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President's LetterJonathan Pearce, WB2MNFApril 2025 |
March was a solid month for the Gloucester County Amateur Radio Club, with members coming together for several interesting activities. We started with an orientation session on the CHIRP programming software, where many members showed up to get a handle on radio programming, leading to some useful discussions and practical experience. We also held two work sessions on DMR radio setup and operation, both of which saw decent attendance and reflected a steady interest in this part of the hobby. The turnout and engagement were a good sign of how our Club can connect when we focus on common goals.
Upcoming Activities
The Club has an exciting lineup of activities planned for the next few months. At the Wednesday, April 2, 2025 General Membership Meeting, Anthony Luscre, K8ZT, will present “A Beginner’s Guide to VHF”, a timely topic that ties in perfectly with our new VHF station upgrades. Looking ahead, May’s meeting will feature a talk on the Vector Network Analyzer, followed by a June presentation on 3D printing for the ham shack.
On the Tech Saturday front, our April 5th session will walk you through turning a simple microcontroller project from a breadboard setup into a custom printed circuit board (PCB) ready for fabrication. Chris Prioli, AD2CS, and I will lead this one - if you’ve ever been curious about designing your own PCBs, don’t miss it.
In May, Tech Saturday shifts to a hands-on build session where we’ll construct the digital wattmeter featured in the February issue of QST. This handy tool blends RF components with an Arduino microcontroller, offering a chance to tinker with a mix of tech while creating something genuinely useful for your shack. Spots are limited, so reach out to Chris at [email protected] to reserve yours. We’re also considering a July Tech Saturday project - building tape measure Yagi antennas with attenuators for fox hunting, a favorite activity that’s always a hit. Stay tuned for more details as we firm up the plans.
Field Day
It’s not too early to start thinking about Field Day. If you’re an experienced Field Day operator or participant you’ve probably already been contacted by Jim Wright N2GXJ about your participation. And if you’re a new operator who’s interested in getting your “feet wet” with Field Day but have some trepidation about jumping in there will be an “Intro to Field Day for Newbies” Tech Saturday session in June that you won’t want to miss. Field Day takes place the weekend of June 28-29 so mark your calendars now.
GCARC Picnic!
Save the date of Saturday May 31 for the first GCARC picnic in several years! Space has been reserved at the Red Bank Battlefield Park, and details of the event are being worked out. Look for more information soon.
“DX” Opportunities for Technicians using DMR
Our recent Saturday sessions on DMR operation drew a good number of Club members who got a first hand look at what this mode can do. For Technician class licensees especially, DMR offers a way to chat with hams far beyond the local repeater - think of it as a handy workaround to connect with stations across the country or even overseas via internet-linked channels. It’s not the same as earning a higher license and working distant stations using actual radio transmissions (that’s still the gold standard for DX!), but it’s a practical option for Techs without the major HF privileges or home HF stations. With just a DMR handheld and a VHF/UHF hotspot or repeater, you can join these conversations - no advanced gear required. The real link happens over the internet, so it’s not a substitute for classic radio DX, but it’s a nice alternative for Techs looking for options past chatting on local repeaters. If you’re curious, there’s plenty of support at the Clubhouse and on Discord, and DMR radios are more affordable than ever - worth a try if you’re exploring your options!
Approaching The Hackers!
Hams aren’t the only ones tinkering with radio these days. Last year, some of our members got curious about Meshtastic - a low-power, long-range mesh radio system - setting up stations on the 433 MHz amateur band. But there’s a bigger, livelier crowd out there using nearly identical gear on the unlicensed 915 MHz band : the “hacker” hobbyists. These folks are a hybrid mix of radio enthusiasts, microcontroller geeks, 3D-printing experts, and computer tinkerers, not unlike many of us.
Intrigued by this potential opportunity, we decided to dip our toes in by installing a solar-powered 915 MHz node on the Clubhouse VHF tower, naming it “GCARC” with the “short name” “HAM1”. Then we sat back to see what would happen.
Almost overnight, our node lit up with connections from Philly, eastern Pennsylvania, and southern New Jersey - some even sporting ham call signs. One message pointed us to a Discord group, “Philly Radio and Meshtastic” , complete with channels for amateur radio and license prep. Browsing their chats was like peeking through a window at how outsiders see ham radio: some are licensed hams puzzling over a 20-meter dipole (they could use a hand from our antenna gurus!), others are fiddling with Baofeng radios in “mysterious” ways, and a few offered blunt - but fair - takes on the “boring” 2-meter nets they’ve stumbled across, obviously uninterested in such an activity.
One GCARC Club leader has advised against reaching out to this group too eagerly with ham radio promotion, but I’m cautiously optimistic although agreeing that we should move thoughtfully. While their interests overlap with ours and they’re a younger crowd, it’s unclear if there’s real potential for collaboration or if it could help with our membership challenges, especially the continuing demographic “sword of Damocles” that hangs over the ham radio hobby. We’ll keep an eye on it and move forward slowly - more to come as we figure this out.
73 de Jon WB2MNF
Upcoming Activities
The Club has an exciting lineup of activities planned for the next few months. At the Wednesday, April 2, 2025 General Membership Meeting, Anthony Luscre, K8ZT, will present “A Beginner’s Guide to VHF”, a timely topic that ties in perfectly with our new VHF station upgrades. Looking ahead, May’s meeting will feature a talk on the Vector Network Analyzer, followed by a June presentation on 3D printing for the ham shack.
On the Tech Saturday front, our April 5th session will walk you through turning a simple microcontroller project from a breadboard setup into a custom printed circuit board (PCB) ready for fabrication. Chris Prioli, AD2CS, and I will lead this one - if you’ve ever been curious about designing your own PCBs, don’t miss it.
In May, Tech Saturday shifts to a hands-on build session where we’ll construct the digital wattmeter featured in the February issue of QST. This handy tool blends RF components with an Arduino microcontroller, offering a chance to tinker with a mix of tech while creating something genuinely useful for your shack. Spots are limited, so reach out to Chris at [email protected] to reserve yours. We’re also considering a July Tech Saturday project - building tape measure Yagi antennas with attenuators for fox hunting, a favorite activity that’s always a hit. Stay tuned for more details as we firm up the plans.
Field Day
It’s not too early to start thinking about Field Day. If you’re an experienced Field Day operator or participant you’ve probably already been contacted by Jim Wright N2GXJ about your participation. And if you’re a new operator who’s interested in getting your “feet wet” with Field Day but have some trepidation about jumping in there will be an “Intro to Field Day for Newbies” Tech Saturday session in June that you won’t want to miss. Field Day takes place the weekend of June 28-29 so mark your calendars now.
GCARC Picnic!
Save the date of Saturday May 31 for the first GCARC picnic in several years! Space has been reserved at the Red Bank Battlefield Park, and details of the event are being worked out. Look for more information soon.
“DX” Opportunities for Technicians using DMR
Our recent Saturday sessions on DMR operation drew a good number of Club members who got a first hand look at what this mode can do. For Technician class licensees especially, DMR offers a way to chat with hams far beyond the local repeater - think of it as a handy workaround to connect with stations across the country or even overseas via internet-linked channels. It’s not the same as earning a higher license and working distant stations using actual radio transmissions (that’s still the gold standard for DX!), but it’s a practical option for Techs without the major HF privileges or home HF stations. With just a DMR handheld and a VHF/UHF hotspot or repeater, you can join these conversations - no advanced gear required. The real link happens over the internet, so it’s not a substitute for classic radio DX, but it’s a nice alternative for Techs looking for options past chatting on local repeaters. If you’re curious, there’s plenty of support at the Clubhouse and on Discord, and DMR radios are more affordable than ever - worth a try if you’re exploring your options!
Approaching The Hackers!
Hams aren’t the only ones tinkering with radio these days. Last year, some of our members got curious about Meshtastic - a low-power, long-range mesh radio system - setting up stations on the 433 MHz amateur band. But there’s a bigger, livelier crowd out there using nearly identical gear on the unlicensed 915 MHz band : the “hacker” hobbyists. These folks are a hybrid mix of radio enthusiasts, microcontroller geeks, 3D-printing experts, and computer tinkerers, not unlike many of us.
Intrigued by this potential opportunity, we decided to dip our toes in by installing a solar-powered 915 MHz node on the Clubhouse VHF tower, naming it “GCARC” with the “short name” “HAM1”. Then we sat back to see what would happen.
Almost overnight, our node lit up with connections from Philly, eastern Pennsylvania, and southern New Jersey - some even sporting ham call signs. One message pointed us to a Discord group, “Philly Radio and Meshtastic” , complete with channels for amateur radio and license prep. Browsing their chats was like peeking through a window at how outsiders see ham radio: some are licensed hams puzzling over a 20-meter dipole (they could use a hand from our antenna gurus!), others are fiddling with Baofeng radios in “mysterious” ways, and a few offered blunt - but fair - takes on the “boring” 2-meter nets they’ve stumbled across, obviously uninterested in such an activity.
One GCARC Club leader has advised against reaching out to this group too eagerly with ham radio promotion, but I’m cautiously optimistic although agreeing that we should move thoughtfully. While their interests overlap with ours and they’re a younger crowd, it’s unclear if there’s real potential for collaboration or if it could help with our membership challenges, especially the continuing demographic “sword of Damocles” that hangs over the ham radio hobby. We’ll keep an eye on it and move forward slowly - more to come as we figure this out.
73 de Jon WB2MNF
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Full Pink Moon - Saturday, April 12, 2025 @ 2022 Hours. This Moon heralded the appearance of the “moss pink” (Phlox subulata), also called wild ground phlox or creeping phlox—one of the first spring wildflowers. With spring thaws come the Algonquin Breaking Ice Moon and the Dakota Moon When the Streams are Again Navigable. When spring growth appears, so does the Budding Moon of Plants and Shrubs (Tlingit) and Moon of the Red Grass Appearing (Oglala). Animals returning to the area inspired the Lakota name Moon When the Ducks Come Back. Certain Dakota peoples chose the name Moon When the Geese Lay Eggs. Other names are Broken Snowshoe Moon (Anishinaabe), Frog Moon (Cree), and Sugar Maker Moon (Western Abenaki). Appearing either in April or May, Sucker Moon (Anishinaabe) refers to a time to harvest sucker fish, which return to streams or lake shallows to spawn. According to legend, now is the time when this fish comes back from the spirit world to purify bodies of water and the creatures living in them. (This name may also be applied to the February Moon, to honor the sacrifice of the sucker fish in order to feed the Anishinaabe peoples, helping them to survive the winter.). Old Farmer’s Almanac - www.almanac.com