5 December 2009

KCARC Christmas Dinner

Instead of a December club meeting, the annual KCARC Christmas Party will be held at Golden Corral, 4100 South Danville, across from the Mall of Abilene. The room is reserved for Saturday December 5th. at 6:30 p.m. Everyone will be responsible for paying for their own meal. Please make reservations in advance by contacting Peg, KA4UPA at 325-672-8889, before December 1st.

14 November 2009

ARRL-VEC Test Session in Abilene

Sponsor: KEY CITY ARC
Time: 1:00 PM (Walk-ins allowed)
Contact: PEGGY A RICHARD
(325)672-8889
Email: KA4UPA@ARRL.NET
VEC: ARRL/VEC
Location: BERRY LANE BAPTIST CHURCH
1515 BERRY LN AT LAKESIDE DR
ABILENE, TX 79602

9 November 2009

November Club Meeting

The November meeting will be held at 7 pm, Monday November 9th. at Chavez South Park Recreation Center, 1002 Cherry Street. Election results for 2010 KCARC Officers and Christmas Party reservations. Powerpoint presentation: "Remote HF Operation Using the Internet" de K5AVJ.

12 October 2009

October Club Meeting

The October meeting was held at 7 pm, Monday October 12th. at Chavez South Park Recreation Center, 1002 Cherry Street. Nominations for 2010 KCARC Officers and appointment by acclamation was approved.

14 September 2009

September Club Meeting

The September meeting was held at 7 pm, Monday September 14th. at Chavez South Park Recreation Center, 1002 Cherry Street. Program - Icom's D*Star digital ham radio.

22 August 2009

August KCARC Social

The August KCARC "picnic" was held beginning around 4 pm, Saturday August 22nd. at Belle's Chicken Dinner House, 2002 North Clack (Former Harlow's Smokehouse location). Everyone attending will be responsible for purchasing their own meal and drink. Talk-in on 146.76 repeater.

10 August 2009

August Club Meeting

The August meeting was held at 7 pm, Monday August 10th. at Chavez South Park Recreation Center, 1002 Cherry Street. Program TBA.

21 July 2009

July Newsletter

A compressed version of the monthly KCARC Newsletter is available for those who did not receive the emailed version. Due to the file size, please do not download this file if you received the original copy by email.

July 2009 Newsletter (Right Click To Download)

13 July 2009

July Club Meeting

The July meeting was held at 7 pm, Monday July 13th. at Chavez South Park Recreation Center, 1002 Cherry Street. Preliminary Field Day results and meeting place relocation were discussed.

27 - 28 June 2009

ARRL Field Day

Field Day is always the fourth full weekend of June, beginning at 1800 UTC Saturday and ending at 1800 UTC Sunday.
Field Day 2009 (Click for Link) was held June 27-28, 2009.   Field Day 2009 Rules

8 June 2009

June Club Meeting

The June meeting was held at 7 pm, Monday June 8th. at Chavez South Park Recreation Center, 1002 Cherry Street. Final Field Day preparations were discussed.

23 May 2009

May KCARC Picnic

The May KCARC picnic was held beginning between 2 & 3 pm, Saturday May 23rd. at KE5OVA and KE5ULG's QTH, 307 Yaw Road, on the east side of Lake Fort Phantom. Some desserts and condiments were provided. Members needed to bring their choice of meat and a side dish, or something else to share (bread, chips, drinks, veggies, salads, etc). Talk-in on 146.76 repeater.

18 May 2009

William "Bill" Fryer, W5WNF, SK

We are saddened to learn of the death of William "Bill" Fryer, Ed.D of Abilene. Bill passed away Monday, May 18, 2009. He was active in ham radio for many years as K5AZP, before obtaining his W5WNF call in 2000. Bill had been a KCARC member and was very active on the HF bands, before moving to a retirement community several years ago.

Services were held at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 21, 2009 at Elmwood Funeral Home Chapel, 5750 HWY 277 South. Entombment followed in Elmwood Memorial Park Mausoleum II.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Fryer family, and his close friends during this time of loss. ARN Obituaries

18 May 2009

TriBand J-Pole Antenna Plans

Newly licensed Hams, as well as those on a budget, are always looking for a simple, inexpensive antenna for two meters and 440 MHz. After trying several designs over the years, I finally constructed one last week from these plans. It works very well and required no adjustments for acceptable SWR!

One addition, if you solder a cap on the lower 37.5" piece of copper tubing, make sure to provide a condensation drain hole near the bottom of the antenna.    de Glenn - K5GC

TriBand (2m-220-440) J-Pole Plans (Right Click To Download)

7 May 2009

ARRL-VEC Test Session/KCARC Technician Class Results

Congratulations to the following "New Hams:"

KF5AZY Lynette C O'Neal (now W5ELF)
KF5AZZ Jaime Limas
KF5BAA Lloyd D Crawford
KF5BAB Lois A Doerschuk
KF5BAC Julie W Durant
KF5BAD Robert A O'Neal
KF5BAE George A McMillin

2 May 2009

ARRL-VEC Test Session

The May ARRL-VEC test session was held at 1 pm, Saturday May 2nd at Berry Lane Baptist Church, 1515 Lakeside Drive. Call Peg at 325-672-8889 for more information. 2009 ARRL-VEC exam fee is $15.00

21 March 2009

Steam-N-Wheels Bike Race

Amateur Radio Operators assisted with the 17th. annual Steam-N-Wheels Bike Race & Fun Ride on Saturday, March 21, 2009. The starting line was at the east side of Nelson Park and preparations began around 9 am. The bike race started around 10 am and concluded by 3:00 pm. Contact Randy Robinson, N5JZH -or- Bill Shaw, KJ5DX. Susan Gerred with the City of Abilene Recreation Division presented updated information at the March KCARC meeting. Thanks to all who helped out!

10 March 2009

FCC Names Replacement For Riley Hollingsworth

Laura L. Smith was named as the replacement for Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, who held the title of Special Counsel for the Spectrum Enforcement Division of the FCC's Enforcement Bureau. Hollingsworth officially retired from the agency on July 3, 2008. ARRL Press Release

21 February 2009

2009 Skywarn Training

The 2009 Skywarn Training Session was held on Saturday February 21, 2009 in the Hart Auditorium of the ACU Biblical Studies Building (entrance is directly east of the Campus Center where we previously met for 10 years). The training session was from 9 am to around 1 pm. 2009 Skywarn Schedule

11 August 2008

August Club Meeting

The August meeting was held at 7 pm, Monday August 11th. at Chavez South Park Recreation Center, 1002 Cherry Street. Howard Collier, WB5EKW and Mike McCarty, KE5RJJ showed photos of their recent trip to the Hillsboro APRS balloon launch. Flight 16 Info

3 July 2008

Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH

Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, who held the title of Special Counsel for the Spectrum Enforcement Division of the FCC's Enforcement Bureau, officially retired from the agency on July 3rd. ARRL Press Release

Link to newsletter article Riley Hollingsworth Retires from FCC

28 - 29 June 2008

ARRL Field Day

Field Day 2008 was fun and successful with 427 contacts for the KCARC effort, along with a signed proclamation from Governor Perry! The new location for the KCARC's Field Day activities was the Hamby VFD Fire Station (Click for map) at 4408 Highway 351 - Go East on Ambler Avenue, 4 miles past the Wal-Mart Supercenter, to the Northeast corner of Hwy 351 and Elmdale Road North (CR-520).

GPS Coordinates N32° 30.720' W99° 37.850'   1735 FT AMSL   Grid Square: EM02EM   TFS Hamby Weather Station

Field Day is always the fourth full weekend of June, beginning at 1800 UTC Saturday and ending at 1800 UTC Sunday.
Field Day 2008 (Click for Link) will be held June 28-29, 2008.   Field Day 2008 Rules

Randy Robinson - N5JZH, Steve Roberts - KG5QH, Bill Shaw - KJ5DX, and Kendall Thomas - KC5FFQ, coordinated the site preparations and equipment setup.

1 March 2008

Skywarn Meeting

Amateur Radio Operators are needed to assist with Abilene/Taylor County Skywarn. There was a follow-up meeting at 7 pm on Saturday March 1, 2008 in the EOC Conference Room, located in the basement of City Hall, 555 Walnut Street. Everyone who has attended a Skywarn training session, and wishes to be a Skywarn Spotter this year, should plan to attend this meeting. We will meet in the east parking lot of City Hall and enter the EOC as a group. Contact Bill Shaw, KJ5DX, for more information.

24 April 2007

Skywarn Standard Operating Guidelines Manual

The updated Manual for Skywarn nets is now ready for downloading. Be sure to print yours out now, and attend any Skywarn Meetings and training sessions.
MS-Office format here.

More Skywarn Information