136 results for author: Scott Toth

March GARA Meeting: HF Nets

Our speaker this month will be Donnie Hurst (KG4ZOD). Donnie will talk about HF nets and how to participate in them. Donnie is a member of and frequent contributor to several HF nets and has a lot of information to share. As I noted in our last meeting, Field Day is fast approaching. I am still looking for a volunteer to run the Field Day preparations. Please let me know if you are interested. Finally, I will be presenting a few ideas for other club activities during the year. Field Day is obviously a big one, but there are many other possibilities. Hopefully we can identify two or three more we can do this year in addition to Field Day. I ...

W4GSO UHF Digital Dashboard

Last November (2018), GARA installed its newest repeater: a Yaesu DR-1X modified to run digital modes using an MMDVM modem and running the now-ubiquitous PiStar operating system.  This new setup, recently designated the "Steve Blackford, K4SQI Memorial Digital Repeater" by the GARA board of directors, replaced the aging D-star-only repeater that served Greensboro for ten years.  While the repeater setup, which runs both D-star and Fusion/C4FM, has been working very well, until now there hasn't been a way to see to which reflectors the repeater is linked or tell who has used it recently.  Thankfully that problem has finally been resolved.  The ...

Solar Power for Amateurs

You won't want to miss this month's presentation at the GARA general meeting.  Our own Carl Fenske, KC4WGA will describe his solar-charged battery power supplies. We will be using it during Winter Field Day (WFD), Jan 26 and 27, for some extra points.  This is a great opportunity for you to learn about solar panel basics, what to avoid, and how to put together your own system for operating or other purposes.  We hope to see you there!

October GARA Meeting

This month, Nathan Jackson (K4NWJ) will be giving a presentation on the Greensboro and NC public service communications infrastructure. Nathan is a lifelong resident of Sophia NC, just south of Greensboro, near the “tall towers.” He has been married to his wife Amy for 12 years and has a daughter ( Abby / 6) and a son (Davis / 2.5). Nathan has been involved in amateur radio since March of 2000 and currently holds a General Class License. His amateur radio interests range from long distance DX to local repeater and simplex contacts, all by using various emission modes (data, voice, etc.), to public service, to dabbling in equipment maintenance and ...

August GARA Meeting

This months presentation will be by our own Chris Thompson (K4HC) on pointing your antenna. Here is his description of his talk: Where away? That’s a nautical term for questioning which direction something is. In ham radio, that’s not always as easy as you might think. Come learn a little about which direction that DX really is at the August GARA club meeting.

No June Meeting

Because of the activities at Hagan-Stone Park for Field Day, there is no normal monthly club meeting in June.  We'll see you in July!

Join GARA for Field Day at Hagan Stone Park!

Field Day 2018 is fast approaching.  According to the ARRL, the objective of Field Day is: The site at Hagan Stone Park is very nice with plenty of room for antennas. Operating positions will be inside the tree line, providing lots of shade. There are quite a few picnic tables, a fire pit, and a grill. Since it’s a camp ground, you can bring tents if you would like to stay overnight Friday or Saturday nights. We will be operating as class 2A this year. There will be an information booth, but no GOTA station unless we get enough volunteers to run it (none so far). If you want to volunteer, please let me know.  Of course, the official Field ...

April GARA Meeting

Matt Trull (KX4GG) will be discussing the FT-8 digital mode. Although relatively new, it has taken the HF digital world by storm. Matt will cover setting up and using the WSJT-X software, FT-8 best operating practices, and hints for maximizing your QSO rate. I hope you'll be there!

March GARA Meeting: Grounding

This month, Dave McLin, AC4A will discuss  "Grounding and Bonding for the Radio Amateur."  His talk will be based on the recent ARRL book of the same name.  It collects a lot of information in one place, and, as the name implies, is focuses on amateur radio stations.  The book offers a lot of concrete, practical suggestions, and does a good job of presenting a complex topic.  Come and hear best practices that you can put into use in your own station!

February GARA Meeting: All About Digitial

What comes to mind when you hear the word "digital?" Do you think of that old DEC computer you used to have in the late 1990s? Or maybe about some dystopian future like in the "Matrix" movies?  One of the visionaries in digital radio in North Carolina is our very own Steve Blackford, K4SQI. Steve has had a vision to push convergence between modes, make digital radio accessible, and link up repeaters throughout our state and beyond. He has experimented, built servers, tried hotspots, used laptops, dongles and Pis, and done all sorts of other things to get this system stable and functional. And functional it is. Steve has communicated with and ...