June 12 Meeting - What to Expect When Disaster Occurs
Our June 12 meeting will feature a presentation by Dave Hartnett K9DRH on “What to Expect When Disaster Occurs - The Anatomy of a Communications Emergency.” Dave will provide a detailed timeline of what happens and why during the first 72 hours of a disaster - and its impact on communication needs. And where we as hams fit in - and where we don’t.
Dave has a wealth of experience in disaster and emergency communications, from his military experience in Viet Nam to subsequent dealing with earthquakes, forest fires, hurricanes, and search and resuce efforts with FEMA and other organizations. Dave is currently an ARRL ARREC Field Instructor, and conducts training on volunteer emergency response for Lake County RACES/ARES.
We’ll also provide an update on NSRC Field Day plans (FD is June 23-24 - see sidebar) - so don’t miss this one!
Please join us at 7:30p, Tuesday June 12, at the Heller Nature Center - 2821 Ridge Rd. in Highland Park. Bring a friend!
May 8 Meeting - Recap
If you missed the club meeting tonight, you missed a good one.
Presentations included a trip to the Arecibo observatory in Puerto Rico by Mark WA9IVH. There were great photos of this amazing instrument and great stories of the visit.
DX Clusters, beacons and understanding how to work interesting DX entities on HF were covered by Don KK9H and Randy K9OR.
The Tech Team held another radio clinic tonight - this one focused on the Kenwood TH-F6A HT. They have a tendency to drift downward after many years of use. Mine was off 800Hz or so. I was able to watch it being disassembled, adjusted and put back together. My radio is now back on frequency. Some were off frequency as much as 1500 Hz. Ten radios were tested and adjusted tonight. Thanks to Don KK9H and Warren KC9IL for double teaming this activity.
Mark WA9IVH worked with Warren KC9IL to adjust several APRS trackers to the proper deviation. We will likely have a Saturday session sometime soon to adjust a number of the club’s and club members’ APRS systems prior to public service season.
The next Tech Clinic will probably be focused on mobile radios. More about that later.
If you haven’t been to a club meeting in a while, drop in to the next one and see what you have been missing. More than 40 members attended tonight’s meeting, including many new club members.
73, Dave N3BXY
Get Your Ham License the EASY Way - Starting April 19 - Exam Session June 7
Don’t waste time memorizing hundreds of questions and answers. Get your Ham License the EASY way, by learning the theory behind radio electronics! Why memorize question and answers, when you can learn the reason it all works!
Here’s your chance to learn what you need to know about the exciting world of Ham Radio, by taking an eight week class which culminates in an exam session. Under the new FCC Rules, you can earn any grade of ham license without having to learn Morse code. Instead, you’ll be developing the background which builds your understanding of the theory of Radio. An outline of the material to be taught by week can be downloaded here.
When: First class session is Thursday, April 19, 2012
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Cost of Class: Nothing!
Sponsor: NORTH SHORE RADIO CLUB – www.ns9rc.org
Where: Northbrook Fire Department
Administration Building
740 Dundee Road (1/2 mile West of Edens Xpy)
Northbrook, IL 60062
License Examination Session: Thursday, June 7, 2012
The class is taught by local volunteer Amateur Radio Operators from the North Shore Radio Club. Your primary instructor is Rich Davidson, K9RD, B.S.E.E., who has taught this course for two decades, and who has been a ham for over 50 years. Rich is the recipient of the national 2004 Herb S. Brier Instructor of the Year award, selected by the board of the American Radio Relay League.
Spread the word! A flyer with details about these Ham License Classes can be downloaded here. Please distribute/post as you see fit - libraries, schools, etc. - wherever you think potential new hams will see it.
Northern Cook County Skywarn Net Frequency Change
Northern Cook County Skywarn (WX9NC) is moving its spotter nets to our own 147.345+ MHz repeater with a tone PL of 107.2 Hz effective this spring. Our 2m repeater has much improved coverage and we hope that more hams will be able to participate in spotting severe weather for the National Weather Service. Severe Weather Net controllers for 2012 are still needed! For more information or to volunteer your services visit here.
NSRC JNOS BBS Has Arrived
The NSRC Tech Team is currently beta testing our new NS9RC-1 JNOS packet BBS system on 145.01 MHz with 30W of power at over 100’ high from Techny. This isn’t your traditional BBS system. It has wormhole connections to other BBS stations in the USA, Canada, and Australia. It has a DX cluster and a feed from Weather Underground for weather conditions and forecasts. If you would like an account contact AA9VI. As usual, all you need is a 1200 bps TNC, a VHF radio, antenna, and a computer with a terminal program.
Please visit our Tech Blog to learn more about using JNOS for the first time.
We also have a working NS9RC-10 Winlink RMS Packet server on 145.61 MHz 1200 baud for sending and receiving email over RF. Learn more about it here.