Meetings are held each 3rd Tuesday of the month at Maker Works (3765 Plaza Dr, Ann Arbor, MI 48108) and on Zoom starting at 7:00 p.m (6:30 per-meeting chat). There is usually a technical presentation on topics of interest to radio amateurs and a short business meeting. Meetings are open to the public.

1/10/2024

Details

2/14/2024 – Michael KE8AQW – Radio in Scouting, JOTA (Jamboree on the Air)

Radio in Scouting, K2BSA at the National Jamboree

3/13/2024 – Lulu Zhao – University of Michigan CLEAR Center

Lulu Zhao from the University of Michigan CLEAR Center will join us in person to talk about the CLEAR center and their work in solar weather.

4/10/2024 – Jay WB8TKL, Matt KE8HKA – What is NCS?

The “Net Control Station”, or NCS, is a position we have all heard of
and several of us have even been in that hot seat. But are you aware of
all the various kinds of Nets and the skills that the NCS of these nets
need to perform. Many Nets having operations going on in the background
that you have probably never known about.

This month we will cover the various Nets and what the NCS must do in
each of them. We will also learn what Pro-Words to use when making an
inject into a Net — and what words NOT to use, and why. We will also
touch upon when ICS Forms are needed, and when they are not.

5/8/2024 – Scott N8SY – ARRL – Great Lakes Division Director

Scott Yonally, N8SY – Great Lakes Division Director. Personal overview and where he wants to head the ARRL and Great Lakes Division for the future.

6/12/2024 – James AE8JF – ARRL Field Day Overview & Planning

Field day 101: what you can expect and how to participate
Field day Planning

7/10/2024 – Steve AC8YA, Steve KB8AY, Jim K8JBD – Winlink Software Overview & Setup

Hands-on workshop on Winlink. Adding this capability to your station will greatly improve your capability for message routing, and if you’re using 2-meters you can even do that on a Technician class license. Our instructors this month are Steve Szafarek, AC8YA, Assistant Emergency Coordinator and Hospital Operations Auxcomm Coordinator, Steve Bemis Assistant Emergency Coordinator, and Jim Dunbar EC/RO Washtenaw County Amateur Radio Public Service Corps.

The workshop is a walkthrough of Winlink installation, setup, and basic usage. This includes installation of Winlink on your Windows-based laptop so please bring it along. In doing so we’ll go over sending and receiving messages both through the internet and using radio in packet mode and using VARA FM and VARA HF.

8/14/2024 – Neil KC2KY – Practical HF Antennas

Welcome to HF hamming. In Practical HF Antennas we will explore some easy, inexpensive antenna ideas that will propel you into the fun of everyday HF operating, rag chewing, DX-ing, contesting and experimentation. You can have a lot of fun with antennas that you built yourself or purchased ready-made at a reasonable cost. Get on the air and have some fun!

Neil Heft, KC2KY, was first licensed in 1971 as WN2UDP. He upgraded to Advanced IN 1973. In the late seventies, Ham Radio took a back seat as Neil studied Electrical Engineering at Drexel University. After finishing his undergraduate work in 1980, his interest in ham radio started to take off again. By 1987 Neil, now KC2KY, upgraded to Extra Class. Neil is President of the Radio Central Amateur Radio Club and editor of the club newsletter, Random Oscillations. He works as an Electrical Engineer at Mini-Circuits Labs in Deer Park, New York

9/11/2024 – Thom W8TAM – POTA (Parks on the Air)

Thom will be talking about a quick primer on how to sign up, what the rules are, and tips for getting started activating or hunting Parks on the Air.
 
Then he will be talking about his experiences reaching 1,000 unique parks.
 
Q & A session, and hear from folks who have already participated.

10/15/2024 – Steve AC8YA – Winlink Soundcard & Radio Setup

This month’s presentation will be Part 2 of a hands-on workshop on Winlink.

The hands-on workshop walks-through installation and setup of your soundcard for use with Winlink. Please bring along your Windows-based laptop (with Winlink Express installed, if possible), your chosen soundcard, radio, power supply and dummy load and we’ll go over sending and receiving messages over the air using radio in packet mode using VARA FM and VARA HF.

This capability added to your station will greatly improve your message handling, and if you’re using 2-meters you can even do that on a Technician class license. Our instructors again this month are Steve Szafarek, AC8YA, Assistant Emergency Coordinator and Hospital Operations Auxcomm Coordinator, Steve Bemis Assistant Emergency Coordinator, and Jim Dunbar EC/RO Washtenaw County Amateur Radio Public Service Corps.

11/13/2024 – TBD

Details to come

12/11/2024 – James AE8JF – Club Elections & General Discussion

Details to come