http://www.durhamares.org News and information related to Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) within Durham County, North Carolina. admin@durhamares.org admin@durhamares.org Copyright 2010 Durham ARES GeekLog Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:44:32 -0500 en-gb http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100309163625952 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100309163625952 Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:36:00 -0500 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100309163625952#comments General News Hello ALL Info about Helping with the Durham CROP Walk has been posted on the Carolina Helping Hams website. The event is on Sunday March 21st at 2pm on the Campus of Duke University and usually has about 4,000 participants each year. Ham Radio has been an active participant in years past and have been asked to return to help with this event. Go to Carolina Helping Hams website to review and volunteer. Its fun and worthwhile.. 73's Randy K4XRM http://www.durhamares.org/trackback.php?id=20100309163625952 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=2010030720384394 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=2010030720384394 Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:38:00 -0500 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=2010030720384394#comments Net Reports Weekly Net Report, Sunday March 7th, 2010 8pm (2000 hrs) K4XRM - NCO, Randy KD4AGQ - NCO/2, Dan KB4NQH - Ben W3AHL - Steve KF4QYY - Joseph KG4IHX - Frank KE4UVJ - Don Total Check-ins 7 Training Topic - New DNC-ARES Net format / K4XRM - Randy Preparedness Topic - Disaster Prep Tips / K4XRM- Randy Total time: 28 mins. http://www.durhamares.org/trackback.php?id=2010030720384394 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100304113752283 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100304113752283 Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:37:00 -0500 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100304113752283#comments General News All, I have uploaded 3 new files in the files section of the DNC-ARES yahoo group. 1, DNC-ARES Training Net Script March 2010 which we'll be reviewing for net training Sunday March 7th at 8pm. 2- DNC-ARES Net Check-in Log Form to use when operating a net 3- DNC-ARES Training Record to use ANYTIME we meet for training, work-parties and activations. I'll discuss each of these during the on air net training this week. Hope you all can join the net. 73's Randy K4XRM EC/Durham ARES. http://www.durhamares.org/trackback.php?id=20100304113752283 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100304100406284 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100304100406284 Thu, 04 Mar 2010 10:04:00 -0500 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100304100406284#comments General News Invitation to DNC-ARES, and DFMA members; There will be an MCU work party at the home of Charlie Durst on Sat March 20th , 2010 beginning at 10am. The goal is to place additional equipment and review basic MCU operations. Anyone interested in attending RSVP to me at ec@durhamares.org and also indicate if you need info on Charlie’s address. 73’s Randy K4XRM http://www.durhamares.org/trackback.php?id=20100304100406284 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100222202942214 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100222202942214 Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:29:00 -0500 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100222202942214#comments General News Greetings ALL; Due to some increasing conflicts with our Weekly Monday ARES net ,with reference to the availability of Net Control Operators, Non-ARES meeting conflicts on Mondays, and other net activity on Monday evening, The Durham ARES leadership team at our February Meeting resolved to move the net back to Sunday evenings effective March 1, 2010. The Sunday evening time will be 8pm. The telephone invitation at 730p as well as the email reminders from the Yahoo Group will reflect the new day for our weekly net. Additionally we'll be adding on the air training sessions twice / month with associated power point downloads to view during the training session. Finally, we'll also be rotating Net Control Operators through the ARES leadership, and there will be open slots for anyone who would like to learn Net Control Operations to participate as well. Any ARES members who would like to operate as an NCO in the rotation, send me an email and I'll add your name to our list. If anyone has comments or questions, Please email me at ec@durhamares.org. 73's Randy McCray EC/Durham ARES http://www.durhamares.org/trackback.php?id=20100222202942214 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100125201449103 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100125201449103 Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:14:00 -0500 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100125201449103#comments Net Reports Weekly Net Report 5 Check-ins K4XRM - Randy (NCO) KD4AGQ - Dan KB4NQH - Ben KE4UVJ -Don W3AHL - Steve 12 mins http://www.durhamares.org/trackback.php?id=20100125201449103 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100118202322298 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100118202322298 Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:23:00 -0500 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100118202322298#comments Net Reports Weekly Net Report 6 Check-ins K4XRM - Randy (NCO) KD4AGQ - Dan KB4NQH - Ben KE4UVJ -Don W3AHL - Steve N4TMD - Tom 16 mins http://www.durhamares.org/trackback.php?id=20100118202322298 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100111201538409 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100111201538409 Mon, 11 Jan 2010 20:15:00 -0500 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100111201538409#comments Net Reports Weekly Net Report 4 Check-ins K4XRM - Randy (NCO) KD4AGQ - Dan KY4YS - David N4TMD - Tom (Em Power) 15 mins http://www.durhamares.org/trackback.php?id=20100111201538409 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100109182246210 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100109182246210 Sat, 09 Jan 2010 18:22:00 -0500 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100109182246210#comments General News Durham ARES is invited to an antenna building party at the Orange Co EOC on Sat January 30th, 2010 from 0930a-1130a If you plan to attend, you will need to RSVP by Friday Jan 15th so materials can be obtained for the workshop. Click "READ MORE" below for details.... 73's Randy K4XRM Need another antenna or two? Want to tackle a simple project, learn a little about antennas and have some fun? OCRA is throwing an antenna building party at the Orange County EOC in Hillsborough (normal meeting place) from 0930 - 1130 on Saturday, January 30th. All materials and instructions will be supplied, along with a test station to verify it works before you leave. We will be ordering the material on January 15th, so please reply before then indicating which style and quantity you would like to purchase. If you are not able to attend on 1/30, we can make arrangements for you to get the material and help testing the antenna at some future date. If you have never built an antenna before, this is a good first project, with plenty of help available to learn basic soldering skills, assembling a coax connector, etc. Two styles of J-pole antennas are available: A flexible roll-up version that can hang from a limb, building or a nail and rolls up for easy storage in your go-kit. With a suitable connector adapter, this is a good way to extend the range and battery life of your HT. This comes with 10' of RG-8X coax and PL-259 connector. The kit cost is $10 each. A rigid PVC pipe version, suitable for mounting on a mast or building. An SO-239 (UHF-style) connector is mounted on the bottom end cap. The pipe is gray 3/4" PVC electrical conduit, six feet long, which withstands exposure to sunlight much better than the white PVC. The antenna inside the pipe is similar to the roll-up version, but most of the dimensions are shorter due to the added dielectric effect of the pipe. The kit cost is $13 each. Hardware to mount the antenna to a mast or building is not included in the kit. These are both true dual-band half-wavelength vertical antennas which do not require a ground plane. VSWR is less than 2:1 across both the 2M VHF and 70cm UHF bands when mounted in the clear. They have at least 6 dB more gain than a quarter wave antenna. Maximum power is about 75 watts. You can look at similar antenna designs in this Group's File area in the Emergency Communications / Portable Station folder. The exact dimension of our antennas will vary slightly due to different type of twinlead and coax being used. Please bring the following tools to the antenna party if you have them available: 50-75 watt soldering iron. Sharp knife for stripping insulation. Small diagonal or flush wire cutters. "Helping Hands" stand (dual aligator clips on base to hold wires while soldering). We will be working in teams, so don't worry if you don't have any tools to bring. If you order more than one antenna kit, there may not be sufficient time to finish the additional kits, but we will find a way to help you test them when they are done. To reserve your kits, reply to this message before 01/15/09, specifiying the quantity and style. Also indicate which tools (by the numbers in above list) you can bring. Please pay the OCRA Treasurer at Monday's meeting or on January 30th. Name & Call Sign ___________ Telephone # ______________ ROLL-UP J-Pole $10 Qty: ____ PIPE J-Pole $13 Qty: ____ Tools I Can Bring: ________________ If you have any questions, we'll review the project on this Saturday's ARES training net or e-mail me directly . Steve, W3AHL AEC Training Orange County ARES http://www.durhamares.org/trackback.php?id=20100109182246210 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100108194600846 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100108194600846 Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:46:00 -0500 http://www.durhamares.org/article.php?story=20100108194600846#comments General News Our next General Membership meeting is Sat Jan 16th, 2010 9am at Durham County EOC on Broad Street, Durham. We'll meet between 9am -1030am, then conduct a S.E.T. Simplex Exercise named "Operation Deep Freeze" Orange Co ARES has been invited to participate and will be included in the exercise. Details about the exercise can be found on the DNC-ARES yahoo group pages. If you are not a member of DNC-ARES yahoo group and want details sent to you via e-mail, send request to ec@durhamares.org and I'll be happy to forward the information. ALL amateur radio operators in our area are welcome to participate in this exercise, and if you can not attend our meeting, operators may participate from home and simplex test their home stations. If participating from home, listen for the lead net control station, (Durham EOC ) and check-in at the appropriate time. Looking forward to having you all attend. 73's Randy McCray K4XRM EC/Durham Co ARES http://www.durhamares.org/trackback.php?id=20100108194600846