Author Archives: KØJAA

About KØJAA

Joplin ARC Member - 2018 President | Jasper Co ARES Asst Emergency Coordinator | ARRL Member | Licensed since 2003

147.210 Repeater Moving / Downtime

The 147.210 W0IN repeater will be shut down this Saturday, January 12 so the equipment can be removed from the current site. The JOPLIN APRS Digipeater will also be off the air as it is located at the same site on the same antenna. We anticipate it being off the air for 2-4 weeks as we prepare the new site for it to be installed. The new location will be SW of Joplin and will also be the location of our new DMR UHF repeater. The length of the downtime is due to being able to coordinate installation of both repeaters and antennas and availability of tower climbers.

This new site will be a more economical choice for us and the cost of relocation will quickly pay for itself with lower annual cost.

While the 147.210 if off the air, there are several alternatives in the area: 

  • For SkyWarn – the 145.350(-) 91.5 PL N0NWS repeater can be linked to the regional SkyWarn system.
  • The 145.190(-) 91.5 PL W0IN repeater is a Joplin repeater with local coverage located at Mercy.
  • The 145.390(-) 91.5 PL KM0HP repeater is part of the SMLRS wide coverage linked system.
  • The 147.000(+) no tone WB0IYC repeater is Jim Scott’s personal repeater located in downtown Joplin with local coverage.
  • For APRS, I will keep my K0JAA digipeater on the air from my house, although coverage is very limited. I’ll point my antenna to cover Joplin if possible. It’s main function was to gate packets from JOPLIN to the internet, so it was pointed directly at the tower.

Please respect the repeater owners’ rules and other users as you move your QSOs and Nets to other systems until the 210 is back on the air. There will be an announcement here when services resume. Thanks!

January Meeting Location Change

Meeting location for the January business meeting on Tuesday the 8th will be at the church across the street from the building we normally meet. Located on Pearl between 5th and 6th streets. Enter on west side.

7/24 Meeting Location Change

From Jeff about the meeting location for tomorrow, July 24 – we will still meet at 7p but will be across the street:

Due to a scheduling issue, the meeting Tuesday will be moved to the 1st Presbyterian Church -John Knox hall. If you have ever been to be 1st Tuesday lunch, it is that same room. You can park in the same place or on Pearl closer to the side doors closest to the sign with the pastor’s name on it.

May Project: Fox Hunt

This Tuesday we will be having a Fox Hunt during our meeting at 7p.

Bring your Tape Measure Yagi or any other antenna you want to try out for finding the fox! If you need help adding a connector on the antenna we made a couple months ago, let us know and plan on coming early – we will have a soldering station for those who need help. Email back on groups.io or reply on Facebook if you plan on coming early to solder on a connector. I don’t know what connectors are available so plan on bringing one or make arrangements to get one before then.

We will be meeting at the normal meeting location – 502 Pearl, Joplin MO. The Fox will be hidden somewhere nearby, this won’t be a city-wide hunt, just a local practice and opportunity to test our our antennas.

190 Repeater Status

There was some confusion on the current settings on the 190 repeater, so I wanted to clarify how it is set up currently.

The 145.190 repeater is a Yaesu DR-1X System Fusion repeater, and is currently set to AUTO on both the RX and TX sides. This means that it will accept both C4FM and analog FM and will re-transmit in the same mode it receives. The 190 is not Internet-connected at this time, so all transmissions are local.

If you have a Fusion capable radio, you have a few options: you can use any of the C4FM digital modes including Normal (voice+data), VW (voice wide), or Data only, or of course you can use analog FM as well.

Non-fusion users will hear digital noise if they are listening to the 190, however I have turned on the 91.5Hz tone on both input and output, which will enable you to set Tone Squelch on the receive of your radio to block out digital signals if you don’t want to hear it. If you are using RX Tone SQL, please open your squelch to check if a digital transmission is occurring before transmitting to that repeater.

The best way for both digital and analog users to co-exist on the repeater is for Fusion users to set their radios to Auto Mode Select (AMS) – the way to do this varies by radio, but I know on my HT it is indicated by a bar next to the mode display. What this does is automatically switch your radio to TX in the same mode received – so if you are having a conversation using a digital mode, and an analog user breaks in, your radio will switch over to analog automatically to accommodate everybody.

Let me or the tech committee (KE0BKM) know if you have any questions about the repeater, or setting up your radio, or experience any problems.

~Jason (K0JAA)

2018 Missouri QSO Party

The Missouri QSO Party is coming up next weekend (April 7-8), here’s some information about the event:
 
  • We don’t have a planned club event, but if you plan to operate in the field, feel free to post and invite others!
  • http://www.w0ma.org/index.php/missouri-qso-party is the official website where you can find the full rules and log submission instructions
  • Times: Saturday 1400 UTC to Sunday 0400 UTC, and Sunday 1400-2000 UTC
  • Missouri stations may specify Joplin Amateur Radio Club when you submit your log and all our scores will be combined for a Club Score
  • Exchange: Missouri Fixed stations will provide callsign, RST, and a three letter county code (JAS, NWT, etc). Missouri stations can work anyone and get multipliers for MO counties, US States, and Canadian provinces.
  • Non-Missouri stations will provide callsign, RST, and their US state, can work MO stations and get multipliers for MO counties.

March Project – Tape Measure Yagi #project

The project meeting next week (Mar 27 at 7p) will be construction of a very portable, collapsible 2m beam antenna using PVC and measuring tape, by Roger Kidd. The club should have enough parts for at least 20 people to construct antennas, including coax, and we will have tools and soldering guns available. These directional antennas will come in handy later this year when we do fox hunts!

The antennas will be built without connectors on the coax – that way you can install the type of end you prefer, such as BNC or PL-259. Of course, if you need help installing that, we will gladly assist you, and the club store does have some PL-259’s for members to purchase.

The club is providing materials for members to build the antennas, while non-members may also participate by purchasing a kit for $9. You can pay via cash or check at the meeting, or via paypal to treasurer@joplin-arc.com any time (just put a comment including your callsign and that it’s for the tape measure yagi.)

WFD 2018 Results

The log has been submitted, and here are the results of JARC at Winter Field Day 2018:

Sections contacted:

Total Contacts: 312

Point breakdown:

268 Phone contacts + 44 digital contacts (worth 2 pts each) = 356 pts

356 pts x4 multiplier for number of bands/modes = 1424 pts

1424 pts x2 multiplier for using 100W or less = 2848 pts

1,500 points for not using commercial power.
1,500 points for setting up away from home.
Total bonus points = 3000 
CLAIMED-SCORE: 5848

We had 10 people who operated, according to the logs, here are the total contacts by operator:

  • KE0RTK: 123
  • K0SMK: 82
  • KE0NQK: 26 
  • KE0CZR: 26 
  • K0JAA: 18 
  • KD0N: 9 
  • KD0SZT: 9 
  • WB0IYC: 9 
  • W0SEJ: 8 
  • W0KGR: 2 

Ryan blew everybody away by making 39% of the contacts! Willis, not shabby either with 26%! 

Also interesting to note: 251 contacts were made on the 80/40 dipole, with 61 on the beam – that’s 80/20%! 

Thanks to everyone who came out to operate, help setup and teardown, provide food, or just to visit!

2018 Winter Field Day Plans

Winter Field day 2018 is only a couple days away – running from Saturday, January 27 at 1p CT to 1p CT on Sunday.

This year, JARC plans on setting up at Camp Childress, South of Joplin on Hwy V right off I-49 to the east. (map) We will have our trailer with tower and beam and will begin setup around 10a Saturday. We will operate as either 1 or 2 and Indoor or Outdoor (I or O) which we will decide when we start setting up.

A few of us are going to bring chili or soup for dinner later, feel free to bring your own dish to share for a pot-luck. I have heard there is power in the lodge for crock-pots. If you want to work overnight, feel free to camp out as well.

2018 Meeting Location Update

After meeting with the officers this week, we decided that the building at 502 S Pearl will be our new meeting place for 2018. The recently remodeled building has a nice large room we can meet in with tables and chairs available, and has on-site parking.

There are entrances on the East and West sides with the handicapped-accessible entrance on the West. You can access the parking lot from either street, or park on the street next to the building (Note that 5th is a one-way going West and parking is on the LEFT on that block)

There are only a few rooms in the building, so don’t worry about getting lost – the meeting room takes up the Northeast corner of the building. See you there Jan 9!