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Up Next… The club has been very busy in POTA (Parks On The Air) both locally and regionally. Please see our POTA activity page for more information. It is the second menu item on our home page top menu; JCARA POTA Page
The April club business meeting will be April 30, 2024 at the community center. Coffee social is 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. and the formal business segment will be 7:00 to 8:00 p.m., local DST.
Upcoming Club Activities and Events in 2024:
Mississippi QSO Party Plus POTA, April 6, 2024. Several local operators met at the Jackson County Animal shelter/ soccer fields just off highway 90 in Gautier for the event. From reports late in the day, the number of contacts was low. We believe the biggest catch of the day was the sun rays!
ARRL Field Day June 22nd & 23rd, at the St Martin Safe House, 13000 Walker Road, Ocean Springs, MS 39564
The JCARA Hamfest September 7th, one day only. The venue is the St Martin Community Center, that is, 15008 Lemoyne Blvd. Biloxi , MS (Southwest Jackson County).
Vendor Setup on Friday afternoon Sept. 6th. On sight food will be available for sale on the 6th – for vendors and hamfest staff as well; and during the hamfest, for all attendees on Saturday the 7th.
Speaking of Hamfest, our friends in neighboring Mobile, County, AL hamfest is set for April 27th. The Mobile Hamfest flyer is attached here for your convenience. https://jcmsara.org/area-hamfest-flyers/
CTCOTA October 12th. one day only.
POTA October 18th.
More information coming
Recently… it was one of those deep south mild winter days.
Eight JCARA club members held our first ever POTA and [ Π ] ( Pi ) day on 3.14.2024 (national Π day) which was the perfect reason to make it a pie and POTA event. Gus WG5GK, Jim W5SMN, Jerry WF5W, Mike KG5KSA, Johnny AI5ME, Joe W5DDX, Jerry N5MES and Brian W5DUI attended and made it happen. In addition to the sweet treats twenty six (26) FT8 and nineteen (19) phone SSB contacts were made. And they had some lemon chess, apple, peach, blueberry, an assortment of fried pies and some pecan mini pies – plus coffee and OJ. It was a beautiful day to hang out with friends and enjoy some ham radio and Pi day pies.
Also in February
It is with great sadness that we announce the loss of our Club member Jewel Kastrantas, KF5NYR, who became a Silent Key last Sunday. Jewel was spouse to Gus, our 1st Past President, WG5GK.
Click the link below the picture for more information.
https://www.riemannfamily.com/obituaries/jewel-kastrantas
Previously, The February Tech Talk meeting is canceled due to overlap with Mardi Gras Fat Tuesday event. The March Tech Talk meeting is on schedule to meet March 12th. However, the meeting will be at an alternate location. The St. Martin Community Center is undergoing maintenance and/or refurbishment. The alternate Tech Talk meeting venue will be post soon.
And: The monthly board / membership business meeting will convene on February 27th. at the Gulf Park Estates Fire Station # 3. The fire station is located at 3700 Beachview Drive, Ocean Springs, MS 39564, [approximate GPS Coordinates 30.39445N / 88.75935W] at the usual time of 6:30 coffee social, and 7:00 pm. for the actual meeting. The business meeting is being relocated due to the same venue availability matter noted above. Directions; from highway 90, Bienville Blvd. turn south on Hanshaw Rd. Travel to the next traffic light (old Spanish Trail), turn right and then turn left at the first traffic light. The fire station is on the left side of Beachview Dr. See the Google visible map below.
Please be aware that this is a working station! Do not block truck/equipment bays when parking for the meeting. There is additional parking behind the station.
The St. Martin Community Center is undergoing maintenance and/or refurbishment.
Recent Event results:
The JCARA WFD (Winter Field Day) event, went on both rain and shine as scheduled. More details regarding results will be post soon. In the meantime here are a couple pictures from the activities.
We can say, although partly to mostly soggy with a little sunshine in the mix, the food was abundant, and the contacts logged were many.
Also… Thank you and welcome to the Board of Directors are extended to Jerry, WF5W. Jerry stepped up to fill the vacancy when the previously elected Treasurer was unable to continue in the office. Thank you Austin, AE5MU for getting us jump started as interim Treasurer in January.
The January regular monthly business meeting was held Tuesday January 30, 2024 at the St, Martin Community Center. The Repeater antenna project was discussed under old business and the 2024 Club budget was discussed under new business.
JCARA – Jackson County Amateur Radio Association.
REMINDER – Club annual membership dues are due in the month of January. Dues this year are $25.00 annual for primary members and $12.00 for other household members. Note: we are aware that the by-laws on the website still indicate the old rates.
Note: As soon as the Board gets the “Original” by-laws updated, then we’ll promptly update the website.
Please send payments to: Jackson County Amateur Radio Association, P.O. Box 234, Gautier, MS 39553. Or best option is to bring your dues to the January Club business meeting January 30th.
The January Talk / Tech meeting occurred on January 9, 2024. The meeting was held at the St. Martin Community Center. The meeting begin at 1800 (6 pm.) local time to 2000 (8:00 pm) local time. We learned how to make Google maps of “POTA” data among other things.
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Merry Christmas & Happy New Year Ya’ll
The Club’s next Tuesday “Tech Talk & Do” Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday January 9, 2024 beginning at 6 p.m. at the existing venue location, the St. Martin Community Center.
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Our Condolences, prayers and thoughts to Mike, KX4RM, for the loss of his wife Sabina. Sabina had a short but fierce battle with cancer. For more information please link to: https://www.serenityfuneralhome.com/m/obituaries/Sabuna-Hautau
or directly to…
https://www.serenityfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Sabina-Hautau/#!/TributeWall
Reading Sabina’s obituary will be time well spent and will give you a better magnitude of Mike’s loss!
Don’t forget the club’s December meeting, at the St. Martin Library Complex (the regular meeting location) is tonight (12/12/2023)! Please come early if you are able to setup tables and chairs. This is an abbreviated meeting, then a pot luck dinner event! The evening’s activities begin at 1800 local time.
Just Completed
The Club’s November meeting included recognitions and Officer election for several board positions. The officers for 2024 are: Jerry, N5MES, P., Charley, N2PKW, V.P., Austin, AE5MU, T, and Jim, W5SMN, Sec.
We’re looking forward to a busy and successful 2024. Gus, WG5GK, the outgoing P. will become the First Past P. Joe, W5DDX will focus on technical education (along with Jerry, WF5W) in the club and lead the ongoing ReAct list of projects.
The Jackson County ARA (JCARA) coordinated a POTA Campout event. See the POTA page for more. https://jcmsara.org/pota/
And, the ReACT team/team leader has been busy once again. (thank you Joe, W5DDX for taking the lead) This time the activity was at N5OYL’s station site. See the Club’s Facebook page for more information. More detail, additional Thank You, and a couple pictures will be post here in the near future.
Happening Next
The next Club Business Meeting is scheduled for December 12, 2023.
Tuesday night November 12, 2023 is the current schedule for the next business meeting. The business meeting will convene at 6 pm and will be very abbreviated, immediately followed by the club’s Christmas Party. Or come at 5:30 pm if you have food to be reheated.
If you haven’t signed up as attending the party, please contract Gus, WG5GK to help ensure we have adequate space and soft drinks, etc. The meal is Pot Luck. Just bring enough for you and your + group, plus enough for a couple others to enjoy.
See the right sidebar “MEETINGS” on this page for directions and location details, or use the Directions link provided here. All members are requested to attend if able. Non-members Hams and the public are invited and welcome. Directions.
If there candidates to be tested before the start of the Tuesday night regular business meeting, October 31, 2023, the candidates for test must have; picture ID, FRN number and $15.00 cash to cover the cost of the test materials. Please contact Charles Hardt, N2PKW, 228-233-4140 or charles.hardt@mgccc.edu to schedule the test session.
The Club’s Next Tuesday “Tech Talk & Do” Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday January 9, 2024 beginning at 6 p.m. at the existing venue location.
Recent POTA Activities
Next meeting is Talk and Do Projects – Tuesday January 9, 2024. See the Talk and Do page. https://jcmsara.org/st-tech-talk/
October 10, 2023 was the integral Tech Talk & Do meeting. The meeting convened at 6 pm, at the St. Martin Community Center, 15008 LeMoyne Blvd. (where we normally have club business meetings.) Joe, W5DDX set up his new Yaesu HF radio, tuned to 14.239 MHz and worked a POTA station in Texas. Each of the attendees worked the Texas station, in order to help the POTA’s contact numbers. He really was a 5-9 copy!
You may also want to view the CTCOTA event on the Special Event page. https://jcmsara.org/ctcota/
The Jackson County ARA 2023 Hamfest took place Saturday September 16th. Based on numerous comments the hamfest was enjoyed by many, if not most, attendees. All tables were sold and there was a nice selection of new and used equipment for early Christmas shoppers.
And the prize winners are:
Tower Auction Update
The club recently obtained a used Rohn 25 tower that was auctioned at the hamfest. The tower bid winner was KX4RM, Mike from Irvington, AL. The proceeds will be available to assist a local ham with a appliance need.
Club VE scheduled testing unavailable
The facility where testing occurs has become unavailable indefinitely due to renovation and functional upgrades. The third Tuesday of the month is the club’s regular scheduled VE test time.
However, if you are ready for testing, or you know of anyone ready for testing, we can test them via a prearranged/alternate date and time/location . They do not have to wait for the third Tuesday of the month.
According to Charles Hardt, “We know we have a number of people out there studying for their upgrades and one gentlemen that I know of is studying for his Tech.” If there are others, please have them get in touch with Charles Hardt via eMail at N2PKW@arrl.net,or his cell 228 233-4140 to develop a special test session.
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What type of Ham Operator are we?
Recently Gus, WG5GK came across this post on the subject matter of Good versus, shall we say, less than good Ham Radio operator practice.
With people receiving Amateur Radio licenses for the first or second time (after expiring) and listening on HF and VHF ham radio it can be confusing how to engage over-the-air. If you are not sure what to say or how to act in a conversation read the articles listed below. This is one person’s opinion but it is shared by many amateur radio operators.
You are encouraged to view the web article titled “The Five Types of Operators You Don’t Want to Be”. The Five Types of Operators You Don’t Want to Be
And we all should be eager to review the counterpart web article titled “The Five Types of Operators You Should Want to Be”.
Ham Radio 101: Five Types of Operators You Should Want to Be
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A JCARA Flash BOTA Event – and captured by a YouTube video blogger.
Recently while attending the monthly Club meeting, someone opined that a fishing trip was something that several club members had previously voiced interest in doing. The group expressing interest all thought it would be a great idea to combine fishing with a B.O.T.A. (Beaches On The Air) Ham Radio activity. Approximately 3 weeks later [02/25/2023] the Broadwater Beach B.O.T.A. was on the air.
People that came to, and participated in, the B.O.T.A. included: W5DDX Joe, WF5W Jerry, WG5GK Gus, W5BBD Barbara, AE5MU Austin.
Jerry, WF5W arrived first and registered the group. W5DDX brought his Yaesu FTDX10, M90 microphone, external tuner, power Supply, Laptop, table, chairs, and tent. Oh yes, the fishing equipment, bait and maybe a few cold ones to share.
WG5GK, Gus came with the generator and extension cord, the Hustler 5BTV vertical antenna. Barbara W5BBD arrived with breakfast and wet a line for fishing while the others set up the equipment. Austin, AE5MU arrived a little later and helped with setup as well. All the participants had a great time manning the fishing poles and activating this B.O.T.A.
Propagation conditions were great. The contacts made included, Canada, Switzerland, and French Polynesia.
Interestingly a YouTube blogger passing by, spotted the group and was curious to investigate. [The blogger’s post can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/hkv4EgQacvY] WG5GK, Gus and AE5MU, Austin managed the fishing poles while W5DDX, Joe was being interviewed. Later, after the interview the group broke down the equipment. Joe W5DDX stayed on fishing and ended up catching 2 beautiful “Sail Cats” that he and Barbara W5BBD had for dinner Saturday and Sunday.
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A Winter Field Day 2023 Report From the [Club] President…
The Jackson County ARA Winter Field Day (WFD) 2023 event is complete. We will see pictures and comments in the following days on our Jackson County ARA Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/635744223109015) and our club website (https://jcmsara.org). If you took pictures at WFD please email them to Alan (N5OYL@Bellsouth.net) and Joe (BigJoeyT@Yahoo.com). I have seen a few pictures already posted by W5DUI on Facebook.
We had a total of 6 stations during Saturday’s event. All of us were setup our radios in tents on Alan’s (N5OYL) property. We had vertical, horizontal, and portable HexBeam antennas to use during the event. We had new HF radios and radios with patina. The newest radio was the Yaesu FTDX-10 and the oldest was a Kenwood TS140S. We made many contacts that kept us busy day and night.
Oh! Our host fed us well. They prepared a large pot of Cheese Chicken and Rice, then shared with the team Saturday afternoon. Unexpectedly our host fed us bacon and chicken nuggets for breakfast on Sunday morning before teardown of all the equipment. We started teardown a bit early Sunday morning. We stopped making contacts at 9:00 AM and by 10:30 AM we were all packed up. Good thing because it started to drizzle by 10:30 AM.
I forgot to also mention the Bonfire. We had a bonfire Saturday night. Scrap lumber and tree branches were piled in a 10 foot circle and 4 foot high. When the fire was fully engulfed, we play songs from our cellphones. Some of the songs were “Light my Fire” by The Doors and Iron Butterfly’s “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” and “I am the god of Hell Fire”.
I also failed to mention we had 3 campers. Jim (W5SMN), Austin (AE5MU), and myself Gus (WG5GK) spend an overnight working radio and finally sleeping a few hours in our tents and camper. It was a bit cold but with propane heaters, and electric heaters running off generators we were not too cold. I have learned the next outdoor event we have decided to purchase electric blankets. They use much less power than a space heater.
All of us want to thank our camp event hosts Alan (N5OYL) and Marcia (and Cameron) for providing the space to our club for the WFD event. It was an excellent location, and it was also close our club repeater. We appreciate it.
Tomorrow night (Tuesday) is our first club meeting for the year. The meeting will last beyond 8:00 pm to about 8:30 pm. We will shut down the meeting at 9:00 pm.
A couple items on the itinerary are:
Club Dues – $16 per person or $24 per family
Three obtainable and measurable goals for 2023 – I ask every individual to provide 3 goals for our club to accomplish for 2023. We will need to state the goal, how it will be completed, and a measure of success for the goal. Once we have heard everyone’s goals, we will have a discussion and decide in January’s meeting what direction our club wants to take.
Collect a fresh list of names, callsigns, emails, phone, etc. This information will be kept confidential.
Looking forward for another successful year with the Jackson County Amateur Radio Association (JCARA).
Sincerely,
Gus Kastrantas, WG5GK
President, Jackson County Amateur Radio Association
...more WFD photos; a short slide show JCMSARA WFD 2023
[The Slide Show is a PDF file. From Adobe PDF Reader select View: Full Screen Mode: to start slide show. Press ESC key to exit slide show, then exit the Adobe Reader App]
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Also see Linux Classes Offered. Details on the Classes are available on the Training page.
Link to Linux Classes
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The JCARA 2022 December Meeting and Christmas party
The Meeting/Party was held Tuesday December 13, 2022, at the Country Gentlemen Restaurant in Gautier. It was a packed-out crowd. Approximately 33 members, family or friends attended. Good food and outstanding fellowship was had by all.
A brief meeting was convened, after prayer and pledge to the flag was completed, several amateurs were presented with Certificates of Appreciation, and Congratulations for support and service to the club activities in 2022. Other awards were given to recognize and thank members for their “extra effort” service to the club and the community.
A roll call of our family of amateurs who have health issues, and a list of Silent Keys, or their (passed away) spouses, was read. The reading was followed by a moment of silence. Afterward the meeting was adjourned.
A 50/50 door prize drawing afforded two attendees cash that was sufficient to cover the dutch treat dinner! See several pictures of the meeting attendants below.
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Officer Election Results for 2023 Board of Directors.
The Jackson County Amateur Radio Association held its annual officer elections yesterday, in accordance with the bylaws. The Officers for 2023 will be:
Gus. WG5GK, President
Joe, W5DDX, Vice President
Jerry, N5MES, Treasurer
Jim, W5SMN, Secretary
Charlie, N2PKW, First Past President
Congratulations and thank you to each for your service to the club in 2022. We look forward to even greater accomplishments in 2023.
A special thank you to outgoing secretary Teresa, KF5PPK, for keeping us well document in 2022.
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Recent Events….
- No Club activities scheduled for December except for the Christmas party.
- JCARA Annual Christmas Party, in December. A note from the Club President.
Our December club meeting has been rescheduled from December 27 to Tuesday
December 13 (starting at 5:30-6:00pm). This is due to the meeting occurring in the
middle of the holiday week. Instead of our traditional club meeting we will have a brief
meeting and an End of Year Celebration (Christmas Party). The meeting location in
December has also changed to the Country Gentleman Restaurant located in Gautier.
The club has reserved a private section at the restaurant. All are invited to attend
including spouses, family, and guests. I will need a count of people planning to attend
the Country Gentlemen Restaurant. Dutch Treat.
73, Gus, WG5GK
- No additional VE testing scheduled for 2022.
- VE tests were conducted at the Hamfest
- According to Charley, N2PKW, we are available for special request testing, the week after Thanksgiving and the first two weeks of Dec.
- Otherwise VE tests are currently scheduled to resume at the regular time in January 2023.
- An early look into 2023
- Winter Field Day for 2023 is January 28-29th.
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Also see Linux Classes Offered. Details on the Classes or Training page. Link to Linux Classes
Hamfest Flyer ________________________________
Are you Ready for Amateur (Ham) Radio? Amateur Radio is ready for you!
Have you been considering adding Amateur Radio to your portfolio of readiness assets? Then read the notification regarding upcoming free online training available soon. This class will prepare you to take the entry level Technician license exam.
A free, weekly, live, Amateur Radio Technician Class Licensing course on Zoom will begin on Thursday, Sept 8, and will run through Thursday, October 20 (7 sessions). The three-hour sessions will start at 6:30 PM Eastern Time. These are the classes that we have been holding for years sponsored by the National Electronics Museum. Those wishing to sign up should email me at roland.anders@comcast.net. Thanks. 73, Rol Anders, K3RA
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Renew, Obtain or Upgrade your Amateur Radio License Opportunity
The Jackson County Amateur Radio Association will provide testing for your Amateur Radio license on the 3rd Tuesday of each month starting at 6:00 PM.
Testing will be held at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Jackson County Campus, Career Technical Education Building, Room 26A, 2300 US-90, Gautier, MS 39553
GPS Coordinates 30.394521, -88.647288 / 30°23’40.3″N, 88°38’50.2″W
You will need the following items ready and available before testing …
- Your FRN number. If you do not have an FRN number, register with the FCC and obtain an FRN.
( https://apps.fcc.gov/coresWeb/publicHome.do )
- Government issued ID card.
- Your Amateur Radio License if you are testing for General or Extra class license. Not needed for Technician class license testing.
- Fee of $15.00, cash only.
For more information contact Charles Hardt at: n2pkw@arrl.net
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