Marathon Hamfest - 2 weeks away!

Its coming up fast, the Marathon Hamfest the first local Hamfest of 2015!

Saturday January 10th 2015 at the Marathon NY Civic Center, corner of Brink & Peck St. in Marathon NY
7AM – noon, Admission $5.00
VE tests will be given at 9 AM with no late entry.

Reserve tables at k2iwr@arrl.net. Reserve now, tables usually sell out.
Free coffee!!

Directions: I-81 to exit 9
Follow signs to Route 221 West
Turn left just before steel deck bridge on to Peck St.
Cross Brink St, Drive straight in to the parking lot.

Sponsored by the Skyline Amateur Radio Club of Cortland

Merry Christmas!

I wanted to take a moment to wish all our UpstateHam viewers a Merry Christmas and joyous Holiday Season!

Thanks to all the contributors for your suggestions and radio information updates that we publish here. (...and always feel free to e-mail us with ideas and information at UpstateHam@gmail.com)

A reminder, the Wednesday night CNY SWAP and Information net will NOT be on the air December 24th and 31st because of  the holiday. Tim; N2VZD will take a well deserved break over the holidays returning again on Wednesday January 7th for the New Years edition of the CNY Swap and Information net.

Thanks also to all the "hammies" out there that make this great hobby possible. We appreciate the guys that the run the NET's, lead the clubs and build our repeaters.

......and Please don't forget to support our repeater owners and trustees that build and maintain our great repeaters in Upstate NY. Their is a lot of time, aggravation and expense involved in keeping our repeaters operating. Make a donation to your favorite repeater today!

Special Event Stations on the Air from the Land of Santa Claus

The Santa Claus stations, OH9SCL (“Santa Claus Land”) and OF9X (“Old Father Nine Xmas”) are on the air! As Santa is busy loading up his sleigh preparing for his journey around the world, his elves will be at the controls of Santa Radio and can tell you Santa's whereabouts. Stop by and say hello. Santa’s journey starts from Finnish Lapland, continuing through the dangerously narrow Baltic airspace to end up on Christmas Day in the US.

Principal radio activity will be over the weekends before and after Christmas. The Santa activity should be around 25 kHz from the band edges, and the SSB pole position is at 14,225 kHz. My DX Summit will feature OH9SCL and OF9X on its Santa menu selection. Occasionally Santa will be available on video, mostly when on 20 meters SSB. Tap the Video and Audio button on the OF9X page, and you may not only see Santa but hear how your own signal sounds in the Land of Christmas.

146.61 Repeater back on the air in Ithaca!

The Cornell Amateur Radio Club has returned the 146.610(-) 103.5 PL, W2CXM repeater to full operation. This repeater is located on top of the 9 story Bradfield Hall, on Tower Road, on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca NY. The repeater easily covers the greater Ithaca area, with very low power required for operation. If you are in the area - give it a try!

Winter SKYWARN Training class

NWS Binghamton is holding Winter SKYWARN Training classes!

NWS has upcoming Winter SKYWARN classes in Montrose, PA, Sayre, PA, Penn Yan, NY, Auburn, NY, and Cortland NY through the 2nd week of December . During these classes we are looking for volunteers to measure and report snowfall to us.  Like our spring classes, these are free and open to all ages.

The Auburn NY class will be at the Cayuga County Office Building on Genesee St., Wednesday, December 10th from 6:30 To 8:30pm The Auburn class has been canceled because of the weather!

They also encourage those who have had previous training to take a refresher class (either basic spring, winter, advanced or flood) every 2 to 3 years.  There is plenty of room in all classes so please consider coming out.

To register please follow the instructions at: http://www.weather.gov/bgm/outreachSKYWARNtraining
- or by sending an email to bgm.skywarn@noaa.gov

KD2SL 53.67 repeater antenna change (Syracuse)

An update from Kevin - KD2SL:

“I am running another experiment and have changed the 53.67 repeater antenna configuration once again. Up until this past Thursday we had been receiving from a 6M dipole antenna up just over 700 feet and transmitting from the "old" bat-wing TV antenna on the top of our tower. We are now both transmitting and receiving (with a duplexer) on the 6M dipole at approximately 700 feet. This may degrade your ability to hear the repeater in fringe areas, but since those fringe areas can’t get in to the repeater, being able to hear it there was of dubious value.  Still, the repeater’s receiver is working better than ever, probably because there was some desense that we didn’t realize was being caused by the split antenna arrangement.  Thankfully, running duplex into the single antenna is working well, with no cracklies or desense.  This set up is much more balanced, meaning that if you can hear it well, it should now be able to hear you.

Thanks to EVERYONE, you have all been really great sports, willing to play numerous rounds of “can you hear me now?”!  I’m very interested to know how well you can hear the repeater in this current arrangement. Please send me your reports at KD2SL@yahoo.com.”

-Kevin - Thanks for all your efforts to bringing us the great KD2SL repeaters in Syracuse! 

73 – Tony – KC2VER

VE Amateur Radio exams in Verona N.Y.

A note from Len; WF2V (MOARC):

Amateur Radio VE exams are being offered in Verona on the third Friday of every month at 7PM.

Our next test session is this Friday 21 Nov.
Located in Verona, NY at the BOCES library on Spring Road

The Volunteer Examiner can be reached:

Leonard Popyack; WF2V
315-853-8974

I may also be on 145.170 repeater on the VE night. If bad weather or other circumstances forces us to cancel the test session, we will announce it on 145.170

We have been giving tests nearly continuously since 1988!

Thank You.

Len
WF2V

Upcoming CNY Amateur Radio classes

Several courses of interest to the amateur radio community in the central New York area will be kicking off early in 2015:

Amateur Radio License Course – Jointly sponsored by the Liverpool Amateur Repeater Club and the Radio Amateurs of Greater Syracuse, this course covers the material needed to pass the FCC test and become licensed as a Technician class ham. Beginning in mid-January, the course will meet weekly at the Methodist Church in Liverpool. There is no charge for the course and ARRL study manuals will be available at the discounted Instructor’s price. Pre-registration is required for the course, please contact N2TKX, Steve Auyer, Instructor at n2tkx@arrl.net. Classes are planned for Tuesdays, January 13, 2015—March 3, 2015, 5:00pm—7:00pm.

W2CM Bootcamp – Sponsored by the Liverpool Amateur Repeater Club this course is similar in concept to the “Now That I’ve Got My License, What Do I Do?” course sponsored by the Radio Amateurs of Greater Syracuse a number of years ago. It will cover topics of general interest to new hams, as well as to some older hams as well. There is no charge for the course which will be held prior to the monthly LARC meetings. More information on the course can be obtained from Pete, K2VGN by contacting him by email at psochocki-at-verizon.net

Between the licensing course and the course to help news hams get involved with the hobby, these two courses are a great way to promote amateur radio in the community.

Amateur radio operators support the Halloween Pumpkin Patrol

New York State Police Troop T and citizen volunteers conducted their 38th annual "Pumpkin Patrol" aimed at preventing Halloween pranks and protecting motorists along the New York State Thruway on October 30th and 31st.

In Onondaga County over 20 amateur radio operators manned the bridges on both nights. In Cayuga County over 10 amateur radio operators manned the bridges on Friday night.  Amateur Radio operators in almost every upstate county along the Thruway participated again this year.Thanks to all who gave up their evenings for this important project.

“I commend Troop T and our committed volunteers for their efforts in helping to prevent the threat of dangerous pranks during the Halloween weekend on our roadways,” said Thruway Authority Executive Director Thomas J. Madison. “These patrols help to further emphasize the importance of safety and reliability on the New York State Thruway by offering extra assistance to protect the well-being of all motorists.”

Patrols consisted of Troop T officers, as well as local radio clubs, and amateur radio operators. This year, volunteer groups from 15 different organizations spanning across 19 counties in New York State joined in the Pumpkin Patrol safety initiative. Volunteers assisting Troop T monitored Thruway overpasses and reported any unusual activity to State Police or local law enforcement.

The Pumpkin Patrol was initiated as a volunteer effort in 1976 by Katherine St. Jacques in Fort Johnson, Montgomery County.  Ms. St. Jacques was talking to a truck driver on her citizens band radio when the windshield of his vehicle was struck by an object thrown from an overpass.  The driver sustained injuries from the broken glass of his windshield.  St. Jacques and two companions decided to stand watch on the three over passes that crossed the Thruway in the Fort Johnson area.
The State Police assumed control of the Pumpkin Patrol in 1990 as part of the State Police crime prevention effort.  More than 300 volunteers will participate in this year’s safety efforts.

References:
- Press release from the NY State Police Troop T Public Information Officer Trooper Matthew Izbicki.
- CNY Central
- Syracuse.com
- WSYR News Channel 9
- local  Amateur radio operators

Tech Class coming in November!

The Bear Bait Radio Club is having a Amateur Radio Technician Class and VE test session on 11/15 and 11/16 at the Clay Welcome Center on RT. 31, Clay NY. It's from 8-5 each day. Lunch will be provided.

Thanks to the club for all its efforts here in CNY and in the Adirondacks!

More information on the club website: www.bearbaitradioclub.com

Boonville Amateur Radio Club

Jeff; KD2AIT from the Boonville club dropped me a line this week updating us on the clubs wide coverage north country 146.655 repeater (no PL) and nightly net.  They have also done some recent upgrades to the repeater, so try it out. You can also access this repeater through Echolink on node #796920. Learn more at their web site listed below.

They also have a club Christmas Party coming up on December 12th open to all Hams. See the club web site for more information.

Check out the Boonville ARC web site at: http://www.boonvillearc.com/

A couple of radio events this weekend!

The weekend of October 18 holds two radio events that you can participate in. One is the Jamboree On The Air, connecting scouts from all over the world via radio. See http://www.arrl.org/jamboree-on-the-air-jota for more details.You may find scouts on local repeaters, simplex or out on the HF bands. This is a great opportunity to expose young people to our great hobby!

The other is the NY State QSO Party. This is sponsored by the Rochester DX Association.

RDXA sponsors the New York State QSO Party Sat.10/18-Sun.10/19, 2014

October 18, 2014 – 1400 UTC thru 

October 19, 2014 – 0200 UTC

-learn more about the NY QSO Party at: http://www.rdxa.com/index.php/

Listen to Auburn and Cayuga County Police and Fire (...and many others) on-line

Many of the local Police and Fire frequencies are only accessible these days with a pricey Digital P25 Scanner. But there is another way....Listen on-line on Broadcastify.......go try the links below:

Listen to Auburn and Cayuga County Police and Fire on-line with your PC or smart phone.

Link to Cayuga County Police, Fire and EMS:
http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/ctid/1830

Link to online Auburn Police and Fire:
http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/18338

 -lots of other agencies and frequencies are available too! Search around on Broadcastify!

Link to NY State listings:
http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/stid/36

Thanks to Jim WT2W for the tip!

Ham Radio VE Exams in Liverpool NY - 10/18/14

note from the SYRACUSE VE EXAM TEAM

Ham Radio VE Exams will be held October 18, 2014  at the Liverpool Public Library, 310 Tulip
Street, Liverpool, with registration noon to 1p.m. in  the Sargent Room.
Open to all working for their new Ham ticket or a license upgrade.
Bring two forms of ID, one with your picture and $14 fee (cash or M.O.)
   
>  >  >  NEW from the FCC:
Hams  holding  a  license  in the past  which has expired,  can now  submit a copy of   your past license, take the current Technician Exam    -- upon passing,   the FCC will return you to your Amateur Radio License.

Questions? e-mail us at :VEexams@hotmail.com     / from the SYRACUSE VE EXAM TEAM

Echolink added to the WN8Z 149.39 repeater in Fulton

149.39 update from Pat; WN8Z:

I've installed Echolink on the WN8Z (147.39 pl 103.5) repeater located in Fulton, NY. This gives excellent handheld coverage especially to the cities of Oswego and Fulton and covers Oswego County. Node # 7390.

Also on 10/2 we got the signal back to its previous performance with a fix to a recent feed line problem with the top mounted 2M antenna. The next project before winter is to side mount a DB-224 antenna at the top - hopefully before the first snow flies...

A big thanks to Volney Multiplex, Inc. of Fulton, NY for the donated tower space and for providing emergency generator and internet service directly to the repeater shack. - Pat