AMATEUR RADIO NEWS

Amateur Radio Club Meetings, "Hamfests," & License Exams

 

The West Tennessee Amateur Radio Society is dedicated to advancement and growth of the Amateur Radio service, and usually meets every first Thursday of each month. The meetings usually start about 7 PM at Jackson State Community College in the McWherter Center building, 2046 North Parkway in Jackson, Tennessee. Because of serious problems with computer viruses, please DO NOT bring laptop computers to meetings at JSCC. Occasionally, some meetings are held at various area restaurants. All meetings are open to the public, and visitors are welcome. You can e-mail David Nailling, N4JDN (n4jdn@arrl.net) for more information about meeting times and locations. For more general information about WTARS, such as repeater frequencies, go to http://www.qsl.net/wtarc/join.htm. The November meeting for the West Tennessee Amateur Radio Society will be Thursday, 5 November 2009, at 7:00 p.m. at Jackson State Community College. The program about Software Defined Radio will be presented by John Smith, K9KA, from Lexington, Tennessee. WTARS will also be electing officers for the coming year at this meeting.

 

 

The FHU/Chester County Ham Radio Club operates radio repeaters in Henderson, Tennessee. The VHF repeater is on 147.105 MHz, + Offset, CTCSS 156.7 Hz. The UHF repeater is on 444.750 MHz, + Offset, CTCSS 100 Hz. They usually meet at 7 PM on the third Thursday night of each month, usually in the Henderson Church of Christ "fellowship hall" at 240 White Avenue in Henderson, Tennessee. Occasionally, some meetings are held at various area restaurants or elsewhere. For more information, go to http://www.w4fhu.org or e-mail info@w4fhu.org.

 

 

The Reelfoot Amateur Radio Club meets on the fourth Thursday of each month. They usually meet at 6:30 PM in the Obion County Public Library, 1221 East Reelfoot Ave. (Hwy. 431), in Union City, Tennessee. Go to http://www.reelfootarc.com/index.html to see their website. For more information about Amateur Radio License exams, contact James S. Mitchell, W4RB (731-536-0321 or w4rb@arrl.net).

 

 

The Delta Amateur Radio Club meets on the second Tuesday of each month around 7 PM at the Ellendale Church of Christ, located at 7365 Highway 70 (known as "Summer Avenue" in Memphis). The DARC offers the ARRL Amateur Radio License exams before each club meeting at the Ellendale Church of Christ, with registration beginning at 5:30 PM and testing beginning promptly at 6:00 PM. You MUST bring some type of identification to the testing session. You also MUST bring originals, as well as a copy of any license and/or CSCE that you may hold currently. The testing fees for 2009 are $15.00. Scheduled testing dates are 8 September 2009, 13 October 2009, and 17 November 2009. For more information about the DARC in general, e-mail kd4tjo@arrl.net or go to http://www.deltaclub.org. For more information about the DARC's ARRL Amateur Radio License exams, contact Thomas E. Fox, KA4LWQ (901-357-1663 or ka4lwq@arrl.net).

 

 

The Mid-South Amateur Radio Association meets on the third Thursday of each month around 7 PM at the Northeast Police Precinct (Appling Farms Station) located at the 6850 Appling Farms Parkway. For more information about MARA in general, go to http://sites.google.com/a/maraonline.org/mara-online, or contact Bill Hudock, KB4SQV (901-753-8020 or kb4sqv@bellsouth.net) or Keith Price, WA5LPW (ham@wa5lpw.com or kprice2982@yahoo.com). (MARA also offers an "Elmer Net" on Monday evenings at 9:00 PM on the 147.030 MHz repeater as a place to learn something new or to get answers for ham radio questions.)

 

 

The W5YI Amateur Radio License exams are occasionally given in Trenton, Tennessee (as well as other cities in the area). For more information, contact James Brown, N4ZLC (731-855-0621 or jambrobac@juno.com). For other people giving the W5YI Amateur Radio License exams, go to http://www.w5yi.org/exam_locations_ama.php.

 

 

NOTE: The Amateur Radio License exams do not require any Morse Code tests! However, the exams do cover basic electronics and radio theory thoroughly. Go to http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/pools.html for details about the most current question pools. When you are ready to take the exam(s), go to http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/examsearch.phtml to locate an ARRL testing session location nearby, anywhere in the United States. Go to http://www.arrl.org/hamfests.html to search for "hamfests" anywhere in the United States.

 

 

Other Special Events

 

Please send e-mail about any regularly-scheduled amateur radio club meetings, "hamfests," license testing, and any ham-radio-related special events in the West Tennessee area to Tim Clark, KB4RPV, kb4rpv@arrl.net, so the information can be posted on this AMATEUR RADIO NEWS web page. Also see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WTARS_TN and http://wtars.blogspot.com for more information.

 

 

 

 

Updated 30 October 2009, kb4rpv@arrl.net