Southwest Missouri Amateur Radio Club

Southwest Missouri Amateur Radio Club added 4 new photos.

2 weeks ago

-SMARC Friday Night Net for November 2nd, 2018-

-Regular Announcements-

The Southwest Missouri Amateur Radio Club Meeting is held on the third Saturday of each month. Our next meeting will be on November 17th.

The meeting will be at the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) building at 2525 E. Division Street. This is across the street from the downtown airport, in Springfield, MO. The building is also located between Oak Grove Avenue to the East, and Engel Avenue on the West side of the building. There is no access to the parking behind the building from off of Engle Avenue, so you will need to use the DAV’s driveway at the corner of Division & Engle.

Testing will be at 3:00pm for anyone that wants to get their tech license, or want to upgrade to general or extra class. The fee for the test is $15. The meeting starts at 5:00pm.

Any one that is interested in becoming a licensed amateur radio operator should attend a meeting, or testing session. You do not have to already have your license, or be a club member to attend. Everyone is welcome including friends, family, and children.

An outstanding cook usually prepares a meal, and anyone is welcome to bring sides dishes, soft drinks, or desserts. Guests are welcome to stay to eat.

-DAV Drivers-

The DAV has been very gracious in letting us use their building at a great rate for our club meetings. SMARC would like to help pay back some of their generosity! They are always looking for volunteers to help drive veterans both here in town, and out of town. Some of the duties may be taking veterans to doctor’s appointments, VA visits, running to the store, or other places.

If you would like to volunteer to be a driver please contact Commander Bob Clayton at: 417-862-3910. The DAV has vans that you will use for transportation. All you have to have is a driver’s license, be insurable on their government policy, and pass a physical. I assume this is similar to a DOT physical.

-FlipGive-

Last year, we had the opportunity to purchase a newer repeater to replace our aging 146.640 MHz Skywarn repeater. We were able to make this happen mostly through a group of members donating the money for this to happen.

The advantages this has given us include: increased transmit power, the ability to eliminate interference with a PL Tone, and the option to include Echolink in the future. This has motivated us to want to add some digital repeaters that can expand our area even more. But we need your help to make this happen.

That is why SMARC has established a fundraiser with FlipGive.com. FlipGive is a great way to give back to your club by purchasing the things you already shop for every day. Companies like Target, Nike, Apple, Groupon, HP, Walmart, GAP, and many more will donate a percentage of your purchases back to the club. If you already shop online, this is a great way to help us out, and buy the things you need! Purchases of gift cards count too, and you can use those in store, just incase you don’t shop much online.

Go to www.flipgive.com and search for Southwest Missouri Amateur Radio Club for more information on how you can help. You do not have to be in the club, or even a licensed amateur radio operator to sing up for a free FlipGive account. So anyone can participate, friends, family, anybody. So sing up today and help us take the next step for amateur communications in Springfield, and Southwest Missouri!

-ISS Slow Scan TV-

In the early morning hours this past Monday morning, Conner (AE9SS) & myself made the climb atop the parking garage next to Juanita K Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts. This was to capture a slow scan TV image from the International Space Station. It was part of a celebration of NASA’s 60th anniversary. A series of images were transmitted from the Russian section of the ISS, and amateur radio operators from around the world could attempt to intercept them.

Connor had tried to get some of the photos Saturday afternoon, but due to an issue with the ISS equipment, he wasn’t able to any on that pass. The next one was scheduled for between 5:11 to 5:21am CDT Monday morning. Connor & a friend of his from the MSU Astronomy Club had arrived around 4:15am, and began assembling his Alaskan Arrow Antenna. The antenna, which is maybe twice as long as an Elk antenna, would be paired with my iCom ic-2730 dual receive mobile radio for this operation. Conner ran a patch cable from one of the speaker outputs on the back of the radio so he could record the signal into a Sony ICD-PX470 digital voice recorder. This was a great system as it allowed him to concentrate on tracking the ISS to get the best signal during the low angle pass, & then worry about decoding latter.

When all was said & done, Connor ending up with a great picture of an astronaut with some school children, and a certificate from NASA commemorating that he participated in the event. The certificate reads: “Connor Buss, AE9SS, received SSTV images commemorating the 60th NASA anniversary, sent through the amateur radio system installed on the Russian segment of the International Space Station.” Affixed are the names, positions, and call sings of several American, Russian, and European administrators that contributed to the event. Congratulation Connor!!

-Nixa NARCfest-

The annual Nixa NARCfest will be on Saturday, November 10, 2018. It will be located at the Bridge, 308 W Mt. Vernon in Nixa, MO. The doors open at 8:00am, and tickets are just $7.00! There will be a special prize drawing for Veterans, and a super ticket- $20.00 gets you 20 raffle tickets!!

From what I have heard, tables are all sold out! If you would still like a chance to exhibit at the NARCFest, your only option is to see if you can find someone to share a table with.

Mark your calendars, save your pennies, and plan to be at the Nixa NARCfest! Watch the NARC website at: www.nixahams.net/, for more details.

-Skywarn Youth Net-

I would like to talk to you about the Skywarn Youth Net. It begins at 7:30pm on Sunday nights, on the 145.490 N0NWS repeater. This net is sponsored by the Southwest Missouri Regional Skywarn repeater system to encourage young amateur radio operators & their families to key up, and get out on the air.

This helps create educational awareness amongst these operators about Skywarn, and basic weather facts. It helps introduce young hams to net operations, and how to participate in a net. There are trivia questions about weather, and a lot of fun for all! Everyone is welcome to participate.

For more information about this net, please go to www.N0NWS.com/youth.

-R&L Electronics Offer-

R & L Electronics has put together a couple of radio packages for brand new Hams in the Southwest Missouri area! The basic pack includes a Baofeng UV5 hand held radio, and a Gordon West Technician study guide, and is less than $50, with free shipping!!

You can see details for both the basic & deluxe packages at:www.randl.com. Once on the main page, just type "new ham" into the search bar, and you will see both of the radio packages.

-Check Inns-
WK0Y / Jack / Springfield, MO
KC0NSC / Tom / Springfield, MO
AE0DW / Dwayne / Springfield, MO
KB0JGG / Roger / Springfield, MO
KD0KNL / Lewis / Marshfield, MO
KE0SRO / Billy / Springfield, MO
K0PRM /Paul / Springfield, MO
KD0AEL / Springfield, MO
KE0CVU / Dave / Bois D’Arc
KE0NHL /Heather / Clever, MO
AE9SS / Connor / Springfield, MO
AD0YV / Rodney / Springfield, MO
N0RK / Jordan / Springfield, MO

-Net Control-
KD0RSJ / Franklin / Springfield, MO ... See MoreSee Less

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Southwest Missouri Amateur Radio Club added 17 new photos.

2 weeks ago

Early this morning Connor, AE9SS, got out of bed to see if he could hear a radio transmitter from the International Space Station (ISS). This weekend the ISS was running a slow scan TV event. Slow scan TV is were a signal (photo) is sent one frame at a time, there for you get a picture instead of video. At different times through out the year these events are run on the ISS, and on Amateur Radio satellites in orbit. Many amateur operators will try to see how many of these pictures they can get.

Connor had tried on Saturday afternoon to receive the signal, but problems on the ISS prevented this from happening. He had another chance, but it would be a low angle pass around 5:11-5:21am CDT on Monday morning. I had contacted Jordan, N0Rk to see if he had went to the Saturday attempt, and how it had went. He filled me in, and told me that Connor was going to try the Monday morning pass. I got in touch with Connor, and we set a plan in motion.

It would be easier to use a dual band mobile radio, and I just happened to have one setting on my desk, an iCom ic-2730. Connor came of Sunday evening, picked up my radio, and then all that was left to do was wait. He went back home to get ready, and I took a few hour long 'cat naps' until I started to get ready about 4:00am CDT. We had agreed to meet about 4:30am, I didn't walk about the door till about 4:31, sorry Connor!

We had arranged to on the top deck of the parking garage right next to Juanita K. Hammon's Hall for the Performing Arts, located on the campus of Missouri State University. When I got there, he'd pretty much gotten everything set up. He'd already assembled the antenna we would be using for the pass over, and Alaskan Arrow antenna. It's a directional Yagi, and I'd estimate about a 1/3 to 1/2 length longer than the Elk antenna. It looked like a small broadsword!! This was connected to my ic-2730, and powered by an SLA battery Connor had. He ran a patch cable from one of the radio speaker ports to a Sony ICD-PX470 digital voice recorder, and everything besides the antenna was housed in an Amazon Basics large DSLR gadget bag. It was a right nice portable setup!

Starting about 5:11am we heard some transmissions on Connor's car radio, and we know the ISS was starting the pass. He immediately got the Alaskan in the air, and found the signal through a partial transmission that he first heard just below the horizon.. The peak was about 5:16am with the ISS at 38 degrees above the horizon, and Connor was able to get one full transmission. He started to get a 2nd partial one when the signal was starting to fade out, as the station was now behind some buildings, and lowering in the sky.

Connor played the signal back, and we saw the image appear line by line on his cell phone, running a decoding application. I've seen these photos before, but never saw one being captured in the moment before, and I was very excited! I'd love to learn more about satellite operations, and maybe do a few of these myself in the future! Also present was a friend of Connor's that i didn't get her name, but she is a member of the MSU Astronomy Club.

Below is the photo that was sent from the ISS, followed by photos taken on both Connor's, and my phones.

There is a website you can go to see other people's captures of the photos sent by the ISS for the event. There are more photo's than just the one we received. Go to : www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/index.php , to check them out!

Connor did send me a copy of the audio recording encase anyone was interested in hearing it. I'm not sure how I can upload it to Facebook without it being in video form. So if you are interested, comment on the post, I'll get with you, and email it to you.

Hope you all enjoy!!

Franklin, KD0RSJ ... See MoreSee Less

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