KDØCL
West Bloomington 147.090+ Tone: None Central Bloomington Analog/Fusion 443.175+ DCS: 165
Hidden Transmitter Hunt Thursday 8/29
Overview:
With a stretch of nice weather in the forecast, it’s time to dust off the transmitter hunting gear! This Thursday (8/29/19), the Bloomington Amateur Radio Association will be hosting a transmitter hunt, beginning at 6:30 PM at Bloomington Civic Plaza from the parking lot on the west side of the building (near the southwest entrance).
The field of play will be the City of Bloomington, bounded on the west by US HWY 169, to the north by I-494, and to the south and east by the Minnesota River.
Format: Two hidden transmitters; one 500 mW to 1 W, the other 10-20 mW and in the general vicinity of the stronger transmitter. The transmitters will be on alternate 1-minute transmit windows.
Accessibility: A vehicle will be required for finding the transmitters, but at-home operators (in Bloomington and possibly surrounding municipalities) with omnidirectional or directional antennas can still contribute with coordinated hunting (see Resources below for tips from WB4APR). On-foot hunting is expected to take up to a mile of walking on sidewalks, dirt/grass paths, or over cut grass.
Difficulty: This is intended to be a beginner-friendly event, and those without directional antennas are encouraged to take part in a coordinated hunt (see Resources below). With sunset at 7:56 PM, the event will be complete around 8:00–8:15 PM.
Frequencies:
Two hidden transmitters: 146.565 MHz FM
Safety and administrative: 147.090 MHz, +600 kHz, no tone, analog FM (KD0CL VHF repeater)
Coordinated hunting: 443.175 MHz, +5 MHz, DCS 047 (TX and RX), analog FM (KD0CL UHF repeater; repeater is Yaesu C4FM capable, but please use analog for this event)
Resources:
Homing In, and specifically this page on first-time hunting techniques and equipment.
Bob Bruninga’s (WB4APR) Direction Finding Tips for those with Omnidirectional Antennas.
K6KN’s Presentation for SFARC on Transmitter Hunting.
Map:
Parks, roads, and lakes of Bloomington (PDF).
Contact:
Bill; AE0EE[at]arrl.net
Updates:
8/26/19 0105z: Added K6KN presentation link.
8/26/19 1846z: WB9CFN looking for teammate.
8/28/19 1652z: Added printable map of Bloomington.
8/29/19 1746z: Corrected UHF repeater frequency, 444.375 443.175 MHz.
8/29/19 2105z: Updated printable map to be more grayscale friendly.
Further updates will be added to this post on the BARA website.
Skywarn training March 30th Fire Station One
This Saturday is Skywarn Training. This class is being held at Bloomington Fire Station #1. Class starts at 9:00am. Here is the link to sign up:
Spotter Class – 9am – 1pm
Bloomington Fire station one is located at 10 W 95th St, Bloomington, MN 55420
Minnesota Repeater Council Spring Newsletter Available
MN Repeater Council Spring 2019 Newsletter is now available.
Next meeting is April 20th in Willmar, MN.
Looks like Steve AAØP has our dues paid up.
February Meeting Cancelled, Replaced by Net
With the bad weather and road conditions, there will be no in-person meeting for the Bloomington Amateur Radio Association tonight. At 7:30 PM, we will instead host a net on the 147.090 (+600 kHz, no tone) repeater.
If there is interest after the net on our primary repeater, we may move to the 443.175 (+5 MHz, DCS 047) repeater, although its coverage is not as large.
The next in-person meeting will be Tuesday, March 5, 2019.
W3MMM QSL card received
We don’t receive many QSL cards these days. W3MMM sent us a card for working us in the 2017 Minnesota QSO Party. Triple M worked triple A…
January VHF Contest 2019
Bill, AE0EE, operates 2 m FM on a wintry day.
The ARRL January VHF Contest is coming up this weekend! There are three FM focus times (on 146.550 and 446.00 MHz simplex; times CST): 4:00-4:30 PM Saturday, 8:00-8:30 AM Sunday, and 9:30-9:59 PM Sunday (after the net). We have a 2-page quick-start guide and a 10-page introduction to VHF+ contesting if you want to read up on how to participate, and the Northern Lights Radio Society has a spreadsheet with the upper midwest VHF+ activity. The exchange is your grid square (EN34 for Bloomington and other south metro areas, EN35 in the north metro). Participating in the VHF contest is a great way to get a few contacts in the log and try out some simplex communications.
January 8 Meeting: Contesting 101
Bill, AE0EE, in a portable UHF operation.
With New Year’s Day falling on a Tuesday, the January BARA meeting has been postponed to Tuesday, January 8, 2018, but will still meet in the Haeg Conference Room in Bloomington Civic Plaza at 7:30 PM. Use the entrance at the southwest corner of the building. If you need help finding or getting into the building, please call on the 147.090+ (no tone) repeater, or simplex on 147.090 MHz.
The program for the evening will be Contesting 101, and will cover the essential information needed to get started in contesting—be that VHF and above for contests like the ARRL January VHF contest, or HF for events such as the North American QSO Party or the Minnesota QSO Party. Contests are a great way to have fun, gain operating experience, test station capability, and establish good logging habits.
Can’t wait to learn more? Check out our Resources page!
December 4th Holiday Party
Join us December 4th, at 7 P.M., for a holiday party at Davanni’s 8605 Lyndale Ave S, Bloomington, MN 55420
This is a joint gathering of Bloomington AUXCOMM and the Bloomington Amateur Radio Association. All area amateur radio operators, and those interested in amateur radio, are invited to attend.
November Meeting Delayed 1 Week by Election Day
There is no club meeting on the first Tuesday in November because its election day.
Our usual conference room is used by the city election committee this evening.
Get out and vote and we’ll see you the following week, Tuesday November 13th at 7:30 PM or at the December holiday party, at Davanni’s, on Tuesday December 4th.
UHF System Fusion Repeater On The Air
443.1750+ is an open repeater supporting analog FM and Digital C4FM modes.
You need to send DCS tone 047 when you transmit on FM mode. Digital mode doesn’t require tones and CTCSS (PL) tones are not supported.
DCS 047 is sent, by the repeater, on the downlink to help keep interference out of your radio and squelch out digital transmissions if your radio doesn’t support them.
A big thank you to Randy “Max” Wendel and Andrew Laventure for their effort to return this repeater back on the air after 18 months of sitting in a closet.
Effective output is about 35W on an antenna 100 feet up the Logan Avenue tower.