All posts by n0dnd

Regional News

A NE Ham Tradition continues July 30th-31st All Welcome

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Last year I attended this. Me and my wife took our camper out a week ahead of time and camped there all week. It was a great time to meet some of the other hams in the state. While I did not get to stay for the ham fest it was still a good time and I regret not being able to stay. This has been going on for many years. All hams are welcome and the people will make you feel that way. It is a tradition that younger and newer hams should not be afraid to get involved with. You will not regret it.



 

 

55th Annual Central Nebraska Amateur Radio Club Ham Fest and Steak Fry

July 30th-31st, 2016

Victoria Springs State Park, Anselmo, Nebraska

 

 

Get your Park Permit immediately upon arrival, Permits available at Park office.

(Agenda subject to change and/or corrections!)

 

Central Nebraska Amateur Radio Club Web Site: cnarc.club

 

 

Pre July 30th–Come and enjoy the Nebraska Sandhill’s great camping with new and old friends. Take an easy drive to the Nebraska National Forest near Halsey, the Middle Loup River at Millburn or enjoy shopping in Broken Bow and nearby towns. Come early to get the choice spots!



Friday July 29th

1700-1900 Helena Country Club BQ at The Community Hall in Anselmo. Adult $7, 12-5 $5, 5 and under Free

 

Saturday July 30th

1000 FCC exams at the shelter in the southwest corner of Victoria Springs Park. K0KDC/Kevin Curtis and The Progressive Amateur Radio Club of North Platte are in charge. Extra VE’s may be needed. Walk-ins accepted. Please bring necessary fee and paperwork.
1400 Gather for an old time ice cream social! Bring your freezer and fixins. Cookies and bars are also needed. Come and enjoy, just follow the crowd. BRING YOUR OWN BOWL AND SPOON and a Chair!
We will need 15 people to make ice cream. If, you would like to provide your favorite flavor, please contact Danny & Peggy Baer email address danny@baer4.net.
1500 Weather Conditions permitting—RC Fly In at Larry Curtis’ Field. West on 21A to Rd 421, south 1 mile. Bring lawn chairs, shade and refreshments.

1530 Afternoon transmitter hunt. WB0SIP/Bill Seier will present a short instructional session on Fox

Hunts before the hunt.
1830 Grilled hot dogs and hamburgers at the shelter house. Choice of side, chips and drink for a

fee to be determined to cover costs. CNARC in charge with help from Lincoln ARC.
1900 BIG ED’S POPCORN EMPORIUM. Free popcorn in memory of Ed Doehling/WØHQE. Sponsored by Blue Valley ARC. Bring a chair, always some entertainment! If, you want to showcase your talent, contact WD0AAH/Mark.

 

Sunday July 31st
0730 Coffee and rolls east of the shower house. Custer County ARC. Donations please.

0900 Church Services at The Shelter House
1000 Registration begins in the picnic area. Bring a covered dish and utensils. Fee covers noon steak fry, day’s activities and prize drawings. Prices to be determined by the beef market.
1000 Swap meet on the west side. Please bring your own tables! We need picnic tables for seating.

No charge for setup.
1100-1130 Bring covered dishes to serving tables. CNARC provides sirloin steaks or sirloin burgers, and drinks. A covered dish is to be furnished by everyone. Bring your own table service. Extra tables and chairs are recommended.
1145-1200 Form four lines. Get your appetites ready! Steaks and sirloin burgers served by the CNARC and volunteers.
Afternoon program: CNARC Membership Meeting, Prizes,Grand Prize MFJ 267 Watt Meter (3000 Watt Max), Cross Needle SWR Meter and 2016 Victoria Springs Ham Fest clock. (Must be present to win any prize)


This ham fest was started in 1962 with the family in mind.

We are glad you and your family could attend!

 

Repeater: Broken Bow 147.06/66

DRIVE SAFELY AND HAVE A GREAT DAY.
THANK YOU FOR COMING, WE WILL SEE YOU NEXT YEAR.

 

CENTRAL NEBRASKA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ACCIDENTS.

 

(PLEASE PRINT AND BRING TO THE HAMFEST)

Club News

Project Night

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A few of us have discussed it from time to time but have never really done anything about it until now. I am happy to announce the as a club we voted and approved what we will call project night. This is a night we can get together and practice the art of ham radio either by building something, experimenting with something, or we can even just meet up and operate our station. There are a lot of things we can do with this night. What we really haven’t done however is decide when, where, or what we want to do. So, for those interested, send me an email @mycall at gihams.org. Once I have an idea of participants we will decide on time, location, and project. I thought we might set up another Facebook group just for collaboration on projects. If you all think this is good lets hear about it. We could also set up a sked to meeet up on the radio.

I feel like this is a great opportunity to get to know one another better, learn each others strengths , and probably make fun of the weaknesses hihi. Anyway it would be good to see a lot of you in a different environment. I hope to see you all wanting to participate.

73

n0dnd

Club News

June 2016 Minutes

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  • Call to Order 1930 hours – 8 Members present and 3 Guests
  • Reading of the treasurers report
  • Topics of discussion were as follows
    • Nebraska State fair
      • Online hours entry big help in that Stan doesn’t have to do it and the info provided goes a long in discussions of duties, parking needs, and the services we can provide.
      • Brian added that he had spoken to Tom ridge and that they would provide the cat5 cable if we installed the cable for internet.
      • Parking last year was in 7a, worked well for those who were allowed to park there.
      • Liability issues were discussed. We do not want to become a burden on the facility and State fair organization. We should handle our own liability issues.
    • Mike Mathews, kd0qed, provided discussion on the radio show.
    • Repeater discussion – Elba needs to be repaired yet, Brian volunteered to go up and help.
    • Field day discussion for both Hastings and Kearney locations.Info to be posted on website.
    • Project night was voted and approved once month, info to follow at later date.
    • Discussion on relocating radios.
    • Discussed creating education program to bring schools into the hobby.
  • Meeting adjourned 2030 hours.
Regional News

1st Annual Greater Midwest Radio Show June 18th, 2016

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  • Antique Radios
  • Vintage Electronics
  • Ham Radio
  • Electronics
  • Hobby Items
  • Swap Meet and Commercial Vendors
  • Demonstrations
  • Weather Presentation by NOAA
  • FCC approved ham radio testing
  • Hidden transmitter hunt at 3pm following the show
  • Door Prizes
  • Refreshments and Lunch served on site
  • Presentation by NWS-Hastings on Radar interpretation and more
  • Radio COntests for most beautiful and ugly sets

When:  Saturday June 18th, 2016 from 8am-3pm at Hastings College Kiewit Gymnasium 710 Turner Ave, Hastings, Nebraska, 68901

More information here

Admission 3.50 in advance and 5 dollars at the door.

Under 18 admitted free with parent or guardian (Must have Parent or Guardian)

Table rental here

Club News

Saturday Morning breakfast

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One of the best questions I have heard lately is do we still go to the resturant on Saturday morning. Well the answer to that is a resounding yes. It is always a great time to get to know other club members and talk about whatever is going on.

We meet every Saturday Morning at the State Street McDonalds in Grand Island. Somebody is usually monitoring the 94 machine and talk you into the meeting.

Club News

CNNSP Payload Update

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Payload Rework and Testing

 
We’re just shy of a month away from my first launch in almost six years.
I’ve been busy reworking, redesigning, and testing the payloads that will be used on the upcoming flight.

The launch is in support of the Edgerton Explorit Center, in Aurora, NE.

       Location:  East side of the Edgerton Explorit Center
             Date:  Saturday, May 14, 2016
Launch Time:  9:30 AM CDT  

My friend and ARHAB mentor, Mark Conner N9XTN from NSTAR will also be launching a balloon that day.

Here’s a few images of what I’ve been working on:

Soft-sided lunch coolers make good payload containers. I started using these back in 2005, one of the many ideas I borrowed from Mark N9XTN.
 
APRS tracking circuitry consisting of a UniTraq model GT-320FW(AS) GPS module and an ArgentData OpenTracker+ SMT. This payload has been fairly reliable the past couple of flights.
 
Alinco DJ-S11 2 meter transceiver and battery pack tucked away in foam. Top of the image is the data logger enclosure and its GPS module (upper left).
 
 
Inside the data logger enclosure. 
 
Had to do a few repairs to the CW beacon. 
 
The CW beacon has a new home, tucked inside the foam (pool noodle) on the GoPro camera payload.
 
Dual GoPro cameras for HD video and stills
 
 
I’m waiting for one more device to arrive. Apparently the USPS lost my newest gear somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, so a new one is being shipped and should arrive this week. I’ll be trying out a Tracksoar. A new Open Source APRS tracking module. It was a KickStarter project that got funding earlier this year. 

As we get closer to launch day I’ll be updating this site with the latest information as well asmy Twitter account. 

– Rog KC0MWM

Club News

N0MTQ SK

Sad news to report to you this evening, Dick Lemke n0mtq passed away April 10 from complications in his battle against cancer. Dick had always monitored the simplex Frequencies here in the Grand Island Area, spoke to him many times on the air, he could always be counted on for a good QSO. He will be missed. If some of you guys who knew him longer and better than I did would like to add to this post let me know and I would be happy to do so. I do not have any details other than he will have a graveside service on Wednesday afternoon. If I get more info I will post it. 

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Nebraska QSO Party

Well Sorry I did not get this posted sooner as I have been busy with a lot of different things. There is a Nebraska QSO party this weekend, April 16 and 17th, a great time to practice contesting, make a lot of contacts, and warm up the airwaves. I plan on participating this weekend as I hope to see many of you on the air this weekend. I will try and post some info about it, but some of the functionality of the site is not yet what I want it to be, but if you google the qso party you can find the rules and everything you need to know to participate.

www.QCWA.org/chapter025.htm

 

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CNNSP – Central Nebraska Near Space Program

On Saturday May 14th Roger Hammond and other hams from W0CUO and W0WWV ham radio clubs will be launching a high altitude balloon with a payload consisting of a camera to photogragh the trip and an APRS position reporting beacon to keep track of the trip. Photos will be transmitted Via SSTV, and of course some of them will end up here. The launch will occur in Aurora at the  Edgerton Explorit Center. Here is an excerpt from Rogers Blog site about his last launch:

CNNSP-10 (25-Jun-2011)

 
Launch Time:  18:08 UTC
Launch Location:  Grand Island, NE
Max. Altitude:  89,164 feet
Max. Speed:  58 mph
Avg. Speed:  25 mph
Avg. Ascent Rate:  1263 ft/min
Avg. Descent Rate:  1800 ft/min
Flight Duration:  1 hr, 52 min.
Distance (Great Circle):  32 miles


 


This was our first flight in almost four years. I decided to get back in the ARHAB game and launch a balloon as part of Amateur Radio Field Day festivities. These were all new payloads, except for the old trusty CW beacon. The payloads consisted of two APRS trackers, a Canon A560 running the CHDK firmware, and an Aiptek Standard Def. video camera. We launched from south of Grand Island, just off of East Wildwood Drive. We had plenty of help at the launch site. I appreciate the new faces that came out to help.
 
The balloon was released at 13:08 CDT. We had a catastrophic failure of one of the trackers, apparently before it ever left the ground. I believe it was a poor antenna connection, but I need to investigate. My wife, Arlene KC0ZWX, Aaron KD0ENX, and I were the tracking and recovery team. Stan N0YXV joined us for the chase in his vehicle. The ascent rate was a little ‘hot’. I have a tendency to go overboard on additional helium. Instead of the nominal 1000 ft/min we were averaging about 1200. 

Last prediction before launch

This made for a quicker burst which occurred at 89,164 feet, and a little bit shorter track than predicted.

 
seconds before balloon burst

Landing was southwest of York, NE in a cornfield. We spent quite a bit of time finding the landowner to get permission to retrieve our goods. After talking to neighbors and leaving several messages, the landowner called me back and gave me permission. I hiked in with GPS coordinates and retrieved the payloads along with several additional pounds of the farmer’s mud.

Chase and recovery team – Aaron KD0ENX, Rog KC0MWM, and Arlene KC0ZWX