Saturday, February 27, 2016

LARC Amateur Radio - Technician License Course









The Liverpool Amateur Repeater Club will be sponsoring a course in preparation for the
FCC Amateur Radio Technician License.

DATES: Tuesdays, April 12 & 19, 6:30-8:30PM
and Saturday, April 30, 9-2PM

PLACE: Cicero American Legion
Space is limited so please sign up online early.

Sign up for the Amateur Radio Course: email to: treasurer@w2cm.com

This course is FREE, however there is a $25
charge for the Study Guide and a $15 charge for
the FCC exam at the end on Saturday.

Learn more at the LARC website: http://www.w2cm.com/

Saturday, February 20, 2016

The Rochester Hamfest has moved! (May 28th 2016)

We're no longer at Barnard Fireman's Field! We've moved!


Rochester Hamfest and Tech Expo 2016
Find us at our NEW location at Kodak's "Theater on the Ridge"!
also known as the Eastman Business Park, Outdoor sales space opens at 6:00 AM on Saturday, May 28, 2016
Indoor venue opens to attendees at 7:00 AM
Expect to see regional ham clubs present, too!




New location for 2016!

Moved from the Barnard Firemen's Field to the Eastman Business Park, 200 West Ridge Road, Rochester, NY 14615




1h 45m or LESS from Niagara Falls (Canada), Buffalo, Corning, Oswego or Syracuse
Gates open at 6:00 AM.
Free GENERAL parking.
$5 per person flea market entry fee.
Entry fee WAIVED for RARA members & under 21
$5 for EACH metered flea market slot.


New this year: Indoor venue! (along with outside tailgating as well)

FREE VE License Examinations
FREE ARRL Awards QSL Card Checking
FREE General Raffle ticket for all entries (18 yo+)
FREE Bucket Raffle ticket for all entries (18 yo+)

More at the RARA Rochester Hamfest website!  http://www.RochesterHamfest.org

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Balloon over northern NY this morning on APRS



It was a cold morning for a balloon launch from Watertown NY! I stumbled across this team this morning on APRS.fi. I was then able to reach and briefly talk with Chris, KD2ICC on the 145.33 repeater in Remsen, NY as he headed south and east to recover the balloon that looks like it has landed near Schenectady, NY. The APRS equipped balloon and amateur radio equipped chase team were out for a balloon chase. This launch was part of the Maintenance Platoon high altitude weather balloon project (read more below).




APRS map link: http://aprs.fi/#!call=a%2FKD2IIC&timerange=3600&tail=3600

Facebook page link: https://www.facebook.com/deltamishapp/?pnref=story

Flight prediction link: https://www.facebook.com/deltamishapp/photos/a.1091704154194374.1073741828.1090301271001329/1094486080582848/?type=3

The predicted path was pretty close. We will try to get some more details from Chris on the project and a full story of their day and the goals of the project. Stay tuned here!

The Delta Company, 3-10 GSAB Maintenance Platoon high altitude weather balloon project.

Description:
To provide esprit de corps and training in downed aircraft recovery, Maintenance Platoon of Delta Company, 3-10 GSAB will launch, track, and recover a high altitude weather balloon. The balloon will carry a payload of 65 custom company patches, 2 cameras, a ham radio APRS tracker, a satellite based tracker, and a 102 db audible siren to an altitude of 100,000 feet also known as Flight Level 1000. Upon return to earth a team of soldiers will set out to recover the payload which is projected to land in the Adirondack Mountains.

This recovery will require land navigation as well as radio communication, skills needed in real life downed aircraft recovery hence this provides a unique training opportunity to the platoon as well as a morale booster to those who receive a patch that has been to the edge of space.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

RAGS March Meeting - Microphones!

RAGS March Meeting

Thursday, March 10, 2016 7:00 PM, Doors open at 6:30pm

(Moved from Feb. to the March Meeting!)


PROGRAM: "MICROPHONES"

BY WB2SER; GARY KIMBALL

Should be a very interesting presentation with many examples and explanations by a guy who really knows microphones!

RAGS meets monthly from September through June on the second Thursday of each month at the North Syracuse Community Center, 700 South Bay Road, N. Syracuse.  See the calendar for details!  Meeting starts at 7pm, doors open at 6:30pm.

Guests are always welcome!  You don't need to be a Ham to join RAGS, and we can help you to become one, if you are interested!!

Radio Amateurs of Greater Syracuse (RAGS) is an ARRL affiliated club promoting all aspects of Ham Radio in the Syracuse, NY area.
more at: http://www.ragsclub.org/home.html

Friday, February 12, 2016

Interesting AOR AR-DV1 SDR receiver for digital voice modes


The AOR AR-DV1 is the FIRST multi-mode digital voice receiver to receive and decode virtually ALL popular digital modes including: MOTOTRBO, DMR, dPMR, APCO P25 Phase I, NXDN, Icom D-Star, Digital CR, Yaesu, Kenwood®, and Alinco EJ-47U as well as conventional analog signals.


The AOR AR-DV1B wideband communications SDR receiver covers 100 kHz to 1300 MHz (less cellular on U.S. consumer "B" version) in traditional analog modes (SSB, CW, AM, FM, S-FM, W-FM) as well as various digital modes. In fact, we know of no other radio in this category that can decode Icom's D-Star mode, Yaesu's new C4FM mode, Alinco's digital mode, NXDN (note: 6.25 kHz only), P25 Phase 1, etc. Interesting features include:  2000 Memories (in 40 banks of 50), Memory Scan, AM Synchronous Detection, Noise Reduction, Notch, Digital Data Display, Clock, Calendar, Alarm, Timer. The SD/SDHC jack supports logging functions. There is also a micro USB port. This radio will support field firmware updating. High performance is achieved since the receiver employs direct conversion below 18 MHz and triple conversion superheterodyne above 18 MHz.

With this breakthrough development, AOR offers the monitoring community a powerful new tool that receives multiple digital formats in addition to traditional analog operations in a compact receiver built for high sensitivity and selectivity.

Read more: http://www.upstateham.com/p/aor-ar-dv-1-resource-page.html

Friday, February 5, 2016

RAGS - February meeting on Microphones - CANCELED - Weather!

RAGS FEBRUARY MEETING

Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016 7:00 PM, Doors open at 6:30pm

Moved to March 10th, 2016 Meeting!

PROGRAM: "MICROPHONES"

BY WB2SER, GARY KIMBALL

RAGS meets monthly from September through June on the second Thursday of each month at the North Syracuse Community Center, 700 South Bay Road, N. Syracuse.  See the calendar for details!  Meeting starts at 7pm, doors open at 6:30pm.

Guests are always welcome!  You don't need to be a Ham to join RAGS, and we can help you to become one, if you are interested!!

Radio Amateurs of Greater Syracuse (RAGS) is an ARRL affiliated club promoting all aspects of Ham Radio in the Syracuse, NY area.
more at: http://www.ragsclub.org/home.html