Below is a slideshow from Dave’s – NU4N – trip to Aruba. Looks like he had a pretty nice setup. From Dave:
We made about 2302 qso’s , 905 prefix’s for a score of 7.4 million points.
We broke the old record from Aruba which I think was around 5 million points by somebody ?? Hi Hi
Would love to go back and operate sometime again.
The house was only 1200 bucks for 4 people for a week . Complete with 3 towers, 2 operating stations using Yeasu FT 1000 radios. Had 2 computers with N1MM software loaded and ready to go. Also had 2 microham interfaces for cw, rtty etc etc.
The meeting began at 7:00 Pm and the main discussion was about field day activities.
Field Day will be at the park, across from Midtown Market on Broadway.
We Will be operating 3 stations this field day. One station for CW, one for RTTY and another station for SSB.
2 of the stations (RTTY and SSB) will be housed in the County EOC Bus that Mike Thomasson will be providing
for our use that day. Set up for field day will start between 7-8 am on the 27th with operation starting around 1800Z.
Operators are needed and encouraged to participate in field day. If you can take one hour, or 4 hours, please come
help to operate. This will help man the stations for the duration of the event.
Contact Jeff: KB9BVL (Trwxxa62@aol.com) if you are interested in helping to man one one of the stations
for field day.
Frank, Ky4LDS also showed a short video on the progress of his redwood and sequoia trees.
Well done Frank! Keep ’em Growing!
Net control operators were set for the next 5 weeks. To view the NCO’s Net Control Operators
Monday, May 11th was our latest monthly meeting of the Paducah Amateur Radio Association with another good turnout of 19 hams.
Field Day 2015 was the main topic. At the present time we’re thinking of having 2 stations operating instead of the usual 3 stations. We’ll have one more meeting on June 8th to finalize all Field Day plans. For those who have never been to Field Day the objective is to work as many stations as possible on any and all amateur bands (excluding the 60, 30, 17, and 12-meter bands) and to learn to operate in abnormal situations in less than optimal conditions. Field Day is open to all amateurs in the areas covered by the ARRL/RAC Field Organizations and countries within IARU Region 2. Field Day is always the fourth full weekend of June, beginning at 1800 UTC Saturday and running through 2059 UTC Sunday. Field Day 2015 is June 27-28. We are always in need of operators for this event. If you are interested in operating please contact one of the club officers and let them know. Even if you don’t want to operate stop by and see what it’s all about.
President Ken KW4DI got in touch with the right people and got approved 2 new highway signs with the club’s repeater information on them. The picture below gives you an idea of what the sign will look like.
The Dayton Hamvention is May 15 through the 17th in Dayton, Ohio. This is the biggest ham radio related event of the year. If you’ve never been it’s worth it for sure. For directions to the event click here.
Net Control Operators have been set for the next month. To view the NCO’s click here.
The new club shirts are in and they look really good. You can still order a club shirt if you are interested. The price is $22 unless you supply your own shirt and the price is a little less. If your interested in the club shirts contact Ken KW4DI and he’ll get you the information. Below are some examples of the new shirts.
Thursday, April 23, 2015 during the Quilters Convention If Rouse, VK3BFR had lunch with about a dozen P.A.R.A. club members at Michael’s New York Style Pizza Restaurant here in Paducah. A welcomed visit. His wife is an avid quilter. This was their third visit back to Paducah. The conversation was lively and very informative. Hearing a VK/4 call on the 2 meter repeater was a real surprise! A number of local hams conversed with him during the week. Hope to see you back next year, 73’s from all of us here in Paducah, KY.
The April meeting was another success with 20 in attendance.
Among topics discussed were the Dayton Hamvention coming up May 15th through the 17th. Dayton is probably the biggest ham radio event of the year. For more information visit the Hamvention.org website.
The Princeton Hamfest will be June 6th.
Field Day 2015 was also discussed. Only 3 stations will be operating this year instead of the usual 4. Also, we are in need of CW operators this year. Anyone interested in operating Field Day this year please contact a club officer.
Net control operators were set for April/May. To view the NCO’s click here.
At the March Meeting we had a nice presentation from Dave Perry N4QS about his recent trip to Kuwait to operate in the CQ World-Wide CW contest with the VooDoo Contest team. View the video below.
Finally, condolences to the family of Bud Jenkins WF5B who passed away Monday, March 30. The following was written by Paul ND4X about Bud and is a nice tribute:
It is with a very sad heart that I am writing this. Bud Jenkins, WF5B, passed away Monday morning (March 30, 2015) at 4:14 AM.
Please check the newspaper for arrangements, but right now I understand that visitation will be at10:00 AM, Wednesday, April 1, 2015, in Paducah, KY at Lindsey Funeral Home. Burial will follow later in the day at the military cemetery in Hopkinsville, KY, with full military honors.
Many of us have known Bud for – not years – but for decades. Bud was the type of friend, that no matter what you needed help with, he was the first to show up, and the last to leave. He was always ready to help, no matter what, where or when – freezing cold or blazing hot – wet or dry.
Many of us have seen Bud put on a climbing belt and ascend where no one else would even dare. If you needed a tower put up, or an antenna replaced, Bud was always there.
Bud always had a great station. A couple of his favorite ham stories are about the time several of us operated the PA QSO Party from his station. Our score was so good the PA contest committee decided that we must have been an in-state station instead of an out-of-state submission, and rejected our out-of-state submission. True story, I swear.
Another time the Navy could not contact one of their ships afloat. Several hours had passed since they were supposed to check in with the fleet, and people were becoming concerned. Bud was in Navy MARS at the time, and they asked him if he would try to contact the missing ship. Yep, you know it, Bud was able to contact the ship and relay the status back to the Navy communications team. If you ever saw Bud’s tower and antenna system before the ice storm did its damage, you would understand how he could reach out and touch someone.
I started to put “Silent Key” in the subject line, but for those of you who knew Bud, you will understand. Some of us remember the time Bud almost caused a small riot at Dayton when we realized we were on a bus of CW QRP fans riding from the motel to the arena. You could always count on having a great time when you were with him.
Bud’s passing is truly a great loss for everyone that knew him. Bud will be missed.
The February 2015 meeting of the Paducah Amateur Radio Association has come and gone with another good turnout of 24 attendees. Remember the club meets the 2nd Monday of every month at the Emerging Technology Center Building of the West Kentucky Community and Technical College. We meet at 7 PM in room 140.
There are a couple of good hamfests coming up. The fourth annual Princeton Hamfest is June 6th, 2015 at the Fire Training Center in Princeton, KY. For more information click the image below.
Net Control Operators have been set for the next 4 weeks. To view the NCO’s click here.
Bruce KS4V gave a great presentation on the use of Anderson Power Poles. For more information on Power Poles watch the video below or visit the Powerwerks website.
The 2015 “Ides of March” Hamfest is Saturday, March 28 at the Tennessee National Guard Armory. Doors open at 8 AM. For more information check out the flyer below.
The first meeting of the Paducah Amateur Radio Association for 2015 was this past Monday and like every first meeting of the new year the top priority is the election of new officers. The 2015 PARA officers are:
President – Ken Wontor KW4DI
Vice President – Mike Newman WD4EFZ
Treasurer – Paul Smith ND4X
Secretary – Jeff Wielgos KB9BVL
Among topics discussed were the club insurance for this year is due. The $260 amount was approved. Jim Rudd reminded us of the “No Tobacco” policy for the entire campus. Ken showed several video clips on the Fox Hole Radio and the use of an antenna tuner. Mike Newman added that the tuner didn’t actually change the characteristics of the antenna but made it match what the transceiver wanted to see. He also cautioned putting too much power into a severe mismatch could create a fire situation, IE max smoke.
Net control operators have been set for the next month. To view the NCO’s click here.
Club dues for 2015 are also due at this time. The dues are $20/year, or $25/year for all members of a family living at the same address.
Congratulations to our new officers and we look forward to a fun and exciting year in amateur radio. Until next time….
Happy New Year everyone. Monday, January 12th at 7 PM will be our next monthly meeting. At this meeting we will be electing the 2015 club officers. If you are interested in any officer position, please let us know at the meeting.
Club dues for 2015 are also due at this time. The dues are $20/year, or $25/year for all members of a family living at the same address. Membership certificates are available for all paid 2015 members. Here is a sample of this years certificate:
We look forward to seeing all of you at the meeting. There is always a lot discussed at the January meeting so please try and attend.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Happy New Year everybody. Here’s an excerpt:
A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 6,100 times in 2014. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 5 trips to carry that many people.
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