We like calling
Orange County North Carolina home! Our area is known for:
| Eclectic Carrboro, historic Hillsborough, world famous Chapel Hill, and a portion of charming Mebane |
| The University of North Carolina and the best ACC basketball |
| Succulent barbeque and the area's best VHF/UHF repeaters |
The Orange County Radio Amateurs ("OCRA") are an organization of area ham radio operators dedicated to:
Providing emergency communications through our  Orange County ARES group | | Empowering the next generation of Amateur Radio operators: maybe YOU! (Need some REASONS?) |
| Maintaining an up-to-date website listing upcoming events |
| Conducting both formal and informal OCRA membership meetings and on-the-air nets |
| Administering regularly scheduled VE test sessions every month (see upcoming events) |
| Celebrating our members' accomplishments, both on and off the air |
| Enjoying the art, science and fellowship of radio operating |
Upcoming Events of Interest:
 Saturday, July 24: Orange County ARES Training Net beginning at 0930L (9:30AM) on the W4UNC 442.150MHz repeater (PL 131.8Hz). Net Control is Karen (KD4YJZ). |
 Wednesday, July 28: DFMA 6 Meter Net beginning at 2030L (8:30PM) on the W4UNC 53.450MHz repeater (PL 107.2Hz). Net Control is JR (KG4NNT). REPEATER IS CURRENTLY OFF THE AIR. |
| Saturday, July 31: Orange County ARES July Ready Rally at the Orange EOC in Hillsborough beginning at 0900L (9:00AM). See directions here (PDF). Ken (KR4FM) will demonstrate HSMM, so bring your laptop computer and compatible router and get loaded (with HSMM software, that is!) |
| Saturday, July 31: Orange County ARES Training Net beginning at 0930L (9:30AM) on the W4UNC 442.150MHz repeater (PL 131.8Hz). Net Control is Dee (KU4GC). |
| Saturday, August 7: Orange County ARES Training Net beginning at 0930L (9:30AM) on the W4UNC 442.150MHz repeater (PL 131.8Hz). Net Control is Dan (KR4UB). |
 Monday, August 9: OCRA Monthly Membership Meeting beginning 1930L (7:30PM) at the Orange EOC in Hillsborough. See directions here (PDF). All OCRA members, licensed ham radio operators and other interested individuals are welcome to attend. Dinner at Casa Ibarra Restaurant on South Churton Street begins at about 1730L (5:30PM) with Open Board Meeting following at 1830L (6:30PM). |
| Wednesday, August 11: DFMA 6 Meter Net beginning at 2030L (8:30PM) on the W4UNC 53.450MHz repeater (PL 107.2Hz). Net Control is JR (KG4NNT). REPEATER IS CURRENTLY OFF THE AIR. |
| Saturday, August 14: Amateur Radio License Examinations provided by the OCRA Volunteer Examiners Team, beginning at 1000L (10:00AM) at the Orange EOC in Hillsborough. See directions here (PDF). Contact Dave Snyder (W4SAR) at (919) 644-8681 for further information. Pre-registration is appreciated but not strictly necessary. |
| Saturday, August 28: Orange County ARES August Ready Rally at the Orange EOC in Hillsborough. See directions here (PDF). Representatives of the Red Cross will give a training session on shelter operations. |
 Saturday, September 4 - Sunday, September 5: Shelby Hamfest, more info here. |
| Monday, September 13: OCRA Monthly Membership Meeting beginning 1930L (7:30PM) at the Orange EOC in Hillsborough. See directions here (PDF). All OCRA members, licensed ham radio operators and other interested individuals are welcome to attend. Dinner at Casa Ibarra Restaurant on South Churton Street begins at about 1730L (5:30PM) with Open Board Meeting following at 1830L (6:30PM). |
| Monday, September 13: Amateur Radio License Examinations provided by the OCRA Volunteer Examiners Team, beginning at 1930L (7:30PM) at the Orange EOC in Hillsborough. See directions here (PDF). Contact Dave Snyder (W4SAR) at (919) 644-8681 for further information. Pre-registration is appreciated but not strictly necessary. |
| Saturday, October 9: Forsyth Amateur Radio Club's Pfafftown Swapfest at the West Central Community Center, 6130 Yadkinville Road, in Pfafftown NC. |
| Saturday, October 9: Amateur Radio License Examinations provided by the OCRA Volunteer Examiners Team, beginning at 1000L (10:00AM) at the Orange EOC in Hillsborough. See directions here (PDF). Contact Dave Snyder (W4SAR) at (919) 644-8681 for further information. Pre-registration is appreciated but not strictly necessary. |
| Monday, October 11: OCRA Monthly Membership Meeting beginning 1930L (7:30PM) at the Orange EOC in Hillsborough. See directions here (PDF). All OCRA members, licensed ham radio operators and other interested individuals are welcome to attend. Dinner at Casa Ibarra Restaurant on South Churton Street begins at about 1730L (5:30PM) with Open Board Meeting following at 1830L (6:30PM). |
 Thursday, October 14: Triangle ATV Association meeting will be at 6:30PM at Rudino’s Restaurant, 4911 Central Park Drive (off South Miami Boulevard in RTP). Please RSVP if possible to nc4tv.triatv@gmail.com if you plan to attend. |
| Monday, November 8: OCRA Monthly Membership Meeting beginning 1930L (7:30PM) at the Orange EOC in Hillsborough. See directions here (PDF). All OCRA members, licensed ham radio operators and other interested individuals are welcome to attend. Dinner at Casa Ibarra Restaurant on South Churton Street begins at about 1730L (5:30PM) with Open Board Meeting following at 1830L (6:30PM). |
| Monday, November 8: Amateur Radio License Examinations provided by the OCRA Volunteer Examiners Team, beginning at 1930L (7:30PM) at the Orange EOC in Hillsborough. See directions here (PDF). Contact Dave Snyder (W4SAR) at (919) 644-8681 for further information. Pre-registration is appreciated but not strictly necessary. |
Here's What OCRA Folks Have Been Up To:
| Laurie Meier (N1YXU) took time out from her busy schedule as a ham operator, ARES County EC, and technology manager to craft some greeting cards, one of which won her a second premium ribbon at the 2009 North Carolina State Fair. |
| OCRA received back-to-back coverage in "CQ" magazine by being mentioned in the August issue regarding our awarding an honorary life membership to Danny Hampton (K4ITL). |
| OCRA was once again covered favorably in a national ham radio publication when Efland-Cheeks Elementary School's weather station got coverage in "CQ" magazine. The July issue of "CQ" published an account of the weather station dedication, including a photo of Kristin Bedell (KI4LLO), in its "Public Service" column on page 36. |
| OCRA President Woody Woodward (K3VSA) was in attendance at a dedication ceremony for the weather station that OCRA members installed at Efland-Cheeks Elementary School for Kristin Bedell (KI4LLO), a teacher there. The school presented recognition plaques to OCRA, Piedmont EMC (which funded the project through a grant), and the Orange County school system's maintenance department (which ran the wiring). The station consists of a weather fax receiver and weather station, both mounted on a rooftop tower, and the software needed to keep track of the data and post it to the school's website. |
| Former OCRA member Noah Blach (KF4YBG) has graduated from Air Force Basic Training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio TX according to a report published on page C3 of the "Durham Herald-Sun" on Sunday, April 12th. Noah is the son of OCRA member Chip Blach (KF4WBK). |
| At the RARSFest on Saturday, April 11th, OCRA Treasurer and Repeater Manager Dan Eddleman (KR4UB) presented a plaque to Wade ("Danny") Hampton (K4ITL) in recognition of years of support with our repeaters that Danny has provided to OCRA. The plaque, half in ordinary script and the other half in Braille, proclaimed Danny as an honorary life member of OCRA. "I've been given plaques before, but I never got one printed in Braille," Danny remarked. Several hours later, it was announced at RARSFest that Danny would be named "Ham of the Year" at the 2009 Dayton Hamvention. |
| OCRA's own Jim Jingozian (KG4NEL) has once more been named to the dean's list at Virginia Tech, where he is a senior majoring in business information technology. He was one of two Hillsboroughites attending Virginia Tech who were mentioned in the April 1st edition of the News of Orange County. |
| Orange County, North Carolina hosted the Winter Swap Meet of the Carolinas Chapter of the Antique Wireless Association on Saturday, January 31st at the Mebane Antique Auction Gallery on Highway 70, just inside the Orange County line. Probably about a hundred old radios in varied condition, mostly broadcast receivers, were for sale. Several OCRA members showed up to enjoy the free admission and to gaze at the antique sets. Wilson (W4BOH) was seen in the parking lot, leaving with a newly purchased Hallicrafters Sky Buddy that appeared to be in excellent condition. He was accompanied by Mac (WQ8U), who appeared to be leaving empty handed. |
| OCRA's press release concerning the Christmas cake giveaway was published in the January 7th issue of "The News of Orange County." The page eight story was almost a verbatim copy of the press release, and it included KG4PFB's photo of the OCRA President's daughter, Michaela, in a Santa hat, presenting cakes to EMT Amy Turner of the Orange Emergency Management organization. |
| New Years Day 2009 saw a fair sized group of OCRA members gathered at the Mary Ellen Jones building on UNC for the annual repeater equipment familiarization and maintenance event. Judging from preliminary reports, we're getting significantly closer to having IRLP operation on our 2M machine. More details and a photo to follow, standby! |
| 2008 Events Archive |
| 2007 Events Archive |
Our W4UNC repeaters:
| 442.150MHz (PL 131.8Hz) --the flagship, with coverage throughout Piedmont NC |
| 443.475MHz (PL 131.8Hz) --local coverage in the Chapel Hill vicinity |
| 145.230MHz (PL 107.2Hz) --including IRLP node #4179 (operating guide here) |
| 53.450MHz (PL 107.2Hz) --temporarily off the air at present |
OCRA Meetings and Nets:
| Monthly OCRA Meeting on the second Monday of the month at 1930L (7:30PM) at the new Orange County EOC Facility in Hillsborough at 510 Meadowland Drive. Directions to new EOC here (PDF). All members, other licensed ham radio operators and interested individuals are welcome to attend. |
| Weekly Saturday Mornings about 0930L (9:30AM) at the Hillsborough Bojangles, 330 South Churton Street, you'll usually find at least several of us getting our quota of cholesterol, caffeine, and carbohydrates. (Unless there's a hamfest nearby!) |
| Weekly Orange County ARES Net Saturday mornings at 0930L (9:30AM) on the W4UNC 442.150MHz repeater. |
| Weekly OCRA HF Net Monday evenings (except the second Monday of the month) at 2000L (8:00PM) on or about 28.450MHz (USB). |
OCRA Officers for 2010:
| Ken Kauffmann KR4FM, President (president "at" ncocra "dot" org) |
| Dave Snyder W4SAR, Vice-President (vp "at" ncocra "dot" org) |
| Dan Eddleman KR4UB, Treasurer (treasurer "at" ncocra "dot" org) |
| Raymond "Woody" Woodward K3VSA, Secretary (secretary "at" ncocra "dot" org) |
OCRA Board Members:
| Steve Ahlbom W3AHL (term expires 2012) |
| Dave Belt NA4VY (term expires 2012) |
| Chris Ferrer N2JFP (term expires 2011) |
| Bruce Meier N1LN (term expires 2012) |
| Laurie Meier N1YXU (OC ARES EC) |
| Karen Snyder KD4YJZ (term expires 2011) |
The Orange County Radio Amateurs, Inc, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (TIN# 58-2064632)
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