OCRA Club Meeting Minutes – January 10, 2022

The OCRA Club Meeting Minutes from January 10, 2022 are shown below.  You can also download a PDF version of the minutes by clicking the link below.

OCRA Club Meeting Minutes – January 10, 2022

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OCRA Club Meeting Minutes – January 10, 2022

  • Check-ins (21) – Dave Snyder

KU4GC, KA5ETS, KO4DHJ, KO4GJO, KI4RAN, N8BR, KM4MBG, KI4MXP, N1LN, KN4JYP, W4ORD, KF4PAB, KX4P, KR4UB, NA4VY, N2XZF, KD4YJZ, N1YXU, W4FK, KN4VXB, and W4SAR

  • Election Results and Introduction of New Board – Dave Snyder, W4SAR
    • As of noon today, the balloting for the OCRA 2022 election closed. From the 93 eligible members in good standing, 46 responses were received. The voting was a unanimous support of the slate presented by the nominating committee. The 2022 OCRA Board is shown below.
      • President – Bruce Meier, N1LN
      • Vice President – Bill Bischoff, N8BR
      • Secretary – Laurie Meier, N1YXU
      • Treasurer – Dan Eddleman, KR4UB
      • Board Members at Large (Will be serving the first year of two-year terms)
        • John Green, KX4P
        • Aurora Toennisson, KN4VXB
        • Lad Carrington, W4ORD
      • Board Members at Large (will be serving the last year of two-year terms)
        • Wilson Lamb, W4BOH
        • Karen Snyder, KD4YJZ
        • Dee Ramm, KU4GC
    • Dave expressed his thanks to the membership for their confidence in him presiding as president for the last several years. He also stated that it is time to end the dynasty and get new leadership for the club. Dave turned the meeting over to Bruce, N1LN, as the new club president.
  • New President – Bruce Meier, N1LN
    • Bruce thanked Dave for all he has done as OCRA president and made sure that Dave knows emails and requests won’t stop coming Dave’s way! Also, Bruce thanked the other members of the outgoing board for all their efforts and support of the club.
    • Reflecting on the number of people that are in the club, it’s clear that OCRA is made up of the members and not the officers. Bruce is looking forward to working with the new officers, board members, and the membership. It is great to have new people with new ideas for the club. He is looking forward to working with everyone and truly encourages comments, both positive and negative. Constructive criticism and suggestions are welcome.
    • Topics for tonight’s meeting –
      • Comments from the new president about focuses for 2022
      • Reports from the club officers
      • Repeater update
      • Comments from the board members at large
      • General discussion from the membership
    • Goals for 2022 –
      • Prior to being elected, some of the nominees have had conversations on various topics. There will be no surprises to the membership. Over the next months and weeks, we will move forward as a group to implement the club’s plans. And, we will strive to have fun while we’re doing it!
      • One of the first activities that will take place is setting up regular, recurring board meetings.
      • Recently, the club has seen a renewed focus on activities and membership engagement. Some examples of this include fox hunts and ham pi. [Many thanks to Aurora for her initiative in getting these activities started and continuing.] More ideas will be discussed at the next club meeting. There are a lot of very intelligent, talented folks who are OCRA members. We need to tap into their expertise, expand on current activities, and get more membership engagement in ham radio related activities.
      • Ensuring documentation and policies are updated will be an area that officers and board members will focus on. For example, we need to ensure our insurance policies are up-to-date and that 501c documentation is completed and submitted. As work in these areas is completed, updates will be reported back to the membership.
      • Training is definitely an area that will receive quite a lot of focus.
  • Vice-President’s Report – Bill Bischoff, N8BR
    • Bill is looking forward to serving as Vice President and appreciates the vote of confidence from the membership.
    • He thanked Dave for being the OCRA President in a very difficult time over the last few years as we have all navigated through the impacts of the pandemic. Bill also recognized the good job that Lad did as Vice President. It will be good to have Lad continue to serve on the board to talk with regarding his prior responsibilities.
    • Bill is looking forward to working with the entire membership. One of his primary focuses will be to work closely with Bruce to ensure that the club’s goals are achieved and to step-in as president, if needed, in Bruce’s absence.
    • Earlier in the day, Bill had the opportunity to talk with John Green (KX4P). One of the things they discussed was getting regular programs back on track for the membership meetings. John didn’t only agree with the priority of getting regular programs, he also volunteered to present a program at an upcoming meeting and work to get additional programs planned. Now, that’s a great example of the enthusiasm of club members coming together and working toward a common goal!
    • The framework of how we do programs and have speakers will ensure that all members will be able to get the program information. We may have programs in person, virtually (e.g. on Zoom), and/or on the repeater.
  • Treasurer’s Report – Dan Eddleman, KR4UB
    • Dan thanked Dave Snyder for his leadership as OCRA president. As the Treasurer, he also thanked all the members for keeping their dues current, which supports the club’s solvency.
    • Every month before the membership meeting, a message is sent that includes information with dues notice. There are a record number of members who are paying their dues. In fact, many are paid through 2023!
    • OCRA has a current membership of 103. As of this month, 92 members have dues that are current. There are 5 members who need to renew, and there are 6 people who have expiring memberships.
    • Dues are the sole source of income that supports OCRA expenses. It is interesting to understand some of the expenses and the number of paid members needed to fund these expenses.
    • Fixed expenses for the club include items such as insurance and safety deposit box costs. To cover the fixed expenses, it takes about 85 dues paying members.
    • There are additional operating expenses that we have on a regular basis. One of these expenses is support of our website. Due to the challenges we’ve had over the last few years dealing with the pandemic, we have had to come up with new ideas to ensure the ability to reach members. For example, we pay for a Zoom license that allow us to have virtual meetings. These type of operating expenses (website and Zoom license) are funded through the dues from about 22 members.
    • Thank you to all the OCRA members who are diligent in keeping their dues current. Your support is truly appreciated.
  • Secretary’s Report – Laurie Meier, N1YXU
    • Laurie is looking forward to serving on the board and appreciates the confidence from the membership to serve as secretary.
    • Board meetings will be held via Zoom for the near future (as we continue to deal with the impacts of COVID). Prior to the board meetings, an agenda will be sent to all OCRA members with an invitation to join the meeting. As stated previously in tonight’s meeting, the success of the club is dependent on everyone’s input and support.
    • Minutes from the monthly membership meetings and board meetings will be distributed to OCRA members via email and will also be published on the OCRA website. A link to the meeting minutes will be sent to all OCRA members to ensure everyone is up-to-date on activities and discussions.
  • Repeater Report – Nick Szydlek (KA1HPM) and Dan Eddleman (KR4UB)
    • Nick is out of town and not able to attend the meeting. Dan provided the repeater update.
    • Dan stressed that a written OCRA repeater vision and plan will be key as we go forward.
    • For example, in the past, the club has had several formal relationships with many groups (e.g. neighboring counties, Emergency Management agencies). These relationships will need to be revisited, written documents updated, and ongoing communications be re-established.
    • Our multi-county frequency agreement will also need to be revisited and refreshed. Back in 2010, each county had identified the primary and secondary repeater frequencies. Simplex frequencies for emergency communications and training nets had also been defined. Members of the various county clubs were encouraged to be familiar with the frequency plan, have their radios programmed, and be able to quickly move to various frequencies based on our emergency communications plan.
    • Both Dan and Bruce commented that we need to have more net training, trained net control operators, and the ability to quickly test our emergency communications plan.
    • We have had challenges filling open Emergency Coordinator positions. The Orange County EC position is currently unfilled.
  • Board Member Comments –
    • Wilson Lamb (W4BOH) would like to see more focus on technical activity and learning as a group. Our members have a broad scope of knowledge which can be tapped into for teaching and demonstrations. This doesn’t mean that we all need to be experts; however, we can all be more educated to know more about the fundamentals of amateur radio. Wilson would also welcome resuming social gatherings even in smaller groups and also resuming Field Day as an in-person event.
    • Dee Ramm (KU4GC) thanked the outgoing board members for their work and welcomed the new officers and board members. He is looking forward to working with everyone and believes that 2022 will be a great year.
    • Aurora Toennisson (KN4VXB) is happy to be part of the board. She will continue to run the ham pi meetings and to organize the fox hunts, as long as there is continued interest. Aurora would also like to focus on helping new hams get started and find out what areas they would like to learn more about. If members have additional interests, perhaps satellite communications, please let Aurora know.
    • John Green (KX4P) mentioned that this is not the first time he has served as a board member, and he is happy to serve again. John commented on how much he enjoys the club since the membership has such diverse interests. He is looking forward to putting programs together and hopes to get many suggestions and also volunteers for the programs.
    • Lad Carrington (W4ORD) thanked everyone who contributed to and attended the recent Christmas party. He is looking forward to continuing to serve on the board and is happy to hand-off the Christmas party responsibilities to Bill. Lad volunteered to be led a program that will focus on go-kits and preparation for deployments.
    • Karen Snyder (KD4YJZ) is looking forward to working with everyone on the board.
    • Dave Snyder (W4SAR) thanked everyone for the comments made about his leadership as president. He will continue to be a very active member of the club and will be the liaison with the Efland Baha’i Center for meetings when we are able to meet in-person in the future.
  • General Discussion- Bruce, N1LN
    • Bill (KI4RAN) gave special thanks to all the outgoing and incoming board members for all their work. He also agreed with the need for a communications plan that all members would have readily available to move to pre-programmed frequencies when needed.
    • Bob (W4FK) thanked everyone in the club for welcoming him even before he moved from Florida. Bob had been participating in OCRA meetings via Zoom. He has volunteered to be net control this coming Saturday, January 15. [Bob – Welcome to the area! And, thank you for jumping in and being net control!]
    • Doug (KA5ETS) is familiar with a program that a solar scientist has given with a prediction that this solar cycle may be one of the largest. Doug will follow-up to see if the program might be able to be presented at an upcoming OCRA meeting.
  • Meeting Closed and Check-outs – Bruce, N1LN

Respectfully submitted,
Laurie Meier, N1YXU, Secretary

OCRA Club Meeting Minutes – October 11th, 2021

ORANGE COUNTY RADIO AMATEURS

Monthly Membership Meeting – October 11. 2021 – 7:00 pm

Platform Utilized: OCRA 442.150 UHF Repeater supplemented with Zoom

NET CONTROL AND MEETING OFFICIATION: N1LN (Bruce) Opened the meeting by inviting member check-ins. The following stations responded either by repeater or Zoom.

ATTENDEES: N8BR, Bill; KA5ETS, Doug, KO4DHJ, Ken; KU4GC, Dee; W4BOH, Wilson;  KW4JY, Calvin; KF4PAB, Lenore; KM4MBG, Jack; N2XZF, Paul; KN4VXB, Aurora; KZ1X, Steve; N7RYN, Ryan; KR4UB, Dan; W4ORD, Lad; KR4AM, Mark; KB1WE, Wayne; KO4JAW, Mark; W4FK, Bob; N1LN, Bruce

OFFICER REPORTS

  1. N1LN (Bruce – representing W4SAR): Our agenda will consist of check-in via repeater and zoom, officer reports, fox hunt update, show and tell from members, open discussion and check-out. Bruce queried the group for additional agenda items. In response.N8BR asked that the Christmas party be added to the agenda so that the format of that event and its location could be finalized. Dan, KR4UB made an announcement about the Tarwheels Bikefest scheduled for October 23rd.
  2. KR4UB (Dan) -Treasurer’s Report: 94 members’ dues are current, 3 need to renew, and 4 memberships are expiring. In the past 12 months 26 new members have joined 13 of whom are newly licensed. In addition, 25 memberships have expired. The various methods for paying dues were discussed. All are designed to make the process easy.
  3. W4ORD (Lad)Vice President’s Report: Indicated that he wanted to get a consensus from the membership in order to decide on the location for the Christmas party and whether it would be catered or pot-luck. Please let him know 1. If we should have the event, 2. If it should be catered or potluck, and 3. where it should take place. He also needs to know if members will attend or not.
  4. KR4UB (Dan) – Repeater Report: Based upon comments received from many members of our club who use the 145.230 repeater at the Pittsboro Fire Tower site, the machine there appears to be functioning well. Based on this outcome we may not have to move it from this site as was previously planned.

5. KM4MBG (Jack) – DFMA Update. Our 6 meter repeater has been active from TV Hill in Durham for a number of weeks. The signal is so strong it has

actually interfered with another repeater in Virginia making it necessary to change our crystals so the machine frequency could be moved to 53.61 Mhz. All members are invited and welcome to join us there.

DFMA members are also pondering what the club activities will be like in November and December. Many discussions have focused on whether the club is ready to return to face-to-face meetings and activities. Further, the club is contemplating the use of gift cards and door prizes to attract new program participants. In sum, lots of little things are going on to attract new membership.

6. KM4VXB (Aurora) – Fox Hunt Update: There has been no Fox Hunt yet because of the weather. We will have to use the rain date which is October 30 at 10:00 am for the on-foot event and 12:30 pm for the vehicle format. Please email Aurora if you are planning to attend the event so she can arrange for adequate staffing.

7.. PROGRAM – Show and Tell Presentations on equipment and technology relevant to Fox Hunting: Rainbow Sniffer (KN4VXB), Small Loop Square (KR3AM), offset attenuator and mixer (W4BOH), Fox Hunting in MA and 8 switch attenuator (N1LN), and Hand Fox Fnder (KB1WE). Relevant links to the various topics are presented below.

https://arrowantennas.com/main/fhl.html

the offset attenuator:

https://arrowantennas.com/main/4ofha.html

A DIY offset attenuator:

http://www.homingin.com/joek0ov/offatten.html

Mon, Oct 11, 2021 at 8:22 PM Aurora Toennisson <wayferny@gmail.com> wrote:

equested by Bruce, here’s links from our on the air discussion.

Here’s the rainbow kit I made: https://www.rainbowkits.com/product-page/sdf-1-kit

Here’s the Handi-finder: https://www.handi-finder.com/

https://www.qsl.net/ve2emm/index.html#index

https://www.geontech.com/download/white_papers/AOC_Challenge_GEON.pdf

http://www.dhawke.com/kq1lweb/documents/rdf.pdf

https://arrowantennas.com/main/fhl.html

The offset attenuator:

https://arrowantennas.com/main/4ofha.html

A DIY offset attenuator:

http://www.homingin.com/joek0ov/offatten.html

On Mon, Oct 11, 2021 at 8:22 PM Aurora Toennisson <wayferny@gmail.com> wrote:

As requested by Bruce, here’s links from our on the air discussion.

Here’s the rainbow kit I made: https://www.rainbowkits.com/product-page/sdf-1-kit

Here’s the Handi-finder: https://www.handi-finder.com/

On Mon, Oct 11, 2021 at 8:21 PM infomet2003 via groups.io <infomet=embarqmail.com@groups.io> wrote:

https://www.geontech.com/download/white_papers/AOC_Challenge_GEON.pdf

http://www.dhawke.com/kq1lweb/documents/rdf.pdf

8. VOICE POLL AND CHECK-OUT: Prior to exiting the Zoom Meeting attendees were asked to respond to a voice poll designed to collect data on members’ intentions to attend the annual Christmas Dinner, their preferred location for the event, desire for full- service vs, potluck, and whether Covid 19 vaccination should be required for member participation. Data from this instrument will be used in final planning for the event. Poll results: 10 yes, 5 maybe, 2 will not attend.

Meeting Adjourned at 8:46,

WLB/DE.s.

 

OCRA Club Meeting Minutes – September 13th, 2021

ORANGE COUNTY RADIO AMATEURS

Monthly Membership Meeting – September 13. 2021 – 7:00 pm

Platform Utilized: OCRA 442.150 UHF Repeater supplemented with Zoom

NET CONTROL AND MEETING OFFICIATION: W4SAR (Dave) Opened the meeting by inviting member check-ins. The following stations responded either by repeater or Zoom.

W4BOH (Wilson); N8BR (Bill); KO4DHJ (Ken); W4FK (Bob); KA5ETS (Doug); N4JQR (J.R.); W4ORD (Lad); N1QYW (Steve); KA1HPM (Nick); KN4JYP (Kathy); KM4MBG (Jack); N1LN (Bruce); KF4PAB Lenore; W4SAR, (Dave); KR3AM (Mark); KJ4VWG (Sam); K4SAR (Joe); KO4SZE (Bob); KU4GC (Dee); KR4UB (Dan); KD4YJZ (Karen) N1YXU (Laurie); KN4VXB, (Aurora).

W4SAR (President): called for Officer Reports.

  1. W4ORD (Vice President): No formal report, but emphasized that he is waiting for a directive from the executive board indicating whether members prefer a catered dinner or a member provided potluck at the club Christmas party. David, our president, responded with a promise that he would poll the executive board and forward a decision so that plans may be made well in advance of the event.
  2. KR4UB (Treasurer): 85 dues payments are needed to cover fixed expenses for the club (insurance, post office box, safety deposit box, website, Zoom and Sera, etc). As of this meeting, 93 members are current, 4 need to renew and 4 are expiring. In the last 12 months 22 new members’ dues will cover recruiting and member retention expenses (website and zoom). 26 new members have joined with 11 being newly licensed. 25 memberships have expired over the past 12 months.
  3. KR4UB (Repeater Manager Orange County): no report. KA1HPM (Repeater Manager Chatham County): Not much going on. We still need permits for towers in Siler City. Receiving on Tower Rd. is good and we have had some long distance check- ins.
  4. KM4MBG (Jack) and KF4PAB (Lenore) represented the DFMA. Lenore reported that the club’s repeater for 6 meters had been moved to a new location.
  5. W4SAR (David) reported that the club’s efforts to sponsor amateur licensing examinations had again become active after significant slow-down due to covid-related issues. He was pleased to report that Bob, KO4SZE had passed his Technician’ license test. David is hoping to begin regular examination sessions soon.

In addition, David announced that there was nothing else on the formal agenda for the current meeting and suggested that he will be calling a meeting of the club’s executive board members shortly.

General Discussion:

KN4VXB (Aurora) described the up-coming Fox Hunt and her presentation. Planning for this event is largely based on lessons learned from a former one that occurred last year. It is scheduled to take place on October 9th at 10:00 am. In case of rain it will be moved to the same time slot on October 23rd. There will be both an on-foot event as well as one requiring the use of vehicles to hunt the fox(es). All potential attendees for this event should plan to bring picnic lunches. In addition, those who are interested in constructing their own radio for the hunt should plan on participating in a “virtual build day” that will be held on September 25th.

W4ORD (Lad) is looking forward to “in person” meetings so food will be available.

K4SAR (Joe) is a new zoom attendee who reported that recent activity on the 12 and 10 meter bands has been picking up due to the increase in sun spots

W4SAR (David): Meeting Adjourned and repeater secured at 8:30

WLB/s

OCRA Club Meeting Minutes – August 9th, 2021

ORANGE COUNTY RADIO AMATEURS

Monthly Membership Meeting – August 9. 2021 – 7:00 pm

Platform Utilized: OCRA 442.150 UHF Repeater & Zoom

NET CONTROL AND MEETING OFFICIATION: N1LN (Bruce) opened the meeting by inviting member check-ins.

RADIO & ZOOM ATTENDEES: N1LN (Bruce), N8BR (Bill), KO4DHJ (Ken), W4BOH (Wilson), KU4GC (Dee), KG4CFX (Chris), KW4JY (Calvin) KM4MBG (Jack), KI4MXP (Gerald), KX4P (John), W4ORD (Lad), W4OFZ (Bill), WB4OSU (Sherri), NA4VY (Dave), N1YXU (Laurie), KK4RRT (Michael), KJ4VWG (Sam), N8VNR (Kevin), KN4VXB (Aurora), N1QYW (Stephen), KR3AM (Mark), KR4UB (Dan), .N4JQR (J.R.), KO4BHX (Ben),KG4GRY (Eli), KS4DOW (Kadar), KE0KHD (Sam), KI4TRD (Allan), KW4JY (Charles), NC4CD (Charlie), KM4IWI (Wild Bill), K4SAR (Joe), KN4DRN (Michael)

ANNOUNCEMENTS: KR4UB (Dan) gave the treasurer’s report relating to club dues. Club dues are OCRA’s income to pay club expenses. 91 members dues are current, 6 need to renew, and 2 are expiring soon. Of the 25 new members this year 11 are newly licensed. Membership for 25 folks is expiring.

(1) N1LN (Bruce) Regarding membership dues, it is easy to pay. There is a PayPal link in Dan’s membership listing email and on the club website or you can send a check to the OCRA Post Office Box, or give cash to Dan.

(2). Dave (W4SAR) was not able to join the net tonight. Bruce mentioned the need for Volunteer Examiners to help in the upcoming August 28 VE session. Contact Dave if you can assist.

(3) Bruce also explained that Net controls are needed for the weekly Saturday morning AuxCom net. Mark (KR3AM) and Doug (KA5ETS) have been net controls most of the time. This is not a hard thing to do and would be excellent practice should we ever be needed to assist in public service activities or emergency situations. Check with Mark – I am sure he would be happy to provide assistance to new (want to be) Net Control members. Should you be interested in being a future net control, the script can be found on the OCRA website at this URL:

https://ncocra.org/WordPress_v1/orange-county-auxcomm-training-net-script/

or, on the NCOCRA website, click on REPEATERS, then click on AuxComm Training Net Script.

KN4VXB (Aurora): The next Fox Hunt will be held on Oct 9. There will be 2 events – (1) on foot (2) driving from your car. Be sure to sign up.

W4ORD (Lad) Announced that the Holiday party has been put on hold for now due to the ever changing Covid environment and potential recent increase in risks.

N1LN (Bruce) Many of us will now be moving to the NASA presentation to be held on Zoom. Dan (KR4UB) sent numerous emails with the login information, however, if anyone needs that info – I will pass it along here on the net.   The info was passed along.

The net closed around 19:25 with everyone checking out.

 

BM/DE/WB/s

 

 

Combined OCRA/DFMA Meeting with NASA Presentation – Monday August 9th

Given the latest CDC information regarding the spread of Covid-19, now containing the Delta variant, the OCRA Board of Directors has made the decision to postpone the return in August to our regular in-person meetings at the Efland Baha’i Center.

The upcoming club meeting on Monday August 9th will be a special meeting as a combined OCRA/DFMA Over-the-Air Club Net and Zoom Meeting with NASA guest presentations, Monday evening August 9th beginning at 7pm.

Note the following time and agenda changes for this special meeting:

  • The Over-the-Air Club Net check-in will begin at 7pm instead of the usual 7:30 on the 442.150 mHz repeater to get callsigns & names of the meeting attendees for the club meeting minutes and any brief club announcements.
  • The OCRA Zoom Video Conference will available starting at 6:45pm for any last minute video/audio testing by attendees, check-ins by attendees not having UHF radio capability, and for all to join in for the NASA guest speaker presentation starting at 7:30pm .
  • Our guest speaker will be Al Feinberg, the Strategic Content and Media Advisor for NASA Space Communications & NASA Television Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
  • The radio net will be secured at 7:30pm and then the Zoom video conference will continue with speaker introductions.
  • Questions any attendee would like to ask the presenters can be posted in the Zoom chat window.

Al’s presentation will be on “Space Communications in Support of NASA”.

The timing of these presentations could not be better as November 9, 2021 will be the 20th Anniversary of International Space Station contact from Barbara Pedersen’s science class room at Chapel Hill Phillips Junior High School. Club member Barbara, KE4JZM was instrumental in the planning, coordination with NASA and with additional club volunteers, the building of the amateur radio station in her science class room that was used for the successful contact.

The Zoom access link, Login ID & password has been distributed by email to all OCRA members and to the DFMA members via the DFMA Link Newsletter email list.

 

OCRA Club Meeting Minutes – July 12th, 2021

SEE LATER NOTICE regarding postponement of OCRA in-person meetings due to resurgence of COVID. The August OCRA club meeting will continue with the 442.150 Net & Zoom video conference format.

ORANGE COUNTY RADIO AMATEURS

Monthly Membership Meeting – July 12, 2021 – 7:30 pm

Platforms Utilized: OCRA UHF Repeater

Minutes

MEETING CONVENED AT 7:30 PM.

MEMBER CHECK-IN: Attendees: N1QYW, Steven; N8BR, Bill; KR3AM, Mark; W4SAR, Dave; KD4YJV, Karen; W4ORD, Lad; KU4GC, Dee; N1LN, Bruce; KR4UB, Dan; N4JQR, J.R.; KN4VXB, Aurora; KO4DHJ, Ken; KA5ETS, Doug; NA4VY, Dave; KI4RAN, Bill; KZ1X, Steve; KM4MBG, Jack; WA2JLW, Roy; N1YXU, Laurie; KM4WXW, Jeff; WB4OSU, Sherri; KO4RQN, James.

OFFICERS’ REPORTS:

W4SAR (David-President): We will begin our meeting with reports from club officers.

W4ORD (Lad-Vice President): Nothing important to report except that we are still waiting for a decision on the Christmas party. We have also been clearing trees to replace antennas that fell during our last storm.

KR4UB (Dan-Treasurer): As of this month 95 members are current, 4 need to renew and 5 are expiring. In the last 12 months 27 new members have joined with 13 being newly licensed and 20 memberships have expired.

N8BR (Bill-Secretary): No report.

W4SAR (David-President):

(1) The Baha’i Center has analyzed the progression of the pandemic and decided that face-to-face meetings will again be permitted to take place at their facility. Therefore, at the August 9th general club meeting OCRA will re-assume its traditional face-to-face format for the first time in over 18 months. Also, as a special surprise we have been informed that the NASA group who recently cancelled last month’s presentation, will be available to deliver their program at the August meeting. Technology for their planned presentation will be managed by KR3AM (Mark). At this point in the planning process we anticipate that there will be both a live presentation as well as one on Zoom for folks who are unable to attend the meeting in person. Hopefully this plan will mark the end of our dependence on the repeater-based club meetings that prevailed during the pandemic.

(2) Volunteer Examiner (VE) Sessions will be re-established face-to-face on August 28th at 10 a.m. Club members with VE accreditation from the ARRL are encouraged to participate in this important club activity. Additional information will be forthcoming in August.

(3) Field Day Success Early reports suggest that club field day efforts from home stations were successful. Club participation was great with scores submitted by 37 operators representing many levels of experience using a variety of modes, equipment, antennas, and operating styles to collectively earn a preliminary total of 30,576 points.

Numerous comments from participating operators indicated that field day provided a myriad of learning experiences, a superb opportunity for development of operating skills and an enhanced appreciation and understanding of how communications technologies can be used in ways that bolster human safety and well-being.

(4) Meeting Adjourned – 8:40 p.m.

WLB/DE/s

.

 

 

OCRA Club Meeting Minutes – June 14, 2021

ORANGE COUNTY RADIO AMATEURS

Monthly Membership Meeting – June 14, 2021 – 7:30 pm

Platforms Utilized: OCRA 442.150 UHF Repeater and Zoom Video Conference

Minutes

MEETING CONVENED AT 7:30 PM.

MEMBER CHECK-IN: W4SAR (David), KU4GC (Dee),), KM4MBG (Jack), KF4PAB (Lenore), KZ1X (Steve), KO4DHJ (Ken), KA5ETS (Doug), KD4YJZ (Karen), KR4UB (Dan), KA1HPM (Nick), K4SAR (Joe), KN4BTI (Mark), KO4GJO (Boyd), N1YXU (Laurie), W4ORD (Lad), KX4P (John), KN4GUM (Nan), KN4VXB (Aurora), N4JQR (J.R.), KR3AM (Mark), WB4OSU (Sherri), NA4VY (Dave), N1LN (Bruce) and W4BOH, Wilson.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT – W4SAR (David): There will be no formal president’s report tonight. However, we will give club officers an opportunity to make brief comments as necessary and we will then conclude our planning for field day. W4ORD (Lad) – Nothing important to report. We are just finishing preparations for field day and awaiting club consensus on the preferred format for our Christmas party. KR4UB (Dan) – 94 club members are current with their dues. Membership for 15 has expired, membership for another 7 is expiring soon, and 5 need renewal.During the past 12 months we have acquired 24 new members,12 of whom are newly licensed. There is no recent news about our repeaters. Noteworthy is the fact that the towers are going up in Chatham County and there will probably be opportunities for more new ones. Over all I believe there is a good outlook for the future.

FIELD DAY UPDATE:

1. N1LN (Bruce) – There will be another session dealing with N1MM software on June 19th at 10:30 am. This will be held on a new zoom account. We have tested the latest N1MM software and discovered glitches in the scoring tools. This was reported to the N1MM folks and elicited an immediate response. We will test the revision needed. Regarding logs, it is important to submit a document in Cabrillo format and to have proper instruction on that task prior to sending off logs. Be sure to bring your questions to the Saturday meeting.

2. KR4UB (Dan) – Commented on digital modes. Thanks to Bruce for building the spreadsheet on field day interests and intentions. 11 members attended the meeting on digital formats. Attendees will be using various digital modes. We are making good progress in getting educated for the event.

3. W4SAR (David) – Many folks will be using N3FJP software for station control and logging in field day. The program is very user friendly. We are available for answering questions as needed.

4. N1LN (Bruce) – Inquired about individual plans for hosting and emphasized the need to get the information out to prospective attendees.

5. W4ORD (Lad) – indicated that he had hosting opportunities for both ssb and digital operating and was waiting to hear from anyone interested.

GENERAL COMMENTS:

KR4UB (Dan) – The cancellation of our planned NASA presentation was due to a death in the family of one of the presenters and computer problems experienced by the other. We are working to reschedule this important event. Several options are being explored. Hopefully It will be possible to bring the speakers to our usual meeting spot at the Efland Baha’i Center. If this option eventuates, we will have to arrange for a wifi hotspot to be installed so the presentation can be distributed to those attending our meetings virtually.

For future planning purposes Dan requested the meeting attendees as they checked out of the net meeting to answer two questions:

How many would attend a rescheduled NASA presentation?

  • Of the 26 attendees at the meeting (several late arrivals missed the poll) 23 expressed that they would attend.
  • Given the late breaking (day of the event cancellation) two methods were used to notify attendees:
    • direct mailing of members
    •  posting on groups.io.

What is the preferred and most relied on method of notification?

  • 14 preferred exclusive direct mailing notification (in this case from the OCRA mass emailer of the NASA cancelation).
  • 9 stated they received the direct mailing and some also received a group.io email notification of the posted cancelation notice.
  • One concern expressed with groups.io was that a late breaking notificcation may not be received in a timely manner based on the various notifications options .i.e. the daily digest (of the previous day postings sent the morning of the next day), or no email notification.

W4ORD (Lad) – Will be presenting poetry readings at the Colonial Inn in Hillsboro on a regular basis and invites all club members to attend.

NA4VY (Dave) – Wants to discuss with club members various ways to interface digital ham gear with N3FJP software.

W4SAR )Dave) – The Efland Baha’i Center has announced the facility will re-open and be available for club meetings to resume. There are already events scheduled for July, precluding a meeting then and also might be too soon after Field Day, but it will be available in August. As a cost cutting measure, the internet access has been dropped, but WiFi hotspot access via cell phone can be used given the close proximity to a cell tower. In addition to use of a hotspot for presentations, the club still wants to maintain the Zoom capability at the club meetings for members unable to attend in person.

 

MEETING ADJOURNED at 8:35 P.M.

WLB/DE/s

 

OCRA Membership Meeting – June 10th, 2019

Quote

Original post date June 2019

Dave W4SAR, club president opened the meeting with introductions, the topic for tonight’s meeting being Field Day Planning and call for officer reports.  He reported that at the last VE Session on June 8th, 6 candidates were tested with 5 passing the exam earning their license.

Dan, KR4UB, treasurer reported 74 members are current with their dues with 25 members needing renewal. Club treasury balance is in line with ongoing expenses.

Dan also covered the need for attendees who plan to have a Saturday dinner or Sunday breakfast meal from the field day grill to pre-pay for the food to be purchased on their behalf. Costs for some food items have increased as much as 15% from last year and we need your help in keeping the cost per meal low.

Nick, KA1HPM made an announcement of a request he had made to the ARRL via Carl Bowman, Section Manager requesting that an ARRL contest be organized to celebrate the 150th birthday of Hiram Percy Maxim on September 2nd, 2019.  The ARRL responded with an alternative option of a Special Event Station be set up to celebrate the event. Nick made the call for volunteers to set up and run such a station, using his call sign KA1 H(iram) P(ercy) M(axim)  on September 2nd from 8am to 8pm.

Next, Dave W4SAR began the planning discussion for the 9A class battery powered 5 watt station operation for 2019 OCRA/DFMA Field Day to be held at the Wilson, W4BOH QTH on   3117 Moorefields Road , Hillsborough.

Starting Friday morning at 8am focus will be on tower setup and all other outdoor ground activity to get as much as possible done prior to mid day heat.

Stations and Band Captains are as follows:

  • CW Stations – Bruce N1LN Captain – 3 stations located inthe MCU covering 80 -10M CW operating antennas onf 3 towers. 2 sets of headphones are on each radio so interested observers can listen in on the operation. Operator slots are available.
  • 80M SSB Station – Steve, W3AHL Captain – located in the W3AHL motorhome using two 75M dipoles. Typically band conditions mean 75M is a 6pm to 6am operation. New operators are welcome.
  • 40/15M SSB Station – Joe, K4SAR Captain – located in an air conditioned trailer using a 3 element 40M wire beam and 3 element 15M beam. Joe needs operators to sign up.
  • 20M SSB Station – Lad, W4ORD Captain – located in an air conditioned trailer using tower mounted team, solar power charged batteries.
  • 10M SSB/Digi Station – Dave, NA4VY Captain – located in the air conditioned “red barn”  using a Moxon beam.
  • 40/20M Digi Operation – Dave, W4SAR & Sherri, WB4OSU are co-captains operating PSK-31 and maybe FT-8 located in the handicap accesible garage at the food area.
  • 6M VHF Station – Doug, KA5ETS principle operator also located in the “red barn” building.
  • Satellite Contact: Dan KR4UB & Bill N8BR will be out on the grounds at the scheduled times for satellite overflights.

Additional operators are needed on all stations.

Bonus Point areas were covered next. Volunteers signed up for the various areas are listed OCRA website home page.

Bruce, N1LN then gave a presentation and demo of the N1MM logging software to be used at field day. The presention is available on the OCRA website home page.

Steve, W3AHL discussed the networked logging setup using the pre loaded and configured laptaps that will be available to each station.  All stations need to be ready to participate in the isolated WiFi network setup test at 9AM Saturday morning.

Dan, KR4UB filling in for Keith, W1KES club secretary.

Club Membership Meeting Minutes- April 12, 2021

ORANGE COUNTY RADIO AMATEURS

Monthly Membership Meeting – April 12, 2021

Platforms: OCRA UHF Repeater and Zoom.

Minutes

MEETING CONVENED AT 7:30 PM.

MEMBER CHECK-IN – W4SAR (David)

OCRA UHF REPEATER: W4SAR (Dave); KD4YJZ (Karen); KU4GC (Dee); KA5ETS (Doug); W4CFO (James); W4AEN (Ed); W3AHL (Steve); KA1HPM (Nick); W4ORD (Lad); N4JQR (James); N1LN (Bruce); KI4MXP (Gerald); KN4JYP (Kathy); N4KF (Kenneth); KM4MBG (Jack); WB4OSU (Sherri); WA4PSC (Howie); KK4RRT (Michael); N1YXU (Laurie); KI4RAN (Bill); KO4DHJ (Ken); KR4UB (Dan); KM4WXW (Jeffrey) KN4VXB (Aurora); N2XZF (Paul); KF4PAB (Lenore); KN4QBZ (Fred); KR3AM (Mark); KN4JYP (Kathy); W4CFO (Jim); KW4JY (Calvin); KZ1X (Steve); W4BOH (Wilson); KZ1X (Steve); K2HJX (Jeremy); ZOOM: N8BR (Bill); KR4UB (Dan)

OFFICERS’ REPORTS:

President – W4SAR (Dave): Introduction and General Remarks

Vice Present – W4ORD (Lad): No formal report. Noteworthy is the fact that he contacted Virginia, the director of Aux Comm, and informed her that if there are no candidates for the coordinator of Aux Comm in Durham County he would be happy to be considered for the position.

Repeater Committee Reports – KR4UB (Dan – Orange County) and KA1HPM (Nick – Chatham County): No new information to report.

Treasurer – KR4UB (Dan): Currently 99 members are current with dues paid for 2021, 6 members need to renew and 5 memberships are expiring. This past year 32 new members joined 15 of whom are newly licensed.

MEETING AGENDA

Revised Job Descriptions for Executive Committee Members – W4SAR (Dave) We will now vote on proposed changes in the club bylaws that govern the position descriptions for officers and executive board members. We will accomplish this task via the club repeater and Zoom. For several weeks documents containing both current position descriptions and those being proposed have been posted on the club website for perusal. In order to vote you must be a club member in good standing (paid-up dues for the current year). When your call sign is announced, please reply “yes” if you favor adoption of the proposal, “no” if you do not favor adoption, and “abstain” if you are not a member in good standing or you choose not to vote for some other reason. The foregoing procedure resulted in the club’s adoption of the revised bylaws with a final vote of yes=28, no=0, and abstain=1 (new member abstaining due to not yet being familiar with the club’s bylaws).

Our second issue for discussion is the proposed revision of the club’s repeater code of conduct.

KR4UB (Dan) A copy of the proposed revision of our Repeater Code of Conduct which has been prepared over a period of several months has been posted on our Club’s website since the last club general meeting. It has gone through at least 3 revisions. An adopted code of conduct better positions the club when action must be taken on violations on the club’s repeater systems as required by FCC regulations. Comments on the document are now needed. We hope that you will be in agreement with its message. It has been a long time in coming!

KM4MBG (Jack)-The Durham AuxCom group is also looking for a coordinator to re-establish relationships with the county.

Field Day 2021- W4SAR (Dave): We are starting to round the corner on our planning for this year’s field day. The pandemic is still alive and we need to make some important decisions rather quickly. The basic issue we need to resolve concerns the format of this year’s club effort. To establish perspective most of you will recall that before the Covid 19 pandemic began OCRA participated in field day as a large multi-station group operating together at the W4BOH home. Last year in 2020, because of restrictions in group activities stemming from the pandemic, individual club members operated field day at their respective home stations with each contributing to an aggregate score for the club. This format was actually encouraged by and facilitated through changes made in contest rules by the ARRL. Noteworthy is the fact that over the years both of these formats have yielded impressive scores placing our club efforts among the top 9 of several thousand Field Day entrants. So, will our operation this year be a large group activity, a number of isolated individual activities, or a hybrid effort that can include both? General Discussion: W4BOH (Wilson): Generously offered his home and facilities for a group effort. He further recommended that if we do this we could require vaccinations and masks. N1LN (Bruce):suggested that this year’s field day might be a good opportunity for small groups to develop and operate in very safe ways. KR4UB (Dan): If we work FD individually from home stations it might be valuable to maintain contact with each other using Zoom. This could be especially useful for sharing information about band conditions and activity levels or simply exchanging conversation between operators. Zoom contact with other stations was a great resource for Dan this past field day.

Additional respondents presented various positions on the question of which mode for field day is best for the club. Some were supportive of a large group setting while others liked the notion of single operators working in isolation from home stations. All were sympathetic with the need for protecting the health of all participants.

Field day activities will be further discussed at the next meeting of the Executive Board tomorrow evening.

Meeting Adjourned at 8:20 p.m.

WLB/s

 

Monthly Membership Meeting Minutes – March 8th, 2021

ORANGE COUNTY RADIO AMATEURS

Monthly Membership Meeting – March 8, 2021 – 7:30 pm

Platforms Utilized: OCRA UHF Repeater and Zoom.

MINUTES

MEMBER CHECK-IN – W4SAR (David) and KR4UB (Dan):

OCRA UHF REPEATER: W4SAR (David), KU4GC (Dee), W4ORD (Lad), KA1HPM (Nick), W1AEN (Ed), KO4GJO (Boyd), KK4RRT (Michael), KO4DHJ (Ken), KM4MBG (Jack), KR4UB (Dan), KA5ETS (Doug), KD4YJZ (Karen), KO4JAW (Mark), KO4ICM (Doug), KI4RAN (Bill), W4APM (Alan), N1LN (Bruce); N7RYN (Ryan), K2RRT (Mark), WB4OSU (Sherry), N1YXU (Laurie), KM4IWI (Bill) and N2XZF (Paul).

ZOOM: N8BR (Bill), NA4VY (Dave), and KR4UB, Dan),

OFFICER’S REPORTS:

President – W4SAR (David): Introduction and General Remarks

Vice president – W4ORD-(Lad): We are still in limbo with respect to arrangements for a holiday party. The final decision to have a party depends on the situation with Covid 19.

Treasurer – KR4UB (Dan): Current Club Membership stands at 96 current active paid-up members and 30 requiring renewal. 32 new members have been added during the past 12 months with 16 of those being newly licensed.

Secretary – N8BR (Bill): No formal report. But, in response to David’s request I will briefly review the Club’s proposal for processing club minutes.

  1. Executive Board Meeting Minutes – The club secretary will prepare draft minutes of executive board meetings and distribute them electronically to board members for review and approval within seven (7) days of the board meeting.  Board Members will be permitted seven (7) days to review those draft minutes, articulate recommended revisions to the secretary, and for him/her to post the revised minutes on the club website for the general membership.
  2. General Membership Meeting Minutes – The club secretary will prepare draft minutes of general membership meetings and distribute them electronically to board members for review and approval within seven (7) days of the general membership meeting.  Board Members will be permitted seven (7) days to review those draft minutes, articulate recommended revisions to the secretary, and for him/her to post the revised minutes on the club website for the general membership. Approval or disapproval of the minutes will be voted upon by general membership present at the following general meeting. Proposals #1 & #2 above were discussed at length by the executive board, revised pursuant to their recommendations, and adopted unanimously by their vote.

KR4UB (Dan): The report this evening is focused on our club’s development of a comprehensive code of conduct for amateur operators using our repeaters. For many years we have been blessed with repeater users who follow accepted protocol and practice common sense guidelines on the repeater. But unfortunately, in 2020 we have witnessed a disturbing increase in the number of transmissions violating FCC regulations. A number of these events required that our repeater be temporarily shut down as required by the FCC for a period of time. The OCRA Board of Director’s response has been to develop a set of guidelines which succinctly articulates the standards of behavior we expect our users to adhere to. Our executive committee along with representatives from the DFMA have worked hard to draft a document that accomplishes that goal, It has now gone through a number of iterations the most recent of which is posted on our club’s website. We are currently seeking input on that document from our membership, and plan to vote acceptance of the final version as policy before the next general meeting.

W4SAR (David): We are making progress with the development of revised job descriptions for our officers and board members at large. The document has gone through several iterations and will be adopted by the board shortly.

N1LN (Bruce): This report is relevant to the development of a club based equipment Loan Program. It is a new initiative for the Orange County Amateur Radio Club, having been launched in January, 2021. Its goal is to help club members who are new to the hobby borrow a piece of club-owned-equipment for a period of up to one year in order to get a new station up and running, or to replace failed gear in an existing setup. Our goal is to compile a list of club-owned equipment that is available to loan and give that information to club members. Club members familiar with loaned items will be available to help with their installation and use. Noteworthy is the fact that one Kenwood transceiver has been loaned to a club member via this initiative,

Action Item: Bruce will be finalizing the document and putting it on Google Docs. Also, Bruce will start to build a list of loanable equipment by sending an email to all club members requesting info about potential items they would like to add to the list. Some of the equipment could be OCRA owned and some owned or donated by members to the club.

W4SAR (David): A number of folks have applied to the club for license exams. Currently we are not using the B’Hai center for meeting purposes. When the CDC comes through with new guidelines and the parish is happy with the safety of its facility we will go back to holding face-to-face meetings there once again. Lad (W4ORD): commented on a recent covid 19 report that up-dated the proposed interval thought to exist between vaccination time and the development of immunity. A discussion about field day arrangements ensued. It was recalled that some weeks ago the ARRL renewed the modifications in traditional field day rules that applied last year regarding home based (D and E classified) stations. The current plan is to go with last year’s plan until further discussion yields a change in club perspective.

Club Roll Call check-out for the repeater took place at 8:10 pm. WLB/s

 

Monthly Membership Meeting – December 14, 2020 – 7:30 pm

Platforms Utilized: OCRA UHF Repeater and Zoom.

Meeting Minutes

MEETING CONVENED AT 7:30 PM.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT – W4SAR (David): Introduction and General Remarks- Good evening all. As has been the case for most of this past year, we are convening tonight’s meeting using both Zoom and UHF repeater platforms rather that our regular in person format. This is being done to conform with statewide requirements for social distancing to deter the spread of Covid 19. Hopefully, with the upcoming availability of the new anti-virus vaccines, this requirement will soon be relaxed and we will be able to have our monthly gatherings at the B’hai center in Efland. As we embark on tonight’s meeting please keep in mind that irrespective of which platform you use, please check into the net using phonetics so that your call may be accurately included on the meeting roster. Also, please be aware that video and audio generated at this meeting is being recorded so that information presented can be accurately included in meeting minutes.

On a different note and as many of you might already be aware, my mother passed away some weeks ago, and I would like to thank those of you who sent well-wishes to my family and me. You will be pleased to know that my father is doing well.

MEMBER CHECK-IN – by  W4SAR (David) Net Control and KR4UB (Dan) Zoom Host Control:

OCRA UHF REPEATER: W4SAR (David), KU4GC (Dee), W4ORD (Ladd), KA1HPM (Nick), KM4MBG (Jack), KF4PAB (Lenore), KZ1X (Steve), KO4DHJ (Ken), KR4UB (Dan), W4BOH (Wilson), KN4BTI (Mark), KA5ETS (Doug), N4JQR (JR), WB1AJJ (Jonathan), KI4MXP (Gerald), KM4WXW (Jeffrey), KD4YJZ (Karen), KR4UB (Dan), KR3AM (Mark), KO4JAW (Mark), KO4ICM (Doug), KI4RAN (Bill), WA4AHR (Dewey), KN4EOO (Richard), and W3AHL (Steve).

ZOOM: N8BR (Bill), NA4VY (Dave), KN4QBZ (Fred), and KR4UB, Dan),

TREASURER’S REPORT: KR4UB (Dan): Current Club Membership stands at 118 (89 current active paid up members, 29 requiring renewal). 24 new members have been added during the past 12 months.

REPEATER REPORTS: KR4UB (Dan): All of the OCRA repeaters are now working and on the air for the first time in 5 years. The 145.230 machine has been moved to a temporary location in Pittsboro.

The OCRA savings and checking account has a good reserve amount available for expenses, as it needs to have for costs we will face in the future.

  • Another repeater needs to be built, a replacement machine on standby and ready to go into service for when the 442.150 repeater high up on the tower eventually fails. The current repeater was installed in February, 2016 and hopefully has another 4 – 5 years or so life left before it eventually fails. While only high reliability components are used to build the OCRA repeaters, the exposure to extreme beyond mil-spec temperatures in the sealed cabinets on the tower eventually takes it toll. 
  • With tower crews now required to replace the machine, a completely self contained ready to go replacement repeater must be available to minimize the tower crew trips and time up on the tower to contain the escalating tower crew costs.
  • A spare Kenwood TKR-850 repeater deck and duplexer are already on hand. Additional parts to complete the spare repeater include another power supply, SCOM 7330 controller, and an additional pass band cavity. The power supply and SCOM controller will cost around $1100 – $1200.  Hopefully a good used pass band cavity filter can be located and purchased.
  • In addition, we have to keep in mind that the 442.150 repeater antenna is the original antenna installed approximately 25 years ago and when it has to be replaced, tower crew and antenna cost could easily be in the $4-5K neighborhood.

KA1HPM (Nick): We installed the 145.230 machine in Pittsboro last Wednesday at a site on Fire Tower Road. The antenna is up at about 130 feet. It is a good installation and many folks are using it. We are also planning for at least two additional towers in Chatham County.

FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS: W4SAR (David):

  1. Field Day: The scores for the 2020 ARRL Field Day are now posted in QST and on the ARRL website. OCRA did very well and placed 9th among clubs submitting aggregate scores. Noteworthy is the fact that our primary regular competitor, a station in California, placed 32nd. Club certificates for member participation will be prepared and handed out at a future meeting.
  2. Elections: Club elections will be held at the next meeting in January. Positions that will be available include that of President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, and Board Member. Individuals currently occupying those positions have indicated that they are willing to continue. Specifically, our current president, David (W4SAR) indicated that he would be willing to continue in that post but will step down after another term. Ladd, W4ORD, is willing to continue as vice president, Bill (N8BR) is willing to continue as secretary. Dan (KR4UB) is willing to continue as treasurer but will step down from the repeater responsibilities he has also carried for over 20 years. He will continue to manage the club website, provide technical support to those taking responsibility for the club’s repeaters and work on club recruitment. Finally, Karen (KD4YJZ) is willing to continue as board member. Prior to our next membership meeting I will prepare ballots and circulate instructions for the election.
  3. Code of Conduct for Club Repeaters: Most repeater sponsoring clubs have developed documents that define organizational expectations for appropriate conduct during use of its repeater(s). OCRA should be no exception. Therefore, your OCRA board will be discussing the issue with the desired outcome of producing a draft document for club discussion, revision and potential adoption. Note: Input from KM4MBG (Jack) indicated that these discussions are also going on in DFMA (Durham FM Association), and focused on a code of conduct that covers all club activities rather than just those pertaining to the use of repeaters.
  4. Future Meetings: There will be a meeting of the OCRA Executive Board next Monday at 7:30 PM.

ADJOURNMENT: Meeting Adjourned at 8:45p.m.

WLB/DE/s

Monthly Membership Meeting Minutes – November 9, 2020

ORANGE COUNTY RADIO AMATEURS
Monthly Membership Meeting – November 9, 2020 – 7:30 pm
Platforms Utilized: OCRA UHF Repeater and Zoom

Minutes

MEETING CONVENED AT 7:30 PM
N1LN (Bruce): Introduction and General Remarks- Good evening all. I am again serving as host this evening in place of W4SAR, David, our club president who is still occupied with family issues. While he may check in this evening, we can expect him to be back with us regularly again by the December meeting. Additionally, please keep in mind the following points:

  • The majority of the membership present at this meeting are participating through the OCRA UHF repeater which may time-out occasionally.
  • This is not an ARES net so I will be using my own call sign.
  • Some of our members do not have VHF/UHF equipment and will be joining us via Zoom.
  • Irrespective of which platform you use, please check into the net using phonetics so that your call may be accurately included on the meeting roster.

KR4UB (Dan) has posted and mailed out the agenda for tonight’s meeting. It includes (1) a formal check-in, (2) general remarks, (3) reports from our treasurer, repeater gurus, our holiday party chairperson and (4) A round-table during which all members will have an opportunity to report on their ongoing and new radio-related activities since our last meeting. During this part of the meeting all attendees are strongly encouraged to present their ideas for future club presentations and projects.

Finally, please be aware that video and audio generated at this meeting is being recorded so that information presented can be accurately included in meeting minutes.

MEMBER CHECK-IN:

  • OCRA VHF/UHF REPEATER: N1LN (Bruce),KU4GC (Dee), W4ORD (Lad), KA1HPM (Nick), KM4MBG (Jack), KF4PAB (Lenore), KZ1X (Steve), N2XZF (Paul), KN4ZHP (Mike), KO4DHJ (Ken), KR4UB (Dan), W4BOH (Wilson), KX4P (John), KN4BTI (Mark), KA5ETS (Doug), N4JQR (JR) KM4JZA (Mike), KN4JYP (Cathy), WB1AJJ (Jon), KI4RAN (Bill)
  • VIA ZOOM: N8BR (Bill), NA4VY (Dave), KN4QBZ (Fred), and KR4UB (Dan)

TREASURER’S REPORT (Dan KR4UB): Current Club Membership stands at 114 (87 current active paid up members, 27 requiring renewal). 22 new members have been added during the past 12 months.

REPEATER REPORTS:
KR4UB (Dan), KA1HPM (Nick), N2XZF (Paul) and W4CFO (Jim): All participated in a repeater work day at Dan’s home.

KA1HPM (Nick): Presented the report for Chatham repeaters. Antennas will be going up soon. Installers are saying they will be placed at 100’ but the committee would like to see them higher so they will be more effective. The two meter repeater audio test went well, and the machine should be on the air by early December. The Auxcom net meetings have been taking place on alternate Tuesdays. Members are looking forward to taking part in in a WinLink event this coming Saturday. With that technology hams will be able to handle e-mail messages without use of the internet.

HOLIDAY PARTY UPDATE:
KR4UB (Dan): A note from David, our president, informs us that because of the Covid 19 pandemic and our inability to provide adequate protection for attendees at a dinner event, the club board members have decided that the Christmas party is cancelled for this year.

W4ORD (Lad): As chair of the Christmas Party Committee Ladd reaffirmed for the club membership that the facility folks and catering operation have already been notified that the party is cancelled.

MEMBERSHIP ROUNDTABLE:
N1LN (Bruce) Officially opened the membership roundtable. This part of the monthly meeting is especially important because it provides an open forum in which each member has an opportunity to talk about his or her own ham radio activities and how they contribute to the cohesiveness and mission of our wonderful hobby. We are further emphasizing that this part of the meeting provides a venue for members to make suggestions about potential subjects for future club projects and presentations.

KO4DHJ (Ken): Thanks to AB4OZ for spearheading the mini-hamfest last Saturday. It provided an opportunity for me to sell lots of surplus stuff which made my XYL very happy.

KN4BTI (Mark): I Have been in Richmond with some medical issues and minor surgery that required fairly extensive rehabilitation. We now have 16 “chatters” on the Carbon Link, a packet radio link headed up by K4KZ. If the club would like a presentation on this initiative please feel free to let me know and I will set it up.

KA5ETS (Doug): Has been monitoring the bands for DX conditions on FT8. There has been a noticeable paucity of stations from the middle east. He is also doing some antenna work in preparation for the winter. Sporadic E openings on 6 meters have been observed.

KA1HPM (Nick): Not much radio activity. Very busy with AuxCom and attendance at virtual breakfasts at Virlies in Pittsboro.

N4JQR (JR): Is enjoying Zoom communication within the club and doing lots of jobs around the house.

KM4JZA (Mike): Requests that club information be forwarded so he can become an official member. He is enjoying this net.

KM4MBG (Jack): Congratulations to Dan (KR4UB) for doing a great job on the OCRA website (ncocra.org). He has done a great handling of emails to the benefit of both the OCRA and DFMA clubs. He announced that DFMA is not yet sure that Durham Fest will take place this year because of Covid 19. Suggested that both clubs design “show and tell” presentations consisting of short videos that can be replayed at various times so members can view them on the web when it is convenient. Q and A sessions could logically follow. Jack would be happy to give a presentation about free linux software that has useful ham radio applications.

KN4JYP (Cathy): Signed on to tonight’s net using a handheld on her back deck. Says working entirely from home is a nightmare. The remodeling projects at her home are complete and she is now ready to challenge her Home Owners Association for antenna privileges.

W4ORD (Lad): Recent storms have taken down literally all of his antennas. He has had minor foot surgery and eye surgery recently and is recovering from both.

KF4PFB (Lenore): Not too much radio going on. Always looking forward to Jack’s cooking.

KX4P (John): Having fun playing with a new Kenwood VHF/UHF duo bander for 2M and 440 mhz. .Recent ham radio activity included participation in the Classic Exchange. He wasn’t able to contact N1LN but had a lot of fun anyway. Has been trying to replace the dial cord on his Collins 75A1 but is finding it to be a complicated and time-consuming job.

KZ1X (Steve): Looking forward to beginning his antenna/tower rebuilding project which is scheduled to begin one week from today. Wants to know if the repeater on 53.45 has come back yet. Dan replied for that the last several years, summer time propagation brings in a signal from some distant source that times the repeater out and takes it off the air. A google search indicates historically there have been some beacons on this frequency

NA4VY (Dave): Noted that he and his XYL spent some vacation time on the lake. The weather was great. Has been participating in numerous local nets. Would like to give a club presentation about the radio telescope he visited in Green Banks, WV.

N2XZF (Paul): Helped with repeater work at Dan’s and attended a virtual meeting at Mikes.

KU4GC (Dee): is spending some time in Wilmington working on settling his son’s estate.

KN4QBZ (Fred): Would be available to present a program on AuxCom for the club.

WB1AJJ (Jon) Agrees that having club members present programs on how they developed their interest in ham radio and actually got into the hobby would be useful and entertaining. He also feels that this approach would be more appealing if the presentations were organized by decades during which members’ interests in the hobby bloomed.

N8BR (Bill): has just acquired a new Kenwood duo-band VHF/UHF mobile transceiver and is building a low-visability tilt-over mast for the duo-band vertical antenna that he has assembled to use with it. He hopes that this choice of toys will allow him to join our virtual club meetings via the repeater in a manner that pleases the home owners association where he lives.

KR4UB (Dan): hosted a repeater building session with Paul N2XZF, Nick KA1HPM and Jim W4CFO. He also worked on the board agenda and began writing software to make setting up the Net/Zoom meetings. Per Mike, KM4JZA’s request, Dan will add him to the club email distribution list.

W4BOH (Wilson): Prepared a beautiful new operating position for his radios. He also made 44 contacts in the Classic Exchange Contest that took place last week end. Refurbishment of the ’34 Chevy truck is coming along well as is repair of the steering box in his Ford tractor.

KI4RAN (Bill): requested to be added to the OCRA Zoom list.  Dan, KR4UB replied to Bill that he is already on the OCRA Meeting email distribution list (which includes the Zoom information) and that his email SPAM settings should be checked.

MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:45 pm
WLB/DE/s

Monthly Club Membership Meeting October 12, 2020

OCRA Secretary: Bill, N8BR

ORANGE COUNTY RADIO AMATEURS

Monthly Membership Meeting – October 12. 2020 – 7:30 pm

Platforms Utilized: OCRA UHF Repeater and Zoom.

MEETING CONVENED at 7:30 (N1LN):

OPENING REMARKS (N1LN): Good evening all. I am serving as host this evening in place of W4SAR, David, our club president who is presently unavailable. Before we begin, I want to review the following “house-keeping” items:

  1. The majority of the membership present at this meeting are participating through the OCRA UHF repeater. However, some of our members do not have UHF equipment and are joining us via Zoom. I want to emphasize that the primary mode of participation in our meetings is via the club’s UHF repeater and all members are urged to use that platform if possible.
  2. Members should not use repeater or zoom time to test station function. That task should be performed before signing on to the net.
  3. For those of you coming aboard with zoom please keep in mind that it is linked to transmit/receive functions of the repeater and, as such, must comply with FCC requirements for station identification and general operation.
  4. The attendance at most of our club meetings is sufficiently large that it is important to keep individual input as brief as possible during the open round-tables so meeting time can be most efficiently utilized.
  5.  All net input and video are being recorded so that information presented can be accurately included in meeting minutes.

MEMBER CHECK-IN (N1LN and KR4UB):

OCRA UHF REPEATER: KU4GC (Dee), WB1AJJ (Jonathon), W4CFO (Jim), KN4EOO (Richard), W4ORD (Ladd), KA1HPM (Nick), KM4MBG (Jack), KF4PAB (Lenore), K2RRT (Mark), KZ1X (Steve), N2XZF (Paul), KN4ZHP (Mike), KO4DHJ (Ken), KR4UB (Dan), and W4BOH (Wilson).

ZOOM: N8BR (Bill), NA4VY (Dave), KN4VXB (Aurora), W4SAR (David), KD4YJZ, (Karen), KN4QBZ (Fred), and KR4UB, (Dan).

TREASURER’S REPORT (Dan KR4UB): Current Club Membership stands at 115 (85 current active paid up members, 28 requiring renewal, 2 expiring, and 4 pending applications awaiting completion (dues). Twenty-six new members have been added during the past 12 months.

REPEATER REPORTS:

Northern Section (Dan, KR4UB): We have been hosting repairs for the 145.230 machine preparing it to go back on the air. Southern Section (Nick, KA1HPM): We have been working on our repeater and it should be up and running by the end of the month. Chatham EOC is getting building permits and firming up orders for new towers. Construction should begin in December and be completed by the end of January.

Presentation

KN4VXB (Aurora): The presentation tonight is about the recently founded OCRA Ham Pi group, a collection of hams who are interested in microcomputers such as raspberry Pi and Arduino as well as other single board computers and their possible applications in amateur radio. To date this group is comprised of 8-12 folks who have met together twice during the past couple of months. About half of the group is made up of new hams and the other half are more experienced folks. The projects they’re working on include a PTT switch for Zoom meetings, a QCX CW SDR transceiver with an antenna system and various power converters. If you are interested in joining this group please email Aurora.

MEMBERSHIP ROUNDTABLE:

KU4GC (Dee): Not much ham activity this time around. We are still disposing of lots of things from our clean-up and reorganization efforts. Many items have been contributed to the Scrap Exchange.

WB1AJJ (Jon): Not much new here. Work is chaotic and has been taking much of my time. I did manage to get the ICOM 6-meter rig repaired. I suggest more “show and tell” presentations for our meetings, but they are tough to arrange with Covid 19.

W4CFO (Jim): Has been working on a number of repeater projects with Dan and Nick.

KN4EOO (Richard): Has been working on his tractor. It dropped a rear wheel and had to be repaired. A lot of antifreeze was spilled in the process. He is in the process of testing the tractor. In addition he is also taking radio classes (EC16 and BR 101).

KA1HPM (Nick): Managed to get together with his extended family on the beach at Emerald Isle. He set up his HF rig with a Ham Stick antenna for 80 meters on the third floor balcony of their house. Using that gear he was able to access the Sunday night net that originates in Birmingham, Alabama. Additionally, he announced to us that The American Red Cross will be hosting an emergency drill in November which he will attend along with ~250 other participants.

KM4MBG (Jack): In his comments Jack stresses the fact that with the pandemic he is not doing a lot with ham radio, and places emphasis on the projects he wishes he was working on rather than telling us what projects he is actually doing. Among the things he mentioned was the fact that the pandemic is allowing him to spend more time at home and that has provided him with opportunities to do more cooking and more work with the nets. Noteworthy among his homebrew cuisines was a pasta dish with eggplant sauce which he and Lenore considered to be quite good. On the ham front he reports that he has received a shipment of parts for a field programmable gate array that he will be assembling shortly. Jack would like to have presentations on the new modes that are available for hams..

KF4PFB (Lenore): Among her comments Lenore reports that in the recent past she had not been very much involved with ham radio. On the other hand, she has spent more time working at home and taking cooking classes.

K2RRT (Mark): Mark is a new ham and is looking for a good antenna system for his rig. He has also obtained the parts to build a “shari” which is an all star link to put on the Pi 4. In addition, Mark is interested in linked repeaters and would like to talk to any club members who share that interest and understand how these systems work.

KZ1X (Steve): Steve is in the process of rebuilding his ham shack. This will be a major task that involves tearing down walls and performing a complete over haul of his space. In addition, he is planning a major addition to his tower including several new antennas.

N2XZF (Paul): Built a 10 meter J Pole antenna which worked very well. He also helped Dan KR4UB sort out the various signal ground pins on the Kenwood repeater external connector interface which as it turns out, all go to a common internal grount point (LOL!)

NA4VY (Dave): It is time to get up additional wire antennas, especially for 80 meters. Was out of town in Michigan last week and flew in a hot air balloon, While cleaning his basement found found a ten meter transceiver and antenna that he is willing to give to anyone needing HF gear. Suggested topic for presentations: Let the senior members of the club recall how they got involved in ham radio.

KN4ZHP (Mike): Has had success using Win-Link which would help with Red Cross exercises.

KO4DHJ (Ken): Checked into many nets. Is planning to move stuff from his shop and rebuild the shed.

KN4VXB (Aurora): 1. Has been active in the Ham Pi Group, 2. Learning to solder cables, 3. making a prototype Fox transmitter, 4. Learning ways to use Raspberry Pi to control cameras that are used in her graduate research, and 5. Learning to wind toroids.

W4SAR (David): Celebrated his 40th anniversary. Is preparing certificates for Field Day participants. Announced that holiday party plans coming soon. Thanked Bruce for being master of ceremonies for this meeting.

KB4YJZ (Karen): Eating lots of delicious seafood during her anniversary celebration with David.

KN4QBZ (Fred): 1. We’ve had our 50th anniversary and my wife again reminded me that there is no guarantee about what the future will bring so we gotta keep things going!! 2. Folks who are familiar with Winlink are a real asset for the Red Cross emergency exercise and their help would be most appreciated. A discussion of this process would be a good topic for another club program! 3. With regard to “Richard’s comments above about the tire leaking antifreeze solution—the solution for any pollution is dilution—that stuff is CaCl and it is toxic for grass. Dilution and flushing with water is the best way to take care of it!

N1LN (Bruce): As most club members are aware, over the past couple of years Bruce has been down sizing his contest antenna farm from a 4-tower monster with multiple monoband yagi’s to a smaller more manageable but almost equally powerful system using just two towers, each supporting a large multiband yagi. This has not only reduced the complexity of the overall antenna layout, but also the amount of both general maintenance and climbing required to keep the station in good repair. In addition, he has also reconfigured the indoor component of his station so it now houses one principal contest operating position instead of two. The equipment from the former second position has been replaced with a Heathkit DX-60 transmitter, HG-10 VFO and Hammarlund HQ129X receiver to be used for “pleasant memories from days of yore” type operating.

On a downside, the new antenna arrangement has caused some issues with Bruce’s management of the 10 meter OCRA net. Specifically, in the original system which utilized two or three 10 meter monoband yagis stacked together on a single tower it was possible for him to cover two or three different directions at the same time using a stack match. However, with the new set up in order to cover two different directions using multiband yagi antennas on separate towers requires switching rf from the antenna on one tower to another one pointed in a different direction on another tower, To make the process simpler and more efficient Bruce has built a switching/matching system that permits him to simultaneously drive the 10 meter functions of the two antennas pointed in different directions at the same time. The system has been put into operation and is now working as hoped.

KR4UB (Dan): Dan has ordered a Pi 4 and is looking forward to using it. He is also hosting the 145.230 repeater build. In addition, he and Mark KR3AM have been instrumental in the development and implementation of the hybrid repeater/Zoom platform OCRA has currently been using for its club membership to access virtual meetings during the COV 19 pandemic. Under most circumstance the preferred mechanism for accessing non face-to-face club meetings would be only via the repeaters. But, given the significant number of folks who do not have vhf and uhf equipment to access these machines the hybrid platform can be effectively used,

Dan has also been managing the implementation of the hybrid format. And, while it has been effective in bringing club members together during these difficult times, it has been eminently clear that its effectiveness depends on club members’ efforts to learn and practice the procedures necessary to successfully use it. To address that issue Dan is recommending that all potential users go to the club website and select any one of the following three buttons: (Members), (Meetings) or (Nets), and read the article “About OCRA Club Meetings, Nets and Zoom. Questions about any of this information may be addressed to Dan

W4BOH (Wilson): Wilson is anxious to have show and tell back! He is willing to present a show and tell about his restoration of a 1934 Chevy truck.

W4ORD (Ladd): Lost several trees in the storm and while dropping one of them took out his antenna. He will need help pitting the antenna back up. The exchange club is still available for a Christmas party.

 

MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:45 pm

WLB/DE/s

OCRA Monthly Club Meeting Minutes – August 10, 2020

Monthly Membership Club Meeting Minutes – August 10. 2020 by Bill, N8BR Club Secretary

Meeting convened at 7:30 By David, W4SAR Platforms Utilized: Repeater and Zoom

Members Present: W4SAR Dave, KB1WE Wayne, KR3AM Mark, KA1HPM Nick, N2XZF Paul, W4BOH Wilson, AC4RD Ken, W3AHL Steve, N8BR Bill, WA4AHR Dewey, KO4DHJ Ken, KU4GC Dee, N1LN Bruce, KM4MBG Jack, W4KIL Andy, KI4MXP Gerald, WB4OSU Sherry, N4KF Ken, KN4EOO Rick, KF4PAB Lenore, N1YXU Laurie, KR4UB Dan, KD4YJZ Karen, KZ1X Steve, KN4VXB Aurora, NC4CD Charlie, N4JQR J.R., KO4EJX Steve

Treasurer’s Report (Dan KR4UB): Current Club Membership stands at 111 (82 active paid up members, 28 requiring renewal, and 1 expiring). 3 folks are awaiting volunteer exam session). 21 new members have been added during the past 12 months.

Program Introduction: (David, W4SAR): Tonight’s program was a presentation by one of our club members, Aurora KN4VXB. Aurora has been active in a number of our events. In June she made a serious contribution to club efforts during Field Day when she single-handedly spearheaded its effort to make a two-way contact with one of the amateur radio satellites. And, more recently in August she organized and hosted a fox hunt for the club. In tonight’s program she will tell us in detail about the two parts of that event.

OCRA Foxhunt (Aurora KN4VXB): In Aurora’s words this activity was inspired by the non-conventional format of field day this year as well as Aurora’s own desire to learn about radio direction finding. It was her first experience with the technology. Primary “Elmers” were Steve K1ZX who provided the fox beacon, and Dan KR4UB who volunteered to be the “fox”.

I am also including a link of the article written about the fox hunt by KR4UB after actually participating in the event itself. It is on the OCRA website at:

Who were those masked folks at the August 1st Foxhunt?

Further, the link to one of the foxes hunted on the foot search is: https://www.byonics.com/mf

Finally, the Fox Hunt KC9ON Fox Hunt version 6 kit Aurora used is at: https://kc9on.com/product/fox-hunt-v6-smd/

Following the presentation Aurora held a question and answer session with the membership.

Comments (David W4SAR): Thanks to Aurora for a marvelous presentation. Thanks also to Dan for his help.

Award for Outstanding Service to the Club by New Member:

One of our club members who wishes to remain anonymous has given a gift to the club in the form of dues for one year to be awarded to a new club member for their outstanding service to the club. This year that award is going to Aurora KN4VXB. Congratulations!

Club-wide Discussion and Commentary:

W3AHL Steve: I am in the process of preparing for a trip to New Mexico some time in the future but being hampered by some difficulty with my vehicle.

WA4AHR Dewey: I appreciated Aurora’s talk. Would like to participate in a fox hunt. He will do it another time.

KO4DHJ Ken: Thanks to Aurora. I really enjoy the club.

KU4GC Dee: Aurora did a wonderful job. The material on the raspberry Pi is interesting.

N1LN Bruce: Two things. 1. I joined the virtual hamfest online this past weekend and there was a wonderful session on the K4. The first shipments will be the end of August. 2. This coming weekend is the NA QSO party on SSB.

W4KIL Andy: Nothing to add. I am enjoying what is going on.

WB4OSU Sherry: I did a zoom-build with Aurora. We built an antenna and I learned a lot. The stuff with raspberry pi is interesting. Also enjoyed learning N1MM for field day.

N4KF Ken: I am new to the club and have enjoyed the comments. My home is in Hillsborough.

KN4EOO Rick: I enjoyed the presentation. I am currently taking on-line courses.

N1YXU Laurie: I’ve been helping Bruce take his antennas down. Thanks to Aurora for a great presentation.

KR4UB Dan: Many thanks to Aurora. I am looking forward to the upcoming sessions on raspberry pi and other microcontrollers. I want to learn more.

KD4YJZ Karen: I am interested in the QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo. I wasn’t able to get on, especially the segment on remote operating. Can we get a copy of what’s going on?

KB1WE Wayne: Hello all! A great presentation tonight by Aurora. I have built some fox hunt stuff and will send along the details. Especially on directional antennas.

KA1HPM Nick: Aurora I appreciate your efforts. This is encouraging to hear about! There are 3 Volunteer examiners in Chatham County now. Perhaps they can run some VE sessions with us. Our 2 meter duplexers are finished and ready to put into cabinets now.

N2XZF Paul: A new DFMA 6 meter repeater is now on the air at TV Hill in Durham. Program your radio to receive 53.630 MHz and transmit on 52.630 MHz with a 88.5Hz PL. All are invited to check in to the weekly 6 meter net on Wednesdays at 8:30pm. Bob, K4VO is net control.

W4BOH Wilson: Chris was with us helping neighbors put up a repeater to boost signals for the cell phone. The subscription is through T Mobile. He also has an antenna on his field day tower. Has some updated information on the tape measure antenna.

N4JQR J.R.: Hello All! Great Meeting.

Adjournment W4SAR David: The club just keeps going in spite of numerous distractions. Good Evening all! Meeting Adjourned.

OCRA Monthly Membership Meeting – July 13, 2020

from Bill N8BR, OCRA Secretary….

ORANGE COUNTY RADIO AMATEURS
Monthly Membership Meeting – July 13, 2020 MINUTES

Convened at 7:30pm by Dave, W4SAR – 442.150 Repeater Net & Zoom Video Conference

Members Present: N8BR, Bill; WA2JLW, Roy; WA4AHR, Dewey; W3AHL, Steve; KN4EOO, Rick; W4BOH, Wilson; KA1HPM, Nick; KU4GC, Dee; KO4DHJ, Ken; KA5ETS, Doug; N1LN, Bruce; KC1BVL, Robbey; KM4MBG, Jack; KI4MXP, Gerald; W4KIL, Andy; WB4OSU,  Sherri; KW4JY, Calvin; W4ORD, Lad; N4SJW, John; KD4YJZ, Karen; KZ1X, Steve; KN4ZHP, Mike; NA4VY, Dave; KJ4VWG, Sam; KN4VXB, Aurora; N2XZF, Paul; N1YXU, Laurie; KR3AM, Mark; W4SAR, David; KR4UB, Dan

Dan, KR4UB – Treasurer’s Report: We now have 85 club members with dues current and 27 needing to renew their membership. 25 new members have joined the club over the past 12 months. A new power supply and SCOM repeater controller needed to deploy the 145.230 repeater in Chatham County has been purchased. Nick, KA1HPM is modifying the cabinet for better mounting of the equipment and Steve, W3AHL is in process of retuning the duplexer.

Dave, W4SAR – President’s Report on Field Day: In a normal year field day is a combined effort between the members of OCRA and DFMA. This year, owing to the Covid19 pandemic, folks participating in this event were encouraged to operate from their homes. In past years these “D” category stations were not permitted to earn credit for contacts with other stations operating in that category. However, this year the ARRL relaxed that requirement and allowed the “D” group operators to earn credit for contacts made with all operating classes.

Further, all members of a recognized club who are operating in the event are required to submit individual scores along with verification of their club affiliation instead of having their clubs submit a total club score on their members’ behalf. Be sure to enter “Orange County Radio Amateurs & Durham FM Association” in the Club/Group Name Field. So, this year The ARRL will combine the points earned by each member of a recognized club and post the club totals. This makes it absolutely necessary for each of us who participated in field day to submit a score by no later than July 28th.

Please mark your calendars so this deadline will be met!! If assistance is needed with the preparation of a log, please let me know so arrangements may be made to get this task completed.

Relevant to this discussion. David is preparing certificates for OCRA and DFMA participants in Field Day. To date 42 participants have indicated their involvement. Please make certain that you have made him aware of your involvement.

Club-Wide Discussion of Field Day:
Bruce, N1LN: This was a great event. Congratulations to all participants, Laurie and I worked together. She used SSB and I was on CW. We shared a single rig and alternated modes for the entire contest. It was a wonderful opportunity for Class D stations.

Pluses for this year’s format:

  • 100 watts. This power level proved to be a great advantage for running stations—a big boost over the normal QRP efforts we made in past years.
  • Reduce the number towers, power distribution, complexity, etc that must be set-up, then torn down which is very tiring given the summer heat. More time and energy left to operate.

Minuses for this year’s format:

  • No potluck on Friday night. That get-together was important and a highlight of FD.
  • Problem solving activities associated with set up that fostered lots of valuable interactions.

Suggestions for the future: Should have lower than 9A category for the club. Too many stations and not enough operators. Should run 100 watts.

David, W4SAR: Shares Bruce’s sentiments. Misses the potluck.

Wilson. W4BOH: Enjoyed field day! Agrees with Bruce’s suggestions that we go lower than 9A and above 5 watts. Is continuing his activities with old radios and animals.

Dan, KR4UB; Enjoyed field day. Supports Bruce’s notion of less than 9A and above 5 watts for next year. Believes field day is a great medium for mentoring new members and teaching a wide variety of skills that are useful in many aspects of the hobby. Enjoyed the video conferencing that was set up for field day and was a great motivator watching Bruce, Laurie, and others working into the night. That motivation led to 287 FT-8 contacts for 1198 points total.

Nick, KA1HPM: Nick and his son (KN4QBY) worked field day together from home. Nick Jr, learned radio and they both had fun. They will both be submitting logs. They were disappointed in the logging program and did not know how a dupe sheet is supposed to be used in log submission.

Lad, W4ORD: Operated field day out of his trailer using battery power. They got a late start. A 20 meter sloper was used as an antenna which worked well on 20. 40, and 15. Solar power was used during the day. The triband beam they were planning to use fell down but new parts are being installed to make repairs.

Aurora, KN4VXB: Believes that many new hams out there want to learn about the practical aspects of the hobby such as equipment set-up, antenna installation, etc. So it is important to include them in the setting up for field day and other events. She worked hard to make a satellite contact during FD but couldn’t get through the pile ups. Between now and the next field day she will practice making satellite contacts so next time she will succeed!

Jack, KM4MBG: Enjoys the Friday night events at field day and enjoys putting together the stations and antennas.

Andy, WA4KIL: Only 15 FD log submissions have been made so far. Those still outstanding should be submitted to the ARRL ASAP!

Ken, KO4DHJ: Ken, a new ham, enjoys set up and take down in events like FD. Please keep him in the loop.

Sherry, WB4OSU: FD this year was a bit weird, but it was nice to stay in house. She made 470 points. She had to learn to configure and use N1MM for logging, but it was a good experience and worked well. Old antennas that she had previously abandoned worked well for field day. Her 5 watts seemed to work pretty well and she is looking forward to the next contest.

Doug, KA5ETS: He needs to submit his logs. 112 digital contacts were made. Good Zoom and a good time.

Dave, W4SAR: His vertical antenna was broken, but he was able to figure out how to do FT8 and had a ball using it.

Lad, W4ORD: Last year we had an outstanding caterer for the Christmas Party. If we want to use him this year we have to make a reservation and need to decide on a location. We can go ahead with that and just put it on hold until our plans solidify.

Wilson, W4BOH: Apparently the Bahai’ facility is available but our regular hall in Hillsborough would be closer. The idea of having a potluck has been floated. What do folks feel about that?

Laurie, N1YVU: Thanks to Lad and Wilson for your work and suggestions. There has been talk about the possibility of a potluck. Be assured that our members provide well-honed skills good service and great food. Plus, there is the possibility of getting them to prepare a cookbook.

Dan, KR4UB: Supports the idea of a potluck. That would also provide a better level of socialization for the event and, if the pandemic causes a last minute disruption, it will be easier to respond accordingly.

Lad, W4ORD: I can certainly support a potluck. Either way is fine with me.

Bill, N8BR: I support the idea of a potluck. The folks in this group prepare wonderful food, appetizers and desserts. Thumbs up for that!

Paul, N2XZF: I like the idea of the cookbook!

Aurora, KN4VXC: Just a reminder of her earlier announcement concerning the Fox Hunt on August 1. There will be both morning and afternoon events, and if you are interested in either one or both please let her know.

Nick, KA1HPM: Update on repeater towers in Chatham County. It turns out that the planned Moncure tower is in the approach path of the Lee County Airport. In the FAA permitting process it was determined that the original planned 350’ height can only be 270’ in height due to its location in the flight path. The search is on for alternative locations, one being the use of an existing water tank with a tower extension to achieve the desired height. More news later.

Hearing no further comments the meeting was adjourned by net control Dave, W4SAR.

OCRA General Membership Over the Air Meeting June 10,2020

In compliance with The State of North Carolina’s revised health requirements for preventing the spread of Corvid-19, this meeting could not assemble at our normal gathering place in Efland, NC. Instead it was replaced by a virtual event that made use of the 442.150MHz repeater and ZOOM. This novel functional linking together of a club repeater with Zoom, a popular and widely used video conferencing platform, made it possible for all members of the club to both attend and participate in a virtual meeting. The club gives its special thanks to Dan, KR4UB, our treasurer/website manager, and Mark, KR3AM for spearheading and providing continuing support for this initiative.

MEETING (7:30 PM): The meeting was convened at 7:30 P.M. by club president David W4SAR. The check-in process proceeded smoothly. Callsigns from 32 stations attending stations were recognized.

Introductory Announcements:

  1. Dan KR4UB: We currently have 105 members on the club roster, 75 of which have paid up dues. In addition, new apps have been placed on the club website. One of these is for Zoom conferencing. The club has purchased a site license to use this product
  1. David W4SAR: The club is looking for ways to continue offering its program of volunteer-administered license testing for members in the wake of the pandemic. One approach to solving this problem might be to search out opportunities for collaboration with other clubs to accomplish this important function remotely in a shared fashion. David also reaffirmed that the club will continue to practice social distancing in all of its activities. .

Discussion:

  1. David W4SAR: The main topic for this meeting is to discuss how the club’s participation in field day will be impacted by the recent rule changes proposed and adopted for the event by the ARRL. Before launching that discussion It is important to recall that the rule changes were made to encourage and allow broadened participation of League members and clubs from their home stations rather than stations grouped together in a “field” setting which has traditionally been the desired format. In fact, in past years club rules have dictated that participating stations operating from their homes and obtaining power from commercial mains (Category “D” stations) could only earn contact points for exchanges with traditional non-D stations operating in the field. The new rules recently placed in effect only for field day 2020 permit category ”D” stations to work and earn contact points through exchanges with all other categories of stations participating in the event.
  1. Questions and Comments from Membership

This section contains a synopsis of the commentary offered by club members following David’s introduction.

  1. Wilson W4BOH – Offered operating space to anyone wishing to set up a station at his home. This kind offer is a continuation of Wilson’s generous hosting of the field day operations for OCRA and DFMA members for many years.
  2. Howie WA4PSC – Offered to provide an Elecraft KX3 for someone needing an HF rig for SSB or CW operation in the contest.
  3. Aurora KN4VXB — Announced her interest in making satellite contacts during Field day. She would like to work with others to build a station capable of doing that. One of her planned projects is to build a tape measure antenna for satellite work.
  4. Bill N8BR – Offered the use of his IC7300 for someone needing an HF rig for CW or SSB operation during the contest.
  5. Bruce N1LN – Offered suggestions on how the club might best organize its overall effort during this year’s revised event. Historically speaking field day efforts involving DFMA / OCRA groups during past years have been highly coordinated. Stations for each band have been planned, organized, equipped, set-up and staffed under the tutelage of a Band captain who has overseen its operation throughout the entire weekend event, and ultimately helped our club president in the preparation of a composite club log for submission to the ARRL. However, the operation we are contemplating for this year is comprised of a group of autonomous stations separated by relatively long distances each focused on earning as many points as possible in a contest effort for which many of us have little experience. There are no band captains to organize operators, attend to equipment needs, design and set up stations for individual bands, or coordinate logging. Many of us may be very good operators but are lacking in the knowledge or equipment needed to get the whole job done. To help to alleviate some of these issues I am volunteering to contact those of you planning to operate in FD to determine any equipment needs you may have or special assistance you may need to get your planned operations up and running. That information will be posted on the club website. We also need to know what resources you might have available to help others participate more effectively in this effort. Please note that we have only about 2 weeks to not only get our planning done but to implement it as well.
  6. David W4SAR: As a point of clarification, logging for field day operations this year will be done and submitted to the ARRL on an individual basis by each participating category D station wishing to contribute to a club score. Please study the current rules for field day and procedures for submitting logs found at ARRL.org or on your club website. In order for your QSO’s to count toward our combined club score please indicate your affiliation with OCRA/DFMA when you submit your log.

After a number of closing comments the meeting adjourned at 9:17 PM.

Bill N8BR/s

OCRA Club Over-the-Air Meeting 442.150 Repeater with Audio Linked Zoom Conference

Monday, May 11th, 2020
7:30pm to 8:30pm
Description:
Our next monthly membership meeting for OCRA will be Monday, May 11 at 7:30 pm.  Since Orange County still restricts all gatherings to 10 persons or less, the Efland Baha’i Center remains closed.

We will hold the meeting over the W4UNC 442.150+ repeater, PL 131.8

Additionally, we will have a Zoom meeting held simultaneously, so that those who cannot access the repeater may still participate. We have been experimenting with audio links between Zoom and the repeater, so it should work well.

Hope to hear you there!

See the OCRA Club Meeting Notice posted on the OCRA/DFMA groups.io Message Board for the OCRA Zoom Video Conference Log-in Information.

73,

Dave Snyder, W4SAR

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OCRA Monthly Meeting – Monday April 13th @ 7:30pm via the 442.150 Repeater. NO Meeting @ Efland Baha’i Center

As the Efland Baha’i Center remains closed due to the State and County directives that will not permit gatherings, we will hold our monthly OCRA meeting over the air on the W4UNC repeater (442.150+, 131.8 PL). This will be via a directed net, similar in format to the AUXCOMM/ARES nets held on Saturday mornings, I as club president who usually runs the meetings, will act as net control, with someone else as a back up. We will commence this net at 7:30 pm on Monday, April 13.

When checking in, give your call sign and name only, I ask that we dispense with the “what I’ve done with ham radio lately comments” we usually do with introductions, we’ll have rag chew opportunities later in the net.

After all attendees are checked in, we will have brief officer’s reports. We will have brief pauses for any members to make queries or give brief comments, via the net control.

Our agenda at this time is:

AUXCOMM/ARES

Volunteer Exams

Field Day

Any other items?

There will be a pause after each agenda item, again for any member queries or comments, going through the net control.

Following the completion of the agenda, we will have a roll call checkout, as we do with the Saturday nets, where members who wish to continue a rag chew are welcome to do so.

Hope to talk to many of you there, stay safe all!

73,

Dave Snyder, W4SAR

DFMA Club Over-the-Air Meeting, Tuesday April 7th at 7pm

DFMA will not be having in-person meetings until further notice due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Fortunately, our hobby supports communicating from a distance. Instead of our usual monthly meeting at Bullock’s, we’ll have a special net. The net will be at 7pm on April 7th, our usual meeting time, on the linked 145.45- and 147.225+ repeaters (both have a PL tone of 82.5). You can also check-in over the Internet via Echolink/SVXLink to the WR4AGC-R node. The format of the net will be check-ins (in place of our usual introductions), officer reports, and a rag chew round table discussion.

Jack, KM4MBG, 4/3/20

2019 Field Day, OCRA Membership Meeting – July 8, 2019

Quote

Dave, W4SAR, club president opened the meeting with introductions, the topic for tonight’s meeting being Field Day results and call for officer reports.  In attendance tonight were 8 license-seeking candidates, one of our largest membership meeting testing groups.

Dan, KR4UB, treasurer reported 73 members are current with their dues with 26 members needing renewal. Club treasury balance is in line with ongoing expenses.

Nick, KA1HPM, stated two towers near Lowes hardware in Chatham County exist with antenna and feed-line.  Steve, W3HAL, and Dan, KR4UB, would assist in assessing the possibility of usage.

Field Day Results:

Dave, W3SAR, provided a Field Day point breakdown, and will post final results on this    website soon.  The unofficial count was 2997 QSO points, with 1727 QSO points awarded multipliers for a total of 14,985 points.  We had less points this year, but propagation was poor, except for 40 Meter.

Steve, KZ1X, proposed running 100 Watts rather than 5 Watts next year. While QRP, or low power…5 Watts, gets you multipliers, 100 Watts would allow more stations to hear, which would be more fun. Additionally, if sun spot activity is nearing a null, then 100 Watts may a sound strategy for the next couple of years.

Wilson gave thanks to Steve, W3AHL, for doing a great job on the N1MM network.  Steve, W3AHL, stated the 10 dedicated computers along with static IP addresses provided more resiliency and up time than last year. Wilson also appreciated John, KM4MDR, for doing a wonderful job managing the food preparation and service…at a’boys!

Additional Notes:

Dan, KR4UB, stated Phillips High School still has an antenna and transceiver used from an earlier ISS contact needing reclamation.  If interested in assisting, please leave a reply!

Finally, Dan, KR4UB, will present FT8 at the next DFMA meeting!

OCRA Membership Meeting – May 13, 2019

Treasurer Report:

Dan (KR4UB) Balance is still strong, current membership is 67 with 30 needing renewing.   The cost for maintaining our repeater is increasing. The high cost of tower climbers is one reason OCRA maintains a heathy financial balance.  You can easily assist in keeping our financial balance strong.  For those who purchase from Amazon and want to add to OCRA’s coffers, Amazon Smile donates 0.5% to eligible charitable organizations.  For more information, please visit the following site.

DurHam Fest:

The 45th Annual Durham Fest occurs over Memorial Weekend.  OCRA will provide a table to sell members items.  We would ask for a small donation or percentage of sales to off-set the cost of the table.  Admission is $5 and prizes may be won.  For more information, please scroll down for more information.

Repeater:

The OCRA 442.150 MHz PL 131.8 repeater is programmed to notify the club of cancellation due to poor weather.  We encourage all members to listen for announcements and check the groups.io email reflector if storms are present on meeting days.

Field Day – June 22-23:

Field day will again be hosted on Wilson’s (W4BOH) property over the weekend of June 22-23. 

Bruce (N1LN) Station setup will occur on Friday, June 21.  Band captains are responsible for procuring the necessary bill of material and station coverage throughout the event. Please register your station of interest and availability on the website under Events, OCRA/DFMA Field Day Signup Summary.  Again, Elecraft radios are the standard for this year.  Band captains that borrowed radios last year need to ensure their availability again this year.

Bruce will provide N1MM logging software instruction training in June.

Steve (W3AHL) mentioned wireless connectivity for multiple computers with N1MM is difficult to manage.  However with the laptops donated for Field Day by Adam Caudill (WX4WNC) this will be much easier. Thanks to Adam!  The computers will contain a standard configuration image, providing a more stable and consistent approach for management.  

Bruce will provide N1MM software training in June.  Elecraft radios are rig of choice, making interfacing and configuration easier.

John (KM4MDR) will be facilitating Potluck on Friday around 6:00 PM night.  Saturday 5:00 dinner and Sunday breakfast. Attendees will need to prepay for meals. Please see payment options and meal details on the 2019 Field Day post.

Field Day Materials – Operators may want to have present the following as conditions are likely to be hot and humid.

  1.  Helmet – if assisting with tower construction and placement
  2.  Gloves
  3.  Safety kit
  4. Water bottle
  5. Bug spray
  6. Sunscreen
  7. Hat
  8. Smile

OCRA Membership Meeting – March 11, 2019

Introductions:

Treasurer Report:

Dan (KR4UB)

We have 68 paid membership current and 33 requiring renewal.   You can renew membership easily and securely on the website under the heading of “Members.”   

Chatham county continues moving forward with establishing new radio towers.  Currently they are writing specifications to publicly bid the work.  They plan to establish additional towers beyond current need for anticipated growth, with the understanding it is more cost-effective to erect the additional towers now than re-bid the work at a future date.  

WordPress is the most common blog and website platform in use around the globe.  OCRA uses WordPress as our primary club communication channel.  WordPress has many additional features and functionality that we can leverage for multiple uses.  One such use is capturing interest and availability for Field Day. 

With just under four months to go, Field Day 2019 is quickly approaching.  However, we can more easily start planning now.  Dan has created an on-line sign-up form to capture availability to volunteer for food, station, and field site preparation, staffing, and dismantling.

You can easily complete the sign up form on your computer or even phone!  The steps for expressing your interest and availability follow:

 1.     On the site, navigate to the “Member” tab and click “Receive Access Link”.

 

2.      Enter your call sign, answer the math question, and click “Submit”.  An email will be sent to your registered public email address.

3.       You will receive a confirmation screen notifying you the link has been sent to your email.

4.     Login to your registered email address and click the link.  If you bookmark this link, it can be used to update your profile…be sure to bookmark!

5.     Complete the Field Day sign-up sheet.  Be sure to click the “Save” button located at the end of the form.  If there are any data corrections, they will be highlighted in red.  Band captains will reach out to you regarding the specifics. We look forward to seeing you during Field Day!

Program:  Connectors

As many Hams know, it is important when making decisions about getting the right coax for your Ham Station to understand that there are trade-offs that have to be considered between transmitter power, antenna gain, coax loss, and your total Ham Station system performance.  Your bank account may also enter into the equation like most Hams.

Cables and connectors are no exception to the above as they make up the lifeline of your entire station, allowing all of the components to work together.  Steve (KZ1X) shared that oxygen is the enemy of every connector, as oxidation due to poor connections will limit the performance and life of the connector.   Dan (KR4UB) and Steve (KZ1X) further explain the importance of having the right connectors, wires, and crimpers to produce a gas tight crimp.  As Dan shared, in his experience most poor transmissions are the result of bad connectors.  However, with quality material and practice you can build connectors that provide decades worth of radio fun and enjoyment.   

Dan (KR4UB) explaining contact spring tension  Steve (KZ1X) explaining Power pole connectors

Vendors who sell quality connectors and supplies include the following:

·         DXengineering – https://www.dxengineering.com/

·         Digi-key – https://www.digikey.com

·         Mouser – https://www.mouser.com

If you attended this meeting, we would welcome your feedback.  If there are other topics of interest, please let know.

73

OCRA Membership Meeting – January 2019

Roll Call:

25 member’s presence, with 2 candidates for exams.

Treasurer report:

  • NCOCRA WordPress upgrade now provides website access on mobile phones…check us out.
  • Savings balance is strong, with 74 member’s current on dues, with 24 needing renewal.
  • The club has added 15 new members over the past 12 months.
  • Prepay for Holiday meal worked well, and may well use prepay moving forward.

Members approved 2019 Board:

  • David Snyder (W4SAR), President
  • Lad Carrington (W4ORD), Vice-President, Program Committee
  • Dan Eddleman (KR4UB), Treasurer
  • Keith Stouder (W1KES), Secretary
  • Steve Ahlbom (W3HAL), ARES EC
  • Karen Snyder (KD4YJZ), Member at Large
  • Dee Ramm (KU4GC), Member at Large
  • Wilson Lamb (W4BOH), Member at Large, Program Committee
  • Bill Bishchoff (N8BR), Program Committee

If you have ideas for enriching your club experience, we would like to know.  Please reply below.

Chatham County Radio Club Update, Nick (KA1HPM):

Chatham County radio club has established a club station at the county emergency operation center (EOC) with two VHF and two HR radios, and Winlink.   The club as applied for a vanity call, but with the FCC currently on furlough, it may be some time before the call is issued.

The club is preparing for an April 30 communication exercise at the Shearon Harris nuclear power plant.  Rehearsal for the event will be March 28. Please join the club net every Tuesday night on 442.15 MHz, PL tone 131.8. Hope to hear you on the air!

Vice President: Lad (W4ORD) – The Holiday Meal was well received.  However, suggestions to explore new food options are being considered.

“When All Else Fails:”

With the recent weather events in Wilmington, NC, hospitals are encouraging employees to become amateur radio operators offering communications when “all else fails.”  Opportunities for local radio clubs to assist may be forth coming.

NC QSO Party:

The NC QSO Party is quickly approaching.  This year, the event will occur on Saturday, February 24 from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM EST.  This is a great event to sharpen your SSB skills with running or search and pounce.  Click on link above for more information.

Club Meetings:

If you are new to amateur radio, or would like to refresh your knowledge, the Program Committee would like your ideas.  Considerations are being given for having instructions on coax termination with soldiering or crimpers.  Or, how to build an affordable wire dipole.  Do you have any suggestions on program content?  If so, leave a reply below.

Club Program:

Pete (WA1YYN) provided an overview of several emergency and life saving devices.  First, Pete created a GPRS enabled apparatus comprised of a raspberry pi that can be attached to a fire fighter’s outfit that captures both health and situation metrics. For example, the apparatus can capture, record, and transmit fire fighters body temperature, pulse oximetry, acceleration, etc.  such data is vital for ensuring situational safety.

Pete also explained that many emergency response communication technologies are proprietary and expensive.  He mentioned that the national fire protection association (NFPA) and NIST, national institute of standards and technology are working together to develop emergency response data interoperability and deployment standards.

Pete (WA1YYN) discussing his use of GPRS and amateur radio in emergency response communication and coordination.

 

 

 

 

 

Pete demonstrated an open source solution providing GPRS tracking with real time monitoring and visual overlay perspectives of the rescuer, drone, and incident command.  This solution will more accuracy and quickly identify persons in need improving resource coordination thus reducing response time in saving lives.

Pete’s work in supporting emergency response fulfills several key goals of amateur radio:

  • Supports the awareness and growth of Amateur Radio worldwide;
  • Advocates for meaningful access to radio spectrum;
  • Strives for every member to get involved, get active, and get on the air;
  • Encourages radio experimentation and, through its members, advances radio technology and education; and
  • Organizes and trains volunteers to serve their communities by providing public service and emergency communications.

What is your passion?  What aspects of amateur radio keeps you involved?  Let us know by leaving a response below.

73