ARROW Communication Association

Serving Radio Amateurs in Michigan's Washtenaw & Wayne Counties

Nick, W8XM on the Raspberry Pi 4

At our July meeting, we were treated to a great presentation by Nick, W8XM, on the new Raspberry Pi 4. Thanks, Nick!

 

 

 

UMARC/ARROW rack up more than 2,000 Qs on Field Day 2019

We ran four HF stations this year, including two CW and two SSB stations. Also shown in this photo are the GOTA station, the public information table, and the food tent. Photo: Larry Works, KD8MDM.

Dave, N8SBE, our Field Day 2019 head honcho reports:

The U-M Amateur Radio Club and ARROW joined again for Field Day 2019, operating class 4A (four transmitters, no commercial power) and one GOTA (Get On The Air) station. We operated again from the park just north of the Ann Arbor Airport.

The radios included three Elecraft K3s, a Yaesu FTdx5000mp for one SSB station, and the UofM club’s Kenwood TS-590 for the GOTA station.  We used contest filters on all the radios, which all did well in the intense multi-multi setup with minimal co-interference.

Our antennas were held up with 40-ft. masts built up from 10, 4-ft. sections of those surplus fiberglass poles used for camouflage netting in the Gulf wars.  These are handy and lightweight, but require 8 people to put up a mast — four on the guy ropes, one on a ladder to raise and hold up the mast while the sixth guy stuffs mast sections up from under, and the last two to stand about 90 degrees apart and determine when the whole thing looks fairly vertical before tying down the guys.  We use two sets of four guys, one set at the top of the mast, and the other half-way down.  We had two CW dipoles, one a multi-band 80, 20, 15, and 10m (note the absence of 40m), the other a single-band 40m, placed end-to-end to minimize pickup.  Two more antennas for the SSB stations, one an Alpha-Delta CC multi-band, the other a 40m “super-loop”, again placed end-to-end.  It takes six masts total to put up the four dipoles, since we separate the SSB and CW dipoles on either side of the parking area where all the shelters are set up.

When we ‘pulled the plug’ on Sunday at 2pm ET, we had more than 2000 contacts. We worked to obtain as many bonus points as possible, but did leave some on the table, including the visit from an elected official, visit from a served agency, and the satellite contact. We usually manage everything except the satellite contact, although some years in the past, we snagged that one, too.

While totalling up all the points will take some time, I think we did pretty well again this year. Thanks to everyone who helped to make this a fun event.

Here are some photos from Arun, W8ARU:

Don, AC8TO, coaching someone at the GOTA station.

Dinesh, AB3DC, and Arun, W8ARU, enjoying the fine weather.

Stuart, W8SRC, cranking out some Qs, with Don, AC8TO looking on. This was Stuart’s 10th Field Day!

Here are some more photos from Larry, KD8MZM:

WS8U’s generator provided most of the power for this year’s FD.

We tried setting up a Beverage antenna, but results were mixed.

Charles, W8HAX, operates one of the SSB stations.

Dan, KB6NU, operates one of the CW stations.

UMARC/ARROW ARRL Field Day 2019 (June 22 – 23)

The University of Michigan Amateur Radio Club and the ARROW Radio Club invite the public to attend the National Amateur Radio Field Day at the Ann Arbor Airport.

When: June 22, 2 p.m. to June 23, 2 p.m. (24 hours)
Where: Ann Arbor Airport Soccer Field, 801 Airport Dr, Ann Arbor, MI (W. Ellsworth and Airport Blvd.; Across from Costco)

This annual 24-hour national open-house event gives the public an overview of amateur radio and also helps amateur radio operators prepare for emergencies and develop radio communication skills. You will get a chance to meet experts, ask questions, learn how radio operators help local governments in times of need, and even operate the station, under supervision.

Free and open to all ages, amateur radio or ham radio is a hobby where licensed operators use radios to communicate with people all over the world and even with astronauts in space. Please do drop by and experience the amazing world of ham radio and don’t forget to bring along your kids as Amateur Radio might be a stepping stone for them to get involved in STEM-related activities and careers.

More information about Field Day can be found here: http://www.arrl.org/field-day

#ARRLFD #ARRLFD2019

Going Long: KB8U talks about 630m

At our June meeting, Russ, KB8U gave a great talk on how to get on and operate the 630m band (472-479 kHz). Here are his slides:

ARROW works the MI QSO Party at the Red Cross

We participated in the MI QSO Party this past Saturday from the Red Cross Station and we ran the station for the full 12 hours of the contest period and we made 328 QSOs and scored 47234 points.

A special thanks to Thom W8TAM for the IC-7300 station and for manning the station for the full 12 hour period and for also donating a Windows machine and a monitor for the Red Cross station. Also, thanks to the following operators: Garry W8GMD, Julie K8VOX, Mark W8FSA and Dan KB6NU and to Jay WB8TKL and Jon KD8MKE and his wife for visiting us.

Dan KB6NU (left), Dinesh AB3DC (right), Thom W8TAM (bottom) piling up the points in the 2019 MI QSO Party
Photos: Thom, W8TAM and Dinesh AB3DC

Thanks to Dave N8SBE (35728 points) and Russ KB8U (55880 points) for submitting their logs on behalf of the ARROW. We are currently leading the Combined Club category with a score of 138,842. If you have not submitted your logs please remember to give credit to ARROW or if you forgot to give credit please resubmit you log and select ARROW COMMUNICATIONS ASSN as the Club.

Also, while at the Red Cross Station, Thom and I also did a lot of clean up work. We have more to do and we plan to discuss this at the next Board and General meetings.  

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