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*** Attention Members / Meeting Attendees ***
The Jackson County Amateur Radio Association club meeting will NOT be held at the St. Martin Community Center in June. This is due to the run-off election scheduled for this Tuesday at the community center.
We are instead hosting an informal club meeting on the internet using ZOOM.
We are sending out invitations before noon on Friday to all club members to attend the meeting. If you have not received an invitation or would like to attend our meeting on Tuesday please request an invitation by email at …
You will receive an invite before the meeting on Tuesday.
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ARRL Field Day is near – June 25th-26th, 2022
JCARA will conduct a cooperative – club wide Field Day event this year. And other interested, non-club, operators are welcome to participate. The event is set to be held at the Estuary Education Center, on the campus of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (MGCCC). The venue has adequate facilities to accommodate simulated emergency operations conditions and includes Antenna deployment location, room for multiple radio operations, cool-down area to preempt individuals suffering heat exhaustion, handicap (ARA) restrooms, and ample parking.
The hosting location information is: MGCCC Campus, 2300 US highway 90, Gautier, MS 39553
GPS Coordinates 30.394521, -88.647288 / 30°23’40.3″N, 88°38’50.2″W
See the site map…. Field Day Location
The 145.110 repeater is the talk-in frequency as needed.
The “make the contact” operations and logging event begins at 1300 local time the 25th to 1300 local time the 26th. Antenna deployment is scheduled for the afternoon/evening of the 24th beginning at approximately 1500 local time. In accordance with the ARRL rules, the advanced antenna setup drives the starting time on Saturday.
We highly encourage all members who are healthy-able bodied individuals to participate. Whether your area of service expertise is setup/breakdown, radio operations, food service, or other service (support) function, your participation is needed.
For the club this event is the second largest event to our fall Hamfest and will offer the greatest public exposure to what we do as Amateur Radio Operators.
For more information or interest in committing to help execute the event, please contact:
Charles; Charles.hardt@mgccc.edu or Joe; bigjoeyt@yahoo.com
Please visit the ARRL website http://www.arrl.org for more about Field Day.
Information from the ARRL
According to the ARRL website, “Field Day is the most popular on-the-air event held annually in the US and Canada. On the fourth weekend of June, more than 35,000 radio amateurs gather with their clubs, groups or simply with friends to operate from remote locations.”
We encourage operators to review the rules at the ARRL Field Day Rules link http://www.arrl.org/field-day-rules
The JCARA Field Day Flyer. JCARA Field Day Flyer
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Coming in July 2022 – 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 Charlie at charles.hardy@mgccc.edu
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JCARA’s First DIY Project is in the books or On The Air.
On the last Saturday of May, the 28th, several crafty operators met to build portable HF antennas beginning with the 9:1 Balun. The goal is a functional End Fed random length wire antenna that could be deployed for ARRL Field Day or actual storm/emergency response radio communications.
Attendees included
N2PKW
W5DDX
W5SMN
KG5KSA
WG5GK
N5OYL
KI5OAK
W5NRP
WF5W
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We recognize and extend our special thanks to the following for facilitating the project.
- Precision Manufacturing, Machining Instructor Jamie Wilkerson
- N2PKW
- W5DDX
- The Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Jackson County Campus Administration
Scroll down to enjoy the picture record of the DIY event
The Basic Design and Construction.
Building a 9 to 1 balun / for a random length wire antenna.
Many Parts and Pieces
Christmas will arrive in the blink of the eye, so Santa’s Little Antenna Workshop is getting busy!
Workmanship like a machine!
CAUTION, Soldering Construction for the next 2 hours. Traffic is down to one lane!
Happy are the workers. Beats the alternative of watching the Weather Channel at home on the satellite.
See the Antenna simulated field operations test results below.
The results are noteworthy. 1.2:1 VSWR on 20 meters, something over 2:1 on other bands, but 1:1 with the tuner. Voice contact with Costa Rica yielded a 57-signal report. Additional tests resulted in contact with Japan on 20 meters, FT8. Way to go Jim.
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