Category Archives: Public Service

Learn More About AREDN – Ham Mesh Network

Posted on by
Members,
We have talked about this is the past.  Here is how you can learn more about setting up an WIFI Mesh network for the Western PA area using AREDN Equipment. Which is WIFI equipment that can be bought from Amazon. 

The Red Cross of the Greater PA Region, EMCOMM Team invites you to a “virtual” presentation on the Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network (I.E. AREDN) Mesh network.  Doug Hayward (K8DRH), an EMCOMM Team member in SWPA Chapter, has arranged for Orv Beach (W6BI) to present on this technology.

https://www.arednmesh.org/about-us   (Background Information on AREDN)

Orv is an early joiner and contributor to AREDN and has been very involved in furthering this technology in the California area.  He gives presentations on this topic including theory, equipment, and application of this to amateur radio.  He is also active in coordinating the network expansion in Southern California.

Please join us for Orv’s overview of AREDN on this ZOOM call. (link below).  Please feel free to share this link with other who are interested.

Topic: Red Cross-AREDN software to create a MESH network
Speaker: Orv Beach, W6BI
Time: Jan 27, 2022 05:30 PM to 06:30 PM 
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86486539015

Meeting ID: 864 8653 9015
Passcode: 777007

David Herzog
Southwestern PA Chapter – Disaster Program Manager – Volunteer Partner
Greater PA Region – Emergency Communications Lead

Representative Anita Kulik Visit

Posted on by

At our Sept. 8th social meeting the Steel City ARC got a visit from our State Representative Anita Kulik. It was a very nice visit as we showed her around the club house and describing what Ham Radio is about.   During the visit she presented us with an special citation celebrating out 80th year anniversary. You can click on the image below to read the full citation. 

Click on image to see full size picture of the Citation

147.09 Skywarn Net

Posted on by

National Weather Service Live Updates: https://twitter.com/NWSPittsburgh

As you already know, Ida will be in the area Tuesday night into Wednesday night. I will need ops to assist me with our 147.09 Skywarn net as heavy flooding is a very strong possibility. I would suggest changing batteries and getting radios into an operational state of readiness at this time.

73 de NU3Q
Allegheny County EC

Hurricane Watch Net – All hands on deck

Posted on by

As Hurricane Ida moves into the Gulf of Mexico drawing a bead on New Orleans, the Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) is ramping up preparations to track the storm during its approach.

“Sunday will be an “all hands on deck” situation for members of the HWN,” HWN Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, said on Friday. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) says a hurricane warning is in effect for Intracoastal City, Louisiana (Vermilion Parish), to the Mouth of the Pearl River as well as for Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas, and Metropolitan New Orleans.

As of 1200 UTC on Saturday, Ida was some 440 south-southeast of New Orleans, with maximum sustained winds of 85 MPH — Category 1 — moving to the northwest at 16 MPH. The NHC says Ida is expected to rapidly intensify as it moves over the southeastern and central Gulf of Mexico through Saturday night. “Ida is expected to be an extremely dangerous major hurricane when it approaches the northern Gulf coast on Sunday,” the NHC forecast says. Given the abundance of warm water in the Gulf, Ida could become a Category 3 or even a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 120 to 140 MPH with higher gusts, according to some predictions.

Graves said on Friday afternoon that he was placing the HWN on “standby alert,” which typically means that a hurricane is expected to affect land within the next 48 hours. Given the forecast, “I don’t want to be sorry,” Graves said.

The net will activate on Saturday at 2100 UTC on 14.325 MHz and 7.268 MHz. “Propagation on 20 meters has been goofy lately, so the band could close early or it may remain open well past sunset,” Graves said. “No matter, we will suspend operations at 0000 UTC.”

The Saturday activation will allow the net to line up reporting stations in the affected area as well as any storm shelters, emergency operations centers, and first responders who feel they could use the net’s assistance, Graves explained.

“Remember, Ida is forecast to be a major hurricane hitting a highly populated area. It will affect both Louisiana and Mississippi,” Graves said, noting that Louisiana was hit by hurricanes three times last year. Storm surge and heavy rain are forecast.

The HWN invites participating stations that can provide observed or measured ground-truth data from affected areas to assist National Hurricane Center forecasters.

Hurricane Watch Net: https://www.hwn.org/

Work Party @ Aug 7th 10:00 AM

Posted on by

Work Party At The Club House
Saturday – Aug 7th @ 10:00 AM

It is time to clean up the place before the picnic.  We need some much needed work done at the club house.  The weeds along the drive way need cut down and cleared out. Painting of the shed. Grass and Trim work around the building needs done. And the old club house needs clean up and organize before our guest show up.

Please show up and help the club out!

June 2021 Annular Solar Eclipse

Posted on by

HamSCI is looking for ham radio operators to make recordings of time-standard stations during the June 2021 annular solar eclipse across the Arctic Circle as part of a citizen science experiment. Researchers will use the crowd-sourced data to investigate the superimposed effects of auroral particle precipitation and the eclipse on HF Doppler shift.

Participants would collect data using an HF radio connected to a computer running open-source software. A precision frequency standard, such as a GPS-disciplined oscillator, is desired but not required to participate. Radio amateurs and shortwave listeners around the globe are invited to take part, even stations far from the path of totality.

Last year’s eclipse festivals included more than 100 participants from 45 countries. The experiment will run June 7 – 12. All participants will receive QSL certificates and updates as the data is processed. This is a pilot experiment for HamSCI’s Personal Space Weather Station project, which seeks to develop a global network monitoring the geospace environment. For more information and set-up instructions, visit the June 2021 Arctic Eclipse Festival page on the HamSCI

Volunteer Opportunities – Hams Needed

Posted on by
Westmoreland Airshow
Arnold Palmer Regional Airport
Latrobe, PA   May 29 & 30
Volunteer Contact: docsam33@gmail.com
Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix
Schenley Park – Pittsburgh, PA
July 24 & 25
Volunteer Contact:  n3mjpcorky@gmail.com
Text Message Only: (724) 217-5458

Pittsburgh Great Race
Information Pending:  Sept ?, 2021
Volunteer Contact allegheny@nu3q.us
Website: https://www.rungreatrace.com/

Pi-Star DMR Hotspot @ Clubhouse

Posted on by

I have taken one of my hotspots up the the clubhouse to act as DMR access point.  Since the club is mostly a Yaesu System Fusion club I have set it up to take your YSF signal and transmit it via the internet into an DMR talk group. This will let you check into DMR nets via the hotspot. Now since the hotspot has only milliwatts output you must be at the clubhouse to use the hotspot.  Just take your Yaesu handheld or use our FTM-400 radio and tune it to 145.650 Mhz YSF simplex.  Then talk and your signal will go out to the PA DMR net talk group 3142.  There is a net on that talk group 3142 on Tuesday night {Unfortunately the same time as SCARC net} if you want to listen or check in.

What this will be useful for is if anyone needs to get on the PA DMR network to talk or for the next ARES alert/SET Drill that is using DMR transmissions.

If you want access to the hotspot to change to other talk groups please see N3LRG to find out how to use the hotspot.  Below is a picture of a MMDVM Hotspot you can find them on Ebay for $26 on up depending if you want to solder or not. You will need to pick up an Raspberry PI Zero-W to run these boards. These will take any digital signal YSF, DMR, D-Star and put it out on the internet to link up with other reflectors around the world.

Link To Ebay Search

Also note the club SDR receiver will pick up the hotspot too. Goto 145.650 Mhz on the Middle 2m Band there is a bookmark called W3KWH-HOT

World Amateur Radio Day

Posted on by

Sunday, April 18, is World Amateur Radio Day (WARD). This year marks the 96th anniversary of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU), founded at the 1925 International Radiotelegraph Conference in Paris. ARRL co founder and first president, Hiram Percy Maxim, 1AW, was there, and today, ARRL is the International Secretariat of the IARU. ARRL has resources that members can use to celebrate WARD, including graphics for social media posts and radio club websites, as well as a printable flyer.

On World Amateur Radio Day, all radio amateurs are invited to take to the airwaves to share global goodwill with other amateurs. ARRL encourages members to promote the value of amateur radio to family and friends, and in their communities. Many volunteer ARRL Public Information Officers and Public Information Coordinators throughout the US use the time leading up to WARD as an opportunity to reach out to the media to share information about amateur radio.

Steel City members – Check your email for a survey questionnaire 

Please fill it out by Friday