Tuesday, February 28, 2017

new CNY Rag Chew Net on 3.940 Mhz

   New HF  net on 3.940 Mhz, Monday-Saturday at 2PM EST, known as the“Central New York Rag Chew Net “ .

We welcome all hams that are licensed for the freq, our first net on the Feb. 27th drew (15) check ins. We have discussed the “possibility” that we will need to move to 40 meters as summer comes on.

The check ins so far have been mostly from here in the North East; Maine, Connecticut, Mass, NY, NJ, and Pa.

Thanks

 Paul; KB2MUQ, Holland Patent, NY,

Thursday, February 23, 2017

MARS Exercise 2/25 - 2/28

MARS exercise 17-1 / 25 February 2017 - 28 February 2017

The United States Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security with the United States Army and Air Force MARS system is holding its first exercise of the year 2017.
The scenario simulates a total loss of communication, Internet and basic resources  after an undetermined national incident.
The Military and Department of Defense is asking for Amateur stations to provide basic county information to MARS stations during the exercise. This is REAL WORLD and as such the information provided to military stations should be of actual availability of resources IF your county has no problems you will report as such. If there is an incident that effects any governmental resources such as transportation, medical, communication, or hospitals you will report what resource is affected. 

Again this is REAL WORLD information so if there is no breakdown in any services you will report all clear in the county you are reporting.

MARS stations will be on the 60meter interoperability channel 1 (5330.5) and channel 2 ( 5346.5) to collect information at various time throughout the exercise. 

As of now stations will be monitoring at 12pm and 3pm on Saturday the 25th.
12pm and 3pm on Sunday the 26th, and at 3pm and 6pm on Monday the 27th.

Also any stations who want to collect information from their surrounding counties can provide them at those times or they can be emailed to this station to be included in the report no later than Monday at 6pm EST

Thanks for all your help and for providing information..

Joseph M. Tedesco KC2DKP/AAR2JI
Western New York Section Emergency Coordinator United States Army MARS.

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ARRL Western New York Section
Section Manager: Laura Mueller, N2LJM
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Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Fusion Net - CNY/WNY - Tuesday 2/28

Brian, K2AS here.  I'm involved with the XRX Amateur Radio Club in Webster, NY area, and W2XRX 145.29 repeater in Canadice, NY.  We have been Fusion for almost 2 years, but only a handful of semi-regulars, and a few occasional digital users.   We had a few Fusion nets a over a year ago, but they kind of fell by the wayside.  Sadly, many members get on FM rarely, and don't want to buy a new radio.

I'm trying to drum up some more activity, and was going to start monthly (for now) Fusion nets.  We have Wires-X capability with an RF link at my QTH.  So even if others can't access W2XRX, we will have the net on Wires-X.  The purpose would be to discuss Fusion news, tips, etc.  I think it would be great to expand across CNY/WNY and try to utilize Wires-X.  We don't have any other linking methods on W2XRX - no external controller.

I've contacted WN8Z, but would like to post on Upstate Ham as well.  Maybe some Fusion folks in Buffalo will see it.

This was initially just intended to be local, but decided why not spread the word.  So the date/time was something I came up with, but anything can be up for discussion.

Unless you have any comments/questions first, here is the net announcement:

Tuesday Feb. 28 at 8PM, there will be a Fusion net on the 145.29 W2XRX repeater (Canadice, NY).  The mode will be digital narrow DN.  It will be on Wires-X room #21704.  The purpose will be to discuss Fusion news, equipment, Wires-X, tips, etc.  Check-ins are encouraged from all CNY/WNY Fusion stations.  Initially we would follow-on with a net every 4th Tuesday of the month.  More frequent nets could be added if enough interest.

Thanks and 73,
-- Brian
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Thursday, February 16, 2017

LARC February Bootcamp - Thurs. 2/23





The February LARC Boot camp features a program on WSPR. Boot camp meets at 6:15 pm, and VE testing starts at 5:30 pm. Club Meeting follows at 7pm. 

We meet at 700 South Bay Road in North Syracuse, New York in the North Syracuse Community Center. 

Learn More at: http://www.w2cm.com/

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

SwapFest - Saratoga County - March 11th, 2017

It's almost time for the annual SwapFest hosted by Saratoga County Amateur Radio Association on March 11, 2017. The event is held at the Cooperative Extension Building (aka Solar Bldg), 50 West High Street (Rt 67w) in Ballston Spa, 12020.

Doors open at 8 am. Free admission.

We've held this event for many years, and after a long winter stuck in the hamshack, many hams see this as their first chance to get out of the house and have some radio fun. We always have a good crowd, and there's plenty of used gear to look over.

There will also be a VE test session for new licensees and upgrades at Noon in the same facility. Contact Jim, KG2H, (kg2h@arrl.net) for further details on the testing.

See you there!
73,
Peter Miller - W2BEW



Hope to see you there. :)

This is a good time to join the Saratoga Club, or renew your dues too. :)

73 K2HAT Lee Hatfield Jr

Sunday, February 5, 2017

WiresX Fusion digital now on the 147.39 WN8Z repeater full time

WiresX has arrived! If you are in range of the 147.390 WN8Z repeater in Fulton, NY and have a Yaesu Fusion digital radio tune in & join the fun.

The Wn8z/r went fully c4fm and is now connected to the WiresX network. You can hear and talk to hams from around the world. The system is connected to the Americas Link "room". Stop in and help Hat, a frequent user from Okinawa, Japan perfect his english, or talk to the many ht and mobile users from Great Britan, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, or to someone just down the road.

I've heard several local users check in already since being connected. The basic entry point radio is the FTM-3200 2 meter, single band, mobile radio going for under $150.00. Two dual band ht's and two dual band mobiles and a Hf/Vhf/Uhf radio round out the Yaesu line equipped with their brand of digital.

Think of the WiresX network as Echolink on steroids. You will hear not only digital users, but analog too. How so? Let's think about Yaesu's Fusion name for a minute. All of the products are capable of both analog or c4fm digital. This includes the repeaters also. No one is left out - both users can use a Fusion repeater, and if users have correctly configured their radio in the automatic mode selection (AMS) the Fusion radio immediately switches to analog and the conversation continuous.