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Parks On the Air (POTA) is one of the more popular amateur radio activities enjoyed by operators around the world.
Many set up a simple station and use portable antennas such as an end-fed half-wave or loop antenna.
But what if you wanted to make it more interesting and challenging? Two hams in eastern Pennsylvania decided to make a POTA attempt using Earth-moon-Earth (EME) communication to try and contact other stations doing the same thing.
Jim Huebotter, KC3BVL, and Louis Yadevia, WA3EBS, met in Louis’ backyard to see if it was possible.
They gathered a portable 1296 MHz EME station consisting of an Icom IC-9700 and two 33 element Yagi antennas.
With their station pushing out 50 W, they were able to make contact with Stephen Plock, K0PRT, and his 60-foot dish in Colorado during ARRL’s EME Contest on October 19 and 20. They proved that it could be done with a portable station and low power.
Their next adventure will be to take this on the road and see if a POTA EME contact is possible.
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Minnesota School Participates in SCR |
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Members of the Fergus Falls Lake Region Amateur Radio Club (FFLRARC), K0QIK, in Minnesota supported School Club Roundup (SCR) this fall by setting up a radio station at Kennedy Secondary School in Fergus Falls.
The school’s IT specialist, Jesse Thorstad, KM0JPR, talked with the Community Education Director and got permission to set up a station in the Roosevelt Education Center, which houses several after-school clubs and events.
Jesse sent emails to students and staff letting them know about the event, and several students replied that they were interested.
Jesse and I set up a station by running the coax through a window to a vertical antenna that was set up in a secluded spot on the lawn near the building where we could keep an eye on it.
Each day of the event, the station was set up and taken down to accommodate other activities in the center.
The students operated with FFLRARC's call sign, K0QIK.
It was decided that the station would be open from 15:30 (just after school) until 18:00 local time. During the week, four students came by the station and got on the air.
Jesse and I coached students with what to say when calling CQ, and had produced a script that helped prompt them through a QSO.
We used N1MM Logger+, so the students could see their progress throughout the week.
If more than one student was at the station, they would take turns making contacts — one student would call CQ until they made a contact and then pass the microphone to the next student.
They became quite proficient at quickly passing the microphone, and no one was left sitting while another student did the talking.
Several other members of FFLRARC stopped by to observe or provide advice and encouragement, and they were impressed by what they saw.
The students ended the week with nearly 10 hours of time on the air, and they made 238 contacts with 44 states, four provinces, and five DX stations.
The students were very excited with their participation and are looking forward to doing this again in February 2025. We’re hoping that SCR will be the spark that gets students interested in forming a student-run club at Kennedy Secondary School.
— Thanks to Dwight Moore, KD0OIX
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USS Midway Veterans Day Special Event |
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Dick Brown, W9SLZ, Valery Mason, KK6WLQ, Dave Piontek, KV7I, Dan Mason, AB6DM, Mace Mason, KG6VMF in front of the USS Midway. [Dan Mason, AB6DM, photo] | | | |
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On Saturday, November 9, Dick Brown, W6SLZ, and Valerie Mason, KK6WLQ, of the Tehachapi Amateur Radio Association, AC6EE, came with me to San Diego, California, to join the USS Midway CV-41 COMEDTRA, NI6IW, team in commemorating Veterans Day by activating the ship at the USS Midway Museum. I made arrangements with former US Navy F-14 pilot Dave Piontek, KV7I, who met us at the ship. My dad, Mace Mason, KG6VMF, drove us to the museum and joined in on the fun.
We got to go to a part of the USS Midway that isn’t accessible by tourists, where we met the rest of the team members on duty. We didn’t get to operate this time, but we all got to listen on extra headsets and make log entries. They had three Icom IC-7300 HF radios and one Icom D-STAR mobile radio, all on different modes, including SSB, PSK-31, and VHF D-STAR.
— Thanks to Dan Mason, AB6DM
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New York Club Helps Local Police with Pumpkin Patrol |
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Every Halloween, the New York State Police monitor overpasses throughout western New York for objects being thrown on the vehicles below, which has led to the creation of Pumpkin Patrol — an annual occurrence that involves police getting assistance from the Fort Herkimer Amateur Radio Association (FHARA), W2FHA, with monitoring reports and coordinating efforts to maintain safety.
This year, FHARA set up their DART trailer at Schuyler Travel Plaza at mile marker 227 Westbound to coordinate with New York State Police Troop T for Pumpkin Patrol. The entirety of the NY I-90 highway is patrolled each year, with FHARA monitoring the portion in Herkimer County.
— Thanks to Dan Patterson, KD2ILO
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FHARA set up to operate during Pumpkin Patrol. [Dan Patterson, KD2ILO, photo] | | | |
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Submitting Info for this Newsletter |
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ARRL Club News is for radio clubs to show how they are working in the community and the hobby to advance amateur radio.
If your club completes a project, supports an event, does an EmComm activation, or activates a park, we want to hear about it.
You can submit your newsletter article to us at
clubs@arrl.org. We like to get them as text or Word files instead of PDFs.
If you have pictures, please submit them with caption information, as well as the name and call sign of the photographer.
We want to highlight the good work being done by the clubs and show others in the community.
Think of this as a chance to show off your club and your programs.
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How to Plan and Apply for an ARRL Hamfest or Convention |
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If your amateur radio club is planning to host a convention, hamfest, tailgate, or swapfest, please consider applying for it to be an ARRL-sanctioned event. To learn what it means to be an ARRL-sanctioned event, and to get some ideas on how to prepare for and conduct a hamfest or convention, visit
www.arrl.org/arrl-sanctioned-events.
To have your event sanctioned, complete the online application at
www.arrl.org/hamfest-convention-application.
Please send a copy of the application that returns to you to Steve Ewald at sewald@arrl.org.
The ARRL Hamfests and Conventions Calendar can be found online at
www.arrl.org/hamfests. In addition, the Convention and Hamfest Calendar that runs in QST each month also presents information about upcoming events.
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ARRL Home: www.arrl.org
Find an ARRL Affiliated Club: www.arrl.org/clubs
Find your ARRL Section: www.arrl.org/sections
Find a license class in your area: www.arrl.org/class
Find a license exam in your area: www.arrl.org/exam
Find a hamfest or convention: www.arrl.org/hamfests
Email ARRL Clubs: clubs@arrl.org
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ARRL Club News is published every month (12 times each year). ARRL members may subscribe at no cost or unsubscribe by editing their Member Data Page at
www.arrl.org/opt-in-out. Archived issues can be found at
www.arrl.org/club-news
Copyright © 2024 American Radio Relay League, Incorporated. Use and distribution of this publication, or any portion thereof, is permitted for non-commercial or educational purposes, with attribution. All other purposes require written permission.
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