Earth Day: a Fun Success
Our 5th Earth Day Special Event couldn’t have been better. As expected, the day started cool but it warmed nicely. We operated SSB on 40 and 20 meters and Ken Osicki, K8OAE was successful with his VHF/UHF satellite station. Promotion of the event paid off with several curious visitors who were interested in various aspects of our operation including John Wendling, KD8QMU’s solar power system.
As usual, the system did a super job even under some overcast conditions. Many thanks to the Parma Area Historical Society and the staff of Stearns Homestead for making the busy cabin available. Thanks to Renee and Anita of Parma Historical Society for providing photos and a video we will share at a meeting. Unfortunately, as common, not all participants were available at picture time.
One of our contacts was a special thrill. When we learned that an Indiana group, Clay County Auxcom, was also celebrating Earth Day, we suggested that we attempt to connect with. That turned our to be an easy QSO as operator Kevin had a 59 signal at the cabin.
QSL cards have started to come in and we’ll have a full report on the event with more photos in future posts.
Amateur Satellites
At our next meeting, May 1st, Bill Squires, N8WS will present a timely program I’ll call “Finding and Working Amateur Satellites”. We learned from Ken during Earth Day, that a major part of the success in working satellites is knowing where they are in the sky and when you can expect them. Bill will also introduce us to the digipeater aboard the International Space Station. Bill has many years experience chasing these “amateur radio birds” and will fill us in with his entertaining program.
Hal Rogers, K8CMD
President, Communications Director
learn Morse Code. True, when we discussed program ideas for this year Learning CW scored highly. The attendance really supported the suspicion that many members have a slow burning desire to learn this wonderfully simple mode. For a variety of reasons many hams are looking to “stretch” their skills and experience something new. I hope you found the information and tips provided is helpful and are beginning to expand your skills one character at time.
Lighting is one of my greatest concerns and I hope it is for you, as well. As one member pointed out some time ago, “Our antennas are designed to capture electrical energy and bring it into our home. In an electrical storm, that’s exactly what they do.” So some good advice might be to avoid operating when storms are imminent and keep your gear disconnected when you’re not using it. Hearing a surprise rumble, I’ve gotten up in the middle of the night to check to see if I remembered to disconnect my antennas.