Introductions<\/b><\/p>\n
Treasurer:<\/b><\/p>\n
73 membership dues are current and an appropriate reserve balance is in our accounts<\/p>\n
NCOCRA Annual Christmas Dinner:<\/b><\/p>\n
The OCRA Annual Christmas dinner will be held this year at the Hillsborough Exchange Club<\/a> on Monday, December 11, at 6:00 PM. We are striving to have attendance be above 60, which will secure the cost at $20 per person. Reservations for attendance are required no later than December 4th<\/sup><\/strong>. Please email Lad (W4ORD) via the Yahoo reflector reserve your reservations.<\/p>\n Repeater Manager:<\/b><\/p>\n Danny Hampton made the Club aware that our current Kenwood TKR<\/a> repeater series is being discontinued. As such, Dave (W4SAR), club president, made an executive decision to purchase an extra repeater as a spare.<\/p>\n The new backup repeater is identical to the one currently in operation.\u00a0 This particular model is now discontinued, thus the urgency to purchase.\u00a0 The new repeater was $1,000 and can be cloned to provide additional continuity for the existing repeater for many years.<\/p>\n For comparison, a newer repeater model is roughly $4000.\u00a0 While the new repeaters are both digital and analogue, the additional cost would not have provided an identical clone to the existing repeater.\u00a0 With the cost of tower work now around $1,000 per incident, cloning the existing repeater and having a ready backup made better fiscal sense than purchasing a newer repeater model.<\/p>\n Elmering or mentoring has long been the backbone of Amateur Radio. While technology constantly evolves, the human interaction between hams will not be replaced and will always remain one of the hobby’s strongest traditions. As such, there is a need to begin Elmering the next generation of FM repeater managers.\u00a0 Understanding repeaters is a valuable skill for any ham, and especially for those ham’s interested in emergency response.<\/p>\n Please let Dan (KR4UB) or Steve (W3HAL) know of your interest to learn about repeater management.<\/strong><\/p>\n ARES: <\/b><\/p>\n Public Service: AUX Comm site is down. Work is in progress to restore.<\/p>\n ARES Portable Station Equipment, <\/span><\/strong>Steve <\/span><\/strong>(W3AHL)<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Many ARES\/AUXCOMM events are best supported using a portable radio station.<\/p>\n \u201cPortable\u201d is defined here as:<\/p>\n Capable of being set up inside a building, such as a shelter.<\/p>\n Often your mobile radio and antenna can serve as your portable go-kit (if easily removed from the car) by adding a battery, coax and mast.\u00a0\u00a0 An HT is not recommended as a primary portable station, although with an exterior gain antenna and a 12 VDC 7 AH battery, it may be sufficient for many locations.<\/p>\n Almost any VHF or UHF transceiver is suitable for portable operation.\u00a0 A dual-band radio is desirable, but lacking that you may be able to use an HT or another single band radio to monitor activity on other nets.\u00a0 The radio should be programmed with all of the frequencies in the ARES Communication Plan.\u00a0 It should be used weekly or monthly to verify it is working.<\/p>\n Many ARES operators build a radio go-kit containing the radio, power supply, speaker, microphone, headphones, power\/SWR meter and battery voltage meter permanently mounted in a self-contained box that may be weatherproof when closed.\u00a0\u00a0 Others keep their gear in a duffel bag, tote container, or just remove their mobile equipment when needed for portable operation.<\/p>\n Don’t forget to include “office supplies” like pens, note pads, ICS-213 General Message forms, stapler, tape, a small All-In-One printer\/copier\/scanner, etc.<\/p>\n Choosing the correct portable antenna system may be the most important decision in assembling your go-kit.\u00a0 If local repeaters are off the air due to a storm and more distant repeaters or simplex operation is needed, your normal antenna may not be adequate.<\/p>\n We try to deploy in teams of 2 if enough volunteers are available.\u00a0 That allows pooling of resources if one operator is missing some items needed for the site.<\/p>\n Some factors to consider are:<\/p>\n 1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Many commercial buildings will attenuate your signal and require using either an external antenna or one mounted near a window facing the required direction.<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A dual-band base, mobile or j-pole antenna that can be mounted on 15 feet of mast, with 75+ feet of coax is recommended.\u00a0 A chart at the end compares the relative signal strength of typical antennas at various heights.\u00a0 A 5\u2019 base antenna mounted 15\u2019 high will have 12 dB more gain than a mag-mount antenna on your car.\u00a0 This is the equivalent of increasing your transmit power from 20 watts to almost 300 watts, without using more battery power.<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0\u00a0 The mast can be a commercial push-up pole, 1.25\u201d TV mast in 5\u2019 sections or military surplus mast.\u00a0 Fifteen feet is a good height that can be supported without guy wires and improves the antenna gain by 3-5 dB compared to 5\u2019 height, or much more if it clears nearby obstructions.<\/p>\n 4.\u00a0\u00a0 You should try to have several options for supporting the mast.\u00a0 A tire board is good if open parking is near your operating position, which is often not the case.\u00a0 A 3\u2019 roof tripod can be used with a tire board, 12\u201d long spikes driven into the ground, or with large rocks or cement blocks.\u00a0\u00a0 If guy wires are used to support the mast, they must be well-marked to avoid injury to pedestrians and cars.\u00a0 This is often impractical, especially at night.\u00a0 Chemical or LED battery powered light sticks on guy lines are a must.\u00a0 Make sure they last all night.<\/p>\n 5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Coax and power cables must be routed to eliminate any hazards to foot traffic.\u00a0 Red duct tape can secure it across aisles, but may leave a residue that is hard to remove.\u00a0 White gaffers tape is a better option.\u00a0 RG-8X coax can often be routed under a door threshold or window seal, but has 8 dB loss at 440 MHz per 100\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0 Several shorter pieces of coax will allow you to use only what you need and reduce loss. Larger low-loss coax such as 9913F or Davis Bury-FLEX work well for long runs and only have 2.5 dB loss. Use a short piece of RG-8X to go under a tight door if needed.\u00a0 Waterproof your connections.<\/p>\n 6.\u00a0\u00a0 A simple power\/SWR meter should be used to check your antenna & feed line before operating.\u00a0 It\u2019s better to find a shorted or open coax with a meter than by smelling smoke from your radio.<\/p>\n 7.\u00a0\u00a0 Headphones are a must!\u00a0 You will be able to hear messages more clearly and those sharing the space will appreciate the silence.<\/p>\n 8.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Always carry a charged battery that will allow at least 12 hours of operation, assuming you will be transmitting 20% of that time typically.\u00a0 An 80 amp-hour battery is rated to provide 4 amps for 20 hours, but your radio may not operate below 11.2 volts, so you may only get 12-15 hours instead of 20.\u00a0 And batteries that are old, too cold or have been over-discharged may provide only a fraction of their rated power.\u00a0\u00a0 Carry a spare and learn how to load test a battery.<\/p>\n 9.\u00a0\u00a0 The battery cables must be fused near the battery.\u00a0 If the battery is connected to a power supply, use dual diodes to isolate them (or a West Mountain PowerGate), or you may fry the power supply when you lose AC power.\u00a0\u00a0 Battery terminals should be insulated to prevent accidental shorting.\u00a0 Looded-cell batteries should always be in a battery case to prevent acid leakage during charging.<\/p>\n 10. Use Anderson PowerPole connectors on all power cables.\u00a0 Borrow a PowerPole crimper to make your cables. Don\u2019t use a single-dimple crimper if you want reliable connections.<\/p>\n 11. If your antenna is inside the building you may desensitize other agency\u2019s radios or interfere with public address systems.<\/p>\n 12. Frequently check your antenna, mast, coax and power for safety issues.\u00a0\u00a0 Don\u2019t allow your station to become part of the emergency!<\/p>\n 13. Once you get your portable go-kit packed up, actually use it occasionally, even if it is just in your back yard during the Saturday ARES Training Net.<\/p>\n Portable Antenna Performance Comparison<\/b><\/p>\n Relative gain in dB compared to a mobile mag mount, as measured from W3AHL to W4UNC 443.475 repeater at UNC Hospital (5.5 miles) in 2009 using a spectrum analyzer.<\/p>\n\n