October
Repeater Sites:
We are continuing to do maintenance on the repeater sites. Heat is definitely not a friend of electronics. If you are using a small building for your repeater and networking gear for the digital part of radio, make sure your AC will kick back on if your power blinks. We may or may not have had recent experience with that... yay co-op power.
Radio is working with what you got which we haven't forgot. We are working with an outside party on options for solar and battery backup ensuring no matter what life throws at us, the repeater will always be available for communication.
If there is something not quite working right on a repeater you use, reach out to the repeater owner in a respectful way. They may not be aware.
Upcoming & Past Events:
One thing with amateur radio other than the advancement of the hobby is helping the community. We have had numerous opportunities throughout the year to help the community. One of the major events we do each year is the McCreary Gravel Rally. Without us, there wouldn't be good communication if a car is still on the track, if someone needed medical attention, or a car became disabled and needed towed. We provide a safety aspect that would not be available by other means.
When we aren't helping with communication we are demonstrating our communications trailer. Recently we were at the Technology Showcase in Somerset Kentucky. This is an opportunity for students to come see different areas of technical expertise. There was also other organizations that deal with drones, robotics, building 3d printing using concrete, emergency response team, rescue squad, and a helicopter that could be seen from every angle amongst other participants.
On the 3rd we provided communication for a 5K Run for Breast Cancer Research. One of the larger ones we have helped with is a 10K run / half marathon.
In November on November 7, is the Lake Cumberland Airshow. It happens every two years. Unless something changes we will be there, come see us.
Amateur Radio Events:
October Monday 19th 1300 UTC thru Friday October 23 2359 UTC is the School Club Roundup. The objective is to give young audiences experience with radio activity that uses a contest type format. They are able to exchange QSO information with any amateur radio station.
See School Club Roundup at ARRL site for more information.
Future Plan for Our Site:
It's been a long time coming but there is plans to add a wiki style knowledge base on our site. There is tons of information amongst all amateur radio operators. There's different ways to do things, which is part of what this hobby is all about. You may want to try something new, or maybe build your own antenna. One day I made a concept build for an off center fed dipole that uses two different torroid mixes spaced an inch apart, with a specific number of wraps that in theory, would make the antenna capable of all bands with good performance. I had looked at s build and wondered how could I adjust that to make it better. Commercial antennas are great in that they are ready to go, and with beams it takes the guess work out. It would be great for me to be able to post my notes, which someone else may like as is or maybe they'll find a way to make it even better.
Rome wasn't built in a day, and operators generally try to find ways to make the most of their equipment and what they got. I'm not putting a date when it will be done by, this is a hobby after all. It is in the works though, and it's my hope that many will benefit from it.
Thank you Cincinnati Hamfest
