Hotarc-color-small

The HOTLINE
Official Newsletter for the
Heart O’ Texas Amateur Radio Club
Waco, Texas

Volume XLIII, Number 9

September 2018

 

Waco Wild West 100 Support

by Lynn Gustafson KD5DZU

HOTARC President

 

www100-logo.pngProgram for this month will be the Waco Wild West 100 bicycle tour.

Tracker package designed by W5NCDCheck out the HOTARC News entry about WWW100 for current information—dates, times, locations, maps, opportunities, and signing up to volunteer!

Do you have one of the HOTARC-subsidized APRS trackers? Please bring them to the September meeting, so we can verifty their configuration and operation for this event.

 



From the President

 

Just a reminder, Saturday, October 20, 2018 will the be Waco Wild West Century Bike Race. This race kd5dzu-2017b.pnghelps promote riding cycles, safety, and partnership. Proceeds from this race are given to local organizations, including HOTARC, for supporting the event. HOTARC has been asked to provide communications for the race. The bike race has several routes ranging from 10 miles to 105 miles. We are asking for enough volunteers to post at least one person at each Rest Stop along the routes. One person will ride with the SAG vehicle and one person will be assigned to shadow the race officials. Our main goal is to provide updates on the race as needed, pass on requests from the Rest Stops, and report any emergency issues that may arise.

As mentioned last meeting, we need all club-donated APRS trackers be returned to Clint Anderson (ae5ca@grid-em11.com) so that he can test them and make sure they are properly configured for the race. If you wish to configure your own, please get with Clint to make sure it is properly configured. We need this done very quickly as it takes time to get these setup.

Not only does this activity help our community, but it also allows us to test our equipment and operating skills. It is a great time to get out and enjoy the weather and each other. I look forward to seeing each of you there.

Thanks,

Lynn KD5DZU
HOTARC President

 



For the Record

 

HOTARC Meeting of Members
August 23, 2018

President Lynn Gustafson, KD5DZU called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the W5NCD Workshop Meeting Room.

Bill Feltenberger, KD5UEW opened the meeting with a prayer.

19 members were present. Six visitors were also present: Tom Robinson, KG5NJG, Toby Driscoll, N5SIM, Steve Williamson, KG5WHR, Brandon Munger, W5BCM, and Donald Alsup, AI5AI.

Last Meeting Minutes. A motion to accept the Minutes for July 26, 2018 as published in the HOTLINE was made by Jeb Leutwyler, KG5WHS; seconded by Bill Feltenberger, KD5UEW and unanimously approved.

Treasurer’s report. Bill Feltenberger, KD5UEW moved to accept the Treasurer’s report; seconded by Jeb Leutwyler, KG5WHS and was approved by the membership.

Committee Reports:

The Treasurer Reports...

 

Heart O’ Texas Amateur Radio Club
Treasurer’s Report, August 2018

Starting Balance

$8,548.20

Income

 Dues

$ 52.50

 Interest

0.07

Total Income

$ 52.57

Expenses

 Field Day food

($ 257.16)

 PayPal

(0.63)

Total Expenses

($257.19)

Ending Balance

$8,342.98

Uncleared activity:

 (none)

 

Amount in acct. as of

9/9/2018

$8,342.98

Includes Flower Fund:

$178.10

Submitted by
Norris Martin, KB5SLI
HOTARC Treasurer

·         ARES: Lynn Gustafson, KD5DZU recommended that everyone read Ed Hynan’s, KC5KNI report in the HOTLINE for latest information. If you are interested in being a member of ARES and participate in EOC support activities, contact Ed at KC5KNI@arrl.net or 254-722-4578.

·         Trailer Committee: No report. Trailer worked well in last event.

·         Repeater Committee: Clint Anderson, AE5CA reported repeaters are working.

·         Web Committee: John Chamberlain, AC5JC reported web site is working satisfactorily.

·         ATV: David Bush, KC5UOZ reported that projects are doing well.

·         Education Committee: Clint Anderson, AE5CA requested someone else teach this year. Clint is also looking at a one-day curriculum as a possible source for material for a study guide. Lynn Gustafson, KD5DZU reported that there is interest to train ten people for the Technician license. Lynn solicited someone else take lead on teaching the class. There is interest to have a class in the March or April time frame.

·         Public Relations: No report.

·         Special Events: No report. 2018 Waco Wild West 100 Mile Bicycle Tour is scheduled for October 20.

Old Business

·         DMR Repeater: Lynn Gustafson, KD5DZU reported that there is an interest for a DMR Repeater for our area. Further review of this will occur next meeting. Lynn reminded that we currently have both analogue and D-Star repeaters providing coverage.

·         W5ZDN: Clint Anderson, AE5CA reported that the call sign has been successfully renewed for another ten years.

·         T-Shirts: Dwan Nedham, KE5JWY reported that T-shirts are available from Maria; which can be purchased through Dwan after the meeting.

New Business

·         WWW Century Bike Race: HOTARC will support the WWW Bike Race with communications equipment, trackers and volunteers. Sign up will be done via the HOTARC web site. Race is October 20. We will need 15 to 20 volunteers.

·         New Members: Lisa Corbet is working on her license; Edward Landers, KI5ARO was licensed this year; and Mark Janet, KG5KWT have applied for HOTARC membership. Clint Anderson, AE5CA motioned to accept applicants as new members; Bill Feltenberger, KD5UEW seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.

·         K5ZDN Call Sign: Call sign that is used for operating the D-STAR radio in the trailer. It is registered to the HOTARC Digital Emergency Club. Norris Martin, KB5SLI recommended that the HOTARC Officers be the same for the HOTARC Digital Emergency Club. Bill Feltenberger, KD5UEW motioned to accept; Jeb Leutwyler, KG5WHS seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.

Meeting Adjournment

·         Bill Feltenberger, KD5UEW moved for adjournment. President Lynn Gustafson, KD5DZU adjourned the meeting at 7:27 pm.

Submitted by
Dan Hapenney, AG5HF
HOTARC Secretary



CERT Meeting:  October 9th

by Elizabeth Thomas 

Assistant EMC, Waco–McLennan County
Office of Emergency Management

(adapted from 17 September 2018 email)

wmcoem_logo.JPG  wmcoem_cert.JPG

Perhaps you are interested in joining the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). I wanted to introduce myself as Elizabeth Thomas, and I am the Assistant Emergency Management Coordinator for Waco-McLennan County. I will be taking over the CERT trainings and trying to make our program more active. I would like to host a meeting at 6 at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on October 9, 2018 in order to meet with everyone and to talk about future training and goals/expectations. If you are interested in being on or joining the team, please respond back to me at ElizabethT@wacotx.gov as well as make the meeting on October 9th. Also, please fill free to forward this invitation to anyone you think may be interested. I look forward to meeting everyone in person and building a strong team together. Thank you!

~Elizabeth



Request for ARES Net Control Station Volunteers

by Ed Hynan, KC5KNI
McLennan County Emergency Coordinator

I have eight individuals serving as Net Controls for 2018. Ideally, every member of ARES should be able to act ares_logo_hi_resas a Net Control station in an emergency.

The ARES/Bakers Dozen Training Net is held each Monday night at 8 PM on the 145.15 Repeater. I would like to provide this excellent Net Control training opportunity to all current members of McLennan County ARES.

Veterans are KC5KNI, KA5QKL, AE5CA, AC5JC, KD5KJU, KG5KGV and KG5DHS, KE5UBO. These individuals have done an excellent job and the Nets have run very smoothly this year. Please contact me and let me know if you want to continue for 2019, or if you want to be removed from the schedule – I NEED TO HEAR FROM EVERYONE.

For any other members, if you would like the opportunity to serve as a weekly Net Control please let me know via e-mail – KC5KNI@arrl.net. You can let me know if there are any Mondays that would not be convenient (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and/or 5th).

For those who would like to volunteer, I will add you to the 2019 Net Control schedule; provide you with a copy of the preamble, log sheet, and a letter of Instruction. If you want to participate, please let me know by 1 December 2018. This is what amateur radio is all about: being prepared for emergency service.

 

Other Ideas for APRS

by John Chamberlain, AC5JC
HOTARC Webmaster and Editor

We are pleased to use our amateur radio skills and capabilities to build and operate radio transmitters that convey our real-time location. Thanks to those who have come before and developed the Automatic Packet Reporting System (aka “APRS”), we can that take advantage of the GPS satellite system and a network of amateur radio digipeaters and gateways to the internet to allow mapping of our movements, as well as send/receive weather reports, messages, and many other APRS powers.

However, even if your car or truck is not equipped with an APRS transmitter, you can have the power of APRS tracking by running a suitable application on a modern smartphone (with GPS and data capabilities) operating with good cellphone coverage. For example, the APRSdroid app, available to hams (free to manually download and install, or $5 through the Google Play Store) will allow you to send out frequent position reports as you travel, merge your position reports into the APRS database with traditional APRS packets, and allow you and others to track your location on a Google map. You’ll need an APRS-IS passcode, which you can get instantly here. Since these smartphone apps don’t tie up the ham frequencies, you can upload your position reports with a clear conscience—you’re not tying up local digipeaters. (NOTE: Data transfer rates charged by your cell provider apply, but very little data is used by these simple position reports.)

For iPhone users, there are iPhone apps, too (e.g., OpenAPRS or iAPRS), or you can even use an old iPhone with your 2m radio as a “tiny-tracker,” but I have no experience with those options. Perhaps experienced iPhone users can contribute here!

 

 

 

The HOTLINE is the monthly newsletter of the Heart O’ Texas Amateur Radio Club (HOTARC), Inc., a nonprofit corporation, chartered by the State of Texas and principally located in Waco. It is permissible to use any of the original material contained herein, provided proper credit is given to the source.
Edited and Published by John Chamberlain AC5JC, AC5JC@arrl.net

HOTARC 2018 Board of Directors

President: Lynn Gustafson KD5DZU
President@hotarc.org

Vice Pres: Mike Needham WB7SKK,
VicePres@hotarc.org

Secretary: Dan Hapenney AG5HF
Secretary@hotarc.org

Treasurer: Norris Martin KB5SLI,
Treasurer@hotarc.org

Past‑Pres.: Clint Anderson AE5CA,
PastPres@hotarc.org

Director (2018): Terry Williams KD5KJU,
Director3@hotarc.org

Director (2019): Ed Hynan KC5KNI,
Director1@hotarc.org

Director (2020): Keith Adams KG5AWC,
Director2@hotarc.org

Club Repeaters

145.15 MHz (input at –600 kHz, tone 123 Hz)

146.98 MHz (input at –600 kHz, D-Star)

442.875 MHz (input at +5.0 MHz, tone 123 Hz)

VE Testing

The HOTARC VEs will hold a test session at 10:00 AM on October 27 at Baylor University Rogers Engineering and Computer Science Building, meeting upstairs in Room 207. Test takers will need to provide 1) testing fee of $15 (cash only), and 2) a photo ID (two for first-time licensees). Already licensed amateurs must also provide: 3) Reference copy or photocopy of current license; and 4) photocopy of any relevant CSCE. Contact: Linda Hynan, AC5QQ at 254‑666‑4873 or Linda.Hynan@UTSouthwestern.edu.

 

Meeting Notice

HOTARC will hold its Annual Meeting of Members at 7:00 pm on Thursday September 27 at the W5NCD Workshop, 12772 Chapel Rd in Lorena. Meetings generally last about 75 minutes consisting of fellowship, general Club business, and an interesting program and discussions. Visiting hams, family members, and prospective hams are welcomed!

Special events are an opportunity
to use our skills and our equipment.
Sign up TODAY to do just that!