April 21st Drill - Recap

First off, hats off to all those that participated in our April 21st drill.  You all did great!  We were able to have a check in from every school in West Valley City which totaled 32 schools.  It took us about 80 min to complete and I felt things went pretty well.  I appreciate the input I also received during the drill and will see how best I can incorporate them in the future.

We also had the opportunity to work out of the City's new communications trailer and give it a proper shake down.  When doing these type of exercises you always find little things that need to be fixed which is the purpose of doing this.  I appreciate WVCFD for their willingness to bring out the trailer and allow us to use it.

The Great Utah Shake Out

The Great Utah Shake Out is this Thursday, April 18th.  WVCARC will be holding a quick NET at 12:00 PM on our normal repeater which is 146.700 Mhz, negative offset, 100 Hz tone.  This is always an interesting NET as people are generally at a different location then our normal Thursday Night NET.


Mat Murdock
K2MJM

April 21st Drill Instructions and Resources

First off thank you for all those who have signed up to participate in the April 21st Drill.  The goal of the drill is to check in from each of the 31 elementary schools in West Valley City.  The drill starts at 10:00 AM.   Net Control will be online by that time.  We will be operating on our simplex frequency which is 147.58 Mhz.  Net Control will be operating from City Hall.  Relay stations will be setup at Fire Stations 74 and 73.  Net Control will start with a quick check in to verify which operators are participating.

Once you arrive at a location you need to follow steps below.

1. Prepare a short message using the FEMA ICS-213 form found here: ICS-213 Form
2. Contact Net Control and let them know of your location.  When asked relay your message
3. Wait for Net Control to dispatch you to your next location

The current deployment roster can be found here: Deployment Roster

You will notice that an order has been set as to which school you should go to first.

Following the drill you are all invited to come to City Hall to check out the new communications trailer.

If you are unable to participate please let me know ASAP so I can make alternative arrangements.  If your name is not on the roster and you would like to participate also let me know.

Thanks,

Mat Murdock
K2MJM
mat.murdock@wvcarc.com

April 14th - In Person Meet

Saturday will be our monthly in person meet.  It will be held at Fire Station 74 at 9:00 AM.  We will have a couple of things going on.

First a brief overview of the drill that will be held on April 21st.

Second, I will lead those who want to build their TNC's through the process.  Please bring a soldering iron with the finest tip you have as well as solder.  A pair of side cutters or toe nail clippers as well as something to hold the board is helpful.  We will have a few extras on hand if you don't have one.  We do have a few extra kits available if you decide to build one.  Cost is $45.

Third, those who want to have their radios programmed with the Standard Load can bring their radios and we will do our best to make that happen.  If you are a new Ham we will answer any questions that you may have and get you on the air.  If you have any questions let us know!

Mat
K2MJM

Soldering Pro-Tip

I use a vise very similar to this about every time I solder something. It does a couple things for you.  It holds the item you are soldering and you don't burn your fingers.  I noticed Harbor Freight had these on sale for $14.99 at the moment and thought I would share this little pro tip with you all.  You can find them here: https://www.harborfreight.com/2-3-4-quarter-inch-articulated-vacuum-vise-3311.html.

Of course this isn't an endorsement of any kind, just looking to save some finger tips!

Mat
K2MJM

TNC-Pi 9k Kits - Last Call

This is the final call for anyone interested in purchasing one of our clubs TNC-Pi 9K Kits.  You can find out more about it here: http://www.wvcarc.com/2018/03/tnc-pi-9k-kits.html

In short it is a 300 / 1200 / 9600 baud TNC that can run stand alone or be connected to a Raspberry Pi.  We will be building them at our April 14th in person meet.

We are selling kits for those that are interested for $45 (case additional $8).

If you are interested sign up here: https://goo.gl/forms/W99MWcltPVL6MmC12

Let me know if you have any questions.

Mat
K2MJM

Ham Radio Manufactures Decide On Single Digital Standard!

Icom, Kenwood, and Yaesu have just announced a joint digital standard.  Currently there are three competing digital modes, namely D-Star, System Fusion, and DMR.  This division has been both challenging and confusion for new and old amateur radio operators alike. 

The new standard will be called DHR (Digital Ham Radio)  "It will combine the best parts of all the existing digital voice and data standards" according to Ray Novak, N9JA of Icom America.  One of the most exciting aspects of this announcement is that all existing digital mode handsets will be upgraded to support this new standard.  Expect firmware upgrades to be available starting today.  This is an unprecedented showing of collaboration and cooperation.  For more information regarding this announcement click here: https://goo.gl/4VTsDk