Joplin Hamfest August 24th-25th

The Joplin Hamfest is coming soon!! This year it is 2 days August 24th and 25th. Since they have a smaller venue they went back to the 2 day event. The hamfest is Friday 12:00pm to 7:00pm
Saturday 8:00 am to 2:00 pm. We will set up Friday morning after 8 am.

We normally have a lot of gear donated by SK's and others but this year we will open it up. We have 2 tables that you can use to sell your gear for your own income OR you can bring things to donate to the club to sell and proceeds will be used in 2 ways this year. As promised, and sales from donated gear will be split between the SEKARC and PRO groups 50/50. We all use the 146.94 and 444.800 repeaters so it would be a nice gesture I thought to help them out as well. In the SEKARC way it will be voluntary so check your shack, your garage, your trunk and your basement for anything to sell at the hamfest!

We will keep a ledger of items sold and it would be helpful to add price labels to what you bring and you might include your callsign on the price tag IF you want the money to come back to you. Make sense? Happy hunting and lets clean out some gear and pass it on to be used by others.

Zero Beat - The Doctor Is In

"Zero Beating" is the topic of the current (July 19) episode of the "ARRL The Doctor is In" podcast. Listen...and learn!

Closer Look at the MFJ-1708SDR T/R Switch

Here is a video explaining in detail the MFJ-1708SDR for protecting your SDR receiver while transmitting. There is another option detailed in the August QST magazine from the ARRL. That homebrew option looks like it might be a good group project to build. And we can bulk order parts for cheaper shipping. We can discuss more at the Wednesday Coffee QSO !!

Radio Bird Update - Satellites

Here is some good current info on Satellites. Which ones are up, what they look like and a great explanation of how the antennas are deployed in space! Very good info for those interested in talking to the birds!

Should be a great activity to try and some nice bonus points!!

Coax Expert Ray Nelson N1MPD

Here is a good video on an interview with Coax expert Ray Nelson N1MPD. Ask Dave site that posted this is a good site for information and I highly recommend that you subscribe to his channel after you watch the video!.

Ask Dave You Tube Site CLICK HERE

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Happy Independence Day AMERICA !!

Happy Independence Day America !! Everyone today, should watch this. A reminder of what the founders went through to secure FREEDOM, not FORTUNES.

13 Colonies Special Event - Always A Fun Challenge

From ARRL:

The annual Original 13 Colonies Special Event will mark its 10th anniversary this year. The event gets under way on July 1 at 1300 UTC and runs through July 8 at 0400 UTC. Event Manager Kenneth Villone, KU2US, reports that 127,132 contacts took place during the 2017 13 Colonies event, down from 139,772 in 2016, owing in part to poor band conditions.

Special event stations with 1 × 1 call signs will represent the original 13 US colonies, plus bonus stations WM3PEN in Philadelphia and GB13COL in Durham, England. Each special event station will have its own QRZ.com profile page. Participating stations try to contact all 13 Colony Stations plus the two bonus stations.

Call signs and their respective states are K2A, New York; K2B, Virginia; K2C, Rhode Island; K2D, Connecticut; K2E, Delaware; K2F, Maryland; K2G, Georgia; K2H, Massachusetts; K2I, New Jersey; K2J, North Carolina; K2K, New Hampshire; K2L, South Carolina, and K2M, Pennsylvania.

I have the Clean Sweep a few years ago with 100 watts and a wire. The ALS-600 may help a little for my second attempt at all 13! This is a fun event and you will never hear pileups like the pileups you will hear with the 13 Colonies Event.

Additional information is on the 13 Colonies website.

SEKARC Field Day 2018 Update

The SEKARC Field Day 2018 was a success! Well factoring in the weather it was. Sure we did not make enough contacts to reach our goal. But I would say the 80m Delta Loop antenna performed like a champ, the 1,000 foot long wire antenna was INCREDIBLE and a great time was had by all that attended, got on the air and/or helped setup and takedown! Here are some photos from the event.

If you have some photos you would like to add to these, send them my way and I will get them included!