January Meeting AND Winter Field Day

Hello everyone, I hope you have recovered from snow, Christmas, New Years etc etc and are ready to kick off the 2025 year for SEKARC! We will be having a big day on Saturday the 25th. We will begin with our January meeting at Fire Station #1 in Pittsburg at 911 W 4th Street at 9am and will include the usual breakfast, coffee and donuts. We will then hold election of officers for 2025-26! Plans for the new year and activities will be discussed and after a short discussion we will head to the Crawford County Historical Museum to setup for Winter Field Day! Maps for the locations are posted below.

Operational Period: Winter Field Day is held the last full weekend in January. For 2025, it will be held on January 25th and 26th. The 30-hour operational period starts at 1600 UTC on Saturday (11 am EST), the 25th, and ends at 21:59 UTC on Sunday, the 26th (4:59 pm EST). Stations may begin setting up no earlier than 1600 UTC (11 am EST) on the Friday before. And of course Field Days are always at risk with severe/extreme weather so stay tuned for any possible update or changes. We are hoping to fully setup and test the new Bandpass Filters that the club purchased in 2024. So come for the meeting, stick around and help setup and stay to help with operation and win a prize? 

As we did with our last meeting we will be offering a very nice grand prize with some conditions... we will hold the prize drawing right before we begin to operate at the WFD site.. so attend the meeting, come out and help for your chance to win! Help setup if you can or just provide moral support and advice (hams do that right?) and hope ya win. The prize....? One of the new Yaesu mobile radios, the FT-3165RASP.

The FT-3165R ASP is a compact 2-meter mobile transceiver with solid basic features configuration and mechanical toughness. The power output is 65W (selectable 65W / 30W / 5W) and its efficient cooling system with the FACC: Funnel Air-Convection Conductor (Wind Tunnel) ensures stable and reliable power. New front speaker provides 5W of loud audio and has been tuned for improved sound quality. 

It's FOX HUNTING Season !!

Get your horses ready and best red coat... SEKARC is having a FoxHunt this Saturday October 30th. The plan is to meet at Hardee's for breakfast and coffee. Visit, eat, drink and have a good conversation over a biscuit and coffee!

Then we will discuss the plans for the hunt. Much of this will be open for discussion so plan on being a part of it! At 9am let's gather at Hardee's, then around 10, after the plans are laid down, a couple of us will go to Lincoln Park and plant the foxes! Then about 10:30. the rest will leave and head to the park. Meeting in one place like maybe the parking lot in front of the band dome? I am not sure if there are other events in the park so we will be flexible on that. For last minute details and instructions monitor the .94 repeater for traffic regarding the hunt.

Eyeball QSO / Planning Meeting

Hello, SEKARC is having it's September meeting at Fire Station #1 in Pittsburg on Saturday September 30th at 9am. We will have breakfast, coffee and donuts available. We have added a few new members since our last fire station meeting so we hope you can all attend.

Crawford County Historical Museum - Amateur Radio Day

Here are the plans for the September SEKARC meeting on Saturday the 24th of September. We will first meet at Hardee's on South Broadway in Pittsburg for breakfast at 9am. Grab a coffee to go because we will then head over to the Crawford County Historical Museum to set up our field radios! (SEE MAP BELOW)

Joe met with officials the at the museum and they loved the idea and ask that since they open at 10am on Saturday they would like us to arrive about that time. This makes it easier as we do not have to drag food and drinks around! So if you cannot make it for breakfast then plan on coming by the museum about 10am or later!

How long we stay kind of depends on the weather and the visitors. They are calling for a chance of rain later in the day on Saturday and of course that WILL change. According to Joe WØMQY, the officials at the museum were very excited about our visit and plan to do several media hits including the paper, the museum facebook page and possibly tv news! Also I highly suggest while you are there, going inside and seeing what they have there. There are some great historical pieces, places, faces and more. A great collection of local history. Be sure to go in and SIGN THE GUESTBOOK !! If you have any questions or suggestions please let us know, either through the group email system or comment here directly!

Some operating info...
 * they ask that we set up at or after 10am
 * there is SOME AC power on the grounds, but going all battery might be preferable
 * there are lots of trees for temporary antenna use
 * lets be sure and leave it like we found it
 * any change of plans will be sent via SEKARC email group

 If you are not familiar with this location, I have included a link below with directions and a map!

The "Joy of QRP" .....and Donuts

Great meeting Saturday... if you missed it, hopefully we will see you at the next one !! Thanks again Joe for a great presentation! If anyone has any ideas for a guest speaker or topic please let us know and we will work on getting them here !! 73

Welcome to the New SEKARC Officers

Please welcome the new SEKARC officers for 2016. During the January meeting the attending members voted to promote Jack Dock WDØCFH to President and move Joe Porter WØMQY to Vice Predident. Also elected was a new Secretary/Treasurer, Jeff Chancey KAØEGE.

A special thanks to Joe who lead the club as President beginning in 2014 through 2015. THANK YOU Joe.... job well done! We had a great turnout for the meeting but we room for a LOT more of you for sure. And thanks to Loren Chancey for serving in this position for 2 years as well!!

Be sure and make plans to attend the next meeting on Feb 27th as Tyler Costantini will be giving a presentation of a possible EMP and the affects of that on ham radio and communications in general. You do not want to miss this one.

January 30th Meeting - SEKARC

Saturday January 30th at 9 a.m. Fire Station #1

This will be the first meeting of the SEKARC for 2016! We will have lot's of discussion about plans for 2016 which include the recently purchased Yaesu System Fusion repeater and the plans we have for it! Be sure to be there to voice your thoughts.

We will also have election of officers for the new year so keep that in mind! We will be accepting nominations for President, Vice President and Treasurer so make plans to attend. As usual we will have breakfast, coffee and lots of radio chatter. If you have ideas or thoughts for club goals for this year plan on being there and let's talk about it!

We will also be discussing possible activity for 2016. Let's make this a good year for SEKARC and for all amateur radio in the Southeast Kansas area!

Special Thanks to Max McCoy !!

Max McCoy KCØMAX

SEKARC would like to thank our special guest presenter Max McCoy. At our October meeting Max gave a wonderful presentation on his trip down the Arkansas River in Colorado.

It was a fascinating look at the adventure and was complete with building the kayak trailer to building the QRP rig he used on the river banks. Beautiful photos and interesting stories, from involuntary swimming to the lopsided ratio of effort per QSO!

 We had a great turnout and another special visitor that stopped by was Joplin Hamfest Guru and JARC VIP Jim Scott. It was great to see Jim and we talked about the possibility of doing some joint meetings with the Joplin club in the future! Most of the breakfast casserole and all of the donuts were consumed, we all learned a lot and had lots of fun and if you missed it, make it to the next one!!

Max McCoy Presentation - October Meeting

The October and November 2013 issues of the ARRL magazine QST, featured local author and amateur radio operator Max McCoy KCØMAX. With a kayak and portable ham radio he journeyed down the Arkansas River in Colorado and shared his story with QST readers. On Saturday 10/31/15 Max will join us to tell us more about that adventure. The Southeast Kansas Amateur Radio Club will be meeting at Fire Station #1 on West Fourth in Pittsburg will begin at 9am.

We will have coffee, juice, breakfast egg casserole and donuts for everyone and all are welcome and please bring a guest. This should be one of the most interesting and entertaining meeting in the history of SEKARC! Max is local celebrity but most do not know of his ham radio activity.

Weather permitting we will also head to the park for some portable radio work so plan on bringing your gear or at least stop by and get on the air! We usually have 3-5 operators that have some really nice portable gear on display and in use.

Below is a brief bio from Max's website MaxMccoy.com.

Max McCoy is an award-winning winning author and journalist.

He won the Spur Award in 2011 from the Western Writers of America for Damnation Road, the third book in the Hellfire western noir trilogy. Set in Oklahoma Territory at the turn of the last century, the book concludes the story of irascible outlaw Jacob Gamble, who is now nearing fifty and confronted by a new west of telephones, smokeless powder, and moving pictures.....

......... McCoy has published nineteen novels, including four original Indiana Jones adventures published by Bantam and licensed by Lucasfilm; the novelization of Steven Spielberg’s epic miniseries Into the West; and the critically-acclaimed cave diving thriller, The Moon Pool, published in 2004 by Dorchester. USA Today described his writing as “powerful.” Publishers Weeklycalled The Moon Pool, an “intelligent thriller… tightly drawn characters, a vile villain and a satisfying, thought-provoking conclusion make this a compelling read.”

Mark this on your calendar and get there on time!!

September Meeting Sat 9/26

The September SEKARC meeting will be held Saturday September 26th at 9 am. We will meet at the Pittsburg Fire Station #1 at 911 W 4th. There will be breakfast and coffee available so please stop by and say hello! It's been a busy summer so let's review and make some plans for the fall and winter.

There will short videos discussion about talk about one of the hottest new modes, Digital Voice for HF. New software and new mode that is catching on and gaining in popularity so let's all learn together. We will also discuss the latest new with the new Yaesu Fusion repeater installed by the PRO group on the 94 location.

We will also announce the speaker for the October meeting and that will be one meeting that you don't want to miss! Weather permitting we will also go to the park and set up some radios after the meeting so bring your gear!

SEKARC In The Park

The August meeting of the Southeast Kansas Amateur Radio Club was held today in Lincoln Park. It was a beautiful day and we had 4 stations set up and on the air! The park was busy and the weather was cloudy and about 72 degrees. There was BBQ smoke in the air and we almost got some free Chicken Mary's chicken!

Thanks for coming out !!

Meeting - Lincoln Park - May 30th

The May SEKARC meeting will be held in Lincoln Park shelter one. This shelter seats 25 - 30 and is located near the bocce pits in the southwest corner of the park. We have the shelter reserved from 9am until 5pm so it should be a fun radio day.

We will have some campstove coffee, breakfast casserole, donuts and around noon time we will cook some hot dogs on the charcoal and have a picnic lunch. Bring your gear and setup or just come on down for a friendly visit. Our hope is to get some bugs worked out before field day and just to get outdoors in the fresh air!

Meeting - Sat April 25th

It's that time again! This Saturday the 25th is the April meeting for the Southeast Kansas Amateur Radio Club. We will meet at 9am at the Pittsburg Fire Station #1 on West 4th street in Pittsburg. We will have breakfast and coffee and radio fellowship! We have a special guest, Steve Lester who was here in January with the SATERN team and was part of the presentation given to the SEKARC. He will be giving his presentation that will cover various severe weather topics and some basic first aid for certain symptoms related to severe weather.

Electronic Building Techniques Meeting Summary

For those that missed the Feb 28,2015 meeting, here is the presentation by Joe WØMQY on building techniques! We had a great meeting and thanks to those in attendance !! For those that were there we were given a great presentation on building tips and soldering adventures!

Thanks Joe, and GOOD JOB !! Here are some photos from the talk and the slide presentation is available to view below! One of the methods talked about was Manhattan style and thanks to Romel KEØAKO we have more information on that !!

Ugly Construction has its variations and the Manhattan Style Construction technique has become very popular. Manhattan or "paddy board" style uses small square or round pads cut or stamped from PC board which are glued copper side up on a large copper clad board which is also placed copper side up. The small pads or "islands"  are used for anchoring non-grounded components. Components soldered to the pads such as transistors or ICs are not positioned upside down like in standard Ugly Construction. Many Manhattan style builders use IC sockets as well. There is a tendency to make these projects look very nice and this is a wonderful ground-plane bread boarding technique for builders who have the time and ability to do this."

Romel also provided a great article here as well --->   Manhattan Building Techniques from K7QO

Meeting Reminder Sat Jan 31

REMINDER - SEKARC Meeting Sat Jan 31 @ 9am

We will have a special visitor coming down from Kansas City for our meeting. The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network or SATERN will be bringing down their newly revamped Communication Vehicle for the club to look at. Some of us are involved with the group and you can learn more and possibly find out how you can get involved!

Last year we had the Kansas RACES group visit and speak to us, and we are reaching out to ARES. SATERN is another option for those operators that would like to get in community service. So stop by, check out the radio truck! One new tradition is that we will start with the Pledge of Allegience! We are lucky to be living in the United States of America! We will be discussing some of our plans for upcoming meetings and overall plans for 2015.

Like past meetings we will have coffee, donuts and new this month... we are fixing up an egg/cheese/sausage/hashbrown casserole... so there will be plenty to eat! And the price is better than Hardee's!

November Meeting and SDR

Screenshot From WEBSDR.org

What a great meeting we had last Saturday. That neeting was an example of some of the best things about SEKARC. New technology, learning and friendship. It was nice to see a good turnout on a holiday weekend and if you missed it, be sure and attend our next meeting in January. ( We will not have a Dec meeting, too close to Christmas ).

I showed a basic intro to SDR YouTube video (watch below), which displayed basic info and demonstrated 2 free software programs to listen with and modify the signals. Joe then gave a demo of the fantastic website websdr. Towards the bottom of this article I will embed the youtube video and will post links to the info that Joe presented.

The SDR market is exploding with inexpensive hardware to LISTEN to many bands of radio  frequencies. Many of us have since purchased some of the equipment and I am sure some of that will be on display in the January meeting. If you have any advice of info that would be helpful, please add it to the comments section below.

We also got to meet some new members that we initially met at the Joplin Hamfest! Thanks for coming Kristin KEØBPL and Seth KDØTEL and we hope to see you again soon! Anything you need just give us a post on the Google Groups site!

SDR rcvr  (world wide receiver list)       

http://websdr.org  Good starting place "Great Lakes Listening Post" 40,30,20 mtr

http://n5dux.2y.net  Softrock Lite 40 mtr rcvr     running on Raspberry Pi.

http://75.65.68.216   W5ZA  Shreveport, La.   10 meter Beacon receiver


SDR Software  

www.rtl-sdr.com/big-list-rtl-sdr-supported-software.   (free downloads)

SDR Intro Video

Fire Station Meeting was GREAT !

Great meeting Saturday! I think those that attended saw that the new meeting place is top notch and will work out great for meetings going forward! Special thanks to Jim Tuggle from RACES which presented a program on RACES including what it is, what they do and how we can get involved! See the embedded slide show which he presented below!

Milestone SEKARC Meeting Sept 27th

The September 27th meeting of the SEKARC will be held at the Pittsburg Fire Station #1 on West Fourth Street in Pittsburg at 9am! We are very excited about the news and this will be our first actual meeting room, and we will even have a program with a special guest presenter!

Jim Tuggle, the Kansas State RACES officer will be providing the program for us and will be giving a presentation on the RACES program. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the program here is a little rundown taken from the RACES website.

RACES stands for "Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service," a protocol created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC Part 97, Section 407). Many government agencies across the country train their Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) volunteers using the RACES protocol. The volunteers serve their respective jurisdictions pursuant to guidelines and mandates established by local emergency management officials.

Click to go to RACES.org

We have met with the Fire Chief Mike Simons and our plan is to make this a regular location for our monthly meetings. At each monthly meeting we will reserve and confirm the room for the following month. The station has a great training room with lots of space as it holds 80, and it also has the latest media technology which the Chief offered for us to use. Large screen with projector, laptop and Internet access. I think this will be a great partnership going forward. 

With the large room, tables and technology all we will need to provide is the donuts and coffee! This had great possibilities for the club for bringing in guest speakers, demonstrations and we could even have kit or antenna building meetings so if you have an idea for a meeting topic then speak up and let us know! There is parking in the front on the left and in the rear of the building and on 3rd street if we need it! Just don't park on the approach and block the trucks!

One other option is to use the lot to the East of the station to setup radio gear right there on sight. Imagine having something like this for the community to see and we could even offer a Get On The Air station or GOTA for anyone interested to make some radio contacts! This opens up many possibilities for SEKARC so the club can make the next steps as we grow!

Thanks and mark your calendars for Sept 27th 9-11 am! See you there!

July Meeting and Lincoln Park

The July meeting of SEKARC was held Saturday and it was a very good one. Bill WBØLXZ brought his project that he has been working on for a demonstration. A 555 keyer plus sidetone paddle. At the coffee on Wednesday he had his schematic and circuit board all printed and by Saturday it was complete! We had a great turnout at Hardee's and I can happily say that I think we are outgrowing Hardee's as the location for our meetings.

May Meeting - Saturday

 

The May meeting for SEKARC is this Saturday the 31st. Please stop by, and say hello and grab some coffee or a biscuit. Hopefully we will see lots of friends there, and maybe some new faces? We will be discussing our Field Day plans and much more. We have a listing on the ARRL Field Day Locator, check it out HERE!

ARRL Field Day Locator Map

One of the items that we need to discuss is the possibility of setting up a Special Event station during the Little Balkins Days in September. I have a screen tent and I am pretty sure we could find enough hams to man in it for a couple of days. It would be another great chance to use the club call sign... and we could even come up a some custom event QSL card?

Remember ALL are welcome, you do not need to be a licensed ham to attend. Perhaps you are studying for the exam or maybe an inactive ham that has not been on the air for a while please come by. Maybe you would like to get active again, than I think we are the group for you! 

Always something interesting to see !

Mapped out for you !