. In addition, We will need volunteers to shadow the race officials Downtown. The good news is there is an away game for the Steelers on 9/24 and we will not encounter any traffic issues as such. For those downtown, we usually get free parking; however, I won’t have final confirmation on that until the week leading up to the race.

A dual band HT with a longer antenna will suffice for purposes of this race.

f you are interested in volunteering, please contact NU3Q Bob Mente, Allegheny County EC, at (412) 279-9016 (landline) or (412) 736-7385 (cell) – or by e-mail at allegheny@wpa-arrl.org or allegheny@nu3q.us.

For race information and course information click here https://www.rungreatrace.com/

Collierfest – Public Demo

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Steel City Members are needed for this public demo being held right in our own back yard.  Please consider helping out Bob NU3Q out with this demo.  As we show off our wonderful hobby to the general public.  This is our chance to let the public know that ham radio is alive and well and still operating in their backyard.

Collierfest is a one day event on Sept 23 a Saturday evening. Beside us having a demo there will be a Car Cruise, Live Music, many different vendors.  So beside showing off our hobby operators will have a chance to have a lot of fun at the event too.  For us the event will setup at 3:00 PM and will shut down in the evening.   The park itself if a pretty neat place to visit since it was a former Nike site. Get to see the giant golf ball up close.

If you want to help out and have some fun contact Bob: nu3q@nu3q.us
For more information click here: https://colliertownship.net/township/collierfest/
Directions: Collier Community Park, 5 Pvt Lobaugh Dr l, Oakdale, PA 15071

 

Hurricane Watch Net Is Activated

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The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) is activate for current Hurricane. Please keep the follow frequencies clear for the net operation which are on 14.325 MHz, and 7.268 MHz.

The primary mission of the Hurricane Watch Net is to disseminate tropical cyclone advisory information to island communities in the Caribbean, Central America, along the Atlantic seaboard of the U.S., and throughout the Gulf of Mexico coastal areas. We also collect observed or measured weather data from amateur radio operators in the storm-affected area as well as any post-storm damage and convey that information to the Hurricane Forecasters in the National Hurricane Center via the amateur radio station in the center (WX4NHC). In addition, we provide the same service for the Canadian Hurricane Centre whenever a hurricane threatens their country.

For More Information: https://hwn.org/
National Hurricane Center:  https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/