September 2010 - Kentucky Mountains Amateur Radio Club

08/08/10
September 2010
http://k4avx.net
Club meeting:
The September club meeting of the Kentucky
Mountains ARC will be held on Saturday, Sept.
11th, at 10 AM at the CAP building at the Hazard
Airport on Highway 15, between Hazard and
Jackson. If you are new to the club, be sure to
take the airport exit toward Jackson, which is
Regional Airport Road, and has the CAP sign on
the highway.
Whitesburg repeater:
A crew from Hazard and the Big Sandy
repeater system met on Pine Mountain Sunday to
setup the Whitesburg Repeater.
Both
antenna/tower work, and inside setup work had to
be done. The repeater will soon be linked to the
Big Sandy system, where it can be turned on or
off as a part of that system. This feature will
make it very useful for emergency work and for
drills.
WHITESBURG TOWER WORK
The repeater is on 145.350-, and at the
present has no tone, but 186.2 tone will probably
be added soon, since it appears the repeater has
good ears. It's located above the gap in the road
where US 199 crosses Pine Mountain, and is at
2700+ feed in altitude. It seems to have great
coverage right down highway 15 to at least the
Breathitt Co. line, and perhaps further.
Thanks to Fred Jones, WA4SWF, for the
photos, and to Ken Robinson, K4KBR, and crew
for their work.. Tim Osborne, David Stidham,
and Johnnie Brashear helped from the Hazard
Club.
ARES Established in Dist. 10:
Fred Jones, WA4SWF, Region 4 Assistant
Section Emergency Coordinator, has been
working to get something going in ARES
(Amateur Radio Emergency Service) in District
10, which includes Breathitt, Knott, Leslie,
Owsley, Lee, Letcher, Harlan, Perry and Wolfe
Counties.
I have assumed the position of District
Emergency Coordinator for the District, and
Wayne, AF4YJ; Johnnie, KY4JLB, and Bob,
KE4AER, have stepped forward as County EC's
for Harlan, Perry, and Knott Counties. They are
presently signing up members for ARES in each
county, and you can enroll at
http://www.kyham.net/form/registration/aresreg10
.html You can also apply for an EC for a county
that doesn't have one. (You must be an ARRL
member to qualify as an EC) Even if your county
doesn't have an EC, you should still enroll in
ARES. I will act as EC for those counties that
don't have one, until such time as someone can be
appointed.
We have a good start on registrations, but
need more. We will have an ARES meeting at the
Hamfest in October.
Hamfests:
Saturday, September 18th., is the Central Ky
ARS at the Madison County Fairgrounds,
Richmond, Ky. Info: Mike Rogers, KE4ISW,
(859) 624-9156 or [email protected]. For more
information,
see
http://www.qsl.net/ckars/hamfest
This hamfest has been going several years now,
and improves year by year.
One of the greatest hamfests is at the Ten-Tec
factory in Sevierville, Tn. on Sat. September 25th.
You will see a greater percentage of actual ham
radio gear at this hamfest than at most, it's free
attendance and flea markets, i.e.
Tailgating:
Tennessee’s largest tailgating session! Tailgating
in the rear parking lot and grass areas behind the
Ten-Tec building. Tailgating setup begins 7:00
Saturday morning. BYO tables + chairs. NO
COMPUTER
OR
NON-HAM
RADIO
VENDORS – amateur radio items or related
electronics only.
Events:
Sale on Ten-Tec gear Friday and Saturday.
License exams 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Sign up by
Noon.
Factory tours every 30 minutes Friday and
Saturday – sign up inside the tent
http://tentec.com/?s=hamfest
HAZARD HAMFEST:
It's time to finalize planning for the Hazard
Hamfest on Saturday, October 30th., at the
National Guard Armory in Hazard. If you have
trouble remembering dates, just remember that
it's Halloween weekend, and that should help.
We had a good hamfest last year, in spite of the
terrible rainy weather, and everyone pitched in
to make it a success.
Good planning and
participation will help make it a success this year,
as well.
Please pass the word at any hamfests or on
the air when you talk to someone. I am attaching
a copy of the flier that you can print, copy, and
use to help spread the word.
Hopefully, Sonny and his ARRL VEC crew
will be able to handle the exams like last year.
We will have a district and perhaps Regional
ARES meeting there with Fred Jones in charge,
and any other groups are invited to meet.
We already have over $150 of prizes from
the ARRL, and will have a bigger prize as the
main prize. We hope to have a large number of
vendors as we did last year, to fill the space at the
Armory. We hope you can come to this
Saturday's meeting to help fill in the details.
Friday breakfasts at “Your Place”
Restaurant at Happy have been successful since
started last winter and have continued right on
through the summer. As few as two and as many
as seven or eight hams have shown up for
breakfasts each week. Don't forget that we meet,
even when there is a club meeting the next day.
ANTENNA TIME:
Fall is the tradition time, with its mild weather
to catch-up on much needed antenna work. We
still have one link to put up at the Hazard
Repeater to make it internet ready, and most of us
could use some improvements around our own
qth's. Don't be afraid to give a yell to your
fellow hams to be of assistance in these projects.
We all learn something when working on such
jobs.
Finally, don't forget to sign up for ARES on
the KYHAM pages. Also, you can find a great
deal
of
information
by
going
to
http://www.kyham.net/emcomm.html
,
and
looking at the training available. Several courses
are free on-line, and we should get involved in
these.
Hope to see you Saturday.
73, John, K4AVX, Secretary-Treas
KY Mountains ARC
David and Johnnie at the Whitesburg Repeater