Main Menu

 

Club Information

Our Mission
It shall be our purpose to further amateur radio by serving the public; to promote technical knowledge, fraternalism, and individual operating proficiency; and to advance the general interest and welfare of amateur radio in the community.

HAM HUMOR LINKS

Famous Hams and Ex-Hams

Try a Ham Radio Interactive Crossword Puzzle

Check out this story

THE TOWER !



 

                                                        

Current Club News


Awards Banquet Another Success 

  With this years attendance at nearly sixty, the MARC on Saturday evening January 18th celebrated another successful year with our annual Awards Banquet. Held again at the Perry Grange, the evening began with a terrific family style dinner followed by the presentation of our annual service awards. If you missed this years dinner you missed out on another great club event, filled with lots of fun and great company.  Click Here to go to a special page setup to cover this gala event.


Hamfest 2002 Again Successful

    We did it again ! Hamfest 2002 was another success. How did we do it ? Like any other well planned club event, it was a balance of perspiration and a little bit of inspiration. Lots of hard work by a small core of very dedicated members has paid off again. While our attendance was a bit lower than last year, we were able to cut a few expenses that really paid off. Congratulations to this years Grand Prize winners. Click Here to see our winners list on our Hamfest Page.

Watch for a complete wrap up as soon as all the details are completed. Until then thanks to MARC staff photographer Ed Clinger - WA8DRT, click on the link below to relive some of the best Kodak moments from this years great event.

 


MARC Celebrates 75th Anniversary 

  (September Update) The club officially celebrated our Silver Anniversary by holding a pizza party in conjunction with our October club meeting. Travel schedules did not permit any ARRL visitors but Section Manager Joe Phillips - K8QOE expressed his personal congratulations at this great achievement. A special 75th Anniversary Certificate was shown to the membership that will be on display at the Hamfest before being permanently displayed at the club hamshack.  Pizza was provided by South Erie Pizza and included at lease seven different varieties. The Special Event station was also in full swing during the meeting and we will have a full wrap up report at the November meeting. Special Event Certificates are currently being designed by member Perry - W8AU and should be ready by meeting night. 

 Some Memories of our 75th Party

 

The crowd gathers for Pizza !


Birthday Boy Terry - N8ATZ (L) with Steve - WD8MIJ and Terry's xyl Lynnette


Big Ed - WA8DRT (C) with Big John - K8LBZ (R) and xyl Janet 


Club President Gene - W8KXR and xyl Marylin


Founding member Thomas Berbari - W8GBJ (L) - with Ed - W8PUC and Don - W8DEF


MARC Sponsors First Official Fox Hunt 

     The Massillon Amateur Radio Club held its first official FOX Hunt in many years on Friday night, September 20 with FOX Mister Dan Anastis - N8DZM coordinating the event. At 7:00 PM the elusive Fox was activated by Dan on 145.62 Mhz and the hunt was on. Participating in this first hunt was Terry - N8ATZ and Don - W8DEF & XYL Linda - K8MOO along with her trusty K9 companion Sommer. All participants started out from the Senior Center parking lot and headed out one a signal bearing was received from the Fox.

Dan kept track of us via the MARC 147.18 repeater during the event providing us with a few clues along with moral support. Don & Linda set out using both their mobile rig and a small direction finding loop antenna Don constructed. Terry also used his mobile rig and a hand held 5 element UHF beam (hey it was handy!). No time limit was set but it was agreed to finish before nightfall. The hunt found us heading east out of town and within 45 minutes Don's DF'ing techniques paid off by finding the Fox near the parking lot of Washington High School. After a few misques, Terry rolled in to the school just as darkness fell. 

Although this first hunt was pretty easy it still provided some great training and fun in the art of direction finding. Future hunts are being planned, hopefully with greater participation. A weekend afternoon may prove a better time for this type of event to allow for more hunt time and maybe a short get together afterwards to compare notes.


MARC Newsletter Announcement

    EXTRA !   EXTRA !

     Beginning with the September issue of the club newsletter, it will be necessary for club members to download a their copy as individual copies will no longer be mailed out as had been done in the past. The only exception will be those members who do not have computer capability.

Why this drastic action ? Partly due to the fact that we have lost our sponsor who assisted with the printing costs. Another fact of tough economics. While we will look for another sponsor, in the mean time we will be generating an email message to all club members with internet access informing them that the monthly newsletter is posted on the club's website and ready for download. If you have not yet given us your email address, please send it to newsletter editor Gary Kline - WC8W at  [email protected]

There is an advantage to receiving the newsletter this way. It is presently being produced in full color and is posted that way. Also you can receive the newsletter about one week earlier. Because it is posted in Adobe Acrobat format, there is virtually no loss of quality. This means pictures will have the same quality as the original photographs. Reading this type of document will require a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader be installed on your computer. You probably have a copy of it already, especially if you have a newer system. If not, a link is provided on our Newsletter Page to download your free copy. 

Please let us know if you are having any difficultly downloading the newsletter or installing Acrobat Reader, we will work with you to make sure you can download and print the newsletter. The link above under the Main Menu will take you to the newsletter page where all current and past newsletters are available. A new link provided to the left will bring up just the current months edition.

Gary Kline - WC8W
MARC Newsletter Editor


Field Day Another Success

  Thanks to lots of hard work by several loyal club members Field Day 2002 was another big success with everyone enjoying good company, really nice weather, lots of contacts, some especially great food and loads of FUN !.

From setup Saturday morning to teardown Sunday afternoon, we enjoyed yet another great weekend communications exercise. Even "Murphy" stayed away during the weekend and gave us a trouble free event.

This year the CW station was relocated from the main pavilion to our safety break tent that offered a great view of the lake plus gave them a little more privacy. This also made room for the GOTA Station, or "Get On The Air" station which was a free extra station allowed this year to entice a more operators to participate in Field Day. This also gave members a chance to operate without holding up our "Big Guns". I saw a number of people trying it out over the weekend. 

Although attendance seemed a little less than previous years, it didn't stop the pace of the weekend as all the stations were active most of the time.

A few visitors dropped by to see what all the commotion was about especially with the W8NP Blimp flying high over the park announcing our location to the public. A new twist to the blimp this year was our own "Blimp Cam", a small ATV transmitter was attached to the bottom of the blimp catching the beautiful summer scenery. A monitor was setup under the pavilion so everyone got a birds eye view of the Field Day site.

Of course what would Field Day be without the traditional Saturday night feast and thanks chef Dan - N8DZM everyone enjoyed steak on the grill with all the trimmings. A special taste of classic "Fair Food" was even provided thanks to Don - W8DEF who whipped up some fresh home made potato chips, fries and shoe string potato fries !

With full bellies everyone settled in for a great evening of operating and fellowship which made for another great club operating event.

Thanks belong to everyone who participated in this years event even if you only stopped by for a short visit. It's also the only time of year we get to see our good friend and Field Day Secret Weapon "IGOR", aka Igor Nikishin - WB8KEO who makes a special trip back to town each year to spend time with us at Field Day and rack up a bunch of CW contacts. Really Igor, you're welcome to come and visit anytime !!!!!

As always lots of great memories are generated with each Field Day and many of which are captured in "Kodiak Moments". A special thanks to Don - W8DEF, Perry - W8AU, Charlie - KB8STV, Ralph - K8HSQ and Denny - N8UDL who supplied me with lots of great pictures from this years event. I'm currently putting them together and hope to have them posted on the website soon on a special Field Days Memories Page together with a few from Field Days past.

Gary - WC8W is currently working on the official score to submit to the ARRL but I believe this years event rates a perfect 10 !!!

2002 FIELD DAY SETS RECORD SCORE !!!!

     The estimated score of 5,868 points is a new record for the MARC. This is due in large part to the efforts of the CW station led by Perry - W8AU and Igor - WB8KEO who had a fantastic year. The station using 10,15,20,40, and 80 meters made a whopping 771 QSO's. The phone station made 666 QSO's. With the help of the 6 and 2 meters, and the GOTA station this totaled 918 QSO's. The band breakdown is shown below.

PHONE QSO TOTALS
80 40 20 15 10 6 2
86 115 232 233 31 42 29

 

CW QSO TOTALS
80 40 20 15 10
285 308 92 83 7

    The GOTA Station logged 5 CW and 150 Phone Contacts. 

Click on the box below to check out our Field Day in Pictures Special Webpage.


Recent Club Member News

   The following anniversary notice recently appeared in the Massillon Evening Independent. Congratulations to "BIG" John and Janet Edel - K8LBZ on this special wedding anniversary. Although not as active in recent times, John is a long time club member and a charter member of the "Snowbird" club, a group of local amateurs who spend the cold weather months in a Florida retirement community.

They will be honored at an open house from 2-4 p.m. Saturday, July 27th at St. Jacob Lutheran Church in Massillon. 

Janet is retired from Massillon City Schools, where she taught home economics. John retired from Plain Township Local Schools, where he taught chemistry. He is a member of the Quarter Century Wireless Association, the ARRL, and both the Canton & Massillon Amateur Radio Club's.


MARC Member Named Recipient of 2002 FAR Scholarship 

  Congratulations are in order for one of the MARC's younger club members. Donald Guisinger - KC8RPE has been named one of the 2002 recipients of the Foundation for Amateur Radio (FAR) Scholarship Awards.

These scholarships are open to Amateur Radio licensees who meet the qualifications and residence requirements of various sponsors.

Don's Scholarship Award was the QCWA Named Memorial Scholarships sponsored by Donald & Phyllis Doughty Family Scholarship.

The Foundation is a non-profit organization representing more than 75 Amateur Radio clubs in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia. It is devoted exclusively to the scientific, literary and educational pursuits that advance the purposes of the Amateur Service.

Although a relatively new member of the MARC, Don is an active club member participating in numerous club sponsored events including Field Day and our annual Hamfest.

Congratulations Don on this great achievement !


MARC Active In Memorial Day Parade

MARC in the Memorial Day Parade ! 

  Memorial Day in the city of Massillon means family gatherings, cookouts and the Annual Memorial Day parade. This year the MARC was honored to participate in the activities by proudly displaying ECOMM 1 properly attired in Memorial Day colors. Adorned along the front were flags representing the armed services with Old Glory flying high in the center. 

With Don Finley - W8DEF as driver, our own veterans Perry Ballinger - W8AU, Jim Farriss - WA8GXM and Don Wade - W8DEA shown above left to right rode proudly in the parade along Erie Avenue to finish at Massillon Cemetary where a short service ended the days event. 

Thanks and a tip of the hat to our honored club members who have served our country !


 

The Sights From Dayton Hamvention 2002

 

 
Again this year Kenwood broadcast the Hamvention events via the Internet.   Ten-Tec's Scott Robbins - W4PA with a prototype of the new Ten-Tec Orion Transceiver.

The Infamous DARA Van

Mercer Counties ARES Vehicle

Interior Communications Stations complete with Yaesu Radios

Hamvention attendees sporting military style HT's !

 


              

SUPER CLUB MEETING WELL RECEIVED

The joint area Multi-Club Meeting was held on Wednesday, March 27th. with 85 area amateurs attending this first of a kind amateur gathering. The meeting began with opening remarks from Canton ARC President Mike Robinson - KI0DE, who thanked everyone for attending the joint meeting. Gene Beckwith - W8KXR, President of the MARC, pictured above, gave a fine account of the clubs "active lifestyle", noting the many club activities we are active in.  Six amateur radio clubs or organizations were represented over the evening, each giving a short report on current club activities and other items of interest. David Beltz - WD8AYE, Stark Co ARES Emergency Coordinator with Terry Russ - N8ATZ, Assistant EC, reported on the renewed commitment of area amateurs involved in community service and also took the opportunity to register Stark County amateurs with ARES, a function that hasn't been updated in nearly 15 years

Mike Robinson then introduced the keynote speaker for the evening, Ohio Section Manager Joe Philips - K8QOE. Joe's topic for the evening was "The Future Of Amateur Radio". Joe stated that Amateur Radio had experienced a period of "negative growth" during the 1990's, for various reasons and that he believes that since the Y2K concerns, our hobby has received a much needed "jump start" as numerous public service agencies began to investigate alternate means to maintain communications. Then in September of last year, the hobby was once again called upon to help establish order after the chaos of 911. Joe believes that the development of "Homeland Security" will once again bring our hobby back to the forefront of the communications world. This will no doubt bring about the resurgence we have been looking for, bringing many new hams to our hobby. It's still a passion, and its back stronger than ever.

The meeting concluded about 9:00 PM with several drawings and refreshments being served. Mr. Marvin Secrest of M & K Engraving was also in attendance providing name badges and accessories to those present.

ARES also registered 25 hams, well on our way to re-registering a new corps of ARES registered volunteers. The overall success of the multiclub meeting prompted organizers to consider making this an annual event. A special thank you to the following clubs for attending this years event, The Alliance ARC, The Massillon ARC, QCWA Chapter 21, The Tusco ARC, The Canton ARC and the Pioneer Amateur Radio Fellowship.


Larry Rain - WD8IHP ARRL Section Emergency Coordinator Visits MARC 

ARRL Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC), Mr Larry Rain - WD8IHP was the special guest of the MARC for our September program.

The SEC is appointed by the ARRL Section Manager and oversees the Amateur Radio Emergency Service program here in the Ohio Section. The SEC in turn appoints District Emergency Coordinators and finally local county Emergency Coordinators throughout the state. Larry pointed out that 80 out of Ohio's 88 counties have local EC's to oversee the local ARES program within their counties. Ohio is very active in ARES communications to the tune of spending over 12,000 ham hours per month in service to both our hobby and our community.

Larry also briefly discussed the new ARRL Emergency Communications on-line courses and how important continuous training is to amateurs involved in ARES operations. Public Safety officials are re-discovering the important role Amateur Radio operators can play in local emergency situations. Continuous training is important to remain the professional communicators that we have a been known for. He also noted that many clubs are now investing time, money and effort in the construction and outfitting of Communications Vans, Trailers, etc and how important a role these could play during emergency situations. He was especially impressed by our EComm 1 trailer and the very hard work we have put into it having only seen it on our website.

He was especially impressed to see our involvement with Amateur Television (ATV) and how this mode could really pave the way for our involvement in public safety situations. He noted that it has already been used successfully in both the Columbus and Mansfield area during several serious situations that occurred last year. He encouraged us to continue to refine our ability to use this mode and to offer its use to our local county Emergency Management Agency. This was a major topic of discussion at the recent ARES State meeting held in Columbus which also included a very impressive demonstration by the Columbus ATV Group.

Larry concluded his visit with a question & answer session. We thoroughly enjoyed Larry's visit and invited him back to a meeting again next year !



MARC Spotlights Jim Farriss - WA8GXM


    After an unfortunate spring thunderstorm blew over the radio tower of club member Jim Farriss - WA8GXM for the second time, most people would decide fate had spoken and just pay attention. Jim however is not your average ham. You might think he would just settle for something a little lower - wrong. When faced with tough odds Jim went looking for something a little stronger. After a season of searching Jim came across something called an Aeromotor Tower. Think of those modest tri-legged monsters that the utility companies use to run high voltage wires over the country side. Now you get the idea !

    With a lot of determination Jim has recently completed both the restoration of the old tower and the installation of the new one. Here's the complete rundown: (you better get a Kleenex ready for the drooling !)

The New North Tower raises nearly 100 feet into the morning sky and its solid, the legs at the base are about 18 feet apart !. It's complement of antennas include a Mosley Classic 36 six element tri - bander for HF work rotated by a very heavy duty ring rotator. In addition there are 2 - 12 element M2 stacked two meter yagi's for SSB operation as well as 4 - 21 element F9 Tonna UHF Yagi's also stacked for weak signal 432 operation. Not bad for starters.

The South Tower is now a modest 80 foot tall that has been dedicated for mostly VHF/UHF antennas. At the top is an 88 element J - Beam designed especially for Amateur Television (ATV) work. Directly below is a 6 element High Gain 6 meter beam antenna. Hanging from a side arm is a dual band vertical for 2 & 440 FM work.

Jim also is a Amateur Satellite enthusiast and has a modest 30 foot tower that sports KLM 2 & 432 beams mounted to dual tracking rotators. A side arm also contains a 6 meter vertical.

All this is resting on a hill that measures out at about 1180 feet elevation making for quite an antenna farm which definitely make this Western Stark Counties "Towers of Power" ! 

Click on any of the pictures below to see Jims very impressive array. The last picture is of Jim's radio shack. This too is pretty impressive and we'll explore it next time !  PS: The little spot on the bottom of the left picture is Jim, told you the tower was tall !

wa8gxmtwr1.JPG (45692 bytes)            wa8gxmtwr2.JPG (45360 bytes)        wa8gxmant.JPG (25088 bytes)        wa8gxmshk.JPG (58100 bytes)


  This page was last updated on - 02/22/03

 

   

 Number of Contacts with this site

 This page was last updated on  02/22/03

Site best viewed in 800 x 600 Resolution
Using Microsoft Internet Explorer

2002 MARC Productions