VCARC contacts:
President Paul Clay – N7EKY [email protected]
Vice President Andy Falkenstern – N9NBC [email protected]
Secretary Tony Campion – KC9SZW [email protected]
Treasurer Dave McMaster [email protected]
VILAS COUNTY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
VCARC / Radio Club Newsletter January 2016
VCARC / Radio Club
Newsletter #7
On Monday, January 4, Tony (KC9SZW) reprogrammed Repeater #1, KD9DXK/R to use a PL of
114.8 in accordance with the Coordination from the Wisconsin Association of Repeaters (WAR).
Our repeater was on a PL of 123.0 but WAR required the change to stay in keeping with their Re-
peater frequency plan.
The club will continue to watch to make sure that there isn’t significant interference. If there is, a
request will be made to WAR for a new PL.
The Ministry Repeater KD9DXK/R
Iron Line Sled Dog and Fat Bike Races
Members of the VCARC will
support the Iron Range Ama-
teur Radio Club of Iron
River, Michigan, in their ef-
forts to provide communica-
tions for the Iron Line Sled
Dog and Fat Bike Races
scheduled Friday evening,
January 29 and all day Satur-
day, January 30, 2016. The
Sled Dog teams are divided
into 4, 6 and 10 dog teams
and it is expected that ap-
proximately 150 Fat Bike
racers will compete. These
races are a big draw for Iron
County, Michigan, and in
particular, Iron River.
The Iron Range ARC does
not have sufficient members
to staff all the checkpoints so
several VCARC members
volunteered to help their
fellow HAMs. The planning
for these events has been
excellent and VCARC mem-
bers have been involved in
several meetings that in-
cluded guided tours of the
Fat Bike race course. These
are important events for the
Iron River area so this is a
great opportunity to be of
service to the community.
Several club members have
indicated that they hope to
provide similar services for
future events in Vilas County.
License Class and Exams — Congrats New Hams!
VCARC conducted a two-day Technician Class in September in Eagle River. All nine participants
passed their examinations, six for Technician, two for General, and one for Extra Class.
Don Couey and Robert Olszewski of St Germain, Dr. Richard Reinhart of Minocqua, Charles
Poupart of Lac Du Flambeau, Charles Ceglarek of Mercer, and David Simcoe of Bessemer, MI all
passed their Technician Class license exams.
Donald Korbas of Wabeno, and Robert Parsons of Eagle River passed their upgrade exam from
Technician to General Class and Dr. Paul Weeks of Harshaw, WI passed his Upgrade exam from
General to Extra Class.
Class instructors were Andy (N9NBC), Vince (KA8FFM), Roger (KD9EPX) and Paul (N7EKY). The
class covered electronics, radio and antenna theory, rules and regulations, and safety. Volunteer
Examiners were Extra Class hams Mike (KC9ZJF), Andy (N9NBC) and Paul (N7EKY).
Future classes and exam sessions will be announced. See page 4 for the next scheduled training.
Tony and
Ministry
repeater.
Page 2 VCARC / Radio Club Newsletter #7
Amateur Radio HF Nets — Part 4
This net provides emergency
communications support to
the Salvation Army wherever
needed. During wide-spread
emergencies such as hurri-
canes, earthquakes and forest
fires, the 14,265 KHz Net
becomes the emergency traf-
fic and Health and Welfare
message Net. The 14,265
KHz Net is on the air from
1500Z (09:00 CT) Monday
through Saturday, with early
check-ins taken from 1430Z.
More information can be
found at http://
www.satern.org where one
can find out if the net is in
training mode or handling
emergency traffic. On Janu-
ary 23, nine members of the
club are scheduled to attend
training provided by Ms.
Terri Leece of the Salvation
Army at the Vilas County
Economic Development
classroom.
The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN)
The International Police Association Radio Club (IPARC) NET
This net was founded to sup-
port people who are or were
in law enforcement and who
are also licensed amateur
radio operators. The U.S.
section IPARC has been ac-
tive for over 30 years. Al-
though their club member-
ship application asks for law
enforcement background, a
law enforcement background
is not necessary to join or
check in. Their U.S. Nets are
listed below:
More information can be found at http://www.iparc.org/ .
TIME DATES FREQ COMMENTS
1700Z SUN & WED 21.410 MHz (15M) U.S. Section NET
1700Z SUN & WED 14.240 MHz (20M) Alternate Freq
1715Z SUN & WED 7.175 MHz (40M) Alternate Freq
1700Z FRIDAY 7.175 MHz West & East Coast NET
0300Z SUN & TUE 3.850 MHz West & East Coast NET
1615Z MON – FRI 147.270 MHz Los Angeles 2M NET
1500Z MON/ WED/ FRI 7.200 MHz East Coast NET
VCARC members to Attend SATERN Training
Several club members are scheduled to attend a day long training event presented by Ms. Terri
Leece of the Salvation Army. Included in the all day event will be “Introduction to the Salvation
Army Disaster Services” and “Safe From Harm”, both required classes for those volunteering for
the Salvation Army’s communications arm, SATERN. SATERN is comprised of amateur radio
operators, some of whom deploy to disasters while others provide communications support
from their home shack. It may not be too late to attend this training. If interested contact Paul
(N7EKY).
*Offered in the Manufacturing Incubator Classroom
**Tentative Date to be confirmed
Tech Talk
Page 3
VCARC / Radio Club Newsletter #7
Tony (KC9SZW) gave the club an overview of his Northwoods Search and Rescue Organization. Members
of the Northwoods SAR club utilize their own trained dogs to seek people who are lost in the woods of
Wisconsin and Michigan. Tony and other members provide professional dog training on a regular basis and
both the animal and handler must go through strenuous professional certification on a regular basis. Tony
also displayed some of the communications equipment the group uses to remain in contact while in re-
mote areas, including a UHF Portable Repeater. Persons interested in this organization should contact the
VCARC Secretary, Tony (KC9SZW). The current 2016 Tech Talk & Training Schedule is as follows
The current 2016 Tech Talk Schedule is as follows:
DATE SUBJECT PRESENTERS
*January 23, 2016 SATERN Training SATERN
**February 10, 2016 US Army MARS Richard Peltso
(AAA5WI) WI State
MARS Director
*February 17, 2016 Setting up the HAM Shack Andy (N9NBC)
Paul (N7EKY)
February 27, 2016 Monthly Vilas County Amateur Radio Club HAM Breakfast All
*February 27, 2016 Building for the HAM Shack Roger (KD9EPX)
March 9, 2016 Designing Antennas & Building Your Own Antennas (Part I) Andy (N9NBC)
Roger (KD9EPX)
March 26, 2016 Monthly Vilas County Amateur Radio Club HAM Breakfast All
March 26, 2016 Solar Winds / Atmosphere Layers / Propagation Andy (N9NBC), Roger
(KD9EPX)
*April 9, 2016 Designing Antennas & Building Your Own Antennas (Part I) Andy (N9NBC)
Roger (KD9EPX)
April 13, 2016 Using Test Equipment, Building for the Shack Andy (N9NBC), Roger
(KD9EPX)
April 23, 2016 Monthly Vilas County Amateur Radio Club HAM Breakfast All
*April 23, 2016 Grounding the Shack Andy (N9NBC)
Roger (KD9EPX)
May 11, 21, 2016 National Parks On The Air (NPOTA) Andy (N9NBC),
Fred (KD9CCE)
Scott (WA9STI)
**July 13, 2016 Summits on the Air (SOTA) Scott (WA9STI)
August 10, 2016 The Inns and Outs of DXing
Page 4 VCARC / Radio Club Newsletter #7
Two-Day Technician Ham Class set for April 2016
Looking for
newsletter
articles!
If you would like to
contribute an arti-
cle to this newslet-
ter, and you are
encouraged to do
so, please contact
Paul (N7EKY) at
The DX Century Club (DXCC)
According to the ARRL, The DX Century Club, or DXCC is Amateur Radio’s premier operating
award and is earned by confirming 100 or more countries around the world. Started by the ARRL in
the 1930s the ARRL worked for several years in an effort to compile a list of all possible countries
that Amateur Radio operators could contact. The DXCC award came out of this effort and is highly
sought after by Contesters. Our own Contest Master, Andy (N9NBC) recently qualified for DXCC
on 15 and 20 meters through log book of the world and has submitted his application for the award
to the ARRL. If you are interested in contesting, you should consider getting together with Andy
(N9NBC) at [email protected], who will be happy to show you the ins and outs of contesting.
Members of VCARC and the Iron Range Amateur Radio Club have teamed up
to teach Technician Classes. A two-day Technician ham class was held on
January 16-17, 2016 at the Vilas County Manufacturing Incubator Classroom
in Eagle River. A Technician Class using the same format will be offered in Iron River at the
Iron Range Amateur Radio Club clubhouse in the Windsor Center on U.S. 2
in Iron River, MI on April 9-10, 2016. These classes will include all the infor-
mation necessary to prepare the student to pass the examination to earn
their Technician Class FCC license. The VE (Volunteer Examiner) session for
the examination will be offered immediately after the class. There is no cost
to the student for the class but they will be expected to purchase the re-
quired text book. The cost of the Examination is $15.00. Pre-registration is
necessary to reserve a seat in the class. Contact Paul (N7EKY) for more in-
formation. The instructors are Andy (N9NBC), Roger (KD9EPX), Vince
(KA8FFM), and Paul (N7EKY) .
The Vilas County Amateur Radio Club, Inc. now can count 73 members!
Club
Membership
Vilas County Amateur Radio Club, Inc. Working on Website
Fred (KD9CCE) announced that he would reserve the domain VCARC.net so that work on a
web site for the club could start. This is good news and it will provide wider coverage for the club
calendar and events as well as results of activities of members.
The Phelps Chamber of Commerce has invited members of VCARC to support their Triathlon
scheduled for August 27th. Paul (N7EKY) has met with the Phelps Chamber Director Celeste
Hendrickson and Chamber and club member Lorin Johnson (KD9CXC). Several VCARC mem-
bers have signed up to support this event. More to come.
Phelps Twin Tri – Triathlon Set for August 27
Page 5
VCARC / Radio Club Newsletter #7
During 2016 the National Park Service will celebrate their 100th anniversary and Amateur Radio has
been invited to help. This may be a great way to test your go-kit and get in a little camping with the
family at the same time. The idea is to visit one of the National Parks recognized areas and celebrate
the National Parks Centennial by making as many contacts as possible.
There are seven Locations in Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula qualified as NPOTA loca-
tions for the purposes of the program and they are listed below.
NATIONAL LAKESHORES
1. Apostle Islands, Wisconsin
2. Pictured Rocks, Michigan
NATIONAL WILD AND SCENIC RIVERS
1. Ice Age National Scientific Reserve, Wisconsin
2. Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway, Minnesota-Wisconsin
NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARKS
1. Keweenaw, Michigan
NATIONAL PARKS
1. Isle Royale, Michigan
AFFILIATED AREAS
1. Father Marquette National Memorial, Michigan
As you can see, there are plenty of areas offering opportunity in Wisconsin and the U.P. for
NPOTA on-site activity. If this isn’t your bag you can still participate by contacting NPOTA stations
from your home station. Contact Andy (N9NBC) for details about how you can participate in this
program. Also, this could be a great getaway for the whole family. Andy (N9NBC), Paul (N7EKY),
and Fred (KD9CCE) are planning a field trip to the Keweenaw to see what resources are available
to Amateur Radio Operators.
National Parks on the Air – NPOTA
Slow Scan TV (SSTV) on KD9DXK/R
Tom (KC9UDA) has requested that a Slow Scan Television (SSTV) net be approved and it was put
before the club at the January 13 meeting. The club overwhelmingly approved the request so the
first SSTV net will take place Tuesday, January 19 at 7:30.
Tom (KC9UDA) has created and posted an SSTV “How To” You Tube video here: https://
youtu.be/lOymyZ7WDPg
SSTV Frequencies:
10 Meter Band (USB): 28.680 MHz 28.677 MHz
12 Meter Band (USB): 24.940 MHz 24.975 MHz
15 Meter Band (USB): 21.340 MHz
17 Meter Band (USB): 18.120+ MHz
20 Meter Band (USB): 14.230 MHz*** Most Active Frequency
30 Meter Band (USB): 10.132 MHz (MP73-N)
40 Meter Band (LSB): 7.171 MHz 7.040 MHz in EU 7.033 MHz
80 Meter Band (LSB): 3.990 – 3.999 Mc 3.845 Mc 3.730 Mc 3.733 Mc
160 Meter Band (LSB): 1.924 MHz 1.890 MHz
This net and other VCARC nets are open to all amateur radio operators.
January Ham Breakfast
The second monthly ham breakfast was held on Saturday, January 9, at the Friendship House in
Eagle River. There was no December breakfast meeting due to the busy schedule and holidays.
About ten members of the club braved slippery roads and dropping temperatures to join the fun.
Andy Falkenstern presents an Outstanding Service Award
to Paul Clay (top left), and Paul presents Outstanding
Service Awards to Tony Campion (top right) and Red
Pajula (bottom left). Not pictured is Fred Bouwman who
will receive his award at the next meeting.
Page 6 VCARC / Radio Club Newsletter #7
Club Charter Members and Outstanding Service Awards
At the December club meet-
ing club members were
asked to nominate their top
three choices for club mem-
bers they thought contrib-
uted the most during 2015 to
the club and community. The
nominees were tallied and
resulted in four members
(two tied for third place)
receiving the first Annual
Outstanding Service Awards.
The recipients were Fred
Bouwman (KD9CCE), Rod-
ney (Red) Pajula (N9GHO),
Tony Campion (KC9SZW),
and Paul Clay (N7EKY).
In addition, Club Officers
presented Charter Member
Award Certificates to all club
members who joined the
Vilas County Amateur Radio
Club, Inc (VCARC). during
the year 2015. Those who
attended the December
meeting received their award
certificates and others can
pick theirs up during any
future meeting.
Page 7 VCARC / Radio Club Newsletter #7
Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS)
APRS is a digital mode re-
leased in 1991 based on
AX.25 invented by Bob Brun-
inga (WB4APR). APRS is a
connectionless protocol, that
is, there is no expectation of
an acknowledgement so sta-
tions using APRS appear
more like a one to many, or
broadcast mode.
The reasons Amateur Radio
Operators use APRS may
include the transfer of a mul-
titude of items about stations
including call sign, location,
speed, altitude, tactical infor-
mation, and comments. APRS
also allows for the broadcast
of weather information, text
messaging between amateurs,
and is frequently used in
community service events,
emergencies, notices of
event times and locations,
and monitored frequencies.
This is all accomplished in a
very small packet not requir-
ing very much bandwidth or
on-air time.
For example, hamfests and
other events may be
“advertised” by use of APRS
which could provide the
event location, time and date,
and a beacon that can be
tracked on a map or by use
of a properly equipped APRS
radio. Or the location of an
APRS equipped event aid
station might be more easily
discovered by other APRS
stations needing assistance.
A properly equipped and
trained search and rescue
party might make use of
APRS. Imagine a search party
where the entire team is
equipped with APRS equip-
ment, as is the net control.
The net control operator
would be automatically up-
dated of the location of each
station in the search team
and can direct team members
based on the search pattern
or desired focus. If any sta-
tion reports a find, then the
proper response can be im-
mediately directed precisely
to his or her location. APRS
has been adopted by many
emergency communications
organizations such as some
local ARES groups who use it
regularly in their drills and
real life events.
APRS does require specific
equipment, which would nec-
essarily include a transceiver,
a hardware or software
based terminal node control-
ler (TNC) and GPS. Yaesu
and Kenwood offer several
mobile and handheld models
with everything necessary to
do APRS right out of the box.
There is usually also an APRS
infrastructure called the
APRS network that is needed
to pass the APRS packets
between stations that are not
within direct communications
with each other. APRS util-
izes repeaters, called digipeat-
ers, to store and forward
packets. An APRS digipeater
transmits and receives on the
same frequency. It is designed
to receive, store and forward
packets received from sta-
tions within communications
range to other stations.
Another part of the APRS
network is an IGate which is
designed to pass packets to
the Internet where informa-
tion about stations, including
messaging and location, can
be viewed by anyone. But the
internet is not necessary for
localized APRS operations.
Remember the search & res-
cue team. Properly equipped,
they can set up their own
digipeater, which may be
nothing more than a light
weight mobile radio with
built-in APRS and an attached
GPS display, to receive up-
dates from APRS equipped
search teams.
APRS is most commonly
used on VHF in North
America on 144.390 MHz,
but APRS is gaining popular-
ity on HF, particularly on 30
meters, especially for long
range use or where VHF
digipeaters are not within
range. APRS digipeaters are
also found on some satellites
and even the International
Space Station.
So, how does one start using
APRS? That’s a good ques-
tion and there may be sev-
eral valid answers based on
the equipment you currently
have and your radio budget.
APRS doesn’t always need to
be expensive. There are a
myriad of ways to get your
current VHF or HF radio on
APRS without buying a new
radio. Next time we will dis-
cuss the specifics of how to
get started and provide some
examples for those who
would prefer to keep the
cost down.
APRS session in Eagle River.
Page 8 VCARC / Radio Club Newsletter #7
Automatic Packet Reporting System Special Interest
Group – Fred (KD9CCE)
The initial meeting of the SIG
was held at the Vilas County
Business Incubator building in
Eagle River following the
monthly Ham Breakfast. Pre-
sent were Don (KD9EPY),
Paul (N7EKY), Dave
(KD9DRG), RayBob
(KD9DDE), Bob (N9HSQ),
Tom (KC9UDA), Mike
(KC9ZJF) and Fred
(KD9CCE). As this was the
first SIG meeting, members
set goals and future meeting
agenda and schedules. Since APRS can be a very
complex undertaking with
several different methods of
implementation, the group
decided to concentrate on
one or two examples of con-
figuration at each meeting in
order to be able to drill
down to solve configuration
or integration issues between
software and hardware. The SIG will concentrate on
the Tigertronics SignaLink
sound interface at the next
meeting, which is scheduled
for Saturday, February 27 at
10:30 after that Saturday’s
HAM Breakfast. The location
will remain at the Incubator
classroom. There was some measurable
success as a result of the
SIG’s first meeting, with three
members visible on APRS for
the first time over the week-
end of the meeting, and one
existing APRS user adding a
mobile implementation. We
have an active group of APRS
users in our Northwoods
area, one time over the
weekend I counted ten
VCARC and RRA members
on the map. APRS real-world
applications were discussed.
The ability to track Search
and Rescue Team members
on a real time map could be
invaluable to managing a SAR
event. It was noted this could
be a good fit with the Iron
Range Amateur Radio club
civic events like the dogsled
races.
APRS Implementation
Examples
On their base stations, most
SIG members not equipped
with purpose built APRS ra-
dios are currently using
UZ7HO and APRSISCE32
Software on their Personal
Computer. The UZ7HO
Soundmodem can be found
at http://uz7.ho.ua/
packetradio.htm . The APRS
client currently in favor is
APRSISCE/32 which can be
found at http://
aprsisce.wikidot.com/. Both
software applications are
free and an instruction video
provided by Paul (N7EKY) is
available at https://
www.youtube.com/watch?
v=EBO0isGj8W0.
In addition to radios that
include a GPS and TNC and
the software designed to
support APRS like those
from Kenwood and Yaesu,
there are several inexpen-
sive products that will help
implement APRS on non-
APRS equipped mobile ra-
dios. The TinyTrak http://
www.byonics.com/ used by
Chuck (KC9KAK) and Fred
(KD9CCE) is one example.
The SIG will concentrate on
this and several other manu-
facturers offerings over the
coming months.
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