ARROW Communication Association

Serving Radio Amateurs in Michigan's Washtenaw & Wayne Counties

Author: KB6NU Page 1 of 7

Dan, KB6NU, is the chair of the ARROW Education Committee, a past ARROW president, and station manager for WA2HOM, the club station at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum. He blogs about amateur radio at KB6NU.Com.

KB6NU teaches ham radio to hackers

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On February 15, 2025

In Uncategorized

On Tuesday, January 21, 2025, Dan, KB6NU spoke about the grant he received from ARDC and his experience over the course of 2024 teaching his one-day Tech class at hacker cons. He taught his class four times in all, and helped more than 100 “hackers” get their licenses. 

He found that hacker cons are very fertile ground for amateur radio, and that many attendees already had amateur radio licenses. In addition, he felt that hackers are just the kind of people that we want in amateur radio. They are generally younger than the current ham population, and they are interested in doing more than just yakking on the radio.

To view Dan’s slides, click here.

Man standing in front of slide presentation being projected onto screen behind him.

Dan, KB6NU, explaining why hacker cons are fertile ground for recruiting radio amateurs. Photo: Ralph Katz, AA8RK.

Photo of the members gathered at the January 21, 2025 ARROW meeting.

Jay, WB8TKL (front and center) is obviously excited to hear KB6NU talk about his experiences teaching ham radio to hackers. Photo: Ed Vielmetti, W8EMV.

VE Team Goes Electronic

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On January 21, 2025

In Uncategorized

One of the great things about our club is the VE team. We religiously (pun intended) hold test sessions every second Saturday of the month at the Fellowship Bible Church here in Ann Arbor. There are 26 members of our VE team, and this team is one of the reasons our club has been so successful.

An amateur radio license exam session.

At the January 11 test session our VE team used ExamTools for the first time. Photo: Steve, AC8YA.

At the January 11, 2025 test session, our VE team went electronic, this being the first test session they used ExamTools. ExamTools is a web-based software package that allows for administering and grading exams via computer or paper, and digital signing of all forms including NCVEC Form 605 and all Certificates of Successful Completion. It can also be used to generate randomized exams for Amateur Radio Element 2 (Technician), Element 3 (General), and Element 4 (Amateur Extra).

ExamTools streamlines the administration of amateur radio exams for both in-person and remote exam sessions. Candidates take tests in a web browser on a computer or tablet, after which VEs grade the test on a computer, generate an electronic Certificate of Successful Completion of Exam (CSCE), and electronically submit the test results to their Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC), which in our case is the ARRL.

The January 11, 2025 test session was very successful. There were four candidates, and they all passed the Tech test. One attempted the General exam, but unfortunately, failed. There were 10 VEs administering the test, including:

  • Dinesh, AB3DC
  • Steve AC8YA
  • James, AE8JF
  • Mark, W8FSA
  • Jeff, AA8HF
  • Ralph, AA8RK
  • Calvin, KC8NYZ
  • Jeff, KN8A
  • Ron, N8TEN
  • Mark,W8MP

Jeff, AA8HF, commented, “I was impressed with how much quicker the whole process was. I’ve been a VE for just about a year, and the test sessions I’ve seen have taken an hour or more depending on how many candidates we had. In the past, they often spent more time waiting for us to grade each test and fill out and sign all the forms than they spent taking the actual test. Using Exam Tools, our session took a little more than a half hour, and the candidates got their results instantly. The ‘paperwork’ only took a few minutes for each test.”

With ExamTools, it looks like our VE team will be able to make more new hams even faster.

HO HO HO. December meeting draws big crowd

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On December 20, 2024

In Meeting Notes, Uncategorized

I’m not sure if it was the pizza or the gift exchange or the election of officers for 2025 (yeah, right…), but we had a great turnout at our December meeting. The agenda included:

  • Eating pizza. (Thanks, Don!)
  • Recapping our 2024 activities
  • Looking ahead to 2025
  • A “mystery” activity
  • “Electing” next year’s officers. There were no contested elections this year, so someone moved that we approve the slate presented by acclamation, and after a second, we did just that.
  • Holding the annual “white elephant” gift exchange.
I’m betting that it was the pizza that drew so many to our club meeting this month. Photo: James Forgacs, AE8JF.

2024 was a good year

2024 was a very good year for ARROW. We’re now up to 160 paying members, we participated in a number of activities, including:

  • WOTO Site Repeater Upgrades
  • ARROW Equipment/Property Insurance through ARRL
  • Updating and Improving ARROW financial and membership records
  • Getting our ARRL special service club award renewed
  • Relationship with Toledo Mobile Radio Association (TMRA, W8HHF.org)
  • Finding new general meeting location (Maker Works
  • Supported Switch Fixer Program (repaired dozens of assistive devices for disabled people)
  • Weekly 2-meter club nets.
  • AMPTeam outings each month. AMP stands for ARROW Mobile and Portable and they’re kind of like POTA activations and mini Field Days, but people bring all kinds of different stuff to them. The crazy people in our club even meet in the winter months.
  • Monthly breakfasts at local greasy spoon.
  • Communication support for two bike tours: One Helluva Ride and Tour de Cure.
  • Bus to the Dayton Hamvention. For more than ten years, our club has rented a bus and taken members and others to Dayton.
  •  Two one-day Tech classes in 2024, with a total of 50 students.
  • 14 VE test sessions that tested 99 candidates who earned 54 Tech licenses, 18 General Class licenses, and 11 Extra Class licenses.
  • Great showing in the Summer ARRL Field Day. In 2024, our club finished first in class 4A in Michigan, and nationally, we ranked 43 out of 4,319 entries overall regardless of class.
  • Participation in community tech events, including the Ann Arbor Library Creativity and Making Expo and the Maker Works Open House.
  • Participated in Jamboree on the Air (JOTA)
A collage of photos from Field Day 2024

Scenes from our very successful 2024 Field Day operation.

 

Looking ahead to 2025

We’re not resting on our laurels, though. The club leadership is planning some new initiatives for 2025, including:

  • Review of Groups.io General mailing list.
  • Moving to electronic license testing through the ExamTools platform.
  • Building relationship with other clubs in Southeast Michigan.
  • Name/Callsign Badges for ARROW members.
  • Supporting Kiwanis to test and repair electronics for their rummage sales.
  • One-day tech & electronics classes at Maker Works.
  • 220 MHz antenna build session.

Election of officers

The folks nominated to be our officers for 2025 included:

  • President: James Forgacs, AE8JF
  • Vice President: Steve Szafarek, AC8YA
  • Secretary: Don Winsor, AC8TO
  • Treasurer: Steve Rogacki, AC8GO
  • Technical Coordinator: Jay Nugent, WB8TKL
  • Public Information Officer: Edward Vielmetti, W8EMV
  • Activities Coordinator: Dinesh Cyanam, AB3DC

There being no nominations from the floor, these nominees were declared the winners by acclamation!

What’s a white elephant, anyway?

The final item on the agenda was the white elephant gift exchange. As is our custom, those who have been licensed the longest get to choose first. That honor has gone to Paul, KW1L, for the past five years or so. He was followed by John, WA8TON; Mark, W8FSA; Jay, WB8TKL, and Dan, KB6NU.

There were lots of good items in the gift exhange this year. I spotted a nice parts organizer, a 100 W dummy load, and a couple of HTs. Of course, they weren’t all so useful. One fellow got a couple of older Ethernet switches, including one that had at least 50 ports!

The meeting was adjourned after the sale. Happy holidays to all!

 

Switch Fixers!

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On May 24, 2024

In Uncategorized

Yesterday, four ARROW members met at Maker Works to fix assistive devices. Shown below is Paul, KW1L; Rick, K8BMA; and Ron, K8RCF. Yours truly is taking the picture.

The devices we worked on are devices used by people who have difficulty communicating. Typically, they consists of a big switch that the user presses to play a pre-recorded message.

The problems are generally easy to diagnose, and the repairs are generally simple repairs. Rick, for example, replaced the plugs on several of the devices, and Paul and Ron replaced the speakers in several of the units.

One of the devices that I tackled came with a note that read, “Won’t play or record, even with a new battery.” 

Picture of a defective battery clip.As we all know, the first step in troubleshooting is to verify the problem. So, I obtained a new battery and opened the battery compartment. As shown in the photo at right, it was clear that the problem was a defective battery clip. Somehow, someone managed to tear the negative contact off the clip. I replaced the battery clip and brought the device back to life! 

Overall, we probably fixed close to ten devices, including the pushbutton switches. We probably could have fixed more, but it took us some time to learn how to disassemble and then reassemble the devices.

And, while the fixes are usually simple, they can also be a bit frustrating. For example, the device that I replaced the battery clip on wouldn’t go back together very easily. It looked to me as though the screws holding the device together just aren’t long enough. Other devices had similar design issues.

Even so, it was an interesting and fun exercise, and we will be doing this again. There are many more devices to fix. I asked Dale, our contact at Maker Works, if we might schedule an evening session so that those of you who are working can join us. Stay tuned for that.

ARROW Exhibits at Ann Arbor Maker Fair

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On May 25, 2023

In Club News, Events

On Saturday, May 6, 2023, I was joined by Joe AC8ES, Ed KC1DYK, James AE8JF, and Ralph AA8RK at the Ann Arbor Creativity and Making Expo (AACME). Formerly called the Ann Arbor Mini-Maker Faire, this is the first post-pandemic instance of this event.

From L to R: interested attendee, Ed KC1DYK, Joe AC8ES, Dan KB6NU, James AE8JF, another interested attendee. Photo: Ralph AA8RK.

While the number of exhibitors and attendees was down from 2019, I think everyone had a great time. In addition to ARROW, exhibitors included:

  • Skyline High Robotics Team
  • Maker Works
  • All Hands Active Makerspace
  • Retro Computing SIG

and several others. There was even a woman there doing some creative upholstering.

We had a couple of interesting things to show people:

  • Joe, AC8ES, brought his parabolic, double biquad WiFi antenna project.
  • Ed, KC1DYK, brought a nanoVNA and the coil and variable capacitor that he built from a soda can.
  • I brought my assortment of keys and code practice oscillators to demonstrate Morse Code and got many of the attendees to send me their names in code.

Joe, AC8ES, demonstrating his parabolic, double biquad WiFi antenna. Photo: Lisa Giannati Photography.

I also brought my KX-3, and we set up the 40m/20m inverted-vee antenna out in the courtyard.

Ed, KC1DYK, tossing a line up into a tree so that we could raise the inverted-vee antenna. Photo: Joe AC8ES

Unfortunately, band conditions weren’t all that great, so we didn’t make a lot of contacts. Also, being so close to the building probably didn’t help.

One of the highlights of the afternoon was meeting one particularly smart high school student. She came up to our table, just as we began packing up. As it turned out, she had either just completed, or was working on an antenna similar to Joe’s. We gave her the spiel on ham radio, and I think we convinced her to get her Tech license. I’m also going to try to get her to come to Field Day.

Thanks to all who attended and all who helped out with the event.

 

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