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Link to Brown County ARES/RACES Website

For those who are interested in learning more about Emergency Communications, check out the Kentucky ARES Training Material

News and Upcoming Events

NEW BOARD MEMBERS!

Here's your new Board of Directors for 2010: President - WB9YWQ, Dutch; Vice President - KB9KIX, Ron; Secretary - KB9UAE, Nick; Treasurer - W0LFE, John; Members at Large - KC9PGH, Jeff & WB9NRK, Dale; Newsletter Editors - KC9KVU, Jack & N9UPU, Joe

January 20th ARES Meeting Moved to Goodwill on west Mason Street in Green Bay

We have a couple changes coming up for the ARES/RACES meetings. The January meeting will take place in the Community Room, located in the back left corner of the Goodwill Store located at 1660 W. Mason. This room is being let to us via the Harvest Cafe' also located at that location. So as you slip into the building, feel free to pick up a coffee or look over the menu for after the meeting... Be sure to bring a pen or pencil to the meeting. Usual time at 7 PM. The February meeting is still at the State Ag Building, just a different room (126). Both meetings are at 7:00PM.

SPAR Announces Winter Field Day January 30, 2010 through Sunday January 31, 2010

From QRZ.com: "Field Day is perhaps the most popular of the many activities enjoyed by Amateurs. Every June the bands come alive with improvised signals proving the ability to respond to emergencies. The event also offers an opportunity for camaraderie and a chance to test ourselves in less than ideal circumstances, however, emergencies and natural disasters don't always happen in the summer. Winter winds, icy limbs and bitter cold replace the thunderstorms and blistering heat of summer.

To test our abilities to operate in the winter, in 2007 SPAR established a Winter Field Day event and invited all Amateur Radio operators to participate. In both 2007 and 2008 the event was enjoyed by many and considered a success and has been designated an annual event to be held the last full weekend each January. Therefore it is time to issue the invitation for the Third Annual SPAR Winter Field Day! The 2010 Winter Field Day will be held from 1700 UCT (12:00 noon EST) Saturday January 30, 2010 through 1700 UCT (12:00 noon EST) Sunday January 31, 2010. The object of the event is familiar to most Amateur Radio operators: set up emergency-style communications and make as many contacts as possible during the 24 hour period. The rules encourage as many contacts on as many bands and modes as possible, because during a real emergency, the most important factor is the ability to communicate, regardless of band, mode or distance. The official rules can be found at the SPAR web site. The event is open to all amateurs, although we encourage everyone to join in the discussions and other activities sponsored by SPAR. Information about SPAR can be found on the SPAR Home Page. Membership is free and open to all amateurs who want to encourage technical and operating skills. You can register by going to the SPAR Forum and registering, using your amateur callsign as your user name. Please join with SPAR in promoting amateur radio and keeping our bands alive!"

Ham Cram and Testing Session in March

The Green Bay Mike and Key Club will be sponsoring a Ham Cram class on March 6th at St Norbert College in DePere (room 223, JM Science Building). Classes will begin at 9:00 AM and end at 3:30 PM. Testing is at 4:00 PM. Testing is open to all classes of license and is available even if you didn't take the class. The class is free, however testing is $15.00.

Pre-registration is required. For more information or to pre-register email n9upu at arrl.net .

Wisconsin QSO Party

The WI QSO Party is Sunday, March 14th 1:00PM until 8:00PM. For more information check out West Allis Radio Amateur Club website.

Club Banquet March 20th

The club banquet is March 20th at the Ravine 2633 Manitowoc Road at 5:30PM (dinner at 6:30PM). The menu is Chicken and Ribs (Buffet style) $11.00 per/person including tax/tip. Contact Members or any other amateur radio licensee's are welcome. Contact John Wolfe (W0LFE) prior to March 13th either by phone, 469-2333, e-mail w0lfe@sbcglobal.net or by radio to let me know they are comming. We need an approximate count by the 13th.

Ham of the year ballots

Get you ballot for the Ham of the Year in before Feb. 11th (the next club meeting). Secret ballot vote will be Feb. 11th. You can mail your ballot to P.O. Box 13351, Green Bay, WI 54307.

Earthquake in Haiti activates HF Emergency Nets

Live streaming audio of Haiti Nets

"On Tuesday there was a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti, which has since been followed by serious aftershocks. Communications in and out of Haiti have been disrupted. No word has been received as of yet from any of the national HH Amateur Radio operators. The DailyDX notes that HH2/HB9AMO, Pierre, is OK and was located about 140 km north of Port-au-Prince in Cap Haitien at the time.

The IARU Region II Area C Emergency Coordinator, Arnie Coro, CO2KK, is coordinating the multi-national response by hams. There are organized nets on 7045 and 3720 kHz and amateurs are asked to monitor but also keep the frequencies clear of non-essential traffic. Amateur Radio operators should also be aware that emergency traffic pertaining to the Haitian earthquake is expected on the SATERN frequencies of 14265, 7265 and 3977 according to SATERN’s leader, Major Pat McPherson. The Salvation Army has a website up for H&W traffic and other news at www.satern.org.

Amateur Radio operators are circled around Haiti in Cuba, Florida, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and other locations listening for any calls, but so far only one station has checked in.

Rich Moseson of CQ Magazine reported to us that Father John Henault, HH6JH, made contact late Wednesday morning with the Intercontinental Assistance and Traffic Net (IATN) on 14.300 MHz, the IARU Global Centre of Activity frequency for emergency communications. He said that he was safe, but had no power and no phone service. He was operating on battery power and hoping to get a generator running later in the day.

Please keep the nets clear for emergency and priority traffic on frequencies :

14300, 14265, 7045, 7265, 3977, 3720

Additional frequencies may be activated on different bands at different times of day, so be sure to listen carefully before transmitting to make sure you are not interfering with emergency traffic.

Arrow Dual Band J-pole Instructions

Many of you have asked about the plans for the Arrow J-Pole I built from scratch. Here are the plans I used from Arrow. The 3/8" aluminum rod I bought from Fleet Farm (3 pieces 36" long for around $3.59 each. I had some 2" x 2" aluminum angle stock but Fleet carries some 1" x 1" and 1.5" x 1.5". The nuts and other connectors and u-bolt you can get from Tower Electronics or online.

Want to know more about Digital Voice Radio?

Any one interested in D-Star should get a hold of Jason, N9PAV or Steve, KB9MWR(callsign@arrl.net). They have an experimental homebrew UHF D-Star repeater along with the Amateur Video Radio News Digital Voice DVD for loan out for anyone interested. Below is an older video on Digital Voice Radio.

KC9OIS-10 TelPac/RMS Packet Node up and running

I have a fully functional TelPac/RMS Packet Node up and running now at my house for use with WinLink 2000. Dial up 145.610 and connect to KC9OIS-10 using AGWPE, a soundcard and Winlink 2000, PacLink & Outlook Express. You can find information on the WinLink Live RMS Packet Stations Map.

Winlink 2000 & Packet Information Link added

I have added a link to a new page for information on Packet and Winlink 2000 as it relates to emergency communications in Wisconsin. As late as 2002 the WAPR Amateur Packet Radio) network covered most of the state. Interest dropped in the late 90's when the internet email and instant messaging took off along with some of the key players around here passing away. The WAPR network is defunct now. There is however, a renewed interest in VHF packet in ECOMMS. The WI-ARES/RACES is utilizing Winlink 2000 and PacLink & Outlook Express or Airmail as a means to provide digital messaging over VHF simplex locally and HF world-wide. Perhaps interest in packet BBS can be revived. If enough people are interested, maybe we can have a presentation at a future club meeting. KB9BYP-10 145.610 is the simplex RMS TelPAC node in Appleton for WI-ARES Winlink.

WinLink 2000 is a system that utilizes enabling technologies (VHF/UHF Packet, HF Pactor l, ll, lll, D-Star, 802.11) and sound operating practices to provide a full-featured radio digital message transfer system, worldwide.  E-mail transfer with attachments, position reporting, graphic or text-based weather bulletins, and emergency communications are now available separately to the Amateur radio, Army Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS), and UK Cadet Forces communities by linking radio to the Internet.

For anyone interested in an inexpensive TNC that will work with PacLink (Win 2000), check it out at TNC-X. You can buy it in kit form for $45 plus $17 for the pre-drilled case and $5 shipping. They will also assemble and test it for an extra $30. It's the same unit that MFJ sells assembled for $129. There are several options including APRS, digipeater and a daughter board. There are quite a few AGWPE (Soundcard Packet Engine) users using TNC-X with success. AGWPE is not required in order to use TNC-X but it does work well when using Paclink and Outlook Express for WInLink 2000! TNC-X (and other KISS mode TNC's) are supported directly by a wide variety of packet radio programs including, UI-View, WinTNC, WinAPRS, and PR4WIN. However, using AGWPE does allow you to use an even wider variety of programs with TNC-X including AGWTERM (a general purpose packet radio terminal program). Using AGWPE allows you to set up a client node on the WinLink 2000 system by also using PacLink. I have assembled and tested one and have it up and running using an old IC-255 2 meter rig (no tone board.. circa 1980) I bought for $30 at the hamfest this weekend. Pretty simple for a kit and you can't beat the price!

I have added a realtime APRS tracking map on the Brown County ARES/RACES page

You can enter a callsign or zipcode and it will dispaly all active APRS units in the area.

I have recently put together a Byonics TinyTracker3+. The TinyTrak3Plus is an APRS GPS position encoder which, when connected to a serial GPS and a radio, will transmit its location at an adjustable rate. TinyTrak3Plus is the fourth generation in TinyTrak series, and is available as a kit construction project, or as a built and tested unit, providing an inexpensive way to build a mobile tracker without the need for a full TNC. It is configured by connecting to a computer's serial port, and running a simple configuration tool which allows setting of all user options. After that, the computer can be disconnected, and a GPS connected in its place for operation. You can purchase the kit and a GPS for $98 plus shipping from Byonics.

Wisconsin Interstate Network Repeater online in Green Bay

This is a new repeater in town: 443.400 PL 100 Repeater in GB - Echolink node 18006 The Wisconsin Interstate Network consists of the following repeaters:

• 442.100 Rice Lake
• 442.200 Wausau
• 442.300 Janesville
• 442.400 Fond du Lac
• 442.500 La Crosse
• 442.700 Richland Center
• 442.725 Coloma/Hancock
• 442.800 Eau Claire
• 442.075 Minneapolis,MN
• 441.400 Madison
• 443.025 River Falls
• 443.400 Green Bay
• 443.550 Black River Falls
• 443.900 Baraboo
• 444.400 Sayner/Minoqua
• 444.550 Hollandale
• 444.800 Tomah
• 440.150 Watertown

Here's a link to the website: Wisconsin Interstate Network. If you click on "Repeater Guide" at the top, you'll see what a large system this is.

Monthly Siren Test Net

Just a reminder - If you are available, please check into the Brown County Siren Test Net -- The test happens every second Wednesday of the month starting at ~11:50 on the 147.120 repeater. Be able to give the location of the siren that you are monitoring. If you can do this, it will be a great help in aiding our friends and families. Net Control is W9CEA - Al

The club is still looking for a used 15" or 19" LCD monitor for club trailer

We have a donated mini-tower PC for the club trailer. It does not come with a monitor, so we are looking for 15 or 19 inch flat panel LCD monitor. The plan is to mount it to the wall in the trailer. The PC will be used for digital mode communications and or logging during contests. Contact KC9OIS@arrl.net

August 5th Airport Disaster Drill with ARES/RACES a success

12 members of the Brown County ARES/RACES group participated in a mock airplane crash at the Austin-Straubel Airport on Wednesday, August 5th. The event simulated a commercial jet crash with 96 passengers and 4 crew members. ARES members provided communications between the Emergency Operations Center at the airport terminal, four area hospitals and buses used to transport victims and families. 46 passenger and crew members were taken to hospitals and 52 family members were transported to the Familiy Assistance Center which was set up at the Executive Air hanger at the airport. The exercise ran from 8:00 AM until 2:00 PM. Here is a link to the Brown County Emergency Management Face Book page with photos of the event. Smile KB9KIX!

Here is another nice video from the 2003 Airport Drill.

Field Day June 27th & 28th 2009

The 2009 Green Bay Mike & Key Club Field Day was held at Ashwaubomay park once again. The contest ran from 1:00PM on Saturday to 1:00PM on Sunday. The club had an unexpected vist from a Green Bay Press Gazzette reporter during setup just an hour before the event started. You can read about it it the Sunday (June 28th,2009)Press Gazzette in the Local/State section of the paper and see a great multi-media slide show online at www.greenbaypressgazzette.com . The club had both the old and new trailers setup. They operated two stations. One station operated strickly from a deep-cylce marine battery charged from a solar panel. The other station and laptops operated from a generator.

November 2009 KeyClicks

November 2009 KeyClicks

Weekly News!

Last updated Jan. 19, 2010 Copyright © 2010 Green Bay Mike And Key Club. All rights reserved.