KDØCL
West Bloomington 147.090+ Tone: None Central Bloomington Analog/Fusion 443.175+ DCS: 165
Morse Code September Presentation Slides
Thank you to Taty Krogstad for a fine presentation on learning morse code.
The slides are available here…
September VHF Contest 9/8-9
This weekend is the American Radio Relay League’s September VHF
Contest, which runs from 1:00 PM CDT Saturday through 9:59 PM CDT
Sunday. There is going to be a lot of rover activity near the Twin
Cities, so be sure to hop on—especially if you can run SSB or FT8 on
6 m and 2 m. Even if you’re FM-only, listen on 146.550 FM simplex
and 446.000 FM simplex. Full rules here.
To make things more interesting for FM-only stations, I recommend
focusing on 4:00-4:30 PM Saturday, 8:00-8:30 AM Sunday, and 9:30-9:59
PM Sunday—or rather immediately following the Bloomington Amateur
Radio Association’s Sunday night net at 9:00 PM that takes place on
the 147.090+ repeater.
For the contest, you need to exchange and log callsigns and grid
squares, as well as recording frequency, mode, and time of the
contact. Bloomington and the south metro is in EN34 (echo november
three four), central and north metro should check here.
The pace of the
contest is usually slow enough that paper logging is a reasonable
choice—but you will probably want to enter it into a computer (e.g.
here) to submit for log
checking.
Sample exchange:
* 146.550 FM *
[K0BBC/R]: CQ contest, kilo zero bravo bravo charlie rover!
[W0ZQ]: Whiskey zero zulu quebec
[K0BBC/R]: Whiskey zero zulu quebec, echo november two five
[W0ZQ]: Echo november three four. Move to 446?
[K0BBC/R]: Sure! Kilo zero bravo bravo charlie rover
[W0ZQ]: Whiskey zero zulu quebec to 446.000
* Switch to 446.000 FM*
[K0BBC/R]: Whiskey zero zulu quebec, kilo zero bravo bravo charlie, rover!
[W0ZQ]: Kilo zero bravo bravo charlie rover, echo november three four
[K0BBC/R]: Echo november two five, thanks for another band, see you in
the next grid!
[W0ZQ]: Thanks! Whiskey zero zulu quebec
[K0BBC/R]: Kilo zero bravo bravo charlie rover, anyone else on frequency?
[K0BBC/R]: Kilo zero bravo bravo charlie rover back to 146.550
Coordination via non-amateur means (internet, cell phones, etc.) is
explicitly allowed for this contest as long as all necessary
information is exchanged over the air. That means you can phone or
text someone and choose a frequency and time (generally “now” or “in
five minutes when I get this thing set up”) to have a contact. This
is particularly useful with stations that have directional antennas or
if you want to make sure you get a contact with.
One place to look for activity is the Northern Lights Radio Society’s
activity spreadsheet.
The spreadsheet shows the bands and modes of both fixed stations
(first tab) and rovers (second tab), as well as the rover location
plans and contact info.
Another good place to go is the W0UC spots page.
If you have 6 m capability and can run WSJT-X, get on FT8! Make sure
you enable the VHF/UHF/Microwave features and check the “NA VHF
Contest” box. There should be some FT8 activity throughout the day.
Early in the morning (5-7 AM) you might also try WSJT-X’s MSK144 mode
to bounce signals off the ionized trails of meteors.
Want more action? Hop in your vehicle and join the Saturday
afternoon/evening rover pack near Winsted, MN! Even with just a
handheld, you will be able to work several other rovers at the corner
and run up a big score.
Using APRS or looking for rovers? Check out aprs.fi and the Mountain Lake APRS propagation page.
Some VHF contest resources can be found in Membership section of this website.
Paul Bittner WØAIH Stillwater Club Special Guest September 8th
Paul Bittner, WØAIH, will be the special guest of the Stillwater Amateur Radio Association on Saturday September 8th.
Paul has a massive multi radio multi operator contest station in Wisconsin. He has built most of the antennas, towers and equipment to put it all together by himself. He is master tinkerer and can fix just about anything. He has amateur radio friends, around the world, and has had the opportunity to visit many of them in person.
He has an outgoing personality and tells great stories. If you’re lucky, you might get invited to visit his “shack” East of Eau Claire, WI.
7:30 A.M. Breakfast at Perkins Restaurant 2050 W Frontage Rd Stillwater, MN 55082
9:00 A.M. Meeting at Boutwells Landing, Auditorium A, 5600 Norwich Pkwy, Oak Park Heights, MN 55082
Radios in the Park September 6, 2018
As we head into fall, here’s an outdoor operating event that won’t require a winter parka…
We began the 2018 season of Radios in the Park back in May with the New Ham Night session. Tomorrow, we wrap up the scheduled sessions with another evening at Valley View Park in Oak Park Heights, beginning around 5:30 PM.
No special activities are planned for this session, just grab your gear, come on out, set-up your station and get on the air! Don’t have a portable station, no problem, come on out and gather ideas for that time when you decide to put one together.
Amateur Radio Extra Class License Study Class
Amateur Radio Extra Class License Study Class – September 2018
Want to increase your radio knowledge and bragging rights? Come join this study class using the Gordon West materials. This class is sponsored by the Maple Grove Radio Club – a service oriented club serving the Northwest suburbs.
When: Thursday’s starting September 20th. Class usually runs twelve weeks.
Class time 6:45 – 9:15 pm
Where: Maple Grove Fire Station #2 – Upper entrance
13450 Maple Knoll Way – Corner of Elm Creek Blvd and Maple Knoll Way
Cost: $10 registration fee due first night of class. You will also need to purchase the Gordon West text book for about $22.
Details will be emailed to you after you register for the class.
To Register or get answers to your questions: Email registration@mnyarc.org
Please include your name, Address, and phone contact information as well as your email address.
The Extra Class License exam will be offered on the last night of class for an additional $15 fee.
Please share this information with you fellow hams.
Gordy Hanson N0ZRD
Training Chair
Maple Grove Radio Club
Last Chance Tailgate Swap Fest
HAMFEST/CONVENTION
09/29/2018
Start Date: 09/29/2018
End Date: 09/29/2018
Location: West Medicine Lake Community Club
1705 Forestview Lane
Plymouth, MN
Website: http://tcfmc.org
Sponsor: Twin City FM Club
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Talk-In: 146.76 (PL 114.8)
Public Contact: Michael Miller , NØNY
9416 West 14th Street St. Louis Park, MN 55426
Phone: 612-718-4718
Email: trustee.tcfmc@gmail.com
http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/last-chance-tailgate-swap-fest
SMARTSFEST
HAMFEST/CONVENTION
09/22/2018
Start Date: 09/22/2018
End Date: 09/22/2018
Location: Cologne Community Center
1211 Village Parkway
Cologne, MN 55322
Website: http://smartsfest.org
Sponsor: SMARTS Radio Club
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Talk-In: 147.165+ PL Open
Public Contact: Monte Casebier , ADØDB
620 North Linden Street Belle Plaine, MN 56011
Phone: 952-873-3390
Email: ContactUs@SmartsFest.org
http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/smartsfest-2
Lake Elmo Hamfest
HAMFEST/CONVENTION
09/15/2018
Start Date: 09/15/2018
End Date: 09/15/2018
Location: Bob’s, KØIKV
8247 27th Street North
Lake Elmo, MN 55042
Website: http://www.stpaulradioclub.org
Sponsor: St. Paul Radio Club
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Talk-In: 146.850
Public Contact: John Faughn , KDØCAC
PO Box 14182 St. Paul, MN 55114
Phone: 651-402-6482
Email: johnfaughn@gmail.com
http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/lake-elmo-hamfest
September 4th Meeting
The Next meeting of the Bloomington Amateur Radio Association (BARA) and Bloomington AUXCOMM will be Tuesday September 4th.
7:00 PM Bloomington AUXCOMM
7:30 PM Bloomington Amateur Radio Association
Join us in Haeg Room, on the 2nd floor, of Bloomington Civic Plaza 1800 West Old Shakopee Road in Bloomington
If the door is locked call on the 147.09+ (tone 100.0) FM repeater or 443.100+ Bloomngton DMR repeater channel 1 (local 9) to gain building access
Radios in the Park / Antenna Shootout in Oak Park Heights
We have Radios in the Park scheduled for August 16 at Valley View Park in Oak Park Heights.
The evening will feature Round 2 of the Antenna Shootout: Buddipole Showdown! Some issues came up that prevented a successful run using the Buddipole as a horizontal dipole on 40-meters during the Antenna Shootout on July 26th. Mike NØODK has spent the time to review the Buddipole instructions and practice setting it one up. Mike’s requested another go at the Antenna Shootout with the Buddipole. We going to do just that, with a twist. The Buddipole will be configured in vertical and horizontal configurations and run on both 40 meters and 30 meters using WSPR and WSPRnet to track the performance. In additional, Matt K0BBC heard about this round, and being proficient with the Buddipole (having participated in the Buddipole DXpedition to St Lucia Island in 2016 with the likes of W3FF himself) and will be bringing his Buddipole for a showdown. Matt will also share tips and tricks of using the Buddipole. This one will be fun! One thing we learned from the first round is that we need to provide realtime views of the reception reports for all to see. Plans are afoot to enable that this round, possibly with a projector onto the inside wall of the pavilion.