2013 - Programs, Activities, and Events |
Club Meeting : January 2, 2013 - "Why RTTY"
Just in time for the ARRL’s massive RTTY contest the weekend of Jan 5th, this evening’s program gave us insights into this popular digital two-tone HF radio mode, and more.
Following the business portion of the meeting there was a special presentation related to Radio Teletype, just in time for the ARRL's RTTY Roundup on January 5, 2013 (http://www.arrl.org/rtty-roundup), the UK's DX RTTY contest on January 12, 2013 (www.ukdx.srars.org), BARTG RTTY Sprint on January 26, 2013 (www.bartg.org.uk), and the big CQ WW RTTY WPX on February 9, 2013 (www.cqwpxrtty.com).
Following the business portion of the meeting there was a special presentation related to Radio Teletype, just in time for the ARRL's RTTY Roundup on January 5, 2013 (http://www.arrl.org/rtty-roundup), the UK's DX RTTY contest on January 12, 2013 (www.ukdx.srars.org), BARTG RTTY Sprint on January 26, 2013 (www.bartg.org.uk), and the big CQ WW RTTY WPX on February 9, 2013 (www.cqwpxrtty.com).
Club Meeting : February 6, 2013 - "Fun and Easy"
Fun and Easy Projects Presentation PDF
Following the business portion of the meeting, we will have the privilege of introducing QRP legends George Heron, N2APB (n2apd <at> midnightdesignsolutions <dot> com) and Joseph Everhart, N2CX (n2cx <at> verizon <dot> net) as our guest speakers for the evening.
George and Joe co-lead the NJQRP Club and co-host a bi-weekly Internet radio program called Chat With The Designers (CWTD) that discusses technical topics of interest to hams and home brewers around the world.
Long-time home brewing enthusiasts, George and Joe will have plenty of sample projects on hand to show and pass around that illustrate the kind of fun you can have in the radio shack.
Over the past decade or two, they have designed and provided all sorts of kits that have helped hams, high school kids and Boy Scouts have fun with electronics, improve their DIY skills, and end up with a working project for the bench.
Code practice oscillators, electronic keyers, audio amplifiers, SWR meters, electronic badges, meters, antenna tuners and LED projects are just some of the projects they will be describing at the meeting.
A ham since 1969, George is into QRP, digital mode operation and embedded programming with DSPs and microcontrollers. His design creations include the NUE-PSK Digital Modem, the SDR Cube Transceiver and, together with N2CX, many kit projects and publications for the QRP community over the years.
Joe has been a ham since 1962 and an RF engineer for most of his 40+ years in industry. He is the designer of the Rainbow Antenna Tuner and co-designer of the Micro908 Antenna Analyzer. Joe’s broad technical knowledge and ability to communicate clearly and effectively to his audiences over the years have made him a popular mentor to many. Simple, inexpensive and common-sense test equipment is just one of his current passions.
George and Joe co-lead the NJQRP Club and co-host a bi-weekly Internet radio program called Chat With The Designers (CWTD) that discusses technical topics of interest to hams and home brewers around the world.
Long-time home brewing enthusiasts, George and Joe will have plenty of sample projects on hand to show and pass around that illustrate the kind of fun you can have in the radio shack.
Over the past decade or two, they have designed and provided all sorts of kits that have helped hams, high school kids and Boy Scouts have fun with electronics, improve their DIY skills, and end up with a working project for the bench.
Code practice oscillators, electronic keyers, audio amplifiers, SWR meters, electronic badges, meters, antenna tuners and LED projects are just some of the projects they will be describing at the meeting.
A ham since 1969, George is into QRP, digital mode operation and embedded programming with DSPs and microcontrollers. His design creations include the NUE-PSK Digital Modem, the SDR Cube Transceiver and, together with N2CX, many kit projects and publications for the QRP community over the years.
Joe has been a ham since 1962 and an RF engineer for most of his 40+ years in industry. He is the designer of the Rainbow Antenna Tuner and co-designer of the Micro908 Antenna Analyzer. Joe’s broad technical knowledge and ability to communicate clearly and effectively to his audiences over the years have made him a popular mentor to many. Simple, inexpensive and common-sense test equipment is just one of his current passions.
Club Meeting : March 6, 2013 - "Lightning Protection"
By invitation, lightning protection specialist Ron Block (NR2B) visited GCARC as our guest speaker for the evening. Ron has over twenty years experience in the lightning protection industry as a lightning protection consultant, newsletter editor, and PolyPhaser Corporation product distributor. He has been the moderator of the Lightning Protection Forum at Dayton on numerous occasions.
This program discussed the characteristics of lightning and how it affects us as amateurs, reviewed your chances of being struck depending upon location and tower height, and examined how lightning impulse current can be controlled to eliminate damage to equipment, how lightning strike magnetic fields from a nearby tower can destroy electronic equipment, proper exterior grounding for protection and RF grounding, and a useful approach toward establishing a single point ground system in the radio room. A software simulator was used to demonstrate the effects of tower placement in relation to the radio equipment, coax/tower take-off height options, and single point ground connection options.
This program discussed the characteristics of lightning and how it affects us as amateurs, reviewed your chances of being struck depending upon location and tower height, and examined how lightning impulse current can be controlled to eliminate damage to equipment, how lightning strike magnetic fields from a nearby tower can destroy electronic equipment, proper exterior grounding for protection and RF grounding, and a useful approach toward establishing a single point ground system in the radio room. A software simulator was used to demonstrate the effects of tower placement in relation to the radio equipment, coax/tower take-off height options, and single point ground connection options.
Club Meeting : April 3, 2013 - "A DX Primer:
WAZ With Your Antennas, and other DX Wallpaper"
What do calls like JD1BMH, 6W7SK, XV4LU, TX5K, A31WH, 3B9DX, 9M4SLL, ZL7LC, and VK9C
all have in common? (clue: check page 2 from the January, February, and March issues of this year's GCARC Crosstalk magazine). What's DX, what's WAZ, and what does wallpaper have to do with Amateur Radio?
For those of you who already think you know the answers to these questions, and even more, take out a copy of your log sheets and see how many countries you've been able to contact, and on how many bands before this GCARC club meeting. Want to score more?
It is with great privilege that we will have the honor of introducing our very own accomplished DXExpert, Bill Grim (W0MHK), as guest speaker for this evening's program. You may recognize Bill's
name as author of our Crosstalk magazine’s “Down Jersey DXing” column, and from various club meetings and events, but did you know that he has also been recognized by the ARRL as a 10-band DXCC radio operator? (Yes, that is 10 band). How did he accomplish that? (How can I accomplish that?)
Come on out and support your Club's own Bill Grim as our host for what promises to be a most informative evening. Hope to see you there!
all have in common? (clue: check page 2 from the January, February, and March issues of this year's GCARC Crosstalk magazine). What's DX, what's WAZ, and what does wallpaper have to do with Amateur Radio?
For those of you who already think you know the answers to these questions, and even more, take out a copy of your log sheets and see how many countries you've been able to contact, and on how many bands before this GCARC club meeting. Want to score more?
It is with great privilege that we will have the honor of introducing our very own accomplished DXExpert, Bill Grim (W0MHK), as guest speaker for this evening's program. You may recognize Bill's
name as author of our Crosstalk magazine’s “Down Jersey DXing” column, and from various club meetings and events, but did you know that he has also been recognized by the ARRL as a 10-band DXCC radio operator? (Yes, that is 10 band). How did he accomplish that? (How can I accomplish that?)
Come on out and support your Club's own Bill Grim as our host for what promises to be a most informative evening. Hope to see you there!
Preparedness & Alternative Energy Trade Show
Saturday April 20, 2013
Broadway Electric Supply
459 Mantua Avenue, Woodbury, NJ
The staff at Off Grid Warehouse.com is currently organizing a FREE "Meet & Greet Business Trade Show" in Woodbury NJ. They are holding the event to introduce their preparedness and alternative energy business. They are working hard to make the event a memorable and educational show for Preppers and the general public.
At the show you can speak with knowledgeable vendors, look over hundreds of items, Q&A sessions with preparedness experts, purchase discounted supplies and gear with no shipping cost! The event is an indoor / outdoor event, rain or shine.
There will also be a Ham Radio display and VE Testing from 10:00am to 12:00pm. Contact Bill, NJ2S, kingofbackswing <at> hotmail <dot> com
At the show you can speak with knowledgeable vendors, look over hundreds of items, Q&A sessions with preparedness experts, purchase discounted supplies and gear with no shipping cost! The event is an indoor / outdoor event, rain or shine.
There will also be a Ham Radio display and VE Testing from 10:00am to 12:00pm. Contact Bill, NJ2S, kingofbackswing <at> hotmail <dot> com
Thanks to the efforts of our own Bill Price (NJ2S), amateur radio was prominently highlighted on April 20th at this indoor/outdoor event held at the Broadway Electric Supply company in Woodbury, NJ. Members of the public were invited to see live demonstrations of HF and 2M radios, to talk with members of the GCARC and Gloucester City amateur radio clubs present, and to take some official ARRL publicity information with them related to the theme of amateur public service in times of disaster. A VE testing session was also held in conjunction with the event, resulting in one new Tech and one new Extra upgrade. Many of the visitors were very interested in what amateur radio was all about, and after talking with them, we then referred them to our excellent web site (w2mmd.org) for more information about upcoming radio license courses and general information about getting a ham ticket. A photographer from the Gloucester County Times was on hand, and spent some time talking with Bill and interviewing Ed Champion (N2RO) and others present. Thank you again to Bill P for arranging this, and for Tom C, Bill V, Joe S, Wayne W, Jim W, Ed C, and everyone else from the club who stopped by to help introduce ham radio to an inquisitive public at this event.
Planned Event : April 21, 2013
12:45pm
GCARC Afternoon Outing
Guest Operators on board the Battleship New Jersey
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On April 21, a crew from GCARC had the opportunity to be guest radio operators on board the museum ship Battleship New Jersey. Thanks to our club member Harry Bryant (AA2WN), who was our official on-ship escort for the afternoon, we were able to get on the air from the ship’s radio room to light up the airwaves and create a few mini-pileups while attempting several bands and modes. Our visit overlapped with the ARRL’s SSB “Rookie Roundup” radio contest, much to the delight of a few surprised young radio operators across the United States! What fun! If you’ve never had the experience of visiting the battleship, which is docked on the waterfront in Camden, NJ, right across the river from Philadelphia, you really should make the effort to give her a visit. She’s quite impressive, as are the efforts of countless volunteers, like Harry, who have been working to make her such a great ship to visit.
Club Meeting : May 1, 2013 - Walt Andariese W2WLJ
We have the following guest speaker program update announcement for Wed night's GCARC club meeting: author Walt Andariese, W2WLJ!
Walt will be giving a presentation on information included in his book entitled "Hilltop to Hilltop in 1840 -- Signals Across New Jersey".
1840 to 1845
-- It was a five-year era, without electricity or electronics, when a message from New York to Philadelphia took only minutes.
-- That era was between America's War of 1812 and its Civil War of 1861.
-- And it was an era of American Long-Distance Communication ALMOST FORGOTTEN!
Other books written by the author:
1) World War II thru Korea
2) History of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge
3) Lower Manhattan Just Before 9/11.
Thank you Tom for arranging for this special guest speaker!
Walt will be giving a presentation on information included in his book entitled "Hilltop to Hilltop in 1840 -- Signals Across New Jersey".
1840 to 1845
-- It was a five-year era, without electricity or electronics, when a message from New York to Philadelphia took only minutes.
-- That era was between America's War of 1812 and its Civil War of 1861.
-- And it was an era of American Long-Distance Communication ALMOST FORGOTTEN!
Other books written by the author:
1) World War II thru Korea
2) History of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge
3) Lower Manhattan Just Before 9/11.
Thank you Tom for arranging for this special guest speaker!
Memorial Day 2013
Monroe Township officials again invited our club to march in their parade this past Memorial Day 2013. The parade lasted ~ 45 minutes and at the end of the parade route there was a ceremony honoring those that served our nation and made the ultimate sacrifice. Tom brought the large club banner. They met at Our Lady of Peace Parish (St Mary's) parking lot at 10:15 am.
Club Meeting : June 5th - “DX-Expedition!”
Please join us in supporting and welcoming our own Darrell Neron (AB2E) as guest speaker at our Wednesday June 5th club meeting! As one of the 4 founders of the V26B superstation, which
was begun in 1993 and still operates today, Darrell knows a little bit about “taking Field Day
with you to another DX entity”, aka the travel hobby within the radio hobby, called DX-
peditions.
Ever been curious about what a “DX-expedition” is all about, or what it takes (beyond being a
little crazy) to participate in one? Then this is an evening you won’t want to miss. Darrell will
be treating us to an overview of “DX-peditioning” in general, and then will share with us some
of his first-hand experiences from personal DX-peditions to V2 (Antigua), ZP (Paraguay), EI
(Ireland), GJ (Jersey Island), G (England), and KP2 (St. Croix, USVI). He’ll also be playing sound
clips from his 2012 DX-peditions to V2, to give us a better feel for what it is like to be on the
receiving end of DX-pedition pile-up!
And speaking of the June 5 meeting, we’ll also be discussing our upcoming Field Day (June 22-
23), and plans for our summer family picnic at the Red Bank Battlefield Park on July 13. Hope
to see you there!
was begun in 1993 and still operates today, Darrell knows a little bit about “taking Field Day
with you to another DX entity”, aka the travel hobby within the radio hobby, called DX-
peditions.
Ever been curious about what a “DX-expedition” is all about, or what it takes (beyond being a
little crazy) to participate in one? Then this is an evening you won’t want to miss. Darrell will
be treating us to an overview of “DX-peditioning” in general, and then will share with us some
of his first-hand experiences from personal DX-peditions to V2 (Antigua), ZP (Paraguay), EI
(Ireland), GJ (Jersey Island), G (England), and KP2 (St. Croix, USVI). He’ll also be playing sound
clips from his 2012 DX-peditions to V2, to give us a better feel for what it is like to be on the
receiving end of DX-pedition pile-up!
And speaking of the June 5 meeting, we’ll also be discussing our upcoming Field Day (June 22-
23), and plans for our summer family picnic at the Red Bank Battlefield Park on July 13. Hope
to see you there!
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Club Family Picnic - Saturday, July 13, 2013
12 Noon to 4:00pm
Red Bank Battlefield Park - Riverfront Pavilion
GCARC Summer Family Picnic
Saturday July 13 turned out to be a picture perfect day for a picnic, and coincidentally, that was the date of our GCARC summer family picnic! After a streak of consecutive rainy days, it was nice to see some sunshine! Thanks to everyone who was able to join us for a little social time “out of the shack”. Who knew when we booked the date so far in advance that two other club supported activities would be occurring on the same day: namely the concluding session of a General license training class and exam session, and the long anticipated demolition of the old club trailer. Wow, nothing like being part of an active club! Some personal thanks go out to Jeff and Dan for bringing a club banner/sign to display. Turns out the park ranger knew of our club from living near the 4H grounds, and was happy to see us there at her park. More thanks to everyone who brought a little food to share too. We had quite an assortment, and plenty to share. More thanks to Gary, who treated us to some live musical entertainment which featured some mighty fine pickin’. More thanks to the cooler and ice bringers, which helped to keep us refreshed with cool water and sodas to drink on the warm day. And speaking of ice, there were smiles all around thanks to Adan, aka the water ice man, for the complementary sweet finish to our a great Saturday afternoon! It was a good time. Thanks everyone!
Saturday July 13 turned out to be a picture perfect day for a picnic, and coincidentally, that was the date of our GCARC summer family picnic! After a streak of consecutive rainy days, it was nice to see some sunshine! Thanks to everyone who was able to join us for a little social time “out of the shack”. Who knew when we booked the date so far in advance that two other club supported activities would be occurring on the same day: namely the concluding session of a General license training class and exam session, and the long anticipated demolition of the old club trailer. Wow, nothing like being part of an active club! Some personal thanks go out to Jeff and Dan for bringing a club banner/sign to display. Turns out the park ranger knew of our club from living near the 4H grounds, and was happy to see us there at her park. More thanks to everyone who brought a little food to share too. We had quite an assortment, and plenty to share. More thanks to Gary, who treated us to some live musical entertainment which featured some mighty fine pickin’. More thanks to the cooler and ice bringers, which helped to keep us refreshed with cool water and sodas to drink on the warm day. And speaking of ice, there were smiles all around thanks to Adan, aka the water ice man, for the complementary sweet finish to our a great Saturday afternoon! It was a good time. Thanks everyone!
All weather event - we have the Riverfront Pavilion reserved!
Club Meeting :
August 7, 2013
D-STAR, D-RATS, D-what?What it is and how to use it.
August 7, 2013
D-STAR, D-RATS, D-what?What it is and how to use it.
Please welcome John Zaruba Jr. (K2ZA), our ARES southern New Jersey section emergency coordinator, as guest speaker this evening. John will be introducing us to the digital voice and digital data capabilities of modern amateur radios and repeaters that support digital smart technologies for amateur radio, and how this technology is being used to support amateur radio emergency communications in our county, ARRL section, and state. As always, guests are welcome. Hope to see you for what should be a very informative evening!
New Jersey D-STAR Repeaters
Club Meeting : September 4, 2013
Radio software demonstrations
Our September 4 club meeting will feature live HF demonstrations of some popular radio software, including ‘Ham Radio Deluxe’, the amazing DX-friendly ‘JT65-HF’, and the very cool operation of the ‘pskreporter’ reverse beacon network. Pick up on some of the tricks your club members Jim N2GXJ and Jerry WB2QEF have learned with these software tools that you can use too. With a General class license, and some wire for an antenna up in the attic, it’s amazing what this software allows you to do! There’s a world of digital HF out there waiting for you. Go get it!
Club Meeting : October 2, 2013
Radio Remote Control
Our October 2 club meeting featured the exploits of two of our high flying radio remote control enthusiasts,
Sheldon K2MEN and Art K2AWS. There may
not be dogfights, but there is a lot of fun, even if a few planes do meet the
Earth rather abruptly. We learned from the masters why “up” isn’t
always a good thing, especially when flying inverted.
Hobbies other than ham radio? But of course!
While amateur radio, and its many variations, may be the topic of conversation at a club meeting, or any gathering of hams for that matter, there are a lot of licensees who pursue other interests that don’t involve ham radio. As demonstrated in last month’s program, Sheldon and I fly RC airplanes besides being involved in ham radio activities. Others may build models out of toothpicks, create stained glass windows, pursue model railroading, paint, charcoal sketch, etc. The list would go on and on, but the point is that the individual’s hobby could be of interest to other GCARC members and would be a great topic for an after-meeting presentation.
If you do have other hobby interests consider making a presentation of it and contact the Vice-President about scheduling it. He is always looking for new topics and ideas for a program and to be handed one by a member would really make his day. A great side benefit to the program would be other members wanting to take an active role in the topic now that they know of someone else already involved and who they can pose questions to. Try it as it can be fun.
Art Strong, K2AWS
If you do have other hobby interests consider making a presentation of it and contact the Vice-President about scheduling it. He is always looking for new topics and ideas for a program and to be handed one by a member would really make his day. A great side benefit to the program would be other members wanting to take an active role in the topic now that they know of someone else already involved and who they can pose questions to. Try it as it can be fun.
Art Strong, K2AWS
Thanks for giving us the opportunity to share our radio control aircraft hobby with the club. The guys all asked interesting questions and seemed to enjoy the show. It was a lot of fun for us. I hope you can encourage other members who may have a special interest or focus on a particular aspect of ham radio to share their experiences. I know I am looking forward to program offerings in 2014. And, I know there are a bunch of guys in the club who have some very interesting experiences to share.
Sheldon Parker, K2MEN
Sheldon Parker, K2MEN
Club Meeting : November 6, 2013
Morse Code Night & Competition
So You Think You Know International Morse Code?
What do “Pi”, “Donkeys, Monkeys, Turkeys”, “Hubble, Hubble, Hubble”, and “Pilgrims” all have in common? Well, if you were at the November club meeting, you would recognize those as the multiple choice answers to the Thanksgiving-themed questions that were asked, at increasing speed, at the entry level of our competition. (for those who missed it, the questions were “Radius of a pumpkin?”, “What 3 animals have keys?”, “What sound does a space turkey make?”, and “If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring?” – yea, I know. You had to be there.)
In a remarkable demonstration of skill, several club members were able to distinguish themselves by making it through the club member call sign challenge, and break into the stratosphere realm of 38+ words per minute. As correctly copied during the final competition, if you can stay calm while all around you is chaos, then you probably have not completely understood the situation.
As Cory described during the introduction, more and more Hams who entered the ranks of Amateur Radio without learning code are now starting to pick it up. After the November meeting, I’m getting a feeling as to why. You could sense the pride and fun that my fellow club members with some CW skills were having at the meeting. And so many were willing to share lessons they learned the hard way, with others who share in their passion for the code. Perhaps you picked up a few tips from the experts that will be useful going forward? Perhaps you’ve been zapped by the “spark” to get you to the next level? After all, straight key night is almost here, and after that, our next field day isn’t that far away either (hint hint).
Once again, a special thank you to all the participants in last month’s Morse Code night.
In a remarkable demonstration of skill, several club members were able to distinguish themselves by making it through the club member call sign challenge, and break into the stratosphere realm of 38+ words per minute. As correctly copied during the final competition, if you can stay calm while all around you is chaos, then you probably have not completely understood the situation.
As Cory described during the introduction, more and more Hams who entered the ranks of Amateur Radio without learning code are now starting to pick it up. After the November meeting, I’m getting a feeling as to why. You could sense the pride and fun that my fellow club members with some CW skills were having at the meeting. And so many were willing to share lessons they learned the hard way, with others who share in their passion for the code. Perhaps you picked up a few tips from the experts that will be useful going forward? Perhaps you’ve been zapped by the “spark” to get you to the next level? After all, straight key night is almost here, and after that, our next field day isn’t that far away either (hint hint).
Once again, a special thank you to all the participants in last month’s Morse Code night.
Club Meeting : December 4, 2013
Dean Sargent, W2CGZ
Following the officer elections at our December club meeting, it is our great honor to welcome Dean Sargent (W2CGZ) as our special guest speaker for the evening. An IEEE life member, Mr. Sargent serves as president of D. W. Sargent Broadcast Service; a company specialized in transmitter and antenna services and measurements primarily for the television industry.
Examples of high interference areas where the company has operated from include the top of the Sears Tower in Chicago, Mount Sutro, the Empire State Building, and the top of the World Trade Center before 9/11. We hope you can make it out to this December’s meeting for this most interesting presentation.
Examples of high interference areas where the company has operated from include the top of the Sears Tower in Chicago, Mount Sutro, the Empire State Building, and the top of the World Trade Center before 9/11. We hope you can make it out to this December’s meeting for this most interesting presentation.
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