AMATEUR RADIO NEWS

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

 

          Several items are listed as wanted, for sale, etc. See http://www.qsl.net/wtarc/forsale.htm.

 

 

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 around 7 PM in the EOC (Emergency Operations Center) office inside the FAA building at the McKellar-Sipes Airport, 308 Grady Montgomery Drive in Jackson, Tennessee. Occasionally, some meetings are scheduled for different days or locations, such as in local area restaurants. All meetings are open to the public, and visitors are welcome. You can e-mail n4jdn@arrl.net for more information about meeting times and locations. Current dues are around $24 per year. For more general information about WTARS such as repeater frequencies, go to http://www.wtars.org, http://www.qsl.net/wtarc/join.htm, and http://www.facebook.com/pages/West-Tennessee-Amateur-Radio-Society/160957104057?ref=ts. WTARS held Field Day activities and VE testing on 25-26 June 2011 at the McKellar-Sipes Airport, 308 Grady Montgomery Drive in Jackson, Tennessee. Of the seven people who took the VE tests, two passed. Hopefully, they will have better luck next time. (NOTE: anyone taking the VE tests should study the correct question pools, see http://www.arrl.org/question-pools.) Participants enjoyed Latham’s BBQ for lunch, as well as charcoaled hamburgers and hot dogs for supper. Guests included representatives from TEMA and FEMA, who discussed applying for disaster assistance (disaster survivors should apply online at http://www.DisasterAssistance.Gov, or call 1-800-621-FEMA which is 1-800-621-3362).

 

 

The Dyer County Amateur Radio Association, along with other groups, operates radio repeaters in the area. The K4DYR repeater at Spring Hill, Tennessee is on 145.190 MHz, - Offset, tone 100.0 Hz. They meet on the first Saturday of each month at 10 AM in the Dyer County Rescue Squad building in Newbern, Tennessee. (Directions: turn on Sharpsferry Rd. beside the Dollar Store on Hwy. 77 West in Newbern. Travel approximately 300 ft., then turn left at the sign by the Dyer County Rescue, Phillip Pinion Building.) For more information, contact Dave Beard at wt8r@aol.com or go to http://www.dyercountyamateurradio.com/.

 

 

The Crockett County Amateur Radio Society, along with other groups, operates radio repeaters in the area. The WT4WA repeater is on 146.970 MHz, - Offset, tone 107.2 Hz. The primary simplex frequency is 146.535 MHz. They usually have an on-the-air net on the first, third, fourth, and sometimes fifth Thursday of each month. They meet at 7 PM on the second Thursday night of each month, usually in the Crockett County EMA building, 168 N. Bells St. in Alamo, Tennessee. They offer the ARRL Amateur Radio License exams approximately every three months. For more information about the Amateur Radio License exams, contact Randy Smith, KI4OAS (731-571-5499 or rdaddy65@yahoo.com) or go to http://www.crockettcoars.org (or e-mail ccars08@yahoo.com).

 

 

The FHU/Chester County Ham Radio Club operates radio repeaters in Henderson, Tennessee. The VHF repeater is on 147.105 MHz, + Offset, tone 156.7 Hz. The UHF repeater is on 444.750 MHz, + Offset, tone 100 Hz. They usually meet at 7 PM on the third Thursday night of each month, usually in the Henderson Fire Station training room at 505 Sanford Street 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. Also see http://w4fhu.org/swap-n-shop.html to see more about “For Sale” items.

 

 

The Haywood County Amateur Radio Group operates radio repeaters in the Brownsville, Tennessee area.  The VHF repeater, currently under repair, is on 146.655 MHz, - Offset, tone 156.7 Hz. The UHF repeater is on 444.525 MHz, + Offset, tone 107.2 Hz. For more information see http://home.comcast.net/~ki4bxi/site/, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ki4bxi/, and http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_129414277084953&ref=ts.

 

 

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 the Amateur Radio License exams, contact Glenn Snow, N4MJ (731-479-1971), or see http://www.reelfootarc.com/news.html.

 

 

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 (no reservations needed) 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 2011 are $15.00. Scheduled testing dates in 2011 are 11 January, 8 February, 8 March, 12 April, 10 May, 14 June, 12 July, 9 August, 13 September, 11 October, and 8 November (no testing in December 2011). For more information about the DARC in general, e-mail Tommy Thompson, kd4tjo@arrl.net, or go to http://www.deltaclub.org. For more information about the DARC's ARRL Amateur Radio License exams, contact Bill Stevens, WC9S (901-603-3448 or wc9s@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 Whitten Bend Cove. For more information about MARA in general, go to http://sites.google.com/a/maraonline.org/mara-online, or contact Tony Brignole (901-372-2738 or abrigno@comcast.net) or Lance Morris (n4gmt@comcast.net). (MARA also offers an "Elmer Net" on Monday evenings around 9 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 given regularly 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@att.net, so the information can be posted on this AMATEUR RADIO NEWS web page. See http://www.qsl.net/wtarc, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WTARS_TN, http://wtars.blogspot.com, and http://www.facebook.com/pages/West-Tennessee-Amateur-Radio-Society/160957104057?ref=ts for more information.