PCARS (K8BF)

As we have done in recent years I will need at least 14 volunteers to assist the Field Day team with Setup and Tear down of antennas and stringing power cables from the main generator to stations. If you have done this before, great, but you do not need any experience to volunteer. The Captain for each station will direct all work for their station. If you are a new Ham this is a great opportunity to get hands-on experience putting up a variety of antennas. Setup has normally been completed in about 3 hours (more or less). Teardown after Field Day has been done in less than 3 hours. If you cannot volunteer for both, no problem, just let me know which task(s) you are volunteering for. The Club will supply coffee and water plus pizza for lunch(s).

Here are the Field Day setup/teardown schedules:

SETUP Saturday, June 24

8:30am Arrive on site (meet at the picnic shelter of the Freedom Township Park) PLEASE BE PROMPT
8:30am to 8:45 Acknowledge receipt of Safety Plan/ Coffee and Donuts
8:45am Begin Work
2:00pm Antennas up and ready for testing; power cables strung and energized [Pizza Lunch Served]
12:00pm to 1:59pm Station Testing
2.00pm Field Day Stations On-The-Air

TEARDOWN Sunday, June 25

2:00pm Stations Off-The-Air Work begins immediately [Pizza Lunch served before 2:00]
4:00pm All antennas down and stowed for transport. Power cables coiled up. Field Day over and done.

The only equipment the volunteers need to bring are gloves and safety glasses (REQUIRED). Steel toe shoes are always a good idea. Rain gear is essential. If shoes/boots are not waterproof an extra pair of dry shoes and socks are a good idea. The club will supply a dozen basic hardhats, but I encourage you to bring your own hardhat if you own one. Hardhats must be worn whenever you are working in an area where there is any equipment (antenna components) or any hardware above your head. Remember that even a medium size bolt falling from 25 or 30 feet can cause serious injuries (or worse).

To volunteer for the PCARS Field Day Setup/Teardown crew just send an email to me at tromito99@gmail.com, Specify if you are volunteering for Setup, Teardown or Both as soon as you can. I will confirm by email. If you are volunteering PLEASE SEND ME THAT EMAIL so that I have a complete list of how many volunteers I have lined up for Setup and/or Teardown!!

Come out and help make 2023 another successful PCARS Field Day! Email me with any questions.

Tony WA8AR, PCARS Field Day Chairman

I wanted to remind everyone who wants to come out and share Field Day dinner with us that you need to get your dinner reservation in soon. That way we can have enough food on hand to feed the group. I recommend that you get your reservation(s) in no later than June 15th. After that date, we may not be able to adjust our food order, and we might have to cut off reservations after the 15th. Placing your reservation is easy, just use this link or go to the PCARS website (www.portcars.org), select the Activities tab, and choose Field Day 2023. Then click on the link to sign-up for Field Day Dinner, and fill out the reservation form (free for members and $5:00 for guests).

As a reminder dinner will be served between 5:45 and 6:00 pm, Saturday, June 24th. Please see previous QST announcements for additional details.

Tony WA8AR
Field Day Chairman

The Portage County Parks District is holding its annual Headwaters Adventure Race on Saturday July 8th. This is a three event race starting with a two-mile run which then transitions to a ten-mile bicycle ride and culminates with a five-mile canoe ride on the Cuyahoga River. The Coms Unit and amateur radio communicators provide communications for the bicycle and canoe portion of the race. Support starts at 7:00 AM and is finished around noon.

If you can help out with this event, please send an email to k8cav.coms@gmail.com. Thanks!

73, Rick K8CAV

Please take a minute and click the following link. It will allow you to enter to win a 2023 Field Day Banner. You don’t need to buy anything and the club could use it to publicize this years Field Day.

Here is the link: http://www.arrl.org/arrl-field-day-banner-giveaway

Thanks, Good Luck, and let me know us know if you win.

Jim, AC8NT

PCARS 2023 Field Day Dinner will be served Saturday, June 24 starting between 5:45 and 6:00 pm. Dinner will be delivered to on-duty station operators/loggers first. Dinner for PCARS members and guests will start immediately after.

Dinner is free to all pre-registered PCARS Members. Guests will be charged $5.00 each. I am requesting that everyone who wants to share FD Dinner with us please register by May 31 so we can have enough food available for everyone.

To register online for FD Dinner click the following link:

https://forms.gle/5TRB136H18Yb2UET7

Dinner Menu: Rigatoni; Fried Chicken; Parsley Potatoes; Green Beans; Rolls & Butter. Bottled water will be available (no charge); soft drinks may be available (no extra charge).

Please note that to have dinner with us you must be on the dinner registration list. Those on this list will be served first. PCARS members (and paid guests) not registered for dinner may be served after registered members have eaten (if extra food is still available).

Tony WA8AR, Field Day Chairman

Hi EVERYONE

Please join us for some good conversation on the world famous PCARS Thursday Night Net. It is held at 8:00 PM local time on the 146.895 repeater with a negative offset and a PL tone of 118.8. Contact is also available via the K8BF-L EchoLink node. We always have interesting club and other amateur radio news.

Remember you can get a good looking certificate if you attend 10 consecutive Thursday Night Nets.

I am always looking for net control operators. It is not as hard as you think and we have a very forgiving crowd of hams that visit our nets. If interested, let me know.

For now 73’s and hope to hear you on the net.

Greg KA8TOA NCC
grgory999@roadrunner.com

Come on down to the club site this evening at 7pm for an hour or so hands on session featuring the famous RF consultant KE8QEP Davide Waugh from Ravenna (Italy?) and his straight-man/sidekick Rick KD8WCK. The Abbott and Costello of PCARS. Our plan, if it deserves to be honored with that word, is to do a run-through setting up the nanoVNA and show a few simple tests you can do with your nanoVNA (bring yours or borrow one at the session). The nanoVNA is a cool device many of us own and many of us don’t use often enough to be comfortable with. Maybe we can improve that!

If you have a suspect piece of coax or a jumper, bring it to test. I’ll bring a dual-band j-pole (PCARS project build) that we can check for SWR.

As an extra bonus David will bring a tinySA also, and talk about its capabilities. Bring yours if you have one.

We look forward to seeing you at the club tonight!

—
Before believing what you read or hear: Verify, verify,
verify. Verification often reveals ‘true’ information to be quite false.
Rick Tenan WA8TSI – SK

Here’s the June issue of The RADIOGRAM

Greetings PCARS Members, ARRL Officials, Amateur Radio Clubs and other interested people,

The June 2023 issue of The RADIOGRAM has been published and is ready for you to enjoy.

Here is the link: https://www.portcars.org/wp/go/june-2023-radiogram/

Hope you enjoy this issue – Photos from Hamvention – Bernadette Wagner, KE8LWO wins RCA Award – More info K8BF Field Day which is coming up THIS MONTH – Something for everyone!

Feel free to pass this newsletter on to anyone interested in ham radio or PCARS.

Take care & 73,

Tom “Parky”, KB8UUZ
PCARS Newsletter Editor

Any mistakes found in the newsletter are there on purpose so some of you can have fun finding them…. The Radiogram is the monthly newsletter of PCARS. Every month, we bring you news, events, DX listings, articles, and lots of fun. All of the issues, dating back to the very first, are on the club website (http:www.portcars.org) for you to download and read. Amateur Radio articles are welcome. Send your submission in .txt (text) format to the editor:  newsletter@portcars.org

PCARS Members:

This is from the SCCC and CADXA Mail Reflector:

I am saddened to report that Chip Margelli K7JA passed away yesterday. I
just got the news from W6DQ, who got a call from K6CTW, who had been Chip’s
partner in the famous telegraphers vs texters shootout on Jay Leno’s Tonight
Show in 2005.

Sincere condolences to Janet and to all of Chip’s many friends worldwide.

—
73 – Chuck W8PT

Hi EVERYONE

Please join us for some good conversation on the world famous PCARS Thursday Night Net. It is held at 8:00 PM local time on the 146.895 repeater with a negative offset and a PL tone of 118.8. Contact is also available via the K8BF-L EchoLink node. We always have interesting club and other amateur radio news.

Remember you can get a good looking certificate if you attend 10 consecutive Thursday Night Nets.

I am always looking for net control operators. It is not as hard as you think and we have a very forgiving crowd of hams that visit our nets. If interested, let me know.

For now 73’s and hope to hear you on the net.

Greg KA8TOA NCC
grgory999@roadrunner.com